No Reporters In Pit Lane For F1. What Gives?

[GP Racer]

Why is F1 racing the only type of racing I know of that has no reporters on pit lane?

So many things happened during the Malaysian GP that left the TV announcers guessing as to the reason why. Example: DC pulls off very early, but announcers have to guess as to the reason why. JV runs around looking to find a car that runs(I enjoyed that!!) but again , the announcers are left guessing as to the reason why. Fisichella, is all screwed up, but nobody knows why.

These situations and others really needed explanations as to what was happening, and a pit reporter could have done that with interviews from the teams and drivers. Who would doubt what a great interview JV would have given in the heat of the moment!

So whats the deal?:confused:

[Valve Bounce]

I thought Big Bird Goodman was there to find out whahoppened and to tell us. Maybe we should send James Allen back to the pits to find out more. Hang about!! what about Eddie Irvine? he should be running around to pick up the tit bits for us.

[GP Racer]

Was this only a problem for the American broadcast on Speed Channel? Did broadcasts in other countries have pit reporters?

[Epsilon]

Originally posted by GP Racer
Was this only a problem for the American broadcast on Speed Channel? Did broadcasts in other countries have pit reporters?

Yup, almost everyone has at least 1 pit reporter. The only reason Speed doesn't is because their announcers are in a studio in North Carolina, not at the track.

[avsfan733]

Granted I have never seen or heard a F1 pit reporter, but I don't know how much of a difference they would make. Its only ten teams and all the bosses are sitting in their little shelters actively reading telemetry, I don't think they would be all that willing to give up race strategy or what was happening espcially with the new rules making strategery so important

[Don K]

Originally posted by GP Racer
Was this only a problem for the American broadcast on Speed Channel? Did broadcasts in other countries have pit reporters?

RTL5 always has 2 pit lane reporters, however small their team may be.

[Don K]

Originally posted by avsfan733
Granted I have never seen or heard a F1 pit reporter, but I don't know how much of a difference they would make. Its only ten teams and all the bosses are sitting in their little shelters actively reading telemetry, I don't think they would be all that willing to give up race strategy or what was happening espcially with the new rules making strategery so important

You don't have to talk to the team bosses to find out about strategy. Drivers and engineers often have interesting things to say. And they can be tricked into giving away too much.

Pit lane reporters are also good at interviewing drivers who had just retired from the race, putting all kinds of things into the right perspective.

And of course, pit lane reporters are very helpful when it comes to predicting the pit stops, or in observing the kind of tyres and/or the amount of fuel the drivers are getting.

[Cougar]

In South Africa we get the ITV commentry, but only when they set off on the parade lap. So before that we have our own presenters talking strategy. So when I came over to the UK i was pleasently surprised at all the extras you get here with the pre-race interviews etc. I think if F1 is serious about getting into markets such as america etc they should put more effort into getting propper coverage. This year has seen a huge increace in pitlane reporting and even some interviews with Michael. You dont often see that hehe :P

[RWC]

In oz we get the same ITV as cougar does.f1 gets pretty dull when you don't have the little extras!!I pretty much lose interest whan the local gp is over.As for the orriginal Q-Yes f1 sucks BIG time compared to ANY american type racing + lots of other series all over.Too often f1 is the last to do things(including safety technology!!!!)

Pretty pathetic really but that's all i expect from mad max and money bags

[GP Racer]

Its hard to believe that the announcers are sitting in North Carolina while calling the race. No wonder they seem so distant and disconnected from the race. To me, good race calling from announcers and pit reporters with an intimate knowledge of the teams and drivers are essential to keeping race fans watching and growing the sport. I guess we don't have either here in the states.

Am I the only fan who is tired of David Hobbs going "ooooohhhhhh!" every time the action gets close?

Come on Speed, you can do better than this!

[MiniMe]

Many circuits have the commentary boxes directly above the pit lanes, so the TV commentators only have to look down to see what's what.

I've had F1 pit passes as a photographer when the Aussie GP was in Adelaide, and there surely are quite a few reporters with the same access while the race is on, although security is tight (especially with newbie reporters) as the pit lane is obviously a dangerous place to be during a race.

The drivers are under contractual obligations to both their teams and the FIA to make themselves available for press conferences, although directly after a race they often give evasive answers until they've spoken to their teams.

I tried to interview Senna once - he tried to answer but he was absolutely exhausted with the heat and he just laughed at his inability to string a sentence together. He sat down with a water bottle and posed for pics which I thought was great of him considering the circumstances.

[Smokey 6 litre]

I dont think Pit lane reporters add much to the experience of watching the races, the only thing 'Ted Carvits' (ITV) ever brings is wild romours or on the spot reports about the pit stops, "The weels are going on, now the fuel pipe is being removed" which is all and good if it was radio but this is TV, WE CAN SEE IT. duh.

[perminder]

yeh wot bout louise goodman maybe they should have Vicki Butler Henderson.
Or the WRC's Penny Mallory

[BlueStang]

Originally posted by GP Racer
Am I the only fan who is tired of David Hobbs going "ooooohhhhhh!" every time the action gets close?

my favorite moment so far this season was when he called Trulli a "lil' twerp" when he spun at Malaysia...not once, but twice.

Blue