Archives for July 2010

The 1990 Hungarian Grand Prix is the chosen race for the latest edition of our classic Formula 1 races series.

So we will broadcast the full 'Grand Prix' highlights programme of the time for that race, as well as the shorter highlights package we cut for all the selected events - 1992, 1998, 2007 and 2009.

The Grand Prix programme from 1990 is embedded below, with the links to the other races underneath it.

WATCH SHORT HIGHLIGHTS OF THE 1990 HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX
WATCH SHORT HIGHLIGHTS OF THE 1992 HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX
WATCH SHORT HIGHLIGHTS OF THE 1998 HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX
WATCH SHORT HIGHLIGHTS OF THE 2007 HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX
WATCH SHORT HIGHLIGHTS OF THE 2009 HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX
WATCH LONG HIGHLIGHTS OF THE 2009 HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX

Read the rest of this entry

Fernando Alonso's victory in the German Grand Prix was the best possible result the race could have produced for the world championship battle.

It means the Spaniard, in a car that is now absolutely competitive after recent updates, has closed the gap on leader Lewis Hamilton and the prospect of a five-driver battle for the world title remains very much alive.

Of course, that point has become rather lost in the intense controversy about how Alonso secured the 23rd victory of his career.

The Spaniard was clearly handed first place on a plate by team-mate Felipe Massa on lap 49, the Brazilian slowing down out of the hairpin at Turn Six after his engineer Rob Smedley had told him on the radio: "Fernando is faster than you."

Ferrari have been fined $100,000 (£65,000) for a breach of article 39.1 of the F1 sporting regulations, which says: "Team orders which interfere with a race result are prohibited." The race stewards decided not to change the result but have referred the matter to the World Council of motorsport's governing body the FIA.

Ferrari claimed after the race that they had not ordered Massa to let Alonso past, which strictly speaking is true, even if the whole watching world understood the subtext of Smedley's message as clearly as the Brazilian did.

Let's be clear about this: Smedley's message was a clear, coded instruction to Massa to let Alonso through and this was therefore clearly an example of team orders.

But that is where the situation gets a bit murkier.

Read the rest of this entry

Following the success of its introduction at the British Grand Prix, BBC Sport has decided to continue with the new Formula 1 driver tracker feature.

This device allows you to see the location of all cars on the track during the race and we think it provides a neat complement to the rest of our coverage.

The best use of it is probably in addition to the TV output as a way to better understand the race - and the feedback we received after Silverstone was generally really positive, with many of you explaining how it had helped your appreciation of the action on the track.

It is particularly useful, for example, during the pit-stop period, when you can follow easily whether a driver has emerged from the pits ahead of or behind the rival he was racing before his stop - something that is not always picked up by the TV director.

Read the rest of this entry

The 1986 German Grand Prix is the chosen race in the latest edition of our classic Formula 1 series.

That means we will broadcast the full 'Grand Prix' highlights programme of the time as well as the shorter edits we produce for the other races in the selection - which in this case were 1994, 1996, 1997 and 2009.

Read the rest of this entry

Welcome to the latest edition of our classic grand prix series, which focuses on the German Grand Prix.

We have come up with four great races from the event's history and we want you to tell us which one is your favourite - and why.

We will then use those views to help us decide which one to highlight next week in the run-up to this year's German race. That means we will show the 'Grand Prix' highlights programme in full, as well as the shorter highlights edit we cut for all the races.

Our selection this time is the 1986, 1994, 1996 and 1997 German Grands Prix, as well as last year's race.

Read the rest of this entry

At Silverstone

Eddie Jordan called it "poetic justice". Mark Webber described it as "an appointment with karma". Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said it was "a great team result". But whatever your view of Webber's victory in the British Grand Prix, it is difficult to see how it will do anything other than store up a whole load more trouble for Red Bull Racing.

There have been a fair few angry racing drivers at various points during this brilliant Formula 1 season, but it is hard to recall one more upset than Webber was after qualifying on the day before his dominant win.

In the seeds of that emotion lay the result of the race - good for Webber and bad for team-mate Sebastian Vettel, who finished seventh after suffering a puncture caused trying to prevent the Australian passing him at the start.

As he sat in the news conference at Silverstone on Saturday afternoon, Webber, face like thunder, could barely even bring himself to look at Vettel, who had just beaten him to pole position.

Webber's anger had been provoked by a team decision an hour or two earlier to take the only remaining new front wing off his car and give it to Vettel after the German's similar wing had fallen off in final practice and been damaged beyond repair.

Red Bull responded angrily on Saturday afternoon to suggestions that the decision - which Horner said was his - was evidence of favouritism towards Vettel.

But neither I, nor any journalist I know, could find anyone in the paddock outside Red Bull who shared their view. Most were flabbergasted by it to the point of incredulity.

Read the rest of this entry

At Silverstone

This weekend's British Grand Prix promises to be a defining race in the Formula 1 season.

Not only does it mark the passing of the halfway point - it is the 10th of 19 races in 2010 - but it will also give an insight into whether the attempts by Red Bull's rivals to close the gap to the pace-setting RB6 on raw performance have been in any way successful.

McLaren drivers Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button may lead the championship heading into this race, but on paper Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber - third and fourth - could expect to make up some serious ground on their rivals here, a race they dominated last season and might be expected to do so again this weekend.

But will they?

Read the rest of this entry

This weekend BBC Sport is launching a new aspect of its online Formula 1 coverage.

We will be adding to the selection of video feeds available to UK users on the website a graphic showing the live location of all the cars on the track during the race.

The animation, which will be selectable in the video section at the top of the F1 live page, is provided by Formula 1 Management (FOM) - who call it a driver tracker - and we hope it will prove a nice complement to the rest of the BBC's F1 coverage.

The best use of it is probably in addition to the TV coverage as a way to better understand the race. It could be a huge help, for example, in the pit-stop period, when the TV coverage does not always show whether a driver emerges from his stop ahead or behind a rival. The driver tracker will show you all this live.

Read the rest of this entry

The 1986 British Grand Prix is the chosen race for the latest edition of our classic grand prix series.

The race was one of the defining moments in the relationship between Nigel Mansell and the British public that made him one of the nation's biggest sportsmen through the late 1980s and into the early 1990s.

The full 'Grand Prix' highlights programme from the time is embedded in this blog, with links below it to shorter highlights from that race and our other four choices - the 1982, 1988, 1991 and 2009 British Grands Prix.

All of them are well worth watching to whet your appetites for what promises to be a superb British Grand Prix this weekend.

Read the rest of this entry

Just a day after Formula 1 announced one ground-breaking initiative in their decision to commit to reducing the carbon footprint of the sport and introduce new regulations that will help the world do the same, it took part in another.

The Bafta theatre in London hosted the first fans' forum ever held by F1 - and, as far as I am aware, any other sport.

The event was organised by the Formula 1 Teams' Association (Fota) and brought together nearly 200 fans, giving them the chance to ask questions of people who they normally only get a chance to see on television.

It is intended as a response to a common complaint about F1 - that it is too distant from its audience, who cannot get close to their heroes, or the people who work with them.

Read the rest of this entry

Welcome back to our classic grand prix series.

Regular readers will know we took a break in our trawl through the rich Formula 1 archives for the European Grand Prix because of the demands of the World Cup and Wimbledon. But we have a truly tasty selection for you ahead of the British race at Silverstone next weekend.

For those of you less familiar with this feature, we pick four great races from the past, as well as last year's grand prix at that venue, and ask you to tell us on this blog which is your favourite.

We use those responses to inform our choice of which race to highlight - that means we broadcast the full 'Grand Prix' highlights programme of the time for that race, as well as the shorter highlights package we cut for all the races.

Our choices are the 1982, 1986, 1988 and 1991 British Grands Prix.

Read the rest of this entry