Formula 1 Grand Prix of Monaco (1 Viewer)

[JeremySt]

Does anyone else out there love F1? Tomorrow is The Grand Prix of Monaco, broadcast tape-delayed after the the Indy 500 on ABC. Last years ABC coverage of the U.S. grand prix was spectacularly bad, most notably because of the un-informed commentary, and overall cluelessness by the ABC team. Monaco's coverage will be the world feed, so Im sure we'll see some great stuff. At least we wont have to put up with Jason Priestley in the pit lane.


Juan Pablo Montoya, my favorite driver, starts from pole, in only his second race here ever.

David Coulthard starts second, his best showing in qualifying so far this year, buy he is strong at Monaco.

The invinceble Michael Schumacher starts 3rd, claiming "something in his eye" slowed his performance.

I am a Williams BMW fan, and will root for just about anybody that can de-throne Schumacher. I still think Shu is the best F1 driver there is, I just want to see someone beat him. I also love Renault. I hope tomorrow is a great race!

 

[MikeAlletto]

The only problem I have is it won't be live and I'm sure it'll be all cut up to fit in their time slot.

 

[Francois Caron]

It'll be presented live for us Canadians on TSN and RDS, but at 7:30 in the morning! Ugh!

 

[CharlesD]

Actually ABC will not have the World Feed (the local TV host's coverage with their own commentators) but will actually get the "Bernie Vision" main channel with the BV's English language comentators! SO not only will we not be subjected to clueless IRL flunkies Bob Jenkins and Jason Preistly, we will get all the in-car cameras and "special" camera angles usualy reserved for Bernie's paying customers!
I'll actually watch some of the IRL race tomorrow just so I won't miss any of the Monaco coverage
Even though I am a Ferrari fan, I do like JPM and am glad he is on pole tomorrow. A pole at Monaco is an impressive acheivement. I am surprised DC is 2nd rather than Kimmi though.

 

[MikeAlletto]

well its started...they've only got 2 hours set aside for it and they are already 15 minutes in and they haven't even started the race...

Hopefully they will only have 30 minutes of prerace...its too tempting to look online to see who won...

[edit]
ARGHHH...I missed the start! They were talking and had the clock at the top showing 3 minutes and some change. They didn't even do the formation lap, then all of a sudden they skip ahead to the start and I missed it!!!

 

[Peter Kim]

Yeah, Mike. Looks like this is going to be an abridged/MTV-edit version. BernieTV is trying to whet the appetite of the American viewers with what they think is captivating.

But it's Monaco so I have to watch anyway. It was nice to see Danny Sullivan again. Although it'd be better if he wasn't so ingratiating to Bernie.

You have a better reign on your temptations than I do...it's automatic for me to check f1-live.com every other Sunday.

 

[Michael St. Clair]

Super Channel (main digital channel) is good, but ABC blows. The commentary was better than the idiots last year, though.

 

[Peter Kim]

It was odd to hear Bernie openly root for Montoya. I would've thought he was a Ferrari man.
Last year at the USGP, when you had Jason Priestly and the rest of the cast forgetting driver names, it was painful to watch.
Michael...Red Bull is looking for a driver. Are you up for it?

 

[Michael St. Clair]

The current bigwigs at ABC don't 'get' Formula 1.
You show the formation lap. You show everything in realtime leading up to the start. It builds up the emotions, the excitement, for the start, which has become one of the two most exciting parts of the race.
And you show the qualifying, the other exciting part!
As for the Red Bull driver search, I think I need to lose a few pounds and get about 16 years younger to have a good shot of making it into the feeder formula series.

 

[JeremySt]

For the first 2 laps, I did not realize I was watching the race! It cut from stats and commentary to an instant, "WE ARE UNDERWAY!" I dont think they even showed all the lights coming up. The lack of a showing a formation lap just shows how clueless ABC is.

As for the race.. Coulthard should enjoy it while it lasts... it will be his only one this season.

 

[Seth Paxton]

Michael, you come over for the USGP don't you?
At least we finally have a US F1 again, where we can actually see the quallies and proper practice, beginning, etc.
BTW, did an F1 DVD come out for the 2001 season? I rather liked the little highlight package that the 2000 season DVD was.
I'd like to have a package like that for every season. Heck, I'd like it for IRL or at least the 500 too. It's easy to forget some of the little things that happened over the course of a season.
RB wrecked and was therefore unable to go stop DC from beating MS.
Best thing about Monoco, just watching that circuit. What an amazingly beautiful place to race cars.

 

[MikeAlletto]

Yeah I knew ABC's coverage was going to suck. But didn't know how much they would cut. No formation lap, no showing them on their practice laps before the race, no podium stuff. I like the speed channel announcers better than the ones they had. They had maybe an hour and 15 minutes or so of actual race...if that? The entire thing felt like I was watching a highlight show instead of the race. Will US GP be live or are they going to screw that one up and tape delay it just so they can edit it into their allowed time slot?

No wonder ABC has become the 3rd rate network...

I got the 2000 F1 dvd...good stuff! I kinda wish they'd put out a box set or something each year with all that extra footage, but show full races. That would be awesome.

 

[Peter Kim]

I kinda wish they'd put out a box set or something each year with all that extra footage, but show full races. That would be awesome.

Wow...I thought I was a die-hard F1 fan. I've recorded every F1 race over the last 6 years and I've yet to rewatch a single one.

 

[Michael St. Clair]

I haven't given up on attending F1 this year, but I may not make it. I'm going to an ALMS race this year, something I've wanted to do for a while. After that and a CART race or two, I may not be able to justify to the wife one more weekend away...especially if she is off work that weekend.
I have the F1 2001 DVD and like it, but I wish there was a way to watch it non-interactively.

 

[Peter Kim]

Michael...where did you buy the F1 2001 dvd?
Sounds like we both have got wonderful, understanding wives. My wife is actually a big fan of F1 (she shocked me yesterday when she complained why I was watching the 500 - she said that they're only going around in circles, not like the F1 circuits). Anyway, it's tough to get her hooked on ovals...she's Japanese and Senna's coursing through her veins.
I was actually the one who jettisoned our plans to attend the USGP. I thought that it would be too much for our infant son. She was gung-ho on getting a baby-sitter once we got to Indianapolis and enjoying the show. I'm a little worried about her sometimes.

I have the F1 2001 DVD and like it, but I wish there was a way to watch it non-interactively.

Huh? How is it interactive?

 

[Michael St. Clair]

Ooooops, I meant F1 2000 DVD, not 2001. My bad. :b
The interactive thing I don't like is that it keeps returning you to the sub-menu after watching a segment. 17 sections, one for each race, but each is divided into qualifying, pits, race, etc - several sections. I just want to put it in and press play.
There is another F1 DVD out, supposedly: 'The World's Greatest F1 Cars':
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...003086-0451069

 

[Rob Willey]

I thought ABC's coverage was horribly butchered, but that was tempered somewhat by some great shots I'm not used to seeing -- onboard with Michael Schumacher(!), different angles of the Monaco circuit than I've ever seen before, etc. Cool stuff!

Rob

 

[Seth Paxton]

Michael, there is another option to watch all of ONE TYPE of footage all in a row, but you lose the ability to jump back and forth between different "views".
Like you can just watch all the in car footage in a row. But for those familiar with the DVD you know that there aren't some views for different segments, so the in-car view might jump for segment 2 to segment 5.
Still it's a pretty fun DVD.
While we are on the subject of the USGP and not debating CART/IRL for once , for those of you who ARE interested in coming I highly recommend scalping tickets.
Tix the last 2 years have gone for BELOW FACE VALUE and have been plentiful all around the track. You will get in, you might get a really good seat, you won't have to pay some crazy price.
It might change this year, but do any of you really think F1's US popularity suddenly shot up? Of course not.
I just wonder how long before it gets dropped again. While the course is basically just on long high speed run into a passing corner (in terms of uniqueness) it still has that "American" feel to it and contrasts with the other courses enough to provide a unique challenge. It would be a shame to lose it.
Oh, and you guys know that they smoothed the track this year (thus the jump in 500 speeds this year). That should make for a very fast USGP too.

 

[CharlesD]

It was a good sign that F1 made the "BernieVision" feed available (it might even have been a "time buy") If F1 is ever to become more popular in the US (it will never be "big" here IMO) having quality coverage like that on OTA TV is going to be much more effective than the "World Feed" on Speed Vision/whatever at 6 am on a Sunday (although I would prefer both )
I've been to the USGP at Indy both years, and as Seth says there were plenty of very cheap tickets being scalped. We're keeping our seats (close to the start finish line) but might well scalp some good seats elsewhere & watch the middle half of the race from there.. the only problem would be the cooler
The race is a blast and Indy is a great facility, go to the race it's fun!

I just wonder how long before it gets dropped again.

I think the race will be there as long as Tony George is willing to pay Bernie for the privilege. Obviously he is not making money off it (yet) given the enormous initial outlay to create the F1 track and facilities. It's a fun event, and the "stadium nature" of Indy makes it very fan friendly. If F1 can only double or triple its TV ratings (not saying much given how microscopic they are) It would be enough to make the race profitable in the long run.
One of many differences between F1 and American style racing is F1's aloofness and secrecy (a side effect of the 100s of millions spent on technology development in F1) I think it would be a great idea if, for the USGP only, they open the pit lane for fan access, at least for limited periods. They could sell pitlane passes (not for "Paddock" access so the corporate big-wigs and celebrities don't have to rub shoulders with normal people ) for several times the ticket prices, give thousands of fans the rare privilege of walking a F1 pit lane, and generate a lot of money for Tony G. in the process