Originally Posted By: gofast182
Well it wasn't a great race but it wasn't a bad one, either. The most striking thing (in a good way) to me was how much the world feed didn't waste time on the big nothingburger that was the top 8. Instead it concentrated on some great battles in the midfield: ALO & MAS, GRO & STR, MAG & WEH. Goes to show it's every bit as much about the quality of racing as it is heritage teams and big name drivers. After Brazil we knew ALO would be utterly determined not to look at the back of that Williams anymore. Someone else pointed out it was refreshing to see GRO battle it out wheel-to-wheel, we usually see his teammate doing more of that. Speaking of, respectable drive for MAG after that first lap spin.
Over the years I have developed not just a familiarity with but an affection for our U.S. NBCSN broadcast crew. Leigh Diffey is a skilled broadcaster who can call numerous sports and make them exciting, though he clearly had a passion for F1. David Hobbs' irreverent and sometimes dry humor coupled with decades of racing experience made him an absolute treat to listen to. Steve Matchett's precise and articulate explanations helped make the complex understandable. Then there's Will Buxton whose energy and passion for F1 is second-to-none. His ability to ask the right questions was uncanny. As a matter of fact, those questions and answers were often recycled by others in the motorsports media and became the headlines we saw on racer.com, motorsport.com, and others. It was with sadness that I watched them sign off yesterday. But it didn't have to be that way. While there are other complications involved, it boils down to this: Liberty Media touts their goal of wanting to enhance the fan experience and grow the sport in the U.S. What they did is allow a respected and proven broadcast team (who has been growing its audience) to slip away while sending coverage to a network on an alarming downward trajectory (ESPN) with no dedicated US broadcast team. Sheer idiocy on Liberty Media's part.
Nice tribute to NBCSN's F1 broadcast team. NBC had the good sense to move them intact from Speed Channel when it became Fox Sports 1. Whoever and Whatever the F1 coverage becomes next year has a challenging legacy to live up to. I'm 80% expecting to be disappointed.
Well it wasn't a great race but it wasn't a bad one, either. The most striking thing (in a good way) to me was how much the world feed didn't waste time on the big nothingburger that was the top 8. Instead it concentrated on some great battles in the midfield: ALO & MAS, GRO & STR, MAG & WEH. Goes to show it's every bit as much about the quality of racing as it is heritage teams and big name drivers. After Brazil we knew ALO would be utterly determined not to look at the back of that Williams anymore. Someone else pointed out it was refreshing to see GRO battle it out wheel-to-wheel, we usually see his teammate doing more of that. Speaking of, respectable drive for MAG after that first lap spin.
Over the years I have developed not just a familiarity with but an affection for our U.S. NBCSN broadcast crew. Leigh Diffey is a skilled broadcaster who can call numerous sports and make them exciting, though he clearly had a passion for F1. David Hobbs' irreverent and sometimes dry humor coupled with decades of racing experience made him an absolute treat to listen to. Steve Matchett's precise and articulate explanations helped make the complex understandable. Then there's Will Buxton whose energy and passion for F1 is second-to-none. His ability to ask the right questions was uncanny. As a matter of fact, those questions and answers were often recycled by others in the motorsports media and became the headlines we saw on racer.com, motorsport.com, and others. It was with sadness that I watched them sign off yesterday. But it didn't have to be that way. While there are other complications involved, it boils down to this: Liberty Media touts their goal of wanting to enhance the fan experience and grow the sport in the U.S. What they did is allow a respected and proven broadcast team (who has been growing its audience) to slip away while sending coverage to a network on an alarming downward trajectory (ESPN) with no dedicated US broadcast team. Sheer idiocy on Liberty Media's part.
Nice tribute to NBCSN's F1 broadcast team. NBC had the good sense to move them intact from Speed Channel when it became Fox Sports 1. Whoever and Whatever the F1 coverage becomes next year has a challenging legacy to live up to. I'm 80% expecting to be disappointed.
