Sky Sports F1 goes from strength to strength

Despite fans uncertainty on the project before the F1 2012 season even started, Sky Sports F1 has so far delivered on their promise of constant and consistent improvement.

It may be my opinion and my observation, but through my eyes Sky have been improving their F1 coverage race by race. Each race weekend brings something new or improved and they are always happy to hear criticism from the fans.

(c) Sky Sports F1

After the uncertain reaction by UK fans when BSkyB took over the Formula 1 coverage, Sky Sports F1 were on the back foot before the season had even started no pressure then. However they have managed to compete with the BBC equally and have ironed out many small problems which they had at the start of the year.

It would be safe to say that, despite only being 7 races in to their first season, the Sky Sports F1 coverage progressed from a rough diamond to a polished off jewel.

Early on critics heavily compared the BBCF1 and Sky F1 coverage, emphasising in the first few races that the main problem was that the formers coverage had a more comfortable atmosphere due to the longevity of the relationship between the shows protagonists. Now, for me, I found this to be an unfair comparison. Sky had thrown a bunch of amazing talent together in a relatively short space of time so of course their relationships would not have the comfortableness and strength of those who have been friends for a while. However you could sense the slight lack of humour and banter between them in Australia, the relationships were not on the scale of the BBC's but they could build on that. Other than that though their debut was technically sound and surpassed the early expectations of many. 7 races on and the team have progressed enormously, looking more comfortable with each other, joking around and having a laugh with more ease. We have seen the teams genuine sense of humour and the additional closeness of Georgie, Ted, Natalie, Martin, Simon and the rest is now showing. Natalie and Georgie‘s close relationship is now evident on screen, particularly through the use of abbreviation to coin the nickname “Natz”.  

Another area where, at first, Sky caused concern was with the VT's (stands for Video Tape) and features. They were not as refined and theatrical as the BBC's but with the increased backing of Sky their features have gone from strength to strength, as the title highlights. The music now links well with the type of film and the special effects used are high tech. They now look refined, well made and have the added drama to make you keep watching. One weekend which stood out in that respect was Monaco. The team at Sky Sports really upped the ante and the features had both humour, relevant information and the well-made look that the BBC often have.  The opening of the race coverage was stunning, with wonderful shots of Monaco, the team and expensive cars which made viewers jealous beyond belief. There was also the ‘screwed up face’ moment when Ted got his Mclaren MP4-12C perilously close to the Monaco bollards.

Something us F1 fans can not complain about is the amount of things to watch, there is just so much choice. I absolutely love sitting down and watching the F1 past season reviews. I have missed so much of F1 due to my age and being able to watch the seasons back is an added bonus. The feeder series are a big part of the coverage too. Due to the lack of access us UK viewers had to GP2 I rarely saw a race, but now I have fell in love with the racing. It is less gimmicky to that of F1 with its DRS and KERS, a factor that I don't fault, but the drivers take more risks and the racing is more exciting in the dramatised way.

The F1 Show is something I watch every week. I occasionally miss it and have to watch it on record (another Sky bonus) but it is great to hear people’s views as guests on the show and watch the features. I also love the way fans can interact by getting tweets read out or asking drivers questions (thanks Sky for doing both of those for me) as it involves the fans and gives them access that was previously very limited. My favourite F1 show so far in 2012 has been the first one from the Monaco Grand Prix. It made me laugh, I was interested till the very end, the features were informative and it was very well made. Plus did you see the back drop from the Sky pod? Amazing.  The added money being put into the project means they have all the latest tech. I’m a self-confessed lover of the Sky Pad, who wouldn’t want one? The virtual car Ted uses for his Technical explanations is just genius and really gives the fans insight into the features of the car.

The team are also top class. Simon Lazenby is doing a great job after starting slightly out of his normal comfort zone. The commentary is really in depth and makes the race come alive. Even if there is a quiet spell there is always a topic to discuss and their voices complement each other well. Ever since I heard the demo at the Sky Sports F1 press day I knew it would be a great season for commentary. Natalie and Ted do their job beautifully too, with the laters "Notebook" after the race being full of gossip and opinion. Natalie does a great job and her shining personality is really highlighted by the drivers smiles when they talk to her and the like ability in the VT's. Ant and Georgie do some great analysing on the Sky Pad and Georgie is a great presenter. You can also tell that the team are learning from each other all the time which is refreshing.

The addition of Johnny Herbert has also been a big boost. Despite liking Damon Hill, if I had to choose I would pick Johnny. He has a better relationship his colleagues and he has more charisma. The knowledge he has is also extremely valuable for the viewers and it’s great to see him contracted for more races.

Obviously I'm not saying Sky is better than BBC. For me they cannot compete against each other, it’s an unfair comparison. BBC lost 10 of the races to fund something else so for those 10 races I don't have an option. For the 10 they do show I tend to mix up my viewing. Sky have the better commentary team in my opinion but I usually flick between them before the race or qualifying starts.