Last grand prix on ITV

[ShiftingGears]

They've done a good job

[71minus2]

not really. the adverts have ruined it and caused us to miss a lot of the action, James Allen is an embarrassment. BBC coverage will be a lot better.

[V12]

ITV's best coverage was probably the 1997 Australian Grand Prix. And that pretty much says it all really.

[BDunnell]

The ITV coverage has been basically competent, but no more. As ever when ITV lose the rights to the BBC, no-one will be sorry except those who lose their jobs. No matter how hard it tries — too hard, a lot of the time — ITV just isn't seen as the natural home of sport on UK television and it doesn't deserve to be. Deep down, I reckon it knows it, too, no matter how many rights it buys in at once.

[ShiftingGears]

not really. the adverts have ruined it and caused us to miss a lot of the action, James Allen is an embarrassment. BBC coverage will be a lot better.

I think most of the time he's pretty good. The switch from ITV to BBC won't make any difference here as far as ads are concerned, unfortunately.

[woody2goody]

I started watching Formula One in 1996, so pretty much all I've known is the ITV coverage. I have to say that Martin Brundle single-handedly raised the level of the coverage. Without his insights I would probably not have bothered with 2002 and 2004 It was great hearing the legendary Murray Walker for 5 years before 2002, and then came James Allen.

I think Allen is a clever man and he is so enthusiastic it's untrue. However he made a lot of mistakes, especially with regards to driver identity, which really you should never make. It's clear enough who's driving which car unless it's a very long shot, and even then you have some idea who it is. Overall he wasn't quite as bad as many people said, but he did infuriate me at times. He has seemed to improve over the last few races however. I wouldn't mind if he went to the BBC for 2009 but it'd be nice if someone else has a try.

As for the presenters, Jim Rosenthal was ok, but didn't have the raw F1 knowledge. Steve Rider was very good but I think he got saddled with some of the blame for the Hamilton-bias when it wasn't really his fault. I think he's just genuinely excited that Lewis is at the front.

Speaking of the devil, the Hamilton-driven coverage over the last couple of years has infuriated me somewhat. It gets to the point during the races where James Allen almost has to introduce a guy like Giancarlo Fisichella because he is almost never mentioned.

In fact most of the guys near the top 10 are never mentioned, like Jarno Trulli and Nelson Piquet. I hope the BBC can cover EVERY team and driver and not just the Brits. As proper F1 fans and not bandwagon-jumpers, we'd probably like to know one fact about every driver on the grid than 20 about Lewis Hamilton before every race. I like Hamilton but they should know when to stop.

A big talking point was the advert breaks during races. Yes, they've always been there but they used to be around 30 seconds before 2006-7 when they turned into fully fledged advert breaks. During a major sporting event. Enough said. I think they should run the Brazilian GP with no damned adverts and let us watch the title decider all the way through.

For those of you who know what I'm talking about, I feel like I did when Channel 4 lost Test Match Cricket to Sky Sports. I feel ITV moved F1 broadcasting forward a long way, and delivered a usually highly polished presentation, with a few niggles thrown in here and there.

It'll be a sad occasion for me because most of my F1 life I have known the ITV coverage, but I'm looking forward to new beginnings and a fresh approach next year. I hope the BBC don't regress the coverage by sticking a few people in a studio.

[Valve Bounce]

Thank God!! Let's hope and look forward to uninterrupted race broadcasts - no advert breaks.

[ShiftingGears]

Thank God!! Let's hope and look forward to uninterrupted race broadcasts - no advert breaks.

...For the BBC.

Channel Ten is still going to have to pay the bills.

[Valve Bounce]

...For the BBC.

Channel Ten is still going to have to pay the bills.

That's OK!! Let's hope we get better webcast next year from the Beeb!! Bugger Channel 10!

[Somebody]

That's OK!! Let's hope we get better webcast next year from the Beeb!! Bugger Channel 10!

You're not going to get it unless you find a UK proxy server. The Beeb GeoIP-locks their live webcasts.