I don’t want anyone to think that I’m obsessed with Formula One television coverage, but when I saw this fantastic demo the other day, the only thing I thought was - Bernie needs to see this:
If you play the video and sit back, all you’ll see is a ride on board a VW Beetle around what I’m assuming is New York City. However, grab your mouse, click on the video and drag for a few seconds and then the thing really comes to life.
Okay, it was pretty much a given from the moment the BBC announced they’d acquired the rights to broadcast F1 in the UK, that HD was factored into the deal somewhere. But it’s nice to get some form of vague confirmation from the beeb anyhow.
Yesterday, the corporation’s head of HDTV Seetha Kumar posted a blog entry responding to consumer feedback regarding the channel’s recently launched Freesat service. One of the first questions answered was related to F1 and of this Seetha said:
Regarding F1, we hope that this will be available in HD as soon as possible within our new contract, but this depends on demand from other international broadcasters as well as from us.
So by the sounds of it, the BBC at least have the technology side of things ready and following the launch of Freesat, potentially everyone in the UK now has access to a subscription-free HD channel.
On this subject Dominic Wells of The Times recently noted that in addition to any planned HD transmissions, the BBC are also investigating the possibility of showing F1 races in 3D.
As very kindly pointed out by Kathi during live commenting earlier, FOM appeared to be trialling a new type of camera in the pitlane today.
Displayed without any fanfare (and completely missed by us) was this shot of Nico Rosberg refueling during qualifying this afternoon:
That seems like a pretty handy thing to have around, and you can easily see the engine venting is the toastiest area of the car, glowing white hot in the screenshot.
I’m surprised at how warm the tyres are in comparison to the engine, and it looks like the lower cross-section of the rear wing has taken a bit of a hammering from the engine exhaust.
Kathi has kindly uploaded a high quality clip if you fancy seeing it in action.
Rumour has it that the future of the British GP is under threat. Who knew? Anyhow apparently Bernie’s not happy about something or other and that means we have to sit through a whole heap of mudslinging as the BRDC and Ecclestone conduct their business via the press.
It doesn’t have to be this way though because I have the solution, actually I have two solutions, but more on that in a moment. First allow me to give a bit of background that led me to my conclusions.
The usual process of including guest posts on a blog is for the owner to ask some of their favourite writers to come up with a piece or two to be featured. As you well know, Sidepodcast likes to do things a different way. The Facebook Group has plenty of fascinating discussions going on, and we want to bring those to the main site. The idea is for you guys to write your opinions and entries over on the group, and then we pick the best ones for feature over here on Sidepodcast. Sort of self-selecting guest bloggers, if you will. If you want to get your name in bright lights, just join the group and get writing. We read everything and everyone will be considered.
The first blog entry comes courtosy of Dan Brunell, our guest blogger guinea pig, and focuses on the plight of Super Aguri and what it means for the future of F1.
As “me” and Christine have so eloquently pointed out, Super Aguri is in serious trouble. If they last the year it will be an achievement. If they get someone to buy them it would be a miracle. However, is their slow demise a sign of things to come in F1?
It’s an understatement to say that F1 is an expensive sport. Advertising arrangements with some teams are in the tens of millions of pounds. Manufacturers themselves pour in hundreds of millions of pounds. The strong economy of the last few years have allowed many auto manufacturers and companies to spend their efforts in F1. However, as the economy goes from bull to bear and wallets get tightened; their hefty spending on F1 might be one of the first things to go from the ledger sheet.
Welcome to F1 People, a Sidepodcast series giving you an insight into the names that have shaped Formula 1. This is by no means a definitive list. In this first series, we’ll feature seven significant figures, starting with Bernard Charles Ecclestone.
Bernie Ecclestone was born on October 28th 1930, in a small village in Suffolk, and brought up in Bexleyheath, Kent. He left school at 16 to work in the local gasworks as an assistant, so he could pursue his passion of motorcycles. After the end of World War II, Ecclestone began to trade motorcycle parts, and formed a dealership with Fred Compton.
He had a go at racing, taking part in the Formula 3 500cc series, but a couple of accidents made him rethink his plans, and he returned to the business world. He bought out Compton, and turned the motorcycle business into a growing emporium, including auctions, loans and property deals.
In 1957, Ecclestone became the manager of Stuart Lewis-Evans, a racing driver from Wales. Ecclestone bought the F1 team Connaught to give Lewis-Evans a drive, along with a couple of other promising drivers. He even had a go himself at the 1958 Monaco Grand Prix but did not get past qualifying. Bernie left the sport again, but returned in 1968 and 69 to manage Jochen Rindt in the Lotus. In 1972, he bought the Brabham team and put all his efforts into making it a winning constructor. The team cost him £100,000.
He gradually made Brabham more and more competitive through the 1970s and well into the 1980s, but by then, other concerns were taking up his attention. Ecclestone founded the FOCA, the Formula One Constructors Association in 1974, which he became chief executive of in 1978. His right hand man and legal advisor, was Max Mosley. The FOCA’s main purpose was to negotiate better terms for the teams than the FISA (the then motorsport division of the FIA) were offering. After furious battles were fought throughout the decade, for a different entry system, TV rights, and prize money, Ecclestone eventually won and gained control with the first Concorde Agreement. TV revenue would be split three ways, 47% to the teams, 30% to the FIA and 23% to FOPA – being Formula One Promotions and Administration, another invention of Bernie’s.
When the new Concorde Agreement came into force in 1997, Ecclestone had shuffled his companies around to create Formula One Management, FOM, and had secured a deal with the FIA to gather all commercial rights to the sport, and then dish out the prizes. The teams were initially upset at this, losing out on their rights, and some refused to sign the Agreement. McLaren, Williams and Tyrell held out and eventually the deal was shortened to only ten years rather than 15.
In 1999, Bernie underwent heart surgery, but continued to do business, buying and selling shares in his companies, and he was soon fit again.
He is married to Slavica Ecclestone, and they have two daughters Tamara and Petra. Tamara Ecclestone has made inroads into a media career, working for an F1 magazine, and presenting the Red Bull Air Race for Channel 4. Despite living in a house full of women, Bernie stirred up controversy in 2005 by making disparaging comments about women in the sport, specifically Champ Cars Danica Patrick, intimating their place should be in the kitchen. This was only days before the US Grand Prix spectacle of that year, and was thus a particularly low moment for both Bernie and the sport.
Ecclestone’s interests don’t lie purely in motorsport though. In September this year, it was announced that he had teamed with Flavio Briatore to purchase football team Queens Park Rangers. We have yet to see whether they will be able to turn the teams fortunes around.
Bernie is 77 years old now, worth £2,250 million, in charge of one of the richest and most global sports today and nothing seems to be slowing him down.
That’s it, our first biography is complete. Join me tomorrow when we’ll look at our next significant individual.
Theme music: Natives of the New Dawn, People.
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