I don't know the whole broadcast teams names but they do talk too high energy for me. I wonder why they complain about the engines not sounding loud etc as they constatalk over all the engine sounds anyhow. In one part of Qualifying I was trying to enjoy the lap and it felt like someone sitting next to you and they are on the phone talking too loud.
Hopefully I will learn to not hear them and much soon.
Hope they get whatever their issue with the feed sorted before the race starts. Not a fan of that "list" show.
EDIT: Fixed it a 12:51.. Yay!
Just finished watching and I tried both the Roku app version and the ESPN2 version recorded by my DVR. I like the commentary team they've got and while I really miss Will Buxton's high-energy dash down the grid, they seemed to get some better interviews - or at least better access to interviewees. NBC Sports cutting to commercials during the race never really bothered me because when the break was over they were aware of what had been missed so they'd do their own replay, talk about what happened, or play the "off-line radio transmission". This, on the other hand, is absolutely infuriating -- obviously the Sky crew has no idea what ESPN is doing with the feed so whatever might have happened during commercials is just lost. The streaming replay just cuts out, plays a commercial, and cuts back in without even the benefit of the side-by-side display.
Oh, and wtf, Haas? They were looking so good before they lost their nuts.
In reply to wae :
I gave up for that reason and turned it off and went to bed. Considering that relatively nothing was happening on the track, the action happened during the side by sides. And because the commentary kept going during the side by sides there was no reason for that crew to repeat it for our benefit.
I also don't believe on the re-broadcast it will be any different. ESPN popped in the commercials in the middle of the night. If they didn't care then they are not going to have someone this morning put them in different spots in real time using the raw feed.
One thing I didn't like was on the pre-race grid talking to Prost and how something should be done with Haas and way they've "gamed" the system. You clowns set the rules down, someone wiggled their ways through your rules and you don't like it. The fact that the guy with the microphone talking to Prost agreed (and was the one that brought it up) was a big turn off.
I'll probably give ESPN one for chance. If it is more of the same, I don't see the point. About then only way they could fix the side by side would be to close caption the action during the commercials. At least we could read what is going on.
Oh, Haas. In such an amazing place to start the season, with huge relative points, and the team lets itself down. That sucked.
And just as bad, their issues handed the race to Vettel- that was totally a luck win. Vettel was going to be third at best until he could pit under the virtual safety car, and was able to go "race" speed in the pits. From a 10 second deficit to a 2 second lead because of the pits- that sucks.
I don't understand the beef that Prost has with Haas. Prost was a non works team, too, for many years. IMHO, Haas is showing the mid-pack teams a better way to manage their money to be competitive with the rest of the field. It's nice to see some creativity in this system, even if the creativity is how the team is run and managed.
So much hope for Honda, but same result.
I watched it on ESPN live. It’s really great to be able to see the race without needing cable subscription but unfortunately they threw in advert at inconvenient points. I never saw the Sirotkin crash I never saw the second Hass pull over and I missed the restart after the safety car because of outfit.
Real shame about the result. Kimi had the pace over Seb all weekend and did not deserve to finish third behind both cars. I’m actually OK with anybody winning, just I feel we were robbed of a race.. I would rather see Lewis prevail over Sebastien over the course of the year but I would rather see him win the WDC by one point then a walk over.
Echoing what others have said about ESPN and their random commercial placement. Yes, the Sky commentators are very good, but I'm one of those weirdos who also liked the NBC crew, and at least with them we got normal commercial breaks, instead of just cutting out in mid-sentence. The split-screen thing helps, but overall, the whole thing just feels like ESPN cutting every possible corner to do this as cheaply as possible.
As for the race, hey, faster cars can't pass slower cars because of dirty air! That's new!!! 
The commercials are a pain in the ass. At least here they do a split screen. We are used to it in Canada, because TSN has picked up the BBC broadcast for decades before Sky.
Streetwiseguy said:The commercials are a pain in the ass. At least here they do a split screen. We are used to it in Canada, because TSN has picked up the BBC broadcast for decades before Sky.
We got the split screen, too, at least for most of the breaks. Still doesn't do much good when you're watching Grosjean slowly roll to a stop with no explanation while you listen to Papa John talk about "better ingredients." And by the time they got back, the broadcast team had moved on, so we never really got an explanation.
Tom_Spangler said:Streetwiseguy said:The commercials are a pain in the ass. At least here they do a split screen. We are used to it in Canada, because TSN has picked up the BBC broadcast for decades before Sky.
We got the split screen, too, at least for most of the breaks. Still doesn't do much good when you're watching Grosjean slowly roll to a stop with no explanation while you listen to Papa John talk about "better ingredients." And by the time they got back, the broadcast team had moved on, so we never really got an explanation.
I hear you...
So, we now know that the VSC is a bad joke, and that maybe McLaren has almost as good a chassis as Red Bull. Almost. Ferrari has the fastest race pace and Hamilton is the fastest driver. It may also be possible that Ferrari may want to back Kimi as, even though Vettel won, through luck, it was Kimi who had the pace all weekend. And what is it with Vettel's 30's Germany haircut?
In reply to Tom_Spangler :
Indycar fixed that.
In reply to alfadriver :
What's the issue Prost has with Haas? I haven't been following F1 too closely the last few years, so I'm out of the loop, but am trying to get back into it this year and stayed up for the race last night. Very disappointing result for Haas and I agree it sucked seeing Vettle win that way. I was hoping Kimi could challenge Hamilton at the end, looked like he had the pace early on.
http://www.racer.com/f1/item/148316-hamilton-backed-off-to-protect-engine
This right here is one of the many reasons modern motorsports is killing itself, in my opinion. This is wrong and should be something a race driver does not concern himself with. At a time when you could maybe push and attack for a win, the best decision is to back off? Not in my book. It could have been an epic battle for the lead, but F1's stupid engine rules got in the way. I'm sure the fine folks over at Haas are much smarter than I am and have a much better understanding of the situation they were put in, but why not slowly bring the cars back to the pits and at least try to repair the problem instead of just rolling to a stop on the track? Didn't seem to be in any immediate danger as far as I could tell. Hell, I've seen cars ride around on 3 wheels before, not that it would have come to that. Just seems like they gave up too easily.
Several responses:
Vettel has been getting very bad hair advice, or Germany is starting a new trend almost as alarming as their orange leather seats.
Prost is pissed, because the Haas is apparently almost a direct copy of last years Ferrari. They buy all the mechanical components from F anyway, so they just photocopied the aero and called it a good'un. Not against the rules, at all. I've presumed for years that the Toro Rosso is basically last years Red Bull, and I've never heard any whining about that.
Hamilton backing off has more to do with modern aero than anything else. That track is next to impossible to pass, so why risk parts and tires? Toto said after that he was in danger of killing the tires before the checkers...Might have been bullE36 M3, but wasted effort is still wasted effort.
It's not as if Hamilton didn't try to pass Vettel- it's just that at that relative pace difference, you can't on that track. So why not back off and let things live? Remember, Lewis messed up a corner as he was trying really hard to be close going into DRS zone.
I wouldn't say the VSC sucks, but maybe all they need to do is close the pits unless you have real damage. That would actually freeze the track without changes.
alfadriver said:I wouldn't say the VSC sucks, but maybe all they need to do is close the pits unless you have real damage. That would actually freeze the track without changes.
But is this situation really any different than a guy short pitting in Indycar or Cup, and getting caught out by an untimely caution? Seb got rewarded for going long. I think it is just an odd situation for F1, so it draws our notice.
Overall I’m happy with the ESPN broadcasts, although the commercials very poorly timed.
VSC sucks, but it’s no fault of Vettel to take advantage of how the rule is written. Hamilton would have done the exact same thing if he was in that spot.
Im gutted for the Haas team. What a stellar start to the season to be thrown away with identical pit stop errors. What a shame.
And look at Mclaren! P5 for Alonso AND fending off Max at the same time. That’s very encouraging for them. They’ll probably be laughing all the way back to England seeing the Honda powered cars at the bottom.
Streetwiseguy said:alfadriver said:I wouldn't say the VSC sucks, but maybe all they need to do is close the pits unless you have real damage. That would actually freeze the track without changes.
But is this situation really any different than a guy short pitting in Indycar or Cup, and getting caught out by an untimely caution? Seb got rewarded for going long. I think it is just an odd situation for F1, so it draws our notice.
It is different, because in both Cup and Indycar, the pits are closed for a few laps. The intent of the VSC is to freeze the field as it is, not a real SC where the intent is to pile everyone up behind it. So closing the pits for until there's a real SC makes sense.
In reply to ncjay :
If there is a known problem with the car that may cause a part to separate from the car or cause the driver to lose control of the car (as in the steering wheel lock comes loose) then the car must be pulled over and stopped. There were a few years where guys tried to get back and lost the wheel I think in two races the wheel almost hit someone. So it became a hard safety rule for loose wheel nuts.
I think the hair cuts were for a charity most of the drivers got them. Even Will Buxton had it.
VSC is fine. Mercedes just doesn't seem to be as flexible in race strategy. Not sure of the gaps. But the second I knew Vettel was pitting I would have told Hamilton, "We know something you don't, Box Box Box now." Gave him a smidge more front wing and fresh tires.
It was a fun race despite the broadcast issues, which are many and suck.
Kimi never gets a break.
Advan046 said:VSC is fine. Mercedes just doesn't seem to be as flexible in race strategy. Not sure of the gaps. But the second I knew Vettel was pitting I would have told Hamilton, "We know something you don't, Box Box Box now." Gave him a smidge more front wing and fresh tires.
It was a fun race despite the broadcast issues, which are many and suck.
Kimi never gets a break.
How would that have helped? Instead of just behind Vettel, he would have been 12 seconds behind him, at least. Vettel didn't pit because there was not a clear spot for him to come out. It wasn't because he wanted to- Hamilton was closing on him pretty quickly, and Vettel risked losing 3rd. Then the VSC gave Vettel a gift.
In reply to alfadriver :
Well as of this morning I read that Hamilton should have made a bigger gap from Vettel before his first pitstop and closed the gap tighter after. He didn't due to team guidance. That would have made it a solid win for Hamilton.
But given that first mistake. When the VSC came on I was aware of the gaps as they were last displayed. I need to rewatch to remember the numbers. It seemed to me that vettel would be able to pit under VSC and stay ahead. So Hamilton will be second period. I was surprised it was so close. The other risk was Kimi may pit and have a run at Hamilton. Plus historically Hamilton goes slower that everyone during VSCs. He always lost out to Rosberg during VSC. So knowing Hamilton's stats I would want to give him tools to get back to first.
Th main goal for pitting Hamilton would be to set him up to follow and pass. If that meant more front wing and or tire pressure change.
I DVRed the race and watched it yesterday morning. I ended up just fast forwarding through the commercials because they were so numerous and ill-placed. Really takes away from the viewing experience.
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