On Thursday I was fortunate enough to attend my third Sky Sports F1 press day.
In 2012, the first media event for the dedicated channel took place at the swanky Grosvenor House Hotel in London. Last year’s press day was at the incredible Royal Automobile Club in Pall Mall. This year, however, it was very, very different.
I took the train from sleepy Norfolk down to London on Thursday morning before a rather long tube journey to Osterley, where I met up with Sarah from PitStopRadio – it turned out we were in the same tube carriage, although I didn’t realise it at all (I was just trying to not fall over, as I was standing up the whole way!)
We then hopped on a shuttle bus to Sky studios, the location for this year’s event. We met up with Daniel Puddicombe, a friend and up and coming motoring writer, and waited in the lobby for the rest of the invited media – including Craig Norman and Joe Diamond from Badger GP, and Luke Smith from Richland F1/NBC Sports – to arrive.
During the wait, we were given our very own Ted’s Notebook. I’m a big fan of Ted Kravitz and his Notebooks – which are TV gold – so the gift was a nice touch and will certainly come in handy this season.
Alison, PR Manager at Sky Sports, had given very little away about what we would be doing, so I didn’t really know what to expect. Earlier in the morning, it had been announced that Bruno Senna would join the team for seven races in 2014. The news came as a surprise to me but I feel the former Williams and Lotus driver will be a good addition to their coverage.
After a slight delay, we headed across the Sky studios site and found the Sky Sports F1 team in the baking hot studio seven. They were filming their new season opening feature and it involved plenty of paint. And no, I’m not joking.
Rather than the more formal round table discussions, we were exclusively behind the scenes as the team filmed a new feature - which you will get to see over the Australian Grand Prix weekend. It was a long day for those involved and it was incredible to see the amount of time and work that goes into a piece that will last just a handful of minutes.
I won’t give too much away but the afternoon basically consisted of watching David Croft, Natalie Pinkham - who I saw a few days earlier at her documentary screening, Martin Brundle, Damon Hill, Johnny Herbert, Anthony Davidson and Simon Lazenby cover each other in paint and show off their artistic skills on a giant white wall. The background was eventually covered in words and drawings related to the world of F1, along with Lazenby’s attempt at da Vinci’s Mona Lisa.
It was completely different to the previous two press days but it was great to take a look at how the features that we see on TV are made. Each line was often repeated three or four times. The scene where Herbert and Croft had to cover Lazenby in paint was particularly amusing, and was even more so when they were told they had to do it again.
However, on the second attempt Crofty and Herbert were a bit too over-enthusiastic and ended up splattering the camera with red paint (cue a frantic flurry of activity to clean the expensive piece of kit) as well as shoes and coats that were positioned a good few metres away.
The Sky Sports F1 team were in good spirits after the winter break, with plenty of joking around and lots of banter. They were distracting each other during filming – at one point, Simon was told off by the director when it was actually Crofty who was attempting to put off Johnny – and getting told off for flicking someone with paint when they were meant to be free of the stuff. It was slightly chaotic at times, but all good fun.
During breaks between recording the new feature, we were able to chat to the team and hear their views on the new season. Herbert believes Lewis Hamilton will win the championship this year and Brundle thinks the Mercedes-powered cars will dominate the opening few races.
The former McLaren and Benetton driver also shared his views on the ridiculous double points rule. "I’m not as hung up on it as some people," he said. "It isn’t spoiling my life. I don’t like it as it just smacks of being a random compromise. If you are going to restructure F1, it should be a complete thought process.
"I almost imaging that was on the end of an agenda between the F1 teams and Bernie. The first 75% of the day would have been on money and then, there would have been a load of things they had to rush through at the end of the day before they left and that was one of them. Bernie wanted three, they wanted none and they agreed on one, it was a compromise."
He also isn’t a fan of the new look to F1 this year and expects the rules to change in 2015 to make the aesthetics of the car more attractive. "Side view, I think they look really nice, with your eyes squinted and in the dark," he joked. "From the front, they just look ridiculous, frankly. I’m sort of angry with them; because I think some of them knew and highlighted the fact.
"They knew, because obviously they are always going to go for performance over aesthetics. They just look stupid and it annoys me because a Formula 1 car should look as beautiful as possible. You can’t forget what you know so they are going to end up with all the little strakes, turns and slots and all that. You can’t blame the teams for that, they are not going to go ‘yeah, that has a bit more downforce in the windtunnel but I don’t like the look of it so I won’t run it.’ But those noses are just too much."
He feels the experienced drivers will benefit most from the new rules. "The thinking driver," he said when asked which drivers the regulations changes will favour. "One of the big stories of this year for me that I’m going to cover on Sky Sports F1 is the young driver, what about the likes of Magnussen, Kvyat and Ricciardo moving up to Red Bull.
"Will they be hanging on to make more of them early on or will the old, wise heads rule the roost. I have got a feeling it is about experience this year, as the cars will be quite hard to drive from time to time in wet conditions, slippery conditions, when the tyres are not up to temperature.
"The first half of the season is going to be all about the car and I’m hoping the second half will be all about the driver – which is what it need to be really, supported by the car. But from the beginning it is all going to be about the cars."
Herbert and Brundle are both looking forward to seeing how Kevin Magnussen can do in his rookie season at McLaren. Could he win a race? "I think there is a chance, if the car is good enough,” Herbert said. "The way he has adapted has been, for me, not a surprise."
The three-time F1 race winner believes Williams could be the dark horse of 2014. The Grove-based outfit revealed its new Martini livery – thanks to the brand becoming the team’s title sponsor – just prior to the Sky press day.
It was another great event and much more relaxed in comparison to the previous press day formats. It is always nice to see the team and to remind them of who I am. The day, overall, was not what I expected but it was good fun and I can’t wait to see the feature when it airs in their Australian Grand Prix coverage.
Along with the Bruno Senna announcement, Sky Sports recently confirmed that The F1 Show will be moving to a new studio with a live audience, meaning you can be part of the programme. Plus, the channel will broadcast a classic F1 race every night at 9pm between March 7th and the end of December.
I’d like to thank Alison from Sky, once again for inviting me to the media day, it was a fantastic and hilarious afternoon and I'm looking forward to seeing the end product after the many hours of filming in that baking hot studio.
For a full album of pictures, go here.
I took the train from sleepy Norfolk down to London on Thursday morning before a rather long tube journey to Osterley, where I met up with Sarah from PitStopRadio – it turned out we were in the same tube carriage, although I didn’t realise it at all (I was just trying to not fall over, as I was standing up the whole way!)
We then hopped on a shuttle bus to Sky studios, the location for this year’s event. We met up with Daniel Puddicombe, a friend and up and coming motoring writer, and waited in the lobby for the rest of the invited media – including Craig Norman and Joe Diamond from Badger GP, and Luke Smith from Richland F1/NBC Sports – to arrive.
During the wait, we were given our very own Ted’s Notebook. I’m a big fan of Ted Kravitz and his Notebooks – which are TV gold – so the gift was a nice touch and will certainly come in handy this season. Alison, PR Manager at Sky Sports, had given very little away about what we would be doing, so I didn’t really know what to expect. Earlier in the morning, it had been announced that Bruno Senna would join the team for seven races in 2014. The news came as a surprise to me but I feel the former Williams and Lotus driver will be a good addition to their coverage.
After a slight delay, we headed across the Sky studios site and found the Sky Sports F1 team in the baking hot studio seven. They were filming their new season opening feature and it involved plenty of paint. And no, I’m not joking.
Rather than the more formal round table discussions, we were exclusively behind the scenes as the team filmed a new feature - which you will get to see over the Australian Grand Prix weekend. It was a long day for those involved and it was incredible to see the amount of time and work that goes into a piece that will last just a handful of minutes.
I won’t give too much away but the afternoon basically consisted of watching David Croft, Natalie Pinkham - who I saw a few days earlier at her documentary screening, Martin Brundle, Damon Hill, Johnny Herbert, Anthony Davidson and Simon Lazenby cover each other in paint and show off their artistic skills on a giant white wall. The background was eventually covered in words and drawings related to the world of F1, along with Lazenby’s attempt at da Vinci’s Mona Lisa.
 |
| © Ben Radford for Sky Sports |
It was completely different to the previous two press days but it was great to take a look at how the features that we see on TV are made. Each line was often repeated three or four times. The scene where Herbert and Croft had to cover Lazenby in paint was particularly amusing, and was even more so when they were told they had to do it again.
However, on the second attempt Crofty and Herbert were a bit too over-enthusiastic and ended up splattering the camera with red paint (cue a frantic flurry of activity to clean the expensive piece of kit) as well as shoes and coats that were positioned a good few metres away.
The Sky Sports F1 team were in good spirits after the winter break, with plenty of joking around and lots of banter. They were distracting each other during filming – at one point, Simon was told off by the director when it was actually Crofty who was attempting to put off Johnny – and getting told off for flicking someone with paint when they were meant to be free of the stuff. It was slightly chaotic at times, but all good fun.
During breaks between recording the new feature, we were able to chat to the team and hear their views on the new season. Herbert believes Lewis Hamilton will win the championship this year and Brundle thinks the Mercedes-powered cars will dominate the opening few races.
The former McLaren and Benetton driver also shared his views on the ridiculous double points rule. "I’m not as hung up on it as some people," he said. "It isn’t spoiling my life. I don’t like it as it just smacks of being a random compromise. If you are going to restructure F1, it should be a complete thought process.
"I almost imaging that was on the end of an agenda between the F1 teams and Bernie. The first 75% of the day would have been on money and then, there would have been a load of things they had to rush through at the end of the day before they left and that was one of them. Bernie wanted three, they wanted none and they agreed on one, it was a compromise."
 |
| © Ben Radford for Sky Sports |
He also isn’t a fan of the new look to F1 this year and expects the rules to change in 2015 to make the aesthetics of the car more attractive. "Side view, I think they look really nice, with your eyes squinted and in the dark," he joked. "From the front, they just look ridiculous, frankly. I’m sort of angry with them; because I think some of them knew and highlighted the fact.
"They knew, because obviously they are always going to go for performance over aesthetics. They just look stupid and it annoys me because a Formula 1 car should look as beautiful as possible. You can’t forget what you know so they are going to end up with all the little strakes, turns and slots and all that. You can’t blame the teams for that, they are not going to go ‘yeah, that has a bit more downforce in the windtunnel but I don’t like the look of it so I won’t run it.’ But those noses are just too much."
He feels the experienced drivers will benefit most from the new rules. "The thinking driver," he said when asked which drivers the regulations changes will favour. "One of the big stories of this year for me that I’m going to cover on Sky Sports F1 is the young driver, what about the likes of Magnussen, Kvyat and Ricciardo moving up to Red Bull.
"Will they be hanging on to make more of them early on or will the old, wise heads rule the roost. I have got a feeling it is about experience this year, as the cars will be quite hard to drive from time to time in wet conditions, slippery conditions, when the tyres are not up to temperature.
"The first half of the season is going to be all about the car and I’m hoping the second half will be all about the driver – which is what it need to be really, supported by the car. But from the beginning it is all going to be about the cars."
 |
| © Ben Radford for Sky Sports |
The three-time F1 race winner believes Williams could be the dark horse of 2014. The Grove-based outfit revealed its new Martini livery – thanks to the brand becoming the team’s title sponsor – just prior to the Sky press day.
It was another great event and much more relaxed in comparison to the previous press day formats. It is always nice to see the team and to remind them of who I am. The day, overall, was not what I expected but it was good fun and I can’t wait to see the feature when it airs in their Australian Grand Prix coverage.
Along with the Bruno Senna announcement, Sky Sports recently confirmed that The F1 Show will be moving to a new studio with a live audience, meaning you can be part of the programme. Plus, the channel will broadcast a classic F1 race every night at 9pm between March 7th and the end of December.
I’d like to thank Alison from Sky, once again for inviting me to the media day, it was a fantastic and hilarious afternoon and I'm looking forward to seeing the end product after the many hours of filming in that baking hot studio.
For a full album of pictures, go here.
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