[Silent Bob]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/7139910.stm

[jas]

So the new season kicks off next weekend. Who`s going to win ? A few new races on the calendar this year. I`m looking forward to the night race in Singapore, should be interesting, especially if it rains.

Looking forward to seeing how Nelson Piquet Jr does and it`s nice to see Adrian Sutil back. I hope Force India do well too

[Qexit]

If it's raining, then I hope they will have the good sense to postpone or cancel the race. It's going to be dangerous enough racing under floodlights.

[jas]

I cant see them postpoing or cancelling thier first night race, there would be too much to lose for the FIA. They may delay the start for a while but I think it would go ahead eventually

[Silent Bob]

Spoiler

Well that was a walk in the park for Lewis and a very interesting race to watch behind him

[jas]

It wasnt a bad first race, was nice to have the commentary not peppered with hamilton every other word. Good win for Lewis though but I dont see the rest of the season being so easy. Good showing from Bourdais until his engine let go. 2 ferarri engine failures in 1 race, someone back at maranello will be getting a kicking. Poor Jenson. Nice big shunt for DC too.

[Silent Bob]

Great comments regarding Massa from DC live on air. Made me laugh. Unless you saw it live or taped it you won't have heard them. "...I'll knock three colours of shit out of the little bastard".

[Qexit]

Hehe, I didn't quite hear what DC said when it went out live, so thanks for posting the quote I know he was 'really upset' and did hear the profuse apologies from the ITV presenters. Nice to know what he actually said at the time

It was certainly an entertaining race. Highlight for me being when Kovaleinin (Sp) passed Alonso in the closing laps. Low point, when Alonso passed him back a few hundred yards further along the track.

It should certainly be an interesting season to watch. Unfortunately, it looks like the pre and post race coverage is going to be a continuation of last year's 'Lewis Hamilton Show' as far as ITV are concerned. So I won't be bothering with either throughout the season.

[jas]

Another thing I noticed, in the intro to the prog they show all the brit drivers once but show hamilton twice!, hmmm.

They should also have FIA sanctioned MMA to sort out disputes, put Massa and DC in an octagon and let them go at each other. I`d put money on DC and his impact absorbing square head

[Silent Bob]

Apart from uninterrupted coverage (a big plus) the BBC need to keep to ITVs model and show ALL races/qualifying without question - or this could be a step backwards.

--------------------------------------------

Lewis Hamilton on the podium; Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari leads Lewis Hamilton's McLaren
Hamilton's battle with Ferrari will be on the BBC from next year
The BBC has secured the television rights to show Formula One in the UK from the 2009 season.

The five-year deal for an undisclosed fee marks F1's return to BBC screens 12 years after it switched to ITV.

The contract covers all platforms and will see F1 broadcast on the BBC Sport website, as well as on TV and radio.

F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone said he was "delighted", adding: "The BBC has some innovative ideas to consolidate and expand our UK fan base."

Among the new developments will be live video coverage of F1 on the BBC Sport website.

Asked why he had decided to split with ITV, Ecclestone said: "It's not that we are unhappy with ITV but I think maybe they will have their hands full with other things and maybe the BBC can service us a bit better.


Sport Editors' Blog
We're all thrilled and excited to be welcoming back Formula One to our airwaves from next season - it's one of the world's biggest sport events

Roger Mosey
BBC director of sport
"I think they will be able to service us an awful lot better, a little bit more time.

"I think it will be good, a fresh face. I'm not complaining about ITV, I'm not saying they did a bad job or anything like that.

"But with all the other things they are loaded up with - and who knows they will get some more stuff - maybe it will be a bit more difficult to spend as much time on us.

"I think the BBC will do that."

Dominic Coles, BBC Sport director of sport rights, said: "The biggest motorsporting event in the world is returning home after 12 years.

"We were delighted when Bernie Ecclestone approached us about the return of F1 to the BBC.

"F1 is a crown jewel of sports broadcasting, so to bring the rights back to their traditional home from 2009 is tremendously exciting.

"Fans will be able to enjoy uninterrupted, state of the art and innovative coverage from BBC Sport, across all of our TV, radio and new media platforms, for the first time since 1996."

An ITV statement on Thursday said: "ITV plc today confirmed that it has decided to exit Formula One at the end of this season.

"This was a straightforward commercial decision for ITV and we are pleased that F1 will continue to be broadcast free-to-air.

"ITV will continue to broadcast live coverage of every race this season as Lewis Hamilton attempts to win his first world championship."