Latest F1 news in brief – Friday (Update)
01/19/18
-
Vandoorne says the pressure's on 'Big pressure' on McLaren in 2018 – Vandoorne
- F1 to disappear from RAI free to air TV in Italy, a foretaste of UK situation
- Abiteboul accuses Mercedes of unfair employee practices New
- Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo Crazy Cart The Factory
'Big pressure' on McLaren in 2018 – Vandoorne
(GMM) Stoffel Vandoorne says McLaren is under "big pressure" to perform in 2018.
Days ago, the Belgian's boss at the British team – Eric Boullier – insisted: "We do not feel additional pressure.
"On the contrary. The team is motivated by the fact that we will have two strong rivals in Red Bull and Renault."
Indeed, after three bad years with Honda power, McLaren is switching to customer Renault engines for 2018.
Also using Renault power this year are expected title contenders Red Bull and the Renault works team.
It will put McLaren's claim of having one of the very best chassis on the grid under the microscope.
"In 2018 the pressure on the team is big because we have big points of comparison next to us," team driver Vandoorne, 25, told the Belgian broadcaster RTBF.
"Red Bull won races last season and Renault has also done well, so the pressure is there. But it is also positive and we need it to progress," he added.
Vandoorne also said it is an important season for him personally, after a difficult start to his F1 career last year alongside Fernando Alonso.
"I still have work to do to be able to put a weekend together and better understand the car," he admitted.
"The speed is there if I put all the elements together," Vandoorne said.
"We have not set a goal for the season. For me, my point of reference is Fernando Alonso even if I focus mainly on myself. The results last year were not what I expected but I am now much stronger for the new season," he added.
"I was able to discover my team, my engineers and the circuits, and I also learned from an excellent teammate in Fernando how to adapt to a car that is not necessarily efficient and how to manage problems during a season."
All teams will reveal their 2018 cars late next month ahead of the start of Barcelona testing, and Vandoorne says he has already had his first taste of McLaren's contender in the simulator.
"I had my first day in the simulator and with the engineers and we were able to discuss a lot about the new car," he said.
"I had my first feeling of the 2018 car — the change (to Renault) will be great for us. Everyone is motivated to start testing and see what we can do on the track.
"We will know a little more about how the season will unfold in Barcelona," Vandoorne added.
F1 to disappear from RAI free to air TV in Italy, a foretaste of UK situation
 |
| Once you see how many TV broadcasters F1 has compared to IndyCar you realize why F1 is flush with money and IndyCar is not. It's the TV ratings/viewership stupid. |
It’s not been announced but serious outlets in Italy are reporting that the state broadcaster RAI will no longer carry F1 in 2018, leaving SKY as the primary platform for the series.
RAI will show only the Italian GP from Monza live.
In the late ’90s and early 2000s heyday of Schumacher and Ferrari, the audience on RAI was usually between 10 and 12 million for each race, similar to RTL in Germany.
While RTL soldiers on with live rights in Germany, at least for a couple more years, RAI’s deal for 9 live races and the rest of the rounds in highlights appears to have lapsed. Motorport.com Italy is reporting that the free to air platform TV8, which is part of the Sky family, will show some packages, yet to be defined.
The RAI deal was worth €23million a year to F1, roughly similar to the fee paid by the UK’s Channel 4, which is in its final year of a three year deal to host F1.
In the UK there is much speculation about the intentions of SKY bosses regarding their obligations under the exclusive deal they have from 2019-24. This requires them to show the British GP live and race highlights on a free to air channel.
That deal, worth almost $1 billion to F1, has an unusual clause in it whereby SKY gets to decide who gets the free to air component, not F1 itself. So Liberty has no control over the situation.
The example of Italy shows that it is possible for that free to air channel to be one of SKY’s own, rather than ITV, BBC or Channel 4. Many in the F1 broadcast industry believe we could see a repeat in the UK.
Rupert Murdoch has announced that he is selling his interest in SKY to Disney, which owns ESPN in the USA. James Allen on F1
| 2018 Formula 1 TV Broadcasters | ||
|---|---|---|
| Country | TV Network | Notes |
 Albania |
Top Channel | Rights transferred to Top Channel as previous hosts Vizion Plus found the rights too expensive to hold. HDTV. |
 Andorra |
Movistar F1 | HDTV. Choice of different perspectives (only IPTV subscribers). |
 Armenia |
Setanta Sports + | 16:9 SD/HD feed |
| Asia | STAR Sports Channels | SD/HDTV Channels. *Subject to other live events. For more information, visit the TV Schedules: |
| Fox Sports Asia Channels | SD/HDTV Channels. *Subject to other live events. For more information, visit the TV Schedules: | |
 Australia |
Network Ten | SD/HD Feed, for Australian Grand Prix. |
| SD feed, highlights of All other races. | ||
| Fox Sports | Coverage identical to Sky Sports F1; alternate feeds (on board, pitlane, etc.) (branded as Viewer's Choice) usually offered only for race, and dependent on other sporting conflicts. | |
 Austria |
ORF eins | HDTV. Live all sessions for Austrian GP |
| Sky Sport Austria | Broadcast identical to Sky Sport Germany. | |
 Azerbaijan |
Idman TV | |
| Setanta Sports + | 16:9 SD/HD feed | |
 Belarus |
Setanta Sports + | 16:9 SD/HD feed |
 Belgium |
Play Sports | Choice of different perspectives at qualifying and race. |
| Sporza | HDTV. 16:9 feed. Only Belgian GP (Qualifying and Race) live. Highlights of other races. | |
 Bulgaria |
Diema Sport | 16:9 SD/HD feed |
| Diema Sport 2 | 16:9 SD/HD feed | |
 Brazil |
Globo | 16:9 feed and HDTV. Every race live except for Canada, US and Mexico which are shown delayed on Sunday night. |
| SporTV | HDTV. Live coverage of Canada, US and Mexico GPs. | |
 Canada |
RDS / RDS2 / RDS Info | HDTV, Side-by-Side coverage during the race (live broadcast only). All practices live for Canadian GP. Rights until 2019. |
| TSN / TSN2 / TSN3 / TSN4 / TSN5 | HDTV, Sky Sports F1 coverage,[19] Side-by-Side coverage during FP2 and the race (live broadcastsonly). Rights until 2019. | |
| Central Asia | Setanta Sports + | 16:9 SD/HD feed |
 China |
Various regional broadcasters | Consortium of 13 regional broadcasters, replacing CCTV-5 from 2013 season onward |
 Croatia |
Arena Sport | HDTV, TV commercials included. Only available on MAXtv |
 Cuba |
Tele Rebelde | HDTV. |
 Czech Republic |
Sport 1 | Also in HD on Sport 1 HD and Sport 2 HD. |
| Sport 2 | ||
| Sport 3 | Onboard Feed, SD only. | |
 Cyprus |
CytaVision | Rights until 2016. |
 Denmark |
TV3+/TV3+ HD | HD 16:9 and SD 4:3 – Some sessions on TV3 SPORT 1/2 or TV3 Puls, subject to other live events. |
 Estonia |
TV6 | United States, Canadian, Bahrain, Mexican GP. SD Feed |
| Other races. Race shown at 7 pm EET on the same day. SD Feed | ||
| Other races. Race shown at 9 pm EET on the same day. No HDTV. | ||
| Viasat Sport Baltic | SD Feed | |
 Finland |
MTV3 | HDTV. Race shown on the next day. |
| C More Max | HDTV. | |
| Sub | 30 minutes highlights of practices and 60 minutes highlights of qualification and race are shown at 7 pm EET on the same day.[22] | |
 France |
Canal+[23] | Only race on C+ |
| Canal+ Sport | Only race on C+ | |
 Georgia |
Setanta Sports + | 16:9 SD/HD feed |
 Germany |
n-tv[24] | *Highlights only of FP1 for Australian and Asia's GPs. |
| RTL Television | HDTV feed confirmed (HD feed encrypted and part of HD+ package, SD is FTA). | |
| Sky Sport | Choice of different perspectives at qualifying and race. – HDTV 1080i feed confirmed. | |
 Greece |
OTE Sport | HDTV 1080i |
| ERT | HD feed. Australia, China and Japan GP are tape delayed. | |
 Hungary |
M4 Sport | HDTV. |
 Iceland |
Stöð 2 Sport | |
 IND |
STAR Sports Channels | SD/HDTV Channels. *Subject to other live events. For more information, visit the TV Schedules: |
 Iran |
IRIB Varzesh | 16:9 SD. *Subject to other live events. |
 Ireland |
Eir Sport 1 | With Channel 4 commentary team. |
| Channel 4 UK | HDTV, only selected 10 races. Sky and Virgin customers only | |
| HDTV, Every race as well as live. Sky and Virgin customers only | ||
| Sky Sports F1 | Available in Ultra HD | |
 Israel |
Sport 5 | HDTV. |
 Italy |
Sky Sport F1 | Choice of different perspectives. – HDTV 1080i feed confirmed. |
| Rai 1 (live races, some delayed races) Rai 2 (live and delayed qualifying, some delayed races) Rai Sport (practices) |
9 races live (Bahrain, Monaco, Austria, Hungary, Italy, Singapore, USA, Mexico and Abu Dhabi). Delayed broadcast of the other races. – HDTV 1080i feed confirmed. Rights until 2017. | |
 Japan |
Fuji TV Next | From 2016, the free broadcast on Fuji TV and BS Fuji was ended. HDTV. |
| DAZN | ||
| Latin America(except Brazil) | ESPN Latin America (Mexico and Central America) | 16:9 HDTV feed. |
| Fox Sports 3 | 16:9 SD/HDTV feed. | |
 Latvia |
TV6 | Race shown at 9 pm EET on the same day, except 2 GPs from North America, which are shown even later. No HDTV. |
| Viasat Sport Baltic | SD Feed | |
 Liechtenstein |
Sky Sport | Choice of different perspectives at qualifying and race. – HDTV 1080i feed confirmed. |
| Teleclub Sport | Choice of different perspectives at qualifying and race. – HDTV 1080i feed confirmed. | |
 Lithuania |
TV6 | Race shown at 7 pm EET on the same day, except 4 GPs – Bahrain, Canada, United States, Mexico. No HDTV. |
| Viasat Sport Baltic | SD Feed | |
 Luxembourg |
Sky Sport | Choice of different perspectives at qualifying and race. – HDTV 1080i feed confirmed. |
 Malta |
GO | Uses the commentary of Channel 4's coverage in the UK. |
| Middle East and North Africa | beIN Sports | HDTV feed. Rights until 2019. |
 Macedonia |
Sport Klub | SDTV feed. *Live only on Sport Klub 6 |
 Moldova |
Setanta Sports + | 16:9 SD/HD feed |
 Montenegro |
Sport Klub | 16:9 feed, HDTV. |
 Netherlands |
Ziggo Sport Totaal | HDTV. |
| Ziggo Sport Go | HDTV. | |
| Ziggo Sport | HDTV. * Subject to other (live) events. Ziggo Sport Totaal will broadcast all sessions live. | |
 New Zealand |
Sky Sport | |
 Norway |
Viasat Motor and Viasat Sport | HDTV on Viasat Motor HD. Always Norwegian during race. Partly Swedish during some P and Q. |
| Viaplay | Viaplay streams the broadcast of Viasat Motor HD. Viaplay is available on web-apps, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Windows 8.x, smart-TV, Android and iOS (phones and tablets). | |
| Viasat 4 | One hour with highlights from Viasat Motor. Commercials every 15 min. | |
 Poland |
Eleven Sports | HDTV. Live streaming on web page, desktop and mobile apps. |
 Puerto Rico |
ABC | Three races. HDTV, Side-by-Side coverage during race, mobile streaming available through ESPN app. |
| ESPN | HDTV, Side-by-Side coverage during race (live broadcast only), mobile streaming available through ESPN app. Choice of perspectives available online and via streaming app. | |
| ESPN2 | ||
| Univision Deportes Network | ||
 Portugal |
SportTV[31] | HD feed. |
 Romania |
Dolce Sport | HDTV. |
| Digi Sport | HDTV. | |
 Russia |
Match TV | HDTV |
| Match! Arena | HDTV without advertising. | |
 Serbia |
Sport Klub | HDTV |
 Slovakia |
Sport 1 | Also in HD on Sport 1 HD and Sport 2 HD. |
| Sport 2 | ||
 South Korea |
SBS Sports | Delayed HDTV feed on cable/IPTV. Live streaming on web page for all the races. |
 Spain |
Movistar F1 | HDTV. Choice of different perspectives (only IPTV subscribers). |
| Sub-Saharan Africa | Supersport | HDTV. |
| Canal+ Sport | HDTV. | |
 Sweden |
Viasat Motor | HDTV on Viasat Motor HD. |
 Switzerland |
SRG SSR | The qualifyings and the races are broadcast on RSI La 2, RTS Deux and SRF zwei. Rights until 2019. |
| Sky Sport | Choice of different perspectives at qualifying and race. – HDTV 1080i feed confirmed. | |
| Teleclub Sport | Choice of different perspectives at qualifying and race. – HDTV 1080i feed confirmed. | |
| Canal+ | Only race on C+ | |
| Canal+ Sport | Only race on C+ | |
 Turkey |
S Sport | SD/HD Feed |
 United Kingdom |
Channel 4 | HDTV, only selected 10 races. |
| HDTV, Every race as well as live | ||
| Sky Sports Mix | HDTV, only selected British Grand Prix & at least two prime time races. | |
| HDTV, Every race. | ||
| Sky Sports F1 | Available in Ultra HD | |
 Ukraine |
Перший автомобÑ-льний[35] | SD Feed |
 United States |
ABC | Three races. HDTV, Side-by-Side coverage during race, mobile streaming available through ESPN app. |
| ESPN | HDTV, Side-by-Side coverage during race (live broadcast only), mobile streaming available through ESPN app. | |
| ESPN2 | ||
| Univision Deportes Network | ||
Abiteboul accuses Mercedes of unfair employee practices
 |
| A sheep in 'Wolff's clothes' |
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has defended his Formula 1 team's policy surrounding staff contracts following criticism from Renault counterpart Cyril Abiteboul.
Abiteboul said Mercedes is being "unfair" in the way it locks down staff to lengthy gardening leave spells to delay them switching to other F1 teams.
The Renault chief said the "aggressive" contractual terms are bad for F1 because they prevent the spreading of knowledge that keeps the grid competitive.
But Wolff defended Mercedes and suggested that Abiteboul's comments came about after Renault missed out on securing one of its staff.
"It is simply a matter of keeping the important parts of the organisation together to ensure stability," Wolff told Motorsport.com.
"In this case, it was an employee who has just signed a new contract and whom Renault would have liked to see.
"That wasn't possible in that case because a replacement was missing."
Mercedes had a shake-up of its senior personnel when Paddy Lowe left his executive director role to join Williams with James Allison coming to Brackley, having previously been at Ferrari, as technical director.
Wolff said the way the team has dealt with that change and succeeded in defending both the drivers' and constructors' championships for the fourth successive year proves the strength and depth of the outfit.
"It is the breadth of the team that is responsible for success," he said. "Durability had a great influence on success. The team we've put on has done a good job.
"Paddy has great qualities, but getting James Allison was the best decision we could have made.
"The success of a Formula 1 team is not the success of a single one – not of me and not of Niki [Lauda], nor of Ross [Brawn] or Norbert [Haug] – but rather the sum of the people who work together.
"We must create the framework conditions for them to succeed." Motorsport.com
Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo Crazy Cart The Factory
Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo are going a little stir crazy waiting for Formula One to return!