Blatant steal from The Telegraph Controversy: Sky/BBC split-channel deal The saga over the Bahrain Grand Prix dragged on for months but I will plump for last Friday’s announcement that Formula One coverage in the UK will be shared by Sky and the BBC from next year, with Sky covering all the races and the BBC half. Clearly this has angered a lot of fans. When you are getting something for free (the cost of your TV licence notwithstanding) it is always a difficult pill to swallow when you are asked to pay. Ideally F1 would have remained in full on the BBC but clearly budget restraints meant that was not possible. Let’s hope Bernie knows what he is doing and that the coverage continues to improve, interest continues to build and audience figures continue to rise. Driver of the Season: Sebastian Vettel How could it be otherwise? Eight poles and six wins in 11 races. Vettel leads the championship by a staggering 85 points from Red Bull team mate Mark Webber heading into the summer break. Yes he has had (for the most part) the fastest car and yes, he has made a few errors, notably on the final lap in Canada to surrender the lead to Jenson Button, but no driver has been perfect. Question marks over Seb’s ability to race from further back on the grid persist but he has also produced some gutsy overtaking moves at crucial moments, for instance on out laps in Barcelona. And don’t forget he held off Fernando Alonso and Button when under intense pressure in Monaco, making one set of tyres last for 60 laps. Looking to find form: Felipe Massa, Mark Webber, Michael Schumacher: If the only true measure of a driver’s performance is against his team mate then these three could all be marked under the file “could do better”. It’s probably easiest to be critical of Michael as he is a seven-time world champion and we expect so much more of him but it’s actually hard to gauge how strong or weak is performance is as we don’t really know what level Nico Rosberg is at. Nico might be a serial winner given the right car. Mark has shown signs of improvement after struggling with the Pirelli tyres in early season but even he admits that Seb has done a better job. As for Felipe, he has really struggled to make any inroads on Fernando over the last two years. Renault’s Nick Heidfeld has also disappointed given his experience. Best innovation: Pirelli tyres Hats off to Pirelli for sticking to their guns after coming in for some pretty serious flak during winter testing. The specially designed fast-degrading rubber has produced some wonderful races and added a whole new dimension to proceedings, even if they do make our job in the commentary box that bit more difficult. Worst innovation: KERS Not ’worst’ necessarily but the return of the energy boost device after a one-year absence has not brought much to the party. It is too hard to tell which moves have been aided by KERS; we rely on the international race-feed broadcasting giving us the KERS graphic. In my opinion, hidden technology is pointless. Fans want to see what is happening. I would put a bright light on top of the car, or at the back, which would light up when power was available to the driver, change colour when it was being used, and then change again when it had been used up. Best race: Canadian GP The best and the worst. With all the rain and the pit stops and the chaos it was extremely difficult to know what was going on. And trying to keep our patter going during the two-hour rain delay was the hardest thing I have yet had to do as a co-commentator. But what a race. The controversial collision between Jenson and Lewis Hamilton, who was forced to retire; the five safety cars; Schumacher’s podium bid; and then Vettel’s final-lap error, which was induced by Jenson who had shrugged off two collisions, a drive-through penalty and five pit stops. Jenson described it afterwards as the “best win of my career”. It was like Formula One on steroids. Best move of the season: Lewis on Vettel in China There have been so many great overtaking moves this year but I’m going to go with Lewis’s move on Seb in China. It was so well executed. He saved the extra horsepower from his KERS energy boost device on the exit to turn three, when he might have been expected to use it, and instead deployed it out of turn six to pass the Red Bull on the gentle left-hander turn seven. Seb admitted afterwards that he had been completely taken aback. Sublime. Quote of the Season: "Maybe it’s because I’m black. I don’t know. That’s what Ali G says." Lewis Hamilton’s ill-judged joke following a frustrating Monaco GP weekend backfired badly. As I wrote at the time, I thought the reaction was ridiculously over the top. It has been great to see Lewis bounce back and his reaction to Sunday’s disappointing fourth place in Budapest suggests he is maturing. Surprise package: Paul di Resta It is great for Britain as a whole — and for us Scots in particular — that we have another talented young driver in Formula One. It looked like the opportunity might have passed Paul by after four years in German touring cars, but credit to his manager Anthony Hamilton and to Force India for taking a punt. Paul has repaid them in spades with some very mature drives and looks remarkably grounded for a rookie. His team mate Adrian Sutil has raised his game in recent weeks and Paul was just starting to get a little frustrated before he finished seventh — his best result to date — in Hungary on Sunday. One to watch. Prediction: Vettel to win the championship With McLaren having won three of the last five races, and Fernando having claimed more points than any other driver in July, we can certainly look forward to some races when we reconvene at Spa after the summer break. But I’m struggling to see anyone denying Seb a second successive title. So there we go, we all have our opinions of David Coulthard, but he has given us his. Hope it was worth the copying and pasting
Thanks for this. I wasn't aware DC had made an up to date assessment. I've been following F1 since 1974 and therefore ever since it was televised. Of all the drivers who have offered their opinions and made assessments on a regular basis, I think DC's POV is the fairest and given without bias. I remember the late James Hunt using his columns and TV commentary to belittle drivers he didn't like. No one could ever accuse DC of that. A gentleman in every way.
I disagree with his best move selection. What about button and massa wheel to wheel at silverstone for a few corners.
Nice one Bright. Coulthard makes some good points here and I find myself agreeing with most of them. (Yes, including Hamilton's "sublime" overtake on the defending World Champion). He also makes an interesting point about KERS with regard to it being somewhat hidden - and the idea of a light on the car to show what's happening is novel - although it would tell all competitors exactly how a driver is using it, which might further trivialise it; but I disagree with him that it is in any way what might be described as "Worst innovation". Let's remember that KERS (soon to be called 'ERS') is a technology primarily concerned with efficiency and not only helps by further offsetting the predictability of the racing but also helps sell F1 as a relevant activity. Other than that, I think DC's assessment is spot on.
I don't quite agree with Vettel as driver of the season so far. I don't think the cars dominance has given him enough opportunity to showcase his driving ability. If the season carries on the way it has for the last 2 or 3 races where the McLaren, Red Bull and Ferraris have been on a little more of an even keel then it may give him the chance to impress with his race craft. I'd be tempted to put Alonso or Hamilton forward as the best drivers so far, as in my mind they are the 2 drivers who have consistently out performed their cars over the first half of the season, Button would have been up there but he has been consistently lacking in qualifying. Overall though a very entertaining season especially considering the lack of excitement in the WDC. Only my opinions though and I respect those of DC and others on here.
Good point Bob but Webber in the other car is 6 wins and 4 second places short this year ( I think it's 4 ) so a case could be made for Sebastian getting the most out of the car. That said, I would agree with you on Fernando Alonso. I believe he has not qualified below 5th in that car and his podium finishes of the past two months or so have been remarkable. Keep enjoying!!
Good find BLS . I think I agree with pretty much everything DC says apart from the best overtake because I like the overtakes that happen over a series of corners, I think Button and Hamilton have done a few of them this season, Alonso and Webber may have done some as well, anyone of them could be my move of the season so far.
