Given that the 2011 season is now well and truely over and has been for at least oooh 15 hours now. I think it's time to start a 2012 thread. Especially given the news which has already been released regarding it.

So to start with :

BBC F1 Calendar

Brundle confirms move to Sky

(that second link also confirms that Sky will be creating a dedicated SkySports F1 channel, which viewers will have to pay extra for )

Discuss

You only have to pay for the channel if you don't have the HD package or Sky Sports package.

Hmm, i have the full Sky Sports package with my VirginMedia account, but even that doesn't include SkySports news, so I wonder if i'll get it?

Annoyed Brundles sold out too
Villeneuve is looking a likely for 2012 ... not that I'll see much of it by the looks of it

Looks like Crofty will be joing Brundle at Sky too

Wohoooo, my Sky subs are becoming better value by the day. I genuinely can't understand anyone who says they enjoy any sport (wimbledon excepted) who then says they haven't/won't subscribe to the best sports channels anywhere bar none.

I've got the HD pack but not the sport pack, it appears I'll get the F1 channel for free. I'm happy, as I wasn't going to fork out the extra for the sports package, only to watch the F1. Autosport link.

Same here

From The Horse's mouth

I'm on the HD pack, so all of a sudden I'm watching the 2012 season.

Thank god Brundle has moved to Sky

Amen to that, i think he makes all the difference

I honestly believe Sky will make the entire F1 experience so much better

Probably down to £40-£50 per month cost proccy

Oh it's more than that Nello with the options I choose - but that's the point, i choose what i watch. I have to pay the BBC ransom if i watch it or not

Looks like F1 is back on for me then, which is goood news. Hopefully they won't cock it up.

And I have to pay an even bigger ransom to Sky if I want to watch it (which I increasingly don't anymore :yawn: ) which is a shame because I had been so looking forward to F1 in HD on BBC.

No ransom involved with Sky Dave, you either choose to pay it, or parts of it, or none at all - free enterprise.....

My wife chooses what I watch But then I again I choose whats on the drive

If its free to HD subscribers thats me in!

Nope, you pay to receive television signal - terrestrial or satellite. Even if you only watch sky, you still pay the licence fee.

You also watch - even if you don't have a TV at all - the advertising budget for *every* UK commercial station, either terrestrial or satellite.

But where does the license fee go then?

The license fee goes to pay for a whole lot more than just the TV channels. which is, (ok,very cheaply, not quite free) to air for everyone.

No way will I pay for TV content. Mind you I don't really watch more than a few hours a week anyway! Other things to do.

Like what? Chris Moyles/Zane Lowe/Reg Yates et al on £loads per year for inane drivel? makes me feel much better then

Strictly, the licence fee goes direct to government coffers. The BBC is paid a grant which is agreed every three years in advance and is usually *about* the same amount as the licence fee is expected to be.

I begrudge people like Moyles, Jonathon Woss etc being on millions of £££ a year for being inane, and I have no say in how the "grant" is used - if i don't like Sky i just cancel it....

Well, you can cancel the bit that's paid *directly* to Rupert, but you can't cancel the advertising budget, and neither can I.

Have you written to the BBC to discuss their choice of 'talent'? As long as they think people like them, they'll keep employing them... though to be honest I'd far rather complain about a completely unnecessary billion pounds used to move half the BBC to Salford, or the same amount in rebuilding Broadcasting House - though that's *slightly* more acceptable.

Heeee's. Baackkk. K R

But who will be gone petrov or senna ?

Petrov has the financial backing so I assume he'll stay.

Given this quote in the article, it seems people in F1 have short memories.........



That is pretty damning stuff! Okay, Massa was better in those days, that spring/head interface never did him any favours but he's had flashes of his old style recently if not consistently.

KR went off to WRC but in my opinion was bloody awful! Fair enough, you could spend hours debating the differences between the disciplines but I expected better performances from him, as I'm sure did his team!

I reckon we could be witnessing another Schumacher-esque embarrassment, at least in his first season back. Hope I'm wrong.....


Oh, and I'm still praying that "nasty old Frank Williams" will extend Reubens contract for one final year, just to let him go out with his head held high and no more begging in front of a worldwide television audience; that was cringeworthy and utterly demeaning!

I'm with Stan on Kimi - F1 is a different place from where he left it, KERS, DRS and perhaps most importantly different tyres that require care & management throughout a race in stark contrast to Kimi's all or nothing style. I did like his attitude & approach to the media though and look forward to reporters being on the receiving end of blunt relies to their unimaginative questions ("how do you feel?")

To be honest, Senna has outperformed Petrov in many races now, and while I was laughing at him before his 'return' after being test driver for a while, he's proven to be quite an asset to the team, and I feel Petrov was getting slightly demotivated. My vote's on Senna.

PS - did I see it correct that Senna actually did the fastest Sector 1 time in Q2 this weekend, which he abandonned when nobody was going to steal his place anymore?

i'm so confused by the bbc coverage next year? can someone brighter than me tell me if the whole race will appear on iplayer? (don't care if its live as i can only watch later due to no tv lisence).