Oh well, it's here again, first race of the season and for the wealthy amongst us who can watch it live via Skyrobbers an early morning beckons.
The poorer of us will just have to wait for the back-stabbing BBC to show us what they consider to be the "highlights" on Sunday night

Then again, I'm a tight-fisted git so I've got two options lined up; RTL television via satellite does free-to-air coverage and Radio 5 Live can provide the commentary, if required. Or I'll watch it live on an internet feed

Anyway, enough of the grumbling about the shoddy way the British fans have been treated and onto podium predictions.....


Qualifying;

1. Hamilton
2. Button
3. Vettel

Race;

1. Hamilton
2. Alonso
3. Button

Yeah, a total shot in the dark and probably 100% wrong!

Ooh - this is exciting

Quali
1. Vettel
2. Hamilton
3. Button

Race
1. Button
2. Vettel
3. Hamilton

Nothing new there.

Looking forward to watching this live on Sunday, can't wait to see what the Sky coverage is like.

Qualifying;

1. Vettel
2. Hamilton
3. Skippy

Race;

1. Hamilton
2. Vettel
3. Button

Qualifying:
1. Vettel
2. Raikkonen
3. Alonso

Race:
1. Vettel
2. Button
3. Webber

I can't wait for this to get started. The quali session are going to be so interesting, have Red Bull kept their advantage? Has their new exhaust, which pushes the regs to the limit, been worth it. They could have the same issues as Renault did last year and never quite get it to performa as expected whereby it ends up compromising the whole car.

Either that or they will storm qualli and then dominate the season... again

Very excited!

I think any of the front runners who stuffs qualifying will be in trouble as the midfield teams will be fast enough to be very hard to pass. Could spell trouble for Button and Webber, for example...

Although Red Bull look unflustered, it really is anyone's guess until the chequered flag on Sunday.

If the race is major incident-free, I suspect Vettel will be hard to beat. Other than that, I have no idea.

Qualifying:
1. Vettel
2. Raikkonen
3. Hamilton

Race:
1. Webber
2. Vettel
3. Button

Webber to qulify 4th and work his way up the field relatively un-noticed. Hamilton to lose a nose cone and come 6th.

Dammit - you mean the Beeb havn't got the first GP of the season!! I assumed they would have @*!@**

Quali:

1. Vettel
2. Button
3. Hamilton

Race

1. Hamilton
2. Vettel
3. Button

I hope Vettel doesn't walk it, but in all honesty I can see it happening again.

Does anybody know what the F1 channel number is? all of the adverts seem to omit this information and I've not got round to flicking through the guide!

Channel 516 on Virgin.

i think it should be about 6 more than Sky Sports 1.

I'll be in Berlin. Wonder what they're showing there?

I assume Channel 516 is going to disappear for all the VirginMedia customers that haven't (and won't) sign up for all the SkySports channels?

F1 channel on Sky is 459

And for those that like to see every little whisker on Jensons chin the HD channel is 408

I have Sky Sports on Virgin Media (and I know this makes me a bad person), but I am a little miffed that even though I cough every month to get football I don't watch in HD, I'll only get F1 in SD.

Yeah but will it make any odds on your telly Jim with it's dodgy volume and shadowy V effect etc

A fair point, well made. But like "Loretta" in Life of Brian, I want the right to HD.

So far I'm the only true Ambassador of Satan, who has Sky Sports on Sky in HD, then. Muhahahaha!

I shall be sure to post at length about Jenson's Stubble. As it happens I was watching a review programme on F1HD yesterday, and it seemed to look *way* better than Auntie's HD coverage last year. More bandwidth assigned, perhaps? Or just that I'd cleaned my glasses? Its also going to be in 5.1 audio. PROVIDE.

Quali:
1. Vettel
2. Button
3. Kimi (I can't spell Raikkkoekkenkkenen)

Race:
1. Vettel. I hope I'm wrong.
2. Button
3. Alonso

A lot of love for Button here. I would love to see him do well, but I can't help feeling his tendency not to perform brilliantly in qualifying will hamper him.

Unless Adrian Newey has produced another all-conquering uber-machine, my own tip for the championship is Hamilton. I know it may sound deranged, but if he truly has shaken off his demons/distractions and if the McLaren is quick enough to be competitive in his hands, I think he has a lot to prove and the talent to do so.

I don't disagree with that, but Hamilton shaking the demons is a big if. I'm not convinced he's done it.

Quite excited about Kimi's prospects as the season wears on, though. He seems even more comfortable than before, which may mean he is technically asleep.

I'll be watching the stubble version, cheers Nobby - series link set!

I agree that it is a big night-club bouncer of an "if" (re: Hamilton), but it will be highly entertaining if true.

I genuinely think that the big decider will be avoiding getting caught in the chasing pack.

Everyone from Mercedes to Lotus, Force India to Sauber has looked potentially rapid, not to mention Toro Rosso and a potentially re-nascent Williams (OK, the last one is unlikely). Get mixed up with that lot and your chances of a podium will be seriously reduced.

Big question: Will Ferrari be up with the leaders or back in the pack?

Unfortunately he's back with her

I agree the midfield will be closer to the front, but Pirelli will have engineered the tyres to 'drop off the cliff' even more than the first half of last season, potentially enabling plenty of passing and helping those kinder on tyres.

I expect Ferrari to be up there in quali and then fail in the race or vice versa, they just can't seem to get the middle ground of late.

Touch of Yoko syndrome going on there, RK...?!

[quote=Jim_ClennellTouch of Yoko syndrome going on there, RK...?! [/quote]


Ono there isn't

I'm on the dark side too but only because I have the HD package. No sports package for me so well please. I pity the wife and neighbours at 6am sunday when they set off in full 5.1 DD sound....

I decided to convert to The Dark Side with Sky too - installed today and definitely looking crisper HD than what I can recall from the Beeb last year. Watching on my phone via SkyGo is cool too :-)

Quali -

1. Vettel
2. Lewis
3. Kimi

Race:

1. Vettel
2. Button
3. Alonso

Lewis & Kimi DNF

Well i hope this isnt an omen for my experience of the sky coverage, but i swtiched on the TV just intime to see a car turn a corner and then an advert break

Seems to be alot of chatter about some Merc airducting. Initial thoughts are that when they open their DRS a vent is opened in their side pods blowing air over the lower part of the rear wing near the rear light.

People are calling it a "Super DRS".

Here are the details:

Merc F-Duct reimagination

"a system – which vents the air through the endplates and in to the main plane, to help stall the wing and boost straight-line speed...

However, despite the way the system effectively makes use of driver movement when he activates the DRS, the FIA has no doubts that it complies with the regulations."

MSC fastest in FP2 - and looking comfortable. Not sure you can read a lot into these times either - especially on a drying track.

I have to say everything looks great on the Sky channel F1. Truff i'm sure they said the races would be uninterrupted, not so for quali or practice sessions though, they have to be able to fund this wonderful, innovative tv stream

Good coverage this morning - F1 HD on the telly and Five Live Sports Extra on the kitchen radio! So far so good - I have F1 HD free for three months, but it'll cost after that.

I watched 2nd practice this morning and it looked brilliant There won't be adverts during the race.

The SKY HD coverage looks good but I wouldn't say it looks any better than last years HD coverage

I am though already getting sick of the adverts SKY SPORTS COVERAGE SPONSORED BT 123 CURRENT ACCOUNT FROM SANTANDER and then when the adverts have finished (Did you know LV give you upto 70% NCD?) you then have to endure a bloomin 30 second "WE ARE GREAT" Sky promotion

For me the future of SKY F1 would have to be, record everything and use the fast forward button to skip all the rubish....

That would be edited highlights then!

Just use live-pause when the ads are on, go for a nice cuppa/pee/walk and then ffwd through it, jobs a good un...

Agree with Proccy, can't remember the last program I watched live on commercial TV. Always wait 15 minutes or more so we can skip the adverts. Bob, what with your sudden liking for Volvos, Ithink you need a holiday

The issue for true geeks with skipping the adverts for F1 (and this clearly isn't an issue with the race itself), is that you can't then use the live timing screens.


I should get out more, shouldn't I?

I used the red button multi screen option during FP2 so that when the ads came on a quick scroll to the right to pick up the in-car camera & sound meant that I didn't have to listen to them at least, then I could switch back to the normal audio when it was back on. A screaming V8 is definitely preferable to ads!

Crofty & Anthony Davidson are superb together as the FP commentary team plus it's such a delight to not have to listen to Eddie Jordan talking cr@p

Good tip Jas

Anyone else up for FP3?

Morning Y'all.

First impressions. The Sky 'featurettes' are definatly more polished than the BBC ones.

Just a real pity about the adverts

Nah, they're toaster and toilet breaks for me

I'm not sold on the 'sky pod' yet but it's their first outing so I can forgive some wooden presenting.

Also, kinda off topic but, why have Sky never bought Top Gear off of the BBC? All they would have to do is buy out Jeremy Clarkson.

Morning all, I like it so far

OOh Raikonnen!

Anyone else notice he was on a go slow round the last couple of corners? He was trying to be cocky and get across the line with 1-2 secs to spare but his off earlier off messed up his timing.

If he had driven normally, he would have made it.

Fernando, oh dear

A bit angry, isn't he?

Not a happy bunny at all.

Neither will Ferrari be.....ouch!

Great to see a Williams in the top 10

Reckon we may see a Merc on pole!

Oh dear Raikennen. Not good when you're 18th and your team mate is 3rd!

Wow!!! No-one saw that coming!! Vettel in 6th

Well a Merc engine

And interestingly a similar time to Webber. Is that the pace of the Red Bull? (as opposed to a mistake by a particular driver)

It does make you wonder

I foresee complaints to the FIA about F-Duct style rear wings......

Sky was OK, as Stan said ads are a pain, but it all works - and best of all.....its free!

Nice to see Kimi returning to form

Although I must say that I think Hill may be filling the shoes left by Jordan and Allan!

Great quali session Good to see Jenson very close behind Lewis on the grid compared to some of last year's lacklustre quali attempts. Amazing effort from Grosjean, unless there was a problem with Kimi's car (other than the block driving it) he must be rather embarrassed to be 15 places behind his near-rookie and somewhat underated team-mate

Ferrari all at sea and I can see heads rolling in the not too distant future. Merc fairly competitive and must be on for a podium with canny Michael tomorrow. Good efforts from Hulkenberg & Maldonado too. Maybe we'll also get what a lot of people have been asking for since early 2010 tomorrow - Vettel back in the pack and having to prove his racing & overtaking credentials.

Thumbs up to the Sky coverage - very good so far. Did I mention how nice it is NOT to have to suffer Eddie Jordan anymore??

AAAAArgh!

I *very* carefully found a BBC page detailing when the quali is being screened, and there, on the right-hand side is an "other F1 news" panel with a nice little splash showing the bleedin result!

Anyone got an email address for the BBC complaints department?

Ha. Its their job to report news and then shoot themselves
in the foot.

Great quali - sooooo good to see finger-wagger only 6th and behind Webber. I was also pleased to see MSC up there. Race should be exciting

Good result for Grosjean .... glad I picked him in my season points spread this year

So pleased to see Webbo in front of Vettel. And for two Aussies to be in the top 10, at the Aussie GP. Must be a first!

Great work by Grosjean. I think this could be a really exciting race tomorrow!

And on the news this morning they told you the results then at the end of the sport round up told us we could see hilights later on BBC1!

Good result though. Nice to see Lewis back at the front. Just hope they all get away cleanly with that grid lineup.

As for kimi, well he wasn't any good last time

Hmm. Looks like it's on live on RTL at 7am (6am UK time - sound right?) and then highlighted at 8.45 and then shown in full again at 13.15.

I'm sure g'daughter will have woken us by then...

Yep, lights out 6am UK time

Yup! RTL was one of the free-to-air options for us poor people without Sky, but there is another way to watch it all without paying Murdoch <spit!> a single penny!

Can't wait for the race, looks like it could be quite interesting.

http://www.sport.de/formel1/livestream/index also looks to be showing live coverage in the morning.

I can't find which satellite channel RTL transmits on: Can any one point me in the right direction please?

Got a live RTL feed here: http://www.stream2watch.me/live-tv/rtl-live-stream - don't know if it works outside Germany and it's not a brilliant bitrate, though.

Right, ive gotten up with 30 mins to go. I noticed the covereage started at 4.30am but figured that was going to be going back over pre-season and qualifying.

Have i missed anything ground breaking?

Morning all

Coffee, cold pizza and F1 in HD. Doesn't get much better!

Would love to see Schumi on the podium with Hamilton and Jenson today.

Morning.

Your right, would be great see him up there.

Do Anthony Davidson and whatever that girls name is co-ordinate wardrobes? How very twee.

Ready and getting excited!

Great start by Button

Schumacher 3rd, be nice to see him with a podium

Fantastic start by Jenson!!!!!

Hamilton isn't going to be happy!

The Ferrari rear wing looks like a barn door compared to others

Shame for Schumacher

Michael you wally !

Jenson saving fuel already

Uh oh, safety car. This could mix it up a bit.

Bummer, that didn't work out for Lewis....

Hmm i'm worried for Hamilton. I think he needs things to go his way a bit at the start of the season, allow him to settle down a bit after his crazyness last season.

bad luck like that and i think we'll see him making some rash moves before the end of this race.

Also i just want to say (as i doubt they hear this very often)

WELL DONE FIA!

The DRS zones are perfect and the rule changes have really evened the field out.

If Seb wins this season, at least he would have had to fight for it.

Has anyone found a stream that works in the UK?

Williams look a lot better than they did last year.

Well done Jenson

Nice one Jenson!

And that safety car really helped Seb...

(anyone try that link I posted earlier in the UK?)

Nice job Jenson

Great result for Jenson. Not a bad result for Alonso and Kimi.

Raikkonen 7th. Got to wonder what he might have done with better qualifying.

Glad that wee Paul Di Resta picked up a point too, not a bad race. Maldanardo will nip a bit later, that was quite a heavy tank-slapper!

If you haven't watched the race, don't go anywhere near the BBC website!!

Uh oh, Hamilton looks like somebody nicked his ice cream

Jenson shook hands with Seb on the podium, but not with Mr H...

Lewis could do with learning a bit of sportsmanship and growing up. Great drive from Button, Vettel and Alonso and great to see Vettel so magnanimous in defeat.

Would have liked to see what Schumi could have done if he didn't have problems.

I think Lewis has to worry about alienating his fans. Sitting there in the news conference it was like there were two world champions and one spoilt brat.

Ok so things didn't exactly go his way, but stomping round and acting like moody teenager isn't going to change anything.

That was an encouraging start to the season! The midfield is pretty tight and there looks to be real competition at the front. Roll on next week and a more sociable hour.

And I agree re: Hamilton. I don't think those demons are exorcised just yet.

What was that Senna said ..... second is the first of the losers...... Don't see anything wrong with Lewis being peeved.

Especially as he was third

Ahh poor Lewis, Mr Button is a nasty man. What a child, he really needs to grow up.

Great race

It would have been superb if Webber had pipped LH over the line! That would have really p****d him off.

Was quoting Senna mate Good race and fair doo's for Button but I'm not gonna knock anyone for being peaved that they didn't win..... Kimi's going to be an interesting watch and Kamui again is da man

Yeah - I don't think it's fair to compare the humour of the 3 podium guys:

Button - won the race from second and fastest lap to boot
Herr Fingerwagger - started 6th and finished 2nd
Hamilton - started on pole after a great lap yesterday and events (mainly a slightly fluffed start and 2 unfortunate pit stops) conspired to leave him 3rd.

I think it's perfectly reasonable that he's disappointed that he didn't drive home his advantage

i just wanted to give him a slap. you win some, you loose some, and today didn't go his way. when JB got infront off the start, i thought he would hold lewis up. on the contrary, button drove a perfect race, and hamilton had no answer for him. perhaps he should try to be a little more gracious in defeat, because if he behaves like a child, i can't imagine the team are going to be endeared to him in the future.

was i the only person who thought the pictures from the last ten laps were rubbish? we had 1st 2nd 3rd and 4th all within 2secs of eachother and were watching maldanado not overtaking alonso. poor choice of footage imho when the front end was so tense.

craig

I think I missed today's titanic strop, I thought he was trying to let Jenson have his moment, and Jenson was trying not to rub Lewis's nose in it. They are a both a good example to us all IMO.
Interesting then today that rather than chopping across Jenson from the start, he did the team thing and let him go, and in contrast to Massa - where this whole thing started - he drove a clean race.
What may not go in his favour is that if the McLaren can "switch the tyres on" quicker than the Red Bull on a cool circuit he's going to have a horrible year fighting tyre degradation.

I know you wee quoting Senna, and a very good quote too. I still think Lewis needs to grow some and man up a bit. He lost a race after all, just a race!

I also think he needs to get away from McLaren if he is to move on and prove his stunning early career.

Unfortunately, I didn't see your warning this morning as I was avoiding this thread until I watched the highlights, only to find out who the winner was on the BBC website

Well done Jenson

Nice to see Kimi back

Shame about Schumi

I've never liked Lewis and his attitude today just confirms my attitude towards him

Refusing to pay Sky £10 a month has one bonus - Jake Humprey with the BBC highlights

I thought it was a very promising start to the season - lots of interesting battles to come. There are many petulant young divas in F1, a fact put into sharp relief by Button's wonderully relaxed, mature approach. A facade that clearly also hides a hugely talented and determined competitor.
I agree with skinflint that the pictures were pretty poor, with the directors following the wrong action on many occasions.

As I also watched both the Sky and BBC coverage, I think that Sky has some way to go to match the quality of the BBC package. I'm a big fan of Brundle, Croft and Anthony Davidson, but too many of the "extras" on Sky were pointless fripperies that didn't add anything.
On the other hand, I think the BBC commentator alongside Coulthard had a tendency to get too squeaky too early, leaving no room to deploy his hysteria DRS at critical points.
The BBC programme with its excellent use of montage clips and music felt like it was designed for a younger, more sophisticated audience, whereas Sky felt like it was designed for middle aged blokes with a motorsport mid-life crisis, a bit like, well, me, really. Yet I preferred the BBC.

On Hamilton's post-race demeanour, I can see both sides, but I think the bottom line (as Nigel Mansell tweeted) is that Hamilton sees himself as a winner, who feels he has underperformed and has a big point to prove. Yesterday, the race was his for the taking, yet he lost out to his 2 biggest rivals. I'd be pretty hacked off if I were in that position too. But let's not read too much into it, as one race doth not an F1 season make. Conversely, if the scenario is repeated a few times, Hamilton's "smacked-arse face" may well be the image of 2012...

ETA: I wonder if people will now ease off with the "Vettel is no more than a first place bully" - I thought he raced pretty well yesterday from mid-pack.

Also: Ferrari... Great drive from Alonso in adversity, but that is not a great car.

Indeed Jim, it could be argued Vettel drove the best race of all of them

As for Lewis, well, I'm a big fan but he will have to learn to chill a little. He does himself no favours being so petulant. All in all I thought it was a great race. Seems not everyone is happy with the current situation though. ha ha ha ha ha ha ha Red Bull complaining about Mercedes F-Duct They must have forgotten last year already

Red Bull and Ferrari in F1 shocker

I started viewing by watching a live stream on my pc but the quality was pretty poor and the commentary was in German so i gave up after half an hour and went back to bed I watched the hilights later on the Beeb and i thought thyey did a pretty good job as usual. Still undecide whther i'm going to cough up for Sky coverage yet

was the stream too poor to watch? if not i might attempt it next week with 5live for commentary.

just watched the beebs highlights programme, and i really think it was better than the sky coverage, now to be fair, i was up at 5am with a hangover when i watched the live transmission, but i really didn't notice i was watching highlights, and for me that is key.
they didn't miss a thing (except the commentator unable to hear the radio messages
great great job by the bbc, very happy to watch a season with them if this is the edited version.

Stream I used is mentioned in a post a bit higher up but it was poor. Bit to small to watch in it's compact form and awful quality at full screen Beeb hilights for me for the time being

Not sure if I can post this, I'm sure one of our resident Gruppenführers will remove it if it contravenes one of the rules. It was posted on Scoobynet yesterday -

Try one of these streams out. Some of them work ok, but others you have to play around a bit with to get the exact feed that you want.
http://www.firstrowsports.eu/sport/motosport.html

http://www.stream2watch.me/motor

http://www.vipbox.tv/sports/formula-1.html

http://www.hdfooty.com/ - (Channel 1)

And of course http://www.rtl.de/formel1/livestream/index

If you want a decent commentary, (far better than $ky’s), then listen to Radio 5 Live whilst watching one of the above.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/stations/5live
-----------------------------------------------------------
Here are a few more that have been supplied by some others friends on this group & other F1 groups:
Sky Sports F1 Live Stream Online
www.vipbox.tv
[url=mms://218.97.224.196/ggg][url=mms://218.97.224.196/ggg][url=mms://218.97.224.196/ggg]mms://218.97.224.196/ggg[/url][/url][/url]

[url=mms://media.straumar.is/sjonva][url=mms://media.straumar.is/sjonva][url=mms://media.straumar.is/sjonva]mms://media.straumar.is/sjonva[/url][/url][/url]

http://www.go01.com/live/wsty.htm

http://www.ubctv.com/ - Works…???

http://www.rts.co.yu/rts2live.ram

http://www.go01.com/live/cctv5_2.asx

http://wwitv.com/television/81.htm

Some of them are repetitive, but choose 2 or 3 that suit you and bookmark them. Some work better than others depending on your internet speed etc. It may not be the best, but it has worked for quite a lot of F1 Fans. Why pay $KY enjoy F1 for free.

Legal considerations aside, I'd have thought the biggest issue would be getting the sound and vision synced. In my experience, streaming has a significant lag, so the commentary would be ahead of the video.