Goodbye Johny Herbert

[Antony Snook]

I have heard on Utube that Jhonny Herbert is gone for saying stuff about Abu Dhabi. I am sick of hearing it. To me the only person who stands out is Brundle as he dose the track walk and talks about braking zones and where the driver is on or off pace. He also dose the grid walk whitch is hard. Geting through a large crowd and trying to talk to people is not easy. Toughest job of all. The test of the Sky TV puppets can get lost as they do a terible job but i cant get anything better than the Sky broadcast. I used to get a chanel called Speed Vision with David Hobbs and a entertaing bunch that where informative and fun to listen to. When i watch NFL or NBA the commemorators would banter and argue in a civilized way but they don't do that at SKY as they would rather just agree and be robotic. Actually a robot would probably be more entertaining.

 

[Ruttman98]

I have heard on Utube that Jhonny Herbert is gone for saying stuff about Abu Dhabi. I am sick of hearing it. To me the only person who stands out is Brundle as he dose the track walk and talks about braking zones and where the driver is on or off pace. He also dose the grid walk whitch is hard. Geting through a large crowd and trying to talk to people is not easy. Toughest job of all. The test of the Sky TV puppets can get lost as they do a terible job but i cant get anything better than the Sky broadcast. I used to get a chanel called Speed Vision with David Hobbs and a entertaing bunch that where informative and fun to listen to. When i watch NFL or NBA the commemorators would banter and argue in a civilized way but they don't do that at SKY as they would rather just agree and be robotic. Actually a robot would probably be more entertaining.

I am relieved Johnny H did not pass, but am angry with Sky F1 for letting him go along with Paul di Resta. Both commentators added real experience and perspective and both seemed free with their opinions. They will be missed.

Martin Brundle brings sagacious wisdom and dry humor to the broadcasts, and his grid walks are as unpredictable and entertaining as the race--sometimes more so.

Damon Hill is brilliant and funny and unpresupposing just as he was as a competitorand F1 champion.

Karoun Chandok brings honest self-deprecation along with rigorous knowledge paired with enthusiasm and respect for the history of F1.

Anthony Davidson provides expert behind the wheel / seat of the pants insights for quali analysis and is appreciated for scuttlebutt when he covers practice sessions.

Jenson Button is very likeable and should probably go into politics, but I do find him informative and enjoyable.

Although I found him to be an irritatingly wiley, relentless, and ruthless opponent who relied on insider data as Hamilton's 2016 rival, I always look forward to Nico Rosberg's participation on Sky. He engages viewers with his positivity and passion and is not afraid to say whay he thinks. My mom still refers to him as "Map Boy," aluding to his TV role one season hand-drawing circuits and explaining circuits for pre-race pieces during his time at Williams.

I for one would miss Ted Kravitz's quirky pitlane reporting--he brings a genuine inquisitiveness and charmingly unrestrained giddiness to viewers.

People do not universally appreciate David Croft's over the top delivery, but for me Crofty is 1000x better than Lee Diffie for IndyCar who always seems to be talking inconsequential, hyped tangents at inopportune times.

Simon Lazenby is solid, knowledgeable and confident, but is not an indispenable part of the team for me.

Though rarely part of the Sky broadcasts aired by ESPN, I would like to see more of Ted Slater's gritty reports.

Natalie Pinkham, Naomi Schiff, and Rachel Brookes bring different angles to the show, but do not enhance or detract from the coverage for me one way or the other. Each seems a bit unsure of themselves during live broadcasts but they do much better in recorded interviews. When Natalie is the lead commentator on Fridays, she is more like a moderator between her cohorts than the driving force of the broadcast. This is praise rather than a critique as she brings out the best from the others which is a welcome gift.

I agree with Antony Snook, that the banter among Bob Varsha, David Hobbs, and Steve Matchett made for he best F1 broadcsting team in North America. Even with Diffie on set after Bob V departed, the Hobbo-Steve M back and forth digs were always enjoyable.

Most missed from the Speed Vision/SPEED/Versus/NBC Sports pre-race shows are the eloquent vignettes penned and voiced by Sam Posey. Do yourself a favor and pick up his "Where the Writer Hits the Road" collection. I will forever be looking for his "Mudge Pond Express" autobiography for an affordable price.

 

[Spinelli]

I like Di Resta because he seemed to be the only one who wasn't always blowing smoke up Hamilton's a**. Brundle probably belongs in that camp too but I'm talking more about the pre- and post- race people rather than race-commentary. He also seemed to some times have different views from...was it Button? I can't remember but sometimes, when talking about more technical things about driving, setup, or whatever, he'd have a different viewpoint or opinion and had awesome insight.

To be honest, none of it matters much to me. All that really matters for me is the commentating during the race. I couldn't care less about the pre-race and post-race stuff anymore. It's 95% just boring, vague, generic info or over-hyped, "hollywood" style junk. There's barely anything with technical depth and substance.

They need Allan Mcnish back. He only commented during practice sessions if I remember correctly but he would go on about so many deep, technical details about car setup, driving technique & styles, vehicle behavior, etc. I remember when he left, I saw so many people online being happy as they didn't like his commentary. It blows my mind. "The masses" want such boring crap with hollywood flash and "big personalities" and cheap thrills rather than true substance, depth, and insight

Danica Patrick is also fantastic. If you listen to the questions she asked teams, she sounded like a driver at a post-session engineering brief. I can tell she really put a lot of the teams on the spot with her very technical & detailed questions about track conditions, car setup, etc. etc. Like she was really "fishing" for technical info and you can tell sometimes the teams held back from giving too much away (but without making it look like they were holding back). She's fantastic with the tough, technical questions that most interviewers don't ask.

 

[Ruttman98]

I did not mention Danica Patrick because she only is part of the team for a few races, but I have also been impressed with the thoughtfulness of her questions. Compared to her earlier stilted and tense appearances for IndyCar, her confidence on camera at for F1 at COTA and other venues seems to have increased and more of her personality comes through.

 

[Antony Snook]

I guess my big beef with sky is they state the obvious. As a intense fan i know a lot about the sport so they are good for somone new. What comentary lacks the technical side of F1. NASCAR is good at this as they have a cutaway car and can explain things of a technical nature but this is hard in F1 as each team has a diferent layout and as a team you dont want another team finding out what you are doing. But a Generic model with a general layout and ex engineer will help explain what went wrong if a car has a Technical problem.

 

[jgf]

In any series I think the best commentators are the ex-drivers. In Indycar no one could touch Bobby Unser, NASCARE had Darrell Waltrip for a while; the only F1 commentator that sticks in my mind, though he was never full time (to my knowledge) was Jackie Stewart. But a major problem with televised F1 in the US is that we often do not get the normal F1 commentary but a voice over commentary by network announcers.

As for Danica Patrick, perhaps reporting is her forte. As a driver she was more concerned with interviews and posing and hawking her posters and calendars then in perfecting her craft.

 

[Eric Rowland]

 

[J.J.McClure]

Hello friends of motorsport.

I won't be watching Formula 1 this year since 1990. I canceled my SKY subscription.
It became unbearable here in Germany. All the tension is constantly taken from you because the moderators spoil the only moment of tension.
When are the pit stops?
In my opinion, playing around with the circle of doom and then constantly explaining the rules doesn't work at all. Even in the last race, where everything was already certain, the two babblers think there are always new TV viewers.
Just imagine, in football, ice hockey, etc. the moderators would explain the rules every time. Does it have to be that way?
Luckily you can turn them off.
I also don't like the new computer game look that the FIA operates there at all. Something pops up everywhere.
Soon they will show the sweating of the feet.
Then these radio messages. This howling of the drivers really gets on my nerves.
Bahhhh he cut me bahhhh. It doesn't matter that he did the same thing shortly before.
I long for the old days where only the time intervals were displayed from time to time.
This whole statistic fuss is absolutely tension-killing. In addition, the speed does not come across at all with all the wide-angle camera settings. Thanks to the FIA.
All you have to do is look at old TV broadcasts on youtube. The cars back then were slower than today, but you could see that they were very fast.
Of course, that's just my opinion and others probably see it differently, but they don't get 30 euros a month from me anymore. The summary on Youtube is enough.
But I'm looking forward to my first LeMans. I was able to get hold of a ticket for the entire event. This will be a nice vacation in France. A lot of beer, even more sausages with fries and watching races until your eyes close. You can't live healthier.

 

[BillyBobSenna]

I know everyone likes different things and Sky has never clicked for me. I am happier following F1 with F1TV. I don't know why however I don't like with Brundle, Hill, or Button. I just sense a level of entitlement that rubs me wrong.

 

[~cw]

I may be in the minority here, but I never found Herbert brought much to the viewing experience. Perhaps one too many knocks to the head as a driver left him a bit fuzzy, but for me his insights were never very insightful, and he ended up in the role of 'cheeky chappy' for a bit of colour. I appreciate some in the paddock liked him as one of the 'old guard' but he always ended up doing the practical joke / comedy puff piece segments. Bit wasted I thought.

I know Brundle and Rosberg are very much marmite for some, but Brundle (and Kravitz) have been doing this gig for 25+ years, and they have the chops to back up their slightly 'quirky' delivery. Rosberg is fortunately not there for every race.

The main pundits and presenters could be changed around any day of the week and I wouldn't mind. Lazenby's "great stuff" after every VT sounds stupid. Croft's tendency to make some snarky comment after a team radio or co-commentator's remark is also frustrating, but we have no choice about that for the time being. I'm liking that other presenters like Naomi Schiff and Bernie Collins (ex-AMF1 head of race strategy and McLaren performance engineer) are being introduced to refresh the presenter lineup along with presenters like Danica Patrick for the US races.

Rosberg can sometimes be a bit partial, but I enjoy seeing him seethe with anger when someone he doesn't like does well in a race ;-) It was also hilarious seeing him stuck in his flat last year because he refused to get rona shots, so FIA refused event entry

 

[Ruttman98]

I enjoyed the engineering and strategy input from Bernie Collins during the Jeddah GP.

Where was Ted this weekend? Karoun sent in a couple of reports from the pits during practice and quali but there was scant little during the race.

 

[~cw]

I enjoyed the engineering and strategy input from Bernie Collins during the Jeddah GP.

Where was Ted this weekend? Karoun sent in a couple of reports from the pits during practice and quali but there was scant little during the race.

Yeah, Bernie was good and I'm glad she's on the lineup for more races!

Ted said last week he wouldn't be at Jeddah. After the Scott Young period in charge of Sky F1, where Ted was dropped from the lineup (to the protestations of viewers and all of the other presenters), he came back in when Billy McGinty took over as Sky F1 channel director. However by that point I suspect Ted had probably made the choice to no longer go to every race. He also wasn't at every race last season. The current schedule is a bit of a slog, so I'd understand that.