As of this year Channel Ten has been broadcasting different content on their HD and SD channels. This means that instead of getting a delayed telecast due to time conflicts with other television shows, Ten HD has been showing the Grand Prix live.

Only problem is, what about those of us that only have SD? We still just get the old program timing carried over from the analogue broadcast (ie. delayed – GPs usually starting from 10:30pm onward).

It seems as of next year Ten will be releasing a dedicated sports channel broadcast in both HD and SD! The new channel will be known as ONE and will be a direct competitor to FoxSports and ESPN – albeit, free

Ten HD will become ONE HD but will have a simulcast on ONE SD.

No doubt this will mean better motorsport (especially F1) coverage. Again, props to Channel Ten for taking things to the next level…

I didn’t realise until after the race, but before the British Grand Prix on Sunday Kimi Raikkonen pushed the well renowned photographer Paul-Henri Cahier to the ground when he got a little too close. According to the Ferrari camp, Paul was standing on Kimi’s equipment. According to Paul’s web site, he never touched Kimi’s equipment nor touched Kimi himself.

To me it looks like his camera lens touched Kimi’s helmet as Kimi bent down. The fact that Kimi takes his helmet off straight away would seem to confirm this (is he checking the helmet isn’t damaged?). In any case I put this down as a “racing incident” (ie. both parties are to blame)

What does everyone else think? In any case, it’s not quite as entertaining as Kimi’s former teammate Juan Pablo Montoya though…

http://www.autosport.com/gallery/photo.php/id/87810

The man’s a beast!!

Felipe Massa – Made a bad start, almost caused an accident and then won the race in a dominant car. But full marks for trying soooo hard to pump the team on the podium like Michael Schumacher used to. At least Schumacher was genuine about it

Lewis Hamilton – Good start but that’s about it.

James Allen – Had to include ITV F1 commentator James Allen straight after Lewis Hamilton because the guy is so far up his arse it’s not funny. I thought once he pulled himself out of Michael Schumacher’s arse we wouldn’t have to hear how wonderful one driver was every single Grand Prix, but I guess I was hoping for too much..

Fernando Alonso – I don’t know why people were so critical of Alonso trying to overtake Massa into the first corner considering he was in the lead? It was Fernando’s only chance of victory and he knew it. If it were Michael Schumacher attempting the pass James Allen would have been raving about how brave he was trying to pass on the outside.. So not a bad job from Fernando, but I must admit that 2nd stint on the hard tyres was woeful..

Kimi Raikkonen – The irony.. McLaren can’t build a reliable car so I’ll go to Ferrari because they’re so reliable..

David Coulthard – Drive of the day, no question about it. You have to admire a driver who fights right till the end despite mechanical problems. Well done DC!

Takuma Sato – Very nice that he scored Super Aguri’s first points. If it wasn’t for Renaults fuel rig problems though, it would have been a different story. But good job none-the-less!

Mark Webber – Has anyone managed to DNF an entire season before?

Nick Heidfeld – We’ve praised you a lot this season, but today you were outraced by your teammate and what on earth did you think the Toyota mechanic was holding up in front of your face after you dragged a wheelgun and a mechanic half way down the pits?

Ted Kravitz – (I think it was Ted Kravitz who said this, but if I’m wrong please correct me!) Ted did a great job in naming the BMW “lollipop” man who let Nick Heidfeld go before the crew had finished working on the car during his pit stop. Sure, the guy messed up big time but I’m sure he already felt really sh*t without you having to name him on international TV! Talk about kicking someone when they’re down.

Michael Schumacher – Seriously, who wears white pants?

Heinz-Harald Frentzen – Was that you I saw in the pits?

Ok people, what do you think of Honda’s 2007 Earth Livery?

Earlier in the week another set of supposedly leaked photos were circulating – although they were of the new Renault car. It is extremely unlikely that either the Renault photos or the Williams photos were leaked. They are more likely a publicity stunt to build anticipation before each of the cars official launches.

At least the Renault photos were made to look leaked by being grainy and amateurish… whereas the Williams leaked photos look a bit too professional (the attempt to leave some jacks and tools on the ground in the background to make the photos look more unofficial are hilarious! )…

These rumours are highly unlikely as AT&T were announced as the 2007 title sponsor last year and have already been marketing this relationship.

I wish Fernando a merry Christmas and a relaxing holiday, because when the season starts we will beat him.

Good ol’ Flavs!

Why always (start the race at) 2pm? It’s a stupid time – to watch a Grand Prix you have to f*** up your whole Sunday.

Surely Flav wouldn’t want the races any earlier in the day? That could only leave the possibility of F1 racing at night. Being located in the Asia-Pacific region, I don’t see this happening at all. Down here, due to the time difference, most F1 races start at 10:30 at night. Delaying this by 4 or 5 hours would wipe out a huge section of the audience in this region – and the Asian region is a region F1 is so desperate to establish itself in.

The other problem is when you consider the television schedule of areas in the same time-zone as the race itself. Having a race at 6 or 7pm wouldn’t work as these are prime-time spots. Unfortunately, most networks don’t see Formula One as prime-time television.

At the end of the day a 1pm or 2pm race start works pretty well, so it’s unlikely that it will ever change..

Anyway, to lighten the mood, did you know that Niki Lauda’s real name is Andreas Nikolaus “Niki” Lauda?