Given 2010 sees a British team with 2 british drivers, how horribly partisan will BBC's coverage be, and to what extent will they assume that *all* British F1 fans must support Mclaren + 1 or both of their drivers?

Thankfully it's not ITV anyway....I imagine James Allen would suffer some kind of stroke at the excitement he would experience at the prospect.

(Edit - damn, that was supposed to be a poll, or I'd have just added it to thje BBC coverage thread. Oh well...)

If they get rid of Legard it should be fine

2009 was very, very good and balanced, I hope they will keep it this way. But yeah, two British champions on a British team, It might be tempting for someone from BBC top people to call the F1 section and tell them to 'Brit-up' the coverage in ITV fashion. I sure hope it won't happen, though.

Nothing wrong with british tv supporting british teams and drivers. would you expect the british public to support germany in england v germany? you should see what the spanish, german, finnish, italian press is like. They think all Italians support Ferrari.

Whatever happens, it won't be as bad as 2008 on ITV. Thank god.

Don't watch it then

There is always the no commentary option

Seems that some people just feel the need to complain even though what they are complaining about hasn't even happened yet. Personally I think we should count our blessings for the exceptional coverage we get. It's fairly obvious when you hear what other members coverage is like that the BBC is at the top of the pile.

A British broadcast, following a British team, sponsored by a major British company in Vodafone, with 2 British world champions? Are you off your head? I would expect and demand nothing less. The prime focus of the show should be to a British audience. Likewise in England the BBC MOTO-GP show is a Valentino Rossi lovefest. Our own British rider James Toseland didn't even get a look in and thats a fact, and why should he when he was rubbish. He was crap and didn't deserve much coverage and this is a fact. Every national F1 broadcast has biased coverage to a degree, expect anything different and you are a mad man. It's like asking Spanish coverage not to concentrate on Alonso or the new Campos team, or Brazilian TV not to concentrate on all things Massa/Ferrari and Rubens/Williams, or ask German TV to drop their lovefest with the new baby-Schumi in Vettel.

I hope they keep up the good balanced standards of 2009, won't be easy and an all Brit focus could be too much to resist but I think the BBC will manage.

Could be fun too, this year when the Macca was shite there was always Button to cheer for, in 2010 when that car is shite it will be depression all around with both British "aces" trundling at the back.

But England v Germany is, by nature, a nation versus nation event.

F1 is not nation versus nation. It is team versus team.

Would you assume all British (or even English) football fans would support Liverpool FC when they play against a German club side? Of course not...not if you're a Man Utd fan (I'm not a fan of either, just for the record...)

As a Brit I supported a German driver in an Italian car. F1 should, and does transcend nationalities, but TV coverage - ITV particularly so - seemed to think we are all so small-minded and jongoistic as to be limited by natioanl boundaries. BBC is better, certainly, but I just hope they don't fall into the ITV trap, and do remember that many, many British F1 fans will support neither driver or the team. Brundle will probably be OK, Leggard will be worse I think

Will certainly be some cringe-worthy stuff coming up though.

I have had no problems with the coverage so far, but I do like it to be unbiased. I'd prefer them to talk about all the teams and drivers, not just McLaren. Though if it did end being a fight between Button and Hamilton I'd expect them to talk about it as much as say Schumacher vs Alonso.

Talk about the winners and what's going happening on the track, not just people 'cos of where they were born.

Steve.

Lol Kimi fanboys, still bitter are we?

'How vomit-inducing will BBC's 2010 coverage be?'. Answer. Not very. Nothing can be as bad as ITV in 2008, and given it's a British team, with 2 British drivers, the 2 most recent World Champions, shown in Britain, for British people, paid for by British people via the licence fee, they'd have every right to concentrate mainly on McLaren next year. Will it be 'vomit-inducing'? No. Will they focus on them? Yes. To expect anything less is wrong. Will it be as bad as ITV? No. If you THINK you won't like it (and you've got absolutely no idea, just a presumption and nothing more) then don't watch it, rather than just presuming it'll be 'vomit-inducing' coverage.

Yeah BBC was more balanced than most in 09', sure you have a bit more cheering for brits but isn't that logical.

Unless you mean the 'mute' button, there isn't for Freeview. Neither will there be any other extras for Freeview

Dutch are the worse lol. You should watch this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exlBHTyB1R0

Actually it may well backfire on those with a tendency for jingoism. If, for example, JB complains about LH being favoured and LH denies it then it will mean that either a British driver is a whiner or, a British driver is a liar, and/or a British team is mistreating a British driver and lying, etc. In short, no Johnny Foreigner to blame in the way Fred was slated a couple of years ago. Should be quite interesting

The BBC give exceptional coverage for which I'm turly grateful. I can understand a bit of enthusiasm as it is a British corporation etc however as long as they remember there are others on the grid and don't go OTT I'm not too bothered. I don't really give a damn about nationality and the BBC shouldn't either. It needs to be impartial but that said a little bit of patriotic spirit can be overlooked.
As long as they don't compare this to a track version of the war (like has already started with people I know) then I'm fine with it.

James Allens gone, and he's taken the inducement to vomit with him.

I don't see why it should be so bad.

But, be prepared for a lot of garage shots showing their two daddies and WAGs frowning at the TV screen.

Depends on how many unecessary shots we get of Buttons dad and his pink shirts/ Anothy hamilton fake Big Balled persona with his stupid sunglasses/ And the pussyfoot doll looking generally stupid.

Indeed, if the main story of next year ends up as being a fight between Button and Hamilton for the WDC then it is a story they will concentrate on more than the rest. However this year has shown (with the main story being Button/Brawn) that they still recognise that there are other drivers/teams in the field to discuss and give coverage to.

If neither Button or Hamilton are involved in the title fight then they will still get more coverage than they would if they weren't British. But ultimately people can't expect the British Broadcasting Corporation to not spend some time on coverage of the British drivers.

I think you're wrong.

Get rid of Legard, DC and EJ and things will get better.

I wish I get the BBC. With an all German team on the grid, it will be awful.

They will have to eat dust as Alonso´s Ferrari will dominate.
This will be no doubt the Alonso-Hamilton take 3.

But who cares for BBC?
(Except Brundle it's a annoying cast)

No, it'll probably be pretty awful to be honest. I don't think I'd be able to stand watching the pre-race/qualy segments and shit like that.

BBC might as well set up shop in the McLaren garage.

That's the point; a BIT of extra coverage and enthusiasm for home drivers is understandable and fair enough, but not blanket hero worship at the expense of everyone else.

BBC is a British TV.

When the only one Hungarian driver ever was in F1, the Hungarian TV gave big attention to him, despite he was a backmarker. That's normal.

Come on! Top British drivers in a top British team. The champions of the last two years deserve attention.

Wish I had that crystal ball.

There is a difference between focusing on a driver and being biased towards a driver, as long as they're not biased then it's fine. If the BBC do focus on McLaren for obvious reasons then I see nothing wrong with it, Britain's losing identity as it is FFS. I just hope people would stop blindly slagging off ITV for their apparent 'bias'

James Allen must be kicking himself for not being involved in the TV broadcasts next season.

Two British Drivers! With a British Team! GET IN THERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It was very apparent, especially when they showed the same footage of Lewis karting at every race.

and replace Eddie and DC with the Macca-dads a.k.a. Crockett and Tubbs

That's not bias

BBC is officially impartial.

We didn't get that this year despite having a reigning British World Champ from a British team and a British Championship leader from a British team from race 1.

I suppose that it will be no worse that Merc returning with an all German line-up on German TV. They have to cater for mass audiences and pander to people that do not have F1 as their prime interest in order to pump up viewing figures. It is not to my taste, I always listen to David Croft anyway. Friday FP1 and FP2 are worth every effort to hear David, Maurice, Ant and Ian in conversation imo. If I had to rely on TV commentary only I would turn the sound down and listen to the football or cricket. The red button magazine programme is excellent and I always try to catch it.

No, we didn't; this year, on the whole, was OK in that respect. Let's hope it remains that way.

If it's Button or Hamilton fighting for the championship I shall be extremely miffed if they are mentioned for more than 3 seconds per broadcast.

If there is a political event involving one of the drivers and the FIA I shall expect it to be ignored completely. How biased can you get having the nerve to concentrate on news involving British drivers which would affect the championship.

There are Italian and Finnish drivers on the grid you know people!

Oh, hold on, I seem to have lapsed into the inane drivel spouted by a non-Hamilton fan complaining about James Allen.

I don't know what came over me there.

The BBC will do a great job as they did this year. I dont think Jenson and Lewis being in the same team will make any difference to their partiality.

so long as legard goes, it'll be fine.

The problem here is that I suspect Legard will stay. :/

No doubt.

Like in his blog?

Think that just about sums it up.

Its also a media outlet, therefore its as biased as Sky, ITV, Channel 4 etc etc.