Viewing figures from the first race weekend of 2012 indicates a fall of over a million viewers in the UK. There was no live free-to-air coverage of the race in Britain. The race was shown live on Sky while the BBC broadcast highlights later in the day. Sky declined to issue details of their TV audiences for their F1 programming over the race weekend when asked by F1 Fanatic. However multiple sources have reported their first F1 broadcast attracted a peak audience of 1.02 million viewers. This represents a fall of over 2 million compared to the figure recorded by the BBC for last year’s live race. The BBC reported a peak of 3.2 million people watched their highlights programme, over one million more than their repeat of the race in a similar time slot attracted last year. Combining the figures suggests around one million fewer people in the UK watched the first F1 race of the season, a fall of over 20%. However Sky commentator Martin Brundle, who left the BBC to join the … [Read more...] about UK TV audience falls by 1 million at Sky’s first F1 race – F1 Fanatic
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Saudi Arabia F1 race set to remain in Jeddah until at least 2027
Listen to this article Saudi Arabia hosted its first F1 race in 2021 at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, which was intended to be a temporary home for the grand prix before moving to the new-build city of Qiddiya on the outskirts of Riyadh. But as work continues on the state-of-the-art facility, Jeddah is now expected to host the race for at least another four years, with a number of the temporary facilities at the track being made permanent. "It's important that we future-proof the Jeddah track and for this reason we have again been working with the FIA and Formula 1 to ensure that we have a circuit that will allow us to stage the sport in Jeddah while work begins on the track in Qiddiya," said Martin Whitaker, the CEO of the Saudi Motorsport Company that promotes the race. "The Qiddiya automotive centre is being designed to lead the world in Formula 1 circuit design and entertainment. A unique and exciting project, Qiddiya will be a location that everyone will want to … [Read more...] about Saudi Arabia F1 race set to remain in Jeddah until at least 2027
Lando Norris feels he ‘deserves to be in the battle’ for Formula 1 race wins
Lando Norris feels he deserves to be fighting George Russell and Carlos Sainz for F1 race wins but concedes it’s “just not the position” he’s in at the moment with McLaren. A few years younger than Russell, Norris competed against his compatriot in the 2018 Formula 2 championship with Russell taking the win by 68 points ahead of Norris. Both drivers were promoted to Formula 1 the following season, Norris joining McLaren and Russell racing for Williams. There Norris partnered Sainz for two seasons, the two fighting for points and podiums while Russell went point-less with Williams and said at the time he wished he was also involved in the battle for points. Fast forward two years and Russell was not only fighting for points but also claimed him his first grand prix win in 2022, P1 at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix. That same year Sainz, having moved onto Ferrari, also broke his duck as he took the chequered flag at the British Grand Prix. PlanetF1 recommends ‘Ferrari will go … [Read more...] about Lando Norris feels he ‘deserves to be in the battle’ for Formula 1 race wins
Will Mercedes win every F1 race in 2019? They say no | RaceFans
Mercedes have their rivals reeling with a near-perfect start to the 2019 F1 season over the first five races. Advert | Become a Supporter & go ad-free With five consecutive one-twos, and two fastest laps from a possible five, they’ve scored 217 out of a maximum 220 points. No F1 team has ever won every points-scoring round of the world championship. The high watermark was set in 1988 by McLaren , who notched up 15 wins from a possible 16. Completing a clean sweep of this year’s 21 races is potentially a much tougher challenge for Mercedes. Their competition is much closer than McLaren faced 31 years ago, when they qualified more than three seconds ahead of their closest rivals at some rounds . Mercedes has always been cautious when it comes to managing expectations. So it’s no surprise team principal Toto Wolff played down the possibility of them remaining undefeated until the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on December 1st. Asked whether he … [Read more...] about Will Mercedes win every F1 race in 2019? They say no | RaceFans
Fernando Alonso ‘one of the greatest’ in approach to an F1 race weekend, says former team-mate
Stoffel Vandoorne’s experience going head-to-head with Fernando Alonso at McLaren leaves him well placed to explain the double World Champion’s “greatness.” Having descended the Dolomites following some off-season skiing in Italy, Alonso’s 2023 preparations are in full swing with Aston Martin. The veteran Formula 1 maestro touched down at the team’s base this week, with Alonso sharing some pictures to Instagram captioned “countdown” before Aston Martin followed-up with a montage recapping his first day. Alonso has moved across from Alpine after two seasons with the squad formerly known as Renault – with whom the Spaniard won both his World Championships 17 years ago. The 41-year-old’s shock transfer sees him reunited with a former team-mate. Stoffel Vandoorne partnered Alonso for the final 40 races of his frustrating second McLaren stint – finishing two also-ran seasons in ninth and sixth on the Constructors’ standings. When Alonso retired in 2018, Vandoorne lost his seat … [Read more...] about Fernando Alonso ‘one of the greatest’ in approach to an F1 race weekend, says former team-mate
McNish: 2026 rule changes offer Audi “good runway” for F1 entry
Listen to this article Audi announced at the end of August that it would be entering F1 for the first time when the next set of power unit regulations are introduced for the 2026 season. The F1 entry will see Audi link up with Sauber, which currently races under the Alfa Romeo banner. Audi will supply engines to the Swiss-based squad and take a majority shareholding to form its works F1 operation. The revised ruleset will place a greater emphasis on electric power and sustainable fuels, and will also coincide with a new cycle of technical regulations for the chassis. McNish, who is the director of motorsport coordination at the Audi Group, felt the shift in the engine regulations for 2026 made it a “good time” for Audi to join the fold. “There’s always a point where all the stars align,” McNish told Motorsport.com at Autosport International on Saturday. “That’s clearly the point now with the technical regulations, and it’s where the company is. And 2026 with the … [Read more...] about McNish: 2026 rule changes offer Audi “good runway” for F1 entry
F1 circuits history part 12: 1994 · RaceFans
The 1994 season was a traumatic one for Formula 1. It is often remembered solely because of the deaths of Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger. But their deaths at Imola during the San Marino Grand Prix came in a season that saw a higher than average number of driver injuries: JJ Lehto in pre-season testing, Rubens Barrichello at Imola, Karl Wendlinger at Monte-Carlo, Pedro Lamy at Silverstone and others. The governing body reacted by imposing changes on the cars; changes to the circuit were brought about at the request of the FIA and also following input from the newly re-formed Grand Prix Drivers’ Association, which remains active to this day. Tanaka International Aida, Japan The second race of the year was held at the TI Aida circuit in Japan (pictured top), and given the title of ‘Pacific Grand Prix’ just as Italy also had the San Marino Grand Prix. The circuit was far too small for F1 cars, very narrow and almost entirely dominated by slow corners. Michael … [Read more...] about F1 circuits history part 12: 1994 · RaceFans
F1 circuits history part 10: 1985-9 · RaceFans
In the late 1980s it often seemed like good tracks were dropped for safety reasons, and less good tracks found their way onto the calendar because money talked. How else could you explain a circuit like the awful Phoenix street track holding three Grands Prix? Or why the slow and dull Hungaroring remains on the calendar today? This period also saw some entertaining F1 venues, including Suzuka, the popular Adelaide street circuit and Mexico’s Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. Adelaide The Australian Grand Prix was first held as a around of the Formula 1 World Championship in 1985 at a street circuit in Adelaide. Keke Rosberg won the inaugural race, the last victory of his career. The track was constructed from a combination of streets plus a purpose-built section. Although the track was tight and punishing like a typical street circuit, it also had an extremely fast street – Dequetteville Terrace – at the end of which was a tight hairpin just perfect for overtaking. Adelaide … [Read more...] about F1 circuits history part 10: 1985-9 · RaceFans
James Key highlights ‘two things’ F1 ‘missed’ in the all-new technical regulations
After one year of racing the new ground effect aerodynamic cars, James Key says the arrival of porpoising and the loss of the slipstreaming effect were the two big takeaways. Last season Formula 1 introduced ground effect aerodynamic cars, the biggest overhaul in the sport’s regulations since swapping to V6 engines back in 2014. The new regulations caught many of the teams out as they found their cars bouncing around the circuits, some such as Mercedes suffering worse than others. That came as a surprise to former F1 managing director Ross Brawn given that porpoising is a consequence of using ground effect aerodynamics to create downforce. “We’ve all experienced it,” the Englishman told F1TV after pre-season testing. “It is prevalent, it’s a phenomenon, it’s physics .” He added: “I thought they would have anticipated it from their wind tunnel work.’ Key agrees it is something the teams should have foreseen. Highlighting his two big takeaways from 2022, he said: “I … [Read more...] about James Key highlights ‘two things’ F1 ‘missed’ in the all-new technical regulations