a couple of things, and i don't want to spoil anyone's fun either i am finding F1 boring as all Hell,, it's more like video games you might play on your PC but more important to me, i can't understand what the hell they are talking about on TV. I can hear most of the words they are mumbling, but overall its just gibberish. Is it just me? I really enjoyed the last bunch of commentators, with David Hobbs and the others. These current people are speaking a different ENGLISH than what i am used to This weekend there was a woman presenter and i couldn't understand her either,,, I'd like to hear what others have to say
To me, the problem seems to arise when individuals try to talk too fast for TV. Perhaps such commentators are trying to audition for their next job as an auctioneer or an air traffic controller.
I understand them fine, my wife has more of a problem with their accents. If you want to try something funny turn on subtitles while your watching and you'll get a good laugh as the software has a problem understanding their English as well.
I have been thinking about it,, an i figure out what audience they are speaking to,, sometimes its just to much detail, and other time totally useless garbage, that's if i can understand them at all
F1 is pinnacle of racing technology so to me it's normal to have some higher level of technical conversation. To me this is very important as F1 is so heavily dependent on the car and the development around the given regulations. Watching Nascar for example is almost enough to make me throw up because of how dumbed down it is. Even NHRA drag racing is brutal. They typically will use some completely useless comparison like "these engines have the same power as 100,000 cans of peaches falling of a roof". Like wtf! Perhaps a solution would be educate on some of things that are difficult to follow. I think this would help you get more connected to the entire broadcast. If the accents or slang is hard to follow, I guess you just get used it. I personally enjoy the British banter.
if i could only get those peaches on my roof, i would have it made anyway, glad you can make sense of it and put the words together so anyways,..... 100,000 cans of peaches is about 50,000 liters,, that's way too many cubic inches
I think the f-1 coverage is fine. It's a bit long-winded sometimes, but overall it's not bad. the accents are fine as well... just as easy or hard as listening to southern folks on NASCAR broadcasts.... I think the cost for the old 3-man commentating team of Varsha, Hobbs, and Matchett is too high for the sponsorship ESPN gets... unless people are prepared to pay for the broadcast.
IMHO the actual racing is significantly better this year than the past few - As far as the commentators I have spent significant time in/around London, Bracknell, Tetbury etc. (a lot of my team is scattered in those areas) so I get the accents and glib terminology perhaps a bit better than others - it does not bother me but can definitely understand how it could bother you/many. I agree the SPEED team was great but I am sure the UK/EU fans said the same thing about them if they watched the American/SPEED feed. They will have to have a token to meet their "DEI" quota so get used to that - I guess I am just grateful to have all the races with full coverage for Practice/Qualifying etc. and in some cases re-broadcasts - I recall the days of having to search for it on some obscure/crappy feed if at all. As far as the technical aspects, it is indeed a hyper-technical sport obviously and a lot of the nuances of it are technical and detail-oriented - which is why (WADR to Americans - I am one) it has had a hard time catching on here - The average American wants to eat his wings and drink his been and watch Ricky Bobby go around in circles in a car that looks like his daddy's (actually there is a lot of nuance and detail to NASCAR - the broadcasters just generally either don't understand it or choose not to go deep into it to avoid causing brain aneurism's to a larger portion of the fan base ) F1 on ESPN via Sky Sports could be better - but it could be a helluva lot worse or non-existent - so I will take it
the women are awful. they get their crib notes the night before and thats all they know. the really experienced ones(ex drivers, mechanics, team bosses) should be doing the commentating.
The F1TV app commentators are easier to listen to than the lead group we get on the ESPN/SKY/F1 feed. As far as the cost of the commentators, ESPN isn't paying them anything, they just take the Sky feed and put it on TV with Mothers Polish paying the commercial bills, I'd have to bet ESPN makes good money for doing almost nothing. Yeah, of us USA viewers, it's tough to wade through the various flavors of accents, although Leigh Diffey is the worst in my book, I can easily do without listening to him cover anything. For me, it's a toss-up on what sounds goofier, "LIGHTS OUT AND AWAY WE GO" or Diffey's "IT'S TIME TO BRING THE ACTION!" Technical wise and following F1, if you don't know what the broadcasters are talking about, you are either interested in it and need to read more or talk to other F1 fans, or maybe watch a race with someone else that knows a bit more. Keep in mind that often the announcers DON'T know everything, and they're guessing at the team's pit strategy, or fuel load, or aero improvements, etc. Also, they tend to talk so much that they'll sometimes say the wrong thing, identify a car the wrong way, or miss something that I can see on my TV screen. Not that I know everything, but at least once a race some motor-mouth announcer will say something that's just wrong. Then another category is the slang we all use, or even in this thread, that I don't know what people are saying all the time. Oh well, it's a big planet.
martin brundles grid walks are good. nico rosberg is good. jenson button is good. the tall former f1 champ is a doofus.
damin hill is a dork. and the blonde slightly older practice announcer is all about the social justices that f1 needs. f1 needs actual racing!
Agreed. FWIW, English is my second language and I grew up in Puerto Rico … and I have no problem understanding the commentators in F1TV. I think they speak clearly and enunciate well without really thick accents. And I substantively understand most of the technical discussions they have. However, that took a lot of self educating on F1 through various YouTube videos like those at WTF1 and Chain Bear and some programs at F1TV like Tech Tuesdays. Like all sports commentators on live events, they get a few things wrong, or miss obvious things, or just throw out wild guesses - but it’s no worse than any sports broadcasting. In fact, I’d say they’re comparatively very good in that regard. All in all, I think F1TV does a very good job and is a pretty good value. They do screw up live video editing from time to time (at Miami they kept showing celebrities and the crowds way too much, for instance). But it’s usually pretty good.
