Sky/BBC deal 'saved free-to-air' F1 coverage in UK

Williams chairman Adam Parr believes Bernie Ecclestone did the right thing in putting together that BBC/Sky shared broadcast deal for next year - because there was a risk of Formula 1 coverage being off free-to-air television entirely.

While British fans remain angry about the prospect of not being able to watch every race live on the BBC from 2012, Parr says that those unhappy about the move should actually be happy that Ecclestone has managed to keep at least some races on the channel.

Although sympathetic that fans will feel they are worse off in 2012, Parr says that they must take into consideration that they could have been even worse off if the Sky/BBC share deal had not come together.

"I can understand why a British fan who has had free non-advert coverage, amazing content, and brilliant presenters will be saying that anything else is going to be less good," explained Parr.

"I am sorry that the BBC could not carry on doing what they are doing, but they made that decision. I don't think that the fees being charged to the BBC are unreasonable compared to Wimbledon or any other major sports event.

"I am sympathetic, but to be fair the teams have not had any involvement in this. We don't negotiate these deals, but when Bernie briefed us as a group about this, the universal view was, okay we get it. We understand why you've done it. We see the benefits; we know where you are coming from - fair enough."

When asked by AUTOSPORT if there was a prospect that F1 could even have been off free-to-air television totally with the BBC unable to continue its current contract, Parr said: "I think that is true. I think Bernie put this deal together to ensure that the fans would have as much of what they have been enjoying as possible."

He added: "If you are Bernie, and you are looking at the situation where your current partner is stopping – what do you do? I think he has sat back and put together something which is the best that could be done under the circumstances."

Amid scepticism about claims that the Sky/BBC deal could actually boost viewing figures in the UK, as Ecclestone has argued, a number of sponsors have expressed private concern about the impact the deal could have on the sport's popularity in 2012.

McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh insisted, however, that he was not too worried about the situation.

"I don't think there are any [concerns] here. I think that is just speculation," he said when asked if he had any fears of dwindling sponsorship revenue because of smaller viewing figures.

"At the moment we have to do a careful analysis of it, but the view yesterday was that the viewership would increase as a consequence of the amount of time and coverage that F1 will present – because you have got BBC and Sky competing.

"You have got deferred coverage as well, and for a lot of grands prix it will frankly probably be better to have it in the UK a few hours later in any case.

"I think we have to be aware of that. It is important in the UK market that we have as much coverage as possible."

Autosport