BBC says Sky Formula 1 deal is the best possible solution

The BBC insists that its share deal with Sky to broadcast Formula 1 in 2012 was the best possible solution that was available to viewers.

Although the move, which will result in the BBC broadcasting half the races with the other 10 on Sky's subscription channel, has prompted fury from fans, the channel reckons there was no other option available.

With the BBC under pressure to cut costs, Ben Gallop, the BBC's Head of F1, says that keeping half the races on free-to-air should be welcomed by fans - as it was impossible for the coverage to continue with the way it is currently being done.

"While our coverage from 2012 may not be as extensive as it has been up to now, the bare facts are that the BBC needs to save money," he wrote on a blog on the BBC.

"Given the financial circumstances in which we find ourselves, we believe this new deal offers the best outcome for licence-fee payers.

"In a sense this partnership with Sky is another example of how the landscape of sports broadcasting has been transformed in recent years. There was a time when the BBC and other public service broadcasters could expect to televise all the big sports themselves. Now though we have a 'mixed economy', with some events on satellite while others are on terrestrial."

He added: "This new F1 arrangement will allow us to tell the story of the whole F1 season for BBC viewers, while providing extended access to the biggest moments in the calendar: including the glamour of Monaco, the excitement of the last race of the season, plus the British grand prix at Silverstone, which remains one of the highlights of the UK's sporting summer."

Autosport

Formula 1 teams accept there is no going back on Sky deal

Formula 1 teams will have to accept Bernie Ecclestone's decision to put some races on pay television only next year, AUTOSPORT has learned, with there being no protection in the Concorde Agreement against taking it off free-to-air viewing.

Although it had been widely believed there were clauses in the Concorde Agreement which prevented Ecclestone taking the sport off free-to-air television, it has been revealed that the wording of the deal does not stop him activating the kind of share deal that has been put in place with the BBC and Sky.


High level sources have revealed that the wording of an Appendix in the Concorde Agreement relating to the broadcasting of the sport states: "The Commercial Rights Holder may not permit Formula 1 events to be shown only by pay television in a country with a significant audience if it would materially adversely affect audience reach in that country."

As well as Ecclestone's deal ensuring that not all the races are shown 'only' on pay television, there would be no way of challenging the move to Sky as potentially 'adversely' affecting the audience ahead of the move happening.

Although the Sky/BBC deal has resulted in an angry reaction from fans, who are furious that they will have to pay to continue watching every race from next year, teams' concerns have been placated by the financial benefits of the new deal.

Ecclestone met with teams on Friday afternoon to inform them of the details of the deal - which could net each outfit a extra benefit of around £1 million per season over its duration - with the Sky/BBC deal bringing in around £55 million per year, compared to the estimated £40 million per season that BBC currently pays for exclusive rights.

HRT team boss Colin Kolles said any F1 squads criticising Ecclestone for the move were wrong, because of the huge financial benefits the new deal brings to teams.

"If you would ask my colleagues after the meeting with Bernie Ecclestone, everybody is very happy," Kolles told AUTOSPORT. "Bernie has shown again to his people, who are criticising him, what fantastic deals he has done.

"He has also done fantastic for the fans because it is not only 10 races on BBC live, you also have the other 10 races on at prime time, at 6pm, on BBC - which is even better because I don't believe that someone likes to wake up at 4am to watch an F1 race.

"This will bring much increased viewership and it brings a quite amazing deal to the stakeholders of F1. I think Bernie has shown again what a fantastic job he is doing and this has to be really appreciated."

But although the teams will enjoy financial benefits from the new BBC/Sky deal, other stakeholders in the sport are not totally convinced about the situation.

Pirelli's director of motorsport Paul Hembery said he was eager to know whether F1's viewership would be hurt by the move to pay television.

"It is more to do with viewing figures from our point of view, as we look at it from the sponsors' view," he told AUTOSPORT. "The more people that watch it, the better it is for us.

"I am quite sure that medium term, such a move will have a great impact on the viewing figures because you have improved the product given to the fan, and that will still bring great viewing figures.

"Teams will be worried about income streams and other sponsors, like us, will want to know what impact it has on viewing figures. That is how you calculate your return on being in the sport. It is the equivalent of the advertising rate card. You need seconds on the screen multiplied by the number of people watching it. It is a very simple calculation."

Hembery said he was not surprised that fans are angry about the move – and said he expected many casual fans to simply turn away from the sport.

"You can understand the fans' point of view," he said. "They have had something for free and now they have to pay for it. It is human nature to say 'I had it for free'. As a licence payer I just hope there aren't more reality shows.

"Tuning into a free-to-view channel, or getting yourself a dish and signing up to a financial contract is very different. You reduce the chances of the casual viewer tuning in, but it might be one of those cases where you have to go back a step to go forward. We will be disappointed if the great work that has been done this year to the sport is lost, particularly in a key market such as the UK."

Autosport

Biffle Fastest in Second Brickyard Practice Session



Greg Biffle topped the second practice session Friday

Greg Biffle, with a lap speed of 178.310 mph, was the fastest during Friday's second Brickyard 400 practice session at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Most of the teams used the session in race trim and these speeds may be the best indicator of what may happen on race day. Biffle also had very good average times as well.

Biffle is the second Roush-Fenway driver to lead a Brickyard practice session. Matt Kenseth led the first session in what was primarily done in qualifying trim. Kenseth finshed 29th best in the later session.

Jack Roush has gone 17 Brickyard 400's without a win by any of his drivers on the track, but looks to have a grip on what it's going to take this week. The Las Vegas co-favorite to win the race was Carl Edwards (6/1) who finished sixth fastest with the best overall average speeds among drivers who ran at least 15 laps. David Ragan was 21st  fastest.

Martin Truex Jr. was second fastest with a lap speed of 178.172 mph, and was followed by Jimmie Johnson (177.669), Casey Mears (177.288) and Kevin Harvick (177.249).

Rounding out the top-ten fastest in practice were Edwards (177.228), Joey Logano (177.019), David Reutimann (176.984), Jeff Burton (176.904) and Brian Vickers (176.817).

Four-time Brickyard winner Jeff Gordon had the best 10 consecutive lap average in the practice, followed by Paul menard and Clint Bowyer.

The teams will return to the track on Saturday morning for their “Happy Hour” practice session that is scheduled to run from 10:00 AM – 11:30 AM (EDT) with qualifying scheduled at 2:10 PM (EDT) that afternoon.

Practice 2 Speeds

Kenseth Fastest in First Brickyard 400 Practice

Kenseth could be in store for the pole

Matt Kenseth, with a lap speed of 181.203 mph, was the quickest during the first Brickyard 400 practice session. Most of the drivers were in qualifying-trim for the session and will use the second session today with their race set-ups.

Kenseth performing well shouldn't be too much of a surprise, not only because of two runner-up finishes on the fabled track, but also because of the chassis he brought this week. He's using his winning Texas car that also finished runner-up at Michigan and sixth at Kentucky.

Needless to say, Kenseth looks to be dialed in for the race and a top contender to win and give Jack Roush his first Brickyard win.

Second fastest in practice with a lap speed of 181.178 mph, was Kasey Kahne, followed by Denny Hamlin (181.050), Carl Edwards (180.658) and David Ragan (180.404).

Kurt Busch, with a lap speed of 180.270 mph, was sixth fastest on the speed chart, while Juan Pablo Montoya (180.144), Jamie McMurray (179.634), Jeff Gordon (179.519) and Jeff Burton (179.412) rounded out the top-10.

The teams will have one more practice session today from 3:15 PM – 4:30 PM (EDT) before returning Saturday morning for their “Happy Hour” session (10:00 AM – 11:30 AM -EDT) before qualifying at 2:10 PM (EDT) later that afternoon.

Practice Speeds

Turkish Grand Prix poised to lose 2012 F1 calendar spot

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Turkish Grand Prix in 90 seconds

The Turkish Grand Prix is expected to be dropped from next year's Formula 1 calendar after teams were told it was no longer on the itinerary.

A schedule handed out by F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone includes 20 races, rather than the 21 on the original list.

McLaren managing director Jonathan Neale said: "It is always sad when you lose a grand prix from the calendar. We are sorry to see Turkey go."

Turkey has hosted a race since 2005 but attendances have been poor.

It had been on a 21-race schedule released by governing body the FIA in June, which includes the inaugural United States Grand Prix in Austin, Texas.

But the teams' contracts with F1 dictate there can be no more than 20 grands prix in a season.

TURKISH GP WINNERS

Continue reading the main story

• 2005 Kimi Raikkonen (McLaren)
• 2006 Felipe Massa (Ferrari)
• 2007 Felipe Massa (Ferrari)
• 2008 Felipe Massa (Ferrari)
• 2009 Jenson Button (Brawn)
• 2010 Lewis Hamilton (McLaren)
• 2011 Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull)

Virgin Racing chairman Graeme Lowdon said: "The calendar already has 20 races, as a smaller team 21 is too many."

The Bahrain Grand Prix, which was scheduled to be the opening race of the 2011 season before being cancelled because of the civil unrest in the country, has been pencilled in for late in the 2012 campaign.

Autosport has reported that it has now been moved to a new date as the third last race on 4 November.

The magazine added that the US race, originally scheduled for June, would now be the penultimate race on 18 November, a week before the season climax in Brazil.

That was in response to concern about the high temperatures in Texas in June.

BBC

Webber takes responsibility for crash

Mark Webber suffered only cosmetic damage in the crash during FP1 © Press Association

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Mark Webber took full responsibility for his crash in first practice for the Hungarian Grand Prix, saying it was simply his mistake.

Webber was fourth quickest when he ran slightly wide at turn nine and spun, pitching the car in to the barrier on the inside head on and ripping off the nose cone, along with causing a left front puncture. Webber said it was a kerb that had caught drivers out before, but that he was only focused on finding the limits of the track.

"I made a mistake this morning when I got on the damp kerb," Webber said. "I've seen a few of those over the last few years, but drivers still don't learn - we still go out there and push! I clipped the 'turf and hit the barrier, but fortunately only the front wing was damaged."

Although he lost out on running in the rest of the session, Webber said the incident did not cost him too much track time after completing 35 laps in the afternoon, but that it was clearly a three-horse race for victory between Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari.

"We recovered pretty well this afternoon and got a lot of mileage in. The car ran well and we have lots of info to go through tonight. The tricky thing is the tyres. Ferrari and McLaren are certainly performing well, as they have done at the last few races - it's no big surprise that they are doing decent lap times and it's a race between all of us."

ESPNF1

McLaren 'very strong' - Alonso

Fernando Alonso was again chasing a McLaren in Hungary © Sutton Images

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llonso coocked up so many miles Alonso said it was crucial to analyse the tyre degradation ahead of the race on Sunday.

"We finished the planned work programme and that's always a positive start to a race weekend. Now we will analyse all the data gathered and make the best choices for qualifying and the race. I am pleased I was able to do so much running, especially from the point of view of studying the tyre degradation, which at this track is always a significant factor. The track is still very dirty, as is the norm for a Friday at the Hungaroring: however, we know it will improve each day and by Sunday afternoon, it will be much more rubbered in than today."

Alonso finished second to Hamilton in Germany, and with the McLaren topping the timesheets at the end of both sessions he said it was clear that it would be in the fight for victory once again, while Ferrari needs to find more time.

"We saw that McLaren looks very strong, as indeed it was last weekend. Now we must try and improve the car, especially in the third sector of the track, where we seem to be suffering more than most."

ESPNF1