CHEQUERED FLAG FOR BBC DESPITE FAST START BY SKY

of all the sport that has passed through or remains in Auntie’s loving grasp, there would be very little argument that their coverage of Formula one has been a genuine triumph. The sport has been exclusively live in the BBC’S safe pair of hands since 2009, but this season not only are they sharing with Sky, but the satellite rivals are providing coverage with the DRS full-on — a dedicated channel, with countless hours of live qualifying, affiliated shows, tons of additional viewing technology, an experienced, cherry-picked presenting team and, perhaps most importantly, advertisingfree racing. So come round three from China, and F1 has become a two-horse race, with Sky off to a flyer — coming on air half an hour before the BBC joined the season live for the first time — with their trio of Simon lazenby, Martin Brundle and Johnny Herbert. And although their 90-minute build-up was a perfectly well executed mixture of knowledge, access and special features — including a trip around Monaco on a luxury yacht and a lesson in Tai Chi — what happened from 7am on BBC1 felt like F1 coming home. Jake Humphrey (below), Eddie Jordan and David Coulthard began their stint with a mini buddy movie in the garment district of Shanghai, and ended with all three wearing highly unsuitable new jackets in the pit lane. Perhaps because we are more familiar with them, or simply because they have a better chemistry, the BBC boys certainly edge the race ce wraparound for me — even in spite of Jordan’s rather inyour-face claim that ‘what’s brilliant about (China) is they all watch BBC’. Their coverage feels just that more ‘boots s on the ground’, more in amongst it than that hat of their Sky rivals. or perhaps all that extra xtra time on air on race day proves p stht that more can sometimes be less? of all the pre-race build-up, the highlight had to be on the grid walk, as Sky’s new co-commentator Brundle — who still definitely owns this frenzied dash ’n’ chat piece of Tv — walked back from grabbing a quick word with Kamui Kobayashi and offered a jaunty ‘hello mate’ to his former colleague Coulthard, coming the other way, as the two channels briefly touched wings. Brundle was, of course, one of the talents grabbed from the BBC, and in his new role as the expert alongside ex-radio 5 live commentator David Croft, Sky nudges it when it comes to race time. The pair of them have a vigour and sense of fun that the BBC’S Ben Edwards with Coulthard just cannot pass and with Sky also having the excellent Ted Kravitz (another recruit from BBC television) prowling the pit lane, they have the ideal team to bring the season home. This was exemplified perfectly on lap 14 as Michael Schumacher’s race came to an end. ‘He’s parked up in Shanghai,’ exclaimed Croft, as Brundle responded: ‘I haven’t been so disappointed since Shrek 2.’ In general, I think it is fair to say that not only do both channels share coverage, but also many of the plaudits. ok, you have to pay to play if you want the unadulterated Sky version, but that is 21st century television viewing for you. But with the entire nation available to the BBC, let us not forget how important they are as a finely displayed shop window for the sport. You may now have two channels racing each other, but in the end, team F1 is the real winner.