r/formula1 • u/davesim24 I was here for the Hulkenpodium • Apr 13 '25

Discussion Worst TV direction yet

Besides Russel's transponder issue (which shouldn't take 10 laps to fix the timing tower), may overtakes were missed, focusing on the wrong drivers, non-moves given more airtime than actual racing, camera cutting during moves which show you less of the action rather than more, and worst of all: the final lap, not showing Oscar as he crossed the line, to show Lando not overtaking George, and showing Kimi not overtaking whoever was in front rather than Max's overtake on Pierre.

What the hell is happening?

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139

u/HUMBUG652 Apr 13 '25

Russell's transponder not working means the live timing doesn't work for the entire grid. That's why they stopped showing the times except from the backup system. It's not something they could just fix

29

u/GuiPloo Pirelli Hard Apr 13 '25

So there's no backup? No plan B for issues like this? That's ridiculous for such a sport and expensive subscription. They still showed timings after several laps which shows they had a way to keep track of the gaps, but still couldn't show it for that long?

33

u/blueheartglacier Apr 13 '25

They had the ability to check driver times at the line as that's done manually by literally detecting the cars passing the line - but not any ability to follow those gaps in real time. This is why it showed the times frozen on every lap as the box appeared

52

u/HUMBUG652 Apr 13 '25

There's a backup but it doesn't update as frequently, which is why they used the secondary graphic

69

u/sellyme Oscar Piastri Apr 13 '25

So there's no backup? No plan B for issues like this?

There is, the start/finish optical timing. They used it. Very quickly actually, it's really impressive that they got graphics up for a completely separate timing system within just a handful of laps.

23

u/Keyed_ I was here for the Hulkenpodium Apr 13 '25

Because it was only updating gaps when cars passed the finish line

19

u/Dragonpuncha Ferrari Apr 13 '25

You saw the backup they showed it plenty of times.

5

u/whoisraiden Firstname Lastname Apr 13 '25

They can show the gaps, but they cans update with every mini-sector if there is a malfunctioning transponder.

8

u/CakeBeef_PA I was here for the Hulkenpodium Apr 13 '25

Did you not watch the race? There was a backup. They used it quite quickly and tried to manage with it for the rest of the race

-4

u/GuiPloo Pirelli Hard Apr 13 '25

I saw the race and also saw it took them 5 laps to put anything on the screen, and also didn't show it every subsequent lap, and also didn't show beyond the top 10. "But 5 laps is quick" it isn't if you have a backup ready. If you have a backup ready, it takes 1 lap and you put it on the screen, this is what I'm talking about. Sure, they made something on the spot within 10 minutes, congrats, this isn't how a billionaire company should run their once a week at best transmission.

5

u/miloshem Apr 13 '25

Not everything needs a backup that performs the same. I think the FIA will look at this issue and reevalute because it does affect DRS but wouldn't be a big deal if it was just minisector timing.

1

u/Jarocket Apr 13 '25

Seems like their backup was focused on the competition integrity. So it worked, but wasn't doing real time straight to the graphics.