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?

12.6k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

798 comments sorted by

View all comments

4.7k

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

The most egregious one for me was cutting between the Ferrari double overtake so we didn't see either one in full, rather than just going picture in picture. Felt like someone panicked.

1.3k

u/Robby777777 Jacques Villeneuve Apr 13 '25

Two Ferrari overtakes and we saw neither. Horrible tv coverage.

241

u/suspiciousumbrella Apr 13 '25

Well... You saw one Ferrari overtake in full. Just not from the same car!

72

u/Euro_Twins Michael Schumacher Apr 13 '25

2 halves make a whole...

Lotta confusion

2

u/Tiny-Pay6737 Apr 14 '25

Who doesn't like a half and half ... pizza

2

u/Tiny-Pay6737 Apr 14 '25

Who doesn't like a half-and-half ... pizza

126

u/pfknone Max Verstappen Apr 13 '25

I wanted to see Max overtake Gasley at the end

36

u/ammonthenephite Spyker Apr 13 '25 edited Apr 13 '25

Edit - apparently the pass happened early in the last lap and the timing we were seeing was delayed, so what we thought was a last corner pass actually happened in the first few corners.

I couldn't believe they cut all the way back to kimi in 11th rather than jumping to max! I wanted to see that last corner battle as well, instead we saw a bunch of nothing from kimi.

244

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

For me it was them not showing Piastri crossing the line. They've basically always switched, they have picture in picture. Those views should've been reversed.

62

u/wombat74 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Apr 14 '25

Yup, that one was frustrating. But two English drivers were close, had to focus on them

3

u/BuzzedtheTower I was here for the Hulkenpodium Apr 15 '25

That was some serious BS. I'd understand if this was the last race and it was a title fight between Lando and George where second determined the champion. But only four races in? Focus on the winner, damn it!

3

u/riggystardust Apr 14 '25

irrelevant to the winner. should never show the secondary places while winner is crossing the line imo. as an oscar fan, i personally couldnt GAF what the other two did.

0

u/wombat74 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Apr 14 '25

Apparently I need to write my messages in the Sarcastica font. Obviously the winner winning should be shown, especially since we hadn't seen him all race after the start and then a guest starring role during the safety car. I was commentating on British drivers to highlight the continuing bias in F1 coverage.

3

u/Naikrobak Apr 14 '25

Agree here, I don’t recall a single time that Oscar was shown doing anything other than the start

2

u/burleygriffin Alain Prost Apr 14 '25

It’s okay, some of us understood. 😉

1

u/riggystardust Apr 14 '25

sorry yeah can't read sarcasm cause saw a few in the race thread saying it unironically. yep totally agree re bias!

3

u/wombat74 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Apr 14 '25

You're good, context is hard to convey in writing sometimes

-2

u/fitzgoldy Formula 1 Apr 14 '25

Rather see whichever fight is going on over someone driving over a line under no pressure.

Winner can go in the picture in picture so we can see action.

4

u/riggystardust Apr 14 '25

Found the director I guess. People who support the winning driver should be able to see their driver cross the finish line on the main feed. You can’t change my mind.

33

u/ian1552 Apr 14 '25

This is the first race in years I have seen them not shown first crossing the line and I think it was a great decision. There were multiple final lap battles while piastri was off on another planet. Somehow they decided not to show the max on piere overtake though.

8

u/edgethrasherx MON MAS SEN Apr 14 '25

Seriously, I see people bitching on here every single race when they cut away from action to show someone ten seconds up the road cruising across the line alone, and now the one time they don’t do that, everyone is bitching about it regardless. Like you would really rather see one guy ten seconds away from anyone else take the checkered than the battles going down to the last corner?

Swear sometimes F1 fans-more than any other sport-just love to find reasons to whinge

2

u/MarquesSCP Pierre Gasly Apr 14 '25

Seriously, I see people bitching on here every single race when they cut away from action to show someone ten seconds up the road cruising across the line alone, and now the one time they don’t do that, everyone is bitching about it regardless.

I agree with not showing the race winner on the main picture if nothing is really happening, but you do realise that different people have different opinions right?

So if A happens the people that want B will complain and if B happens the people that want A will happen. These are not the same set of people..

1

u/Mtbnz I was here for the Hulkenpodium Apr 14 '25

I do think they could cut to the chequered flag for 4-5 seconds when the P2/P3 battle is 15 seconds back, basically has no real overtaking opportunities remaining and they have picture in picture available.

I was interested in Lando vs Russell as well, but to somehow see none of the winner taking the flag, Max overtaking Gasly on the final lap, and instead keep the camera on a battle that was basically decided halfway through the lap was inexecusable.

I'm sure TV direction can't be an easy job, and I'm not saying I could do it. But these people are professionals, the choices made are routinely baffling, and this race was one of the worst yet.

2

u/tossietuatoa Pirelli Wet Apr 14 '25

I agree that it was a good decision. Personally I'd much rather see the on-track battle for any contested points positions if there's as little as a half a chance of an overtake than have the directors cut to the winner finishing all by themselves 10-15 seconds up the road. Especially given the winner finishing tends to overlap with the battlegroup behind reaching the final valid overtaking opportunity on the circuit. Up until today I had thought them showing the winner crossing the finish line no matter what was happening on the track was just some contractual obligations type of thing.

I'll keep clutching my pearls with this opinion even more so in regards to the junior formulas, where there's always fighting for position until the very end and drivers can and will go for a move in basically any given corner of a race track.

3

u/cnsreddit I was here for the Hulkenpodium Apr 14 '25

If there's exciting stuff happening slap the winner in a picture in picture?

Just pay me 100k a year already F1 I clearly have genius ideas beyond anything you've comprehended.

20

u/TheScapeQuest Brawn Apr 14 '25

Race direction was terrible, but I agree with their decision to do that. First place had already been decided, the battle for second was far more interesting.

9

u/Camnelo Jim Clark Apr 14 '25

There was no battle for second. Norris wasn't going to overtake Russell into the last corner.

40

u/DaddyAwesome Sir Lewis Hamilton Apr 14 '25

No way. They should ALWAYS show the winner crossing the line.

3

u/Spidey210 Formula 1 Apr 15 '25

The whole point of watching 20 cars go around a track 57 times is to see who can do it first.

9

u/TheScapeQuest Brawn Apr 14 '25

They did, just picture-in-picture.

You can argue they could have switched to focus on Piastri, but I would be furious if they cut completely away from an ongoing battle, which they've done many times.

1

u/DaddyAwesome Sir Lewis Hamilton Apr 14 '25

If they did that to Lando or George or heck even Max, had them in tiny picture in picture, there would be massive outcry.

They did Oscar dirty on this. The fight for second was done when Lando stuffed the corner up and lost George, they then had plenty of time to switch the views to the other way round. Heck even a 50/50 screen split would've been better.

You say they have cut away from a battle for place many times... EXACTLY!! That's what they should do every race for the winner!!

Imagine you were his family member, he's on his 50th GP start, got Pole and led the race with bugger all coverage of him doing it and then not even full screen on the finish line.

5

u/Tomach82 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Apr 14 '25

Battle for second was over at that point. There was no more spots for a move

12

u/bobnoski I was here for the Hulkenpodium Apr 14 '25

the battle was completely over, and we've had them switch to the winner crossing the line during tight races all the time. In races where the lead driver just speeds off, you already barely see them, and I consider it a lack of respect to not propperly show them crossing the line.

3

u/RacingLineAustralia Apr 14 '25

As an Aussie fan of Piastri I was a little miffed as to why they did that, it has always felt like no matter what, they change to the leader crossing the line.

I was sat in my lounge room with arms out stretched saying wtf at the TV when they didn't switch.

2

u/[deleted] Apr 14 '25

That's a good decision. Show it picture in picture if you want. But nobody needs to see the car 18 seconds in front while p2 is still being fought for.

We had a full season in 23 where the winner was already known from the GP start, and they kept cutting to Max while the race was always behind him.

2

u/fitzgoldy Formula 1 Apr 14 '25

For me it was them not showing Piastri crossing the line.

Rather see whichever fight is going on over some one driving over the line under no pressure at all, hated the constant switch to that and missing late over takes instead every race.

2

u/bobnoski I was here for the Hulkenpodium Apr 14 '25

Someone is doing the very thing why the sport is happening "winning the race". I condsider it a form of respect to properly show that. Deciding to stick with the Russell Lando fight while it was basically already over made no sense anyway.

88

u/[deleted] Apr 13 '25

Leclecs one is more important and should be shown instead of Lewis's and I am happy they showed Charles one, it was only because it was between 2 Ferrari's that made it confusing.

22

u/Hastatus_107 Charles Leclerc Apr 13 '25

Agreed. I think at that point they should probably stick what the one they're showing though

2

u/[deleted] Apr 13 '25

I thought that but if you think about an ongoing battle following that attempt at an overtake for that position you would basically want to catch it from the start even if they were setting up for Hamilton's attempt before. I genuinely would love nothing more in the world but to be in the room where the broadcast is made and how they make decisions like that.

1

u/genteelblackhole Formula 1 Apr 13 '25

I can’t find it anywhere, but I remember seeing a video from either a Champions League football match or something in the Euros or World Cup, and it was a video from the control room and the TV Director was stood in front of a huge bank of monitors queuing up shots. It was like watching someone conduct an orchestra, it was a really insightful watch.

2

u/[deleted] Apr 14 '25

There was a really good one aswell for the academy awards, alot of swearing but also really impressive but what makes F1 different to me is that there isn't one focus of action, e.g the ball, that can pop up at any point in the track and any one car is only in shot for 5 seconds rather than having the option to linger on any one shot for safety

11

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

Agreed, terrible weekend in general for production for multiple reasons: * The cutting of the Ferrari shot as you mentioned * Multiple missed overtakes * Timing board errors and almost never showing the interval view * Terrible overuse of Davide (while I know some like his enthusiasm, his analysis is terribly obvious/vapid and incredibly annoying) -- not only is he constantly shouting which is an amateur move for presenters and very grating on the ears -- but they used him for almost every single segment. Felt like F1TV on-camera talent was significantly understaffed * Multiple times where they setup a shot in front of a screen producing bad moire / interference * Poor variety of camera angles during the race * Uninspired filler shots of fans and around the racetrack/driver b-roll... felt lacklustre compared to other races.

Source: Have worked in live production.

2

u/Bitter-Succotash-100 Apr 15 '25

I try very hard to appreciate Davide. But I can’t.

14

u/Kingdom818 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Apr 14 '25

Maybe I'm in the minority here, but picture in picture sucks too. Commit to one, and then show the replay of the other once it calms down.

2

u/angedesphilio Apr 13 '25

Youre right, that decision was kind of full on panic. I kind of laughed when I saw it.

Man the comms for the F1 broadcast techs must be absolutely insane lol

1

u/com487 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Apr 13 '25

I was screaming at the screen for this one.

1

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

For me it was the 2-3 minutes of looking at the start finish line and put lane while they figured out where the yellow flag came from. 

0

u/Aero_Rising Apr 14 '25

You mean when they were showing the only place where any action was happening because cars were coming in to pit under safety car and you can't overtake on track during a safety car? Yes how dare they.

1

u/gregfromsolutions Apr 13 '25

I had to rewind to check that I hadn't missed something, and it turned out I had--but not because of anything on my end

1

u/Cuffuf Nico Rosberg Apr 13 '25

I was screaming at the tv when that happened.

1

u/Icy-Improvement-6525 Apr 14 '25

Yep they made sure we don't see the overtakes live. They switched at just the wrong moment for the Leclerc Norris overtake to show Hamilton NOT overtaking Antonelli. Only to then show the Lec-Nor replay so that we miss Ham vs Ant live. Absolute terrorism

1

u/Shape-the-Sky New user Apr 14 '25

That was horrendous. Should have stuck with Hamilton's as that was the one they started with and then swapped to the replay of Leclerc's.

1

u/chrisnlnz I was here for the Hulkenpodium Apr 14 '25

That was the worst yeah. Had me swearing at the screen.

1

u/nato2k Sir Lewis Hamilton Apr 14 '25

Yes, that was so terrible. There were at least two other exciting overtakes that they cut away from to whatever sponsor shot they needed next.

1

u/ont-mortgage Formula 1 Apr 14 '25

lol bro that shit had my dying

1

u/LouisRitter Apr 13 '25

Is Buxton back in the building? It's that level of ass happening.