Discussion
Daston said:
One thing I noticed was how much better the engines sounded on their feed, some of the close flyby shots almost had the high pitched F1 sound of old. I guess the TV feed loses a lot of the better sounds due to the commentator feed going over the top....although I must say it still didn't sound that great live.
I have to say, I thought a single car going by didn’t sound that great, but when the pack came past, I thought it sounded amazing!Nexus Icon said:
It may be interesting to some viewers that, as an employee within F1, I enjoyed the series on the whole. I would've preferred regular narration to the faux commentary but even that grated less as the series progressed but, to counter that, some of the camera work at the tracks was beautiful. A lot of the in-factory work was eye-opening (I mean, we hear things, but...).
Fortunately I must have managed to dodge the cameras around our factory but my wife popped up on screen a couple of times - much to her embarrassment. I would've been mortified it they'd caught me lurking in the back of shot. I did walk in on one interview they were filming but I remember backing slowly out of shot. That must've looked too daft for them to use it.
The Sainz vs Alonso storyline seemed a tad contrived, however things like the Force India troubles were handled very well. The RBR vs Renault story was pure soap opera and done brilliantly.
I've shared an employer with a decent amount of drivers featured in the show and some of their character and personality came through like it hasn't on any other documentaries I've seen.
All in all, I thought it was very good and that a second series can only get better.
That’s really insightful, thanks.Fortunately I must have managed to dodge the cameras around our factory but my wife popped up on screen a couple of times - much to her embarrassment. I would've been mortified it they'd caught me lurking in the back of shot. I did walk in on one interview they were filming but I remember backing slowly out of shot. That must've looked too daft for them to use it.
The Sainz vs Alonso storyline seemed a tad contrived, however things like the Force India troubles were handled very well. The RBR vs Renault story was pure soap opera and done brilliantly.
I've shared an employer with a decent amount of drivers featured in the show and some of their character and personality came through like it hasn't on any other documentaries I've seen.
All in all, I thought it was very good and that a second series can only get better.
Your point about the commentary resonates: the Will Buxton interludes every few minutes became really grating to me. Of course he’s a good journalist, but surely they could have dug up a dozen other commentators to pad out the stories.
It just seemed a bit of the ‘Will Buxton Show’.
Of course the series has introduced some newer fans to the sport and it’s intrigue, but for people who follow it as diehard fans I’m not sure there were a huge amount of genuine surprises.
Interesting to see if they go for real improvement next time round.
Episode 9 should be titled "Kids are More Brutal than F1 Drivers".
Poor Nico.
ETA - now finished it - very interesting. I felt it had an obvious bias toward or against some folks, though whether this naturally came out in filming or was actively pursued from the outset I'm not sure. Whatever, I liked DR a lot before, and I like him more now. In fact, it hasn't actively changed my perceptions of any drivers, simply reinforced how I felt about them. The behind the scenes stuff was very interesting, especially the long-shot candid comments sometimes caught (I'm looking at you Max).
A must watch for any F1 fan I would say.
Poor Nico.
ETA - now finished it - very interesting. I felt it had an obvious bias toward or against some folks, though whether this naturally came out in filming or was actively pursued from the outset I'm not sure. Whatever, I liked DR a lot before, and I like him more now. In fact, it hasn't actively changed my perceptions of any drivers, simply reinforced how I felt about them. The behind the scenes stuff was very interesting, especially the long-shot candid comments sometimes caught (I'm looking at you Max).
A must watch for any F1 fan I would say.
Edited by Smitters on Thursday 28th March 10:16
tigerkoi said:
Your point about the commentary resonates: the Will Buxton interludes every few minutes became really grating to me. Of course he’s a good journalist, but surely they could have dug up a dozen other commentators to pad out the stories.
Indeed - his USP seems to be telling us the absolutely bleeding obvious ...Been watching this over the last few weeks. Obviously they use the tricks of editing and sound effects to increase the excitement but I guess they are trying to get new people interested in F1.
I can only imagine the comedown when they actually watch a race and its not like the netflix thing.
Maybe in the future races will be shot then re-edited with enhances visuals and sound and the raw race will be the
free option for the luddite mob.
I can only imagine the comedown when they actually watch a race and its not like the netflix thing.
Maybe in the future races will be shot then re-edited with enhances visuals and sound and the raw race will be the
free option for the luddite mob.
Fundoreen said:
Been watching this over the last few weeks. Obviously they use the tricks of editing and sound effects to increase the excitement but I guess they are trying to get new people interested in F1.
I can only imagine the comedown when they actually watch a race and its not like the netflix thing.
Maybe in the future races will be shot then re-edited with enhances visuals and sound and the raw race will be the
free option for the luddite mob.
I actually think seeing more of the off track drama makes it easier to care about even 'boring' races.I can only imagine the comedown when they actually watch a race and its not like the netflix thing.
Maybe in the future races will be shot then re-edited with enhances visuals and sound and the raw race will be the
free option for the luddite mob.
The series is definitely designed to draw people to the sport, and it's a genius move imo
TheDeuce said:
I actually think seeing more of the off track drama makes it easier to care about even 'boring' races.
The series is definitely designed to draw people to the sport, and it's a genius move imo
I'm with you on that - the last person I want to see interviewed after another Grosjean shunt is the driver himself, I want to hear from Sweary Steiner as Team Boss or Haas as the man paying the bills. And I want to hear them immediately after the crash, not an hour or so later subsequent to the PR person telling them what to say.The series is definitely designed to draw people to the sport, and it's a genius move imo
And I probably never want to hear from Zak Brown again. He seems to personify bulls
t to me. Just finished watching it myself, brilliant fly on the wall docu. For someone like me who still keeps a mild interest, but doesn't normally watch many races unless they are said to be massively interesting after the event, its got me back into wanting to follow them all on TV!
Has anyone ever seen Cyril and one-time Renault driver Alain Menu in the same room?
Has anyone ever seen Cyril and one-time Renault driver Alain Menu in the same room?
El stovey said:
This is a great series. I really enjoyed it. The unedited communications between team and drivers alone made it worth it.
I wonder if Mercedes and Ferrari will join in? Even if they don’t it’s still fascinating seeing what goes on in the other teams.
They are apparently 'more involved' this season. Which I'm sure will add something to the show, although personally I didn't miss them in the first season (I thought I would). I wonder if Mercedes and Ferrari will join in? Even if they don’t it’s still fascinating seeing what goes on in the other teams.
TheDeuce said:
They are apparently 'more involved' this season. Which I'm sure will add something to the show, although personally I didn't miss them in the first season (I thought I would).
I agree. I’ve actually enjoyed not having them in it. It lets Netflix show more of the interesting stories from the lesser known teams and drivers. El stovey said:
TheDeuce said:
They are apparently 'more involved' this season. Which I'm sure will add something to the show, although personally I didn't miss them in the first season (I thought I would).
I agree. I’ve actually enjoyed not having them in it. It lets Netflix show more of the interesting stories from the lesser known teams and drivers. I'm coming around to the budget cap idea - when winning gets you bigger budgets, the feats needed to ascend become more and more superhuman. Assuming Neweys are not common, that's a problem. But for now those challenges make the TV all the more compelling.
skwdenyer said:
It is also more visceral to watch people who are genuinely fighting for survival. The one thing Mercedes and Ferrari don't have to worry about are whether they'll still have cash this season or even next. I realise nothing is certain, but there's a stability that comes from that. I don't for one moment suggest that they're not all-consumed by winning, but there are others on the grid whose struggles are much more intensed and - by virtue of budget constraints - require more extraordinary achievements.
Great post. I remember reading about what makes sport compelling to watch is that you have to have empathy with the protagonist and their story plus there has to be a chance of the result going either way. Seeing the teams struggle for funding or survival and the relationship between the drivers and the owners and drivers contracts makes fantastic viewing.
It’s these struggles that the series really captured.
TBH I don't know what to make of it.
Initially I was a sceptic. You could tell from the trailer alone the series was an excuse to promote the sport in better light and it lived to those expectations via audio effects and plenty of exciting race-edits.
I wasn't really invested in the whole series and easily ended up being background telly for at least half the series. The inner steel to Smiley Dan's exterior and rich daddy Stroll confirmed expectations and prejudices.
The strong moments was of course Gunther Steiner whose candid honesty seems so refreshing and the RBR/Renault soap opera. For all the tit-for-tat verbal sparring and visual animosity between Horner and Cyril (Cyril's reactions and replies showed he was seasoned to knives coming out in boardrooms) there was actual deep respect between the two in Ricc's last race. In that moment Cyril gave a respectful response in gaining the services of Danny Ricc and Horner's reaction that he did not want to lose a top driver.
A massive shame Ferrari weren't involved. The politics that unravelled, the downfall of Arrivabene let alone Vettel's downfall of his WDC's aspirations were worthy of a series of their own.
In fact the best documentaries were ones that focused a single team - McLaren in BBC's The Team and the recent Amazon series and Jordan's 1998 season spring to mind.
Initially I was a sceptic. You could tell from the trailer alone the series was an excuse to promote the sport in better light and it lived to those expectations via audio effects and plenty of exciting race-edits.
I wasn't really invested in the whole series and easily ended up being background telly for at least half the series. The inner steel to Smiley Dan's exterior and rich daddy Stroll confirmed expectations and prejudices.
The strong moments was of course Gunther Steiner whose candid honesty seems so refreshing and the RBR/Renault soap opera. For all the tit-for-tat verbal sparring and visual animosity between Horner and Cyril (Cyril's reactions and replies showed he was seasoned to knives coming out in boardrooms) there was actual deep respect between the two in Ricc's last race. In that moment Cyril gave a respectful response in gaining the services of Danny Ricc and Horner's reaction that he did not want to lose a top driver.
A massive shame Ferrari weren't involved. The politics that unravelled, the downfall of Arrivabene let alone Vettel's downfall of his WDC's aspirations were worthy of a series of their own.
In fact the best documentaries were ones that focused a single team - McLaren in BBC's The Team and the recent Amazon series and Jordan's 1998 season spring to mind.
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