Croft has to go

[thegreenhell]

Adrian W said:

Christ you talk bks, so Hamilton is the first F1 driver to be knighted now,

But I think he is the first active F1 driver to be knighted. All the others got the award many years after retirement.

[LukeBrown66]

The best answer is to find another way of watching, either dont bother with qualifying or the race comms or find better coverage

[thegreenhell]

LukeBrown66 said:

The best answer is to find another way of watching, either dont bother with qualifying or the race comms or find better coverage

Sky TV muted with BBC R5 commentary is a popular option.

[rriggs]

Disappointed that C4 have moved David Coulthard out of the mainstream commentary and replaced him with a Billy monger. His personality, delivery and knowledge is on a different level to Coulthard (ie much lower). That’s a shame

[Mr_Yogi]

rriggs said:

Disappointed that C4 have moved David Coulthard out of the mainstream commentary and replaced him with a Billy monger. His personality, delivery and knowledge is on a different level to Coulthard (ie much lower). That’s a shame

Yes, it is a shame DC seems to taken a step back. Maybe he couldn't stand spending the whole race length with the new commentator
I found the new commentator terrible, very much like Crofty. He was fine when he was calm, but every time he got excited it was a cross between Maurice Moss from the IT Crowd and a generic 80's DJ running down the top 10. He also seems to get much too excited over things which aren't that important. Lets hope he's better tomorrow.

[808 Estate]

Not impressed with the new guy either. David and Billy would be an OK combination though.

[thegreenhell]

808 Estate said:

Not impressed with the new guy either. David and Billy would be an OK combination though.

But which one would be the commentator? They are both in the expert pundit role.

Who is the new C4 guy anyway? I didn't watch it.

[Wills2]

I listened to Croft on the F1 channel highlights and the new guy on CH4 is no where near as bad as him, I like monger but losing Coulthard is a step backwards.

[Dashnine]

thegreenhell said:

808 Estate said:

Not impressed with the new guy either. David and Billy would be an OK combination though.

But which one would be the commentator? They are both in the expert pundit role.

Who is the new C4 guy anyway? I didn't watch it.

Alex Jacques has succeeded Ben Edwards, he did and does commentate for Sky on the F2 races with Alex Brundle (Billy monger today though) and I think used to commentate on the F1 for F1TV.

Perhaps DC was in the pit lane as he was doing the post qually interviews, not much point being in the Comms box as he’d have to miss Q3 to get down there in time for the end of Q3.

[pquinn]

Not sure what exactly qualifies young Billy to do any commentary - he hasn't got the knowledge or the presentation skills.

It's like some overactive expression of pity makes everyone think he has to be included in everything and it blinds they to whether he's actually any good.

It's all very sad what happened but are we stuck with him forever?

[boxy but good]

Dashnine said:

thegreenhell said:

808 Estate said:

Not impressed with the new guy either. David and Billy would be an OK combination though.

But which one would be the commentator? They are both in the expert pundit role.

Who is the new C4 guy anyway? I didn't watch it.

Alex Jacques has succeeded Ben Edwards, he did and does commentate for Sky on the F2 races with Alex Brundle (Billy monger today though) and I think used to commentate on the F1 for F1TV.

Perhaps DC was in the pit lane as he was doing the post qually interviews, not much point being in the Comms box as he’d have to miss Q3 to get down there in time for the end of Q3.

He reminded me of the cilllit bang bloke.
Sounds like a 'straight to DVD' voiceover man.

[sociopath]

pquinn said:

Not sure what exactly qualifies young Billy to do any commentary - he hasn't got the knowledge or the presentation skills.

It's like some overactive expression of pity makes everyone think he has to be included in everything and it blinds they to whether he's actually any good.

It's all very sad what happened but are we stuck with him forever?

Can you tell us what your experience is to make that deduction?

[rriggs]

sociopath said:

Can you tell us what your experience is to make that deduction?

Listening to him...

What he says is generic and is delivered flat. Commentators need deeper knowledge than the average punter who is tuned in and need personality both in their voice and in what they say. There’s a lot to respect Billy for but he is not (yet?) a good enough pundit or commentator to be working at that level (F1).

[swisstoni]

rriggs said:

sociopath said:

Can you tell us what your experience is to make that deduction?

Listening to him...

What he says is generic and is delivered flat. Commentators need deeper knowledge than the average punter who is tuned in and need personality both in their voice and in what they say. There’s a lot to respect Billy for but he is not (yet?) a good enough pundit or commentator to be working at that level (F1).

I think he’s pretty good.

[Chicken_Satay]

swisstoni said:

I think he’s pretty good.

I don't.

[Piginapoke]

pquinn said:

Not sure what exactly qualifies young Billy to do any commentary - he hasn't got the knowledge or the presentation skills.

It's like some overactive expression of pity makes everyone think he has to be included in everything and it blinds they to whether he's actually any good.

It's all very sad what happened but are we stuck with him forever?

I sadly agree with this, he was talking about how to keep the rear tyres alive yesterday and it was hard not to think "how do you know?" I also don't think he's a particularly gifted broadcaster, but I liked the new c4 commentator.

[RDM]

Like most people I like When they used to cut away from the over shouty commentating to have Karun give a more in-depth knowledgeable insight into what was actually happening but they seem to have moved him from the “expert” position into a co-commentator position and told him just to talk bks like the others.

[sociopath]

rriggs said:

sociopath said:

Can you tell us what your experience is to make that deduction?

Listening to him...

What he says is generic and is delivered flat. Commentators need deeper knowledge than the average punter who is tuned in and need personality both in their voice and in what they say. There’s a lot to respect Billy for but he is not (yet?) a good enough pundit or commentator to be working at that level (F1).

so none then? ok, good to know

[Gazzab]

sociopath said:

rriggs said:

sociopath said:

Can you tell us what your experience is to make that deduction?

Listening to him...

What he says is generic and is delivered flat. Commentators need deeper knowledge than the average punter who is tuned in and need personality both in their voice and in what they say. There’s a lot to respect Billy for but he is not (yet?) a good enough pundit or commentator to be working at that level (F1).

so none then? ok, good to know

mongers delivery and style is flat - doesn’t take an expert in tv production to work that out.

[Nigel_O]

I think Billy is growing into his role - he is far more natural than he was only a couple of years ago and he knows enough about open-wheel motorsport from his F4 days to comment with conviction on F1. If he was talking about ‘keeping the rear tyres alive’, then I have no reason not to believe he understands what he’s talking about.

Does anyone remember the early days of James Hunt at the microphone? He definitely wasn’t a natural, but gradually made the role his own (helped along by the other chap in the commentary box, who had been doing it for a few years by that point...)

As for the new chap (Alex ?) let’s see what he’s like over a full weekend and after a few more races - from a first hour he seems inoffensive and broadly knowledgeable. I’m sure we’ll get used to him.