Newey says Sky's F1 broadcasting is very nationalistic

[DOCG]

In a a fantastic podcast with High Performance he explains the extreme bias towards Hamilton from the public.

So even with their nationalistic broadcasting, why does a British driver racing for a German team take precedence over a British team (Red Bull) with non-British drivers? The driver is only one member of a much larger team.

Would most users in this forum still be worshipping Hamilton if Sky focused on the nationality of the team rather than the driver? Probably not, it would be Red Bull and Horner who would be deified and above any form of criticism.

[maz8062]

For the most part, wherever you are in the world, fans follow drivers. I was a huge Schumacher fan, huge! Schumacher is German and loved around the world. Some drivers have that special something that endear them to the fans. Lewis has it in spades. Charles has it and he’s from Monaco. Albon too. I think they call it charisma.

At RBR they have Christian, British, but he’s not a likeable character ditto Newey, Ron, Patrick Head. EJ was OK in a scoundrel type of way, but fans will support a team for their chosen driver.

Max is not someone that I like, so wherever he goes I’ll always support someone else that is competing against him - maybe not GR, though.

[Dingu]

Red bull race under an Austrian Licence.

So Mercedes are as British as they are.

[cuprabob]

Maybe he should watch the Ch4 highlights for a more balanced view

[moorx]

DOCG said:

In a a fantastic podcast with High Performance he explains the extreme bias towards Hamilton from the public.

So even with their nationalistic broadcasting, why does a British driver racing for a German team take precedence over a British team (Red Bull) with non-British drivers? The driver is only one member of a much larger team.

Would most users in this forum still be worshipping Hamilton if Sky focused on the nationality of the team rather than the driver? Probably not, it would be Red Bull and Horner who would be deified and above any form of criticism.

I am a Lewis Hamilton fan. I was a Jenson Button fan, a David Coulthard fan and a Damon Hill fan. I've also supported (at various times and during various races) other drivers of various nationalities. I've been watching F1 since the 1970s - well before Sky started broadcasting F1. I don't and have never had Sky TV, so please explain where my 'worship' of Hamilton has come from? How have I been brainwashed without access to Sky?

I'd stop watching F1 before I deified a slimeball like Horner.

Edited by moorx on Wednesday 11th September 18:06

[realjv]

German Team v British Team really?

Red Bull
Races under an Austrian flag.
Austrian and Thai ownership.
Based in Britain.

Mercedes
Races under a British flag.
German, Austrian and British ownership.
Based in Britain.

[moorx]

realjv said:

German Team v British Team really?

Red Bull
Races under an Austrian flag.
Austrian and Thai ownership.
Based in Britain.

Mercedes
Races under a British flag.
German, Austrian and British ownership.
Based in Britain.

Good analysis. You forgot drivers:

Dutch/Belgian and Mexican
British and British

[realjv]

moorx said:

realjv said:

German Team v British Team really?

Red Bull
Races under an Austrian flag.
Austrian and Thai ownership.
Based in Britain.

Mercedes
Races under a British flag.
German, Austrian and British ownership.
Based in Britain.

Good analysis. You forgot drivers:

Dutch/Belgian and Mexican
British and British

I did consider mentioning that the Mercedes team can trace it's DNA all the way back to Tyrrell who use to operate out of a shed. It's doesn't get any more British than that!

(Yes I know Red Bull began as Stewart Grand Prix, but that was funded by Ford and their Yankee money)

[White-Noise]

Fans generally care about drivers first and foremost but to my mind they relate to manufacturers more. Red Bull is imo still seen as an energy drink from abroad.

I'm not sure what the concern is, folks like their fellow country man, it's not surprising the coverage focuses on that, but to me it's important they add some balance. I've more of an issue with the fia et al not being called out more.

[Hustle_]

If there is an "extreme bias towards Hamilton from the public", then Hamilton and the British public have come a long way. I remember when he could do no right.

He's a properly decent British sportsman and we should be proud of him.

As has already been proven in the thread, trying to allege British national bias against F1 teams (seven out of ten of them at least), is pretty stupid.

If the OP is asking why Mercedes should be so much more popular than Red Bull over here, perhaps they'd do well to consider that only one of the teams have been embroiled in public scandal for the past three years.

[kambites]

I've never really supported a particular driver or team, but IMO people tend to dislike Redbull because Horner simply comes across as utterly obnoxious. Don't get me wrong, no-one gets to the top of F1 in any role by being nice, but Horner really is on another level.

As much as I try to remain impartial and just enjoy the competition, I tend to find myself slipping into the "anyone but Redbull" mindset. And it's not just when they're dominant; lots of different teams and drivers have dominated during the time I've been watching F1 but it's only really turned of me off the sport when it's been Redbull even when I've generally liked (or at least not disliked) the drivers there.

Edited by kambites on Wednesday 11th September 18:37

[ralphrj]

realjv said:

German Team v British Team really?

Red Bull
Races under an Austrian flag.
Austrian and Thai ownership.
Based in Britain.

Mercedes
Races under a British flag.
German, Austrian and British ownership.
Based in Britain.

I think Mercedes race under a German flag rather than a British one.

[DOCG]

Hustle_ said:

He's a properly decent British sportsman and we should be proud of him.

I lost all respect for him at Silverstone 2021. Regardless of the incident itself, celebrating the way he did while Max was still in hospital in an unknown condition was in incredibly bad taste. He is nothing to be proud of.

[moorx]

Christian - you should have just said it was you


Anyway, I thought you stopped watching before that:

DOCG said:

I stopped watching F1 when they introduced the turbocharged lawnmower engines, and at that time Hamilton was considered a bit of a dirty driver and fairly regularly got into incidents with other drivers, I think 2011 was particularly bad.

Edited by moorx on Wednesday 11th September 19:24

[spaximus]

I wonder if Lewis was driving for RedBull if the hatred for the team would still exist?
I like the fact that in 2021 we had two drivers going wheel to wheel hard neither giving way. Just the same as Senna and Prost
I think that what Newey was indicating was that because he is not British he gets unfair criticism from the media when he is a special driver.
I know others will disagree

[miniman]

spaximus said:

I wonder if Lewis was driving for RedBull if the hatred for the team would still exist?
I like the fact that in 2021 we had two drivers going wheel to wheel hard neither giving way. Just the same as Senna and Prost
I think that what Newey was indicating was that because he is not British he gets unfair criticism from the media when he is a special driver.
I know others will disagree

As far as I’m concerned, the toxicity of Horny and Marko rules them out regardless of who’s driving. Max just makes it doubly bad.

[MissChief]

Personally I think Max has pushed the boundaries of what is acceptable and has got away with far too much over the years. He's made his own bed with his antics over the years so warrants the treatment he gets from many fans.

[DOCG]

moorx said:

Christian - you should have just said it was you


Anyway, I thought you stopped watching before that:

DOCG said:

I stopped watching F1 when they introduced the turbocharged lawnmower engines, and at that time Hamilton was considered a bit of a dirty driver and fairly regularly got into incidents with other drivers, I think 2011 was particularly bad.

Edited by moorx on Wednesday 11th September 19:24

I don't watch the races (I couldn't even if I wanted to, since I won't pay for chav sports), I just check the results online after most grand prix and read about it after if anything significant happened.

Also, If you look even further into my post history you might see that I once criticized Horner for leaving his pregnant wife for one of the Spice girls (long before what happened earlier this year was made public).

[miniman]

DOCG said:

I don't watch the races (I couldn't even if I wanted to, since I won't pay for chav sports), I just check the results online after most grand prix and read about it after if anything significant happened.

Also, If you look even further into my post history you might see that I once criticized Horner for leaving his pregnant wife for one of the Spice girls (long before what happened earlier this year was made public).

You seem more invested in F1 than one would normally expect someone who described it as “chav sports” to be.

[DOCG]

miniman said:

You seem more invested in F1 than one would normally expect someone who described it as “chav sports” to be.

I'm not calling F1 a chav sport, but rather Sky Sports. They are clearly trying to appeal to a certain Stella drinking demographic, as shown by their employment of a certain chubby darts commentator.