BBC F1 Forum (partially lost Formula One media coverage; 2009-2015)
Formula 1 driver Mark Webber participates on 2010 Hungarian Grand Prix F1 Forum
Status: Partially Lost
F1 Forum (also referred to as Interactive Forum) was a programme streamed live on the BBC Red Button channel from 29 March 2009 to 29 November 2015. The programme focused on Formula 1 content after the races, with analysis from the pundits and interviews with team members.
Context
The BBC had a considerable history in terms of Formula 1 coverage. From the 1950s, full races were rarely broadcast on TV and most times only highlights or live segments were shown to the interested channels. BBC was one of those, having aired the 1953 British Grand Prix, the first known live race in the United Kingdom. A significant leap was made in 1979, when the network acquired exclusive rights to Formula 1 broadcast in the UK. However, this ended in 1996, when the rights were moved over to ITV. BBC recovered the rights 12 years later, when ITV granted them the rights for the 2009 season and a 5 year deal was cut with F1.[1]
History
F1 Forum aired live on BBC Red Button, an interactive channel. It took place on the circuit immediately after a Grand Prix. The BBC Formula 1 coverage team would gather to discuss the relevant events that took place during the race weekend and in F1 in general, on and off-track. During these discussions, they would often receive guests, such as drivers, engineers and team principals, in a more relaxed setting than the regular post-race press interviews. In these interviews, they would take questions from fans, sent in via e-mail or Twitter (thus the "Interactive Forum" moniker it was also referred to as).
The first show was broadcast in March 2009 with the season opener in Australia. From there to 2011, the forum would regularly air after each Grand Prix as part of their then-exclusive coverage. However, due to their cost savings agreement with Sky Sports in 2012, the BBC were only allowed half the races in a championship for the rest of their contract with F1.[2] During the 2012 season, they still would air the forum after every single race as their team would travel to cover it regardless.[3] Again, though, an impact on their budget meant that from 2013 to the end of their run, the forum only took place on the weekends BBC had the full race broadcast.[4][5][6][7]
Line-up
Anchor
- Jake Humphrey (2009–2012)
- Suzi Perry (2013–2015)
Pundit
- David Coulthard (2009–2015)
- Eddie Jordan (2009–2015)
- Allan McNish (2014–2015)
Pit Lane Reporter
- Ted Kravitz (2009–2011)
- Gary Anderson (2012–2013)
- Tom Clarkson (2013–2015)
Paddock Reporter
- Lee McKenzie (2009–2015)
Lead Commentator
- Jonathan Legard (2009–2010)
- Martin Brundle (2011)
- Ben Edwards (2012–2015)
Co-Commentator
- Martin Brundle (2009–2010)
- David Coulthard (2011–2015)
Analyst
- Allan McNish (2014–2015)
Availability & Search History
In terms of archiving, the episodes were available on BBC iPlayer for a limited time, as it was the company’s policy due to copyright issues. From 2009 to October 2014, this period was 7 days, extended to 30 days afterwards.[8] There is a hope that, just like many other shows, the F1 Forums might resurface on the current iPlayer, which evolved to a streaming service.[9] Yet, the specifics of copyright agreements with both F1 and Sky Sports make that unlikely to happen. Besides that, on the hypothesis they were indeed allowed to upload those to iPlayer, it would still be necessary to make sure BBC still holds the episodes in their archives.
Of the 103 forums made throughout those years, only 16 can be found online in their entirety. For certain programmes, only specific excerpts survived online, scattered around YouTube, Dailymotion, etc. As their full episodes aren't available, these will also be considered lost on the table below. At last, some have also been shared via torrent, but most of those have no seeds and thus, are unable to be downloaded. Attempts to contact some of the known uploaders in the community were fruitless.
On April 23rd, 2023, several previously unavailable programmes were uploaded to Internet Archive. Six episodes from the 2011 Championship (Malaysia, Monaco, Belgium, Singapore, Abu Dhabi and Brazil) were courtesy of Reddit user u/Sellecsal. Copies of the 2013 Indian Grand Prix and 2015 Malaysian Grand Prix were also shared, courtesy of Reddit user u/TornadoRot. On May 1st, 2023, nine Forums were retrieved from copies of the 2009 races that circulate throughout the internet. These were: Monaco, Hungary, European (Valencia), Belgium, Italy, Singapore, Japan, Brazil and Abu Dhabi. It was also possible to confirm that the 2011 Canadian Grand Prix did not have a forum after the race as they ran out of time. [10]
| Episode | Event | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2009 Australian Grand Prix | 29 March 2009 | Found (Dailymotion) |
| 2 | 2009 Malaysian Grand Prix | 5 April 2009 | Lost |
| 3 | 2009 Chinese Grand Prix | 19 April 2009 | Lost |
| 4 | 2009 Bahrain Grand Prix | 26 April 2009 | Lost |
| 5 | 2009 Spanish Grand Prix | 10 May 2009 | Lost |
| 6 | 2009 Monaco Grand Prix | 24 May 2009 | Found (Internet Archive) |
| 7 | 2009 Turkish Grand Prix | 7 June 2009 | Lost |
| 8 | 2009 British Grand Prix | 21 June 2009 | Lost |
| 9 | 2009 German Grand Prix | 12 July 2009 | Lost |
| 10 | 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix | 26 July 2009 | Found (Internet Archive) |
| 11 | 2009 European Grand Prix | 23 August 2009 | Found (Internet Archive) |
| 12 | 2009 Belgian Grand Prix | 30 August 2009 | Found (Internet Archive) |
| 13 | 2009 Italian Grand Prix | 13 September 2009 | Found (Internet Archive) |
| 14 | 2009 Singapore Grand Prix | 27 September 2009 | Found (Internet Archive) |
| 15 | 2009 Japanese Grand Prix | 4 October 2009 | Found (Internet Archive) |
| 16 | 2009 Brazilian Grand Prix | 18 October 2009 | Found (Internet Archive) |
| 17 | 2009 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix | 1 November 2009 | Found (Internet Archive) |
| 18 | 2010 Bahrain Grand Prix | 14 March 2010 | Found (Internet Archive) |
| 19 | 2010 Australian Grand Prix | 28 March 2010 | Lost |
| 20 | 2010 Malaysian Grand Prix | 4 April 2010 | Lost |
| 21 | 2010 Chinese Grand Prix | 18 April 2010 | Lost |
| 22 | 2010 Spanish Grand Prix | 9 May 2010 | Found (Internet Archive) |
| 23 | 2010 Monaco Grand Prix | 16 May 2010 | Found (Internet Archive) |
| 24 | 2010 Turkish Grand Prix | 30 May 2010 | Found (Internet Archive) |
| 25 | 2010 Canadian Grand Prix | 13 June 2010 | Lost |
| 26 | 2010 European Grand Prix | 27 June 2010 | Lost |
| 27 | 2010 British Grand Prix | 11 July 2010 | Lost |
| 28 | 2010 German Grand Prix | 25 July 2010 | Lost |
| 29 | 2010 Hungarian Grand Prix | 1 August 2010 | Lost |
| 30 | 2010 Belgian Grand Prix | 29 August 2010 | Found (Dailymotion) |
| 31 | 2010 Italian Grand Prix | 12 September 2010 | Lost |
| 32 | 2010 Singapore Grand Prix | 26 September 2010 | Lost |
| 33 | 2010 Japanese Grand Prix | 10 October 2010 | Lost |
| 34 | 2010 Korean Grand Prix | 24 October 2010 | Lost |
| 35 | 2010 Brazilian Grand Prix | 7 November 2010 | Lost |
| 36 | 2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix | 14 November 2010 | Lost |
| 37 | 2011 Australian Grand Prix | 27 March 2011 | Found (Internet Archive) |
| 38 | 2011 Malaysian Grand Prix | 10 April 2011 | Found (Internet Archive) |
| 39 | 2011 Chinese Grand Prix | 17 April 2011 | Found (Internet Archive) |
| 40 | 2011 Turkish Grand Prix | 8 May 2011 | Found (Internet Archive) |
| 41 | 2011 Spanish Grand Prix | 22 May 2011 | Found (Internet Archive) |
| 42 | 2011 Monaco Grand Prix | 29 May 2011 | Found (Internet Archive) |
| 44 | 2011 European Grand Prix | 26 June 2011 | Found (Internet Archive) |
| 45 | 2011 British Grand Prix | 10 July 2011 | Lost |
| 46 | 2011 German Grand Prix | 24 July 2011 | Lost |
| 47 | 2011 Hungarian Grand Prix | 31 July 2011 | Found (Internet Archive) |
| 48 | 2011 Belgian Grand Prix | 28 August 2011 | Found (Internet Archive) |
| 49 | 2011 Italian Grand Prix | 11 September 2011 | Found (Internet Archive) |
| 50 | 2011 Singapore Grand Prix | 25 September 2011 | Found (Internet Archive) |
| 51 | 2011 Japanese Grand Prix | 9 October 2011 | Found (Internet Archive) |
| 52 | 2011 Korean Grand Prix | 16 October 2011 | Found (Internet Archive) |
| 53 | 2011 Indian Grand Prix | 30 October 2011 | Found (Internet Archive) |
| 54 | 2011 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix | 13 November 2011 | Found (Internet Archive) |
| 55 | 2011 Brazilian Grand Prix | 27 November 2011 | Found (Internet Archive) |
| 56 | 2012 Australian Grand Prix | 18 March 2012 | Lost |
| 57 | 2012 Malaysian Grand Prix | 25 March 2012 | Lost |
| 58 | 2012 Chinese Grand Prix | 15 April 2012 | Lost |
| 59 | 2012 Bahrain Grand Prix | 22 April 2012 | Lost |
| 60 | 2012 Spanish Grand Prix | 13 May 2012 | Lost |
| 61 | 2012 Monaco Grand Prix | 27 May 2012 | Lost |
| 62 | 2012 Canadian Grand Prix | 10 June 2012 | Lost |
| 63 | 2012 European Grand Prix | 24 June 2012 | Lost |
| 64 | 2012 British Grand Prix | 8 July 2012 | Lost |
| 65 | 2012 German Grand Prix | 22 July 2012 | Lost |
| 66 | 2012 Hungarian Grand Prix | 29 July 2012 | Lost |
| 67 | 2012 Belgian Grand Prix | 2 September 2012 | Lost |
| 68 | 2012 Italian Grand Prix | 9 September 2012 | Lost |
| 69 | 2012 Singapore Grand Prix | 23 September 2012 | Lost |
| 70 | 2012 Japanese Grand Prix | 7 October 2012 | Lost |
| 71 | 2012 Korean Grand Prix | 14 October 2012 | Lost |
| 72 | 2012 Indian Grand Prix | 28 October 2012 | Lost |
| 73 | 2012 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix | 4 November 2012 | Lost |
| 74 | 2012 United States Grand Prix | 18 November 2012 | Lost |
| 75 | 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix | 25 November 2012 | Lost |
| 76 | 2013 Chinese Grand Prix | 14 April 2013 | Lost |
| 77 | 2013 Spanish Grand Prix | 12 May 2013 | Lost |
| 78 | 2013 Canadian Grand Prix | 9 June 2013 | Lost |
| 79 | 2013 British Grand Prix | 30 June 2013 | Lost |
| 80 | 2013 Belgian Grand Prix | 25 August 2013 | Lost |
| 81 | 2013 Italian Grand Prix | 8 September 2013 | Lost |
| 82 | 2013 Japanese Grand Prix | 13 October 2013 | Lost |
| 83 | 2013 Indian Grand Prix | 27 October 2013 | Found (Internet Archive) |
| 84 | 2013 Brazilian Grand Prix | 24 November 2013 | Lost |
| 85 | 2014 Malaysian Grand Prix | 30 March 2014 | Lost |
| 86 | 2014 Spanish Grand Prix | 11 May 2014 | Lost |
| 87 | 2014 Canadian Grand Prix | 8 June 2014 | Lost |
| 88 | 2014 British Grand Prix | 6 July 2014 | Lost |
| 89 | 2014 Belgian Grand Prix | 24 August 2014 | Lost |
| 90 | 2014 Italian Grand Prix | 7 September 2014 | Lost |
| 91 | 2014 Japanese Grand Prix | 5 October 2014 | Lost |
| 92 | 2014 Russian Grand Prix | 12 October 2014 | Lost |
| 93 | 2014 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix | 23 November 2014 | Lost |
| 94 | 2015 Malaysian Grand Prix | 29 March 2015 | Found (Internet Archive) |
| 95 | 2015 Bahrain Grand Prix | 19 April 2015 | Lost |
| 96 | 2015 Canadian Grand Prix | 7 June 2015 | Lost |
| 97 | 2015 British Grand Prix | 5 July 2015 | Lost |
| 98 | 2015 Hungarian Grand Prix | 26 July 2015 | Lost |
| 99 | 2015 Belgian Grand Prix | 23 August 2015 | Lost |
| 100 | 2015 Japanese Grand Prix | 27 September 2015 | Lost |
| 101 | 2015 Russian Grand Prix | 11 October 2015 | Lost |
| 102 | 2015 Brazilian Grand Prix | 15 November 2015 | Lost |
| 103 | 2015 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix | 29 November 2015 | Lost |
Gallery
Videos
See also
Selected Lost Formula One Media
- Racing Arrows (partially found Formula One TV series; 2001)
- Donkey Does F1 (partially found photos of Shrek character inflatable at Formula One races; 2004)
- Williams FW15C (partially found footage and lap time information of unraced CVT Formula One car; 1993)
- Robert Kubica's 2010 Japanese Grand Prix Q3 lap (lost audio of Formula One qualifying lap; 2010)
References
- ↑ History of British Broadcasting (Motorsport Broadcasting) Retrieved 07 April 2023
- ↑ A comprehensive timeline of BBC's second stint as a Formula 1 broadcaster (Motorsport Broadcasting) Retrieved 07 April 2023
- ↑ BBC's press release for the 2012 championship Retrieved 07 April 2023
- ↑ BBC's press release for the 2013 championship Retrieved 07 April 2023
- ↑ List detailing which races would be transmitted by BBC in 2012 Retrieved 07 April 2023
- ↑ BBC's press release for the 2014 championship Retrieved 07 April 2023
- ↑ BBC's press release for the 2015 championship Retrieved 07 April 2023
- ↑ Press release on the 30 day extension for BBC iPlayer Retrieved 07 April 2023
- ↑ Current BBC company politics on TV show's availability Retrieved 07 April 2023
- ↑ Lap-by-lap report of the 2011 Canadian Grand Prix Retrieved 01 May 2023