{"id":2609,"date":"2023-09-10T07:13:00","date_gmt":"2023-09-09T21:13:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/f1chronicleau.wpengine.com\/?p=2609"},"modified":"2025-01-04T15:33:39","modified_gmt":"2025-01-04T04:33:39","slug":"how-a-formula-1-race-is-televised","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/f1chronicle.com\/how-a-formula-1-race-is-televised\/","title":{"rendered":"How A Formula 1 Race is Televised"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_80 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-transparent ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Page Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/f1chronicle.com\/how-a-formula-1-race-is-televised\/#How-is-broadcast-F1-different-to-other-sports\" >How is broadcast F1 different to other sports?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/f1chronicle.com\/how-a-formula-1-race-is-televised\/#There-was-some-fan-criticism-after-the-race-in-Monza-that-some-of-those-stories-were-missed-Was-that-fair\" >There was some fan criticism after the race in Monza that some of those stories were missed. Was that fair?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/f1chronicle.com\/how-a-formula-1-race-is-televised\/#What-about-replays-Was-there-an-opportunity-to-feed-in-a-start-replay-earlier-perhaps\" >What about replays? Was there an opportunity to feed in a start replay earlier perhaps?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/f1chronicle.com\/how-a-formula-1-race-is-televised\/#Why-are-there-no-F1-picture-in-picture-replays\" >Why are there no F1 picture-in-picture replays?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/f1chronicle.com\/how-a-formula-1-race-is-televised\/#Whats-the-process-for-broadcasting-the-first-F1-lap\" >What\u2019s the process for broadcasting the first F1 lap?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/f1chronicle.com\/how-a-formula-1-race-is-televised\/#During-F1-sessions-how-are-the-decisions-made-on-what-to-focus-on\" >During F1 sessions, how are the decisions made on what to focus on?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/f1chronicle.com\/how-a-formula-1-race-is-televised\/#Thats-the-operation-at-the-track-but-theres-also-a-team-back-in-the-UK-as-well-isnt-there\" >That\u2019s the operation at the track, but there\u2019s also a team back in the UK as well isn\u2019t there?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/f1chronicle.com\/how-a-formula-1-race-is-televised\/#Finally-to-come-back-to-Singapore-how-will-all-of-that-feed-into-this-weekends-broadcast\" >Finally, to come back to Singapore, how will all of that feed into this weekend\u2019s broadcast?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n\n<p>Two hours of intense focus, extreme heat, bone-rattling bumps and jarring changes of direction on a narrow track under blazing floodlights \u2013 the Singapore Grand Prix\u00a0might just be the ultimate test for\u00a0F1\u00a0drivers. And it\u2019s a place where only the very best succeed as multiple race winners\u00a0Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel\u00a0can attest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Singapore isn\u2019t just tough on drivers though. The circuit\u2019s 23 corners presented a huge challenge for the men and women who bring the race to life on screens around the world, as\u00a0<strong>Formula 1 Director of Broadcast &amp; Media\u00a0Dean Locke<\/strong>\u00a0explains\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>This weekend sees Formula 1 teams and driver take on one the season\u2019s biggest challenges \u2013 the Singapore Grand Prix. It\u2019s a night race, under floodlights, in the centre of a busy city on streets usually crammed with traffic. Is it a similarly tough race to broadcast?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s one of the longest circuits on the calendar and it\u2019s hot, so it\u2019s certainly physically tough for the guys who are out on track. But from a logistical point of view it is the length of the lap. There are 23 corners at the Marina Bay Street Circuit and we have to cover those with 26 trackside cameras. There are no real run-off areas apart from in Turn 1 and Turn 2, so the cameras are on top of the cars, shooting through very small fence windows. There are a limited number of angles they can shoot from and if they are pointing the wrong way, they might miss something.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On top of that we have to really convey what the city is like, this amazing skyline and these fantastic buildings. Each track and each race is unique. And we&#8217;ve got to highlight that uniqueness to fans \u2013 the tifosi at Monza, the fireworks in Singapore, the Foro Sol in Mexico and so on. We have to reflect that as much as possible. Singapore is a tricky one, but to be honest, broadcasting a motor race at any circuit is a tremendous challenge. Televising a Grand Prix is very different to other sports.<\/p>\n\n\n<div id=\"rank-math-faq\" class=\"rank-math-block\">\n<div class=\"rank-math-list \">\n<div id=\"faq-question-5f508fdfc29ac\" class=\"rank-math-list-item\">\n<h3 class=\"rank-math-question \"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How-is-broadcast-F1-different-to-other-sports\"><\/span>How is broadcast F1 different to other sports?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<div class=\"rank-math-answer \">\n\n<p>In a Grand Prix you have 20 different stories all happening simultaneously, and you have to try to tell those stories in as complete a way as possible.As a simple comparison, you can cover a football match with a single camera if necessary \u2013 you&#8217;ve got one ball and a small pitch. We\u2019ve got 20 balls and a really big pitch! There are 10 teams on that pitch and all of them are playing a different game to each other in a funny kind of way. It\u2019s a complex juggling act, trying to balance all of those strands.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"faq-question-5f508fdfc29ae\" class=\"rank-math-list-item\">\n<h3 class=\"rank-math-question \"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"There-was-some-fan-criticism-after-the-race-in-Monza-that-some-of-those-stories-were-missed-Was-that-fair\"><\/span>There was some fan criticism after the race in Monza that some of those stories were missed. Was that fair?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<div class=\"rank-math-answer \">\n\n<p>Monza is tricky because of the first chicane. On the first lap the field comes to that chicane very quickly. This year we had a really good battle at the front involving three or four cars. Conversely, at the back of the field you also had a very quick guy, Max Verstappen, and you have to make the choice of where to go.We were aware that there were some things happening at the back and we knew people were going through the chicane. But if you&#8217;ve got two cars side by side at the front, you have to stick with that.Editorially, we&#8217;re after battles, we&#8217;re after duels and the higher up the order, the better. If that battle is for the leading places you have to stay with that.We&#8217;re not scared to dive down to 13th, 14th, 15th\u00a0place if less is happening at the front and there\u2019s an epic battle taking place \u2013 but it is about going where the action is.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"faq-question-5f508fdfc29af\" class=\"rank-math-list-item\">\n<h3 class=\"rank-math-question \"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What-about-replays-Was-there-an-opportunity-to-feed-in-a-start-replay-earlier-perhaps\"><\/span>What about replays? Was there an opportunity to feed in a start replay earlier perhaps?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<div class=\"rank-math-answer \">\n\n<p>In terms of replays what makes Formula 1 a challenge is we don&#8217;t have natural breaks. We&#8217;re not like tennis, or cricket in that respect. Therefore we&#8217;ve got to feed in replays while live action is happening, unless we get a safety car.\u00a0 If you ask any sports director what is the hardest part of broadcasting live sports, they will say replays. And that&#8217;s compounded when you don\u2019t have natural pauses. You\u2019re looking for an advantageous lull \u2013 and in Monza, with a lot happening at the front in the first few laps that was difficult.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"faq-question-5f508fdfc29b0\" class=\"rank-math-list-item\">\n<h3 class=\"rank-math-question \"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Why-are-there-no-F1-picture-in-picture-replays\"><\/span>Why are there no F1 picture-in-picture replays?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<div class=\"rank-math-answer \">\n\n<p>We have the mechanism to do that but we tend to shy away from it because we have a wealth of information already on screen and a lot of graphics and adding to that makes things very complicated. It\u2019s also difficult for commentators.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"faq-question-5f508fdfc29b1\" class=\"rank-math-list-item\">\n<h3 class=\"rank-math-question \"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Whats-the-process-for-broadcasting-the-first-F1-lap\"><\/span>What\u2019s the process for broadcasting the first F1 lap? <span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<div class=\"rank-math-answer \">\n\n<p>Absolutely. I suppose we\u2019re a bit like an F1 team in that we do a lot of tests and practice. We are lucky at European races, and some others, to have F2 and F3 and Porsche Supercup races, which give us the opportunity to practice that first lap.\u00a0 We also run tests during the safety car laps on Thursdays of race weekend.And what we will often do is re-cut it. So we might say, well, what if we jumped to a different vantage point earlier, what if we brought in this angle? There\u2019s a constant process of trying to improve the show.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"faq-question-5f508fdfc29b2\" class=\"rank-math-list-item\">\n<h3 class=\"rank-math-question \"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"During-F1-sessions-how-are-the-decisions-made-on-what-to-focus-on\"><\/span>During F1 sessions, how are the decisions made on what to focus on?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<div class=\"rank-math-answer \">\n\n<p>Essentially what we have is layers of sub-mixes. The replays are done by a replay director, the track action is done by a track director and we have a dedicated director for onboard footage. There is then a main director who is pulling all that together and balancing those elements with pit stops and pit lane cameras.We also have a group of looking at the bigger picture \u2013 have we seen enough of the lead group, should we go back to particular battles, do we need to review strategic decisions to explain things better.We also have an editorial director that I work closely with, and an executive producer. They are primarily looking at timing pages.\u00a0 We also have someone looking at the positioning of cars on GPS. On the backbench we have a graphics producer who is more focused on strategy and we have a commercial producer making sure our commercial partners are looked after.We\u2019re also dialling into commentary on occasion because there\u2019s often valuable insight from the expertise within broadcaster teams and so we\u2019ll feed that into our decision-making when we feel it\u2019s necessary. We\u2019ll look at social media, too, to see what everyone is talking about and that might feed into our treatment of a particularly facet of a race if it\u2019s turning into a talking point.Finally, we also have some pretty good experts of our own. Ross Brawn sits in a bit, as does Roberto Dalla, our Managing Director of Media and Technology. Rob Smedley is always in communication too, so we can talk to him about possible strategies.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"faq-question-5f508fdfc29b3\" class=\"rank-math-list-item\">\n<h3 class=\"rank-math-question \"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Thats-the-operation-at-the-track-but-theres-also-a-team-back-in-the-UK-as-well-isnt-there\"><\/span>That\u2019s the operation at the track, but there\u2019s also a team back in the UK as well isn\u2019t there?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<div class=\"rank-math-answer \">\n\n<p>We have the remote operation centre and the technical operations centre. We do all the team radio back there; we do some replays back at base as well. And then they&#8217;re fed back to the broadcast centre at the race. In some ways it\u2019s very similar to an F1 team where the engineers at the track are supported by an ops room back at the factory.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"faq-question-5f508fdfc29b4\" class=\"rank-math-list-item\">\n<h3 class=\"rank-math-question \"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Finally-to-come-back-to-Singapore-how-will-all-of-that-feed-into-this-weekends-broadcast\"><\/span>Finally, to come back to Singapore, how will all of that feed into this weekend\u2019s broadcast?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<div class=\"rank-math-answer \">\n\n<p>Simple really, we\u2019ll do our absolute best to cover the race in as much detail as possible and we\u2019ll endeavour to tell those 20 different stories wherever they happen on that playing field.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Two hours of intense focus, extreme heat, bone-rattling bumps and jarring changes of direction on a narrow track under blazing floodlights \u2013 the Singapore Grand&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":2610,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"MSN_Categories":"Uncategorized","MSN_Publish_Option":false,"MSN_Is_Local_News":false,"MSN_Is_AIAC_Included":"Empty","MSN_Location":"[]","MSN_Add_Feature_Img_On_Top_Of_Post":false,"MSN_Has_Custom_Author":false,"MSN_Custom_Author":"","MSN_Has_Custom_Canonical_Url":false,"MSN_Custom_Canonical_Url":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[180,181,178],"class_list":["post-2609","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-formula-1-technology","tag-formula-1-broadcast","tag-formula-1-broadcast-logistics","tag-singapore-grand-prix"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-02-11 20:39:05","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/f1chronicle.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2609","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/f1chronicle.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/f1chronicle.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/f1chronicle.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/f1chronicle.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2609"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/f1chronicle.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2609\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/f1chronicle.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2610"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/f1chronicle.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2609"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/f1chronicle.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2609"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/f1chronicle.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2609"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}