大象传媒

Hi Jake,

I am a fan of yours and usually you are bang on however I must say that Massa actually 'only' impacted the barriers at about 100km/h however much it amazes me to say it, is actually relatively on the F1 slow side.

Furthermore, I was very surprised how lightly Legard, yourself, EJ and DC took the whole incident at the time. It is clear in F1 that if there isn't news about the condition of a driver within 10 minutes, its generally very, very worrying. You left viewers thinking it was a bump on the chin.

Yet again a great blog, Jake. You manage to mix the backroom technical, with the stuff you guys get up to when the cameras are off and throw in comments about the racing brilliantly.

Yes the memories of school PE lessons when you forgot your kit.

You are lucky they didnt make you do it in your underpants only!!!!!

Nice blog keep up the good work

Great blog again Jake. It must have been hard for you to keep focussed during that qualifying session. Firstly with Massa's horrendous crash and the calamities of Q3.

One final question do you think EJ likes Kers? :P

"Incredible, isn't it? Driver changes, big team decisions, mindboggling press releases - it's almost gone unnoticed that the Concorde Agreement's been signed! Hurrah!"

And thats exactly how it should be. At last the season has become interesting enough on the track to overshadow the soap opera going on off it.

And dont wear those shorts again.....! Ever.

P.S EJ deserves more credit than he gets. Okay yes, I know he puts across the image that he's a bumbling fool riddled with sentimentality, or maybe it is'nt even an image, but you dont survive in F1 as a non grandee as long as he did unless you know the sport backwards. I thimk sometimes people forget that. I personally love the guy's personality and his moments with DC are classics.

Good blog, as per usual. Has the ring of truth - so it's either truthful, or just well written, either way, well done.
Is running a race track a common practice? If not, you may have started a new trend. How about setting up a track running club that takes fans around F1 tracks before the race weekend? It would make the race experience afterwards incredible, very personal, very real.

Hi Jake
your last photo looks like you have just thrown up. Nice. What a weekend that was. Glad to see Massa on the interview. As for Schumacher, you could not write a better script really, Berni must have had a hand in surely. Cant wait. Yes I think we will see him win 1 maybe more the Ferrari looked improved certainly. Real shame about BMW high expectations there. With all major car firms going green now who will be next i wonder. Toyota? Ask Martin where his driver of the day slots gone. Cheers.

boy007,

what did you expect them to do?

There was no information available to them other than there had been an accident and Massa wasn't out of the car? They are not tabloid journalists. If you want sensationalism then I suggest you buy yourself a copy of the People.

There appears to be an embarrassing puddle situated between your legs in that picture there...

You said that nobody was jumping to conclusions but Eddie Jordan did. He was allowed to give "breaking news" that a "reliable source" had told him that Massa was perfectly ok and it was a just a slight knock to the head. That proved to be utter rubbish and you and the 大象传媒 should be ashamed that you allowed him to say such tripe. You should have stuck to the line you wanted to - i.e. you didn't know anything and didn't want to speculate. Unfortunately Eddie Jordan doesn't like shutting up and wants to make himself out to be a big man. His exaggerations and tall stories are annoying at most times but this was completely irresponsible and you should not have let him say that.

@Rafa's Magic Box Beard

I think you misunderstood me. It is exactly as you point out - if there is no information you have to tread carefully however experience in F1 tells us that its exactly in that situation that the signs are not positive. This needs to be considered before giving people the all clear. I think EJ was probably the biggest culprit of this though.

The reason that no-one noticed that the Concorde agreement has been signed is because in contrast to the F1 coverage and blogs, the news reporting through the 大象传媒 F1 site is very poor!

@Alafan - How exactly do you expect the 大象传媒 to stop EJ (or anyone else) from making such comments? Put a delay on the live transmission? It's remarks like yours that have lead the 大象传媒 to prerecord so much of their output these days for fear of any kind of controversy occurring.

@Alanfan - maybe at that time, that was the case but Massa's situation deterioated or further tests found something which led to surgery. We don't know the full story so you're basically guessing.

Also, it was a live transmissions. No one knew what EJ was going to say and I fully believe EJ said it believing it to be true to re-assure people.

"Those who can, do. Those who can't, critisize"

mungusdog

Simple. Eddie Jordan was introduced as having breaking news. That suggests that he had already told Jake or the producer that he had the news (or how else would they know that he had news to break). When he had told them he had this news they should have said to him "we don't know that's true and it looked a bad crash so we're not going to act like complete muppets and broadcast that".

Not rocket science.

Another very enjoyable and informative blog as ever Jake.

I would however like to voice my disappointment at your coverage of Massas accident, yes it was serious accident but I know Im not alone in believing we were unnecessarily kept in the dark as to the latest events as they were transpiring.

Having access to other outlets at the same time, it soon became apparent that the rest of the viewers around the world had been updated several times via various video clips as to the cause of the accident, flying debris, 5 to 10 minutes before the footage was deemed suitable for us sensitive 大象传媒 viewers.

Why did the 大象传媒 deem it necessary to censor the already censored world feed, are British viewers more sensitive than those throughout the rest of the world.

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Another Great blog jake! Your enthusiasm is fantastic and it makes it even better to know you present Formula 1 to the whole of the UK!

Keep up the good work

funny :)
good blog jake

Jakers!

Another great post - but what's taken so long???

I love the running out fit - perhaps you should accompany Jenson on his next triathlon wearing your very own customized outfit for charity.

Keep up the good work and keep enjoying your dream job. You and your colleagues have really made this season much more enjoyable.

Well done the 大象传媒 - finally our license fees are being put to good use!!

Timmy

Does your running story relate to these photos? Black socks photo, white socks story! Never trust anything written about F1, not even sock colour.

Hi Jake,

As I live just 1 hour south of Valencia, let me know if you want to visit after the race for some Spanish hospitality.

Also, if you need anyone to help you out at the circuit, just let me know, I can be there in an hour!

great blog - summing up all that is great and not so great this season so far.... oh well, even the not so great stuff makes it at least more exciting doesn't it!?

I thought the 大象传媒 handled the situation at the time of broadcast impeccably... it was obvious after not seeing replay footage almost immediately that there was something afoot, but there was nothing alarming or more importantly, nothing inflammatory or sensationalist reported until more was known as to what was happening.

As for what EJ reported, I don't think as many do that this was intended as incorrect info to play down Massa's injuries, I think it was more aimed at handling the obvious worries that any fans would be experiencing to help them understand that Massa was OK.

I just can't wait to see what the rest of the races bring this year!

Hi Jake,

Excellent blog once again - a great insight in to your working day and behind the scenes take on F1

My thoughts are still with Felipe and I am glad he is now back on the mend and flying back to Brasil!

One thing that has been confusing me is Eddie Jordan's - "Felipe has had a knock on the chin" comment. Please could you clarify where he got this information from and his so called 'reliable source' You guys all looked baffled as to his comment as he hadn't been anywhere or given any other information to certify this was the truth!

Great blog Jake, keep it up,

I watched the Hungarian GP from Thailand and was taken aback by the blunt commentary and pictures of Felipe's accident, totally different to the 大象传媒 coverage, then the melee after Q3, we thought it was just the Thai coverage and friends at home certainly saw different to what we did.

We had gathered a number of Thai people around us (well I was getting excited) and they kept saying " England small so you know him well" with reference to Lewis, when he won they cheered as loud as us. What a weekend and so glad Felipe is well enough to go home. Looking forward to Valencia.

Regarding some of the comments about the coverage of Massa's accident:

I was at Hungaroring and having watched the 大象传媒 coverage since I got home, I was amazed at the fact that the presenters were talking about anything other than Massa in the period following his accident. Not that I think this was at all inappropriate - you didn't know any facts at this point so why keep discussing it until you know something concrete - it's just strange compared with those of us in the grandstands who spent that entire time with our eyes fixed on Massa on the screens, and most of the Radio 5 live commentary (which I was able to tune into at the time) was focused on Massa the whole time.
I actually think you all handled it remarkably well, given the difficulty of the situation, although I agree with some comments made here that EJ should not have mentioned the 'bump on the chin' without having it confirmed.

Incidentally, I found out that Massa's helmet had been struck by debris from Barrichello's car via a text from a friend of mine who was in England, watching qualifying on 大象传媒1. The true information was reported by Jake on TV before either Radio 5 live or even the circuit's own commentators reported it. And I think that's commendable.

Just had to comment for the first time about all the whinging about E.J,
now we know where all the Points of View fanatics have gone,,includes me I suppose..I'm glad E.J opened his mouth and told us a variant of what had happened,somebody had to,It's the delight of live T.V,and the E.J and D.C banter is great,I'm sure they don't really like each other.
Something I always wanted to do,is inform Mr Frank Williams that over 20 years ago after his car accident in France,he was flown to Biggin Hill by air ambulance,then driven by ambulance to Whitechapel hospital very slowly and carefully with police escort by a very handsome young man.....that man was me.And now im older fatter and bald I reckon he owes me one,and give me passage to a G.P..Only trouble is I'm a massive Schumacher fan..he wouldn't like that..strange as it is..Mark Thatcher was also on that flight,,reckon he was lost

Another great blog.

This season is just getting better on the track, I can't wait to see what Valenca brings and how Schumi will do when he steps back into the red car to replace Massa. It was a horrific accident that happened to Massa and I am glad that he seems to be making a good recovery. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see Schumi battling for a bottle of bubbly, and whilst I doubt he will get to the top step I wouldn't be amazed to see him on it.

Personally I am surprised that Piquet Jr has spent so long at Renault and I suspect there is a fair amount of truth in his bitterness. I can't remember if Flavio has ever favoured both his drivers at the same time and I remember many drivers suffering in his 2nd seat.

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Hi Jake.

I'm glad I'm not the only one that noticed the slightly dodgy looking puddle in the last pic ;-) You should definitely have a go at the next London Triathlon with Jenson.

Thought you guys handled the Massa accident during qualifying well.

Enjoy the break. I'm suffering F1 withdrawal already.

Jake,

Are you in tears in that photo?... When you get to Spa, you'll have to try running round that one! It's a long track but Eau rouge is phenomenally steep...TV cameras do no justice to that at all. Take hiking boots....!

Beeb TV coverage is great and how you manage to control Brundle, DC and Eddie is beyond me!

Hi Jake,

Great blog. I hope you enjoy the summer break. As a lifelong Schumacher and Ferrari fan, I cannot wait for the next race. The only thing better than Schumacher returning would have been for Massa not to have the accident in the first place.
Still, it looks as though he is recovering well, which is fantastic news.

Following on from the Eau Rouge point from the comment above, bike around Spa (and, as a fan of history, make sure to check out the old Spa) and see what it's like to bike DOWN Eau Rouge. That must be absolutely incredible!

nibs - Number 30 - Why such a spiteful post? It's live television. Nobody knew for sure about Felipe's condition. They had to balance between giving viewers information and not speculating too much (see Jonathan Legard's blog. He talks about this). They had to interpret the information they had. Shame it was wrong, but what else could Jake, David and Eddie do?

Anyway, Thanks for the blog Jake.

Hi Jake,

Great blog! I am now living and working in America (work for a race team, can relate to the long hours!) and I was watching the coverage on Speed TV.

I would like to say that Speed handled the Massa incident in a very low key manner, and they too reported that he seemed to be showing signs that it was not as serious as it may have appeared. Once Q3 was under way, the focus was right back on the racing and they were equally as enthused/confused about the failure of the timing and scoring system. When they returned for their race coverage, they immediately addressed the audience with news that the hospital had discovered further injuries and that Massa was in an induced coma.

From what I have read, it sounds like the 大象传媒 are doing a fantastic job with their coverage this year. Keep it up guys, hopefully I can catch a race soon!

Hey Jake!

I DID wonder what that puddle of liquid was around your feet but thanks for clearing up the fact that it was water. You had me mildly concerned! Still, love the work and keep it up!

Happy holidays to you and the rest of the 大象传媒 F1 team!

Sean, cruising the Baltic Sea on-board the Norwegian Jewel cruise liner.

I agree with some of the comments on this post regarding the fact that you held off on showing the replay until you know Massa was OK. In all my time watching F1 on both the 大象传媒 and ITV can I ever remember either network deciding to withhold footage for the reasons Jake suggests.

The 大象传媒 replayed footage on Senna's accident many times in 94, and ITV footage of Kubica's crash in 2007 in both cases the driver's life was clearly in grave danger. The fact that I was able to find out Massa had been hit by a spring (not on the chin) from people uploading video of French and Spanish TV to an internet forum before the 大象传媒 even made mention of it is rather concerning.

Is this the 大象传媒 saying that had Massa died in the accident they wouldn't have shown the replay at all? Neither the drivers nor the viewers are under any illusion that F1 is safe and that should be reflected in the coverage.

Running round the circuit surely shows how much track the cars are covering in three seconds. At Silverstone my pal said that it shocked him that F1 cars went round there in 1m30 seconds and it took us considerably more.

Thanks for the sweat photos (we all wanted to see that) more about the news this time. There'll be so much to cover, get the race coverage to start earlier and finish later as when we had ITV there was still enough time to reflect on the race after the elbrations and with the 大象传媒 it seems to be over too fast.

Jake, do you run these circuits every time?
Plus where's DC and EJ? Im sure they should tag along with yourself.
Plus I am quite annoyed with some people critise EJ's 'bang on the chin' comment, what do you expect them to say, the 大象传媒 would have been ripped apart by viewers who would have wanted to know what happened.
Eddie may have said it because its common to see a car smashed into the barriers, it was only when we all saw what hit Massa was when he knew it was more worser then EJ knew it so I think people should lay off EJ, blame FOM/FOA for withholding the replays.

Another point to add on from my previous comment, with all the stories and political news surrounding the sport I like how you focus your blog away from all of that. I mean the amount of things you could have put in this one, yet you didn't which I credit as it gives us at home the chance to see it through a general fans eyes. Keep it up!

@WebbyFoxes #38

FOM didn't withhold the replays because they'd already been shown in other countries *and* uploaded to internet forums before the 大象传媒 even made mention that he'd been hit by an object. I don't want to make this out to be some sort of conspiracy, but the fact is the 大象传媒 were the one that made a conscious decision not to show them for at least 10 minutes after they went out on the FOM feed.

As always Jake, loved your blog.
Can I just ask what is that large puddle betweem your (very nice looking) legs? Please say it was drinking water! lol

Well a lot as gone on in the last week and a half and still 16 days till the next GP, I wonder what else will happen?

Amanda
x

P.S. I hope you and the F1 team sponsered Jenson in the Triathlon, he did it in his best time ever, and it is a really good cause. Make a wish foundation

I can see both sides of the Massa debate, and whilst I think the 大象传媒 did handle a sensitive and difficult situation I do feel that maybe they could have been a bit quicker in getting us the breaking news. I don't think this is something to criticise the team over, but the feedback is valid.

"There was only one solution - to go Zola Budd style (only with white socks for added padding)."
Pretty sure those socks are black

One thing EJ got wrong on that weeken was Massa's 'slight knock on the chin' which he hopefully regreted saying in the days after the accident when serious harm was rumoured.

Good job with everything that went on Jake.
Now repeat ten times after me:

"Jaime Alguersuari goes roaring around Hungaroring"

Jake im a big fan of your blog, and have thoroughly enjoyed your coverage of F1 so far.

However I have to pick you up on your comments about Eddie Jordan predicting correctly Hamilton's win, and BMWs departure. He may have got these right, but what he got terribly wrong was what his spy's had told him about Massa after quali. At the time you did your best to gloss over what he said about Massa being in 'fantastic shape' but im amazed he hasn't come in for major criticism.

We all learned in the days after that Massa sustained life threatening injuries, therefore there is no way he could have been in fantastic shape moments after quali, therefore EJs comments were completely irresponsible to just blurt out to millions of people, many of which are huge Felipe fans.

Make no mistake Massa could have died, imagine the effect on people emotions EJ could have caused by saying he was fine.

He is not just an interviewee who can have an opinion anymore, he is a professional journalist and must behave as one. Not trying to be the first to report a story that isn't even true.

Next race we will see a kers cars on pole? but which one? EJ is gonna be mad! :)

For those saying 大象传媒 don't have an article on the Concorde Agreement, they clearly do:

Great blog as always, and great coverage, but I would echo some of the criticism about the handling of the accident. Jonathan Legard's initial comments that Massa was out of the car were incorrect, as was obvious from the pictures, and I don't know what he saw which made him believe that Massa had climbed out. When there are many people watching who are terrified that something bad might have happened to Massa, to give them false reassurance like that is irresponsible and I was glad Martin corrected him as quickly as he did. I felt that the two commentators both then glossed over the fact that all was clearly not right as Massa was still not climbing out of the car several minutes later, and it seemed to take them a while to notice that all might not be well.

I think EJ's comments were also irresponsible for the same reason. Hitting a large metal spring at speed on the head can clearly cause a significant head injury, and in a situation like this where it clearly knocked him out initially you have to be very sure of yourself before you report that person is okay - it is a very emotional situation for some people, and making a mistake has far higher consequences than incorrectly reporting that a driver has retired from the race for example. The fact that he couldn't even report the correct part of the face that was injured suggests that this cannot have been a reliable source, or that there was significant Chinese Whispers going on with the reporting. Jake's tone of voice when he asked him how he knew this suggests that Jake was not comfortable with what had just been reported. Normally I like EJ's approach of essentially saying what he thinks, and often putting his foot in it - it is often very entertaining. But given Henry Surtees' accident, EJ should have thought before speaking on this occasion.

On another subject, please can we get rid of Legard. I know people on here don't want James Allen back, but isn't it better having a poor commentator who knows a lot about F1 (you cannot deny that his general understanding of the sport is as good as many peoples), rather than a poor commentator who also has no understanding whatsoever of the sport.

Other than those criticisms, I'd like to say how brilliant the coverage has become now it has moved to 大象传媒.

Another brilliant blog Jake. Keep it up. Now that someone else has won the race who is not a Red Bull or Brawn. What do you think is running in Jenson's mind?

well done jake on your commentary during quali it was scary enough at home trying to find out how massa was but you dealt with it really well

I must echo the comments of several other posters concerning the unnecessary censorship by the 大象传媒. I too cannot remember any other instance in over 20 years when there has been an embargo on what was transmitted by ITV, Eurosport or the old less nannying 大象传媒 after an accident.

I followed the broadcast on an F1 chat forum at the same time as the race and it was clear that everyone else around the world had been shown footage of the collision, debris coming off Rubens car and the debris hitting Massa鈥檚 helmet several times whilst 大象传媒 viewers were kept in the dark.

Serious accidents happen every year in Formula 1 does this now mean that every time there is an accident we have to go online to find out what is and has happened because Big Brother 大象传媒 is arbitrarily protecting us from reality.

This is the sort of censorship I feared would happen when I first heard the 大象传媒 was taking over Formula 1 coverage.

Great blog as usual Jake.

Can't say how much I prefer the beeb coverage by the way, so far this season has been great. Even if Coulthards trousers are WAY TO TIGHT!

Great handling of an eventful GP, and of EJ reporting chinese whispers as fact!

Keep up the good work. any jobs going?

Cool Blog Jake,

Im glad there has been a lot of news since Hungary especially as we're are in the break, and I cant believe we still have two more weeks to go, but it is definately hotting up to an ever so excited European GP.

Liking the pics from Hungary and a question for you...now that BMW are withdrawing, do you think that a team from the list of teams that wanted to compete would get the place or possibly Sauber-Piquet?

Anyhow Keep Up Fantastic Work And Roll On Valencia!

@F348ts (post 53)

You say that you don't recall anytime in the last 20 years of sports coverage being censored and infact you compares the current 2009 F1 coverage by the 大象传媒 with that of pre-1996.

You are very wrong.

Cast your mind back to the dreadful first weekend in May 1994.

In those days the coverage was supplied by a local TV company rather than FOM who do it today for every race (except Monaco and Japan for some reason). Even so, on that fateful weekend the 大象传媒 did not show anything from the the official feed. It was lucky that the 大象传媒 also had their own coverage team at the circuit as a secondary broadcaster so they could provide different coverage from the scene that wasn't so graphic.

I personally think the 大象传媒 made the right call in the name of respect and decency until they had a better idea of Massa's condition. That isn't censorship. That's taste and decency and only the mawkish would complain about not being able to watch the broken body of a driver being extracted from a car.

Nice blog Jake! Your running around the Hungaroring reminds me of a time when I was at boarding school in Pretoria. I'd occassionally stop over at a friends house who lived within earshot & walking distance of the Kyalami circuit. We used to get under the fence and go skateboarding there. The track is actually quite undulating and I recall a number of tumbles around the track as speed wobbles got the better of us! Those were great times back in SA in the late 1970's.

Why is everyone critizing the 大象传媒? All they wanted to do was get some infomation before the started gossiping as it was obvious that it was more than just an F1 crash. They then got info that he was ok. This was what was being said as he went to the medical centre. He was awake and talking. He had the cut above his eye but the serious injuries weren't found until he had been checked over in the medical centre. Then the reports changed.

Great Blog as always.
I only find it quite annoying that some people say the 大象传媒 censored the Massa incident. I for one would like to wait while the information is gathered and then verified as true, then being told half truths and rumours. Now I know EJ said he鈥檇 been told that Massa had been hit on the chin but was OK, but at that time I don鈥檛 think anyone knew where on the head the spring had hit, only that something had hit him. I guess the 大象传媒 knew they had to tell the viewers some news and that was what they knew at the time.
Also at that time it was thought that he was OK as the footage showed him coming out of the ambulance with his arm up, looking like he was waving. It was only when he was at the medical centre they found there was more to his injuries than first thought.
I feel the 大象传媒 handled the whole incident professionally and in good taste. If you want half truths and gory pictures, buy one of the red top papers the next day!
Anyway keep up the good work.

@JonA1976 (*56) The 大象传媒 did repeatedly show the accidents at Imola that weekend, it may not have broadcast the coverage from the hovering helicopter as the marshal鈥檚 and doctors removed and worked on Senna but they most definitely broadcast the accident itself.

Neither I or anyone else has suggested that 鈥渢he broken body of a driver being extracted from a car鈥� should be broadcast, although it is common to broadcast the images of drivers on stretchers responding to reassure concerned viewers that the driver is at least conscious. No what I and other have raised concerns about is the unnecessary censorship of the information that was available i.e. footage of the debris falling from Rubens car and then separate footage of the spring hitting Massa鈥檚 helmet, neither of which were in anyway graphic or 鈥渕awkish鈥�. It was just unnecessary and unwelcomed nannying by the 大象传媒.

Whilst 3 or 4 million 大象传媒 viewers sat there in the dark for 15 minutes, concerned for Massa鈥檚 wellbeing and wondering what exactly had happened, the other 150-200 million people watching around the world already knew what had happened because their viewing hadn鈥檛 been censored.

and yes, censored.

鈥淐ensorship is the suppression of speech or deletion of communicative material which may be considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or inconvenient to the government or media organizations as determined by a censor鈥�

Hey Jake,

i missed all the action at the last grand prix due to work, which is why i love your blog because it keeps me in the loop.

i also am excited about the return of schumacher. when i was a kid i could remember watching his races and i was so sad when he left the sport. i cannot wait to see his first race back.

Hey Jake,

Lol @ you running the circuit in those shorts and no shoes:D

On the Hungarian GP coverage - I was at a wedding on the Saturday so didn't see qualifying until later on, when I skipped through some of the coverage. The only thing I was surprised about was your reaction to EJ's comment about Felipe being hit on the chin. The fact that you sounded quite surprised and did not seem to know where he'd got the information made me think, on the one hand, that ok, this is just EJ speculating so I shouldn't rely too much on this(!), and on the other hand, quite surprised that he'd come out with it in the first place.

I guess it was new territory for F1 coverage this season, waiting to see if a driver was ok following a heavy crash, and so EJ probably reacted without thinking too much about the fact that there were all the thousands of 大象传媒 F1 viewers waiting to hear anything on Massa's condition/what happened, and that to launch in with a statement that was obviously not official/verified was probably not the best idea (particularly when the 大象传媒 as a whole were obviously exercising a high degree of caution by not replaying the incident until they had heard that Felipe was still with us and ok).

One other thing - EJ's grid walk with Martin was a bit of a disaster!

Looking ahead, I think I'm still in mild shock that Michael Schumacher will be returning to F1 at Valencia! I can't wait to see how he gets on against Lewis and the rest. Hope the 大象传媒 have some good stuff planned for the coverage because I think Schuey's return has stirred up a lot more interest in F1 - I've had quite a few conversations with people over the last week or so about how they'll be watching Valencia just because Schumacher is back and it'll make it exciting etc:)

Enjoy your summer break,

Naomi

What an amazing week it's been, now all we need in Formula One is racing! Hopefully Schumacher can bring that back though!

Ok it's off topic, but I can't help but notice the Norwich City badge on your Twitter page Jake. When did you add that and are you considering removing it after yesterday?

Another fantastic, informative blog, Jake. Thank you!

Roll on Valencia; I'm having horrible withdrawal symptoms. Can't believe there's still two weeks to go. :(

excellent blog jake, thanks for bringing us closer to the sport so much. you may be new to the sport but you do a fantastic job and you seem to understand the sport a lot more than i expected.
can you ask martin to stop making up stories and to stop criticising hamilton so much? there is no need for it.

JAKE. Why don't you nip down to carrow road, there must be at least 11 pairs of shorts going free and 1 pair should fit you...
While you are there have a kick around and take you boots with you as you will almost certainly get a game on Saturday.

Wow Jake!

They are very short, shorts!!!!!!

In response to EJ - As a team boss his job is to reassure drivers. Imagine having the responsability of two lives in your hands all the time? Brundle said that when Senna died the drivers weren't told anything. Neither were the team bosses said EJ, but he would have had to keep his drivers calm and protect them while they were still driving and in danger.
His initial instinct would have been to protect us, protect the other drivers, and to protect Massa from sensationalist speculation.
However Massa was awak and talking as he was removed from the car, it was only later that his condition deteriorated. So in this case he didn't need to reassure anyone - this was the truth at the time. Medical conditions change quickly, and no one can predict what is going to happen.
Having had Rob Smedley at Jordan F1 I'm sure Eddie got good information at the time and wanted to tell the viewers quickly rather than leave us in the dark.
I think that without Eddie's contacts and quick thinking, the 大象传媒 - and therefore us the viewers may not have had access to any inside information at all.


Other than that Jake, I think your blogs are great, a really good and true insight to F1. I look forward to reading it after every GP, and I think that you and all the 大象传媒 do a really good job. Congratulations on succesfully making it from C大象传媒 to the Piranha Club!

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And one more thing, I'm very sorry about Norwich. 7-1! Some of those goals were shocking mistakes. I think you need to team up with Delia and sort those players out!

Hi Jake,

I've watched every single qualifying session and every race for at least the last 5 years. Really liking your coverage and my whole family think you're doing a excellent job, presenting the races and keeping DC and EJ at arms' length!

I think one of your best features on the 大象传媒 was when you got a workout at the gym from Lewis!

I'm sad that Schumacher couldn't come back and I think Badoer will do a better job than many people seem to think so. He's been driving Ferraris for nearly 10 years after all.

Looking forward to the next race, I'm running out of things to do in the mean time!

Now I would be the first to admit that I am just a tired old cynic. However, if I were Michael Schumacher, would I want my return to be at Valencia - Nope. Spa or Monza on the other hand, where he has something of a track record to put it mildly, now that's an entirely different matter, especially if Mr Badoer fails to perform in Valencia and prompts the Scuderia (and Bernie) to come knocking on his door again. Am I surprised that he's withdrawn from his comeback at the moment ? Nope. Would I be surprised at a reversal of the decision for Spa or Monza or both ? Nope. Never say never as they say.

awesome blog jake !!!