A new look for F1
You may have noticed we've made some changes to the . We're going through a bit of an early spring clean to get things in shape for what promises to be an exciting few months of sport.
The reason for these changes is that in three weeks time Formula One returns to ´óÏó´«Ã½ screens for the first time in 12 years.
It's a fantastic opportunity to do something different and take our coverage to new heights. There will be more to say on this in the coming days when we'll return to this blog to run through our editorial plans for the up-coming F1 season on TV, radio and online.
But before then I thought it was worth outlining a couple of the more structural changes we have already made to the website.
The main thing to point out is that we have created .
It fits within the overall ´óÏó´«Ã½ Sport website - although you may have spotted that it now has a new slot on the navigation on the left-hand side of the front page, where it sits below Football to reflect how much of a priority sport it has become for the ´óÏó´«Ã½.
And if you click on the Formula One link you will see that the F1 homepage looks different. In short, it's black.
Apart from the black background, there's the countdown clock at the top of the page, the stripes of colour behind our headings, and the F1 logo at the bottom of the page: all of these are new to the ´óÏó´«Ã½ Sport site.
Our web designers have been working to a brief to create a new look-and-feel for F1 which would both reflect our TV coverage, while also remaining a core component of the wider website.
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I think they've done a great job and have come up with an approach that takes on this key sport while at the same time keeping it rooted within the rest of our web offering. So the homepage and other elements of the F1 output will have this trademark black look, but the main content will have the normal white background.
It's worth a short word on why we've chosen to do it this way.
Our approach to the development of ´óÏó´«Ã½ Sport online has always been one of evolution.
The feedback we get is that the website generally works and that people can find their way around it - so we try not to suddenly switch everything around for the sake of it. But at the same time we have to avoid complacency.
The whole point about 'new media' is that it changes all the time, so we need to keep pushing the boundaries we what we do.
In essence we need to find the balance between retaining the best of the old while responding to new challenges as they come along.
The last time we did this was around a year ago when we widened the pages of the ´óÏó´«Ã½ Sport website and gave more prominence to our audio-video content.
It's fair to say there was a fair amount of feedback at the time on this blog. Hopefully, 12 months on, the dust has settled from that particular transformation and I am convinced the site is in a much better state than it was then.
As you'll see our new F1 website will house a number of new content features, including a blog providing an in-depth look at the sport and regular video updates from the great .
We'll be back here to explain more about what's on offer in due course...
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Comment number 1.
At 5th Mar 2009, turneroptics wrote:What a bland and unimaginative site. I hope it gets better!
Try and take a leaf out of ITV's book.
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Comment number 2.
At 5th Mar 2009, gswindale wrote:Looks good, shame about the colour scheme.
White would have been much better and keep the micro-site in keeping with the rest of the site.
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Comment number 3.
At 5th Mar 2009, Ben Jones wrote:Awesome...love it
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Comment number 4.
At 5th Mar 2009, andythetoonfan wrote:i think the new F1 Site looks beautfiul great job ´óÏó´«Ã½
hopefully your coverage will be as good
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Comment number 5.
At 5th Mar 2009, jp2009 wrote:Liking the new look so far but will reserve full judgement of the new look until I've seen how well, if at all, the ´óÏó´«Ã½ has brought back The Chain...
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Comment number 6.
At 5th Mar 2009, Scarletdragon wrote:I think it looks great overall. The only problem is on a widescreen display at high resolution, there are big blocks of white either side of the page - on most ´óÏó´«Ã½ Sport pages these blend in with the look, but with the black background they stick out. Any way they can be coloured black to fit in?
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Comment number 7.
At 5th Mar 2009, Julesferrari wrote:I think the new look is great!
Cant wait for the new season!
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Comment number 8.
At 5th Mar 2009, Stuntman wrote:Smart looking site.
I'm just a bit puzzled about what exactly is happening on March 30th at 4.00 am, or indeed, where I'd have to be located in order to watch the Grand Prix at 4.00 am on March 30th.
Are we to accept such inept coverage throughout the year just because there are no adverts?
Why didn't you buy James Allen and Steve Ryder? At least they managed to tell us when to watch the race.
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Comment number 9.
At 5th Mar 2009, Rishi V wrote:I think this new face-lift on the website is absolutely amazing, which is a change from my normal comments regarding redesigns of the website.
Great job!
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Comment number 10.
At 5th Mar 2009, modtl1 wrote:Hi Ben. One thing I'm wondering is will the video and audio content be grouped together on one singular page? It'd be nice to find things easily, for example the Donington track simulation is no longer linked on the ´óÏó´«Ã½ F1 page.
The site looks stunning though, thank you.
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Comment number 11.
At 5th Mar 2009, Jordan D wrote:It's awful. Please change it back.
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Comment number 12.
At 5th Mar 2009, master_chief wrote:This new F1 site is absolutely FAAANTASTIC (as good ol' murray would say). What with this site and the proposed coverage, this season will be one to remember!
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Comment number 13.
At 5th Mar 2009, Andrew wrote:Hi Ben,
I think the web designers have done a great job, looks awesome. It's all about the content though and I'm sure you guys will deliver.
To the guy in comment #1, have you forgotten that the ITV F1 website was full of invasive ads (you had to watch a 30 second clip of adverts every time you wanted to watch some video content), the ITV streaming flash video player barely worked as well.
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Comment number 14.
At 5th Mar 2009, Dave wrote:@SanMiguelStuntman in #8, they would never in a million years get Allen seeing as he is "not liked" by F1 fans to say the least.
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Comment number 15.
At 5th Mar 2009, Tom Davidson wrote:I like the content on the new site and the colour scheme isn't that bad either. I'm more looking forward to the coverage, the ´óÏó´«Ã½ sounds like it has some really good ideas for F1 particuarly with the split-screen option on ´óÏó´«Ã½i and the ability to follow any car you like.
I think that F1 on the ´óÏó´«Ã½ will be a success overall but I'm going to hold back judgement on the commentary team because, let's face it, no-one can beat Murray!
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Comment number 16.
At 5th Mar 2009, hackerjack wrote:Sorry but the ront page is awful.
Black backgrounds on news sites just look wrong, especialy when the content pages themselves are white background. The contrast between the two is not professional in my opinion.
Also the new colour for the links, as a peson with difficulties differentiating colours I can not tell the difference between the pale blue (so my colleage tells me) links and grey text.
I don't see the need for these changes in the first place.
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Comment number 17.
At 5th Mar 2009, murphrecumbent wrote:The problem with this is the same problem as with all of the shiny new sports sites and the rest of the news stuff - where is the simple list of headlines in descending chronological order?
If I visit a couple of times a week how do I see what the new articles are so I can see which I've read and which I haven't. This (or at least a link to it) should be front and centre. (Yes, I know about RSS feeds and readers.)
This is my only serious gripe - though I could live without the excessive focus on video, colour me strange but I actually want to *read* web pages - especially as I can do so in circumstances where either can't watch (listen to) or don't wish to focus my attention on a video.
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Comment number 18.
At 5th Mar 2009, Stuntman wrote:Yeah sorry D M N, I forgot that sarcasm doesn't come across on-screen.
My point was that there's no point having a countdown clock if it's
a) not counting down or
b) a clock set for a time sometime after the race has finished.
Countdown clock-up more like.
I feel like I should be on points of view with an inappropriately high-pitched voice reading my comments to ridicule my pedantic, but valid, point of view.
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Comment number 19.
At 5th Mar 2009, clk320audio wrote:Do not like the black background.
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Comment number 20.
At 5th Mar 2009, glancingleeg wrote:content good and looking forward to the extra online video etc bbc online adds over competitors for this space..
quite like the new headings.. they give a new innovative look that fits with F1 while still retaining good overall bbc online brand adherence...
... until the black background.
too much of a departure from brand, borders on making it seem like moving to another site rather than in the core off bbc online..
.. the background is the only negative
.. im surprised the bbc brand team have even approved such a departure to the black background..
(when yahoo started breaking up their scheme designs across sections and regions they began to lose their continuity, their brand identity.. and huge swathes of their business... they arent the golden child anymore .. please dont lose your place to)
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Comment number 21.
At 5th Mar 2009, dickinshorts wrote:Site's ok - but content more important than whizzy looks.
By the way - didn't see ANY mention of F1 being on ´óÏó´«Ã½ HD channel
Ist it? if not - why not?
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Comment number 22.
At 5th Mar 2009, Mr Whoopsie wrote:Disagree with most of the comments.
The site is the same as it was but with a black background.
Disappointing effort ´óÏó´«Ã½. ITV's was so much better.
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Comment number 23.
At 5th Mar 2009, BigBadDaveB wrote:The front page is a big improvement, however it's not perfect... yet.
Make it full width, or at least make the padding black instead of white.
Make sure that any pages linked are the same style, it's very unprofessional to be switching between white and black pages, not to mention hard on the eyes.
Have some more fixed links at the top-left such as Calendar, Blogs, Audio Video, Comment.
ITV's broadcast coverage had many faults, but its website was one of the things it did do well. The ´óÏó´«Ã½'s effort is a great start, but has a little way to go before it can be considered as good.
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Comment number 24.
At 5th Mar 2009, Nibball wrote:Not really sure what to say, the new colour scheme is nice and...well, that's all that has been done so far, isn't it? There always was a specific F1 section, it was just a sub-set in Motor sport. Oh, and lets not forget the Javascript timer, the code for the likes of which is freely available all over the internet.
Other than that, the layout is exactly the same, the functionality is exactly the same and the overall format is exactly the same.
Nice colours, but apart from that, I'm not sure what the fuss is all about.
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Comment number 25.
At 5th Mar 2009, michaelprobably wrote:I think it looks brilliant. The black looks good, and the layout is nice and clear. The best bit is that there are no pop-up adverts, and no childish distractions like "pit babes"!
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Comment number 26.
At 5th Mar 2009, aew88 wrote:I love it, the front page looks great and the new features are gonna be something to watch out for over the course of the year...
I do think perhaps that one thing the ITV site did very well was the left-hand side bar. Being able to get to the audio/video content quickly from any of the F1 pages would be a great help, especially when the live action is on!
Not looked forward to the start of a season this much for a long time!
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Comment number 27.
At 5th Mar 2009, dyrewolfe wrote:I love the look of the new F1 site...but then I think black is generally a good colour for websites.
I'm also pleased that you've kept with the usual style of page layout...means its still easy to find your way around.
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Comment number 28.
At 5th Mar 2009, Christopher Bolton wrote:Are you serious? A different background colour and a countdown timer. Hardly a redesign. Not one single change in the usability aspect. As a professional web designer I'm far from impressed. Sorry.
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Comment number 29.
At 5th Mar 2009, jw2034 wrote:GET RID OF THE BLACK BACKGROUND.
it makes reading somewhat difficult.
that is al.
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Comment number 30.
At 5th Mar 2009, TheREALSteveJones wrote:No offence...but in this instance, ITV has done it better.
Nice first attempt though.
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Comment number 31.
At 5th Mar 2009, Gusplac wrote:Great site but the graphics are too dark.
You may need to revisit this issue.
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Comment number 32.
At 5th Mar 2009, flyingbluebird wrote:Absolutely love it!
It is unique and exciting and I cannot wait for all the blogs :)
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Comment number 33.
At 5th Mar 2009, iangurney wrote:This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.
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Comment number 34.
At 5th Mar 2009, ReadingJamie wrote:Great Site Slightly better than the ITV Website Brilliant news about the ex Honda team as well
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Comment number 35.
At 5th Mar 2009, OnTheWayOut wrote:Not too sure about the black background ; it may grow on me.
What I think is laughable is the video clip of two ex-A1GP cars made up to look like what the producer thinks F1 cars look like. Unfortunately, they look nothing like 2009-spec F1 cars. Why not use footage from pre-season testing, or even CGI? Apart from the fact that you got a holiday in South Africa from it?
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Comment number 36.
At 5th Mar 2009, Nigel P wrote:Blue print on a black background?
What ARE you thinking! Sorry guys, but I can't read this combination - didn't ANYONE test this with people before releasing it?
If the ´óÏó´«Ã½ don't change this, then it will loose a lot of readers who, like me, make out the colour differences.
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Comment number 37.
At 5th Mar 2009, skelt6or wrote:I don't care what the F1 ´óÏó´«Ã½ Website looks like. All I care about is the fact F1 is finally back where it belongs!
Bring on the new season!
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Comment number 38.
At 5th Mar 2009, davidjones53333 wrote:Looks great. Has the definite feel of a dedicated mini-site rather than just a sub-section of a news page. Much better than the ITV F1 site, which was too bogged down with adverts, competitions and pit babes to be worth visiting.
Looking forward to seeing the new sections appear over the next few weeks, and of course of the video highlights/live video. This is something ITV never managed to successfully achieve. A live-timing option would be a great addition.
My only negative comments are that there a few typos and errors in some of the new articles, but I'm sure those will be ironed out with time.
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Comment number 39.
At 5th Mar 2009, MarkMunson wrote:Too much like my own formula1 blog: formula1predictions.blogspot.com - I guess I will have to redesign mine again (good job I was planning to this weekend!!)
Seriously though - Love it!
and welcome back to F1 on the ´óÏó´«Ã½ - About Time!!
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Comment number 40.
At 5th Mar 2009, FACCOMBE HALL wrote:All we need is the return of the old Five Live motorsport message board. (Please)!!!
606 is pretty dire in comparison.
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Comment number 41.
At 5th Mar 2009, Emzdad wrote:How can it be called a Honda team if the car is fitted with a Merc engine.
I know other teams have Ferrari engines, but are not named after a car brand name.
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Comment number 42.
At 5th Mar 2009, plumothy wrote:Not keen on the black background - hard work on the eyes.
Please put somewhere on the site a proper explanation of the reasons why the ´óÏó´«Ã½ decided not to broadcast F1 in High Definition.
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Comment number 43.
At 5th Mar 2009, GoldenTrowel wrote:site looks good, I'm sure they will improve the site as time goes on, but it's how good the race coverages are going to be that I'm concerns' me.
will have to wait and see what the ´óÏó´«Ã½ can come up with.
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Comment number 44.
At 5th Mar 2009, thesniper89 wrote:@dickinshorts #21, There won't be HD because FOM (who produce the coverage of the races) will not be supplying a HD feed to local broadcasters (i.e. the ´óÏó´«Ã½, TF1, RTL).
I personally really like the look of the site, but I don't use the rest of the ´óÏó´«Ã½ Sport site so wouldn't know (or care) about the contrast between the two.
I'm just wondering whether it would be possible for you to have a page with a list of all the video content, with newest uploads being added to the top? The main thing I will be using your site for is the video archive's and Murray's bit's and pieces, so a separate page with these would be useful to check so not to miss anything.
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Comment number 45.
At 5th Mar 2009, hackney69 wrote:Rubbish should of done something with The Stig.
Please try again before to late..
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Comment number 46.
At 5th Mar 2009, asia423 wrote:It looks fantastic
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Comment number 47.
At 5th Mar 2009, GFasulo wrote:I think it is brilliant.
Maybe a "soundtrack" section would be nice - sounds from the programmes (The Chain and various others), engines, commentary etc.
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Comment number 48.
At 5th Mar 2009, its-all-gone-wrong wrote:I’m not one to normally praise the ´óÏó´«Ã½ and I was more than a little apprehensive when I learnt you were taking over the coverage but I must say I think you are doing Formula 1 proud at the moment and the season not even begun.
The new website looks great, a little cluttered maybe but I for one like the black background and I’m sure things will only get better as the season progresses.
I’m also loving the calendar download feature and I hope it will continue.
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Comment number 49.
At 5th Mar 2009, anafurn wrote:I think the site looks excellent and at my advanced age have no problem reading any of it. So far the content seems comprehensive with a welcome absence of competitions and babes - apart from Keira and Angelina who I could do without but that's a small negative.
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Comment number 50.
At 5th Mar 2009, HectorDvector wrote:It looks like a nice uncluttered site as opposed to ITV's!
I look forward to seeing how it develops over the coming months.
Keep up the good work!
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Comment number 51.
At 5th Mar 2009, smudger405 wrote:Bland !!!!, This site knocks the socks off of the ITV one....
Well done the ´óÏó´«Ã½, Now lets hope the coverage betters ITV aswell.
Cant wait till the season starts now.
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Comment number 52.
At 5th Mar 2009, Quick_Single wrote:Site looks good - no problems there.
Ben - you're spot on about the revisions last year that caused much twisting of knickers, and now I reckon most people probably can't remember what the old one looked like.
What concerns me slightly is your comment about "how much of a priority sport [Formula 1] has become for the ´óÏó´«Ã½."
I like F1, and I will definitely tune in (hopefully to the sound of the screaming guitars of Fleetwood Mac) to watch, but this seems to me to be a knee jerk reaction and a fairly clear PR/promotional stunt which I think is inappropriate.
At present (1640) four of the top six stories on the homepage are about F1, plus the Comment and analysis box, plus Martin Brundle's blog. On the same day as the new website is launched. Coincidence??!
This is very clearly compromising the editorial impartiality of the ´óÏó´«Ã½ to reflect the fact that it has spent a fortune on the TV rights, and therefore there are lots of heads on the chopping block waiting for massive audiences.
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Comment number 53.
At 5th Mar 2009, Luke1471 wrote:I must say the new F1 page looks attractive and I love the evolution approach the ´óÏó´«Ã½ is taking.
I remember the fuss that was kicked up a year ago and how silly those people look now! Fantastic website keep up the good work.
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Comment number 54.
At 5th Mar 2009, Luke1471 wrote:P.S
Could perhaps extend colour themes to other sports? I know the ´óÏó´«Ã½ is keen to promote their latest offering which is fair enough but just a thought!
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Comment number 55.
At 5th Mar 2009, viracochas wrote:This is still not nearly as good as the ITV-F1 site. The one-size-fits-all nature of ´óÏó´«Ã½ Sport doesn't lend itself as well to F1 as the ITV site which is designed for purpose.
The less said about the promotional ad the better. The makers are aware F1 takes place on a racetrack and not in traffic? And that those are not F1 cars?
ITV and the sponsors features HUGELY raised the quality of F1 coverage. I am not optimistic about it approaching the quality of the past decade. To not offer to hire most of the ITV time is a poor move.
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Comment number 56.
At 5th Mar 2009, Skashion wrote:Don't listen to the ITV naysayers. ITV has built up a decent amount of content over time, unsurprisingly. This will improve over time with the ´óÏó´«Ã½ I'm sure. I have no qualms about the looks either. Top marks in that department. Although, as someone else mentioned, ITV did navigation quite well and the ´óÏó´«Ã½ could probably learn some lessons in that department. However, I know I'm not the only one who suffered streaming problems at ITV and I think that this problem is only getting worse whereas ´óÏó´«Ã½'s online media seems to be getting better and better. There's also the advert problem with the ITV website. To do anything you need to see an advert. I'm confident that the ´óÏó´«Ã½ online coverage will be better than ITV's.
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Comment number 57.
At 5th Mar 2009, telekon24 wrote:I do not like it at all, looks almost the same as ITV F1 web site last year same colours, be a bit more imaginitive
Has the Chain been confirmed for the front end tune again?
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Comment number 58.
At 5th Mar 2009, Barmy_EggsAreStone wrote:Great improvement to the page layouts.
This is a good first step to the ´óÏó´«Ã½ producing a worthwhile F! dedicated website BUT...
The content and news now need to expand and get up to date if there is any hope of matching a number of established Motorsport websites. Autosport.com has released about 15 news items and articles today including the results from today's testing while the ´óÏó´«Ã½ have managed just a couple and have no infromation on the testing. ITV.com will have pictures from today's test online in a few minutes!
Now that the basis for the website is out of te way maybe more effort can now be directed at reporting the news as it happens.
If the website isn't up to date there's no point in having it as we'll all just go to Autosport.com or ITV.com rather than sit and wait in the hope that something might appear eventually.
Come on ´óÏó´«Ã½ go for it - you can get football results in seconds so why delay for hours with F1 news?
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Comment number 59.
At 5th Mar 2009, Barmy_EggsAreStone wrote:A bit off topic, but can suggest to Skashion (and others) that blocking pop-ups in your browser controls makes the ITV site much more user friendly. I agree that the ´óÏó´«Ã½ site is great for avoiding all those annoying adverts though.
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Comment number 60.
At 5th Mar 2009, LordProsperity wrote:I hope you do cover all teams and drivers, but not just McLaren and Hamilton as you usually do and the site presently is.
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Comment number 61.
At 5th Mar 2009, Dave wrote:The website look is great, but I very much strongly agree with poster #58.... now that ´óÏó´«Ã½ have the rights to F1 a lot of people will come to the site to find news.... so it really needs to be updated constantly with news stories such as testing today.
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Comment number 62.
At 5th Mar 2009, Brekkie wrote:Ooh, I like that.
I guess the ´óÏó´«Ã½ will take the standard F1 graphics for their TV coverage (complete with DOG!), but it's about time really that ´óÏó´«Ã½ Sport's graphics across it's TV coverage were overhauled. They've evolved nicely enough over the years, but frankly I'm bored of them now.
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Comment number 63.
At 5th Mar 2009, Skashion wrote:Barmy_EggsAreStone
I don't have any problem with pop-up adverts. They are all embedded in the content itself. For instance, if you want to watch one of their video clips there is a sponsor's advert but the actual video you want starts to play. You cannot avoid that except by not watching the video itself.
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Comment number 64.
At 5th Mar 2009, KevYorkshire wrote:Black! OK, it's not white but what else marks the difference from any other anonymous ´óÏó´«Ã½ website page?
Basically I think you should be looking more to your presentation of F1 on the ´óÏó´«Ã½.
A couple of pre-season specials wouldn't go amiss, explaining the new season's regulations, team structure, driver standings, etc.
Regarding "the Chain" theme tune. Brilliant -- but of another era.
PLEASE though, come up with something better that ITVs rubbish intro sequence.
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Comment number 65.
At 5th Mar 2009, nachikethass wrote:Two things: First point is what comment No.6 says - looks too unhealthy on a widescreen. I believe this could be solved by ovelaying the template on a blank screen? Not sure - not a techie myself.
Second - comment no. 20 talks about Yahoo. I worked on content for Yahoo for over a year and what the commenter says is true. IMO, Yahoo's sports content has gone to the dogs, along with the page designs - no uniformity, no appeal. Unfortunately, even though I was involved during the Cricket page design, I had no call on the design elements! :-(
And one more thing, could you tone down the black to some thing muter, if you can't do anything about the widescreen problem? It's harsh on the eye against the white bg...
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Comment number 66.
At 5th Mar 2009, Dave wrote:Something I should have added above, but have only just thought of it.
Can we have two extra links added down the left hand side: "Videos" and "Blogs" so we can easily navigate to the different videos [there will be a LOT on there by the time Melbourne arrives] and a blog link so we are not left hunting round for a link to F1 Mole, Jake and Andrew's blog. Thanks.
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Comment number 67.
At 5th Mar 2009, Matt wrote:Forget the website...
There's only ONE thing about the ´óÏó´«Ã½ coverage that REALLY matters. And we all know what that is.
Two words: "THE CHAIN" !!!
Please..don't even think about putting some trendy drum and bass loop on the intro credits. In three weeks time, I hope to be hearing those familar Fleetwood Mac base notes ringing out of my TV set ;)
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Comment number 68.
At 5th Mar 2009, ynwa_bimbim wrote:Simple touches but I think the effect is nice! The overall end result is a success!
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Comment number 69.
At 5th Mar 2009, Blythy wrote:+ points
-Darren heath (picture is too small for my liking though)
-The highlights video (no comment on how the commentary switches from itv around about the time of walker's retirement)
-the trailer (although I would have had more.... flamboyant driving)
-lots of blogs and commentry
-The header bar
Overall at the moment I get the sense that people are really trying to make the coverage really good. Which is really appreciated.
- points
-blog layout is slightly too wide to read easily, also not enough white space, too busy imo
-the f1 logo at the bottom, I'dve thought the official one might be able to be used
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Comment number 70.
At 5th Mar 2009, AndyRAC wrote:Not sure I agree with having a separate section for F1 - just proves what you think of other non-F1 Motorsport. It was a perfect opportunity to ramp up coverage of other Motorsports, sadly not done, and will only annoy followers of MotoGP especially.
The new WTCC season starts this weekend in Brazil, haven't seen any features on it, why not? Also the second round of the IRC, also in Brazil, again nothing.
You've fallen into the trap of a lot of media over here in treating F1 seperately from Motorsport.
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Comment number 71.
At 5th Mar 2009, welshslider wrote:I'm loving it. Great videos and with no annoying adverts before the clips and much quicker streaming. Brilliant. Can't wait for your TV coverage to start.
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Comment number 72.
At 5th Mar 2009, Jake wrote:i like it think it looks good. perhaps could see changes made to other sites on the bbc such as football or cricket. it has a bit of character about it and it would be nice if it wasnt just formula 1 that had it! good job bbc.
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Comment number 73.
At 5th Mar 2009, 1963Tiger wrote:Same color scheme as ITV, nothing special otherwise
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Comment number 74.
At 5th Mar 2009, Guv-nor wrote:When it is possible to read it I might let you know, the colours are not a help to people who have eyes getting a bit on the old side.
Black is not the new anything.
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Comment number 75.
At 5th Mar 2009, PaulBaptiste wrote:The new page looks as though it is not finished. it looks bland and not dynamic. i think i will have to wait untill the site has opened properly and has had a race weekend. I hope the coverage is as good as we had from ITV. Praying that the site is impartial and not a ´óÏó´«Ã½ hamilton production,
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Comment number 76.
At 5th Mar 2009, JaguarmanV12 wrote:Looks like a good site, which can only improve over the season. How about some gallery photos and team photos.Also competions.
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Comment number 77.
At 5th Mar 2009, Czar-Orac wrote:Too much Hamilton.
I'm already sick of seeing him and the season hasn't started yet.
I hope the TV coverage doesn't descend into the Lewis Hamilton show like ITVs did!
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Comment number 78.
At 5th Mar 2009, Pat W wrote:I like the overall 'feel' of the sub-site (I'm talking specifically of the F1 section) and it is a good starting point from which to evolve, as it will naturally over time, but it falls over when it comes to navigation.
To my mind all the news should be in the front under the main story, and the a/v to the side.. so switch places. Many of the videos are excellent but this should mainly be a website for *reading* with the videos as added content!
Ideally there needs to be a central place for all F1 blogs to hang off. Finding Benson's blog is a bit of a mission at the moment unless you know 'our blogger' means him and not the others.. Maybe have a little thing on the side by the a/v so we always know where to hit the link - I'm subscribing via RSS but it's nice to be able to find things when I'm casually browsing (i..e. when I'm meant to be working).
The same needs to be done for videos.
The vids are excellent - hell of a remix of The Chain on the Greatest Hits! You could use 'it on qualifying reports, etc... Remixes are fine as long as the main intro is untouched.
Darren Heath is a great addition!
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Comment number 79.
At 5th Mar 2009, The STIG wrote:Well, it's a nice site, and I like the new videos and features on it.
But, what's the point in keeping a motorsports page as well, if nearly all the content on it is the same as that which is on the F1 page? Ok, there are some stories from other motorsports [Priaulx], but why aren't they given priority on the motorsports page rather than headlining with the F1 story [in this case Honda]?
Motorsports page = non F1 motorsports with no F1 content
F1 page = F1 only
That way motorsport fans like me know which page to avoid. And have a guess which one that is.
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Comment number 80.
At 5th Mar 2009, WebbyFoxes wrote:This is god awful
This is terrible, you promise a new website...yet its the same boring old layout...same boring old content, only a change of colour and you cant get that right.
ITVF1 website kicks this one into touch, ITVF1 updates every day, Im sure the ´óÏó´«Ã½'s will be the same come tomorrow.
Why cant the ´óÏó´«Ã½ for once scrap the generic Look for F1 and do a website that F1 fans can like.
Looks like pitpass and ITVF1 will be my ports of calling for F1 News...a poor way to start things off for F1 eh ´óÏó´«Ã½!
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Comment number 81.
At 5th Mar 2009, redtimbo wrote:Yes I think the site is very good, as I'm sure will be F1, just as it has been in the past.
But surely if the ´óÏó´«Ã½ was using its sports website to deliver news and features fairly across all sports then there would be no need for a new website. The old formula 1 website should have been kept up to date, which it wasn't because ITV were showing it.
I ask: Should the website put priority into sports that the ´óÏó´«Ã½ shows already, or should it also prioritise sports that it doesn't show. I can think of many sports which don't recieve half the coverage they should, simply because the ´óÏó´«Ã½ don't show it on television. If you can't get video etc. then you should at least have up to date news as a public service broadcaster.
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Comment number 82.
At 5th Mar 2009, haymanoaster wrote:I think Black is a really bad idea. Websites are supposed to be illuminating, not dark and murky. Black is never good for any website, makes me want to get off of it asap. Sorry! when you click to the F1 site's main story about Honda, it takes you to the dark site, and you read the story with a frown. But if you try to click the back button, you return to the sport site with the same photo of an F1 car right there, but with whit background, it makes me physically relax and stop frowning, dark site = bad. dark side.
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Comment number 83.
At 5th Mar 2009, davidsccc wrote:New look's good, but text colour makes links hard to read. Perhaps changing them to a yellowy colour would make reading easier.
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Comment number 84.
At 5th Mar 2009, AHX wrote:Evening - Had a look at the new site today and I must say . . . . at last. The motorsport side of the ´óÏó´«Ã½ Sport website has ALWAYS been sadly neglected. It is good to see that there has finally been some attention paid to it.
Having said that you need to pay attention to the content and tempo of the ITV-F1 website - a lot of people speak very positively about the level of content (several articles a day) and the spread of that content (technical to sunday race fan) - they have done a very good job over the last few years. I would hate to have F1 broadcast on the ´óÏó´«Ã½ and yet have the majority of the coverage - which to be honest encompasses the 2 or 3 weeks between races provided by ITV.
´óÏó´«Ã½ need to replace not just the television coverage, but the journalistic coverage that ITV provided to be taken seriously as a true F1 broadcast resource.
Oh - and don't forget the Pit babes!!
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Comment number 85.
At 5th Mar 2009, F1lostinUSA wrote:The trail is juvenile, silly, and non-representative. I suspect it the work of ill-educated [wrt F1] creatives who think they are being clever.
A long way from ´óÏó´«Ã½s best work
A crying shame as it miss-represents what it is all about, suggest you read today's Q&A with Luca di Montezemolo, and the presentation he gave at the FOTA meeting. You need to understand F1's DNA, he does.
at this rate speed-vision will be better that the ´óÏó´«Ã½, and they are awful
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Comment number 86.
At 5th Mar 2009, magicPolka wrote:Think the colour scheme is pretty nice, very different, somthing cool about it. I feel it lacks a little bit of structure though, maybe some more lines to give it a more structured feel and provide clear cut sections. Specially vertical lines!
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Comment number 87.
At 5th Mar 2009, Toddy49 wrote:It's a start .... but a disappointing site for a start. As an example, your latest test results are from a few days ago. The ITV F1 site is showing todays results and news. Don't you have anybody over at Jerez?
It's a concern that the company who have the TV rights aren't as up to date as the company who lost the rights!
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Comment number 88.
At 5th Mar 2009, Tim wrote:ITV's intro was a bit naff.
I heard 'The Chain' will be returning, good to know.
I really like the site, I immediately thought...'what the...bloody hell' but then realised how sharp it looked, and you know where you are!
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Comment number 89.
At 6th Mar 2009, EuroHarvester wrote:So you've discovered the colour black?
Well done, now change it back.
No F1 link on Motorsport page?
F1 IS a motorsport isn't it?
Otherwise not bad.
But please don't try to make it 'special'.
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Comment number 90.
At 6th Mar 2009, HNMonster wrote:Good start, Ben... just want to echo the points of a couple of people above.
Can you make the "Other Formula One news" and "More video & audio" headers link to pages with a full list of news/video content in decending date order? At the moment, to find some video content you have to navigate through other videos. Would be very easy to miss content if you're not an everyday visitor.
And certainly news and video links should be added to the left-hand sidebar. Have a gander at how lay out their news.
I like the multicoloured F1 logo - ties in with the FOM pre-race clip nicely.
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Comment number 91.
At 6th Mar 2009, Blythy wrote:Oh another thing, it's difficult to find all the blogs on the main page, a quick link box to all of them might help.
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Comment number 92.
At 6th Mar 2009, martinjamesnolan wrote:I think, as others are suggesting, the new layout is much better – great work.
One question - you have autosport.com, planetf1.com, f1-live.com as links why have you not added one of the best sites out there crash.net...?
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Comment number 93.
At 6th Mar 2009, PlasticGloryHunter wrote:The black background is terrible, very 1995, especially with the light blue links. Apart from that, it's OK. Dark text on a light background is easier on the eyes.
The articles have a white background, so it's not so bad, but it just reinforces how out-of-place the F1 front page looks compared to the rest of the ´óÏó´«Ã½ News/Sports site.
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Comment number 94.
At 6th Mar 2009, EnemyofSteveMcClaren wrote:the colour scheme is great
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Comment number 95.
At 6th Mar 2009, goffdrop wrote:Needs a direct link back to 'motorsport' not just 'sports' as i also follow the far more interesting world of MotoGP and don't want to have to click twice.
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Comment number 96.
At 6th Mar 2009, jayellell wrote:I really don't like the black background, Not only does it make the text harder to read (like the annoying arty-farty coloured pages in magazines) but the change of contrast when switching to the content on white backgroundis too great. I also agree with the comment about the white stripes (not the group) down the sides of the page.
Having had a moan about the appearance, the content and ´óÏó´«Ã½ coverage looks like it's going to be great.
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Comment number 97.
At 6th Mar 2009, MBurgessPlym wrote:I love the site. But why has the grumpy (but lively) Kimi not answered his questions yet? We need to know; is he a briefs or a boxers guy?
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Comment number 98.
At 6th Mar 2009, hackerjack wrote:I don't care what the F1 ´óÏó´«Ã½ Website looks like. All I care about is the fact F1 is finally back where it belongs!
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Then don't be idiotic enough to comment on a thread about the website.
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Comment number 99.
At 6th Mar 2009, davo7d wrote:Stop messing with the order of the tabs on the left of the main bbc sport page - just leave it alone!
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Comment number 100.
At 6th Mar 2009, Pige wrote:Now, THAT'S what you call an F1 site!!
(Can only assume 'turneroptics' is one of the former, very sad, ITV team that have made F1 unwatchable for more than a decade!)
Welcome back, Aunty!!
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