15/05/2018
NEWS STORY
F1's technical boss Ross Brawn has apologised for the numerous issues that blighted the first race weekend of the sport's new live streaming service.
As previously reported, fans around the world were left frustrated by a whole range of issues surrounding the service whose original launch for the season opener in Melbourne was scrapped as the service underwent further testing.
Taking to social media to voice their frustration at the weekend, fans were subsequently promised a refund as officials sought to get the service working properly in time for the next race, less than two weeks later.
In his post-race debrief for the official F1 website, F1 technical boss Ross Brawn acknowledged the issues and apologised.
"I confess social media is not a big part of my world," he said, "but I do appreciate its importance in reaching new audiences, especially among our younger fans.
"Three initiatives made their debut in Barcelona: F1 TV, the Twitter Live Show, and F1 Vision, the most advanced handheld device on which to follow the race.
"The launch of the former did not go very smoothly, and apologies to our fans, but we are dragging our sport from a place where none of these initiatives previously existed and we will get there.
"In some ways that's what Formula 1 is about," he added, "a sport where things are developed on the move and on the track with technology that is always cutting edge. We're in the front line with the aim of unleashing the greatest spectacle on the planet and we want to take you with us."
Ignoring the fact that the sport's cutting edge technology is paid for by the teams, as opposed to the fans, Brawn, who appears to be the PR-friendly, public face of the sport these days, launched into a hard-sell of the various ideas introduced as part of the core TV coverage this season.
"We have new camera angles, an all-new graphic design that we are constantly evolving and the new halo graphics which has managed to make the halo less intrusive on television to our viewers and fans.
"There's a specially-made microphone placed to enhance the sound of the power units, and we are interviewing the drivers immediately after qualifying, following the heat of the battle.
"We are doing that after the race too," he added, "capturing the emotions of the drivers on screens around the world."