When watching a race on TV, what do we want? The answer is that we want to either feel like we are actually there, or that we are a part of it. Having watched a wide variety of sports in my day, I know what i want in an announcer. I want them to be: A) Knowledgeable, B) Enthusiastic, C) Fun to listen to, and D) Know when to, and not to, talk.
Many people who have heard some commentary from the ITV and Speed Channel teams will probably side with the ITV crew. I think this is because they are British. Subconsciously, we associate that people in Europe know more about F1 than Americans do. By and large, that’s probably a fair assumption. But if I had a choice of listening to commentary from either ITV of Speed Channel, I’d take Speed Channel in a heartbeat. Y you ask? It’s simple really. The team of Varsha, Hobbs, Matchett, and Windsor is just that, a team. Varsha knows his stuff, knows his motorsports history, and, critically, knows when to shut up. This is most evident in two situations. The first is whenever FOM switches to an onboard, and the other is at the race start. How many times have we heard James Allen scream and the start, “…and the race starts……. NOWWWWWWW!!!!! (10-15 seconds)” Compare that to Varsha’s, “…turn up the volume… (4th light, 5th light…)?” David Hobbs adds his insight from his racing years, and a bit of odd-ball comedy every now and then. But, Matchett is the clincher. Being a mechanic at Benetton for 9 years, he is THE authority on F1 technology. He also still keeps in contact with with likes of Ross Brawn, Pat Symonds, and other big names in the paddock. If there’s anything new in the way of technology, not only does he know about it, but he can break it down in basic terms that the average person can understand.
Now about Martin Brundle, he may fulfill the knowledge requirements, but he is the most bloody boring announcer I’ve ever heard. It sounds like he’s count reporter reading back the transcript of the trial. Let’s use Schumacher’s engine failure in Japan as an example. The Speed crew reacted like I would have, “It’s Michael! Oh no! Can you believe it?!” Now I know ITV was at commercial when this happened, but i hypothesize that this would have been the transcript:
Allen: “And Micheal has blown up! Unbelievable! Where’s Button?! Is he going to win? O damn, there goes Alonso.”
Brundle: “Ya that’s a shame. I wonder if it’s going to rain? Is Button leading yet? Why is FOM showing Sato’s and Yamamoto’s pitstops?”
The problem with ITV is that Allen is annoying, a shrill for Button, and doesn’t know when to shut up, and Brundle is boring, a shrill for Button, and unenthusiastic. I want someone who gets excited when something exciting happens. I want them to express the emotions I’m expressing. Brundle sounds like John Kerry, really. Who wants to sound like him?
