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Sainz critical of TV coverage

NEWS STORY
08/10/2025

Carlos Sainz appears to speak for all of us as he claims that TV coverage is ignoring the race action in order to focus on celebrities and WAGs.

Week after week it's the same, ahead of the start we cut to one of the garages to see the anxious face of one of the various wives or girlfriends, then at race end to another to watch their sheer joy and pride.

This comes on top of various cutaways throughout the course of the weekend to show the fans in the stands, almost all of whom appear to make up the sport's new demographic.

Then there are the 'celebrities', all keen fans of the sport, yet, despite their wealth, unable to attend a race until team X, Y or Z invited them.

At a recent event Pirelli's pole position award was handed over by an 'influencer', recipient Max Verstappen clearly as confused as the rest of us.

What with the DJ's output pounding out up to the moment the lights go out it is almost as though the actual racing is a sideshow, an irrelevance to the rest of it.

While the individual broadcasters around the world determine what they show and say - especially when it comes to Sky's pro-British bias which is particularly irksome for those watching outside the UK - it is F1 itself which supplies the live feed they have to work with.

On Sunday, as Fernando Alonso reeled in Lewis Hamilton, the cameras cut away to the McLaren celebrations, then the crowd and finally a couple of wives and girlfriends, sadly this is F1 2025.

Like many of us, Sainz is unhappy.

"It's becoming a bit of a trend, which must have worked for them once upon a time when people found it interesting to see our girlfriends, to see famous people on TV, the reactions," the Spaniard tells the El Partidazo de COPE podcast.

"I understand that if there is an overtake, a very tense moment in the race, it is understandable that the production team might want to show a reaction shot if they have seen that it has worked in the past, but only if the competition is respected and you are always showing the important moments of the race.

"Last weekend they didn't show any of the four of five overtakes I did at the end," he adds. "Nor did they show Fernando's pursuit of Lewis, they missed a lot of things.

"The other thing is fine but don't lose sight of the main thing," he warns. "For me, they go overboard a little showing the celebrities and girlfriends."

Hooray! We cry, but sadly our Spanish hero has blotted his copybook.

F1 has announced today that "writer, host, producer and creator of Chicken Shop Date, Amelia Dimoldenberg" is to launch a "four-part YouTube original series called Passenger Princess, where internet sensation Amelia learns to drive with the help of the ultimate instructors - Formula 1 drivers".

"Produced in collaboration with Amelia's production company, Dimz Inc., each episode will blend Amelia's signature humour with the fast-paced world of Formula 1," the release continues. "During the season, George Russell, Oscar Piastri, Ollie Bearman and... Carlos Sainz will act as her trusted guides to show her the ropes, as she embarks on the pursuit of a driving licence.

"Following the success of Drive to Survive and F1 The Movie, this is the latest example of Formula 1's original content strategy to deeply embed the sport in popular culture and reach new fans outside of traditional race weekends. With over 820 million fans worldwide, of which 43% are under 35 years old, and 42% is female up from 37% in 2018, the collaboration will bring the drama and excitement of Formula 1 to Amelia's avid fanbase of 3.15 million followers across all social media channels, including Chicken Shop Date."

"Passenger Princess will combine Amelia's wit and charm with the drama and excitement of Formula 1 at one of the sport's most iconic circuits," says Emily Prazer, Chief Commercial Officer of Formula 1. "We can't wait for fans to see it."

"Amelia has one of the most distinctive and entertaining voices in culture today," adds Ian Holmes, Chief Media Rights and Broadcasting Officer of Formula 1, "and we love the quality, originality, and global content she produces, so we're thrilled to be putting her in the driving seat on a Formula 1 track and offering some help from a few good drivers we know! This original series is another way for F1 to entice a new audience into the exciting world of racing."

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READERS COMMENTS

 

1. Posted by Editor, 1 hour ago

"@ CEltic Tiger

Some WAG with her perfectly manicured hands...

Not to mention the ever present pout"

Rating: Neutral (0)     Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

2. Posted by Celtic Tiger, 2 hours ago

"100% yes, agreed on all fronts.
If you're not here for the racing, then f@#k off, on yer bike... is what I'd like to say. It's a good job I'm not working in F1's PR, I'd be out on my a*se faster than a botched McLaren pitstop. Really though, no real fan of the sport could give two figs about seeing some WAGs with her perfectly manicured hands stuck to her face looking like Macaulay Culkin on the movie poster of Home Alone over on-track action."

Rating: Neutral (0)     Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

3. Posted by Chester, 3 hours ago

"They got me revved up just like Vince McMahon's WWE does.

A few weeks back they showed a female McLaren fan with a concerned look when a McLaren crashed. Sure enough, when she realized it was Piastri and not Norris that crashed, her face turned to glee. That scene was also selected for the recap version.

We are being managed and manipulated."

Rating: Positive (1)     Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

4. Posted by mtriplett, 5 hours ago

"I have less issues with Sky’s pro UK coverage but not only with shots not having a lot to do with the race but with their presenters talking non-stop for 2 hours. To be perfectly honest, and I didn’t think it was possible, they talk more than any NASCAR race that I have ever seen. I’d like to hear a lot less of either F1 TV’s or Sky’s voices and a lot more of the sounds of the race. My wife gets angry with me for yelling at the announcers to shut up! I find myself going in the F1TV app and selecting the “FX” option for audio and having no presenters at all. "

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5. Posted by Burton, 5 hours ago

"The TV direction has been very poor this year, Singapore a particularly poor execution. But their decision making in racing shots is, for me, baffling as well. It seems every single overtake (mainly overtake replay) is now shown through the on-board camera, as if this is the F1 videogame! This robs us of the car language as the driver position themselves around the curves. And don't get me started on the ones shown through the the rear-facing camera of the defending car...oh look, a car was there and now it isn't anymore! Brilliant!"

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6. Posted by The Hubris Of Man, 9 hours ago

"The Sky F1 bias has been an issue for years and the official F1 feed cutting to garage reactions/celebs or girlfriends or wives in the garage/shots of the crowd/etc. is annoying. I've often wondered what the Sky broadcast would be like without any British drivers. And don't get me started on the Silverstone coverage. The F1 feed has deteriorated more in recent years but given the continued path of dumbing down the audience, not unexpected."

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