Prost biopic to begin filming in August

F1 Fanatic Round-up

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In the round-up: Filming for a biopic on the life of Alain Prost will begin in August.

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Does IndyCar’s approach to broadcasting show the way for Formula One?

I recently cut off my cable and, here in the USA, there is no legal way for me to watch F1 online any more.

When I went to look for videos about Alonso practising and found that IndyCar had almost seven hours of video up almost as it happened, my jaw dropped. That IndyCar streams qualifying live is mind-blowing compared to F1’s communications strategy.

I sure hope Liberty fixes this fast.
Lee (@Leejo)

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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63 comments on “Prost biopic to begin filming in August”

  1. There will have to be a massive make-up job to recreate Prost’s massive nose. But seriously- a Prost biopic? Now that I am excited for.

  2. And about the British GP- there has to be a way to come up with a new contract. The British GP is the second most important race on the calendar and if F1 loses that race that will be a sham of unprecedented proportions.

    1. Theres a difference between no British Grand Prix and no Grand Prix at Silverstone. The issue we face at the moment is the latter.

      Unprecedented is incorrect also. A Grand Prix (French word) hasn’t been held in France since 2008. Life went on.

      1. @bamboo, as things stand, Silverstone is the only circuit in the UK which has the necessary rating by the FIA to hold an F1 race – so cancelling a race at Silverstone is effectively equal to cancelling the British GP since there are no alternative venues.

        1. I’m aware of that mate, but to say no Silverstone will mean no British GP is not true to an absolute degree. There are circuits all around the world which are Grade 1 capable, but are Grade 2 at present due to there being no need to maintain those standards given what races on them currently. Many of these have held F1 races in the past.

          Donnington is one that comes to mind, and I would say they would have no issue getting that to a grade 1 standard if an attractive and non financial hemorrhaging F1 case was put to them.

          That said, I’m sure Jonathan Palmer will be looking for revenge when his son is cut from F1, and will say no even if it makes sense.

          1. You do recall that Donington is still working to recover from that massive debt, and the massive rework it was intended to finance to get an F1 bid that was part of a power play by Bernie to force Silverstone/BRDC to take the current contract right @bamboo?

            Palmer is a business man, he will not want to hemmorage his own money to finance an F1 race – I don’t think there is a realistic chance of another track taking on an F1 contract soon if Silverstone won’t, the money just isn’t there, especially when the government isn’t going to put in money.

          2. @bosyber, as you say, Donington have made clear that they have no interest in trying to bid for the British GP again after their attempts to upgrade the track to Grade 1 status put the circuit into administration and near complete financial collapse. The circuit has also been hit by the problems at the proposed Circuit of Wales – difficulties with raising funds for the Circuit of Wales meant that Donington, which was part of a joint bid for the MotoGP event, lost out on that event to Silverstone.

            Asides from that, there is also the problem that the transport infrastructure for Donington Park is completely inadequate for holding the British GP. The original proposal to hold the British GP at Donington relied on a total ban on private transport to Donington Park, with all spectators having to travel in by bus from Nottingham, Leicester, Derby or a shuttle bus from the East Midlands Parkway station – a proposal considered dubious at best at the time.

            @bamboo, as things stand, there are only three circuits in the UK which are classified as Grade 2 – Donington, Brands Hatch and Rockingham. As noted before, Donington is out of the question – as for Brands Hatch, the circuit is subjected to very strict noise emission regulations (whilst some fans seem to think that the current cars are too quiet, they would break the noise restrictions at Brands Hatch by a significant margin), which also means the circuit won’t get planning permission to expand either.
            Rockingham, perhaps, could be upgraded, but the circuit has really struggled to get any sort of major event at all – any other circuit in the UK, such as Snetterton, is Grade 3 and really only fit for club races and national events these days at best.

            Yes, in theory you could, if you threw enough money at the problem, either upgrade an existing circuit to Grade 1 status or, at that point, create en entirely new circuit built to that standard in the first place. However, as @bosyber notes, in reality it is not economically viable.

      2. I guess so. Having a British GP elsewhere in England would be alright. Hell, if I could have it my way I would rotate circuits for the British GP yearly (be at Silverstone one year, then go to Donington another year, a rebuilt, extended version of Brands another year and a rebuilt, extended Croft circuit another year, then back to the top of the rotation again.

      3. The Monaco GP is still being run, so not having the French GP wasn’t nearly as bad as not having a British or Italian GP’s. Quite honestly the French GP lost a lot of its importance in the 1930’s when Monaco started to gain prestige after only a few years of the event’s existence.

  3. It’s interesting seeing how everyone including F1’s media are so fascinated with Alonso’ performance at the Indy, especially when you consider Alonso himself is no longer fascinated with F1.

    1. … is no longer fascinated by Honda.

      1. He’s got a Honda engine behind him in that IndyCar though.

    2. Why is it so hard to understand? Fernando Alonso is one of F1’s greatest ever drivers. Whatever he chooses to do with have media attention.

    3. It’s natural that everyone is interested in how FA does at Indy, and who says FA isn’t interested in F1 anymore? And how do the two relate anyway? If FA was in fact disinterested in F1, which I doubt, does that mean people should therefore not be interested in his Indy appearance?

  4. Neil (@neilosjames)
    21st May 2017, 0:31

    If Silverstone can’t make good on an F1 contract, I fail to see how anywhere else can without some form of outside aid. Attendances are always high, ticket prices are too… realistically there’s no space for them to increase revenues to meet the rising hosting fee.

    Rather than the ‘fan zone’ stuff and positive words, I think what happens next with Silverstone will be our first real lesson in the way Liberty is going to run F1.

  5. The reason indycar got “7hours” practice up for free is because no cablecompany is interested in buying content that gives them 1000 viewers. Alonso is a special case and cablecompanys cant just buy the Alonso practice sessions on demand.

  6. Regarding COTD, Indycar only streams the stuff that isn’t shown on TV in the US due to the same broadcaster exclusivity contracts that prevent F1 from live streaming anything.

    Indycar streams practice as that isn’t shown on TV & they produce it with a small team which is why it doesn’t feature on-screen timing graphics & doesn’t use all the available trackside or in-car cameras.

    In terms of qualifying, For Indy only 1 hour (Of the scheduled 6) is scheduled to be streamed as the rest is available on TV or the ESPN3 app. The race also won’t be available online legally.
    For other races qualifying been streamed is dependent on if it’s going to be shown on TV or not (NBC usually do, ESPN outside of Indy don’t).

    1. The Gasoline Alley stream ran all the way through qualifying and whilst it didn’t show the track it did provide commentary and interviews with the drivers throughout. The IndyCar website also had live timing so between the two you’re able to get a good idea of what is going on.

    2. The race also won’t be available online legally.

      @gt-racer For the USA? It will for Europeans (that don’t have a broadcaster), right?

      1. @xtwl Buy the race on Espn online for 10 euro.

        @Cat F1 also provide timing and commentary.

  7. Sebastien Bourdais unfortunately seems like he’s out of the Indy 500 with multiple fractures to his pelvis & a broken right hip after his big qualifying crash today.

    https://twitter.com/IndyCar/status/866083196940595200

    1. Thats unfortunate :( After a great start to the year he’s really had no luck the past few races.

      That really was a massive hit though, for those that didn’t see it-
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzDpuD0iIt4

      1. Horrifying. He’s lucky to be alive after that.

    2. It’s really a shame. His car was looking good for the 500, and with those injuries he’s probably out for the rest of the season. At the age of 38, I wouldn’t even be surprised if this resulted in him calling it quits on his participation in the Indycar series. Maybe a quality seat in the WEC would be a good way for him to see out the next few years?

      1. I hope the GTE pro seat bourdais has likely vacated now, this to jpm.

    3. I’m sure Jenson is on the phone expressing interest!

    4. I watched the qualifying, he was clearly fastest but he was loose, he had a full corner of opposite lock, caught it and speared into the wall at a 45º angle, had that been the concrete barrier, Bourdais would have been killed by the impact, so I’m not surprised he’s out.
      I reckon what’s behind the blistering speed some teams showed; as everyone is full throttle for 4 laps, must be the mechanical set up, tyre pressures, camber and toe. Sato proudly eluded to his car “rotating” at the end of the corner, and not scrubbing speed, it’s just incredible to think that even the second to last on the grid was full throttle all the way and yet far not only in Indy terms to the quickest.

    5. @stefmeister I’m worried about Indy car’s doctors. Hip and Pelvis are the same thing, the Pelvis is what is commonly referred to as the hip, and the hip is part of the Pelvis.

      1. @peartree you don’t need to worry about the competence of the Indy Car doctors because you are very much mistaken. Your hips and pelvis are absolutely NOT the same thing and one is not a common reference for the other. You’re hips are joints in your body much like your shoulders, your pelvis is not a joint. As someone who has had 4 hip surgeries (3 in the last year) trust me on this. Also, my pelvis has never been operated on.

          1. pastaman (@)
            22nd May 2017, 5:11

            @peartree I read this one article on the internet, so I’m a doctor now.

      2. The hip is an articulation between the femoral head and a section of the pelvis called acetabulum. A hip fracture usually refers to a fracture in one of those bones. Sometimes due to impacts it is common for the femural head to punch through that socket.

        A fractured pelvis isually refers to a lesion in the illiac crest. Even though it is made of a few bones, usually it is what they refer to. For example a fracture in the sacrum wouldn’t be called a fractured pelvis.

        Next time better search for a proper anotomy journal with fracture qualification.

      3. pastaman (@)
        21st May 2017, 16:10

        I’m used to commenters pretending to know more than the drivers and teams, but I guess we can add doctors to the list now too!

      4. Well, first, off, they’re not “Indy Car Doctors”, they’re the trauma unit at IU Health Methodist Hospital, and they know significantly more about anatomy than your 4 color gif. Secondly, what they said was repeated by the IndyCar communications staff, and then repeated by journalists, so there’s no chance of a miscommunication anywhere in there.

        Oh, and Sebastien has already said he’ll get back in the car as soon as possible.

    6. He was flying out there! he could have eased off on the last two laps and would’ve still averaged enough to make the fast nine.

    7. Alex McFarlane
      21st May 2017, 15:30

      That was a scary crash, almost a carbon copy of Gordon Smiley’s violent fatal accident in 1982.

      Makes you appreciate how far safety has come, even if it isn’t always perfect.

  8. Josh (@canadianjosh)
    21st May 2017, 1:38

    Fernando has a shot tomorrow. Wouldn’t that be a story.

    1. He doesn’t drink

      oh, right. yes 😁

  9. Liberty needs to work with their broadcast partners across countries to ensure that streaming options are available – encourage the broadcast partners to provide a site where viewers can view the stream, with suitable monetization plan (e.g. practice is free for all, quali and race are paywalled for those who don’t have an equivalent cable subscription, or better still, quali is free to bring eyeballs to the race). It needs to be sold to the broadcasters as a way of offering more content online, while still allowing them to offer a curated list of programmes on TV (e.g. keep the main race on TV & online, but keep added stuff like paddock walks and interviews online).

    For instance, here in India, Star Sports is the broadcast partner of F1 (they syndicate a Channel 4 broadcast). The Star group of channels has an online streaming platform Hotstar that live streams all channels, and this includes quali and the race. Sadly in this case, the online platform does not get practice sessions on it, only quali/race, although they broadcast practice on TV. Nevertheless, its a start, and at INR 200 (£2.4) a month for a Hotstar subscription, it is a decent deal.

    1. Sundar Srinivas Harish
      21st May 2017, 6:41

      The way they’ve handled the TV broadcast is stupid though. At least this year, as far as I’ve seen, live telecast is on Star Sports Select HD 2, but reruns are on SSS HD 1. But it is nice that the reruns are available for free on Hotstar.

    2. I have stopped paying subscribing starsports via the cable services as Hotstar is free for the jio subscribers. It’s same with motogp as it’s also free with Jio TV

      1. *paying extra and subscribing

  10. If the Silverstone directors have any analytical synapses – and we’ll soon see if they do – they would trigger the escape clause today. Regardless of whether or not Liberty will reduce the hosting fee, and they won’t at least not materially, Silverstone has a much bigger problem through 2026, which is that Lewis Hamilton is almost certainly going to leave F1 during that period. And if Silverstone thinks ticket revenues don’t cover the sanction fee today, just wait until Lewis retired from F1; then they will really discover how far ticket revenue can fall short of the sanction fee.

  11. Lack of free to air to coverage will kill the sport.i have been saying this for years and it is something Liberty need to sort out first before anything else

  12. Why is there no news here… Fernando just qualified P3 at indy 500 yesterday. Now he’ll be in the “fast 9” or whatever they call it, trying to get pole. :D just watched his laps on Youtube… YOUTUBE!

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKIiv0VdhSA

    Exciting, 370kph average speed, close to the walls. 2 Milion people watched his practice sessions on youtube. 2 Milion viewers is more than most F1 races get in UK.

    Youtube > PayTV

    1. @jureo, well apart from monetisation – I have to say, I really enjoyed Formula e when it wasn’t on TV in Germany, as I could follow it fia the FIA formula e site – now I have to look for it. Found out recently that it has been on Eurosport, but now on DMAX – good I have that, but I only found the channel after the Monaco GP was done. It is annoying, and I just forgot about looking up where to watch it, just followed it occasionally via twitter. That just does not work. I’ll enjoy it live when I go to the E-prix here in Berlin, but I more or less gave up following the season.

      1. @bosyber
        Same here in Sweden. First year they aired on the same channels as F1 which was great. Second it just dissapeared but i was able to follow it on free FIA streams. This year it airs on Eurosport so i payed extra to get those channels only to find out most of it is only shown on their webbased channels which apperently is an entierly different thing so i gave up. Im not gonna pay them anything more until they sort their mess out.

        At least they put up the reruns on Youtube a week delayed so i will just have to stay spoilerfree.

    2. Firstly, @jureo , Alonso qualified 7th yesterday, not 3rd. Secondly, at the time (UK time) when he did so, it was about the same time this goes live. Keith was commentating at the time (I heard him), so probably didn’t have time to update the round up in the 1 minute available before publication.

      1. Aha, see I have to go by Youtube news, hence my news was incorrect.

        As for Keith, that is an understandable reason.

    3. @jureo

      I’m surprised there isn’t any mention of it on F1fanatic. It’s quite a massive achievement by him to make it in to the top 9. Crazy to think that he took the McGarbage bin in F1 to P7 in Spain and then next weekend put another papaya colour car in to the top 7 in another racing series altogether.

      I never doubted that Alonso would cut it with the cream of the crop in Indy.. and I’m pretty sure he’s a strong contender for the win as well. Completely worth missing out on Monaco if you ask me.

  13. Simon (@weeniebeenie)
    21st May 2017, 11:21

    I certainly don’t want to lose a British GP but it’s hard to feel sympathy for Silverstone, they were the ones who agreed to this contract where the fees raise each year. They knew this was coming.

    1. @weeniebeenie As opposed to not hosting it at all?

      1. Simon (@weeniebeenie)
        21st May 2017, 15:24

        Well that would have been up to Bernie or whoever was on the negotiating table, could they afford to lose the British GP? If the answer was no, Silverstone really shouldn’t have put themselves into this position and agree the deal, they held all the chips with no other viable options. Donington went wrong with no chance of recovery, nothing else was possible. It was Silverstone or bust, and they must’ve known that. If Bernie was willing to let a British GP go, and it was this deal or bust, well then fair enough. They signed up with the devil what they felt they had to, but still, they did know this was coming from the day they signed it.

  14. Stroll has something very Maldonado-ish about him. I think it’s the fact that they both couldn’t admit that they’ve put in poor performances… and that they like to completely ignore the fact that they need to learn and improve before anyone takes them seriously.

    1. @todfod So I guess you didn’t read the article then where he talks about learning.

  15. Josh (@canadianjosh)
    21st May 2017, 13:43

    Liberty won’t let Silverstone go, how could they? They keep talking about making each race weekend a festival, well Silverstone is one venue that doesn’t need any tweaking at all. It’s what F1 should be about.

  16. Fantastic news about Prost one of my favorite all time drivers. Can’t wait, it should be very interesting. Also Ocon must be feeling very happy he is getting the approval from the Professor.

    1. Josh (@canadianjosh)
      21st May 2017, 18:12

      I’ll never forget the scene from Sennas documentary when Prost ran up to the stewards like a little whining child so he could be “champion”.

      1. If that is all you can remember about Prost then you really do not know racing. He was a lot more then that. He drove with the finesse of a computer something very few can do.

  17. @canadianjosh

    That’s the problem with that film though. Much as I enjoyed it, it is painfully one-sided.

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