Oct.17 (GMM) Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz have again taken aim at Formula 1’s television broadcast choices, after both Spaniards were critical of the coverage during and after the Singapore GP.
Alonso, who previously accused Formula One Management (FOM) of sensationalising team radio clips, doubled down in Austin – arguing that the sport’s broadcast priorities can distort reality.
“Unnecessary sometimes, poorly broadcasted and chosen by the one choosing which radios to broadcast,” the Aston Martin driver said. “Misunderstood 99.9 percent of the time because they are private conversations with your engineer or your team that maybe you went through on Sunday morning in the strategy meeting, you know?”
“Sometimes when the radio broadcast is the protagonist of the race, that also is very sad – that the race was so poor in terms of entertainment. So yeah, that’s something we need to improve all as a group in the sport.”
Sainz, meanwhile, had criticised the Singapore coverage for focusing on drivers’ girlfriends in the garages rather than on-track battles further down the order. After a FOM spokesperson defended the broadcast as widely praised, Sainz clarified his comments in Austin.
“My criticism was exaggerated due to the way it was portrayed,” the Williams driver said. “I only pointed out that they didn’t show enough overtaking and on-track action – nothing personal. There are races where the coverage is excellent, and this was simply an exception.”
He continued: “For me Singapore just wasn’t good enough and they missed too much on-track action. But that’s not meant to be a criticism of them or the way they do their job – it’s just Singapore as a race. It’s a shame that at a track where it’s so difficult to overtake, we missed so many battles.”
Addressing his earlier “girlfriends” comment, Sainz added: “Looking back, they weren’t shown too much, and they were very focused on that like there was going to be an accident or an overtake – when there wasn’t. I hope they didn’t take it too personally. It was just simple criticism – Singapore wasn’t good enough.”
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