01-04-2013, 15:01
http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/2013/04/co...ing-drama/
Pongo una parte
A typical post race for the top three is a podium interview, then a 30 minute press conference in English, then they go downstairs to the “pen” where they speak in several languages for another 20 minutes or so to dozens of TV and radio crews.
A typical Thursday afternoon for Fernando Alonso, for example, will see him sit down in the Ferrari hospitality area with the international media, speaking in Engish, then after about 8-10 minutes he will switch to Italian then finally Spanish. Nico Rosberg can do that in five languages. Sadly all the British drivers can speak only in English, even the ones who live in Monaco.
The managers also speak frequently throughout the weekend. So the opportunity for key players to tell their own story across a race weekend is unparalleled. Commentators and correspondents like me interpret the action as it unfolds, but with so much of it narrated by the players themselves, the picture the viewer or listener gets is truly rounded. In any pre-race build up the viewer is introduced to a cast of dozens of characters, all of whom have a story to tell.
Also impressive is the way the key players present themselves when things go wrong.
The post race press conference in Sepang, which I moderated, was electric as the full drama of the Red Bull team orders ‘betrayal’ was laid out before a hungry media. It was right there with dramatic set pieces like the post qualifying conference in Monaco 2006 when Schumacher had deliberately spun, or Vettel’s Thursday press meeting in Montreal 2010 after the notorious collision with Webber in Istanbul.
Schumacher coped badly with the Monaco set piece; he would not accept he had done anything wrong and he resented being probed about it by the media. Webber, sitting next to him, observed that his hands were shaking as he spoke. He was later castigated by the stewards and sent to the back of the grid.
Webber contained his anger in Sepang, speaking with as much dignity as he could muster of his race and his feelings. Vettel knew that to pursue a Schumacher line of defence would not work so he came clean and apologised, inviting the ire and prurience of the media onto him. I watched him very carefully; he stayed calm, the lights were bright and they were all trained on him. But he said his piece, all improvised and in a second language and then exited, to have heart to heart with his team mate and managers. It was an entirely human drama but he managed to contain it.
It was a compelling piece of theatre, which enriches the narrative of a Grand Prix weekend.
Seeing the sport through fresh eyes thanks to working with people who come to it without background knowledge or prejudice, I see a sport that is brilliantly communicated by its participants.
No-one ever says this; it’s taken for granted. But it needs saying from time to time.
Pongo una parte
A typical post race for the top three is a podium interview, then a 30 minute press conference in English, then they go downstairs to the “pen” where they speak in several languages for another 20 minutes or so to dozens of TV and radio crews.
A typical Thursday afternoon for Fernando Alonso, for example, will see him sit down in the Ferrari hospitality area with the international media, speaking in Engish, then after about 8-10 minutes he will switch to Italian then finally Spanish. Nico Rosberg can do that in five languages. Sadly all the British drivers can speak only in English, even the ones who live in Monaco.
The managers also speak frequently throughout the weekend. So the opportunity for key players to tell their own story across a race weekend is unparalleled. Commentators and correspondents like me interpret the action as it unfolds, but with so much of it narrated by the players themselves, the picture the viewer or listener gets is truly rounded. In any pre-race build up the viewer is introduced to a cast of dozens of characters, all of whom have a story to tell.
Also impressive is the way the key players present themselves when things go wrong.
The post race press conference in Sepang, which I moderated, was electric as the full drama of the Red Bull team orders ‘betrayal’ was laid out before a hungry media. It was right there with dramatic set pieces like the post qualifying conference in Monaco 2006 when Schumacher had deliberately spun, or Vettel’s Thursday press meeting in Montreal 2010 after the notorious collision with Webber in Istanbul.
Schumacher coped badly with the Monaco set piece; he would not accept he had done anything wrong and he resented being probed about it by the media. Webber, sitting next to him, observed that his hands were shaking as he spoke. He was later castigated by the stewards and sent to the back of the grid.
Webber contained his anger in Sepang, speaking with as much dignity as he could muster of his race and his feelings. Vettel knew that to pursue a Schumacher line of defence would not work so he came clean and apologised, inviting the ire and prurience of the media onto him. I watched him very carefully; he stayed calm, the lights were bright and they were all trained on him. But he said his piece, all improvised and in a second language and then exited, to have heart to heart with his team mate and managers. It was an entirely human drama but he managed to contain it.
It was a compelling piece of theatre, which enriches the narrative of a Grand Prix weekend.
Seeing the sport through fresh eyes thanks to working with people who come to it without background knowledge or prejudice, I see a sport that is brilliantly communicated by its participants.
No-one ever says this; it’s taken for granted. But it needs saying from time to time.
Fernando es de otro planeta