Thrills and spills in Australia

I’ve been watching the live streaming feed of the opening Formula One race of the 2008 season on ITV.

The deal with Bernie Ecclestone’s Formula One Management, includes coverage of practice sessions, and is understood to be initially for a year.

From my connection to the net the feed was struggling at times – not surprising given the speed of the cars resulting in plenty of changing picture data.

It was disappointing the original 4 by 3 aspect ratio of the pictures from Australia had been ‘squashed’ into 16 by 9 on ITV’s site.

The race itself showed the dramatic effect of the 2008 rule changes, particularly the removal of traction control – only seven cars finished, the lowest number in the history of the Melbourne race.

The race was certainly one of the most unpredictable and exciting Formula One race I’ve seen for a number of years and show the rule changes have put more emphasis on driver skills.