³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ

Congratulations guys, I loved this when I 1st saw it and watching it again is a pure pleasure. Now you just have to top it for next season!!!!

(I hope you give a nod to Guinness and Rutger Hauer who seemed to be more than a bit influential)

Nice job guys! :)

Great job on the film, I forgot what a great intro to the season it was. I never enjoyed the CG F1 intro and hope to see a brand new F1 title sequence next season, something with footage from the actual races in it from many previous seasons perhaps. Would love to see an intro that incorporates all of those classic moments from F1 history, like Villeneuve & Arnoux, Mansell & Senna in Spain, Senna & Prost, Villeneuve & Schumacher, Alonso & Schumacher, Hamilton & Raikkonen and perhaps end on a shot of Button crossing the line and winning the '09 Championship.

What does everyone else think?

Great piece of footage guys, definately deserves an award. Hope you guys can bring us something even better next season.

@the3douches - the current intro was made in mind with a future HD switch. I'm almost certain that there won't be a new intro.

top job guys! i only hope you can do the same next year

Enjoyable opening sequence. Let's hope you guys pick up a Bafta next year, like ITV did for their superb race coverage - I know it wasn't everyone's cup of tea and yes it did have it's failings, but so does the current one (as discussed at length in Jake's blog).

When it appeared, I had shivers down my spine and that still does that now.
It was a great way to open up the Beeb's F1 Coverage.
I sure hope you guys get a BAFTA as Jordan D has said, ITV won 2 for their superb coverage lets hope the people deciding the BAFTA's give the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ one for Brazil 2009, held together and with the celebrations at the end surely shows this is how Sport should be shown (despite a few things that happened throughout the season)

Can we have some of the images available as downloads to save as screen savers?

Very well deserved. Fantastic way to start the season.
Great way to round off a season of terrific coverage.
Roll on 2010.

I didn't see it first time around, but I saw it at the start of the season review show. I just wanted the whole hour to be that intro. It was awesome.

Incidentally, is the voiceover the same bloke who did some of the Guinness ads a few years ago (I'm thinking most specifically the 'tick follows tock' surfing horses one)?

Congratulations guys.

I'm rooting for you guys in the BAFTA (sport) category as well

Love the first part, love the music but the CG part with the cars looks like very cheap early 90's 3d (the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ likely paid through the nose for it). Hopefully next season keeps the music but brings the CG forwards to the 10's

Ops posted he above comment before I had finished. Would just like to know why this got an award for copying the Guinness TV adverts?

Well ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ!

I remember getting up in the morning on that saturday, when i saw that opening sequence i just thought wow! I'm so glad its back on the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ :P

Keep up the good work. will there be a new next year? or will you use the one this year. Because a sim sure uve noticed, it has the old aerodynamics of like 2006 :P

Thank you!

Guys well deserved, right to the last game, as the motorcycles started going round the Surround sound as cranked up to the start of that classic theme tune....

Shiver down the spine for every GP this year right from the start.... Brilliant.

PS, i meant Well "Done" ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ

Sorry to be a smartarse, but the chest x-ray is the wrong way round! Great film though ;)

Great job and well deserved, loved it and watched again a couple of times.

Great film. Congratulations.

very good first part with the guinness voice and b and w graphics... waiting for the tick tock tick tock moby dick spiel with the white horses cascading... 2nd half not so good, in particular all the bits of car flying around...i'm sure one of those bits hit Massa....but the tune....ah the classic Fleetwood Mac tune..timeless...

An Award extremely well deserved. I remember seeing it all those months ago and found it totally spine tingeling. It did the perfect job of setting up the drama and the tension for the season to come.

And when it led in to The Chain by Fleetwood Mac and I was beside myself with happiness. It was so great to have that iconic theme tune back, just like it was so great to have the F1 coverage back on the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ where it belongs!

Well done.

Ahh Yes those first two minutes of what turned out to be the best covered season ever. I don't mind admitting that I actually whoo hoo'd at the top of my voice when "The Chain" started.

I am guessing that this years footage will replace the CG cars for next year.

My idea for next years opening would be to do the whole "The Chain" song with lots of moody grainy black & white historical images etc etc then blast into 2009 footage for the end of the song. I love the prelude to the featured bass part of "The Chain" - it is racked with tension & expectancy and it a shame it can't be incorporated.

Excellent intro to the season. It does indeed bring shivers up the spine. I love it.

Anyone know who the narrated it?

11. At 9:48pm on 25 Nov 2009, BulletMonkey wrote: Incidentally, is the voiceover the same bloke who did some of the Guinness ads a few years ago (I'm thinking most specifically the 'tick follows tock' surfing horses one)?

Nope its not Rutger Hauer.

REF 11 & 25
The actor Louis Mells narrated the piece with Jonathan Glazer direcor..."here’s to your dreams!."

Is the silhouetted driver in the piece that of Jenson Button? If so how intuitive the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ are!! Can we have one of Alonso for next season then...;-)

Thoroughly well deserved for the whole team!

It was easy to beat what ITV did but the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ realised what was missing and gave us everything we need. Great insight, commentary and interviews the whole season with fantastic presenters!

From the moment I saw the intro for the first race of the season I knew the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ had got it right and I was already having a much better year than the last.

Here's to another great season,
Da iawn, WELL DONE!

I'd like to congratulate you on this award, it was a great intro for the season. My favourite intro throughout the season was when you used Kings of Leons - Closer music to open the programme, it really suited the video and got me in the mood for the race.

You guys at the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ have done an awesome job this year and have really set the standard on how sport should be presented.

I am totally looking forward to next season, with all the new changes to the drivers, teams and rules and hopefully I will be watching F1 in HD :)

I also agree with post no.3..
I would prefer to have an intro that uses some footage of previous F1 seasons, drivers of the past, cool crashes and celebrations combined with The Chain music I think it would work really well.

Great season, keep up the good work..

Well this title sequence does contain epic levels of awesome. It's a bit of a visual treat, and when Mac kick in with "The Chain" it pleases the ears too.

Glad to hear that the excellence of said piece has been recognised and awarded. The ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ really does take Formula 1 seriously, and have followed the 2009 season with candour and professionalism. Who would have thought that former kid's TV presenter Jake Humphrey could make such a capable host?

(I think they should jettison Legard though. He interferes with Brundle's brilliance)

The ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ coverage is absolutely top-class, but it was definitely a surprise to see a title sequence without any actual footage. Compare with Match of the Day or Ski Sunday which have a lot more feeling because of the action clips.

Like effone365, I was also hoping that this was because the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ didn't have any rights to use clips from ITVs coverage and that 2009 footage would be used for the 2010 intro. We'll have to wait and see I suppose

IMO the season was poor which is no fault of the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ. Their coverage was good but, as many people have said, they need to get rid of Legard.

He ruins so many interesting situations with his awful, anticlimatic comments and (see zackpliskin) he interferes with Brundle.

Brundle is by far the best commentator/presenter/pundit on the show. It should be a cardinal sin if anyone interrupts him :).

I remember waking up for the F1 opening.... eyes half open...
Then this film clip came on before the start...!

What an awesome clip!!!! Gave me goose bumps!
Then I knew I was ready... ready to watch the whole season... and even better as I knew it was on the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ!

Great job guys! Cant praise the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ enough. I think amongst all the great services the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ offer the F1 is the best!

Keep up the great work and please do me a favour... Play this award winning clip more!!!! I saw this once and looked out for it all season and there were only small snipets...

Well deserved award!

Well Done!

Congratulations on your award.superb intro, with original Fleetwood Mac track to match. Your on track coverage over the season was first class.I particularly enjoyed the banter between David Coultard and eddie Jordan.keep up the good work!Looking foreward to the Hamilton v Button battle. That should go down to the wire, once Jensen finds his feet.

Everyone bleating about 'use real footage in the intro rather than CG' fails to realise that doing that just wouldn't be original. There are countless montage sequences throughout the season. The intro needs to be distinctive. I'd much prefer the team to try something new, even if it doesn't work all that well, as opposed to going with the tired old formulaic approach.

The helmeted driver turning his head as he watches the parts fly past is far too Stig-like, though. That's the thing I'd change.

Fully deserved award. I love "The Chain" being back. So looking forward to next season.

That chest x-ray is definitely round the wrong way though unless (the person has dextrocardia).

I have to agree with 29 and 31 - Legard just didn't cut the mustard, yes he did improve over the season but given where he started from that would have been hard not to do. Lets see what Croft can do with Brundle, or failing that bring back James Allen... he might not be the most interesting commentator going but he knows his stuff and can follow a race intelligently.

F1 2009 was a sintilating season. Though some races were processional the coverage by the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ team was outstanding. Only the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ can produce a media experience like this. Excellent TV format with top host Jake, Dave C giving a drivers prospective and Eddie Jordan giving his view based on years of experience. Martin Brundle diving around the grid and then commentary with Legard.
Murray's video blog is FAN-TAS-TIC! As are all the blogs to be fair. I've happily spent hours reading in depth analysis and wider topics surrounding Formula 1.

When the coverage was due to return to the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ and it started with this video, WOW! The Chain is synonmous with Formula1, this one thing that should never, ever be changed is the theme tune.

Keep it up ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ!

Congratulations on the award. Fully deserved.

I would prefer next year's Title Sequence to have actual race footage from different seasons, with The Chain of course. But this year's was fantastic, as was the coverage overall.

I thought Jonathan Legard did a good job and anyone who wants James Allen back needs their brain testing.

I agree with so many others... 1st half - quite delightful. 2nd half - somewhat predictable & childish, and would've been far more impressive if live footage had been used, cleverly moulded into their existing genre. But hey, this is motor racing not strictly come, & after a while I'm turning on 5mins before the race starts anyway.

Legard did a good job? Ask yourself this... why did Brundles wonderful gridwalk whit & style always mysteriously deplete once in the commentary box?

James Allen....yeah he knows his stuff and has his finger on the pulse...but do I want to listen to someone who reminds me of sitting in front of the TV with Brian Cant and Floella Benjamin, with Little and Big Ted, Humpty Dumpty and Hambel to explain how Alonso overtook Hamilton in what chicane...through the round window??? No.... Croft and Davidson are dynamite however, and certainly can give Legard a run for his money...Brundle is untouchable..king of the racing grid...and is a good friend of the King of Spain don't you know...

Just want to say a huge WELL DONE to the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ! You have really come back with a bang, and i'm really chuffed with all of your F1 features (TV coverage, website, blogs, red button etc) - you've done a fantastic job so far.

The intro section for the intro vid (if you catch my drift) is spine-tingling, I love the script and the CGI. Have to say, i'm not so keen on the CG video when 'The Chain' kicks in, but meh, the first bit in black and white is superb.

Have to agree with most peoples thoughts about Legard not being quite up to standard in the world of commentary. I'd love to have Crofty and Brundle working together, I feel that's the next best combo after Murray and Martin.

Everytime I see this, my hairs stand on end. Fantastic.

RE: Legard, he's just an example of how sports television for the major sports is becomming more and more Americanised. If it's not entertaining enough, then gawd damn the commentators better make it exciting! *cringe*

James Allen? No thanks, apart from the fact no-one does anything other than "dive" into pit-lane (how about: peel, go, drive into???) he is utterly cringeworthy and smarmy in style.

I'd like to see a line up of Brundle and some-other ex-driver or someone directly involved in the sport. Not another journalist or college educated sports broadcaster. Let's have some people involved who aren't there to shout down the microphone and make it "more exciting".

This is what I pay my licence fee for!

Great job, well done and loved the coverage this year.

Great news and great filmwork but,,,,like the races, it would have been infinitely better in HD and the perfect partnership for our flagship channel. F1 and HD are both all about cutting edge innovations and the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ has wasted a year.

RE: The ribs being the wrong way around.

It's the same on the Scrubs intro and that's a medical show!

@Simon Davies RE: HD

It's true, it would be great. But the in-race footage is supplied by the FIA so they'd be the ones who have to upgrade to HD first.

Well done ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ! Am i the only one who knows that a body can be xrayed from the back as well as the front? I'm not a fan of Legard either, but he is ten times better than the parrot we had to put up with ITV. The question is, who else would we like to see in his place? Certainly not James Allen. I'd like to listen to Joannna Lumley. No idea if she likes F1. I'd listen to her talking about knitting:)

Stee_Vee_E, Number 39.

I think it is obvious that Brundle doesn't like Legard, so are you suggesting that the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ have a merry-go round of commentators until they find one that Brundle likes? It's not up to Brundle liking them or not. He should just get on with commentating. I don't think he was as good this year, but I think the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ should stick with what they've got.

I agree with you about the Intro though. Actual footage would have been better, but it was still fantastic.

This video is absolutely brilliant, I just hope the beeb makes it available as a download, I would even pay for it . Well done ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ for a fantastic season, it was 90% brilliant …….. please get a replacement for Legard next year and make it 100% he’s sooo annoying and so unprofessional………… cheers

Interesting sidebar: Hamilton's appears to have dextrocardia - have a look at the chest x-ray -the heart is on the wrong side... But I agree, a FANTASTIC video, well done!

What a great season both on and off track. Don't change the into CG was good the clips montage has been over done since the end of the 90s and 30 seconds is not enough time to showcase the greatest moments of F1

Yes say good bye to Legard and put Croft in and is it not time to say good bye to Brundle as well maybe make he a pundit on the forum so he can still do his great grid walks, but he has been out of a racing seat for 10 years now at least and in all the time he was racing he didn't win one race even in all the good teams he was in. So bring Davidson over from 5live as well someone that really gets excited in a race again like Murry used to. not only that but as Brawn/Mecrs test driver he knows whats happening in the cars as right now, did Brundle drive a car from the 2009 season with all the new stuff on it so he could tell use what he really thought about. no he just did little voice overs during VTs.

David Croft and anthony Davidson made a great team on 5 live sport extra how anyone could watch pratisc with those two commentating and then want to go back to Legard and Brundle, tut tut.

Another vote for Crofty & Davidson here, they make even the most boring of races interesting. Legard does the exact opposite really. Actually, have Croft, Davidson and Brundle as the team - perfect!

REF 52
I would have to agree..I do like Legard and respect his views and reportage on the sport, but his sense of drama and purpose needs to be carried out throughout the whole emission whilst commentating, not just the first and last 5 minutes of each race - he seems to get lost during a race, allowing Brundle to expertly analyze the situation on the track...we'll see if Legard can interact with Martin a whole lot better next season...

Superb use of CG - dont change it for next year!
It would be interesting to see how it was made and why not make it into a screen saver or for download for all uss Beeb/F1 fans

Well Done on the award. Loved the video first time i saw it, all be it was very early in the morning. Will be odd with the first gp being on at normal time, with Bahrain being the first gp. As for the Legard arguement I also dont like his commentary style. I have tried but just cant get into it. The only reason I still choose to listen to BBc1 commentary is because I like Brundle. Its seems a waste to have Crofty on five live, when he would be ideal alongside Brundle. Hopefully Davison will get a drive next year, although he is as interesting to listen to as is MB. MB also has the style, the contacts, and the attitude, pushing people out the way on the gridwalk. The gridwalk is my favourite part of the weekend.

Facemandave

It might put me out of step with comments here -- and expose me to abuse! -- but count me among those who admired James Allen's perceptive commentary. He's an articulate guy, great depth of knowledge, and worked very well with Brundle. (Besides which, he has a great blog!) Bring him on!

I think the guy who does the voice-over is Robbie Coltrane. Can anyone confirm that?

Well done Beeb.

well done beeb. Davison might get a drive in 2010. Stefan GP for 2010

@56 - I also enjoyed James Allen's commentary on ITV, he has a good grasp of reading the race and working out how the various teams strategies will interact. He rarely made mistakes and provided a fairly insightful view of the sport, also he didn't get carried away and make bizarre comments / predictions that anyone with even a slight understand of the race would know was just jibberish.

Great job guys keep up the good work!

I couldn't agree more with the flood of positive comments to endorse and celebrate this achievement for the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ, their production team, and their F1 team.

I shared the nation's delight on hearing that F1 had not only remained on free-to-air, but that it would be advert-less ...back on the Beeb! This fairy tale store could only have been improved had Murray been a few years more junior and ready to re-take the helm. Nevertheless, Jake has taken to F1 like a duck to water, DC and Brundle provide some great inside knowledge and EJ is gregarious and enjoyable to watch. I'd say EJ and DC could tone down their petty arguments but I suppose it all makes for good viewing all round. The ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's intro move is indeed spectacular and very cool, and their analysis of features of the sport in the run-up to races is exceptional.

Long live the Beeb, Long live F1, Long may they share the same stable!

I remember watching that film, leading into the return of Fleetwood Mac's The Chain - it honestly made the hairs on the back of neck go up and I thought Formula 1 has come home.

The coverage has been nothing short of perfection, and I hope moving into 2010 the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ coverage with be in HD as this is the only way I can see it improving.

12 Years was a long time to wait, but it was worth it.

Is it just me or at 1:54 in the above clip, where the "camera" pans under the the car from its front, looking upwards it is clearly visible that the wheels have disappeared off the car for just a fraction of a second??

March this year I got out of bed because F1 was back on the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ, I was not disappointed.

That opening sequence was excellent and when The Chain kicked in, well it just made my day.

Excellent stuff all year from the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ, thank you.

Apologies for the late post. But I just found out this news which I am very happy about.
Not sure if people are aware but the car in the B&W piece is purely CG inc the pistons.
I created the car based on Lewis Hamilton's 2006 car as I couldn't find blueprints for the later winning design. The pistons aren't actual F1 as you prob gathered but it gets the idea across.
Intro Design did a really cool job of designing and composing the whole piece with some amazing sound design and a killer voice over from the writer of 'sexy beast' Its something we all are very proud of.