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Great blog again Jake. You may want warm clothing and a coat with you this weekend - the Nurburgring weather forecast isn't great to say the least!

Well, it should produce great racing that's one thing. ;-)

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Good blog Jake. I also cant quite see DC and EJ leaving the south of France to head over and do some rowing, but they dont know what they are missing! Have a good weekend. Is Germany going to rotate the GP between the 2 circuits over the next few years then?

Dave

We can blame the French for this "lull" - the GP at Magny Cours was originally scheduled for the weekend after the British GP. Funnily, I must have entered all the dates from the provisional calendar onto my mobile phone, because that Saturday my phone reminded me that a non-existent race was about to take place. Talk about having salt rubbed into sore wounds!

Bigger "lull" coming up between the Hungarian (July 26) and Valencia (Aug 23) to brace ourselves for.

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Great blog Jake, enjoying the coverage.

Nice to learn that Steve Rider took you for a meal, i hope he paid ;-)

Am going to miss some of the race sunday as I have christening to attend, luckily the reception is at my dads pub with a 50" screen available for me to watch the race on.

Another clash possible Leeds vs Norwich at Elland Road in October. Will just check the dates...ah clashes will Brazil weekend. Come on Leeds will be like the 1990s again but with Divison 3 football on show.

I noticed DC had no shades on his head at Silverstone. That is a big disappointment as I had a £10 bet with the missus that he would be wearing them in Singapore.

Not that I would want to fix it or anything.

Itching for more F1!

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Another great blog Jake! The tennis final was indeed epic, what a way for Federer to become a 15 times Grand Slam winner. So incredibly impressive and quite fitting to in a way that he cited Michael Schumacher as another sporting icon.

Keep it up!

Loved your blog again, glad you enjoyed your days out, and didn't drown yourself (on the Thames by Richmond?). The weekend just wouldn't of been the same without you.

Looking foward to this weekend, far to long without a GP and I myself have also been been trawling the internet for any F1 news.
It'll be good to have you all on the TV again.

Good luck to Jens I say

Amanda

Great blog Jake. Know what you mean about doing outdoor team-building pursuits with the missus!!

Have a good time in Germany, nice to see the Beeb spending our money wisely. Using Jet2 to travel to dusseldorf certainly takes the shine off your 'glamorous' job. Mind you, I'd still swap!!

The other F1 Mole

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Oooo, I live in Ross-on-wye, that cannoe trip is a great thing to do, did u make it into the Saracens Head for a niffty pint?

Looking fwd to Germany!! Great work Jake.

Ah the Saracens Head - is that the pub at Symonds Yat? Spent many a boozy evening there in the 80's as a kayaking scout. Should I admit to that?

Anyway, what's the hardest part of the week-end? The gentle stroll down the the pit lane with EJ and DC or trying to keep a straight face when discussing the latest handbags at dawn fiasco between the FIA and FOTA?

Hhmm , Hard life at the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ isnt it , 3 weeks off and your only job is to taken out to dinner !.
Ok question , Why has the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ F1 website ignored the recent Bernie/Hitler story ? , you cannot say that it has nothing to do with the sport ( even more so now that it looks like effecting the German gp ) , To be honest the website started off well , but in the lull between races i find my self having to go to other sites to get any news , Do you all have the time off ?..

goldMarkl1 , surely this blog can be about anything , do you really expect us to chat about what Jake has been doing on his time off ! , would be rather dull , This has to the place where we can put OUR point of view across as well .

Jake,

Firstly can I congratulate on a brilliant blog, it's a different take on everything and always entertaining to read. Also I'd like to congratulate the whole team on the program you send out to us. I for one was very excited when the beeb got the rights back - mainly due to that infamous tune we'd get back on our screens, and no ad breaks - but you've continued on from ITV's eventually excellent coverage, if not raised the bar.

Anyway, my question was one i've been entertaining since last week when a friend saw you on Richmond train station platform looking "a little worse for wear" - her words, not mine! So was going to ask what you'd been doing in Richmond, but your blog suggests a bit of wining and dining courtesy of a certain magazine?!!! Have you noticed more perks and recognition since becoming the face of F1 in this part of the world?

Keep up the good work!

Great blog Jake, nice insight into the man with one of the best jobs going!!

One question: On the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ homepage if you customize the Sport tab you can't add a 'formula 1' section, only 'motorsport' - Can you speak to a techie and fix this?

Otherwise good work

'Something else I enjoyed was on Monday when I met up with Hans Seeberg, the editor of F1 Racing, at a hotel near me in Richmond. They wanted to do a feature for the magazine and I got Scott the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ press guy to take a few snaps on my iphone. I won't reveal why they had me putting my hands over my eyes - you'll have to wait till September's issue to find out!!'

Why did you get Scott the press guy to take photos of you on your i-phone when there is a women (who appears in the photo) taking picutures with a bloody decent camera anyway! Surely the F1 racing magazine can spare you a few snaps or has the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ budget for F1 already been blown! lol.

Thanks Jake. Another great blog.

I agree with goldMarkL1. I like Jonathan, and think he's good, and I wish people would leave the poor man alone. If you don't like him, listen to 5 Live or C³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ instead.

Hey Jake!

I also filled one of my weekends away from F1 by seeing Take That at Wembley!! What a show - best I've ever seen I reckon! Was too busy singing along to notice any Brawn caps (or you!) in the crowd though;)

Can't wait for the F1 to be back on the telly again this weekend, has been too long! Look forward to reading the F1 Racing article, and also to seeing which great legend you'll be interviewing this week:)

By the way - when are they gonna show the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ F1 team's attempts as the Star(s) in the Reasonably Priced Car on Top Gear?:)

Enjoy the Nurburgring!

Naomi

Hi Jake.

Three weeks really has been too long. I had to get my petrol head fix by buying a new car and then taking it down to Goodwood festival of speed which was absolutely great. Talking of which, how on earth did DC race at Goodwood and get to the tennis? Something isn't quite right there!

Enjoy Germany but watch out for the oompah bands!

Great blog as usual Jake. Do you take or have you offered to take your wife to a race? I'm sure she'd enjoy it. :)

Cool Blog Jake,

It looks like you had a excellent time during the F1 break and the photos look cool.

Unfortunately I will not be able to see any racing this weekend, work commitments I'm afraid and I'm gutted to be missing it live because it has had a big build-up to hopefully an exciting race, but I have put it on record to watch again because I enjoy the pre-race build-up!

Anyhow enjoy the German GP and Keep Up Fantastic Work!

Good Blog Jake,

I was also at Silverstone for the GP...I had to go and see Take That with my other half,(and really enjoyed it), I'm into my 5th week off work (Gardening leave) and if i'm not mistaken by your photo's, you were canoeing down the River Wye near Hoarwithy, which is just down the road from me.

Jake! Like yourself I too was canoeing on the Wye at the weekend and was pleasantly surprised to see your familiar face wander past the pub (I assume on your way to your hotel) on the Saturday afternoon.

I had hoped you might re-emerge again and join us for a drink... I am sure there would have been a few offers of free ones in exchange for some of your F1 gossip - the stuff you can't post on your blog!

I guess that will have to wait until next time.

keep up the good work mate.

Nice blog Jake, probably thee best on the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ with the amount of (or maybe lack of, in your opinion!) effort put in. Thanks for sharing some of your pictures and other non-F1 moments in your life.

Nice reference to Steve Rider. Rather touching and what a pro! For someone who's sports mad ecletic tastes, Rider really has made the effort and played his part with motorsport on TV.

And whilst we're on about ecleticism great job on presenting the NFL & Superbowl. Does this year's NFL Wembley game clash with F1?

Keep up the good work.

Hi Jake are you a closet Take That fan or did you really like them from the start.I ask this because I would'nt be seen dead with a Take That song in my collection.My mates would have had a field day with taking the George Michael,but lets be honest Gary Barlow is a brilliant songwriter and their latest stuff has more depth to their music and I will admit I am a fan. I now own several CD's.
Every Grand Prix offers something different and the Nurburgring is no exception.Having got stuck at the track because I missed the coach or rather couldn't find it try getting a lift back to Cologne when twilight was falling and German wasn't your language.Taxi drivers love that scenario because they know you got to get back to your hotel and working out the fare beforehand isn't an option.
I must admit I prefer Hockenheim as a circuit but watching sport in Germany with a stein in your hand is Wunderbar!

Jake - it's so refreshing to see a blog on the Beeb that actually gives a personal perspective, rather than being a comment piece/soap box. Your entries are improving every time, and are one of the few things I really do like about the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ F1 site. You guys have knocked the socks off ITV on-screen, but the website could seriously do with more regular updates. Does no-one here read autosport.com? :-) The Bernie-loves-dictators story was a major omission.

Also - I for one do not believe for a second that EJ and DC get along! EJ slagged DC off too often is his driving days - but that's a lot of the fun. Now if you could get EJ to be a bit less wordy (we Irish are prone to that!), and DC to be a bit more bitchy, we'd be sorted.

Hope the new house is all you had hoped (not that you'll see much of it for the next few months). Keep up the good work, and BTW the photos in the blog are an excellent addition to your writing. More candid paddock photos please!

I'd be interested to see what you think of the Nurburgring compared to Silverstone in terms of facilities. I went there in 2004 and ok we we not in "the Paddock", but we were fenced in, in a stand holding a couple of thousand Schumacher fans which made of concrete steps with a food stall that sold sausages and chips and 'curry' sauce. The 'bar' was another stall with one beer pump and a coffee urn. I kid you not!! When I went to Silverstone it was great! I am sad to see it go (probably) but I only live 5 miles from Donnington!!!!

Have a sausage for me!

12. goldmarkl1 - disagree
16. 355Simon - agree, couldnt have said it better myself

Hi Jake great blog once again, missed you!
I too found myself at Take That Wembley, great show!
Glad the action is back after 3 weeks off, lets hope the Brits do well this weekend!
Keep up the good work.
Enjoy!

See in the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Quotes of the Week there is this one.

"Come on Andy, I need the toilet!"
A spectator gets the urge during the marathon final set.

That wasn't you, was it?

Good blog, btw

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Hi again Jake.

Cannot wait for tomorrow morning for Practice, it seems like a life time since Silverstone. However, it seems that we have both been spending our time wisely. I went to see Take That too, what night did you go?? I was there Friday and Saturday! Looking forward to some 'behind the scenes' pictures of the German Grand Prix.

Take care xx

Excellent, my boyfriend's question 'isn't that Jake Humphrey over there?' at the Take That concert is now answered! Great wasn't it?!

Read this yesterday when my fellow forum buddy D_M_N_ was the sole replyee, but didn't have time to write.

I've missed you, Jake! I love your blogs and am always checking my RSS feed to see if you've updated. It's nice to know what you've been up to during the endless break, and it looks like you've been enjoying the very best the British summer has to offer.

I've made the skip across the pond and will be watching the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ coverage LIVE for the first time since Malaysia. I can't tell you how ridiculously excited this makes me. I cannot wait to see what treats the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ team have up their sleeves for the pre-race build-up.

Will try to get an e-mail in to the live forum, although I have no idea what I'll ask! Have a great weekend and soak it all up for us and your blog next week.

Take care. xx

FreddieofGregs
Yes i too had a posting kicked out , mine also seemed harmless , ( slightly critical of Jake ) oddly it was posted , then taken off ! , i even got a slapped wrist ( by e-mail ) telling me not to be naughtyboy again . Hhmm , wonder if this will get posted ? .
My ( our ) point being please relax a little with the moderation , I have absolutely no wish to offend , just a point of view , thats all .

Brilliant blog Jake, as always! Glad you've been enjoying your downtime - hope you're refreshed and ready to go this weekend :)

Thought we might see you down at Goodwood last weekend, for the Festival of Speed; I was hoping to say thank you in person for the brillant pre- and post-race coverage you, DC and EJ give us. It was a great weekend, and seeing the F1 cars up close (I got a faceful of Lewis Hamilton's 2008 McLaren's exhaust!) was fantastic; I don't think I could do your job without grinning like an idiot the entire time :) Maybe you could get DC to reproduce his royal wave (such a crowd pleaser!) this weekend?!

I have divided loyalties this weekend; I'm a Red Bull fan, but also want Jenson to do well. So conflicted!

Have a great time in Germany!

message to moderators, Thanks for posting my post ,restores my faith , Thanks very much ,
cheers, 355simon . x...

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God you do a lot. Lts hope Button hits Vettel in the same way Vettel did in Britain

How come my post was approved by the moderators at first, then taken away again (presumably by the same moderator/s)?

Either allow the post or don't allow it. Please don't just change it on a whim.

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

Come on guys, this is Formula 1 - surely we are all used to a bit of moderator / race steward controversy? All revoked posts shall be referred to the FIA special court of appeal, at a date to be confirmed in the near future. The results shall be announced at a future date and a british team might get fined.

Keep it up Jake - I don't think the blog needs to be just about F1 - the "a day in the life of" feel is still interesting

Good to hear from you again Jake. I enjoy reading your blogs. I hope you have enjoyed your break.

Like physical_graffiti in post # 27, I was also going to ask if you are due to present the NFL Wembley game, as it conveniently falls between Brazil and Abu Dhabi. If so, that will make a heavy end of season schedule for you. You had better make the most of the next break after the Hungarian Grand Prix. Incidently the battle will be on for viewers at the Hungaroring as the race occurs at the same time as the Moto GP from Donnington. Given the choice between watching you or Suzi Perry, well I know who I'd choose! It will be a mega motorsports schedule on the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ on the 26th July. Just like the old days of Sunday Grandstand. Maybe Steve Rider can give you some more advise on that as well.

Thanks for reminding me that this a sport that at least some other people love.... As it seems the FIA and FOTA are absolutely DETERMINED to kill any passion us fans have for this much beloved sport with their eternal bickering!!

I am sick to death of this petty school yard bickering, can't you just sneak upto one of their meetings and lock the doors and refuse to let them out until they have an agreement signed in each of their blood? Please :)

Sbpsman, you're a plonker of the first degree. What a stupid waste of time to post such a thing. Anyway... Jake you make my lunch hour when I see another blog has been posted - it gets me ready for the races and tells me that being a personality on TV doesn't mean that life stops carrying on as normal, or the excitement of the sport doesn't dwindle!

Tell me, has Harriet (now an unseen celebrity in her own right!) always been an F1 fan - or does she humour you out of love... like my wife!!!

Hi Jake,

Looking forward to spending the race in the company of you, DC & EJ, having been (un)fortunate enough to be in the US for the British GP. I am not surprised that F1 doesn't have a great following in the US, the quality of their TV coverage is unprintable! Put it this way, there's no pre-race build-up, no post-race analysis, 3 commentators who don't appear to know much about the sport, a very good pitlane commentator who will be a team principal next season, and a great reluctance to discuss the sport's politics!

Thanks for all the hard work everyone at the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ is putting into presenting F1 to us, it's been a fantastic season so far.

.....speaking of Brawn caps, has anyone noticed how Mark Cavendish's Columbia HTC cycling team in the Tour de France have an uncannily similar colour scheme to Brawn GP? I also saw some footage of one of their riders testing his bike in the Brawn wind tunnel. Are there close ties between these teams?

Sorry Jake,

I don't really want to comment on you're latest entry but rather, I should like to ask what your bloggers think about virgin apparently not reaching an agreement with Brawn. Is it as others have mentioned, to do with the team transforming from a minnow to a major team and the amount of money required is more than Virgin expected would be required to sponsor a small team or, the fact that when Virgin entered F1 the expectation was that budgets would come down and therefore,£100 million budgets were a thing of the past. Another question I have is, why, if Virgin were the teams major sponsor, was there so little virgin "paint" on the car? I'd be interested on anyone's take on the above.

At the Nurburgring today we spotted RTL's Kai Ebel interviewing the guys with the air-raid siren. He was wearing purple winkle pickers to match his purple suit. Have you guys thought about wearing shoes to match your shirts ...?

I saw the Brawn GP cap at the TT concert too - encouraging to note there are other TT and F1 fans! See you were down in the crush zone at Wembley as well - working for the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ obviously didn't get you a box!

You're doing a sterling job on the coverage this year - keep it up.

Great Blog Jake! It makes compelling reading, and is noce to see that the "blokes" from in front of the camera, have normal lives as well!

If I may, I would like to compliment you, and the rest of the Beeb team on the quality of the coverage of F1, from all media! You seemed self assured and slick in Melbourne, but with each passing race you get better! ... If that were possible!! I thoroughly enjoyed today's coverage of the qualifying, it did help that it was so exciting!!

By the way, it's great to hear Fleetwood Mac at the start of F1 coverage! ... All is right again!! Congrats, also to the back room team, The montage at the end of todays show captured all the key events, to music, in synch! .... How fast was that done!!!

Am really looking forward to the race! - Although have to say, am not too sure about Mr Legard. You probably didn't see it, but the classic memories, available on the red button, were brilliant! ... Great to hear James Hunt, and a certain Mr Walker getting excited about Rubdens Barrichello in 2000! ... He was in awesome form today too!!

Hope the race is as exciting as quali!!

Keep up the great work - there really isn't a weak link in what ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Sport is doing, but the feed from the race cameras is becoming a real irritant. It's really noticeable if you go back over a race, run it through fast forward, and see how much of the time the screen is filled to bursting with just the side of a car. If I want to get permanent close ups I buy a car magazine. If I want to witness racing I would really like to see it on tv. The camera homes in remorselessly on a car as it approaches a corner, even if it is running in close proximity to a rival. It removes the viewer from how the cars are performing relative to one another, and has often resulted in missing overtaking moves as they happen live. The cynic in me suggests it's something to do with sponsors logos getting maximum coverage close up, but it's a feature that has become more prevalent in recent years.

Jake, you are doing a great job and the complete ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ presenting crew are a pleasure to watch and listen to. I think that Rubens's reaction to the events in the race were completely justified and the team should listen to him. It's good news that Mark took the win today but i hope that Jenson will go onto win the championship with Rubens securing a win in the near future. Seb is a very talented driver and it's great that he is managing to compete at the sharp end of the grid.