back to article Car-crash television: 'Excuse me ma'am, do you speak English?' 'Yes I do,' replies AMD's CEO

Some of us love watching Formula One for the prangs and crashes – but we don't really expect them to happen before the race even begins. Yet, that's the only way to describe a live TV interview at the Chinese Formula One Grand Prix on Sunday, which went embarrassingly wrong. Former Formula One driver and Sky Sports telly …

  1. Vince

    Maybe he should have checked first?

    You clearly don't understand (a) the nature of live TV, and (b) what the grid walk is...

    It's not exactly the sort of thing that is scripted in advance...

    1. leexgx

      until i seen the person on videos did not really know who this person was any normal person would not have a clue who she was (and like you said this is a grid walk so your going to be talking to just about any one of 100 people you don't know them all on the grid)

      1. Anonymous Coward
      2. This post has been deleted by its author

      3. Charles Calthrop

        Do you speak English?

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Might not look scripted, but they've prearranged the interviews and for how long in advance.

      Otherwise, you'd have some extremely dull paint drying moments with TV companies waiting in a line to interview Vettel etc.

      1. mythicalduck

        Re: Might not look scripted, but they've prearranged the interviews and for how long in advance.

        Are you sure about that? Back when I used to watch F1 they were often moments they tried to get interviews with people but failed, so they trotted off somewhere else looking for somebody else to grab. Granted that was quite some time ago now

      2. XSV1

        Re: Might not look scripted, but they've prearranged the interviews and for how long in advance.

        > Might not look scripted, but they've prearranged the interviews and for how long in advance.

        Actually you are partially right and wrong. I have worked in outside broadcast at F1. Only certain interviews are lined up. A lot is flown by the seat of the pants.

      3. djack

        Re: Might not look scripted, but they've prearranged the interviews and for how long in advance.

        Pretty much all of the gridwalk interviews is based on spur of the moment judgement, luck and being well-known enough that the drivers want to talk to you.

        Brundle is pretty much the king of the art. I do remember one (not by Brundle) where the hopeful interviewer didn't have any luck. the entire gridwalk was basically repeating "Let's go and speak to <x> ... oh, he's gone to the toliet"

        Keep it light, and keep doing something. Even if it goes horribly wrong the viewer will hopefully let out a sympathetic chuckle.

        1. This post has been deleted by its author

      4. Joeyjoejojrshabado

        Re: Might not look scripted, but they've prearranged the interviews and for how long in advance.

        Or, you could watch them interview Vettel for the same paint-drying experience.

    3. Baldrickk

      And to be fair to him, it's an international sport with many different nationalities present, in a country where you can't expect everyone to speak your language. It's not someone well known on the track, not a driver or a team boss etc.

      To me it seems like a perfectly polite way to check that you can communicate in the language of the people watching on the other side of the world, before launching into a full blown series of questions that they might not understand a word of.

      This feels like the result if a slow news day...

    4. EJ

      Sometimes you wish they didn't speak English...

      https://youtu.be/kBf0WudmKpM

      From this year's 12 Hours of Sebring

  2. Matt Ryan

    Monaco quote

    I preferred his "you don't get many of those to the pound" quote at the Monaco GP.

  3. Dan from Chicago

    Lisa Su seems to be a real class act - no wonder why AMD is doing so much better.

    Can you imagine any of her predecessors saying "I'm here with AMD" instead of "Back off, peasant, I'm the PRESIDENT, CEO, and all around BIG BOSS of AMD?"

    1. dermots

      I really wish she had dropped that it at the end when he looked at all her passes. "Well as CEO of a multi billion dollar company there are a few perks...".

      It was a longer interview than the article here makes out and Brundle rightly wasn't red-faced.

      1. Grikath

        You're in ...oh wait....

        And given that the average high-educated, high profile Asian might be able to handle english, and sometimes even german in the written form, *nothing* in their education system prepares them for actually speaking it.

        As any Fule who' bin there learns to his embarassment..

    2. Wayland

      Go Team RED

      AMD and Ferrari.

  4. macjules

    The modern F1 car is basically a wheeled computer,

    I would have said that and then you get the occasional Kimi Raikkonen who accidentally runs over crewmates legs with his wheeled computer., but then I am reminded that Über's wheeled computer also ran over someone the other day.

    1. Sorry that handle is already taken. Silver badge

      Re: The modern F1 car is basically a wheeled computer,

      Räikkönen, race driver that he is, is a simple man. He sees the go signal, he goes!

    2. Tom 38

      Re: The modern F1 car is basically a wheeled computer,

      It's trite to say that Kimi accidentally ran over his team-mate - he did nothing wrong, and went on the go signal. You might as well say the rear jack man ran over his team mate, he didn't signal the tire hadn't been changed, or whatever bright spark came up with the idea that if the wrench spins one way and then the other then the tire has been changed.

      1. annodomini2

        Re: The modern F1 car is basically a wheeled computer,

        Which is also against the rules... basically to prevent this kind of thing.

  5. rsohan

    Well.... that was awkward penguin.

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    F1 is a Car Crash

    Its been like that for a decade now imho. F1 aggressively pushing a pay-for-TV model hasn't helped! In the era where Alonso joined Ferrari, Fux Sports used to show F1 races 4 times a day on race day plus repeats.

    Now? Races are rarely live and even then its just once. Nascar gets a higher priority than that, and its even more of a snoozeville. Look, lets see if this season breaks the tedium as its too early to tell. Meantime, Indycar a welcome replacement... As regards Brundle's awkwardness, sign of the times!

    Imagine: In parallel universes they must have had amazing F1 seasons. We learned last year Alonso had a chance to join red Bull as Newey was about to peak at car design. But Alonso or his management shot themselves in the foot by insisting on a very short non-committal contract.

    1. Stork Silver badge

      Re: F1 is a Car Crash

      I have not watched it for decades, but when I was a student around 1990 it was already so dull that the most exiting was the pit stop times.

      We (engineering students) agreed it could be made more interesting by adding loops, a cross or perhaps a roundabout?

      1. Lars Silver badge
        Happy

        Re: F1 is a Car Crash

        "it could be made more interesting". What about having the drivers change their tires alone, one by one.

        1. Unep Eurobats
          Facepalm

          Re: F1 is a Car Crash

          'What about having the drivers change their tires alone, one by one.'

          Thanks. If I want to watch a bloke changing tyres I'll pop down to ATS in my lunch hour.

          1. Teiwaz

            Re: F1 is a Car Crash

            Thanks. If I want to watch a bloke changing tyres I'll pop down to ATS in my lunch hour.

            Well, if you could get them to do it to a stopwatch, you might have passable telly.

            Ok, maybe Youtube, no Vimeo...

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: F1 is a Car Crash

        I stopped watching when it started costing £500 a year to watch live on UK TV.

        The CH4 delayed highlights are worthless, as it's impossible avoiding accidently finding out the results these days

        1. agurney

          Re: F1 is a Car Crash

          I stopped watching when it started costing £500 a year to watch live on UK TV.

          F1 is live and free-to-air on German Eurosport (Astra 19.2E) .

          1. DCdave
            Megaphone

            Re: F1 is a Car Crash

            /F1 is live and free-to-air on German Eurosport (Astra 19.2E)/

            No it's not, it's on n-tv or RTL, depending on the session. Adverts are long and it's best if you don't speak German, as the commentators are appalling.

          2. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: F1 is a Car Crash

            And RTL, with Radio5 commentary bring rather good (far better then sky), it's delivered in sync (both available via satellite), it's enough to set up a simulcast and mute the German.

            I do this every non live race, and it takes 5 minutes to setup. Well worth the £500 saving, and I'm not funding the sky media machine

        2. David Nash Silver badge

          Re: F1 is a Car Crash

          They still have some live ones on CH4. Next year, not so good (ie. none, IIRC).

          By the way I successfully avoided the result of the Chinese GP until Monday, so it's not impossible.

      3. Wayland

        Re: F1 is a Car Crash

        I think anyone who has set up Scalextric tracks will have some ideas for jumps and banked corners.

      4. MJI Silver badge

        Re: F1 is a Car Crash

        Watched in 1990s?

        My favourite was the 1993 Hurgarian Grand Prix

      5. Lotaresco

        Re: F1 is a Car Crash

        "the most exiting was the pit stop"

        Well, duh. The only place they can exit in normal circumstances is the pits.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: F1 is a Car Crash

      How would suggest a race is shown live more than once? There is nothing at all wrong with having F1 on pay tv, in fact it's much better as there are no ads

      1. streaky

        Re: F1 is a Car Crash

        in fact it's much better as there are no ads

        Speaking as somebody who actually has Sky Sports - clearly you've never seen Sky Sports F1; there's plenty of ads.

      2. lybad

        Re: F1 is a Car Crash

        There's no ads when C4 show the live races. The highlight races are already split into bits, so adding ad breaks doesn't make a huge difference.

    3. PhilipN Silver badge

      Last Hurrah?

      Enjoy it while you can, punters. The rationale for F1* is that the technology once proven (supposedly) filters down into the marketplace. But the market is going to electric and autonomous driving. Will there be F1 in 20 or even 10 years?

      * Real reason is that blokes like driving fast cars with screaming engines.**

      ** Real reason for declining popularity is the diminishing need to wear earplugs when watching F1 from the home straight. Now where's the fun if you cannot feel your sternum vibrate when the cars go past? Sheesh - modern pussies!

    4. Mark 85

      Re: F1 is a Car Crash

      To me, F1 has been "dead" for too many decades. I go back to Sterling Moss, Phil Hill, Jim Clarrk and others of their ilk during my childhood (not to mention many of the US NASCAR, Indy Car types (though it wasn't Indy Car back then)). No computers watching every foot of travel. No radio comms. Just man and machine vs. man and machine with someone with a sheet of paper in the pits running figures for fuel and speed. Oh.. and noise. Loud those engines were.

      1. Lotaresco

        Re: F1 is a Car Crash

        "I go back to Sterling Moss"

        Was he Stirling's more expensive older brother?

      2. This post has been deleted by its author

    5. Phil Kingston

      Re: F1 is a Car Crash

      They do need to sort out the media rights again. Hopefully something more along the lines of what Formula E are doing - their emphasis seems to be on fan engagement and large audiences.

      An next year's Formula E car looks like something straight out of the Hot Wheels factory http://www.fiaformulae.com/en/news/2018/january/introducing-the-gen2-formula-e-car/

      1. Adam 52 Silver badge

        Re: F1 is a Car Crash

        "what Formula E are doing - their emphasis seems to be on fan engagement and large audiences"

        I really want to like Formula E, but I don't. It's boring, way more so than f1. There's not enough power to make it visually impressive, the obsession with remaining charge just makes it feel like a resource management game, a load of failed f1 drivers makes it feel second class and and fan boost - really? Next year's rule change to give points for most economical lap shows that the organisers don't really care about racing. All in all it feels like a FIA PR exercise to the environmental lobby.

        1. imanidiot Silver badge
          Coat

          Re: F1 is a Car Crash

          Formula E... The "racing" sport that's less exiting than a go-cart race, that gives a random reward to whomever manages to win that weeks social media likes competition, that races over really narrow race courses with super high fences that makes it feel like they are racing through a viaduct and hides any and all ability to view the scenery, that switches camera view every 3 seconds to make it feel dynamic and fast but only makes you nauseous, that can get away with making their cars look like they came from a "Speed Racer" comic because they are so slow the aero doesn't actually do much, that can't actually have a single car complete the relatively short race and needs to switch cars midway through a race. Yeah... No... --> The one with the driving gloves in the pocket -->

          1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

            Re: F1 is a Car Crash

            "switch cars midway through a race."

            Really? I've never watched FE, but maybe they should be looking at ways for fast swap battery packs if they want to truly demonstrate the technological advancement and "trickle down" to road cars.

            1. lybad

              Re: F1 is a Car Crash

              The next gen car which is used for the 2018-19 season will not require a car swap. Part of the development cycle of the technology.

        2. streaky

          Re: F1 is a Car Crash

          All in all it feels like a FIA PR exercise to the environmental lobby

          I've said it before - there's a way out of this for F1 and the FIA and it isn't electric cars. It's HICEVs - essentially normal engines fuelled by hydrogen. It's wins for everybody; environmentally, for car makers, and for fans of racing. Doubt it'll happen because of the electric car cabal wasting everybody's time and money though.

      2. djack

        Re: F1 is a Car Crash

        They do need to sort out the media rights again. Hopefully something more along the lines of what Formula E are doing

        .. giving it to a broadcaster that does not care about it enough to show it consistently. You have to play guess the channel does not lead to audience retention. Will the next race be on Five, will it be Spike or will they find some other channel to dump it on.

        their emphasis seems to be on fan engagement and large audiences.

        Fanboost needs to die in a fire. Having a popularity contest contribute directly to the available power a driver has isn't racing. Sam Bird is at a massive disadvantage, I reckon most Brit racing fans are traditionalists so he never wins the vote yet he still brings home the points.

        An next year's Formula E car looks like something straight out of the Hot Wheels factory

        yep, the Gen2 car looks hot hot hot. They actually designed in the halo instead of just plonking it on top like a pile of scaffolding.

        I love F1, i also love FE. I don't understand the "it's slower" argument. The cars in an F1 race are going slower than in Qualy yet you don't say there's no point in watching the race. The enjoyment in the race is in watching the drivers getting very close to each other indeed and battling to get past/stay ahead through corners. there's typically much more of that in FE than there is in f1 nowadays. That said, both series were blessed with cracking races this past weekend.

    6. CheesyTheClown

      Re: F1 is a Car Crash

      I'm pretty impressed.... I had to look up what F1 was. Then I realized it was those cars from Iron Man.

      I didn't realize people knew this much about people who drive around in circles over and over again.

      I suppose it's cultural or something.

      Is it true that these cars are meant to be as similar as possible and that the organizers strictly prohibit the teams from doing anything to modernize the vehicles beyond tuning them? Is it basically really well tuned Ford Model T technology? It's just an internal combustion engine with lots of electronics to tweak and tune them right?

      From a technological perspective, are they allowed to do anything interesting outside of material sciences? Can they even do anything good with material sciences? Like could they make the body of a more advanced composite than their competition? Could they make something like a run flat tire using a carbon nanotube structure which would allow them three or four more laps without changing tires?

      It disappoints me a little that AMD would spend so much money on something as wasteful as this. But I'd imagine that it helps them make sales.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        WTF?

        Re: F1 is a Car Crash

        @CheesyTheClown

        Thry this thing called the Internet.

        First hit for "Technology in F1" gives an insight....

        http://www.racecar-engineering.com/category/technology-explained/

        It wasn't really that hard to find.

      2. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

        Re: F1 is a Car Crash

        "I didn't realize people knew this much about people who drive around in circles over and over again."

        Circles? I think you know more than you claim since you are confusing F1 with NASCAR.

      3. Lotaresco

        Re: F1 is a Car Crash

        "I didn't realize people knew this much about people who drive around in circles"

        You're thinking of NASCAR. HTH.

      4. David Beck

        Re: F1 is a Car Crash

        You got the wrong cars. What you just described is Indy racing. Circular track, IC engine only, ...

        F1 uses sports car track, like VIR or Sebring, "engine" is hybrid, bodies are to the formula but not at all similar (only in the sense that all aircraft are similar). Regarding the electronics, the average F1 car has about 120 sensors reporting to the pits and on to the factory during the race. Admittedly quite a few of these are temperature sensors but if you are going to fly a 600 kilo car at 1 cm above the ground at 320 kph using a 1000 horsepower engine, temperature is a big deal.

        As for Brundle's aborted interview with the AMD CEO, it was nothing compared to when he attempted to interview Maria Carey.

    7. David Nash Silver badge
      Facepalm

      Re: F1 is a Car Crash

      "Races are rarely live and even then its just once"

      What does that even mean?

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        '"Races are rarely live and even then its just once"

        Someone wrote 'what does that even mean'... Let me have another bite... In Latam, throughout Alonso's Ferrari tenure Fux Sports 3 used to show every race 'Live' as it was happening. They then repeated the race up to 4 times throughout the same Sunday, and there were repeats throughout the following week too. Whereas at the moment, its rare for Fux Sports to show any Live races, and midweek repeats, that's all over!

    8. MJI Silver badge

      Re: F1 is a Car Crash

      I gave up when BBC stopped showing it live, then spoilered it on their news web site

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Can anyone else remember when some childrens' TV show or other used to recreate highlights of F1 races using Scalextric? Although I don't remember any Playmobil figures getting run over in the pit lane.

    Ah, those were the days, when Ayrton Senna was regarded by at least one commentator as a talentless rich kid who'd bought his way into F1 instead of a saint.

  8. Adus

    Why should he?

    I wouldn't recognize her or most other tech CEOs.

    I read their names in articles, very rarely do I know what they look like.

    And honestly, why does it matter? It's not like he was rude, he was in Asia and saw an Asian and asked if they spoke English... that doesn't seem particularly offensive and she didn't seem to mind.

    1. streaky

      Re: Why should he?

      I wouldn't recognize her or most other tech CEOs.

      Nope, me neither. If she'd just mugged me I wouldn't be able to pick her out of a line-up and fwiw same Intel's CEO.

      Some of us have to actually do work and couldn't care less about c-levels.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Why should he?

      I suspect most Americans can recognise Musk and Zuckerberg (and Trump, but he's not a tech CEO).

      Of course there's a big difference between a company founder and a recruited executive.

  9. jockmcthingiemibobb

    F1 yawn. MotoGP, rally cars, sidecars or the hillbilly OZ V8s offer far more entertainment,

    1. aregross

      Up one for "hillbilly OZ V8s".... I LOL'd

    2. AdamWill

      Also

      "F1 yawn. MotoGP, rally cars, sidecars or the hillbilly OZ V8s offer far more entertainment"

      Also more entertaining than F1: that channel that just shows a fireplace the whole time. Also, reading the minutes of European Commission subcommittee meetings. In all the official languages.

    3. Shugyosha
      Happy

      RE: "hillbilly OZ V8s"

      Ahem, it's the 'Bogan' OZ V8s, thank you very much.

      1. Sorry that handle is already taken. Silver badge

        Re: RE: Re: Fwd: "hillbilly OZ V8s"

        AKA "V8 Supertaxis"

    4. Spasticus Autisticus

      "F1 yawn. MotoGP, rally cars, sidecars or the hillbilly OZ V8s offer far more entertainment" - add IndyCar to that list. There's more excitement in the 24heurs du Mans than an F1 race - and has been for years.

      After failing to find F1 highlights in Sky's EPG (a ten minute program in reality) on anything other than Sky F1 I've decided to not bother with F1 any more. Having watched the last two IndyCar races live, both with plenty of excitement, that's what I'll now watch for fast racing.

      Why do French presidents of the FIA always fuck up motorsport, Jean-Marie Bastard killed Group C for a decade or so.

    5. imanidiot Silver badge

      Then you really haven't watched any of the more interesting F1 races. Last weeks race in China didn't start out very exiting (though there were some nice overtakes) but ended up very close.

      F1 isn't always exiting, and some races ARE snooze fests, but then sometimes something happens like last weeks crash between Gasly and Hartley causing a safety car and the whole race is back open. Or a race like the 2016 Brazil GP (wet race, plenty of exitement).

      1. Spasticus Autisticus

        Who and who? 2016 WTF! Were no races exiting (sic) in 2017?

        F1 - 1 race in 10 interesting?* Regular occurrence

        IndyCar - 1 race in 10 boring? Sometimes

        * And it doesn't matter how many times Ben or David say 'interesting' during their commentary - it mostly isn't :-)

        1. imanidiot Silver badge

          That was just one example that popped into my head when thinking of interesting/exiting races I'd seen myself. There were enough good races in 2017 as well.

        2. David Nash Silver badge
      2. Jason Bloomberg Silver badge

        F1 isn't always exiting, and some races ARE snooze fests, but then sometimes something happens like last weeks crash between Gasly and Hartley causing a safety car and the whole race is back open.

        It does seem F1 is getting less exciting as time goes by, that the only kick does come if there's an incident and a non-virtual safety car bunches them up and resets everything.

        It's getting common that races are mostly settled after the first few laps and then it's just a tedious procession and maybe some battles for the minor placings. There's little on-track skill shown, get out in front then lead all the way to the finishing line.

        When it goes pay-to-view I doubt I will miss its departure.

        1. imanidiot Silver badge

          Uhuh, less exciting than for instance 1988, where the MP4/4 with Senna or Prost was guaranteed to win every race?

          It's not the first time in F1 history that there is little overtaking and the battle is decided by strategy and pitstops. Sure the sound was more impressive but that was about it.

          And little on-track skill shown?? Have you WATCHED any of the recent races? Plenty of skill shown by multiple drivers.

          Yeah, F1 could be a lot better since the aero heavy cars make overtaking difficult and the sound of the V6 turbo's doesn't come close to the V12s, V10s or V8s of the past but it's still the pinnacle of racing. The speeds achieved are INSANE and only the LeMans LMP1 class comes close, even the slightest error can mean these guys miss a brake point, clip the inside curb on the apex then lose the back end on the exit ending up in the gravel or the wall (or the nice flat run-off asfalt if they're on one of the Tilke-temples). It's not for the faint of heart and not every driver can make it.

          1. AdamWill

            "but it's still the pinnacle of racing. The speeds achieved are INSANE and only the LeMans LMP1 class comes close, even the slightest error can mean these guys miss a brake point, clip the inside curb on the apex then lose the back end on the exit ending up in the gravel or the wall"

            Yes, but that doesn't mean it's particularly interesting to watch, that's the thing. All those things are perfectly true, but watching it happen still winds up being dull as hell 95% of the time. This is not at all unusual, is it? 99% of people wouldn't want to watch the 'pinnacle' of software engineering played out in real time for two hours. Or tax accounting. Or sewer maintenance (actually that'd probably make a pretty good History Channel show...)

            All of the following things can be true at the same time:

            * Building a fast F1 car is insanely difficult and expensive and technically advanced

            * Driving one fast is extremely difficult, dangerous and skilled work

            * Watching it happen is boring

            Weirdly enough for me one of the bigger blows recently was the removal of pit stop refuelling. All the arguments for it make perfect sense - remove a non-actually-driving-a-fast-car-fast factor from being able to influence race results, avoid people having to handle large volumes of highly flammable fuel at ridiculously high speeds in close proximity to extremely hot race cars, etc. etc. - but at least when we had refuelling strategies and more potential for pit stop mess-ups it gave the commentators something to talk about for the 15 laps at a time when absolutely nothing else of interest was happening and added a bit more unpredictability to keep you watching after lap 2...

  10. Mike Flex

    "who speaks excellent English, thanks in part to gaining a masters and doctorate degrees in electrical engineering from MIT and 46 years living in the US."

    Shouldn't that read "speaks excellent English ... despite 46 years living in the US"?

  11. This post has been deleted by its author

  12. Stanislaw
    Meh

    Um..

    Brundle is famous for his "talk to a random person on the grid" spots and minor faux pas are practically the objective, or at least an acceptedly high probability. Nothing unusual in this one at all.

  13. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Brundle is talentless and incredibly boring, this is standard drivel from him.

    1. Paul Ward

      Agreed. Never met the guy but anecdotally apparently he isn't the nicest chap...

      Still, he's done well for himself as a pundit considering he never actually won a race.

      1. lybad

        That's a bit unfair - he never won an F1 race. He did win plenty of races in other categories.

  14. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    If he was a really good reporter

    If he was a really good reporter, after he realized she was the AMD CEO, he would have asked her why she sold her company's server IP to Tianjin Haiguang Advanced Technology Investment Co. Ltd., with THATIC being a cousin of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, a national research institution.

    https://www.amd.com/en-us/press-releases/Pages/press-release-2016apr21.aspx

    1. Sorry that handle is already taken. Silver badge
      WTF?

      Re: If he was a really good reporter

      Because that's clearly what an F1 commentator and his audience cares about...

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: If he was a really good reporter

        Yes, you're so right, his British audience -- the one that often makes fun of the French, Americans, and other foreigners, from the BBC on down -- cares deeply that he picked an Asian woman at random out of the crowd and assumed she spoke his British English.

        1. IsJustabloke
          Meh

          Re: If he was a really good reporter

          "....random out of the crowd and assumed she spoke his British English."

          Actually old chap, we tend to just call it "English"... you know it being our language and all that.

        2. David Nash Silver badge

          Re: If he was a really good reporter

          He didn't assume, he asked her.

      2. Teiwaz

        Re: If he was a really good reporter

        Because that's clearly what an F1 commentator and his audience cares about...

        In Ten years time when they're racing servers, then is the time to ask that question...

  15. Steve Evans

    It doesn't sound that bad...

    I didn't see the race, I gave up following F1 when BBC ducked out of their contract and half the races went to SKY, but from how you describe it, it doesn't sound that bad. Especially given Brundle's previous gaffs.

    He's in a foreign country, covering an international event, surely asking if someone speaks English is far more polite than just going up to someone and then blabbering something to them and assuming they'll speak English? There are plenty of very successful Asian business people who don't speak English who are more than well-heeled enough to have been on that grid.

  16. Sorry that handle is already taken. Silver badge

    Meanwhile

    The race was an absolute cracker. Bit of a slow burn initially, spiced up by a safety car at about two thirds distance.

    I just wish the sport didn't require SC interventions to be interesting...

  17. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Oh this is nothing. For over twenty years the Dutch commentator has been this moron who can't even tell two drivers apart.

    1. imanidiot Silver badge

      Agreed, Olav Mol should be replaced. The guy is too often an idiot and his English is atrocious (Which is annoying when he tries to "translate" team/driver radio transmissions). I vastly prefer to listen to the British commentary when possible.

  18. Thomas_Kent
    Facepalm

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWynJkN5HbQ

  19. VeganVegan
    IT Angle

    At least the drivers didn’t have to download and install drivers

    I look forward to the day when autonomous cars become common, the IT folks will then need to download both kinds of drivers.

  20. soulg

    So AMD isn't just sticking a logo on the nose of the Ferrari? They are putting in some kind of AI APU in the car as well? This was the most interesting part of the article.

  21. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    F1 telecast not so great

    Lisa Su is a class act. I doubt AMD is spending fortunes to sponsor but they probably provide some cash, product and technical support to Ferrari. Ferrari has the upper hand so far in 2018. The F1 telecast leaves a lot to be desired IMNHO.

  22. Nimby
    WTF?

    WTF = False Positive

    As someone who has done a fair bit of living abroad in Foreign Language Land, I think it is quite possible that the scenario went askew simply because of a moment of confusion that had nothing to do with language. I've been there many a time myself, where my wondering things like "why the heck is he asking ME about THAT" causes people to automatically switch languages, even though language was never the problem. Because a look of confusion, regardless of the reason, creates false positives in the "Do they understand me?" test.

    So I think it started more like this...

    Brundlefly approaches Su, microphone in hand.

    Su has a WTF moment, wondering why he has picked her out and what questions he will have.

    Brundlefly sees Su's confused expression and assumes it is language that is the problem.

    "Excuse me ma'am, do you speak English?"...

  23. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Martin Brundle

    I don't know why but every time I see the name "Brundle" it immediately reminds me of the 1986 remake of the movie "The Fly" starring Jeff Goldblum as the scientist Seth Brundle.

    (I need to get out more)

  24. wolfetone Silver badge

    She's sort of wrong in what she's said.

    AMD have paid Phillip Morris to have their logo advertised, Phillip Morris then decides to stick it on the Ferrari. Ferrari contract out their sponsorship to Phillip Morris, and have done since the 60's I think.

  25. trevorde Silver badge

    It could've been worse

    "YOU SPEAKEE ENGLISH?... E N G L I S H!!"

  26. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    "ploughing"

  27. Aristotles slow and dimwitted horse

    F1 is shit.

    I didn't even like it when I worked for Mclaren in Woking. I've always loved the Paris - Dakar rally raid type motorsport though. Always fancied doing it in a high powered dustcart.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: F1 is shit.

      I used to love watching the group B rally cars, now that's proper brass-balls driving.

      It didn't affect me in later life, honest...

      /me hides Lancia key

      1. This post has been deleted by its author

      2. MJI Silver badge

        Re: F1 is shit.

        Rallying was fun.

        And some of the cars used were actually very good at it as I found on my commute many years ago sliding round corners on loose chippings looking out the door window of my Sunbeam

        1. Robigus

          Re: F1 is shit.

          Are you me?

    2. David Nash Silver badge

      Re: F1 is shit.

      Thanks for your insight.

  28. andy gibson

    David Coulthard

    Although Steve Jones ruins C4's F1 Coverage, David Coulthard is the undisputed king of grid walks and double enterdres - especially when he's paired up with Mark Webber.

    IIRC in 2017 at Monaco he was walking backwards and talking to the camera when he walked into the Crown Prince.

    1. MJI Silver badge

      Re: David Coulthard

      Still doing it then?

      Since F1 left BBC I have no idea who is presenting.

      Where is the next generation of F1 fans going to come from?

      Not all motorsports fans have bought an expensive TV subscription.

      Pay TV kills sports.

  29. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Just as well no one watches F1 these days then

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      'No-one'

      600 million viewers worldwide would disagree..

  30. kneedragon

    No harm done. I can describe at least one other thing Martin has done (as a tv commentator) that's a lot more insensitive than that...

  31. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Yeah, so now you are going after Martin Brundle??

    This belongs in The Sun, or even better, the sun.

  32. Alistair
    Windows

    F1 Racing.

    In all honesty, the crew that teaches 6 to 10 year olds how to drive 4 wheel ATVs up around SWMBO's brother's place puts on *much* more entertaining races. Its honestly hysterical to watch, from gearing the little ones up, to watching them waddle over to the machines, to the chaos on the track.

  33. StuntMisanthrope

    Industry Titan Guess Who?

    This could be a new game, except no one cares, she’s a girl, does invisible work, pays for everything and is not Wazza. I recently had a conversation with a close family discussing renumeration and value to society. Who do you value more a paediatric heart surgeon who saved a family members life or Wayne Rooney? The reply; “There’s only one Wayne Rooney”. #igiveupyouwin

  34. JDX Gold badge

    The only confusion is why he went up to someone he didn't know, rather than anyone else. In what world is a tech boss recognisable other than Gates or Zuckerburg?

  35. Daedalus

    The curse of technology

    This is one of those results of technology that allows "on the spot" stuff and thus gets used willy-nilly to fill in otherwise dead time, or to create a false sense of immediacy in coverage. The most infamous example in the US (of the ones not involving death or injury) happened when a well-respected political reporter was inconveniently in the studio when protocol required her to deliver her spiel live in front of some gummint building. So they green-screened her in, and she paid a hefty price for simply doing what the producer droid insisted she had to do to pacify the media gods.

  36. Zippy's Sausage Factory

    Brundle is the reason I don't watch Sky's coverage. Cannot stand him.

  37. YARR
    Coat

    All we know for sure is Brundle wasn't Intel agent.

  38. RedCardinal

    >>To be fair to Brundle, Su is probably recognizable only in the tech world,

    Soooo, no story here then really?

    Moving on to actual news...

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