F1 2013 DVD Review: Who Can Stop Him?
2013 wasn’t a classic Formula 1 season for on-track action, but there were still plenty of interesting story lines and dramatic moments that are well worth watching back.
The official F1 2013 review DVD, titled “who can stop him?” after Vettel’s dominant display, enables fans to re-live the new four-time champion’s success and will help to fill those quiet days ahead of the new season.
Obviously, the official DVD is released every year but I felt that in 2012, the quality dropped somewhat. There wasn’t much coverage of practice of qualifying and some of the race reviews didn’t seem to flow as well.
Fortunately the 2013 DVD features go about rectifying some of the small things that bugged me about the previous year’s offering. We get to see more of qualifying, including some of the Monaco crashes, but I would love to see on-board footage from Saturday and the drivers going through their pole lap.
I used to love drivers commentating on their own lap in past DVDs. It gave a great insight into the circuits and the challenges of putting one hot lap together. Even just a few of these, like Webber’s pole lap in Abu Dhabi or Nico Hulkenberg’s storming run to third in qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix, will help to better the product, in my view.
However, I did appreciate the added look at winter testing and the young driver test, with stars of the future getting a brief mention. There are no special features on the DVD, and there is only one disc rather than two – which stops you having to change mid-season, but there are plenty of interviews and insightful pieces merged into the review.
These include chats with the likes of Paul Hembery, Mark Webber and John Surtees to name just a few. We also get a bit more of a look at some of the off-track stories, like the Mercedes testgate and International Tribunal, which helps when telling the story of the season.
Each race takes up about 10 minutes, although some of the final rounds seem shorter, with Ben Edwards – current BBC F1 commentator – providing great voiceover as always. I interviewed him for RichlandF1 at the start of 2013 and he gave me an insight into how the DVD is made.
Overall, the DVD is of a much better quality and there are some great extra interviews. The races are edited well and have a good mix of team radio, on-track footage and off-track stories. Some of the major talking points are handled well and the narrative of the season is well told.
However, more behind-the-scenes aspects need to be incorporated in future DVD’s, although you do get more of this in the Blu-ray edition, and the final few races did seem a little bit rushed in comparison to the earlier rounds. Nevertheless, it is an improvement over the 2012 DVD and will be well enjoyed by F1 fans.
The Official Formula 1 2013 Season Review Book
The F1 Racing group took on the task of compiling the official 2013 season review book. It is, as usual, incredible informative and packed full of information and reviews of all 19 rounds.
However, I do feel that the quality has dipped slightly. My writing is far from perfect, but I feel that at some points of the 272-page book, it hasn’t flowed as well as previous review books and there are some clumsy sections, particularly at the end when deadlines were probably tighter.
I was also disappointed with the features at the beginning, particularly the round-table discussion. Whilst the line-up was strong with highly-respected members of the paddock, there were only four people and there wasn’t a single driver, not even a reserve/former one, to give an insight into the cars and challenges that the drivers faced.
The majority of the review book is written very well and it is a very well structured read. There are off-track stories, interviews and quotes along with the stunning photographs - which I would have liked to see more of due to a couple of large empty spaces.
Overall though, for fanatical F1 fans it will be a must-have and gives a great look at the overall story of the season. Whilst the quality has dipped slightly, hopefully these things will be improved in future editions.
F1 2013 DVD: http://www.amazon.co.uk/F1-2013-Official-Review-DVD/dp/B00FZLQOTA
F1 2013 Book: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Official-Formula-Season-Review-2013/dp/0957532032/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1388748305&sr=8-1&keywords=F1+2013+book
My F1 2013 season review pieces: http://jackleslief1.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/2013%20Season%20Review
Obviously, the official DVD is released every year but I felt that in 2012, the quality dropped somewhat. There wasn’t much coverage of practice of qualifying and some of the race reviews didn’t seem to flow as well.
Fortunately the 2013 DVD features go about rectifying some of the small things that bugged me about the previous year’s offering. We get to see more of qualifying, including some of the Monaco crashes, but I would love to see on-board footage from Saturday and the drivers going through their pole lap.
I used to love drivers commentating on their own lap in past DVDs. It gave a great insight into the circuits and the challenges of putting one hot lap together. Even just a few of these, like Webber’s pole lap in Abu Dhabi or Nico Hulkenberg’s storming run to third in qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix, will help to better the product, in my view.
However, I did appreciate the added look at winter testing and the young driver test, with stars of the future getting a brief mention. There are no special features on the DVD, and there is only one disc rather than two – which stops you having to change mid-season, but there are plenty of interviews and insightful pieces merged into the review.
These include chats with the likes of Paul Hembery, Mark Webber and John Surtees to name just a few. We also get a bit more of a look at some of the off-track stories, like the Mercedes testgate and International Tribunal, which helps when telling the story of the season. Each race takes up about 10 minutes, although some of the final rounds seem shorter, with Ben Edwards – current BBC F1 commentator – providing great voiceover as always. I interviewed him for RichlandF1 at the start of 2013 and he gave me an insight into how the DVD is made.
Overall, the DVD is of a much better quality and there are some great extra interviews. The races are edited well and have a good mix of team radio, on-track footage and off-track stories. Some of the major talking points are handled well and the narrative of the season is well told.
However, more behind-the-scenes aspects need to be incorporated in future DVD’s, although you do get more of this in the Blu-ray edition, and the final few races did seem a little bit rushed in comparison to the earlier rounds. Nevertheless, it is an improvement over the 2012 DVD and will be well enjoyed by F1 fans.
The Official Formula 1 2013 Season Review Book
The F1 Racing group took on the task of compiling the official 2013 season review book. It is, as usual, incredible informative and packed full of information and reviews of all 19 rounds.
However, I do feel that the quality has dipped slightly. My writing is far from perfect, but I feel that at some points of the 272-page book, it hasn’t flowed as well as previous review books and there are some clumsy sections, particularly at the end when deadlines were probably tighter.
I was also disappointed with the features at the beginning, particularly the round-table discussion. Whilst the line-up was strong with highly-respected members of the paddock, there were only four people and there wasn’t a single driver, not even a reserve/former one, to give an insight into the cars and challenges that the drivers faced.
The majority of the review book is written very well and it is a very well structured read. There are off-track stories, interviews and quotes along with the stunning photographs - which I would have liked to see more of due to a couple of large empty spaces.
Overall though, for fanatical F1 fans it will be a must-have and gives a great look at the overall story of the season. Whilst the quality has dipped slightly, hopefully these things will be improved in future editions.
F1 2013 DVD: http://www.amazon.co.uk/F1-2013-Official-Review-DVD/dp/B00FZLQOTA
F1 2013 Book: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Official-Formula-Season-Review-2013/dp/0957532032/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1388748305&sr=8-1&keywords=F1+2013+book
My F1 2013 season review pieces: http://jackleslief1.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/2013%20Season%20Review
1 comment:
Great article as usual Jack. I did enjoy the DVD this year, but I found that the coverage from race to race was slightly erratic. For example, the Singapore GP podium led straight into the grid for Korea; Qualifying barely received a mention. I also agree with your point regarding the analysis of the qualifying lap. Cannot understand why they ditched that feature.
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