JANUARY 12, 2012

Edwards and Anderson join BBC line-up

The BBC has confirmed that Ben Edwards will be its F1 commentator in 2012, working alongside co-commentator David Coulthard and chief analyst Eddie Jordan.

The BBC has confirmed that Ben Edwards will be its F1 commentator in 2012, working alongside co-commentator David Coulthard and chief analyst Eddie Jordan.

The team has been strengthened by the addition of Gary Anderson, formerly technical director at Stewart GP, Jaguar and Jordan GP and who has worked in broadcasting for the Irish RTE network. Anderson will be the BBC's technical analyst.

Edwards has a wealth of experience and commentated on F1 for Eurosport in the nineties.

"I'm thrilled to be joining the BBC F1 team," Edwards said. "It's a dream come true to be broadcasting from grands prix all over the world with such a prestigious broadcaster and such a talented group of people.

"My first stint as commentator coincided with David Coulthard's first season in F1 as a driver, so I am relishing the opportunity to work with him now in conveying the drama, excitement and passion that is wrapped up in each and every event.

"The prospects for the 2012 season are tremendous, with Lewis Hamilton out for revenge, Ferrari determined to give Fernando Alonso a car worthy of him and Sebastian Vettel attempting to become only the third driver in history to score a hat-trick of titles."

Jake Humphrey and Lee McKenzie remain as presenter and pit-lane reporter.

Former ITV commentator James Allen replaces David Croft, now with Sky, as the BBC Radio 5 live commentator, joined by Jennie Gow as radio pit-lane reporter.

With Sky and the BBC covering F1 for UK audiences in 2012, the 10 races shown live on BBC One and BBC HD will be: China (15 April), Spain (13 May), Monaco (27 May), Europe (24 June), Britain (8 July), Belgium (2 September), Singapore (23 September), Korea (14 October), Abu Dhabi (4 November) and Brazil (25 November).

There will be extended highlights programmes on BBC One of the other 10, of either 90-minute or two-hour duration depending on the location of the race. Races in the Far Eastern time zone will have highlights broadcast on BBC One at 2pm, with those in the European time zone getting 90 minutes at 5.30pm.

There will be full live coverage of both qualifying and race on BBC One, BBC One HD and the BBC Sport website, plus a one-hour evening highlights programme on BBC Three and BBC HD.

For the live BBC races, all three practice sessions will be shown live on the red button and the website. The F1 Forum will continue on the red button for about an hour of comment and analysis after the programme. It will also be available on the red button and the website after the non-live races.