The annual F1 season DVD reviews are always popular purchases among F1 Fanatic readers. That’s no surprise, as it’s still the only way you can legally buy footage of F1 races.
Thankfully, the producers haven’t skimped on the material. The two-disc set packs in five hours of footage, and although it isn’t available in high definition (a laughable shortcoming in 2010) the quality of much of it is very good.
As you’d expect, coverage of all 19 races is packed in and the review is so long you have to swap discs (how retro!) halfway through.
Usual commentator Ben Edwards is joined by Will Buxton who covers the action between the races.
Despite having a huge amount of time to fit the review into the introduction to the season is rather on the thin side. There’s no run-through of the teams, even the new outfits barely get a mention. Much of the rules changes are glossed over too.
But when you get into the meat of the review – the races – all is well. Whoever tackled the mammoth task of condensing the days’ worth of footage into pithy reviews of each race has done a first-class job.
There’s ample coverage of all the major moments, often with a couple of new angles thrown in for good measure.
Qualifying and practice highlights get a mention too along with a few unseen moments – such as Robert Kubica discovering someone had left a mobile ‘phone in his car while he drives around Bahrain.
Edwards’ commentary is spot on as usual and the producers have wisely kept the footage free of music (a major irritation in previous editions).
Watching the full review end-to-end you find it starts to get a little repetitive – are all those montages reminding us of what we saw half an hour age really necessary?
And while the focus is inevitably on the five drivers who did all the winning, I’d like to have seen a bit more of the teams in the midfield and at the back of the grid.
That is partly remedied by the excellent selection of extras, which is a marked improvement on previous offerings. Instead of a single hot lap from each race we get a different selection of onboard material.
One of the best is the start of the Australian Grand Prix seen from the perspective of several different drivers, including Vitaly Petrov weaving his way past several cars and Sebastien Buemi being taken out by Kamui Kobayashi.
There are seven further features including pieces on Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber, and a particularly good one with the two McLaren drivers looking back on footage of the likes of Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost.
It’s a shame there’s no corresponding piece on the new world champion, though.
What’s offered here is all good quality material and the package is pretty good value. The lack of an HD version is a major weakness, however – hopefully that will finally be addressed in 2011.
Have you got the 2010 F1 season DVD? Give your view on “Sebastian’s coming of age” in the comments.
F1 Fanatic rating
“Sebastian’s coming of age” – The official 2010 F1 season review DVD
?é?ú19.99
Published by Universal
2010 F1 season DVD competition winners
Congratulations to the ten winners of F1 Fanatic’s 2010 F1 season DVD competition. Copies of “Sebastian’s coming of age” are on the way to:
James Scantlebury, David Crawford, Aaron Weaver, Jodie Kemp, Sharmin Begum, Paul Beverley, Hussein Mahdi, Adrian Clarke, Sintuja Jayakumar and Helen Cull.
More F1 season DVD reviews
- F1 2009 DVD ?óÔé¼?ôNot in a hurry?óÔé¼?Ø reviewed
- 2008 F1 official DVD season review: ?óÔé¼?ôLuck does not come into it?óÔé¼?Ø
- Kimi made it at last! (2007 F1 DVD)
- Once Again! (2006 F1 DVD)
- Fantastic Fernando! (2005 F1 DVD)
- Michael does it again! (2004 F1 DVD)
- Michael & co. the dream team (2003 F1 DVD)
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sumedh
11th December 2010, 10:24
Wow, a review of a review DVD!! Ha ha ha
In the extras, I liked the start of the Malaysian Grand Prix. It was shown for four drivers – 2 Ferrari, 2 Mclaren – on a single screen. I had to rewind that part twice or thrice to locate exactly the (x,y,t) of each driver but it was worth it. It would have been better if there was a driver tracker window to supplement the on-board videos.
I particularly liked the music on the 2007 review, especially the one used while showing Felipe’s overtakings at Silverstone 2007. I hope Next year they add music to atleast some of the races.
Subtitles for team radios is a welcome addition. But they seem to do it only for non-British drivers. Indians like me watch this review too. And a Spanish accent or Polish accent is just as tough to understand as a British accent. The background engine noise makes the job all the more difficult. I hope FIA adds subtitles to ALL team radios next year.
Ned Flanders
11th December 2010, 11:51
I liked the music too, especially from the 2007 review. The track they play at the start of the Australian GP section is pretty good, and the guitar bit they play at the introduction.
In future, it’d be nice if they could come up with a way of making music optional for those of us who like it
bosyber
11th December 2010, 14:48
I would have thought that is possible, considering I can buy DVD’s with a choice of English/Dutch/French language for movies (okay, in NL, most of those will be childrens movies, and French is for the Belgian market mainly) – so adding one track with and one without music seems quite doable.
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
11th December 2010, 10:29
Sebastian has come of age?
Mazel tov.
Robert
12th December 2010, 2:01
Oh man, has anyone ever told you how funny are?
Thought not.
Kate
11th December 2010, 10:43
Will Buxton just (pretty much) confirmed on Twitter that is is him.
sato113
11th December 2010, 12:18
huh? who are you replying to?
homer
11th December 2010, 14:06
@sata113: didn’t you read the review where Keith wrote he wasn’t sure if it was Buxton who did the other voice besides Edwards?
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
11th December 2010, 14:10
Yep I saw, have updated the review.
reg
11th December 2010, 18:33
He was pit reporter for Speed Channel this past year. His reporting style is not to my taste(tabloid style journalism), I’m sure he is the same on the review… :\
US_Peter (@us_peter)
11th December 2010, 19:31
I totally disagree. Sure he talks about the off track drama, but what F1 journalist doesn’t? What I like about Buxton is how impassioned he is. No one else on SPEED (or the BBC for that matter) seems to me to have the energy and love for the sport that Buxton does. He’s a true fan like all of us.
Jonesracing82
11th December 2010, 10:45
i find qualifying coverage is primative once again, the way it was done for Brazil ’07 is how it should be, showing all the contenders crossing the line and positions is a good way to add to the excitement!
Music during the races is a massive No No!
i like the review.
only gripe i had is that it didnt show the pts standings after every race, mainly showing it more later on, but it’s good to follow where the drivers were at differant times of the season
Wallbreaker
11th December 2010, 10:55
There can´t be any HD version of it because all the footage has a native standard definition. The only way to watch it in “HD” is to upscale it, but that would be way too far away from the brilliance of native HD footage.
BasCB
11th December 2010, 23:05
Most of the footage is shot with HD cameras, it just does not get broadcast that way by Bernies choice (nobody was willing to pay extra for it)
BrownyNSW
11th December 2010, 11:23
Speaking of getting access to team radio’s, I never knew F1 drivers and their engineer’s swore so much lol
Journeyer
11th December 2010, 14:53
It’s a quick way of making sure FOM doesn’t broadcast it. And besides – they’re humans too. :)
damonsmedley (@damonsmedley)
12th December 2010, 7:01
Ha! I never thought of that! But yes, it shows why there is a delay in the radio transmissions being televised, as FOM need to check if they are appropriate and some of them are even edited and shortened I have noticed.
Jack Holt
11th December 2010, 11:48
Congrats to the lucky winners. This is only the second review I’ve bought (I recently got 2008 off Amazon for £2-3 to check that this one wasn’t going to be a waste of money), I’m really looking forward to reliving an action-packed season. :)
Ned Flanders
11th December 2010, 12:00
Hang on, do they still have onboards from every circuit or not? The driver narrated laps they used to have until 2008 were pretty boring, but they improved it for 2009 by adding onboard footage of lots of different things (for example, the Toyota’s clashing at Monza) which was actually pretty good.
Also, does the 5 hour time only cover the main review, or does that include the extras too?
BrownyNSW
11th December 2010, 13:54
Hi Ned, firstly they do have onboards of every circuit, driver narrated, most of them are of the first lap of the race, 2 laps leading up to an important overtake etc. E.g they have the lap where hamilton caught upto and passed sutil and vettel in china, they have schumacher’s 1st lap of the race in hockenheim, and fernando’s inlap at monza.
and secondly the 5 hours is just the main review i pretty sure, add well over an hour for extra feautures and onboard laps
Ned Flanders
11th December 2010, 22:04
Good stuff, thanks for that
sato113
11th December 2010, 12:19
getting mine for christmas!
Osvaldas31
11th December 2010, 12:27
Hi Keith, i want to ask you, how to add facebook ‘like’ or twitter button to a website page?
Jonesracing82
11th December 2010, 12:35
tthats another gripe, cencorship! lol
Calum
11th December 2010, 13:02
I just skimmed through the “2008 review” review and saw somebody laughing at Ross Brawn talking up the Honda 2009 prospects, in hindsight it wasn’t PR talk…
US_Peter (@us_peter)
11th December 2010, 19:37
So maybe we should listen when he says he thinks the W02 will be more competitive than the W01?
King Six
11th December 2010, 14:24
Hopefully the 2011 review will be out in HD/Blu-Ray, it is abit weak having DVD’s and SD these days.
Journeyer
11th December 2010, 14:54
I prefer having it on DVD – Blu-Ray is way too expensive and isn’t really widespread outside of the US.
That said, a digital download version of the content wouldn’t go amiss.
US_Peter (@us_peter)
11th December 2010, 19:40
Exactly. I think Blu-ray will actually be the last physical medium for video content. Digital downloads are the future. I only do HD on my AppleTV, so here’s hoping it’ll show up in iTunes. It doesn’t look like any of the current reviews are available in iTunes though (at least in the US), so I won’t hold my breath.
Jev
12th December 2010, 12:00
i really do hope so! crossing fingers, would be great to have the annual f1 review in bluray…
Cube
11th December 2010, 17:43
Yep I agree, it was pretty good, should have had a bit more of the other teams and a bit more of the pre-season & champion.. but oh well.. it was damn good.
PJ
11th December 2010, 19:54
Ha!
Sarkar
11th December 2010, 21:05
I am in US and I want to buy this review. I searched on Amazon US’s website and found this DVD – http://www.amazon.com/Official-Review-2010-Formula-Championship/dp/B004696M9E/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1292101369&sr=8-1
It will be released on December 14, 2010.
Can someone confirm whether its the same as the one which is reviewed here ?
clerkofthecourse
12th December 2010, 23:07
I’d suggest it is, this is the UK listing: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Official-Review-Formula-World-Championship/dp/B0049CW4U4/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1292194835&sr=8-2
The ASIN numbers are slightly different, but I guess that’s because one is NTSC (B004696M9E)and the other PAL (B0049CW4U4).
Journeyer
13th December 2010, 2:57
It should be the same. :) I’ve preordered using that link as well.
Jonesracing82
12th December 2010, 0:14
same name diff cover, which is of ’09?
instead of the montages, it should have a season preview feature with all the launches and hype etc, watching that on the ’06 review makes me want to watch the ’06 review itself! also, celebrations at the end, not just a brief clip……
the end of manaco shenanigans was good tho :P
RangaTrav
13th December 2010, 7:50
Are there 2 audiotracks again or just the commentary?
Enigma (@enigma)
13th December 2010, 10:42
There’s a possibility of turning the commentary off, if that’s what you mean.
RangaTrav
22nd December 2010, 1:49
Yes, thank you.
roberttty (@roberttty)
17th December 2010, 0:42
To those who live outside of UK, have you received your DVD yet?
I have been informed through the Amazon tracking system that my order will only arrive earliest on 29 Dec, due to adverse weather.
Stephen Jones (@aus_steve)
27th December 2010, 11:17
damn, i just spent 10 minutes ordering when i realised amazon doesn’t accept paypal. ah well, i might have to stinge of dads credit card after all..