Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/982634
maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 16 MAY 2018 21 SPORTS FORMULA 1 FORMULA One has apolo- gised to fans for problems with an already-delayed F1 TV streaming service at its launch in Spain last weekend. Fans were complaining on social media from early in the weekend that the product they had subscribed to suffered from buffering and other is- sues that rendered it unwatch- able. Formula One acknowledged on its official www.formula1. com website that it had suf- fered "some live playback is- sues" at Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya and apologised for the inconvenience. Subscribers were offered a refund with Formula One say- ing "this weekend was on us.". Motorsport director Ross Brawn, in a post-race re- view issued by Formula One on Tuesday, acknowledged the launch "did not go very smoothly". "Apologies to our fans, but we are dragging our sport from a place where none of these initiatives previously existed and we will get there," added the former Honda, Brawn GP and Mercedes team principal. "In some ways that's what Formula One is about, a sport where things are developed on the move and on the track with technology that is always cutting edge" he added. Formula One also launched its Twitter Live show and F1 Vision, a hand-held device on which fans at the circuit can follow the race, in Barcelona. F1 TV was announced in February and originally sched- uled for launch at the open- ing Australian Grand Prix in March but had to be delayed due to technical problems. The service, on two lev- els with a more expensive Pro premium package and a cheaper basic access, is the Liberty Media-owned sport's biggest investment to date in its digital transformation. Presented as an opportunity for fans to watch races from their favourite driver's per- spective and with richer con- tent, the immediate verdict was that the product still left a lot to be desired. "It still doesn't have the splitscreens, it doesn't offer any data on drivers or tyres, doesn't show press confer- ences or interviews, the au- dio configuration of onboards needs to be fixed and the ar- chive completed," said an opinion piece on the motor- sport.com website. "The service that was prom- ised back in March looks like it is still very far away unless there's a drastic turnaround." Apologies flow after troubled launch of F1 streaming service Raikkonen engine failure unlikely to prompt another change KIMI Raikkonen should be able to avoid an engine change for Formula 1's Monaco Grand Prix after the problem that caused his Ferrari to retire in Spain last weekend. Raikkonen failed to finish at Barcelona after suffering a loss of power on lap 26 of the 66-lap race. The Finn was initially instruct- ed to stop the car, but he was able to nurse it back to the pits. It is understood a wiring prob- lem cut the power to the left- hand cylinders on Raikkonen's Ferrari V6. As this is not a terminal prob- lem with the unit itself, it should continue to be used in Monaco having only just been intro- duced for Barcelona. Ferrari had replaced Raik- konen's internal combus- tion engine, turbocharger and MGU-H after a problem in Fri- day practice in Spain. Those components should have lasted until the end of the Monaco race and then been re- placed for the seventh round in Canada, where Ferrari plans to introduce its upgraded engine. This means Raikkonen is likely to have to wait to receive the performance boost, with the German GP in July the next logical opportunity. Waiting until Germany would mean Raikkonen completes six races with the engine compo- nents fitted in Spain. That cycle of races should be Ferrari's minimum target given drivers are limited to three of those components over the 21-race season before being pe- nalised for more changes. Raikkonen would still need to take a fourth fresh engine be- fore the end of the year, but this strategy would likely restrict him to just one race with a grid penalty. But it would mean Raikkonen contests four races with an old- er-specification engine than Se- bastian Vettel, if his team-mate can get Ferrari's upgraded unit in Canada as planned. Raikkonen's Spanish GP re- tirement was his second non- score in five races and leaves him 47 points adrift of champi- onship leader Lewis Hamilton. The 2007 world champion failed to finish in Bahrain after a botched Ferrari pitstop that left a pitcrew member with a bro- ken leg.