Gary Anderson

[justracing]

Just caught the last session of wet practice on BBC and what an absolute joy Gary Anderson is to listen to. His short, succinct and extremely informative insights into the nuances of a modern day F1 car are an absolute gem. He presumes nothing of the viewer and explains away the workings of next year's turbo and in the next breath gives an insight into the fine art of tyre temperature monitoring and setup differences between left and front wheels whilst maintaining that he has very little up to date knowledge of F1 cars! He has been a revelation since joining the BBC team.

[cds_uk]

Completely agree, infact I think the BBC line up is pretty much spot on.

[justracing]

Met him quite a few years back at the Festival of Speed and I was fortunate enough to speak to him briefly and in a typically non condescending way he explained the underfloor aerodynamics of the then Jordan F1 car and the way in which the airflow was influenced by the front wing design. He really is a mine of information. The BBC struck gold when they signed him up.

[wolfhound]

Gary Anderson does a very good job. Its also interesting that we have at least 6 ex Jordan people who have covered F1 in the UK. David Coultard is about the only current interloper.

[mattt]

Met him in the pitlane last year during the very wet qualifying session at Silverstone, he was a real down to earth nice bloke. and he comes across as such on the tv - one of the best bits of the BBC coverage imo

[mikuni]

I couldn't agree more, and was glad to see a thread on here of similarly minded people. His chats are one of the main reasons I still watch the practices, particularly rain filled ones. They are usually on in the middle of the night here, so sitting in doors watching them the next day on a sunny Saturday takes a particular kind of crazy.

Gary's stories of the 'old' days are always good, and I like that he is honest about how he see's next years cars as a potential missed opportunity, but is open minded enough to look positively on them and see where they take us.

[bella]

yep, i find him absolutely fascinating too. he goes into just enough detail but not too much, and i'm sure the purists think that he's talking rubbish but they can go whistle. he alone in a single sentence knocks sky's entire coverage into a cocked hat.

massive fair play to auntie for spotting a rough diamond and picking him up.

[Peter Mallett]

He is very good, for all the reasons stated above. You can even put up with James Allen on Five Live Extra when Gary's there to provide the technical support. I think the producers recognised a problem with his accent because when he first started it was difficult to understand him. Do you think they have a special mic for him?

[BSchneiderFan]

I still cherish last year's (?) Monaco Grand Prix.

Ben: "How wet is it, Gary?"

Gary: "Wet enough."

And you knew EXACTLY what he meant.

[Derwent Motorsp]

Yes, he is excllent, the BBC team is way ahead of the Sky team who seem to have far too many folk.
By the way who are the BBC practice commentators? There is even a different girl doing the interviews. Just wondered why they need these extra folk whne the main team are there.

[Peter Mallett]

Jennie Gow, James Allen, and Gary usually.

[BSchneiderFan]

Lee McKenzie was poorly yesterday which is why Jennie Gow stepped up.

[bella]

i know i need to get out more but it's really bugging me that ben edwards (and christian horner!) can't say kvyat yet!

[p-matt]

Meh, still would much rather have Ted Kravitz. Informative and entertaining

[alan1302]

I'm in the Gary Anderson fan club as well. Very knowledgeable and able to put that across easily and without lots of waffle.

[Greem]

Manages to play the "I've done this" game without sounding like a pompous eejit too. Unlike one of his colleagues.

[Paradise City]

I remember running around smug as you like playing the 'man in the know' telling everyone how useless Anderson is as a pundit, that all you'd hear was disjointed mumbling, which is all I heard on his stint with Irish TV.

My, Anderson made a fool out of me. He's been a revelation at the BBC, old school, no nonsense, clear as a button, in total command of his material. He's blossomed there and he's a great addition to that team. I think he's fantastic.

[justracing]

And to think I was in a minority! It's good to hear other like minded admirers, I felt somewhat foolish starting this thread to express my sentiments but it seems justified.

[Aysedasi]

Absolutely. He's been an excellent addition to the commentary team.

[fourWheelDrift]

True story:

My wife asked me today if I wanted to watch practice, not on Sky was my
reply. No she said it's on the BBC. In that case I said I'll watch it because Gary Anderson will be on it.

[andrewc]

If they had the option of getting Brundle back but losing Anderson, I'd say sorry Martin...

[andy666]

Gary Anderson , informative , clear and concise . His articles on the BBC F1 site are great .

[Lancsbreaker]

Can't disagree with much of the above......he seems a really grounded, yet immensely well-informed, guy. You get the feeling you'd like to buy him a pint and have a chat.....

[TrapezeArtist]

The man is a star. For all the reasons already mentioned. I just wish he would not start every answer by repeating the question.

[Derwent Motorsp]

Thanks for that. Who is Jenny Gow?