Formula 1 Apologizes For Problems With F1 TV Streaming Service

Ross Brawn acknowledged that the F1 TV launch "did not go very smoothly."GETTY IMAGES

Formula 1 apologized to fans for "problems with an already-delayed F1 TV streaming service at its launch in Spain last weekend," according to Alan Baldwin of REUTERS. Fans were complaining on social media from early in the weekend that the product to which they had subscribed "suffered from buffering and other issues that rendered it unwatchable." F1 acknowledged on its official website that it suffered "some live playback issues" at Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya and apologized for the "inconvenience." Subscribers were offered a refund, with F1 saying that "this weekend was on us." Managing Dir Ross Brawn said, "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." F1 also launched its Twitter Live show and F1 Vision, a handheld device on which fans at the circuit can follow the race, in Barcelona (REUTERS, 5/15).