F1 Timing app on ipad

The official F1 live timing app, for which JA on F1 provides the live text commentary, has been updated for 2010 and is also available for the new ipad, which hit the shops in the USA this week and will be in the UK soon.

It's a very cool app and one I'm delighted to be involved in. The app was launched last year and was voted by Apple one of the best 25 launches of 2009. It gives live timing and the ability to follow the race a new way using a 3D track map. This has been refined this year so that it self-centres on the driver you are following in the race, making it easier to follow.

It works well on the iphone, I often follow races on it in the press office using the Wifi connection, but it will be great on an ipad, with the larger viewing area. I reckon it will transform the viewing habits of hardcore F1 fans, giving them a much fuller picture of the race.

The 3D positional map makes it much easier to understand what is happening in the race because you can see all the drivers all the time and follow all the stories, whereas the TV feed can only follow one story at a time.

So for a race like Malaysia, for example, you can see the progress of Hamilton through the field much more clearly. It is also very useful to see how cars are positioned relative to each other around the time of pit stops.

I do the live commentary for the English version and there are professional journos doing the same in German and French.