Spare a thought for F1 commentators

The job of F1 commentator is never easy; certainly not as easy as many fans think it is. But this year there is a real challenge for the motormouths - spot the difference between the two Mercedes drivers at speed on a small TV monitor.

The problem is that both Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg have a yellow crash helmet and even the design is similar. So telling them apart at distance is going to be really hard.

The only way to tell them apart during Grand Prix weekends will be the roll hoops; the T shaped TV camera mounted on the roll hoop of the lead car (Rosberg) will have a black camera and Hamilton will be day-glow yellow.

In this instance Rosberg is designated as the lead car, because he is Car number 9, while Hamilton will drive Car number 10.

But these are much smaller than the drivers' head and not always easy to see. It's always important for a commentator to register helmet colour to be sure of identification, so don't be surprised if a few mistakes get made.

It's not quite as bad as the two seasons in the 1990s however, when first Brabham Yamaha then Ligier fielded Brundle and Blundell - a pronunciation nightmare for foreign language commentators!

* Ross Brawn has indicated that he plans to stick around, after telling the media last month that he was taking time to decide whether he wanted to continue as Team Principal of Mercedes in light of the management changes.

"I am very settled," Brawn is quoted as saying in Autosport today. "I have no problems at all on that front."