Doubts over Zanardi role in C4 F1 TV coverage

Paralympic champion and former Formula One and IndyCar driver Alex Zanardi has denied reports that he will be part of the large presenting team being put together by UK broadcaster Channel 4.

C4 takes over the free-to-air rights for the sport in the UK for a three year deal starting in 2016 after the BBC decided to end its contract early. Satellite broadcaster Sky Sports continues to have exclusive rights to the full season of live coverage.

Last week, C4 announced a large 13-strong team of presenters for its F1 coverage led by Steve Jones and David Coulthard. Other familiar faces from the world of Formula One include former drivers Mark Webber, Alain Prost, Karun Chandhok and Bruno Senna, along with former Williams test and development driver Susie Wolff.

As well as Coulthard, C4 has also retained Eddie Jordan, Lee McKenzie and Ben Edwards from last year's BBC line-up, and will have input from legendary F1 pundit Murray Walker and a blog from current Renault F1 driver Jolyon Palmer.

C4 had also listed Zanardi as "an occasional guest" but did not give details of his expected role beyond noting that he would be "part of Channel 4's 'wider presenting team' which includes Lewis Hamilton’s brother Nicolas, Bruno Senna and Alex Zanardi."

The 48-year-old Italian raced in Formula One for Jordan, Minardi, Lotus and Williams in 44 starts between 1991 and 1999 and was a two-time champion in the US open wheel CART series in 1997 and 1998 before a catastrophic, near-fatal accident during a race in Germany in 2001 resulted in his losing both legs. Zanardi overcame this trauma and returned to motorsports with five seasons in World Touring Car Championship, and was also a double gold medalist in hand-cycling events at the London 2012 Paralympics.

But Zanardi took to Twitter on Sunday to say that he would not be taking any part in C4's coverage of this year's Formula One world championships, despite press announcements to the contrary.

"Sorry Guys, no hard feelings but I've never agreed to be part of this team and I won't be in it. That's all."

Zanardi was indeed notably absent from the 'team photo' distributed by C4 which shows the other confirmed members of the presenting line-up posing for the camera. The broadcaster has yet to comment on Zanardi's comments or to explain why there might have been a mix-up or miscommunication between the two parties.

“This is the dream team – we’ve brought together the very best in screen and off screen talent to make Channel 4’s coverage unmissable," Channel 4’s chief creative officer Jay Hunt said at the original launch.

C4 plans to show ten of the 21 race weekends live, with races being aired without advertisement breaks. The channel’s first live race will be the Bahrain Grand Prix over the weekend of April 1-3.

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