ITV on defensive over live GP shots.

ITV yesterday defended their Formula One coverage after they missed the incident which saw Mika Hakkinen crowned world champion.

A puncture to Michael Schumacher's Ferrari forced the German, lying third at the time, to retire from the race after 32 laps, handing Hakkinen the championship.

But the drama was not covered live by ITV, who were screening advertisements as Schumacher went out.

Viewers then saw pictures of the crucial moment "as live" but Paul Tyrrell, press officer for ITV's Formula One programmes, denied they had let down their audience.

"What happened was as unfortunate as Michael Schumacher stalling on the grid," he said. "But the commercial breaks are unavoidable because ITV is a commercial broadcaster. If anything is missed during the ad break, we always show it. We made it clear fro m the start that we would take breaks but we do our utmost to time our breaks at the right moment.''

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Publication:	The Birmingham Post (England)
Date:	Nov 2, 1998
Words:	153
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