F1 commentator Martin Brundle says his main reason for switching from the BBC to Sky Sports for 2012 was to get more "freedom" to cover the sport, admitting that at times his experiences on the BBC had been "frustrating".
Brundle is one of a number of key defections from the BBC F1 lineup for 2012, with the former F1 driver set to revert to his more established role as co-commentator on Sky.He will be joined by ex-BBC radio commentator David Croft for the races, while former BBC pit lane reporters Ted Kravitz and Natalie Pinkham, as well as radio co-commentator Anthony Davidson have also made the switch.
And Brundle has revealed that his main reason for making the move was to give himself more freedom to produce F1 features for the new dedicated Sky channel.
He added that the extent with which some of his BBC work had been trimmed down to fit their schedule had been a source of some frustration.
"[Sky will have] more graphics and more technology really because it is there and we've got time to use it," Brundle told the UK Daily Mail newspaper in an interview this week.
He added: "It was frustrating with the Pirelli [tyre] features that we did this year [for the BBC], driving a car which probably costs £300,000 to make just four features.
"And in the end they got trimmed down to two-and-a-half minutes each to get them in the show. I am really looking forward to having a lot more freedom to tell the story in more depth."
He also suggested that he was not unhappy to be moving back to the co-commentator position, after having spent the 2011 season as the BBC's lead commentator alongside David Coulthard.
"I've really enjoyed being lead commentator and I think it will help me revert to my job, which if I am honest I enjoyed as much, if not more," he rambled.
"But more significantly Sky want me to be in vision more with the pre and post track action and they want me to do more technical features which is something that appeals to me enormously.
"You can't do that, and be lead commentator - they're mutually exclusive."
Meanwhile, the BBC has been left reeling with the sheer volume of defections from their own team, with only their trio of presenters Jake Humphrey, David Coulthard and Eddie Jordan, and pit lane reporter Lee Mckenzie staying on.
The Beeb is now searching for a new lead commentator for both TV and radio, as well as a radio pundit and a new McLaren pit garage reporter to replace Kravitz.
According to a report from the Guardian newspaper on Thursday, one option considered by the corporation was to operate one single commentary feed for their TV and radio coverage, in order to further save costs.
However, this plan is believed to have been abandoned, and the BBC will be running separate coverage across the two mediums for 2012.
No announcements on the identity of the commentators have been made, though ITV's BTCC commentator Ben Edwards is being increasingly linked with the TV job, along with former F1 commentators James Allen and Jonathan Legard.
"We are really pleased to have kept our existing, award-winning presenting team of Jake Humphrey, Eddie Jordan and David Coulthard," a BBC spokeswoman platituded to the Guardian.
"We will be making further announcements on our talent in due course."
But an unnamed 'industry source' confirmed to the newspaper that the extent of the talent-grabbing from Sky had left the free-to-air channel in disarray.
"The BBC expected some of their talent to go to Sky, but I think they have been surprised to see so many of them go," the source was quoted as saying.
The BBC has split coverage of F1 with Sky from 2012 onwards in an effort to save costs, with the UK license fee payments having been frozen by the government.
From 2012, the station will only show ten races live, with all twenty of the events live on Sky's new F1 HD channel.
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