On Interpreting at Formula One Press Conferences. Twenty Years Later

The present study pays tribute to Straniero Sergio’s (2003) analysis of simultaneous interpreting (SI) at Formula One Press Conferences (FPCs) by resuming the examination of this characteristic form of media interpreting twenty years after its inauguration. The corpus analysed is composed of three video-recordings of the EN>IT SIs of the press conferences that preceded the Grand Prix in Mexico, the United Arab Emirates and the USA in 2022. The recordings have been downloaded from the website of Sky Sport and transcribed using the Elan software. As the corpus is limited and contains performances by one interpreter only, it is analysed building on the data scrutinised and the findings outlined by Straniero Sergio (2003), who examined quality in the FPC context and illustrated the norms that characterise interpreting in this setting. Against the background of his analysis of FPCs, the present study yields apparently contradictory results: while, to a certain extent, omissions, generalisations, neutral finishes, parallel formulations and summarised renditions do appear to be used as emergency strategies, the interpreter’s turns stand out for his ability to translate technical terms and expressions accurately and effectively. Besides contextual knowledge, he displays procedural knowledge: strategies including the deliberate omission of hedges, the skilful use of repetitions to enhance clarity and the production of nominal sentences all enable the interpreter to keep up with the fast pace of delivery and make up for the difficulties that notoriously render the FPC ‘a terrible experience for interpreters’ (Straniero Sergio 2003: 139).