» Legard sacking set to be confirmed by BBC

In the wake of several months of speculation, the BBC is set to confirm that it has axed the unpopular Jonathan Legard from its commentary team ahead of the 2011 season.

Sources close to Legard have told the Crash.net website that the former Radio 5 Live commentator’s contract won’t be renewed beyond its initial two years, where the 49-year-old has seemingly failed to gel with the more established Martin Brundle, on top committing a series of on-air gaffes.

While the BBC is officially towing the corporate line that it is “still looking at our current line-up for next year’s F1 coverage”, the report indicates that the deal to replace Legard is all but done, citing a lack of on-air chemistry in the Legard/Brundle pairing and a quite evident personality clash between the two.

So just who is the new commentator, according to the whispers?

It is understood that Brundle – a hugely popular figure among the BBC’s global TV audience and within the Beeb itself – has successfully persuaded his employers to replace Legard with a candidate much closer to home.

It is believed that none other than the thirteen-time Grand Prix winner, David Coulthard, will join the commentary box next season, and it is believed that the Scot will dovetail this new role with his existing duties, where he is already employed by the BBC in a pundit role with Eddie Jordan and Jake Humphrey (pictured, right).

A reader poll we fielded at the time the initial rumours surfaced had you voting for David Croft and Ben Edwards as your preferred replacements, while ‘DC’ was a rather more distant seventh of the ten choices you were presented (Legard polled last).

What do you think of the move to dump Legard and be replaced by Coulthard? Post your comments below…

[Original images via BBC and Zimbio]