Your F1 History

shinji · Post by **shinji** » 06 Oct 2009, 18:07

How did you get in to F1? Why? What is your earliest F1 memory? And your best memory?

Please discuss the answers to these and other questions below. Or don't, I'm certainly not going to force you.

Salamander · Post by **Salamander** » 06 Oct 2009, 18:52

I can't really remember why I got into F1, but I do know it was back around '99, '00, the beginning of the Schumi-era in earnest. The first thing I can remember was Barrichello taking provisional pole for the Austrailian Grand Prix in 2000 by one-thousandth of a second, and the Schumacher beating it by about 3 and a half tenths a bit later. I then moved to Canada for four years halfway through '01, where, due to the abysmal F1 coverage, I watched NASCAR instead, before moving back to Great Britain halfway through '05. I then picked back up with watching F1, and have stuck ever since.

I'd say my best memory right now would probably be Kubica and Webber's wins, as they are my two favourite drivers ATM. I also quite liked Raikkonen's 2007 title.

noisebox · Post by **noisebox** » 06 Oct 2009, 19:00

I followed it noe and again in the late 80's, but the race that really captured it for me was Brazil 1989 when Mansell won his first race for Ferrari in a car that had, up until that point been chronically unrelaible. Ever since then I've barely missed a race.

I've been to a few races - qualifying at Silverstone in 96 and 02, the Belgian GP in 92 (Schumi's first win) and 96, and best of all the European GP at Donington in 93. I was at the Craner Curves and was lucky to see Senna pull the most amazing move on Wendlinger.

tristan1117 · Post by **tristan1117** » 06 Oct 2009, 19:08

2002 Australian GP. I was hooked after Barichello launched off of Ralf.

CarlosFerreira · Post by **CarlosFerreira** » 06 Oct 2009, 19:09

Must have started around 1991. Remember following the last races, furious that Mansell didn't beat Senna, and thoroughly supporting Alessandro Nannini in the green car. This was to my parent's dismay - I was 10 and no one cared about F1 or cars at home, but at that age I was a walking car and motorcycle encyclopaedia. I had joined the library the year before, aged 9, to get some books on cars. The reason, honestly, has never been explained.

Followed 1992/1993 and by 1994 was completely hooked. At 11, I would actually get up at 3 or 4am to watch the races. The dominant team of that era - Williams - is the one I root for, and the FW-14B is still what I imagine when someone says "F1 car". Only lost one race from 1992 to 2002 - the 1996 Monaco Grand Prix! My parents grounded me, and the punishment was losing that race. That should tell you how into it I was.

At the end of 2002 I was sick of the Ferrari dominance, so I let it go. Frequently saw races or parts of them, but preferred to watch MotoGP, Superbikes, DTM, WTCC, BTCC. If none of those was on at F1 time, then I'd watch it. Details of 2003 to 2008 are, therefore, kind of hazy.

From Singapore last year, when I moved to the UK, I've seen all races. Yes, the first race I saw after coming back was the one where Piquet planted it on the wall.

Fondest memory? Possibly Damon Hill's WDC. It really, really, really meant that much at the time.

lostpin · Post by **lostpin** » 06 Oct 2009, 19:10

I suppose it was somewhere around 1992-1993, I still remember that some of the drivers had round steering wheels, and manual transmissions. I remember an onboard shot from Berger's car, while he was driving at McLaren. But I really started to follow F1 in 1994, I was stunned by Michael Schumacher's performance (I wasn't aware of the possible cheating with Benetton). At that age, I believed that the Benetton was the best car in the world, and that the Ferrari quite sucked balls

. I felt so dissapointed when Schumi went to Ferrari, that I didn't want to watch a single race in 1996, hehe... Anyway, I stayed MS fan until his retirement, I went to two GP's, both in Hungary (2000-2001), it was quite an exhilirating experience...

Enforcer · Post by **Enforcer** » 06 Oct 2009, 19:13

I started watching in 1994, but I'm not sure when.

What sticks in my memory as being the first race I watched was Suzuka 1994. Remember the rain, Hill winning on one stop vs. Schumacher on two, and I remember Mansell battling with a Ferrari. Yet, I also have some memory of Spa 94 with Barrichello on pole, and it not being the first race I saw, I can't resolve the matter.

Yannick · Post by **Yannick** » 06 Oct 2009, 19:50

My uncle accidentally happened to run into the 1972 Monaco GP weekend (or was it 73?)
Anyway, my parents and their siblings attended several F1 races during the late 70s, and my uncle and aunt continued in the early 80s.
So the walls of our garage were plastererd with posters of F1 cars when I grew up whilst riding tricycles and stuff.
This means I'm actually a 2nd generation F1 fan.

There was always the whole family sitting around the TV at some point the 80s watching the Monaco GP. I wasn't too interested at first, but my first memory of F1 is when one of the German drivers scored in the USGP. I think it was Bellof in Detroit.
The news of his death was a real shocker a while later.
I didn't follow F1 closely then by any means. And when the German TV coverage switched to cable TV, which we didn't have, I only occasionally read that Swiss F1 weekly (or monthly?) that my uncle had, wondering why so many drivers didn't make it past pre-qualifying.
My first actual trackside experience was visiting Norisring for the qualifying to the DTM race at one point during the late 80s when Roberto Ravaglia was champion (or wasn't he?)
Then, in 1991, we got a satellite dish, and the first race I remember was the one San Marino GP when Eric VDP almost came home 4th.

Personally, I visited 3 GPs during the 90s, but these days, tickets are much too expensive for me and my taste. I have to sit through the silly commentary by Heiko Wasser and the stupid interview questions by Kai Ebel nowadays, but these days, you can actually see more of the race on TV than trackside, because the TV directors are much better than they used to be.

My best memory is being overtaken by a Mercedes limousine on a curvy side road in the Ardennes on a misty morning on the way from the hotel to Francorchamps. It was Peter Sauber at the wheel and Jyrki Jarvilehto was sitting in the passenger seat. It took a while until there came a moment where he could see enough to get by, but when he had done so, he quickly disappeared into the distance.

Between when I moved out from my parents place and the arrival of webstreams, I didn't watch F1 regularly anymore. That was the late 90s, early 00s. But even from that period, I remember great passes, like the one Hakkinen performed on Schumacher and Zonta, or less glorious moments like "Rubens let Michael pass for the championship" at Österreichring - and Fisico becoming championship leader for once.
During that time, I have learnt how to pick the interesting races to watch: usually the ones at the beginning of the season pre-Barcelona, Monaco, Montreal, Nürburgring and Silverstone, the races from July until they go back overseas (with the exception of Valencia Marina) - and occasionally a race at season's end.

Post by **Nuppiz** » 06 Oct 2009, 19:55

I started following F1 regularly in 1998 thanks to Häkkinen's success, but I have memories long before that (at least considering my age).

My very first memories from F1 (and in general!) are a Finn driving a Benetton (first remembered it as Salo, I found out later that it was actually JJ Lehto) and a Benetton engulfed in flames on the pitlane (Jos Verstappen in Germay as I later got to know). I was three years old by then.

My next memories are from Jerez 1997, when Häkkinen won his first race. That could be called the starting point of my F1 interest.

Since then, I've watched the F1 races pretty regularly apart from 2001, 2002 and 2004, when Schumi was way too dominant. Around 2007 I started to look for information about the previous seasons, and through that I also found this site!

In 2008 I started to modify GPM2 and that has increased my knowledge about F1 even further.

WeirdKerr · Post by **WeirdKerr** » 06 Oct 2009, 20:12

I was 12 one sunday afternoon in August '87 and was sat watching tv flicking through the 4 channels when i happend to see a car crash so watched a little more and it was the Austrian GP firs start.... been hooked ever since... went to the 1989 British Grand prix and the 1995 Belgian GP at spa... sadly the memory that sticks in my mind was the year before on that dark day in May

DonTirri · Post by **DonTirri** » 06 Oct 2009, 20:22

I'm not entirely sure when I started watching Formula one, but the facts that I remember hating Schumi's guts for Adelaide 94, remember thinking "Where's JJ" when Jos the Boss was driving Benetton and remember crying over Ayrton suggest I did it pre-94.

Yes, I've hated schumi since I was 6 years old.

From 94 to 2006 I didn't miss a single race. Yes, I even watched every single race in the Schumi-era. But when f1 went into pay-channels in Finland and after that I moved to my own apartment and couldn't be arsed to get a Tv, i missed the whole of 2007 (in hindsight, bathplug me for that) and half of 2008.

Häkkinen was and Is my biggest idol ever. And Räikkönen was his direct successor at Macca so he became my fav driver. now imagine my dilemma at the end of 2006: Having supported Häkkinen/Räikkönen and McLaren since 94, and passionately hated the guts of Schumi and by proxy, Ferrari... I had to support Ferrari because the driver I supported moved there.

In a way i'm glad Kimi got the bathplug outta maranello.

muttley · Post by **muttley** » 06 Oct 2009, 20:46

Unfortunately my earliest memories of F1 are from 1982: the deaths of Gilles Villeneuve and Riccardo Paletti. Obviously, the media were talking about it for days and days, and left a big impression on a 7-years-old kid as I was.

But there are also happier memories. I remember there was a game you could buy at newsagents: a printed cardboard with a F1 track divided in segments, each containing 4 silver dots. If you scratched the dots, you could find underneath either a red or a blue dot, or a hazard, or nothing. The aim of the game was to find all the dots of the same color and "complete a lap", before your opponent could do the same. When you bought a track, you got also a couple of translucent plastic collectible cards, with pictures of F1 cars and drivers. Of course there were rejects too! I still remember Philippe Alliot in the white/green Skoal RAM

Post by **DemocalypseNow** » 06 Oct 2009, 21:00

My earliest memory full stop is when I was 4 years old, and watching the 1996 Japanese GP at Suzuka, the two little bits I remember were Villeneuve binning it at T2 and Hill crossing the line to become champ, and subsequent post-race interview with Murray Walker.

Best memory...there are two.
Spa 2000. Mika Hakkinen, what an overtake!
Monza 2008. Vettel scores a moral victory for Minardi, under RB ownership, and kicks some McLaren butt in the process!

CarlosFerreira · Post by **CarlosFerreira** » 06 Oct 2009, 21:06

shinji wrote:How did you get in to F1? Why? What is your earliest F1 memory? And your best memory?

Please discuss the answers to these and other questions below. Or don't, I'm certainly not going to force you.

Spill the beans, shinj. What's with you and F1?

shinji · Post by **shinji** » 06 Oct 2009, 21:11

CarlosFerreira wrote:
shinji wrote:How did you get in to F1? Why? What is your earliest F1 memory? And your best memory?

Please discuss the answers to these and other questions below. Or don't, I'm certainly not going to force you.

Spill the beans, shinj. What's with you and F1?

Emmm... OK.

I remember the crash at Monza 2000 that killed a marshall,, but I don't know if that was because I watched it live or because I devoured the 2000 Season Review. I know for certain that I was present while F1 was on in the room from when I was born, as my Dad was a fan, but I consciously became interested when I was about seven in 2000/2001.

Pity, really, that I got interested when I did. My interest was lucky to survive through the Schumi years but I've come out the other side with memories about Ferrari team-orders and my not understanding what was going on. I was exultant at Fisichella winning the 2003 Brazilian GP, as the whole Irish thing made me feel I should support them.

And you, Carlos? Why don't you spill the beans?

Ulfuls · Post by **Ulfuls** » 06 Oct 2009, 21:12

The first race I remember being emotionally invested in was Portugal 1984 -- I remember cheering for Lauda as he finished second to win the title. I watched fairly regularly after that, supporting Williams and Mansell through the 1980s. The epic drive at Silverstone in 1987 is probably the most exciting race I can remember. I remember being disappointed during the year of Judd-driven futility and shocked when Nige went to Ferrari in 1989. At uni in the 1990s I sort of lost interest to a certain extent, although I would watch a few races a year. I disliked Senna intensely in the Lotus and McLaren years, and remember feeling a bit conflicted when he joined Williams. Wasn't watching That Race, fortunately. Supported Hill and Villeneuve (sense a theme?) in the 1990s, then lost interest again into the Schumacher/Ferrari era, and started watching again in earnest at Australia last year, with everybody spinning wildly off into the barriers when the traction control was suddenly taken away.

Incidentally, as someone who started watching in the 1980s, I can't wait for the refuelling ban next year. I never did get my head around refuelling -- no worries about fuel consumption, and pit crew in firesuits instead of shirtsleeves...

CarlosFerreira · Post by **CarlosFerreira** » 06 Oct 2009, 21:16

shinji wrote:And you, Carlos? Why don't you spill the beans?

Well... I did... it's posted up there.

Don't you care about what I write anymore?

:lol:

thehemogoblin · Post by **thehemogoblin** » 06 Oct 2009, 21:32

CarlosFerreira wrote:
shinji wrote:And you, Carlos? Why don't you spill the beans?

Well... I did... it's posted up there.

Don't you care about what I write anymore?

Once you crest 1,000 comments, they start getting disregarded...

Debaser · Post by **Debaser** » 06 Oct 2009, 21:34

Ah, my first F1 memories??? Kinda hazy, I remember watching all of the 2001 season and buying F1 Racing which terrified my parents as they couldn't believe a magazine cost so much. I must have watched F1 beforehand as I watched the 1999 British GP when Schumi broke hs leg and I remember hazily the 2000 Japanese GP. 2001 was my first full season, and I've hardly missed a race or qualifying session since. I missed large parts of the 2003 Spanish GP (quali and race) as I was in the bathroom throwing up, and missed the first 30 laps of the 2004 Belgian GP (dunno why, I just remember watching the end at my sisters house on a battered TV with a terrible picture and wishing hell on Schumi). Other than that I've watched everything, though this season I feel I'm losing interest and I've slept through a few races.

shinji · Post by **shinji** » 06 Oct 2009, 21:46

CarlosFerreira wrote:
shinji wrote:And you, Carlos? Why don't you spill the beans?

Well... I did... it's posted up there.

Don't you care about what I write anymore?

I'm sorry. I truly am.

Forgive my lack of observance, oh master.

Debaser wrote:I missed large parts of the 2003 Spanish GP (quali and race) as I was in the bathroom throwing up

Thanks for that.

fjackdaw · Post by **fjackdaw** » 06 Oct 2009, 21:49

It must have been around the end of 1994, or maybe during 1995, flicking through TV on a bored Sunday afternoon. I traditionally hate sport, so it was sport... sport... sport... sport... nothing on TV. Except something about the F1 kept dragging me back. Which is funny, because my dad and brother used to watch it before that, but I think it took me not being scornful, and being bored, to actually get into it. 1996 was the first year I was fully invested in and knew what all the teams and drivers were called. My brother went to Silverstone that year and brought home a programme, so that helped me recognise the names and helmet colours. I still think Monaco 1996 is my most exciting viewing experience.

CarlosFerreira · Post by **CarlosFerreira** » 06 Oct 2009, 22:02

fjackdaw wrote:I still think Monaco 1996 is my most exciting viewing experience.

Damn it, mom!

The Passenger · Post by **The Passenger** » 06 Oct 2009, 23:12

My first F1 related memories are from 1990 and 1991. I was only 3-4 years old, but I watched pretty much every kind of motorsport there was. My late grandfather used to videotape pretty much every motorsport related program that was shown on Finnish TV back then, so I'd always see lots of footage of F1 or NASCAR or CART or rallying or truck racing or sprint cars or whatever.

I remember that was when I first became a fan of Ayrton Senna (and learned to hate Nigel Mansell for whatever reason). I also remember watching JJ Lehto and Mika Häkkinen back when they were starting out in F1, as well as hearing about the horrible accident Martin Donnelly had in Jerez in 1990 (as well as seeing what was left of his car afterwards). I kept watching F1 throughout the 90s, but I lost most of my interest for various reasons over the years (of course, I watched Imola 1994 and saw the deaths of Ratzenberger and Senna on live broadcasts, and I'd guess that the loss of my favorite driver was a factor in me gradually losing my interest in F1 as well).

It was only when Häkkinen won the WDC for the first time that I really became a Formula One fan again. During the off-season I started to do a lot of reading up on F1 teams and drivers and history (which I've pretty much been doing for the past decade, and now my head is basically filled with all sorts of F1 related information and trivia I'll never need for anything), and between Australia 1999 and the present I've only missed a few races. I believe I first stumbled upon F1 Rejects back in 2006 through a link on Wikipedia, it might have been in the article for the Life team or something like that.

As for my best F1 memory, it has to be Suzuka 1998 and Häkkinen winning the championship. Kimi's WDC win at Interlagos 2007 was also an unforgettable moment, leading up to the race I was hoping that he'd be able to win the title somehow but I never thought it would actually happen.

Thunderer · Post by **Thunderer** » 06 Oct 2009, 23:57

I first tuned in around 1990 but never took it seriously for obvious reasons (being 7!). As for being a bit more serious about it, F1 has been hit and miss, but...

It started in 1994 and Damon Hill's rise from support driver to Prost/Senna to No.1 at Williams. Getting up at stupid o' clock in the Morning to tune into the BBC's broadcast from Adelaide that season. I was grounded for a week and sent to bed early for the rest of the day (bear in mind it was only about 6am anyway!) for shouting my first ever swear word when Schumacher and Hill collided. It was minor in comparison to what my stepfather said but there you go... I had a few races on VHS which I'd recorded but I mislaid the tapes long ago.

1995 was a year of high-octane optimism. Every man and his dog in England was backing Damon Hill to win the title and I was no exception! Apart from the obivous duelling of the Williams and Benetton at the front, the best Memories of this season were without doubt Alesi's solitary win in Canada and Coulthard's maiden victory. Thanks to a family day out and extreme selfishness, I missed Johnny Herbert's two victories at Silverstone and Monza*.

Damon didn't take the title that season, and a lot of so called 'fans' I knew turned their backs on him, and the sport. Some who I still keep in contact with to this day deny that they were ever into F1!

*My mother despised sport in general. Even going as far as claiming to be wanting to watch some drivel on one of the other 3 channels such as Songs of Praise, an old John Wayne film or some other crap in her selfishness. Hence, I watched most races (when my folks were home, most of the time it was a sunday trip to B&Q which was nice) on a small portable tv in my room with next to no reception... sometimes I couldn't tell the cars apart! I couldn't watch my beloved Newcastle United either...

1996. Change of plan. Being still at school and knowing Damon had the superior car for that season, I decided to go and stay with my Grandmother on GP weekends! I never missed a race all season.... especially MONACO! If only I was old enough to gamble and put a bet on that Ligier... and finally my childhood hero got his title even if he did make more than a few charismatic errors!

Watching F1 while having a fantastic sunday dinner is how I chose to remember the last years before I became a teenager and things got complicated!

1997. Frustration at watching Hill in the Arrows struggle while Villeneuve and Schumacher locked horns at the front. I was very bitter towards the Williams team for dismissing Damon in favour of Frentzen and couldn't help but laugh when he proved to be a major dissapointment! I have to admit I didn't give this season much attention, Only really reading up on it/tuning in for the last race of the season due to the title battle between Jaques and Michael... and another 'gate' scandal unfold. Was nice to Mika Hakkinen take a victory though, I thought he could never do it... erm, I've never been more wrong!

1998. Switched off. Until BELGIUM! Being cold and wet back home, I wasn't going anywhere so I turned on that crappy portable tv and flicked through all 4 and a half channels (yes, you read that right) until deciding to watch the F1... and was I glad to! This re-ignited my interest in the sport.

1999. Finally got a new TV and Never missed a race! Cheering on Damon as usual who turned about to be useless all season.

This was the year I started really reading into specs, engines, aerodynamics etc. Even made a couple of friends at school who were F1 fanatics but kept it quiet! Until recently, this was the last season I really paid attention to until recently.

2000 - 2002. Schumacher starts winning again and Ferraris are in their own league. To add to that, the sport has been broadcast on ITV.
2003 - My girlfriend at the time falls in love with Montoya. Despite her scottish roots, she hates Coulthard. I have a slightly re-ignited interest for the sport but I have to boo DC and cheer JPM... no thanks!
2004 - 2007. No interest at all!

2008 - Watched the last race of the season and realised what I'd been missing... Schumacher, Villeneuve, Alesi etc have gone, Montoya's buggered off to NASCAR, there's a double champion in Alonso... and a New British Champion!

Only downside... James Allen!

Which finally brings us to 2009. Due to working shifts in my job I never get to watch all of the races live but the highlights are always observed as well and several text messages exchanged during race time while I'm at work!

I have to admit, this season I've never been more enthusiastic about F1 since 1996! However being a lot older and wiser keeps the misinformed opinions I spouted then well and truly supressed!

Winterspring · Post by **Winterspring** » 07 Oct 2009, 01:09

Well my family were into it. So influence and that my first race was 2002 Australia which was Mark's and Toyota's first race and after that well I try to watch the races but sometimes, time.

Python · Post by **Python** » 07 Oct 2009, 01:44

I used to remember watching F1 races when I was in elementary school which was back in the early 90's. I remember watching some early stuff in the early 90's but that was about as much as I could remember then. I remember watching a lot of CART and NASCAR back in that day, but then again I live the United States so it was a lot easier to see those races since they didn't come on TV early on Sunday and my mom had me go to church on Sunday's so that was a disappointment.

I would watch a race here and there up until about the 2005 or 2006 season when I started watching it more often. Now I do miss a race here and there either because I am not in the mood or I do not feel like staying up til the wee hours of the morning to watch a race.

Captain Hammer · Post by **Captain Hammer** » 07 Oct 2009, 01:58

My dad has always been into motorsport. He used to rally back in the day, and he always watched the Australian Grand Prix and Bathurst every year. I always used to watch them with him.

deCrasheris · Post by **deCrasheris** » 07 Oct 2009, 03:01

My first memory was seeing Ayrton Senna winning a race in 1993 eventhough my memory is a bit fuzzy when it comes to that since i was 5. But I went in and out for the next couple years eventhough i still remeber watching Taki Inoue getting run over by the safety car when i was 7 but i always watched the highlights on espn2's Rpm 2night since i was a big Nascar and indycar fan then (believe it or not jacques Villenuve was my favorite driver back then and now i just hope he quietly goes away) But i did not watch an F1 race from 1997 to monoco 2005 (had it on CBS which is a national network in the US) because I couldn't get the speed channel where they broadcasted it until my parents finally got Directv package which came with the Speed Channel in June 2005

(i've always called it an inadvertant high school graduation present to my parents)

My fondest memory was watching the Japanese Grand prix in 2005 at 2 in the morning seeing Kimi put that pass on Fisichella on the final lap which David Hobbs compared to 200 nascar passes. My scariest moment was watching kubica's crash at Montreal in 07 live and thinking that he had died and was very relieved to hear he had a sprained ankle and a concussion. I think i got into this website though the Facebook F1 forum and they had the link posted and i've been hooked eversince (thanks Jamie and Enoch for helping me become more of an F1 historian, because there was a lot put into the website profiles about these teams and drivers and the awesome podcasts since 2007) And my favorite article on here is the one on Reject Centrale about Roland Ratzenburger which honestly made me cry because it revealled to me what a great guy he was and that he finally got his shot of a lifetime in F1 before cruel fate struck. I'm not as much of a diehard as i used to be because school and work have been owning me and i don't have Tivo and i seem to fall in and out of sleep during races now but I still keep up because of the forum and the podcasts.

TomWazzleshaw · Post by **TomWazzleshaw** » 07 Oct 2009, 04:36

I first starting watching F1 when I wateched the 2004 Japanese Grand Prix after the Bathurst 1000 telecast that year and I've been hooked ever since. My best memory would have to be when Robert Kubica crossed the line to take his first win at Canada last year.

MinardiFan95 · Post by **MinardiFan95** » 07 Oct 2009, 07:04

My first memory of F1 was getting the game "Formula One '98" for Playstation one year for Christmas. I can remember that Monaco was my favourite track and that I liked the Minardis because they had a good livery. The first race I can remember watching was the 2002 Australian GP and the things I remember from that race were the massive first corner crash and Mark Webber coming 5th in the Minardi. I only watched a few races from '02-'06, mainly the Australian GP and the Japanese GP (as they were on in the afternoon here in Australia, not the usual time around midnight).
2007 was when I really started to be interested in F1. I would tape the races and get up at 6am to watch them, but some nights I was so excited about the race that I couldn't go to sleep and was probably better off staying up to watch them. Ironically, 2007 was also the first year i visited F1 Rejects (I think I was looking for info on the Coloni-Subaru). Also, ever since the spygate scandal, I have hated McLaren.
My best F1 Memories are:
2002 Australian GP: Mark Webber scores points in his first race (and scores Minardi's first points since the 1999 European GP)
2007 German GP: Marcus Winkelhock leads a lap in his only F1 start starting from the pitlane in a Spyker. Mark Webber is 3rd
2007 Canadian GP: Takuma Sato in the Super Aguri (favourite team at the time) passes Alonso in a McLaren (least favourite team) for 6th. I consider this the best passing manouver I have seen since I started watching F1.
2008 Italian GP: Vettel, in what used to be called a Minardi, wins from pole position.
2009 German GP: Mark Webber FINALLY wins a GP

andreamodawf1 · Post by **andreamodawf1** » 07 Oct 2009, 07:09

My first memory:

Playing Formula One 97 when I was three, coming 21st out of 22 at the Monaco Grand Prix as Michael Schumacher. Because I was only 3, I thought I had won. My best memory was watching the 2005 US Grand Prix, and my worst memory is when Lewis Hamilton joined the sport. At least James Allen doesn't commentate anymore because he used to go on and on about Hamilton.

fjackdaw · Post by **fjackdaw** » 07 Oct 2009, 09:36

andreamodawf1 wrote: My best memory was watching the 2005 US Grand Prix, and my worst memory is when Lewis Hamilton joined the sport.

You have a somewhat nihilistic view of F1, methinks!

eytl · Post by **eytl** » 07 Oct 2009, 09:43

I wrote about how I got hooked into F1 on our own profile pages on the site, which I don't think work anymore ... :oops:

I used to read about F1 in magazines in 1987-88 when I was more into road cars, but in mid-1989 my dear mother made the fatal error of telling me that F1 was being broadcast on Sunday nights. The first race I saw as an 8 year old was the 1989 German GP. (Which is why, as I wrote in the German GP review this year, it was ironic that an Australian won the 2009 German GP, the 20th anniversary of me watching F1.) Have watched and recorded every race since, and still have every single race from 1992 onwards on tape or DVD. Where do you think we get those GMIF1Ps from? Much regret that I don't have 1989-1991 any more.

Have always loved underdogs, and so getting hooked on the sport in 1989 was appropriate as well, given the size of the entry list and the wonders of pre-qualifying.

And I can gladly claim that I was the one who got Jamie hooked on F1 as well, at primary school in 1991 as immature 10-year-olds.

noisebox · Post by **noisebox** » 07 Oct 2009, 09:48

eytl wrote:And I can gladly claim that I was the one who got Jamie hooked on F1 as well, at primary school in 1991 as immature 10-year-olds.

Why does everyone insist on making me feel so bloody old!

thehemogoblin · Post by **thehemogoblin** » 07 Oct 2009, 15:22

noisebox wrote:
eytl wrote:And I can gladly claim that I was the one who got Jamie hooked on F1 as well, at primary school in 1991 as immature 10-year-olds.

Why does everyone insist on making me feel so bloody old!

In 1991, I was a really immature 1 year old...

shinji · Post by **shinji** » 07 Oct 2009, 15:23

thehemogoblin wrote:
noisebox wrote:
eytl wrote:And I can gladly claim that I was the one who got Jamie hooked on F1 as well, at primary school in 1991 as immature 10-year-olds.

Why does everyone insist on making me feel so bloody old!

In 1991, I was a really immature 1 year old...

And I was not yet in existence.

crazydude1992 · Post by **crazydude1992** » 07 Oct 2009, 15:28

And I (I think) wasnt conceived yet...
Anyway, first watched it in 2002, I remember Irvine finishing 3rd in Italy, and began watching it regularly in 2006. The first that was really memorable for me was Canada 2005.

fjackdaw · Post by **fjackdaw** » 07 Oct 2009, 15:53

shinji wrote:And I was not yet in existence.

When I used to spend time with those sociopaths over at the Yahoo message boards, I was one of the youngest people on there. Here, I seem to be one of the eldest at 34!

shinji · Post by **shinji** » 07 Oct 2009, 16:09

fjackdaw wrote:
shinji wrote:And I was not yet in existence.

When I used to spend time with those sociopaths over at the Yahoo message boards, I was one of the youngest people on there. Here, I seem to be one of the eldest at 34!

And knowing what a wholesome place the Yahoo boards are (NOT), that disproves the myth that teenagers are the aggressive ones on the internet.

fjackdaw · Post by **fjackdaw** » 07 Oct 2009, 16:10

eytl wrote:Have watched and recorded every race since, and still have every single race from 1992 onwards on tape or DVD. Where do you think we get those GMIF1Ps from? Much regret that I don't have 1989-1991 any more.

You could transfer them to DVD and make a killing in contraband archive GPs.