planetf1.com

1988

According to one of our newbies assessing my knowledge of F1, apparently I have been watching F1 for about a month now... maybe a bit less.



According to my body, birth certificate and how little patience I have left, I have been watching F1 since the mid 50s. You know... Fangio, Moss, etc. I started watching F1 in the 50s on a black and white rounded TV screen, and reading about it in magazines (you know, those things made of paper) at the local library (where you check out books not download to your Kindle). My real love for F1 grew out of Phil Hill's 1961 WDC in a Ferrari. I have followed F1 and Ferrari ever since...even during the great Ferrari drought of over two decades.

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Forza Ferrari
WCCs = 16
WDCs = 15

my god , how old are u , sir ?

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Ask no questions, hear no lies

I am 65 as of this last July... physically, that its. Still a young man at heart though!

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Forza Ferrari
WCCs = 16
WDCs = 15

Wow... Fangio, Moss,...this is the front engine era

And may I ask which the driver has impressed you most in this 50 year period?

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I'm a racing driver. Always was, always will be.

yep, that was a funny one even without reading your posts - just to pay attention to the year of your registration well, what do you know. some say it's a compliment

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We are worse than animals, we hunger for the kill.
We put our faith in maniacs the triumph of the will,
We kill for money, wealth and lust, for this we should be damned.
We are disease upon the world, brotherhood of man.

Although born in 1978 i started to watch F1 from the 1988 season. not stopped since. drives my mrs mad sometimes, Practice 1,2 and 3, qaully and race, then post race. goes on and on.

Regularly watching F1 since 1982. Thirty years. But there are resepctable people on this forum that watched it since 50's.

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The end is near

that is the spirit

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Ask no questions, hear no lies

1986, Adelaide. Although I was very young at the time the sight of Mansels tyre exploding and him trying to keep it out of the armco, whilst in a position to win the title was by far the most exciting thing my little brain had ever witnessed. Suffice to say I was hooked.

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"you can never be too paranoid"

Porsan,
I spent my early years of following racing of any type as a huge Stirling Moss fan. I checked his book "in the track of speed" out at least once a year if for no other purpose than to read the chapter by Denis Jenkinson on the record=breaking Mille Miglia of 1955. Though Moss never became a team Ferrari driver, he was always my favorite driver until....... Dan Gurney! Call it patriotism, and it is to a degree, but I have had a massive amount of respect for him, not just for F1, but for all of his racing efforts....Indy, TransAm, stock cars, sports cars. I got to spend some time with Gurney, and was amazed at how down to earth he is and how humble.

Other drivers who have mightily impressed me over the years/decades... Jim Clark, who I would rate as the best all-time F1 driver, Mario Andretti (though I never liked his personality but to me is the best all-around driver since Nuvolari), Bobby Unser (of Indy & Pikes Peak fame, and who is a great guy to visit with). I loved watching Gilles drive, but always felt on edge... as though he was an accident about to happen. Mark Donohue... along with Ronnie Peterson, perhaps the drivers who could have accomplished the most if not for an early passing.

Of the more modern era... Mika Hakkinen until he retired, Schumi despite those flaws, and Marcos Ambrose who's name may not ring a bell with many of you, but races in NASCAR now having come from the SuperV8s in Australia and is a genuinely nice guy with great talent.

One more name I would like to mention who was not only a very good driver, but has been an astounding team owner... Roger Penske.

That is probably more than you wanted to know, but it was difficult to stop once I got started!

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Forza Ferrari
WCCs = 16
WDCs = 15

1999 Brazil was the first race I recall watching. I got into it more during summer months when Irvine became the number one at Ferrari. then missed 2009 and 2010 but started watching again in 2011.

Have been following F1 since the end-80s, Prost v Senna, Mansell etc. Posting here (occasionally) since 2007 perhaps. Great to see the perspective and passion some of you have.
And to those like Blake who managed to get some time with their favorite drivers, LUCKY!!

Mentioned it in my new user intro post, but the first Grand Prix that I remember seeing on TV was Monaco in 1992 when I was about 5, although my folks weren't that bothered about sitting through it. The first full race I remember watching was Kyalami in 1993, and remember being particularly peeved at Damon Hill being knocked off by Alex Zanardi. Despite having just turned 8, I was allowed to get up early/stay up late for the 1994 Adelaide decider - something that was repeated in 1996 too! I even had my bedroom painted in Rothmans Williams colours.

I was quite fortunate that my parents were actually into motorsport, and regularly went to Le Mans when I was still a baby, before eventually taking my brother & I with them in 1993. Essentially the easiest way to get me to listen or do anything was make it about car racing and I'd be all ears. In fact, during pretty much my entire education at Primary school the only thing I would ever write about was F1, which drove my teachers nuts as they obviously didn't have a clue how to spell things like Sauber.

Just as someone else has mentioned above, I was obsessed with cars when I was younger, and would spend hours racing them around my house, even adding my own commentary! I was also obsessed with the original Grand Prix on the Amiga, and would happily spend hours playing that.

1980. Was living in Brazil at the time so started following Nelson Piquet. 1981 was a good year

Thanks for your answer, Blake.

Well, my favourite motor racing period is the 70s, first of all because I was a teenager back then, but also because it blends the dawn of the high-tech era with the decline of the truly dangerous motorsports. I can only agree with you in selection of drivers from that period: Peterson, Andretti, Villeneuve, Donohue...although at the time, as you might imagine, getting some information about Andretti's or Donohue's success in the USA was close to impossible in Spain or France, the two countries where I used to live. However, I think Andretti was probably my favourite driver of the time, for its polyvalence and success at every kind of auto racing. One of the most underrated drivers of all time (underrated in Europe, at least).

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I'm a racing driver. Always was, always will be.

1972 to 2012..big 4 oh.

good for you..

Since 2007.. can you guess who my favourite driver is? >;)

Respect!

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The end is near

I've been following F1 since 1985 when a distinctive JPS Lotus with a highly contrasting Yellow Helmet caught my attention whilst on holiday in Scarborough!! I soon learnt a lot more and became an avid Mansell fan!!

I was born in 94 so haven't really got much time watching it. I only started watching full seasons from 2007 onwards and have only missed a handful of races so far. I remember seeing Ralf Schumacher's crash at Indy and that is about it before 2007, I used to play the Grand Prix games on playstation but didn't really watch the seasons or races. My dad got me into F1 because he's been watching it since he was a child but I just didn't get as interested until I got a bit older and could understand the sport properly.

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Vodafone Mclaren Mercedes

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... 'cause everybody's on the run.

Monaco 2000. The one which DC won.

1 day, according to what some here have advised me.

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You and me both my friend!

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I watch the people in their cars in slow motion they're beautiful like breaking glass, not yet broken...

First blurry memories as a very young boy were around 1994, vaguely remember the British Grand Prix and Senna's death on the news, but properly watching and following a season all the way through was the 1998 season.

Markus Winkelhock?

I think I started watching F1 around about 2005ish

For me, I'd answer in stages....

I watched some replays of Monaco and Watkins Glen on ABC and CBS back in the '70s, just enough to have been familiar with Niki Lauda, Jody Scheckter, James Hunt, Carlos Reutemann, but not enough to really understand anything about F1.

Then around '85 or '86, I really started watching pretty regular when ESPN did condensed replays, the settings, the Black Forest, Estoril, Brands Hatch, Spa, seemed so exotic, and the drivers names, Michele Alboreto, Piquet, Patrese, Prost, Laffite, Thierry Boutsen, Keke Rosberg and of course, Aryton Senna were like some seductive foreign language. I only partly understood what I was watching, but I liked it, and I loved the style of racing, straight line speeds, hugging corners, slipping through S's. I still think I liked that era best, the circuits, the drivers, the cars, the iconic McLaren Malboro livery, Lotus' JPS, the Ferrari red, and the brightly colored Williams and those blue Ligiers.

Then really became a serious watcher in the '90s when I started to be turned off by my 2 great sports loves, football and basketball. From then on, I've rarely missed a televised race unless there was a very good reason like traveling, and even then tried to catch the rebroadcast when I got home.

I was born in 1943 & saw my first live motor race in in 1948 as my father & grandfather were motor sport enthusiasts.
I have followed F1 since 1950 & watched it on 35mm film till it came on TV.
Saw a lot of the greats driving, especially Fangio in 1955.
I don't have a favourite period as I enjoy every race.
I think the the season just finished was brilliant & the current crop of drivers are as good as any.
When did we have 6 WCs on the grid before, never.

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Get your facts right first, then you can distort them as you please. Mark Twain.

Holy Cow, you are a old fart, ob1 !!! Thank goodness us young 'uns have such old... ie ancient... leadership here in the forum.

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Forza Ferrari
WCCs = 16
WDCs = 15

My first memory of F1 was when Sato Heidfeld had that crash at the A1 ring.

2005ish I think I started watching Formula 1

I can't remember the first time I saw it, but I started loving F1 and watching it regularly in 1998. At the time I was 5 and have been watching ever since.

Started in earnest around 1991, but on and off beforehand from 1986...

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The times, they are 'a changin'... Let's hope they're not too 'Pirellious'...

You deserve to be banned for being so lucky...

I'm 14 years your junior, and though I was given the bug by my elder brother in the early 60s (and watched whenever possible), it wasn't until around 1980-'81 that I was able to see every race. Since then, I have only missed watching races live when it simply wasn't possible - sometimes when the job interfered, such as Suzuka 2005 and Barcelona 1996.

I'm very jealous of you ob1, for having seen Fangio race... I never even saw Clark, Stewart, von Trips, etc. etc. Lucky I saw Prost though!

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Use every man after his desert, and who should scape whipping? Use them after your own honour and dignity.

Maria de Villota

Since the 1970's.

Lucky enough to watch most of the greats and meet many of them.

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Driver Instructor & Test Driver

I was born in 1977 and I can't pin down when I started watching, but my dad always watches it. My first real memories are of the McLarens around '84/'85.

If a race is on tv, I will find a way to watch it. Even if in another country!

Born in 1992, I remember bits of the 2003 season from being in the room whilst my dad was watching. My very first memory of any F1 race is seeing the pitlane at Silverstone 2003 when virtually EVERYBODY pitted thanks to a certain Neil Horan. Got hooked, and decided to watch every race and take an interest for 2004. So by my reckoning, it's 165 entries, 164 starts .

2007 not the top answer no? LOL!!