What made you fall in love with F1

[cds_uk]

Am i alone with this or do some of you guys have one really strong memory as to what got you into F1, mine is as follows, way back in 1976 as a little 5 year old lad i remember coming in from the garden and my dad was watching telly, lots of noise, lots of colour and lots of racing cars, i started asking him what the cars where called, Lotus, Ferrari, Brabham etc when all of a sudden this blue 6 wheeled thing came sliding round the corner all opposite lock and leaving rubber behind, "what is that dad" , Patrick Depallier in a Tyrrell P34, the rest as they say is history.

[Breffni]

Jordan, 1998, Belgian GP, Hakkinen out, twice! I love it. Pity about Jordan, then

[alesi95]

I was a big fan of the BTCC during 1993, F1 seemed a logical step forward. A watched a few races then Senna died and all went crazy.

[SPARK Msport]

For me it was Damon Hills championship win in Japan, it seems I started at the right moment

[Dutton]

Oh, tough one to pin-point that....I have watched them as long as I can remember, with the roots being that my Dad watched them if they happened to be on the Beeb. I liked the red cars, for the reason that I happened to like the colour red a lot.

Things progressed from there.

[Louis B.]

It was also a question of colours. I found the black and gold of the Johnny Players Lotus irresistible.

[Louis B.]

I almost forgot to mention that Murray Walker's enthusiasm must also have been contagious.

[R59]

I watched it as a kid, when Lotus ruled the roost with those lovely black JPS cars.

I enjoyed it in the turbo years when the Murray and James show was great viewing for the tension and the comedy... "yes Murray, that's another blown turbo for Senna" (on the third lap - and then goes on to win!!).

In late 1990, I very very very nearly joined EJR to work as a race team sparky, but had my eyes set on F1, and turned down the late Bosco Quinn for the job (I now consider myself as much use as a ........(insert insult here).......)

The highs of new teams like Simtek coming in with a great little package. The lows of the death of Ratzenburger and of course, Ayrton on that dark day in 1994.

I never made it into the job until 1999, by which time things had turned politics mad.

I didn't like all of the politics and back stabbing. Regardless of how good you were at your job, there could always be some git waiting to undermine you. Glad I'm out of it now. Plus I have a family to think of. It's not a family man's game in my opinion.

The sport, I still love, the politics, I hate.

And it's the politics that are now no longer under the surface, and they're tearing it apart.

They should learn from the old CART/PPG Indycar series. Politics ripped it apart, Tony George took away the ball and created the IRL, and that devastated major league single seater racing in the US. People say that NASCAR benefited, I don't think it made any difference. Single Seater racing is a "Yankee" thing. Stock Cars are a "Confederate" thing. Never the twain shall meet.

We live in difficult times.

I don't want to see F1 on a life support machine, but it needs treatment. It needs an operation to survive, and I don't think that Max is the surgeon that can do the job, neither do I think that the manufacturers should have their way 100% either.

[cds_uk]

Spot on there Louis B., and the theme tune to Grand Prix, happy days.

[Knowlesy]

I remember going downstairs one Sunday, sixteen years ago, to get my Sunday dinner. I could hear these amazing sounds and emerged into the living room to see my father watching the Monaco GP. The first image I saw was a McLaren flying through the tunnel, sparks being kicked up. I have been hooked ever since.

F1 has been through some hard times, most of them very recent. But I've still stuck by it just about. I dissaprove of a lot of things and I'm not afraid to say that F1 is far from perfect at the moment and there are series out there that are capable of matching it quite easily. But F1 has that intangible magic that keeps you hooked. It will never leave my radar.

[Mike_Wooshy]

Originally Posted by knowlesy

F1 has been through some hard times, most of them very recent. But I've still stuck by it just about. I dissaprove of a lot of things and I'm not afraid to say that F1 is far from perfect at the moment and there are series out there that are capable of matching it quite easily. But F1 has that intangible magic that keeps you hooked. It will never leave my radar.

Agreed knowlesy,

lol I first started watching F1 when my dad had it on and I was playing toy cars and stoped to watch and have been hooked ever since.

[Mosport67]

A rainy day at Mosport in 1967 as a young boy. The first Canadian GP. I saw all the drivers I had read about in Road & Track. Clark, Hill, Brabham and Gurney to name a few.

Jim Clark started from the pole but retired with wet electrics, Jack Brabham won from Hulme and Gurney.

I already had a love of motor racing from other races at Mosport and the race just reinforced that.

Nearly 40 years on (38 if you are counting) I am still a fan.

There have certainly been highs and lows. The death of Jim Clark was a real low. A cold day in Montreal in 1978 watching Gilles win for the first time. Then the despair of his death in May of 1982 after the betrayal at Imola by Pironi. Senna's death brought back similar thoughts.

Death was an all too frequent fact in those days. 6 of the 18 drivers who started the Canadian GP in 1967 subsequently died in crashes plus Graham Hill who died in a plane crash.

There is simply nothing in this world like Formula 1. It cannot be described to someone who has never seen it live. Words just don't do it justice. You have to see, hear and feel it.

[santori]

It was the first race of 1996. I chanced upon it while channel-hopping and thought the Hill-Villeneuve battle was enthralling.

[Red Emperor]

For me it was Piquet overtaking Senna in Hungary in 1986 on the outside...

[runshaw]

Way back in the days of 1996, when I was 9 years old, I got a present which was a model car of (I think) a 1991/1992 Ligier with Thierry Boutson in the driving seat. I just thought it looked so cool and i was sat watching the Monza GP with my dad and he said, "so do you like F1?" To which I replied, "Yes." And since Australia 1997, I haven't missed a Grand Prix, watched them either live or taped (or at the trackside itself at silverstone)!!!

[thejester]

Nelson Piquet in the Brabham. For years he was the only thing I knew about Brazil. I presumed all Brazillians were racing drivers. (Then I saw a World Cup.)

That and this rather dumb joke:

Q> Who won the 1984 Formula 1 Drver's Championship?

A> Lauda.

Q> WHO WON THE 1984 FORMULA 1 DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP!

[Gerben24]

I've been hooked on cars since I was born. My dad laminated one of his car-magazines, so I couldn't ruin it when I slobbered on it. Some education eh?
I got hooked on F1, it must have been a Saturday afternoon in 1986 or 1987. We were visiting friends in Germany. The weather was terrible, so we switch on the telly. The first thing we saw was this bright yellow car going, what looked to me, flat out through the Ostkurve at Hockenheim (and it was raining at Hockenheim as well). This yellow car was driven by Ayrton Senna ofcourse...

[LampCord]

Jackie Stewart's autobiography. I read it when I was in high school and was fascinated by the sport.

It was years later when SpeedVision (now SpeedChannel) started carrying the races that I actually got to watch them.

Now I'm hooked for life....

[dazbaz_99]

Great memorys! Im going to find mine out, i hope i still have it and didnt scrap it.

[Caramba]

Mid 70's BBC GP coverage - still remember Tom Pryce in the black UOP Shadow & then the Grand Prix program started with good old Murray and I was hooked.

[Mosport67]

Originally Posted by Caramba

still remember Tom Pryce in the black UOP Shadow

Yes one of the good guys. I remember the sadness of the news from Kyalami when he was killed in a really stupid accident in 1977.

[Tf105]

TOYOTA nuff said

[IL LEONE]

1985 Brands hatch FW10 & a guy named Mansell. I was 15.

[mabs_nsx]

I havn't mised a single F1 race since 2003. I had always liked motorsport but I never really watched it that much before 2003. I went to the Malaysian Formula 1 Grand Prix this year. It was the first race I have ever been to. We don't have much racing is Western Australia. All we have is V8 Supercars and WRC. I had never really been interested in V8 Supercars until this year so I have never been there before and I have wanted to go to the WRC since 2001 but for some reason I have never gone. Next year a new circuit will be built and we will have Super GT, Formula Nippon and Asian Festival Of Speed.

I don't know why I like F1 so much. It is just so great!

Races in 2005
Malaysian Formula 1 Grand Prix (first race)
WRC

Races in 2006
WRC
ARC
Super GT
Formula Nippon
V8 Supercars
Asian Festival Of Speed

[BobHWS]

Way back when (1970's) I had watched F1 races on TV when I was a student in France. As I recall, I had also watched F1 as a kid when certain big races (like Monaco) were broadcast in the US on ABC's Wide World of Sports, one of my favorite shows.

Years later ESPN started to broadcast F1 races live from Europe on Sunday mornings and I watched some of those. Gradually I got hooked and I resolved to attend a race sometime.

Then I found myself in Montreal attending a conference at the same time as the 1995 Canadian Grand Prix. I was free on Sunday and I thought, "Well, here's my chance to see a live F1 race finally," so I took the metro to the track, bought a ticket from a scalper and saw the race. It turned out to be a great one--Jean Alesi's only career victory during an era when Ferrari was still somewhat of an underdog. The fans ran on the track after the race while the cars were still finishing the race. It was much better than watching on TV.

Several years later (2000), I finally made a trip to Montreal just for the race. And I've returned every year since.