FORMULA 1 PAGE
I have been following the Formula 1 Championship since 1997, when I was 13. I had previously seen parts of races as my parents were really into it when I was little (80's and early 90's). Then during 1996 my younger brother and sister started watching it properly. I remember them wanting me to watch the Canadian Grand Prix, but I didn't.
However, when they wanted to stop what we were doing to go and watch the Argentine GP the following season, I decided to join. I remember pre-race the ITV guys were talking to some driver, and I thought he seemed like a nice guy. He was David Coulthard. He was talking about his hopes for the race and all that, qualifying having not gone well (only 10th on the grid). So I thought I'd follow him to start off with, being about the only driver I was aware of!
He didn't get far though, being eliminated in a first corner collision.
My sister enjoyed the race as her favourite driver Eddie Irvine almost won after hounding Jacques Villeneuve in the closing stages.
All I remember was that after the race, the major talking point was Ralf Schumacher's podium in his 3rd race, but which was achieved only after taking his team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella out of the race! And then blaming it on HIM!! I remember Tony Jardine saying how Fisichella would probably be waiting behind the garage after the celebrations to punch Ralf!
All that wasn't enough to make me at fan really. I didn't bother with the next race (San Marino).
However, it was the following race which I did see that really changed me.
My brother and sister tuning in after the race had started while I was in the room, I was amazed to see the cars were not driving round and round some normal random track as I'd always known, but they were driving on the STREETS of a CITY!! A city I'd never heard of called Monte-Carlo. And it was wet! I was fascinated as I had never seen anything like this before. This time I gave the race my real attention!
I remember how Damon Hill, my brother's driver, slid out early on and me voicing my derisory opinion of Damon, to my brother's surprise. This was because my only memories of him were of Australia 1994. I remember on the news how the news piece was announced:
"Damon Hill has LOST the Formula One World Championship." Then it explained how it had been the last race of the season in Australia and he had collided with his rival on lap so-and-so, resulting in the loss.
Combine that with retiring unceremoniously in Argentina and now going off in Monaco, and my opinion was here was a driver who was something of a loser!
I remember lap after lap as I tried to figure out this strange and exotic (and damp) track how the classification continued to list the top 5 drivers as:
1.M.Schumacher 4.Irvine
2.Barrichello 5.Panis
3.Fisichella
I remember noticing the similarity in Barrichello's and Fisichella's names, not realising they were both pronounced with a hard "ch", not a soft one (like in "chair")! I also remember one driver who was being talked about in glowing terms was Olivier Panis. He had WON it the previous year and was already on the podium in Brazil and was really doing well.
The major talking point after the race was this crazy Scottish guy crying with joy as his driver had finished 2nd for his new team! Ah Jackie Stewart, I remember so well... :)
That amazing race through the streets, the like of which I had never seen before had done it for me! THAT'S what made me a Formula 1 fan!
So now the routine was for my brother and sister to always tell me when the race was on. Game on!
Imagine my disappointment though, when I found the next track was nothing like Monaco at all! It was so boring. A return to a run of the mill track, on which cars just drive round and round. It was the Spanish Grand Prix... So disappointed was I, in fact that I couldn't be bothered to watch the following 2 races either, though it was sad to hear from my brother and sister that Olivier Panis, one guy who was doing so well, had broken both his legs in a horrible crash :(
Our home race, the British Grand Prix, was enough to get me watching again. And so I did, with the hopes on Damon Hill in the Arrows to do well. It was brilliant to watch as Alex Wurz (which we pronounced with an English W!), substituting for Gerhard Berger in the Benetton, led the race for one lap (he must have pitted as the records don't actually show it, as they have to cross the line to have counted as leading the lap). Damon finished 6th!
The German Grand Prix was the other major race for me following Monaco. I had recently played the original "Formula 1" game for the still new at the time Playstation, and known from that that Germany had really long straights with lots of trees! I wanted to see this one!
So Frentzen and Irvine collided at the first corner. But Giancarlo Fisichella in the Jordan was fighting for the win! I remember my brother and sister saying they hope he scores because he needs some points. So I decided the same. I also decided that day I would support Michael Schumacher for the championship in a Ferrari, cos he was such a star! Jaques Villeneuve had a bad race, eventually spinning out of only 5th. But the hero of the day for me was Fisichella who had fought for the win in his Jordan. What sealed his hero status for me was that he retired a few laps from the end from a certain 2nd with a punture caused by his front wing. But it was really good to see Gerhard Berger win and Schumacher 2nd!
I also watched Hungary. This was the race where Damon Hill started 3rd in an Arrows. In the race, he actually caught Schumaher and passed him for the lead, running away with the race. It was anguish 3 laps from the end as his car started failing, and on the final lap Villeneuve swept past. It looked like Johnny Herbert would overtake him too, but Hill kept 2nd. Still a great result but so agonising.
I didn't bother with the next race, but found out that Fisichella had finished 2nd in the rain!! I didn't bother with the next 2 races either, but remember Jean Alesi flying over the top of Irvine's car in a
However, when they wanted to stop what we were doing to go and watch the Argentine GP the following season, I decided to join. I remember pre-race the ITV guys were talking to some driver, and I thought he seemed like a nice guy. He was David Coulthard. He was talking about his hopes for the race and all that, qualifying having not gone well (only 10th on the grid). So I thought I'd follow him to start off with, being about the only driver I was aware of!
He didn't get far though, being eliminated in a first corner collision.
My sister enjoyed the race as her favourite driver Eddie Irvine almost won after hounding Jacques Villeneuve in the closing stages.
All I remember was that after the race, the major talking point was Ralf Schumacher's podium in his 3rd race, but which was achieved only after taking his team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella out of the race! And then blaming it on HIM!! I remember Tony Jardine saying how Fisichella would probably be waiting behind the garage after the celebrations to punch Ralf!
All that wasn't enough to make me at fan really. I didn't bother with the next race (San Marino).
However, it was the following race which I did see that really changed me.
My brother and sister tuning in after the race had started while I was in the room, I was amazed to see the cars were not driving round and round some normal random track as I'd always known, but they were driving on the STREETS of a CITY!! A city I'd never heard of called Monte-Carlo. And it was wet! I was fascinated as I had never seen anything like this before. This time I gave the race my real attention!
I remember how Damon Hill, my brother's driver, slid out early on and me voicing my derisory opinion of Damon, to my brother's surprise. This was because my only memories of him were of Australia 1994. I remember on the news how the news piece was announced:
"Damon Hill has LOST the Formula One World Championship." Then it explained how it had been the last race of the season in Australia and he had collided with his rival on lap so-and-so, resulting in the loss.
Combine that with retiring unceremoniously in Argentina and now going off in Monaco, and my opinion was here was a driver who was something of a loser!
I remember lap after lap as I tried to figure out this strange and exotic (and damp) track how the classification continued to list the top 5 drivers as:
1.M.Schumacher 4.Irvine
2.Barrichello 5.Panis
3.Fisichella
I remember noticing the similarity in Barrichello's and Fisichella's names, not realising they were both pronounced with a hard "ch", not a soft one (like in "chair")! I also remember one driver who was being talked about in glowing terms was Olivier Panis. He had WON it the previous year and was already on the podium in Brazil and was really doing well.
The major talking point after the race was this crazy Scottish guy crying with joy as his driver had finished 2nd for his new team! Ah Jackie Stewart, I remember so well... :)
That amazing race through the streets, the like of which I had never seen before had done it for me! THAT'S what made me a Formula 1 fan!
So now the routine was for my brother and sister to always tell me when the race was on. Game on!
Imagine my disappointment though, when I found the next track was nothing like Monaco at all! It was so boring. A return to a run of the mill track, on which cars just drive round and round. It was the Spanish Grand Prix... So disappointed was I, in fact that I couldn't be bothered to watch the following 2 races either, though it was sad to hear from my brother and sister that Olivier Panis, one guy who was doing so well, had broken both his legs in a horrible crash :(
Our home race, the British Grand Prix, was enough to get me watching again. And so I did, with the hopes on Damon Hill in the Arrows to do well. It was brilliant to watch as Alex Wurz (which we pronounced with an English W!), substituting for Gerhard Berger in the Benetton, led the race for one lap (he must have pitted as the records don't actually show it, as they have to cross the line to have counted as leading the lap). Damon finished 6th!
The German Grand Prix was the other major race for me following Monaco. I had recently played the original "Formula 1" game for the still new at the time Playstation, and known from that that Germany had really long straights with lots of trees! I wanted to see this one!
So Frentzen and Irvine collided at the first corner. But Giancarlo Fisichella in the Jordan was fighting for the win! I remember my brother and sister saying they hope he scores because he needs some points. So I decided the same. I also decided that day I would support Michael Schumacher for the championship in a Ferrari, cos he was such a star! Jaques Villeneuve had a bad race, eventually spinning out of only 5th. But the hero of the day for me was Fisichella who had fought for the win in his Jordan. What sealed his hero status for me was that he retired a few laps from the end from a certain 2nd with a punture caused by his front wing. But it was really good to see Gerhard Berger win and Schumacher 2nd!
I also watched Hungary. This was the race where Damon Hill started 3rd in an Arrows. In the race, he actually caught Schumaher and passed him for the lead, running away with the race. It was anguish 3 laps from the end as his car started failing, and on the final lap Villeneuve swept past. It looked like Johnny Herbert would overtake him too, but Hill kept 2nd. Still a great result but so agonising.
I didn't bother with the next race, but found out that Fisichella had finished 2nd in the rain!! I didn't bother with the next 2 races either, but remember Jean Alesi flying over the top of Irvine's car in a