A Trip Down F1 Memory Lane

As far as I can remember, my interest in Formula 1 goes back anywhere between 20 and 25 years at this point (which means I’ve been watching F1 longer than some of the drivers on the grid have existed!). My family have always been hugely interested in cars so watching motorsport was a natural result of that interest. We’ve watched the World Rally Championship, the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Dakar Rally as well as Formula 1. When I was far younger, I also wanted to be an F1 driver when I grew up (believe me, my competitive streak is that strong) but I was told that girls don’t take part in motorsports. I decided that perhaps I could be a race engineer instead but again was told no, girls don’t get involved in motorsports. So, after being told I couldn’t be what I wanted to be, I lost interest in Maths and Science in school and focused on English which would apparently get me a “nice, normal job like teaching” (because everyone wants to be normal, right?). I will admit that I hugely admired Claire Williams for bucking the trend and staying in F1 as long as she did. I would still love to join an F1 team as a team member but I’m grossly under qualified.

While I was at primary school and secondary school, I never told my friends about my interest in F1 because a) it was definitely not girlie and b) none of my friends were interested in cars or the sport anyway. In college, I followed the results of Grand Prixs online when I couldn’t watch them and got interested in F2 and kept tabs on the younger drivers so I could see who would progress to F1. While I was watching F2, I began supporting Carlin and some young drivers, including a young Lando Norris in late 2017/2018 (so I liked Lando before it was cool XD). I was so proud when he moved up to F1 and I’m still proud of how well he’s doing, you have no idea. I still support Carlin and I like Dan Ticktum as a young driver. Eventually, I found some friends that liked F1 and, after listening to me go on about F1 and agreeing to go to a Grand Prix with me, Niamh decided to join in the fun. The funny thing is I did not influence her choices in who she supported (even though more than one person, not going to mention any names but you all know who you are, thought I did or would try to make her support Red Bull) so we support two different teams. She is a proud Papaya through and through with no influence from me whatsoever.

My earliest memory from F1 was Michael Schumacher’s crash in, I believe, 1999 at the British Grand Prix. I was seven at the time. I was a huge fan of Michael and I’ll happily admit I supported Michael until the day he retired. He is still one of the absolute greats of the sport and will be for a long, long time. I can actually remember a time where my brother and I woke up at the butt crack of dawn to watch F1 races live and I hated every minute of it but loved it at the same time. I also supported and still support another German driver who arrived on the scene called Sebastian Vettel (you’ve probably never heard of him XD). My support for Sebastian meant that I ended up supporting Red Bull too. So part of the blame for my love of the Red Bull Racing team falls on Sebastian. The rest of the blame falls on another random smiley driver called Daniel who started driving for Red Bull. The introduction of an angry Dutch guy as a driver for Red Bull cemented my support for the Bulls and I’ve been a fan for quite a few years now. I have to admit I loved the Daniel/Max era of Red Bull and I miss those lunatics together (ki ki ay!). Overall, my all time favourite drivers are Senna, Schumacher and Vettel but Max Verstappen is very quickly getting up there too.

Now, onto more recent events. I have less than zero interest in Drive to Survive; it’s over dramatic and generally just too much. My favourite track is Monaco when it comes to visuals but, in terms of racing, Spa-Francorchamps (just maybe not during monsoon season) or Monza are my favourites. I’m not a fan of the layout used for the Sakhir Grand Prix or Paul Ricard but both tracks have had their interesting moments. And my favourite trophy design was (for a French Grand Prix if I’m not mistaken) the Waterford Crystal Pegasus Trophy. I will admit I miss the Murray-isms but I do love Crofty’s iconic “it’s lights out and away we go” that we have now. On a very random note, Murray Walker taught me the word penultimate and I’ve loved that word ever since. The scariest things I’ve seen in F1 (not necessarily live) would include Jos Verstappen’s pit lane fire, Romain Grosjean’s accident (which I essentially reported live to Niamh about), Kimi Raikkonen driving through the cloud of smoke without lifting, that incident at this year’s British GP, Lando’s qualifying at Spa just a few days ago and Michael’s crash that I mentioned earlier.

And after all that information, I guess you might want to know what I think about the current drivers on the grid. Some of these you may not agree with but they’re just my opinions.

Lewis – He’s good but something about his personality doesn’t sit right with me and hasn’t for many years.

Valtteri – I genuinely feel so bad for him.

Max – He’s my favourite driver on the grid and has tons of potential and a great chance at being World Champion this year.

Checo – I think that Red Bull suits him so well and I’m delighted he’ll be staying around Red Bull for another season.

Lando – I’ve supported Lando for a while now and I’m delighted by his successes every time. Now he just needs to MOVE TO RED BULL!!!

Daniel – He’s a gifted driver and unafraid of tackling anything or anyone. Honey badger gives no f*cks. Just you wait, sunshine, just you wait.

Charles – I don’t get the hype to be quite honest.

Carlos – A competitive driver and brings so much fun to his teams.

Pierre – So ambitious and trying so hard to prove himself and has made himself such a threat to Ferrari and McLaren but he strikes me as the quiet until you know him kind of person.

Yuki – Angry little guy but it seems to come from passion and drive more so than aggression.

Esteban – A good driver but about as threatening as a Teacup Yorkie pup.

Fernando – I have so much respect based on his abilities and championships but he’s also a fierce competitor and a very strategic driver.

Lance – I’m not invested in Lance and he’s never really made an impression on me.

Sebastian – He is still a great driver to me. You don’t win world titles on luck alone.

Kimi – So stoic it’s comical now but I really enjoy having him on the grid; he’s a passionate guy.

Antonio – He’s a very smiley, likeable person; his driving is good but not spectacular.

George – Out performs his car every weekend.

Nicholas – A lovely guy living in George’s shadow.

Mick – He has the potential to be great if Ferrari do things right.

Nikita – Nope. As a woman, I have to say no to him and his driving isn’t great either.

So there you have it. Everything you didn’t need to know about my thoughts on F1, past and present. Thank you for reading all this and I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it.