MX-5 OC Forum

I have enjoyed f1 for years, and its great to see we are getting near the start of the season .I went to one grandprix in 1984 at brands hatch.As you know toyota and honda have been in f1 .Wouldnt it be great if mazda became involved in f1.I of course will be supporting the lotus team.I cant wait to hear the scream of thoses f1 engines in march.Have any of you guys been to a grand prix?James

Bear in mind Honda and Toyota both left F1 because it got too expensive - and their pockets are far deeper than Mazda's.  It would be folly to try.  A return to Le Mans would be welcome, they're got history there.  More works teams are needed to challenge the dominance of Audi and Peugeot in LMP1, Aston Martin can't do it on their own (although I'll support them all the way).

Anyway, that's off topic.  Yes, I'm looking forward to the start of the season even though I'll only be able to watch half the races.  Damned Sky . 

Lotus, really?  I'm glad to see Raikkonen back but they won't even have any British drivers!

PS.  Paragraphs, dude, paragraphs.

REALLY looking forward to the F1 starting again, especially as my amazing wife has bought me tickets to the British Grand Prix this year !!!!!
I've only got into F1 the last couple of years, but being able to see them in the flesh and hearing those engines is going to be quite something.

I'm the same though and will only be able to see half the races live this year because of Sky !! Not impressed one bit.

Not really sure I support any one driver or team, but it would be good to see another British Champion ..... not sure that's going to happen just
yet though with Vettel still there. 

Been a fan of F1 since the inaugural race at Silverstone in 1950, stood behind the straw bales with my dad and was totally absorbed as a 5 year old...happy days

Ady well done for having a thoughtful wife .The engine noise and atmosphere will blow you away.have a great day there,James

Geof wow you where there in the early days of f1 .I have a book on lotus cars by a Geof Walton ,James

Have only ever been to 3 GPs in my life 1990 Silverstone Prost won in the Ferrari, 1991 Silverstone Mansell won in the Williams and finally the best Grand Prix of all time to date (according to Murray Walker) the 1993 European GP at Donnington which was won by Senna in fantastic style.

I met Tom Wheatcroft by chance in 1987 at the Donnington Collection when I was working at East Mids Airport next door and was very lucky to have a one to one guided tour of the museum during which he made me promise to come to an F1 race when his dream came true to host a round at his beloved track which I agreed to even though I thought he was slightly crackers to even contemplate it actually happening.

When the race was announced I duly bought tickets for me and my mate and I owe the late Mr. Wheatcroft and the late Mr. A Senna an eternal debt of gratitude for putting on the most amazing race, am going to have to end it there as I have a lump in my throat  as Murray would have put it.....

Dr. Eunos

I was disappointed when Sky got the rights to all the races. While I do have Sky TV I don't subscribe to the sports channels as I'm not particularly interested in other sports. What I hadn't realised was that although 'Sky Sports F1' will be included in the sports package 'Sky Sports F1 HD' is included in the HD pack. That means if you have Sky then for £10.25 per month you get to see every bit of the F1 season including practice and qualifying all in HD as well as getting loads more HD channels. I still think Sky prices are daylight robbery but it's a damn sight cheaper than the sports pack.

YELLOW:

Have any of you guys been to a grand prix?James

For the last 15 years I have worked at companies that supply various F1 teams with 3-D Tooling for body-parts, amongst other things, and have been fortunate to have the opportunity to attend a test-day at Silverstone courtesy of Jordan (several years ago obviously), and just a few years ago, courtesy of Williams, Friday practice and Sunday race day at the Silverstone British Grand Prix, which Lewis Hamilton won in the pouring rain.......the sound of those engines close up made the hair on the back of my neck stand up......an unforgettable experience !

Not sure about Mazda dipping their toe into F1 though, and have to agree that a return to Le Mans would be well received.

Big Kev

Was fortunate to go to one of the Adelaide GP's quite a number of years ago. Living there at the time and got to ride the track on my pushbike  before they closed all the barriers.

When driving around Adelaide you could tell when you were on a section of road used for GP as the road noise was a lot less due to the extra preparation of the surface.

It will be interesting to see how Sky do F1, as an HD subscriber without Sports I will get the channel for no extra payment so that's a good positive. The BBC coverage over the last couple of years has been superb so I'll likely be watching that when it's on, shame they couldn't keep the whole thing!!

IanH:

The BBC coverage over the last couple of years has been superb so I'll likely be watching that when it's on, shame they couldn't keep the whole thing!!

Did anybody spot that at one of the late races last year, after Martin Brundle did his trademark grid walk Eddie Jordan did one too. I thought they were probably planning for him to do them for the BBC this season. Martin has already said he will be doing them at Sky. Really looking forward to seeing the two of them elbowing each other out of the way to get the interviews. The BBC team really worked well together and it's a shame they have been split up. For me I think it will be Jake, Eddie and David for the build up, then over to Martin for the commentary.

Yes have to agree with you guys; I too am really looking forward to the coming season. The rule changes they have made over the last couple of years ie KERS and DRS have made things much more exciting and the qualifying 'shoot-out' is tremendous.

Malcolm 

I've been lucky enough to have been to quite a few. Silverstone twice, Melbourne, Malaysia and Monaco.

Monaco was head and shoulders the best one but this was less because of the track view but more the weather and ladies. The best thing about monaco is that the circuit is freely available to drive the rest of the year for free. That kink in the tunnel isn't as slight as is perceived on television. 

I've actually found the last few seasons a little hard going if I'm honest. Not sure why.

nickbee:

Bear in mind Honda and Toyota both left F1 because it got too expensive... more works teams are needed to challenge the dominance of Audi and Peugeot in LMP1

Sorry, I don't mean to take this off topic but I just found out that Peugeot announced last week that they're retiring from Le Mans this year, and today Toyota unveiled their new hybrid LMP car. Maybe it really is time for a 787C!

Right, back to F1...

"as an HD subscriber without Sports I will get the channel for no extra payment so that's a good positive"

Is that true? A mate told me about this but I laughed in his face, saying "surely Sky are not giving things away they could charge loads more for"

I love F1. Even the other half enjoys watching it with me. I wen to the British GP last year and as much as this word is overused, it was just amazing. It must be experienced to understand!