.... For some people F1 may be considered boring, and even some sports fans consider F1 is not a proper sport....but for me, who has always loved sport, watching and participating, and also daydreamed about cars since a young age, admiring a Ford Consul before I could reach the door handle...then F1 cars reach the pinnacle.
Not only do they make a wonderous noise, but an F1 car from any era....... are simply works of art.
During one of my many trips to Essen Techno classica car show, I purchased for a modest price, a signed original photograph of a John Surtees Ferrari.
When I got home, more out of curiosity, I wrote to John Surtees with a copy of the picture, just out of interest like....what a fab bloke. He wrote back within a week, confirmed the signature was his, and despite the photo being taken some 40 years previously he told me all about the car, and even to the fact that the picture was taken in the team garage at Monza. Funny enough john Surtees does not appear in the photograph, but what a top bloke...... the only man to win a world championship on two wheels and fours wheels.... and he was gracious to reply promptly to my letter.....
So as beautiful as John Surtees Ferrari from the 1960's was/is [he said it drove like a pig, and not the one he won the F1 championship a year earlier] for me an F1 car from any era is a work of art.
Regardless of whether you think F1 is boring, I defy anyone to go to a Formula One Grand Prix, and not come home full of the joys of these cars. I was 42 years old before I had my induction to my first F1....... and where else, but the spiritual home of sports cars, the Italian Grand Prix in Monza.
My best mate and I drove through the sunflower drenched fields of France [not literally through the fields] and then through [or more like around] the mountains of Switzerland to arrive in Monza late on a sunny summer/autumn friday afternoon. The 3 days we allowed ourselves for the drive there were fantastic, we admired the view, laughed at the inanity of life and listened to a fantastic sound track. One of those drives you don't want to end....but when it did end what a place to end up at.....on a green field park, across the road from the Monza circuit.
€uro 45 the bloke said in his italianglish..... each ? per night ?.... I asked....no, €uro 45 for 2 people 2 tents [we might be best mates but we do need our private sleep, Morecambe and Wise we are not] and the car, for 3 nights..... a bargain we thought...... after 3 nights we soon realised why it was so cheap. If you can imagine camping on a 24 hour fairground site and then you will know.
So on the night of our arrival, after some hearty beers we settled in for sleep [in our separate tents]. Given this was our first F1, we did not appreciate just how fanatical some F1 fans can be, especially Austrian fans of Juan Pablo Montoya. These Austrians were parked behind our tent[s]. My mate and I had small tents side by side.....
.......and so to Saturday morning...... what in fook's name is that loud noise ripping out my ear drums...... It seems the Austrians had switched on their music full throttle and in effect converted mine and my mates tents into sub-woofers..... clearly these fanatical Austrian start each day with their F1 rally cry, which is now today's SoD.......
So as we were awoken with our ear drums stripped bare, the sun was shinning, we got the bacon sizzling and with the sound track of F1 cars hurtling around Monza, had one of the most fantastic weekends of my life...... as for the Austrians....they may have got me from my slumber in a most un expected way, but whenever I hear this song, I am always minded of that great weekend.
....and as for the race, well on race day the Austrians had lager for breakfast, and as we bumped into them on the way out of the circuit, it seems they had had lager for lunch and tea and had been snacking on it all day as well. Worse still Juan Pablo Montoya had won the race and they were in sparkling form.
So on return to the fair grou....ach erm...camp site, which was now emptying, as we were staying one more night, we lifted our tents and carried them to the other side of the field..... that night we could still hear the Austrians celebrating...... we smiled very loudly......
Not only do they make a wonderous noise, but an F1 car from any era....... are simply works of art.
During one of my many trips to Essen Techno classica car show, I purchased for a modest price, a signed original photograph of a John Surtees Ferrari.
When I got home, more out of curiosity, I wrote to John Surtees with a copy of the picture, just out of interest like....what a fab bloke. He wrote back within a week, confirmed the signature was his, and despite the photo being taken some 40 years previously he told me all about the car, and even to the fact that the picture was taken in the team garage at Monza. Funny enough john Surtees does not appear in the photograph, but what a top bloke...... the only man to win a world championship on two wheels and fours wheels.... and he was gracious to reply promptly to my letter.....
So as beautiful as John Surtees Ferrari from the 1960's was/is [he said it drove like a pig, and not the one he won the F1 championship a year earlier] for me an F1 car from any era is a work of art.
Regardless of whether you think F1 is boring, I defy anyone to go to a Formula One Grand Prix, and not come home full of the joys of these cars. I was 42 years old before I had my induction to my first F1....... and where else, but the spiritual home of sports cars, the Italian Grand Prix in Monza.
My best mate and I drove through the sunflower drenched fields of France [not literally through the fields] and then through [or more like around] the mountains of Switzerland to arrive in Monza late on a sunny summer/autumn friday afternoon. The 3 days we allowed ourselves for the drive there were fantastic, we admired the view, laughed at the inanity of life and listened to a fantastic sound track. One of those drives you don't want to end....but when it did end what a place to end up at.....on a green field park, across the road from the Monza circuit.
€uro 45 the bloke said in his italianglish..... each ? per night ?.... I asked....no, €uro 45 for 2 people 2 tents [we might be best mates but we do need our private sleep, Morecambe and Wise we are not] and the car, for 3 nights..... a bargain we thought...... after 3 nights we soon realised why it was so cheap. If you can imagine camping on a 24 hour fairground site and then you will know.
So on the night of our arrival, after some hearty beers we settled in for sleep [in our separate tents]. Given this was our first F1, we did not appreciate just how fanatical some F1 fans can be, especially Austrian fans of Juan Pablo Montoya. These Austrians were parked behind our tent[s]. My mate and I had small tents side by side.....
.......and so to Saturday morning...... what in fook's name is that loud noise ripping out my ear drums...... It seems the Austrians had switched on their music full throttle and in effect converted mine and my mates tents into sub-woofers..... clearly these fanatical Austrian start each day with their F1 rally cry, which is now today's SoD.......
So as we were awoken with our ear drums stripped bare, the sun was shinning, we got the bacon sizzling and with the sound track of F1 cars hurtling around Monza, had one of the most fantastic weekends of my life...... as for the Austrians....they may have got me from my slumber in a most un expected way, but whenever I hear this song, I am always minded of that great weekend.
....and as for the race, well on race day the Austrians had lager for breakfast, and as we bumped into them on the way out of the circuit, it seems they had had lager for lunch and tea and had been snacking on it all day as well. Worse still Juan Pablo Montoya had won the race and they were in sparkling form.
So on return to the fair grou....ach erm...camp site, which was now emptying, as we were staying one more night, we lifted our tents and carried them to the other side of the field..... that night we could still hear the Austrians celebrating...... we smiled very loudly......
So start your engines
line up in your tents
don't plug in your ear plugs
and be prepared to be Thunderstruck.....
