I apologize in advance for what must undoubtedly be a new low in irrelevancy, but this beard-trimming banter with Mr. Bell is starting an itch in my brain:

How many GP/F1 drivers have sported beards for at least a sizable portion of their careers? I'm thinking Jo Bonnier, Harald Ertl and John Watson (up until winning his first GP) but there must be others. Jacques Villeneuve's stubble and Damon Hill's on-again-off-again goatee don't count (I wonder if anyone tried to correlate Damon's facial hair with the status of his retirement announcements?). F1 Racing did that truly nauseating photo essay on the sideburn excesses of the seventies, and that doesn't count either.

Sorry, but I can't sleep.

Jo Bonnier had a goatee not a beard. And maybe they stay clean shaven to save weight.

Art NX3L

And then there are those rumors of Michael Schumacher's having had full facial electrolysis, which is why he looks so damnably perky and chipper after every GP. Weight saving? P.R.? Psychological warfare? Some weird clause Corinna demanded in their prenuptial agreement?

Art,
I also sport a goatee and in the military, they do consider it a beard, as do I.

In keeping with this interpretation, I give you Henri Pescarolo, the redoubtable Frenchman, who, I believe never shaved it all off.


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"I Was Born Ready"

Keir.

You know the military does every thing ass backwards. When I was in the Navy they made you shave every thing off for your ID picture. And no they didn't have sails in those days.

Art NX3L

Art,
That's not what your former Captain, a certain Mr. Henry Hudson said!!!!



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"I Was Born Ready"

Art, Sails hadn't been invented yet.

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Regards,

Dennis David
Yahoo = dennis_a_david

Life is racing, the rest is waiting

Grand Prix History
www.ddavid.com/formula1/

Bloimey maties(English accent)shiver me timbers the truth does prevale.

Art NX3L

You guys wont believe this but I was on three different ships that were. The oldest fighting ships in the U.S Navy. And they werent built to damn long after sails went out.

Art NX3L

Jensons beard, which is almost as ropey as mine, seems to have caused the odd minor stir in recent years. Of course was to own a cat it would undoubtedly be licked off, or perhaps it might even get blown off by the wind pressure when he gets back in a good car.

Emmo, Stewarts and Weisells sideburns were true works of art.

Weight saving? Reminiscent of fifties F3 wizard Don Parker who used to race sans socks and underpants to save weight...

I'm not sure anyone cares about Jenson's appearance. He certainly doesn't seem to.

Speaking as someone who's sported a facial fungus for 20-odd years, I've seen better beards on cheese than on Button and Heidfeld ;)

If we expand this topic to Indy Car drivers, one Chet Fillip sported a beard back in the early 80s and it occasioned some comment insofar as beards seem to have been scarce among this breed of racer.

Call it the "Doc MacKenzie Syndrome"!

Just remembered Siegfried Stohr, Italian ex-Arrows F1 driver (in 1981). A sensitive soul, as I recall - shame how it takes such an inconsequential thread subject to remember someone - who was arguably never given a fair crack of the whip in Formula 1.

Also, re. Harald Ertl: I remember him coming round on the slowing down lap after the 1976 British Grand Prix at Brands Hatch in the Warsteiner Hesketh, sans helmet, hair - and beard - flowing in the wind. I was 20; I already had long hair and a beard, but I resolved to emulate this fellow, so I stopped trimming the moustache (I actually wanted a nose like his, too, but that wasn't feasible). I worked in the local Parks Department at the time; one day I fell asleep after a tea break, there was a pair of garden shears lying about, and one of my so-called 'mates' couldn't resist the temptation... Worse, I woke up before he had time to trim the other half. :\

Stuart Lewis-Evans sported a goatee beard at one stage...

DCN

In fact, in their cases, the term "merkin" springs to mind.

Neil

No he didn't - A goatee resembles the tuft on a coconut upside down, with no element of a moustache, Bonnier had the full set.

Mike Wilds

Sorry Bloggers,
The modern definition of goatee can include a moustache - exactly like Bonnier's, in fact
(Back in the day our gang used to describe them as Jobo beards)

And if we expand further from Indy Car drivers it to bike racers, Guy Martin is doing a good impression of Sir Nod of Holder

Not according to the dictionary that came with iWorks which describes it the old fashioned way:

goatee |gōˈtē| (also goatee beard)
noun
a small pointed beard.


DERIVATIVES
goateed adjective
ORIGIN early 19th cent.: so named because of its resemblance to the tuft on a goat's chin.

None of the goats I've seen ever had a moustache!

Stick with it
I'm sure the iWorks disctionary is far more authoritative than the Oxford

Are you saying that young Button is a bit of a XXXX ? I know a couple of people who work for Honda Racing who'd love to express their opinions on that question. Nick Heidfeld on the other hand seems to be well liked.

Can I take the key out now?

I don' judge...

Neil

Weight saving? Not for me, a tight fitting full face helmet, and anything near 2mill of stuble felt very uncomfortable, then after the helmet comes off, loads of white Nomex fluff to pick off. No, not for me!

It ill behoves anyone at Honda Racing to criticise either of their driver for anything - I would think that If Barrichello & Button caught taxis at Raffles tomorrow, they'd get to the finish line quicker than in an F1 Honda................

Heidfeld's has that German U-boat commander's look about it, doesn't it?

And a fantastic northern "aye up its all shite" accent and attitude thats absolutely fantastic to listen to. He had a shocking IoM this year though.

I see it more as the being of the genus "Geography teacher". But each to his own.

Good lad he is,but those eyes.Raving bonkers!!!!
HW

Jim Crawford I think had a beard for much of his career.

Looking at the Dundrod T.T. from 1955 film on MFQ, I was surprised to see a pit stop by the Loens/Bonnier Maserati.

It wasn't the pit stop that surprised me but the fact that NEITHER driver had a beard. In fact, I wasn't absolutely sure whether the driver in the car was Bonnier or the one who had just got out.

I decided the latter as Loens, being French, seemed more likely to have the pale blue helmet and Bonnier seems more likely to have driven the first stint in the car.

So, I wonder when JoBo actually decided to become hairy?

Friends:

Wott abaht Jenks?

Frank

Good question!

I always thought he was born that way...