hey guys (and ladies)!

just wanted to introduce myself. born in poland but live in U.S. for many years... remember seeing old f1 races few times in the 'old country'. i believe they were around the time when lauda was still driving for ferrari.

have followed the sport more or less since senna drove mclaren/hondas including the famous senna/prost battles. laughed my butt off through the mansell/williams era. between the 'stache and not being able to fit into the cockpit, how can you *not* laugh

i'm also one of those who would have loved to see senna spank shumi. while he is a great driver (how can you NOT be when daddy owns/runs a karting track ), i also think he's calculated to the point of being dirty. i don't find it necessarily bad since the point is to be first, but he's not winning any "fair play" awards in my book. i don't think it was a coincidence that he sealed his first chapionship by driving into another car. the benetton pit lane fire involving verstappen was further proof that the team (along w/ drivers) was cheating all along. missing fuel filter was the cause, while it helped the team shave time during pitstops for most of the season...

loved watching irvine and jv race. the sport needs more of such personalities. bring back james hunt! i'm tired of everyone towing the line and pleasing sponsors, not to mention max and bernie. there's a reason these guys have a certain sparkle in their eyes. when you are pushing 170mph through a blind corner tunnel not knowing what's on the other side, taking a big hit of adrenaline as if it was a crackpipe, you should be allowed to be a little loony outside the car. as long as kimi's partying doesn't affect his driving/conditioning, go for it mate. enjoy it and have one for me too!

not surprising, i guess, my hobby(ies) revolve around motorsports. my favorite pasttime is racing. not very successful at it but am having loads of fun doing it. here's a couple quick vids:

standing start
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4938708070948114727

rolling restart (and a spin )
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4808107114189773823


a close call (still don't know how i caught that )
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2527641516678666381

last year i had the pleasure of enjoying an f1 race from monaco. here's the start:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4011522227424291679

looking forward to getting more knowledgeable insight about f1, and of course, cheering for KUBICA

cheers,
dave.

welcome to the fourth level of Hades

Hi there!

My name is Shishir and i'm from India.... An Electronics and Communication engineer by qualification, working in the e-learning industry... and a Shumi-Ferrari fan !

I've bn following F1 for a few years now... joined the Atlas forum a month ago...
The posts here are very interesting and fun to read....
Thanks to all u guys I got a chance to learn a LOT about this amazing sport!

I've not posted anything yet coz I don't think I have the required knowledge yet... but I'm looking forward to participate in the discussions in near future !

-Shishir

knowledge isn't a requirement; Interest is. Enjoy

Welcome Shishir!
I hope yopu enjoy it like I do!

Very true philhitchings !

and Thanks for the warm welcome HBoss

Wow..Quality post
Look forward to enjoying more of your insight Dave.

PS..nice save at Mid Ohio
Jp

I hope your arrival here means MS isn't retiring this year, these forums breathe alot on the man's career, otherwise usually quiet and sane place. Welcome

I would add: interest in learning is.

definately

Hi zingman here...
Been here for a while...been entertained by some of the comments recently and have started to put my tuppence worth in...
Have travelled from Scotland to Silverstone (03), Spa (twice 04,05) and regrettably Magny-cours (06). (Bernie and Max should visit the loos at Magny-Cours !!)
This site is a great source of information and insight to what the thousands of people you see at race weekends really think about the sport.
Although I do think it is currently lacking characters...Like Eddie Jordan. His "rock & roll" attitude is sorely missing, perhaps if he was around he'd have something to say about the "sport".
Now that I've rediscovered the keyboard perhaps I'll have more to say...but for now all I want is a return to racing and less of the politics that are getting in everyones way...
Give us the racing back !!

Hello everybody!

I've been following this forum for quite a while now, but haven't registered before.

I've followed F1 since Keke Rosberg started driving, which is a long time. I have always rooted for the Finnish drivers, but especially Häkkinen. I greatly admire Kimi's driving, but I have not warmed to him the same way. I'm actually hoping for Heikki to better him in a few years time, but I don't believe in it happening anytime soon.

Somehow I always root for drivers, not teams. So no favorite team here. Other drivers? At the moment Kubica has been extremely impressing. Great to see a new driver like him to make his mark. I believe we will have some exciting years to look forward to, with so many promising drivers coming up.

As almost all Finnish guys my age, I have a special place for WRC in my heart. That's what I grew up following. And of course I believe they f****d it up when they ended group B...

I hope I can be civilized in my comments and make my little contribution to a great discussion.

Hello everybody!

Well, from now on, Belgium is represented at this forum. I never saw the link on the main page until a couple of hours ago . So, where shall I start the introduction? Well, I started watching F1 since Jerez 97. As a 13-year old, I wanted to be a rebel and since my dad was 'anti-MS', I became pro. An hour later, MS hit Villeneuve in the side and that's when I knew it for sure, that was gonna be my next idol.

It stayed that way for over the past 10 years and I don't think that will ever change. Since 2004 I became a fan of Massa so this season, I got a real dream team. Now Michael is retiring, I'm falling in love with another German (Vettel).

In my free time, I write F1-news for a Belgian website which is about to get on the air (within about 3 weeks, the world will have an extra F1-site ).

That's about it I think.

Welcome chaps

DriveFastLiveSlow, quite right about Group B

Defkes, you only have three races left to argue for Schumi, so best get stuck in

Hey Defkes, welcome!

As you can see, Belgium has been represented on these pages a little longer than you suspected.

In elk geval: geniet ervan !

Thx.

@Karel: Naturally I expected to have some fellow Belgians here, but at that time I didn't see one posting so... . En ik zal er van genieten ze.

@ Group B: I don't think that's gonna be a problem

Hi everyone,

New member here. I'm a F1 fan since 89, when I was in primary school. I haven't ever been to a GP yet, but I plan to .

I don't support any F1 team in particular. As for current drivers, rather unsurprisingly I rate Raikkonen and Alonso the highest. In fact, I think there's very few drivers in the history of the sport that I would consider at a similar level. No particular preference between them, although I think Alonso has been generally more impressive, partly due to team performance of course.

Schumacher? well, mixed feelings about him. A very focused and competent driver, but IMO he lacks that stroke of genius of pure racing driver...I'd say a very respectable overachiever .

Hello everyone. My name's Owen and I'm new here, so forgive me if I've done this wrong! I've been an F1 fan since about 1985 so I think I know my stuff... to a certain degree. Not an anorak though, just enjoy exciting racing (the more overtaking, the better in my book). My mission here will be to overthrow Max Mosely and the corrupt state of modern F1 and return it to a level playing field that does not favour any individual or team. That's my mission, feel free to join me! Cheers O

Welcome to the BB everyone

Enjoy your time here

cheers Gerry. Nice cat.

Newbies! Fresh meat. welcome bwah bwah bwah Ha......

.... nice to 'meat' you too.

Hey Everyone, my name is Shalabh and I'm from India. I am 21 years old, guess the youngest here? I began watching F1 from 2000 and instantly fell in love with Mika Hakkinen and Ron Dennis. I used to visit this forum years back but then in between it shutdown and luckily yesterday I just tried the site after sooo many years to just see what's up here and thank God you guys are back!! Its really great to see these forums again.

Hi to all,

I live in US. Been following F1 since 98. Rooted for Mika & McLaren.
I really enjoy reading these forums a lot. My fav team is McLaren.
No single fav driver, but like FA & KR. Last year rooted for Kimi &
this year for FA.

I think MS is definitely one of the great drivers, but I am not big
fan of current Ferrari team's management & racing practices.

Thanks

Welcome Shalabh - not sure about being in love with Ronzo, but enjoy the forums!

PS. You're the second youngest, our beloved Fortymark turns 12 next year.

Hi everyone,

My name is Angel, from Spain. I decided to join this forum because I found here the most clever and balanced comments in F1 forums.

Nevertheless, my first contact has been sad, I just meant that I expected much more from KR than I could see and I was insulted, troll, I was called (http://forums.autosport.com/showthread.php...976#post2536976).

So, I will try to learn about the non-writen rules and then I will post my balanced comments

Cheers!

Hi.

Hello, my name is PJ Kirschbaum 46 years old, from Milwaukee Wisconsin USA.I've been involved in racing for over 30 years as a crewmember, everything from short track to super speedway stock cars ( some call them saloon cars in the uk) to road race cars to dirt modifieds to winged/non winged sprint cars.
I was introduced to 'big time' racing by my father ,who took me to Indianapolis to see the 500 in 1968.
That started a love affair of racing that holds true today!!
I remember seeing the movie Grand Prix waaay back when I was a kid, marveling over the old Monza banking. I few short years later, I learned about these places called the Nordschleife, the 'old' Mt. Fugi, Avus and Sitges.
That started a lifetime of learning about places and drivers from other parts of the world.
I was lucky enough to know who Jimmy Clark was before that fateful day at Hockenheim. Watched Mark Donohue race and win here before going to F1...( I cried when I was told of his death)
But lately I focus my attention on the (as Murray Walker called it) the 80's "turbo era'. As coverage here in the states was somewhat limited to the Long Beach race, I remember really liking driver Patrick Depailler. His 'stand on the gas' style always captured my imagination. Not long ago, I saw 'lap of the gods' for the first time and was amazed by how hard that man drove a racecar. Much like Gille Villenueve...throw it around like a big go kart!!!
I was fortunate to witness the first year of F1 at Indianapolis when I attended friday practice. I had to hear what 18k revs sounded like:) Was amazed by how nimble the cars were during cornering.
So thanks to all for letting me join your community and am looking forward to learning about drivers, tracks and even incidents that shaped the racing, as we know it today!

Hey all,

My name is Jared, and I live in Canberra, Australia - very close to Mark Webber territory. However as you may be able to tell from my alias I'm a bit of a Kimi fan! I've been seriously into F1 since the 98 season, so I have very fond memories of the Mika / Michael duels.

I've yet to venture beyond Melbourne for a GP but I am hoping to make it to Silverstone within the next year or two - would love to watch from Becketts.

Am very much looking forward to the Kimi v Fernando (v Hamilton?) show!

Hi people!!!
My name is Linda and I come from Croatia. I'm 17 years old and I adore Formula 1 sport.
I'm a hard fan of Fernando Alonso and I hope for 3rd title with McLaren!
This year I visited Monaco and Spanish GP. It was fantastic.
My uncle works in Telefonica, so I'm going to Belgium GP next year!

Hi all. I have been watching f1 since 2001 and am a Die hard Kimi and a Mclaren fan. I have always hated Ferrari. But now that Kimi's goin there, I hope Ferrari play fair from here on. With that said, I would want my fav driver Kimi to win next years WDC and Alonso do his best to win the WCC for Mclaren

I wish I had an uncle who worked for Telefonica....



Enjoy the forum FAF!

Hi, I´m Intratable, from Argentina. I´m a Renault supporter in F1 and TC 2000, an Argentinian Touring Championship.

I entered here because a friend of mine, jadb.

Wishes from Argentina

Intratable.

welcome

Hello from Argentina... It costed me hell, but I could finally log in...I subscribe like two times before, but the password was never sent to my e-mail adresses...

Bienvenido ! Espero que no seas tán "intratable"

Bienvenido. You finally managed to come aboard ! This is what counts.

Thank you amigos and welcome Ezequiel!!

Wishes from Buenos Aires.

Hello, all!

I shall drop in from time to time and no doubt prove with my posts that I am wise. Of course that is only in the sense that to be wise you must realize you know nothing. My posts will prove that I, indeed, know nothing! But we all must speak and be heard, no?

I support excellence, chivalry, speed and the art of selling a dummy.

Cheers!

Hi, I am David from México and I am 14 (am I the youngest here too?)

Hi! i'm Humza, male and 19. I live in london, england and support McLaren Merc.
I've tended to support the Finns at McLaren (don't know why) but now its all about the spaniard...oh and im very happy abt lewis joining! lol

Hello daallo
You most likely have the youngest confirmed birthday, but face stiff competition from one or two old hands in the mental age department

Hello I'm Hannah I'm 21 from London

I support Fernando and I'm going to support the english guys that are going to race in 07.

I also like GP2 and sometimes watch British F1

happy birthday for the 5th Hannah, and welcome to the club

aaww Thanks very much

Hi everyone! Just thought I'd introduce myself, I've been reading the forum for a little while now and I think you must be the friendliest lot on the internet, and you all share my passion for motor sport as well - so I thought why not join in!

My interest started a long long time ago in a galaxy far far away... no sorry that's something completely different! But it was a long time ago, my dad started taking me to Oulton Park in the late 50's (yes I'm that old!), I remember Stirling Moss winning the Gold Cup in 1961 with the four wheel drive Fergusson! and I've been addicted ever since.

I've seen a few British Grand Prix - I was at Brands Hatch in 76 at Paddock Hill Bend when the Ferraris took each other out and 'crowd power' got James Hunt re-instated!, I also went to a few GP's and Group C races at Silverstone in the 80's until the prices got a bit silly, and now unfortunately due to family commitments I am just an armchair fan.

My favourite era was the late sixties to the end of the ground effect in the early 80's, basically when the rules were a lot more free and designers could let their imagination go a bit more than they can today. My favourite car is a toss up between the Lotus 72 and the Lotus 79 and my favourite all time driver is Gilles Villeneuve, but I like anyone who drives with a bit of passion, Fernando Alonso, I think is the best at the moment.

Anyway, I could probably go on all night and bore everyone silly, but I'd just like to say to you all good luck and enjoy the season

My first F1 race

Hi, name's Ash, currently 39 knocking on 40. Just quit another F1 forum suffering from personality cults and thought I'd come here and bore you all for a while. Followed Montoya from F3000 to present day, but I'm pinning my future F1 hopes on Little Hamilton as he reminds me a little of the JPM of old. I play BATracer and Live For Speed when my PC isn't CTD'ing and currently attempting to finish a novel I've been toying with for a year or two. Just started on an F1 based one ( yes, I've read Bob Judd's Formula One and Matt Reilly's Hover Car Racer ( didn't realise it was a children's book....) but mine is tentatively slated for a 2012 F1 season....I'm a very slow writer.)
Welsh and proud of it, although with the imminent arrival of the six-nations I'm going to suffer weekend depressions aplenty.
Looking forward to a wide open 2007 in F1 now that MS has gone and the driver market has taken a pretty good mixing up this year and looking to the future I'd enjoy seeing Bourdais replace Barrichelo at Honda and bugger Berger's plans.
Anyway, this is me waving hello. Hope I can go some way towards entertaining you people in the way that many of you have entertained me.

Ash

Welcome. JPM eh? you are from the dark side aren't you

Howdy.

I found this website through Autosport's website, and am still debating whether to subscribe or not. Cost aside, I am concerned about the issues being delayed heavily as a result of me living overseas in America.

Anyway, I've only recently been exposed to Formula 1 and other world motorsports. I've followed the "major" American sports for all of my life, and have had interest in NASCAR in bursts, but not consistently.

As recently as last year I began to follow/watch Formula 1 (CBS airs the races here) and Champ Car, but not IRL. I also am a big fan of European soccer, but not MLS, as it just seems inferior, even boring, to me. I find it odd how America is able to have premier representation in their own sports, but is so lacking in those on a wordly level.

I still consider myself very new to the Formula 1 scene. I am still learning the drivers, and don't really have one, or a specific, team that I follow yet.

The whole European motorsports scene is very intriguing to me. I envy the coverage that is available in Europe and fear the day Formula 1 is taken off air here in America, to be replaced by bullriding or a fishing show. I also have enormous respect for the fans and passion shared by the followers of sport on a world level. I watch a lot of soccer (GolTV and FSC, premium Godsends), and one mmoment that really struck me was during a soccer game, in which the Norwich City fans were crying as a result of their team being relegated down from the Premiership. In general, the passion seems to be on a level beyond that of my American counterparts. Granted, this might just be a result of my own disassociation in regards to Europe, and my desire to be a greater part of their sports scene.

I suppose it's also a desire for something I don't currently have, and perhaps if I were reared in Europe I would desire Sundays filled with NFL games, and summer nights filled with baseball, but I do think world racing is more exciting, and also perhaps more challenging, than American motor sports; though this is just an opinion, and based on nothing more than my own observations.

The lack in European racing coverage is ultimately what led me to the Autosport website, as I was considering a subscription after stumbling across the site and being intrigued. I'd very much be interested in discussing the magazine with someone that has read it, and if there is anyone that falls into this category, perhaps we could correspond a bit via private messages. I am particulary interested in whether there is a noticeable delay in delivery to America, and if it is considered a worthwhile investment for those that opted to subscribe.

As you may have noticed by now, I really enjoy writing, and my posts are generally quite wordy. I am excited to find this forum, as I've yet to discover an online environment where racing was not only followed, but discussed on a regular basis.

Lastly, I briefly skimmed over my post and realized I did a whole lot of rambling, but perhaps was not clear enough about my particular racing interets. On a world level, I have been exposed to, and enjoyed, Formula 1 and WRC. I also have seen some MotoGP racing and find it quite enjoyable. Formula 1 is appealing to me primarily because it involves insanely fast cars racing in a difficult, but controlled environment. On the flip side, I enjoy rally racing because it's more chaotic, and involves cars flying down country roads in environments I might enjoy hiking through, but would have no desire to drive through, even at a controlled speed.

I also really like the manufacturer representation that is present across the different racing leagues. I drive a Honda, and it's neat to feel a sort of distant conection to the company through their racing team. I suspect this isn't a unique experience, and I gather car manufacturers put a lot of stock in their racing teams finding success to represent them well.

Anyway, as I said, I really enjoy writing, and I've clearly done a lot here. It's great to find this forum, and I look forward to learning a lot, and also being a part of related discussions along the way.

Thanks for reading, and take care.