33 replies to this topic

[August]

Since there’s a thread for drivers, I thought to create another one for teams and manufacturers.

I can’t really say I have a particular favorite team or manufacturer. But I do have some I like a little bit more than others.

I like certain manufacturers because of their racing heritage. I like some because of their cars (mostly in production-based categories).

I like certain teams because of their manufacturer associations. And I like some other teams because of their owners. And I like some teams only as teams, regardless of their owners or manufacturers. But a driver doesn’t really make me a team fan, unless we’re talking about driver owners like Ed Carpenter or Jeff Gordon.

That being said, in F1 I find teams too “corporate” to like them. Teams like Williams and Sauber were so much associated with their owners and now they’re more like investment assets. Kinda the same with McLaren nowadays, though at least the road car division kinda connects them with their history.

Then you have the manufacturer teams, which are very much only marketing arms for their parent company. I mean, even the Joest-run WEC program felt more like a true Audi team than buying into Sauber will be.

MotoGP is maybe the closest comparison to F1, and even their teams feel like they are more genuinely connected to their owners, be it the factory teams or privateers like Gresini or Tech 3.

But what are your thoughts?

[Viryfan]

Living nearby Viry factory.

[Nicktendo86]

Growing up seeing Mika in the cool looking McLaren with its rocket red nose being the only thing in the way of Michael being dominant made me a lifelong McLaren fan.

[Afterburner]

I was brought home from the hospital in an Acura. The first car I drove was a Honda. The first time I drove stick was in a Honda. My favorite car is, probably, the Honda S2000.

So obviously I cheer for Toyota.

[maximilian]

I used to love Toleman, but look what they have become!   

[BertoC]

Well, originally, as a 10 year old, it was because of Senna and the cool Marlboro livery. Then when he left to Williams I realized I wanted more Mclaren to win than him. And the rest is history.

[Beri]

Started watching F1 during the early 90s. Blue, white and yellow just popped off the screen back then. Plus they were winning a lot. So little Beri, as influenceable as he could be, became an instant Williams fan. And even now, more than 30 years on, with all the highs and thrice as many lows, I am still an avid Williams supporter.

[Claudius]

Started watching F1 during the early 90s. Blue, white and yellow just popped off the screen back then. Plus they were winning a lot. So little Beri, as influenceable as he could be, became an instant Williams fan. And even now, more than 30 years on, with all the highs and thrice as many lows, I am still an avid Williams supporter.

 

I still think Williams FW15C is the most beautiful car ever. 

[Henri Greuter]

Given the flurry of this kind of threads popping up all of a sudden?

 

I wonder how long a exact opposite of this thread ("Why do you loathe a team/manufacturer?") would be open before it will be locked due to whatever negative reactions and bashing in reaction 

[Ruudbackus]

For me its Ferrari, I started watching in the mid 90's (Alesi and Berger) and it caught me. Actually my love for ferrari begane on a Holiday late in the 80's when i was a kid. There were 3 ferrari-s (i don't know the type) all red aprked at the hotel we were staying. I loved the color. From constructors point of view its ferrari thats my favorite but I actually root for the Williams and McLaren as well, for me those 3 teams are the backbone of F1. 

[Spillage]

I like Ferrari because red is my favourite colour.

[Henri Greuter]

I started out as some kind of fan of the Yardley McLarens and Elf Tyrrels (I liked those words to be made with the lettered stones Lego once had onto my own Lego F1 cars)

But went to Ferrari from then on thanks to being a fan of Lauda and later on for Gilles Villeneuve. ( I still hate this particulare date of today ever since 1982)

Remained with Ferrari despite my hesitations about MS but left them since 2007 when they began to hire drivers I disliked and/or could not feel positive about. 

Had no favorite team anymore from then on, also because I didn't follow F1 very serious anymore during the V8 years with those ugly aerocrap contraptions loaded with fins, flaps and `hard ones` and awful sounding too.

 

Mark Webber and Max made me supporting RedBull, though not a true fan of the team through thick and thin like I have been in the past for Ferrari.

Edited by Henri Greuter, Yesterday, 08:26.

[PayasYouRace]

This is far more complicated than the driver one for me because there are so many factors that play in. Do they build pretty cars? Do they build quick cars? Do they have a company culture that shows through to the fans that they’re a harmonious team driven to success together? Do they associate with manufacturers or other brands that I respect? Do they have drivers I respect? Do they play the game fairly?

[JordanIreland]

Jordan Grand Prix will always be my favourite team.

F1 came to Ireland via “free to air” on one of our national TV stations RTE. While I was aware Ireland had representation in F1, to see the Jordans on TV in Brazil will always be a special experience for me.

1995 was such a mixed bag for Jordan, as there was some performance from time to time, but having the car breakdown so many time was heartbreaking.

From 1995 to 1999 Jordan were on the up and what a feeling that was.

Jordan has been no more since 2005 (really 2004). Since then I’ve been a Williams Fan, and sure enough, Williams haven’t been a real championship contender since haha the Williams from 1994 to 1997 were super beautiful cars and that’s what swung me.

Don’t like Frank Williams the person, I didn’t realise how much of a tool he was as a person before I started to support the team. But they are my team now.

I’ve zero appetite for Ferrari, the special treatment they’ve received just stinks and totally unjustified. The first season of drive to survive had no input from Ferrari and it was a big success. Surprise surprise, Ferrari then realised they are being left out and quickly joined. How Kimi’ Ferrari win in Australia was allowed to stand with an illegal car, still baffles me.

Red Bull are a great team, but dislike Horner, he is the ultimate tool. The level of airtime Sky gives him is cringe.


At the top of the grid, my preference is Mercedes, but Toto does come across weird and it might be better for him and the team, if he has less airtime.

Overall, hoping Williams can make it back to the top. The owners and management are in sync and it shows. But they’ll need bigger long term investment. But it’s looking promising.

[Anderis]

Livery is the primary factor. I also usually prefer teams whose name is not a big car manufacturer or any other type of a globally recognised corporation.

[1player]

Missing an option: "they're the underdog".

 

At least McLaren was when I started supporting it

[mirrorboy]

I've been a Ferrari fan ever since I started watching F1 as a 7-8 year old kid, around 1994.

 

And it was Ferrari just because it was red, my favourite colour. A quite random reason I guess, but I absolutely loved those cars, and from there my love for the Scuderia just kept growing and has been unbreakable ever since.

[SophieB]

I used to be a big McLaren fan in large part because I was a fan of Ron Dennis and his endlessly complicated, complex personality. It’s not like I don’t like the current version or resent them in any way or anything but it’s somehow not the same.

[Beri]

Livery is the primary factor. I also usually prefer teams whose name is not a big car manufacturer or any other type of a globally recognised corporation.

 

Blue boy, was it not? 

[Stephane]

The power of dreams.

[Beri]

Earth dreams?

[Stephane]

I had my name on that car 😎

[miso]

Earth dreams?

 

Slow, ugly and a terrible livery. The trifecta. 

[messy]

When I first started watching F1 properly in 1998 I homed in on Benetton quite quickly and the reasons for that were -

- Nice colour scheme - the two-tone blue, the splash of colour across the engine cover, the distinctive rounded shape of the chassis too, it was a nice looking car
- Fisichella and Wurz, two exciting, up and coming talents
- nearly beating the might of McLaren and Ferrari to win a race or two but not quite
- Odd engine name not corresponding to any manufacturer I knew of (PlayLife)
- I knew Dave Richards and Prodrive, I was already a WRC fan by now
- 'fallen giant' narrative, a team that was great relatively recently hitting tougher times

And that was enough for them to instantly imprint on me like I was a newly hatched duckling looking at my mum or something. It carried on from there despite much of that stuff listed above no longer being relevant after that first year. And still even now watching the Alpine clownshow continue unabated, I've got in the back of my head that this is still 'my team'.

Edited by messy, Yesterday, 14:33.

[Garagista]

Because my dad was the owner of a FIAT in the early 90's and Ferrari at the time had FIAT in engine cover, simple as that.

[Mc_Silver]

Working philosophy and heritage in nutshell.

[Mc_Silver]

I used to be a big McLaren fan in large part because I was a fan of Ron Dennis and his endlessly complicated, complex personality. It’s not like I don’t like the current version or resent them in any way or anything but it’s somehow not the same.

Oh, how I miss Ronspeak

https://www.skysport...gend-ron-dennis

[Mark A]

My allegiances have changed over the years.

As a kid I was a huge Lotus fan, they were mostly rubbish but they were my team, primarily because I am a big Jim Clark fan (despite the fact he died before I was born) as I heard stories about him from my grandfather, being Scottish was probably a big factor, but was never a JYS fan.
I was a fan of the 2 resurrected Lotus teams as although the links were tenuous they had the Lotus name and badge.

The whole Mansell thing drew me to Williams, and even after the Mansell era I remained a Williams fan even through their poor years and I still keep an eye on how they are doing.

I did stop watching and following F1 as much as I used to from about 2015 to 2022, what drew me back in was changing jobs and started working for the car company in Woking, at which point it was almost impossible not to get drawn into how the racing team next door were doing, badly at the time so my allegiances changed again.

[Sterzo]

Oh, how I miss Ronspeak

https://www.skysport...gend-ron-dennis

Yet here is a remarkable 25 minute interview with Ron in reflective mode, talking about his early days in racing, and very little corporate mis-speaking. Definitely worth a watch.

 

[Brian60]

Always been a follower of Mclaren, then Jensen entered at Williams and I was taken with him as a driver, then Brawn came along and Jensen jumped ship to join them, great, I liked the driver and I liked the fact that a small guy (relatively) like Ross Brawn came along to rescue a team, all the better they went on to win the championship. I followed Jensen back to McLaren and whoa, who was this young guy (Lewis) who I had not taken much notice of until then? Yes I loved his fight at Macca with Alonso, and the fact he was close to the wdc in 2007, but my allegiance was with Jensen. So all the better to have them both in the same team. It didn't last of course with Lewis jumping to Mercedes. My allegiance to Jensen still held but I was becoming aligned with Lewis also, it was a sad day when Jensen left F1. But hey, a new rivalry, Lewis and Nico!

 

The thing is, these two drivers seem to have charisma, like the drivers from my early days of formula 1 from the mid '60's to the mid '70's, the era of gentlemen like Graham Hill, Jackie Stewart etc. It is sadly lacking in many of the newer drivers who just seem hell bent on racing and everything else falls to the wayside. I cannot get behind other brits like George or Lando, they just don't have it, I can't speak for Ollie bearman, not seen enough of him yet.

 

This is of course from a British point of view, a Frenchman, italian, Dutch or whatever will of course have their own views on drivers.

[Bendo]

Drivers for me. With a soft spot for Mclaren and Williams.

Never saw myself as ever liking Ferrari as they were always tained by Schumacher for me, but here we are.

[loki0420]

It started with livery in 97. And then comes snowball effect that i love everything McLaren related.

[lustigson]

Because... 

Edited by lustigson, Today, 12:07.

[PitViperRacing]

Have French family and when I started following I felt I had to support a team.

Thus began a long and abusive relationship of supporting Alpine.