How, when, and why did you start watching Formula One?

[Bigbazz]

Back in the 90's my dad used to watch it and i would watch it with him, i was only young, the earliest memory i have is Suzuka 1996 when Damon Hill won, i was 10 years old. But I lost interest later, i stopped watching it for years until the summer of 2009 i was bored and saw a race up on BBC Iplayer, so watched it and enjoyed it and have followed it since.

 

[Sander 001]

1997. North American sports in general were no longer impressing me so looked to the international stage. Motorsports were interesting and F1 was the pinnacle so it was natural.

Watched the season preview and was instantly captivated by Schumacher because he was the awesomely talented underdog. Eddie Irvine described the Ferrari as an accident waiting to happen so when Schuey wrung 3 victories from it, I had a feeling he was one of the all time greats, alongside Ali, Gretzky, Jordan.

Those years fighting Williams and McLaren were incredible and Murray Walker made things very exciting and Martin Brundle(by far the most knowledgeable man with a microphone in sports) taught me so many things about the sport(and continues to teach).

 

[Laynas_Daddi]

Just started watching it tonight! Never really got into it, but since picking up GT5 a few months ago, i am starting to come around. I am still a noon when it comes to understanding some of the terminology, but hey I have to start somewhere. It is pretty damn cool.

Anyone know if the come to USA? I would find a way to go for sure, just hearing the sounds from those cars on my surround sound makes me want to experience it in person.

 

[sunnygsm]

Lewis Hamilton drew me in. Started watching a tiny bit in his rookie year. Watched him win in a spectacular fashion in year 2, loved it all the way.

 

[Azure Flare]

Watched the USGP back in '07, didn't pay much attention 'til Australia in '09. Watched it ever since.

 

[astrosdude91]

Anyone know if the come to USA? I would find a way to go for sure, just hearing the sounds from those cars on my surround sound makes me want to experience it in person.

Yep. F1 will return to the United States next year. They will race at a purpose built track in Austin. I know I'll be there!

 

[adam46]

When I was a baby my dad (who I haven't seen since 2003) was watching F1 when I was 6 months old, and I would just stare at the screen for 2 hours in silence, been watching ever since.

 

[Forza!]

Hockenheim '95 was the first GP I ever saw. I instantly fell in love with the beautiful curves of the Ferrari 412 T2 and am a huge Ferrari fan ever since

Haven't missed a single F1 race since then

 

[Laynas_Daddi]

Yep. F1 will return to the United States next year. They will race at a purpose built track in Austin. I know I'll be there!

Holy canolies batman! I am down, I don't drink any longer, but cokes or red bulls are on me! lol

 

[Matti_Dude]

I grew up watching F1 as a kid. My dad is a big formula one fan and he always used to watch the races and this caught on to me. My earliest memories were watching Hakkinen and Schumacher battling it out, it was a great rivalry, Ferrari vs McLaren and it went on for years. But once Mika retired and Schumacher won championship after championship I got relatively bored with the sport and stopped watching until 2005. It was nice to see Alonso win the championship and I haven't stopped watching F1 since and I don't intend to.

 

[Parnelli Bone]

Don't remember any specifics. I would have been about 13 when I started watching but it's mostly because my parents were concerned about some strange behavior I was exhibiting as puberty hit. They wanted to get me a subscription to Playboy (true) as a way for me to uh....explore my new sense of self.

I was of course, so embarrased. I really wanted to say "yes, go ahead and get me a subscription", but I just couldn't. I asked for a subscription to Road & Track instead, since I had a fascination with cars. Somewhere along the line, this must be where I learned about F1 (and other forms or racing). I remember I would root for Alain Prost, driving for Renault, since my folks had two Renaults.

Back then, Formula 1 was really interesting. I believe I had just missed the Tyrell 6-wheel era, but there was still plenty of experimentation with car design & engine technology. Now it just seems so cookie-cutter/generic (no offense to fans here) just like a lot of other modern motorsports going on nowadays. I've tried to watch modern F1, but it just doesn....you get the picture.

It wasn't really until late in 1997 that I got seriously into it. I think the first time I was allowed to stay up past my bedtime was to watch a race. Someone also gave me a copy of F1 Racing from that year. I still have it; Schumacher and Villeneuve were on the cover, with the title BATTLE OF THE CENTURY in big, bold letters. I never really read the articles except for the race reports; I just looked at the pictures during recess and lunch. I do remember the school bully catching me reading it. There was a picture of a woman with rather large breasts sitting on the nose of a Jordan. The bully told me to show the picture to his friend, or else he'd tell the teacher that I had dirty pictures at school. I showed him, but ot out of fear - the woman's breasts had never even occurred to me. I thought he was interested in the cars.

Whoa!

 

[AlexGTV]

Circa 2000. What really drawed me in was the duel of Schumacher and Hakkinen.