Your F1 most memorable moment
Discussion
LaurasOtherHalf said:
cheers!The reality was probably something less than impressive for most to be honest. Me and dad travelled down to Silverstone on the Friday night of the GP weekend. Dad was a proper grafter, we didn't get to spend too much time together as he worked incredibly hard to get the family where he wanted but he booked a general access ticket for us both for the weekend knowing that I'd enjoy it.
After his business had started to take off (and before the early to mid 90's crash which nearly wiped it all out) Dad started to be able to do things we couldn't do before. He bought a brand new 4x4, we started going on foreign holidays and he treated me and my sister to some amazing things. In 1988 he took me to see Michael Jackson, then we went to Silverstone to see Senna...
Now, back then people didn't really like Senna. The country was awash with Mansell-Mania and today's deification of him was alien but to a few of us fans but regardless of who was "top dog" the fact that Mansell was in with a great chance of a home victory meant a record crowd was due to appear. You speak to folk now and they're all Senna fans but back then he was the pantomime villain and if you followed him you were a traitor, almost as bad as supporting the Argies in the world cup!
Anyway, we jumped in the Isuzu, called in at Argos and bought a hand held TV and headed down. If I remember correctly we slept in the car Friday (sleeping bags) night and made the final short journey to Silverstone early Saturday morning.
Now when we were in the traffic getting close to the circuit we started hearing something strange in the car. It didn't sound good but it was sound all the same, getting louder and louder until it was impossible to ignore. After a while we realised it was the sound of the F1 cars practicing on Saturday morning, it might sound obvious now but in all honesty the fact that we could hear cars that were miles away blew our minds. We parked in the car park and literally ran to the circuit.
I'd love to tell you all of the cut and thrust of Qually but I can't remember it, all I remember is walking from "our" corner round the track to the pits and picking up the rubber marbles from tyres I'd only seen in distant TV feeds from half a world away. We sat in the main grandstand and watched the McLaren team work on the cars into the early evening (when they were allowed to do that).
Dad was probably bored of me watching them and disappeared to get a drink and came back with two pints of Fosters, my first ever pint and probably my most memorable. I still can't believe he did that (we were pretty straight laced), he might wish he never had but it truly was a weekend of firsts, 25 years later I still look back on it fondly.
We had a rather struggled sleep that night, as most campers do (there were some groups making the most of the weekend) but in the morning we got ourselves together and made the effort to beat the bad weather. We took our camping seats into the murk and found our spot which Dad had researched to be the best place.
As miserable as the weather was it just kept getting sunnier and warmer right up until the race itself where things were pretty much perfect. The banter in the crowd was really funny especially as I was (what felt like) the only Senna fan in a field of Mansell supporters and Dad pointed it out so I got much ribbing from the local crowd. In my defence I'd supported Senna since '85 and as a young teenager to see my hero up close I was pretty much in seventh heaven.
The race? God knows. All I remember is the McLaren coming into the corner and the gearbox sounding like a bag of spanners in a cement mixer. Senna pulled off the track and coasted to right in front of us.
Even typing these words into a laptop I still can't believe it happened. Senna got out of the car and proceeded to look thoroughly pissed off. 20 yards away from me.
Now these days people drink water from a bottle all the time, maybe in cool places they did so back then but in the deep dark north where we were from bottled water was a pretty new thing. So new we'd only seen a few sports stars drink it after they'd finished their discipline. For whatever reason we took some Evian to Silverstone with us.
Now I'd love to tell you Senna drank our bottle but he didn't. I ran over to the fence to offer him one, Dad said all the sports stars drank bottled water so go offer him one but he didn't. That doesn't matter though, not for me anyways. I offered Ayrton Senna de Silva a drink and he said no thanks. Probably because the few thousand people behind me were screaming for his blood.
There was an F1 Magazine that we bought after the race and it showed me up at the chain link fence offering Senna a drink but I don't have that anymore. But it did happen.
A most memorable moment? I think so...
Maybe only more than Imola as it meant so much to me. Maybe more than Imola was Brazil 2008? Actually there's no way anything can pass that moment but it's a testament to LH that him winning the WDC is up there with Senna.
Once Ayrton died I probably watched less than 20 races up until 2007. I'm quite happy with Lewis making me watch every race since the beginning of 2007.
Thank you for sharing
My most memorable moment in F1 was the 1970 Monaco GP when Jochen Rindt was catching Jack Brabham from nowhere, real pressure on Brabham and he, Brabham went straight on into the barriers on the last lap.
http://www.motorsportmagazine.com/history/f1/i-was...
http://www.motorsportmagazine.com/history/f1/i-was...
yoshisdad said:
LaurasOtherHalf said:
cheers!The reality was probably something less than impressive for most to be honest. Me and dad travelled down to Silverstone on the Friday night of the GP weekend. Dad was a proper grafter, we didn't get to spend too much time together as he worked incredibly hard to get the family where he wanted but he booked a general access ticket for us both for the weekend knowing that I'd enjoy it.
After his business had started to take off (and before the early to mid 90's crash which nearly wiped it all out) Dad started to be able to do things we couldn't do before. He bought a brand new 4x4, we started going on foreign holidays and he treated me and my sister to some amazing things. In 1988 he took me to see Michael Jackson, then we went to Silverstone to see Senna...
Now, back then people didn't really like Senna. The country was awash with Mansell-Mania and today's deification of him was alien but to a few of us fans but regardless of who was "top dog" the fact that Mansell was in with a great chance of a home victory meant a record crowd was due to appear. You speak to folk now and they're all Senna fans but back then he was the pantomime villain and if you followed him you were a traitor, almost as bad as supporting the Argies in the world cup!
Anyway, we jumped in the Isuzu, called in at Argos and bought a hand held TV and headed down. If I remember correctly we slept in the car Friday (sleeping bags) night and made the final short journey to Silverstone early Saturday morning.
Now when we were in the traffic getting close to the circuit we started hearing something strange in the car. It didn't sound good but it was sound all the same, getting louder and louder until it was impossible to ignore. After a while we realised it was the sound of the F1 cars practicing on Saturday morning, it might sound obvious now but in all honesty the fact that we could hear cars that were miles away blew our minds. We parked in the car park and literally ran to the circuit.
I'd love to tell you all of the cut and thrust of Qually but I can't remember it, all I remember is walking from "our" corner round the track to the pits and picking up the rubber marbles from tyres I'd only seen in distant TV feeds from half a world away. We sat in the main grandstand and watched the McLaren team work on the cars into the early evening (when they were allowed to do that).
Dad was probably bored of me watching them and disappeared to get a drink and came back with two pints of Fosters, my first ever pint and probably my most memorable. I still can't believe he did that (we were pretty straight laced), he might wish he never had but it truly was a weekend of firsts, 25 years later I still look back on it fondly.
We had a rather struggled sleep that night, as most campers do (there were some groups making the most of the weekend) but in the morning we got ourselves together and made the effort to beat the bad weather. We took our camping seats into the murk and found our spot which Dad had researched to be the best place.
As miserable as the weather was it just kept getting sunnier and warmer right up until the race itself where things were pretty much perfect. The banter in the crowd was really funny especially as I was (what felt like) the only Senna fan in a field of Mansell supporters and Dad pointed it out so I got much ribbing from the local crowd. In my defence I'd supported Senna since '85 and as a young teenager to see my hero up close I was pretty much in seventh heaven.
The race? God knows. All I remember is the McLaren coming into the corner and the gearbox sounding like a bag of spanners in a cement mixer. Senna pulled off the track and coasted to right in front of us.
Even typing these words into a laptop I still can't believe it happened. Senna got out of the car and proceeded to look thoroughly pissed off. 20 yards away from me.
Now these days people drink water from a bottle all the time, maybe in cool places they did so back then but in the deep dark north where we were from bottled water was a pretty new thing. So new we'd only seen a few sports stars drink it after they'd finished their discipline. For whatever reason we took some Evian to Silverstone with us.
Now I'd love to tell you Senna drank our bottle but he didn't. I ran over to the fence to offer him one, Dad said all the sports stars drank bottled water so go offer him one but he didn't. That doesn't matter though, not for me anyways. I offered Ayrton Senna de Silva a drink and he said no thanks. Probably because the few thousand people behind me were screaming for his blood.
There was an F1 Magazine that we bought after the race and it showed me up at the chain link fence offering Senna a drink but I don't have that anymore. But it did happen.
A most memorable moment? I think so...
Maybe only more than Imola as it meant so much to me. Maybe more than Imola was Brazil 2008? Actually there's no way anything can pass that moment but it's a testament to LH that him winning the WDC is up there with Senna.
Once Ayrton died I probably watched less than 20 races up until 2007. I'm quite happy with Lewis making me watch every race since the beginning of 2007.
Thank you for sharing
LaurasOtherHalf said:
cheers!The reality was probably something less than impressive for most to be honest. Me and dad travelled down to Silverstone on the Friday night of the GP weekend. Dad was a proper grafter, we didn't get to spend too much time together as he worked incredibly hard to get the family where he wanted but he booked a general access ticket for us both for the weekend knowing that I'd enjoy it.
After his business had started to take off (and before the early to mid 90's crash which nearly wiped it all out) Dad started to be able to do things we couldn't do before. He bought a brand new 4x4, we started going on foreign holidays and he treated me and my sister to some amazing things. In 1988 he took me to see Michael Jackson, then we went to Silverstone to see Senna...
Now, back then people didn't really like Senna. The country was awash with Mansell-Mania and today's deification of him was alien but to a few of us fans but regardless of who was "top dog" the fact that Mansell was in with a great chance of a home victory meant a record crowd was due to appear. You speak to folk now and they're all Senna fans but back then he was the pantomime villain and if you followed him you were a traitor, almost as bad as supporting the Argies in the world cup!
Anyway, we jumped in the Isuzu, called in at Argos and bought a hand held TV and headed down. If I remember correctly we slept in the car Friday (sleeping bags) night and made the final short journey to Silverstone early Saturday morning.
Now when we were in the traffic getting close to the circuit we started hearing something strange in the car. It didn't sound good but it was sound all the same, getting louder and louder until it was impossible to ignore. After a while we realised it was the sound of the F1 cars practicing on Saturday morning, it might sound obvious now but in all honesty the fact that we could hear cars that were miles away blew our minds. We parked in the car park and literally ran to the circuit.
I'd love to tell you all of the cut and thrust of Qually but I can't remember it, all I remember is walking from "our" corner round the track to the pits and picking up the rubber marbles from tyres I'd only seen in distant TV feeds from half a world away. We sat in the main grandstand and watched the McLaren team work on the cars into the early evening (when they were allowed to do that).
Dad was probably bored of me watching them and disappeared to get a drink and came back with two pints of Fosters, my first ever pint and probably my most memorable. I still can't believe he did that (we were pretty straight laced), he might wish he never had but it truly was a weekend of firsts, 25 years later I still look back on it fondly.
We had a rather struggled sleep that night, as most campers do (there were some groups making the most of the weekend) but in the morning we got ourselves together and made the effort to beat the bad weather. We took our camping seats into the murk and found our spot which Dad had researched to be the best place.
As miserable as the weather was it just kept getting sunnier and warmer right up until the race itself where things were pretty much perfect. The banter in the crowd was really funny especially as I was (what felt like) the only Senna fan in a field of Mansell supporters and Dad pointed it out so I got much ribbing from the local crowd. In my defence I'd supported Senna since '85 and as a young teenager to see my hero up close I was pretty much in seventh heaven.
The race? God knows. All I remember is the McLaren coming into the corner and the gearbox sounding like a bag of spanners in a cement mixer. Senna pulled off the track and coasted to right in front of us.
Even typing these words into a laptop I still can't believe it happened. Senna got out of the car and proceeded to look thoroughly pissed off. 20 yards away from me.
Now these days people drink water from a bottle all the time, maybe in cool places they did so back then but in the deep dark north where we were from bottled water was a pretty new thing. So new we'd only seen a few sports stars drink it after they'd finished their discipline. For whatever reason we took some Evian to Silverstone with us.
Now I'd love to tell you Senna drank our bottle but he didn't. I ran over to the fence to offer him one, Dad said all the sports stars drank bottled water so go offer him one but he didn't. That doesn't matter though, not for me anyways. I offered Ayrton Senna de Silva a drink and he said no thanks. Probably because the few thousand people behind me were screaming for his blood.
There was an F1 Magazine that we bought after the race and it showed me up at the chain link fence offering Senna a drink but I don't have that anymore. But it did happen.
A most memorable moment? I think so...
Maybe only more than Imola as it meant so much to me. Maybe more than Imola was Brazil 2008? Actually there's no way anything can pass that moment but it's a testament to LH that him winning the WDC is up there with Senna.
Once Ayrton died I probably watched less than 20 races up until 2007. I'm quite happy with Lewis making me watch every race since the beginning of 2007.
Mine is Monza 2013.
It was a hot humid, beautiful morning without a breath of wind, so humid it was almost misty.
For Friday practice we were a little bit late getting there and practice started as we were walking down the track in Monza park (from Via Enzo Ferrari to the entrance gate), through the trees. This was the last year of the V8s and the scream of those engines at full throttle down the pit straight coming through the trees in Monza park is something I'll never forget. It wasn't my first GP by any means but it was my first time at Monza and that was a great introduction, just something about that sound, in that location in that weather made it perfect.
It was a hot humid, beautiful morning without a breath of wind, so humid it was almost misty.
For Friday practice we were a little bit late getting there and practice started as we were walking down the track in Monza park (from Via Enzo Ferrari to the entrance gate), through the trees. This was the last year of the V8s and the scream of those engines at full throttle down the pit straight coming through the trees in Monza park is something I'll never forget. It wasn't my first GP by any means but it was my first time at Monza and that was a great introduction, just something about that sound, in that location in that weather made it perfect.
Edited by Norfolkit on Monday 7th August 11:38
I started to taking an interest in F1 in 1993 when Damon Hill started driving for Williams but it was Senna's drive at Donnington that year that is etched in my memory.
1994's memory probably doesn't need saying. I wasn't even watching the Imola race as I was camping in the Lake District. That was the first death that had any real effect on me. I was totally shocked by it.
In more recent times, Button's drive in Canada 2011. Not just for the way in which we came through at the end but for the entire story of that race. So much happened and yet watching it live, we had the hours of marshall's hopelessly sweeping up water with the cars parked under umbrella and DC's ornithology musings. It never felt like a race that was going to have me hanging off the sofa for the last few laps. I've watched the whole race again a few times since
1994's memory probably doesn't need saying. I wasn't even watching the Imola race as I was camping in the Lake District. That was the first death that had any real effect on me. I was totally shocked by it.
In more recent times, Button's drive in Canada 2011. Not just for the way in which we came through at the end but for the entire story of that race. So much happened and yet watching it live, we had the hours of marshall's hopelessly sweeping up water with the cars parked under umbrella and DC's ornithology musings. It never felt like a race that was going to have me hanging off the sofa for the last few laps. I've watched the whole race again a few times since
1990 Mexican race when Mansell (Ferrari) overtakes Berger (McLaren) on the outside of the Peraltada corner. I remember it vivdly and also remember the first part of the race was shown as highlights and then it jumped to a live showing at the end all within the same programme.
My first memory was Gilles Villeneuve's fatal accident.
My first memory was Gilles Villeneuve's fatal accident.
I tend to remember words more than pictures although the most vivid picture memory I have is Hill being taken out by Schumacher in Adelaide.
Words wise there are three that stand out and I can still hear them as they were said:
Murray Walker: An'd I've got to stop because I've got a lump in my throat (when Damon Hill won the title)
Martin Brundle: That didn't work Michael you hit the wrong part of him my friend (when Schumacher hit Villeneuve)
Mark Webber: Not bad for a number 2 driver (after winning at Silverstone after his new front wing was given to Vettel who's wing was broken)
Words wise there are three that stand out and I can still hear them as they were said:
Murray Walker: An'd I've got to stop because I've got a lump in my throat (when Damon Hill won the title)
Martin Brundle: That didn't work Michael you hit the wrong part of him my friend (when Schumacher hit Villeneuve)
Mark Webber: Not bad for a number 2 driver (after winning at Silverstone after his new front wing was given to Vettel who's wing was broken)
LaurasOtherHalf said:
cheers!The reality was probably something less than impressive for most to be honest. Me and dad travelled down to Silverstone on the Friday night of the GP weekend. Dad was a proper grafter, we didn't get to spend too much time together as he worked incredibly hard to get the family where he wanted but he booked a general access ticket for us both for the weekend knowing that I'd enjoy it.
After his business had started to take off (and before the early to mid 90's crash which nearly wiped it all out) Dad started to be able to do things we couldn't do before. He bought a brand new 4x4, we started going on foreign holidays and he treated me and my sister to some amazing things. In 1988 he took me to see Michael Jackson, then we went to Silverstone to see Senna...
Now, back then people didn't really like Senna. The country was awash with Mansell-Mania and today's deification of him was alien but to a few of us fans but regardless of who was "top dog" the fact that Mansell was in with a great chance of a home victory meant a record crowd was due to appear. You speak to folk now and they're all Senna fans but back then he was the pantomime villain and if you followed him you were a traitor, almost as bad as supporting the Argies in the world cup!
Anyway, we jumped in the Isuzu, called in at Argos and bought a hand held TV and headed down. If I remember correctly we slept in the car Friday (sleeping bags) night and made the final short journey to Silverstone early Saturday morning.
Now when we were in the traffic getting close to the circuit we started hearing something strange in the car. It didn't sound good but it was sound all the same, getting louder and louder until it was impossible to ignore. After a while we realised it was the sound of the F1 cars practicing on Saturday morning, it might sound obvious now but in all honesty the fact that we could hear cars that were miles away blew our minds. We parked in the car park and literally ran to the circuit.
I'd love to tell you all of the cut and thrust of Qually but I can't remember it, all I remember is walking from "our" corner round the track to the pits and picking up the rubber marbles from tyres I'd only seen in distant TV feeds from half a world away. We sat in the main grandstand and watched the McLaren team work on the cars into the early evening (when they were allowed to do that).
Dad was probably bored of me watching them and disappeared to get a drink and came back with two pints of Fosters, my first ever pint and probably my most memorable. I still can't believe he did that (we were pretty straight laced), he might wish he never had but it truly was a weekend of firsts, 25 years later I still look back on it fondly.
We had a rather struggled sleep that night, as most campers do (there were some groups making the most of the weekend) but in the morning we got ourselves together and made the effort to beat the bad weather. We took our camping seats into the murk and found our spot which Dad had researched to be the best place.
As miserable as the weather was it just kept getting sunnier and warmer right up until the race itself where things were pretty much perfect. The banter in the crowd was really funny especially as I was (what felt like) the only Senna fan in a field of Mansell supporters and Dad pointed it out so I got much ribbing from the local crowd. In my defence I'd supported Senna since '85 and as a young teenager to see my hero up close I was pretty much in seventh heaven.
The race? God knows. All I remember is the McLaren coming into the corner and the gearbox sounding like a bag of spanners in a cement mixer. Senna pulled off the track and coasted to right in front of us.
Even typing these words into a laptop I still can't believe it happened. Senna got out of the car and proceeded to look thoroughly pissed off. 20 yards away from me.
Now these days people drink water from a bottle all the time, maybe in cool places they did so back then but in the deep dark north where we were from bottled water was a pretty new thing. So new we'd only seen a few sports stars drink it after they'd finished their discipline. For whatever reason we took some Evian to Silverstone with us.
Now I'd love to tell you Senna drank our bottle but he didn't. I ran over to the fence to offer him one, Dad said all the sports stars drank bottled water so go offer him one but he didn't. That doesn't matter though, not for me anyways. I offered Ayrton Senna de Silva a drink and he said no thanks. Probably because the few thousand people behind me were screaming for his blood.
There was an F1 Magazine that we bought after the race and it showed me up at the chain link fence offering Senna a drink but I don't have that anymore. But it did happen.
A most memorable moment? I think so...
Maybe only more than Imola as it meant so much to me. Maybe more than Imola was Brazil 2008? Actually there's no way anything can pass that moment but it's a testament to LH that him winning the WDC is up there with Senna.
Once Ayrton died I probably watched less than 20 races up until 2007. I'm quite happy with Lewis making me watch every race since the beginning of 2007.
Schumi winning Hungry in 1998. I thought the race was over before it had started, knowing the limited overtaking opportunities and the fact the Mcls were on Bridgestones. What he did that day made me believe that anything was achievable.
Schumi winning a race (not sure which one) and hours before loosing his mother, must have taken an unbelievable amount of mental resolve. Driving an F1 car can not be easy, driving it on the limit again something else and then having such a traumatic tragedy to deal with. I could not even contemplate going running/gym/work in such a scenario.
Slightly off-topic but in the same stance was Buster Douglas beating Mike Tyson in Japan, unbelievable fight and performance from a man, who had just lost his mother.
Schumi winning a race (not sure which one) and hours before loosing his mother, must have taken an unbelievable amount of mental resolve. Driving an F1 car can not be easy, driving it on the limit again something else and then having such a traumatic tragedy to deal with. I could not even contemplate going running/gym/work in such a scenario.
Slightly off-topic but in the same stance was Buster Douglas beating Mike Tyson in Japan, unbelievable fight and performance from a man, who had just lost his mother.
I don't count stuff I have seen on TV (if I did , then Monaco 1970(Rindt wins at last minute) , Monza 1967(comeback drive from Clark but Surtees wins ) and Suzuka 94 (Hill wins in the wet against Schumacher) )would feature .
But what I have seen live -
Peterson's Lotus 72 at Woodcote '73 , totally sideways at 150plus
Ickx driving around outside of Lauda's Ferrari in the wet at Paddock Hill bend '74
Mansell's move on Piquet at Stowe '87
Rosberg's 161mph pole at Silverstone '85
Lauda's last win at Zandvoort '85
The first sight and sound of N/a cars in 1989
Turbo era at its peak , Brands '86
The simply staggering noise the Toyota V10 made in 2005
A Ligier Mugen Honda piercing my left eardrum in 96 - not a memory I care to linger upon .....
But what I have seen live -
Peterson's Lotus 72 at Woodcote '73 , totally sideways at 150plus
Ickx driving around outside of Lauda's Ferrari in the wet at Paddock Hill bend '74
Mansell's move on Piquet at Stowe '87
Rosberg's 161mph pole at Silverstone '85
Lauda's last win at Zandvoort '85
The first sight and sound of N/a cars in 1989
Turbo era at its peak , Brands '86
The simply staggering noise the Toyota V10 made in 2005
A Ligier Mugen Honda piercing my left eardrum in 96 - not a memory I care to linger upon .....
Edited by coppice on Tuesday 8th August 10:16
Brazil 2008 initially springs to mind as a modern memorable moment for me. I remember thinking, as the race got into the last few laps - "not winning this championship is going to shatter Hamilton mentally", even my wife who has no real interest in F1 was engrossed. Those last couple of corners were absolutely crazy and the very definition of 'you wouldn't believe it if you hadn't seen it'. How Massa recovered from that i do not know.
Rookie Montoya being taken out by Verstappen (snr) at Brazil whilst leading the race in 2001. I absolutely loved Montoya in F1. Short sighted, blinkered, hot headed, no f
ks given about who he was racing against, and just wanted to win every lap.
Mansell giving Senna a lift back to the pits at Silverstone in '91. I remember sitting there laughing with my dad as that happened. It was a ritual that we would always sit and watch the GP together on a Sunday. As a kid I thought we would do that together forever.
Rookie Montoya being taken out by Verstappen (snr) at Brazil whilst leading the race in 2001. I absolutely loved Montoya in F1. Short sighted, blinkered, hot headed, no f
ks given about who he was racing against, and just wanted to win every lap. Mansell giving Senna a lift back to the pits at Silverstone in '91. I remember sitting there laughing with my dad as that happened. It was a ritual that we would always sit and watch the GP together on a Sunday. As a kid I thought we would do that together forever.
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