FORUMula1.com - F1 Forum

[zurich_allan]

Hi people,

Thought it would be polite to introduce myself. I'm from Paisley, near Glasgow in Scotland, university lecturer to trade and been a F1 viewer and fan since I first started watching in 1984 as a child. I loved the nip and tuck battle between Lauda and Prost that season, as well as the now famous Monaco race of that season.

I have been a member over at the BBC boards for a number of years, but over the last 12 months or so have posted less and less there to the point I don't post at all. I find the F1 section there is just full of rambling bickering, and can't be bothered with it. I'm all for debating and different points of view, but one thing I HATE (!!!!) is just utter bias whether it's for one party or an other (typically now Hamilton v Massa / Alonso, in the past it was Schumacher v Alonso or Button etc.). The BBC board (in my opinion) is now completely full of this. Having had a look about here I can see there is a bit more proper and informed debate, which is great!

My favorite F1 drivers of all time would probably be Senna, Mansell and Hakkinen (in that order), but I've included a few more (not inclusive by any means!) that I've enjoyed watching over the years in my signature.

I hope to contribute regularly to the forum, and look forward to reading all the members thoughts on the world of F1 from day to day!

Allan

[texasmr2]

Welcome Allan thanks for joining us.

Gregg

[Stephen]

Welcome Allan, thanks for joining us! Great to see someone else mention Hakkinen, he's not the most popular driver of recent times but certainly deserves some credit - especially given his worthy opponents at the time he became Champion. The battles with MS made for some of the best F1 races I've seen, and who could forget that overtake at Spa in 2000 (IIRC) which was truly legendary (see clip below)!

I would go on, but I have to be up for the Fuji GP in a little over 4 hrs!

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=xVQ-omQEo ... re=related

[McLaren Fan]

Welcome to the forum! As Stephen said, it's great to see somebody mention Hakkinen. He does not, in my view, get anything close to the credit he deserves. He is one of the fastest drivers I've ever seen and his accident in Adelaide in 1995 did not slow him down one bit. Initially, he was not so great at developing cars, but he quickly improved in this area when he moved to McLaren. On top of his ability, he was a genuine team player. He could have jumped ship when it looked as though McLaren were all at sea, but he stayed and helped to rebuild the team again. As you can probably tell from my name and avatar, I like McLaren and also think that Senna is the greatest driver of all time.

[zurich_allan]

Thanks for the welcome! Yes - it is 4.38am, and yes I am up to watch the GP...... and yes, I am mad!

I've been a Hakkinen fan ever since his astonishing effort in qualifying for his first race with McLaren. Somebody who had fulfilled a purely testing role (sports cars aside) for the previous 20 months or so should not under any circumstances have been able to out-qualify the greatest qualifier of all time (I know not in terms of number of poles, but in reality!) in Ayrton Senna. The way he handled himself when McLaren were in the doldrums from 94-97 was the mark of a great man - he knuckled down and got on with it when many other drivers in similar circumstances since have thrown the toys from the pram. Also, after Adelaide 95, I thought he would never come back, or if he did would be like Karl Wendlinger, i.e. not be the same again, however he seemed if anything to get quicker following this near tragedy! He is definitely given nowhere near the credit he deserves for his two titles, and indeed could well have made it three were it not for exceptionally bad reliability and luck in 2000. I think this might have something to do with his emotional frailties and the fact that his subtle personality could be taken (the wrong way) to be boring when it is anything but.

It's a shame that I always feel I have to justify why I think Hakkinen was a superb driver, whereas of course I do not (obviously) feel that I have to justify liking Senna or Mansell in the same way.

Thanks again for the welcome, I'm off for a cup of tea in front of the telly to keep me awake!!

[Hanwombat]

Welcome

[f1maniac95]

Welcome

[bud]

Welcome mate

[burt estep]

Welcome to the forum! As Stephen said, it's great to see somebody mention Hakkinen. He does not, in my view, get anything close to the credit he deserves. He is one of the fastest drivers I've ever seen and his accident in Adelaide in 1995 did not slow him down one bit. Initially, he was not so great at developing cars, but he quickly improved in this area when he moved to McLaren. On top of his ability, he was a genuine team player. He could have jumped ship when it looked as though McLaren were all at sea, but he stayed and helped to rebuild the team again. As you can probably tell from my name and avatar, I like McLaren and also think that Senna is the greatest driver of all time.

m/l fan,i totaly agree about mika=surpurb drive=big heart=played the game fairly=the spa pass goes down as one of the best ever.on my list of all time fav's.clark,gurney,lauda,gilles[god],bellof,mika,kimi.got to discuss mika w/ron dennis/mansour ojeh at a dinner at my friends house/you could feel thr warm and fuzzies fall out of ron's mouth about mika.almoust brought me to tears. welcome fellow mc laren fan,burt.

[Selcouth_Feline]

Welcome

[przemo]

Hello and welcome