Wednesday, 20 July 2016

For Jules...

He's a man I never met,
but a man who touched my heart.
How much is he missed?
I don't know where to start...

I think about him most days,
about his smile and his skill.
I consider myself blessed,
to see him race was such a thrill.

Points were won in Monaco,
it was only a matter of time!
Well deserved celebrations took place,
A favourite memory of mine. 

He started at the back,
but we knew he wouldn't be there long.
The mighty Ferrari were calling,
to a man who seemed to do no wrong.

Just over a year has passed,
since he sadly lost his fight.
For nine long months he battled,
but for the final time he said 'Goodnight'.

Tears still flow heavily,
but memories will always remain.
Without him, many lives and F1,
will never be the same.

I'll remember and miss him,
my whole life through.
Rest in peace Jules,
this ones for you.

Tuesday, 12 April 2016

#TeamLH

You're more than just a driver,
you're our number one!
With British flags flying high,
we proudly cheer you on.

With heaps of natural talent,
clear right from your debut,
we all know that racing,
is what you're born to do.

Your crazy lifestyle is awesome,
with Coco and Roscoe in tow.
And you're the king of social media,
keeping us all in the know.

Difficult battles wont get us down,
because we win and lose together.
With #TeamLH we all belong,
from now until forever!

Tuesday, 5 April 2016

#SuperStoff

We welcomed Stoffel Vandoorne,
to the F1 grid in Bahrain.
The GP2 whizz kid,
who's no stranger to podium champagne.

Standing in for Alonso,
while he recovered from THAT crash,
Stoffel took to the F1 circus,
with real ease and class.

With an improving McLaren under him,
the reigning GP2 champ flew!
Out-qualifying ace teammate Jenson,
and beating both Force India's in the race too!

A stunning 10th place,
and McLaren's first points on the board.
Losing Super Stoff from F1,
is something we really cant afford!

#SuperStoff
#WafflesWithStoffel


Thursday, 24 March 2016

Time For Change


I watched my first formula one race back in 2007, it was the Australian Grand Prix, and the much anticipated Lewis Hamilton was making his debut in the silver and rocket red McLaren.

I hadn’t really watched F1 before, only catching glimpses of it when I stayed over my Nan and Grandads house on a weekend, but other than that hadn’t really paid much attention to it. So here I was at the age of 11 sitting in front of the tiny TV I had in my room at the time ready to watch the race around Albert Park.

Pure excitement was the main feeling that stayed with me throughout the whole race. I loved it! I loved it more than I ever thought I would, and began to watch more and more. Come 2008 I was hooked! My support for Lewis Hamilton stood firm, and my love for the sport continued to grow in bucket loads.

Bring us to 2016, and you know what I still love this sport, possibly more than I ever have done. I live and breathe everything Formula One. It’s an obsession that I’m so happy to have, and one that I hope never leaves me.

Im one of these fans that will get up at 1:30am to watch FP1 in Australia, and even if it’s raining will stay awake the whole session just to see one car on track. I will stick with a race through a 2 hour red flag stoppage like we had in Canada in 2011, and wouldn’t even consider of moving from the sofa. I’ll get up at 3am in the morning to travel to Silverstone for the grand prix, and not be able to sleep for the whole weekend due to excitement, and I support both my chosen team (McLaren) and driver (Hamilton) whole heartedly, because as they always say ‘We win and lose together’.

As much as I love formula one however, I can’t ignore what’s going on at the minute – I don’t think any F1 fan can. Its everywhere you look! TV, magazines, and as much as I think its helped the sport, social media.

When I, and millions of other fans tuned in to Sky Sports F1 last Sunday to see the first race of the season, almost immediately we were greeted with a discussion on the failure of qualifying the day before, and this continued throughout the whole show. Was it necessary? I honestly don’t believe so. Yes, qualifying needed to be talked about, but to keep bringing it up just continued to show the sport in a really bad light, and more than that, it’s something that shouldn’t have been changed in the first place! I have to think that if I was a new fan watching the sport for the first time I’d have probably switched off.

There are so many issues raised, so many changes, and above all so much politics in recent years that the sport seems to have forgotten what its main focus should be – bringing that feeling of excitement to fans all over the world. Really it shouldn’t be that difficult! I’ve only started to notice a difference in the last few years, and maybe social media hasn’t helped because whereas before the only news update you got was when you watched coverage at the weekend or read magazines once a week; now you have updates every minute of every day, and fans of the sport are so much more aware of what’s going on because of this.

In only the last few weeks we’ve had changes to qualifying which is now set to be altered again for Bahrain but no one seems to know what’s going on. There have been discussions regarding 2017 rule changes which you have to say will confuse fans even further, and add to that in the last few days the announcement that Formula One will no longer be shown on free to air TV come 2019, and the alienation of fans just gets worse.

There is evidence in viewing figures that formula ones fan base is reducing, and the changes in television rights will only aid this even further. It’s a real shame because some simply can’t afford to pay the subscription fees, and some just can’t justify it.

It’s clear now more than ever that something needs to be done. The Grand Prix Driver’s Association have made a statement that they want an input into the decisions made going forward, mentioning that the sport is “ill structured”, but will this really be listened to by those with the power to do anything? Only time will tell.

I think we all know that the time has come to make the sport we love great again.  

Tuesday, 8 March 2016

C4 F1

Formula One's new home,
on free to air TV,
is channel 4 F1.
So what can we expect to see?

Any fans of Fleetwood Mac and The Chain,
will be very pleased to hear...
....that the intro music lives on.
At that news British F1 fans collectively cheer!!

There are no silly ad breaks,
that mean you miss half the race,
no coming back a lap behind,
to find someones had a smack in the face!

The presenter line up is outstanding,
like its ridiculously good.
When asked 'Can they make it any better?'
I honestly don't think they could!

With Steve Jones presenting,
and Coulthard in the comms box,
Lee McKenzie as a pit lane reporter,
and add to that 4 time champ Alain Prost!

There's Webber, Wolff, and Senna,
With Chandhok, and Hamilton also part of the show.
Add the legend that is Murray Walker to the mix,
and C4 F1 is most certainly all GO GO GO!!!

Monday, 22 February 2016

F1 2016

Welcome to F1 2016,
this is just based off what we've already seen.
Mercedes seem to be living the dream,
with Lewis first on track this morning, the champion seemed almost overly keen.
 
The car launches flew by,
with the Manor car especially catching the eye.
The McLaren looks mean enough to make someone cry,
with the other cars remaining pretty much the same....sigh!
 
Ferrari look quick from what we can see,
some people are already predicting what the championship fight will be.
But Red Bull also seem to have created something other than a gorgeous livery,
and it seems McLaren have made progress. Would you agree?
 
Haas' morning was haulted when they lost the front wing,
and Renault are still trying to make their car truly sing!
Toro Rosso, Sauber, and Force India are making the midfeild look rather exciting,
with how it looks right now, these teams will surely be fighting.
 
Only time will tell what the season will hold,
will Manors progress over the break prove to be pretty bold?
Are McLaren to spend another year struggling to fit into Honda's mould?
The 2016 season is just a story waiting to be told!

Wednesday, 15 April 2015

Team Bird

With buckets of talent,
and unquestionable skill
racing driver Sam Bird
really does have a license to thrill!
 
His rise through the formula's
has been filled with success,
and even now in LMP2
Sam continues to impress.
 
It's true with Sam
F1 really has missed out,
but WEC soon realised
Sam's a talent they can't do without!
 
He's always got time for fans,
and is great with the media too.
I have a lot of admiration for him
I really really do!
 
With support from girlfriend Hollie,
along with loving Dad, and Mum Diane,
and his dedicated fans
that proudly cheer 'GO SAM!'