Marbles ~ Laura Marieee announces F101

The off season in F1 can be long and drawn out, especially after all driver confirmations have been made and especially after Christmas with the never-ending lead up to the new season. So this week with Marbles I thought I’d introduce you to my new op ed- my additional off-season op ed. Todd and I thought it would be a great idea to have a dedicated part of the site that welcomes new followers to the sport that is F1, kind of like a beginners guide, which gives the newbie the chance to learn about the sport, its history, its drivers, its technical aspects and rules and regulations, right down to a race-by-race preview as the season progresses. And to start off with I thought it would be great to explain how I became a fan, and give a brief overview of the sport. For our regular readers, who by now know the ins and outs of how an F1 car works, here’s your chance to get your friends and family into it, and what better way to do it…? So over the next few weeks I’ll bring you the beginners guide to different aspects of the sport- and by the time the five lights go out in 2010 you’ll know everything you need to know… Here starts F101, the beginners guide to F1…

My dad was one of those F1 fans who simply watched the highlights on a Sunday night. I was one of those babies who never used to want to go to sleep, and it was something that I carried through my early years of life. At the age of four I had figured out that if I conned my dad that I was interested in watching the highlights with him, then I wouldn’t have to go to bed. My mum used to go to bed before they started and I would sneak into the kitchen where my dad used to sit and watch the F1 on a small TV, and I used to sit there with him and watch the cars go round and round. Evidently my cunning plan to simply stay up late backfired and in the end I turned into a fan of the sport. I started to watch the highlights the year Senna died, and by the 1995 Adelaide Grand Prix – which is the first race I really remember – I was a bit of a fan, and even if I wanted to sleep I would’ve stayed up anyway.

The year Damon Hill won the championship must have been the year I properly started to watch whole races and it was the year I first went to Silverstone to watch the qualifying. By this time I was asking my dad question after question about what was going on and I started to feel like I was watching the sport for a reason, and from there I was well and truly hooked. To be a true fan of the sport, and to get into watching it, it more than helps to target a specific driver who you think is worthy of supporting. For me, it was a case of supporting a Brit, but whoever it is, whether it’s because they are the same nationality as you, or because they are simply talented, it is a good starting point to becoming interested, and keen to understand the complexities within the sport. For me, from there, as the years progressed, I started to learn more about the intricacies, and this is the information I want to share with you…

To understand the sport as a beginner it’s always a good idea to know a bit of history. Even if you’ve never been much of a fan, you have to admit you know your Michael Schumacher’s and your Ayrton Senna’s from your Jenson Button’s and Lewis Hamilton’s. Schumacher is one of the all-time-greats of the sport, who when possibly no one else could, scored a whopping seven world championships, five of which were back-to-back. Schumacher started out with Benetton around the same time as Senna tragically died in a horrific crash at Imola in 1994. The likelihood is that you already know that information, just as you probably know Hamilton and Button are currently Britain’s back-to-back world champions, who are also destined to line up alongside each other at McLaren next year.

Over the years there have been countless teams and drivers, some successful, and others less so, failing to break into a sport where the best of the best go down in history and are forever referred to. Ferrari is the only team on the grid who has been in the sport since it first began back in the 50s. McLaren are the other main constructor who has had their fair share of successes. And over the years both teams have undergone many transformations, to develop in a sport that has grown through the new regulations frequently brought in, and the safety aspects of the sport that are constantly updated.

One key thing that goes with the history of the sport is the politics that surrounds it. Bernie Ecclestone – a name you have surely heard of, regardless of how much you know about the sport – and Max Mosley, have (up until recently, when Max stepped down as president of the FIA, to be replaced by former Ferrari president Jean Todt) generated plenty of stories that make the sport look like (for my fellow British readers) the offspring of the House of Commons – yes, controversial at times! The politics is something I’ll talk about at a later date, as the goings-on in F1, aside from the racing, deserve a column of their own…

Over the coming weeks I’m going to explain some of the regulations and how over the years things have changed. Knowing the ins and outs of a sport that is more complex than it appears on the surface, gives you a better understanding, which in turn only makes you appreciate it more – it’s not just cars going round a track, like I thought it was as a four-year-old. I’ll tell you all there is to know and how to become a true fan of a worldwide phenomenon…

This has been my introduction to my new op ed, and next time on F101, the beginners guide to F1, I’ll talk about the current drivers- who drives for who, and who to look out for in 2010. I’ll be back with this on Saturday, and as for Marbles, I’ll be back again next Wednesday with more talk of what’s going on in the world of F1…

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