About F1B
Formula1blog.com is the online Journal of F1 opinion. Formula1blog.com was created in May 2005 as a journal of opinion by Negative Camber (Todd) and eventually through divine inspiration, Grace (Grace). Lots of sites tell you about F1 and cover the news in stellar fashion. They also offer a forum so readers can pontificate and attack each other with reckless abandon. We don’t.
F1B is different. The Podcast is really the audio version of that vision and often times mirrors our site / blog. F1B is for real F1 fans. People who have already read the news. People who stay current with the sport and don’t need us to tell you that Ferrari set a 1:20 lap time on lap 28 of the race. People who actually want to share opinion. I mean real opinion. Not trying to one-up each other in a forum but actually engage each other and unpack the sport that is F1. All the while being mature, professional and displaying a modicum of decorum in our interaction with each other. It is not for forum troll’s, flamers and disenchanted malcontents. Shhh…the adults are talking.
F1 is the pinnacle of motorsport and we offer an interactive site befitting of the sport. Something different and fresh, not just rag chewing with a bunch of tobacco-spitting goof balls who want to pretend to appear as reputable F1 news sites. We are not an F1 news portal or site. The only reason I care about the news and the great sites we get it from is that it drives our opinion. Autosport, ITV, F1-Live, Crash—they all do a fabulous job and we don’t need to pretend to be like them. We are not them. WE are F1B!
Ultimately, F1B is you! The members here are first class and self-disciplined to retain the decorum expected and very intelligent about this sport. Their insight is cunning and their opinion is top shelf. Period. We are completely humbled by your presence and participation. Our traffic has exploded over the last two years and we manage more traffic than many of the other sites combined. That’s all due to you; the F1B’er. So who are the souls at F1B? Ladies first:
GRACE~ Executive Editor
grace@formula1blog.com
Grace originates from the backwoods of Western Pennsylvania but now, after a short visit to Penn State, calls the Washington D.C. area home. Grace enjoys all forms of motor sports including F1, WRC, MotoGP, and yes even the occasional IndyCar and NASCAR races. Her other obsessions include the Pittsburgh Steelers, NHL, and really anything but basketball and cricket. Her non-sports related interests include Seinfeld, action movies, video games, and really bad reality TV shows. Her favorite beers are Anchor Porter and Samuel Smith’s Nut Brown Ale. She also enjoys playing pub quiz on Mondays.
Grace has been watching auto racing most of her life and has been following Formula 1 since 2000. She’s a McLaren fan who faces the on-going struggle of, well, being a McLaren fan, especially one who is surrounded by Ferrari fans. Her heroes include Larry David, Robin Miller, Patrick Head, and Paula Deen.
NEGATIVE CAMBER (TODD)~President/CEO
negativecamber@formula1blog.com
The short version? There is none. Did you think we could sum up a life in a paragraph or two? I wouldn’t expect that of you…
His first Corgi toy car was a “John Player” Lotus in 1972 (still has it). His second was John Surtees. He has not looked back since.
He also likes to think he convinced Bob Scanlon to hire Steve Matchett at Speedvision after a series of emails discussing the possibility. Of course Bob was way ahead of him but we let a sleeping dog lie and ignore the parallax that so obviously occurred. He would start suggesting Perry McCarthy but as there is no Bob; there is no ear for such crucial media and talent direction such as this.
Next idea? Hire Matt Bishop at Speed TV and offer him plenty of Earl Grey (The British Empire was built on a cup of tea). Matt would amaze us with his terse comments, rictus and magnanimous presence…that’s how Matt rolls baby and he ‘ain’t clowning his peeps.
PS- As a personal thank you—hear is to our Spanish, British, Brazilian Asian, Indian and European fans. With all sincerity, you have made Formula 1 Blog.com what it is today. Millions of Page Views later and demographics are clear; these fans are some of the most ardent F1 fans in history and I couldn’t be more humbled by your willingness to reach out to F1B and indulge us. I know some of us are Yankees and we’re supposed to be into NASCAR but imagine if you will the difficulty we face as F1 fans in a nation that turns left…yeah, it’s that painful.
Andrew Middlemore~ Contributing Editor/ Super Moderator
frantic@formula1blog.com
Some say he is a Brit, some say he is a little too mad for comfort, some say he started writing his bio by ripping off Top Gears Stig intro. All we know is he’s called Frantic.
His motor sport loves include Formula 1 (Always helps) BTCC also enjoys MOTO Gp, Outside of that mention Nightwish, Metallica Placebo or Monty Python and you have a friend for life, as long as its nice things you say about them. Was mainly to blame for Dunking Donuts becoming the unofficial donut of F1b but being stuck in the U.K settles for Crème Eggs instead. (Yum.)
He is the face of Frantic F1 and continues to make his video’s when Lego Rubens can be bothered to work the camera and Lego Kimi hasn’t passed out drunk when he is meant to be in a scene. Would like to do an action movie with Danica Patrick (who he became a big fan of after seeing the SI magazines shoot), though we’re not sure by what he means by “action”…
Has never kissed the editor of the radio times.
Mark Hallam~ Executive Editor-Europe / Super moderator
markh@formula1blog.com
Born in Britain, based in Bonn, Mark is a current affairs journalist by trade. Blood, devastation, death, war and horror: that’s the daily grind. That, and anything to do with the words “financial” and “crisis” these past few months.
But, mercifully, Mark knows that even the most dedicated journos would go crazy if they became fully-fledged news junkies. So why not become a fully-fledged F1 junkie instead? It’s faster, more fun, and less dangerous — provided you stay away from any FIA-endorsed after-parties.
Other passions include Monty Python (hopefully that allusion makes the first paragraph seem less tasteless), any other half-way -decent comedy, motorsport in general (although he’s yet to really see the light on two wheeled racing), most other sports (especially where teams are involved), thick German beer, thin American beer, average British beer, and also good food and better company.
Mark got his first taste of the F1 circus up-close at the Hockenheim testing session in 2008 – representing Deutsche Welle Radio -and with a favourable wind, it won’t be the last.
Steve Cahn (SJ Skid) — Sr. Editor, West Coast / Press Relations
sj@formula1blog.com
Steve is a native of Los Angeles and returned to his hometown after
about a decade of living in Indiana, Seattle, Missouri and Maryland.
A journalist for more than a decade, including as editor of three
Southern California newspapers with a staff of 30, Steve covered
politics and government; lifestyle and sports; and local business,
among other subjects. His first job was as sports editor for a small
weekly in mid-Missouri. He now works as a public affairs and
communications consultant.
He attended his one and only F1 grand prix at Long Beach in 1978 and
was pulling for Emerson Fittipaldi. He will be remedying that in
September 2009 when he goes to Monza to celebrate his 40th birthday.
The Skid nickname dates back to high school when, during driver’s
training, Steve was sure he could make it through a yellow light. The
car turning left in front of him thought otherwise, as did his
teacher with the extra safety brake. Despite a partially sideways
excursion (to the delight of the three other students in the back of
the sedan), Steve got his driver’s license and still has it.
Paul Charsley- Sr. Editor/Professional Driver
paul@formula1blog.com
Paul has been around racing, and dreamed of being a racing driver all his life. He watched the likes of Senna, Piquet and Mansell racing in the lower ranks at the start of their careers and could be found up against the fence at any of the many English race tracks every weekend. His father was a successful team manager and ran teams that won the Daytona 24hrs and finished 2nd place at Le Mans. His brother was a Formula1 mechanic and also had a successful career as a sports car team manager.
Paul’s been racing for 21 years and started by winning his first ever race in the last corner on the last lap. He won his first championship a year later while turning to the pro circuit in IMSA endurance racing. While mainly a tin top racer, he has driven cars from many different genres including Super touring Sedans, formula and Sports car endurance GT’s. Alongside his racing he has made a career of coaching in, and driving, the top performance cars manufactured in the world, including Ferrari, Porsche, Lotus, Dodge Vipers, BMW and of course Audis. Currently Paul has been hired to spearhead the emotive driving stables at Infineon raceway which include the Audi Sport car experience, The Mitsubishi Evo School and the world renowned Jim Russell Racing School.
Laura Marieee – Features Editor
laura@formula1blog.com
Laura has been a major fan of F1 since she was a little girl. Ok, that is an exaggeration: she only watched F1 because it was a damn good excuse not to go to bed. As a four-year-old she had the world sussed, or at least her parents, and she would sit up and watch the F1 highlights with her dad on the occasional Sunday night. After years of, “Daddy, what’s that?”, “Daddy, what just happened?”, and “How does that work, Daddy?”, the excuse became a passion. And the need to continuously ask questions only fuelled the desire to be a journalist.
Laura is an ‘Islander’, tucked away in the south of England on the Isle of Wight. The first driver she ever supported was Damon Hill, however, these days she is a McLaren fan. She owns a signed photograph of DC in his first year as an F1 driver, (something else she has her dad to thank for!), and over recent months she has become slightly (ok, majorly), addicted to the phenomenon that is Twitter! As well as being a passionate F1 fan, she is also an avid reader, and spends a fair bit of time with her nose in a book!
Victoria – Sr. Contributing Editor
vmr@formula1blog.com
The world can blame Victoria’s father for unleashing her on the path of motorsports fandom by turning on the television to the Daytona 200 motorcycle race when Bike Week was still an international judge of talent and she was too little to know any better. From there, her interest grew into devotion to Formula1, MotoGP, WSBK, and many other forms of racing. Somewhere between college, law school, owning a retail business, reading entire libraries worth of books, watching too many Mel Brooks movies, and going shoe shopping, Victoria began her own fan website (On Any Sunday, These Days) before coming to the attention of F1B.
Always looking for an opportunity to stand on a soapbox and share her opinion, Victoria jumped at the chance to discuss motorsports with more of the world. In her tiny corner of Western Pennsylvania, no one has ever heard of F1, let alone considered racing with right-hand turns or in places called Valencia. Indianapolis is the site of her first exposure to both F1 and MotoGP (in 2007 and 2008, respectively), where even a hurricane couldn’t deter her racing enthusiasm, or Valentino Rossi from winning a race.
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