I would like to thank BBC F1 for...

A friend once said to me I had an obsessive personality.
When I asked them what they meant by that this was their response.

"Once you find something you like, you stick with it obsessively until you find the next thing to be obsessed about and then move on. "

Sadly this is quite true.

I had a phase of this in the last year of university.

When I listened to anything Hamish and Andy related for several months.
(For British and some international readers, Hamish and Andy are two Australian TV and radio personalities.)



I also tend get a bit obsessive with music.
Yes I ruin songs for everyone.
I tend to play the same song or album continuously for months, until friends and family either hate me or the song/album I keep playing.




I did this with Green Day's International Superhits when I was 15.

My family now shudder at the mere thought of this album. 

At university my friends said I played this song that much, it now reminds them of me. 

I ruined They might be giants for a lot of people. 

But if you continued reading till this point. Well done. You deserve a medal for dealing with my ramblings.
Now back to why I need to thank the BBC F1 for.
(I say thanks, loosely. *If you haven't detected the sarcasm, you should do...Now*)

Anyone who knows me. Knows that I love Supergrass.
I even went to see them on their farewell tour last year.
(I was on the front row, Gaz winked at me and I still haven't recovered from the aftermath swoon.)

But the BBC F1 has made me obsessive with one song all over again.
I have now been dancing to it for the last three days.
Cheers for that.
Damn you BBC F1 music picker. You have too good a taste.

So here is the BBC F1 footage.


And the better quality Supergrass video.


And by sharing this with you.
It will get out of my head and into someone else's then I can move on to my next obsessive phase.

Top five F1 teams.

Now this week is the anniversary of the first time I watched Formula One.

Now it's not a celebratory number like 20 or 30 years but I'm very proud to reach my 13th year of Formula One.

This post is all about the top five F1 teams.
Now as you can tell from this list.
I am a huge fan of the underdog.
It's the British side of me.

Some of these teams have now sadly gone and some teams are still going strong.
But without these five teams.
The last 13 years of F1 would have been a bit dull.

Jordan.


The first team I ever truly loved, mainly due to Damon Hill but mainly due to Eddie Jordan's complete determination and use of a press call.
You couldn't miss Jordan.
They took risks and made some great racing. Sometimes they were the wrong call but were never afraid of calling a spade... a spade.
A team greatly missed.
Eddie Jordan's shirts however aren't.

McLaren











In the first two years of my Formula one life. McLaren were my team of choice.
Dominant and always provided great racing.
Especially against the Ferrari's.
Even after a slump in the mid 2000's they still had some great inter driver rivalry's.
Alonso/Hamilton
Raikkonen/Montoya
Now with two world champions in Button/Hamilton. McLaren makes you quite proud to be British.

Sauber.

I do love an underdog. To me Sauber are the epitome of this.
Always bringing new and exciting drivers into F1. Like Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen.
Even when times were tough and the team were under the verge of collapse, they always pull through.
Like Jordan, they take risks and that's what makes them exciting.
Now with Sergio Perez and Kamui Kobayashi at the wheel more exciting drives lie ahead.

Minardi

Like Sauber, Minardi were known for putting great F1 talent into there cars.
Even future world champions.
They did also put in some dud drivers. Luca Badoer anyone?
They may have been known for there great coffee rather then there great racing and they may have been the HRT of there day.
But they tried.
And I do love a trier.
Especially a Formula One trier.

Ferrari.

Now anyone who knows me, knows I have never been a fan of Ferrari.
Sometimes controversial.
Sometimes dominant.
But without Ferrari. F1 would have been a duller place.
I can say to my kids I saw Schumacher's dominance, Massa's near championship and heard Rob Smedley voice in an F1 crisis.

Your top five teams?
Feel free to comment below.

Top five F1 crashes.

Now this week is the anniversary of the first time I watched Formula One.

Now it's not a celebratory number like 20 or 30 years but I'm very proud to reach my 13th year of Formula One.

So to celebrate I am picking my top five F1 moments from the past 13 years. 

This post is the top five crashes. I don't like crashes, there are not a nice part of Formula One but they happen and luckily everyone in these crashes were okay and so with that here are the top five memorable crashes.

Fernando Alonso: Brazil 2003

In the UK the Brazilian race is at prime time on Sunday night, so on this occasion I was watching with my family. Being a huge Alonso fan at the time. When Alonso crashed into Mark Webber's discarded tyre from a previous crash minutes before. I was in bits. I was shaking and crying. I had to be consoled by my mum because in my head I thought Alonso was really badly injured. 

Mark Webber: European (Valencia) 2010

An eye watering crash, which shows how bad crashes can be if there is a dramatic speed difference between cars.
This didn't make me cry, but I pretty much yelped at this one.
Literally a few yards higher and this could of been a tragedy.




Sergio Perez: Monaco 2011

What made this crash all the more horrifying for me was the moment that Sergio put his hand against his head, bracing himself for the Monaco impact.
Then that white sheet came out.
Sickening moment.
I hope that next year something is done about the Monaco bump.



Robert Kubica: Canada 2007

I remember this crash more vividly then others.
On this day me and my family were round my sisters house to celebrate my Niece's 3rd Birthday.
The F1 got turned on the TV by all the men at the party and me.
Then we saw Kubica's huge crash.
It was the first time for me that a huge crash made me think I had seen an F1 death.
It was that bad I didn't just cry at my sisters.
I went home and cried too.

Even now I struggle to watch.



Most of the field: Spa 1998

Rain + a mistake = Chaos.

Eleven cars were taken out in one fell swoop with what has to be the most cars crashed in F1 history.
It was extremely lucky that the cars hadn't quite got up to racing speeds and that everyone got out uninjured.



Now there have been plenty of F1 accidents and crashes but those five are the ones that stick the most in my mind.
Lets hope the next thirteen years F1 safety keeps on improving and we have another thirteen years of no fatalities in F1.

Top five F1 comedy moments.

Now this week is the anniversary of the first time I watched Formula One.

Now it's not a celebratory number like 20 or 30 years but I'm very proud to reach my 13th year of Formula One.

So this week is the start of a top five posts series.
In which I pick my top five moments in the last thirteen years

Now this post is my top five comedy moments.
Now I have an odd sense of humour.
A combination of my mum's sarcasm and my dad's dark sadistic humour.

Some of your favourite moments may not be in here (But I would like to hear what are yours), but seeing these five clips always make me smile.

Korea 2010: Felipe Massa

Because people falling over is quite funny.




Brazil 2002: Nick Heidfeld

Watch out for that Dooooooooooor!!


Brazil 2006: Kimi Raikkonen

Poo talk on ITV.


Hungary 2011: British fan

It took one man to say what we were all thinking.


Malaysia 2009: Felipe Massa

Because the British know what to say in a crisis.


That's what I love about F1, no matter how serious the sport gets. Comedy arises from somewhere.
Not just from Eddie Jordan's shirts.

F1 Fitty of the week.

So with that lets get down to business.
This F1 fitty of the week is Heikki Kovalainen
Now normally when you think of beauty, you don't automatically think of the Finnish.

But with Heikki. Well he may be the exception.



There aren't many blonde hair, blue eyed boys in F1. Well apart from Sebastian Vettel.

What makes Heikki so special is that he is probably one of the nicest F1 drivers.
Very friendly to his fans, and always takes time out on twitter to speak to fans.
Not a bad word has ever been said about him.

Now looks are good, but a beautiful personality. That's even better.
And you can't have one without the other.

Plus he plays the drums and has we all know.
Drummers are the most alluring and sexy in bands.
Dave Grohl, Tre Cool and Kitty.
All beautiful, all sexy.

Here's Heikki showing off his drumming skills with Finnish band Nightwish.



Need a nice, polite car driving drummer boy?
You have it in Heikki Kovalainen.

It is what it is: David Coulthard book review.

One thing I love doing in my spare time is reading.
I could read from the age of three and was reading books written for grown up's at the age of seven.

I get through books quite quickly and I still love the thrill of buying and smelling a new book.

Now since I am saving to move house and go to two GP's next year.
In the past few weeks I have had to resort to reading books that I have bought in the past but not found the time to read.

This pile includes some F1 books.

So since this an F1 blog, I thought some F1 book reviews would be appropriate.

So the book I read last week was David Coulthard's: It is what it is.
Now the copy I had was about three years old, so only went up when DC left Red Bull.

Now David admits in the front of the book that he had a ghost writer to help him write the book.
Now one thing I have always liked about David Coulthard is his honesty and this comes through in it is what it is.

Just talks candidly about his kiss and tells, his near death experience and how lucky he was to have such a privileged background to even get into Formula One.

Some parts however may be a little too honest.

I really really really did not need to know how David Coulthard lost his virginity.
I nearly dry heaved on the bus to work reading about that at 8am in the morning.

For me a F1 book, has to give me an insight into someone's life or career. That maybe the press and TV coverage couldn't.
David talks all about his working relationships with McLaren, Williams and relationships with his team mates.
The one's he did get on with and the one's that were tense and awkward.

DC is never ever disrespectful of anyone. He holds the people who created his career in high regard. That to me is why I think I like this book.
I love a bit of juicy gossip, but when it's just a dirty laundry slanging match. It's uncomfortable to watch/read.
DC never does that.
He's professional even when he's giving you the juicy details of his life.

Also what struck me was how much I laughed.
I always read on the bus and I had to hold in a lot of laughs from DC's book, which I didn't expect I would.
I thought it would be very serious and quite frankly Scottish.

But there were laughs a plenty and what I love was how humble DC could be.
Who knew he loved a cup of tea and a twix?
Simple pleasures hey.

And that's what this book is.
A simple pleasure.
Nothing too heavy, nothing too serious and not full of DC loving himself.

Just an honest account of F1 journey.
That started with an accident and ended with making of the DC we know and love.

F1 confessions.

A few years ago I fell in love with post secret.
Post secret is where you write down your deepest darkest secrets, thoughts and feelings and send them in postcard form and every Sunday a selection gets put on the post secrets website.

Here is some examples.





Now recently @tenacious_sd pointed me into an F1 related version of post secret called F1 confessions.
Now the website is at the end of the post but here are just some of my favourite F1 confessions.












Now I have put two confessions in myself as well.
(I had to, I couldn't resist and people who know my F1 tastes might have a good clue what they might be about)

But I am loving this tumblr and I'm hoping that by spreading the word. More F1 confessions will come out the woodwork and into the light of day.

After all a F1 confession shared is a F1 confession halved.

To see and submit your F1 confessions go to.
http://formula1confessions.tumblr.com/

To see the post secret postcards go to.
http://www.postsecret.com/

F1 Fitty of the week.

Now we are going to the back of the grid for this week's F1 fitty.
Now I may not quite of forgiven him for letting Lewis Hamilton through on the second to last corner in Brazil to win the 2008 world drivers championship.
(The words I said that day are still very unrepeatable even now)

But he is very pretty. So I may just start to forgive.
So this week's F1 Fitty of the week is Timo Glock.

There are lots of reasons why Timo is quite beautiful.
Firstly he fits the stereotype of tall, dark and handsome.
Well maybe not tall.
But has meatloaf said two out of three ain't bad and those two points definitely ain't bad.
































Now after being in Formula One on and off for the last seven years.
Timo's results haven't shown his capabilities has a driver.
Dodgy cars and huge accidents have hampered things for Timo in the past.


But now driving in the Marussia Virgin car. Hopefully in the next few years we will see more of Timo at the front of the grid. Rather then being at the back.


Another string to Timo's bow is his known love of cooking.
Timo tweeted so much about his food (And showed us the pictures). That Virgin last year had Ready, Steady Glock painted in the garage in relation to the British TV show Ready, Steady cook.

So I would keep your eye out for Timo Glock cookbook in 2020.


(Timo is looking hot hot hot in this picture ... Yeah I make really bad puns. )

So he's dark, handsome and can cook too.
*Swoons*

What more could you ask for?

Well apart from him turning back time and not letting Hamilton through?

If Formula One was like Cher and could turn back time.

With the issue of the free to air coverage in Formula One still fresh and raging in everyone's minds.
Tweeter @cmckinleyF1  produced an amazing tweet.
That shows a little background on how certain channels present the pitch of Formula One to a certain Mr Ecclestone.

Now we know that in the end. The BBC/Sky deal was picked over Channel Four. (A major free to air channel in the UK)
The main reason we think why Channel Four didn't get picked was because it has spent a lot of it's sport budget on the 2012 Olympics and couldn't really host F1 until 2013 which is a huge shame because from the looks of this package.
Channel Four probably would of done a good job.

Mechanics of racing
While the brief fascinated us, there was no time to spare – a tight turnaround meant we had just three short weeks from initial visuals to final production. Plus we’d been warned in advance that although the exacting leader of F1 might be difficult to impress, disappointing him would be a cinch.

Pole positions
In outlining the specifics of the C4 bid, the finished piece ultimately needed to be dynamic and direct, but also step outside the ordinary and the obvious. We wanted to present the package clearly and in keeping with the innovative and dramatic tone associated with the channel.

The checkered flag 
The time frame presented obvious production issues, but the final spec wasn't compromised. Supported by the spectacular photography of Darren Heath, the large format publication featured GF Smith paper stock, duplexed covers, foil blocking and taped binding – all working together with the strong graphic approach to create a powerful publication that surpassed our client’s expectations.

The foil blocked cover

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We created billboard mock-ups of the marketing campaign

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Stunning photography by Darren Heath

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In support of their bid for exclusive Formula 1 broadcast rights, Channel 4 appointed us to design this pitch document. (The previous BBC–F1 contract had reached an end, and C4 saw an opportunity.) The BBC/Sky partnership eventually won out, but F1 CEO Bernie Ecclestone took time to personally compliment C4 directly on the innovative approach of their presentation.
—
www.channel4.com
www.formula1.com
www.darrenheath.com

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Now if only we could find the Sky pitch and see how much better it was, to win over free to air.
Well surely it's better then this and this video is only the sports news, part of sky.
http://bcove.me/gjnyecd8
(Sorry I could only find the link but it's worth watching)

See if you can spot the mistakes.

All I know is that if the Formula One coverage is anything like this.
Formula One has we know it, will never be the same.