Twelve years on: A letter from a young fan, all grown up.

Dearest Jenson Button,

Many years ago, when I (Tiff) was only twelve years old, I wrote a letter to you.

My letter proudly proclaimed that I was your biggest fan and might of mentioned that I loved you a little bit. I think I even did a drawing as well. (My artistic prowess was, of course, unparalleled.)

Now twelve years later, I am again writing you a letter. Except this time it's not in felt tip and I don't have to save up for a stamp with my precious pocket money.

We're still your biggest fans, but this time our reason for writing is this:
We want... the man, the myth, the legend, your dad on twitter.

We've been lucky to see him in action alongside you over the years, through the highs...



...And the impossibly-adorable lows...



It's moments like this that made us realise just how cool your dad is. Basically, we think the world needs more of your dad's charm, wit and wisdom and we're sure Twitter is the place to spread the joy.

We've even got a brilliant idea for a TV show called- 'Drinking with John Button'. We're sure you'll agree that your dad would be the perfect person to follow around the pubs, bars and clubs of the world during an F1 season.

But aside from that, what we really want is the man himself sharing his thoughts in the Twitterverse. So please, on behalf of us, your fans and the whole F1 community, help us get #JohnButtonOnTwitter

Signed
Tiff Fletcher (Then aged 12 and a half, now aged 24 and a half - @squiffany) &
Vicky Selwyn (Then aged nine and one third, now aged 21 and one third - @F1_Obsessive)

Diary of a F1 weekend: Malaysia

So after an exciting Grand Prix weekend in Australia.
We hardly have time to blink before it's the turn of Malaysia and the start of another early morning race.

So expect blurred vision and tiredness throughout my weekend diary.

Thursday/Friday
2am

Hoorah. I am actually up ready for FP1 however it's fair to say I'm not feeling on top form.
I noticed that in the fly away races especially the back to back ones. My sleep patterns go completely awry.
Luckily I managed to stay awake for 45 minutes of FP1 before realising that I couldn't hang on.
So decided to go to bed and wake up instead for FP2.

Notes for FP1

• Karthikeyan gearbox decided to fail. 
• Hamilton should good pace to top the table
• Vettel showed that Red Bull didn't have the pace. 
• All the cars seemed to be close in terms of time. 
• #BOTTAS

Now instead of my alarm waking me up for FP2. It decided to let me sleep through.

So I missed all of FP2.
This is not the first time this has happened. Luckily I recorded FP2 for this very reason.

Notes for FP2

• More woe for Karthikeyan
• Vettel still struggling for pace in 10th
• Vergne and Ricciardo show their hand. Top ten placings for both. 
• Then Karthikeyan has some more woe thrown in. 
• Hamilton quickest again

Friday/Saturday

FP3.

Ahhh. So I missed all of FP3. 

This lately seems a F.F.F tradition. 

There is no excuse for this.

But of course I was up for Qualifying. (Because I'm good like that.)
And even though it was 5am and I had to go to Sheffield later in the day.
I managed to not sleep through it.
I think the pack of fig rolls I brought may of helped, along with the copious amounts of coffee.

Notes for Qualifying

• Bad starts for Heikki and Kimi with five place grid drops. 
• Massa still struggling for raw pace and dropping out in Q2
• Webber out qualifying Vettel again. 
• Schumacher qualifying in the top three.
• Hamilton and Button bagging a One-Two for Mclaren. 

Saturday/Sunday

Race day. 8am.

With my alarm clock actually waking me up. 

Even with the change of clocks. (Yes it gets lighter earlier but it meant a hour's less sleep. *Grumps*)

It was time to get my cup of coffee on the go, along with another pack of fig rolls. (I'm getting lardy because of this.)

Ready for another great race.

Now what I love about watching F1, is that comedy can come from nowhere.
Now I tweet has the race is on. So when 9 laps in the race the rain came down and the red flag came out.
So did best comedy moments.

All 50 minutes of non racing was filled with entertainment that consisted of Gazebo chat. 

Who had the best gazebo?

Who was doing the BBQ?

Why did HRT only have a Tesco carrier bag?

Then it turned into a scene from the Carry On films because we started perving on the wet drivers/team members. Ooo Matron. 

Then it came full circle back 2009 with a W.W.K.D.

Or the long version. 'What would Kimi do?'

We all secretly hoped he would get the ice cream back out. Sadly this was not to be. Even if Lotus did get the Ice Creams back out for him. 

Luckily the race did start back up again but under the safety car. 

When the safety car came back in. The fun could begin again.
And boy did it.
We had Button lose his front wing.
Then Vettel got a puncture. 

I may of had some micro naps between all of this going on.
But I managed to stay awake when the fight for the lead was between Ferrari and Sauber. (Words I didn't really expect to say this year.)

And even though Perez had a moment off track and couldn't catch Alonso back up.
It was worth me having Horner jiggly leg for.

It was pure racing at it's best.
F1 is definitely back and it has come back swinging. 

Notes for the race.

• Rain
• Red Flag
• Gazebo's are entertaining
• Grosjean failing in the race for the second week in a row. 
• Karthikeyan injuring several cars. 
• Pastor losing out on points on the last lap.
• Hamilton still not looking happy after another podium.
• Vettel coming up with a new insult system and raising a new finger. Twice.
• Button's brutal honesty
• The Perez and Alonso battle.

Today was a good day to be an F1 fan. 

Remember if you want to hear more of my F1 ramblings. You can also follow me on twitter @squiffany 

FanFormula. Week 7. Melbourne.

So in this week's FanFormula, instead of saying words wrong. I get complete whole facts wrong. Hoorah.
(See if you can spot which ones I bugger up.)
I also get a little bit too excited and also may have ended up having a small rant to myself.

So cock up's and rants.
Just another typical FanFormula video then. :)

So on to this week's questions which of course were about Melbourne.

Question One.
Williams have appeared to have come back strong with a great battle with Maldonado but what did you make of the midfield teams today battling between the likes of Ferrari and Mercedes?

Question Two
What do you make of the move that lets back markers unlap themselves under the safety car, does it just prolong the safety car or is it fairer on those that would be out of place due to lapped cars?

Question Three
If you watched via Sky what is your overall opinion on their team and the coverage?

If you watched via BBC how did you find watching the highlight show rather then race coverage? Did it lack the excitement knowing that the race was already over?

Bonus Question
What was your favourite moment of the weekend?



Don't forget if you want to see this week's full FanFormula or to join in yourself. Then you can see all the info you need at  http://fanformula.weebly.com/

And if you want to hear more ramblings about the Grosjean Giraffe or why I think Alonso's eyebrows look slimmer. You can also follow me on twitter @squiffany

Diary of a F1 weekend. Australia.

So after nearly five months.
F1 is back and I am one happy bunny about it.
Now most people who read this blog, check out my ramblings on twitter or worse (sadly for them) know me in person. Will know that I love Australia.
So to say this is one of my favourite races would not be an understatement.

However it might be one of my favourite races. It however is not the best in terms of time.
I may be an insomniac but getting up at 2am, 4.30am and 5am are not winners. Fact.

So on to the time/day confusing diary entries.

Thursday/Friday.
1am.

So some backstory...
Earlier in the day. Thanks to upgrading to Sky HD, Sky said thank you to us by sending me and my flatmate Paise £50 in Marks and Spencers vouchers, which got spent on a ton of food and alcohol that me and my friend would never be able to afford. Winner.

This led to later on in the night. Me, Paise and our friend Jennie. Drinking quite a bit of this said alcohol and eating cake in honour of the 1st birthday of F.F.F.


So by the time FP1 started I was pretty away with the fairies. At one point the room started spinning and a lot of FP1 was a bit of a blur.
From what I remember.
It rained a lot and Massa did nothing to help his career.

I managed to stay awake between the gap from FP1 to FP2, which is a rarity.
By this point though I was verging from feeling merry to feeling rough.
So from memory.
It was raining and Kamui nearly tank slapped it right at the end.

Friday/Saturday.
5am
Now feeling a lot less drunk and hungover.
I could finally concentrate on qualifying.
I didn't watch FP3 but I caught up with it in the gap between waking up and Qualifying.
It's luckily I didn't watch it because all the action was right at the end with both Schumacher and Vettel spinning into the gravel trap.

So on to qualifying.
I love that Raikkonen missed qualifying into Q2 because he was changing his helmet. My favourite F1 excuse now...ever.
Alonso out qualified Massa even whilst stuck in the gravel trap. Massa must now be clinging on to that seat by a mere thread.
But my favourite thing about Aussie qualifying had to be the beautiful giraffe himself Romain Grosjean taking third place. I did do a massive cheer for that.



Then pretty much has soon as qualifying wrapped up. I was off to work and I won't lie it was challenging on the amount of sleep I had. Eeep.

Saturday/Sunday.
4.30am
So after a lovely mother's day meal and a little bit of sleep.
I was up bright and early, ready for the race.
Now for some reason Sky decided to start the build up a whole hour and a half before the race, which normally I would of loved.
But at half past four in the morning. It really wasn't needed. Sleep was.

So in summary my favourite/upsets of the race.

• Seeing both Grosjean and Hulkenberg out on the first lap. Gutting. Hopefully we will see more from them in Malaysia
• The Sauber's fighting for the points, especially Perez from right at the back of the grid. 
• Webber finally breaking his bogey track record by bettering his best 5th place with a well deserved 4th. (Even if he did bugger up the start again)
• Maldonado crashing from 6th place on the last lap, which would have gave Williams some badly needed points. 
• Hamilton sulking over 3rd. I know it's upsetting losing but try to at least look happy on the podium instead of looking like a mardy five year old. 
• Button winning. Full stop. 

And so concludes the first diary entry of the year.

So if you survived that barrage of words, you can also follow me on twitter @squiffany.

FanFormula. Week 6. Spain, Liveries and HRT/Marussia

It's scary to think that I have been doing FanFormula posts for just over a month and a half now but I have been loving every minute.
Plus my confidence at being able to look in to camera has improved as well. Result.
(See how little I look away from the camera now compared to my first FanFormula video.)

Anyway back to this week's FanFormula, which concentrated on 2012 and beyond.

Question One.

HRT/Marussia have finally passed all the crash tests with just days remaining until the start of the season. What do you think of the delayed start and will this have an effect on 2012 and future seasons for the teams?

Question Two

With several teams completing several 'filming days' before the season begins, should this be allowed or is this a way for teams to get sneaky test laps in without being at a session?

Question Three

2012 is rumoured to be the last year on the calendar that both Valencia and Catalunya will feature in the race calendar. What is your view on this and will this bring the end of the European GP?

Extra Question

Now that all of the liveries have been revealed, which is your favourite and which do you hate?

Don't forget if you want to see this week's FanFormula video or want to join in. Then you can go to http://fanformula.weebly.com/2012.html

And if you want to hear more of my F1 perving over the GP weekend. You can also follow me on twitter @squiffany

HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY TO F.F.F.

It's a day I thought I would never see.
After 366 days, Female Formula Fun has turned the ripe old age of one.

A lot has happened in the last year.
From an idea about posting about fit drivers to teach non F1 fans a little bit about the sport.
Female Formula Fun has ended up growing into something more then that.

It's become a part of my life.
I love checking everyday how many people have read my blog, seen my videos and how international F.F.F is really becoming.

From interviewing Aussies and the creator of one of biggest comedy F1 websites.
To seeing my blog translated in Portguese, Spanish and Russian.
To me not being to pronounce any words on videos.

It's all happening and it's all down to you. My loyal readers.

This will sound like an Oscar speech.

But the main thing I want to say is a huge thank you to all of you who have read the blog posts.
It means A LOT.
It's always nice to know that the time and effort I put into the posts doesn't go to waste.

I also want to thank people who have helped and supported the blog from the beginning, whether it's by retweeting it/promoting it or by helping me out with interviews and guest posting.
You are literally the best.

I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH.

Tiff.
x x x

And of course you can always follow me on twitter @squiffany
(Psssh. You can too Fernando. Just don't tell anyone.)

Scottish pride. Jim Clark.

Lately the name on everyone's lips at the moment seems to be Jimmy Clark.
Mainly because Sir Jackie Stewart did an interview on Sky F1 and talked about the great man.


Funny enough this post was actually going to be a Retro F1 fitty of the week post.
But half way through, I realised that it just didn't feel right.

When I do any Fitty of the week, I always do some research (It's a hard life). Mainly looking at pictures and video footage.
This time though.
When I did that for Jim Clark, it seemed a bit wrong.

Whilst watching old youtube footage. I just wanted people to remember how great a driver he really was and when he died in tragic circumstances how devastating it was to the sport.

So from now on. If I do a Retro F1 Fitty of the week it won't involve anyone that we have lost.

But I still feel like Jim Clark should be honoured. Even if it is just in this blog post.

So in honour of the great man.
I'm going to hand you over to another legend.
Murray Walker.

To remind us all and to keep remembering the one and only.
Jim Clark.



If you want to see more F.F.F posts you can also follow me on twitter @squiffany

FanFormula: Week 5. Rules and Team bossing.

So in this week's FanFormula it turns out I can't speak.
In every FanFormula video I have ever done. There is always a word or sentence I can't say.
See if you can see what the word is this week.

Back to FanFormula and this week's topics were about Teams and drivers, made up rules and Team bossing.

Question One.
What is it about F1 as a sport that you love and what do you hope this season will bring?

Question Two
What team/driver do you support and why did you choose to support them?

Question Three
If you could be put in charge of F1 for the day, what rules would you put into the sport? (This can include removal of any rules you dislike)

Bonus Question
If you were team principal, which two drivers would you want to drive for you and why?



Don't forget if you want to see more FanFormula videos or want to submit one yourself then to go to http://fanformula.weebly.com/index.html

And if you want to hear more of my F1 ramblings then you can also follow me on twitter @squiffany

FanFormula: Week 4. Globe trotting and tiredness.

In this week's FanFormula video. I was pretty exhausted.
I had stayed up all night to watch the Oscars, which in the UK is broadcast at about 1am.

So it gave me good practice for Australia.
It sadly however didn't make me look good on video.
Sorry for that.
Next time I will sack my Make Up artist. (Oh that's me)

Back to the point. This week's FanFormula questions concentrated on Globe trotting.

Question One.
Which Grand Prix weekend do you most look forward to and why?

Question Two
If you could go to any Grand Prix where would you choose and why?
(Also are you going to any GP's this year?)

Question Three
What is your favourite corner out of all the F1 circuits?

Bonus Question
Out of all the countries that do not have race currently or planned (Eg Russia) where would you like to see a GP being held?



Don't forget if you want to see more FanFormula video's or want to submit one yourself then you can go to http://fanformula.weebly.com/

Also if you want to hear more of my ramblings about American TV, the weather or general F1 nerdy-ness then you can also follow me on twitter @squiffany

Just drive and the songs that link me to F1.

If you watched the 2010 BBC Formula one coverage.

Especially the last race in Abu Dhabi

Then you will remember this song being played over the end credits.

Written especially for the BBC coverage.

Alastair Griffin -Just drive.

It is now one of the songs that will always remind me of F1.

Plus it's a beautiful song and now finally it actually has a video.

Just drive really does reminds me of F1 2010.

This however reminds me of F1 1999.

The Cardigans- My favourite game.

Which was used on the season ending race.

Seemed fitting with Hakkinen winning the championship.

This reminds me of F1 2005.

Franz Ferdinand-This boy

Used again at the season end race when Alonso won the championship.

Maybe it's time to make an F1 compilation CD?

Well it should surely include this?

Any songs that remind you of F1? What should be in the F1 CD?

Comment or message me on twitter @squiffany

The beautiful new channel that means I starve.

So several months ago you may remember me doing a video post about how Bernie was slowly screwing over the UK audience, by only giving the BBC edited highlights when Sky had the full race that weekend.



That video was last September.
Now nearly five months on. I now don't live at home.
I live with my flatmate and we moved into a house that had a Sky dish.

And since Virgin Media wanted to charge us A LOT for TV and broadband.
We decided to go with Sky.

Which meant not only did we get a beautiful Sky+ box, which records everything (Let's not talk about the amount of episodes of My big fat gypsy wedding that I end up recording.) but because we managed to get an HD TV as well. (Thank you flatmate's dad.)

It meant that I could also get the Sky Sport F1 channel.
And my god it's beautiful.
Just seeing the branding made me happy.
Not only that but the previews got me jumping up and down, doing a girly scream like I was at a One Direction concert.

The channel starts this Friday 9th March at 8pm and the weekend is full of brand new programmes.
Including F1 review seasons 1988, 1989, 1990 and 1991.
Steve Rider interviewing Emerson Fittipaldi and Sir Jackie Stewart.
Plus a full four parter review of the 2011 F1 season

And that's just a little bit of the programming. Considering that it is a whole week before the Australian Grand Prix even starts. It's looking well worth the extra money and me starving to death. (It's okay I could drop a few pounds.)

Now has much as I love the BBC, all the extra hours of F1 that Sky are offering is pretty much perfect for a massive fan like me.
I've pretty much Sky+ it all already.

Not only that, but more programming means more blog posts for you my FFF followers and fans.
All I hope is that Sky can deliver when it comes to race day.

Because all the extra programming in the world can't make up for lousy/lacklustre race coverage.

(P.S To all of you who can't afford Sky coverage. I promise not to keep you out of the loop. Big pinky promise.)

Feel free to comment below.
You can also follow me on twitter @squiffany

FanFormula: Week 3. The future.

So in the series of catching you up with my FanFormula videos.
We are now on week three.
(Don't worry only a couple more to deal with and we are back level. )

This episode deals with the future.
The questions for this week were.

Question One.
Now that the drivers race seats have been confirmed, which inter team battle are you most looking forward to watching develop and why?

Question Two
2011 saw the introduction of DRS and also the return of KERS, both which contributed to increasing overtakes at several races. However with drivers now having the experience with the innovations, do you think that they will play into the racing so much this year?

Question Three
With two races potentially in doubt this year, do you think that either Austin or Bahrain will go ahead this year?

Bonus Question
Which driver would you like to see win the WDC this year and which constructor do you think has the edge to top the titles for the WCC title?



Don't forget if you want to submit your own FanFormula video or want to see more then go to http://fanformula.weebly.com/

Also if you want to hear my day to day ramblings about Sky+, the food I like or general F1 then you can also follow me on twitter @squiffany

A letter to Ferrari

Dear Ferrari.

Ferrari this is no Dear John letter. That I promise you.
Call this a look into your future.

See many years ago. You were a top team. A great team. With the best driver and championships at your feet.
I never loved you, but secretly I always admired you and passion for being the best. Wanting to be the best.
Skip forward a few years and something has changed.
That something was that you decided not to grow up.

However your fans and followers have grown up. A lot.
We now carry smart phones, use twitter to communicate with Formula One drivers and we understand that the press. Although can be intruding, are an important part of F1 has a business.

Lately though you just seem to be having Kevin and Perry style tantrums about everything and anything lately and quite frankly it's starting to get a bit dull.

Especially this week.
When you acted up big time.

So when the internet passed rumours that Felipe Massa has/was being sacked. You decided instead of manning up and dealing with the problem head on.
You know a good old fashion press release or a quick press conference.
You thought that at the test at Barcelona, you would ban Felipe and Fernando from talking to the press. Especially the Spanish and Brazilian press.
Thus causing more of stir then if you dealt with the problem head on.

Sadly though I believed you wanted that to happen.
By not letting the drivers have a voice, you created a media storm. Thus insuring more press coverage at the test weekend then if you actually topped the time sheets.
Which you haven't done in a long time.

One day though I hope you can grow up, invest in a decent PR manager and start letting your drivers have a voice.
And finally focusing on the car again.
Becoming the team I remember so well in the noughties.
Becoming amazing.

Signed secretly.
Female Formula Fun.

Don't forget if you want to hear more F1 ramblings you can follow me on twitter @squiffany

FanFormula: Week 2. The importance of testing.

So over the next few days. I will be catching you all up on the FanFormula videos that I have done over the past few weeks.

This one is from a couple of weeks ago, but I'm sure it will appease the boredom until the F1 season starts.

The questions for this week were.

Question One
Do you think testing times will bear any relevance to how the cars will perform in Australia, with many teams saying that their cars will be different by Melbourne?

Question Two
Reports from testing are suggesting that Ferrari are still suffering with track performance and wind tunnel performance not correlating, do you think that Ferrari are sandbagging or are the team worried that their challenger is not at the level they thought it would be?

Question Three
With Jules Bianchi crashing at Jerez do you think teams should just be using their race seat drivers during testing to ensure they are up to speed with their cars?

Bonus question. 
With over a month to Australia what will I be doing to prepare?



Don't forget if you want to see any of the FanFormula videos or want to submit one yourself.
Then go to http://fanformula.weebly.com/

If you want to hear my F1 and day to day ramblings then follow me at twitter @squiffany