Healthy the breakfast of champions

A couple of decades ago, this article would not of have needed to have been written. You would have a story like this in a copy of Woman's Own then in a Formula One blog. 

Today I'm talking about diets. Well really more about being slim. Too slim. In fact just being unhealthy.

When I first got into Formula One. I used to always buy the F1 Racing magazine's season preview, which had all the drivers vital statistics. Mainly weight and height. Now me being a very geeky math loving child. I used to work out the BMI of all the drivers to see if they were in the healthy range. Most of them were in the healthy range and only the odd one were on the low range of normal BMI. Even though BMI isn't the best way of working out health, it is a good indictator. 

But now a story has come out about Adrian Sutil starving himself for two days to test his limit. Although Sutil admits that he did this of his accord and I know the Sauber team couldn't do anything about that. It turns out that Sutil did drive the Malaysian GP without a water bottle in the car in 50 degree heat and in a race where you can lose upto 3kg even with fluids on board. I find that absurd that the Sauber team didn't take matters into their own hands and protect the safety and health of their driver. 

But the Sutil malnutrition thing sadly isn't something new in Formula One. In the last few years the taller drivers have had a massive disadvantage when it comes to weight and because they can carry more weight they have to be even more careful in a career where weight can cost time. 

We've seen this with Mark Webber in the past and even now with Jenson Button and Nico Hulkenburg where they look incredibly skinny (and in my opinion ill) at the start of the season. Something which doesn't sit right with me. 

To combat this problem this year the car's weight was increased by nearly 50 kg, which should of worked out better for the drivers. Unfortunately though roughly 45kg of this was the brand new hybrid system leaving only a narrow margin for drivers weights.

Meaning that in even in 2014 with the amount of information we have on fitness and nutrition. A driver's health could be suffering just for the sake of a few tenths. It's completely dangerous. 

A driver at the end of the day should be healthy because a healthy driver will have a higher level of concentration then a driver who is weak from dehydration/malnutrition and that is surely worth more in time then in the mistakes that could occur. 

A story like this shouldn't be anywhere in today's society. Not even in Woman's Own.

If you want to you can follow my ramblings on Twitter at @squiffany.

Anonymous no more. Yes, maybe.

So hello. It has been a while since I've wrote on the blog. It feels like coming home after a really long holiday, only you can't get through the door because of all the mail blocking the door.

So from my really bad analogy to the real reason I'm now starting to write again but first you need to know the reason I stopped writing in the first place.

It is simply because I'm not sure where my loyalty lies with Formula One anymore.

After fourteen years of splitting weekends and missing out on life adventures due Formula One. Something had to give, turns out it was me.

I've noticed in the last year or so that my love for Formula One is dying. I know personally I can get it back, but I'm not sure how long it is going to take. It's nothing Formula One has done to me. I just got lazy.

When Formula One was on I would sleep because it relaxed me so much and then I wouldn't get time to re-watch it, then when I moved house last year to back home I lost my access to Sky, so I had to rely on the BBC coverage, which is sketchy at times and I started becoming a casual viewer.

Then I started feeling sorry for myself because I felt so out of the loop, so I hid away from Twitter and from my own blog because I was worried  that without Formula One, what would I really have to talk about? When I was down in the dumps last year the blog, Twitter and Formula One kept me going. The people I spoke to kept me going. It was knowing I had a purpose with my writing and feeling like my opinion and myself personally were wanted.
Basically I have a crippling need to feel good at something and when I feel low. I make myself feel bad by telling myself I would be better off shutting myself away. So I hide away and writing is never the first thing on my to do list. The first thing on my list is mainly eating chocolate and watching really bad films.

In short I withdrew myself from the world (and by world I mean social media and even my own friends) because I thought it would be easier.

But I know that in retrospect that is a silly thing to do.

I know my posts may not be as frequent and I'm not on Twitter as often as I would like to be but like a bad relationship, I think I can change.

So I'm hoping this will be my last personal post on Female Formula Fun and it will be back to Formula One times again. I mean who hasn't missed my posts on Eddie Jordan's shirts...

You can also follow me on Twitter @squiffany if I'm ever there..

Female Formula Fun. The Oscar speech.

So this is only a little post.
Promise! (No boring videos this time...Well at least till next week-ish...)

But I digress.
What I actually want to say is a massive thank you.
Yes. To you. My lovely readers.

For keeping Female Formula Fun a float, even when I was actually busy or more likely hiding under a duvet waiting for life to change.
Because of you just before New Year's day I hit the 25,000 mark of readership.

Now for someone who has only been writing the blog for 21 months as a respite to the big wide world. This to me is HUGE.

And I am so grateful that you still continue to read my blogs. Even when I haven't posted for months.

You are all amazing.

And I literally can't wait to tell and show you some of the things that are happening for Female Formula Fun in 2013. All I will say is that. Your mind will be blown*.

And thanks again to everyone who talked, shared and mocked the blog. I love you all.
Except the mockers. I only like you when I have a decent comeback to your words.



So keep your peepers on Twitter/Facebook and YouTube for more posts in the near future.

So you can follow me on Twitter @squiffany. Sometimes I post food pictures. Because I am greedy with no self control. True story.
*Ps. Mind will probably not be blown. I aim for mildly amused instead.

My big, fat F1 team review.

Hey all. 

It really has been a while. (That's my fault. Apologies)

But I do hope that you all had lovely Christmas and a great start to 2013. 

Now to ease back into Female Formula Fun posting, I have decided to start with a 2012 team review. 

So a few weeks ago. I did some YouTube videos for the FanFormula website. 

Now some of you clever readers will eagerly spot that I didn't film all my videos at the same time. 

Leading to some very interesting scenarios.

(Mainly of the changing hair colour, wet hair and no make up variety. )

All I will say is that I do pull out the big guns in the last review and I do actually look half decent. Hoorah.

So without further ado, here is my 2012 team season review. 

Video One

Red Bull, Lotus, Force India and Caterham 

Video Two

Ferrari, Williams, Mercedes and Marussia

Video Three

McLaren, Sauber, Toro Rosso and HRT

Don't forget you can also follow me on Twitter @squiffany and this Saturday I am at the Autosport show in Birmingham. So I hope I can see some of you there. (Just be aware of my uber fangirling and severe photo taking. IT WILL HAPPEN :S

F1 in pubs: #JBAS

So... many moons ago. And I mean many moons ago.
A running joke occurred on Twitter.
It may of also seeped on to the blog. (And for a trip down my childhood memory lane you can see said in- joke here.)

This running joke involved getting said Mr Button on Twitter.
Not Jenson. Oh no. But his Dad John.
Now sadly even after months of trying we are still nowhere in getting the plant hiding, drink loving and pink shirt wearing John on Twitter.

But something magical did occur from it.

F1 in pubs is pretty much what it says on the tin. It's watching Formula One. In a pub. In various locations.

And it's a great way of interacting with other F1 fans. Or it's just a great excuse to have several drinks and not have to pay the Sky fee. Either way I have been twice this year to the event in Birmingham and I always have so much fun, even if some of the races I went to wasn't the most exciting. Monaco and Monza anyone?

So for third time lucky. Me and some of the FanFormula gang decided to go to the Brazil F1 in Pubs. And we all decided months previously to dress up as someone we loved, admired and would happily go for a drink with anytime.

Yep. The one and only John Button. Or #JBAS as it was known on Twitter which stands for the 'John Button Appreciation Society' but that takes up too many characters on Twitter. So #JBAS it is.

Well the first now annual #JBAS meeting was a roaring success.

Mainly due in part to the mix of different colour hues of pink shirts and the difference in our F1 tastes.

Dom @domcovkid, Vicky @F1_Obsessive, Me, Dean @DeanAJMaiden, David @PAIGE03, Ailish @AilishCatherine (Not pictured), BES (Cardboard Seb) and Emma @EmTheEmu

But what also made #JBAS so fun was the excitement that was of course BRASILILILIL.

Now whilst the race was on I did keep notes of what happened.
But I think you just need to read them in note form rather then in full.
Mainly for comedy amusement.

• Bum pinching
• Safety car
• Vettel yellow flags issue
• The I love Rob Smedley manly voice. (Yeah two weeks on. I still have no clue what I mean by this.)
• Drinking and wee trips. 
• Perez Tooned. 
• Vettel spinning
• Hulkenberg leading
• Raikkonen overtake on the old man. (I of course meant Schumi.)
• Kimi and the case of the long way round. A.K.A. The best moment EVER...
• Hamilton out. LOL. 
• Button wins
• Good times. 

There was also some beautiful photos taken of the gang. 

The vast majority of the #JBAS being social media gurus and superglued to their smartphones. Thanks to Vicky for the caption and photo.

Codemasters also come along for the ride. So we got to have a play of  F1 2012 and the new F1 race stars

Dom predicted the winner well before the start.

Ailish with Bes. #F1SMUT as per.

But the best thing about F1 in pubs is quite simple.

I don't remember the Formula One races I sat by myself with.
I remember these ones.
For the people, the banter and above all the memories.
I mean who else can say they have sat in a pub, watched a Formula One race, whilst being John Button.

Except for John Button of course.

If you want to follow my ramblings on Twitter you can at @squiffany.
If you also want to badger Jenson, McLaren or Jess to get John Button on Twitter. You can do that too. But remember don't go too far because it could count towards a restraining order...

Hello. Is it me your looking for?

Now for anyone expecting a Formula One post. I do apologise in advance. Because today is not about F1. It's about me. (Selfish I know.)
But because of the amount of time I have been away from the blog. I feel like it is time to set the record straight.
But be warned it's not pretty. (But it will probably be a bit rambling and full of nonsense. Standard really.)

I used to say to anyone who would listen that Formula One is a major part life.
Lately though. I feel I have lost my spark.
Both for writing and Formula One.
This however is not Formula One's fault.

It's my fault.

The blog has been neglected mainly because life has got in the way.
Work, illness, moving house and trying to juggle life.
It's all been a bit too much.
And I've struggled to cope at times.

Formula One for the past few months reminded me how much I haven't achieved over the last few years. In career and in life. So I started doing what I always do when I'm down.
I gave up on it all.
The one thing that makes me happy and I just dropped it.

I've stopped watching races, I stopped recording FanFormula's and I stopped writing.
The three things that make me the most happy and I just gave up on them. Because I was terrified.
Terrified because over the last three months my confidence has nose dived.
And I just shut myself away. From everything.

So after a lot of time spent soul searching in the past few of weeks and lots of chats with the boyfriend.  I know that 2013 is my last proper chance to make the blog work and to really try to improve myself and my confidence, but I know in order to make it work that I have to sort my shit out. Properly.

So over the next few weeks I'm going to reintroduce more blog posts and build up my confidence slowly. I would like to promise the world straight away but I know it's wise to start slow and see how things go.

This is probably my most honest post but I like to think that most bloggers have these kind of thoughts at least once in their blogging career. So I'm hoping not be completely mauled for my thoughts.

So before I go and start writing again. I would love to thank all the people who have been reading my blog posts whilst I haven't wrote. You are all amazing.

And thank you to everyone on twitter for being so kind when I've been down. It's lovely to think that people you don't even know can care so much.

And the biggest thanks has to go to David. The boyfriend who makes me believe I can do anything. You rule.

And now before this turns into an Oscar speech worthy of a pack of tissues.
I'm going to exit the building.

Thank you for listening.

You can also follow me on twitter @squiffany. If I'm around of course. :P

F1 (Team) Fitty of the week. Rob Smedley

In a slight change to the F1 fitty proceedings.

I won't be concentrating on a driver this week.
And have decided to move slightly further a field. 

To instead, one of the most famous and probably the most fancied race engineer Formula One has ever had.

I am of course talking about the Northern God that is.
Rob Smedley.
(I can already feel some ovaries twitching even from here.)

Rob makes it on to the list for many, many reasons. 

(And it hasn't been the constant badgering from my followers on twitter. Honest)

The first smexy (Yes I put sexy and Smedley together) reason is of course.
SMEDLEY FM.

The one radio show we wished was on 24 hours a day.
It might be the sexy Northern accent.
It is the sexy Northern accent.
Phwoar. Smedley could read the phone book and I would want it on audio.
And it would probably sell better then 50 shades of Grey. True story.


Angry Smedley is a sexy Smedley...



Secondly.
It has to be the constant love story of Smedley and Massa.
A bromance that can even rival Brokeback Mountain.

I mean they even buy each other presents.
Muchos Love.

Thirdly.
It has to be Rob's consistent dedication to his charity work.
He holds fundraisers for the charity SANDS which supports Stillbirths and Neonatal deaths. After his wife Lucy lost their daughter Minnie in 2007.
For someone who travels the world pretty much every other weekend. To find the time to organise these events is pretty special.

So in short.
Pretty, funny, clever and Northern.
My kind of F1 fitty.
Hoorah.

You can also follow my ramblings on twitter @squiffany but to be honest. Don't expect the world.