Hi there!

[Neonbubbleshots]

So I’m new to fast lane in terms of actually logging into my account lol I’ve used the website itself for years and thought I’d finally get involved.

To break the ice who are peoples favourite drivers and why? Can be classic drivers or recent!

I’m 27 and from the West Midlands, I grew up in the era of watching Michael Schumacher win pretty much all the races my favourite time would be a Sunday watching the races and sometimes wishing I could be a F1 driver (probably a good job that didn’t happen as I’m a shocking driver )

As I got older I started to appreciate more classic drivers such as Lauda, Tom Pryce, Prost, Gilles Villeneuve and my ultimate favourite, Ayrton Senna. I always thought I was born in the wrong era and wished I could have grown up when all these legends were racing! Did anyone ever get to see any of them race in person? I’d love to hear your stories!

To note I am also a fan of motor racing, Indy racing and NASCAR!

[PTRACER]

Hi Danielle, nice to see another new face!

As it says on my profile, my favourite Grand Prix drivers of all time are Gilles Villeneuve and James Hunt. I'm only a few years older than you so I couldn't have seen them racing back in the day, but I like Gilles because he had the biggest balls of any F1 driver I've ever known. He was guaranteed to be world champion at some point, probably in the year he was killed. I wonder how he would have fared against Ayrton Senna.... James Hunt - I don't think he was the fastest driver of his era, but he was like a rock star and that makes him mega cool in my eyes.

I'm surprised seeing Schumacher win all the races didn't kill your passion for it before it started, it was a very boring era for me But looking back, I much prefer the early-2000s to what we had in the second half of the 2010s...

[MonteCristo]

Welcome @Neonbubbleshots! Great to have you here.

My favourite driver growing up was Jacques Villenueve as he broke into Indycar and then F1.

I always loved history, so having the son of a famous former driver seemed so exotic. (Less so these days with all of them knocking about)

Otherwise, unlike somebody like a Damon Hill - who shared a similar story - Jacques was very young. As a kid, I could relate to him so much more. I could imagine myself being him (though I didn't have aspirations to be a racing driver). And heck, he was successful (for a time!). That always helps .

[Everso Biggyballies]

........As I got older I started to appreciate more classic drivers such as Lauda, Tom Pryce, Prost, Gilles Villeneuve and my ultimate favourite, Ayrton Senna. I always thought I was born in the wrong era and wished I could have grown up when all these legends were racing! Did anyone ever get to see any of them race in person? I’d love to hear your stories!

Hi and welcome @Neonbubbleshots to TFL.
Re the above yes I was fortunate enough to get to watch the likes of Jim Clark race, when my late Father took me to Brands. I started going to events regularly on my own / with friends from the early seventies.

Memories of my seeing Jim Clark.... Many here will have already read my JC autograph story posted in another thread many moons ago, but it was fairly amusing and can be read HERE if you want

I was a huge fan of Lauda, but had many other drivers who were on the list as well, Villeneuve (Gilles not JV), Bellof, too many to mention. Back then they were all my heroes really. Lauda right at the top though. I was even a Schumacher fan moving to modern days. That lasted for a brief couple of years until 1994.

Nowadays I read books of the old days.... currently just reading Mike Hawthorn "Challenge me the Race", but I have many books on F1 through the years, right up to the Kimi Raikkonen biog.

We have a thread of amusing stories here on viewtopic.php?f=32&t=6335

[Neonbubbleshots]

Hi Danielle, nice to see another new face!

As it says on my profile, my favourite Grand Prix drivers of all time are Gilles Villeneuve and James Hunt. I'm only a few years older than you so I couldn't have seen them racing back in the day, but I like Gilles because he had the biggest balls of any F1 driver I've ever known. He was guaranteed to be world champion at some point, probably in the year he was killed. I wonder how he would have fared against Ayrton Senna.... James Hunt - I don't think he was the fastest driver of his era, but he was like a rock star and that makes him mega cool in my eyes.

I'm surprised seeing Schumacher win all the races didn't kill your passion for it before it started, it was a very boring era for me But looking back, I much prefer the early-2000s to what we had in the second half of the 2010s...

Oh I’d have loved to have been around during Lauda vs Hunt! Hunt was just so cool with his charisma and charm, it’s a shame he died so young i loved his commentaries as well as his racing. I agree Gilles definitely had some balls and I reckon it would have been a difficult head to head with Senna and no doubt would have gave him a run for his money.

I was just un awe of him to be honest, but now I’m older it gets annoying when Hamilton wins every race, this year has been a little different so more fun in my opinion F1 has definitely changed over the years and I think it’s fantastic that it’s a lot more safer than it was back in the day, however I miss the old car sounds and the suspense during races for sure

[Neonbubbleshots]

Welcome @Neonbubbleshots! Great to have you here.

My favourite driver growing up was Jacques Villenueve as he broke into Indycar and then F1.

I always loved history, so having the son of a famous former driver seemed so exotic. (Less so these days with all of them knocking about)

Otherwise, unlike somebody like a Damon Hill - who shared a similar story - Jacques was very young. As a kid, I could relate to him so much more. I could imagine myself being him (though I didn't have aspirations to be a racing driver). And heck, he was successful (for a time!). That always helps .

Hi there! It’s great to be here

I’m going to be honest I’ve not watched much content with Jacques in, I seem to have skipped the late 90s seasons so I must go back and watch his success in 1997 becoming world champion. I do agree it’s a thrill to see children of racers becoming racers themselves, I feel bad when I dont realise at first though such as Damon Hill like you mentioned. I thought he was a fantastic driver and never realised his father was Graham Hill at first!

I know what you mean about Damon though, for me it was amazing when looking up old content to see him alongside Ayrton, it’s just a shame it ended the way it did. Thrilled he won championship in 96 though!

[Neonbubbleshots]

........As I got older I started to appreciate more classic drivers such as Lauda, Tom Pryce, Prost, Gilles Villeneuve and my ultimate favourite, Ayrton Senna. I always thought I was born in the wrong era and wished I could have grown up when all these legends were racing! Did anyone ever get to see any of them race in person? I’d love to hear your stories!

Hi and welcome @Neonbubbleshots to TFL.
Re the above yes I was fortunate enough to get to watch the likes of Jim Clark race, when my late Father took me to Brands. I started going to events regularly on my own / with friends from the early seventies.

Memories of my seeing Jim Clark.... Many here will have already read my JC autograph story posted in another thread many moons ago, but it was fairly amusing and can be read HERE if you want

I was a huge fan of Lauda, but had many other drivers who were on the list as well, Villeneuve (Gilles not JV), Bellof, too many to mention. Back then they were all my heroes really. Lauda right at the top though. I was even a Schumacher fan moving to modern days. That lasted for a brief couple of years until 1994.

Nowadays I read books of the old days.... currently just reading Mike Hawthorn "Challenge me the Race", but I have many books on F1 through the years, right up to the Kimi Raikkonen biog.

We have a thread of amusing stories here on viewtopic.php?f=32&t=6335

Oh wow that’s incredible! Jim Clark was one of the first classic F1 drivers I did research on years ago, and one of the first deaths in the sport id seen! I bet that was an amazing experience to be able to see him race, I’d have loved to have been here to see that myself.

Thank you for the links I’ll be sure to check them out, there’s just something about classical racing, nothing like it these days in my opinion.

[MonteCristo]

Welcome @Neonbubbleshots! Great to have you here.

My favourite driver growing up was Jacques Villenueve as he broke into Indycar and then F1.

I always loved history, so having the son of a famous former driver seemed so exotic. (Less so these days with all of them knocking about)

Otherwise, unlike somebody like a Damon Hill - who shared a similar story - Jacques was very young. As a kid, I could relate to him so much more. I could imagine myself being him (though I didn't have aspirations to be a racing driver). And heck, he was successful (for a time!). That always helps .

Hi there! It’s great to be here

I’m going to be honest I’ve not watched much content with Jacques in, I seem to have skipped the late 90s seasons so I must go back and watch his success in 1997 becoming world champion. I do agree it’s a thrill to see children of racers becoming racers themselves, I feel bad when I dont realise at first though such as Damon Hill like you mentioned. I thought he was a fantastic driver and never realised his father was Graham Hill at first!

I know what you mean about Damon though, for me it was amazing when looking up old content to see him alongside Ayrton, it’s just a shame it ended the way it did. Thrilled he won championship in 96 though!

Some inspiration from when I was a wee young lad, in JV's second season of Indycar:

[Star]

Welcome @Neonbubbleshots we are a friendly bunch here as you clearly already know. It's good you finally signed up to join us

I started watching F1 in the mid 1990s, seriously in 1995. I did see Senna race, but not in person, though my cousin met him a couple of times when he was racing and he said he was a very nice guy.

Like @MonteCristo I was a huge Jacques Villeneuve fan, in fact when I first joined a forum it was the forum at JV World and my log in was Jayvee. Since Jacques retired from F1, I've been a huge Sebastian Vettel fan and I quite like Max Verstappen too, so apparently I only like drivers whose last namesbegin with the letter V

Anyway, welcome and it's nice to meet you.

[Neonbubbleshots]

I started watching F1 in the mid 1990s, seriously in 1995. I did see Senna race, but not in person, though my cousin met him a couple of times when he was racing and he said he was a very nice guy.

Like @MonteCristo I was a huge Jacques Villeneuve fan, in fact when I first joined a forum it was the forum at JV World and my log in was Jayvee. Since Jacques retired from F1, I've been a huge Sebastian Vettel fan and I quite like Max Verstappen too, so apparently I only like drivers whose last namesbegin with the letter V

Anyway, welcome and it's nice to meet you.

Hi there! Thank you for being so welcoming. Im so jealous your cousin got to meet him I’d have been so star struck! He seemed like the perfect gentleman, I hope they managed to get a autograph?

Oh wicked, I really need to watch more JV content I’m ashamed I haven’t especially when I’m such a big fan of his father. I don’t blame you for being a Vettel fan I’ve always thought his got crazy talent and is another man who seems like a right gentleman. I am a fan of Verstappen myself, his determination and skill is much to be admired and I hope he continues to shine like he has done.

So nice to meet you!

[Starling]

Welcome @Neonbubbleshots ! I'm new here too. We have a lot of favourite drivers in common! Glad to see some Damon Hill appreciation.

I was lucky enough to go to the Saturday quali in Monza and Montecarlo for a couple of years at the end of the eighties, I don't remember exactly when. I have some car pics from Monza; in Montecarlo I had a friend who snuck me into the paddock, and I got pics and autographs of drivers too. As soon as I figure out how, I'll post them in the Memorabilia thread. I also saw Senna in person at one of the Autosprint Caschi d'Oro events. I brushed his hand against his in the crowd around him, I don't think I ever washed it since

I never actually spoke with any of them, but in Montecarlo I have a nice memory of Eddie Cheever who waited patiently with a faltering smile while I fumbled with my camera after I asked him to take a pic, and of Thierry Boutsen in a hurry who said "Oh sorry" to me after almost punting me into the bay. The one who got away was a beautiful pic of Boutsen riding pillion on a moped driven by his then-wife Patricia. I clicked, but the film had run out. Other times!

[Star]

Welcome to you too @Starling I hope you enjoy the forum. We're a friendly bunch who are usually pretty easy to get along with.

I have a bunch of signed pictures of drivers that I've collected over the years too. The biggest one is Alonso and that is signed to me, got for me as a thank you by someone else.

[Starling]

Hi @Star, thanks for the welcome! I swear we are not related

[Star]

Hi @Star, thanks for the welcome! I swear we are not related

We may not be related but we clearly think alike to some degree, I mean we both have helmet's as our avatars too, though mine is better, obviously

Anyway, enjoy your time on the forum, it is a nice place to hang out and spend some time with knowledgeable and friendly people.

[Starling]

@Star, beautiful helmet! I love the Welsh Dragon design on mine. I spent days trying to understand who JV was Not to mention SLH and JYS, who technically should be SJYS. I'm slowly getting the hang of the forum