Your favourite Grand Prix

[PTRACER]

Choose at least three of your favourite races, but no more than five. These must be races you watched live/delayed on TV at the time, so no Monaco 1982 if you were only born in 1985.

First year watching F1: 1996

My picks:
1996 Monaco GP - Only four cars were left running when the chequered flag fell and the first place car was Olivier Panis in a Ligier. For those reasons alone this deserves a place, but Schumacher's crash on Lap 1 and Hill's totally unexpected engine failure really stuck in my mind.
1998 Spa - No need for an explanation. This was the last time F1 was run in conditions as bad as this.
2000 Hockenheim - Changing conditions, Barrichello's first win, man on the track, incredible slipstream battles, Alesi's incredible crash...
2003 Japan - I just remember it was a very mixed up event, with some great overtakes and some really desperate moves which led to crashes. This is the only dry race on my list.
2011 Canada - Until the Austrian GP last weekend, this was the last time the lead changed on the final lap (thanks Everso) due to Vettel running wide and nearly spinning. Very wet conditions. The chequered flag fell over 4 hours after the red lights went out, making this the longest Grand Prix ever (if you include the two hour red flag in the middle). Button running Hamilton into the pitwall, then spinning Alonso out of the race, Schumi getting up into 2nd, lots of mistakes being made...

[Antonov]

France 1999 - my first time, at just 11 years old
Spa 2000 - great move by Mika. But what stands out especially here is that Mika took the lead back in the championship, after a string of retirements for Schumacher.
Indianapolis 2001 - as a Hakkinen fan, obvious
Spa 2004 - first race in person, Kimi taking an unlikely win
Suzuka 2005 - as a (former?) Kimi fan, an obvious choice

[erwin greven]

First year watching 1978

Canadian GP 2000 Great drive of Jos in the rain

Malaysian GP 2001 Great drive of Jos in the rain

Monaco 1982 GREAT GREAT finish. My favorite driver in the eighties won: Ricardo Patrese.

Spain 2016 Obvious: First win for a Dutchman

Hungarian GP 1994 First podium for a Dutchman

[Cheeveer]

Can't really say when I started watching F1, has been following since before I can remember, so early 90's sometime.

Suzuka 2005 probably all-time fav. Now that was a RACE! Other than a wet Q, that was non BS balls out racing throughout, like every race should be.

Monaco 2004 was a laugh.

Hockenheim 2000 was a great one, as I was a big Rubens fan at the time. Action packed to the point of sillyness almost, but what a result!

Monza 2008 was also a great one, if just for "post-Minardi" winning!

But it's funny that I don't have any F1 race I revere as much as I revere some CART/Indycar races from my youth. 1996 Road America is THE race I go back to and can watch over and over. Same with the 1999 Michigan race.

[Cheeveer]

And Brazil 2008 of course. Not a Hamilton fan, but that race was something else. That end of race excitement have only been matched by Le Mans this year.

[Metzo]

First year watching F1: 1997

Nürburgring 1999 - chaotic race with a winner nobody expected
Hockenheim 2000 - action packed race with a deserved winner
Brazil 2003 - unforgettable race
Suzuka 2005 - Real Racin'
Brazil 2012 - thrilling final to a exciting season.

[ReneLotus]

I don't really know in which year I consciously started watching F1 (I watched it since I was born), but a few of the early races that spring to mind are Adelaide 1990, Monaco 1992 and Donington 1993. There were plenty of other races that spring to mind from after that period. Europe 1999 and Spa 1998 stand out. But you could also add Monaco 1996 and 1997 to that list, or even Hockenheim 1997.

[kals]

These are some of my favorites:

Nurburgring 1999 - just a completely random race
Hungary 2006 - the first win by Jenson in a very spectacular race
Monza 2008 - I was in awe throughout, Vettel's performance for what was mostly still Minardi was immense
Brazil 2008 - a nerve-wracking thriller
Bahrain 2014 - the battle between Nico and Lewis was incredible

I would also have nominated Suzuka 2005 and Silverstone 2003, except I didn't watch them live rather I listened to them both on the radio as I was driving.

[Andy]

I have no favourite race past 1997.
Thinking hard about the span since 88 though.

[ReneLotus]

I missed the Monza race of 2008. About fifteen minutes before the start we had a television signal failure in our area. No channels to watch on tv and only found a crappy stream that stopped after a few minutes.

[kals]

I missed the Monza race of 2008. About fifteen minutes before the start we had a television signal failure in our area. No channels to watch on tv and only found a crappy stream that stopped after a few minutes.

I watched Monza 2008 in a hotel room in Rio de Janeiro on a local Brazilian TV station with commentary in Portuguese. It was pretty amazing and thank goodness for the on screen graphics or the race would have been impossible to follow.

[Antonov]

I missed the Monza race of 2008. About fifteen minutes before the start we had a television signal failure in our area. No channels to watch on tv and only found a crappy stream that stopped after a few minutes.

I watched Monza 2008 in a hotel room in Rio de Janeiro on a local Brazilian TV station with commentary in Portuguese. It was pretty amazing and thank goodness for the on screen graphics or the race would have been impossible to follow.

I watched it live in person at turn 1.

[JBT]

Some great races mentioned here.

Mine are:

1986 Australian GP: The first race I can remember watching properly (although it was the repeat of the race later in the day). Mansell's tyre blowout, Rosberg in his final race retiring from the lead with tyre trouble as well, and onboard with Johnny Dumfries in the 98T. I was already a motor racing fan and had watched bits of F1 here and there, but this was the race that turned me on to GP racing.

1990 Mexican GP: I picked it up as the BBC switched from the highlights of the first half to the second half live. Great racing between Mansell and Berger (forceful from the Austrian at times!), Prost with a great drive to take the win and, well, the move of the season by Mansell to take 2nd. Maybe the bumpiest circuit of modern times?

1996 German GP: Berger fending off Hill for most of the race at the old Hockenheimring until his engine blew right near the end. Absolutely flat out racing, not the most overtakes during the race if I remember, it was more about pushing the equipment to the limit on the fastest track of the season.

[PTRACER]

At one point I put down the 1990 Mexican GP as one of the most exciting Formula 1 races ever. I uploaded it here for our 100,000 posts celebration: viewtopic.php?f=36&t=7755&hilit=1990+Mexican

Anyway, looking at the above posts, I counted:

3 votes: Nurburgring 1999, Hockenheim 2000, Suzuka 2005, Monza 2008
2 votes: Monaco 1996, Spa 1998, Brazil 2008

So right there, we have the top 7 greatest races of the past 20 years 3 more and we'll have a top 10.

[Andy]

Monaco 1984. Senna faster than the leader Prost but third man Bellof faster than Senna and chasing him down from back of the grid in torrential rain conditions. Race became shortflagged unfortunately.