800 F1 races: how many have you seen?
1989 British Grand Prix: my first glimpse of F1. What was yours?
Singapore was F1’s 800th world championship race: so how many of the 800 have you seen?
I started watching F1 halfway through 1989 when I saw a broadcast of the British Grand Prix. Alain Prost won after Ayrton Senna spun off with a gearbox problem, and Nigel Mansell was a charging second after suffering a puncture in his Ferrari.
From my first glimpse of F1 action to this weekend’s first ever night race there have been 324 Grands Prix.
I know I haven’t seen all of them on television, because when I started watching F1 I was quite young and my parents wouldn’t let me get up at 2am to watch the Japanese and Australian races. Without those I reckon I’ve watched over 310 F1 races.
In comparison I’ve seen only a tiny number in person: just eight. Grand Prix tickets are expensive! Here’s some of my recollections about races I’ve been to:
- British Grand Prix: 1998, 2003, 2005, 2006 and 2007
- Belgian Grand Prix: 2000
- Turkish Grand Prix: 2006
- Italian Grand Prix: 2007
How many F1 races have you seen? How many have you been to? To help you work it out here’s how many world championship rounds (including the Indianapolis 500) there have been since 1950:
1950: 7, 1951: 8, 1952: 8, 1953: 9, 1954: 9, 1955: 7, 1956: 8, 1957: 8, 1958: 11, 1959: 9, 1960: 10, 1961: 8, 1962: 9, 1963: 10, 1964: 10, 1965: 10, 1966: 9, 1967: 11, 1968: 12, 1969: 11, 1970: 13, 1971: 11, 1972: 12, 1973: 15, 1974: 15, 1975: 14, 1976: 16, 1977: 17, 1978: 16, 1979: 15, 1980: 14, 1981: 15, 1982: 16, 1983: 15, 1984: 16, 1985: 16, 1986: 16, 1987: 16, 1988: 16, 1989: 16, 1990: 16, 1991: 16, 1992: 16, 1993: 16, 1994: 16, 1995: 17, 1996: 16, 1997: 17, 1998: 16, 1999: 16, 2000: 17, 2001: 17, 2002: 17, 2003: 16, 2004: 18, 2005: 19, 2006: 18, 2007: 17, 2008: 15 (to date).
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Austria 2000! Hakkinen wins!
214 Races: Started with Monte Carlo ‘96! I’ve seen 2 GP’s in person: San Marino 1999 & 2000…and a couple of tests in Vallelunga.
The first Formula 1 race I saw was the 1998 Australian GP. McLaren completely dominated, lapping every other driver to a 1-2 finish. It was an absolutely sublime display of excellence, and is why I got hooked on F1. I also became a McLaren fan from that day forwards. Since then, I might have seen about 40 to 50 races on television, missing many due to lack of cable TV or too early in the morning. Never seen an F1 race in person, so I hope they’ll return to California sometime.
Started in 2000…
but missed 1/2 season in the middle fully…
so i guess its around 100
313 to date!
1st was imola ‘89
1993ish, used to watch it on a Sunday with my Dad!
Missed around 3 or 4 seasons around the late 90’s early 00’s. So no idea on the amount :-/
1990… and then two years later I remember a woman lifting her top for the cameras. I was 12 then. The full pictures fade, but I remember the woman, Ayrton, Alain, Nigel, Gehard…
Then Ayrton died and I weeped. F1 has been a big part of my life.
It somehow seemed better then. Nostalgia perhaps, or maybe ‘cos the agression was so great. Lewis would have done well back then – the new rules and difficult passing means that most of his passes are dangerous. I think even Fernando would have had a great career in the 90’s.
Remember the guy with the checkered flag screaming halfway down the track as the winner passed? Yeesh! Will we get a car as good as Mansell’s 92 Williams Renault… V8 was it?
Suzuka, 1994
I was an instant Damon Hill fan
about 50% of all races….
Check out my Ferrari Spoof movie on Massa and his pitstop
http://nl.youtube.com/watch?v=VuW0Ba5eSgc
Did some research, And I’m positive of having watched between 120-125 races. This is not counting early 90’s races I may have watched because I’m too young to remember, though I’m sure I’ve watched some. The first race I really remember watching is Spain 1998, and from then on I’ve watched most of them (except for the period between Austria 2002 and middle of 2004).
all you little nippers (-;
started watching Austria 1972,Fitti vs Stewart
first GP attended the Dutch GP 1974
i’m to senile to count them all )-:
My first memory if seeing an F1 race was on TV at my grandparents house, and it must have been in 1992. I remember saying “I want Berger to win” because, well, I was 7, and I guess I thought hamburgers were the best food ever. My nan then said… “noooo, you want Mansell to win!”
That was just a fleeting viewing though, and I didn’t watch F1 again until 1994.
Unfortunately, the first full race I ever remember watching was the ‘94 San Marino grand prix. It still saddens me to think that I only got to knowingly see Senna racing for all of 3 laps in my entire life.
Since then, I’ve seen near enough every grand prix, bar one or two from being on holiday (on the rare occasions a TV couldn’t be found) or during moves to and from university.
So that makes F1’s 800th race my 240th, give or take a handful, over the past 14 years. I’ve only ever attended one though, the 2004 British round.
@ Rob
I was wondering when the oldies would make themselves heard…
I saw my first glimpse of F1 in late 1990. It must have been about Senna driving into Prost at Suzuka and it was probably on TV news. I distinctly remember the red Ferrari bearing number 1. Following that, I watched the occasional race in 1991, but have followed the sport closely since 1992. I’ve missed only a handful of races since then, I guess. So that would add up to close to 300 GPs.
I’ve been to 4 races in person, 3 of which are legendary (or infamous, depending on how you look at them): the 1995 Belgian GP, which Schumacher won from 16th on the grid, beating Hill in a great battle. Then San Marino 1999, which Schumacher won for Ferrari; the first time the team won ‘at home’ since 1983. Then the 2002 USA race, which Schumacher lost to Barrichello due to his ‘dead heat’ nonsense. And lastly this year’s Spanish race, which saw the last win by Räikkönen to date.
I’m guessing it’s 350+ as I started watching in 1985, or that’s the earliest memory of watching a GP on TV. Mansell in his Williams.
Haven’t seen them all in the 80’s but I watched more and more to eventually all as the years progressed. It was very rare for me to miss one. “Sod’s Law”, I missed the 1993 European GP!
Been to 2 British GPs in person (2004 and 2008).
Now I struggle to watch them live as I have 2 young children. I normally have to tape them and watch them at night. But I still get to watch them. The challenge of avoiding all sports news broadcasts in todays world gets ever more challenging.
I’ve been watching on and off since the early 80s – my earliest F1 memory is Keke Rosberg winning for Williams at Monaco. I became a huge fan watching Mansell, and have never really stopped since.
wouldnt have a clue been watching it all my life
260, of which i’ve missed about 15 or 16 which is a lot i know.
haven’t been to a race yet, but my dream of my first being at monaco will have to stand by, as i might go watch the bahrain or Abu dhabi GP next year. maybe both.. and i’d like Interlagos to be a part of my first 4 races live.
i started watching halfway through 93, didnt undestand much then, but i have more than made up for that.
i’m gonna go a little further, my 244 Gp’s have spanned an average of 1 hour 45 minutes, + shows = say 2 hours.
i’ve invested 20.33 days of nonstop F1 races not counting qualifyings. i say it was worth every second.
here’s a trick question, how many races have you slept through?
The first race I watched was way back in 1988 late one night when Dad was feeling super generous. I try to watch as many as I can, but in the younger years, and because every GP is on around midnight in NZ, I would have missed plenty. However I’m making up for it now. My Girlfriend of 8 years has finally been converted into a fan… I love having her get as into it all as I do
btw: in 1988 I was six years old
I saw bits of the 94 and 96 Australian Grand Prix, but 1997 was the first time I became committed to watching the sport after getting a Playstation just for the original F1 game (based on the 1995 season) for Christmas in 1996. Before that I had played my brothers Sega Mega Drive (Genesis) game Super Monaco Grand Prix which is probably what got me first interested in open wheel racers.
Since 1997 I’ve watched just about every grand prix, I missed a few throughout 2002 but from Hungary of that season to now I’ve seen every one. I’ve also seen Spa and Adelaide 95 on tape so which brings my total to just above 200. It’s weird to think I’ve seen 1/4 of all F1 races.
Just had a count up. Potentially, I could have watched 348 races. However, realistically, it’s probably more like 250-300 races. It’s hard to tell, as I’ve been a fan for so long, and started so young, memory fails me a little
I make it 161 races counting the seasons that i watched properly. 1st race i saw was 97 spanish grand prix, remember that schumacher started 7th and was 2nd by 1st corner from then on i was a huge fan. only missed a handful of races due to holidays etc, the early morning starts i either stayed up for or taped. Didnt watch the 2005-2006 seasons atall. But ive watched every race in its entireity since the 2007 oz gp except (sadly) the 08 belgian gp.
Seen 2 races live, the 2002 british gp which schumacher won and the 2008 british gp where hamilton stuffed everyone!!
got every season review video from the 1988 season to the 2007 season aswell as a subscription with f1 racing which goes back to last may.
My first lasting memory of F1 was Mansell’s blowout in 86 (as a 9 year old) and given how gutted I was about that I must have watched the whole season. So that makes my total up near 380 – I’ve watched the majority live and the rest either replayed, highlights or on the news or something. Which is nearly half of all GPs to date. That seems ridiculous given the amount of history in the 50s, 60s, 70s and early 80s I missed.
One: the 2005 San Marino Grand Prix. Started out as a snore-fest, but in the end turned into a really exciting scrap between Alonso and Schumacher. Sadly I didn’t see it.
My first full race was Montreal’ 91 when Mansell blew it in the last lap (or did he really?); though I saw some pieces of other ones before. I became instantly a fan of the guy. Since that I probably watched around 250. I didn’t miss any for a few years, though I can sometimes watch them only a couple of days late (which means no internet or news during that time).
I’ve seen every race since the start of 93, and a handful before, but no idea of the exact number – from the numbers above somewhere between 250 and 300!
I’m lucky enough to have been to 10 races, 6 as a spectator (all Spa or Silverstone) and 4 for my job.
Starting watching with real interest around the time DC came into the sport – so probably around 250 races on TV since then plus 4 British grand prix. Although the infamous GP held at easter wasn’t seen and only heard due to the fact we were stuck in traffic at the time…
Watched a load more on Sunday afternoons as a kid with my dad, but haven’t a clue how many or when they were!
all in all, probably around 300 in total.
Early 70’s, I can remeber Jackie Stewart winning races for Tyrrell and Hunt winning in Japan, although I’ve only been a serious fan since 1979 and 1980, when it was the groud effect Lotus and early Williams cars. In all that time I think the best car I’ve seen was the FW07, which was competitive for at least 3 years. Mostly now it’s new car each year, although evolution not revolution seems to be the order. So I can remember the twin chassis Lotus (rubbish), the death of Villeneuve (thanks to Ferrari failing to fit washers to his harness bolts, he got thrown out of the car), the best of Senna and Mansell and the rise of the despicable Schumacher.
I am 18 and I watch Formula 1 since 1998 without missing a race , I think.I attend 2 Gps Silverstone 2005 and Turkey 2006 but the irony is that the driver Is supported every time he never won.
1998 Eddie Irvine-M.Hakkinen won
1999 Eddie Irvine-M.Hakkinen won
2000 M.Hakkinen-M.Shumacher won
2001 M.Hakkinen-M.Shumacher won
2002 J.Montoya-M.Shumacher won
2003 J.Montoya-M.Shumacher won
2004 J.Montoya-M.Shumacher won
2005 K.Raikkonen-F.Alonso won
2006 K.Raikkonen-F.Alonso won
2007 L.Hamilton-K.Raikkonen won
2008 L.HAmilton- [...]
South African GP 1978 and Peterson won that race in Kyalami, that by the way was a circuit a liked a lot. The downhill straight was fantastic.
I missed a few night races also, so the total is something like 479GPs.
I was 12yo and was a fan from Lauda by the time.
Late 70’s for me when I was a very young lad, I didn’t become obsessive until early teens when Mansell was trying his hand. I was fortunate enough to see him win at Brands Hatch in ‘86. I’ve pretty much seen all the races since the early ’80’s, however I did miss a handful of races live when Schumacher was at his most dominent.
Pretty young people in this blog. I started with Nikita´s debut for Ferrari in 1974. I havent missed F1 since. Apart all tragedies occured in this time I have two memories above all.
1. Nikita retiring in the last GP in Japan due to fear in a track flooded, where James Hunt won the championsihp by 1 point. That season was the one with that terrible accident suffered by Niki Lauda at Nurburgring, and therefore the lucky season for the bad james boy.
2.Rolf Stommelen flies out of the street circuit of Montjuit in Spain and died five people which were watching the race in situ. Was the last race there. Terrible images on TV.
I dont know how many races that do, but I think quite a bit. I still miss a lot that turbo era.
I Have been in none in person.
To Eddie Irvine.
You seem to be a real jinx to your supported pilot. It seems this year your bad luck will end, although there are three races left….:-))
I don’t keep track of how many races I’ve watched, but I know it’s under 30. That’s because I only really got into F1 from the 2007 Australian GP onwards. Australia 2007 was the first Grand Prix that I really watched, and saw finish, with Raikkonen taking the win – which resonated with me due to my Scandinavian heritage. Now my favourite drivers are Raikkonen (for the aforementionned reason) and Mark Webber (because he’s an Aussie – just like me!)
My mum told me I started watching F1 since arriving back in the country, which was 1984 – but I don’t have much memories until key moments in the late 80s and early 90s. I didn’t really follow it, I only ever remember have memories of Senna, Prost, Patrese, and Mansell on track – almost no one else. I wasn’t a follower, but I loved watching it, I guess. Still have a little toy Ferrari F1 from back then
I stopped watching in 1994, when Senna died, but followed it more devoutly and intensely in 1995 and thereafter.
If I took just half of the races between 1984-1994 and 95% of the races since then, I’ve watched roughly 282 GPs, though it’s a somewhat inaccurate guess!
Ron (post 17), I’ve actually slept through quite a few! Not because of they’ve been boring, though I’d attribute a few snoozes to those, but I think in earlier years the weekends took its toll by Sunday.
I’ve not been to any races in person
You may call me the Ancient One. The first GP I saw was the 1961 Monaco GP, seen in a grainy, black-and-white newsreel in 1962. I followed the sport avidly after that, mainly through the pages of Autosport and Motor Sport, having pressured my mother into buying me subscriptions. That was my only recourse back then, since I lived in Africa and the races were not televised, even in Europe.
I missed many races during the early 70s, thanks to life presenting me with the necessity to earn my crust, but I started watching again after my return to Britain in 1976. There have been brief periods since when I have not been able to view every race in a season, so I am not even going to attempt to tot them all up. Let’s just say that it’s good to see so many young ‘uns getting fanatical about F1 – surely the best sign of all that the sport will survive the ineptitude (good word
) of its governing body.
I first some saw races on TV (probably on tape-delay) from 1996-2000: Spain 1996, Monaco 1997, Hungary 1998, Monaco 1999, Japan 2000, Malaysia 2000. I’ve been able to watch every race from 2001 onwards (mostly live, a few on tape-delay).
That makes a total of 143 races.
I’ve only watched 1 race in person, and it was the 800th race – Singapore!
How many races have I seen?
Too many.
I remember several ocassions in the 80’s or 90’s waiting up late on a Sunday night to see BBC’s highlights of one GP or another and then waking up just as the end credits came up on the screen . . .
Like Keith I am going to say the start of 1989, when I was 9 years old. I have very distinguishing memories of a few races I watched before then. My Dad got me up to watch the Australian GP of 1986 – I didn’t go to school the next day as I was too tired. I also remember being on Holiday in Italy in 1988 and watching the Italian GP in the hotel my family was staying and the Italian owner went mad when Senna was taken out.
Throughout those early years I became a Nigel Mansell fan and when he signed for Ferrari in 1989,I can remember watching the San Marino GP Live and the accident with Berger is very clear in my mind. It was also the year I got a small TV in my bedroom to accompany the Spetrum 128k I got for Xmas that year, which meant I could watch the highlights late at night in my bedroom!!
I have missed a 2 races. Monaco 1992 but the the most important race – San Marino 1994 – I went to a swimming pool with a girl from School. Never, never again!
Total Races –
Races I have been to
Silverstone 1992
Donington Park 1993
Silverstone 1993
Silverstone 1994
Silverstone 1998
Malaysia 2004
Silverstone 2005
Silverstone 2007
Silverstone 2008
I started watching with my dad in the late 80’sbut wasnt really sure how to enjoy it yet ( I guess he wanted some company as I was just a little girl ). Really got into F1 late 90’s as a tribute to my dad who sadly passed away in 1991 and have been hooked ever since. I have no idea how many races I’ve seen but missed only the early part of the 2007 season due to Schumacher withdrawal symptoms. Sadly, I have never seen a live race and probably wont see one soon ( it will cost a fortune to travel from South Africa ) unless they bring back the SA GP. Yeah to that!
Using Keith’s table, I make my count at 148.
Sadly, I haven’t seen one in person as the closet one to NZ is Melbourne and for a decent weekend including ticket, flights, accomodation e.t.c., it’s AT LEAST NZD$1000.00. Not something one can do too often. But now that I reside in Europe, I’m hoping to change that and see my first next season. Finger crossed!!
136…so far.the first race i saw(on tv)was malaysia 2001!havent seen one in person yet though!:(
i’m the greenest F1 fan so far!
my first GP was china 2007, i ended up watching it with my one-year-old when he woke up one morning at 4am. loved it, hamilton going off just before the pits was the most heart-wrenchingly dramatic moment i think i’ve seen in sport!
missed brazil, but have watched every race this season except spa (because the vhs didn’t work =( )
so that makes 15.
Can’t really tell. My dad is a fan too and hence I been watching the races for as long as I can remember. So I guess I’m watching since 1979.
And I hardly ever miss one, If I (for wathever reason) can’t watch one live, I just download it and watch it later.
I first watched an entire Formula 1 race at the Brazilian GP of 2003 when I was only 10, and what a race to start off your love of Formula 1 with.
Before I started watching Formula 1, the only name I ever heard was Schumacher. 2003 was the season that his reign as champion was under threat from Raikkonen.
Kimi is basically the reason why I became interested in Formula 1.
My race tally lies at 101.
actually, does watching them on the internet count? i watched Brazil 2003 on youtube last week.
16.
The first F1 race you see in TV you never forget.(when you are old enough)
I remember like it was today.
There was monster car with an older driver with integral helmet, against the finest, nicest. and yet revolucionary never before seem F1 ever with a younger driver wearing an “open” helmet.
Jack Brabham versus Jochen Rindt Lotus 72.
Senna in the JPS Lotus I think 1986.
I feel old watching Piquet and Rosberg jnr even though I am only 30.
Only ever been to Silverstone never abroad..one day when i grow up.
Germany 1996. Berger leads with from Hill close behind, when BANG! his engine goes with only 2 laps to go. Hill then cruises to victory.