F1 Fanatic – The Formula 1 Blog

Formula 1 annuals and calendars

Annuals and calendars are pretty typical gifts at this time of year and as you’d expect there’s a good selection of F1 versions available. Here’s a look at which are the best.

2008 F1 season annuals

Autocourse 2008-2009

Autocourse is the daddy of F1 annuals. Early issues are highly collectable and complete sets have sold for four-figure sums and more. Although the publisher changed a few years ago the same high production values remain in the modern editions.

The bulk of each annual is given over to F1 but there’s also details on all the major motor racing championships including American series, GP2, Formula Three categories, touring car racing and much more. It costs more than other annuals, but it’s definitely the best choice.

• Buy Autocourse 2008/2009

If you’re buying a gift for a fan of a particular driver, why not get them the Autocourse from the year their favourite driver won the championship, or had their strongest season. Although older Autocourses can be very pricey, more recent ones are often much cheaper:

• Buy Autocourse 2007/2008 (Kimi Raikkonen world champion)
• Buy Autocourse 2006/2007 (Fernando Alonso world champion)
• Buy Autocourse 2005/2006 (Fernando Alonso world champion)

The Official Formula 1 Season Review 2008 (Haynes)

Haynes’ F1 season review comes with an introduction by Bernie Ecclestone and is well put together and illustrated. It doesn’t have the pedigree of Autocourse, but if that doesn’t bother you you’ll find this a perfectly suitable substitute and a much cheaper one too.

• Buy the Official Formula 1 Season Review 2008

Other alternatives to Autocourse include:

• Formula 1 Yearbook 2008-2009
• Formula 1: World Championship Review 2008

F1 2009 calendars

Autocourse Grand Prix Calendar 2009

I’ve got a 2008 Autocourse calendar on my desk. It’s a bit of an unusual shape but the wide format shows the pictures off very nicely. Given the quality of the Autocourse annuals I was hoping for some truly outstanding F1 photographs and, to be honest, it didn’t quite meet that expectation. It’s a good product though and as it’s often bundled in cheaply with copies of Autocourse it’s a decent stocking-filler.

• Buy the Autocourse Grand Prix Calendar 2009

F1 driver and team calendars

If you want a calendar of an active F1 driver you better be a Lewis Hamilton fan – at least, if you live in Britain.

Apart from that your choice seems to be limited to Michael Schumacher, Ayrton Senna and Ferrari. If you were hoping for 12 pictures of Adrian Sutil on your wall in 2009 you might have to get out the scissors and sticky tape…

• Buy the Official Lewis Hamilton 2009 Calendar
• Buy the Official Ferrari Formula 1 Square Calendar 2009
• Buy the Ferrari team calendar 2009
• Buy the Ferrari Michael Schumacher Calendar 2009: “The Legend”
• But the Ferrari Michael Schumacher Wall Calendar 2009
• Buy the Ferrari Rosso Corsa Calendar 2009 – found on their official site and very pricey!
• Buy the Ayrton Senna 2009 wall calendar

If anyone finds any other good calendars available, especially those not available in the UK market (there must be Alonso and Raikkonen ones), please post links below.

Still to come in the Ultimate F1 gifts guide: toys, games, gadgets, clothes, DVDs, videos, books and ‘money’s no object’ gifts…

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