First time at an F1 GP: Silverstone 2005

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Like many of us Scott Woodwiss watched F1 from a distance before he finally got to see the sport up close. Read about his first experience at a Grand Prix weekend at Silverstone in 2005 below.

I’ve been a fan of this strange and crazy phenomenon we call Formula 1 since the tender age of two. It began when I was sent a signed picture for Nigel Mansell, which I still have 15 years later. My parents tell me my first word wasn’t "Mama" or "Dadda" but "Mansell".

I vaguely remember the day in 1994 when Ayrton Senna was killed. My father came back from work and when he was told there’d been a big accident he instantly said "It’s Ayrton, isn’t it?" At the time I was too young to understand what had happened.

I never really started to watch F1 until 1997. I had been a Damon Hill fan in the past. But now he was in an Arrows, I switched camps over to Michael Schumacher. This was where my allegiance would remain for the next four years or so, and year after year I would hope that Michael and his Ferrari would win the championship only to be thwarted by Mika Hakkinen and McLaren.

When he did eventually do it again, I was thrilled. But then as he did it again and again and again, my enjoyment of it all seemed to wane and eventually I would find myself on occasions falling asleep because there wasn’t anyone else remotely close enough to challenge Schuey.

I got bored of Ferrari’s domination, and didn’t quite cotton back onto F1 again until 2005.

That year I had my first live sighting of an F1 car. It was at the BMW Power Festival at the Rockingham speedway. There were the usual support races (Formula BMW, saloons, etc.). Then it came to the exhibition runs. The preludes were an ETCC touring car and their Le Mans-winning V12 LMR, which I was greatly looking forward to since I enjoyed the wailing soundtrack that accompanied its beautiful looks.

But then Andy Priaulx rolled out the BMW Williams and pounded out a few laps. I can’t say if I was stunned or amazed or not. In fact I don’t think I reacted at all. Maybe because I wasn’t fazed by it at all, or maybe because my brain and senses were trying to take it all in.

By some very good fortune and some money, my dad was given as a birthday present tickets to the British Grand Prix that same year. He got two, which meant that joyfully for me, I was able to go too.

The day started by craning our necks, or mine at least, at the outside of Copse to view the GP2 race. This, we felt was not an ideal spot, so we trekked round to see if there was anywhere else we could view the races from. By luck, we found the best place. Some people had literally just moved from a spot just before Maggots, which was incredibly close to the track. In fact it was probably the closest you could get to the track around the whole circuit.

After the Porsche Supercup, driver parade (where Schumacher waved towards me, sort of) and a guy from McLaren jogging round the track in nothing but a pouch for losing a bet, it was time for the main event.

Having heard one F1 car was an experience of its own. But nothing prepared me for the sheer feeling of 20 3.0 litre V10s at full chat going past at the same time towards Maggots. From where we were the sound was just ear-achingly loud. I know some fans say you’re a true fan you shouldn’t wear ear plugs, and I didn’t, but seriously it just a wall of noise and then it was done.

For the next hour and a half or so, nothing really happened apart from the cars going past time and time again, and from where we were without the joys of something like Kangaroo TV, and only the vague voice of Silverstone Radio in my ear, I will admit that I started to get a little bored. Ironic, I know, but true.

Three years later and I am much more engrossed in the sport. I have RSS feeds on my home page. I watch all the races, including the recently introduced free practice sessions online coverage. I read Autosport and listen to Sidepodcast. I have T-shirts, caps, books, DVDs, games, etc. Such has been the transformation in my following of F1 over the past three years or so that I can truly call myself a hardcore F1 fan. I even have a song on my laptop called Formula 1.

Further still, I have a CD of Grand Prix Sounds, and my favourite track? V12 at 17,500rpm. Mmm…

In terms of other F1 experiences, I have been to the Renault World Series events at Donington Park and just the other weekend at Silverstone. Sure, now that I have a greater and deeper understanding of it all I can just sit back, relax and enjoy some glorious V8 melody. And now there’s no TC, it’s even better.

That’s enough rambling from me. I hope you enjoyed hearing a new person’s views on how they enjoy and look at F1.

More information on going to the British Grand Prix at Silverstone

This guest article was contributed by Scott Woodwiss. Do you have an interesting story about your first time at a Grand Prix? Why not write a guest post for F1 Fanatic? You can find more information here.

One comment on “First time at an F1 GP: Silverstone 2005”

  1. Robert McKay
    3rd July 2008, 13:40

    “For the next hour and a half or so, nothing really happened apart from the cars going past time and time again, and from where we were without the joys of something like Kangaroo TV, and only the vague voice of Silverstone Radio in my ear, I will admit that I started to get a little bored. Ironic, I know, but true.”

    I’ve only been to one GP myself (Silverstone 2006) and this is exactly what I thought. I had a grandstand ticket for the pit straight on race day. I got a great camera shot of the grid, being dead level with the front row, the cars went away, and that was it. Cars went past every so often. I couldn’t see turn on, I could barely see them coming out of the final turn, any people that were alongside each other I couldn’t see them complete the move. I couldn’t see a big screen TV well, and I couldn’t hear the radio commentary once the cars had spread out after about 7 or 8 laps. In short, I had no idea what was going on at all, other than at pitstops.

    Having said that, the Friday and Saturday experience was a million times better for me. Having an expensive ticket allows you to go to any (or at least most) of the grandstands on those days, which is brilliant. The opportunity to pick a different viewing point for practice/quali and support races is excellent. Seeing them go through Copse/Maggots/Becketts or the final lengthy complex where you can watch them for a good 20-25 seconds is so much better in terms of variety. Being in one of those grandstands for the race would have been a bit better, but it’s the flexibility of moving around and seeing them from different angles that really made the trip for me (plus BMW’s awesome pitlane park).

    The Kangaroo TV thing looks great, and I wish it had been there when I’d went, although spending all that money to see it in the flesh and then spending more money to watch it on a TV again would feel slightly daft :-D

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