Five last-minute F1 gift ideas

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Update: Find the new F1 Fanatic gift guide for 2012 here:


Still need a present for the F1 fan in your life?

Here’s five last-minute ideas including the five most popular purchases by F1 Fanatic readers, a brand new model of Lewis Hamilton’s Brazilian Grand Prix McLaren MP4/23, a special offer on Murray Walker’s new DVD for F1 Fanatic readers, and more…

F1 magazine subscriptions

Thursday wouldn’t be Thursday without a copy of Autosport. But I find myself increasingly using my subscription more for the online added extras it brings: the weekly Journal on Autosport.com and the statistics service Forix.

When it comes to monthly magazines I have an admission to make: after seven years I’m letting my F1 Racing subcription lapse and ditching it for MotorSport. This isn’t to say that I don’t still enjoy parts of F1 Racing – particularly Alan Henry, Murray Walker and Peter Windsor’s contributions. I went off F1 Racing in a big way after the last redesign and I think MotorSport is a much improved product. That said, if you want F1 and nothing else, F1 Racing is probably the better choice:

F1 paintings

Gilles Villeneuve by Rob Ijbema

Rob Ijbema paints one canvas with a motor racing picture every day! Check out his work at his Car a Day blog. Buyers in Europe and the UK can still get on in time for Christmas if they order today.

“Mike Hawthorn: Golden Boy”

This tribute to F1’s first world champion, crowned fifty years ago, arrived just days after I wrote the ‘Books’ section of the F1 gifts guide.

The enormous 400-plus page book is the work of Tony Bailey and Paul Skilleter who have done an incredibly thorough work. I haven’t had time to read it properly and do justice to it in review, but F1 history buffs should definitely investigate it. “Mike Hawthorn: Golden Boy” is published by PJ Publishing and costs £60.

Lewis Hamilton McLaren MP4/23, 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix, world championship winner

This model will not be available this side of Christmas but collectors of Lewis Hamilton memorabilia will want to be at the front of the queue for the model of the car he won his first world championship in. The MP4/23 model reflects the design changes made to the car at a reputed cost of $4m in order to secure the world championship. It is expected to arrive sometime in 2009. More info here.

Most popular purchases on F1 Fanatic

Not sure what to get? Opt for safety in numbers. Here’s the five items purchased most regularly by F1 Fanatic readers on Amazon this year – all of which I’m happy to recommend:

Need more F1 gift ideas?

Try these:

Murray Walker DVD special offer

F1 Fanatic readers can buy Murray Walker’s new DVD ‘Motorsport Madness’ for half price – £9.99 instead of the usual £19.99 (excludes postage). Simply visit http://www.motorsportmadnessdvd.com/, click ‘Buy now’ and use the promotional code MW1F1F.

Thanks to everyone who sent in suggestions for gifts!

F1 Fanatic earns a commission on products sold via the links to our affiliate partners above, however you are not charged any extra.

Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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8 comments on “Five last-minute F1 gift ideas”

  1. Not that I’m looking to deprive F1 Fanatic of Amazon commission, but subscribing to Motorsport directly is about the same price and comes with a free DVD with electronic copies of past issues.

    I’d add to the praise for the extras you get with an Autosport subscription, despite the trouble I’ve had with Haymarket over the last couple of months.

  2. Tim – Good point, that’s definitely a better deal :-)

    What’s been up with Haymarket?

  3. Keith – my subscription was accidentally cancelled by Haymarket’s system a few months ago and they’ve not yet managed to restart it (they thought I was buying myself a Christmas present so put it down for a January start). But normally they’re fine.

  4. I must say – I bought one of Rob’s paintings a while back after seeing a link to his stuff here. It was a gift for my other half. I was impressed with it and so was she – a really nice piece. It was from the rain soaked Fuji of ’07 where LH showed his wet weather skills for the first time. It’s been quite proudly on our living room wall since.

  5. Keith
    Good for featuring Rob Ijbema’s work; his art is brilliant!

    I also create racing history-related art. You can see it at:
    http://automobiliart.blogspot.com/search/label/Holiday%20Gift%20Idea
    What do you think?

    You have a great site!
    Cheers!
    Paul

  6. Great stuff, thanks Paul.

  7. paul sainsbury
    24th December 2008, 0:48

    I have just done a 2 year subscription with Motor Sport. It is a great deal as you can choose an entire decade on CD as freebie. I chose the 80’s as I started waching the sport around 1982.

    The major selling point for me with motor sport is that they have Nigel Roebuck. To me he is the best Formula One writer, and by a considerable margin.

  8. What else more is there to say? Necessity is the mother of invention.

Comments are closed.