F1 Fanatics at the Australian Grand Prix

7th April 2010, 0:2224th December 2010, 23:38 | Written by Keith Collantine

F1 Fanatics at Melbourne for the Australian Grand Prix

Mark Young arranged a meet-up for F1 Fanatic readers in Melbourne for the Australian Grand Prix. Here’s who was there and what they had to say.

During the jam packed program of activities at the Australian Grand Prix the F1 Fanatics got together to chew the fat, say G’day and discuss the best Formula 1 website on the web!

In the preceding weeks I had put out a number of messages on the different discussion topics suggesting a Saturday afternoon meeting for the F1 Fanatics at the General Admission area at the back of the circuit, near the corner where Lewis Hamilton performed his sizzling overtake on the unsuspecting Nico Rosberg.

This elicited a few replies but I was sure there were more of out there, in fact I was pretty sure they would be sitting all round me, so just before Practice 3 I ran back and forth in front of the Clark Stand (near corner 9) and sure enough, met up with a few more.

Finally, at 4pm, an hour before qualifying, I taped my sign onto the fence under the big TV and was delighted to meet a number of the Australian F1 Fanatics!

I had the pleasure of meeting Pink Peril, The Pope, Yorricksfriend, GB2009 plus his Dad and James plus his sweetheart (James I’m really sorry but I can’t for the life of me remember what your online name is!).

We were all very pleased with the turnout and had a great half hour chatting about all things F1. The summary is as follows:

1. It is BRILLIANT to make it to a Grand Prix,
2. Gee that Lewis Hamilton was a bit of a goose to get caught by the Police doing a burnout,
3. The four grandstand package for Albert Park is a great idea. Different seat for each of the four days,
4. The Pope has clearly come the furthest to get here, travelling all the way from England, and we are all envious that Pink Peril works in an office that overlooks the track.
5. If Webber wins the place is going to erupt, and finally:
6. Without question, F1 Fanatic is the best place on the web for Formula 1!

We headed back to our seats to get ready for qualifying and then for a simply sensational race the next day. Although as a man wearing a ‘myearthdreams’ polo shirt and ‘on the button’ hat, I probably enjoyed it more then the thousands of rather depressed looking Red Bulls fans come Sunday night.

Thanks to the F1 Fanatics who came over to say G’day, it was great to meet you all and I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.

In the picture above – James and Partner, The Pope, GB2009, Terry Fabulous, Pink Peril, YorricksFriend. Picture credit to GB2009’s Dad!

Many thanks to Mark for arranging the meet-up and telling us all about it! If you want to find other F1 Fanatic readers heading to races this year check out the links at the bottom of the page.

Geoff Richards – aka The_Pope – sent these pictures from Friday practice. The shot of the Mark Webber fan cheering on his hero is especially cool. Thanks Geoff!

Going to an F1 race in 2010? Swap notes with other fans who are going below:

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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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40 comments on “F1 Fanatics at the Australian Grand Prix”

Aleksandar_Serbia
7th April 2010, 0:25

Wow, Keith you are gathering quite a posse, this is scary, if you can get some in more races to come, open your TV station, congrats ;)
1. Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
  7th April 2010, 0:27
  
  I only wish I could have been there myself!
  1. The_Pope
    7th April 2010, 7:08
    
    I was there, Keith. The_Pope = Geoff Richards :)
    
    Well done to Mark for organising it. I was a bit worried it would’ve been just the two of us but in the end there was seven plus Dad the photographer.
    
    All brought together by the common bond of “the best F1 website on the net” :)
    1. Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
      7th April 2010, 8:26
      
      See, this is why I don’t have a ‘net name’ – I can’t keep up! Have changed the line in the article. Thanks again for the pics.
2. Joey-Poey
  7th April 2010, 2:52
  
  If they bring back the US Grand Prix and Keith comes, I will totally try to convince my production company to do a live web-feed of an “F1 Fanatic Show” or something.
3. Sush Meerkat
  7th April 2010, 8:57
  
  I think its great, a few years ago this was just a hobby for him.
  
  Keith’s probably one of the most successful private websites going.
4. bobo
  7th April 2010, 11:09
  
  Were it not for the fact that I moved from melbourne to madrid last Jan, I would certainly gone along too.
K
7th April 2010, 0:31

That’s really cool, nice one.
iamsa8
7th April 2010, 0:41

oh man, i was at T9 by myself on saturday arvo, alone..
haha, ah well
MigueLP
7th April 2010, 1:21

nice photos nice story if you didnt had the bars on front of you that is always the problem with my photos from the races
Pink Peril
7th April 2010, 1:27

Well, I’ll be there again next year, so perhaps we can arrange another meet? Make it bigger and better !
Serbian Kimi!
7th April 2010, 1:38

What a fantastic meet-up in Australia!

You richly deserve that much attention, Keith, because in all my life I have never heard of anyone so dedicated to formula 1! I knew the (un)official F1Fanatic fanclub would turn up some day:):)

Keep up the good work, F1Fanatic website rocks!!
1. wasiF1
  7th April 2010, 2:39
  
  “in all my life I have never heard of anyone so dedicated to formula 1”
  
  I agree Keith have really dedicated his life for this site & for us. We all F1 fanatics too are dedicating our time to this site.
  Keep up the good work Keith.
wasiF1
7th April 2010, 2:13

Nice work guys, thanks to James and Partner, The Pope, GB2009, Terry Fabulous, Pink Peril, YorricksFriend. Picture credit to GB2009’s Dad for showing up on raceday on track & then share this article with us.You must have watch a great race after the boring Bahrain.
TommyC
7th April 2010, 2:44

i think by james you mean tom (aka: TommyC), and the ‘sweetheart’ is hannah. thanks for the meet up and i was indeed one of those depressed red bull/webber fans…oh well, there’s always next year.
1. TommyC
  7th April 2010, 2:46
  
  awesome work there pope on the webber photo. damn good timing. how do i upload some of mine?
  1. Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
    7th April 2010, 8:26
    
    You can upload them here: http://drop.io/f1fanatic
    1. TommyC
      7th April 2010, 9:09
      
      thanks keith, i shall do that now
2. Terry Fabulous
  7th April 2010, 3:44
  
  Argh!!!! Noooooo!!!!!
  
  Sorry Mate!!!!!
  
  I feel like an idiot for that.
  Next year you will have to call me Brad.
  
  Sorry again TommyC
  1. TommyC
    7th April 2010, 4:10
    
    no singular worry Steve
  2. The_Pope
    7th April 2010, 7:10
    
    haha – I’m gonna help rub this in now, because I was thinking “who the hell is ‘James’? There was this nice guy called Tom who I chatted to…” plus Hannah in the Mark Webber wetsuit jacket :D
    
    It’s all good
    1. TommyC
      7th April 2010, 8:07
      
      but geoff didn’t attend the ‘meeting’…
    2. TommyC
      7th April 2010, 8:16
      
      oh yeh, and where do i go to upload photos? and whats the ideal size?
    3. Terry Fabulous
      7th April 2010, 10:25
      
      I am feeling SOOOO stupid right about now :)
      1. TommyC
        7th April 2010, 11:00
        
        hahaha… but seriously, no need to. now just waiting for some of my photos to appear too.
GB2009
7th April 2010, 4:04

Hi All,

Yeah, was great to meet a few of the others that also procrastonate when at work on this site! Not that I am one of those of course…

Great idea to run (like a bit of a loony I might add!) around with the sign Mark. As I had been in Melbourne for most of the week, I missed the posts suggesting the get together, so was quick to grab Mark when he went wizzing by (the second time!) in front of us on the Saturday.

We were sitting near Mark on Sunday too…he was certainly much happier than I was (I’m the git with the flag on).

Mark, you should post a link to your driver’s parade video…classic stuff!

For those in other parts of the world, get onboard and do something similar, especially as the support races at some other GPs are a bit lacklusture, it will certainly help to fill in the downtime and give you some stimulating chat with like-minded people.

Oh, and on point 2, I agree with what the VIC police minister or whoever he is said yesterday…Lewis IS a ********!!! (and yes, I am quoting there!).

Thanks Mark and all others for the catch up.

GB
1. Terry Fabulous
  7th April 2010, 10:27
  
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvlVuzGSbts
  
  How to get a wave on the driver parade!
  
  Thanks Mate!
  1. TommyC
    7th April 2010, 11:04
    
    that was hilarious. unfortunately i got to the track just as the drivers parade was finishing so i missed it all. i’ll make sure i get there earlier next time and try to get a wave.
Dane
7th April 2010, 4:06

I was right near there @ that time too, but didnt see the sign. Will catch up w/ you all next year. Hopefully Keith will have some F1 Fanatic t-shirts for sale by then?
1. Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
  7th April 2010, 8:30
  
  Yeah we’re going to have to do that I reckon!
  1. chris
    7th April 2010, 10:02
    
    finally!!! you should sell some on your site! and pls put a paypal link so we can pay from abroad.
YeaMon
7th April 2010, 4:45

These dang Fanatics! They’re everywhere!
Macca
7th April 2010, 5:45

DAMN. I was at the Australian GP as well but in the week leading up to the GP I had no internet coverage so I must have missed all your posts.

On the Saturday I was sitting in the Brabham Stand so I was over the other side of the track. I am very sorry I missed it but hopefully we can do it again next year.

PS: Keith, did you get my pictures, I know there not very good.
SD
7th April 2010, 7:19

congratulations team F1fanatic!
you guys are doing a great job!
Veeeight
7th April 2010, 12:17

i was also in the clark stand but missed the “sign” walk around some body told me about it then after P3 totally forgot to excited, must do next year always have the same seats. chance of a good turnout by the sounds of it.
well done to keith and the fanatics that showed up :)
F1silverarrows
7th April 2010, 13:23

christ how many people from the UK will be F1fanatics at silverstone? might have to bring a panoramic lense for it……
TommyB
7th April 2010, 13:26

Thats so cool :) And some amazing photos there, the one of the Webber fan clapping is brilliant.
TBWG (@tbwg)
8th April 2010, 10:54

Oh Dear

Had a 4 day GP advantage ticket and missed all the F1 fanatic members’

However did catch Alonso spin in front of Brabham stand see…………… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LprpYXv7b4

TBWG
1. TommyC
  9th April 2010, 5:19
  
  i filmed that as well, but i was in jones on the opposite side.
  1. TBWG
    9th April 2010, 14:41
    
    Hi TC
    
    I spent Saturday in Jones stand!

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40 comments on “F1 Fanatics at the Australian Grand Prix”