I cannot speak for readers of this blog, but I do know that I’m excited about the start of the new F1 season. Racing is my job, but it is also my passion. The motto of GP+ sums it up: “It’s all about the passion”.
At the same time I’m looking back at the last three months, wondering: where did the winter break go? It just disappeared. Evaporated. We came back from Brazil and suddenly it was December. It seems an age ago now, and yet the winter months have never felt shorter. There were the usual award ceremonies and then Christmas was upon us. At that point I was still winding down from last season, rather than looking ahead and enjoyed a few days over the holiday season with F1 completely turned off. No blog, no columns, no deadlines, no alarm clocks. That lasted a whole 10 days… And then things began to wind up again and I was on the road again. The testing began, but no one could really say what going on. The Jerez test was pretty quiet – so they say (I don’t do testing) – as the machinery popped and banged its way on to the stage, at that point signifying nothing. The launches this year were almost an afterthought. The focus was on getting everything working, rather than making a big fuss about the cars.
Now, after the final Bahrain test, we have a better idea what to expect in Melbourne. I wouldn’t say we know all the answers, and things change quickly in modern F1, but we will have to wait for more. People say that we will find out in Australia, but it is not always like that. To get a true picture takes three or four races. But the joy of going racing is definitely bubbling inside me. Sure, I’d like to spend more time at home as well, but the calendar is the calendar and like a medieval peasant who lives by the seasons, I will be on the road again, following Mr E’s magic circus, going where he dictates we should go. This is a time of changes in F1 and while some resist change because it is unsettling, I tend to follow the view that change should be addressed in a positive fashion. Yes, F1 has a few problems to fix, but when did it not? The future, I think, is rosy because it is new and different. That makes it interesting and that is what makes people watch it. And the more people watching, the stronger the sport is…
The sport does not exist to save the world, although going green is not a bad idea: it keeps F1 relevant and makes it more interesting to the youngster generations. Beyond that, F1 is brilliant at providing a little sunshine in the lives of fans, something different from the daily drudge. The chance to dream… And spectacle aplenty. As far as I am concerned it’s the greatest show on earth…
joeblogsf1 
I couldn’t agree more with all you say, Joe. Bring it on.
Absolutely. I can’t remember when I’ve looked forward to the start of a season more than this one. Looking forward to some shocks and upsets! …and some Williams & McLaren victories (I’m biased but I don’t care).
The unpredictability of the 2014 season is certainly welcome and makes it the most exciting beginning to a season in many, many years.
It’s good too see you are a Glass Half Full Type, to many are so negative about change. Passion I still have my Chequered Flag Magazines from the early 70s when I first started getting into F1 in those days growing up in Sydney the news was always a day or two old by the time we got it on BW TV or the newspaper, I worked a paper run and saved my pennies a bought those lovely Tamiya 1/12th scale F1 models and spent many hours painting and assy .
Looking forward to another year this one should be a cracker.
Yep, 10 day’s off over Christmas…That’s my world as well……The way I see it is some don’t even get that…
Well said!
Well said Joe! Really looking forward to seeing the engineering challenges met and rules bent – all for the win!
Also on the eco front, did the rule about only using electric to power the car in the pit lane make it through the rule changes?
Thanks for this one Joe. Totally relatable and all so beautifully put. See you next week.
I too cannot wait for the season to start. Though my wife just rolls her eyes as I count down the days. She can’t wait for me to get up at all hours of the night and day to watch F1. Add to this my GP+ subscription. Going to be a great season!
My significant other also rolls her eyes at my passion for racing, although being an engineer, even she has a soft spot for Formula One, and has her favourite drivers. Our dog is named after one. In addition to “GP+”, I also take “F1 Racing” and “Racer” magazines and have done for many years. I’ve never thrown one out. Bring on Melbourne!
Yep, I totally share the sense of anticipation and excitement. More so than for a number of years, can’t wait!
Brilliant stuff Joe – and articles such as this is why I waste so much time on this site – F1 has had a fascination for me since Jackie Stewarts Era – and despite the fact that it seems very distant (and not to care about that) from fans now it is still fascinating – although in truth perhaps at times more through reading your site than watching the races.
In the last few years I also find the ‘run up’ to the start of a race often more fascinating than the race – especially when Michael or Seb have charged off into the distance.So perhaps this year will provide more suspense.
Thanks for keeping the blog up despite the occasional firestorms of criticism of your (free) offerings – and have a great season (and get lots of upgrades) – wish i was in your laptop bag (so to speak)
Joe, whens the new Grand Prix + coming out
Monday
Agreed. Every year I get that pre-season excitement, but this year in particular I can’t wait to see how the order may be shaken up, and then how the teams on the back foot somehow manage to turn it round.
Worth noting that every year since I can recall, there have been doom mongers saying “F1 is finished”, often because of new rule changes. I mean, who the hell let Renault build that turbo thing in 1977? Outrageous! Not real F1, etc.
2014 season – bring it on!!
I’m feeling a similar sense of anticipation, Joe. Thanks for taking it all on again, for another year – your thoughts and writing bring a sense of involvement to a reader, so skillfully.
Really looking forward to seeing how it all pans out in Melbourne and beyond this year
I’m sure there are more than a few of us who are also bubbling with excitement at the start of a new season, Joe.
As an avid reader of this blog and a “never miss an issue” reader of GP+, I can appreciate that what you do is special, but equally I’m sure I don’t want your travel schedule!
I realise it might be a bit off topic for you, but a post or an article on the travel aspect of what you do would be most welcome. Tips, tricks, how and where you fly/drive, what are the best and worst airports and how you guys get through them all with minimal hassle.
For me as a relatively frequent business traveler, it would be intersting to hear your experiences.
Thanks again for bringing quality journalism to the masses.
Well written Joe,
Really appriciate your articles – in fact i remember you writing for F1 News back in the 90’s when i was a teenager, so be like Bernie – don’t ever give up on F1!
Well I’m definitely looking forward to the new season, and it’s actually the uncertainty of everything that makes things attractive to me. Last year was a dead flop after the tyres were changed, which worked in a certain teams favour. There are some that view RB’s & Vettel’s unbroken run of wins as unprecedented. I viewed it as a debacle, and was by far down to the tyre change. This skewed everything. I hope for F1’s sake there is never a repeat of last year.
I think it feels like the winter went on far too long. Here’s to Australia! 🙂
Despite the fact that there are many things I really loath about modern motorsport in particular one make series! I still have my personal passion for car and bike racing, after 50 years from where it began. And although my F1 interest has been truncated to just the abilities of the individual drivers ( really hope Massa does well this year ), I still get excited by the start of a new year of the sport. Of course, in sportscar racing and Nascar things are already moving, WRC too, but there can be no doubt that F1 will be the most interesting it has been since the end of the last century, as the cars actually look different, and the power pack reliability is so uncertain. It’s a pity Renault are off the boil right now, as it would be better if all 3 engine makes were able to fight it out rather than just 2 of them. Have to say Joe, this is an interesting site, and much better than any other I have logged into before. Your style was always different and engaging way back in the Autosport days and long may that continue, hope you have a great year too!
Damian, I empathize. However, if you can just accept this era is about “racing” computers with wheels, not machines, and that the IT dept controls every aspect of F1 “cars” from concept to potentially winning, then you’ll be ok 😉
Yeah, yeah, I know! However that doesn’t mean one has to like it! It is striking that I’ve read so many times, from drivers like Schumacher, Alonso, Senna, Herbert and many more, that the best fun they have is driving Karts. When you think about that, a Kart is probably the purest racing machine around still. No frills, no banks of IT and techies, just machine and driver against machine and driver…my case rests….simples is sometimes still best.
I have a feeling Renault will get it together quicker than most people think, basing it strictly on their previous success and professionalism.
Joe, you have it spot on. Probably the thoughts of every genuine fan.
“a little sunshine in the lives of fans, something different from the daily drudge. The chance to dream… And spectacle aplenty.”
I would just add to that that sport as spectacle also provides that one ingredient now missing always from our world of spin and swindle: TRUTH.
Hope it’s a classic season!
Couldn’t agree more! See you at the audience in Melbourne next week.
I agree. And what I wouldn’t give to be able to cover a whole season. Good luck – and enjoy!
Looking forward to the season as well, more than I have done the last couple if I’m honest. Bit off topic here, Joe, but are we expecting the reveal of the definitive Williams livery and sponsorship package and an announcement from Ron about McLaren’s new structure before Melbourne?
there are those who stay the course through thick and thin and i have been following open wheeled racing since the 50’s!!! that is i guess a measure of ‘passion’. in fact i haven’t missed a race broadcast for over 20years. what you say joe echoes the sentiments of many i am sure.
i must say though that i haven’t known a period prior to this season which actually had such an immense level of uncertainty that we are facing today. change is what it is all about and it was desperately needed if F1 was to maintain its place in the pantheon of motor sport. that said i fear that it may be a bit of too much too soon. usually i am totally excited at the prospect of a coming season but strangely enough i feel apprehensive this year. not that i don’t want to see a whole new scenario but i do want to see all or most cars make it to the finish line. then we can see not just where the teams stack up but also how the intra team battles will play out. if the cars are not up to it then we will be robbed of any true competetive racing. i just hope that all will be sorted quickly for this to occur but i somehow feel that solutions will not be easily incorporated and we will see one sided races. hopefully i am completely wrong.
I’m actually looking forward to more retirements. Time was when if the whole field finished the race it was noteworthy. In recent years the reliability has robbed some of the show. I remember watching races on the edge of my seat wondering if the leader, although miles ahead, would make it to the finish!
Joe, do you think there is a possibility that no runners will complete the race distance in Melbourne and if so, will no points be awarded?
I am sure some will make it.
Apart from anything else if 14 or more cars dropped out everyone else would turn down their engines and run in super safe mode just to get home and guarantee some points.
I think 6 finished that race in 95. Personally I’m looking forward to greater attrition as it makes races less predictable and gives a sniff to the smaller teams.
I am expecting Melbourne to be a very interesting race from a strategy point of view, perhaps less interesting from a pure race point of view. Teams will be expecting reliability issues and will be focussing on gaining points by avoiding drop-outs.
I really respect your passion for the sport and your drive to obtain your information from your own sources.
I`m looking forward to it as well! And once again following your blog Joe. Have a great year.
Should be quite exciting. Growing up in racing in the 1970s, cars breaking down, “blowing up”, was part of the action and excitement. Drivers used to be rewarded for their skill at taking it easy on their equipment and bringing a car home, and others punished for not (we still love ya Mario!). This season should be very exciting.
That has cheered me up and got me excited on a thoroughly miserable day at work.
I am looking forward to the start of the season, more so than previous years. The prospect of a completely different order is very exciting, although I suspect order will be restored sooner rather than later.
Totally agree!..but whatever happens, i would love to see Massa win one for Williams Martini.
Looking forward to the new season and my first year’s subscription to GP+.
« Mr E’s magic circus …, as far as I am concerned it`s the greatest show on earth… » sums it up for me until the negligent death of a volunteer named Marc Robinson during the 2013 version of the Grand Prix du Canada here in montréal.
thank you for choosing to be a responsible reporter of what is regarded by many as a tourism industry show which is on it’s final tour here in my opinion.
be well.
Joe,
The better half is now looking forward to your travel log. As your favourite place – Korea, is no longer on your list of travel designation any more, she and her friends are waiting to hear all about your trip to the Russian Grand Prix.
Of course one of your trips home, in this case from the Italian Grand Prix, had me going through boxes to find that old paper AA Road Atlas of Europe, as she wanted to retrace your trip, plus of course it was a way to burn the plastic in Italy with her friends. (I should send you the bill, but it kept her quiet & happy !!)
I still have a standing order with St. Nick, for Joe’s F1 travel Adventures. I just won’t let the other half read it, as it will end up costing me a bloody small fortune recreating your road trips.
A nice post Joe. I have to admit that I, too, am looking forward to 2014 even more than normal. I think there’s every chance it’ll be a truly great one, just what we need after the past few years of RBR domination. As a Senna fan, I’ll also be looking forward to May; 20 years since Imola. It won’t be a sad time, more a time to rekindle all those wonderful memories he left us with. I’ll also, no doubt, be one of several million worldwide that will spare a thought for MS when the new season starts. He has also left the F1 world with great memories. My personal ‘little ray of sunshine’ that you refer to in your post will be the memory of Senna & Schumacher at the start of lap 6, Imola ’94; the two of them at the absolute limit – the FW16 throwing up showers of sparks. There’s been nothing like it in terms of raw spectacle; yes, the greatest show on earth. If 2014 is only half as good, it’ll be a good one…
Yep, can’t wait. F1 has had more incarnations than Doctor Who and another is just what the doctor ordered – well maybe not Dr. Marko – and I for one am excited at the prospect. I just hope the field is closer than the testing times imply.
Yay. And yay again.
Positivity about the sport seems in short supply these days, with everyone seemingly certain that it was better in the old days. I feel I’ve heard all of the doomsday scenarios before, and also feel certain that in the future that people will wish F1 was like it was in the mid 2010s (I’ve heard people wish f1 was like 1988, after all).
At almost 38, I am increasingly identifying with the nostalgic yearlings of the gents over at Motorsport Magazine, but for the life of me I can’t work out why they need to write off the modern day F1 so frequently.
I would change things about f1, sure, but it’s still an awesomely good thing to have in life, for the reasons so eloquently outlined above.
Thanks, Joe.
If more people read your blog, I’m sure you’d be in the running for Bernie’s job! Love your passion for the sport, and your no-nonsense approach.