This weekend the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix will be my 500th working World Championship race. I did a few other F1 races before I started as a journalist, but I don’t count them. I’d like to say it was my 500th consecutive race, but that’s not strictly true, because I note from my records that I did 11 races before the Spanish GP of 1988, but then missed Jerez, because on October 2 1988, I was at “The Mountain” at Bathurst, reporting on the Tooheys 1000. Since then I have done them all. I have missed a couple of Fridays for one reason or another. There was one occasion when I had pneumonia and was forbidden to fly, and so I took the train to Barcelona. There was another occasion when the planes all went wrong and I was 36 hours late arriving, and another when I drove from Washington DC to Montreal to get over a plane mess, but I only missed the Friday morning session on that occasion.
It is rare these days that fulltime F1 reporters do races other than Grands Prix, but back then we used to do a lot of different stuff. I was 26 and obviously had boundless energy (left) because it seems like I hardly ever went home. I have no complaints about that because that was the path I had chosen and I never really have any regrets. It’s been a blast. It is not an easy life. We live with chronic jet-lag and don’t spend enough time with our families, but kids who grow up with a father who is a road warrior don’t know any different and just accept the fact that their dad disappears all the time.
The fact that 500 races have passed is not in itself that important to me. I am not a great believer in long service medals and I am still a long way behind the likes of Herbie Blash, who is now at about 760 races, but I am still relatively young – and feel that way. These days 55 seems to be the new 40, so I can see myself doing this job for 20 years more, at least if I can find a way to pay for it. I am not good at mathematics, but 20 years with 25 races (which is what the new owners seem to want) and I will be in four figures!
Being an F1 reporter was my only real ambition and when you get there you are kind of stuck because the only way from F1 is down. I am not a PR man (sadly, because some of them earn daft amounts of money) but I still find F1 fascinating, as I always have. And that keeps me fresh. The difference between now and when I started is that today I understand a 
lot more about how it all works. I find F1 to be a constantly variable world, with new places, new ideas and new people. It does not have the variety of race reporting that I had back in 1988, but I don’t really need that. While writing this post I started to look back at 1988 and it is fascinating to see what I was doing at the time. The season began, for example, with a British Formula 3 race at Thruxton (dead glamorous!). It was won by a young JJ Lehto, who beat a field which included Damon Hill, Martin Donnelly and Eddie Irvine. I went to Monza a fortnight later for the Monza 500 European Touring Car Championship race and then was at Donington for a similar event in mid-April. I then did the San Marino GP at Imola, the Indy 500 (plus a dirt car race and a SuperVee event) and then back-to-back 24 Hour races at Le Mans and the old Nurburgring. Then it was back to the F1 beat full-time, although I snuck in the Spa 24 Hours between Germany and Hungary and the Silverstone TT between the Belgian and Italian GPs. Then it was off to Portugal and then Bathurst. This was the kind of lifestyle that resulted in someone naming my Autosport column Globetrotter.
Autumn in the Antipodes was a regular thing in those days because there were various big races in the Asia-Pacific region and I used to do all of them. After Bathurst in 1988, I went to New Zealand for the Wellington 500 street race, although there is a gap there and I suspect that I was on holiday in Fiji because I definitely went there two years running and I know the first was during a 1987 coup état. I then went up to Japan for the Japanese GP, then back to Adelaide for the last F1 race and then went to Melbourne for the final World Endurance Championship race at Sandown Park.
I didn’t do Macau that year, but I was back in the UK for only a few weeks before I was off on the Paris-Dakar Rally (left), where I first met Jean Todt and, soon afterwards, had a big row with him after he decided to settle the result of the rally by tossing a coin…
The funny thing is that after 1988 the number of non-F1 races that I have attended has been relatively small. I do the occasional French national hillclimb, I did a Formula E race in Paris not long ago, but over the years there are not that many: a Le Mans, a visit to Paramatta City Speedway, a 500 Mile race at Eastern Creek, a couple of Pau GPs and a Formula 3000 at Nogaro. Today, F1 really is fulltime job, with 21 races a year all over the world. Back in 1988 it was only 16 and most were in Europe. It was easier then…
Formula 1 people are a funny bunch. We are a mobile village that moves from place to place and all manner of amazing people come and go and we have a lot of very strange and interesting experiences. Everyone who passes through is unusual in some way or another. You don’t fall into jobs like F1, you have to go out and grab them. A lot of people are rather selfish but often one is surprised by how generous and kind they are when they want to be. I don’t much like the constant antipathy that exists between the teams, carefully nurtured by those who stand to gain from it, and I would much prefer a world where there is friendlier competition on the track and sensible cooperation off it. I think the sport could gain so much from that, just as I think it would gain hugely if the accredited media was allowed to engage more with fans using modern media techniques. The great characters that we have in F1 do not always come across on TV but we are not allowed, for example, to film anything inside the Paddock. It wouldn’t detract from the TV shows that exist and in many respects it would help draw more people in – the whole thing is just plain silly.
There are only a few people who have crossed me over the years and for whom I have no time at all, but usually I find that the bad eggs (and there are some bad ones) drop out of the game quite quickly. I get on with most of the folk in the paddock, although the sport has grown so much that inevitably one knows a smaller percentage than used to be the case. There is also less time to get to know people because we are all much busier. We don’t always agree on everything – and why should we? In F1 we live for the present and for the future and, while it is a bit of a shame when people do not learn from the past and make the same mistakes that have been made before, the sport makes progress all the time. It can always be better.
Today my ambition is to see my book The Grand Prix Saboteurs made into a movie, as it would be nice to have more financial security. The future of the written word is anything but certain. The future seems to be in moving images, but getting jobs in that world is not easy if you do not scream as commentators scream and all the analysts are (quite rightly) ex-drivers. Still, explaining the wild complexities of the sport is not easy and so there are always opportunities.
Onward and upward…
joeblogsf1 
Here’s to 500 more. Your insights into F1 are now one of the things I enjoy the most about this sport.
I noticed the Indy 500 sticker on your laptop in that picture. How much other racing do you get to watch on TV and do you enjoy watching it? Do you head somewhere in Monaco after the race to watch Indy? Do you find a Baku sports bar to watch the 24h? (I think I know the answer to that one…)
We were watching the 500 in the Media Centre, while working… And the Le Mans 24 Hours. I seem to recall, it was on on some screens in the media centre. I cannot actually remember. Maybe we were watching the data streams.
Congrats, Joe! I’m a fan of the sport who is very grateful for your work and the role that proper journalism plays in keeping power brokers honest. 500 more!
“I was 26 and obviously had boundless energy”…and the ability to have a quick nap anywhere, in any position, without waking up crippled.
A very important skill…
LOL. I’ve found it’s a skill I couldn’t improve with age.
Congrats!
Joe, I so enjoy your comments on your adventures, as well as the people and places you encounter, and your notebook columns. I’ve come to like all this more than I actually enjoy reading about what transpired on track. Odd, but nice. Some fan I’ve turned out to be! Keep up the good work.
Fascinating insight Joe – keep up the fantastic work 🙂
Thank you for your efforts to date, and more great insight (and entertainment) in the years to come.
Congratulations Joe! All the best for your next 500. Thanks for all your amazing insights to the sport.
Congratulations on such a significant milestone Joe! Well done.
May the next 500 be exciting, eventful, and for your sake well scheduled. I look forward to read about them all in GP+.
Congratulations on your 500th Joe!
It’s clear to see from your reporting that you really care about F1 and its future. You’re a credit to the sport. Thank you.
Thanks for sharing. How about a book on your favorite memories from F1?
Congratulations on the 500 Joe, and thanks for all the great work you do. I’ve read your unique take on motorsports stuff for years and your blog is genuinely the first thing I look at whenever I’m online. Long may you continue, sir!
I would love to see the Grand Prix Saboteurs film too, it is a fascinating story and well worth telling. Should such a thing come to pass and an audio engineer/music producer/editor is required on the project, give me a shout!!
…ah,but back to the real world…
Thanks once again Joe. BIG respect, looking forward to the next bit of whatever you fancy doing. Be well and happy, I hope to be able to meet you at one of your Audiences next season. Been a while since I’ve been to a F1 race…
LHR
Nedyr
Wow!!! I suspect fewer races and a more organized schedule helped back in the day. I enjoyed the regularity of a race every two weeks and an early end to the season.
Out of curiosity, have you ever had a chance to do a lap or two in an F1 car? Things were a little bit more relaxed and there was lots of in season testing……
Nope, never have.
Now that’s a shame…I did a two seater experience many years ago with the then Williams test driver (can’t remember his name…nice chap). My innards needed to be put back in place and I thought that my eyeballs would fall out after 3 laps of Silverstone. It is exactly like a 200mph go kart! Perhaps we should all chuck in a couple of quid to get Joe in an F1 car to celebrate his 500th…Oi, Bernie…
Or an ebook of selected Globetrotter and Green Notebook columns ?
Congrats! Who was your favourite driver to work with?
I’d have to think about it
I was perusing a few old Autosports a while back; 84 and 85 mainly. You seemed to cover a lot of Andy Rouse and his saloon car chums. Think there was a bit of F3 too.
That is really cool. I have been following F1 scince around 1979,, but that was difficult just a colomn or 2 in the newspaper then. I have been to Dutch GPs of 1984 an 1985. And only from around 1988 F1 has been televised. So I am involved as long as you are. I am now 47 and because of Max verstappen it is a lot easier to be watching F1 with our family, because now everyone is interested…
Admirable endurance and resolve, and the quality never falters.
Can you find time during the winter to do that money-spinning novel ?
Your experiences could surely provide the backdrop and there must be many more than just us who would enjoy your word-smithing.
I hope the dream of the movie comes true .
Employing a few real drivers in the off season could draw more folks in as well .Make sure to get yourself a cameo , too .
And , Liberty would be wise to fund it .
More F1 in the movies makes sense from more than from your own point of view , as I know you you’ve written here before .
And , mentioning it here is a clever enough move that Liberty should note the prowess , and sign you on as a consultant in the restructuring of the sport .
I don’t want to lose you and this blog , so I hope this consultancy doesn’t preclude that , but they would be wise to note how many people you know in the paddock , and how long you’ve known them .
They’d be wise to note your grasp of the entire depth of the history of Formula one , and your apparent ability to see the wider view of it at the same time .
They’d be wise if they noted the fact that this blog , in itself , is a pretty good example of your forward thinking , as it’s be operating for a long time now , so was rather innovative at first , and took some pluck to keep in the air .
Nice job getting to 500 .
A number of years ago I had to endure some corporate time waster thing laughingly called a “diversity” course…one of the questions asked was what you would pick if you had a free choice of any career you wanted…when I answered “F1 journalist” most of the people in the room looked at me like I had horns growing out of my head!!…so much for real diversity…Joe thanks for continuing to give an “F1 journalist woulda liked to have been” a glimpse of what it is like…can’t wait to see the summary after 1000 races
Sincerest congrats Joe. Like many here I’m a longtime and devout F1 fan and have found you to be the sport’s best source of information and informed analysis. I can’t thank you enough for doing what you do. Here’s to reading and listening to you for many more years to come.
I cannot understand how you guys keep up the motivation to travel with the circus and still produce good quality journalism where so much is ill-thought out rubbish. I think I’ve met all the quality F1 journos now, and that includes you. Congratulations.
Edgar is a celebrated fake name. I’ll figure out who you are in the end…
EJ . Eddie Jordan , or is that too obvious? Don’t have too publish this. Thx Joe for all the informative and entertaining writing over the years
It does work in his voice…
Another enjoyable post. Would definitely watch a movie of the Saboteurs book. As a few people have posted I reckon there would be good demand for a ‘collected works’ type format as well. Alan Clark’s estate published something similar (‘Backfire’). There is still decent demand for the written word in book format I reckon, although no one seems to want to pay for good journalism these days which means earning a living on that front is pretty tough.
Your writings have been a fantastic (and unparalleled) source of insights for me and I want to express my undivided gratitude for bringing such quality journalism to the masses (and me).
Best of luck with the new ventures – all the best /Frederik (DK)
Fantastic achievement on 500 GPs Mr. Saward! Your insights into the back room dealings in F1 are very informative and entertaining. Being a fan of the sport and your work keep up the great job.
Many congratulations on your 500th! Would there be a little ceremony in store like that of your esteemed colleague earlier this year? Belated congrats to him, too!
Since many people (including me) rather enjoy it when you stray from F1 proper and endulge in a few travelogues (I remember your story about the drive through the north american night to make it to Montreal – almost – on time), might I suggest something on that front? Maybe an F1 fan’s (historic) tour guide would sell nicely.
Perhaps some TV channel might be interested to have you present (or produce, advice, whatever you can write a TV sized cheque for) a programme with such a theme. Be it current F1 venues or the historic ones you like to tell us about in your European travelogues. Should be fun to make and watch and could bring some financial security as well. Maybe a few automotive museums might like to benefit from your extensive knowledge (not to mention your archive), although museums aren’t exactly financial power houses so that would be yet another labour of love.
You need to write a book (or books!) covering your F1 experiences to date!
Thanks
Rob
You just can’t ‘read’ TV news at the speed you can the written word. There is typically zero depth on any story because the medium is not that efficient. You can’t quickly review movie content when you’re looking for something. Please just keep writing Joe
I sympathise Jeremy, but fear we are a dying breed. The books, have been burned … onto CD’s and even now kids are asking what’s a CD. I sometimes print out GP+ and enjoy reading while holding pages and not a mouse.
Warmest congratulations, Joe, on your milestone. Here’s to many more years, with lots more heroes and fewer villains…
Im sending this message from where the old hairpin used to be for the Wellington Street race.
Theres a few surrounding buildings that may be getting torn down in light of last weeks earthquake(s).
Congratulations.
If Bernie gives you a cake, just make sure he eats a slice before you do!
Congrats. Thanks for steady stream of high quality journalism and writing that is so rare to find nowadays.
Have you got a favourite race or championship out of the 500 Joe?
I have my fingers crossed you might find time to write an autobiography one day. The Grand Prix Saboteurs would make a fantastic movie or TV series. Hopefully a producer reads your blog 😉
It’s already optioned…
Another milestone reached – well done and many thanks, Joe. Not many real F1 journalists left – and you’re one of the best. Good to see that Edgar Jessup is still around, too . . .
Congrats Joe, a fine achievement squire – try and slip in a MotoGP race if you ever find yourself with a spare weekend (unlikely be that as it may). You never know, you might be pleasantly surprised ;0)
Hopefully this weekend will be a worthwhile event to celebrate your 500th Joe. Have a good one.
Dear Joe, all
Greetings from Bathurst, & The Mountain Joe.
I was at the track for the 88 race, won by the Longhurst/Mezera (Frank Gardner prepared) Sierra. Were you able to score a lap in a race car?? The camera just doesn’t do justice to the 174m gap between top & bottom.
I think, from memory, I had just ‘discovered’ your f1 column, published in (IIRC) Motor Racing. In fact, it was your column which informed my decision to defect from another publication I had been reading since 1970.
That was 28 years ago, so much has changed, and yet some things haven’t. Thankfully. You still write with the same integrity, honesty, courage, passion, insight and clarity that for me, places you in the pantheon with others such as Roebuck and DSJ.
Congratulations on your 500th race, and, I dearly hope that the Gods grant it that you are around to celebrate your 1000th, and I am around to savour it.
Cheers
MarkR
Congrats Joe. Old style journalisim in a 21st century world. Please continue to buck the trends of journalisim.
A genuinely sensational and very rare achievement. Sincere congratulations!
I add my voice to the chorus of endorsees calling for your appointment as marketing director at Liberty. But please don’t stop writing for us- I can’t even begin to understand F1 without your analysis…
Wow some milestone Joe!
That 1988 season you covered was a fantastic bit of diversity: F3, Group A, Group C, F1 etc. Tremendous.
By the way if I was faced with a choice of attending a GP weekend at Jerez ( heck almost any GP) or the ‘Great Race’ at Mount Panorama it would be absolutely no contest!
Keep going Joe it’s always interesting reading.
Make a movie? How about something more realistic, cheaper to fund and with a better return? A multi-episode series that has the possibility for a follow on series. The sort of thing that was popularised with Babylon 5, 24 and is currently happening on Amazon Prime and Netflix with “The Expanse” and “The Designated Survivor”.
These can be shot one episode at a time, at a much more manageable budget than a full movie using modern digital techniques that cost a lot less than a full blown movie.
Also Amazon and Netflix (and others – Sky) are currently fighting each other for “original content”, which means they fund the production, but don’t necessarily do the production. That means if you assemble the right people around you and approach the right people at Amazon, etc, you might just be able to fund this. Start with a feature length pilot (as Babylon 5 did) then on to weekly episodes, etc.
It strikes me that your book could be turned into a series (or several) that cover what’s in the book and then follow series could be from other sources you haven’t written about or could be fiction.
Congratulations Joe. Your contribution to the sport is invaluable. Here’s to the next 500.
Such exotic places and travels in your words, juxtaposed with a picture from kangaroo island! Well played. I think they’re got a go cart track there…
Thanks for having us along.
Hope you enjoy the 500th It’s quite the achievement.
It has become my bugbear about commentators on the TV about how they scream, so much so I have taken to muting the tv and listening to music.
Incidentally is their a race or event you haven’t done you would like to have?
Cheers.
Yes, Norisring.
I had to google.. interesting circuit indeed. Cheers for the reply.
Norisring?!
Given the DTM has avoided clashes with F1 weekends for a good few years, what are you up to that time of year that keeps you away from the Norisring Trophy races, or are you saving it for some later year(s)?
Having a life
G’day Joe,
I noticed many of your readers appreciate the quality of your journalism, that’s not surprising to me and it is encouraging that they recognise quality but I wonder if they realise the speed and huge volume of those consistently high quality articles you produce? I doubt any other media even comes close to the quality, let alone the speed and volume. Obviously you’ve got this blog and the wonderful GP+ but also the weekly and quite a lot of other bits, bobs and columns, not to mention the odd radio, TV, podcasts, etc. What did I miss, a lot?
Have you ever counted the average number of words you produce per GP?
Another aspect of the quality of your journalism is the sincerity of your work. Thank you, I fear you are one of the few left.
I agree about the travelogues, love ’em, perhaps you could recruit a suitable media personality (a Clive James type), a suitably uncomfortable classic car, nothing flashy and sell a “MrX and Joe, tour historic F1” to perhaps the BBC? Perhaps you could choose a year, say 195X and cleverly slip in appropriate footage. That leaves space for series two. Perhaps an auto co or oil co might even stump up the funding? Rain at Brands, camping in the dunes at Zandvort, waste deep in grass at Reims, etc. It’s all about structuring the proposal to point out the (as Eddie would say) value.
But don’t involve Eddie, he’ll make a lot of money and you’ll get the value.
I can’t confirm this is true (smile) but I heard Eddie rented out his yacht to a billionaire then charged him extra to have himself onboard and then even more money to have a party with his (Eddie’s) guests and you know who paid for the cost of the party. Chartered a boat, plus, plus, plus and gratefully took a bunk in the aft cabin (or is that the daft cabin?).
Congratulations, see you in Melb and I hope you stick around, informing and entertaining me/us till I drop off my perch smiling at your dry humour.
Warmest regards,
build
Wishing you 500 more successful, exciting and enjoyable World Championship races Joe. You’ve entertained us all along. Btw, it’s been 5 years since I started reading your blogs and following them 🙂 But in the late 90s I’ve read your F1 reports and news tidbits on the Auto India magazine.
Congratulations.
Thanks for sharing your experiences and knowledge.
Congratulations, Joe. You are only behind Ferrari, McLaren and Williams in number of races!
What was your favourite season?
I have never thought about it.
Congratulations, Joe! It doesn’t seem all that long ago that F1 itself was celebrating its 500th race and I may still have the VHS tape on which I recorded the BBC’s “GP 500” programme.
Congratulations – and many more, Joe!
The travel writing is as evocative and engaging as the F1 pieces.
Well Joe it’s a funny old world. Thanks for bringing us into yours for the last umpteen years. I tried to go back and see how long I’ve been following you – maybe 15 years? A (greying) newbie compared to many but at this point you seem more like an old friend than a reporter.
A lot of things have changed but it’s nice to know you are still there, telling us about the very interesting part of the F1 iceberg that is below the surface.
500 is a big number – your party must be properly scandalous but I’m sure the Penelope(s) will maintain proper opsec as always.
I hope the option gets picked up and you can upgrade to a proper vehicle before the fun ones are outlawed. I don’t think you’ve ever hinted what your dream road car might be. Hopefully something that sounds fantastic and is far less practical than your current ride.
Congratulations Joe.
I can only apologise that you have to celebrate this milestone in the city I used to call home. It would have been far more fitting if you could celebrate it in a place which cared more about F1. People only care about the race in AD because it is the “cool event” to be seen at that day.
I remember being at some of the races you mention, F3 was always a favorite of mine…500 is a big figure and well done for keeping the pace! Hope you have many more as your style of writing and reporting is something that used to be the norm, the standard, with quite a range of great motoring writers, however in the modern times the style is more ” red top ” and sensationalist drivel…which saddens me.
Sure the world goes on and things change, not always for the better, as i’m only 4 years or so older than you, I hope I continue to read your musings for the next 20-25 years. For me the sad bit is that after you and DT have gone, there won’t be great reads for my kids to enjoy!
Keep it revving Joe!
Congrats, your best “travels with Joe” piece yet!
One question? How many “real” journalists/writers, on average, attend the F1 races?
Thank you.
Congrats Joe… Keep going!
Congratulations Joe! Here’s hoping for many more years of top-quality comment and insight.
I know it wouldn’t be nearly as profitable as a film, but have you thought about publishing your books electronically, for the Kindle etc?
Congratulations Joe, your stamina is incredible. Look forward to reading more.
Congratulations on reaching 500 races Joe! It is a commendable achievement without doubt and if you feel you can do 500 more that’s got to be a good thing too (in the sense that your passion for the sport remains undimmed and, fingers crossed, from a health perspective too).
You are right regarding Video Footage for Fans and Social Media: in today´s modern Times it is for Sponsors and Celebs absolutey essential, that Footage is shown around the World. The PR Effects are huge. But FIA does not allow to produce any Footage, neither from your writers nor from us Press Photographers. They should re-consider, Sponsors would be more than thankful.
Congratulations Joe.
Hope to one day realise that dream of “an audience with Joe” in Sydney.
500 is cool!
Always reading the blog.
Thank you for your job!