Welcome to F1 Fanatic and welcome to the 2005 Grand Prix season! OK, I’m under no illusions, here – while the thought of a new 19-race calendar has kept me buzzing with anticipation for weeks I doubt that the approach of yet another new F1 site has had you all going in quite the same way.
So if you’re of a similar persuasion – if you wind up your football-loving mates with your “countdown to Melbourne”, if you get up at 2am just to watch the qualifying even though you don’t really understand it any more, and if you’ve pre-emptively (or, better yet, actually) named your children Kimi and Juan-Pablo – I hope you find much in these pages to sate your F1 lust between those crucial weekends.
Which is why I’d like to invite you all to participate. F1 is well-served on the web but there is a shortage in quality coverage. And so I encourage you all to contribute to F1 Fanatic in any way you see fit. Write a letter, suggest an article topic, submit photographs to the readers’ gallery, write articles – whatever. We want to hear from you!
As you’ve probably sussed if you’ve made it this far, the backbone of F1 Fanatic is its ongoing data source which aims not to duplicate too much of whatever is available elsewhere. And each and every week we bring you a fresh batch of incisive F1 writing from true fans. Remember to check back for the latest edition each and every Sunday evening for the rest of the season.
Now, while I have no intention of boring you to death with the gory details of how much of my life I’ve fretted away just to bring you this misshapen, half empty first edition, I do have two notes of thanks to extend. First, to my flatmate, who despite being an F1 atheist has patiently proofread every page of copy and not shopped me to the nearest passing English teacher for my grotesque abuse of the quotation mark. Second, to Ben, the only writing contributor to our first edition apart from myself. Don’t miss his pointed piece on the Hermann Tilke’s handiwork.
Next week we dissect the Australian Grand Prix, and take our first look at whether your average punter even knows F1 exists. And I promise that at some point I’ll sort the pages out so they don’t twitch as you move between them. Expect it to be done by half three on Sunday morning if Schumacher gets off to a good start…
