I've developed an interest in F1 and Grand Prix racing, but know very little about it at this point. I went to the Long Beach Grand Prix this past April and had a good time, but I couldn't have told you what teams or drivers were involved, nor what standings they had. Is there an F1/Grand Prix book for Dummies or Want-to Know types?

I don't have cable or satellite, so watching will have to be online, or delayed if that is an option.

Any advice from more experienced folk?

Thank you.

 

Cable or Satellite are the only way you can watch F1 if you live stateside. The broadcast is on Speed TV and on FOX for about 3-4 races each season. You can also watch torrents of the BBC broadcast but I have no idea where one looks for those.

To learn more about F1 and the rules
http://www.formula1.com/inside_f1/

BBC F1 Homepage
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/moto...ne/default.stm

F1-Fanatic
http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/

The Long Beach Grand Prix is IndyCar though and not Formula One. IndyCar is an international series run differently.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IndyCar
http://www.indycar.com/

 

to read up on gp history try http://www.grandprix.com/index.html
this aite has some vids http://www.formula1fancast.com

 

First step is to find out exactly what race it was that you saw and enjoyed. They did an Indy car race, and an American Le Mans race (ALMS) race that weekend.

I agree that F1 is fun to watch, but if you were watching something else, perhaps you wouldn't like F1 as much as you thought.

I personally enjoy F1 and ALMS about the same amount. F1 is great because it is F1, and ALMS is great because there are so many different cars, and classes racing all at once. It is a nice change from F1 where all the cars are essentially the same.

Indy car is ok, but they do too many oval tracks to keep me interested, and honestly it is about the same as F1 when they do a road course, but IMO not as cool as F1, so I rarely bother to watch. The one advantage that Indy does have over F1 is that there are more cars on track, and there is more competition for the top spot. (this year in F1 has been all about RBR's dominance, and almost every week seems like it was scripted the same way.)

 

Thanks! This is more than I hoped for to start with. It looks like I will have a lot of reading to do. I really appreciate it.

 

planetf1.com is good for F1 info. They also have a forum. I think just watch what you can. Try to find the BBC feed along with their buildups.

 

For books on Formula 1 check this link out. If you ever go to London visit this place. If they don't have the book, you can't get it anywhere. Their staff are the most eclectic, eccentric collection of enthusiasts you could hope to come across.

http://www.motorbooks.co.uk/

If you can get your hands on current or back issues of Autocourse you will go to the head of the class. They are the definitive guide on each year of Formula 1.

http://www.autocourse.com/

 

So, once you've found out when the race is airing in your timezone and everything, go to this link and watch it live (assuming you can't use torrents): http://www.firstrowsports.eu/sport/motosport.html

Just click on the race and enjoy. I prefer the BBC broadcast so I always watch it live there, or d/l it in HD later. I'm not a huge fan of watching it on Speed..

 

Make this your home page, best F1 site known to man...

http://www.newsnow.co.uk/h/Sport/Formula+One

 

If you can get access to the BBC commentary of the full race coverage it will help as they have a section (or did last year) called 'ask TC' where viewers email in questions about the sport and one of the commentators with the initials TC will give a 5 minute answer with interviews from members of different teams to help explain. Otherwise watch the races and enjoy the racing!