F1 on your holidays

[Mark]

Have you ever, by some monumental mistake of planning, found yourself actually away on holiday when a Formula 1 race has been on? :eek:

Admittedly it's happened to me on occasion and mostly I just Sky+ the race and watch it when I get back. Although there's been a few notable occasions when that hasn't been the case.

Imola 2005: In Nice, and after a tiring morning sightseeing I suggest we retire for a little rest in the hotel, just happens that we're there in time to see the titanic Schumacher / Alonso battle in the closing stages.

Italy 2007: Actually booked an extra nights hotel stay (admittedly only £15) so I could stay and watch the race.

Valencia 2008: Came back early from looking around Norfolk to watch the race in the hotel, but I wish I hadn't bothered now!

[Storm]

You forgot Monaco 2004 :)

I was at Oulton Park in the UK watching the BTCC and mingling with some very friendly Brits (and some , well of the dangerous types...* cough* Knock-On!) back in May 2004 and I believe it was the race where Trulli won.

Infact I think, Mark you told me about the winner that afternoon ;)

[ArrowsFA1]

The only GP I've missed entirely because of being on holiday was the 1990 Spanish GP. I was in Zakynthos at the time and picked up the english papers only to see images of Martin Donnelly's practice accident :(

One way or another I've always managed to find a tv to watch a race at other times.

[BDunnell]

Loads of times, and I miss many races because of weekend work commitments in the summer months. Amongst other places, I remember watching the 2005 Hungarian GP in St Petersburg, and the 2007 Canadian GP in the northern Polish town of Malbork.

[AJP]

I haven't missed one because of holiday,
but last year I just happened to be in Magny Cours on holiday.
There seemed to be a lot of people around for a little country town, and this annoying constant buzzing sound. Much like a swarm of mosquitos.. ;)

[SGWilko]

Watched part of the 2004 US GP in the departure lounge at Venice Treviso airport.

Been in Scotland watching the 2007 US GP (I think it was anyway)

2003 Austrian GP, watched this while on Honeymoon at the Palazzo Arzaga in Italy (Lago di Garda). Cost me an arm and a leg, as I had to send the T&S off for a day at the Spa!!! Mind you, it was worth it, I was trollied after raiding the mini bar, she was dead relaxed when she came back, and as a consequence our Daughter was conceived that afternoon!!!!!! (do the maths, she was born 13th Feb 2004)

[wedge]

You should try travelling East Asia for 6 months during the racing season. Can become absolute torture and you find how grateful you are to have James Allen or Jonathan Legard commentating when you have to put up with idiots like Steve Slater who commentates for StarTV.

[V12]

Yeah quite a lot during the 90s, although I was in my teens and my parents were in charge of that. However it always seemed to co-incide with Damon Hill winning or doing unreasonably well (Germany '96, Hungary '97, Belgium '98!!!) so I took it as a good omen :P

[wedge]

Which races do you regret missing out on?

I remember missing out Hungary 1998. It was newsworthy on ESPN IIRC but coming back home and finding about the switch to 3 stopper and missing out on Schumi driving on the absolute limit for the entire race was all the more depressing.

[yodasarmpit]

Flew out to Amsterdam on Sunday morning, and got back last night.
I managed to avoid the result until walking past a shop window with a TV showing the winners podium on Tuesday :(

I still watched the race last night on BBC iPlayer.

[UltimateDanGTR]

I missed the first ha;f of the 2006 hungarian grand prix a few years back.

I usually am on holiday whilst the hungarian gp is on, but i usually get a chance to watch it still so thats ok.

luckily last year i went on holiday in the intervening break in the year.

however, I still get annoyed by the fact that I miss the start of the football season. thats annoying.

[cynisca]

I have missed the 2000 French GP. I was in holiday in Poland and I couldn't watch the race. The 2000 German GP I could watch in Poland on RTL. Thank God! :p And last one, what I not really missed, was the 2005 US GP. I was in Italy and I have watched it on RAI, on Italian. So I didn't understand why so many cars did not finished. Because the Michelin teams participated the warm-up lap but didn't take part at the race.

[Sonic]

its only happened to me once. but it was all planned out. 2004 us gp and i thought as i was in the states i'd get to see it. how wrong i was. no tv coverage and only two lines in the papaer the next day

[Brown, Jon Brow]

I can't recall missing them because of holidays but because I'm contracted to work Sundays I miss most of them :(

[cynisca]

its only happened to me once. but it was all planned out. 2004 us gp and i thought as i was in the states i'd get to see it. how wrong i was. no tv coverage and only two lines in the papaer the next day

Bernie Ecclestone wants to make the Formula One more important in the USA. It shows how important the Formula One is in the USA. :p :

[Garry Walker]

I have missed many races, sometimes one just has more important things to do and when I am on a vacation or out of the country, I really dont think about F1.

[woody2goody]

I missed the excellent 2003 German GP while on holiday in Greece.

I returned from holiday in 2005 on the morning of the Turkish GP, which Kimi won if I remember.

One of the best afternoons I ever had was watching the 2006 Hungarian GP in a bar in Greece. I had constant banter with the barman who was a Ferrari fan. He wasn't happy when I told him Renault were going to win!

What an amazing race though and Button won. A fantastic day and one I'll always remember for all the right reasons: Air conditioned bar, beautiful weather, a great race, cold beverages - brilliant!

[christophulus]

By a strange twist of fortune I was always busy when the French GP rolled around :) . Maybe it's just me but I always found that more boring than any other.

The only one I vividly remember missing was the 2005 US GP, when I ended up stuck at work Sunday evening. Didn't miss much though :p

[BoilerIMS]

The only one I vividly remember missing was the 2005 US GP, when I ended up stuck at work Sunday evening. Didn't miss much though :p

I was at that GP... not exactly the way to attend one's first F1 race. Thinking back, I wish I had stayed home and watched the 24 Hours of Le Mans... at least that race was a thriller!

[inimitablestoo]

I can remember watching several races in hotel rooms - Germany 2001, with Burti's big aerial shunt at the start; Hungary 2000 - when our room wasn't actually ready, but we were able to persuade the hotel people to put the big telly on, so we had quite a crowd; and Italy 2004, when the idea had been to go to a pub and watch on their big screen, only to find they weren't having the sound on, so we trudged back to the hotel and watched there.

The only race I've missed due to holidays was Hungary 2002, thanks to being in the US but not having access to Speed on the TV (or finding anywhere that was showing the race at an unusual time in the morning). Reading the reports afterwards at least suggested it was a good one to miss...