Getting ready for 2009

So there’s been a slight change of plan. Instead of waiting forever until this blasted 2008 season review comes along, I’ve gone ahead and set up the 2009 page. Here’s what you can expect:

So far the Entrants page is looking pretty empty. Starting in March, I’ll be posting some season previews for each team, which will find their home there. The Rule Changes page is just a basic run through of all the new regulations, and I’ve tried to make the Calendar page as pretty as possible. There are three or four races missing, which I’ll update a little later. Plenty has happened since the 2008 season wrapped up, so a full review of events since Brazil can also be expected, and plenty more updates throughout the season.

As for lasts years season review, you’ll be able to find it at the reviews page which will be up and running this week. Nothing much planned, I’ll just take care of that page in my own time and hopefully it’ll fill up with all kinds of F1 related stories fairly quickly. Am still working out exactly what sorts of things I’m doing with the site in 2009, but it should be fun!

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The F1 Files – It’s go, go, go in 2009

Break over. I’m back, and this is the 100th post here at The F1 Files, as the site embarks on it’s first full year. Proper coverage of last season was always going to be a little tricky, seeing as I started out after the first few races had been run and had no preparation. This year, however, there’s no excuse, so here’s what to expect in 2009.

News will become more frequent. That’s as far as I got with news. How can you try and make news more exciting? Hopefully increased frequency will be enough, if only to keep the site more up to date then it would be without. The Drivers and Teams pages was an idea that never really took off and, on second thoughts, never will. I’ve decided to combine these into a ‘Reviews’ page, which will allow me to have total freedom as to what subject I write, and therefore probably be written better too. Not sure when this will go up, but not before the 2009 page, which I’ve been working on during my silence. The Entrants page will become analysis of each team’s chances for 2009, which will also be posted here as team previews before the season gets under way. I’ve got lots of snazzy pictures lined up for the Calendar and Entrants pages, as well as a review of the off-season before we hit Melbourne again. Also a few of the basics, including rule changes, testing archives and the race results. None of this will be put up, however, before that pesky 2008 Season Review is complete. That should hopefully be this weekend… ish.

And then comes the History page, which is the most ambitious part of this whole project. I plan to review the entire history of F1, separated into different ‘eras’ to make it readable. Just. I’ve put on the history page that the review will be split into 10 parts, but in truth I have no idea how many parts it’ll be. Probably a lot more. I’ll be starting with the 2005-2006 seasons, then the 07-08 seasons, and then work my way backwards I guess. Oh yeah, and I have a pre-season video to make too.

Stop laughing! It may be true that technically I don’t have enough time to do all of this, but thankfully, with the exclusion of the 2009 related stuff, I have set myself no time limit. Best get stuck right in then. I have a couple of news stories to catch up with, but other than that Ferrari are kicking off the ‘launch season’ today, so stay tuned for plenty of updates. Plenty.

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Signing out for 2008

The F1 news has been slowing down, and now it’s come to a hault it must be that time of year again. 2008 provided an incredible year of F1 racing, but before we head into the unknown there’s just enough time to take a break from the otherwise non-stop sport.

As for work on the site, focus is currently on the 2008 season review, which is plenty to keep me going. I’ll get it out as soon as possible so attention can shift to the 2009 page. Hopefully F1 news won’t pick up for the next week or so, but I’ll be back to catch up on January 4th.

So Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all, and I’ll see you in 2009.

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The F1 Files – September updates

It’s been quite a month for Formula One. The Belgian Grand Prix kicked off September with those incredible closing laps, then we had the annual F1 controversy before Sebastian Vettel’s Italian adventure and the return of Fernando Alonso at F1’s first ever night race. Dare I say the best three races of the season? Not for a long time has so much action been packed into 30 days. With all this going on, there has been little time to update the site, but this is what has been done over the past month.

Former champions Graham Hill and Niki Lauda are the first to be added to The F1 Files driver index. Jordan F1 is also the first addition to the teams index. Full lists of F1’s drivers’ champions and runners-up along with constructors’ champions and runners-up have been completed too. That’s pretty much it in terms of finished projects. The next updates will be on the 2008 page in preparation for the final three rounds of the season, so keep your eyes peeled. With just under a month of the championship remaining, though, it looks as if any major work will get underway in the off-season.

That is all for now. The next two races are early morning affairs for me here in the UK, so expect the news reports to be at all sorts of sporadic times.

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The F1 Files is here

Welcome to The F1 Files. I’ve broken the secret bloggers rule not to have the same themed blog on both Blogger and WordPress.com. I’ve also revealed the secret. Never mind, eh. I’m the person behind the First F1 blog, and this is the reason why there have been no posts on that blog for way too long. The plan for the moment is to keep First F1 a blog and make this an F1 News site. Lets see how long that lasts, shall we? You may have noticed I’m also trying to make this a bit of an F1 reference site. You could say my plans are a bit ambitious. Reviews of the Sports history, Reviews of the sports more notable drivers and teams and presumably plenty more reviews, when I can think of them. Anyhows, this is as much of a trial as First F1 is. Hopefully the two can successfully co-exist. If not, I’m sure I can come up with some over-ambitious solution. Tis all for now, Plenty happening here. Hopefully you can’t notice that the site is sorta under-construction. You don’t need to notice now I’ve told you anyway. Always some F1 News, so it shouldn’t be long before I get going. Promise!

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