Top Five F1 Videos of 2013

It’s that time of the year again and there’s just 50 days until the new Formula One season kicks off in Melbourne. Just like last year, I’ve gone through all 19 f1.com ‘race edits’ and selected the best five from 2013. Since the end of 2007, f1.com have released a slick three or four minute HD highlights package of each race, featuring previously unseen content beautifully cut to contemporary popular music. A couple of years back I listed the best ever F1 race edits – part one is here and part two is here.

Without further ado, here are my 2013 favourites.

AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX

I’m a bit biased with this one as I spent four and a half months last year living in central Melbourne, during which time I attended the Australian Grand Prix. hence the gorgeous shots of the CBD, Eureka Skydeck Tower and the famous South Bank flames going off had me excited right from the start.

I first saw the flames on the 2008 f1.com Australian GP race edit, the first ever single race edit. Ever since then I had dreamed of attending the great race and this year’s video captures my dream come true in all its glory. The fisheye lens shot of the crowd, Chris Hoy (who was competing in the Mazda Celebrity Challenge support race), the Rolex grid girls and the ideal soundtrack of ‘The Kids Are Back’ make this a superb opening video edit of the season. I made my own video edit for Australia, which you can view here or at the bottom of this page.

MONACO GRAND PRIX

There have been some great race edits from f1.com over the years of the Monaco Grand Prix, but this is one of the best. Rudimental’s ‘Waiting All Night’ is the perfect soundtrack to the glitz and glamour of Monaco (it is traditional to prelude the race footage with shots of models, champagne, yachts etc) – like in 2012, this year’s videos often suffer from being too generic and rocky. When the race does get underway, I love the shot of Bernie Ecclestone watching the monitor as the cars fly through St Devote, before the arty shot of the roadsigns whilst the field heads up the hill towards Casino Square. Watch out for Lewis Hamilton’s complaint to the team as his ‘silver bus’ drops behind Vettel, Daft Punk dressed as spacemen Lotus mechanics, a stray pigeon and some ridiculously glamorous women sunbathing on the yachts as the cars scream by. And of course when Pastor Maldonado crashes, the film is desaturised except for the red of the flags stopping the race. Then it’s gorgeous slow motion footage until the restart – everything about this video is immaculately timed, stunning stuff.

BRITISH GRAND PRIX

This is a good ‘un. The ominous shots of the Wing complex set it up nicely, before comments from Jenson Button and Lewis about the great British crowd get the excitement really building. The best bit, though, is the way f1.com uses desaturised video again to show the numerous tyre delaminations and Sebastien Vettel’s retirement. That and Rob Smedley’s comment regarding Felipe Massa’s puncture: ‘it couldn’t have f*cking happened at a worse place, could it?’

SINGAPORE GRAND PRIX

Like Australia, I am a little biased in that I attended this race, but this is a superb edit. Singapore is undeniably stunning with its unique night race setting and stunning skyline. The skyscrapers have animated chequered flags projected on them, whilst the Marina Bay Sands hotel (where I stayed the day after the race) is breathtaking in this video, and even more so in real life. Likewise the fireworks along the start finish straight, around the harbour and the spectacle of Fernando Alonso giving Mark Webber a lift back to the pits after his car caught fire. Magical stuff.

SEASON REVIEW – 2012

f1.com do not release their season reviews until well into the new year, so this counts towards the 2013 count. It’s probably the best one on this list, too – it has in it literally everything I have grown to love about these unique race edits. The music selection is ace, the sound effects are chilling and the drama that builds towards the end of season showdown is captured sublimely. Sit back and enjoy sporting visual art at its very finest. This video (including its soundtrack of Pendulum’s ‘Crush’ etc) directly inspired my Australian GP video this year – see how many similarities you can spot!

F1 2012 Official FIA Season Review [FULL HD] by F1AlonsoMassa

Don’t forget, you can also check out my attempts at 2013 F1 edits from my trips to the Australian Grand Prix and the Singapore Grand Prix below: