Ultimate F1 gifts guide 2008: Gadgets, games and other gifts

Lego! Scalextric! Wine! Sausages! More fun and unusual gifts with an F1 link (however tenuous)…

Toys

Ferrari Lego
When I was little this stuff would have been top of my Christmas list. And very little has changed (I’ve already got the big Ferrari F1 Lego model…)

These Ferrari Lego models come in a range of sizes for all different ages:

• Buy the Lego Racers Ferrari F1 car (1:9)
• Buy the Lego Racers Ferrari F1 Pit
• Buy the Lego Racers Ferrari 248 F1 Team
• Buy the Lego Racers Ferrari F1 Fuel Stop

Scalextric
Scalextric slot cars are becoming increasingly sophisticated. These models are metal, not plastic, and are reasonably detailed as well. You can buy them as part of sets that include the track or individually. You can even get a Safety Car!

• Buy the Scalextric Digital World Championship Set
• Buy the Scalextric Pole Position Set
• Buy the Lewis Hamilton 2008 McLaren F1 Scalextric car
• Buy the Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 2007 Scalextric car
• Buy the Mercedes F1 Safety Car Scalextric model
• Buy the Jensen Button 2007 Honda Scalextric Car
• Buy the Nelson Piquet Jnr 2008 Renault Scalextric car
• Buy the Jim Clark Lotus 49 and Dan Gurney Eagle-Weslake Scalextric cars
• Buy the 1976 McLaren M23 Scalextric car

Airfix

Remember the building society advert featuring Lewis Hamilton as an Airfix model? Probably not if you’re outside Britain. Anyway, Airfix have now produced an official model of Hamilton’s McLaren in 1:32 scale.

• Buy the Lewis Hamilton McLaren Airfix model

Gadgets & games

McLaren-Mercedes gravity pen

A smart pen with the McLaren logo that stands on end and retracts and extends its nib with a weight-based mechanism.

• Buy the McLaren-Mercedes gravity pen

rFactor

There hasn’t been an official Formula 1 game since 2006, so where should you look if you want to race the latest cars on the latest circuits? I recommend rFactor, which is immersive and realistic, and best of all has a huge community following. That means there are loads of people for you to race online and loads of circuits and cars to download from F1, NASCAR, CART and loads more.

• Buy rFactor (PC DVD)

Racing steering wheel

Whatever racing game you prefer, you can enhance the experience by switching from a joypad or keyboard to a proper steering wheel and pedals setup. I’ve got the Thrustmaster PC one but it’s gathering dust because I’m too busy writing F1 Fanatic…

• Buy the Logitech Driving Force Pro Wheel for PS3
• Buy the Logitech DriveFX Racing Wheel for Xbox 360
• Buy the Thrustmaster RGT FFB Pro Clutch 3 Pedal PC Racing Wheel (PC)
• Buy the Thrustmaster Universal Challenge 5-in-1 Racing Wheel (GameCube/PC/PS2/PS3/Wii)

Racing seat

If you’ve already got a selection of racing games and a steering wheel plus pedals setup, what comes next? A race seat. Immersive yourself fully in your game by mimicking a proper driving position. Several different version of these setups are available, I’ve never tested one myself, so if you’ve got a good one please leave a comment below.

• Buy the Playseats Gamers’ chair

Driving Games Manual (Haynes)

Haynes have branched out from car manuals to guides for pretty much everything – you can even get a Haynes’ manual for babies. Now Haynes have produced a guide to driving and racing video games, and there’s much nostalgic fun to be had in its pages. And the foreword’s by Bruno Senna.

• Buy the Haynes Driving Games Manual

Novelties

Laverstock Park Farm produce

Run by Ferrari’s 1979 F1 world champion Jody Scheckter, Laverstoke Park in Hampshire practices biodynamic, organic farming. Read more about his farming practices here and have a look at his produce, which can be ordered online:

• Organic bronze turkey
• Organic Beef Sirloin Steak
• Organic Lamb and Rosemary Sausage

Jarno Trulli wine

Toyota driver Jarno Trulli hails from Pescara in Italy which is known for several things: the huge road course which held a single Grand Prix in 1957, the local olive oil, and above the regional wines. Trulli runs his own vineyard and produces red and white wines.

You can’t buy them from his official website but you can order it in the UK from Avery’s and buyers in America will need to look up importer Marco Vivona.

“I am the Stig" T-Shirt

Who is the Stig? Ex-F1 driver Perry McCarthy was the original mute star of BBC’s Top Gear. But the identity (or identities) of the current ‘tamed racing driver’ is a mystery. Stake your claim to being the man behind the helmet with this T-shirt:

• Buy the Official Top Gear “I am The Stig” T-Shirt

Driving experiences

I was originally going to put these in the ‘money no object’ category but a lot of them are quite affordable. Of course, the more you pay, the more laps you get and the faster the car is. You can go to Silvestone and drive the British Grand Prix circuit, and at Rockingham you can drive a full-blooded F1 race car, though it’s not cheap!

Here are some circuits in Britain which offer driving experiences, do post details of any good ones you’ve been to in the comments.

• Ultimate supercar Driving Experience at Thruxton Circuit
• Silverstone driving experiences
• Drive a Formula 1 car at Rockingham

Sean Mills figurines

Recently featured on BritsOnPole, Sean Mills produces exquisitely detailed figurines of F1 drivers in limited quantities:

• Sean Mills Figurines

More F1 gift ideas coming later in this series including books, DVDs, clothes, caps and ‘money-no-object’ presents.

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