6 stamps from Britain honoring notable British F1 drivers

LONDON, England (CNN) -- The Royal Mail, Britain's postal service, has unveiled a range of stamps commemorating some of Britain's most notable Formula 1 drivers, ranging from Stirling Moss in the 1950s to Nigel Mansell in the 1980s.

Jackie Stewart is Britain's most successful Formula 1 driver, having won world championships in 1969, 1971 and 1973
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The six stamps, in varying denominations, depict Moss in his 1957 Vanwall, Graham Hill in his 1962 BRM, Jim Clark in his 1963 Lotus, Jackie Stewart in his 1973 Tyrell, James Hunt in his 1976 McLaren and Nigel Mansell in his 1986 Williams. The stamps were timed to capitalize on Lewis Hamilton's home grand prix at Silverstone, such is the fervor for the young BF driver in Britain. But industrial action -- a dispute about modernization plans and pay -- throughout the Royal Mail group has overshadowed their release.

As a matter of protocol no British stamp can depict the face a living person other than the monarch, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, which explains why the cars are pictured from above, revealing only the tops of the drivers' helmets.

Royal Mail has celebrated Formula 1 before -- in 2004 it released a set of "smilers" stamps interspersed with non-postal stamps depicting the Jordan Formula 1 team -- but it is the first time it has created a set of postage stamps with a Formula 1 theme.
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The stamps have caused some controversy as they celebrate one driver -- Stirling Moss -- who never won a world championship, while omitting Mike Hawthorn, the first British driver to win the title, and Damon Hill, the last British driver to win the title.

However British dependency, Guernsey, one of the Channel Islands between Britain and France, has redressed the balance by releasing its own set of Formula 1 postage stamps. The eight stamps -- released to coincide with the centenary of the Brooklands motor racing track, home to the very first British Grand Prix -- depict all the drivers to have won world championships: Mike Hawthorn (1958), Graham Hill (1962, 1968), Jim Clark (1963, 1965), Jackie Stewart (1969, 1971, 1973), James Hunt (1976), Nigel Mansell (1992) and Damon Hill (1996).
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Britain is not the only country to have celebrated its Formula 1 heritage in postage stamp form. In 1999 Monaco produced a stamp to commemorate 70 years of the Monte Carlo Grand Prix, picturing a single-seat Bugatti racer and Michael Schumacher in a 1998 Ferrari F300.

Even countries without an obvious Formula 1 heritage have celebrated the sport and the Ferrari team in particular. San Marino, which has been home to many Formula 1 grands prix has produced Ferrari F1-themed stamps but so too have Bosnia Herzegovina, Somalia, Jamaica, Chad, Malagasy, Benin, Antigua & Barbuda, Grenada, Carriacou & Petite Martinique and Kazakhstan.

Link for the pictures:

http://edition.cnn.com/2007/SPORT/07/20/f1.memorabilia/index.html#cnnSTCPhoto

 

Schrauben Sie Sie Königin, ich bewegen nach Deutschland!

 

Yeah I bet it can't feel too good to be them or one of their fans. Personally I don't care about my name in lights so I find it very humorous.

Bablefish is soo poor at translating, It should be removed from the internet.

Vive La Germany! <<< That's not much better!

 

I just flipped through them and you're right, they aren't nearly as nice as the British Postal ones.