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Happy e-Christmas

Time was when the publication of the latest collection of Michael Turner Christmas cards signalled the genuine arrival of Christmas. F1 teams featured in his work would order personalised copies by the hundreds; and we, the fans, would send Turner cards only to very special friends or family members. They were collectors’ items;  you never really wanted to part with them. Now it’s different. Now, I hear, we don’t send “physical” cards any more (except in the UK, which remains the world’s leading card-sending country.) Instead, we generally do e-cards.  Some (like McLaren’s) are lavish and require a fairly intricate process of download; some, like (like Mercedes-Benz Motorsport’s) are strikingly simple. Here’s a sample of some of this year’s e-cards together with a few real ones from the past that still stand the test of time. From the top: a nice mixture of Tilke and firewords from Grand Prix Photo; SpeedArt.net opt for Jacky Ickx and Jackie Stewart in the snow at the Nurburgring; David Tremayne’s excellent Stay Gold land speed record attempt dominates his Christmas message; DTM always have plenty of fireworks; the UK’s MSA is tastefully neat; Dan Gurney and the AAR team always have a laugh; Junior Lotus F1 driver, Marlon Stockinger, enjoys reminding us that he’s well away from Europe’s winter; the GTO Ferrari Club entices us to get out there in the snow; Derek Daly, former F1 driver (and father of Conor) passes on a nice Irish message for us; and Mercedes-Benz Motorsport’s e-card is, well, strikingly simple, as I say. Carlos Reutemann’s Michael Turner card of 1978 captures the moment when he seized the lead of the British GP from Niki Lauda; Jochen Rindt commissioned his own cartoon to celebrate his win in the 1969 USGP (at that point the richest race in F1 history!); Jack Brabham’s Michael Turner card reminded us of who really won the 1970 British GP; and Michael Turner himself chose one of his own BOAC 500 cards (Chris Amon in the Ferrari) to remind us, as he says, of British weather. Thanks to everyone for their best wishes. A very Happy Christmas to you all and best wishes for a safe and prosperous 2014. And, Jenson and Mark, thanks for the real card.  Much appreciated.