F1 collecting: A crash course
In just a few years, F1 cards have gone from the hobbies best kept secret to one of the hottest chases for collectors from all corners of the globe. Thanks to the rising reach of the sport, the Drive to Survive effect, and some life-changing card sales, collectors are now putting F1 cards in the same league as football and basketball staples.
With the title fight hotting up, and sales off the track continuing to break records, there’s no better time to get involved. Don’t know where to start? Well, fasten your seatbelts and get locked-in as we take you on a crash course to help you navigate your rookie year.
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Deciding your collection focus
It may sound overly simple, but defining what you want to collect early can help save you money in the long run and will make sure you have a collection that you love. A few to consider to get you started:
Driver collection: One of the most common collections in the hobby. Pick your favourite driver and follow their career across different releases from rookie to present day. Don’t forget legends too, goats like Senna and Schumi appear in most modern day products.
Team collection: Collect the cards of your favourite team, from drivers throughout the years, to team badges, cars and team principles.
Set focus: Find a set you love the look of year in and year out? Love chasing race-worn relics in eccellenza or parallels in chrome? Find your favourite set and focus on that, be it completing the base sets or chasing specific parallels, finding a set you like early is a great place to start.
Theme collection: This could be a collection of the up and coming drivers from F3, autographs, specific insert sets, or cards featuring driver relics. The possibilities are endless, it’s all about finding what you love and focusing on that.
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Understanding the basics
One of the best parts about F1 collecting is the amount of different inserts, parallels and just genuinely beautiful cards available. Before opening your first box, it’s helpful to know the main types of cards you may come across.
Base cards: The most common cards in any set. Beautifully designed and featuring some of the best drivers on the grid it’s a great and affordable place to start any collection.
Parallels & Refractors: This is where it starts getting interesting. Variations of the base cards with different colours and finishes, often numbered and produced in smaller quantities. The chase for the elusive and valuable 1/1 is on.
Autographs: Much like in other sport products, rare cards featuring signatures from drivers and team principles are typically highly sought-after.
Inserts: A rarer form of base card, these inserts have some of the best and most eye-catching designs each year. Often featuring dynamic driver images, helmets and car images, these designs are some of the most collected in the hobby.
Relics: Another rare and highly collectable series, cards featuring authentic memorabilia from drivers and teams are highly sought after. With race-worn suits, gloves and even boots from the premium Eccellenza sets giving collectors a chance to own a piece of the sports history.
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2024/5 releases at a glance
Ready to get started? Here is a quick breakdown of the top releases of 2024 and what you can expect from each.
Topps Chrome: The flagship F1 product, featuring a 200 card base set and some of the most sought after insert designs in the hobby each year. The helmet collection and throwback 1954 design inserts are this year's ultimate chase, with numbered helmet cards consistently grabbing well over £100 at resale. Rookie chases, rare autographs and low numbered parallels gives you plenty to chase in this product.
Logofractor: Featuring the same inserts and 200 base set as chrome, but with each box giving you 2 whole packets of guaranteed hits of logofractor exclusive parallels.
Topps Sapphire: The premium edition of topps chrome, featuring the same base and insert chases but at a lower print run and on the iconic blue sapphire card stock. Numbered sapphire autos and helmet collections are the ultimate chase throughout the hobby.
Eccellenza: This iconic italian product features just seven cards, but with each box guaranteeing a race worn relic and two numbered parallels, this product pulls nothing but bangers. With lucky collectors getting their hands on relics from racing legends and autographs from the grid, this product offers a checklist like no other.
Lights Out: F1 75: Celebrating 75 years of Formula 1, this premium UK exclusive set features only F1 champions. The ultra-premium product features 4 encased cards per box: 2 low-numbered parallels and 2 autographs. This is also the first set to feature Lewis Hamilton in the iconic Ferrari Red, making it a must have for any Hamilton collectors.
And there you have it, your crash course to F1 card collecting is complete. Keep an eye out for more F1 collecting guides to come, featuring in-depth product reviews, a look at the best cards in the hobby and much much more to come. But for now, it’s lights out and away you go… happy collecting!
