Unfortunately, I didn't start following until AFTER Senna died... for me, it was about this era...
that... and the whole "Silver Arrows" aspect of McLaren as well as the McLaren F1 did it for me. It didn't help that Schumi took out Villeneuve at the end of the '97 season.
So I guess you can imagine my devastation when Kimi switched to, of all teams, Ferrari!
Similar situation right now, though I don't
hate Mercedes... they (esp Lewis) do look very strong.
EDIT:
And the updated calendar for 2013... 19 races.
17 March - Australia (Melbourne)
24 March - Malaysia (Sepang)
14 April - China (Shanghai)
21 April - Bahrain (Sakhir)
12 May - Spain (Barcelona)
26 May - Monaco
9 June - Canada (Montreal)
30 June - Britain (Silverstone)
14 July - Germany (Nurburgring/Hockenheim)
28 July - Hungary (Hungaroring)
25 August - Belgium (Spa-Francorchamps)
8 September - Italy (Monza)
22 September - Singapore (Marina Bay)
6 October - Korea (Yeongam)
13 October - Japan (Suzuka)
27 October - India (Buddh International)
3 November - Abu Dhabi (Yas Marina)
17 November - United States (Austin)
24 November - Brazil (Interlagos)