I thought it a good idea to finish my last post of this month with a rave on something not that important to most, but still quite important to me. A lighter note, so to speak. Namely, it dawned on me tonight that the first Formula 1 Grand Prix for this season will be in exactly two weeks time. Trust me, that was reason enough for me to end my February posts on this positive, forward-looking note!
To many, Formula 1 is nothing more than loud cars going around and around in circles. It's utterly boring, even quite hateful, for some, and I can get that. And, well, to be very honest, sometimes even for a fan it can be a bit like that.
But, once Formula 1 is in your blood, there's just no way it'll ever really get out of you. That includes those frankly boring races. And when the Grand Prix is exciting or there's a nail-biting finish or a great battle of the wills between drivers on the track...well, nothing comes close, quite frankly.
I grew up on Formula 1. I have a host of Formula 1 addicts in my family, my mother amongst them (as she is to this very day). I saw my first Grand Prix in 1976 at (the then) fantastic Kyalami track on (what was then) the outskirts of Johannesburg. My word, what a thrill for a seven-year old. The ear-shattering sound, the smell, the visceral sense of danger and chest-shuddering excitement. Fantastic!
It was a year later at the 1977 Grand Prix that I first remember falling in love with the bright red cars in the field. And so commenced my love affair with the Ferrari team, an unwavering (and often heart-breaking) passion for over 30 years. It's been the longest-lasting, most monogamous relationship of my life.
And so commences another season on March 14th. There's the undoubted thrill of seeing Michael Schumacher - the Man, the Legend - back in F1, even if not in my beloved red cars. And a host of other exciting things to look forward to, things that only anyone really passionate about a given sport can really feel.
I do have my qualms about being an F1 fan in this day and age. I mean, I am a sustainability consultant. The environmental drawbacks are quite obvious and way too many to mention. And the truckloads of money that this sport costs and generates seem obscene, especially in this current economic recession of hard times and rising hatred against the vapidly super-rich by many people (myself very much included).
I may just as well have the word HYPOCRITE scrawled in neon across my forehead.
I can't help it. I did like it more years back when it somehow seemed more real and accessible to fans and less the grossly rich corporate hound that it is today. But I still love the damn sport. What can I say. Pathetic excuse, but that's how it goes.
So, guilty pleasures aside, here's to a fortnight of expectation and anticipation before the first red lights turn green and over twenty of amongst the fastest, most beautiful cars on the planet roar down that main straight in Bahrain.
Jeez, my heart's beating faster already!
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