David Emery Online

Racing Excitement

3 November 2008

Formula 1 this year has been fantastic.

I am – generally speaking – not a sports fan. I don’t support a football team, I’m not into cricket or rugby and I generally find athletics dull. And don’t get me started about golf. However, I’ve always had a fascination with motor racing, whether that’s F1, rallying, GT cars or pretty much any other form of 4 wheel competition.

I guess the appeal comes from somewhere else. With most forms of sport I find it exceptionally difficult to care – why does it matter who wins or loses? I’m not a patriotic person (a topic for another post possibly, but I think the country of your birth is relatively arbitrary) so I have no real affiliation for Team GB, the England team in it’s many forms or any other ‘default’ that we’re peer pressured into supporting. In a way I think peer pressure is quite central to the sporting ideal, the group celebration and patronage, the ups and downs you share and the elation by being part of a successful collective. Without wanting to get too self-analytical – for both our sakes – I’m very resistant to peer pressure (possibly because I’m just a little too contrary for my own good) and I guess that puts me off sport in general.

With motor racing the appeal is different. In many ways, who wins is slightly more irrelevant, as the spectacle of the thing has enough attraction in and of itself. It’s the same enjoyment I get in limited quantities from other sports – watching someone or a team of people who are obviously skilled is fun to watch, but normally the focus for most is the team and the social interaction (or so it seems, at least).

With F1 this year it’s been something quite special. We ended up with an exceptionally level playing field – we’ve had 4 very real contenders for the championship, with only two of them (Raikkonen and Kubica) falling away near the end. To an extent I’ve been supporting Hamilton, but more because he’s obviously exceptionally talented (albeit a raw talent, at this stage) then anything else. He reminds me a little of watching Mansell back in the day – so quick, but maybe a little too on the edge.

The very fact that the championship went down to not only the last race of the season but the last corner of the last lap of the last race says it all I guess – it could not have been closer. The race itself was probably the most exciting sporting event I’ve ever watched – it simply had everything, with constant variables (the weather!) and upsets. The last few laps – everything from the rain starting again onwards – was almost unbearably tense, and when Hamilton dropped back to 6th I’m pretty sure everyone thought it was all over; to turn it around so late was just staggering.

Hopefully the controversy that has mired the season won’t make a reappearance next year and we can look forward to another great championship; Massa is looking better then ever, Alonso has got his groove back and there’s a whole host of eager younger drivers coming through – it’s going to be interesting to watch.