Girls and Car-Racing are two things that don’t often go together (unless we’re talking about grid girls, which we aren’t) but there’s no reason they can’t go together. Here are ten reasons to become a Formula One Racing Fan.
1. It will make you unique
There are hundreds of millions of Formula One fans around the world, but not many are located in Canada and even less are girls, and aren’t we all looking for a way to be unique, to stand out from the crowd? Well here it is! By adopting Formula One as your sport you can feel unique when you wake up at ungodly hours to watch the race broadcasts and shout obscenities at the TV as your favorite driver makes the wrong strategy call or crashes into the tire barrier, whilst everyone else sleeps on oblivious to the excitement. Not to mention you suddenly have something new to talk about with your friends (who with time you can convert into fans like yourself).
It also impresses the boys. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not advocating becoming a fan of Formula One to pick up guys, but it is a side effect. Boys don’t expect you to know what they’re talking about when they mention the results of Sunday’s race, so when you can chime in and comment on Maldonado’s crash, Vettel’s surprise win, or Rosberg’s poor pit stop decision, it will blow them away and make them see you in a totally different light (maybe, verdict is still out on that, I can’t speak for what guys think, after all). And it’s even better when you can call them out on their mistakes.
Source: Google Images
2. The Drivers
Since we are girls and a little man candy never hurt anyone, I may as well mention that the drivers are for the most part attractive young men (most Formula One Drivers retire by the time they hit age 40 and the youngest one is 17). Given the variety of the drivers on the starting grid I’m sure everyone can find someone who is their type, physically speaking, whether it’s a brooding Spaniard, a cheeky German, a rock star Brit, a comedic Australian or any number of other stereotypes. Now, looks aren’t everything, and Formula One delivers here as well; there’s plenty of material online in the form of interviews where you can learn more about your favorite driver’s personality and see how it manifests in their driving on track.
3. Star-Power
Not only are the drivers stars in their own right but Formula One attracts whole hosts of mainstream stars to the races, everyone from Royals (Prince Harry), the Kardashians, Nicole Scherzinger, Ron Howard, the cast of X-Men, Michael Douglas, Tyrese Gibson, the list goes on. In fact Lewis Hamilton (two time World Champion on his way to a 3rd championship) was in a long-term relationship with Nicole Scherzinger (they ended things last year) and Christian Horner (Team Principal of Infiniti Red-Bull Racing) is married to Geri Halliwell (yes, the Spice Girl). And if it’s good enough for them, it’s good enough for you, right?
4. Style
Formula One’s reputation as one of the most glamorous, luxurious and expensive sports in the world goes hand in hand with style and fashion. Between the stars and spectators attending races in fashion that walked right off the runways in Paris and the colourful technical style of the drivers, Formula One makes one pretty picture. The driver’s race suits are well fitted, and adorned with sponsors labels and team colours, as are their uniform t-shirts, jackets and baseball caps. Fans can purchase versions of this team wear to support their favorite teams and drivers from the stands (an excuse to shop, am I right?).
5. Travel
With races on the calendar in exotic places like Abu Dhabi and Brazil, glamorous places like Monaco and one in our own backyard (relatively speaking) in Montreal become a fan and enjoy the travel benefits that come along with it. Besides, the cities that host Formula One come alive on race weekend, hosting weekend long street parties with bands like Maroon Five, fashion shows, parties in all the hottest clubs and some pop up clubs that travel with the F1 circus. It’s a lively weekend long celebration of fast cars and luxury in some of the most beautiful cities in the world, what more could you want? I mean haven’t you always wanted an excuse to visit Abu Dhabi and Bahrain? I’ve just given you one, you’re welcome.
6. Knowledge about your own car
Along with being a sport purely for fans’ entertainment, Formula One is a complex engineering competition for manufacturers to test out futuristic technology that will eventually trickle down into road cars. For anyone who owns a car with paddle shift technology, some of that technology was originally used in Formula One. Not only can you see the future of your road car while watching Formula One but you also can learn more about driving. Though I don’t recommend trying to recreate the speeds the driver’s race around the track at, but that’s just me.
7. It is complicated and forever changing
The formula part of Formula One refers to the engine formula that all the cars on the grid must meet, right now that means they are all V6 hybrid turbo engines. But enough about the technical, Formula One is constantly evolving with newest technology in terms of aerodynamics and engine power and teams are constantly pushing the boundaries of regulations to make their cars the fastest in the world. With all this new technology, new rules are introduced in an attempt to control the engineering contest. In addition, each year new tracks are introduced and tire compounds are changed (tires are a whole other complicated story). So just when you think you’ve managed to master Formula One as a sport, things will change and the learning process has to start all over again, it’s a never-ending challenge, and who doesn’t want a challenge?
8. It has a little something to cater to everyone interests
Formula One is unique in that it has a bit of an identity crisis; it doesn’t quite know whether it’s a complex business, an engineering competition or a show for the entertainment of fans. It’s unlike many other sports in this sense. So whether you’re into the complicated engineering, the business, the entertainment or the glamorous lifestyle I think you’ll find something to suit your tastes.
9. The Adrenaline Rush
For all the adrenaline junkies out there, Formula One can certainly satisfy your adrenaline fix for the week. Whether you’re watching from home and simply imagining the speeds the cars are travelling at or watching live and listening and feeling the speeds (yes feeling, the cars are so loud that you can physically feel them as they pass you) I think it’s enough for even the most serious adrenaline junkie. Besides when it all goes wrong there are some pretty spectacular crashes, we would expect nothing less from cars racing around averaging speeds of 300 kilometers per hour. Oh and the numbers in the picture below are the top speeds in kilometers per hour each driver reached on track.
0. Formula One needs more girls
There isn’t currently a female on the starting grid, but there is a handful in the shadows waiting for their chance. We need girls to be cheering when they make it to the grid, and more female drivers wouldn’t go amiss (but don’t worry about that, start with being a fan)
For a preview of the excitement of Formula One check out this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDvux_FuoJ0