It's been an interesting few weeks. We’ve seen the culmination of this year's Wimbledon and with it the end of our nation's interest in the sport for another eleven months. We've also seen England's ladies crash out of the World Cup at the hands of the French. Not a fantastic few days for British Sport, so it looks like our reputation lies with Jensen and Lewis "Gung-ho" Hamilton in the Formula 1. The latter being a man who's been on the receiving end of flak from people saying his style is dangerous.
Really? Driving repeatedly around a track at 200 mph every other week and now one of them is considered dangerous? Are we talking mild danger here? Like turning up the music in the car AND having the windows down or putting a blue sock in a white wash? No... this is literally life and death. These lunatics are putting their lives on the line nearly every week in one long adrenaline rush purely for our entertainment [and huge amounts of cash]. I've no doubt that being involved with the sport is huge fun, like building a really complicated lego contraption and then watching trained mentalists drive said contraptions around a track at astronomical speeds but watching it? I can't see the appeal.
Remember how depressing it was to watch your brother/sister/friends [the last one for me... could never afford one ourselves] set up a crazy Scalextric track and then sit as they raced tiny cars and had the time of their lives? Why on earth would you sit and watch it on the TV? I've no doubt that with a ten minute highlights reel it'd be great fun but I can’t be doing with sitting there for hours watching the same people drive around the same track at fifty slightly different times. If you were colourblind you'd have no hope. If you were completely blind you'd be listening thinking someone was commentating on how flies were buzzing around in a small jar.
It also has the slight problem of severely affecting my driving. While I love my [well... Dad's] 1.4 litre Ford Fiesta it doesn't do much for the adrenaline. If you drive above 65mph it feels like it's going to take off. Which is fine in Wales where it's physically impossible to drive above 45 [you'll either be stuck behind a caravan/tractor or the remains of your car [and yourself] will become part of the lovely welsh scenery. That can’t be good for the tourist board...
I'd actually love to see a set of regional Formula 3/4 races around the UK, drivers from the local areas in their own cars along slightly purpose built courses. A truly amazing spectacle... Dai Bach cruising around Aberystwyth's hills and bends in his slightly modified Citroen Saxo, or Humphrey Barton-Joyce taking his Rolls Royce on a death defying trip around Buckinghamshire. I'm already in talks with Somerset County Council to host Frome-ula 1 sometime in 2012. If it gets the green light... the world will be a better place.
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