I will confess that I don't really care much about Formula One (F1) motor-racing. My Dad used to love it, so I was forced to sit through hours of it as a kid in England, but I never progressed past finding it noisy and tedious.
It is still very popular in Europe and particularly in the UK, especially in this era of local hero Lewis Hamilton, and I have in-laws that are obsessed by it. It is also becoming increasingly popular in North America, not least, it has to be said, as a result of Netflix's behind-the-scenes series Drive to Survive. Some observers wonder, though, if it's not becoming less of a sport and more of an entertainment, similar in some says to (dare I say it?) professional wrestling. The grand finale of the latest season makes that suggestion even more plausible.
Lewis Hamilton was the favourite to win this year's championship, giving him record-breaking eight title (he is currently tied with all-time great Michael Schumacher). That was the expected fairy tale ending. But, enter the "bad guy", Dutch racer Max Verstappen. After a controversial race last week, in which Verstappen "brake-tested" Hamilton and was handed a penalty, the grand finale was just as controversial.
Hamilton was comfortably in control of the race from the start until, with just five laps to go, another driver, Nicholas Lafiti crashed. After a combination of controversial decisions by the race control people, clever tactics by the Verstappen team, and some sheer blind luck, Verstappen pulled ahead of Hamilton on the last lap, and won the race and therefore the championship. Hamilton's team objected, Verstappen thanked his lucky stars, and the media was chock full of reports, explanations and heated commentary.
Heady stuff, and heaps of excitement for F1 fans. But, perhaps a little too ... dramatic, do you think? I'm not saying the whole thing was fixed, but all the necessary ingredients for such a convoluted, stirring and edge-of-the-seat finish to the season were hard to imagine.
Anyway, like I say, I don't really care that much about F1 racing. But lots of people do. And now many more are hooked on the sport.
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