Formula 1 is nicknamed The Grand Circus. Why is that? Because every other week or so, sometimes even back to back weekends, the entire sport, with the cars, drivers, paddock, engineers and so on travel to a new circuit, put everything together, play the game, and then pack it all up and go to the next event. Even if that event is literally across the globe.
The thing that attracts me to this sport is the logistics behind it. It takes thousands of men and a very well made, by-the-second schedule to be able to put the puzzle pieces on and then grab everything and go to the next one. Besides the cars, the drivers, the teams and the championship, the mere putting together of a Grand Prix sounds like an impossible task.
Yet they do it somehow, 20+ times every year.
My love for Formula 1
My love for Formula 1 started way back when I was a toddler. I remember watching the race on Sunday and wondering what the heck was that all about. People put into small cars that were going fast and some dude screaming like a nutjob whenever they would pass one another. Then it clicked, somehow, that this was the most exciting thing you can ever see on television.
I’ve been watching Formula 1 for over 20 years now. And so far, with a few slower years, I’ve yet to get bored at watching a race, a qualifying session, even the practice sessions from Friday. Yes, I know everything there is to be known about it. Yes, I watch the practice sessions. And yes, I have my favourites. But Formula 1 is about the spectacle, first and foremost.
The 2021 season
I have to admit that, even for an avid fan of Formula 1, the continuous wins of Mercedes over the past 8 years were getting a bit tough to bear. In 2020 I kept watching but my love for the sport was getting weaker. It was the same thing, over and over again, as if you’d watch the same favourite movie. Even the greatest stories, told one too many times, become boring.
In 2021 everything was about to change and in a big way. This was BY FAR the most competitive, spectacular, controversial and shocking Formula 1 season I have ever seen. It completely turned around my love for the sport, rekindling my passion for watching the races by the second. And the finale of the season, being decided in the very last few corners of the race?
It was the closest I’ve ever been to my heart actually stopping in my chest. I had no reaction for a minute, and my mind was blank. I honestly jumped up and down in my living room, my coffee going all over the place. It was a bad idea to drink coffee before such a nerve-racking event in the first place, but you make mistakes as a human being!
I knew from that moment on that Formula 1 was back on track, if I may a themed joke, being the great sport it once was, and immediately booked my tickets to the closest race to me by distance, which is five hours by train to Budapest. I can still feel the thrills of that Abu Dhabi race from 2021!
The 2022 Hungarian Grand Prix
The 2022 F1 Hungarian Grand Prix is scheduled for the end of July. Usually, there’s either extreme heat, which I don’t really like but hey, I’ll literally sweat it off, or there’s pouring rain, which makes for SPECTACULAR racing. I’d rather have the rain, as was the case over the last couple of years, resulting in some controversial, incredible situations, especially at the start.
In terms of tickets, I got the cheapest option available, for around 100 bucks. You get to see everything from Friday to Sunday, and there is a free bus from the centre of Budapest to the track every 30 minutes. There is no seating for the price but you do get to choose where to sit on the grass, with viewing areas spreading around the circuit. This means you can test and adjust as you go.
To say that I cannot wait for that Thursday morning to come, as I will spend 4 nights in Budapest for comfort, is an understatement. I simply dread the slow passing of time now. Yes, waiting for something you are truly crazy about can make that happen to your brain. I can’t sleep sometimes, that’s how excited I am. I will surely tell you all about my 2022 F1 Hungarian Grand Prix experience once I’m back home after the race.
Stay tuned!
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