F1 - The Spa-Francorchamps Grand Prix

It's safe to say, I wasn't much of an F1 fan before Joe came along.  

Driving multiple laps around a track seemed ridiculous and I couldn't imagine how anyone could be interested in such an event.  But, as time went on and the more races I watched, I started to enjoy it.  I picked my favourite drivers to root for (which may have been chosen as to how nice they seem and/or their looks) and became a bit more invested in the whole thing.

1, 2, 3

Joe has always wanted to go to a race.  In fact, we were in Singapore the entire week leading up to the race but departed the day before the events started.  Barcelona's race took place not long after we left Spain as well so when we learnt we were moving to Europe, we decided we'd pick a race and go.  A couple of Canadian friends decided to join us and it was a done deal.

The Grand Prix is an entire weekend event, starting with practice rounds on Friday, qualifying on Saturday and the actual race on Sunday.  We had weekend passes so we were able to watch a little bit every day.  I was really only interested in the main event but as with most sporting events, it is actually quite cool to take in the atmosphere.  

One of the best parts about F1 is just how international the sport actually is.  

20 races take place on 5 continents and 19 different countries

Watching the race in Belgium meant there was a large range of nationalities travelling from all over the world to take part.  We had spectators from Mexico, Japan, the UK, Belgium & Finland immediately surrounding us.  Brazil had a fairly large contingency as did countless other countries and it was fun to watch everyone come together on common ground.

Come Sunday, we joined 70 000 other fans at the Francorchamps track.

Race day was gorgeous and we had arguably some of the best seats on the track.  I outfitted myself showing my support for Lewis and Jenson, we had mini TVs and headphones to follow the parts of the track we couldn't see, and snacked on frites and beer.

Our seats were on the first hairpin corner after the start line and we knew it would be eventful before the race even started.  The corner is tight and with 24 cars speeding around it, there was bound to be some action however, we were all shocked to watch it unfold.  A major crash happened immediately after the start sending one car flying overtop of a few others and taking several out of the race.  Unfortunately, one of those wrecked beyond repair was my man Lewis (the only consolable fact was that it also took out 1 of my nemisis', Ferrari driver Alonso.)

The wreckage was cleaned up and we watched 44 laps of pure race goodness and celebrated when Jenson Button took the trophy.

 

 

It was an awesome weekend and I would certainly attend another race!