Are the monster-truck people rethinking their choices? |
I spent last weekend in Melbourne at the Formula 1 grand prix. It's been a family ritual for a few years now. We get to the gates an hour before they open, then I join the mad dash of middle-aged dads racing to secure the best spots open to us general-admission plebs.
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Our favourite spot sits directly beneath a big corporate marquee, whose chosen-one attendees, a mixture of real estate agents, property developers and luxury car salesmen, get to rock up much later. At least we benefit from their all-day DJ and sax soloist.
Formula 1 is going through an identity crisis. The era of fuel-guzzling V8s was over long before we joined the fandom. Hybrid engines have been powering the cars for more than a decade.
But this year the pendulum has swung further in favour of the electric component of what used to be called engines but are now "power units".
Not only are the F1 cars the quietest you hear on track all day (Formula 3s still have that full-throated roar that kills conversation), the way they drive is very different.
Drivers have boost buttons that release bursts of electric power, letting them zip past rivals. One critic among the driver fraternity says it feels like driving Mario Kart.
The point of mentioning this battle for the hearts of racing - a battle between traditional internal combustion and electric power - is that it represents a neat picture........