The circus was in town. More specifically the Formula 1 circus. Traditionally the season starts in Melbourne and unlike the real circus, Formula 1 was surprisingly unobtrusive. Apart from a few merchandise shops in the city and the occasional poster here and there it was barely noticeable that a major sports franchise was in town. The only hint that gave it away was the rather unsubtle high-pitched engine sound of race cars that woke us on Friday and Saturday. We live about 2km away from the race track, but had to shut the windows when talking on the phone. Yes, that loud.
I had tickets for Sunday, which was the right day to go, because Saturday summer ended with a bang. Pouring rain and a stiff breeze turned the heat wave into a distant memory. But Sunday we had perfect race weather: not too cold, not too hot with a bit of sunshine. I had to use sunscreen, but that doesn’t reveal much.
We met at three, which gave us two hours to walk around, have a look at all the curiosities that were quite similar to a real circus. The even had a stunt show called ‘Nitro Circus’. The hour before the race was dominated by an extensive flight show. It started with a flight squadron of six performing tricks in the air, a fighter jet followed and the finale was a fly over of a Qantas 747.
It was the perfect precursor to what would follow: two hours of pure noise. Most people told me in advance that it was going to be loud. It was even louder – the $2 invested in earplugs was money very well spent. Secondly, those cars are fast, really fast. I took about 1,300 pictures that afternoon. The majority showing a racetrack without cars. When the shutter was released, the car was typically already 50 meters further down the road. Nevertheless, it was an excellent opportunity for a camera geek to practice panning shots, working with the rolling shutter and pre-focusing before the shot.
Lastly, it was a lesson in the difference between micro and macro. While you had a good micro view on the 300 meters of track that were visible from where we stood, we had no idea of who was leading or what was happening in the race. On the other hand, while on TV you get a good overview of the race with its pit stops, opponents overtaking each other and cars breaking down, you miss out on the intensity, the speed and the sound. Watching Formula 1 means having your cake and not eating it, too.
After two hours, I was happy to remove my earplugs, enjoy the relative silence and take a walk on the just opened racetrack. The Finish people were celebrating (apparently a Finn won), the Germans were satisfied (a German came in third) and the Irish were drunk (nothing to do with the race, but it was St. Paddy’s day, which explains everything). And I was happy and keen to come back next year.
