I must start by admitting I am only an F1 fans because of Drive To Survive. Yes, yes I know this makes me scum in the eyes of true F1 patriots but hey, I caught up with it after Covid, found the show connected me with the drivers, I started to like watching the races and ever since I have been trying to learn as much as possible.
Whilst reading The Formula by Joshua Robinson it explained that the Liberty Media take over of F1 as being the nexus between people who had never seen F1 and hard-core fans and without that we wouldn’t have the growing popularity of the sport which was very much in a death spin around the toilet bowel. This is also the first time in history where you have people who are into a sport but have NEVER watched a race. These people have been connected to the sport via the show and then started an F1 fandom around the drivers and the social media updates. Based on its popularity other sports are trying this format.
None the less I didn’t choose to dip a toe, I jumped in. Currently I am a die-hard Ferrari fan (obviously) and Carlos Sainz is my favourite driver. What has made me really fall into the sport is reading about past races and racers. F1 has always been exclusive and under Bernie’s control you were kept away from the pits. Now to me that is boring. You learnt nothing about the teams or drivers. Liberty opened that up and seeing the journey made me want to learn about the sport. Until you hear their stories you really don’t get an appreciation for how much they put them selves on the line for 1 race. There hasn't been many fatalities in recent years but every time a driver steps in that car there is a chance that in 50 something laps they are not coming home. You don’t get that in football, rugby, tennis or golf. Can you imagine saying to Tiger Woods… if you lose focus and hit the bunker you aren’t going home tonight? Just let that sink in.
Well Liberty are on a capitalism train and realise they have some die-hard fans so in London’s eXcel centre they setup The F1 Exhibit : London and of course we went! Ridiculously hard to find as it based around the lower section of the building you enter through 2 glass doors into a blacked out room. Stepping in you are greeted, tickets checked and sent on your way with an audio tour. Starting at the beginning, a spread of some of F1’s most iconic cars is laid out. Starting with the shark nose from Ferrari and ending with the McLaren MP4/14. In the next section it talks about the history of F1 with many historical videos that you can listen to. There are also many trophies in this room, marketing and other bits of paraphernalia.
The next room hosts the Red Bull RB16B which is surrounded by the technology which makes up the cars from tyres, engines, suspension and so on. Because most of these technologies are quite secretive, it was very cool to be able see them up close. Then followed the drivers experience. This area started with the drivers cup and busks of famous F1 champions. This was my favourite room as it showed the drivers race suits, helmets and early careers.
After this was a breakdown of the sport itself. Understanding its history, the rules and it advances. It was cool to be able to see Senna’s McLaren next to Lewis Mercedes. Amazing how much the cars have sized up!
The final room was a tribute to Romain Grosjean and his HAAS F1 car which caught on fire. It was quite unnerving seeing the monocoque with all its flame damage. To think someone was in there and survived! The way out took you into a corridor full of the drivers so you could get a photo before you headed into the theatre to watch the history of F1.
Overall it was a fantastic day out and took around 2 hours to experience everything.
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