Formula 1: The Best Sport to Watch at University
by JOE PHELAN
looprevilpress@live.co.uk
Students should take any advice they can take on board, my advice is not about which bank to use for an overdraft or where to go on a Thursday night or the best place to food shop but my advice is that all students should watch formula one.
How many top sports are on TV for free at the weekend? Match of the day is on and now and again you get a decent selection of sport on free TV but most of the time good sport and top sport is on sky sports. I know every formula one race is on sky but it is also on the BBC too. Most of the races are live and if not there is always the chance to catch the highlights.
Formula one is as far as I’m concerned the cheapest sport to watch as a student, at university people come from all over the country and the world and all end up in the same place, while football, rugby even tennis is a sport that while based on entertainment are sports based on allegiances. You may support Liverpool, love or hate Andy Murray, I think formula one avoids this. People may prefer certain drivers and certain teams but most of the time it is about watching 22 men at the pinnacle of their field driving fast, overtaking and doing everything within their power for the win. It is sports entertainment and the majority of the time it is on free TV. That should really sell it for itself, it is the formula one world championship, it is a worldwide sport and it’s free on the BBC on a Saturday and Sunday.
I’m hoping you’re sold already, watching any formula one race offers an intense drama unfolding in front of your eyes, but it also is the most intelligent of sports, the design work, the strategies and the ability to be brave and go for broke make this sport stand out. You can predict what’s going to happen, but during the rush to the first corner you simply never know, I would happily argue for days about a more exciting 20 seconds in sport than the start and dash through the first corner in F1, it is unmatched.
The sport has something for everybody and can be watched very casually just sitting around your flat with your room mates, of course it can grip you but it is a sport you can dip in and out of, do some work while it’s on in the background or you can be obsessed with the little details like I am and like many people around the world are.
If you’re not sold yet let me offer you a little bit of a background on the main players in the Formula 1 landscape. First, we have current world champion Sebastian Vettel at only 26 he is already a 4 times world champion, 4 times on the bounce, he is comfortably the top active sportsman in the world, he makes 4 times world footballer Lionel Messi look like a small fish, Vettel seems just like an ordinary boy, he is not in F1 for the money or the fame, he doesn’t have a PR agent, he doesn’t advertise, he just simply wants to drive fast and win, he is not going to be out on the town, driving a yellow Ferrari, he just wants to win and he does. He is a perfect example of what the modern sportsmen and really is going to be the best formula one driver in history, some would say his dominance is boring, but trust me, it’s not, it is just unbelievable to watch, he is setting a standard to the other drivers, tuning in just to see who can match him is interesting enough.
Now moving on from my Seb love in, to English Lewis Hamilton, he is also a former world champion, he won his world championship by making an overtaking move on the last corner in 2008, the last corner, imagine Wayne Rooney scoring a 92nd minute winning for England in the world cup, that’s what Lewis did. He is also super-fast, perhaps he has developed a worrying chip on his shoulder that restricts his chances to win, but he is still entertaining and for watchers of the X Factor, he is a constant on and off relationship with Nicole Scherzinger and everybody loves her.
The next main player is Ferraris Fernando Alonso, another product is the Spanish sporting system that produced Rafael Nadal and the Barcelona team and Spanish side we all admire so much. He is a much more methodical driver, he is a two time world champion and is seemingly obsessed with clinching another, he never has the quickest car yet seems to always be in the race, you could watch Alonso for the whole race and you wouldn’t be disappointed, he is always racing and racing hard.
I could talk about F1 forever, but I hope this little introduction will get you all tuning into the BBC coverage while having a lazy Sunday and a chill, this season is nearly over, but when the new season starts in the new year, I hope this read has sold you watching F1 just makes sense. To finish I will leave you with this video of Lewis Hamilton winning the world title on the last corner, in 4 minutes it shows you what this sport is all about!
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