The new season of Formula 1 racing has started already. It is only a few weeks since the last season ended, and it felt like a long season, with races into December.
This year there is a new team and more drivers. With all the wars of the world, it is not exactly clear which and how many races will happen.
We remember races in the 80s. They were rare, an event. BBC covered them with a little preliminary discussion, the race and a conclusion. If a car had a camera on it, that was unusual and a technological marvel.
Each car had a driver and an engine and some tyres. The cars would race or they would break down or they would crash. Maybe they came into the pits for tyres or (later) even a top up of fuel.
But most races then and even now are pretty boring. They are a procession around the course. There might be a place on the track where overtaking could happen, or two if you were lucky. In all honesty, it’s a boring sport. Hyped races like Monaco are dull, let’s be honest.
Like so many other sports, the powers that be keep tinkering with the rules to try to make it interesting. But it gets more confusing and more complicated and hard to understand the purpose of some rules altogether.
This season, and for some seasons past, the cars don’t have engines. They have power units. This year it’s half engine half electrical motor, and the drivers have to manage it. All the forced and fake tyres jeopardy was bad enough, but now this.
In the first race, there was more overtaking at the start, before the procession began. But it wasn’t real overtaking, just drivers using their batteries to boost the speed temporarily before another driver did the same and went past them.
DRS, which allowed cars to go a bit faster, has gone to be replaced by something different, but the same. It was very rare that you would see DRS make any real difference.
The dreadful Sprint is back. It’s like a one third race, but with qualifying and just as much chance of a mechanical failure or crash. Apparently it gets bums on seats on the Saturday. Apparently.
Cars now have two, three cameras on. You can follow any driver you like. Every serface is covered with advertising.
TV coverage starts days in advance, with hours of discussion trying to whip up enthusiasm in the audience.
Despite everything, the car in pole position won yesterday and most of the others were where they qualified.