A Ferrari 1-2 at home, for my partner and I’s first grand prix together …. what a perfect weekend.
2024 will always be remembered as the year I took a break from my marshal duties to stop and smell the fumes of high octane racing petrol.
Whilst last year, my partner was unwittingly roped into the world of Formula 1 by her fanatic boyfriend via a free general pass, this year I wanted to focus on enjoying the actual race weekend by her side.
And what a difference it made, being an attendee instead of staff.
Gone were my 5am starts that required me to don athleisure underneath orange jumpsuits. Gone were the stale lunches that were all I ate to last 12 hour days. Gone are the struggles of getting back to my car, fighting patrons who didn’t understand how tired I was.
Gone too were the best views on the track, the whip of air that would ruffle my hair every time a race-car blast past me at 150km/h and the heady rush of staring at million dollar cars only metres away from me.
But it was worth it, to actually take a break, dress how I want, arrive when I want and be with a person I love.
Because there is no point in me being excited and invested in the world of Formula 1, if I can’t share that passion with my girlfriend.
It was also extra fun because we could both wear the same team colours and really coordinate our looks throughout the weekend. Look back on the photos we took still make me smile, because we really do pull off the Ferrari’s Rosso Corsa well and I felt so much tifosi pride as we walked around.
Add on top of that, I actually allowed to really help her dive in the world of motorsport better. As cars zipped around the track, I was able to point out finer details and watch as she got more and more invested, as she understood more. It also helped massively that the Australian crowd were excellent hype intensifiers, which meant that my girlfriend was riveted by what was happening on track. Questions after questions followed every mood of the crowd and I loved seeing how much she was enjoying herself and how fast she was acquiring knowledge so rapidly.
It was also a joy to reconnect with an old friend for his first Grand Prix. Waking up at an obscene hour, hauling camping chairs & snacks over my shoulder, whilst kissing my sleeping partner goodbye so that I could secure her seat early on race day, was just the cherry on top.
Even though I woke up incredibly early and met my friend at the tram stop, we were still the 600th group to arrive at Gate 8 by the time 0700 rolled around. Still, it did nothing to dampen our spirits and we caught up as we shivered in the early morning cold.
But that chill dissipated pretty damn fast the moment the gates opened and suddenly we saw a surge in the line and people were absolutely hauling ass across the green grass of Albert Park to secure the best spot. The moment we got our ticket scanned, I immediately took off, grateful that I had been training with my plate carrier for the past month, so the additional weight did nothing to slow me down.
To our delight, we actually secured a good spot atop the small hill that overlooks Turn 9, facing the huge TV screen opposite us. Campers chairs were deployed and we immediately got comfortable, two breathless, excited 30 yos grinning like schoolboys at our antics. Then it was time to settle in for the wait and entertain ourselves until some track action started.
Seeing the huge grin across my friend’s face as the cars roared around the track for the first time just made me nostalgic for the first time I went to F1 and got entranced by the speed, smell and atmosphere of motorsport events. In a way, seeing it live just does the concept of “speed” justice. On TV, everything looks slow, it’s obvious that the ability of the camera operators allows you to appreciate the cars more, but it looks too smooth, too slow even.
But in person, they are an actual blur. They whip past you in a blink of an eye, able to change directions faster than you can anticipate and disappear beyond the next corner before you can even register them.
And it’s also far more obvious the speed difference between the classes of cars. From the Porsches to the Supercars, to the F2 and F1, it’s abundantly clear just how fast Formula 1 cars are and how difficult they are to control.
That acknowledgment of difficulty then, made us all more appreciative of the moment when Carlos Sainz, number 55 of Scuderia Ferrari, overtook Max Verstappen for the lead of the race.
Seeing it live was exhilarating. The crowd went ballistic, their excitement at seeing the World Champion struggling and the chance to see a new race winner.
My partner and I hopped for joy, overjoyed to see a RED car in front for once, where she truly belongs.
For the rest of the race, we held hands, praying that nothing would throw a curveball in Sainz’s path to victory. Which in typical F1 fashion, there was nearly an incident, but thankfully we saw the first Ferrari 1-2 cross the line in a very long time together.
Seeing the beautiful red cars cross the line in the best two positions was just a euphoric feeling.
Add on top of that, I managed to find time to catch up with my cousin, who was a spectator marshal this year, but unfortunately at an awful corner with zero context to the rest of the race. That being said, Albon chose his corner to crash at, and my illustrious cousin definitely took home some Williams carbon fibre as a trophy for all his boredom at Albert Park. It was also lovely to have a double date with his partner too, who had flown down in support.
So all in all, this was a weekend to remember. I strengthened the ties between my friends and I at Albert Park, took a lot of amazing photos that focused more on the atmosphere than the cars this time, and overall, just had an amazing weekend where I spent more time with my girlfriend, saw our team win decisively and just soaked up a whole lot of sun.
2024 may still end with Max Verstappen winning the World Championship, such is his incredible form and synergy with the RB20, but it was nice to have a bit of hope for once, in an upset caused by Scuderia Ferrari.
I just pray next year when the boys in red come by again, they are dominating the timesheets and the leaderboard.
~ Damocles.
Damocles' Journal 