In a development fairly unrelated to my attempt to become a Formula 1 fan, I went go karting Tuesday at the local F1 track (which is a possibility due to the happy coincidence of my living in Austin). To be clear, it wasn’t on the F1 track. That would be a long race. But it was at the F1 track, run by the F1 track, with go karts that maxed out at 55 mph (fast enough to accidentally spin out) and a fastest-single-lap-wins format that made for more constant competition than a vague “who crosses the line first” format.
I don’t know if I really learned much from this. I spun out a few times. Adjacent to one of those spins, another kart really whipped through a barrier, sending everything over there skidding. I wasn’t that good—finished in the middle of the pack in all three races, and I don’t know how competitive any of the three were. But it was fun, which makes my overall takeaway that F1 drivers probably have fun. Happy to take further questions now that I am an expert, and excited to get back to Circuit of the Americas for hopefully both the NASCAR race next month and the F1 race in October.
