You know how, when you go to parties, the ice breaker between strangers is either sports talk or what-show-are-you-binging? It seems we are all looking for tips on something new to watch, and finding something that both you and your spouse enjoy can be challenging. There is no way my husband is going to watch Bridgerton; and I’m not watching Ozark.
This type of small talk is what happened while dining, round table, with strangers at last month’s Connecticut wedding. I can’t remember what my suggestion was, but I do remember one couple, even the woman, said they liked Formula 1 on Netflix. I was surprised. But she assured me it was good.
She Was Right
Recently, I remembered her suggestion and began the series. I have learned so much about racing! The young drivers are hot (it is almost a prerequisite), the owners are billionaires, and they race in some of the most prestigious cities in the world. Do you know where Baku, Azerbaijan is? Neither did I.
This sport is huge everywhere but in the US. It barely even gets a mention in American sports pages. There are only 10 teams and 20 racers (two per each team). In the Netflix series, you meet them all. You get to know the young drivers with their blind and fearless ambition, find out about the engineer’s secret weapon they think will give them that season’s edge, and get a behind the scenes look at each team’s ethos. Winning is everything to these elite sportsmen. The momentum builds during the racing season and when the last race has been won and the points totaled, you celebrate or cry alongside the sportsmen as they get traded like basketball players in the 1990s. Big money, big egos, and fast cars. It is the making of a man’s soap opera.
Now, when I go to parties, I can mix sports and binge watching into one conversation. Not that anyone in the US would know anything about the Formula 1 drivers or their owners, but everyone likes suggestions on new shows to watch.
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