F1 Weekend

Unlike American football, my enjoyment of Formula 1 is actually enhanced by its event announcers. (Don’t get me started on Tony Romo.)  David Croft is, among other things, perhaps the only person in my experience who knows that the plural of “Grand Prix” is “Grand Prix,” not the utterly absurd “Grands Prix.”  

This past weekend, F1 was at Mexico City, at an altitude of 7350 feet. David Croft and others spent a good bit of time discussing the effect of altitude on the cars, which is significant, and on people. One effect on people is that the Sun feels hot, which Croft kept saying was because, “we are closer to the Sun” due to the altitude. Really, Crofty? 

The Sun is 93 million miles away. 7300 feet corresponds to, roughly, one mile, and means that instead of 93 million miles, they were 92,999,999 miles away from the Sun. I tried to divide 1 by 93 million to determine how much closer they were as a percentage, and my calculator blew up. Seems the percentage is a number too small for the human mind to comprehend.

By Sunday’s race Croft was no longer talking about being closer to the Sun, so someone must have chatted with him about solar radiation being attenuated by less atmosphere and therefore containing greater energy at high altitudes.

That’s okay, unlike football announcers, David Croft very seldom says silly things, has a lively and delightful sense of humor, and his presence adds to the pleasure of a Formula 1 Grand Prix.