Well 2020 sucked… mostly. Ask anyone and they’re likely to say it was a year worth forgetting, that the lockdown was like hell and the changes we saw in society were abysmal. I was one of them, I didn’t like being at home all the time (even though I found it fun playing video games everyday) and I sure as hell didn’t like online learning. I felt alone, it felt like I was trapped in a small world where nothing else existed plus the school year alone was forgettable. But there was something about 2020 that will stay with me for the rest of my life, something that makes me happy, something that makes me who I am, and something that gets me excited like nothing else on this planet.

I’ve always had some form of interest in cars and racing, I always found it exhilarating and exciting but the deep interest into a racing series just never came about regardless of my interest… that was until the lockdown, the lockdown that introduced me to Formula 1. I only found it by chance, I was scrolling through Netflix and found Drive to Survive, the series about F1. The racing series that takes place all around the world in cars that drive at speeds that I only thought were possible in video games, speeds that can thwart a fighter jet taking off, cars that take turns smoother than a knife through butter, cars that are so immaculate that it’s hard to fathom how they’re only tens of millions of dollars. F1 is the sport I love watching and “nerding” out about. The aerodynamics of the cars, the engines, the tracks, the races, are all aspects that I’ve gone out of my way to educate myself more on about.

The love I have for Formula 1 is unmatched by any other interest or hobby I’ve ever had. Everything about that car is so intriguing to learn more about, how the tiny details and changes on the mushroom shaped front wing can mess with aero and downforce, how something as simple as the shape of the rearwing can affect drag + downforce, how each of the teams have better weekends just because of how the track is shaped. There’s just so much to the sport and it isn’t limited to the cars. I mean seriously, who doesn’t love a little bit of drama? The driver markets after the Hungaroring are filled with twists and turns! What does it take to turn a race upside down? I always want to know what’ll happen next. I watch all the races, all the practices, all the qualification sessions no matter the time. If I have to wake up at 3am to watch even something like a practice session, so be it I’ll do it. I’ve even watched the Netflix show Drive to Survive which just gets you hooked like a high you can’t get rid of, the drama between the drivers and teams get you to watch the next episode no matter who you support.

It’d be more than reasonable to say that discovering F1 is something I’m happy about. It came at a time when I wasn’t at my best in a lot of ways. I didn’t hear from those I thought were my friends, I was struggling in school, in a way I never have before, and I felt different without soccer. I found something that made me excited again, I had something positive come out of the year, something I’m grateful for. As much as 2020 sucked, as much as I look back at the year as something to forget. I’ll always remember that’s also the time that I discovered a hobby that made me so passionate about something like never before. As much as 2020 sucked, it’s also the year that introduced me to my greatest passion.