Cathy Sorbo's Formula One Drive-Through

Cathy Sorbo's Formula One Drive-Through appears every race weekend after the race.
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Let The Racing Begin

March 11 2008

Congratulations!

You are reading a column that will be centered on all things Formula One for the 2008 season.

What's that? You've never actually watched a season of F1? Well, get your cable hooked-up immediately as you will be at the mercy of The Speed Channel for the duration of the season.

I tried NASCAR once or twice, but the oval tracks just didn't do anything for me. I find F1 to be more of an educational and variable experience -- you are in other countries, each hosting a completely unique track layout which requires extensive tweaks to the set-up of the car and the team's race strategy. The cars themselves are things of technological and mechanical wonder -- truly beautiful looking things (if you exclude the recent identity crisis that Honda has been working through).

The drivers are vessels of strength and athleticism, but do show their human side as well. Now a NASCAR driver, Juan Pablo Montoya was teased more than once by other drivers for his penchant for McDonald's. Also now a NASCAR driver, Jacques Villeneuve was even more mercilessly teased for his pop star endeavors. As he was waving to fans, current champion Kimi Räikkönen was caught on tape stumbling from an upper deck of a yacht whilst tipsy. After one very tense race last season, rival team drivers Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa got into a rarely glimpsed emotionally-charged tiff at a post-race weigh-in.

There are 11 teams and 22 drivers scheduled to race in the 2008 season, each driver with a unique althletic personality. There are no Americans driving this year and sadly, no race will be held on American soil. The sport's lack of American-ness is most likely why F1 doesn't get the attention that it deserves here, and why NASCAR is far more prominent in motorsport news. Or maybe it is because we can't easily pronounce the foreign names of the drivers -- Americans are notoriously frightened of umelots. There should be some comfort knowing that the main anchor for the Speed Channel announcing team, Bob Varsha, is a Yank.

To hear the drivers pronounce their names, visit www.namethatdriver.com while looking at the Teams and Drivers page of www.formula1.com -- this page will also show you the season schedule and each drivers' points from last season. As you will see, it was very, very close.

Everyone loves a winner and last season everything pointed toward British rookie driver Lewis Hamilton to walk away with the championship. Lewis put in a freakishly amazing rookie performance and due to his Afro-Carribean heritage, has the history-making accomplishment of being the first black man to drive for a Formula One team. As big as that is, it takes a backseat to his explosive talent as a competitive driver. Last season we watched as Lewis came within one win away from clinching the title of champion.

Instead that title went to Ferrari's Kimi Räikkönen. Fans of the Finnish driver were thrilled to see this hard-earnd title go to Kimi, as he has been denied victory after victory in previous seasons due to bad luck with engine failure, tire failure and other drivers' mistakes. If I had Kimi's luck I'd want to get drunk and fall off of a yacht myself. That said, Kimi is an amazing driver, and fun to watch. I've seen him start a race from the back of the grid and win it with a last-lap pass.

Felipe Massa is once again Kimi's teammate at Ferrari, while Lewis will be paired up with the "other" Fin, Heikki Kovalainen. Fernando Alonso will have the spector of multiple champion Nelson Piquet to deal with as his new teammate is Brazilian rookie Nelson Piquet Jr.

The opening race of the season airs live on the Speed Channel 8:30 Saturday night, with practice rounds on Thursday and the exciting knock-out qualifying rounds on Friday -- so remember to put a few Foster's in the fridge and enjoy what is sure to be an exciting Formula One season.

Check back for the Formula One Drive-Through recap after the race.