Imola Grand Prix

I've regained my interest in Formula 1 this year. Results aren't what I'd hoped for so far from Honda Racing F1 but definitely a good team progressing at the right pace...

One of the big reasons I'd stopped watching F1 was the death of Aryton Senna at Imola. Senna up until the moment of death was the motorsport equivalent of Beethoven. As the story goes, Beethoven overcame growing disability in his later years. To see Senna race in his final grand prixes with McLaren/Honda was akin to listening to the final movement of Beethoven's 9th... Something that was lost to me in the following years was that sense of "wow, THIS is what racing is all about - competition at it's purest."

To watch Michael Schumacher scream through Tamburello on his way to beating Senna's pole position record was a bittersweet moment. Sappy sports fan rantings aside, I deeply admire Schumi for his technical brilliance, and his competitive spirit. But for me, Ferrari's dominance over the past decade or so just lacked that gutwrenching "fire" that the Senna/Mansell/Williams Renault/McLaren Honda days had.

The past grand prix at Imola saw many significant moments. The breaking of Senna's pole postion record and Ferrari's (not just Schumacher's) return to form amongst others. Not as obviously, I think there was the most "real" indication that Formula 1 is entering another period of sweeping drama. There are many figurative and literal moments of explosiveness in the events so far this season.