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By Emma White
Formula 1 has been my favorite sport for three years now. I fell in love with the sport during my time at the Governor’s School for Entrepreneurs through the Netflix docuseries Drive to Survive, which follows the drivers throughout each season. Watching the show eventually led me to watching the races when I got home, and it has slowly spiraled into an obsession that has me waking up at three in the morning to watch races across the world. I love the sport, both on and off the track. I love the strategies teams use during the race, I love the mechanical side with the cars, I love the off track behind-the-scenes politics, and I love following the lives of the drivers. As is the case for many teenage girls, I found myself drawn to one particular team and one particular driver: Ferrari and their driver Charles Leclerc.
The life of a Ferrari fan is not easy. There is a running joke within the F1 community that Ferrari will always find a way to mess up their season, no matter how good their cars and drivers are. Unfortunately, this joke has a lot of truth behind it, since Ferrari hasn’t won a Constructors’ Title since 2008 or a Drivers’ Title since 2007. Despite this, Ferrari fans, myself included, keep hoping that every year will be our year.
This year, Ferrari is showing early signs of success in preseason testing. Lewis Hamilton
set the overall fastest lap time in the preseason shootout, and Charles Leclerc set the overall
fastest lap time in official preseason testing in Bahrain. Ferrari seems to have many unique
improvements to their car, including a revolutionary rotating rear wing. Right now, signs seem to
be pointing to Ferrari taking a title this season. However, Ferrari fans struggle with years of
let-down seasons after promising results in testing.
I choose to believe that Ferrari is going to win this season. If they continue to adapt the
car well throughout the season, I think they can really take home both the Constructors’ and
Drivers’ Titles, and I would genuinely be happy with either driver winning, whether it’s Lewis
winning his eighth title or Charles winning his first (though I am rooting for Charles above all
else). I believe that it is the Year of the Horse, not just in the Chinese Lunar Calendar, but also in
Formula One.
Emma is a McConnell Scholar at the University of Louisville in the class of 2029. She is studying criminal justice, political science and business.