As we left the theatre after seeing the F1 movie on Canada Day, Glory commented, "you know, that movie was really well done, but I just can't see motorsports as being something I would be at all interested in."
Two weeks later, she opened a conversation with me by asking, "did you hear that Red Bull fired their team principal, Christian Horner? It is a huge deal!"
A week after that, as we were in the early hours of a multi-hour road trip to Burns Lake in BC, she broke the silence from the back seat by starting to tell us about some other F1 incident that had recently occurred. I asked her to pause a moment, turned to Audrey and said, "11:14 a.m. - you owe me $5," which made Glory laugh. "You guys, I am not obsessed, honest!" she protested.
But the hook had been set, and soon, I was also getting F1 factoids or news bits in my Instagram and Google Discover feed. I started watching highlights with her, and she would fill me in on the background she had learned from watching Drive to Survive on Netflix.
To her credit, bite-sized bits of real life like this probably helped her maintain her sanity during a grueling prep and study schedule for her nursing licensing exam. She looked at a subscription to F1TV but said she wouldn't consider it until after her NCLEX.
The first race we watched was Singapore in early October, a street circuit. We stayed off the internet for spoilers and watched it with friends who are fans (which was a huge help to us because I still find the strategic elements completely baffling).
Watching the US and Mexico City races live (at a reasonable hour!) was wonderful, Brazil's wet race was terrifying in places, the night race in Las Vegas was a gorgeous spectacle, and I missed Qatar due to a packed Sunday.
With two of the three leading contenders DQ'd in Vegas, today's race in Abu Dhabi meant any one of them could walk away with the big trophy.
Most interesting of all, neither of us had a strong favourite. We both like Lando Norris with McLaren gunning for his first title, but had to give mad respect to Red Bull's Max Verstappen for a comeback that saw him virtually erase a mid-season deficit of nearly 100 points. The other McLaren driver, Australia's Oscar Piastri, had been hobbled by poor outcomes during Verstappen's ascendancy, but was still in the running, and competing against a teammate - all very dramatic.
I think this illustrates how strange F1 is when compared to other sports. Most sports you cheer for a team, and this is true for many fans (especially the tifosi, the Ferrari supporters), but many others cheer for a specific driver they follow from team to team. And remember, there are only ten teams (well, eleven next year), with two drivers each, so you only have to remember about as many names as you would for a single NHL team for the entire 'league', as it were.
I'm there mostly to see how it all turns out, which for me is a very refreshing way to watch any sporting event. I like this Kimi Antonelli kid, a rookie who drives for Mercedes and turned 19 this year, so when he becomes a seasoned contender I will likely be pulling for him, but for right now, I am driven as much by curiosity as I am by fandom.
So I got up at 5 am so I could feed Canéla and make some English muffin eggwiches for Glory and I, and we were settled in to watch the race, live from Saudi Arabia, downstairs at 6am.
Truth be told, it was not that exciting a race; Verstappen took the lead from pole and only relinquished it when he pitted, with Piastri close behind and Norris in third most of the race, which is all he would need in order to win the championship, even if Max took P1.
There was a bit of a nailbiter when it looked like Lando might get penalized for driving out of bounds, the five-second penalty for which might well push him to P4, but it was determined the other driver had forced his hand by changing directions too many times. Mexico City was a far more exciting race that also had some of the best radio chatter I have heard thus far, and we may go back and rewatch it.
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And while there was some tremendous passing in the backfield (and there are ponts to be gained for finishing in the top 10 each race), Verstappen proved impossible to catch in the end. His first place won him the day, but Norris' third place won him the season, and his genuine emotion at having won was a real treat to witness, actually. Brushing tears away from his eyes he told commentator David Coulthard "I look like a loser," to which the 13-time winner replied, "you look like a winner to me!"
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Having enjoyed our quarter-season introduction, I think Glory and I will likely be back following and watching Formula 1 in 2026 as well, as a new team (and first American constructors), Cadillac, enters the fray. Honestly, it is kind of fun being taken along for a ride by her, after doing the same to her many times in her life.
Perhaps when the new season begins in March, I will have gotten tired of repeating her quote about not seeing herself ever being interested in motorsports...but probably not.
