A supersonic day at the Australian Grand Prix

For a die-hard rally fan, a trip to the Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix was always going to be a day of comparisons.

I admit that I’m not a big F1 fan, and my race viewing normally consists of the start and the opening half a dozen laps, after which the processional nature of the race has me drifting off to sleep.

Race fans may say the same things about rallying. Waiting in the middle of nowhere for a car to arrive, then to wait again until the next one arrives can also be pretty boring if it’s not your thing.

Nevertheless, on the Friday of the GP weekend I bought my general admission ticket and began a day wandering around Albert Park to check out the sights.

I’d been to the track a few times before, and again, the first sight of a Formula 1 car on track leaves you impressed. The speed, the road holding and the commitment of the drivers is truly incredible.

The sound, on the other hand, left a lot to be desired. Granted, the noise has improved since the first year when turbos returned, but it’s really nothing to get excited about.

As the day wore on, and my feet got more tired (8km in a day is a decent effort), it was the off-track entertainment that had me more enthused.

There were 84,000 people at the track on that day, and I think I passed every one of them at some stage.

I’m probably exaggerating, but it seemed that a quarter of them were wearing brand new yellow and black Daniel Ricciardo caps or shirts. At $70 a hat, and from $110 a shirt, the Renault marketing people would have been doing backflips, not to mention rolling in money …..

Car displays from Renault, McLaren, Lamborghini, Mercedes, Porsche and others had the fans drooling over the world’s finest automobiles, while those with simulators or interactive pitstop competitions had lengthy queues.

And all the while, the countless food and beverage stands were doing a roaring trade.

It’s certainly an aspect of circuit racing that rallying simply can’t compete with. A captive audience allows companies and manufacturers to go all out to attract the fans.

It’s also why rallying, at least at the highest level, has employed central service parks in recent years, and while there’s still a long way to go on that front, it’s an opportunity that exists at all levels of the sport.

Rally Australia’s service park experience has improved a lot in recent years, and while it’s nothing compared to either service parks in Europe, or what F1 provides in Melbourne, it’s at least a start.

Back at Albert Park, cars continued to circulate around the track. Porsche Carerra Cup cars, Formula 4s, Supercars, and another F1 practice session.

Yet in all of that, my two highlights of the day – and I’m tipping the highlight for many others as well – had nothing to do with the battle for pole position or a podium place.

The speed comparison test was the first highlight. A Hyundai TCR race car chasing a standard i30 doesn’t sound all that interesting, but when they’re both being chased by the raucously-sounding Minardi double-seater F1 car, it raises the stakes.

I attended the GP when these ear-piercing weapons graced the track, and when ear plugs were as essential as sunscreen in the Australian heat. And by the reaction of the crowd, there’s little doubt that I wasn’t the only one missing something that really was one of Formula 1’s unique selling points.

Even that, however, was eclipsed by the day’s highlight – the incredible F/A-18 Hornet, which did a number of fly-bys over the track during the afternoon.

Motorsport is my passion, but watching a twin-engine, supersonic, all-weather, carrier-capable, multi-role combat jet buzz the crowd at a height of only a hundred metres or more is simply next level.

Everyone at Albert Park was transfixed, their necks craned to the sky, their fingers in their ears and their mouths agape.

As I hit the road for home with tired legs and an empty wallet (no, I didn’t buy Ricciardo merchandise!), I pondered the experience and what it all meant.

Formula 1 has a terrific product, with no expense spared. But if the day’s highlight was a fighter jet flying at supersonic speeds, rather than the action at ground level on the track, you question whether the sport still has hurdles to overcome.

The rule makers are doing their best to increase overtaking and make the racing more exciting, but until those changes result in closer, more enthralling racing, you expect they still have a long way to go.