Lights Out Weekly

Punch. Counterpunch. The heavyweight title fight unfolding between Sir Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen is shaping up to be one of the most fascinating and gripping pieces of theatre Formula One has ever produced. It is the illustrious old guard versus the hungry, young superstar. It is the seven-time world champion's clench on the heartbeat of a sport versus the future's obsessive urge to release such a death grip. Fittingly, it is also, unequivocally, the two best drivers in the sport. Power and politics have long clouded the debate on who truly deserves to compete on motorsport's most prestigious stage, sponsors, far more often than skill, dictating which Daddy's boys get a handful of the mere 20 seats available. Furthermore, a severe imbalance of wealth between teams regularly denies fans an answer to the question: with equal opportunity, who would actually win? This year's title fight breaks free from that struggle for clarity. Hamilton and Verstappen, revered...

2020 AUSTRIAN GRAND PRIX -- 5 July, Red Bull Ring "Scenario 7. Scenario 7. Two to go." They say you never forget your first time. Eleven of 20 drivers were left on track at this point -- which feels pretty spectacular in and of itself, and Lando Norris was the only one we cared about. I didn't know anything about any of them, and I certainly didn't know what was happening. Lewis Hamilton, king of Formula 1, had a penalty. And Lando was close. It wasn't clear what Scenario 7 was, or what overtake did, or how Lando could possibly make up the gap that would see him on an F1 podium for the first time. As a complete novice, despite my lack of clarity on what's happening, I was absolutely transfixed.  And that's how I fell in love with Formula 1. For starters, it's really easy to root for a single person with a single goal. It sounds like it'd be fun to see someone come from behind and usurp the best, so I wanted it to happen. But as a NASCAR kid, I had ...

Five days following the Bahrain Grand Prix, I'm finally ready to speak publicly. This, of course, is against the advice of my lawyers and family. They believe I'm "not thinking straight," "too caught up in the emotion of the sport" and "please stop sending me extensive breakdowns of the Verstappen vs. Hamilton Turn 4 incident I am on a very important work call." It's true, I have been a basket case since Sunday. I'll admit it. I'm still grappling with mixed feelings: deeply mourning Max's loss, while also in awe of the spectacular opening race we witnessed. Storylines were aplenty heading into the weekend with so many new faces and teams, each session conjured up equal parts excitement, surprise and intrigue, and for the race on Sunday, overtakes were nearly as frequent as human rights violations by the local government. While Bahrain is definitely in the top 195 countries in the world, its race track is part of a much more illustri...