The best job in the world

Here I am drinking coffee and reading the Saturday paper that tells me Lewis Hamilton is fastest in qualifying for the grand prix.  Nothing unusual in that except I am watching the qualifying for the grand prix – and Hamilton is already out apparently.  Once again I find myself completely baffled by motor racing and its complicated way of doing things.

But one thing is for sure.  The baby-faced BBC presenter and his two mates must have the best jobs in the world.  All they seem to do is travel the globe and talk about something they are passionately interested in.  It would help if the rest of us were remotely interested – but you can tell that the sheer tedium of F1 as a spectator sport hardly matters one iota.

Last week they were in some pile of sand in the gulf – the week before Australia.  And this time it seems to be Malaysia – although it looks for the entire world like the M25 on a damp bank holiday weekend.  Throw in all the first class travel, the glamour that attaches itself to F1 like a leech – and the largely exotic locations and it does seem a good way to make a living.

The only tricky bit is making the spectacle itself interesting.  But that does not seem to matter too much.  Especially as the personable young man’s sidekicks are essentially garrulous and entertaining.  As former grand prix heavyweights they seem to have ready access to anyone and everything too – though this might be good PR at work.  You can’t imagine the BBC being given such access to the permanently furious, gum-chewing world of Alex Ferguson for example.

As I write this, the BBC is actually broadcasting rain live from Malaysia.  And we are talking about a red flag.  Some time soon we’ll be hypothesising if dark clouds mean more rain is on the way.  And I rather suspect it does.  All in all the BBC’s idea of broadcasting tedious practice for a tedious event is looking somewhat tedious.