Formula One in 2039

Since my grandma past away two years ago I promised my grandpa that I would visit him at least once a week. He is all by himself and every time I visit him, he tells me stories about the past. Sometimes I have a feeling that he is talking about another planet that he had lived in because it is unbelievable how the technology has developed so fast. Last week I promised to take him to a Formula A-1 race. In his young age he was really into this sport and when we talked about it he told me that the FA1-cars couldn’t fly 20 years ago! I started laughing because it seemed a bit ridiculous. Why should people watch cars just driving in a circle? It didn’t make any sense.

On our way to the flying race circuit, he kept talking about the legends and teams of his time. When we got out of the car, he put on a red cap with a black horse on it. Ferrari, he explained. It was the logo of one of the most successful teams 20 years ago. With a polite nod, we headed to the circuit. After the face scan, we enter the crowd section. I saw him shaking his head and I couldn’t keep myself from asking what was wrong. “In my time, you got a piece of paper and that was the ticket, not our face!” I just patted him on the back and started looking for our seats.

Half an hour later, the cars got into position and the race started. Cars were going up to 400km/h and finding a position to be able to stretch the wings and take off. Grandpa asked me what the rings were there for and while thinking, if he had been living in a cave for decades, I explained it to him: the pilots have to go through these rings which are numbered. Overtaking 200 meters before and 100 meters after the ring is not allowed. Away from the ring they can overtake the competition however they want to: fly over, under, right or left of them.

After 15 minutes, my grandpa looked at me straight-faced and said, “You know son, sometimes sticking to the old and leaving out the new is the best one can do!”