A feast for the senses

Sunday's Australian Grand Prix was exciting - as was Bahrain two weeks before and almost every F1 race in the past. But to appreciate this you need to understand what is going on.

Very few have experienced a car with over six times the power of a taxi but half its weight - generating five times the force of gravity under braking. Some have heard the ear-splitting noise of engines at 18,000 revs per minute (three times the maximum of that taxi), the smell of tires running at over 100 degrees centigrade and the glow of brakes at 800 degrees.

Those in Britain watching the BBC received more than four hours of coverage delivered by a team of four professional broadcasters, two retired drivers and a former team owner. An increasing number now log on to formula1.com . The live timing data shows who is catching who and on what part of the circuit they are stronger. And sniffpetrol.com's irreverent Twitter provides a different slant with comments like this one in response to Lewis Hamilton complaining on the team radio about his pit stop strategy: "Hark at Moany McMoanerson there ..."