Say goodbye to the days of basic sports and say hello to prestigious car racing because tedious training sessions and running to stay fit are now only for the humble. WCHS has recently announced the addition of Formula 1 (F1) to athletics. The WCHS PTSA and Booster Club have decided that in order to keep up with the surrounding private schools that have invested in F1 teams, WCHS must do the same.
F1 is the top tier of single-seat, open-wheel, open-cockpit professional car racing, as defined in “Formula 1 for Dummies.” Corporate sponsors cover individual cars from their front nose to their rear wing, which helps fund all of the $12 million to $20 million cars. Moreover, pit crews are necessary for tire maintenance throughout races. Since all four tires need to be maintained during the race, pit crews have about 2.5 seconds or less to change all of the wheels. Tryouts for both the driver and pit crew spots are going to be held on April 1 of this year.
“I was shocked when I heard the news that F1 is coming to WCHS,” an anonymous WCHS F1 enthusiast said. “I’ve spent my summers in Monaco training with my buddy Lando Norris, so I know a thing or two about racing. I am going to be trying out for the driver position. I mean, I have been training for it for a while now.”
The meeting between the WCHS PTSA and Booster Club discussed not only the addition of the sport but also the logistics of the new sport. It was decided that as a result of a handful of WCHS students owning an F1-style racing car, WCHS does not need to provide the highly technical cars the sport requires. Instead, they offered to donate brand new uniforms for the team, with a donation to the Booster Club of course.
“I understand why they are not contributing cars to the team, I mean they are slightly expensive and most of us have one anyways,” a second anonymous F1 enthusiast said. “I just wish that they could provide us with one or two spare cars, like loaner ones, in case we forget to bring our car in one day.”
As for the car track, the training circuit will be developed beneath the current stadium. Renovations include moving the field and track up to a second level and replacing the vacant space with cemented roads and barriers for the F1 training course; however, additional parking will not be added. The new alterations are predicted to be completed just in time for tryouts.
“I am not sure how WCHS is going to complete the construction in such a timely manner when the air conditioning units can never seem to get fixed,” the first anonymous F1 enthusiast said. “Sidenote, I fear that because WCHS barely has student parking, the F1 track will become excess parking for students. I would hate to see that happen because it would make practicing very difficult.”
WCHS security has already been notified about the potential of cars being parked on the F1 track and has sent out a statement warning students to avoid parking there, otherwise, they will face ticketing and towing consequences.
“I think overall F1 is a great investment and sport addition for WCHS, and most of the resources needed for the sport are probably sitting in your garage,” the second anonymous F1 enthusiast said. “It seems like only private schools and WCHS have adopted F1 into their school-sponsored athletics, I just do not get why more public schools are not adding it.”
