Wet race

August, last week of the school summer holidays and the weather turns nasty. Torrential rain and temperatures that feel distinctly autumnal.

I was out driving today when I encountered the rain band that was sweeping the country. It started mildly enough but the skies darkened and the the heavens opened in such a fury that I half expected to see Noah in a nearby field loading his boat; at least that would explain the recent lion sightings.

As the rain fell my wipers were on full and the visibility got worse. All the traffic slowed to a crawl, large puddles appeared that were impossible to avoid and I realised what it must be like for a F1 driver driving a wet race.

Obviously there are a number of differences, one I was driving a car with a roof and sides so I personally was not exposed to the weather. My air conditioning was keeping the windscreen from misting up and I wasn't attempting to overtake whilst travelling at up to 180mph.

But the water being thrown up by the petrol tanker in front of me plus the limited visibility of the road conditions certainly provided me with some appreciation of what those drivers do.

More fool them, but I can see the excitement...

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