What must it be like for people who don't love sport? It allows us, the followers, to live vicariously through the talents, the victories - and despair. It fires our imagination, makes us jump for joy or - as your columnist did - cry with sorrow when Lewis Hamilton's debut bid for the World Championship slid into the gravel trap at Shanghai in 2007.
At Monaco this year Hamilton caused a stir by saying that perhaps he was being called to see the stewards so frequently because of his color. What makes him special is that he's either black or white, but never gray. He's the antithesis of Nick Heidfeld - the driver now in his second decade in F1 who usually finishes, often in the points - but who you never notice. Or care about.
When Lewis is frustrated we know about it. He makes injudicious comments on live TV, he talks to rival team managers in full view of the paddock - and he's often clumsy on the track. Lewis, Lewis we mutter, shaking our heads with disappointment. Because he makes us care.
And so we're rewarded on days when it works. When circumstances give him the opportunity to show he's the best, Hamilton is an artist with an unmistakable style. Putting his car on the front row of the grid for last weekend's German Grand Prix suggested that McLaren's MP4-26 was working better than expected. But the slightly baffled look on the face of team principal Martin Whitmarsh, plus teammate Jenson Button being over a second slower, confirmed that only Lewis could mix these colours.
His signature move in the race was around the outside of Fernando Alonso as the Ferrari driver came out of the pits for the third and last time as Hamilton taking the lead - and his 16th career victory.
Only third in the end (the fifth time in a row he has failed to convert pole position), Red Bull's Mark Webber had at least led a chunk of the race. By contrast, teammate Sebastian Vettel looked average all weekend.
It is mandatory to use both tire compounds during the race. The harder one appeared much slower in the unseasonably cold conditions so most chose to wait until the very end to swap. Felipe Massa and Vettel took it to extremes, both stopping on the last lap. Red Bull completed the change faster than Ferrari so Vettel, missing the podium for the first time in 13 races, praised his mechanics for helping him take fourth place. Meanwhile, Hamilton choked back the tears of an emotional victory - and we shared his joy.
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