Anyone that knows me is aware that I'm heavily into Formula One. What that really means is that I check the news and rumor sites every day to see the latest news about the teams and drivers. In an effort to explain this obsession, I will bore you with the details of why the sport appeals to me so.

Formula One (F1) is very different from other forms of motor racing, even if it doesn't appear that way to the average person. The cars look very similar to "Indy" cars; they are open wheeled (no fenders) and have "wings" on the front and back of the car. The main difference is that there are 10 distinct teams of two cars, and each team designs and builds its own car and engine. They all have their own wind tunnels and the larger teams have budgets of $300 million or more. What that means is that for the price of running one F1 team, you could run 15 or so Indycar teams. We're talking huge money here.

The reason the teams can afford to spend that much is because F1 is the most watched sport on Earth except for soccer. Advertisers will pay big bucks to be seen, and car manufacturers are willing to buy and operate teams at great expense for the prestige of competing. It's glamorous, it's exotic and it's truly international. There are races all around Europe as well as in the U.S., Canada, Brazil, Japan, Turkey, China and many more countries.

The technology is very impressive. The cars are powered by normally-aspirated (non-turbo) 3.0 litre V-10 engines making over 900 horsepower and revving to 19,000 rpm. The cars are also being tested almost constantly to find even a hundredth of a second on the track. Every little bit of performance counts.

And that's not even the best part. The whole thing plays out like a incredibly dramatic soap opera. Which driver will drive for which team next year? Will Kimi stay at McLaren or bolt to Ferrari when Michael Schumacher quits? Will Jenson drive for Williams or BAR? Will Giancarlo challenge Fernando at Renault? Will Flavio date yet another model? There's gossip, accusations, politics and a lot more. There's news almost every day of the year, even in the winter when there's no racing.

The races, taking place in far off time zones, are on at weird times which can be fun too. Speed TV shows the races here in the US. And if you'd rather sleep, I suggest you buy a Tivo (I can't live now without a DVR).

F1 takes a while to really "get," but it's awfully cool when you do. I hope you'll check it out and maybe someday I'll see you in Monaco.