I’ve never seen race entry queues segregated by gender, and I wouldn’t have thought it was legal unless there was some demonstrable increased threat from men. For that matter, searching every bloke isn’t the most efficient use of resources either, since not all men pose the same risk level, and I can think of some threat markers that would make it more likely. Every time I’ve been to a race track, either nobody was searched (common for events of largely national interest), or some specific criteria that could plausibly be an increased threat marker was used (the one time I got searched in Hungary, I was carrying a backpack near – but within – the capacity limit specified for the track, and the searcher specifically mentioned that as being their cause of concern. It included a “scan” but not a pat-down).

The fact women got in so much quicker demonstrates how far F1 has to go if it is to be an attractive “live” prospect for ladies. That such a queuing system would split families, with the resulting awkwardness involved, is but one factor I’d cite.

The GP3 cars are loud, but the sound is far more pleasant than the F1 cars because it lacks the little bleeps, bloops and staticky cut-off sounds. (And they’re both loud enough for me to need ear defenders regardless…)

Thank you for not collapsing during the race (like I did during mine) and actually being able to confirm that the race itself was a damp squib. It was exciting for me on TV, but that’s because I’m a Force India/Racing Point fan. For anyone not having that undercurrent, this race was over in four corners – even F1’s official review of the race appears to agree, as it squeezes everything that happened after Turn 4 of 988 into just over a minute.

Glad you got to enjoy the track walk, and the museum.