As half a billion racing fans around the world folded up their team flags, packed away their driver’s caps and shirts, flicked off their television sets and tried to come to terms with kicking their fortnightly habit of tuning in to the most widely viewed sporting event on earth, a dedicated team of around ten thousand of the most highly skilled men & women began preparing for some of the toughest times ahead.

It’s the ‘off’ season, but, funnily enough, everyone involved is one hundred percent ‘on it’. Over five bitter-cold months during the harsh winter period, 11 Formula One teams pounded the testing tracks around Europe, the Middle East and Asia, chalking up 174,473 carefully analyzed kilometers, spending more than many small countries earn in a year, developing the fastest racing cars on the planet, all for a show that doesn’t last as long as an in-flight movie.

But what a show it is – 22 of the world’s most talented drivers going wheel to wheel in what is undisputedly the pinnacle of motor racing and technology; accelerating to a hundred miles an hour faster than you just read this sentence; burning up 13,200 liters of hi octane fuel, 88 liters of engine oil and generating over 100 gigabytes of precious data over a 4-day, fuel-injected weekend. All chasing one single silver plate. It’s been hailed as the greatest live spectacle in the world, and it all starts in Melbourne, Australia.

“It’s my favorite track on the calendar.” Honda’s Jenson Button tells me, as he flashes his disarming boy-band grin, framed by an equally pubescent ginger growth on his chin, at a star-struck fan wielding her tiny point & shoot camera at him. “The weather, the street circuit, the people – as a driver, you’re very close to the crowd here and you can really feel their vibe. Australians seem to love their motor sports. And the girls, well…”

And he is absolutely right. You see, unlike the glamorous, historical Monaco Grand Prix, which tears through the narrow, moneyed streets of the British driver’s home in Monte Carlo, Albert Park is a far more accessible place where you needn’t be part of the socially insulated, expensively tanned set just to get the most out of the event. The beauty of the 5.3km street circuit is that there’s affordable access for everyone and the festivities echo throughout every grass hill and grandstand, with enough carnival-type activities like bungee slingshot rides, F1 simulators, vintage and sports car displays, celebrity races, Australian V8 pick up races and spectacular air shows to keep the action on the boil.

A four day pass will cost you 99 Australian dollars and can go as high as $6,000, but rest assured, each seat gives you a great snapshot of why Australians are regarded as the most laid back and sports mad race on God’s green planet.

March, too, is one of the most pleasant months in Melbourne – even though it can usually be as predictable as a rattle snake, sometimes cramming in all four seasons in the same day, it tempers on perfect for most of the weekend. Public transportation is both charming and efficient; the city’s famous historical trams ply most of the tourist areas, and those going to Albert Park are even free of charge as long as you are a Grand Prix ticket holder.

They say that you’ll never forget your first, and as the season opener, Melbourne always delivers more than advertised. It’s a race filled with hope and glory, promise and excitement, laced with all the tangible tension of finally having to back up all that corporate fluff that the team’s PR machinery churned out over the winter break. Nobody can be sure who is where in terms of pace, so until the 5 lights go out and the checkered flag falls on a new winner, its anybody’s guess. And that excitement becomes contagious. And for some, it can be even too much to bear.

Some of the season’s most spectacular 1st lap crashes have happened in Melbourne – and its no coincidence, either, as 22 of the most competitive drivers, held back by 5 months of suspense, try to funnel into one corner, decelerating from over 250 kilometers an hour down to second gear, fueled by roughly 50 liters of hi-octane fuel and about twice as much adrenaline. In 1999 and 2002, only eight out of the twenty drivers completed the race, bringing the 100,000 strong crowd on their feet.

A Grand Prix weekend is one of the most unforgettable experiences any sport fan can treat themselves to. For anyone with more oil than blood in their veins, there’s really nothing better than cracking open an ice cold beer, while soaking up the earth-shattering whine of the most finely tuned racing engines on earth as they drive past you at full song. Its paradise spelt differently. And for the avid traveler, Melbourne cranks it up another notch, earning itself a well-deserved reputation as one of the most vibrant and cosmopolitan cities in the world with a fabulous array of award-winning restaurants, live theatre shows, nightclubs and enough local attractions to keep your heart thumping – both on and off the track.