Formula One Grand Prix 2000 - the year in pictures.

       In a world filled with the sound of screeching tyres, the stench of burning rubber, and the scream of high-powered engines, live an insane breed of men who play out a game of speed or death. In their high-octane quest for glory, they attain speeds that thrill, speeds that kill, and a high no other stimulant can produce. These are men who, on track after track around the world, wait at the start of every race, with ice flowing in their veins, with every nerve taut and with every sense finely honed to a razor's edge. These are men who hit the road with adrenaline pumping overtime, hands blazing through gearshifts and making split second decisions as they go along. Relying on judgment where the margin for error is zero, and knowing that a lapse of concentration could prove fatal, they speed around the tracks, lap after lap, aware that the slightest mistake could send man and machine careening wildly out of control in a messy blaze of high-octane fuel and tangled steel. These are men who create legends on tracks around the world leaving in their wake trails of spent fuel, spilt champagne and bruised egos. These are men whose personal demons drive them relentlessly in pursuit of the ultimate trophy in motor car racing - the Formula One World Championship. And the world they live in is the world of Formula One racing, which is by far the fastest, the most dangerous, and also the most glamorous sport in the world today.

Text: Mahesh Patwardhan

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