Know It All

He's got an answer for everything, week 31

How does Formula 1 actually make any money? Looks like they're just tossing it away to me.
The main sources of revenue for Formula One are broadcasting deals, advertising and sponsorship. Formula One racing has an estimated global viewing audience of over 500 million, which means television companies are willing to pay huge amounts of money to the Formula One Group for broadcasting rights. Naturally, having such a large TV audience also attracts lucrative advertising deals on the cars themselves and on the circuits.
Even though the biggest teams like Toyota and Ferrari can spend over 0 million a season, they can actually make a profit when given their share of the broadcasting/advertising revenue. Sponsorship also helps cover the team costs, for example, Vodafone sponsor McLaren Mercedes for million a year. Just enough for Jenson Button’s yacht mooring fees.


Does Nigel Mansell actually need a passport? I saw him in a hotel once and he said he didn't. What kind of people don't need passports, are there any?
Nigel Mansell would need a passport if he wished to travel abroad. Considering his chosen career is an international racing driver, it is safe to say Nigel has a heavily stamped passport. The only people who can get away with not having a passport when travelling internationally are those people who have passports containing official statements saying they are issued in their name, i.e. The Queen. British passports are issued in the name of the Queen, so she doesn’t need one. However, other members of the royal family do require a passport. On a side note, when Nigel Mansell gets pulled over for speeding does he get annoyed when the police officer says “who do you think you are pal? Jackie Stewart?”


If I put drugs up my bottom on a plane journey will I get caught? If so, how?
Putting drugs up your bottom on a plane journey is not a sure-fire way of getting illegal narcotics past the ever vigilant staff at airport security. There are several ways you could get caught. Airport security staff are taught how to pinpoint likely traffickers, generally single men of a certain age travelling alone. Another way drug mules are caught is by cavity search, a procedure involving a suspicious security person and either a torch for a visual search, or fingers and latex gloves for a manual search.
Another way people have been caught with drugs up their bottoms, or in other parts of the body, has been through ruptures in the containers of the drugs. This could be something like a condom filled with heroin bursting in the trafficker’s stomach, which would lead to an emergency medical situation. Finally, there are X-ray machines, which can show foreign items inserted into rectums that shouldn’t be there. X-ray machines and body scanners are used at airports in the Netherlands, USA, Canada, UK, Singapore and Hong Kong. Finally, if you have drugs inserted up your bottom and they start passing into the blood stream all airport security have to do is collar the guy acting like Russell Brand at a bikini competition in the Playboy mansion.


How do sports get the go-ahead to be in the Olympics? What’s the criteria/process?
The IOC Olympic Programme Commission recommends sports for inclusion in future Olympic Games and this is then followed by a round of voting by the IOC membership. The program of sports for an Olympic Games is selected by the IOC; general criteria include whether the sport is widely practiced around the world, whether it has an effective governing body and if it will have a broad appeal. IOC members vote on which sports should be included; naturally they want people to watch the games, which then attracts advertisers. So you will see football, athletics and swimming but it is unlikely you will ever see cheese rolling, caber tossing or Morris dancing (although ballroom dancing is an IOC recognised sport). Sadly it is unlikely the IOC will ever take that extra step with beach volleyball and finally approve topless beach volleyball.

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