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Blind Formula 1 Fan Surprised with Two Seater Tour of Circuit de Barcelona

Formula 1, like most racing competitions, is a sport that you either love or you don’t. For some of those who love it, at times passion supersedes all other impairments.
Charaf-Eddin Ait-Tales take a ride in a Formula 1 car 1 photo
Photo: Youtube screenshot/Formula 1
Charaf-Eddin Ait-Tales is a 39-year old man so mesmerized by the sport that he knows literally every corner, bend, and chicane of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, where the Spanish Grand Prix is being held. Ait-Tales is also a big fan of former driver Michael Schumacher.

Unfortunately for the man, when he was 20, at about the same time Schumacher got his leg broken in a crash at the British Grand Prix in 1999, Ait-Tales started to go blind.

The fact that he completely lost his sight in the following years did not stop him from continuing to be a Formula 1 fan. Using abilities only available to those in the same situation, the man seems to have developed a new type of sight, one that, he says, helps him experience the race better than a person with working vision.

Somehow, Formula 1’s Experiences team got hold of Ait-Tales and decided to bring him down to Barcelona for a day at the track. In the video released by Formula 1, Ait-Tales seems convinced he has been summoned there only to give an interview and at times catch an audio glimpse of the cars passing by.

When the presenter tells him he is going to be driven around the track in the two-seater open-wheel car created for the fans, Ait-Tales is completely taken off-guard.

All the things the man said during the interview turn out to be true in the shots showing him while racing around the track. He does know every corner, bend, and chicane of the circuit. Not only that, but he also knows when the car he is riding in passes this or that part of the circuit.

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About the author: Daniel Patrascu
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Daniel loves writing (or so he claims), and he uses this skill to offer readers a "behind the scenes" look at the automotive industry. He also enjoys talking about space exploration and robots, because in his view the only way forward for humanity is away from this planet, in metal bodies.
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