Facing a major lull on the US sport calendar (unless of course your team is still in the NBA or NHL playoffs or you can stomach early season baseball), there’s no better time than now for sports fans to attempt Formula 1. The season is in full swing, races at this point of the season are easier to catch live in US time zones, and NBCSN is throwing a ton of promotional weight behind it.

I wrote a post on Quora a few years back helping to point folks in the right direction to become conversant in F1, but it wasn’t really geared towards using the season itself as a guide. Armed only with a basic cable subscription and a DVR, what’s the best way to get folks into F1 over the next couple of races?

The strategy below is an homage to the Star Wars Machete Order, which attempts to introduce new folks to the films with as little disappointment as possible. Similarly, the goal here is to keep the aggregate viewing time down, eliminate “nuance” that would be boring/overkill to new recruits, and maximize likelihood of appreciation and long-term engagement in the sport.

Monaco: DVR qualifying, DVR/Live first 15 laps of race (unless it’s wet conditions, then watch the whole thing).

The goal here is to set folks up to witness F1 at its most extravagant for less than a 2 hour commitment. Qualifying at Monaco is super exciting given 1) the circuit’s very low margin for error and 2) a need to place at the front of the grid given the difficulty of overtaking during the race. With the amount of torque being put out by the new power units this year, I’d expect some serious risk/reward behavior, particularly in Q2 and Q3. The race itself has typically been a processional, but the first few laps are usually chaos worth watching. There is a chance the end could get interesting, but I’d rather not risk losing new fans in mid-race boredom.

Canada: Read James Allen Form Guide, DVR qualifying, Live race for first 20 laps or lead pit stop, DVR skip to yellows and last 10 laps.

Now on to a real race. Some great overtaking opportunities and those with superior speed flat out will take advantage of the one-and-a-half main straights, though there is some concern that the teams out front will run away with it. While not to the same level as Monaco, qualifying is usually a great spectacle here, JA’s guide will help get folks acclimated to the big stories of the weekend and preliminary tyre strategies. The mid part of this race can have a few battles but typically the strategies will manifest late. I’d advise folks to skip out after the lead teams come in to the pits (note first mid-race pit stop viewing for new folks) and then go enjoy the rest of their Sunday. Once resumed, start fast forwarding but keep an eye on the top of the screen to turn yellow for any major trouble spots, and then let the last 10 laps play out.

Austria: Read James Allen Form Guide, DVR free practice 2, DVR qualifying, live race for first 10 laps, DVR skip to yellows, watch last 10 laps.

This is the Red Bull Ring’s first appearance on the F1 calendar in a long time, so there’s some great interest in seeing how teams perform given their lack of performance familiarity. FP2 will make for great background viewing (making dinner, cleaning the house, catching up on email, etc.) Teams will struggle a bit trying to figure out what works best, and it’s a good opportunity to learn a bit more about what each team is trying to improve. Qualifying again should be a great show, but the race won’t likely add anything new to new viewers. First ten laps will at least set the general order, then again, go enjoy your Sunday and check back in for any missed action and the last ten laps.

Britain: Read James Allen Form Guide, DVR qualifying, Live race.

Like North Carolina is to NASCAR, this is the home race for more than half of the grid. It should also be a good testing point to see if new fans have enough interest in a full race distance, and as an 8a EST start, definitely doable without ruining the entire Sunday.

So there you have it. By following this you’ll have some overall exposure to a full race distance, team storylines, and hopefully, a new favorite pastime. Look forward to hearing what my fellow F1 friends think, and do let me know if you end up giving it a go.