Like a Roman arena, conflicting speakers - Peter Mandelson, Irvine Welsh, Naomi Klein, Michael O'Leary and Sebastian Barry have already rowed in - are thrown to the pit to try to convince the largely attentive audience of their beliefs.
All of F1's stellar names, such as double world champions Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso, McLaren's Lewis Hamilton and seven-time drivers' championship winner Michael Schumacher, started out on karting tracks.