oldbloke's mutterings

If you don't already have it, by your age, probably not, no.
But consider:
Many people watch soccer. They can apparently appreciate the skills involved by observation. Probably this is due to having spent a fair bit of time kicking a ball about themselves, so that they understand the skillset to some extent. There's also the fact that it's a contest, but that's a given in any sport. I never was any good at kicking balls about, and I don't 'get' soccer. I do drive a fair bit though...

Additionally, don't let F1 be your primary window into motorsport. It's like test match cricket: not much happens, for a long time. You want to start out with "limited overs" stuff like Caterhams or Legends or something, then move up to medium stuff like F Renault and GP2. F1 is rarely about a single race, it's about a whole season. And while the drivers have to be able to work through G forces similar to those experienced by fighter pilots, and carry on Getting It Right while so doing, the technological development race is as much a part of it. So it's hard to get into without actually taking an interest rather than just watching it on the box once a fortnight.

Plus of course when I started watching it, drivers actually were somewhat heroic - the average season saw at least 2 die. You had to respect that. And then once you've sniffed the fuel additives a few times...

Oh and Rossi in MotoGP (bikes) is just stunning.
Go to the Scarborough track sometime there's bike racing on, you can get scary close at some points and it's amazing.