Comments on 'What Makes an F1 Driver?' on F1 Insight

Comment by marc

10/04/2009 21:26:18

I think you may have forgotten the all important factor of luck. If 90% of success is just showing up, the other 10% is luck. Good and bad days are what happen when you are there; success and advancement rely on being there when the opportunity arrives. There are countless deserving drivers who have tried to enter the ranks of F1 but never got the chance because lady luck was looking elsewhere. I am also sure that there are stories of drivers who could have gone to F1 but missed their chance because they failed to be in the right place when they needed to be. David Coulthard strikes me as a person who always shows up and does the job. I am sure I have seen some of his good and bad days. Mark Weber is another who always shows up for the roll call (even when he has a stomach virus). I don't mean to take away from the skill or courage or stamina that any of these guys must have in order to do what they do. My point is that beyond not blinking, these guys always show up to do the job, and all share a bit of what lady luck has doled out. Some got more of what she was offering (Nelson Piquet Jr. vs Mark Weber), but I think it takes more luck to get the opportunity to run at the back of the pack in F1 than the luck it takes to be successful at business, to have a good marriage or to race carts on the weekend.

Comment by Steven Roy

11/04/2009 02:19:28

Mansell's fuel incident was on his debut in F1 at the Oesterreichring. Insane as it sounds now team routinely topped up fuel on the grid. This was done by sticking a funnel in the top of the fuel tank where the role hoop is. A mechanic then lifted and poured the fuel into the funnel often as in this case with the driver in situ. In this case they over-filled the tank and the excess ran down Mansell's back. With no time to resolve the problem before the start Mansell elected to race with his back suffering from chemical and friction burns as he moved around in his seat. In the end he retired after 40 of the 54 laps due to an engine problem. Mansell's drama queen antics later in his career used to wind me up because he was incredibly brave having survived incidents like this and a broken neck in Formula Ford.

Comment by Clive

11/04/2009 15:38:52

Marc: Quite right - I should have mentioned luck as being a valuable commodity to an F1 driver. I have written before about the influence of luck in a driver's career and I think that, in some cases, it can be the difference between a driver becoming champion and never making it. As for showing up, Raikkonen has demonstrated for us lately what happens when a driver doesn't bother to. That seems fairly rare, however, and is probably the result of Kimi's withdrawn personality.

Comment by Clive

11/04/2009 15:43:05

Steven: Thanks for supplying the extra detail on Mansell; my memory is not what it once was, I'm afraid! But you remind me that there was a time when I actually liked Mansell (and it probably had a lot to do with that fuel incident). Over the years he gradually alienated me with his overinflated view of his own talents and constant excuses. By the time he broke through to become champion, I couldn't stand the guy!

Comment by Pink Peril

13/04/2009 00:36:55

Really? Mansell broke his neck? To recover from that is impressive. To then continue with a motorsport career is even more so.

Comment by Steven Roy

13/04/2009 18:05:30

I can't remember the full story but he had a mega Formula Ford season winning something like 32 out of 40 races and near the end of the season he had an accident that resulted in a broken neck. He was told that it would mean months without moving and he would probably never drive again. He was also told that if he did not spend months immobile there was a risk that he would be paralysed from the neck down. He signed himself out of hospital and went straight back to racing. Fortunately he only suffered paralysis from the neck up.

Comment by Clive

14/04/2009 21:35:35

Mansell was either the bravest driver ever or the most foolhardy...

Comment by Moe

28/04/2009 01:04:34

Clive, Sorry to respond to this so late, but I though I would share this with you. I don't know if you have seen it or not, but there is a Documentary Called "Speed" made my Jeremy Clarkson. in the second part of the documentary, he talks about the characteristics of F1 driver's. He interviewed Schumacher, it turned out that F1 drivers are hard to get excited. In addition, there are very good at multitasking. By the way, I really admire your insights, and I am a long time silent reader for your blog. Thank you.

Comment by Clive

28/04/2009 15:26:30

Thank you, Moe - it is always good to be appreciated. Interesting point about the cool heads of F1 drivers - one can see how that would serve them well in the thick of a race. Multitasking, of course, must be absolutely necessary with modern steering wheels, littered with buttons as they are!

Comment by Ayame

16/06/2010 04:00:35

Heya, I stumbled upon ur blog looking for Clarkson's documentary and saw that you mentioned a slow blink rate. Check out this video of Kimi Raikkonen from way back when: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccgYY1fP3ao He blinks really, really rarely lol.

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