TrackdayRSA.

http://www.kineticracing.net/mediapo...THE_DRIVER.pdf

ProCoach

"The air is very thin at that level..."

Great article, from one who has been there.

LuigiVampa

Good article with great insights.

<The lawyer in me wants to fix all the spelling and punctuation mistakes!>

Manifold

Good article, though IMO Lewis' superiority as a driver is overstated, and not enough credit is given to the superiority of the car. Nico won fair and square, and Lewis wouldn't have been competitive in any of the slower cars.

multi21

I agree that Hamilton's superiority is overstated as he's always been in a competitive car since his rookie year, if not THE best car on grid, however, I don't think anyone would disagree that Hamilton is a better racer than Nico. Certainly the car is the key and there's no way Hamilton could have beat Nico in a Red Bull or Ferrari. In the same car, it took all Nico could muster to beat Hamilton, but in the same car, I don't give the edge to Hamilton if he had to go up against Alonso, Vettel, Ricciardo or Verstappen. I don't know if I even give Hamilton an EVEN chance against that foursome of drivers.

The fact that Mercedes switched the mechanics team to the other side of the garage is very telling as well -- Hamilton could not win a WDC without the superior Merc AND without that specific team of mechanics! That's telling in and of itself and guaranteed that he will get that set of Mechanics back on his side of the garage regardless of who he's paired with.

From a psychological standpoint, Damon Hill is correct when he described his struggle against Schumi. A great driver EXPECTS to beat you every single time where a lesser driver, albeit world champion, is not sure if he can beat another driver of great skill. I think that's where Nico's mind was against Hamilton. Guaranteed that mindset does not exist in Alonso, Vettel, Ricciardo or Verstappen, regardless of the fact that the two younger drivers have never won a title. It's in their DNA.

BTW, it was announced today that Carl Edwards will not race with the Joe Gibbs Racing team in NASCAR this year for an undisclosed reason.... Prime of his career with a top team...

ProCoach

Sorry to hear about Carl, saw that earlier today. Unclear whether temporary or permanent. He's become more frustrated the last few years. Drivers at the top level reach a tipping point, which I suppose is the crux of Damon's commentary.

wanna911

Lewis' superiority is not understated as it's clear this comparison is only between Lewis and Nico in Mercedes. It's also clear that short of a nearly perfect mechanical year vs Lewis' slew of problems, Nico still had no chance. It's clear to anyone not looking to see otherwise that Lewis is the better driver. His mechanics left, engines problems, all of a sudden, for nearly half the season and after almost 10 years in F1, he couldn't get his car off the line at the start of the race. All of this is not coincidence and somehow Nico found the gumption to actually be better than Lewis over the course of a season.

Points Spread Rosberg vs Hamilton 2013-2015

2013 - 18
2014 - 67
2015 - 59 (with Lewis on vacation the last few races)

Not even close. Especially considering even a bad day is usually 2nd place in the Merc.

gbuff

He's 37 y.o. which is not by any means old for NASCAR so that wouldn't keep him from a return if he so chooses....he was one of the first to embrace fitness as being necessary (along with talent, obviously) to be a top driver. He's extremely marketable and I think he'll do well if the sabbatical is permanent.

As for Lewis, he's supremely talented but he's such a head case you wonder if his talent is being compromised. Seeing this in other sports as well (i.e. OBJ/NY Giants and others).......

Gary

multi21

I don't think could find anyone to say that Nico is a better driver/racer than Nico, even with the title won by Nico. It's also no secret that Nico had the majority of the mechanical problems in the years prior to this one and, as luck sometimes shifts in racing, Lewis had his share this year.

I think Lewis' case as a superior driver would have been even more bolstered if he had managed to win the WDC with a different mechanical crew. With the way things went the past 3 years, the variable of the mechanical crew is perhaps more important to winning the WDC than the driver was as they "perhaps" had a hand in the reliability of the particular car in their charge.

I think your point of Lewis not getting his car off the line after 10 years in F1 is moot as the rules were changed this year and the driver had to find his own bite point for the clutch with no assistance from the pit lane. Lewis wasn't able to adjust his settings as optimally as several of the other drivers on the grid, not just rosberg.

ProCoach

OpieT

Sincerely interesting read, very well written. I can't fathom the pressure and head games. I often think Lewis is a powder keg and, some days, his own worst enemy. Nico was searching for redemption, he found it and tapped out. Hmmmm...so much to know, so much will be unknown. Hell, I don't know anything, just an enthusiastic fan, but I now for one thing that I can't wait for the books!!

StoogeMoe

I can't even begin to comprehend what it would be like to race in F1, but I thought it was strange that Nico HATED those final laps at Abu Dhabi where he was being backed up to Vettel. He didn't like the pressure. Same with Damon mentioning that he didn't like his intense fight with Schumacher at Suzuka.

I find great satisfaction at racing under high pressure cooker situations. The more intense the better! I get a great sense of accomplishment racing against the best. That's what makes me come back for more. Who wants to win a race by 30 seconds? It's much more satisfying to win by 0.1 seconds or making the pass for the win on the last lap. Confused.

brake dust

great article - thanks for posting!

ProCoach

The following observation is not personal, it's global.

It's true. You can't conceive of how difficult, invasive, intense and all-consuming F1 is, let alone top level professional racing. Nico hated those final laps because they were a distillation of the culture, a microcosm of his life and likely indicative of his future, and he didn't need it.

He couldn't summon for another year, after more than two decades, the incredible, focus, concentration and commitment to do it again. Same with Carl Edwards. They both did what they felt they needed to do, what they were COMPELLED to do. And viewed on balance the specter of MORE? They were done...

Don't confuse the thrill and competitive juice that one gets from a pleasant dice with one or more fellow club racers with the grind and pressure that has existed 24/7 nearly all of Nico's (and Damon's and Carl's) life, in the public eye and much more often, out of it. Club racers choose this pastime as a release, he (and they) did it because of expectations, a path (they) picked early on to the exclusion of ALL else and because of an internal flame that can (and eventually does) go out. It's a JOB, in the end.

The fact is that one can more easily enjoy this because one has the freedom to choose this as an avocation I see parallels in a lot of ex-corporate folks who form or buy a prep shop or race team because they have "so much fun" at their hobby, driving and club racing at the track infrequently, and feel "they can do this better themselves."

They find out soon enough that what we enjoy as an avocation can easily (and often does) turn into a heavy yoke around our necks when we (attempt) to turn it into a vocation.

There's a huge difference between choice and compulsion, that's all. We can always walk away from a choice, why is anyone surprised when another walks away from their compulsion?

Manifold

^ To reinforce the above, while there are certainly people who are exceptions to the rule, I commonly see people having less fun when their hobbies become their jobs.

It's generally not the same when you have to market yourself on a regular basis, deal with expectations and scrutiny of others, feel pressure of having to earn a sufficient income to meet financial needs, work longer hours than desired with a long-term commitment in order to be competitive, work with people you may not enjoy working with and deal with the associated politics, be in places you don't want to be, take a lot of time away from family and personal interests, take on liability risks, etc.

I have my hobbies and my work, and where I have some overlap, that 'hobby work' is meant to supplement my regular hobbies and work, rather than replace them.