wanna911

I mean the paid ones, with manufacturers and team bosses looking over their shoulders.

Or is it like other professional sports where it becomes more work than fun??? I was wondering the other day what it would be like and I couldn't get past thinking all the fun would be sapped out of it by politics and media, and nonsense.

Obviously there is more pressure when sponsors are on the line, but does anyone truly have fun doing it?

Opinions.

007DT

You know it!!

RolexNJ

Shake, and....... Bake!!!!

JackOlsen

Getting paid to do something you love always cuts some of the fun out of it. (You have to do it on the days you'd rather be doing something else. You've got to take the input from your employers on how to do it. You start to associate the activity with putting food on the table, and there are some ways you might want to do it, sometimes, that are going to cut into that food supply.)

Still, a competition is a competition. I'm sure pros get caught up in the thrill of it at least some of the time.

jenk12m

haha, Magic man!!

im sure its more pressure when your N. heifield and your job is on the line when your teammate kubica is constantly finishing better than you.

JackOlsen

True. Nobody ever gets fired from their hobby.

Rassel

The challenges off the track can sometimes be overwhelming.

As a pro you have to finance your personal life as well as your career. This is a never ending headache. Endless amount of careers have ended in an Armco or with lack of sponsors. Getting another chance is always a gamble and there are endless amount of race drivers who are standing in line to replace you. I don't think it comes as a surprise to anyone when I say that you not only need talent, skills and education, but you also need funding.

The factory driver contract is from many aspects somewhat of a dream. How many can pay and drive a LMP1 car from their own pocket?

Veloce Raptor

Dez, I suspect it is like any other group of professional athletes: it remains fun for some, and for others it is just what they do for a living.







Professional Racing and Driving Coach

multi21

Everyone is different, but let's take Kimi as an example. I would tend to believe he doesn't like to be in meetings debriefing about this and that, traveling to test sessions, going to bed early, etc. etc. He's talked about retiring, etc. etc. So for him, I think it's certainly a job...... a job he can't quit because of the $20,000,000 he gets paid per year to drive.

But what does he do in the off season? He's driving rally, snowmobile racing and so on. He loves the racing. Everything else is noise to Kimi.

On the reverse side, I think someone like Senna probably couldn't even imagine life without racing. Schumacher was also the same way and had a hard time when not racing and appears to still be finding himself outside of pro racing. He clearly appeared to have fun.

Most certainly the business aspect is not fun. Michael Jordan said that the only time he felt calm and at peace was when he was on the basketball court. The moment he stepped off the court, he was being pushed and pulled in every direction from media, sponsor obligations, team management, family, friends, business associates, etc.

jrotsaert

I think that the fun is AFTER the fact. The fun comes from reliving the moments but seldom on the spot. If you're having to keep on the black stuff, talk to someone on the radio, change the fuel to reserve, block someone from passing you... in the rain... I doubt that on the moment you would qualify it as fun.
After, reliving it, is probably where the fun comes. I was a tennis player and hated the pain of practicing really hard but loved competing, AFTER the facts. On the court, it was really work - and how much I got paid to do it, was never a consideration - until it was enough to buy my first carrera at 18

A.Wayne

iLLM3

Exactamundo!

DarkSideDE

I don't know how many of you have gone to Concours and sat through the dinner while the guest speaker is trying to address his/her audience. Personally, I've enjoyed listening to Bobby Rahal, Brian Redman, Lyn St. James etc. and hear the enthusiasm in their voices about days gone by.

Is it still that type of racing today? I don't know - but the racers all tend to end up in the same bar at night and swap stories.

I think the ones that are in it for the love of it - are going to have a great time no matter the ups and downs. Oh, but then there's Danica.

schwank

If Danica can't have fun going up and down, she has more problems than just racing

I bet a few here would try and induce her to have fun in such a manner!

wanna911

Reason I ask is that I don't know many guys in any other professional sport that would spend 10's or 100's of thousands a year for limited time to play that sport.

You say, "well that's because you can get a pickup game anywhere", well I say you can go on a scenic mountain drive with friends anywhere, but this racing seems like something that no matter what, the fun could not be sapped out of it.

Maybe it's just me, but the obsession with racing seems to run deeper than even some other forms of sport activities. I mean look at motorcycle racing, karting, boat racing, drag racing and all the money blown each year just to beat the guy next to you. I don't think there would be that same type of commitment (especially since it's more physically taxing).

How many people blow millions every year just to race, and could care less that they are blowing millions with a racing team as long as they can race. And who here wouldn't do the same given the opportunity?