Why have we become so obsessed with World Champions?
Every year, the speculation starts earlier. At this rate we will soon be predicting who the World Champion will be next year.
Media coverage of Grand Prix racing in particular is constantly speculating on who will be the World Champion and if not, why not? Just a few weeks ago it was Fernando Alonso who was on his way to winning his first title for Scuderia Ferrari. Now, suddenly it’s between Alonso and Sebastian Vettel. Or will it be long shot Kimi Räikkönen, without winning a single race thus far?
We have no idea who it will be. And why does it matter so much? Stirling Moss was never a Formula 1 World Champion, nor was Gilles Villeneuve. And it was only in 1950 that we started to worry about World Champions. Many great drivers won many great races before 1950 and have their place in the history books for doing so.
And more importantly, some World Champions won precious few races in their triumphant year. Keke Rosberg is an obvious example, and there are others. Just as some drivers have won Grands Prix, been feted as the “next big thing” and then faded into the “best of the rest”. A great racing driver is a great racing driver, champion or not.
From here on in until the end of this season we will be swamped with new predictions as each race unfolds. When Vettel wins, he is the favourite, when Alonso wins, he is the favourite. But we have no idea what will happen in the next four Grands Prix and that’s partly why it’s so exciting. Sport relies on the unexpected for its thrills, the unpredictable.
Asked who would win the 2012 title Mr Ecclestone responded thus: “ Well, I expect it will be the driver with the most points at the end of the year.” Precisely so. You don’t know, and I don’t know, who will eventually prevail and who will find themselves with the best car as we go into the final few races. And there is the element of luck, the thrill of the unforeseen, like a red card in football, or even a flooded pitch if you’re English, and in our sport there is the dreaded stupid accident. As we have seen, twice, with Alonso.
Whatever happens, it will be close, as it has been all year. Formula One is as much about the “development race” as the race on the track. Red Bull Racing is good at this, because Adrian Newey is an exceptionally clever bloke, and so are McLaren, but only sporadically. The cars are hugely complicated, the tyres horribly unpredictable from track to track, from day to day, so the wind tunnel is not always reliable. Ask Ferrari, who have lagged behind in recent weeks. But I’m not making any predictions for all the reasons explained above.
Let us just enjoy what is turning out to be a great period of Grand Prix racing, with an unusually talented group of drivers at the head of the field, all of whom have already been World Champion.
May the best man, and the best team, win. But as Bernie so succinctly pointed out, the mathematics are simple, and there for all to see.
A great racing driver is a great racing driver, champion or not.”
True, but not according to Motorsport dinnerdate, rent-a-quote Jackie Stewart. He thinks Vettel is not a great just yet. :)
I think Gilles Villeneuve had the more appealing approach. Each race is of extreme importance, and winning more races in a season is of greater merit than winning the Championship with just a few races. But that was back when there were fewer events on the Grand Prix (when it was still actually Grand Prix racing) calendar, and they were indeed more special.
How about: one point for a win?
Er, that’s it.
“Every year, the speculation starts earlier. ”
Wasn’t this the publication the one that “called it” and declared Button 2012 World Champion after Australia?
Vettel, good, but not great. Schumacher, great, but not good.
Good point Rob,
The prospective champion is only one of the many points of interest for a Formula 1 ‘tragic’ (for me at least). It’s the theatre, the technology, the human and technical competition, the politics, the global mix of locations and nationalities, the history, the noise, speed…………..and so on.
I agree completely with the comments from John Read preceding me. F1 is about many things, and the true fan follows all. It’s the technology, it’s the drama … a very multi-faceted sport. While cynics endlessly complain (& we all know F1 can and should improve) it remains the one form of motor racing that truly “counts.” Which is why Motorsport magazine exists, and why us passionate fans make all these comments.
World Champion? It’s a goal, it’s a part of human nature. Is there anyone out there who doesn’t have a goal of some kind? I think not…
Good article for provoking thought, which is never a bad thing.
I don’t follow any media coverage, just watch the races. In the US, that’s pretty much gthe extent of my options.
The World Driving Championship is obviously important, but I agree that it’s the racing moments and not the rubrics that matter – just revisited this evening on Youtube the 1981 German GP duel between Prost and Jones. Just wow.
If there wasn’t a title chase, there wouldn’t be the mounting interest and tension, either – the increasing pressure on the drivers and teams, the increasing importance of mistakes. Would Schumacher have made those moves against Hill and Villeneuve if there had not been a title at stake? Would Reutemann have melted down at his moment of truth?
To some extent, the championship is the spice that flavors the dish. It influences decisions, is the crucible in which talent is tempered, and it reveals character. Maybe too much emphasis is placed on it, but without it, the urgency wouldn’t be there as the season moved to it’s culmination – it is the yardstick that allows certain aspects of driving to rise to the surface, beyond sheer talent.
Reutemann didn’t “melt down” at the 1981 WDC decider at Las Vegas, it was Piquet instead, for whom the pressure for not losing that second chance in a row was overwhelming.
Reutemann had to struggle with a faulty car since the race start, but he had really “melted down” if he had put Piquet on the wall, betraying himself.
Whatever the WDC title contenders be at the end of this season, we can be sure all of them will have superb cars to deal with that.
Some thing have changed for good in F1…
Rob, I agree. The best man doesn’t always win. I mean we nearly had Eddie Irvine as World Champ in 1999 didn’t we?
We do have a real depth of talent that we’ve not seen for very long time……the cars are all very reliable, but are similar and these drivers can drive them all day long.
I want to watch a grand prix, and be blown away by these drivers and cars……..but unfortunately I’m not. If you have the money us mere mortals can buy cars for the road that are as powerful as current formula one cars
In the 80′s, in the turbo era, cars had up to 1400 bhp, with no electronics to smooth out the power delivery….that was down to the driver.
Todays drivers to my mind are not tested to the same extent….every ex F1 driver that drives a modern day car says how refined it is, and how much easier it is to drive.
Lewis Hamilton has gone the other way and driven Senna’s 1200bhp McLaren MP4/4 and said he couldn’t imagine driving a car like that in anger…….
Hamilton is a driver that would relish such a challenge. The other top drivers would as well, but it would be a far greater challenge than they currently have, and would separate the truly great from the merely great.
These cars need another 400bhp to make F1 the spectacle it should be, for it to be truly the pinnacle of motorsport.