{"id":18365,"date":"2014-07-07T18:46:48","date_gmt":"2014-07-07T17:46:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/issue_content\/nigerl\/"},"modified":"2020-12-04T10:46:24","modified_gmt":"2020-12-04T10:46:24","slug":"nigel-roebuck-18","status":"publish","type":"issue_content","link":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/archive\/article\/june-2010\/14\/nigel-roebuck-18\/","title":{"rendered":"Nigel Roebuck"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reflections<\/strong>
\n\u2013 Will the real Schumacher please stand up?<\/strong>
\n\u2013 Crazy mirrors and commonsense stewards<\/strong>
\n\u2013 Jacky Ickx \u2013 one of a kind in motor racing<\/strong><\/p>\n

There was a time, 30 or so years ago, when Formula 1<\/a> seemed to be very French, thanks mainly to the efforts of Elf, which was then deeply involved in motor racing and sold on the notion that Gallic drivers should proliferate. Jabouille, Arnoux, Laffite, Depailler, Jarier, Pironi, Tambay\u2026 let me count the names.<\/p>\n

At the present time, however, although the last two World Champions have been English, the flavour of F1 is increasingly German, exactly one quarter of the drivers being of the Fatherland. After qualifying at Sepang four of the top five drivers were German, and if that caused something of a surprise, a greater one was that Michael Schumacher was not among them.<\/p>\n

Or perhaps not. Four races into the 2010 World Championship, the jury remains out on the subject of Michael\u2019s comeback. Mercedes people understandably continue to talk him up, to say that much has changed during his three-year absence, that the car is unsuited to his natural style, that he has suffered more than most at the hands of the narrower front tyres, that he must be given more time, that eventually he will again be the Schumacher of old. Perhaps, though, their words would carry more weight if Nico Rosberg \u2013 in the same car \u2013 were not lying second in the World Championship; many are increasingly of the view that Michael has made a great mistake, that he is simply not the driver he was, and there\u2019s an end to it.<\/p>\n

Where lies the truth? Somewhere in between, probably. As Jackie Stewart suggested before the first race, the one certainty was that Schumacher would not be better than he was first time round. Stewart made the point, too, that Michael has mellowed \u2013 perhaps, in his case, a relative term, but there is no doubt that he is more user-friendly, less clipped when being interviewed than he was in the Ferrari days.<\/p>\n

\u201cMind you,\u201d said Jackie, \u201che\u2019s still got that slight\u2026 arrogance about himself. When Alonso blocked him in Australia, he went over and gave Fernando a bollocking before he was even out of the cockpit! I don\u2019t think he\u2019d be doing something like that if he were completely relaxed.\u201d<\/p>\n

So is Rosberg the quiet revelation of the new season \u2013 or just simply quicker than a 41-year-old?<\/p>\n

\u201cWell,\u201d said Stewart, \u201cas far as I\u2019m concerned, Nico was always waiting to happen \u2013 as soon as he got his hands on a competitive car \u2013 but the fact that he\u2019s quicker virtually all the time must be difficult for Michael. He\u2019s never had that with a team-mate before. I\u2019m sure he\u2019ll get a podium sooner or later \u2013 but he\u2019s not podium material at the moment. I think the group of drivers at the moment is really good \u2013 unbelievably good, in fact. It\u2019s not going to be easy for him\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

I must say I thought significant Ross Brawn\u2019s response, on being asked in Shanghai why Schumacher had been so off the pace in qualifying: \u201cGood question\u2026\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

What has gone through my mind of late is a remark Ross made to me in 2001: \u201cThe biggest difference between Michael and the team-mates he\u2019s had is that, when the car isn\u2019t working very well, he can get more out of it \u2013 particularly on a qualifying lap.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2010 there has been no sign of that, nor of his erstwhile genius in the rain. I think back now to the Spanish Grand Prix of 1996, Schumacher\u2019s first year with Ferrari. The F310 was really not a good car, but as it bucketed down that afternoon in Barcelona, and his team-mate Eddie Irvine immediately spun into retirement, Michael simply left everyone behind, his fastest lap well over two seconds faster than anyone else managed.<\/p>\n

It was a masterclass in driving a Grand Prix car on a slippery track, and one might have expected \u2013 hoped, anyway \u2013 to see some of that ability resurface in the wet days we have had in Australia, Malaysia (qualifying) and China. Following the race in Shanghai Lewis Hamilton<\/a>, after a mid-race tussle with Schumacher, described him as, \u201cAbout the most aggressive driver I\u2019ve raced against \u2013 to put it politely\u2026\u201d, but if Michael\u2019s inherent stubbornness perhaps abides, something else has gone, perhaps for now, perhaps for ever.<\/p>\n

What we\u2019re seeing is a pale version of what we saw, and it\u2019s oddly unsettling. While only too aware of Schumacher\u2019s ability \u2013 you know genius when you see it \u2013 I was never a fan, for I disliked his ruthless contempt for his fellow drivers, and believed that on too many occasions he showed little regard for the ethos of Grand Prix racing. Yet now, for reasons yet unclear, I find myself willing him again to do justice to the memory of what he was: in his pomp, at Spa on a sunny August afternoon, he could make the domination of a Grand Prix seem like something you or I could do.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t suggest \u2013 at this stage \u2013 that Michael is done, that the mesmeric days are history, but I will confess to feeling unsettled at the sight of him running in the midfield, just another good driver.<\/p>\n

Should the volcanic ash cloud allow, Mercedes will have its cars back to Brackley in time for a major upgrade before the Spanish Grand Prix, and in Shanghai Schumacher suggested that the changes \u2018will help the front end\u2019 \u2013 which is another way of saying that they will help him, for Michael has always been a \u2018front end\u2019 driver, happy to put his trust in a nervous car, to leave the rear end to do as it will.<\/p>\n

No surprise, this. As Stewart said in Bahrain, \u201cMichael will develop the car the way he wants it \u2013 a way he knows, and Ross knows too.\u201d But the problem for the team is that, as history shows, a car perfectly set up for Schumacher is near undriveable for anyone else, and it would be unfortunate, to say the least, if a Mercedes tailored to Michael\u2019s tastes worked against the interests of Rosberg, at this stage of the game unquestionably the quicker of the two.<\/p>\n

It was no more than inevitable that Schumacher\u2019s return should have been the story of the 2010 Grand Prix season. Before the first session in Bahrain a great throng of photographers hung around the Mercedes garage, waiting for shots of the great man as he set off down pitlane for the first time. It was the same in Melbourne, in Sepang, in Shanghai, and probably it will be so in the races to come. But unless things change it will dissipate as time goes by, and will in any case last only for this season, when Michael is a novelty in each new country visited.<\/p>\n

Rubens Barrichello, not always content as Schumacher\u2019s good and faithful servant at Ferrari, reckons that much depends on Michael\u2019s motives for coming back. It isn\u2019t money, that much is obvious, and it\u2019s a matter of fact that he, more than most drivers, always adored the sensation of driving a racing car, much as, say, Clay Regazzoni did. Clay, though, was otherwise a different animal altogether: for him motor racing was merely one of the good things of life, and although he savoured the whole business of being a Grand Prix driver he was never haunted by insecurities, never obsessed with winning. If the new Schumacher can come to terms with that, simply enjoy the driving and the competition, he need have no regrets about coming back, as Barrichello suggests. But if the old Michael still lurks \u2013 and it\u2019s difficult to believe otherwise \u2013 three years might seem a very long time.<\/p>\n

It is odd now to think that, had Jenson Button not opted to leave Brawn\/Mercedes, Schumacher\u2019s return would never have come about. At the time we thought Jenson\u2019s decision\u2026 eccentric, for the Brawn team was very much what the French call \u2018son jardin\u2019, and now here he was, away to McLaren, to be team-mate to Lewis Hamilton. \u2018Into the lion\u2019s den\u2019 was the clich\u00e9 of the moment.<\/p>\n

There is, however, more than one way to win, as we saw in the McLaren days of Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna, and four races into the 2010 season, one sees parallels between then and now. I don\u2019t suggest that Jenson and Lewis are on a collision course \u2013 literally or metaphorically \u2013 for the evidence is that they genuinely get along well, and it would be a surprise, in this Whitmarsh-managed era, if a feud of any kind were to develop.<\/p>\n

In terms of the way they drive, though, in how they approach a race, Button and Hamilton are very different, and here I do find similarities with Prost and Senna. Lewis is very much the full-blooded one who runs at the edge, who provides the drama, the muck \u2019n bullets, just as Ayrton, his great hero, did; Jenson, while perhaps a shade away in absolute pace, is better at driving and thinking at the same time, and hardly ever makes a mistake.<\/p>\n

Few, I suggest, would have predicted that Button, with two wins from four Grands Prix, would be in the lead of the World Championship as the European season beckoned, and he finds himself there because of nous, because of his greater experience and ability to form his own judgements. It was he, not his team, who opted for the early change to slicks in Melbourne, and had it proved the wrong decision he would have had no one else to blame. In the same way, when most drivers dashed in early for intermediates in the drizzle of Shanghai, Jenson \u2013 and Rosberg and Kubica \u2013 stayed out on slicks, and built themselves a massive lead.<\/p>\n

Hamilton, on the other hand, appears more inclined to rely on McLaren to tell him what to do and when, and in Australia, after being brought in for a second tyre stop, radioed in his\u2026 disappointment at the team\u2019s decision.<\/p>\n

To digress for a second, I remember Juan Pablo Montoya doing something similar at Magny-Cours in 2003, and his outburst \u2013 admittedly more colourful than Lewis\u2019s \u2013 led to a \u2018warning letter\u2019 from Williams, which made JPM even more livid, and left him susceptible to an approach from\u2026 McLaren.<\/p>\n

Hamilton is not as volatile a character as Montoya, but he is more prone to reacting to the moment than Button. His driving in the races this year has been spectacular, frequently brilliant, but there have been \u2018incidents\u2019 \u2013 off track as well as on \u2013 and some have suggested that the well-publicised parting of the managerial ways with his father has played a part.<\/p>\n

Had Anthony been in the Mercedes with him as he left the track in Melbourne, I doubt that Lewis would have done the \u2018burnout\u2019 that got him into trouble with the local police. He did it simply to please the fans, and I thought the hysterical response to it symptomatic of the dreary times in which we live. A man like Gilles Villeneuve used to do things like that all the time, and it was that free spirit that the tifosi so much loved. But that was then, and this \u2013 sadly \u2013 is now. Nothing frivolous, thank you; this is the 21st century\u2026<\/p>\n

I suspect at the moment Hamilton is feeling that, for the first time, he\u2019s off the leash. No one ever doubted that his father had his best interests at heart, but he did, it seemed to me, control Lewis\u2019s life to a degree that might have become oppressive.<\/p>\n

At Spa in 2008 I interviewed Hamilton in the paddock. We were on the third floor of the McLaren edifice, and all went very well, Lewis enthusing about the wonderful circuit, then going on to talk about Senna and the effect of him on his young life.<\/p>\n

At the end of it we shook hands, and he left immediately, for qualifying was not far away. As he got to the top of the spiral staircase he met his father coming the other way, and at once Anthony was wanting to know how the interview had gone. Absolutely fine, I said, and the McLaren PR man \u2013 present throughout \u2013 concurred. Well, what had we talked about? Oh, this and that, I said: Senna, Spa, Kovalainen, Alonso… Alonso?! \u201cNo way,\u201d said Anthony. \u201cWe can\u2019t have Alonso in it!\u201d Note the \u2018we\u2019 \u2013 and the presumption that they, rather than I, would decide what went into this article. I pointed out that Fernando, whatever the Hamilton family\u2019s feelings about him, was a great racing driver \u2013 indeed, that it had been his son\u2019s performances against him in his debut season that had caused the world to say there had never been a rookie like this. How on earth could an interview with him not include references to Alonso?<\/p>\n

Anthony was far from convinced, not at all happy, and I suspected he would be raising the subject with his son later in the day. I don\u2019t doubt, as I said, that he was thinking about what he saw as Lewis\u2019s best interests \u2013 his image or whatever \u2013 but I had never encountered attempted control on this level before, and didn\u2019t appreciate it. More to the point, I suspected there might come a time when Lewis didn\u2019t, either.<\/p>\n

After the Chinese Grand Prix, he was asked if scrapping with Schumacher had been somehow different from duels with other drivers. \u201cJenson says \u2018tell the truth\u2019,\u201d replied Hamilton, and I thought that significant in itself. \u201cThe truth is, it\u2019s just as exciting racing with any other driver.\u201d<\/p>\n

Button has always been a straightforward bloke, unusually free and open in what he says. Sometimes, in this world of \u2018spin\u2019, that can get a driver into strife with his team or whatever, but down the pike it works much better, because you know he means what he says, and possible ambiguities are shed. The signs are that Hamilton is benefiting from Button\u2019s presence in the team \u2013 and Jenson, leading the World Championship, isn\u2019t doing too badly from it, either. If they can continue down this path, genuinely working together, nothing is beyond the scope of McLaren.<\/p>\n

So long as they found a way back from China, that is.<\/p>\n

*******<\/p>\n

I know we\u2019ve had the benefit of rain, and all the unpredictability it brings with it, in two of the four Grands Prix so far run, but still I continue to have faith in the new \u2018no refuelling\u2019 F1. Some major players persist in suggesting we need urgently to introduce rule changes to spice up The Show, but I remain to be convinced. As Robert Kubica has said, drivers now need to \u2018manage a race\u2019 rather than simply go through two or three qualifying sessions, which is what we had before.<\/p>\n

At the very least I believe the new format should be allowed more time to bed in, and if the time comes when we need to alter this and that, I hope devoutly that F1 remains true to its roots, and does not resort to artifices and scams. That said, the odd rule change needs to come without delay, simply for reasons of common sense.<\/p>\n

When Alonso was pitched into a spin at the first corner of the Australian Grand Prix, after a touch with Button, I was surprised, for while Fernando is a no-nonsense racer, he is not one to jeopardise his race in the first few seconds. Similarly, when Mark Webber positively held the door open for Sebastian Vettel at the first turn in Malaysia, I wondered what on earth he was thinking about. In both cases, as it turned out, the cause was inadequate mirrors: Alonso and Webber simply couldn\u2019t see clearly what was behind them.<\/p>\n

There are, as we know, any number of ferociously bright people in Formula 1, well able to put their ingenuity to work in sidestepping the intentions of the sport\u2019s rulemakers. Think \u2018double diffuser\u2019.<\/p>\n

Sometimes, though, common sense is sidestepped, too. One thinks of the design of the Schnorcedes cars in Peter Ustinov\u2019s Grand Prix of Gibraltar, in which the driver is required to sit \u2018on the floor, but with one leg forward, and the other backward\u2019. This is in the interests of perfect weight distribution, and doubtless achieved \u2013 but it caused great pain to the driver, and left him unable to stand for half an hour when he got out of the car. <\/p>\n

Actually, now I think about it, not even Ustinov\u2019s comic imagination came up with a racing car without the ability to carry fuel enough to get to the finish of a race. Another digression, forgive me.<\/p>\n

Consider the mirrors on certain current cars \u2013 Ferrari and Red Bull among them \u2013 which are situated on stalks separate from the bodywork, beyond the edge of the sidepod. This, in an era when bargeboards and other appendages are banned, is a ploy to create a degree, surely minimal, of aerodynamic advantage. The fact that the mirrors, already too small, are situated too far from the driver to be of much use to him appears to have been overlooked.<\/p>\n

Given the preoccupation with safety which exists in motor racing, it seems something of an anomaly that near-useless mirrors should be countenanced. My new car, due imminently, has huge mirrors, because this is what the benighted EU now requires. They are by no means things of beauty, and, given a choice, I\u2019m not sure I would have gone for them, but assuredly they do present a clear view of what is behind. Why, then, could not something similar \u2013 albeit with less brick-like aerodynamics \u2013 be introduced into F1? Seems simple enough, even if it would present drag problems \u2013 and it would be the same for all of them, after all.<\/p>\n

Clearly, the mirrors \u2013 cockpit-mounted \u2013 on the McLaren work better than on some other cars, for at Sepang they allowed Hamilton to know precisely where the speedy Petrov was as they powered down the pit straight. Why, Lewis seemed able to anticipate Vitaly\u2019s every move, and to counter it even before it came.<\/p>\n

For years the custom, if not the rule, in F1 has been that a driver is allowed \u2018one move\u2019 to protect his position, but on this occasion it did seem as though Hamilton exceeded that, and by a factor of three or four.<\/p>\n

Lewis and his team argued that the weaving did not constitute \u2018blocking\u2019 on this occasion as it all occurred under acceleration, rather than approaching a corner. As such, they claimed, he had merely been \u2018trying to break the tow\u2019, and there was some literal truth in that. The stewards, however, decided the incident merited their attention, and undoubtedly many of Hamilton\u2019s fellow drivers were of the opinion that he should have received a penalty.<\/p>\n

In China Alonso was handed a drive-through penalty for jumping the start, but there could have been no dispute about that, as Fernando himself acknowledged. In the case of Hamilton at Sepang, however, the misdemeanour went unpunished, but it was made clear to him \u2013 and to all his fellow drivers \u2013 that weaving of this kind was not acceptable, that there would be no such leniency next time.<\/p>\n

Fine. Everyone now knows where they stand, which is just as things should be. Lewis was merely reprimanded, and this \u2018lighter touch\u2019 from the stewards (now advised at every race by a retired or uninvolved driver) is a very welcome change to the F1 scene, redolent of the refreshingly sensible approach apparently being taken to such matters by the FIA since Jean Todt replaced Max Mosley.<\/p>\n

*******<\/p>\n

Asingular man, Jacky Ickx. It was perhaps inevitable that several hours of conversation with him and Mario Andretti would produce more material than might be accommodated in a single magazine feature. As you will see elsewhere in this issue, I had lunch with the two of them in London, but then met up again with Mario in Bahrain, and a few days later with Jacky at Goodwood.<\/p>\n

Recalling their days as Ferrari team-mates, Andretti spoke of Kyalami in 1971 \u2013 not the South African Grand Prix, which he won, but the Nine Hours sports car race, run at the end of the year.<\/p>\n

Although not a round of the International Championship of Makes, Kyalami offered another opportunity for Ferrari to put some miles on its glorious 312PB, which had been quick in its debut season, but not conspicuously reliable. Looking ahead to 1972, engines were now to be restricted to three litres, so such as the Porsche 917 were consigned to history, and Ferrari\u2019s chief opposition would come from Matra.<\/p>\n

Two PBs were entered in South Africa, one crewed by Ickx\/Andretti, the other by Clay Regazzoni and Brian Redman. Mario remembered the race with relish.<\/p>\n

\u201cFerraris were always so strong. We started from pole, and I was leading until the car stopped out on the circuit \u2013 flat battery\u2026 They sent a mechanic out to me with a battery, but he couldn\u2019t touch the car \u2013 I had to do everything myself, and we lost 23 laps to the other Ferrari. Jacky and I figured there was nothing to lose \u2013 we\u2019d just drive flat out, and if it broke it broke.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was just the greatest feeling \u2013 going balls out, just for the sake of it \u2013 and I was leaning against all these little sedans and stuff. God knows how many I hit! Obviously Clay and Brian weren\u2019t going really hard, with the lead they had, but before the finish we took eight laps out of them. Best second place I ever had in my life.<\/p>\n

\u201cNext day the two cars were on display in Johannesburg. The other car was totally pristine, but ours looked like it had been through the Battle of Normandy\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

At Goodwood I mentioned this episode to Ickx \u2013 and he looked quizzical. Did he not remember it?<\/p>\n

\u201cMmm, I have some difficulties to think about the past,\u201d he said, \u201cbecause honestly, as far as I\u2019m concerned, it doesn\u2019t count \u2013 it\u2019s behind me. I\u2019m much more interested in the present, and what\u2019s coming next \u2013 even if it\u2019s not so glorious. <\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t remember that Kyalami race, no \u2013 but certainly I can tell you there is nothing more exciting for a driver than starting from last position on the grid. It\u2019s fascinating \u2013 you don\u2019t have any strategy except one: you can use your car and your talent at the limit permanently. You start off last, and then you become 40th, and then 20th, 10th, sixth, third\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

One race in which Jacky started last, of course, was Le Mans in 1969, when he walked \u2013 rather than ran \u2013 across the road to his Wyer Ford GT40, and a day later took the chequered flag after the closest finish ever seen in the Vingt-Quatre Heures.<\/p>\n

\u201cAh, but that was different,\u201d Ickx said, \u201cand to make a point. You are against the idea of putting your seat belt on at 300kph down the straight, you are against starting like a maniac \u2013 but you have to hurry up when you walk across the track because the others are already starting their cars, and you don\u2019t want to be eaten by them! And then, by mystery, 24 hours later there are only 100 metres between two cars at the end. That\u2019s how you become a legend, maybe! But it\u2019s also pure luck\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cThat wasn\u2019t the same effort as at Le Mans in \u201977, with the Porsche. My car broke down, and I went as reserve driver to the remaining car, which was 40th at the time \u2013 and we won. We all raced like maniacs all the way \u2013 [Hurley] Haywood, [Jurgen] Barth, me, the engineers, the mechanics\u2026 it was just unbelievable. We had ahead of us four Renaults, which were the fastest cars, but we put so much pressure on them that at 11 o\u2019clock the last one retired. For the last hour our car, driven by Barth, was on five cylinders, and we didn\u2019t know if we could finish or not \u2013 but it was one of those days when nothing will stop you.\u201d<\/p>\n

It seems extraordinary, I said, that you recall that so clearly, but the race at Kyalami you don\u2019t remember at all\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cAh \u2013 because the result was not the same! The point is not finishing second \u2013 the point is winning. I\u2019m much happier today than when I was younger, because I feel I\u2019ve grown up \u2013 in so many ways I\u2019m another person. I think I was quite difficult when I was young \u2013 I wanted to win, and that was my only goal.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat interests me in conversations about memories is not times and details. You say to me, \u2018Do you remember Kyalami in \u201971?\u2019 No \u2013 it\u2019s gone! Of course I remember some things, but mainly I remember the people, the good moments. When I think of Kyalami, I remember the Kyalami Ranch, with all the drivers staying there, being together around the swimming pool, the sun burning \u2013 we were there in January, and after one day you were like a lobster! And in those days, of course, the press were in the same place, and you could speak as friends. Yes, it\u2019s true, it was another planet\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t know Ickx in his early days as a coming superstar, but, talking to people who did, the picture that emerges of the young Jacky is of quite a cocky individual \u2013 never one to scream and shout, but a man who knew what he wanted, and quietly made sure that he got it.<\/p>\n

\u201cHonestly,\u201d he said, \u201cI think the biggest difference between drivers is the degree of desire \u2013 there is less difference between the amount of talent. OK, some drivers are more fit than others, more resilient, but the key is the desire to win. This is a very individualistic sport: one thing that never changes is that your team-mate may be your best friend \u2013 but he\u2019s also your worst enemy! The only way you can truly compare drivers is when they are in the same car.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the rest of life selfishness is a defect, but in racing it\u2019s probably necessary if you are going to be a winner. You must have a lack of sentimentality. These days, you know, I can hardly believe I did all that. I was in the spotlight without wanting to be \u2013 some people love the spotlight, and they do it very well, but for me it was never a key satisfaction. Even when I was still winning from time to time, it was already over: as soon as I crossed the line, I was thinking about the next one. It was difficult for me to express my joy \u2013 it was much more personal, something within myself.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know how many races I did. I think I won 50 long-distance races or more \u2013 maybe I have the record on that, I don\u2019t know. But that can only happen when you\u2019re at the top of a pyramid \u2013 when you have all these people behind you, the wonderful mechanics, who work day and night to repair what you break. They get no glory, like the drivers, but still they\u2019re happy to have won. And you depend on these people who are also maestros in their own work.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy am I a different person now? Because I am reflecting, and if I have one regret in life it is that I didn\u2019t take enough care of all these people. I always said \u2018thank you\u2019 to them, but I didn\u2019t measure properly the level of their effort, I didn\u2019t offer them the right reward.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have been lucky everywhere I\u2019ve been \u2013 Ferrari, Porsche, everywhere \u2013 and, you know, the key to all that, in coming from amateur to professional level, was Ken [Tyrrell]. <\/p>\n

\u201cEven before I started the season with Ken, I had already damaged two cars. He put me in a single-seater \u2013 an F2 Cooper \u2013 for the first time in \u201965, at Goodwood, and I crashed at the first corner. At Oulton Park I was testing a Matra F3 car \u2013 boom! I went to Pau: I crashed on Friday, and again on the Saturday \u2013 at the same corner. At Monaco I had an accident, trying to overtake at the hairpin. Maybe the speed was there, but it took me time to understand. And Ken never said a word, never said, \u2018Maybe you have to think differently\u2026\u2019 Fantastic.\u201d <\/p>\n

In many respects, Ickx was never what one might call a typical racing driver. He always hated testing, for example, and made a point \u2013 between race weekends \u2013 of putting racing as far from his mind as possible. Winning the World Championship \u2013 the Holy Grail for most drivers \u2013 was never a matter of surpassing importance.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, compared with other people, the World Championship had no meaning for me. The goal was always to win races \u2013 no calculation about how many points I would get for this position or that. In that way I was very relaxed, very simple. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I think back now, it\u2019s not a drama for me that I never won the championship, because I raced everywhere \u2013 F1, F2, long-distance sports cars, Can-Am, Paris-Dakar, Bathurst \u2013 and I have to say that I was very often in the right car. But what is more impressive, I believe, is that I have survived from that era. I promise you that every morning when I wake up, and sometimes when I think about certain situations in the past\u2026 I think, shit, that was close\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cTo me, the championship was not a score by itself, so not having won it doesn\u2019t create any kind of sorrow at all. Why? Because I am a survivor.\u201d<\/p>\n

Clearly Ickx is proud of that, of having survived so many years in an activity immeasurably more perilous than now. Consider for a second the 1967 Italian Grand Prix, where Jacky made his F1 debut in a Cooper-Maserati. Of the 18 drivers who went to the grid, seven ultimately died in racing accidents.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think,\u201d Ickx said, \u201cthat part of the reason I changed is because racing is not made only of good moments, but also sad ones. When you start, you cannot be aware of the danger. When you\u2019re young, you can dream \u2013 you can climb a mountain and have no fear. You believe in everything, and you don\u2019t have that instinct of preservation \u2013 because you don\u2019t know what it is! OK, some have it maybe more than others, but it\u2019s clear that if you start motor racing and you have the danger in mind, you\u2019re going to be beaten non-stop. Later, I think, you become more aware that it\u2019s a calculated risk.\u201d<\/p>\n

At one point, when we were discussing the Ferrari days, I asked Ickx for his recollections of Ignazio Giunti, who was killed in a freak accident during the Buenos Aires 1000Kms in 1971, and who now, sadly, is almost forgotten.<\/p>\n

\u201cGiunti was very promising, very smart, but I didn\u2019t really know him because he was not around very long \u2013 there were a number of drivers that you never knew. At the end of \u201974, at Watkins Glen, there was a young Austrian new to F1, driving for John Surtees. Helmut Koinigg. I remember taking the helicopter with him from the Glen Motor Inn to the track \u2013 and in the afternoon he was dead. There were very few comments about that \u2013 he was unknown. Unbelievable now, isn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n

\u201cAll these accidents, these fatalities hit you, and you may recover, but the traces remain for ever. I lost a co-driver in the Egyptian Rally \u2013 it was a dreadful accident, horrific. And although the risks are accepted by both parties, you remain the one who made the mistake \u2013 who made the misjudgement.<\/p>\n

\u201cThink of Stefan Bellof, who was the future of German motor racing. Unbelievably talented. In the rain unbeatable. He died at Francorchamps in a crash which is still unexplained, in a way\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Bellof was killed in the 1985 Spa 1000Kms, after trying unfathomably to pass Ickx into Eau Rouge. \u201cI was in front of him, and if I\u2019d known what he was going to do, I would have given him more space, but nobody did that, so I was unable to expect it. Total surprise. He hit the guardrail head on, at maybe 160kph\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I think back, I feel so sorry for all the people around me \u2013 probably more talented than I was, and certainly more dedicated \u2013 who didn\u2019t have that extra piece of luck that made you a survivor. That was the thing about that era \u2013 survival. If I meet people like Jackie Stewart or Carlos Reutemann, the first thing we say is\u2026 lucky. And it\u2019s really not a matter of talent \u2013 it\u2019s only luck. Look at Jimmy\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cJimmy Clark was my hero. In 1965 I was given a watch by Ford Belgium, and it\u2019s inscribed, \u2018To Jacky Ickx\u2019 followed by the signature of Jimmy. There is only one motor racing picture in my house, and it\u2019s of him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even as a young man, Ickx was something of an introvert, one who loved nature, enjoyed peace and calm. Today we find him, as he says, reflective of his past, but increasingly at peace with himself. Gentle, impeccably courteous, softly spoken, he has manners from another age.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo many people have said to me, \u2018Don\u2019t you regret you were not born later? You would have made so much money, you would have been known worldwide\u2026\u2019 No. I was born at the right moment. As you said, I hated testing, for example \u2013 I was doing well in what I had to do, but to spend three days at Modena or Fiorano\u2026 it was hard for me.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have always been fairly realistic about my abilities. I was never able, like some drivers, to say, \u2018I\u2019m going to gain half a second in this afternoon\u2019s practice session\u2019 \u2013 I was always doubtful. OK, I was able to go fast, but I was never certain of things. Because of that, it was always full of surprises, because when it was going well, it was unbelievably nice!<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course racing was much more dangerous in my era than now, but it was even more so in the \u201950s, and before that\u2026 I\u2019m tempted to say that the real heroes came before. When you have driven an Auto Union, as I have, it brings you down to earth. This was a car that was outstanding in its time, but\u2026 600 horsepower, no suspension, no brakes, no rollover bars, no helmets, no seat belts, very narrow tyres\u2026 and these people were at Spa, going down the Masta Straight, with no guardrails or run-off areas, just earth banks and trees and houses\u2026 Respect. Real respect.<\/p>\n

\u201cRacing was always considered a chivalrous thing. You do \u2013 and you die \u2013 for the sport. And when someone\u2026 was going, it was always accepted in a way. What has changed in life generally \u2013 and I think it\u2019s good \u2013 is not to accept to die in a certain way any more. The progress made in safety \u2013 really since the \u201980s \u2013 is wonderful, because now you can do it and you\u2019re almost at risk zero. If we speak about racing, we speak about speed, so there will always be fatalities occasionally \u2013 but the aim is to go for risk zero.<\/p>\n

\u201cF1 today is a world I don\u2019t know any more \u2013 I don\u2019t know anybody in it, although I\u2019m still part of the racing community in a way. I love to go to Goodwood, or to the Monaco Grand Prix or to Spa, but honestly today I hardly recognise the person I was in those days.<\/p>\n

\u201cI did the Paris-Dakar for maybe 12 years, and that new experience \u2013 off road, in the desert \u2013 changed my view of the world from what I call \u2018monorail\u2019. When I was a star, and I knew glory and success, that was my only concern \u2013 but there I discovered, apart from a different sport, another continent. When you are in the desert, you realise you are nobody, you don\u2019t exist\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are all on the planet for such a short time, aren\u2019t we? And my value, your value \u2013 among six billion people! \u2013 doesn\u2019t change anything, does it? You\u2019re in, you\u2019re out. But every one of these six billion people has a different story. The Jacky Ickx story in motor racing\u2026 for me it\u2019s a beautiful one, but it\u2019s difficult for me to speak about my past life, because\u2026 it\u2019s over.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn the other hand, last week I met three people in the street who recognised me, and one said, \u2018When I was young, you made me dream\u2026\u2019 You go through life thinking only about winning, but then you find that you made other people smile along the way, and that\u2019s fantastic. That\u2019s why I love going to Goodwood \u2013 you meet people, and they make you feel good.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe advantage I have today is that I don\u2019t have any ego any more \u2013 I don\u2019t have to make any effort to be seen, to be recognised. I like that peaceful way, where I can choose who I want to meet, where I can say yes or no. I love that song from [Louis] Armstrong \u2013 What a Wonderful World. Even the way it is, still it\u2019s wonderful\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

A good and decent man. And emphatically a singular one.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":753,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","categories":[],"tags":[34090,39321,38601,167,21987,35145,35834,34237,34621,195,35129,22316,39323,255,115462,34635,39132,34920,34101,35836,34118,35881,35711,34641,34580,34092,34228,35731,35032,34619,35729,35885,36150,225,36061,34640,34415,36314,116803,115727,115578,115798,115680,115674,115521,115466],"issue_decade":[121600],"issue_year":[121601],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issue_content\/18365"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issue_content"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/issue_content"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/753"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18365"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issue_content\/18365\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":715990,"href":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issue_content\/18365\/revisions\/715990"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18365"},{"taxonomy":"issue_decade","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issue_decade?post=18365"},{"taxonomy":"issue_year","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issue_year?post=18365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}