"Thinking" racers

[raymondu999]

Hey all. Just interested here. We've seen that really, Jenson Button didn't quite win this year in China/Melbourne purely on pace, and there was an element of thinking through the weather conditions, such as his first win in Hungary 2006.

Who else is there that has done this kind of racing? I know Alain Prost is always known as the Professor, but why? I've never seen him race (he was before my time) and so I wouldn't know. Thanks

[Gary]

I'm going to submit a name that many will find ah, controversial, in a thread such as this. Nigel Mansell. Before you poo-poo this suggestion, I submit that Noige's 'personality' was such that it could and did mask his strategic skills on track.

I cite the British Grand Prix at Silverstone in 1988. Honda had taken their engine away at the end of 1987 and Williams was left with the Judd engine. On top of that, they had struggled with the active suspension and to everyone's surprise elected to rip it out and go back to steel springs on the Friday night! Mansell and Patrese had qualified 11th and 15th which was typical of their place in the pecking order that year.

The race was rainy, followed by a dry period, followed by rain and so on. Not an unusual pattern for that blasted heath in Northamptonshire. So teams and drivers had to contend with the niceties of juggling pitstops and tyres.

Initially, Mansell was fifth but as others made pitstops, spun off and in the case of Prost, found the conditions uncroyable, Mansell conserved his tyres carefully and advanced through the field.

Before any of the others (at least, as far as I could deduce looking at the telly), Nige was consistently placing his car on the damp part of the track along Hangar straight, the run from Stowe to Club and beyond Abbey leading towards Bridge. It paid off. Eventually he emerged from the pack in second place, with only Senna in the all conquering McLaren Honda ahead of him. And there he finished, just 23 seconds away from Senna in a car that shouldn't have been much higher than 6th or 7th. His team mate finished 8th, a lap down.

This was the first time I noted Mansell using his head during a race and it seemed so counter intuitive at the time. But it was certainly not the last.

As Pat Head once famously said, "If only we we could have him helicoptered into the car at the start of the race and helicoptered away afterwards".

[lolzi]

Michael Schumacher also has/had that reputation, there were always stories of him telling something over the radio with them thinking "how could he notice that?". I have no idea if any of these stories were true, of course. But in general, the drivers' mental capacity often surprise me - I have often thought "WOW" when they tell how they were watching another cars progress at a monitor in Canada or stuff like that.

[marcush.]

or get distracted by a hottie on a billboard in monaco..

most drivers don´t like to discuss on the radio..wasn´t alonso asking his engineer to shut up recently?

It ´s not the ability to drive and talk...everyone can do this .It´s the ability to drive FAULTLESS at the limit ,think on strategy and discuss with the pitwall.
I bet not many drivers are able to do that.

[Giblet]

When Senna had his _first_ drive in an F1 car, a Williams, they made small changes to the setup without his knowledge, and he was instantly able to feel and quantify them.

[andrew]

The two drivers I think of as the archetypal "thinking drivers" are Prost and Schumacher. Both had an understanding of the car and exactly what was going on in the race far beyond their peers. For Prost, this was pretty much all through his career and Schumacher, probably more the first half of his career only, as the thinking driver has become more common over the past 10 years.

From what I can remember of Prost's racing he often new when he was beat and knew when to settle for 2nd or 3rd and get the car home when the win was not worth risking a smash. As for Schumacher, I've seen countless interviews with Ross Brawn over the years where he has sung Schumacher's praises for his in car thinking ability.

[lolzi]

When Senna had his _first_ drive in an F1 car, a Williams, they made small changes to the setup without his knowledge, and he was instantly able to feel and quantify them.

That's very interesting, but the topic here was "thinking" drivers, not "feeling" drivers.

[zeph]

THINKING RACER

[andrew]

Is it an F1 driver? If it isn't then it can't be a thinking F1 driver.

[raymondu999]

I only recall Jenson doing his thinking racing 3 times in particular this year though. Valencia and his two victories. Even then, Valencia was more of "lucky" than "thinking"

[ell66]

I only recall Jenson doing his thinking racing 3 times in particular this year though. Valencia and his two victories. Even then, Valencia was more of "lucky" than "thinking"

australia was luck, he had no choice ut to stop as he was bing passed left right and cenre by everyone else.

[donskar]

I think Phil Hill fits the definition -- World Champion but disliked by Enzo because he drove only fast enough to win. Mike Parkes and John Surtees both come to mind, but maybe because both could engineer a winning car.

[Belatti]

Ok, call me biased, but I must name Fangio.

Nurburgring 1957: is an example (where he not only had to hunt both Ferraris at an unbelievable pace after the pit stop, but also lapped slower for just 1 lap, this to make the Ferraris regulate pace, only to later realize Fangio was catching up).

Monaco 1950: "the grandstand changed its color". Fangio was waiting in an office the day before the GP and looked at a magazine with a picture of the 1936 Monaco GP: Tadini, Von Brauchitsch, Farina, Brivio and Chiron crashed. The photo would stay in Fangios subconcious.

At the GP, Fangio leads Farina and Villoresi but chaos was unleashed at the back. Fangio saw a yellow flag at the chicane and then the grandstands changing colours... think fast! The change in colour is because everyone turned arround to look something! They are not whatching us, something serious must happen. Then abruptly the old magazine photo appeared in his mind: he immediately slowed down. When he reached tabac he found cars, fuel and parts everywhere. He passed slowly. Villoresi -who didnt pay attention to this- tried to brake and crashes... Fangio won his first GP with a massive advantage!

Argentina 1955: under an intense heat wave, Fangio was the only driver capable of finishing the 3 hour GP on its own, with no rest. After the race he was asked: How did you achieved that? "I imagined myself walking through a bank of snow and said to myself keep going because otherwise I would freeze. It worked."

[donskar]

@Belatti

Good post. Just a reminder that F1 did not begin with Jim Clark or the Lotus 49.

Even I'm not old enough to know first hand, but everything I've ever read suggests Fangio was one of the very best, if not the very best. (Tazio Nuvolari -- from what I've read -- is certainly up there at the top, too).

[deus1066]

Button's two wins earlier in the year came through using his 10 years of experience to work out the weather conditions and change his tyres effectively. He was very wise to do what he did. Whereas his teammate, Hamilton, though almost certainly quicker, followed his teams advice as he had had 3 years experience and didn't want to take a risk. Button certainly out thought the situation in hand (with the benefit of experience). Time will tell how Hamilton improves as he gains years of experience.

Prost was a great example. He fought Senna brilliantly without the same level of raw pace, but by thinking every lap and every eventuality through.

I always like to see raw pace win (Jim Clark), but have a high regard for those who think their way to victory (Alain Prost).