15 replies to this topic

[Victor]

I remember drivers, like Lauda or Fittipaldi, being known by their fine race strategy. I am not sure if there is still a need for such kind of skills nowadays. Today, drivers are instructed by radio when to attack and when to slow down. Race strategies are planned by experts long before the race starts. Any crucial decisions to change those strategies during the race are made in the pits, without the driver’s perspective, opinion or consent. It seems that drivers can rely on their teams to tell them what to do and when to do it, during the whole GP. Quick thinking doesn’t seem to be required as a driver skill.

Also, a sign of your intelligence is the way you speak and the way you act. I’ve been watching the press conferences in all 2007 GPs and I don’t remember someone saying something clever, unexpected, or showing a little bit of sense of humour in one single ocasion. During last Turkish GP qualifying press conference, Räikkönen cleaning both his ears, scratching his nose, while monotonously babbling about his lap, was, I am afraid, the perfect image of human stupidity. Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against this guy and I wish him well. He is just a good example of the low average level of brightness that seems to exist at the F1 paddock. I am also not saying that there are no clever heads inside some helmets, only that they don't seem to need to show that to the world quite often.

So, without making it an opportunity to bash you favourite pet-hate driver, please let us know what you think about this. Do actual drivers need a brain to win races? Is brightness still an advantage?

Cheers

[noikeee]

I think you need to be clever to find out where you can find extra speed on track, how to handle an on-track fight with another driver, and to understand the technical details of a car in order to work better with the engineers. So yes, I think to win a F1 world championship you can't be a brainless muppet.

[Bloggsworth]

Yes, they always did. They just don't have to be intellectuals, don't confuse the two characteristics, you can be both, but you can't be an intellectual without intelligence. An intellectual needs knowledge, and a superb memory, as well as intelligence. Raw intelligence is possessed by all types, from barrow boys to Professors, authors to footballers. Nobody ever accused Alan Sugar of being an intellectual, but few would deny his raw intelligence.

[giacomo]

The modern F1 driver is a changeable part of the package.
Just have a look at the star of todays race, Felipe Massa: Had Schumacher decided to continue in 2007, Massa would be in a mediocre team or in a test driver role.
Or WDC leader Lewis Hamilton: Without Honest Rons great confidence into his talent and his courage to take the risky instead of the safe choice de la Rosa would drive his car, and Alonso still would look like the greatest thing since sliced bread.

F1 drivers - with very few exceptions - lost control about their own fate, as they are signing contracts over contracts since their childhood days. Too much intelligence is a handicap in that system.

[Bloggsworth]

Originally posted by giacomo
The modern F1 driver is a changeable part of the package.
Just have a look at the star of todays race, Felipe Massa: Had Schumacher decided to continue in 2007, Massa would be in a mediocre team or in a test driver role.
Or WDC leader Lewis Hamilton: Without Honest Rons great confidence into his talent and his courage to take the risky instead of the safe choice de la Rosa would drive his car, and Alonso still would look like the greatest thing since sliced bread.

F1 drivers - with very few exceptions - lost control about their own fate, as they are signing contracts over contracts since their childhood days. Too much intelligence is a handicap in that system.

Clearly intelligence isn't required to operate your keyboard................

[Mauseri]

Driving F1 fast is a multidimensional optimizing task.

[BorderReiver]

Originally posted by micra_k10
Driving F1 fast is a multidimensional optimizing task.

Thankyou Ron.

THe modern F1 driver doesn't run his own race to the same extent as he used to. "Racecraft" in terms of the driver is dead, he just drives as hard as he can between "reset" fuel/tyre stops. He can no longer judge how he makes his rubber last or when to make his move. It's all gone thanks to refuelling.

Shame.

[RSNS]

I posted about the same - I mean, the lack of strategy, or racecraft - in another thread.

Concerning intelligence, it is true that F1 drivers very often seem rather stupid. Hamilton talks well, though. As all racecraft is done by engineers they are more like horses that are spurred or not at particular moments.

Raikkonnen really seems almost inarticulate, but then Fangio did not speak much either and he was a very intelligent man (it has been asserted that this was his main asset). But I agree Raikkonnen seems rather limited. Alonso does not seem very bright, either, but then he is very shy. Coulthard, on the contrary seems very alert. Perhaps the impression of smartness/ stupidity has primarily to do with the driver's command of English.

P.S.: Just to say that, knowing academics very well, I KNOW you can seem very intellectual and be extremely stupid. Of course, you must know to write and talk, but that is about all there is to it...

[CWeil]

It's very unfair to label someone as stupid because they aren't perfectly articulate in a non-primary language. Perhaps, just maybe, they aren't as capable of expressing themselves in English as they are in, say, Finnish? One could accuse Robert Kubica of the same, but give him a few years and he'll be fine.

For those who've heard Kimi talk in places other than a press conference, he hardly seems like a dolt and has a good sense of humor. He just has an odd press conf. demeanor.

By the same token, it's easy to label the guys who naturally speak English as more intelligent simply because they are far more able to convey their thoughts much more thoroughly and descriptively!

Language plays a big part of this.

[santori]

In most cases it's not stupidity but rather specialisation. They've been so focused on racing that there's been little time for anything else (which is unfortunate - I've had trouble seeing Senna as a mythical figure ever since I read that he liked listening to Phil Collins). But I think a fairly high degree of intelligence is usually needed to deal with F1. Alonso actually gives me the impression of being very bright. And Raikkonen's intelligence is probably as underrated as his emotions.

[Oho]

Originally posted by CWeil

By the same token, it's easy to label the guys who naturally speak English as more intelligent simply because they are far more able to convey their thoughts much more thoroughly and descriptively!

Indeed, humans use different parts of brain for processing native language and those learnt later in life. I really believe people who master a foreign language anywhere near as comprehensively as their native tongue are few and far in between. I certainly have never mastered even close to adequately any language other than Finnish, well and C maybe if one is not too picky. Gee I am presumptuous, oh well there is arrogance for you.

[Oho]

Originally posted by santori
In most cases it's not stupidity but rather specialisation. They've been so focused on racing that there's been little time for anything else (which is unfortunate - I've had trouble seeing Senna as a mythical figure ever since I read that he liked listening to Phil Collins). But I think a fairly high degree of intelligence is usually needed to deal with F1. Alonso actually gives me the impression of being very bright. And Raikkonen's intelligence is probably as underrated as his emotions.

Actually I think most drivers would score relatively well on number of IQ tests what ever that means. They need impeccable sense of geometry and space and I gather bo qualities are frequently associated with intelligence.

[giacomo]

Originally posted by Bloggsworth
Clearly intelligence isn't required to operate your keyboard................

Subtle and smart comment. Well done.

I only wonder how long you had to reflect to be able to create that gem. A clear sign of superior intelligence, plus some hard work.

[Victor]

I think you have a point when you say that driver's command of English affects how they are labelled (Massa seems less dumb when he speaks in Portuguese, Hamilton sounds bright in his native English).

Also, like all other modern athletes, F1 drivers start focusing almost exclusively on their carriers at a very early age. This means that they probably don't have much time to pay attention to other things of life and end up by becoming less interesting human beings.

[Bloggsworth]

Originally posted by giacomo
Subtle and smart comment. Well done.

I only wonder how long you had to reflect to be able to create that gem. A clear sign of superior intelligence, plus some hard work.

Read your own contribution and ask your self "What am I writing about, contract negotiations or intelligence" - You seem to have an axe to grind about contract negotiations.

[Gecko]

A driver does not need a lot of intelligence to drive fast, even over a course of a race courtesy of too many pitstops. Where intelligence comes into play is when directly battling an opponent on the track. When either attacking or defending, in that situation one must start to think outside of the usual racing lines and more than a single corner ahead in order to determine the best way to handle both the track and the opponent. This is what made the Imola battles of 2005/2006 and the Turkey 2006 between Schumacher and Alonso so thrilling even if no overtaking actually took place, as it was a demonstration of two drivers really trying their best. Some drivers may handle overtaking OK but crumble when defending (Button, Fisichella), some drivers are too eager when attacking (Massa, Sato). It's unfortunate that we didn't see Hamilton in many such sitations, but he was really in his element in traffic when he had his chance (defending in Malaysia, recovery in Nurburgring), and watching his racecraft in GP2 was just something else.