Genuine sympathy for F1 drivers: your ultimate moment
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- 17th July 2011, 20:22 at 8:22 pm #129762AnonymousInactive
So F1 drivers are (mostly) men. Tough guys with a sense of humour or some diva attitude behaviour. But in the end, they’re men in very expensive fast cars. Every boy’s (and some girls!) childhood dream… They embody a certain ideal.
And yet, sometimes, things go wrong and even F1 drivers have a very bad day and as watchers, we can get lured into feeling their pain since this is all just a big stage. So, as a fellow human, which F1 moment made you feel deeply for a driver and share emotions you didn’t expect to find in front of the little screen (or in the stands)?
This is about “feeling with” a driver (affected by like feelings), not about how sad you were the day one died for example…
I’ll kick off this collection of emotional F1 classics with Mika Hakkinen’s “couple of crocodile tears” (as he later went on to describe the moment) behind the bushes at Italian GP in 1999. It was such a difficult weekend for him and he let himself down with that error and locking the rear tyres changing down to first rather than second gear. It looked like his chances at the WDC were over and done with. The disappointment was so great and he tried to keep his dignity by hiding, like most animals would, to let out the emotional response. The helicopter though caught him and everybody saw it. I felt terrible upon seeing those images. It felt like I had invaded someone’s privacy, stepped over the line, and yet, at the same time, it was a rare occasion during which one of F1 “steel Finns” showed emotion.
On a rather bizarre note, I could NOT find a single video of this event on YouTube. Does Finland have a special troll and gnome patrol that marches the Internet to keep any signs of weakness of their nation’s Viking-like descendants?
A picture though: http://tinyurl.com/5uguzhl
17th July 2011, 20:31 at 8:31 pm #174623Dan ThornParticipantMassa at Brazil ’08 would be the obvious one. That was a hugely emotionally charged moment and for me, seeing him deal with it in such a noble and gracious manner only served to increase my sympathy for him. I also had similar feelings for him at Hungary ’08.
Another one that springs to mind is San Marino ’03. I wasn’t a Schumacher fan by any stretch of the imagination but the way Michael (and Ralf) coped and performed with the death of their mother was inspirational and I was chuffed Michael won that race.
Great thread!
17th July 2011, 20:36 at 8:36 pm #174624shadow13ParticipantFor me the most sympathy I’ve ever felt for a driver is for Massa at Interlagos 08. Whether you wanted him or Hamilton to win (and I wanted Massa to) you had to feel sorry for him because he thought he had won it. The whole Ferrari team celebrated as he crossed the line, along with the thousands of spectators cheering on their local hero. What was then even worse was that he then had to go and stand on the top step with the whole world staring at him. In fairness to him he kept it together remarkably well on the podium.
17th July 2011, 20:53 at 8:53 pm #174625PinkMaggitMemberI felt really sorry for Schumi in Montreal. He drove a great race and really showed class in the wet in an uncompetitive car. When the track dried the performance of his car made him a sitting duck. He displayed some great defensive moves, however all the skill in the world couldn’t stop Button and Webber from cruising past him.
I feel that the DRS robbed Schumi of the ability to defend what really should have been a well deserved podium.
It would have been wonderful to see him on the podium again after all of these years and would have been a real confidence booster for him.
This was the race in which it was confirmed in my mind that DRS makes for artificial racing and doesn’t allow drivers the chance to defend. Overtaking that doesn’t involve any skill is worse than no overtaking at all in my mind.
17th July 2011, 22:00 at 10:00 pm #174626EnigmaParticipantSutil at Monaco in 2008. That was a fantastic performance in what was the slowest car on the grid, and at times he was even setting the fastest laps. It was terrible to see him lose the 4th place.
17th July 2011, 22:19 at 10:19 pm #174627TommyBParticipantAgree with Sutil at Monaco, Massa at Brazil and Schumacher at Montreal.
In a weird way also Schumacher at Suzuka 2006 and Brazil 2006. Would loved him to take the title fight to the wire and a podium in Brazil after that amazing drive would have been class.
Hill and the whole Arrows team in Hungary 1997. So close to the ultimate underdog win.
Bourdais in Australia when his engine went, robbed from 4th on his debut. Bourdais in Spa, went from 3rd to 7th on the last lap. Bourdais in Monza, stalled from a possible podium place. Went a lap down before the race even started. Bourdais in Fuji, finished ahead of Vettel and was penalised when Massa crashed into him.
17th July 2011, 23:19 at 11:19 pm #174628CalumParticipant5) In 2008, during the Brazilian GP, I felt disapointed and slightly upset when Lewis lost position near the end, I sort of gave up hope, but when he got that pass on Glock it was euphoric, I was over the moon – cheering ect – then it showed Massa’s dad cheering too, but he was wrong, the pictures showing his realisation made me feet guilty.
4) Massa 2010, a year on from his crash and he’s leading a GP……
3) Hamilton 2007, the way he lost the title, twice essentially through no real fault of his own. A perfect season but for a team order keeping him out on track on China to get a win when points were good enough. And the cruel technical glitch in Brazil, seeing him fight to put it in gear was painful.
2) Mansell 1986 Adeleide – I saw it again on TV this evening, after being the best driver all season in the Williams, his tyre explodes while leading and heading to take the title on the final race of the season, it’s so unfortunate he did not win the title in this year when he deserved it most, it’s not my #1 because it comes good in the end, with a second spell at Williams in 1992 – Hollywood stuff.
1) Barichello 2009 Brazil, I actually got weepy for some reason seeing him pitting with a puncture, and not because it essentially sealed the title for Button, but because I sympathised with all the crap he’d taken in his career, all the bad luck and when he had a chance of doing good in front of his home fans, he get’s no luck once again.
17th July 2011, 23:21 at 11:21 pm #174629AlonsoWDCParticipantEasily Luca Badoer, Europe 1999.
And his Ferrari debut in 2009.
18th July 2011, 4:37 at 4:37 am #174630Stephen JonesParticipantVettel at Fuji.. sure he crashed into Webber, but it was kinda depressing watching him cry in the corner of his garage.. poor kid.
now he’s world champion! :D
18th July 2011, 5:14 at 5:14 am #174631AlonsoWDCParticipantVettel ran into the back of someone under the SC, Hamilton’s involvement aside, it wasn’t a very sympathetic moment to me.
Webber having a podium barged away from him, while being food poisoned, and vomiting during the race, that’s sympathetic.
18th July 2011, 5:57 at 5:57 am #174632TodfodParticipantThe first race I ever saw was Adelaide 1994. Before the race, one of my friends gave me the entire low down on the season, right from Senna’s death, to the mixed fortunes of Williams, and even the early dominance of the Bennetton team, etc.
I was cheering for Damon during that entire race, and when Schumacher went off track and damaged his suspension, I was ecstatic. Just a few moments later, we saw Schumacher shunt Damon off, and thats when the drama started. Looking at Damon limp to the pits, and seeing the Williams mechanics look regrettably at the broken wishbone was heartbreaking.
The other couple of incidents where I generally sympathised with the driver would be for Massa at Interlagos 2008, Sutil at Monaco 2008 and Alonso at Abu Dhabi 2010.
18th July 2011, 6:22 at 6:22 am #174633David-AParticipantVettel ran into the back of someone under the SC, Hamilton’s involvement aside, it wasn’t a very sympathetic moment to me.
I felt sympathetic for Vettel as he was in line for a podium and the slightest of mistakes in the rain denied him that. So I agree with iamsa8.
Otherwise I felt sorry for Massa in Brazil 2008, Rosberg Korea 2010 and Schumacher Canada 2011.
18th July 2011, 6:55 at 6:55 am #174634LachieParticipantI felt sympathetic for Vettel as he was in line for a podium and the slightest of mistakes in the rain denied him that. So I agree with iamsa8.
Webber may have had his first win that day under the worst possible conditions. I have to agree with AlonsoWDC
18th July 2011, 9:22 at 9:22 am #174635IcthyesParticipantLuca Badoer at the 1999 European Grand Prix, could have had points in a Minardi but the car failed.
I hate being reminded of the 1997 Hungarian Grand Prix…
2009 Belgian Grand Prix, so close to a last win for Fisichella and a first for Force India, but we saw the negative side of KERS that day.
18th July 2011, 9:49 at 9:49 am #174636AnonymousInactiveMost of those cited here:
1999 Europe – Badoer
2003 San Marino – The Schumachers
2008 Monaco – Sutil
2008 Brazil – Massa
2009 Brazil – Barrichello
2010 Germany – Massa
I did not see Europe 1999/San Marino 2003 but only reviews, and that’s enough for me to include them here.
I honestly did not really care for Sutil at Monaco, I didn’t even know who he was. But looking back at it, he deserves to be in my list.
Bourdais in Australia when his engine went, robbed from 4th on his debut. Bourdais in Spa, went from 3rd to 7th on the last lap. Bourdais in Monza, stalled from a possible podium place. Went a lap down before the race even started. Bourdais in Fuji, finished ahead of Vettel and was penalised when Massa crashed into him.
Also this makes me feel sad for Bourdais. I had no idea he had such bad luck.
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