Monday 23 May 2011

On a Personal Note

Watching the F1 is always a good thing in my eyes. The spectacle and drama of the race coupled with the intellect and strategic calculations of the sport make it so well rounded that it's hard not to find something to enjoy. What I also love is the drivers congratulating each other at the end of the race. Now, this seems like a fairly random point, but bear with me.

As you might have gathered from my 'About Me' description, I'm a bit of a nerd academically. I perform very well at anything academic, but I tend to suffer for it by being a little bit of a geek. Well, a lot of a geek actually but never mind. While getting good results for my degree and previous qualifications is a great boon for me, I do find that it brings with it a whole lot of hostility from my peers. Whenever I do well I don't tend to brag, or even tell anyone to be honest. However, people still ask me how I did and they hate me for doing well.

This is where F1 comes in. Formula 1 racing is incredibly competitive. People from other series of racing compete to get a drive in F1, however only 24 drivers at a time ever make it. When those 24 do make it into the series, they are then fighting to keep their seat, as well as fighting for championship places and the glory of winning. However, you rarely see any genuine hostility. Yes, the media will publish stories of how Alonso hates Hamilton, Webber hates Vettel and Sutil's had a punch up in a nightclub, however at the end of every race the drivers congratulate each other. There doesn't seem to be any animosity between anyone really. The drivers tend to focus on their own performance during a race, and aim for their best result - which is what I do in my academic life. Sadly, not everyone in my life behaves in this way and competitiveness seems to overrule respect for each other.

I would dearly love it if more of my peers got into F1. I feel that them witnessing the respect between the drivers in such a highly charged environment would make them stop and think about their own behaviour towards each other in the academic world. What I guess I'm trying to say is that I view the F1 drivers as role models for my own life. If I can behave with mutual respect for my peers and do well myself then my life is on track (no pun intended). If this is achieved through basing my behaviour on that of Vettel et al. then there's another boon for F1, and another reason to love it all the more.