Well, it's less than a week before my first exam, and today the inevitable stress reared its ugly head and lead to me having a temporary loss of motivation. I know that this is a motorsport blog, and I keep rambling on about exams but hear me out, there's a link to F1. Over the past month, I've done little else but revision. I've watched the odd spot of motorsport on TV, but apart from that I've mostly been reading about Freud, the brain and personality. As much as I love studying and working towards my ultimate goal of a PhD, a whole month is somewhat taxing as I'm sure you'd all agree. So, today's mini-breakdown probably wasn't that much of a surprise. Of course, what's anyone meant to do when suffering from a loss of motivation other than call their Mum?
On phoning my Mum and telling her about how much pressure I was putting myself under, and how it was stressing me out, she said something which gave me kind of an epiphany, and now I'm back to my old self and looking forward to the exams. Most students I know would be begging for this sort of inspiration, but I have a hunch that it would only work for me. Now, for those of you into motorsport who have been patiently reading and wondering what the hell I'm on about, here's where F1 comes into it.
As you've probably guessed from my picture and pretty much all the posts on here, I'm a fan of a certain German Red Bull Racing driver - Sebastian Vettel. One of the (many) things that I admire about him is his ability to always have a smile on his face, despite criticisms from the media and despite having bad days at the office so to speak. In fact, this is probably the main reasons why I'm such a fan of Vettel's, ever since his Toro Rosso days he's had this perspective on his career, and it shows in his performance. The focus that he has when he gets into the car is also another huge point of admiration right there, and I have often tried to replicate this in my studies and in my approach to exams.
Sure, my exams aren't as exciting as driving an F1 car through Eau Rouge at high speed, however like Vettel I do have a career riding on my performance. So, the level of focus that Sebastian has means he's somewhat a role model for my own performance. Well, today it seems that I've had a bit of a lack of the other quality of Vettel's - the ability to carry on and be cheerful, even if things aren't quite going 100%.
My Mum reminded me of this today, and it definitely made me realise that taking the perspective of Vettel and being 100% focused to the task at hand, no matter how well it's going or not, keeping an eye on the end game (for Vettel, another world championship, for me, a PhD) and managing to shrug off when things aren't going so well is probably the best way in which to approach my exam.
My Mum also pointed out another driver who perhaps doesn't take this perspective despite having comparable talent: Lewis Hamilton. When Lewis first came into F1 in 2007, he had the same view as Vettel, and was always cheerful and could shrug off bad days. This quality paid off, and got him the championship in 2008 (of course, this quality and his supreme driving ability). However, after getting the championship and having a somewhat rougher year in 2009, Lewis kind of lost the 'keep calm and carry on' approach that he had before, and things just didn't seem to go his way. Last year in particular, Lewis would often get out of the car in a huff when things didn't go so well - the Massa incident being one of those times. Luckily, Lewis seems to slowly be returning to his old self, although the sulking because of a third place spot on the grid was kind of annoying.
So, the upshot of the conversation with my Mum? Be more like Vettel, and don't turn into Hamilton. I know, it's not exactly something you'd hear at an academic support workshop, but it works for me. I have a Vettel calendar this year, and the month of May shows Vettel holding his trophy in Australia last year. I'm hoping that this will remind me to adopt Vettel's cheerful and focused approach in my exams, and will win me the good results of the exams. If this carries on throughout the rest of this degree, then I'll have the equivalent of my driver's championship, my PhD, within the next 6 years. If I can pick up trophies along the way, then great, but whatever happens I'll be happy with good results; Just like Vettel. That's what I'm talking about!
Showing posts with label Vettel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vettel. Show all posts
Wednesday, 2 May 2012
Tuesday, 24 April 2012
Bahrain Blogging
Last weekend I watched the Bahrain grand prix. As you're probably aware, before the race there was a ton of media hype about whether F1 should attend the race given the current situation over there. Arguments against ranged from the political, moral and ethical standpoint to the safety elements of holding the race. Personally, I didn't see exactly why the race should be cancelled providing that the area was deemed safe by the relevant authorities. As much as I agree that the human rights situation is diabolical, I hold the view that Formula 1 is a sport - no more, no less. It has no involvement with the politics of a country, and just because the race is held there doesn't mean that it endorses the political regime of the area. Besides, F1 has held races in several countries with somewhat dubious moral standpoints (China the week before, for example), and yet these races had not been questioned. As such, the only difference with Bahrain was related to safety.
While there were several off-track incidents involving a couple of teams, overall the weekend appeared to go smoothly. There was no interruption to the sessions, and so we could finally get down to watching the racing. Saturday's qualifying session came up with a surprise pole sitter (at least in terms of this year's performance standard). No McLaren or Mercedes this time. Instead, the Renault powered Red Bull of Sebastian Vettel was back where it belonged on the first slot of the grid - much to my delight!
With the grid decided and (as far as I'm concerned) back to where it should be, the race on Sunday was promising. The previous race in China was fantastic, with lots of tight racing. Bahrain to me has never been a particularly thrilling race, however once again the value of DRS was proven and we finally saw an exciting race this year. Vettel got a fantastic start and ultimately went on to win the race. The biggest surprise was who was occupying the second and third place slots. While you'd have expected the McLarens or even the Mercedes' to be near the top, Bahrain was obviously favouring the Renault powered cars as Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean joined Vettel on the podium! If you never watch the press conferences, I suggest you try and catch this one - just to see Grosjean's expression of happiness!
So, the race was absolutely thrilling and great fun to watch. Hopefully, this is what this race will be remembered for, rather than for the political circumstances surrounding it. There was a lot of questions whether attending Bahrain would damage F1's reputation, but to be honest so far I haven't witnessed a lot of backlash - I think those of us who watched the race were just concerned with the racing, as any motorsport fan should be.
Now that Bahrain is behind us, we've got a bit of a break before the European rounds begin in Spain on the 13th of May. For me, this time will be filled with revision and exams, and I have no excuse to be distracted by F1 any more! The return to Europe also marks the countdown to Spa - the race that I will be attending this year. My race tickets were delivered today, and so the excitement begins...
While there were several off-track incidents involving a couple of teams, overall the weekend appeared to go smoothly. There was no interruption to the sessions, and so we could finally get down to watching the racing. Saturday's qualifying session came up with a surprise pole sitter (at least in terms of this year's performance standard). No McLaren or Mercedes this time. Instead, the Renault powered Red Bull of Sebastian Vettel was back where it belonged on the first slot of the grid - much to my delight!
With the grid decided and (as far as I'm concerned) back to where it should be, the race on Sunday was promising. The previous race in China was fantastic, with lots of tight racing. Bahrain to me has never been a particularly thrilling race, however once again the value of DRS was proven and we finally saw an exciting race this year. Vettel got a fantastic start and ultimately went on to win the race. The biggest surprise was who was occupying the second and third place slots. While you'd have expected the McLarens or even the Mercedes' to be near the top, Bahrain was obviously favouring the Renault powered cars as Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean joined Vettel on the podium! If you never watch the press conferences, I suggest you try and catch this one - just to see Grosjean's expression of happiness!
So, the race was absolutely thrilling and great fun to watch. Hopefully, this is what this race will be remembered for, rather than for the political circumstances surrounding it. There was a lot of questions whether attending Bahrain would damage F1's reputation, but to be honest so far I haven't witnessed a lot of backlash - I think those of us who watched the race were just concerned with the racing, as any motorsport fan should be.
Now that Bahrain is behind us, we've got a bit of a break before the European rounds begin in Spain on the 13th of May. For me, this time will be filled with revision and exams, and I have no excuse to be distracted by F1 any more! The return to Europe also marks the countdown to Spa - the race that I will be attending this year. My race tickets were delivered today, and so the excitement begins...
Monday, 9 May 2011
Oh You Fickle F1 Fans...
So, did we all enjoy the F1 yesterday? Lots of overtaking, exciting stuff and my favourite team and driver winning! Fantastic!
What do you mean "too much overtaking"??
Whilst on Twitter this morning I saw a posting by Jon Noble (a reporter for Autosport) which suggested that overtaking has become too easy in F1. You can read the article here. I find it hilarious that apparently F1 fans have gone from brandishing pitchforks and torches shouting "There's not enough overtaking, Bernie!" to apparently shouting "The overtaking's too easy, Bernie!". You'd have though that we're all a fickle lot, but I want to examine what all the fuss is about.
Now, the overtaking debate has been going on for some time now. Last year we had very few overtakes, perhaps even less than the year before, and people as a result began to complain that racing was 'boring' or 'processional' with only pit stops providing the bulk of the passing opportunities. Why is this? Rather than the typical view that 'drivers can't be bothered', the answer is probably a matter of physics. You see, the cars now have such sophisticated aerodynamics packages that they create a wake of turbulent air, meaning that cars behind initially get into the slipstream when 1 second behind, but then are met by turbulent air which pushes them all over the place. As a result, it is very hard to get any close and get past. In order to combat this, the bizarre aero pieces which were stuck here, there and everywhere on the cars in 2009 were banned, leading to a more simple looking car. In 2010 we still faced similar issues, largely due to the downforce being produced by the cars (more turbulent air you see). So, in 2011 Bernie and the gang brought back KERS (the Kinetic Energy Recovery System) and introduced the DRS (Drag Reduction System) to aid drivers behind in overtaking.
In order to understand this a little bit more, let me explain what exactly KERS and DRS are. KERS is a system whereby energy from braking is stored as electricity and is then converted into extra horsepower. The drivers charge their KERS unit over a lap, and have the energy available to them on the following lap. This leads to a system whereby the drivers constantly charge and use the energy available. There is no set place where drivers can use KERS, rather they press one of many buttons on the steering wheel to activate it. Generally, KERS is vital at starts where there is a long run to the first corner and in places where there are long straights generally. This season, Red Bull have been having issues with KERS, having not run it in 2009 like many other teams. KERS is meant to aid overtaking by providing an extra boost to the drivers when they are close to a car in front - or indeed to try and escape the car behind!
Now, the DRS is new. The drivers are able to press a button to open a flap on the rear wing, which reduces the drag caused by being in the turbulent air of the car in front. In contrast to KERS, the DRS is only available at a set point on the track (as decided by Charlie Whiting), and then only when a driver is within one second of the car in front - so no using DRS to escape from an oncoming driver. Turkey showed us just how well the DRS and KERS can be in conjunction with each other - there were loads of battles between drivers, even between team mates (though not Red Bull, much to Christian Horner's relief following on from 2010).
Despite these systems of KERS and DRS giving us exciting racing, people have been debating whether they are such a good thing. People have been arguing that overtaking is now artificial, and not down to driver skill. Rather than drivers having to negotiate their overtaking maneuvers on other drivers, they can simply press two buttons and go past.
However, I don't see it like this. If you get a driver who guards the necessary lines into corners, no amount of speed or drag reduction will allow them past. Drivers must therefore negotiate which line to take, as well as how to defend. Not forgetting that drivers don't automatically pull away from another when they have overtaken (unless they're one of the elite teams), and so the driver who has just overtaken another could find themselves being retaken! Just look as the battle between Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton - because the drivers were equally matched in terms of car, several overtakes took place which made for exciting racing.
So if we take this into account I don't think we can complain about the overtaking being too easy - any overtaking is good, regardless of how it comes about. If a driver has the presence of mind to use his KERS and DRS and is able to overtake another, that is down to the driver. We shouldn't see KERS and DRS as some sort of 'push to pass' system, but rather tools which help the drivers to battle with others and give us more of a show. So to all you F1 fans out there who aren't so happy with the new systems - just get over it and enjoy the racing!
What do you mean "too much overtaking"??
Whilst on Twitter this morning I saw a posting by Jon Noble (a reporter for Autosport) which suggested that overtaking has become too easy in F1. You can read the article here. I find it hilarious that apparently F1 fans have gone from brandishing pitchforks and torches shouting "There's not enough overtaking, Bernie!" to apparently shouting "The overtaking's too easy, Bernie!". You'd have though that we're all a fickle lot, but I want to examine what all the fuss is about.
Now, the overtaking debate has been going on for some time now. Last year we had very few overtakes, perhaps even less than the year before, and people as a result began to complain that racing was 'boring' or 'processional' with only pit stops providing the bulk of the passing opportunities. Why is this? Rather than the typical view that 'drivers can't be bothered', the answer is probably a matter of physics. You see, the cars now have such sophisticated aerodynamics packages that they create a wake of turbulent air, meaning that cars behind initially get into the slipstream when 1 second behind, but then are met by turbulent air which pushes them all over the place. As a result, it is very hard to get any close and get past. In order to combat this, the bizarre aero pieces which were stuck here, there and everywhere on the cars in 2009 were banned, leading to a more simple looking car. In 2010 we still faced similar issues, largely due to the downforce being produced by the cars (more turbulent air you see). So, in 2011 Bernie and the gang brought back KERS (the Kinetic Energy Recovery System) and introduced the DRS (Drag Reduction System) to aid drivers behind in overtaking.
In order to understand this a little bit more, let me explain what exactly KERS and DRS are. KERS is a system whereby energy from braking is stored as electricity and is then converted into extra horsepower. The drivers charge their KERS unit over a lap, and have the energy available to them on the following lap. This leads to a system whereby the drivers constantly charge and use the energy available. There is no set place where drivers can use KERS, rather they press one of many buttons on the steering wheel to activate it. Generally, KERS is vital at starts where there is a long run to the first corner and in places where there are long straights generally. This season, Red Bull have been having issues with KERS, having not run it in 2009 like many other teams. KERS is meant to aid overtaking by providing an extra boost to the drivers when they are close to a car in front - or indeed to try and escape the car behind!
Now, the DRS is new. The drivers are able to press a button to open a flap on the rear wing, which reduces the drag caused by being in the turbulent air of the car in front. In contrast to KERS, the DRS is only available at a set point on the track (as decided by Charlie Whiting), and then only when a driver is within one second of the car in front - so no using DRS to escape from an oncoming driver. Turkey showed us just how well the DRS and KERS can be in conjunction with each other - there were loads of battles between drivers, even between team mates (though not Red Bull, much to Christian Horner's relief following on from 2010).
Despite these systems of KERS and DRS giving us exciting racing, people have been debating whether they are such a good thing. People have been arguing that overtaking is now artificial, and not down to driver skill. Rather than drivers having to negotiate their overtaking maneuvers on other drivers, they can simply press two buttons and go past.
However, I don't see it like this. If you get a driver who guards the necessary lines into corners, no amount of speed or drag reduction will allow them past. Drivers must therefore negotiate which line to take, as well as how to defend. Not forgetting that drivers don't automatically pull away from another when they have overtaken (unless they're one of the elite teams), and so the driver who has just overtaken another could find themselves being retaken! Just look as the battle between Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton - because the drivers were equally matched in terms of car, several overtakes took place which made for exciting racing.
So if we take this into account I don't think we can complain about the overtaking being too easy - any overtaking is good, regardless of how it comes about. If a driver has the presence of mind to use his KERS and DRS and is able to overtake another, that is down to the driver. We shouldn't see KERS and DRS as some sort of 'push to pass' system, but rather tools which help the drivers to battle with others and give us more of a show. So to all you F1 fans out there who aren't so happy with the new systems - just get over it and enjoy the racing!
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