I like to think I watch a lot of sport from football to Formula 1 to Karting, and I have noticed a very broad variety in sports personalities. Many professional athletes are commonly judged on how they react to certain scenarios.
Formula 1 shows my point here as drivers go on to win their first championship, you often see drivers slipping under the radar mid-season, for example Jenson Button in 2009 made a records matching start to the season winning six of seven raced, a record only achieve before by Michael Schumacher and someone else (dunno who).
However after that, Jenson only managed to average 6th throughout the rest of the season, (though double diffusers may have had something to do with it) Jenson claimed he wasn’t happy with how unpredictable the cars handling had become. But commentators and analyst seemed to think Jenson wasn’t coping with the stress of leading the championship too well. Though he did comeback with an amazing storm through the grid at Brazil to take the championship, it’s this mid-season dip in performance I wish to talk about.....
This “Dip” can also be seen again in 2010, Red Bull clearly had the most competitive car and Sebastian Vettel’s driving style (smooth early throttle) seemed to compliment the Red Bull’s more grippy font end more than Mark’s more aggressive style, and it was clear to see Vettel was the quickest and the only thing holding him back was the reliability issues, Yet once again we see Vettel being forgotten in the mid-season and the focus on Double world champion Fernando Alonso. Is the problem with the car? Or is it psychological?
Well Both Button and Vettel showed amazing maturity throughout the season however there were a few slips, such as Button on the team radio saying “Guys HOW CAN THIS CAR FEEL THIS BAD WHEN IT FELT SO GOOD BEFORE” what car Jenson? The same one you have been driving all season? Good question Jenson, How can the same car (with a few minor upgrades, trust me brawn had very little funding so very little upgrades were put on) feel so bad?
Jenson after the 2009 silverson GP clearly not happy about the car
Well as a matter of fact it is not the car that has changed, but confidence. Hard to believe but championships (of any sport) are won with… confidence, and all that Jenson has done is loose confidence, because as the other cars began to catch up in terms of performance they bagan to match buttons pace but not exceed it, it is just Jenson’s performance and confidence dropping, I can prove this as their team mates (both Jenson and Sebastian’s) seem to still be able to bring in the victories. Rubens Barrachello managed to win a race in the “bad feeling” car in Valencia and Monza both races are in the middle of the season. Same with Vettel, Mark Webber won both the Monaco race and the Spanish grand prix, Proof that the “dip” lies in the driver and not the car
And same confidence dip can be seen with Vettel as he sadly says at 200 mph down the Monza straight “Seriously guys are you Fu***** Kidding me or what?” just after being told he had an engine problem. He had kept calm and cool for the first half of the season about his cars reliability issues but this shows the chink in his armour.
Sebastians car on fire at the Korean GP 2010
Confidence in what? I hear you not asking but will answer anyway. Well I’m so glad you asked, well the truth is anything, in Jenson’s case it was the car, if you watch on board laps of him at Bahrain compared to Silverstone you can see he is a lot less brave on the brakes and is much later on the throttle, this should be the other way round, same if you see in Monaco Jenson (in my opinion his finest drive) his hands are as precise as a surgeon and incredible bravery carrying such speeds so close to solid walls.
With Sebastian It was the team and reliability, he didn’t trust his team to prepare his car and didn’t trust Kate’s Dirty Sister (what he calls his car) so he didn’t push her/it as hard, and just disguising it to the press as an issue with the diffuser. The same diffuser Webber brought to victory at the 2 races we talked about.
Can they really be called champions if they “dip”? well, in Vettel’s and Jenson’s case then yes, as Vettel dominated the last few races to win the championship, and Jenson with an amazing drive at brazil, it is these performances that can solidify their champion status, the drives that make us think wow they deserve that!
However what I say can usually be seen clearly in the drivers first championship victory, if you pay close attention you can still see the dip when they win their second, but being champions they learn from the dip and therefore it becomes much less apparent in the next championships.
All that I have said here is 100% how I ME MOI JAG (and however other ways to say ME) perceive what I ME MOI JAG have seen and is 100% opinion, I might write it like its fact but it is all intended to share my OPINION, and please feel free to share yours in the comment section below!
Hope you have enjoyed my third post
Be Well
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