Discussion
for those who dont know, Wesley was signed by Mclaren at the same time as the other chap and it would appear that Wesley has a little chip on his shoulder about his current state, unemployed, no money, contrast that to his one time team mate, that Hamilton fella...
this following article is from (the pistonheads favourite!) a Guardian feature in the weekend magazine about "nearly stars of sport";
Ten years ago, two boys were splashed over the newspapers when they became the youngest drivers signed by McLaren. Lewis Hamilton was 13 and already had a certain cool about him. Wesley Graves was 12, wore outsized spectacles and looked rather geeky. Today, Hamilton is said to be the most valuable commodity in British sport; Graves is unemployed, lives at home with his parents in their Leicester council house and hasn't raced for seven years.
Wesley Graves cannot think about anything but racing cars. To say he is frustrated is an understatement. The past few months have been particularly tough for him as Hamilton has come out of nowhere to be a household name.
His parents, Steve and Christine, have brought down all the old photos and the trophies their little boy won. Way before he could talk, Wesley was making motorcar noises. Steve doesn't know where it came from - he wasn't interested in cars and hadn't even passed his test till he was in his mid-30s.
Wesley: "I used to run round the house pretending I was a car. Weird, wasn't it?"
Christine: "He was five. Used to sit there in class doing car noises. They used to ring me up and say, could you talk to Wesley about these car noises?"
Steve: "Different noises for different engines."
Christine: "The teacher would say to him, 'You're not a Ferrari today, Wesley.' If he hears a car coming down the street, he knows what it is."
The three of them talk like a team. It soon becomes apparent that his parents were as involved in Wes's budding career as he was. They enjoyed every triumph and took collective umbrage at every slight.
At four Wesley was racing go-carts at 30-40mph, despite his dreadful eyesight. He took his glasses off for racing, until his parents insisted he put them back on. Weren't they terrified?
"Not really, no," Steve says.
"Yes," Christine says. "I couldn't watch him when he was young. I used to sit in the toilets with my fingers in my ears so I couldn't hear the Tannoy telling me where he was. Then somebody would come and fetch me and say, 'He's won, he's won!' "
At six he was driving at 60-70mph, and at nine he won the Midland and Southern Championship. He loved starting at the back and coming through to beat the field. Christine says other parents couldn't believe he was winning fairly and accused them of tinkering with the car.
What made him so good?
"Talent," Wesley says. "I don't know - I can drive." He still talks about racing in the present tense. "I love winning, I do. I love it. You get a feeling just here." He taps on his chest. "I feel good, I feel proud, if I don't win I don't like it."
With other sports, too? He shakes his head. "I don't like other sport, really. Just motor sport."
Steve Graves used to have an engineering business. He estimates that during the five years before Wesley joined McLaren, he spent £2,000 a month on his son's racing - £120,000 in total. "We saw it as an investment. Racing became like an addiction. It took me four years to get over it when Wes stopped racing."
The business went bust (partly due to recession, partly because of debts incurred by the racing) and they lost their house. The Graves family now believe they made the wrong decision signing for McLaren. It might have seemed like a short cut to fame and fortune, but this was where they lost control of Wesley's career. Wesley says he couldn't get used to the new McLaren car, and while the older Hamilton was put into a new elite class called Junior Yamaha, which meant he was only ever competing with a handful of other drivers, he was left floundering in a car he didn't like, racing against fields of around 50.
Wesley thinks Lewis Hamilton was given special treatment. "They wanted to have the first black Formula 1 driver."
At the end of the year, Hamilton was kept on and Graves was released. He has never raced since. Motor racing is not like other sports, his parents whisper - it's all about money and who you know rather than what you know. They reckon they'd need a minimum of £50,000 to get Wesley back on the road and have sought sponsorship to no avail.
Without his racing, Wesley went downhill. He got into trouble at school, disrupting the class. You weren't making car noises, were you? He smiles, for the first time. "No, just mischief. Not doing work, tormenting people. I felt lost." Does he watch the grands prix now? "I don't like watching it. It does my head in. I don't like looking at him, really."
"I don't think he means directly at him," his mother says gently.
"I don't like looking at him racing."
Because it should be you? "Yes."
"No, probably both of them," Christine says. "Wouldn't you say, Wes?"
"Well, I should be there anyway."
Christine: "Well, not even in Formula 1 probably, but somewhere."
"No, in Formula 1. But I'll never get to where he is. Not now. That's gone. I could get somewhere else."
Since leaving school, he has not held down a job. Sometimes he works with his father, who's now a landscape gardener. He says he has not got himself a job because he is a racing driver; this is what he was born to do. "And I will do it one day. I will. I'll be back." He has just applied for a racing scholarship and talks about when he gets it, not if, despite the fact that more than 200 are competing for it.
What does he think of the stories that Hamilton could earn £1bn over the next 10 years ? He laughs bitterly. "It's horrible." Why? "Because I'm sitting here talking to you about what I could have been and what I should have been. That's why it's horrible. Then they say he's worth this much money. It does my head in. I hate it. It was like I was on the way, and it's took away from you."
He drives me back to the station. Every few seconds he toots a horn and waves at somebody in the street. "They all know me round here," he says. "I can't stand it. I need to get out of here. I'd like to move to Devon - or at least the outskirts of Leicester."
does anybody else think he should curtail the whining a little and if he is as good as he thinks he is, get out there and prove it again instead of waiting for a helping hand. Fate dealt him a cruel blow but why does he need £50K to start racing again?, sounds like a good excuse to me. I could tell you all I will be F1 world champion but you would need to start me off in F3 first, until then, you'll have to believe me!....
If he is that good, he will be good in anything from Formula Vee to Formula One. He is getting his Andy Warhol prescribed 15 minutes of fame but if he wanted it to be, it could potentially be so much more....
this following article is from (the pistonheads favourite!) a Guardian feature in the weekend magazine about "nearly stars of sport";
Ten years ago, two boys were splashed over the newspapers when they became the youngest drivers signed by McLaren. Lewis Hamilton was 13 and already had a certain cool about him. Wesley Graves was 12, wore outsized spectacles and looked rather geeky. Today, Hamilton is said to be the most valuable commodity in British sport; Graves is unemployed, lives at home with his parents in their Leicester council house and hasn't raced for seven years.
Wesley Graves cannot think about anything but racing cars. To say he is frustrated is an understatement. The past few months have been particularly tough for him as Hamilton has come out of nowhere to be a household name.
His parents, Steve and Christine, have brought down all the old photos and the trophies their little boy won. Way before he could talk, Wesley was making motorcar noises. Steve doesn't know where it came from - he wasn't interested in cars and hadn't even passed his test till he was in his mid-30s.
Wesley: "I used to run round the house pretending I was a car. Weird, wasn't it?"
Christine: "He was five. Used to sit there in class doing car noises. They used to ring me up and say, could you talk to Wesley about these car noises?"
Steve: "Different noises for different engines."
Christine: "The teacher would say to him, 'You're not a Ferrari today, Wesley.' If he hears a car coming down the street, he knows what it is."
The three of them talk like a team. It soon becomes apparent that his parents were as involved in Wes's budding career as he was. They enjoyed every triumph and took collective umbrage at every slight.
At four Wesley was racing go-carts at 30-40mph, despite his dreadful eyesight. He took his glasses off for racing, until his parents insisted he put them back on. Weren't they terrified?
"Not really, no," Steve says.
"Yes," Christine says. "I couldn't watch him when he was young. I used to sit in the toilets with my fingers in my ears so I couldn't hear the Tannoy telling me where he was. Then somebody would come and fetch me and say, 'He's won, he's won!' "
At six he was driving at 60-70mph, and at nine he won the Midland and Southern Championship. He loved starting at the back and coming through to beat the field. Christine says other parents couldn't believe he was winning fairly and accused them of tinkering with the car.
What made him so good?
"Talent," Wesley says. "I don't know - I can drive." He still talks about racing in the present tense. "I love winning, I do. I love it. You get a feeling just here." He taps on his chest. "I feel good, I feel proud, if I don't win I don't like it."
With other sports, too? He shakes his head. "I don't like other sport, really. Just motor sport."
Steve Graves used to have an engineering business. He estimates that during the five years before Wesley joined McLaren, he spent £2,000 a month on his son's racing - £120,000 in total. "We saw it as an investment. Racing became like an addiction. It took me four years to get over it when Wes stopped racing."
The business went bust (partly due to recession, partly because of debts incurred by the racing) and they lost their house. The Graves family now believe they made the wrong decision signing for McLaren. It might have seemed like a short cut to fame and fortune, but this was where they lost control of Wesley's career. Wesley says he couldn't get used to the new McLaren car, and while the older Hamilton was put into a new elite class called Junior Yamaha, which meant he was only ever competing with a handful of other drivers, he was left floundering in a car he didn't like, racing against fields of around 50.
Wesley thinks Lewis Hamilton was given special treatment. "They wanted to have the first black Formula 1 driver."
At the end of the year, Hamilton was kept on and Graves was released. He has never raced since. Motor racing is not like other sports, his parents whisper - it's all about money and who you know rather than what you know. They reckon they'd need a minimum of £50,000 to get Wesley back on the road and have sought sponsorship to no avail.
Without his racing, Wesley went downhill. He got into trouble at school, disrupting the class. You weren't making car noises, were you? He smiles, for the first time. "No, just mischief. Not doing work, tormenting people. I felt lost." Does he watch the grands prix now? "I don't like watching it. It does my head in. I don't like looking at him, really."
"I don't think he means directly at him," his mother says gently.
"I don't like looking at him racing."
Because it should be you? "Yes."
"No, probably both of them," Christine says. "Wouldn't you say, Wes?"
"Well, I should be there anyway."
Christine: "Well, not even in Formula 1 probably, but somewhere."
"No, in Formula 1. But I'll never get to where he is. Not now. That's gone. I could get somewhere else."
Since leaving school, he has not held down a job. Sometimes he works with his father, who's now a landscape gardener. He says he has not got himself a job because he is a racing driver; this is what he was born to do. "And I will do it one day. I will. I'll be back." He has just applied for a racing scholarship and talks about when he gets it, not if, despite the fact that more than 200 are competing for it.
What does he think of the stories that Hamilton could earn £1bn over the next 10 years ? He laughs bitterly. "It's horrible." Why? "Because I'm sitting here talking to you about what I could have been and what I should have been. That's why it's horrible. Then they say he's worth this much money. It does my head in. I hate it. It was like I was on the way, and it's took away from you."
He drives me back to the station. Every few seconds he toots a horn and waves at somebody in the street. "They all know me round here," he says. "I can't stand it. I need to get out of here. I'd like to move to Devon - or at least the outskirts of Leicester."
does anybody else think he should curtail the whining a little and if he is as good as he thinks he is, get out there and prove it again instead of waiting for a helping hand. Fate dealt him a cruel blow but why does he need £50K to start racing again?, sounds like a good excuse to me. I could tell you all I will be F1 world champion but you would need to start me off in F3 first, until then, you'll have to believe me!....
If he is that good, he will be good in anything from Formula Vee to Formula One. He is getting his Andy Warhol prescribed 15 minutes of fame but if he wanted it to be, it could potentially be so much more....
guardian said:
Wesley says he couldn't get used to the new McLaren car,
If he couldn't get used to a slightly different (if at all) kart what chance would he have in a different formula.guardian said:
and while the older Hamilton was put into a new elite class called Junior Yamaha, which meant he was only ever competing with a handful of other drivers, he was left floundering in a car he didn't like, racing against fields of around 50.
Rubbish, Lewis was racing against lots of other drivers maybe not as much as 50 but certainly 30+ and these were older drivers who had more experience as well.Yep, Lewis is where he is because he's the complete package. This kid might have had the talent but giving interviews like that will not endear him to any team or sponsor. To have been through everything he's experienced and still sound so immature probably gives us a hint as to why McLaren dropped him.
Shame to see someone so bitter and twisted though.
Shame to see someone so bitter and twisted though.
Surely being able to adapt to a new kart/car is the sign of proper racing talent? If you can't adapt, you don't progress. Hamilton adapted whilst this kid didn't. The end. The article comes over as if the guy believes the World of motor racing owes him a living, but he had a much better head start than most by being under the wing of a major team from the start - plenty of people have battled up the hard way, so this just strikes me as having a chip on his shoulder and using Hamilton's success to cash in.
Wesley says he couldn't get used to the new McLaren car, and while the older Hamilton was put into a new elite class called Junior Yamaha, which meant he was only ever competing with a handful of other drivers, he was left floundering in a car he didn't like, racing against fields of around 50.
Inaccurate too, Hamilton was signed by McLaren in 98, he had already competed in Junior Yamaha in 97, in 98 he ran in JICA
Wonder what happened to the other driver in the McLaren driver programme who was in German F3 at the time, Norman Simon
Inaccurate too, Hamilton was signed by McLaren in 98, he had already competed in Junior Yamaha in 97, in 98 he ran in JICA
Wonder what happened to the other driver in the McLaren driver programme who was in German F3 at the time, Norman Simon
I instructed Wesley Graves on the bearacingdriver.com scholarship run by Tim Sugden on the 24th January 2006 at Teesside Autodrome on round two, .. He was good, and put in some quickish lap times, but by no means the quickest.
The only comment I can make is that I meet many, many young drivers, who are gifted with that special something, but "the real special something" can only be seen in a handful of drivers, of which I wouldn't say Wesley was one.
The only comment I can make is that I meet many, many young drivers, who are gifted with that special something, but "the real special something" can only be seen in a handful of drivers, of which I wouldn't say Wesley was one.
I remember racing against Wesley in cadets at Wombwell and Fulbeck in about 1995 / 6, he was good, but wasn't exactly streets ahead of everone else.
I'd say he was pretty lucky to actually have had the chance to drive for Mclaren, most others were simply supported by by our old man / family, and this meant that unless you were either loaded, or really WERE that good, you didnt really stand much of a chance of progressing out of karting.
As far as i got was a couple of formula ford tests, and now just do track days for a bit of fun at the weekends!
I'd say he was pretty lucky to actually have had the chance to drive for Mclaren, most others were simply supported by by our old man / family, and this meant that unless you were either loaded, or really WERE that good, you didnt really stand much of a chance of progressing out of karting.
As far as i got was a couple of formula ford tests, and now just do track days for a bit of fun at the weekends!
Wesley could easily work as an instructor at Palmersport or another racing school! I know many drivers who don't make the grade because of money issues; however they work hard to achieve their dream. At Clic Sargent Racing; Alex Waters has raised over $245,000 for charity and his story can be read in F1 Racing mag.
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