British Grand Prix Drivers
Discussion
What the f
k is it with some british people that need to find a reason to knock british drivers at every opportunity??
example
To some F1 fans it seems that it is uncool to like to see british drivers doing well.
In the past when Mansell won I heard loads of people saying Mansell is a crap driver...
The same happened with Damon Hill
Now it seems that it is Hamiltons turn to take a bashing...
Please can someone explain to me why as a brit it is uncool, to want to see a brit win the F1 Drivers Championship?
k is it with some british people that need to find a reason to knock british drivers at every opportunity?? example
To some F1 fans it seems that it is uncool to like to see british drivers doing well.
In the past when Mansell won I heard loads of people saying Mansell is a crap driver...
The same happened with Damon Hill
Now it seems that it is Hamiltons turn to take a bashing...
Please can someone explain to me why as a brit it is uncool, to want to see a brit win the F1 Drivers Championship?
With you on that....
If you read the threads, it seems the guy can't do anything right. Why knock him if he is good at PR for Gods sake, that is a pretty significant part of the job. As long as he is driving well WTF. Unless you'd rather have Mr (charisma) Raikonnen who is clearly as dull as a wet weekend in Skegness.
If you read the threads, it seems the guy can't do anything right. Why knock him if he is good at PR for Gods sake, that is a pretty significant part of the job. As long as he is driving well WTF. Unless you'd rather have Mr (charisma) Raikonnen who is clearly as dull as a wet weekend in Skegness.
In truth I think there are a couple of reasons...
1. The British mass media is prone to building up drivers rapidly to an unrealistic pedestal (with the aim of knocking them down at some point). Quite a lot of Brit's have a knee jerk reaction AGAINST any driver that gets praised to excess on the back page of the Sun after a GP because we just don't like that kind of populist coverage.
2. Any kind of "patriotic" coverage of a British driver (or any sportsperson) risks blurring the line between "national pride" and "nationalism".
3. Most of the British GP winners of the last 30 years have not been, objectively, the best drivers in the field.
To cross-reference the above points a bit more closely to the likes of Hamilton, Hill and Mansell.
1. Hamilton had just a little bit too much coverage when he did well in the early races. Although he is without a doubt an excellent driver with colossal natural speed, he is not yet the finished article and I think perhaps he is paying the price now for too much adulation after the early races by both the print media and ITV - his relationship with Alonso has broken down and it would appear to be costing him time on track now that they (allegedly) don't share setup info, and perhaps he has started to enjoy the "lifestyle" a bit more than he needs to (photographed with glamorous ladies at awards ceremonies etc. with regularity).
2. Mansell Mania went too far in his world championship year, for me the symbol of that was the track invasion at Silverstone, that was basically hooliganism by people who don't understand motor racing and just follow the British flag.
3. Lewis is probably the first British driver since Jackie Stewart that the world's media would agree has as much pace as anyone in the field. Damon Hill and Nigel Mansell will always have a question mark over their world championships because of the dominance of the Williams chassis, most would agree that in those times Senna, Prost and Schumacher were clearly faster.
1. The British mass media is prone to building up drivers rapidly to an unrealistic pedestal (with the aim of knocking them down at some point). Quite a lot of Brit's have a knee jerk reaction AGAINST any driver that gets praised to excess on the back page of the Sun after a GP because we just don't like that kind of populist coverage.
2. Any kind of "patriotic" coverage of a British driver (or any sportsperson) risks blurring the line between "national pride" and "nationalism".
3. Most of the British GP winners of the last 30 years have not been, objectively, the best drivers in the field.
To cross-reference the above points a bit more closely to the likes of Hamilton, Hill and Mansell.
1. Hamilton had just a little bit too much coverage when he did well in the early races. Although he is without a doubt an excellent driver with colossal natural speed, he is not yet the finished article and I think perhaps he is paying the price now for too much adulation after the early races by both the print media and ITV - his relationship with Alonso has broken down and it would appear to be costing him time on track now that they (allegedly) don't share setup info, and perhaps he has started to enjoy the "lifestyle" a bit more than he needs to (photographed with glamorous ladies at awards ceremonies etc. with regularity).
2. Mansell Mania went too far in his world championship year, for me the symbol of that was the track invasion at Silverstone, that was basically hooliganism by people who don't understand motor racing and just follow the British flag.
3. Lewis is probably the first British driver since Jackie Stewart that the world's media would agree has as much pace as anyone in the field. Damon Hill and Nigel Mansell will always have a question mark over their world championships because of the dominance of the Williams chassis, most would agree that in those times Senna, Prost and Schumacher were clearly faster.
- ******
- *******
I do think the balance on ITV has gone far too toward Lewis than should have done. Have they spoken with the likes of Sutil? I don't remember if they have, and why haven't they? They are all good drivers, they must be to be there, so let's hear from them.
I am for Lewis winning the drivers crown
I am for Lewis winning the drivers crown
Frankly I think it's comedy. To be told it's bordering on nationalism (often by people who whinge about political correctness) is just pathetic. Sport is an area where national pride is perfectly acceptable, after all why are national anthems played on the podium?
It also seems to me that reacting to press stories is succumbing to their game of 'build them up, knock them down', hardly an act of individualism, especially if others are doing the same
But most of all what I find objectional about the whole thing is that we're all expected to support 'Engerland' in soccer tournaments, whether we like it or not, yet supporting other sporting stars from this country, whether racing drivers or not, is somehow a bad thing
It also seems to me that reacting to press stories is succumbing to their game of 'build them up, knock them down', hardly an act of individualism, especially if others are doing the same
But most of all what I find objectional about the whole thing is that we're all expected to support 'Engerland' in soccer tournaments, whether we like it or not, yet supporting other sporting stars from this country, whether racing drivers or not, is somehow a bad thing
jesusbuiltmycar said:
What the fk is it with some british people that need to find a reason to knock british drivers at every opportunity??
example
To some F1 fans it seems that it is uncool to like to see british drivers doing well.
In the past when Mansell won I heard loads of people saying Mansell is a crap driver...
The same happened with Damon Hill
Now it seems that it is Hamiltons turn to take a bashing...
Please can someone explain to me why as a brit it is uncool, to want to see a brit win the F1 Drivers Championship?
With Lewis you can thank the media, as a racer he's very good but has said some rather silly thing's that make other drivers think *hey your a dick* apart from that he's a great racer and top man, sadly F1 is wank and his driving style has lost a little flair in F1. Karting/F3/Gp2 were his best days if you like proper racing.k is it with some british people that need to find a reason to knock british drivers at every opportunity?? example
To some F1 fans it seems that it is uncool to like to see british drivers doing well.
In the past when Mansell won I heard loads of people saying Mansell is a crap driver...
The same happened with Damon Hill
Now it seems that it is Hamiltons turn to take a bashing...
Please can someone explain to me why as a brit it is uncool, to want to see a brit win the F1 Drivers Championship?
P.S. RIP Colin
Edited by SuperKartRacer on Monday 17th September 19:15
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