I prattle on and on about Formula 1 and other motorsport and have done so for years and while I am not hip enough to be in the VR racing series, I have spent several hours working the joystick of a Sony Playstation with Gran Turismo running full tilt.
I’d go as far as to say that I actually purchased a Sony Playstation because of Grand Turismo. Now the new chapter, GT Sport, is coming and Lewis Hamilton is coming with it.
It seems that Sony have included a Lewis as a mentor to help you drive better in the game and if you’re going to take a few tips from someone, who better than a 3-time world champ?
While I did fine at the wheel of an Audi R8 and Ferrari 458, I’m no professional racer like our own Paul Charsley but riding with Paul taught me a lot about driving in anger. What I realized, as I am trying to teach my own daughter how to drive, is that not everyone is a good teacher regardless of how good they are on track.
I think of Paul, Jeff Westphal, Tommy Byrne, Nico Rondet and others in Paul’s circle who are terrific at teaching. They’re just really good at explaining the dynamics of a car, a corner and driving on the limit.
That made me wonder how our current grid of F1 superstars are a teaching others to drive. I think of driver coaches and others who do this for a living but I wonder how well Lewis, Fernando, Seb, Kimi, Nico, Daniel, Sergio or others might do when placed in a teaching scenario.
If FBC were monetized and supported by a larger sponsor, I would start a video series where I get several of the current F1 drivers out to a test track and they have one mission, teach a person like Nico Rondet or Paul Charsely how to drive and then get graded on their efforts.
If anyone does that, you’ll know they read it here first and they owe me a cut of the revenue. I think it could be very fun to watch these champions try to teach a seasoned race driver instructor how to drive. Then, to really add spice, take complete novices and see who can coach their novice to the fastest lap. Now that would be fun to watch.
Hat Tip: Telegraph
I’m not sure that an F1 driver would be able to teach a seasoned racer or instructor how to drive, or even be able to help them achieve improvement – almost by definition the guys at the very top of the field are somewhat idiosyncratic and do something different to differentiate them from the generic racing driver. As an example, Hamilton doesn’t use braking markers in the same way as many other drivers, almost brakes by instinct, he says. He won’t be doing that, of course, he’ll be using subconscious markers that tell him that if he’s going at speed… Read more »
very true statements here, Ive met and talked to many a top driver and they wouldn’t make a good instructor at all, they can only talk in very basic terms, but do great things when behind the wheel, one exception is Allan McNish, could probably be the most articulate driver i’ve ever listened to, though no one could afford him as an instructor!
As the son of a Scottish mother, ah ken whit he’s talking aboot bit maist folk wilnae ken him