MAIN FIGURE
The racer is the main figure in racing, the core of the team, regardless of the level of racing. Someone supports Schumacher, and someone grumbles that he is tired of him. In this case it does not matter, but it is important that we have a unique example to follow. And the champions are not only possible but imitated!
Very good, when the driver has engineering knowledge – it seriously helps to customize the racing car. But today, the ability to be a prudent businessman for a racer is just as important as setting. Both teams Benneton and Ferrari deserved the championship titles, when Michael Schumacher played for them. Coincidence? In no case! He made them champions. It was he such a high level of motivation in them that he received in return all the components necessary for victory: the best car, the best engineers, the best team.
It does not matter how many people surround the rider, to succeed, you must be able to get along with everyone. And not only this. We must infect them with our mighty motivation, make sure that they reveal their potential, in other words, become better than they thought about themselves. Here we can not do without a word with a negative shade – “manipulate”. But the American Oxford Dictionary of Explanation gives the following definition: “to rule with special art”. This is what a pilot has to do with his team. Making the staff do what they themselves want to do? Yes. But at a different level, and to ensure that knowledge and skills increase, and people themselves enjoy the result of their activities, of their progress. For example, you can ask colleagues to do something. You can order to do something. And they can be presented in such a way that they think that it’s their idea to do it. But in the end, it all depends on the individual approach. Who is your colleague: an ambitious leader or follower, that is a good performer. From this depends and what form of communication to prefer.
Of course, Michael Schumacher best racer of our time. His talent in driving a race car is huge and undeniable. But part of his grand success lies outside the formula cockpit. He knows how to get along amazingly with people, with members of his team. He knows how to make them better than they thought of themselves. This is what the great Frank Williams said about Schumacher: “He is the best in the tests, the best in qualifying, the best in the race, the best in getting the most from engineers and tire manufacturers. And the list goes on and on. He thinks only of victory. Only Ayrton Senna was like that before him. ” Four-time world champion Alan Prost “Schumacher is one of the five best riders in the world. But since he is loved by members of his team, they didn’t like a single driver. This is phenomenal. I was always jealous of him. ” And Schumacher himself says: “It’s impossible to be always the best if there are the wrong people around. It took me several years to create a team, but today it is the best team I know. ”
If a racer cannot find a way to get his team members to improve, it will be difficult for him to improve. All this is true, but money! Many riders frankly believe that on the way between them and the opportunity to win the title are only money. This is not quite true. On the way to victory – between the racer and the podium are people! If the rider is surrounded by the right people, there will be money. History knows a lot of evidence of this.
MASTERY
What is skill? What does it mean to masterfully drive a car in racing? This means doing enough, but no more. Jackie Stewart called it “saving moves.” This means turn the steering wheel just enough that the car turned and not a jot more. This means that the brake is so aggressive that the tire gets into the zone of maximum grip, but no more. It means to be honest with yourself. If some technique fails, we must work on it, and not avoid situations in which its use is necessary. Mastery is the ability to achieve results, spending on it exactly as much strength and energy as necessary. No more and no less. It is possible to practice this way every day, and not only at the wheel of a racing car, but driving a civilian car and generally doing anything. Needless to say, efforts should be applied in the right direction. How many races were lost because the driver tried to show a greater result than enough to win. The ability to go so fast as to be the first and not one iota faster – this is a sign of real skill!
Mastery is the ability to adapt and improvise. Newbies in the race seek to literally do everything “according to science,” so that everything is correct, as in a book. They do not even suspect that the questions they ask the masters of tuning and piloting the car sound naive. The fact is that in sports there are no absolutely right or wrong things. The master of all things, even if some components do not match the ideal. That’s why he is a master. The master can travel a different path, adapt to the changing behavior of the car.
