Least Fearful of Dying?

[race aficionado]

least fearful of dying?

what makes a great racing driver?

I'm sure that many things are to be considered, including reflexes, eyesight and intuition among others,
but I tend to think that what makes the best driver is the one that has all of the beforementioned but is commited to speed and is not afraid to die. It's a will thing, that "zone", where we all wish to be in, to not be afraid, to go for it.

I'm sure that some cars that didn't win or make the podium were not really driven to their max.

The car was better than the driver.

Any thoughts as we patiently wait for Australia GP?

[SILVERS95]

I dont know if its being not afraid to die....but the way i see it is it s being totally committed to a certain corner or lap......knowing before hand that your going in flat or only a slight lift etc.......but hey , im no racer ..thats just the way i see it. !

[TimD]

I keep thinking of Stirling Moss and Jackie Stewart on this subject - probably because I've heard them being asked more often than anyone else if they weren't afraid.

The response has always been that they developed a "it won't happen to me" attitude. "It might very well happen to someone, but that someone won't be me."

But this is not to say they were without fear. Jackie in particular will concede the presence of fear before a start, but fear is good, because it stops you being reckless. The trick seems to be to balance natural fear against your confidence in your own ability to get out of trouble and confidence in your car not to break unexpectedly.

Not the easiest of things to foster if, like Moss, Clark or Ireland, you had to drive an early-sixties Lotus.

[race aficionado]

Fear of recklesness can turn to respect with no fear, and by respect I mean that you don't have to swerve recklesly with no fear of dying and taking others life in the process.

No fear with no stupidity is a good combination.

[Hans.ca]

Over the 25 years that I covered motor sport I had the fortune of meeting many drivers. The one single thought that every one of these drivers had is that they would not get killed. If sombody was to be killed that day it would be another driver. I witnessed many deaths at many different tracks, one that comes to mind was Cevert at Watkins Glen,yet on sunday all the other drivers got into there cars and raced. Jody Scheckter was the first driver onto the scene of the accident, got out of his car, had a look and climbed back in and headed for the pits. He was ready to quit driving on the spot. Denny Hulme talked him out of it. Jody continued driving.
Talking to Stirling Moss about fear, he said that it is present and you use it to make the correct decision. The only thing that is controlled by fear is gross stupidity.

[Mr V]

i maybe wrong here but wasn't james hunt scared of what may happen to him (throwing up before races etc) but that didn't slow him down once the lights went green.

[Vipernoir]

Hunt wasn't throwing up from being scared - he wound himself up to perform so much that he would retch from adrenaline overload. As soon as he got in the car and could burn off the adrenaline he was fine.

[SILVERS95]

its got to affect you though surely...like trying to get Ronnie petterson out of a burning car at Monza ???

[paulzinho]

Who was it who when asked about enjoying the nordschleife replied, "anyone who says they enjoyed it is either a liar or wasnt driving fast enough"

[Total-F1]

A certain amount of fear, and respect for the fact that you could possibly die in a racing car is very healthy for a driver, I should think - they'd all drive like complete maniacs, otherwise!

[race aficionado]

I'll go back to the point of having the combination of no fear of dying with not driving stupidly and irresponsibly in the process.

Respect for life and the awareness of the importance of staying alive does not negate the possibility of not fearing death.

Of course this goes with trust in yourself and trust in the other drivers, but there lies the problem. It is there where the driver has to know who to trust and who not to.

All part of racing, and of living.

[paulzinho]

IMO a driver can't think about dying or getting hurt when he's on the race track because this would act as a distraction which in itself causes accidents. It would also prevent said driver from driving at their fullest as they wouldn't be commited to what they were doing.

However that said, they shouldn't drive like an idiot.