Does the internet damage our "heroes"?

[Kicking-back]

I was talking to my mother about Formula One recently and she referred to the sixties when you were lucky if three races a year were on television and "the drivers were all heroes".

These days we have every race live and wall-to-wall internet discussion of Formula One.

The numerous make-your-own websites and forums of varying quality offer plenty of places for people to air their views on motorsport.

But much of what's written (rarely at this site, admittely) is nothing more than petty name calling and belittling of what are still great achievements.

In the interweb age, race-winning drivers are "useless", world champions are "passengers" etc...

Yes, safety in racing is infinitely better than what it once was - but there's still a level of danger, it's still a potentially fatal pursuit. Even the drivers who struggle down-the-back have a level of driving ability beyond the average person's comprehension.

So why aren't they seen as heroes any more?

[jase]

Because in general they are unaproachable and everything that is written is full of spin and PR.

[enemy-ace]

I think the heroes of old had just as much 'spin' and 'PR' as our modern heroes if not more. Journalists working the circuit in the early years of the sport would often befriend the driver and thus would more than likely embellish their stories. Nobody wants to read a textbook. Art imitating life and life imitating art and all that. Thus the drivers would then have their accomplishments be viewed as superhuman. Teams/organizations/companies are always going to 'spin' their endeavors no matter what era you live.
If anything I think the drivers are more 'real' now than ever before. Even if they are unapproachable. As for all the slanders their reps will face, well I think every person in the public eye will have to endure that. In the end the cream will rise to the top.

[Steve Wilkinson]

When I was a youngster and going to events like the 1963 Oulton Park Gold Cup the F1 drivers like Graham Hill, Richie Ginther, Dan Gurney, Jack Brabham, etc were all very much approachable. However they were not besieged by people all the time. They were able to mingle without being harassed by their adoring public.
The damage came when there was more publicity and even bigger crowds would be drawn. This also co-incided with the professional era when the none championship F1 events started to dwindle. At this point with just one chance a year to see your hero on home turf EVERYONE wanted to be there and EVERYONE wanted a piece of their hero.
The last Grand Prix I have so far attended was at Silverstone a few years ago. The company who invited me along as a guest (Cellnet) were one of Damon Hill's sponsors. Prior to the Grand Prix Damon made an appearance at Cellnet's hostility unit. I managed to get his autograph and have a very quick chat. He was then whisked away in a limo to his next 'appointment'. Only the people in the chosen enclaves got to see him.

Maybe this is why we consider our heros less than perfect; mind you they always were!

[enemy-ace]

[QUOTE=Steve Wilkinson] Prior to the Grand Prix Damon made an appearance at Cellnet's hostility unit. QUOTE]

Freudian slip?

[Tweed]

I think Eddie Irvine hit the nail on the head a few years ago when he said that F1 now is all full of " boys and young kids " or words to that effect. When he was growing up the drivers had had lives before F1 and were often older than today's superstars. Now they are shoehorned into F1 cars at a very early age and, some would say, haven't developed a personality of their own. That was my understanding of his point, anyway.

[MikeHoyer]

That's an interesting point actually Tweed, it does seem that they are more moulded into the perfect racing driver/promotional tool, rather than being their natural selves these days.

[Tweed]

Of course, I've just missed the whole point of K-b's thread!

The internet and other such media does remove a certain amount of 'mystique' that the drivers might otherwise have. We almost feel like we know them at some times. I personally will always have heroes, although it was probably easier to in the 60s and 70s.

[Logrence]

Senna wasn't much of a hero until he died.

We'll all love Schumi when he's gone, I'm sure...we just think of the 'good old days' in a nostalgic black and white kind of way.

[alesi95]

Yes. Cus the internets for perverts.

[ASCII Man]

Originally Posted by Logrence

Senna wasn't much of a hero until he died.

We'll all love Schumi when he's gone, I'm sure...we just think of the 'good old days' in a nostalgic black and white kind of way.

Yes he was, and like hell I will...

[dtype38]

K-b... could it be that the sort of people who believe in heros travel the world supporting them, and the sort of people who don't type endlessly at keyboards from that safety of their own homes?

[Armco Bender]

I think the heroes of old had just as much 'spin' and 'PR' as our modern heroes if not more.

The heroes of yore diced with death,and frequently died, on tracks lined with trees and straw bales,they raced for glory and maybe a few bucks,had a beer with the fans after the race and probably drove home from the circuit in the latest Ford Zephyr.
As for coverage there were the Motorsport magazines,maybe a few columns in the newspaper but TV here only had a minute or two of black and white film shown probably a month after the race.

Todays racers and racing is completely sanitised by comparison.

[enemy-ace]

Originally Posted by Armco Bender

As for coverage there were the Motorsport magazines,maybe a few columns in the newspaper but TV here only had a minute or two of black and white film shown probably a month after the race.

My point right there. With so little coverage, it is quite easy for a journalist to put a little more fiction among their facts. Todays coverage being more intense its hard for the competitors to hide the reality of their accomplishments.

[Kicking-back]

But isn't what every racing driver does deserving of respect?

Sometimes we don't even see that any more...

[Super Tourer]

It's a thought provoking topic and one I'm not sure has an easy answer. In an attempt to find one I've looked up the Oxford Dictionary definition of a 'Hero'

Hero
Demigod, man of superhuman qualities, man admired for great deeds and noble qualities.


Do we see drivers as superhuman or noble nowadays? Certainly they do something that many are not capable of, but superhuman - how do we define it?

During the Zebrugge disaster, I remember a news report about a guy who bridged a gap with his body that fellow passengers could use to escape from the ship, he did this for quite a time and many lives were saved as a result, I guess this is an example of someone who is 'superhuman' and a 'hero' - in terms of sheer strength and determination to do it, and bravery to put others before himself. It was an superhuman act.

If we look at war hero's as a comparison, apparently to be awarded the VC you have to have performed an act of bravery in which you were unlikely to survive, and that your own death in undertaking it was almost inevitable, hence the number of phostumous VC's that are awarded.

In terms of respecting drivers, I think it's more admiration they earn. We admire their supreme self confidence that gives them the abiliity to drive an F1 car flat out, despite the fact that we 'know' that computers are helping them to keep the car pointing in the right direction.

But, F1 has lost it's rawness. Back in the days of Clark et al, you saw someone climb into a glorified bean can, with an helmet that would almost break if you cracked an egg on it, whilst sitting in a petrol can with little protection. Compared to today's creations the cars look deathtraps, and many of them were.

Rawness has been replaced by safety and it's a testament to all those involved that life threatening injury and death amongst drivers has been marginalised to such an extent.

So, we admire F1 drivers for climbing into their multi million pound machines, for which they earn incredible amounts of money, but probably no longer requires the superhuman effort it once did. The fact that a driver from the very junior formulae can jump into an F1 car and be near it's limit within half a day possibly supports that.

[Kirk]

Sad but true ST.
The information age does take away some of the mystique, if you will, of the F1 teams and it's drivers. Little that goes on is unreported; and on most race days the unpredictability of the past is all but lost, but not completely, nothing like a rain shower or two to bring that element back into the fore.

[Marbot]

Originally Posted by Super Tourer

The fact that a driver from the very junior formulae can jump into an F1 car and be near it's limit within half a day possibly supports that.

I think for me one of the best sentences ever to grace this forum since registering,well done Super Tourer.

[enemy-ace]

With the margins so small and the speeds so high these days being 'near the limit' and 'being on the limit' are an eternity apart.

[Driver]

So are the GP bike riders more worthy of "superhuman" or "hero" status than F1 drivers?

Even though the four strokes are supposedly "easier" to ride compared to the old 500's, they are awsomely powerful machines that afford the rider no protection. And not a lot of people can ride these to their full potential.

Is this why Rossi is seen so much as a hero? Charisma + skill + risk = hero? Is it the percieved risk that is missing or the charisma in F1 drivers?

[Graham Goodwin]

What makes it all far worse is the stripping of almost all the character from the drivers - There's so much money involved it's just ridiculously corporate.

I cannot take seriously (and certainly couldn't hero worship) somebody for whom wearing the correct cap and mentioning an obscure corporate entity was more important than talking some common sense.

I wasn't a big Jackie Stewart fan but my god he was a hero, he got off the fence, talked straight about things that were wrong with the sport and stuck to his guns - Todays crop could learn a lot from that outlook.

[Henry]

Originally Posted by Driver

So are the GP bike riders more worthy of "superhuman" or "hero" status than F1 drivers?

Even though the four strokes are supposedly "easier" to ride compared to the old 500's, they are awsomely powerful machines that afford the rider no protection. And not a lot of people can ride these to their full potential.

Is this why Rossi is seen so much as a hero? Charisma + skill + risk = hero? Is it the percieved risk that is missing or the charisma in F1 drivers?

My 2 cents.... While it has to be easier to get yourself maimed or killed on a bike (any bike) than an F1 car, it's not to say that the F1 car isn't potentially lethal if it all goes wrong... so it not entirely the risk factor that would promote the bikers as "more heroic".

For me, it's that you can see the work going into balancing on the knife edge on the bikes, particularly someone like Rossi, who'll have the thing on it's front wheel or snaking under brakes, who'll lay it down and crank it sideways when he's on the hunt.... much of the time (for me), it's very hard to look at an F1 car and say "Man, he's really on the edge this time around!". While admittedly I don't watch them much anymore, and therefore probably wouldn't know an F1 car on the limit if it hit me, the lack of the great slides and spectacular action (or other obvious visual clues) of "the good old days" is a blot on much of the motorsport I watch these days....

regards, from a grumpy old bugger!

[RWC]

A good question this one KB
I think drivers are indeed seen as less 'heroic' than in times past -but also one could say that drivers of old were totally stupid doing what they did.The two aspects have to go together
Looking at it another way-drivers today get universal acceptance for what they do.It's a safe,almost sensible, well paid job
I don't know what the official stats are but i'm thinking that f1 drivers these days may even have less overall risk than *we* do just driving on normal roads
No wonder not many either hate them nor idolize them

In the past only certain types of people would think racing drivers as normal sensible people let alone hero's
Alot of people very likely hated them for the bad role models they were
It's like everything was more extreme back then


All that said,my theory doesn't account for the agro about some drivers
That would be because of various reasons such as (in no order)

easy to insult on the internerd

cars not showing the drivers skills

*TV in general* (ya can't see,feel ,hear or smell what's REALLY happening-it all looks too easy)

Frustration because way too many drivers are getting their jobs not for their hero driving ability but because of sponser influence

[Pitbabe]

I agree with Henry. You certainly see much more of the effort being made by a MotoGP rider than an F1 driver (on the TV anyhow, I can't speak for live action), and the risk is greater. A quick mental check tells me that more bike racers have been seriously injured or killed in recent years than car racers.

Rossi is a very special case, and I believe he would seem heroic and charismatic whatever he did, but if you discount him, the fact that these guys risk their bodies and their lives every other weekend or so for our entertainment, gives them hero status in my eyes. Just as much now as before.

F1 drivers, to me, in the main, seem to be less heroic than in the past, which may well be down to the more corporate aspect of F1, the fact that they are in many cases very young and totally inarticulate, or just plain boring.

Then again, maybe I'm just getting old!

[Kicking-back]

Originally Posted by Graham Goodwin

I wasn't a big Jackie Stewart fan but my god he was a hero, he got off the fence, talked straight about things that were wrong with the sport and stuck to his guns - Todays crop could learn a lot from that outlook.

True, yet at the same time, Jackie was among the pioneers of benefitting from a more corporate approach, which has stood him in good stead to this day.

A great driver - yet also an astute businessman