Drivers steer for motivation after title settled
Global Motorsport Media
With the drivers' title now in Sebastian Vettel's hands and Red Bull almost certainly to be the champion team, the issue of motivation is an interesting one in the Yeongam paddock.
Teams are now focused on 2012 and testing new components, but the drivers must still line up on four more Grand Prix grids.
Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, 8 points behind runner-up Jenson Button and 8 ahead of Mark Webber, said on Thursday: "I think finishing second, third or fifth in the drivers championship is not a big difference.
"Once you cannot be world champion it is not any more a big interest on that."
The simple pursuit of victory is therefore the motivation, the Spaniard explained.
"I think we all want to win, in any race we participate in. Even when we do the race of champions in December, for fun, if we finish second it's a very bad feeling, and a very bad night," said Alonso.
Vettel - who could go on holiday rather than travel to India, Abu Dhabi and Brazil in the next six weeks and still be champion - added: "I think the moment you come to a race thinking that it doesn't really matter where you finish it's the moment when you should probably stay at home.
"We love racing, we will enjoy racing as usual, but we will not be happy leaving this track knowing that we could have done better," said the German.
And Lewis Hamilton said: "To me, racing is the biggest part of my life apart from my family and it doesn't matter if it's a practice race or whatever, it still holds significant value to me."
Another possible motivation, according to former Ferrari driver and Italian commentator Ivan Capelli, is money.
"It depends on their contracts," he told AFP France. "Some have incentives for points scored, wins, poles ..."
And as for the multi-millionaires like Jenson Button, Alonso and Hamilton, Capelli added: "I think that once they get on the track, they want the prestige.
"It's like a new championship even after the title, where they can say maybe 'Well, I finished (the season) scoring more points than Vettel'."
Share Or Save This Story
Lewis Hamilton: ‘I towed Charles the whole time’ and ended up 0.5s slower
Why "dangerous" Hamilton-Lawson incident in Azerbaijan GP practice hasn't led to change
Lewis Hamilton and Fred Vasseur recall GP2 title and 'most impressive race ever', 20 years on
"Mr Horner is looking for a job" – Frederic Vasseur claps back at Ferrari rumours
How the chase to catch Mercedes is unfolding
Lewis Hamilton reprimanded by F1 stewards after Azerbaijan GP practice incident
Conor Daly earns career-best NASCAR Truck finish in chaotic Kansas race
After five-hour rain delay, Kaden Honeycutt wins dramatic NASCAR Truck race at Kansas
Frankie Muniz earns another GT4 America win with co-driver Tyler Stone at Barber
Isack Hadjar earns "team-mate points" after "exceptional comeback" in Baku, says Alex Brundle
Baku late-race chaos almost costs George Russell victory over Max Verstappen
How George Russell claimed his career-best pole margin in F1 Azerbaijan GP qualifying
How the chase to catch Mercedes is unfolding
What we learned from Thursday practice at the 2026 F1 Azerbaijan GP
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments