JOHNNY B. GOOD (c34240@alfa.ist.utl.pt) wrote: : Maria Tarkka (mt56328@vuokko.uta.fi) wrote: : Sorry Maria, but I can't see where's the pressure on Damon this year. : Having your direct oponent right on your tail trying to gain points at you, : that's pressure; having to beat your direct oponent who's very close to you : in the WC is pressure... If you can't see how agonizing it is to have a nation like Britain expect you to win... I give up. Saw England lose the semifinal to Germany on Wednesday? Another reason why everyone there is dying to see Damon succeed. The country needs heroes after all they've gone through lately; mad monarchs as well as mad cows and God knows what else! : But this year? What pressure does Damon have? JV, a guy doing his : first F1 season? Schumacher, driving the "falling parts" Ferrari? The pressure is not coming from the drivers. That would be called 'challenge' if I know my English. The English media is known the world over and they certainly do not expect anything less than a championship from the lad this year. Rightly so. But that does not make it ay easier for Damon to answer their questions as patiently as ever and try to explain the reasons when something goes wrong. He knows they'll publicly slaughter him if he makes a mistake or even if he wasn't actually to blame. Bad publicity will anger the sponsors, and in his own way Damon is responsible. He is not only a racing driver. He is a product that is marketed. : Damon knows that even screwing up, he's very far in the Championship, : and that if he can't win one race, he'll win the next one. He has the luxury : of feeling free to make mistakes. First sentence...OK. I agree just about. But the second one is not true. He can make mistakes and still has an advantage over his competitors, but all drivers have more self-respect than that. They can't go to a race thinking: 'It really doesn't matter whether I win or not. I can win next week.' An F1 driver never has the freedom to make mistakes. It might not ffcet their position in the WC charts at that moment, but F1 is not all racing. There is the publicity side and the sponsors to think about. Frank will not pat Damon's head if Damon spins out in the first corner just because he didn't concentrate. The drivers are paid enormous sums of money and they are expected to do their job professionally and give 110% percent in every race. : The only pressure he gets is from the : press, but since he probably only hears the English press, maybe he doesn't : feel it that much... The English press is very hard on its 'own' boys. Ruthless and double-faced does not begin to describe some of the things they do and say. : : : He has more dificulties in passing than most of F1 drivers would have : : : if they were driving a Williams... : : We only have JV driving a Williams so we can't tell. Speculation doesn't : : count, Johnny. Yu can save yourself the trouble of writing great fictional : Speculation doesn't count? That way, we wouldn't be talking about : anything... There's always a little subjectivity in everything we believe, : except with mathematics. Aah but subjectivity and speculation are two totally different things. I say I like Damon best. That is a subjective opinion because I am not objective; I am affected by my dislike for Michael. Speculation means creating and analyzing events that have never actually taken place. Those could include Michael driving a Williams. I am not saying all speculation is vain and incorrect. But I am saying any 'truth' based on speculation is worthless because we are only human and our capacity to speculate objectively is limited. : Anyway, I feel that I have colected a lot of data : to make me think Damon has (more) dificulties in overtaking. Prost also had, : remember? You'll see people saying that as an universal truth, and I accept