Formula One: The Recipe For A Champion

On the current Formula One grid, there are two world champions in Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso, and many more younger guys waiting in the wings to take their turn at the crown. In this article, I give the recipe for making a champion.

Put in a generous amount of teamwork.

I'm sure you've heard the old adage that says, "there's no 'I' in 'team.'" Well, when you look at the previous champions, bar a certain Spaniard and French-Canadian, they have all been team players.

They have always referred to themselves as "we" when asked about a certain move or of a certain strategy. The driver is an essential part of the team, but they are not the team. If a driver can bring about morale within the garage to keep working on a very uncompetitive car, then they are just as good as the winner of the grand prix.

Michael Schumacher never criticized his team after his car blew up in his penultimate race in 2006, effectively losing the championship.

More recently, Kimi Raikkonen did not place all the blame on Ferrari after a very bad strategy cost him what could have been a definite podium place and quite possibly the win in the 2008 British Grand Prix. About the strategy failure, he said, "It was a joint decision—we are a team and we win or lose together."

Add a hint of support.

If there is anything that has shocked me most in the last few years of watching Formula One, it is Fernando Alonso's unprofessional behaviour at McLaren last year. Personally, Alonso isn't my favourite driver because he used to luck out at others' misfortunes, but this time, it was a totally different story.

His intentional slowing down of his teammate in Hungary and just being aggressive against Lewis Hamilton was shocking to watch. As teammates, you're expected to compete against each other, but you're not supposed to sabotage each other.

Alonso's reasoning for the pitlane controversy was that Lewis did not allow him to pass in qualifying to make his flying lap.

To put it quite simply, the past is the past, even if it was a few minutes ago. You have a new teammate who is a rookie to the sport and you have to understand that he is bound to make mistakes, it's Murphy's law. But, if you're going to hold that against him, then it makes you no better.

As a champion, one must be secure enough to know that his teammate is outperforming him in this grand prix and they must be able to support the teammate.

It's a little difficult since some seasons will have it where every point counts and the No. 1 driver in the team would rather take the win rather than the second spot.

Keep consistency until well done.

A no-brainer, consistency is the key to winning!

A driver is not going to have a short burst and then sit back and relax. They will keep fighting even if they have a bad day and really want to give up. If they were to give up, it reflects badly on the team, and their teammate.

As well, they should be able to race in different conditions effectively. A jack-of-all-trades in driving is better than a master of one. Lewis Hamilton is more likely the winner of a wet race, but Kimi Raikkonen is more likely the winner of a high speed track like Magny Cours or Spa-Fracorchamps.

This are their expertises, but they also can adapt to something that is not quite what they want, like a slow track for the Iceman.

Final Product

You now have a champion that is able to win races. These qualities are what I think is the best recipe for having a champion. They may not show it on the outside for us mere mortals to see, but it's what's in the car and pitlane that counts.