I make no excuses for my burst of cynicism and the vivid contrast I draw in attitude between mind-bogglingly paid footballers and Formula One drivers, who are quite as well off but eagerly readier to justify their wage packets.
The slightest knock or trip sends a football player cartwheeling into a dramatic collapse as if he has been shot from the stands by a sniper, with a resultant limp off the pitch and a two-week lay off until his broken toenail, or whatever, has been repaired.
Contrast that with a Formula One driver who, as we have seen this last week in the admirable forms of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, dedicatedly justify their high earnings with a selfless display of duty when they were each discomfited by setbacks.
The crucial four-day Barcelona test session with brand new cars and updated technological problems to be resolved needed all the concentration and resilience possible by the drivers to iron out the designers’ efforts in the countdown to next month’s opening grand prix in Australia.
And the Mercedes pair — Hamilton, the reigning champion, and Rosberg, the runner-up — reported health setbacks that would have sidelined, say, a footballer.
Rosberg had a bad back, painful and sore and made even more uncomfortable in the cramped confines of the cockpit at 200-plus mph around a bumpy racetrack.
Hamilton was suffering from a high fever, temperature problems and an overall feeling of being poorly to the point of needing to go to bed for a couple of days recovery and rest.
But, no, neither man would take the easy option and dump the test. Instead they set about their work with a vigour to shame quitters who would have opted out.
When the session had finished, Hamilton and Rosberg between them had amassed an impressive 444 laps — some 2,066km — in windy weather around a treacherous track that tricked Fernando Alonso into a scary 100-plus mph crash and put him in hospital, luckily with no serious injury but suspected concussion.
And chances are the Spanish ex-world champion will be behind the wheel of his McLaren again this week around the same track for the closing test session, if the doctors allow it.
Hamilton admitted: “I have had better days and was not 100 per cent with the fever. I was looking forward to getting home for a couple of days off and a good long sleep — but I miss driving so much I just wanted to get into the car and get stuck into the testing. I was determined to do lots of laps.”
He stayed out for 89 circuits of the Spanish Grand Prix venue one afternoon.
Rosberg, who on one day started at 9am with 68 laps, broke for lunch and then crammed in another 63 arduous laps — both race distances — was similarly determined not to let his injury setback defeat him.
“It was uncomfortable,” he said. “But we learnt a lot about the car. I am confident we have a good one that will be a real challenger. That all helps to take away the pain and make the work and the risks worthwhile.”
A unique lot Formula One drivers — or just mad?
The writer is a freelance journalist and motorsport expert
