The Best of Team Mates?
In nearly every sport players in the same team have a vested interest in working together for the common good. That’s just as true in individual sports like golf and tennis when rivals join for the Ryder and Davis Cups. The major exception is motorsport.
The Brawn Formula 1 team delivered another one-two result in the Spanish Grand Prix yet there is talk of discontent in the camp. Rubens Barrichello has suspicions that Jensen Button is the favoured driver in the team.
In motorsport the normal conventions of sport are reversed; the main opponent to beat is usually a team mate because they are the only other driver or rider with exactly the same machinery.
Every other contest isn’t an equal one; every car or bike has slight or major differences in performance, so if an opponent is faster there can always be an excuse. Against a team mate there is no such luxury. In fact, the contrast can be the starkest evidence of who is the more talented individual.
Barrichello knows all about playing second fiddle because he did it for so long behind Michael Schumacher at Ferrari but at least in Italy he knew that the German would always be top dog.
The bitterest disputes occur when an acknowledged number one driver is under threat. The relationship between Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton at McClaren was a legendary example.
The Spaniard arrived at McClaren in 2007 as a double World champion and team leader. Hamilton was in his rookie year but as the season progressed, his pace and points scoring matched his more experienced team mate.
Alonso began to feel discomforted by the management’s failure to grant him leader status and put Hamilton under orders to assist him. Eventually the relationship with his team deteriorated so much that Alonso left after one year.
This sort of situation is made even more combustible because positions can fluctuate during the year. If one driver builds a lead the other is expected to begin working for the one with more points.
That works as long as both drivers feel they have had a fair chance to grab the lead role. The disquiet felt by Barrichello was triggered because the Brawn drivers were given different strategies on Sunday.
From Brawn’s viewpoint they made a sensible step to free Button from some traffic in front of him but to the Brazilian it could look as if Ross Brawn took a decision that gave Button an advantage.
This sort of paranoia is all the worse when a team clearly has a car capable of winning the championship, as was the case when Alonso and Hamilton were paired at McLaren.
Most motorsport teams seem to expect at least some friction between their drivers or riders but there does come a point when internal warfare can harm the smooth running of the organisation. In the months ahead, Ross Brawn will be keen to keep the tension creative.
If you enjoyed this post then try these:
- Brawn Bounce Back at Monza
- Jenson Button Clinches The Formula One World Title
- Formula One Looking For The Right Kind Of Headlines In Singapore
- Jenson Button Uses Another Of His Nine Lives
- Fernando Alonso Returns To A Competitive Car at Ferrari
