Racing should be hard but fair. These days, most people are better at the hard bit than the fair bit...

This might come as a surprise to those of you who think of me as a mild-mannered Clark Kent figure - but when my father Bob and I used to go kart racing, our caravan had a sticker strategically placed on the side. It covered the hole made by the screwdriver I'd thrown at him.

I've grown up a lot since then, but the question of aggression in racing is an interesting one. Where do you draw the line?

As far as actually driving the car, the key is controlled aggression. Many fans think it's all about giving it death, and you often see that when they jump into road cars on a track. But it's much more about keeping it as smooth as you can, and knowing how hard to push. Discipline, precision and concentration are key elements; sheer brio isn't enough on its own.

Back in the early '90s, you could grab the cars by the scruff of the neck and throw them where you wanted them to go. You could get away with that because they produced a hell of a lot of grip. Now you daren't be over-aggressive or you'll muck up the whole corner. Back then, being over-aggressive didn't penalise you too much; you could really abuse the grip. You can't do that these days.

The entry to corners is as important as ever, but because of the relative lack of aerodynamic downforce now, so much more effort is put through the tyres; and when you have exceeded the point at which the aerodynamics work, you can overload the tyres. The biggest abuse comes on the entry to corners. Take the third one at Barcelona: in the old days you'd really chuck the car in and then it would be flat, the car would just stick. Now the car just spins like a top if you do that. It hasn't got the grip and forgiveness.

You have to be very smooth on the throttle and on turn-in. If you are too rough with the throttle, or turn-in too hard, you make the car too twitchy. You can be aggressive under braking, but otherwise with the new cars you have to stay calm. It's difficult, but it's a technique you have to develop. You have to be smooth and know just how aggressive you can be. You have to think about it a lot more, but then you have more time to do it in. It's very easy to be too aggressive, and you just end up going slower.

I'm told I'm unusually calm even when people have accidentally had me off - like Eddie Irvine did at Monza in 1994 or in Melbourne last year. It's the same when people drive into me - as Damon did in Argentina. But these tactics are way out of line.

I believe in fairness in race driving. I make it difficult for people to pass me, but I don't believe in taking them off deliberately. If someone wants to try to come up the inside, I'll leave them the absolute minimum amount of space; but if they then drive me off the track, that's not acceptable.

Weaving is another offence against sportsmanship. You're not doing it in a fair way, and it's dangerous. I don't think I have ever weaved in my life! You just try to make it as difficult as you can without being unfair. You place yourself in a position where you are okay, and you stay in control of the situation. That's essential.

If you have a situation like Argentina, where Michael was half on the grass and made contact with David to take the lead, I think that's over the limit. There are gaps and there are gaps. But equally, with a guy like Michael behind you, you don't leave gaps, do you? You've got to stay in control of the situation, and not let the other guy provoke you into anything.

I've always looked at it that if you have a confrontation, after somebody has done something stupid, it never does anyone any good. I think the last time I had anything remotely like that was when I went from junior to senior karts racing at Tilbury, and we both ended up getting banned! Like I said, it never seems to serve any purpose.

These GP Columns appeared exclusively in F1 Racing magazine every month.
The columns are reproduced by kind permission of the Editor, Matt Bishop.
With thanks to F1 Racing ©. All rights reserved.
This page prepared 19th May 1998.