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I read an article that says Mclaren drivers have to do lots of PR work compared to the other teams, true? If so, thats so tiring. Damn.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/motors ... uties.html

Oh my god I mean they have to go to these sorts of days and be lavished with praise?!!! This is shocking! Someone should tell the drivers of their human rights!!!!


F1 driving is not a proper job and anyone driver who thinks its a hard life should get a grip on reality

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Multi 21 or Catch 22?!

It ain't hating just 'cause it's not love

I assure you I would swap my office desk for an F1 seat tomorrow even with all the PR work.

Would I rather drive for McLaren with all their PR work or say Mercedes and only do half the PR. I'l take the McLaren drive please.

I would hate the PR work tbh, no wonder Hamilton left McLaren.

You could probably argue that neither you, nor I, nor anyone that's never done that type of work have, with respect, a goddam clue what it's like to do an F1 driver's duties. How could you say you prefer it?

Well, I'd prefer the rewards over those in my job, for a start.

I'm sorry but I find it hard, if not impossible, to sympathise with any F1 driver who complains about their workload. They get paid, and paid exceptionally well, to do something that your average man would do for free if given the opportunity. Look at all the karting venues in just about any city in the civilised world to see how many pay to get a small taste of what these guys do for a living.

So they have to film commercials and attend sponsorship events. So what? I'm willing to wager that they they get a damn sight more than the average 4 weeks a year off, not to mention that everywhere they go they get feted as superstars and their every whim catered for. Every single driver on the grid earns more in two years (to play it safe) than the average person will earn in their lifetime. None will ever have to worry about paying their mortgage or making ends meet. The sponsors' money pays for that, so why be ungrateful?

Billy Connolly (a Scottish comedian for those who didn't know) once joked that the Queen thinks that the whole world smells of fresh paint, because every where she goes there's a little man just in front of her who spruces everything up before her visit. I'll bet the life of an F1 superstar is not too far off that.

It is the sponsors and the fans who watch on television who pay the drivers wages and also contribute to the money that gives them the machinery to win.

So my position whenever I hear a driver complaining about the amount of PR work is simply that if they don't like it they should take a pay cut and/or go to a team further down the grid.

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Twitter @Jo_Soucek

You make some good points about how there are many who desire to become racing drivers, but you also seem to be suggesting that money solves all, which I don't think it does.

As for the actual PR workload parts - which has never been part of the activities in any karting event I've been to - I'm really not willing or able to debate a topic I have exactly zero experience in or knowledge of.

and yet here you are debating

You're missing the point I was making, which is that the drivers don't really have much to complain about and their privileged lifestyle makes it somewhat hard to sympathise with any issues they might have about aspects of their job. They might feel that they work hard as most have no direct frame of reference for what other people have to do, but I suspect their definition of hard work is far removed from most people's. And I never said that money solves all, but it's naive to imagine that it doesn't give you much more freedom to live whatever life you want to lead, so it certainly helps.

The odd thing is the a lot of the drivers who drive for teams who don't do as much PR work take on their own personal sponsors for whom they have to do PR work. Where as at Macca the limits on your personal stuff is severely limited.

So on one hand it's get paid handsomely by the team and the majority of the work is for the team.

On the other get paid less by the team but make up the difference doing PR work for your personal sponsors.

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Disclaimer: The above post maybe tongue in cheek.

"I thought I'd get your theories, mock them, then embrace my own. The usual."

PR work is nasty business. As someone who worked with a company PR for 22 months in my life, it is mentally tiring work.
The company I used to work sponsored and still sponsors some prominent sports personal from my country and as a freshman starting out after college, I accepted the position in the PR department just for fun. And it was hell. Not only for the people who work there, but for clients as well at times. If you think it is easy being a liked celebrity who just have to show up at PR events, you have no idea what is actually happening in this crazy PR world. Its not all smiles and shakes and booze and party. Lot of work, long hours at times, working with people you dont want to, working when you dont feel like it, working at wrong hours, working right after match at times. It can be mentally and physically exhausting for these so called celebrities. And it can be equally brutal on PR people.
Having been part of that world for almost 2 years was eye opener.

We see only money, not the work behind it. It is a lot of work. Nobody just throws money at you for nothing.

I'm not going to say that PR work is fun. I imagine it's extremely tiring, especially for those who are there purely for the racing, like Webber.

However, it's their job, and a bloody good one at that. There's not a single job in the world that doesn't come with tasks that are just plain unpleasant. I've worked with people in the past (and present) who think that they can just ignore the parts of their job that they don't like, and professionally speaking they are all a massive pain in the arse to work with. It's a quick way to make yourself unemployable.

Being an F1 driver, the positives far outweigh the negatives for me to have any sympathy at all for any complaints about the PR work. Not only do they get an extremely luxurious lifestyle, but they get paid obscene amounts of money for it. If they're sensible with how they spend the money they get they'll never have to work again. They should try their hand at jobs like teaching or nursing to put things into perspective for them.

Welcome to every single job ever.

said what I was trying to say much better than I did

I think some people have actually missed the main point of the article posted. In terms of PR 'work' they are talking about it in the context of F1 not the outside world. The whole point is that the McLaren drivers have probably been a bit miffed that they have to do so many more days then many of their rivals for not much more or the same amount of money.

Also this might sound harsh, but I hate it when people lambast drivers and say 'I would do your job for free' and imply that they are lucky, fact is they all by in large have worked their socks off to get to F1 from the age of about 8, traveled abroad to compete with very little money (See Kimi's early career) and the whole doing their job analogy falls down on the fact that they are a select few in the world who can compete in F1 competitively, so if you did get the gig you would be out by the end of the day.

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Support: Kimi Raikkonen, Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button, Heikki Kovalainen
Respect: Alonso, Schumacher, Newey
Not so keen on: Vettel, Di Resta, whoever decides to red flag when it rains in F1

Doesn't Seb get a relative pittance compared to the Macca boys?
And refuses personal sponsorship deals?

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Disclaimer: The above post maybe tongue in cheek.

"I thought I'd get your theories, mock them, then embrace my own. The usual."

I was talking about other top drivers in general, although you are right Vettel gets about £9million a year (although that will surely go up now) and Button gets around £12million

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Support: Kimi Raikkonen, Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button, Heikki Kovalainen
Respect: Alonso, Schumacher, Newey
Not so keen on: Vettel, Di Resta, whoever decides to red flag when it rains in F1

Well assuming these guys work 60 hours a week 52 weeks a year then a gross salary of £12m is still getting paid more every day than most people get paid in a year. I find my job tedious and tiring a lot of te time too. Possible for some of the same reasons as the drivers complain about PR work.

@Senna88 They are remarkably lucky. The had luck to have enough talent to compete in this work. They are lucky that they got the breaks coming up through the sport. Don't get me wrong. I don't doubt for one second that all of them work hard at what they do. Even Kimi. But lets not pretend that most of us wouldn't jump at a chance for their lifestyles let alone the money. I distinctly remember a quote from Kubica when he joined the F1 circus saying he wasn't too bothered about the pay he just wanted to race.

IIRC that 9 mill isn't his basic thats based on wins etc.

His basic is much lower, so if RBR build a shit car he gets basically not a lot.

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Disclaimer: The above post maybe tongue in cheek.

"I thought I'd get your theories, mock them, then embrace my own. The usual."

If I was Jenson or Lewis I would accept 50% of their current wages for not having to do the PR nonsense. Pretty much the Kimi approach.

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http://www.racefan.co.uk

I would rather do the PR work than my normal job even forgetting about the car racing part! I don't feel to sorry for them and I doubt they feel too sorry for themselves.

Didn't Lewis's dad work 4 jobs to pay for his early racing career?

Hamilton went straight into making millions at 22, and working what most people would consider pretty reasonable hours. So he doesnt know what hard work is.

Boo hoo, I have to fly around in first class and do a few hours of PR work here and there. Poor me.

How do you know that Hamilton "doesn't know what hard work is" considering all the long hours and sacrifices his own father made to help nurture his career?

Clearly he doesnt because he is always whinging about too much PR.

I would say his father certainly knows what hard work is, but Hamilton Jr. definitely doesnt.

Unless you have proof that Lewis worked a real job in his past?

I am sure Lewis works as hard as most people who do a standard 40ish hour week. His job obviously comes with more perks but if he wants to do less PR why should he not be able to say he wants to do less PR work.

You mean you don't have proof?

Anyway, F1 drivers may not be waiting tables or digging ditches, but what they and any other athlete who competes for a living is certainly work. Those folks have to spend years honing and improving very specific skillsets to be good at they do. Years of practice repeating the same exercises and processes to improve the results. And it's not guaranteed they'd automatically succeed as a pro.

Hamilton was good enough to get enrolled in McLaren's Young Driver school, but the guy still had to put in years of work to justify the hype about him, and not just because Macca were looking to break the color barrier.

No he doesnt. Testing is minimal nowadays, a drivers involvement in car development is minimal nowadays, there is only 20 races per year. His PR work involves flying around in first class, staying in fancy hotels and then doing a couple of hours in front of cameras or media.

He doesnt work as hard as the average blue-collar worker and he gets paid hundreds of times more than them.

And then he says stuff like: “When I re-sign the contract with McLaren they are going to be shocked at how many days they are not going to be able to make me do,”

Cry me a river.

Being rich isn't a foolproof guarantee to make anyone happy.

The F1 drivers do at least 2 trainings a day. The work in simulators is between the races, too.
Last year there was a stat made from some media McLarens drivers have about 100 PR days a year, at race weekends they have Thursaday , Fridays, Saturdays & Sundays on track work, Monday or Tuesday they are travelling there & back, Wednesdays are PR works usually. In the winterbreak they do some holidays, but than they go away training for the new season again
Hamilton mentioned this year, he misses to have a social live, friends,family a home usual things.
Of course this guys do what they like the most, and have any sort of luxery, but IMo the endless travelling, all the PR stuff & the usual pressure they have in their job, is wearing them out, especially at McLaren

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"Everything you can imagine is real." Pablo Picasso

Oh, woe is me....

I only get 10s of millions to drive a race in F1 all over the world, travel first class, eat first class, party first class, get fame and fortune, beautiful women and then those people paying my way make me do PR "work" to help them make the money they have to pay me. And... I have head that some other drivers don't have to do as much... It just ain't fair!!!

It makes me so tired... Oh dear, Mr.Whitmarsh, we have to do something! Can we just eliminate the PR so that I can live the good life and not be too tired to party?...Please!

Yes, some of the above was tongue-in-cheek, but still... as Button said, they signed up for it, so do it and quit complaining. Then, when your contract is up go to a team that does not require any PR stuff... No, I have a difficult time feeling sorry for any F1 driver having to do some PR to accompany driving to earn his multi-million dollar contracts.

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Forza Ferrari
WCCs = 16
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I guess you could call it debating. You responded to my initial post where said it's difficult to say you'd prefer something you'd never done. All I was doing in my second post was reiterating that point. So I suppose I'm debating the lack of debatability on that point.

You say that professional drivers have no direct frame of reference for what the proles have to do in their jobs; well, exactly the same lack of reference is applicable to you, but the other way around.

So what are you saying: that no-one is allowed to debate anything unless they have had direct experience of it? What is the point of this Forum then, exactly? I didn't realise you needed to be an F1 driver to be a member?

And I'm sorry, but you're wrong in your second paragraph. My point was that F1 drivers are not in a position to complain because they are privileged and that the work/life pressures in their job are far removed from most peoples. I've no doubt they work hard at their jobs but they don't really face the hardships that most people face in their day to day lives and therefore it's difficult to feel sympathy when they complain that parts of their job are too onerous. I don't have to live their lives to make that observation. If I walked out of my job tomorrow without any backup plan I'd struggle to survive day to day; if Lewis walked out of his job he'd struggle not to be bored. That's a massive difference.

I have no problem with them earning what they do and enjoying the lifestyle they have. Kudos to them for making it in life. Just don't moan that you have it tough!

I'm pretty sure everyone moans about their life and having it tough. Fact is, everyone on this forum is better off than a starving kid in Africa who doesn't know if he's gonna get dinner tonight or not. Yet we moan that our life is tough.

It's the same thing from F1 drivers. They moan about their life because they are already used to that lifestyle and are now finding things to nitpick about.

That's life.

You don't think they have hard work? For example: Do you know how much training in the gym these guys do? that alone must be harder than sitting on your ass in an office all day no?

It wasn't about hating the PR work. It was hating the fact McLaren limit their personal sponsor work, meaning they can't get as much personal sponsorship, which means less $$$

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Warning: The above post may contain sarcasm.

Hamilton said in his latest interview , he is looking foreward to have only 33% or even only 25% of the PR work load, he had at McLaren. He looks forward to have more time in his live for training and preaparing for the races. I don't think it has had to do with money.

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"Everything you can imagine is real." Pablo Picasso

He also said sometime ago that he wanted to improve his "Global brand" and wanted more freedom for personal sponsorships. Which I think is limited to one at McLaren.

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Disclaimer: The above post maybe tongue in cheek.

"I thought I'd get your theories, mock them, then embrace my own. The usual."

Maybe he got both now, less PR work, more personal freedom.

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"Everything you can imagine is real." Pablo Picasso

So if he wanted more freedom for personal sponsorships and gets more. well isn't that just taking on more duties to replace the ones he's no longer doing for the team?

So the extra time given in one hand is being given away with the other.

If he was going to be like Seb and refuse the personal sponsors then I could see the point. But to say he wants less for the team but also wanted more personal sponsors. Thats a bit contradictory to me. It's not as if Personal sponsors don't ask their sponsorees to do stuff.

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Disclaimer: The above post maybe tongue in cheek.

"I thought I'd get your theories, mock them, then embrace my own. The usual."

I never heared Hamilton talking about wanting more personal sponsors. Even if he has one or two more , he won't have much more work. If he has now about 30 days (1/3rd) of the McLaren PR days & lets say 10 days for personal sponsors, it will still be less than the half of McLaren PR duties.
The only thing Hamilton mentioned recently, he wants to do more is charity work, wich he has told his management. But maybe this does not count.
edit. *if he can chose whom he wants to work for it won't be as stressing as he has to go anywhere McLaren wanted him, like to India & back at 1 day etc. Usually work is more fun when you can chose what you do & for whom you work.

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"Everything you can imagine is real." Pablo Picasso