Intro
Within this episode I am going to talk you through the invisible aspect of Motorsport and show you why some drivers make it whilst others fail.
It's business!
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Takeaways from this episode
One of the first things that drivers learn about Motorsport is that, just like life, it's not fair.
You can work your tail off for years, you can win races, win championships, get the teams liking you and do all the things that you are supposed to do in order to be the complete driver, but even after all this you can still not be given the shot or opportunity you feel you deserve.
Yet you will notice other drivers that come along and make it all look easy.
They shortcut the normal system and leapfrog the drivers that have been scrabbling around for so long.
Maybe they have:
More money
A better car
A better team
A better engineer
More track time
Good contacts
Whatever it is they seem to simply breeze through.
This really frustrates drivers (and parents of drivers) because they feel that they deserve the opportunities that others are being offered.
I understand that, it can be sole destroying, but what I want you to understand is that these drivers who are getting their shots, might be doing something that you are not.
You may be beating them on track or have been around for longer but they are beating your ass off track.
You may be losing the invisible game
To many drivers get distracted by what they see, they see another driver with more backing or a better car and believe that these are the reasons why they are advancing so easily.
If you are viewing it this way then you are falling for the same trick as the audience does when they are watching a magic show.
They are all oohing and ahhing over the magic trick and getting distracted by that, but the magician, the one person in the building who is making it all look easy knows full well what's going on.
The audience doesn't really know what is going on to create this illusion.
Motorsport is like that.
What the fans see is different to what drivers see.
But what is a shame is that what most drivers see, is different to what is really going on.
It's invisible to them.
Most drivers are also falling for an illusion.
And what is really going on is the truth of no matter what your results are, if you do not have the people power behind your racing campaign or career, then you are going nowhere.
It doesn't matter what formula you race, you can win GP2 but if you are alone with no business value to those above you, you are not going to advance.
Yet if you do have the right people working on your invisible game, working in the shadows for you and creating opportunities, then no matter what you drive you can go straight to the top.
JB, KR, MV, VB, DK & EO.
Do these initials mean anything to you?
These are the initials of drivers who prove this point precisely.
They are all very fast drivers who 100% deserve to be at the top of Motorsport, no doubt, I like them and hugely respect them.
What I like even more is that all of these drivers beat the system, they went straight to F1 straight from junior categories. From categories that shouldn't go to F1 from.
Jensen, Max went straight from F3, and they didn't even win the championship, they both came 3rd.
Danil, Valterri and Esteban all won GP3 and the following year they were in F1, impressive.
And who can forget Kimi, he won the British Formula Renault championship and jumped straight to F1, even more impressive.
Max and Kimi had only been out of karts for a year before moving to Formula 1.
How is all this possible?
How did they make it look so simple?
Again it's because they are winning the off track battle whilst most other drivers are purely focusing on track.
Get your levels right
I know it is an overused example, especially by me but most drivers will spend more time in the gym than they do hunting sponsorship or creating business opportunities or attracting people to help them politically.
In a sport where you only need medium fitness levels, sorry but it's true, medium levels compared to other sports, let's be honest here.
Yet even knowing this drivers will happily spend 10 hours per week in the gym because they think they will perform better in doing so.
Ok if they have an issue fitness wise then fair enough, but often they haven't.
But then look at a different level, the level of sponsorship or investment or B2B deals that must be in place in order for a driver to make a career in racing is much higher than most other sports.
Yet very rarely will you see a driver spending 10 solid hours sweating over this aspect of their game.
Then they are all shocked when they see other drivers cruise past them on the racing ladder.
Come on it's about time you opened your eyes.
Not all the drivers did this
I am not saying that all those drivers I mentioned earlier were personally working 10 hours per week on the business side of their careers, that's not true, but someone else was.
They had someone or a group of people making sure that they were winning off track and setting things up so their driver would have a pathway to the top calved out.
You need an army
If you do not have an army of people (or a very good manager) behind you creating value to those who can offer you future opportunities, then you are destined to be very disappointed with your racing career.
You can only go far in this sport if you possess 2 things:
1) The right amount of Money
2) The right people
If you do not have the cash to pay your way to the top then it is your job to make sure that you have business minded individuals helping you.
People who can generate backing or create business partnerships that will be of interest to team bosses or other influential bodies within the sport.
This should be one of your main priorities, gathering a team of people who see your racing as a viable venture.
Attracting local entrepreneurs who could generate investment, turn your racing into an investable package and help you sell it.
These are many ways that your racing can create value to others, so much so that the budget you require to race is simply a commission for the partnerships that are created.
This is the invisible game that drivers are playing now and if you are not part of the way of doing things then you are falling for the illusion again and you are going to end up having to settle for the left overs.
Make sure you get a good manager
You are the CEO of your racing career, your competitors are doing something that you may not be doing, they are taking advantage of how this sport is really run.
So if you want to stick around or stand a chance of achieving your racing dreams then you better get with the true program and get yourself a good manager who can show you how this is done.
The game is changing now so you must wise up.
There are certain managers and agencies out there that are ahead of the wave and are creating magic for drivers.
You'd better find these people.
So pick up the phone and start talking to them, see if they can help you turn your career into a product that is easier to sell.
A racing investment package.
Find a good manager who can help you.
I promise that once you go down this route, once you see the strings at the puppet show and learn how simple this is, you will kick yourself for not acting on this before now.
You need a team of people helping you, working in the shadows and opening doors for you. This way you will stand a chance of achieving your racing dreams.
Let me know if you have any questions on this subject.
If you are into sponsorship, you'll be in to this
