“All racing drivers are full of crap”– Former F1 team boss Eddie Jordan talks about how the psychology of drivers works in the sport.
Former F1 team Jordan’s boss Eddie Jordan talks about the pivotal role a driver’s mental state plays in their performance while competing in a race.
Jordan also cited an experience with Jean Alesi, who obtained a 0.5 second quicker result when Jordan apparently lied to him about the setup of his car.
“When we were stuck and I didn’t have enough money to have enough engineers, I used to be given the job to engineer,” Jordan explained on the F1 Nation Podcast.
“I’d always dive into the cockpit put my head around a guy in the middle of Formula 3 qualifying. I remember Jean Alessi doing the Formula 3 French Grand Prix in [Paul] Ricard.
“I said, ‘look, I’ve just put another half-inch on the roll bar in the back, and I’ve just put another couple of pounds with the two in or whatever it was, you will absolutely crunch it’.
“I did absolutely nothing, never changed a thing, and he went down half a second quicker. I’m trying to say, ‘what is the matter with these guys, they’re just head bangers’; all they need is their head stroking.
“All racing drivers are full of crap, and we know that because it’s just mind over matter. What happens in a crash when you lose the front wing? They go quickly. It’s a fact of life.
“People adapt and adjust to the given set of circumstances. But when they come in, they’re all full of data this and data that. Racing drivers, I can’t cope with them.”
F1 drivers are fragile.
Jordan then claimed that F1 drivers, like other sportspersons, are fragile characters, and they need some talking before they can unleash their potential.
“Racing drivers generally are fragile characters, like most sportspeople,” said Jordan. “They need things and certain things said to them and spoken to them about how they can find that extra bit of confidence, but it works.
“Anyone who believes that psychology does not play a fairly significant role in any sport as crackers. It does and it certainly does in Formula 1.”
