Racey Thoughts: Being Good Isn't Good Enough
You need to be special.
It wasn’t a huge surprise when Williams chose to drop Logan Sargeant from the F1 grid, replacing him with one of their Junior Academy drivers, the Argentinian Franco Colapinto. Why wasn’t it a surprise? Because Sargeant is not special. And he’s not alone.
When Williams Team Principal James Vowles was asked why they didn’t replace Sargeant with Mick Schumacher, his response was fairly blunt:
“I think both [Logan and Mick] would fall into a category of good, not special. I think we have to be straightforward about this. Mick isn't special, he would just have been good…”.
F1 teams are always looking for special drivers. Well, it would seem so, and yet… why are there so many drivers on the grid who are not special?
Teams expect some to evolve into special drivers (and many don’t)
Some teams need the special budgets that certain drivers come with or attract
Some teams can’t afford special drivers
What do we mean by “special”? Let’s look at a few examples:
Alex Albon has demonstrated his specialness many times where he performed beyond expectations, for instance, taking a Williams car that was not expected to qualify in the top 10 (even the top 15 at times) and putting it where people in the know were surprised. That’s being special.
Charles Leclerc made his debut in F1 driving for Sauber in 2018, and immediately caught the attention of most everyone. Already part of the Ferrari Driver Academy, he scored more points for Sauber than the team had for years, and out-qualified his teammate 17 out of 21 times. Leclerc proved that his speed was special.
In Indy car, Josef Newgarden was special when he drove for Ed Carpenter, and turned that into getting hired by Penske. He over-delivered. He did things with a less-than-top-level car that surprised those in the know. When you surprise people who know, you’re special. At least at that moment.
Then… this past weekend, Santino Ferrucci qualified on pole for the Portland Indy car race in an A.J. Foyt Racing car. That surprised people — even those in the know. However, after many seasons of inconsistent performances, the conclusion is that his pole lap did not make him special, but just that everything clicked with the car’s setup, timing, etc. on this particular day. With the added confidence that Ferrucci has now, along with a better performing car (due to the technical alliance the Foyt team has now with Penske), there is a chance that he may perform in a special way more often in the future. Maybe.