Got up this morning and was able to catch a bit of the last F1 Race of the season (ever since the Netflix documentary introducing me to a glimpse of the characters inside the helmets, I’ve been an avid follower..). Also concluding with the season is the retirement of a wonderfully outspoken 4 time world champion Sebastian Vettel. I was never a close follower during his golden years but became quite a fan of him using his platform as a racing driver to support many more worldly deeds. His post race exit interview was as insightful as ever. He’s really grown from a young scrappy racing driver to a man with a vision much more than his role inside Formula One cars driving in circles week in and week out. I thought his exit interview was as inspiration as ever. So articulate. So composed. So thoughtful.
“ …there’s the racing side… which is a huge side of who I am… and then there’s so much more… the last couple of years I really understood the privilege that I have… having the opportunity to reach out to so many people… having a voice and trying to use that more and more… I look forward to many other things… and once it all goes quiet… see what it does to me… to rediscover about myself. It’s other people who gets to decide what your legacy is… and you can try to actively have an influence on that but I’m not sure if it’s really the way it should be… you should just be yourself. As much as you have role models.. you still have to find your own way and what works for you… and stand up for the things important to you. It doesn’t have to be the same for all of us. That would be a shame because we are all different and celebrating that diversity and learning to speak up for it… ”
Leaving the grid is another one of my favourite drivers, Daniel Ricciardo, probably more liked because of his infectious personality and wide smile, despite a challenging last two years on the grid. His exit interview, also humble and reflective, felt that it can apply to many of us when our work gets tough and we come home defeated, grumpy, and frankly often feel like we don’t want to go back…
“…probably the biggest thing I’ve learned is perspectives… it’s so easy to get caught up in what we do… and when it’s not working… you can so easy be angry, frustrated, bitter… so finding the right side of perspectives allow me to maintain a kind of happiness… a kind of appreciation. Because yeah you have your bad days… but ultimately it’s a privilege to do what we do….. I think in anything you do in life, if you just find perspectives, and a little bit of that gratitude, it helps you kinda of move forward a lot…”
Thank you Daniel and Seb for your inspirations. Hope to see Daniel back on the grid in a year or two with a new powerful drive.
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