A Need for Speed

Robert Kubica's serious accident in a rally on Sunday has brought to the forefront some thoughts on why certain sportsmen and especially those involved in motorsport are such adrenaline junkies.

Apart from the physical injuries that Kubica has received, there will be a big impact felt across Formula One for the upcoming season.  Firstly, Kubica is widely regarded as one of the best drivers of the current generation and potentially had the opportunity to be challenging or at least influencing the outcome of this year's championship.  This is based on his performances last year in an uncompetitive car and along with Kobyashi of Sauber he was the best of the rest after those drivers challenging for the championship.  His potential was first demonstrated in 2008 when he finished third in the driver's championship and could have seriously challenged had his team (BMW) decided to continue focusing on that years car as opposed to their development for the following season.

Secondly, after the first test session of the season last week Kubica in his new Renault had topped the time sheets.  Whilst it is far to early to be making predictions for the season after one test it is much better to head the timesheets than be at the bottom.  This leads me to the conclusion that Kubica could have been a serious challenger this year.  It also has a serious impact on the Renault team as their remaining contracted drivers are fairly inexperienced with none having more than a season in F1.  This will mean that the team will be at a disadvantage when it comes to the development of the car which as I have already mentioned looks as it could be competitive this season, and as importantly will in all possibility lead to them not performing as well in the constructor's championship and thereby lose out on prize money that will be vital as the team goes forward.

I therefore wouldn't be surprised if Renault do hire an experienced driver to cover for Kubica's absence and it looks as if his former BMW teammate Nick Heidfeld could be the driver to benefit.

However, what has happened to Kubica is not a new phenomenon and goes back to the very beginning of the sport.  In the early fifties Ascari and Fangio were the two dominant drivers in the sport but most people are far more familiar with the Argentinean than the Italian as Fangio went on to win five world championships.  This is because Ascari (a double world champion) who at one stage won 13 from 16 F1 races he entered, was killed in a sports car on what was supposed to be a weekend off.  He wasn't even racing but had gone along to watch his friend test a new Ferrari but his competitive instincts got the better of him, he asked if he could have a go and within a few laps, crashed and was killed.

Another double world champion was also killed a decade later, Jim Clark.  Widely regarded as the best driver of his era he was killed in a minor Formula 2 event in Germany robbing the world the chance to see which of two Scotsmen was the greatest driver as by that time Jackie Stewart's star was on the rise.  Clark wasn't the first British F1 world champion to be killed outside of the sport as Mike Hawthorn died on the A3 in Surrey when having what appeared to be a race with Rob Walker.

There are plenty of other similar instances when F1 drivers have been killed or seriously injured away from the sport when for many you'd think that the dangers associated with F1 itself should satisfy the adrenaline requirements for any normal person.  The sport itself has suffered from many tragedies where drivers have been killed in their prime Peter Collins, Jochen Rindt, Ronnie Peterson, Gilles Villeneuve and Ayrton Senna to name but a few.

Of course Kubica is not the only current crop of drivers to have this adrenaline requirement as Mark Webber has seriously compromised his ability to win World Championships in the last two seasons with mountain bike accidents he has suffered (compound leg fracture before the 2009 season and breaking his shoulder whilst leading the championship last year!)  Michael Schumacher was unable to return to the sport in 2009 after Massa was injured because of a motorbike accident earlier that year and in MotoGP Valentino Rossi seriously injured his shoulder in a Moto Cross accident before the beginning of last season and one wonders if that contributed to his serious accident when he broke his leg last year.

In conclusion, it becomes clear that in order to become an F1 driver talent is not just enough but there is something deeper - A Need for Speed - and unless that exists, we the public would not get to see such an exciting sport, but this gene, if that is what it is, has also robbed us of some fascinating racing as well.