Why You Want to be a Formula 1 Driver

Just a quick outlook on life I came up with while driving. Well I didn’t really come up with it recently, I was just able to come up with a clever analogy through which I can share it with you.

I have been told, on more than one occasion, that I’m a safe driver. Usually this statement is given with a tonality that almost questions my ability to drive. That I should drive faster. Now I’m not a slow driver, but I don’t drive fast either. I rarely drive above the speed limit and my “cautious driving” sports a spotless record with no tickets or accidents. I have had my car towed though, which wasn’t the greatest thing to come out of someone’s house to at 2am. I guess I do better when the car is in motion.

Anywayssssss, I’m not a bad driver. In fact I’m a great driver, and I look at it as I have no need to drive faster. When you floor it and zigzag around cars for no reason who are you trying to impress? Are the extra few minutes I might save worth a speeding ticket? Because I know for damn sure nobody is going to pay for my ticket. Even worse, is the extra speed worth someone’s life? Is it worth my life?

Let’s get to the reason you’re here though: Why you want to be a Formula 1 driver. Think of the city streets as the life the majority of us live. Now think of the cars as the current status of our lives. Some people have the same car and some are different. Some have more expensive cars, some have more powerful cars, but most people drive at around the same speed. Then we have the people who want to speed. They want to live fast, akin to partying, drinking, drugs, spending unnecessary amounts of money, and doing stupid things. They want to impress the other drivers on the road who are living “cautiously”. They’re like kids (and usually are kids) who are new to driving and want to feel the speed. They want to see how fast they can go. This is a normal reaction at first, and every now and then we need to push the pedal and live a little, but most people don’t know how to. They’re so blinded by the here and now that they’re not working their way to the race track.

Let’s leave the city streets for a minute and head to the formula 1 race track. Think of the race track as the life only the most successful of us live. The life where we can drive fast. The cars, similar to the status of our lives and professions, are bigger, faster, and more powerful. The drivers of these cars are where they are because they have worked hard to get there. The fast cars and race track are the result of their hard work. They have earned the right to drive fast. In fact they are paid to do it. Granted, there can still be accidents and stupid things may occur, but people at this level have the skill and knowledge to avoid them most of the time. Speeding drivers on the street are trying to mimic the formula 1 drivers. They want the life that they live, but instead of working hard to get there they try to live it right here, right now. The problems with this are they are not in the right place, their cars will never be powerful enough to satiate their desire for speed, and regardless of how fast they drive nobody will ever know their names. Why try so hard to be a copy? Why not work towards driving on the track? Formula 1 drivers are famous for what they do. I don’t know about you but I would much rather be known for what I do and actually be able to live the life I want to live, than pretend to and be a nobody.

So you have to ask yourself, who do you want to be? Where do you want to drive? If you want to stay on the streets that’s totally up to you, but it would be wise for you to slow down to protect yourself and others. As for me, I plan on saving my gas money for my race car. That grade is more expensive ;).