It was the original Arthurian legends which recorded the tale of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, while it was Monty Python that gifted an undeserving world the Black Knight sketch.
So now we find Sir Lewis - who with the way he is driving the car this season probably would prefer to push the pram a lot - fighting his own Black Knight, and one might venture this sword swinging rascal is composed more from his inner demons, than a medieval sorcerer's handiwork.
Back at five races the stats were none too kind. A Sprint win and a lone qualifying ahead of Charles were the two modest bright spots. Charles is proving as tough an adversary as George. Is Lewis having his "Michael at Mercedes" moment? Your scribe believes it might be so.
I so wanted Michael to smash it at Mercedes, yet Nico had his measure, and Michael made a few too many silly errors. It was a horrid return. I believe Sir Lewis is now in danger of doing the same thing in a similarly tragic style. This Ferrari stint may not end well, or, like King Arthur and the Monty Python Black Knight, might Sir Lewis escape with nothing more than a flesh wound, while hacking the Black Knight to bloody pieces?
What makes a racer? Skill, focus, fitness, determination, plus a car capable of being in the mid to upper field.
What makes an exceptional racer? All of the above, to a top 0.001% standard, and then added mental toughness, God-like reflexes, an attitude that will not waiver and a hunger to win so bad it hurts both awake and asleep. Champions are barely more capable than the others, as they are all remarkable, but they are driven to the point of it being an insane obsession. "I enjoy racing" is not enough. "I am driven to perform to the extent that money, friendships, hobbies and more food than necessary are utterly useless to me. I must drive to win at all costs." Ah, now we are getting somewhere.
For Sir Lewis right now the Black Knight represents all the blockers to being that driven. Has Sir Lewis lost a physical edge? It is generally held that one can maintain peak genetically possible fitness to around 35 years old. From that point on it is a gradual decline to around 85 years old, at which point, good fortune being on your side, and continued exercise and sensible eating being your path in life, you can expect to have about half the ability left that you had at 35.
Naturally a great way to game this system is to ensure you are miles off your genetic potential at age 35, I recommend years of fast food, cheap beer and no physical activity. Then, at age 36, start working-out like a Trojan, eating like a super model, and drinking like an anti-fish. Bang! At age 85 you'll feel way fitter than you did at 35! Genius move! Dear reader, you can thank me later...
So, Sir Lewis is 40, being five years past 35. The distance between 35 and 85 is 50 years. 5 years is 10% of this gap. 10% of a 50% decline is 5%. Do we think Sir Lewis has lost 5% of his physical ability? Would it matter? Let's explore.
Michael Schumacher was once asked about the amazing reflexes required to drive an F1 car. His response surprised the journalist at the time. His reply was along the lines of: "No, you do not need amazing reflexes. If you are driving well the car is always where you intend it to be, doing precisely what you want. So there are no surprises, and hence no need for amazing reflexes."
Back on planet earth there is plenty of scope for others to spring a surprise on you. Just ask those who try to get past V. Max. The other driver causes you to need great reactions. So in Michael's ideal world reflexes are not an issue. Back on track those "others" ensure you need them.
Has Sir Lewis lost 5% of his reaction time? I seriously doubt it. Typical adult reaction time to a visual stimulus is around 0.25 seconds. A 5% increase in this would result in a ballooning out to 0.263 seconds. Is that extra 0.013 seconds going to end a career? At 300kph (186 mph) an F1 car will cover 83.33 metres, (273 feet). So in the additional time of 0.013 that Sir Lewis needs to react to a visual input the car will have travelled an additional 1.08 metres (3.5 feet). Well in the mm or inch, perfect universe of F1 overtaking, being a metre out of position could be a huge problem. But, to Michael's "no surprises" point, if Sir Lewis is placing the car where he wants, and the speed difference between him and a competing car is only going to be a few Km/h, then this should not result in the Black Knight loping his arm off every corner. Anyway, Sir Lewis being a world class athlete his reaction time is most probably far better than average. Best recorded by an elite athlete is in the region of 0.101 seconds, while typical elite athlete reaction times hover around 0.15 seconds.
As Sir Lewis at his peak was one of the best ever drivers, let's split the difference and go for his best reaction time being 0.125 seconds. A 5% increase would blow this out to 0.131 seconds. Being an increase of 0.0062 seconds. In this time a race car at 300 kph will cover an additional 54cms (21.25 inches). Not that far. But Sir Lewis is not racing the motionless surrounds of the track, he is racing the cars around. As they are all doing similar speeds, we need only worry about the additional distance covered due to the speed differential when overtaking. Consider a car with DRS compared to a car without, rendering a 22 kph speed advantage, this equals a 6.1 metres per second speed differential. Those extra 0.0062 seconds mean the overtaking car can cover an additional 3.7cms, or about 1 inch. Ummm. Do we think that Sir Lewis is going to be felled by the Black Knight placing a car an inch further forward than he expected? No. I think not.
One could do similar exercises for peak strength reduction, and peak endurance reduction, but the minimum required of each to successfully pilot an F1 car is still far below Sir Lewis' level of fitness. Neither is currently a problem. Couple this with the racing wisdom and sixth-sense for doing the right thing with his race craft and we do not need to worry about physical fitness right now. The oldest ever F1 GP winner was Luigi Fagioli who won the 1951 French GP at the age of 53 years and 22 days. Fangio was the oldest driver to win the world championship being 46 years and 1 month when he achieved it, also winning races in that year. Then, while not a World Champion, Sir Stirling was racing until he was 81! No, nothing physical bothers Sir Lewis at this time.
Which leaves the mind. Ah, here the wild swings of the Black Knight are a problem. Or to borrow two other names, Churchill called it "The Black Dog", and Batman often referred to "The Dark Knight". All fitting names for the shadows which can darken the inner light such that the mind dims and performance falters.
These past few years, like King Arthur, Sir Lewis has been battling the Black Knight. An arm off here, a leg off there... all just flesh wounds forming part of the darkness seeping into his mind and heart. A Monty Python death of a thousand cuts. None lethal on their own, but over the past few seasons a cumulative blood bath. My label for this horror? "Self-doubt and Desire." Sir Lewis' Black Knight is built of these twin evils. Lewis is doubting himself, and with seven titles does he really, really, really still have the desire to win above anything else on this planet?
Are we are about to witness one of the finest battles with the Black Knight ever? That China win, and a lone qualifying position above Charles (as of typing this article), are but pin pricks of light in a dark night. Yet, is that enough to keep Sir Lewis swinging his broad-sword until the Black Knight is reduced to a bloody mess, screaming "Come back here and I'll bite ya legs off!"
Dear reader, don't look away from the gore because you might be about to see magic happen!
Max Noble
Learn more about Max and check out his previous features, here
sign in