Teammates

I’m not too sure who first referred to me as “the Professor” of Grand Prix motor racing, it may have been something a journalist, or TV reporter said, or it may just be a respectful remark from some motor racing fans that somehow made its way into motor racing conversation. I’m not even sure when it started, although I think it was during my time racing with McLaren where I won many races and three World Championships. It is, however, a term that has followed me around for many years, and even today some twenty years after my retirement. I accept the term as a token of great respect from both motor racing fans and media.

Why am I considered “the Professor?” I just don’t understand. Maybe it was my approach to races, which for sure can be viewed as entirely different from other drivers in my era. Do I deserve the title “the Professor?” I don’t know. In a way it’s not very good having the title as it assumes you want to teach somebody something, in my case about Grand Prix motor racing.  I can tell you, I didn’t want to tell, or share any of my thoughts, plans, or feelings about the way I was to approach any of my races during my career. They were innermost thoughts I obviously wanted to keep to myself. Sharing a race strategy with a competitor is like showing your hand of cards to your opponents in a poker game, not recommended if you want to win. I must admit, my approach to racing was always to think about my strategy, and to keep thinking throughout the race. You can appreciate certain events happen during the course of a race weekend, so your race strategy has to be organic and alive throughout the whole of that weekend—not just for the race itself.  So, before, during, and even after the race, I was thinking and planning by taking on board the experiences of my teammate, my closest competitors, the weather conditions and the whole ambiance and feeling for the race as a whole.