Lessons from the 2021 Abu Dhabi GP
Dr. Marcia Goddard
Neuroscientist | High Performance Expert | Founder of Brain Matters | LinkedIn Top Voice | TEDx Speaker | Keynote Speaker | Published Author | Bridging the Gap Between Science & Business
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So, it's been a few days, how is everyone doing? Apparently the outcome of the 2021 #AbuDhabi GP was such a shock to my system, that I tested positive for covid two days later. This is why it took me a bit longer to write this analysis, but here we go!
Mercedes just came out with their response to everything that happened, and I think it shows their class, and their determination to put the sport first in 2022. What other lessons are there to be learned from the chaos that was the 2021 Formula 1 championship decider?
Firstly, that a support system is essential for performing to the best of your abilities. Michael Masi, the much criticized FIA race director, took over from Charlie Whiting when the latter passed away suddenly on the eve of the 2019 Australian GP. From what I've read, he'd only had about 10 races to learn the tricks of the trade. I agree that Masi has been unacceptably inconsistent in his decision making. But if you were launched into a high-profile role, only to have your radio messages subsequently be displayed for the entire world to judge, would you be able to perform at your best? Not exactly the ideal learning environment, from a mindset perspective. So yes, something definitely needs to happen there. If he stays on as race director for the 2022 season I hope he gets some help. And I hope the FIA are able to create an environment that doesn't set him up to fail.
The second lesson from the Abu Dhabi GP hits the core of everything I've been studying for the past 6 years. It's about how to fail. Sir Lewis Hamilton (through no fault of his own) failed to win the 2021 world driver's championship. Never, in my entire career as an armchair expert when it comes to elite athletes, have I seen someone more gracious in defeat. Being a winner is, more than anything, about knowing how to lose. About bouncing back from adversity. Lewis has had a lifetime of experience with turning adversity into triumph. He is at his best when his back is against the wall. Feeling robbed of this crucial race win is only going to fuel his fire for the 2022 season. Red Bull and Max better get ready, because I'm convinced Lewis is going to come out swinging in Bahrain.?
The third lesson is related to Lewis' grace in defeat: we are all human. Mercedes have had the toughest season to date. And we tend to talk about Mercedes as an entity. But let's not forget: this entity is made up of a few thousand individuals. Human beings who give it their absolute ALL every single year to produce the most dominant car on the grid. Take the emotions you feel when your favorite driver wins or loses, multiply it by infinity, and you may come close to the dedication these people feel when it comes to the fate of their drivers and team.
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This is the first time in years they've had any real competition. That may sound like an insult, but it is a compliment. They are so good at what they do,?that?other teams simply couldn't come close. Not even the ones with similarly gigantic budgets.?They had it rough, especially at the beginning of the season, but managed to band together, work through some issues, and rise back to the top. They were on fire at the end of the season, and feel robbed of a WDC because of inconsistent stewarding.
This is not to say that Max didn't deserve the title. He did. As did Lewis. And I will get to singing Max's praises in my next article. But the men and women at Mercedes put in blood, sweat, and tears, and deserve to have their disappointment and emotions acknowledged. I hope they can take a page out of Lewis' book, and turn frustration into victory in?2022.
The fourth lesson is about the persistence of bias and polarization on social media. I've written about bias in an earlier blog, but the events of the 2021 season have brought out the absolute worst in a lot of people. From personal attacks on?Nicholas Latifi, to verbally tearing Michael Masi to ?shreds. All online, mind you. In real life these people would be more likely to ask for a selfie with Nicholas than say anything bad about him to his face. From a psychological perspective, this has everything to do with anonymity and lack of eye contact. In the online world we can hide behind avatars, and we don't have to see the hurt in other people's eyes when we are mean to them.?
Mass behavior, such as collectively rooting for the same team or sports hero, leads to overwhelming emotion, an increase in impulsivity, and basically a complete shutdown of the brain's frontal lobe, which is essential for critical thinking. It's a primal reaction, and significantly enhances our susceptibility to biased thinking.
I know all of that because analyzing behavior is my job. And yet, seeing all these concepts play out in this way (confirmation bias, availability bias, in-group/out-group bias, etc.) continues to amaze me. In a very, very bad way in this case. Let's hope these F1 fans get their act together next season. And, as a Dutch person, I have to specifically mention a (thankfully small) part of the Dutch Max Verstappen fan base, and repeat something?I've said before: bias is never an excuse for racism.?
This brings me to the final lesson from the Abu Dhabi GP. Max Verstappen is all grown up, and fully deserves this championship. I promised a number of people I would write an essay about Max's career so far, from a neuroscientific (brain development) perspective. So that's exactly what I did. I’m going to leave you hanging for a little bit longer though. It’s the winter break, so I have to spread out my content ?? I will share my perspective on Max’s rise to glory next week!
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3 年Great article! I was impressed by the gracious behaviour of Lewis and his father towards Max. Not sure if the Verstappens could have shown the same behaviour. “Sir Lewis Hamilton (through no fault of his own) failed to win the 2021 world driver's championship” Well not totally true, he didn’t lose it that race, he lossed it throughout the first half of the season and got lucky he got in play again after Silverstone and Hungary. Can’t wait for your article about Max
CEO at DYNAREAD and BPMetrics
3 年Excellent piece, Marcia, but allow me to add one other angle, without taking anything away of the things you shared. You expressed the expectation that Hamilton, on the basis of his demonstrated resilience in the face adversity, will come back with a sportive vengeance. I am not sure. Integrity cannot be caught or defined in the metrics of cognitive neuroscience. It is a spiritual or transcended quality, which is able to make voluntary choices at the expense of self. Hamilton did not just loose... He lost due to demonstrated lack of integrity within the sport itself: By Masi and his FIA Board, and by Verstappen. Masi, because he afterwards stuck unwaveringly to the narrative of his heat-of-the-moment choices; The FIA Board through their unwillingness to discuss the obvious; Verstappen by yelling "I did it, I won!" where his victory could be compared to a dress-wearing biologically male Alexander Karelin type, flooring a biologically female during a future Olympics. Verstappen would never have won in those last rounds, if it wasn't for Masi's double violation of the FIA Regulations. Verstappen was 12 seconds behind. Masi misinterpreted the rule which grants the Race Director the authority to deviate from the standing Safety Car rules (which overarching rule no doubt exists to guard Safety, not Race Spectacle). Hamilton's Abu Dhabi loss was a different loss. It is a loss based on eroding integrity. Such a loss is very much harder to overcome than ordinary adversity. As you indicated, the effort required to win is colossal and demands a fair outlook at a chance to win. When that chance becomes random, and unrelated to your efforts, it is hard to envision how one can overcome the loss. Unless... the FIA owes up, admits things went wrong, clarifies the rule on the Race Director being allowed to deviate from standing rules, and convinces Hamilton and Mercedes that it is -- again -- a level playfield. Allow me to paint a historic parallel. I was a Royal Netherlands Air Force fighter pilot and weapons instructor during the last decade of the Cold War. We trained hard, very hard, and not unlike an F1 Team. There were two Squadrons on our Air Base. Ours had Integrity as a non-negotiable value, right at the very top of everything we did. In Air Combat training fighter aircraft loose energy, and the dogfight inevitably sinks to lower and lower altitudes. At 10,000 ft the first pilot crossing that level is to transmit a call "Ten Thousand." When hitting 6,000 the first one there has to transmit: "Knock it Off, Knock it Off, Knock it Off" and disengage. On our unit, if you secured a kill, a victory, at 5,995 feet, but the onboard video showed you were below 6,000 without a "Knock it Off"... you were in deep waters!!! On the other squadron, Integrity was second to heroism. On the evening of 26 Apr 1983, a talented new squadron pilot was engaged in a night dog fight against an older and more experienced colleague. The fight, near Hoogeveen, The Netherlands, spiraled down, passed 10,000 without either pilot transmitting "Ten Thousand." They continued in a near perfect stalemate fight, and descended through the deck of 6,000 where neither one transmitted "Knock it Off," and where both continued their fight. They impacted the ground, on opposite sites of a circle, just outside a neighborhood of the City of Hoogeveen, in full throttle, and still in hot pursuit of one another. Four opportunities missed to keep it safe... for the sake of 'winning' the fight. It makes one of the most dramatic and most painful of examples of the consequences of a corporate culture in which Integrity is no longer foremost in the minds of the players. Without a clear and constructive FIA review of rules and regulations, and a constructive debrief and coaching of Masi, Hamilton will have to motivate himself to re-enter a world which has transformed itself into something he fundamentally does not approve of. Time will tell... .
Founder, Consultant, Trainer, Coach | RiverStoneBlue | Ideation & Intrapreneurship Training Programs
3 年Was waiting for this article as from the start of the race, and it's a great read once again! And I agree, Lewis showed a lot of grace on track - directly after the race. However, not attending the award ceremony where Lewis was crowned second and Toto would've received the constructor's championship feels quite childish to me... What's your take on that looking at human behavior?
Senior Technology Leader
3 年Spot on. Great summation.