Playing the generation game

Like most young boys, when I was a little kid I used to idolise my dad. I would follow him around, copy everything he said and wanted to be just like him.

Obviously when I reached a certain age and realised that cardigans and slippers actually weren’t cool, I started making my own way in life. He nevertheless played an instrumental role in my formative years and continues to play an important role in my adult life.

While I went on to take a very different route in life, it’s not uncommon for children to follow in their parents’ footsteps. This is often seen in the motor racing world. There are many famous racing dynasties, especially in America. There are the Unser’s, the Andretti’s, the Earnhardt’s, the Petty’s and the Fittipaldi’s to name but a few. In many of the above cases the offspring have even surpassed their parent’s achievements on track.

Cases of racing children surpassing their famous parents’ achievements rarely happens outside of the bubble that is America though. There are very few cases anywhere else in the motor racing world where the offspring have done this. For instance, most people have heard of Juan Manuel Fangio but did you know that there is a Juan Manuel Fangio II? Well if you are into American motorsport you might know this because he competed in the IMSA series and also the CART series for a short time. OK, he was Fangio’s nephew and not his son but the pressure on him was always going to be huge. It is the same story today with Bruno Senna racing in Formula 1. Being the nephew of the legendary Ayrton Senna, people are going to be drawing comparisons.

In both cases, the respective nephews were always less likely to emulate the success of their uncles because they set a precedent that is hard to beat.

While he matched his father Mario’s success in the States, Michael Andretti fairly embarrassed himself in Formula 1. Jack Brabham was a 3 time World Champion and two of his sons, Gary and David, had rather duff forays into the world of Formula 1.

Jody Scheckter’s son Thomas looked to be quite promising until he went out and blew it, quite literally, with a prostitute. His subsequent career in the States has been less than sparkling. Jody’s other poor boy, Toby, never had the chance to shine because the 1979 champion appeared to forget he had 2 sons.

Paul Stewart never even made it as far as Formula 1. Despite his reservations, Jackie used his wealth of experience and literally millions of business contacts he was keen to plug in his autobiography and helped Paul get on the first rung of the ladder. Admittedly he didn’t get very far because he was crap but the point is that he had the means to break into the sport.

This is one advantage of being the offspring of a notable driver. They have the name behind them, they have the contacts and they have the money. These are all the ingredients you need to break into the world of professional motor racing. Sadly it is more important than actual talent.

There have been many other young offspring of famous Formula 1 drivers who have made the plunge into top level racing over the last few years because of their name. Most have floundered. Guys like Mattias Lauda, Nicolas Prost, Greg and Leo Mansell and Derek Hill are all about as talented as a contestant on America’s Got Talent and nobody in their right mind would have given them a break if they didn’t have the famous surname and the family wealth that comes with it.

It’s a little known fact that Damon Hill’s son Josh is competing in the lower formulae now. I know this because I raced against him and know him quite well. Now, being the grandson of double world champion Graham Hill and son of 1996 world champion Damon, he had a lot to live up to. Still, it has to be said that if Josh ever makes it to the top level it will be because of his name.

Jacques Villeneuve technically achieved more than his father but only in terms of results. I guarantee he will still go down in history as the son of the legendary Gilles Villeneuve. In my opinion he should go down as the least talented and least deserving Formula 1 champion in history but that’s just my opinion.

Now let’s look at the most recent crop of young drivers who have followed their parents into Formula 1.

Kazuki Nakajima was about as good as his father Satoru; in other words not very. Enough said.

Nelson Piquet Jr was, for me, always going to be a disaster. Although he won the South American Formula 3 championship in 2002 and the British Formula 3 Championship in 2004, as well as achieving other respectable results in GP2 and A1GP, I always felt his success was more down to the immense wealth that his fist-fighting Brazilian nut of a father injected into his own team.

When he moved up to GP2 I followed his progress with some interest. It has to be said that I felt the same way I did with Bruno Senna. He obviously had a tiny bit of talent but never showed any signs of being anything special. He was simply average and was unlikely to ever achieve anything of significance in the top flight.

His Formula 1 career was purely comical. I mean what kind of idiot deliberately crashes his car? The irony that he was on the verge of being sacked because he kept throwing his car off the road and was told that he might retain his seat a bit longer if he crashed was not lost on me.

Although I still maintain he looks like John Tracy from Thunderbirds, it has to be said that Nico Rosberg is by far the best second generation driver to come into Formula 1 for a number of years. To be honest, I never really rated Keke that highly but I think that Nico has all the right stuff. His performances in the un-fancied Williams were impressive and I’m pretty sure it was only contractual obligations that prevented him from replacing Alonso at McLaren back in 2008. Only now with Mercedes has he really got the chance to show what he’s capable of. The fact that he is the only driver who has given Michael Schumacher a pounding in the same car speaks volumes for his talent and his maiden win at yesterday’s Chinese Grand Prix was well overdue. I’ve felt sorry for the guy for several years because he obviously had the talent but never had the car to get the job done. Mercedes appear to have scored a hit with this double DRS device so he needs to make the most of it before everyone else catches up and he is demoted from Thunderbird 1 to driving Lady Penelope round in that pink Rolls-Royce.