The Prodigy Who’s Taking Formula One by Storm

I was traveling once with a fun guy named Kevin McCarthy, who with his wife Sue does a weekly travel radio show. I asked him what his favorite sport was, and he replied ‘open wheel racing.’ It took me a second to realize what he was talking about was F1, Formula One racing, which is one of the most popular sports in Europe and other parts of the world. Today I learned more about F1 and the man who many say is the Tiger Woods of the sport.

His name is Lewis Hamilton, and he’s just 23 years old. In a profile by the WSJ’s Darren Everson, the parallel between the two is examined, as he compares his and Woods’ rookie year records. Tiger placed 60th in his first pro tournament, while Hamilton finished in the top three in his first F1 race.

Unlike the Nascar races that so many Americans love, F1 cars go faster and do more than just turn left. The F1 cars go from zero to 60 in two seconds and on sharp curves throw out five g’s. It’s the passing that is the hardest part, since at the great speeds “the turbulent air left in the wake of his car prevents you from overtaking. One must have the skill and the nerve to pass by braking–waiting longer than the other driver to hit the brake before entering a turn.”

Young Hamilton trains for hours and hours a day on a simulator, a giant machine like pilots use to learn how to fly. The method scientists use to train top F1 drivers is by instilling a sense of calm, so that they make better judgments about when to brake and accelerate. There’s room at the top now that Michael Schumacher retired in 2006…and commentators say Hamilton is the next big thing in what is known as open wheel racing in 2008.