Hamilton hammers Hungary
For Lewis Hamilton, yesterday was all about preserving his bank balance. You, see, the chief difference between chaps like Lewis Hamilton, Tiger Woods and chaps like me is this: I depend for my existence on the amount I am paid for the work I do. If I am fortunate enough to earn any money outside of work it is supplemental income. Hamilton is generously paid by his employers, McLaren-Mercedes, for the work he does for them – driving a Formula One car skilfully and very fast – but his main source of income is his “brand recognition” value.
Luxury brands have always understood the ability of human beings to delude themselves. When L’Oreal use the unmistakeably ravishing face of Penelope Cruz as the identifying mark of their products, they do not do so because they particularly like her. Hardly. It is because they recognise that there are millions of women in the world who would love to look like Cruz and will gladly part with their hard earned cash for cosmetics which might assist them in achieving this laudable ambition. Women like Cruz make vastly greater amounts of money by selling their faces to the purveyors of beauty products than they do from acting. Similarly, Hamilton earns staggering amounts of money from selling his face to companies like Reebok, Pepsi and Bombardier Jets which bear no relation to his – admittedly huge – McLaren salary. He brings to the table a cocktail of massive advertising potential: he is young, handsome, mixed race and highly talented at Formula One racing, the ultimate in glamour sports. As if all that isn’t enough, Hamilton also has a racially indeterminate, gorgeous girlfriend who is a major pop star to boot. In other words, Brand Hamilton is very serious business indeed.
Having established that there should be no money worries for Lewis Hamilton, his children (should he have any) or any grandchildren, we arrive at a momentous problem. Brand recognition depends for its success on ubiquity. To pay a sportsman $100 million, you need to be assured that the world will regularly see that sportsman regularly excelling at his chosen sport. Such huge expense means that a successful Formula One driver is both a very good as well as a very bad bet.
It is a good bet because, the driver’s face alone – and not that of, say, a football team - will be on display on the front pages of newspapers all over the world on the day after winning a race. A heaven sent advertising opportunity if ever there was one. It can, however, be an atrocious bet because of the sheer unpredictability of Formula One from season to season.
Roughly 20% of a driver’s success is down to his talent. The rest is dependent upon the driver’s car and the team he has around him. Hamilton began the 2009 season as world champion but soon realised that defending his championship was going to be impossible because McLaren had contrived to manufacture a completely hopeless car for him. Midway through the 2009 season - and not a single podium for Hamilton - and it does not take too much imagination to see what was simultaneously going through the minds of the Reebok finance director, Hamilton’s financial manager (his father), Hamilton’s bank manager and, of course, Hamilton himself: bloody hell, this isn’t going according to plan at all!
Hungary presented an opportunity to rectify the situation and Hamilton seized it with both hands. From his KERS assisted thunderbolt start, yesterday, the race win never seemed in doubt. As his McLaren-Mercedes took the chequered flag and he punched the air with glee, the cameras swung between him and his Pussycat Doll girlfriend, Nicole Sherzinger, dancing in the McLaren paddock. It was then clear to me that, for Hamilton, Hungary was all about investing in the bankability of the Hamilton brand. Sure enough, Hamilton receiving a champagne shower on the Hungaroring podium was the image on the front page of every major newspaper this morning. The lad can safely rest in the knowledge that his bank balance is secure; at least for another year or so.
The other risk a luxury goods manufacturer runs – and one which we have been spared for a good many years now – is the danger inherent in open car racing. Since Ayrton Senna became the last man to die from injuries sustained in a motor race – at Imola in 1994 – Formula One has been almost miraculously fatality free. We were reminded that luck, as much as significant improvements in Formula One car design, has a lot to do with this refreshingly welcome statistic. The memories of that ghastly weekend came rushing back during qualifying on Saturday when a suddenly loose mechanical part broke away from the Brawn of Rubens Barrichello and struck the helmet of Felipe Massa who was travelling at 150 miles per hour behind him. Massa had to be taken to hospital for emergency brain surgery and remains in a critical condition in intensive care as I write this.
Massa’s accident was made all the more poignant by the fact that a young man, Henry Surtees (son of former world champion John Surtees), was killed a week ago in a GP2 race in England when a wheel came off another GP2 car and struck Surtees in the head. It is little wonder, then, that the watching world was aghast yesterday when the Renault engineers failed to secure a wheel on the car of Fernando Alonso during his pit stop. Having started the race on pole position, Alonso suffered the ignominy of a retirement and the team has been banned for a race – an opportunity for them to think about things. It doesn’t help that the next race in Valencia, Spain, is a home race for Alonso.
I was going to put money on Jenson Button winning in Hungary but never got round to it on Friday. While glad to keep my £20, I must say that I feel for poor old Jenson. His lead has now been whittled down to 18.5 points with seven races still to go. Still, with the improvement in the likes of McLaren, Ferrari and others, all may not be lost. If they keep taking points off each other, Button’s current lead may prove to be crucial.
F1 now goes on its month-long summer holiday. I reckon the remainder of the season is going to be very dramatic indeed.
Gitau
27 July 2009
Luxury brands have always understood the ability of human beings to delude themselves. When L’Oreal use the unmistakeably ravishing face of Penelope Cruz as the identifying mark of their products, they do not do so because they particularly like her. Hardly. It is because they recognise that there are millions of women in the world who would love to look like Cruz and will gladly part with their hard earned cash for cosmetics which might assist them in achieving this laudable ambition. Women like Cruz make vastly greater amounts of money by selling their faces to the purveyors of beauty products than they do from acting. Similarly, Hamilton earns staggering amounts of money from selling his face to companies like Reebok, Pepsi and Bombardier Jets which bear no relation to his – admittedly huge – McLaren salary. He brings to the table a cocktail of massive advertising potential: he is young, handsome, mixed race and highly talented at Formula One racing, the ultimate in glamour sports. As if all that isn’t enough, Hamilton also has a racially indeterminate, gorgeous girlfriend who is a major pop star to boot. In other words, Brand Hamilton is very serious business indeed.
Having established that there should be no money worries for Lewis Hamilton, his children (should he have any) or any grandchildren, we arrive at a momentous problem. Brand recognition depends for its success on ubiquity. To pay a sportsman $100 million, you need to be assured that the world will regularly see that sportsman regularly excelling at his chosen sport. Such huge expense means that a successful Formula One driver is both a very good as well as a very bad bet.
It is a good bet because, the driver’s face alone – and not that of, say, a football team - will be on display on the front pages of newspapers all over the world on the day after winning a race. A heaven sent advertising opportunity if ever there was one. It can, however, be an atrocious bet because of the sheer unpredictability of Formula One from season to season.
Roughly 20% of a driver’s success is down to his talent. The rest is dependent upon the driver’s car and the team he has around him. Hamilton began the 2009 season as world champion but soon realised that defending his championship was going to be impossible because McLaren had contrived to manufacture a completely hopeless car for him. Midway through the 2009 season - and not a single podium for Hamilton - and it does not take too much imagination to see what was simultaneously going through the minds of the Reebok finance director, Hamilton’s financial manager (his father), Hamilton’s bank manager and, of course, Hamilton himself: bloody hell, this isn’t going according to plan at all!
Hungary presented an opportunity to rectify the situation and Hamilton seized it with both hands. From his KERS assisted thunderbolt start, yesterday, the race win never seemed in doubt. As his McLaren-Mercedes took the chequered flag and he punched the air with glee, the cameras swung between him and his Pussycat Doll girlfriend, Nicole Sherzinger, dancing in the McLaren paddock. It was then clear to me that, for Hamilton, Hungary was all about investing in the bankability of the Hamilton brand. Sure enough, Hamilton receiving a champagne shower on the Hungaroring podium was the image on the front page of every major newspaper this morning. The lad can safely rest in the knowledge that his bank balance is secure; at least for another year or so.
The other risk a luxury goods manufacturer runs – and one which we have been spared for a good many years now – is the danger inherent in open car racing. Since Ayrton Senna became the last man to die from injuries sustained in a motor race – at Imola in 1994 – Formula One has been almost miraculously fatality free. We were reminded that luck, as much as significant improvements in Formula One car design, has a lot to do with this refreshingly welcome statistic. The memories of that ghastly weekend came rushing back during qualifying on Saturday when a suddenly loose mechanical part broke away from the Brawn of Rubens Barrichello and struck the helmet of Felipe Massa who was travelling at 150 miles per hour behind him. Massa had to be taken to hospital for emergency brain surgery and remains in a critical condition in intensive care as I write this.
Massa’s accident was made all the more poignant by the fact that a young man, Henry Surtees (son of former world champion John Surtees), was killed a week ago in a GP2 race in England when a wheel came off another GP2 car and struck Surtees in the head. It is little wonder, then, that the watching world was aghast yesterday when the Renault engineers failed to secure a wheel on the car of Fernando Alonso during his pit stop. Having started the race on pole position, Alonso suffered the ignominy of a retirement and the team has been banned for a race – an opportunity for them to think about things. It doesn’t help that the next race in Valencia, Spain, is a home race for Alonso.
I was going to put money on Jenson Button winning in Hungary but never got round to it on Friday. While glad to keep my £20, I must say that I feel for poor old Jenson. His lead has now been whittled down to 18.5 points with seven races still to go. Still, with the improvement in the likes of McLaren, Ferrari and others, all may not be lost. If they keep taking points off each other, Button’s current lead may prove to be crucial.
F1 now goes on its month-long summer holiday. I reckon the remainder of the season is going to be very dramatic indeed.
Gitau
27 July 2009
posted by Gitau at 4:38 pm
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