Eccentric F1 Drivers
Strong personalities have always attracted sport’s fans, and sometimes off the track antics can hit just as many headlines as major victories and world titles. It seems we are obsessed with the eccentric – a little bit of madness always livens up the show!
Formula 1 is like many other high-level sports. The competition is furious, and the prize money is life-changing. Riches and fame can attract and lead to a certain kind of crazy driver donning the limelight, for all the right reasons, and for all the wrong ones.
Perhaps most famous of all for his eccentricity is James Hunt, who’s heyday in the 1970s 
included a world title win. He was an awesome driver, but Hunt’s fame came mostly from his rock n roll lifestyle. He really liked to party, and he was good at it.
Where many racers would prepare for their major events with abstinence, Hunt would seemingly use the time in the run up to a race to go on the biggest bender he possibly could. Just before his 1976 World Championship victory, he spent weeks on the session with his motorcyclist friend Barry Sheene.
Hunt once allegedly slept with 33 stewardesses, was caught sleeping with a Japanese fan in Tokyo shortly before the race, and regularly vomited as part of his pre-match ritual. He was once seen peeing in front of a whole crowd, and was applauded for it afterwards.
James Hunt died of a heart-attack at the age of 45, but not before admitting that he ‘never really liked racing’. Legend!
There are modern drivers who have attempted to follow in Hunt’s footsteps, even if they haven’t quite attained his status of pure madness. Jenson Button, and more recently Lewis Hamilton, have come under scrutiny for their lifestyles, and it is questionable whether their antics could be costing them in terms of their performance.
Tommy Byrne is the perfect example of an F1 driver whose eccentricity cost him. You can’t always have it both ways, and Byrne’s lifestyle cost him the ability to make it among the greats. His racing talent could have made him the next Michael Schumacher, but he was so difficult to work with that he ended up without a sponsor.
Byrne won the 1982 F3 Championship, and was at the same time getting involved with F1. He only qualified for 2/5 of his Grand Prix entries, given that he was driving the slow and cumbersome Theodore car. He was kicked out of the team for threatening to hire a hitman to see off the chief engineer! After a short spell with McLaren, Byrne admitted that the team weren’t for him, as Ron Dennis needed a ‘yes man’ who would jump through the hoops – and, of course, Tommy wasn’t going to be that man. Like tennis player John Mcenroe in 888 Poker's infograph when he said, “I've got more talent in my little finger than Lendl has in his whole body”, Byrne's trash talking didn't pay off, and ultimately cost him any chance at sponsorship.
Not all eccentric drivers threw away their career. Kimi Raikkonen has won 20 races and the 2007 World Championship, yet has a reputation for his madness; he has been seen falling off a boat at a party, likes to dress as a gorilla, and broke his wrist snowboarding despite warnings. He lives the lifestyle without causing detriment to his career.
Felipe Massa is well known for his wild and fast driving style, but perhaps a little less well known for his pre-race ritual. He
has special race weekend underpants, which he wears for both the Saturday and Sunday of the race, without washing them in between. It might seem a little unhygienic, but with a net worth of $8 million I doubt he cares much what people think. Besides, this sort of charm and pre-match ritual is used by many sports players. 888 Poker player Bruno Foster watches emotional videos before he plays in order to get himself ready.
Eccentricity is not all about partying. Far from it. Sir Jack Brabham was a racing driver, mechanic and inventor. He won the 1966 World Championship in a car that he built himself, the rear-engine BT19 nicknamed ‘Black Jack’. Awesome guy!
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