From time to time, humanity has the privilege of witnessing the performance of athletes who are bigger than the sport itself. Athletes who drag legions of fans, who make fans stand on the edge of the sofa biting their nails, since the traffic lights go out until the checkered flag.
The MotoGP World has an athlete like this: Valentino Rossi . The 36-year-old Italian pilot's career surpasses even the imagination of the best screenwriter in Hollywood. As someone said “reality always surpasses imagination, because while imagination is limited by human capacity, reality knows no limits”. Valentino Rossi also knows no limits…
With nearly 20 years of world career, Rossi is making great strides towards winning his 10th title, dragging millions of fans with him and defeating some of the best riders in history: Max Biaggi, Sete Gibernau, Casey Stoner, Jorge Lorenzo and this year, surely, a phenomenon that goes by the name of Marc Marquez.
I have been following the MotoGP World Championship since 1999 and after all these years I am still impressed by the media coverage of ‘il dottore’. The most recent example took place at Goodwood (in the images), where the presence of the Italian driver eclipsed all others, including that of Formula 1 drivers.
Something even more impressive because we are talking about an event related to the automobile. There were flags with the number 46 everywhere, yellow jerseys, hats and all the merchandising you can imagine.
In Formula 1 we don't have anyone like that. We have drivers with unquestionable talent and an enviable record, such as Sebastian Vettel or Fernando Alonso. However, the central issue is not talent or the number of world titles. Take the example of Colin McRae, who was not the most gifted driver at the World Rally Championship and yet won a legion of fans around the world.
It's about charisma. Colin McRae, like Valentino Rossi, Ayrton Senna or James Hunt, are (or were…) charismatic drivers on and off the track. No matter how many titles Sebastian Vettel has won, it seems that no one really appreciates him. He lacks something… no one looks at him with the respect with which one looks at a Michael Schumacher, for example.
Formula 1 needs someone to get our blood boiling again — it's no coincidence that in 2006 Scuderia Ferrari tried to get Valentino Rossi into Formula 1. Someone to get us off the couch. My parents' generation had Ayrton Senna, mine and the ones to come also need someone. But who? Stars like these are not born every day – some say they are only born once. That's why we should enjoy it while its shine lasts.
The lack of spectacularity of single-seaters is resolved by changing the regulations. Unfortunately, big names are not created by decree. And how good it must have been to push Lauda or Ayrton Senna...
