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Gilles je napisao/la: 11.07.2018., 10:59

I haven’t been on a proper racetrack before. I expected to be most impressed by the architecture of the track and the grandstand, the mesmerising ballet of the pit stop crew I knew from TV and of course the sheer speed of the cars. It turned out that the most overwhelming and exciting sensation was something else: the sound. The different pitches of the engines — between roaring and shrieking— make you feel like you’re hearing living creatures. Sebastian later told me that the cars actually used to be way louder when he started out, and that he distinctly remembers first going to a Formula 1 race and immediately being under a spell from the sound.

Britta Roeske, Sebastian’s PR Manager, welcomed me, filled me in on the rules and showed me around, all the way into what felt like the sport’s tightly guarded Sistine Chapel: Ferrari’s garage next to the race track. There was an army of technicians monitoring incoming data on computer screens and mechanics getting ready for the returning car. The intense mood radiated 50% hyper-professionalism and 50% pride and religious devotion to the spirit of Ferrari. Sebastian meanwhile was out on the track, doing laps — the final chance to do tweaks to the car before the start of the season.

In the afternoon I talked to Sebastian about the tension of a performance that is defined by testing the limits of a collaboration between a high end machine and a human being. The teams have armies of great engineers working within the confines of tight rules that limit the design of the engine and the car. The edge that superior technology provides you can be significant— and still tiny. Eventually I asked him about the deciding factor, that makes the difference between winning and losing: Driving skills? The biggest tolerance for (or ignorance of) risk?

Back at my studio in Berlin, I began turning what I had seen and learned into a fitting design for Sebastian. He had given me carte blanche, save for the narrow German flag that runs across each of his helmets — a homage to his hero Michael Schumacher.

He said that what it comes down to, is the ability to focus. There’s all the technology, the competition, the mind games, the crowd. You win when you are able to cut through all that information and tune your mind to be one hundred percent in the moment of the race.

Pastor je napisao/la: 21.07.2018., 17:32 Zar nije i onaj lik što mu inače dizajnira kacige Nijemac?

“Apart from the fact that I should include the German colors, I had a free hand. For the fascinating sound of these cars, the circles are at the side. Vettel told me how important it is in his job to concentrate on the essentials. So I started at the back with different stripes that overlap initially, but then become parallel and end up in a red line.”

I first think of Sebastian’s driving style as unique, but the similarities to Michael are there. He always braked at the same point, always drove the same line, accelerated very sensitively, everything controlled. It’s a very good, clear, clean and aggressive driving style. Even over the curbs, he always has the car under control.

Lewis always tries to drive a bit more extreme. Very controlled, but he pushes the car more to the limit and risks much more, but it is not careless, he makes conscious decisions. If he does not go off track, a super lap comes from his effort. You can take that risk, but not always, otherwise you’ll spin sooner or later.