Auto Express – August 07, 2019

82 7August2019 http://www.autoexpress.co.uk

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If youwantthe best

value, funniest, most

healthilycynical bloke

on the F1 scene over

the last three decades,

look no further

Do youagree with Mike?

Have your sayatfacebook.com/autoexpress @The_Rutherford

DRIVEN

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Rutherford

Mike

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HONESTLY,it’sbeenapleasureandaprivilege

toride(andoccasionallydrive)withafew

famousFormulaOnefacesoverthedecades.

Somewereheretoday,gonetodaytypesthat

merelyhelpedmakeupthenumbers.Remember

TakiInoueandhiscomedicfiveminutesoffame?

Othersseemedstuckinmidfieldterritorybecause,

despiteseemingtohavetalent,theyfoundthemselves

intherightteamsatthewrongtimes,withtheadded

problemoflackinghungerandconfidence.Aperfect

examplewasserial‘nearly-man’MartinBrundle,

formerlyofthisparish(whereIghostwrotehispost-

racecolumnsthatcouldn’tmentionhisGPwins–

becausethereweren’tany).Mindyou,it’sgoodhe’s

takenoverfromMurrayWalkerasthevoiceofF1.

OfthedriversI’vemet,sixstandout:JuanManuel

Fangio,SirStirlingMoss,EmersonFittipaldi,Michael

Schumacher,NigelMansell,and,er,PerryMcCarthy.

It’sblindinglyobviouswhyI’veincludedthefirst

fiveinmy‘truegreats’list.Numbersixisharderto

explain.McCarthy’sGPrecordwasn’tgreat.Itwasn’t

evengood.Butifyou’relookingforthefunniest,best

value,mosthealthilycynicalblokeontheF1scene

overthelastthreedecades,looknofurther.

Afteritdidn’tquitegotoplaninGPracing,Perry

droveforAudiattheLeMans24Hours;he’llgodown

inhistoryasthefirstStig;he’scarvedoutasuccessful

careerasanafter-dinner/motivationalspeaker;and

heevenbecameabest-sellingauthorwithhishilariousFlatOutFlatBrokebook.

At58,15yearsafterhe‘retired’,he’snowthecomebackkid/dad–thankstohisdecision

toraceintheTitansRXEuropeanRallycrossChampionship,wherehedescribesthestart-

lineprocessassimilartopullingthepinoutofahandgrenadethenwaitingforthe

explosion(behindthewheelinhiscase)tooccur.Buthestillkeepstabsonhisoldpals

plusthenewkidsinF1.Andwhileit’snosurprisethathenominates“genius”Lewis

Hamilton,MaxVerstappenandSebastianVettelashistopdrivers(inthatorder),he

talkswithalmostasmuchenthusiasmaboutAlexanderAlbonandLandoNorris.

AsforFormulaE,McCarthyseesitasaninevitableandwelcomeadditiontoglobal

motorsport.Andheagreesthatthedriversandteamsarehugelytalented,committedand

professional.Buthehintsthatit’sspoiledbytemporarycircuitsthataretoonarrow.

McCarthy’sfromamodestbackground,andhisfinancialtroubleswerefargreaterthan

mostF1drivers’(hehalfjokesthathelookedforafastfoodsponsorsohecouldputmeals

onthetableforthefamily).I’msurprisedhedoesn’tobjecttoTVviewershavingtopayto

seeliveF1racesonsatellitetelevision.Hearguesthat,comparedtothecostofdad,mum

andtwokidstravellingtoandpayingtoattendaGrandPrix,TVviewingisabargain.

F1’sgreatestoff-trackshowman,McCarthycouldandshouldbemoreinvolved.Agood

startwouldbetomotivatedriverswhoseemtired,miserable,jumpedupandlessthan

hungrytowin.Let’sfaceit,mostofthemneedakickfromsomeonelikePerry.Andwhile

he’satit,hecanteachthemtogetapersonality...andtalkproper.Ain’tthatright,Kimi?

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