SELF-IMPROVEMENT IS A NEVER-ENDING JOURNEY

It’s one of the great what-ifs of motorsport history. Had Jackie Stewart decided not to retire and continued into 1974 and beyond, how many more world titles would he have added to his tally of three?

Stewart believes that he never drove better than in his final season of Formula 1 in 1973 because he had banked all the basic knowledge and begun to consume the subtleties of driving techniques that had escaped him in his earlier years. As a byproduct of this, he learned more that year than at any other point in his career.

This emphasises the point that all drivers, no matter how talented, can be improved, and it’s as true today in an age dominated by technology as it was in Stewart’s era. Lewis Hamilton recently admitted that a 2007-spec Hamilton wouldn’t have stood a chance against Sebastian Vettel in this year’s title chase, and he is intent on ironing out still more weaknesses from his game ready for ’19.

Motorsport is a game of marginal gains and that’s no less true for new Mclaren signing

Lando Norris than it is for amateur racers starting out at the very bottom rung of the ladder. In this issue’s cover feature, Jack Benyon sits down with Norris at his Guildford flat to find out how his fixation with motorsport and constant striving for self-improvement has led him to the cusp of F1 superstardom at the age of 19. Norris admits that his life is “pretty much this, on the sim”, but shows no signs of lacking maturity. He knows exactly how significant his opportunity next year will be and is in the right place to make full use of it.

In this issue there’s plenty of insight from leading experts to help make your 2019 season a success, including the black art of using data. Our resident columnist and ace driver coach Rob Wilson lends a word of caution on page 4, but it’s not all bad. If you want to learn how to make data work for you, then don’t miss Martin Plowman’s top tips on page 30.