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Formula 1 Driver Coach Rob Wilson gives us a fascinating insight into the techniques he has used to coach over half the current F1 drivers, as well as some of the World’s best rally stars.

Rob Wilson was so inspired by Bruce McLaren, that he moved to England from New Zealand and like his fellow countryman, became a very talented racing driver. He beat World F1 Champs; Nelson Piquet, Nigel Mansell and Alain Prost on occasions, but ultimately didn’t have the necessary funding to progress. Yes, money mattered even back then.

His career saw him travel the world, competing very successfully in a large variety of cars and Championships, before hanging up his helmet and starting down the road of teaching driver techniques.

Given the talent of his coaching clients, I consider him to be the World’s No.1 professional driver coach. His customer base is also made up of rally drivers, team engineers and other team members, eager to understand Rob’s principles of how to drive fast.

In this show, Rob very generously explains the fundamentals he teaches. You need to listen carefully and may need to listen a few times. There is plenty of footage of Rob in action on YouTube as well, go check it out.

Away from the track, Rob is a very accomplished bass player. His band, Grand Prairie have opened for Aerosmith, Diana Ross and Willie Nelson to name a few.

We recorded this show towards the end of 2020, a year to forget for many. It was great to chat to someone who absolutely loves what he does. Some of his stories are simply fantastic, this is a man who has lived a very full life so far and intends to for a very long time to come. We could all learn from that attitude.

There are plenty of people in the world right now who need a pick me up. So if you find any benefit from the show, perhaps others might too, so please share it and spread a little positivity. It might just be the boost your friends and family need in these strange times.

Enjoy the show.

Learning and action points

Thanks to Rob for all his insights and advice which I hope you found useful. Here are some things you can try: –

• His main principle is simple aim for a flat car. In other words, try to keep the car as parallel to the ground as possible, therefore maximising the contact patch of all 4 tyres which leads to more efficient braking, cornering and acceleration. This will also help reduce tyre wear.
• Aim to make the corner as short as possible by getting a little more rotation in the middle of the corner.
• Aim to keep the steering wheel straight for the maximum amount of time – even the slightest steering input will slow a car.
• Be as smooth as possible in everything you do, steering, gear changes, avoid bumps etc…
• The biggest thing is the way you move your body, you drive the car as much with your feet as well as your hands.
• Use tiny introductions in both steering and braking to initialise the weight transfer.
• You need to be smooth in releasing the brakes as well to avoid unsettling the car.
• Aim to minimise the movements of steering, throttle, brakes etc… in everything that you do. Whisper to the car.
• Learn your craft, don’t outsource your brain to data downloaders and engineers, show interest in what they do to help look for similar patterns in the future.
• Build great relationships within your team

If you’d like to get in touch, our email is info@stagebystage.com  and you can find us on all the usual social media channels.

All of this information is in the show notes which you can find on my blog at www.stagebystage.com/blog

There are plenty of people in the world right now who need a pick me up. So if you find any benefit from the show, perhaps others might too, so please share it and spread a little positivity. It might be just the boost your friends and family need in these strange times.

That’s it for now, thanks very much for listening, until the next time, take care and stay safe.