Former F1 world champion Damon Hill recons there are no transferrable skills from the sport to golf. The former driver was asked this question in a segment of the F1 Nation podcast, as many F1 drivers have been taking up folf as a pastime.
Lando Norris is one of the more prominent drivers who takes up golf often in breaks between the seasons. The McLaren driver has been seen playing golf with fellow driver Carlos Sainz and former Indian cricketer Yuvraj Singh.
Hill, though, termed golf a ‘awful frustrating’ game, adding that no skills from F1 are needed in the sport.
“I can absolutely say with complete certainty that there are no skills transferable from driving a car to golf,” said Hill. “It is the most awful frustrating game, but Lando Norris has got a lovely swing. I’ve seen him swinging the ball a few times, and Carlos Sainz is very good.”
One of the guests on the podcast, Rycard Rydell, former BTC champion feels there could be a few similarities on the mental side of things.
In the race, an F1 driver cannot afford to think going into the gravel, and in golf, one cannot think of putting the ball in the water. Hey said:
“There is something to say about the mental side when you’re standing there and trying to hot off the tee, and you have water on the right hand side. You think, don’t go in the water, don’t go in the water, and of course it goes in the water. It’s a little bit of the same in racing. You can’t think, “don’t go off in the gravel”.”
He added:
“It’s the wrong approach, so mentally the ‘Yes’, you need to have the positive thinking and seeing what you are going to do. So mentally, for sure, it’s a same thing, but I agree, hitting a golf ball is completely different from racing a car.”
Damon Hill not optimistic of Mercedes’ chances at Singapore F1 GP
While talking about the prospects of Mercedes at the Singapore GP this weekend, Damon Hill didn’t sound too optimistic.
He said that the car is ‘too easy’ on its tires. While that helped on some tracks like Silverstone, on tracks where the track temperature is lower, this is a problem. Hey said:
Feels like coming home. 
Thank you Malaysia.
Thank you, Malaysia. 
@PETRONAS https://t.co/PSr67iJs14 “Seems to me their problem is they’re too easy on the tyres. So it depends on what tires they bring and, of course, it’s a track that doesn’t get hotter; it gets cooler. So the sun goes down, so the track temperature starts off massively hot, and as they start going into qualifying, the track temperature drops coz of no sun.”
It will be interesting to see how the German team fares this weekend against Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
What’s your favorite race of the 2022 season so far? Tell us in the comments below..
