NASCAR legend sees parallel with Verstappen: 'Definitely similarities'
Red Bull Content Pool
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- Corwin Kunst
NASCAR legend Jimmie Johnson recently elaborated on the criticism he received during his unparalleled success in the American class. In an interview on the High Performance podcast, he spoke openly about how fans and media considered him a 'robot', devoid of personality, during his reign. During the interview, Johnson was asked if he saw any parallels between his own experience and that of Max Verstappen, who is currently dominating Formula 1 in the same way.
"I definitely think there will be common points through it, especially if he keeps going and it's seven or eight. We'll see where the future takes him and what decisions he makes. I mean, he's made it public that, winning seven or eight isn't necessarily as high a priority, which would suggest he would maybe move on to something else before that," the American explaind. Johnson himself won seven NASCAR Cup Series titles in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2013 and 2016.
The challenges of success and criticism
Johnson indicated that the journey to success often involves a change in how fans and media view a driver: "But the journey of being that successful, it's funny how people view you and look at you, and my idea or my process of reinventing myself and becoming more and more serious turned off the American fans. They thought I was a robot. They didn't think that I had a personality. I was called vanilla for the longest time, and it was wild, because I would read these chat rooms or hear comments from fans. 'You're too boring. All you do is win, and you say the right things when you get out of your car. And your wife is beautiful and she kisses you.' And they're going through this list. I'm like, 'God, it sucks to be me.'"
Johnson admitted it was difficult to deal with criticism, especially in the early years of his career when he often read fans' comments in online chat rooms. "That was a terrible mistake. I should not have done that. Especially in the beginning, it was. I was too young and had a lot of evolving to do and got a little too emotional with some of the stuff that I read," he admitted honestly. "And then as social media continued to evolve and Twitter came about, Instagram, and all these other channels, I found great humor in reading through the comments. But early on, back in the early days when it was just chat rooms, yeah, I wasn't ready for that yet."
Criticism will always be there
According to Johnson, it is important to understand that you cannot please everyone, something he eventually learnt. "It's like, 'OK, you can't make everybody happy.' In sports, fans are going to cheer for their team or their driver. They're going to boo for everyone else," he said. "And once I kind of got it and put it in a simple form, my fans are going to cheer for me, there's 39 other fan bases out here. They're going to make more noise than the one fan base. That's fine."
The seven-time champion also believes that Verstappen's story, as well as that of other young drivers dominating in their respective sports, will continue. However, he stresses the importance of understanding that success and criticism go hand in hand. "You have to find your own way in the sport, your own personal balance and way of dealing with pressure," he concludes.
This article was written in collaboration with Olly Darcy
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