Nickv Wrote:
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> I've always felt the BBC are a little up the bum
> of some drivers, purely because they're British,
> and overrate them (though, I guess every
> broadcaster does that to some extent to their
> national drivers). The achievement of Chilton of
> finishing all his races was mentioned every other
> sentence in the commentary. In 12 of the 19 races
> he finished, he was last. That, however, wasn't
> mentioned.
I kind of know what you mean, and unfortunately it rubs of onto the casual fan too. Anyone who knows me is aware that I like F1 and so automatically assume that I must be the #1 fan of Lewis Hamilton when in actual fact I'm not a fan of his at all and I root for Rosberg in the intra team battle at Merc.
It amuses and annoys me in equal measure how some people let a drivers nationality dictate how they rate them. I bet before the 2013 started that relatively few Brits even knew who Max Chillton is and yet they decided that he must be brilliant because "He's British init"
Misguided patriotism even influences how some people judge an racing incident. I once got accused of being "a traitor" and told that I should "bugger off to Spain" because I refused to aportion blame to Alonso during a collision he had with Hamilton at Bahrain in 2008. The funny thing is.. the guy who said this to me isn't even English but a immigrant from Babados!
Another person I know claims to have gone to school with Lewis Hamilton's grandfather, and likes to think this association is significant. It also seems to make them think that Hamilton is impecchable and can do no wrong.
There's nothing drastically wrong with being a little bit patriotic and being proud if compatriot does well but it does seem that many people confuse it for sense and logic.