Don't get 'customer-zoned' by a racing team, and get more than what you pay for

If you expect a racing team to treat you well because you have customer power - think again!

Welcome to a 🔒 subscriber-only edition 🔒 of my weekly newsletter. Every week I take a deep dive into driving technique and unique racing driver perspectives, to keep you fully lit as a racing driver.

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Racing teams aren’t regular businesses where customer is king. They are usually run by an ex-driver, who wants to win and make a few quid at the same time.

They want to have a favourite driver, and for the rest of the drivers to be quiet, loyal, paying customers. That doesn’t mean they don’t want all their drivers to do well, just that they need to stay in business.

At the same time you are a racing driver, so you shouldn’t want to be treated like any old customer - in fact you want to be treated like the number 1 driver, correct?

I hope that’s correct at least!!

Now, most drivers, even after reading this, will hope that a racing team will take them as a normal customer at first, but after noticing their driving skills, make extra efforts to ensure they get what they deserve.

That means equal power to the rest of the team, equal attention with the very best drivers in the team, and to be treated with perfect equity.

Just like in the supermarket, we all pay the same, and receive the exact same products and service right?

Totally wrong, big time wrong!

If you join a team, you need to learn how to manipulate, cajole, and charm your way to the top of the priority list of that team. You have to become like Micheal Schumacher, and build that team around you; make them yours.

If not, you are going to learn nothing of any value, and be an extremely disgruntled ‘customer’ who spent a lot of money on being told some tyre pressures, and that you aren’t as quick as you should be ‘according to the data’.

If you decide its ok to be treated as a customer, rather than the highest form of human: a ‘racing driver’, then this article won’t be for you.

But if you want to learn how to use the team experience to heighten your status as a driver, and how to maximise truly relevant lessons that can take you forward in racing then read on!