Being a racing driver certainly has its perks: first of all, you get to drive really fast cars on the world's best circuits on a weekly basis, but there are other things as well. Things like getting a lot of attention from the opposite sex, for example.
Some of these guys learn how to deal with that and can lead what we like to call "normal" lives. Others, on the other hand, go into full rock star mode and take full advantage of their fame and status. Robert Wickens, one of the drivers of the Mercedes-Benz DTM HWA team, seems to fall into the former category.
There's nothing bad about that, just like there wouldn't have been if he had opted for the second route - it's just a matter of choice. But that does say something about him, which is that he's a nice guy. That aspect makes what he's about to go through even more excruciating to watch.
It looks like somebody in his team though pranking him would be a good way of having some fun, so they arranged this fake interview with a red-headed Russian girl. One second into the meeting, and it becomes blatantly obvious that the interviewer is hitting on Robert. Only she's not very good at it.
Batting your eyes and smiling all the time can get you far, but it's worth absolutely nothing if you call a guy born in Toronto "American." That's precisely where Robert is born, and that's precisely what our red-headed Russian girl calls him.
This leads to a cringy exchange of words during which Robert explains how Canada and the U.S. are two different countries, also informing her that calling him American is a great insult. She doesn't seem too impressed, and it all ends with her saying "I'll check it," as if she didn't really believe him.
What's really notable here is the self-control these guys have. If this were a casual talk between two people and not filmed, he probably wouldn't have smiled so much. But even under these circumstances, the dumb interviewer still managed to get on his nerves a few times, which caused him to put away that mask the public relations guys must have told him to wear. Anyway, if Robert were on Boiling Point, we'd say he'd pass the test. Let's see how the other drivers do, because this is going to be a mini-series. The best or nothing.
Here are two more videos, which are at least just as awkward as the first:
"Boy meets car, boy loves car, boy gets journalism degree and starts job writing and editing at a car magazine" - 5/5. (Vlad Mitrache if he was a movie) Full profile
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