Sami Seliö on racing, winning, team mates and life after racing
Through an introduction of Frode Sundsdal from F2boat we had the opportunity to chat with former F1H2O World Champion Sami Seliö. We talked with Sami about the effort it takes to make it to the top and stay there. Sami talks to PBP about all the hard work involved, grabbing opportunities and now being a senior driver within the Mad Croc team and coaching the young guys getting into Formula 1. Let’s find out about Sami’s aspirations for a new world title and staying at the top for a long time to come.
About his introduction to boat racing Sami explains to us that from an early age, through the racing of his father, Sami has been racing boats. He was just 8 years old when he was sitting in the cockpit of an F1 boat for the very first time. From that time the young Fin made it a point to always be racing something. His first real break came in 1998 with the F1 circus turning up in Finland. Through a sponsor Sami secured a wild card for entry in that race. This was supposed to be a one race deal. The fact of the matter was that in his very first F1 race Sami came in at 6th position overall. So a deal for another race was struck, and another and yet another until a career came out of it. Sami compares boat racing with a love affair. You start out little by little but before you know it, it totally consumes you and you are hooked on the speed and thrill of racing. His racing qualities did not go unnoticed and Sami became part of the Cees van de Velden team in F1. With Cees van de Velden being somewhat of a racing legend himself in F1, Sami could learn a lot from the old master in those days.
What always has been a struggle Sami confides in us, is getting the budgets going for racing. Certainly in Finland powerboat racing is not a big sport and sponsors and budgets are sometimes hard to come by. The situation for Sami is now of course better being part of the Mad Croc team but looking at it from a global perspective, budgets in F1 racing are still very modest compared to F1 road racing for instance. Sami does not complain but states that this always having to work hard for your money is still his work ethic. Sami does what he can to keep the sponsors happy by endorsing their products and taking guests out with the F1 2 seater boat.
Sami is very much a goal setting and getting guy. After having won the world title in 2007 Sami contributes part of him coming in second 2008 to having a little less drive that year than the year before. The goal was achieved, what’s next? Sami explains that you have to have that drive to attack every corner and just go for it. Now Sami has gathered his thoughts and is aiming for 3 world titles. So 1 down, 2 to go. Sami thinks this is a realistic goal and that something like Guido Cappellini did, having 10 world titles will never be repeated. Without trying to downplay the achievements of Guido, Sami explains that the competition now is much stiffer than it was for Cappellini in the early days. Guido was the first with the racing talent and the organization skills to make the whole team work for the world titles. Now there are more people with the same amount of talent and being part of well run teams that all have a shot at the world title. But without hesitation Sami tips his hat to the achievements of Guido.
So is Sami set up right for another couple of world titles? Sami thinks so. He is very glad to be a part of the Mad Croc team and states that it is one if not the best team around in F1H2O at the moment. But why did we not see Sami appear in the scores list of the first F1H2O race of the season in Portimao? Sami is absolutely convinced that base for victories was there and will continue to be so for the rest of the season. He puts most of it down to bad luck. Sami himself suffered a broken EFI box in the first race and his young team mate Alex Carella broke a crank shaft in the race. And with the new set up of only one race in a weekend, that was one racing weekend gone for Team Mad Croc. Sami has high hopes though for Team Mad Croc for the rest of the season.
We also asked Sami whether he looks forward to some specific venues or races in the season. Does he have any favorite venues or tracks he likes to compete on? Despite the results Sami says he really likes racing in Portimao and is already looking forward to the next race in St. Petersburg 10 and 11 of July. But the races he particularly likes are the races that are held in the far and Middle East. Being away that far from the team’s own facilities it really comes down to yourself in those races. You have to make do with what you have got in those races, improvising talents and how well the team is really prepared becomes a factor in those races. Also the fact that Sami usually does well in this latter part of the season makes that Sami is already looking forward to racing the furthest destinations on the F1H2O calendar.
The fact that he is getting older Sami actually sees as an advantage over some of the young competitors coming in. As opposed to F1 road racing where you see a lot of the younger guys being consistently up front, in F1 it is usually the older, more experienced guys taking the title home. Sami puts that all down to experience and hours and hours in the driving seat. Every lap is different and only experience can prepare you for that. That is also why, Sami explains, there is no way F1 pilots could be advised from the pit about how to approach the race as is clearly the case in F1 road racing. Surely F1H2O uses telemetry data from the boat but with the ever changing conditions it is only the pilot who can decide at that moment what needs to be done in the boat to secure a race win.
Sami and Alex
Sami is also very happy with Alex Carella coming in as his team mate with Team Mad Croc and ranks him as one of the best talents coming into F1 in the last couple of years. Sami thinks Alex was a bit unlucky not to win the F2 world title last year. Sami sees Alex as a very experienced guy for his age that has had a lot of time in the driver’s seat. Sami also welcomes the competition within the team. He is convinced that a fast team mate will improve your own racing as well. Being the older, more experienced guy in the team, Sami does not pull rank over his younger team mate. Sami despite being faster than some of his team mates in previous teams, was held back. Obviously much to his frustration. So Sami is not about seniority. He will let the racing do the talking. And if that would mean that a younger team mate is faster, than tough luck. This will only inspire him to go at it faster than ever before and go out and proof a point on the race track.
If anything, Sami likes to help his younger, less experienced team mates where he can. It is not like he is taking them by the hand but Sami loves to see his advice and experience translate into additional speed for his team mates on the track. Asked whether he would see this role expanding into the role of a team manager in the future, Sami answers he would love to stay involved in boat racing after his retirement from racing and team manager would certainly be a role he would like to take on.
But this is a long way from happening. Sami Seliö first has to secure two more world championships. What he does to stay on track for those goals, you can follow here on PowerboatPro.
Article courtesy of Sami Seliö. Pictures courtesy of F1H2O and Paul Lakatos.
To get to know more about Sami’s team sponsor, please visit the MadCroc website.
More on Sami himself can be found on http://www.samiselio.com
Latest news and backgrounds on F1 racing can be found on the F1H2o website
Frode Sundsdal’s news site where you can find a racer’s take on racing is here.
