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[Big Azza]

i'm surprised no-one has started a thread about this...

http://www.crash.net/f1/news/175765/1/adrian_newey_awarded_obe_mansell_gets_cbe.html

Famed F1 designer Adrian Newey has been awarded an OBE in the British New Year Honours list.

The 53-year-old Englishman has designed F1 world championship winning cars at Williams, McLaren and now Red Bull, where Sebastian Vettel has been crowned champion for the past two seasons.

Newey, chief technical officer at Red Bull Racing, has been awarded the OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) for services to motorsport.

It was also announced that Nigel Mansell, who won the 1992 F1 crown in one of Newey's Williams cars, has been awarded a CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) for services to children and young people, in recognition of his work as president of charity UK Youth. Mansell already has an OBE.

The New Year Honours list rewards achievement or service to the United Kingdom. The top award is that of Knight or Dame, followed by CBE, OBE and MBE (Member).

Discuss...

I say well played old chap!

[madbrad]

Not to take away from their contributions, but there are tens of thousands of non famous people that do all this too, and don't get any awards.

[Big Azza]

Well I was looking for Murray Walker's name in there... but couldn't find it. There must be a mistake!

[racechick]

Newey for motorsport yes. Mansell? There are plenty of people who work tirelessly for old people and youngsters but receive no recognition.

[andrew]

Not to take away from their contributions, but there are tens of thousands of non famous people that do all this too, and don't get any awards.

Exactly! These guys getting paid millions each year is reward enough. What about the charity workers etc. that give up their free time and are not paid for helping others who are less fortunate?

These awards are just a populrity contest - give them to the rich and famous "celebirities" so that the Government and the Royal Family look like they are in-touch with us regular pleb's. Waste of tax payer's money!

[LewEngBridewell]

Good on the pair of them. They deserve it.

Some good points are also made above, but I feel awards such as these are a greater honour than the colossal pay-packet, which is unnecessary but sadly occurs across the whole board in all different sectors involving those in the public eye.

[zurich_allan]

Not to take away from their contributions, but there are tens of thousands of non famous people that do all this too, and don't get any awards.

Exactly! These guys getting paid millions each year is reward enough. What about the charity workers etc. that give up their free time and are not paid for helping others who are less fortunate?

These awards are just a populrity contest - give them to the rich and famous "celebirities" so that the Government and the Royal Family look like they are in-touch with us regular pleb's. Waste of tax payer's money!

This is the common miconception that simply isn't true. Yes, some celebrities or sports people do get honours such as this, but they are by far a small minority. There are over 20 investitures a year held at various of the royal premises (not just Buckingham Palace, and they aren't just at new year and the Queen's birthday), and the vast majority of people who get MBE's and OBE's ARE precisely the people that you've highlighted - charity workers, volunteers, people working to help others in public or private sector organisations etc.

It's just that those that are reported by the mass media are the minority whom the general public will have heard of, creating the (incorrect) myth that it's only celebrities that get the awards.

My mother received the MBE in 2004, and in her investiture of circa 70 people there were literally 2 people I'd call a 'celebrity' of any sort. The other 68 were ALL hard working, ordinary people being recognised for their time and effort in their field of work / volunteering. This is the reality that isn't reported as it's popular to knock the royal family for a variety of reasons.

On the other point though, if people want to say the whole concept is a waste of time then fair enough, that's their opinion and they are entitled to it. I don't personally think that public recognition for exceptionally hard work and / or achievement is a bad thing, but that's just my opinion.

[Hammer278]

^Great post.

[andrew]

Not to take away from their contributions, but there are tens of thousands of non famous people that do all this too, and don't get any awards.

Exactly! These guys getting paid millions each year is reward enough. What about the charity workers etc. that give up their free time and are not paid for helping others who are less fortunate?

These awards are just a populrity contest - give them to the rich and famous "celebirities" so that the Government and the Royal Family look like they are in-touch with us regular pleb's. Waste of tax payer's money!

This is the common miconception that simply isn't true. Yes, some celebrities or sports people do get honours such as this, but they are by far a small minority. There are over 20 investitures a year held at various of the royal premises (not just Buckingham Palace, and they aren't just at new year and the Queen's birthday), and the vast majority of people who get MBE's and OBE's ARE precisely the people that you've highlighted - charity workers, volunteers, people working to help others in public or private sector organisations etc.

It's just that those that are reported by the mass media are the minority whom the general public will have heard of, creating the (incorrect) myth that it's only celebrities that get the awards.

Actually it is true what I wrote. I certain that the number of celebrities and famous faces that get these awards outweighs the token number of unknowns. The lists of those that are given these awards are published. Either way, the whole thing is an out-dated waste of tax payer's money though seeing as these types of awards will continue for years to come I would much rather see a list of nominees soley comprising of hard working members of the public rather than some well known faces that are basically just doing their job and getting paid extremely well for it.

Either way, good on them for getting these awards regardless of how meaningless the awards are.

[Hammer278]

Actually it is true what I wrote. I certain that the number of celebrities and famous faces that get these awards outweighs the token number of unknowns. The lists of those that are given these awards are published. Either way, the whole thing is an out-dated waste of tax payer's money though seeing as these types of awards will continue for years to come I would much rather see a list of nominees soley comprising of hard working members of the public rather than some well known faces that are basically just doing their job and getting paid extremely well for it.

Either way, good on them for getting these awards regardless of how meaningless the awards are.

I think you have an image of these 'celebrity' faces just shaking their legs and getting awards while doing the same thing millions others do out there. It's not really common being an Adrian Newey, for example.

Working for an MNC is much tougher than working for a small time company, and working in a highly competitive sport such as Formula 1 is not really a small feat. These guys live their work, and work to live. We hear a lot of their celebrity 'lifestyle' but what are they doing the rest of the time?

And these awards are not "meaningless". They are a reward for exceptional individuals who work their ar*es off in a very high pressure environment and manage to stand out in a crowd of exceptional people. They deserve these awards through and through, and maybe the reason they are so publicly recognized is for others to look up to these guys and strive to achieve something of their own at that level. Depends how you look at it.

[geetface9]

I can easily see both sides of the argument. Newey and Mansell and whoever get rich and famous and get awards and you never hear about the average joe getting an award. Also, not everybody who makes a #@$! ton of money spends their free time helping other people. That's why pat tilman was such a hero for giving up football to join the army. it's all perspective, i guess!!