SSA Blog: Pain in the neck

Nico Hülkenberg’s return to Formula 1 racing was delayed by a week, but following qualifying, it was well worth the wait. Technical issues prevented Hülkenberg from making the start line last week, as his car failed to ‘fire up’ and he was left to watch the race from the team motor home. This weekend he maintained his place in the Racing Point team and put in a quite magnificent one lap qualifying performance. But will his lack of race fitness be a factor during the 52 laps of the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix 2020?  

Nico Hülkenberg during his time with Renault

In such a technologically advanced sport it’s easy to focus on the tech often overlooking the athleticism, physicality and training needed to produce race-winning performances. Drivers are now required to train to levels associated with sports such as football, rugby or even boxing.

An area now commanding particular focus is neck strength. The forces the driver’s experience in the car can top 6 G. This means a driver’s head would ‘feel’ as though it weighs around 40kg at these points.  As an open cockpit sport, neck strength, in order to maintain head position, has become a major performance factor. Having not driven an F1 car since December last year, lots of attention has been given to Hülkenberg’s neck. Commentators have asked, particularly at Silverstone, one of the most physically demanding tracks on the circuit, will he still have the strength to handle the G forces?

In 2018 Sebastian Vettel struggled with neck injury during the congested European season and almost missed the British Grand Prix (a race he went on to win). Vettel wasn’t the only one to suffer, a number of drivers were not physically prepared for the increase in force production between the 2017 and 2018 seasons due to increased power and downforce. Towards the end of races, drivers were resting their heads on the side of their cars in order to maintain something approaching race pace.

Recognising the need for greater strength, driver’s training regimes have totally changed over the past two seasons. Previously, 100% of a drivers’ training was focused on endurance. Now around 40% of their training is devoted to strength in order to cope with the extreme forces experienced throughout a race weekend. This must be among the most dramatic training shifts of any sport. Most sports have evolved so athletes are now fitter and stronger, but very few have necessitated a significant shift in basic training principles between seasons.  

The research regarding physical preparation in elite motor racing is sparse compared with other major professionalised sports. However, with the changing physical and mental demands, drivers are now focusing on these aspects more than ever to maximise their performance in the car. A paper written by McKnight et al (2019) showed that F1 drivers registered higher scores across a number of physical benchmarks, including neck strength when compared to their counterparts in other racing championships. 

Now that benchmarks are beginning to be set as to the strength needed to compete at the very top of motorsport, drivers know the physical side of the sport is going to be increasingly evaluated. In a sport often separated by hundredths if not thousandths of a second, every rep in the gym is going to count.

Nico Hülkenberg will undoubtedly be delighted to be back at the pinnacle of motorsport. He may well maintain the Racing Point seat at next week’s second Silverstone race. If he does, his physio will have his work cut out helping both recovery and preparation. Being drafted in with 24 hours’ notice will undoubtedly prove to be a pain in the neck for Hülkenberg but one he will hopefully enjoy.   

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