SSA Blog: The fitness of Formula 1

It is pre-season for Formula 1 right now, so if you are a fan, your social media will be awash with images of the 2021 cars and the drivers getting in condition for the year ahead. Over the years the fitness demands of racing a Formula 1 car have changed considerably. While drivers are still able to enjoy a glamorous lifestyle, their focus has had to shift somewhat to ensure they are physically and mentally able to maximise the capabilities of the cars. Driving talent is no longer enough to ensure a seat at the pinnacle of motorsport.   

Max Verstappen celebrates his win at the Austrian Grand Prix 2019

Changes in demands

The demands on drivers have increased for a number of reasons. As engineering technology has improved, the importance of the driver’s strength, weight and fitness to maximise these technologies has increased. As the science of performance in Formula 1 has developed a clear link between physical fitness and mental fatigue has been established.This has meant there is a much stronger emphasis on the drivers to amplify their own talent by increasing their fitness . Finally, as with most professional sports, the financial rewards demand closer attention to every detail. The packed calendar, need for instant results and talent ID programmes now mean that fitness has become a key element in every driver’s arsenal in trying to make it to the very top.

Just how fit are F1 drivers

The publicly available research is very limited. Luckily, the Sport Science Agency team spent three years working within Formula 1 and attending races around the world. They saw how modern day drivers have to adjust their fitness regimes to maximise the performance of the cars at different circuits. This has seen a shift in recent seasons from all out aerobic fitness to a mix of strength and endurance. An F1 race can last up to 2 hours, which makes it an endurance event. Drivers heart rates are elevated throughout the race, not just because of the adrenaline, but because of the physical effort needed to combat G-forces when breaking, cornering and accelerating (more on this later). Among the top drivers, we would now regularly see VO2 max levels (scientific measure of fitness) in line with professional football.

At an event at which Sport Science Agency provided the fitness assessments for Puma in early 2020, Lewis Hamilton showcased his conditioning by showing up a number of fitness influencers with his ability to maintain a higher exercise output while in a much lower heart rate zone. The event also had a number of professional athletes from football, boxing and athletics. Even compared to other professional athletes Lewis’s performance was standout.      

Specific fitness

As with all sports, the need for fitness to be specific is the same in F1. The major physical demands are a product of the G-forces generated by the car at speed. Drivers will regularly experience forces of up to 6 G’s. In an open cockpit sport with no head support, this means at times it will feel as though their head weighs 6 times more than normal. This would be the equivalent to the driver’s head and helmet weighing approximately 36kg. Optimising head position is essential in maximising speed. It’s difficult to hit an apex if your head is being pushed the other way by the G-forces. This is why in training videos put out by F1 drivers you see so much neck strengthening. If the drivers’ body isn’t strong enough to tolerate the forces the car is capable of producing, then they can’t exploit its full pace. With the amount of telemetry in the cars, any weaknesses will soon be picked up and a driver with the physical attributes to overcome the forces and maximise the speed of the car will be found.

When the focus for the drivers was to be as light as possible, their fitness was almost exclusively endurance training, running, cycling or in the case of Jenson Button, triathlon. Now the need for strength to overcome the G-forces means that roughly 40% of the training drivers do is strength focused. Legs, core, arms and neck are all targeted to ensure the strength to be able to overcome the G-forces and maximise the speed of the cars.

Drivers still need to be light. A lighter driver will mean that the teams are able to play with set up and move ballast around the car without increasing its overall weight (which has a lower limit). Many drivers remain around the 70kg mark. To give an indication of just how strong the drivers are, most people of similar size would have a neck circumference of around 35cm.  For an F1 driver it would be between 40 and 45cm. Much more in line with a rugby union front row, an american football linebacker or a heavyweight boxer.

Opportunities for brands

Increasingly, sports apparel brands are moving into F1. New Balance continues its partnership with the Esport Series, while Puma has been associated with Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull for a number of seasons. Going into 2021 a new player will enter the paddock as Umbro makes its F1 debut as a partner of Williams Racing.

The specificity of Formula 1 training and the relative lack of understanding of the fitness demands of the sport, offer a significant content opportunity for these brands. In partnership with the teams, a compelling performance story would easily crossover into the general sport and fitness world. The trick is to understand the demands and be able to relate them back to enthusiasts without the need to talk about engineering or the finer points of F1.

Being the brand that helps get drivers as fit as footballers, as light as jockeys and as strong as rugby players could be a very compelling place to start.