I've been a fan of Formula 1 racing for a long time. I would see the drivers do intense workouts
in the days leading up to races and see them in their post-race weighings absolutely drenched in
sweat. And all this would make me wonder what sort of stresses the body experiences while driving an
F1 car. Like how fit do these guys need to be? It’s easy to assume racing a Formula 1 car is
similar to driving a regular car just faster. But you have to keep in mind that these F1 cars are
capable of speeds above 360 kilometers per hour and can accelerate from 0 to 100 kilometers per
hour in two and a half seconds, generating up to 2Gs. 2Gs of acceleration is hard to imagine
without actually feeling it. But just try to think about a freefall, like when you're jumping
on a trampoline and are coming down from a big jump or if you've been bungee jumping or skydiving
you'll also know what it feels like. That freefall sensation is what 1G of acceleration feels like,
so the acceleration in an F1 car is 2 times that, just in a horizontal direction. But
what's even crazier is the G-forces experienced when braking and cornering. Formula 1 cars can
decelerate from 200km/h to a complete standstill in only 6.5 meters. This generates up to 5Gs,
compared to the fastest sports cars in the world which can brake at about 1G.
Again it's hard to imagine what this feels like, but just think that the fastest rollercoasters
in the world achieve around the same amount of acceleration, reaching the limits of what
humans can withstand without training. F1 cars can corner at insanely high speeds too,
reaching up to 6Gs of lateral acceleration. This is all thanks to the aerodynamics of modern
Formula 1 cars which produce so much downforce and grip that they can theoretically drive
upside down, say on the ceiling of a tunnel. For fighter pilots, they often experience g-forces
in the vertical axis. When they are accelerating upwards, it forces blood to leave the head
and pool in the legs. The blood leaves the eyes causing tunnel vision or a complete blackout
and blood leaves the brain causing loss of consciousness. When you're accelerating
quickly in a horizontal direction, the human body can withstand much higher g-forces without
any ill effects. So since F1 drivers are moving horizontally and all the g-forces are horizontal,
they're quite safe, right? Well actually, no, the g-forces aren't necessarily horizontal.
And you can see this when you look at the seating position of an F1 driver. They're
almost lying down on their backs. Acceleration is not a huge issue because it only reaches 2Gs
and the blood goes up towards the brain. However, when the driver pushes on the brakes,
the g-forces are much higher, reaching up to 5Gs, and so the blood goes away from their brain and
pools in the legs. Luckily, it's unlikely to cause a blackout in vision or loss of consciousness
since the high g-forces are only sustained for a short duration of time, but the decreased blood
flow to the brain can subtly decrease cognitive performance and reaction time. This isn't great
when you're driving a 200 mile per hour death trap, so it's vital for F1 drivers to train their
bodies to withstand these high G-forces. The race is up to 2 hours long and drivers need to
be concentrating the whole time, otherwise they might crash and hurt themselves or others. The
way F1 drivers ensure that their brain gets enough oxygen is by strengthening muscles
that help redistribute their blood flow. The main muscle group responsible for this
is the core which is why core strength is so important for F1 drivers to train regularly.
The other effect of g-forces is that it puts a lot of stress on the driver's neck. In a 6G corner,
their heads can have over 30kg of force on it. There's a video out there of an ordinary
person who had no neck muscle training trying to drive an F1 car - this is what it looks like.
In order for F1 drivers to keep their head straight so that they can see where they're going,
they need to undergo intense training regimes for their neck muscles,
which to be honest is hilarious to watch.
When Lewis Hamilton first into came to F1 racing in 2007, he had a 14-inch collar
size and today he’s got an 18-inch collar size. This goes to show what a huge difference g-force
training can have on muscle hypertrophy. In a similar way, the limbs have have to be
strong to fight the G-forces. When F1 drivers turn corners at extremely high speeds, it takes
an immense amount of effort to fight the lateral G-forces when turning the steering wheel. It takes
on average 15kg to turn the steering wheel for a corner and this occurs up to a thousand times
per race. I mean, imagine trying to do 1000 reps of 15kg curls - you would be absolutely
floored. On top of this, a driver applies about 60kg of force to push the brake pedals in,
which occurs over 250 times per race. So muscular strength is paramount to
fight the G-forces, however cardiovascular fitness is just as important in being an F1 driver.
At face value, it's hard to imagine they get out of breath much because they're just sitting
down in a car. However, cardiovascular fitness is crucial for F1 drivers for several reasons.
Firstly, races are almost 2 hours long so a lot of endurance is required to power the muscles for
such a long time. The second reason is heat. Thanks to the drivers' fireproof racing suits
and full-face helmet, it's hard for the body to expel heat. In the warmest tracks like Singapore,
their cockpits reach up to 60 degrees celcius and they lose up to 4kg of their body weight
through sweat. Drivers can drink water during the race but weight restrictions make it hard
to carry enough water on board. When you sweat to such extremes without replenishing your fluids,
you lose circulating blood volume, meaning it's harder for you to perfuse you brain
with oxygenated blood. Together with the effect of G-forces on movement of blood in the body,
brain function decreases by an estimated 40% in the average person. This means that
things like concentration, reaction times and alertness are severely impacted throughout the
race. When there's low blood volume, special sensors in the aorta and carotid arteries send
signals to the brain. The brain then tells the heart to beat faster and contract harder
in an attempt to get oxygen to vital organs. On top of this, the excitement and anxiety of race
day will cause a similar response and push heart rate up too. Heart rate monitors on drivers show
that their heart rate averages around 140 to 170bpm throughout a race. This is on par with
high performance athletes and is not something an average Joe could sustain for so long,
showing you how important cardiovascular fitness is for Formula 1 drivers.
And the other really interesting thing that you probably haven't heard of is the impact
of vibrations on driver performance. Since the suspension on F1 cars has to be so stiff to
minimise energy loss, they feel every vibration from the road. And then if their wheels lock up,
they get a flat spot on the tires which exacerbates these vibrations. What's fascinating
is that some studies show that whole-body vibrations can have negative impacts on a
driver's cognitive performance. These studies found that it can decrease alertness, and increase
fatigue and error rate. Scientists don't know why this happens and how severe the impacts are
but there is ongoing research into this. So to recap, a strong core is required to
redistribute blood flow around the body, hold the head up straight and turn the steering wheel
against the strong G-forces. On top of this, a high level of cardiovascular fitness is needed
to maintain muscular endurance, withstand high temperatures in the cockpit, and combat fluid
loss from sweat. F1 is an incredibly physically and mentally demanding sport where the human body
is pushed to its limits. If a driver is not at the top of their game, it's all to easy to make errors
which may lead to serious injury or death. And on that bright note, if you've enjoyed this
video and want to see more, make sure to hit subscribe and let me know in the comments.
Cheers.