How Drivers Are Preparing for the 24-Race F1 Season

Esteban Ocon is well aware of the challenges ahead. He stated, “This year we are going to hopefully have the full calendar, which is great – but it’s going to be tough on everyone, to get going and be 100% at every race. We have opened some new departments in the team for healthcare and that’s going to help us.” He added, “You need to be on top of your game every single time. I’m going to be coming back to my training center as much as I can between races to first recover and then re-work, to be stronger, and to keep my health going. Something happened last year, I got to race 21 or 22 and I got sick before the last race. I don’t want to be in that position again.”

Pierre Gasly also weighed in about what’s to come, by saying, “Once you are part of the F1 circus you basically don’t have any other life on the side. 24 races are going to be intense. Recovery as an athlete will come into play way more than before. Nutrition, physical, and mental preparation. It’s just draining. We are flying around the globe for about 10 months, all over the place. That’s what we train and prepare for. At the end of the day, I’ve got a cool job and I wouldn’t change it for anything. It’s not easy in certain ways but I’m still as excited every time I jump in these cars.”

Fernando Alonso has been focusing on his physical fitness. The driver said, “I feel good. I feel fitter than ever. The numbers that we achieved in all the physical tests we do every season, were the best ever this year. I was training a little bit differently this year, adding a nutritionist to the team which changed our way of seeing things to prepare the body. Everything I do in life and everything I did in the last few months was just to prepare myself better than ever for a very long season.” He also said that he’s eating a plant-based diet, although he’s “maybe not completely strict” about it.

Good luck to all the athletes, and may the most prepared drivers win!