How Do F1 Drivers Lose Weight During a Race?

When it comes to a sport, they are more or less physical, and when it comes to outdoor sports, oftentimes they actually are. And when we talk about F1, it is definitely one of the most physical sports out there. The drivers need to go through a lot of hard training to be fit for the race and even during the race, their body goes through huge changes.

Weight loss is one such change as the drivers tend to lose a lot of weight after every race. However, do you know why drivers lose weight? Well, this article is all about why and how the F1 drivers, including Lewis Hamilton, will tell you why they lose weight after a race and then why they check their weight after losing their weight.

According to reports by Insider.com, a driver may lose around six to eight pounds of weight after every race. This is because they sweat too much in the cockpit. The cockpit produces extreme heat and, as a result, the driver sweat and hence the loss in weight. It’s important to note that drivers tend to lose more weight when they race in countries with more humidity.

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Since the drivers lose a lot of weight throughout the race, they are directed to drink as much water as possible. This is mainly done to make the drivers stay hydrated so they don’t feel thirsty and face dehydration. The drivers usually drink a lot of water, but just in case somebody doesn’t want to drink water, they have to as it maintains the body’s hydration.

Why the F1 drivers are weighed after the race?

One must have seen how the drivers wait to get their weight checked after every race. They wait after getting down from their car, get up on a weighing machine and have someone check on their weight and note it down. This is done after every race on every race weekend and this is a compulsory procedure.

The drivers go through the weight check in order to know how much weight they have lost. Losing weight is one instrumental change the drivers face as they lose weight after every race. Drivers losing weight after a race is a mandatory phenomenon as the sport is very physical.

Lewis Hamilton, one of the star drivers of the sport, who himself remains baffled over the weight phenomenon, has called Formula 1, “incredibly physical” due to its nature. By the way, did we tell you why the weights are noted? Well, it is done in order to check if the driver and the car are within the minimum weight limit mentioned in the F1 rulebook.

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The F1 rulebook suggests that the driver and the car have to be under a minimum weight limit. According to the latest guideline of 2022, the driver and the car weight must be 795 kgs. As for the driver, it has to be 80kgs, in general. Lighter drivers can add ballast to their seats and adjust their weight to bring themselves to the 80kg threshold.

How much does physical ability matter in F1?

The F1 drivers need to have the best possible fitness. Not only this, but the drivers also need to have great agility, core strength, neck strength, and high energy. It takes a lot of strength to keep the car on road and overtake at such monstrous speed, so overall fitness is absolutely necessary.

Talking about this, Hamilton, the Mercedes ace once shared in an interview on the Graham Norton show, “When you’re doing 150-180 mph and you turn, the thing turns and your body wants to go the opposite way so you have to have really good core stability, you can’t be big and bulky,”

The Briton also shared about how the drivers need to maintain their diet and hence the weight, “10 kilos of fuel in the car costs 3/10s of a second every circuit, per lap. So if I’m one kg overweight, I can lose up to two seconds in the race distance. So my weight is very important.”

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Lastly, the F1 drivers are one of the best athletes in the world and are undoubtedly the best drivers. Being an F1 driver, staying on top for so long isn’t an easy job as many tend to retire after they reach their late thirties. However, few remain on the grid who create a legacy, such as Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso, etc.