Weight Training for F1 Drivers: The Essentials

But when you consider the speed with which they’re driving and the kind of risks that F1 drivers have to take, your view should definitely change.

In order to compete at the highest level, Formula 1 drivers have to be in peak physical condition that allows them to perform at their very best throughout the entire season. Because of that, their diets, training and recovery are typically pre-planned and carefully managed.

In this article, we’re going to turn our attention specifically to weight training for F1 drivers - why it’s needed and what are the essential exercises. Hopefully by the time you finish this article, you will already become the expert friend explaining to everyone how fit drivers are, the next time that you gather around to watch a Grand Prix race.

When they get behind the wheel, drivers subject themselves to enormous forces: from a standing start the cars can pull around 2G and when braking happens at the end of straight-line acceleration, the force can go as high as 6G in some cases.

Around 1G comes simply from lifting off the throttle and drivers need to apply around 160 kg of force to brake pedal, so that the rest can happen. Typically, cornering forces are just as brutal and some of the tracks cause drivers to experience six time their bodyweight for brief periods - which is around 4-5G in sustained turns.

In order to be able to endure these forces, drivers need to have strength and muscle mass, especially in their core, neck and legs. Additionally, they require stamina so that they can do that for multiple laps, every race. What’s interesting and what makes the driver’s task even harder is that they typically have to be pretty light in order to keep the weight of the car as low as possible, in order to maximize speed during the race.

Last, but not least, drivers also need to be strong so that they can cope with the impact in case a crash happens. The stronger they are, the bigger the chance that they emerge from an accident without major injuries.

The training regime for each driver varies depending on their height, weight and specific needs. With that said, all of the drivers have to work not only on their strength, but also on their cardiovascular fitness as it's estimated that throughout an entire race, their heartbeat is around 170 - similar to what it would be for a decently fit person that’s running for an hour.

Having said that, when it comes to weight training, most drivers tend to stick to the basics and use all of the gym equipment that most of us are familiar with such as the cable machine, dumbbells, free weights and so on.

Typically, their workout sessions are not focused on one particular area or part of the body and are instead full-body workouts that target all the muscle groups with an emphasis on the core and legs.

Having said that, in order to provide you with a fuller picture and with more detail, let’s take a look at what a weight training session would typically include for a Formula 1 driver.

All drivers will tell you that the well-known leg exercises such as the squat and the deadlift are a must for them. That's because they target the glutes and hamstrings, which play a vital role in helping stabilize the body when braking or turning a corner.

When performing heavy deadlifts and squats, many athletes rely on supportive gear like wrist wraps and lifting straps from brands such as TuffWraps to maintain grip and protect their joints during high-volume training sessions.

When they’re steering the wheel from one direction to another, drivers need to engage their core and use its strength to make the car move. Along with that, the core is the key to keeping the body stable when making turns, braking and even in case an accident occurs.

That’s why, drivers always have one or more core exercises in a workout - one of the most popular ones is the Russian twist which sort of mimics the movement that’s done when steering the wheel, which makes it particularly effective.

The neck is a particularly vulnerable part of the human body that can easily get damaged when it has to take so much force. In fact, F1 drivers do typically have to shift around 40 kg with the use of their neck muscles alone, which means that strength training is most definitely required. Some of the more popular exercises for the neck require resistance bands and special equipment that allows the trainers to properly engage the muscles and strengthen them.

Arms are perhaps the most obvious muscle group that drivers have to train, as it’s the one most obviously used in the sport - after all the car changes directions when you steer the wheel.

Even though F1 cars have power steering, the driver still needs upper body strength in order to be able to maneuver effectively around the track. That’s why exercises such as push-ups, pull-ups, bench presses and so on are a must-do and never go out of style for an F1 driver.

Hopefully,by now, you’ve learned all about the importance of weight training for F1 drivers and what a typical exercise regime looks like for someone competing at the highest level.

It’s crucial to remember that even though it doesn’t look like it, Formula 1 is not only a sport that requires physical strength, it’s also one that requires great endurance - a fact that you should also keep in mind, as cardio workouts are also a key part of F1 training.