Off-season – the time of the most active physical training

During the off-season, riders returning from winter holidays devote maximum time to physical training and try to achieve the desired shape, because when the races begin, a very tight schedule will only support it.

But now, under the guidance of their coaches, they all try to combine all kinds of activities, and that is not only working in the gym, but also skiing, cycling, running, karting and so on. Charles Leclerc is also involved in rock climbing.

There are no hard guns here, everyone can have their own approach, but the dominant one is more endurance and strength training. The race lasts about two hours and requires maximum concentration and the ability to correctly calculate your power from the pilot. This can only be achieved through many hours of training.

Fernando Alonso prefers a bicycle, riding it both on ordinary roads and in the mountains, or simply pedaling an exercise bike. His old friend Pedro de la Rosa used to focus more on running, but then he also switched to cycling to reduce the strain on his knee joints.

Carlos Sainz saddles less often and mainly walks; so is Lewis Hamilton, who headed to Antarctica in January and jogged even in those harsh latitudes.

In winter it is useful to get on skis – this is what Hamilton, Leclerc, Alonso and Valtteri Bottas do. The Finnish Alfa Romeo racer is now beyond the Arctic Circle, in Lapland, where he has a home in the town of Kilpisjärvi, and takes regular walks in the surrounding tundra.

Working on strength simulators is another important part of the physical training program.

“The first thing a runner should do is set up a gym at home,” said Javi Martos, Sergio Perez’s personal trainer. It is important to develop the muscles of the shoulder girdle and especially the neck to handle the g-forces of flying at high speeds. Overloads in the order of magnitude of 3G regularly occur during braking, during acceleration, when cornering and in accidents.

Fernando Alonso is one of those with the most “bloated” neck, and there is an explanation for this: the two-time world champion started racing in Formula 1 in the days when refueling was practiced in races, and almost the entire distance of the Grand Prix ​​had to be run at a pace similar to qualifying, so even then he developed his own training methodology, which serves him to this day.

Of course, it is recommended to supplement the main types of physical training with a wide variety of sports activities, and here the choice is very wide. We’ve already mentioned skiing, but Hamilton, for example, likes snowboarding no less and Sainz prefers golf or tennis. Kimi Räikkönen loved riding a dirt bike or snowmobile, although sometimes things didn’t end well and he got injured. In particular, in December 2011, the Finn worried the Lotus team, with whom he subsequently signed a two-year contract, but everything turned out fine.

And yet Formula 1 drivers can only find optimal physical shape at the start of tests and races, ie when work on the track begins behind the wheel of a car.

“It doesn’t matter how much you train, it’s all good, but with the development of neck muscles, nothing can replace driving a Formula 1 car,” recalled Martos.

That is why teams always try to spend shooting days in addition to the winter tests during this period, in which a maximum of 100 km can be driven in a new car. It is also useful to conduct private tests on machines of the previous generation (2021 at the latest). Ferrari is making the most of its factory circuit in Fiorano.

In 2023, some drivers will also have the chance to work on the Pirelli tire tests, including Alonso on February 7-8 in Jerez. And the official three-day tests will be held from February 23 to February 25 in Bahrain, and with their completion, in fact, most of the preparation for the season is completed, because already on March 5, the riders will start the first stage of the championship.