Being an F1 driver is one of the hardest things to do, and no one can make it to the top with just driving talent. A driver competing at the highest level also needs to have unprecedented levels of fitness, and McLaren driver Lando Norris reveals the scary aspect of it.
One of the most crucial things F1 drivers need to keep in check is their weight. As Norris said in the Made with Love podcast with Olympic Champion Tom Daley, drivers need to weigh a minimum of 80kgs along with the seat in order to compete in F1. That is when the Brit started speaking about his own weight training program.
The daily gym looks while training to be a Formula 1 driver 😂 pic.twitter.com/62aMyJjxNW
— George Russell (@GeorgeRussell63) January 10, 2019
Norris revealed that as a child, he was incredibly lean and that meant he had to work hard to build strong muscles. He said that he really struggled with being skinny, even when he was karting. In every form of motorsport on his way to F1, Norris said he was playing ‘catch up’ because of his physical inferiority.
Lando Norris talks about his neck training
One of the things Norris had to work hardest on was neck training. As he revealed during his conversation with Daley, the neck of an F1 driver is one of the only things that isn’t supported by anything in the car, so it is essential for them to build it strongly.
And some people say F1 drivers aren’t athletes 🙄
🎥 @yukitsunoda07 pic.twitter.com/brJNCfNHU5— WTF1 (@wtf1official) February 3, 2022
Norris went on to say that when his car turns left or right at a high speed, he finds it extremely uncomfortable if he has to turn his head. Ideally, the drivers should make sure that their necks don’t move, so they train with that using weights, which he also described as a ‘nightmare’ and compared the harness to a ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ kind of thing.
Where does Norris’ F1 future lie?
Norris has spent the entirety of F1 career so far with McLaren. He made his debut with the Woking-based squad in 2019, and has had six podium finishes to date. However, for a driver who is billed as a future world champion, fighting only for points on a regular basis isn’t suitable.
On top of that, McLaren have seemingly taken a step backwards in 2023. Norris finished 17th in the first two races this year, which is disastrous for his ambitions. Multiple F1 experts including Sky Sports’ analyst Karun Chandhok feel that the Bristol-born driver deserves a move away from McLaren to a team where he can fight for the world championship.
