While it may not look like it from the outside, F1 is one of the most physically demanding sports out there. And F1 drivers need to carefully (sometimes even painfully) maintain their diet to remain fit throughout the year to deal with the hectic racing schedule.
But do they ever get to cheat on their diet? The answer to that question is ‘yes’, they do get their cheat days as recently explained by Oscar Piastri’s trainer Kim Keedle in the third episode of ‘Unlocked with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri’.
According to Kim, cheat days — while not desirable — are important for athletes because ultimately they are not robots. “Cheat days, we give cheat days sometimes in a specific time and place to keep the athlete happy,” Kim remarked.
McLaren: Unlocked with Lando Norris & Oscar Piastri – Episode 3: Post-Race Nutrition #F1 https://t.co/2Tzqh3QCXk
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He also noted that most of the cheat days are given to drivers during the winter break after a season ends, and they become extremely rare once the season starts. However, drivers may get some occasional cheat meals even during the season, which Piastri described as “soul food”.
“Oscar likes eating in his time off. Over Christmas he’ll have some cheat days, you can’t nod around that time. However, once we’re in season, cheat days are very rare. There may occasionally be a little cheap meal; some ice cream with some fruit,” Kim added.
However, he also explained that when building a diet plan for drivers, products are chosen based not only on nutritional value but also on whether they will help to resist the cravings to go out and eat things like burgers.
Every extra kilo hurts on-track performance
Maintaining a proper diet and nutrition for F1 drivers serves two purposes at once. First, it makes sure that they are always in perfectly healthy condition, which of course, not only improves performance but also keeps them mentally in a good space, which affects their behavior.
Secondly, it helps keep them close to their minimum required weight at all times during the season. As of now, the FIA requires drivers to be a minimum of 80 kg (176 lbs) including all the gears they put on.
Every extra kilogram of weight that a driver carries could cost them between two to three-hundredths of a second of performance per lap, which might not seem that significant for a single lap, but over the course of a race distance it could easily add up to around two seconds or even more depending on the race, and that is often the margin of victory in F1.
