In any sport, athlete fitness is always a priority. Maintaining optimum weight is crucial to keep athletes performing at their highest potential. However, when it comes to F1, maintaining a certain amount of weight is an actual rule for both the driver and the car. The rule is so strict that the authorities even disqualify drivers from races if they fail to meet the requirements. Underweight or overweight both can be a problem for the F1 drivers, and Esteban Ocon once revealed how he makes sure he doesn’t become underweight.
A combined weight of the car and driver should ideally be a minimum of 1684 lbs as per the norms of F1. If the weight is lower, it gives teams an undue advantage as the car would be lighter and thus faster. So, to make sure he doesn’t go underweight, Ocon once revealed to a fan his disordered eating habit to help maintain it.
Esteban Ocon has a curious diet to help him maintain his weight
As one of the tallest drivers on the grid, Ocon also has a very fast metabolism that helps him burn off fat quicker than average. He once admitted to having lost 500g within a week just because he stopped the intake of proteins as the drivers were between seasons.
So, to avoid dropping extra weight, the French driver has come up with the weirdest of diets.
“I need to constantly keep eating to keep my weight up because I’m losing quite a lot of weight when I race. So, I end up with all sorts of sugary snacks, put in a blender, mixed all the way.”
The ‘special’ thick shake/ smoothie helps Ocon intake over a thousand calories in one sitting. With such a high-calorie intake, one would often refer to a physio or a dietician for guidance, but the French driver does none of that because he fears he might “throw up.” In a race, an F1 driver can lose anywhere between 4 to 8 lbs of weight, so it became necessary for Ocon to stay over 165 lbs.
Ocon had to put up 11 lbs in 2017 because of his physique
In 2017, Ocon was relatively underweight and had to opt for a rigorous diet to help him put on the weight quickly. Ocon had to intake a lot of proteins and had to force feed himself so he could put up 5kgs (11 lbs) of weight to meet the norms. Additionally, the Frenchman had to complete nine hours of cardio and ten hours of gym apart from the reaction and circuit training each week, which he says was “very hard work.”
the workouts f1 drivers have to do are fuckin nuts man https://t.co/d8xT3w3k7G
— christopher moltisanti (@theboytej) April 10, 2021
Each F1 driver has to go through rigorous training regimes each week to keep themselves fit to race. Training not only includes reactions and awareness but also needs drivers to be in top physical condition so they can face cornering forces over 5Gs with ease.
Additionally, they need to keep their core, legs, arms, and neck fitter than average to tackle the often grueling demands of driving an F1 car for an average of 120 minutes.
