Driver performance science

[raymondu999]

I'm pretty sure that whatever liquid is in the bottles it has nothing to do with respective brands. Although it would look hilarious if Macca guys would be sipping Johny Walker during weekends

They don't have anything to do with what is sold at 7-11, that is true. But what they do have is leverage. They can make use of the specialised knowledge of the nutritionists within Monster/Red Bull/Lucozade to help them make some better formulation of energy drink or some such.

[timbo]

I'm pretty sure that whatever liquid is in the bottles it has nothing to do with respective brands. Although it would look hilarious if Macca guys would be sipping Johny Walker during weekends

They don't have anything to do with what is sold at 7-11, that is true. But what they do have is leverage. They can make use of the specialised knowledge of the nutritionists within Monster/Red Bull/Lucozade to help them make some better formulation of energy drink or some such.

I don't think there's plenty of nutritionists employed at those companies. You'd better look at medical universities/military for that.

[raymondu999]

I'm pretty sure that whatever liquid is in the bottles it has nothing to do with respective brands. Although it would look hilarious if Macca guys would be sipping Johny Walker during weekends

They don't have anything to do with what is sold at 7-11, that is true. But what they do have is leverage. They can make use of the specialised knowledge of the nutritionists within Monster/Red Bull/Lucozade to help them make some better formulation of energy drink or some such.

I don't think there's plenty of nutritionists employed at those companies. You'd better look at medical universities/military for that.

Really? I've never worked at nutritional/food companies before, but why wouldn't energy drinks employ nutritionists?

[timbo]

Really? I've never worked at nutritional/food companies before, but why wouldn't energy drinks employ nutritionists?

Why would way? Any medical research is highly expensive.
How many new products does Red Bull, for example, produce each year to justify the expense? If you search patents owned by RedBull, they deal mostly with can/bottle construction, advertising and so on.
Maybe Lucozade brings something by the connection with GSK, but I'm not sure if there's any benefits for such a link over a subcontractor.

[Nando]

I would guess the teams have a nutrionist. And i doubt it´s Red Bull in Vettel´s bottle.

I remember when Schumi was at Ferrari they took it to the extreme measuring the blood before and after runs, told him what to eat and did loads of other tests. Like a Cyborg.

I would guess that is standard today.

[flattyre]

I remember watching one of Rosberg's videos about how he prepared for the season. It might help if I could dig out the video from somewhere (I think it's lurking around on Youtube somewhere, IIRC), but off the top of my head I seem to remember:

He has the personal trainer (as is normal today), who plans every workout with massive attention to detail.

He plays mental games during his workouts - for example, he must play pick-up-pairs whilst doing pushups at the same time. He also does things like catching a ball his trainer throws at him whilst doing other exercises, unicycling and juggling at the same time... all exercises that help concentration, multi-tasking, coordination and reactions.

He has a strict diet that he has to follow. He can eat anywhere he wants, just so long as he orders the correct food.

He likes to 'treat' himself to a burger at weekends.

[Harvey]

I'm pretty sure that whatever liquid is in the bottles it has nothing to do with respective brands. Although it would look hilarious if Macca guys would be sipping Johny Walker during weekends

They don't have anything to do with what is sold at 7-11, that is true. But what they do have is leverage. They can make use of the specialised knowledge of the nutritionists within Monster/Red Bull/Lucozade to help them make some better formulation of energy drink or some such.

I don't think the in-car and post-race drinks have anything to do with respective sponsors. They will all be designed by sports scientists specifically for each driver, taking into account all the physiological tests at their disposal - specifically the rate at which they lose salt through sweat and breathing. The only thing to do with the sports drinks manufacturers is the design on the bottles in the garage.

To further the fitness/training thing. I know some drivers use chiropractic to enhance their neurological and biomechanical performance. Chiropractors are becoming a (not so) secret weapon in top level sports. Each driver should have their own chiropractor and nutritionist controlling their day to day activities, with a personal trainer in charge of their gym work. That would be the ideal team to have around them.

[gato azul]

BATAK is quite widely used as a trainings aid, also for fighter pilots training

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mhf9qL7 ... r_embedded[/youtube]

some other stuff, you may or may not find interesting/useful - but it's not F1 speficic

http://www.sportsdietitians.com.au/cont ... Supercars/
http://www.workout-x.com/fitness-articl ... ing-Part-1
http://www.rawhyde-offroad.com/pdfs/Hyd ... rition.pdf

[Cam]

Many sports have also used pain killer injections and intravenous drips in breaks to 'pep up' their stars. It's funny how Webber has come out strong late this year saying the FIA should do more drug tests. Maybe this is how the top guys keep performing so well?

It's been well documented that many sports stars use and endorse stimulants before they perform:

Kevin Pietersen - English Crickter

KP drinks a Red Bull before coming out to bat. He is very edgy at the beginning of an innings and is desperate to get off the mark. His manic running at the start of his innings has been famously named as the \"Red Bull runs.\"

Jaimie Peacock - English Rugby League

“I drink 2 cans of Red Bull in the changing room before a match as I feel it gets me right up for the game.”

How far could you go? Would blood transfusions in-between qualy and race be off limits? I wonder what actual rules cover in regards to this?

[raymondu999]

And i doubt it´s Red Bull in Vettel´s bottle.

Oh definitely - it wouldn't be. In any case it wouldn't be the stuff you can find at 7-11.

I remember when Schumi was at Ferrari they took it to the extreme measuring the blood before and after runs, told him what to eat and did loads of other tests. Like a Cyborg.

Intriguing. Do you have a link? I've never seen that one before.

I remember watching one of Rosberg's videos about how he prepared for the season. It might help if I could dig out the video from somewhere (I think it's lurking around on Youtube somewhere, IIRC), but off the top of my head I seem to remember:

He has the personal trainer (as is normal today), who plans every workout with massive attention to detail.

He plays mental games during his workouts - for example, he must play pick-up-pairs whilst doing pushups at the same time. He also does things like catching a ball his trainer throws at him whilst doing other exercises, unicycling and juggling at the same time... all exercises that help concentration, multi-tasking, coordination and reactions.

He has a strict diet that he has to follow. He can eat anywhere he wants, just so long as he orders the correct food.

He likes to 'treat' himself to a burger at weekends.

Yeah that's on YouTube. His trainer and Kimi's (in another YouTube video) basically say that it's about dovetailing the requirements of exercising core stability while also exercising something else - in a way that makes the core stability portion almost second nature to the driver.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-KYASQKdSU[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8R43isUMV4[/youtube]

To further the fitness/training thing. I know some drivers use chiropractic to enhance their neurological and biomechanical performance. Chiropractors are becoming a (not so) secret weapon in top level sports. Each driver should have their own chiropractor and nutritionist controlling their day to day activities, with a personal trainer in charge of their gym work. That would be the ideal team to have around them.

I don't know about each driver - but I know Red Bull has their own chiropractor, Dr. Paul Cheung. You may have seen him on the TV sometimes:

[ParanoiD]

It's because the extra fitness always helps.

It always do.

Put it this way, the fittest a driver be, the less hassle he will experience on cockpit (tiredness,sore,dehydration,nausea,you name it) and the more 'free space in mind' the driver have to be focused on racing.

and that applies on daily activity too, just that it requires different level of fitness.

[Nando]

How far could you go? Would blood transfusions in-between qualy and race be off limits? I wonder what actual rules cover in regards to this?

I´m positive this would be filed under Doping.
There must be some universal doping agency for sports.

That´s how they got cyclists and other high level athletes.
Replacing the blood with much richer blood(not sure what the content was but ultimately better blood) they had in a bag laying around.

[raymondu999]

From a regulations standpoint, isn't doping only covering a specific list of substances though? I mean, if you were to do blood transfusion, but there were no doping/illegal drugs in the drip - I'm not sure that it would be counted.

[timbo]

I'm not sure a doping would be of much benefit to an F-1 driver. It's not nearly as demanding physically as cycling. One thing you need is clear consciousness and almost anything that alters your body messes with your mind to some extent.

[godlameroso]

I don't know if P.E.D.'s would work in F1, you don't need to be particularly strong, you just need endurance, mental and physical, and have a killer sense of proprioception. If you can run a 5k you can do an F1 race. The thing that really gets you is the heat, it's definitely something you need to get used to. Granted you don't pay much attention to it when you're racing the racing is the only thing on your mind. But afterwards you feel it, the worst is when you start feeling it in the car, by then your drinks bottle might as well be serving tea. The second you start feeling uncomfortable in the car is the beginning of a deteriorating situation, that's where the mental strength comes in.