Alonso on a diet to allow more ballast movement

As teams are going to further extremes in order to enhance their cars' performance, it seems that drivers are also taking part, specifically by losing weight. Any weight reductions increases the freedom to place ballast in the car, in extremely important factor in 2009 due to the heavy KERS system.

According to Spanish newspaper 'Diario AS', Fernando Alonso has lost 3.5 kilograms since the end of the 2008 season and is now at 67kg. Alonso's personal trainer, Fabrizio Borra, added, "He cannot lose any more weight, because if he does he starts to lose strength and that is not what we want."

The Renault driver partook in 4 hours of cycling a day, and included a recent training session with the 2008 Tour de France winning team.