Training for Singapore with Renault's James Milligan
With the excitement of the Singapore race weekend comes the peculiarity of LRGP carrying out its duties during British Summer Time hours. So, as LRGP trainer James Milligan tells us, it can be rather disconcerting waking up at 3pm to have one’s bowl of Corn Flakes at a time more suited to a nice cup of Earl Grey…
As a night race the Singapore GP is very unique – how does that affect a driver’s preparations? "It’s a very interesting race, a very exciting one that is different to other races on the F1 calendar; it’s a different atmosphere due to the darkness. However, due to the fact that we stay on British Summer Time (BST), a lot of the preparations remain the same. The challenge is in fact a psychological one; during the day you are only awake for about four hours of daylight before it gets dark. You stay awake until the early hours of the morning Singapore time, and end up going to sleep just before the sun rises. To give you an example of when we wake up; a driver would set his alarm for 3pm, which is 8am back in England and have their first meetings at the track at 5 or 6 o’clock. So, initially it always feels quite strange."
Do you manage to stick to the usual meal times? "Yes, fortunately the hotels in Singapore are very accommodating and they do make meals at the appropriate times for us. To cite an example, Bruno and I will sit down for breakfast at 3.30pm (local time in Singapore), so we’ll be eating our corn flakes when we should be sitting down for afternoon tea! We then have lunch at 7pm, and dinner at 2am the next morning, so it really can be quite disorientating!"
You mentioned that the drivers go to sleep just before the sun rises – does this not make it difficult to sleep when the first rays seep between the curtains? "Once the driver has left the track (which is 5am local time), he will spend an hour with me at the hotel doing some therapy and mobilisation work before going to bed. After the driver comes back to the hotel with his head full from all the meetings at the track, he will have some time to unwind and clear his mind. The plan thereafter is to get to bed by 6.30am before the sun rises at about 6.55am. Hopefully the driver gets to bed before it gets too light outside, and he’ll keep those curtains firmly shut to help him sleep!"
When will you do your training with Bruno? "If you can train in the morning (well, the afternoon in Singapore), it helps release all your endorphins, which helps you awaken and boosts your cognitive function. I will try to do as much of that as I can with Bruno, and then minimise his training before going to bed."
Is the body not fighting against the need to stick to British Summer time? "If you stick to the strict schedule and sleep patterns then you will be OK, but you must be very regimented about it! We find ourselves looking at our TW Steel watches a lot, and thinking how much longer there is before bedtime, even though it might have been dark outside for quite a while. Maybe it would be easier to have two watches, one with the local time and one with BST, just to really confuse us! Normally, when you’re travelling to different time zones, you attempt to adapt to the local time but that’s not the case in Singapore; on the contrary we tell our bodies to stick to what they are used to. Primarily, the drivers need to get their eight hours sleep to ensure they are alert and ready the next day. Doing this will prevent any loss of concentration through fatigue. In addition, doing exercise when you get up really does help in a number of ways; it helps the brain process information, combat stress and deal with the pressures of race weekend."
Source Lotus Renault F1
