Do you have to watch what you eat before doing this?
In a Formula One car, you’re braking and accelerating going through corners, so weight is important. For this in a straight line, the weight doesn’t dictate the speed. The only thing the weight does is put more load to the tires. I mean, they didn’t come and sit with me at breakfast and say, “You can’t have that egg.”
I’m 67 kilos. The car weighs 1,900 kilos anyway, so percentage-wise, it’s not so much.
What about alcohol? I know a lot of drivers don’t drink beer or wine, that sort of thing.
I would never drink alcohol before the drive, even two days before. One of the reasons is it messes with your heat exchange system. So if you’re in a hot racing car, it’s a massive no-no. But yes, I do drink. In fact, when we did the winning run, we came out of the test track, went down to the gas station about a mile away, and just all cracked open a beer in the car park. It was great.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.