Alfa Romeo has released the second episode of its docuseries, which is called Beyond the Visible. The idea is to showcase what happens “backstage” within a Formula 1 team, and the focus is on the Alfa Romeo F1 Team Orlen, which is the team that bears the company's name. In the latest episode, viewers are learning about the psycho-physical challenges of driver training.
The two drivers of the Alfa Romeo F1 Team are the protagonists of the video, which goes a bit further than a commercial would normally go. Instead of showing both drivers being super happy, or extremely excited, they are speaking about mental health, grueling athletic tests, and special technical tests.
While it may seem like an easy job to those who have never driven a car on the track before, as it involves sitting down, not running after a ball with several teammates, driving an F1 car is intense. So intense, in fact, Valtteri says that it cannot be explained in words, no matter how hard he tries.
So, before you start tweeting mean things about F1 racing drivers not being good enough or that you could have passed one of them if you were in the other driver's place, hold your horses, check your gut, and then think again. Just look at a small bit of what happens during training for these athletes, such as Zhou's training plan.
Remember that they have seats made for them at the beginning of the season, and every race car driver has a special diet, that he must stick to throughout the 23-race schedule of the 2022 Formula 1 championship.
Their bodies are stressed by experiencing high Gs in every corner, as well as powerful acceleration, hard braking, and intense heat. The latter is constant, while all the others are changing from one moment to the next, for the entire duration of a race.
In case you have followed Formula One closely, you will know that many drivers do not hydrate anymore during the races, even though they used to in prior years - it is sometimes a matter of personal preference. Now, the strategy involves pre-hydration, and then recovery after the race, but it depends on the race and the driver. As you may be aware, an F1 race involves driving hundreds of kilometers in under two hours, and things get really hot in a cockpit – that is an understatement.
The most watched form of motorsport, and the most expensive, involves having a team of more than 500 people who focus on making their two cars and two drivers the fastest on the grid, or at least as fast as possible.
Simply entering Formula 1 is not enough, and being competitive is essential for all the members of the team, which involves making significant sacrifices in regard to personal time off, as well as other leisure activities that are impossible for F1 drivers.
Hopefully, this video might bring fans closer to a bit of what it takes to enter and run a Formula One race, even though watching these videos is almost effortless when compared to what the drivers experience.
Sebastian's love for cars began at a young age. Little did he know that a career would emerge from this passion (and that it would not, sadly, involve being a professional racecar driver). In over fourteen years, he got behind the wheel of several hundred vehicles and in the offices of the most important car publications in his homeland. Full profile
Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?
Google News