How fit are pro racing car drivers? This is a guest post from Silverstone Race track, who are offering a new for 2011 track club day, which will test any driver from the compete novice to the seasoned professional.

We will soon be posting a testimonial to the track club day where you can get a chance to compete in real racing cars and fulfill your dreams of driving like Schumacher/Hakkinen/Hamilton (take your pick).

After you’ve taken part in a supercar driving experience or one of the increasingly popular Formula One-style driving experiences, you’ll most likely be aching all over – using all those unfamiliar muscles and being subjected to all that power in the confined space of the car’s cockpit is exhilarating, but also totally exhausting.

So as you’re nursing your lower back muscles, spare a thought for what pro drivers have to go through for 90 minutes or so of flat-out concentration, stamina and skill in the beating sun! Your driving experience will have given you some taste of what it takes – but read this and you’ll have renewed respect for the pros…

Heat is a primary concern for any athlete, and in Formula One training facilities, drivers are subjected to exercise programmes involving specialised heat chambers. Drivers can lose up to 3kg of their bodyweight during a single race.

Reflexes are paramount in a sport dealing in performance differences of fractions of a second per lap. Formula One drivers train using a machine called BATAK, a unit of LED clusters which must be stretched towards and touched when they light up to train and improve response times.

Physical strength conditioning is very specific with Formula One drivers – the neck is under five or six Gs of pressure and with the weight of a helmet, the neck has to cope with supporting up to 24 kgs of weight. Neck, shoulder and chest muscles need to be trained ruthlessly with specialist unforgiving robot gym machines, and with the use of large elastic bands to imitate G-Forces and train them to cope with the strain. The core muscles of the midriff and abdomen are also key to success: F1 drivers train on exercise balls with blindfolds on to coax the microfine control over this area of the body they need out on the track.

Stamina-wise, experts believe an F1 drive can be as grueling as a 26-mile run. This literally marathon undertaking therefore requires up to four hours a day of intensive cardiovascular exertion. The typical F1 driver would have a 7% bodyfat ratio, achieved through swimming, cycling, jogging and even… rollerblading. And their heartbeats are measured at an average of 170 over the course of a 90-minute race – higher than in any other sport.

Nutrition and hydration for drivers mirrors that of top-class track and field athletes. It’s the familiar story of carb loading before a race, as well as the intake of huge amounts of water to combat dehydration and its attendant threat to concentration and focus.

Photos courtesy of the Porsche Human Performance Centre

For anyone who’s caught the driving experience bug, and is serious about finding out precisely how ‘fit to drive’ they are, driver fitness assessment facilities like the Porsche Human Performance centre located at Silverstone offer rigorous checks for athletes, monitoring all aspects of fitness related to driving in state-of-the-art facilities.

Force India’s Adrian Sutil is in the news for all the wrong reasons. Renault F1’s owner Eric Lux (CEO of Genii Capital) has decided to file a criminal complaint against Adrian Sutil for causing Grievous Bodily Harm.

In the after party of the Chinese Grand Prix, Adrian Sutil while celebrating with friend Lewis Hamilton apparently injured Lux with a champagne glass (broken ?). This didn’t go well with Mr. Lux who will now be suing Sutil.

Lux’s lawyer released a public statement :

“In view of the recent events which occurred in Shanghai on 17 April, Mr Eric Lux has decided to file a criminal complaint against Mr Adrian Sutil for physical assault and grievous bodily harm”

“As soon as the complaint is registered, the Fration Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) and the team Force India will be notified.

“Furthermore, please note that Mr Eric Lux does not exclude commencing an action against any other persons involved in this matter.”

Adrian Sutil too issued a statement saying that the actions were unintentional :

“During a private event, there was a very unfortunate action by me in which I hurt another person completely unintentionally.

“I regret the incident and have apologized accordingly.

“Since this was a private event and not directly related to Formula One or my job as a Formula One driver, I ask for understanding that I will say no more on this incident.”

Meanwhile Force India felt the need to clarify its position on the matter :

Force India Formula One Team is aware of the statements made by both its driver, Adrian Sutil, and Mr. Eric Lux of Genii Capital, pertaining to events following the Chinese Grand Prix.

Although the team continues to monitor the situation, it remains fully committed to its driver line-up at this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix.

Remains to be seen what will happen to their lineup if Adrian Sutil is arrested or summoned during the race weekend.

Michael Schumacher’s old teammate Johhny Herbert in an interview/article has predicted that Michael Schumacher will go back into retirement at the end of the season.

Critical of Michael Schumacher, the Brit driver said that the new generation of F1 drivers had raised the bar and Michael Schumacher couldn’t keep up with the new formula one blood.

In related news, in an interview Michael Schumacher said that he didn’t feel big joy racing anymore. This has further fuelled speculation that the German might call it quits from formula one at the end of this season. Schumacher further said :

“What I feel in my hands is the same as it’s always felt.”

Coming back to Johhny Herbert’s interview though :

“The simple fact is that he is no longer the best driver on the track,”

“Schumacher has not lost any of his skill – the new generation of young drivers are just better than him. It is a case that the level required to win in F1 has gone up and he is not at that standard anymore.

“I do not think he is any slower than he was when he was winning seven world titles; he is just struggling to cope with a situation he is not used to – he is no longer the best guy in the field and he does not have the best machinery at his disposal, as well as the fact that he has a team-mate in Nico Rosberg who is consistently beating him.”

“He did not return just to run in the middle order. His dream was to win again and make Mercedes race winners, but it has not turned out that way and I would be surprised if he chose to continue.”

It does seem like Michael is not feeling the magic he was known for, he had put his legacy on the line, very few people have the guts to do that. We as Schumi fans would support him in whatever decision he takes

Jenson Button is a loyal Brit, he has expressed his willingness and his inclination to continue with his stint at McLaren and to end his formula one career at McLaren only. The Brit has a contract with McLaren till 2012. Fresh from is title victory with Brawn GP, Jenson Button had joined the McLaren team in the 2010 formula one season.

Button said that he was very happy with McLaren and was enjoying his time spent with the McLaren formula one team.

Button was quoted as saying

“When I finish racing here, I won’t be racing in Formula 1 anymore. I’m very happy here. I want to enjoy my racing and I’m really enjoying my time here. I can’t see any reason to be anywhere else.”

“It’s a position that most drivers would love to be in and I’ve worked very hard for it. I might be around for three years, five years…I don’t know.”

McLaren Team principal Martin Whitmarsh seemed happy hearing reports of Jenson’s fondness for the team, he was quoted as saying :

“If Jenson says he is totally committed and wants to do x more years, then I suspect that we could quickly come to an agreement.

He’s a tremendous asset to the team and when we get around to that, I hope that it will be a quick and easy conversation.”

‘Where does Lewis Hamilton fit into all this ?’ is a good question though, is he also committed to the McLaren team or is he looking for a switch to one of the better teams at this stage (Redbull racing comes from the rumourville). I remember reading at a few places that Lewis Hamilton might decide to swtich to the faster Red Bull cars. Whether  or not there is any basis for the rumours, only time will be able to tell.

Martin Whitmarsh also talked about the plans for the Turkish Grand Prix :

Winning in China was a fantastic reward for all the hard effort that’s been undertaken both at the race track and at the McLaren Technology Centre to turn MP4-26 into a race winner.

“We’re excited and encouraged by the pace and consistency that both drivers have shown in the opening three flyaway races, but the return to Europe brings fresh challenges.

“We’re under no illusions that we need to improve our qualifying and race pace if we are to remain a threat at the front.

“Additionally, many teams will be readying significant upgrade packages for the Turkish Grand Prix – so nobody can afford to sit still. For this race, we’ll be evaluating a number of small modifications, which include some aerodynamic refinements to the bodywork, during Friday practice.

“Our pace of development is what can win us this championship — and we go into Turkey determined to ensure our upgrades deliver practical gains and are able to confer a useful margin to both drivers.

“Our one-two finish in Turkey last year was one of our most exciting races – and the memory of that result will doubtless spur on the whole team next weekend.”

Image: McLaren Media

The Indian Grand Prix circuit has an official logo now, the Buddh International Circuit has a logo which represents the tricolor forming a B. Here is the logic behind the logo straight from the company :

The name ‘Buddh International Circuit’ has been chosen with reference to the area where the racetrack is situated – Gautam Budh Nagar district (near Greater Noida). Because of its location, naming the circuit ‘Buddh International Circuit’ was a logical choice for the company.
 
The BIC logo is a stylized ‘B,’ the letter that stands for ‘Buddh’ and for ‘Bharat.’ The orange, green and white colours used in the logo are representative of the Indian flag, while the curves in the stylized ‘B’ in the logo represent the lines of a racetrack.

Ticket prices were also indicated for the weekend, 3 day paddock passes would probably cost only Rs.2500 which is a steal really rivaled only by the Malaysian Grand Prix which has cheaper tickets for the 3 day race weekend.

“We can’t disclose the pricing but it would be moderate. It is in the final stages and it will start from Rs 2500 onwards. We have tied up with the bookmyshow.com for the ticketing,” Samir Gaur said.

“We are looking at the model of Abu Dhabi and Bahrain and not Singapore since it’s street circuit,”

Manoj Gaur, chairman of the Jaypee Sports group, assured the people of a show worthy of being called THE Indian Grand Prix :

“Be assured my friends. Our and country’s reputation is there. We are responsible people. The track is ready and the homologation of the facility will be done in July as per the time-table of the FIA”

More facts about the Noida circuit :

Length: 5.14km
Turns: 16
Highest point of elevation: 14m
Width of the track: Between 18m – 20m 
Top speeds on the circuit: About 320km/h, for an F1 car
Total seating capacity: About 120,000
Approximate cost of building the track: US$400 million
Distance from New Delhi: 40km approx.
FIA homologation scheduled in: end of July / mid-August 2011
Inaugural F1 race: 30th October 2011

I don’t know about you, but I am really excited about the Indian grand prix and cant wait for the tickets to go on sale.