- Lewis Hamilton returned from his F1 summer vacation carrying about seven pounds of extra weight.
- Teams require their drivers to meet specific weight requirements to optimize the car’s performance.
- This can be particularly challenging for taller or naturally bigger drivers, and it might even jeopardize their careers.
Who hasn’t indulged a bit too much while on vacation?
Lewis Hamilton proved his relatability when he admitted to overeating during F1’s summer break, leading him to embark on an “extreme diet” to regain his required racing weight for the rest of the season.
Prior to the Dutch Grand Prix, Hamilton was asked about his vacation activities, revealing that he spent part of the nearly month-long break in the US, engaging in outdoor activities with his young relatives.
“I did some hiking in the mountains near Los Angeles, and then I had a genuine unplugged rest under the sun, so I managed to get a really nice tan,” Hamilton told the media. “Apart from that, I competed with my niece and nephew on a daily basis – running and jumping in the ocean. My niece is always up for cannonballs!”
It’s important to note that Hamilton follows a vegan diet, and even he indulged a little too much during his vacation.
“I ate an excessive amount of food,” Hamilton confessed. “My weight should be around 73-74 kilograms, but on Saturday, I was almost 77 kilos. I had to follow an extreme diet in the past few days to shed those extra pounds.”
Hamilton emphasized that he is required to maintain a strict weight range of 73-74 kilograms (about 161-163 pounds), and losing at least three kilograms (seven pounds) in just five days was a challenge.
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Carrying extra weight can significantly impact a car’s performance, leading teams to prioritize having their drivers as light as possible. Formula One imposes a minimum weight requirement of 80 kilograms (176 pounds) for drivers, including the weight of their protective gear inside the car, which amounts to approximately seven kilograms (15 pounds). This means that drivers must weigh at or below 73 kilograms (161 pounds). If a driver falls below this weight, ballasts are added to the cockpit to meet the minimum requirement.
In races where every tenth of a second matters, even a single kilogram can make a substantial difference.
“Having ten extra kilos of fuel in the car costs three-tenths of a second per lap at every circuit,” Hamilton explained to Graham Norton in 2019. “So, if I’m just one kilo overweight, I can lose up to two seconds over the course of the race. That’s why my weight is of utmost importance.”
However, being lightweight doesn’t mean drivers can neglect their fitness. While the weight requirements limit the amount of muscle a driver can have, they still need to consider how that muscle affects the car’s performance. Hamilton, for instance, focuses on maintaining a lean physique rather than developing bulky muscles. His exercise routine aims to keep the center of his mass as low as possible.
“You need excellent core stability,” Hamilton shared with Norton. “You can’t have a large, bulky physique. If my shoulders were overly muscular, my weight distribution would become too high. That’s why I do a lot of squats to sculpt my gl
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