[Nathan]

Is there any particualar driver or any teams that are consistently running on low carb-food, if you know?

I read somewhere that J.B. tried it for a while in 2011 and -12. Anyway, isn’t the most common food pasta or other high-carb-foodstuff during weekends for drivers and team personell, specially at Ferrari and Lotus/Renault. Not sure what type of food they serve at Mclaren, but I’ve somewhere that their hospitality is really something! :-)

[Nathan]

Anyone other than Jenson Button? :/ (and actually, it works pretty fine for him, he stays thin while he at the same time got a lot of energy, just like the drivers who are eating pasta more or less at every meal during a race weekend)

[Roald]

Aren’t they all on low-carb diets? How else would they stay so thin?

[Anonymous]

I like “carbs” (hate that word), which is why I’ll have to aspire to be a gentleman GT driver and not a single seater pilot.

[mnmracer]

Losing a gallon of sweat in a race will keep you thin :)

[Simon]

on the topic of driver diets, i was watching some of the early 2000’s season reviews, it baffles me how Montoya could drive the cars being overweight. I mean he wasn’t fat but certainly not lean like todays drivers, and the physical exertion required in F1 is immense, he must have had a lot of stamina.

[Nick]

I remember those cheap articles in F1 magazines in the late 90s and early 00s where questions like favorite food and colour were common; basically every driver’s favorite was pasta, apart from drivers from south America and Asia.

About current drivers, I’m not sure why, but Bottas looks wide. I’m a little surprised there seems to be less height difference, though. I think 1999 had Badoer at 1.60 meters and 45 kilos and Wurz at 1.81 and 80 kilos. Understandable from a weight an diet perspective, though. Wonder if Badoerate ananything other than pasta.

[Anonymous]

I dont think F1 guys are too concerned on low carb diets as they expend so much energy, but really focus on clean eating with a good mix of carbs, protien and essential fats. I spoke in depth to a PR guy from Red Bull at Suzuka last year and I asked alot of questions about Mark Webber’s training, diet etc as it is of interest to me and he deals with Webber daily and had some great info.

Webber cycles alot, uses a row machine for low impact and high intensity (he is getting on a bit LOL), does his outdoor sports, like in the Mark Webber Challenge in Tasmainia more so in the off season of course, and runs ALOT. For example when in Spa he said Mark will sometime run to the circuit from the hotel (6km or so from memory- not far for him but a warm up really). Obvioulsy pre-season the build to the peak and during the season maintenance.

Carbs will help not only energy levels but concertration as well so I cant see too many drivers being too concerned over a pasta or two. I have heard some stay clear of red meat but not sure if for training or health reasons (thats ok, I will eat their share!!)

For anyone out there who watches the UFC the fighters have switched from a high protein, bodybuilding like diet, to more a medium protein with lots of fruit and veg diet. Dont quote me here but I think more feed the body with carbs after a workout to replace gylcogen levels rather than protein to repair and build muscle. Both important of course but an endurance athlete (F1 driver and fighter) need carbs more than protein for this reason.

I wished we had more info on this stuff. Is Button still on a low carb diet approach ??

[Nathan]

@Garns:

Thanks for a great answer :-). Actually, I’m not sure about Button, but if I recall correctly he was/is the only driver on a low carb-high fat /ketogenic diet. Good to see that you know so much about nutrition and have asked an insider in F1 about drivers diet/training, – but you know, fat gives you good levels of energy for a much longer time than carbohydrates. For peak performance(mentally/physically), of course good carbohydrates are better.. ..But, as in many things there are lots of different opinions between experts on this matter.

[katederby]

Don’t know the specifics of diet but certainly all of the taller drivers must watch their food intake to minimize the weight advantage that the shorter drivers have.
I recall reading Webber say he hasn’t eaten a packet of crisps in over 10 years and that he has been probably 15kg below his natural body weight since being in F1.
Maybe next year he’ll be able to have the odd pizza and ice cream binge!

[Author]

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