Under Pressure - Stress in Formula One

No wonder – driving in a group requires full concentration, particularly just after the start. Drivers have to keep an eye on their rivals: those in front, those behind and those at the side. They also have to attempt to force their way into as good a position as possible before reaching that first corner; after all, for some this is quite often where the race is decided. And this is all compounded by the extreme physical strain: a Formula 1 car accelerates in 3.7 seconds from 0 to 160km/h and can cover one kilometre from a standing start in 12 seconds – roughly 5 times faster than a normal passenger car. To brake down from 160 to 0, a Formula 1 car takes fewer than two seconds. During this, up to 4 g are measured. In other words, the driver’s body is forced into the seatbelt with four times his own weight.

However, drivers are not only under enormous stress during a race. Mental strength and full concentration are essential in the run-up to the race because restrictions on test drives mean that the right set-up has to be found quickly to cope with any track conditions. Qualifying is also an exceptional situation, where the starting position on the grid is dependent on having one fast lap, in which nothing goes wrong. Even the smallest error here could ruin the chance of victory.

To be able to deal with the stress involved in a Grand Prix season, with its 18 races on four continents, a Formula 1 driver has to undergo regular fitness training under the auspices of a professional trainer. For a good reason: the greater a driver’s endurance, the lower his pulse rate and therefore the easier he can deal with the stress. There’s no shortage of stress: adrenaline and noradrenaline send the body into a state of emergency, roughly twice as intense as that of an athlete stretched to his limit on a cycle ergometer. In the labyrinth of corners in Monaco, stress is at its greatest, because the outer edges of the track do not have any gravel traps, just walls and crash barriers. This pushes a driver’s pulse rate up to a peak of 210bpm.

For the Graz-based sports scientist, Michael Reinprecht, Formula 1 drivers are living proof “that psycho-emotional stress can induce a similarly high pulse frequency as that for heavy physical exertion”. This makes it even more important for the drivers to use mental techniques to keep cool when estimating situations and to control their emotions better. In other words, to check any feelings of resignation after making a mistake or annoyance at themselves or another driver.

"Top-level athletes who don’t work on their mental performance can easily experience an all-or-nothing feeling," says Munich-based sports psychologist Professor Dieter Hackfort. “This increases stress, makes a driver frantic and disrupts concentration capability.”

In normal road conditions, stress is also a risk factor that cannot be underestimated. Indeed, overtaking at any price, with the dubious ‘gain’ of a few metres and seconds, vigorously drives up the blood pressure of the person overtaking and the one being overtaken.

“Fatally dangerous situations can arise when this is coupled with stress and worry from the job and family,” according to Dr Hartmuth Wolff from the Allianz Center for Technology. “Being dispassionate when dealing with other road users is the order of the day to combat stress and to guarantee better safety on our roads.”

Even World Champions sometimes have difficulty in dealing with stress. For example, three years after winning his title in 1996 with Williams, and after a series of failures with other teams, Damon Hill retired somewhat embittered from Formula 1. His parting words were: “The only people who remember you if you are runner-up are your wife and your dog.”