𝐵𝑜𝑟𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑑𝑖𝑒

Voiceover:

When we think about Formula One, the sports aspects of it are gladly overlooked for more artificial matters. Money, risk, spectacle, the high life, glory.

Also, a gift. An ability to focus and be highly precise, to be daring and most importantly, be extraordinary.

And what about sport? Well, it's a facade, an alibi, even. Physical effort is ignored by a public that wants to see a circus show, where the juggler and the tamer are one person.

And yet, this change of view hasn't been only one-way. Inside the cockpit, the driver also suffers from the technological advances that breaks records, and achieves victories.

DP:

It was surprising for the doctors who studied [our cardiac readings], because it was the first time this kind of measures were made during a Grand Prix. On top of that, it was during the Monaco Grand Prix, which is the hardest race of the season, physically and mentally, and probably for the heart, too.

The results were very surprising, in the way that it was a discovery, something that hadn't been found before.

Interviewer:

What is your resting heart rate?

DP:

Since I started doing sports, my heart rate went down quite impressively, around 10 beats per minute, which is a lot. And while resting, I am around 38, maybe 40- 42 beats per minute, depending on how I'm feeling, and if I am stressed.

[Talking about sports]

I mostly run and play tennis, pretty complementary sports that train reflexes and endurance well. I swim as well, and mostly train to hold my breath, because, for example, when there's a long series of turns, focus tends to keep us from breathing.

We're unable to breathe for sometimes up to fifteen, even twenty seconds. And when we stop breathing like that, there's way less blood to our brain. It affects our focus, and even our ability to remain conscious. So, the only way to train ourselves to be able to maintain our focus and consciousness through long corners is apnea. I often do that.

I:

The physical condition of Formula One drivers is really impressive, and even comparable to the one of high performance athletes. Jody Scheckter even proved it a while ago.

DP:

Yes, many proved it. Jody Scheckter did it in an amusing way recently, after retiring from motorsport competition. He participated in a world champions competition. All the biggest champions- the world champions of every sport competed against each other in a purely athletic competition, one that only required muscles.

Jody brilliantly won that competition without preparing for it, dominating every part of it, except two or three, if I remember correctly, which highlights his overall physical condition. It surprised a lot of people to see that a Formula One driver could be in a better physical condition than a runner or a tennis player.

V/O:

[about the medical observations on Didier shown in the video and in the images below]

The doctors Jean-Paul Richalet and Catherine Bertrand of the Mondor hospital in Créteil, ran several different tests during some Grand Prix and in the testing circuit of Fiorano.

The recording of a driver's electrocardiogram during the full two hours of a race has been made possible with these sensors connected to a holter. Furthermore, physical stress put on the organism during a race can be calculated using a small accelerometer.

Measured several times, the impact on the stress a driver is put under during a race has been filmed in the span of two days on the Fiorano circuit, during Ferrari's private tests. Exceptional privilege accorded by the Commendatore himself to Sous la Loupe.

[A few minutes of testing clips around Fiorano]

The Fiorano track, standing at the gates of the Ferrari factory, 3km in length, and driven at an average of 160kph (100mph), is the ideal circuit for medical analysis of drivers. Indeed, its layout recreates common turns and difficulties that can be found on every Formula One Grand Prix.

I:

Speaking about other stress put on your body, lateral accelerations, or braking, how does the driver feel them, in the cockpit?

DP:

Well, the better the car, the more intensely we feel it. Accelerations are proportional to the car's grip on the track. The worst of it is during braking and corners.

The accelerations can go up to 3Gs, even more than 3Gs now, which means that, laterally, our body weighs three times its normal weight. It's subject to a lateral pull, a horizontal acceleration force that equals three times our body's weight. That means that, for example, our head weights three times its original weight during acceleration and corners.

Consequently, the muscles in our necks are particularly developed, and this force, plus the weight of the helmet, creates an important physical effort. And if, for example, and it happened this year, a Formula One driver comes to a race without the necessary training, without having participated in the previous Grand Prix, they wouldn't be able to make it past 4-5 laps before their head would start bobbing to the sides hitting the cockpit. It's a tremendously big effort.

Our whole body is affected by accelerations and corners. Our legs, especially. The action of keeping a foot hovering above the throttle or the brakes when we're about to press one of them, needs a large effort, just to make sure we're pressing the pedals with accurate precision. The lateral pull forcibly pushes our foot to the left or the right, and to resist this strength, we have to also work out our legs.

It can appear as odd, but it's real. Now, we have footrests on each sides of the pedals to be able to aim more precisely when accelerating or braking.

We lose around 3 litres of water during a 2 hour Grand Prix. It's compensated by a quite important hydration in the few hours before the race, and sometimes even during the race, where we take with us in the car either some water, or a sugary mix we can drink while driving to replace what we're sweating.

I:

You're holding a record, I think the one of dehydration during a race, especially during the 24 Hours of Le Mans when you won it.

DP:

Yes, in '78, when I won Le Mans with Jaussaud, the car had a mechanical issue, and I had to drive the last 3h30 without stopping, and without having time to prepare beforehand, as it was complete improvisation. We were leading the race, and the only way to win was by not changing the gearbox. So, I had to drive in difficult conditions for 3 hours, the cockpit was blazing hot. I lost 9kg (20lbs) during this 3h30 long drive.

When I got out- when they got me out of the car, to be exact, I was put on IV, and I had some issues indeed.

V/O:

[Outro]

Fiorano isn't just a circuit. For scientists, it's a true university in Formula One. Here, the control room that helps, with cameras installed around the track, to follow the car's behaviour throughout a lap.