![\"Lance](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Lance_cockpit_hero_desktop.jpg\")
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Good morning, Aston Martin Aramco fans. This is your Captain speaking. Welcome to your special training detachment. You all know Formula One, but just how much do really know about the science of what a driver is subjected to in the cockpit?<\/p>\n
This training will teach you how the human body deals with the incredible physical demands of driving an F1 car as we invite you to See the Science<\/a> of the sport \u2013 and reveal why Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso are more ‘Top Gun’ than you could ever imagine. <\/p>\n Your instructors? Aston Martin Aramco Team Doctor Rahul Chotai, call sign: Doc, and \ufeffTeam Ambassador and former F1 driver Pedro de la Rosa<\/a>, call sign: Bullet \u2013 short for the ‘Barcelona Bullet’ moniker bestowed upon him for his raw speed and consistency under pressure. <\/p>\n Let’s turn and burn…<\/p>\n 150 beats per minute \u2013 and climbing. Take my breath away. <\/p>\n During a Grand Prix, F1 drivers sustain heart rates of 150\u2013190bpm. Fighter pilots see spikes of 160bpm during high g-force manoeuvres and combat. Both endure cardiovascular strain, but drivers maintain extreme rates continuously while pilots experience short, intense bursts.<\/p>\n DOC: “A driver’s heart rate stays near marathon levels for two hours.”<\/p>\n BULLET: “Yeah, over a normal race distance, your heart rate is around 170bpm. It can lower slightly on straights before rising again through corners.\u202f
“Once the lights go out, you select first gear and instinct takes over. You don’t think, you act automatically. You’ve visualised the start before; waiting for the fifth light to go out, putting the revs in the right window, but when the race starts for real, you are on autopilot. You’re not conscious of what you’re doing; it feels like you don’t even breathe for the first 30 seconds.”<\/p>\n DOC: “What Pedro’s describing is because, at lights out, the driver’s body goes into a ‘fight-or-flight’ mode.<\/p>\n “Adrenaline surges, boosting heart rate, breathing, and blood flow to muscles. Breathing becomes shallow in the first moments of the start due to chest pressure, but controlled techniques help drivers stabilise oxygen delivery to their muscles.”<\/p>\n Cortisol rises to sharpen alertness and mobilise energy reserves, priming the body for rapid reactions.<\/p>\n Dr Rahul Chotai<\/p>\n 160 milliseconds. Reactions so fast it’s like you’re on autopilot.<\/p>\n Usain Bolt’s\u00a0reaction time in the men’s 100m final at the 2008 Beijing Olympics was 0.165s. Fernando’s reaction time at a race start is on average 0.16s. A hummingbird’s wings will have flapped just 11 times in the time it takes Fernando to hit the throttle when the lights go out. And a fighter pilot’s reaction time is in a similar region: 150-250ms depending on stimulus complexity, such as radar, threat\u00a0alerts\u00a0and cockpit instruments.<\/p>\n DOC:\u00a0“Reaction time is paramount. Drivers\u00a0usually\u00a0process visual information in around 200 milliseconds \u2013 faster than most athletes. Their brains\u00a0operate\u00a0in a ‘hyper-alert’ state, with neurons firing rapidly to coordinate eyes, hands, and feet.<\/p>\n “Cortisol, another stress hormone, rises to sharpen alertness and mobilise energy reserves, helping to prime the body for rapid reactions.”<\/p>\n BULLET:\u00a0“At the start of the race,\u00a0it’s\u00a0almost like\u00a0you’re driving on instinct and letting\u00a0your cerebellum automatically\u00a0offer\u00a0solutions to the action around you.\u00a0Everything’s\u00a0moving so fast that you\u00a0don’t\u00a0have time to consciously think.”<\/p>\n A\u00a0study by University College London<\/a>, published in the\u00a0Journal of Neuroscience, found that structural alterations\u00a0of the brain\u00a0and differences in the wiring\u00a0of the right hemisphere of the\u00a0brain\u00a0in\u00a0RAF Tornado fighter pilots meant they were able to\u00a0execute\u00a0‘optimal cognitive control’\u00a0and\u00a0perform certain tasks more accurately.\u00a0It’s\u00a0not clear whether pilots are born like that or develop the differences\u00a0as a result of\u00a0their training.<\/p>\n Professor\u00a0Masud\u00a0Husain of the UCL Institute of Neurology and UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience described how fighter pilots are ‘often operating at the limits of human cognitive capability \u2013 they are an expert group making\u00a0precision\u00a0choices at high speed.’\u00a0The same could be said of F1 drivers making split-second decisions while processing\u00a0a flood of visual and auditory information in real-time\u00a0and\u00a0under extreme pressure.<\/p>\n BULLET:\u00a0“You need huge cognitive ability to execute a race well.”<\/p>\n DOC: “Definitely. Mental endurance is just as important as physical strength.”<\/p>\n BULLET:\u00a0“You need to think about the tyres, the strategy, and at any moment be ready for a coherent conversation with your engineer on the radio.”<\/p>\n DOC:\u00a0“The brain must process\u00a0huge amounts\u00a0of information: car data, track conditions, rivals’ positions, all while making split-second decisions.<\/p>\n “Drivers use techniques such as mindfulness, controlled breathing, and visualisation to stay calm under pressure. Their training includes cognitive tasks under fatigue<\/a>, so they can\u00a0maintain\u00a0concentration even when their bodies are exhausted and heart rates are high.”<\/p>\n I was fainting coming into Parc Ferm\u00e9. I lost three and half kilos in the race from sweating.<\/p>\n Pedro de la Rosa<\/p>\n 3kg of sweat. Keeping cool and hydrated in cockpits exceeding 50\u00b0C.<\/p>\n Inside an F1 cockpit, temperatures can soar to 50-60\u00b0C.\u00a0Fighter pilots feel the heat too: bubble canopies expose the cockpit to high radiant heat load. Sunlight raises the air temperature and heats exposed skin and clothing. But once airborne, altitude,\u00a0environmental\u00a0cooling systems and\u00a0cooling\u00a0vests offer some relief.<\/p>\n Despite being able to wear cooling vests in the build-up to the race, drivers\u00a0aren’t\u00a0afforded such luxuries, and even with hydration systems built into their helmets, F1 drivers often finish races two to three per cent dehydrated.<\/p>\n A 1\u20131.5-litre fluid pouch, often stowed behind the seat or in the nose\u00a0of the car, feeds into a reinforced tube with a one-way valve that runs up through the cockpit and clips beneath the helmet padding.\u00a0But unsurprisingly, the liquid,\u00a0usually a mix of water, electrolytes, and vitamins,\u00a0can warm quickly in\u00a0the\u00a0high temperatures.\u00a0One press of a\u00a0thumb-switch\u00a0on the wheel activates a tiny pump, sending a mouthful of fluid through the valve.<\/p>\n Fighter pilots use a\u00a0similar\u00a0system built for altitude and\u00a0g-force. A\u00a0hydration\u00a0bladder is integrated into the flight vest or seat-kit, linked to a flexible hose with a non-return valve that tucks beneath the oxygen mask. It allows a pilot to sip mid-turn without breaking control or risking a spill inside sensitive avionics.<\/p>\n BULLET:\u00a0“Dehydration is one of the biggest challenges an F1 driver faces.<\/p>\n “I used to tell my engineers to remind me to drink every 10 laps because, when you’re in a race, you’re not thinking about drinking; you don’t even feel thirsty because of adrenaline.”<\/p>\n DOC:\u00a0“It’s\u00a0such a\u00a0huge challenge for drivers because cockpit temperatures can exceed 50\u00b0C;\u00a0it’s\u00a0common for drivers to lose\u00a0two to three\u00a0litres of sweat in a race. The body compensates by diverting blood to the skin to cool down, but this reduces blood supply to working muscles, accelerating fatigue.<\/p>\n “Even\u00a0two\u00a0per cent dehydration impairs reaction time, concentration, and decision-making, which\u00a0is why maintaining fluid and electrolyte balance is critical to sustaining performance over a two-hour race.”<\/p>\n BULLET:\u00a0“There’s\u00a0no warning\u00a0you’re\u00a0starting to feel dehydrated, you only know when suddenly you feel\u00a0really unwell. Adrenaline masks the signs of it building up until\u00a0it’s\u00a0quite serious.<\/p>\n “So, you must find a way to remember to keep drinking. Otherwise, by the end of the race,\u00a0you’ll\u00a0be feeling dizzy.<\/p>\n “The most difficult race in my career was the 2002 Malaysian Grand Prix.\u00a0It’s\u00a0always so hot and humid there and my drinks bottle in the car\u00a0wasn’t\u00a0working.\u202f<\/p>\n “I had to count down the last 15 laps in my head one by one,\u00a0telling myself\u00a0I\u00a0would\u00a0retire after the next\u00a0lap, just to manage things mentally so I could get to the finish.<\/p>\n “Eventually,\u00a0I saw the chequered flag, and I was fainting coming into Parc\u00a0Ferm\u00e9. I got out the car, stumbled into an empty FIA office nearby and instantly drank a 1.5-litre\u00a0bottle of water. I felt better\u00a0fairly soon\u00a0after that but before then I was feeling very unwell despite being at peak fitness. I lost\u00a0three and half kilos\u00a0in that race from sweating.”<\/p>\n DOC:\u00a0“Drivers hydrate aggressively beforehand with fluids\u00a0containing\u00a0electrolytes like sodium and potassium\u00a0to try to avoid this scenario.<\/p>\n “Many also use pre-cooling strategies such as ice vests before getting into the car, which lowers body temperature and delays overheating.\u202f<\/p>\n “Heat acclimation training also helps them prepare for high cockpit temperatures.”<\/p>\n Blood can pool away from the brain during high g-forces, risking blurred vision or even ‘grey-out’.<\/p>\n Dr Rahul Chotai<\/p>\n 6.5\u00a0g. More than six times the force of gravity.<\/p>\n F1 drivers endure\u00a0lateral and longitudinal g-force\u00a0in excess of\u00a06\u00a0g\u00a0in some high-speed corners and under heavy braking. Fighter pilots face vertical\u00a0g-forces\u00a0up to\u00a09\u00a0g, risking blackout without\u00a0g-suits\u00a0and anti-g\u00a0straining\u00a0manoeuvres, which\u00a0help to push blood up toward the brain.\u00a0Both\u00a0require\u00a0exceptional core and neck strength, but the direction and duration of\u00a0g-forces\u00a0differ.<\/p>\n BULLET:\u00a0“Sustained lateral g-force from cornering hundreds of times over a race distance is the toughest force on your body when driving.<\/p>\n “The g-force when braking and accelerating is very impressive,\u00a0but it is not too difficult to contend with once you build your neck muscles,\u00a0because you feel them for only a short period of time.”<\/p>\n DOC:\u00a0“When accelerating, forces push the body backwards into the seat.<\/p>\n “At the start of race, acceleration off the line can exceed\u00a02\u00a0g, pinning\u00a0the driver back into the seat. The eyes and inner ear must adapt instantly to the surge, but the brain is trained to filter out these\u00a0forces\u00a0so vision\u00a0remains\u00a0stable. The neck muscles work to keep the head steady as shearing\u00a0forces act between the skull and spine.<\/p>\n “Braking can subject drivers to up to\u00a06\u00a0g\u00a0forward. This is equivalent to several times\u00a0your\u00a0bodyweight being thrown against\u00a0your\u00a0safety harness.<\/p>\n “The driver’s muscles, especially the neck, chest, and core, must constantly fight against g-force to keep control of the car and stay focused.<\/p>\n “Such forces can mean the driver’s head and helmet, weighing around 7kg in normal conditions, can feel as if they weigh 30-40kg. The neck and shoulder muscles must work constantly to keep the head stable and eyes focused.”<\/p>\n BULLET:\u00a0“It’s\u00a0the\u00a0lateral g-forces can cause more of an issue. Before I drove the AMR23 at Silverstone Circuit last year, my first time in an F1 car for around a decade, I trained my neck as much as I could to prepare for the lateral forces more than anything else.\u202f<\/p>\n “Even so, after a few laps of flying through\u00a0Luffield, Woodcote, and\u00a0Copse\u00a0\u2013\u00a0all right-handers in quick succession\u00a0\u2013\u00a0I had to lean my head on the headrest of the car. The next morning,\u00a0my neck was very stiff.”<\/p>\n
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\n“It’s even common for a driver’s heart rate to reach more than 180bpm in the opening seconds of a Grand Prix. I once hit 204bpm in a Formula 3 race.<\/p>\n![\"Lance](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Lance_cockpit_g_force.jpg\")
The cognitive capabilities of a chess grandmaster.<\/p>\n![\"Pedro](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Pedro_Rahul.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Lance](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Lance_cockpit_focus_2.jpg\")
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![\"See](\"https:\/\/assets.astonmartinf1.com\/public\/cms\/4FgBlECIcf4mUN9OjJyJJr\/d4164c8c3c31048584da598112e0ef99\/Fernando-race-suit-5050_v5.png?&h=512&w=683&fit=thumb\")
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