How F1 drivers keep cool in sweltering GP heat

Despite scorching heat at the French Grand Prix, F1 drivers are still expected to race in layers of clothing with millimetre precision. How do they keep cool?

Charles Leclerc drinks from a water bottle at the 2022 French Grand Prix

Pre-race drinks loading is key to performance at sweltering Paul Ricard

Mario Renzi/F1 via Getty Images

Ferrari brought all kinds of new underfloor trickery to Paul Ricard but to see its most significant French Grand Prix upgrade, you had to walk through the pit garage and into the paddock.

As temperatures hit the mid-thirties, Charles Leclerc turned not to high-tech electronics or aerodynamically-sculpted carbon fibre, but a paddling pool.

The championship contender was seen in a video sitting in 14.2C water to stay cool. Teams up and down the pitlane were deploying similar measures to keep drivers’ core temperatures down before they pulled on fireproof layers, racesuits, helmets and gloves.

It doesn’t matter how good your car setup is if you can’t keep your drivers cool in the heat of Southern France — or Bahrain, Hungary and Singapore, for that matter.

Competing for two hours in thick racewear, with a track temperature of 55C, surrounded by tyres and a power unit, which operate at around 100C, plus 500C brakes, can raise an F1 driver’s body temperature to 40C — considerably more than the typical 37C.

Damien Kelly, a physiotherapist and performance coach, who has worked with Haas, says that at this point, fatigue and impaired mental performance starts to creep in, and the heart rate increases.

It has led to retirements (Riccardo Patrese in the 1982 Brazilian Grand Prix, where Nelson Piquet also passed out on the podium), as well as multiple errors. It’s no coincidence that 14 drivers hit the wall in the 1984 Dallas Grand Prix where the air temperature rose to over 40C. Nigel Mansell collapsed as he tried to push his Lotus over the finish line.

Ultimately it can prove fatal, as in the case of Carl Scarborough, who died from heat exhaustion after the 1953 Indy 500.

Nigel Mansell collapses trying to push his Lotus F1 car over the line at the 1984 Dallas GP

Mansell collapses in the heat at Dallas, ’84

DPPI

It’s why acclimatisation for hot weather races now begins before the start of the season.

“Some driver fitness camps leading up to the start of the season can be done in hot climates,” said Kelly, who is also the clinical sports director at Physica Health.

“They will try and mimic certain conditions, whether it be heat or decision making or a combination of all of those, with high heart rates just because of pressure on the cardiovascular system.

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“They can try and recreate those situations on a fitness bike, running or any type of fitness activity so that when they’re in the car, they’re better able to perform.

“Generally people will go away for a couple of weeks whether that be in Spain, Portugal or elsewhere. Then you also have driver testing, like in Bahrain for example, where you do get a lot of laps in and kind of acclimatise that way as well.”

Drivers will also ‘top-up’ mid-season, using hotel saunas for workouts, according to Red Bull. A 2011 study for the Chinese electric power industry found “significant” results from heat acclimatisation. Combined with drivers’ high fitness levels, which reduce the need to exert themselves, it can help them endure racing in higher temperatures.

Expect to see plenty of chiller vests on the grid at Paul Ricard. These contain ice to cool drivers up to the moment that they get into their cars, although some drivers are in favour of the more traditional wet towel around their neck method.

Charles Leclerc wearing a cooling vest

Cooling vests prevent keep body temperatures down until drivers get into their cars

DPPI

While sat on the grid, fans sat next to dry ice, will often direct a cool blast towards the cockpit until moments before the formation lap.

Once on the move, internal thermometers, which are swallowed and communicate wirelessly with a receiver worn by the driver, can help physios keep an eye on a driver’s health from within the cockpit. Temperatures there can easily reach 50C in cool conditions, says Red Bull.

With the heat comes the problem of dehydration. Drivers can lose 3kg of sweat during a race, all with little cooling effect given the layers that they are wearing.

Drivers can use a drinks bottle, but it’s only a partial solution: the need to keep weight down means that the typical capacity is between 700ml and 1.2l (weighing 700g to 1.2kg), while it the water quickly gets warm, close to the tightly-packed power unit. Some drivers, including Lando Norris and Zhou Guanyu typically shun the drinks bottle altogether as a result.

Steam from dry ice around a Red Bull car

Drivers may get a final blast of dry ice before the formation lap

Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images

So keeping hydrated starts before a race, so drivers have more water in their bodies than usual. “It isn’t quite as simple as having the driver drink a couple of pints of water on the grid,” said Red Bull in a guide to keeping drivers cool.

“Not least of which because of the comfort considerations of spending two hours in car with limited suspension on a bumpy track with a full bladder.

“There needs to be a steady fluid intake over the course of several days, which is why you very rarely see a driver without a drinks bottle in the F1 paddock.”

Blue skies over Paul Ricard circuit for the 2022 French Grand Prix

Paul Ricard temperatures are in the mid-30Cs

DPPI

Kelly says that drivers’ hydration is regularly monitored through urine checks and adjustments made to their regime as required. This includes more than just drinking water.

“Water alone doesn’t quite rehydrate you, it’s also the salts that are needed to be fully hydrated,” Kelly said. “Drivers will take a little tab or sachet of electrolytes and add it to their drink.

“Electrolytes are the natural salts within your body and they make sure your sodium balances et cetera are all correct so that you can function well.”

The resulting taste is notoriously unpleasant.

Once the Grand Prix is over, the race is on to replenish all fluids lost within an hour of the chequered flag. And then, it’s all likely to start again straight away as the F1 paddock — paddling pools and all — head for the hotspot of the Hungaroring.