Formula For Success

Find Out How Emerging Speed Ace Pierre Gasly Stays Preternaturally Cool In The Hot Zone Of F1 Racing.

- Andrew Chesterton

It’s impossible to know exactly what effect the suffocating, carbon-to-diamond-crushing pressure of Formula One will have on you until you experience it for yourself.

You might have seen Aussie F1 ace Daniel Ricciardo stomping around pre-race, headphones glued to his ears pumping a thrashy metalcore song from favourite band Killswitch Engage, his trademark ear-to-ear grin suddenly wiped from his face as he gets into the zone.

Or you might have seen Dutch flyer Max Verstappen in race-prep mode, head down and deep in conversation with his lead engineer, taking a final microscope to his car’s strengths and weaknesses and nailing down any last-minute strategy changes.

But you probably won’t have seen rising star Pierre Gasly do much of anything before a race. In fact, it’d be more than a little bit creepy if you had seen him.

Not because the French wheelman doesn’t have his own pre-race ritual. It’s more that it’s not what you might expect from someone about to strap himself to a 750kW-plus missile masquerading as a race car.

“How do I relax? It will sound a bit weird, but an hour before the race I go for a nap. I’ll probably sleep for around 20 minutes,” says Gasly. “I’m quite a calm guy, so I don’t know if everyone else manages to fall asleep an hour before the race. But I find it’s the best way just to switch off.

“Usually I drink espresso just before my nap, and I wake up 20 minutes later and I’m full of energy. That’s how I get into the zone.”