CIRCUIT TRAINING

A Formula E driver’s fitness regime is not for the unhealthy, faint-hearted or hungover, as Olivia Petter discovered when she spent a day working out with McLaren racer Sam Bird

- Olivia Petter

“I’ve asked them to turn the heating up because it can get up to around 60 degrees in the cockpit,” says Formula E driver Sam Bird to a group of open-mouthed, anxious people in workout gear. I am one of them – and I’m already sweating buckets. It’s 9am on a Monday morning and I’m about to learn how to train like Bird. As a Formula E driver, he is legitimately one of the fittest people on the planet.

You wouldn’t think driving a car around a race track over and over again required such physical stamina. At least, I didn’t. “They’re drivers, how hard can their workout regimes be?” I texted a friend on my way to upmarket gym BXR, which was hosting the session. “They’re literally sitting down.” It transpires they’re actually doing quite a lot more than that.

“The drivers in Formula E have to maintain a high level of both strength and conditioning to succeed at the top level,” says BXR director Alex Nicholl, who co-created the Formula E workout with Bird. “With no power steering in Formula E’s current race cars, strength is a must. Alongside this, the duration of the race, the high temperatures they experience in the car and the concentration needed are all integral to a high level of conditioning.” While in the car, a driver’s heart rate can soar up to 200 beats per minute – a normal resting heart rate for adults ranges from 60bpm to 100bpm. “If your conditioning isn’t up to scratch, drivers run the risk of early-onset fatigue and impacting their focus and overall performance on the track,” adds Nicholl.