Hamilton vs. Hoy

yeah, some of them are very fit. and the majority of drivers include cycling in their training, mainly MTB though, which is fitting for rich cunts with no environmental conscience

They are super fit, and it's all stamina. If you tried driving an F1 car for 2 hours with the sorts of G-Forces they withstand mid-race, you would get out a broken husk of a man. The fact that they can even lift a trophy and walk about is a testament to their stamina and fitness. Mansell once sweated well over half a stone out in a race.

That's only 3L.

I can sweat out 3L in a 1hr turbo session and that includes starting dehydrated and a 15min warmup. Mansell needs to HTFU.

you sweat 3l when the last orders bell goes.

haha cheeky fucker :P

anyone who has been go-karting will know just how exhausting doing that for 20 minutes is. i can readily accept that you need to be at your peak of fitness for F1.

how it compares to TDF fitness is another matter, it's not the same thing.

whoopy flip! sort of proved my point really..."ooh, I sweated out half a stone" " a whole 2 hours.....it nearly killed me!" TdF cyclists sweat half a stone (only 3 litres in reality), burn 8000 calories, ride 200km over between four and six hours, powering themselves, not relying on an engine....no comparison.

if you believe the expensive, tactical marketing from F1 claiming that it's a sport, you're a sucker....they drive cars...it's not athletic.

I'm not believing the hype or the marketing, but I have done some racing hence I know how physically fit you need to be. I used to race go karts and have also done some amateur endurance and time trialling in my classic mini and it's fucking hard work! I feel just as drained physically from racing as I do from riding. You can be cynical all you want but you're just assuming it's not physically demanding.

They are super fit, and it's all stamina. If you tried driving an F1 car for 2 hours with the sorts of G-Forces they withstand mid-race, you would get out a broken husk of a man. The fact that they can even lift a trophy and walk about is a testament to their stamina and fitness. Mansell once sweated well over half a stone out in a race.

As I said I think they are fit but super fit, as in as fit as a cyclist / runner? No way.

They have to spend to much time practicing driving to be able to be able to fit in a training regime that would make them as fit as cyclist / runner e.t.c

To say to me that I would be a broken husk of a man after 2 hours in a car is one hell of an assumption, you don't know me or have an idea how fit I am. Also comparing me to someone from who it is their job to race cars, who is trained for that and say I would find it hard work is just the most ridiculous comparison.

@BRM Jensen Button may compete in time trails for fun extra training, to make the rest of his training easier, and to make his time in the car easier in his spare time but that does not change what I have said. Not saying racing drivers are not fit but super fit in comparison to runners, cyclist I think not. Even if that guy is really fit it still does not mean all drivers are that fit.

I think F1 drivers are very fit, but in an endurance type of way, and not a 400 meter hurdle champion way.

TheBrick(Tommy), I don't know if you're baiting people, but I think just because one sport looks less energetic than another, is no real indication of the fitness required for it.

Rowers sit down in their sport, and only appear to pull with their arms, but its well known that top rowers and cyclists have the lowest resting heart rate of all top sportsmen.

I think that a F1 driver's fitness can be quantified, by how much stress their bodies are trained to take, for extended periods, and how much weight is lost (and regained), and to keep the concentration at its peak while this is happening.

A different type of fitness, certainly, but I feel that its still comparable to other sports levels of fitness - just not as measurable, or obvious.

jensen button competes in triathlons - running, cycling, etc

does he win any of them? this would be conclusive....I'm guessing he doesn't....probably real athletes do.....anyone can turn up for the start.

No I am not baiting people, I have offered up an opinion no one has offered up a decent rebuttal IMO. I am not aware that I have been rude to anyone.

Maybe it's a problem with use of adjectives. As I have said I do think F1 drivers are fit, I have never denied that fact. I am saying to compare them to the level of fitness of a professional cyclist / runner is wrong. Where you are getting the sitting down stuff from I do not know.

Diving needs to be practiced.

Driving requires physical exertion but training for that requires exercise outside the car.

To get very fit takes time. More time than is available outside of other commitment to train to the same high level a s other sports persons (remember recovery time must be included).

All sports have some sort ratio of skill to fitness.

E.g 1

Snooker requires a great deal of skill hours and hour of practice everyday, but not a lot of fitness.
E.g 2

Long distance running on the other hand requires alot less skill but the highest level of fitness.

Then of course there are tactics that happen in any race like when to make a break away reading what is happening e.t.c

F1 driving has a higher skills to fitness ratio than many other sports and so requires more time practicing the skill of driving.

Do you see what I am getting at?

24 hr in a day only time for so much. Choices must be made.

Rowers sit down in their sport, and only appear to pull with their arms, but its well known that top rowers and cyclists have the lowest resting heart rate of all top sportsmen.

You are right, propelling a boat and your own body weight, under your own power is similar effort to to turning a steering wheel!

Rowers may be sitting down, but they use their legs, body and arms to pull on the oars.

what the hell happened to this thread? sooo...does it promote cycling or not? whats the verdict?

does he win any of them? this would be conclusive....I'm guessing he doesn't....probably real athletes do.....anyone can turn up for the start.

So, from what you are saying, only the winners of the Tour de France are super fit?

(Button finished 16th overall in the last Sevenoaks triathlon)

if he was a s super fit as people claim F1 drivers are he would have no problem winning, keeping up with the front runners...

However 16th is pretty good but with all due respect the Sevenoaks triathlon probably doesn't have the same prestige or indeed number of international elite athletes as the TdF

"So, from what you are saying, only the winners of the Tour de France are super fit?" ...........didn't say anything like that, but I'll go out on a limb here.....ALL (200 or so) TdF riders are fitter than Jensen...16th place in the mighty Sevenoaks Tri or not!

as are ALL olympic rowers, ALL entrants in the World cross country skiing champs etc, etc etc.

I think F1 drivers are very fit,

Whatever floats your boat ;)

if he was a s super fit as people claim F1 drivers are he would have no problem winning, keeping up with the front runners...

However 16th is pretty good but with all due respect the Sevenoaks triathlon probably doesn't have the same prestige or indeed number of international elite athletes as the TdF

"So, from what you are saying, only the winners of the Tour de France are super fit?" ...........didn't say anything like that, but I'll go out on a limb here.....ALL (200 or so) TdF riders are fitter than Jensen...16th place in the mighty Sevenoaks Tri or not!

as are ALL olympic rowers, ALL entrants in the World cross country skiing champs etc, etc etc.

Said it better than I could.

You are right, propelling a boat and your own body weight, under your own power is similar effort to to turning a steering wheel!

Rowers may be sitting down, but they use their legs, body and arms to pull on the oars.
winston, I clearly wrote, Rowers sit down in their sport, and only appear to pull with their arms. This inferred that they certainly DIDN'T just sit down and pull with their arms, but only APPEARED to......to the untrained eye.

I also mentioned that top rowers have one of the lowest at-rest heart rates in the sporting world. This could not be due to a lack of training, but would most patently be due to a level of fitness, only matched by top cyclists.

You seem to have misread, or misunderstood, what I had written.

""I would say it's completely different to any other sport because you have a heartbeat average of 170 over an hour and a half and you never see that in another sport," Glock said."
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/SPORT/06/17/formulaone.fitness/index.html

What complete bollocks.
Most of the articles I can find on F1 fitness are just shit from drivers bigging themselves up.

i find F1 faintly naff and embarassing. there's something about the obscene amount of money involved, the brashness, corporate-whore, conspicuous consumption thing coupled with the cheesy "pit girl" nuts magazine vibe. as a sport i just find the whole think tacky and distasteful.

it's compounded by the nasty euro-trash image that itv have managed to give it with that horrible euro-pop title sequence, sponsorship idents featuring def leppard and idiotic smug-faced clueless presenters like rosenthal and wankerish smugfaced hard-on commentators like brundel.

on top of all this it's fucking boring.

it's a shame really as i quite like motorsport as a rule. i've just gone right off F1. touring cars, moto gp and rally are much more interesting, exiting and unpretentious. they seem to have much more of that human element that F1 lacks these days.

That statement from Glock is a load of crap to be honest, i'm a big F1 fan myself, F1 fitness is very high, but obviously it won't be as high as a TdF competitor, fitness is basically the sole attribute that determines success in cycling, in F1 it's important, but not as important as in cycling, but to drive an F1 car for up to 2 hours at a time, I'm sure would take it out of even some pro-cyclists, then factor in that they wouldn't even be able to push the car (and themselves) anywhere near the limits.

@dooks, Rosenthal hasn't been around for a long time, and Brundle is a very good commentator, very informative and level-headed. Admittedly the Def Leppard was a bit of an aquired taste (one that I have =P). Touring cars are more exciting, partially becuase of the amount of times they punt each other off (not exactly exciting "racing"), personally I find rally boring, Moto Gp is somewhere in between (never been a huge fan of bike racing, but getting into it more), best racing is usually to be had in Formula Fords/Caterhams/Elise Trophy etc.

Well give me an obscene amount of money and I'd have a damn good crack at it.
In fact give anyone on the planet an obscene amount of money, a stupid fast car and a load of fitness training and I'm sure people would see F1 for the load of old cobblers it is.

i find F1 faintly naff and embarassing. there's something about the obscene amount of money involved, the brashness, corporate-whore, conspicuous consumption thing coupled with the cheesy "pit girl" nuts magazine vibe. as a sport i just find the whole think tacky and distasteful.

i agree.

Well give me an obscene amount of money and I'd have a damn good crack at it.
In fact give anyone on the planet an obscene amount of money, a stupid fast car and a load of fitness training and I'm sure people would see F1 for the load of old cobblers it is.

Sure, give me a decent bike and a load of fitness training and i'd have a good crack at the TdF. You need to realise that even the worst F1 driver will be miles ahead of anywhere we are likely to be in terms of skill, and money won't help, look at the amount of drivers that pay millions for their drive and are relatively useless.

F1 drivers are super fit, as fit as any other top sportsmen, but like all sports the specific kind of fitness is tailored to each sport - the g forces alone require a top level of fitness.

"Most people think that, Motor sport drivers especially formula 1 drivers, just sit in the car, but their fitness level is as good as a marathon runner, which will go into depth later. Rugby players are big, especially the front row, so many people do not think they have to fit just heavy enough to hold back the scrum.

The components formula 1-driver needs are Strength, Speed, Suppleness, Stamina and Spirit.

Strength is important in a driver's fitness has a drivers strength is, "the max force that can exert against resistance" (Dr. Jutley, 2003). A drivers head and helmet weighs about 6kg, "add about 4g, as experienced in a grand prix, the neck has to support 24kg" ([WWW], Channel 4 feature- F1 fitness, 2004). A race usually lasts between 50-70 laps with 12 corners a lap, In heat and humidity, that can drain away most of a drivers energy. Most corners of a track are right handers, but the Interlagos track in Brazil, it is mainly left handers, so drivers will have to concentrate in strengthening their neck, during the run up to the race, some drivers will add extra padding in their helmet, to help support the neck. Stamina, also known as aerobic endurance, is important as, "an athlete can do a strenuous activity for any length of time" (Dr. Jutley, 2003). According to Dr. Ceccarelli (2004), a formula 1 driver can maintain his heart rate between 150-170 bpm for 1 hour and 45 minutes (a typical length of a grand prix), he can maintain his heart rate for so long is because of their concentration level and the huge amount of adrenaline being produced in the body. ([WWW] Channel 4, 2004).
Cycling is a very common activity for formula 1 drivers. Drivers like Michael Schumacher, Kimi Raikkonen and Juan Pablo Montoya prefer outdoors training rather than in a gym. Schumacher, living in Switzerland, likes to train for 2-3 hours every day (during off-season), cycling at an altitude of 1,000- 2,000 metres, which helps to increase the oxygen intake (Sport.de, 2006).
Suppleness, also known as Flexibilty, is, "the range of movement you have in your joints and the ease with which you can bend without causing damage to muscles, tendons and ligament" (Dr. Jutley, 2003). Suppleness in the neck, back, shoulders and arms are important in Formula 1, as these are the parts that will be used most during the race especially in the corners. As mentioned above the neck has a lot of force on it during the race, having flexibility will help prevent injury during an impact or crash and if an injury is sustained, it shorten the recovery time.

Speed, is not only important on the track during race, but also the drivers reaction speed/time is important. A formula 1 car goes form 0 to 100 mph in 5.4 seconds. In that time, a lot can happen. A driver needs to react quickly to avoid serious incident. "A faster reaction time to the lights on the starting grid of a track race will determine who gets to the first corner in the lead" (Dr. Jutley, 2003).

Spirit, is a, "connection between the state of mind and performance of a competitor" (Dr. Jutley, 2003). In motorsport nowadays, drivers have similar cars, fitness levels and skills, so only the best have a good state of mine and focussed before a race. The state of mind is also called being in the zone'. Before a race, a driver sits in his car, you can see the concentration on their face and are going through the track and the corners in their mind. Ex- formula 1 Damon Hill was well known for doing this."

**Dr. R S Jutley, 2003. Fit for Motorsport: Improve your race performance with better physical and mental training. Haynes Publishing USA
Howley, E. Franks, B. 2003. Health Fitness Instructor's Handbook. Human Kinetics: USA **

and vinylvillain wins the top prize, The losers hang their heads in shame, and discuss ways to save face.

Bouts of hari-kari are witnessed all over the streets of London.