Jenson Button

Jenson Button laughs at the widespread belief that racing drivers do not need to be as fit as most other athletes. “After all,” the newly-crowned Formula One world champion says, “all we do is sit in a car most days enjoying a drive. It’s not as if we have to lift anything, run, jump or barge through someone else. What could be easier?”

If only that were the case, Button and his fellow drivers in F1 muse whenever they hear this well-worn and hugely misguided viewpoint. The truth of the matter is very different. The stars of Formula One are some of the fittest guys around and this, undoubtedly, played its part in the British driver's outstanding success this week.

“Your body is placed under enormous physical strain whenever you race,” he explains. “This is particularly the case when you are braking and cornering. The G-forces are similar to those felt by a fighter pilot. With deceleration forces peaking at 5.5 G’s, and lateral loads hitting 3.5 G’s, your head and especially your neck, with no real support, take a beating.”

Then there is the workload a driver’s arms have to handle. “We may have power steering, but it’s not like any road car. Applying opposite lock at high speed requires a great deal of strength.,” Button says. The same goes for the driver’s quads. “When you hit the pedals you have to hit carbon pads very hard to produce the result you need.”

Sitting in a tight cockpit for a race that lasts 100 minutes requires a strong, lower back, Button adds, while incredible stamina is a vital ingredient, too. “One mistake, remember, can end a race and possibly lead to a big crash. We need to be able to perform at a high level of physical and mental efficiency, often when suffering from fatigue, heat and dehydration.”

In Malaysia four years’ ago where the track temperature exceeded 50 degrees Celsius (122 F), Button’s water bottle stopped working. “At the end of the race I was shaking and suffering from blurred vision, which isn’t very helpful when you’re driving the car at 200 mph,” he recalls. He was recorded to have lost 3.5 litres (nearly a gallon) of water in perspiration, which amounted to 8.5% of his body’s total water content. “The other wearing factor is the constant vibration experienced sitting inside the cockpit,” Button adds. “That tends to drain you massively.”

So F1 drivers do, after all, need to be in good shape. How does Button achieve his fitness goals? In the off-season he has a customized training and exercise regime. Some of this takes place at Club La Santa, a sports camp in Lanzarote, where he will visit on three separate occasions before the first Grand Prix of each season in March. “In Lanzarote, and also in the hills outside Monte Carlo, I’ll go running and cycling, both of which are good, cardiovascular disciplines and fantastic for general stamina,” he explains. “I’ll throw in some uphill skiing when I go to the French Alps, too. This is putting fuel in the tank for the next season.”

At the same time he eases into specific training. “There are three particular areas I concentrate on,” he says. “The first is all about core stability and balance. I perch myself on a large, Swiss ball, placing my outstretched legs on a smaller medicine ball, and then turn a round weight 180 degrees for as many times as possible using my arms. My record for this is 401 times.” This routine, he says, is good for your abs, your lower back and your arms. “It also replicates the exact position, and similar strains, experienced in a car.

“The second area of training is a general weights programme. It’s crucial to build up general strength and stamina, but it is as important to get the balance right. At my weight and height (6 feet tall and 155 lbs), I cannot afford to be any heavier without it being a disadvantage but, at the same time, I cannot lose my strength.

“The third area is the kind of exercise only racing drivers and boxers do, both of whom sport freakishly big necks. My trainer places a towel around my head at the temples. We then pull in opposite directions for a series of 30-second repetitions, working on the back of the neck, the front, then both sides. This builds up your neck muscles which, believe me, you need when you feel the G-forces pulling at you every time you brake and corner.”

During the actual season, which starts with the Australian Grand Prix on March 16th, much of Button’s exercise regime is covered by simply racing or testing. “The best training for a racing driver is actually racing the car,” he says. “A race weekend requires competitive driving on a Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Then you test the car from the following Wednesday to Friday in readiness for the next race. Often this requires covering 700 kilometres (435 miles) of a circuit. Believe me, you don’t want to be training for a day or two after a race.”

It all seems like hard work, although the trappings – the fame, the multi-million pound contract, the home in Monaco – make it seem worthwhile. “It can be very tough, with a great deal of dedication and sacrifice in the early years, and a lot harder work than people imagine,” Button concludes before adding with a world champion smile: “Hey, someone’s got to do it, though. And I wouldn’t swap it for the world.”      

A week warm-weather, pre-season training.

4 Driving Specific Strength Sessions in gym per week: each session includes neck resistance exercises – 3 x 4 sets lasting 4 minutes each; 3 x 12 chin ups; 3 x 20 Swiss ball press ups; 3 x 150 180-degree turns of a 10kg weight, simulating a steering wheel.

Swimming: 4 sessions of 20 x 50 metres, most of which with floats and strengthening arms. Good for breathing, too, which is crucial for a driver.

Cycling: 2 x 1 hr, 45 min rides through Lanzarote mountains – high intensity.

Running: 1 x 8k run on road + 1 x mini-triathlon (8 x 50m swim, 32k cycle ride and 5k run) and 1 x duathlon (same run x 2, + same cycle ride).