Sports Injuries

DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-36801-1_221-1
# Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013

Driver as a High-Level Athlete

Fatih Kucukdurmaz*
Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, Bezmialem Vakif University, Istanbul, Turkey

Abstract
The medicine and motor car racing collaboration is much more beyond an intervention to an
accident at the track. The performance of drivers depends on their multidisciplinary medical support
during a race season; however, the importance of this is often not fully appreciated. Drivers are under
a lot of physical and psychological stress during the race. The scope of this chapter is to summarize
the physical and mental condition of a driver during a race and raise an awareness about athletic
performance as a sportsman.

Introduction
The motor car racing is often considered as purely a technological competition, and the human
factor in the race is often not fully appreciated. The spectators and television audience may have the
impression that medicine and motorsports only meet following an accident; however, the drivers
undertake a complex indoor and outdoor physical training program so that they race in peak physical
and mental condition. There is little reported in the literature on the medical aspects of motorsport.
In order to appreciate the physical aspect of motorsports racing, there must be an appreciation of
the activity and physiological loads sustained by the driver during a race. Drivers must control their
automobile while travelling at speeds of 150300 km per hour and remain calm and assess their cars
performance, the track, and their competitors. They are frequently only centimeters away from each
other, travelling at speed, with little margin for error. They must also change gears and use foot
pedals while steering their vehicle. The timing and precision of movements are crucial as mistakes
can be fatal.
The communication with the pit manager on their headset radio is continuous, and drivers are
expected to make adjustments to the car according to technical information from the pit team during
the race. The steering wheel controls around 20 functions of the automobile, but however computerized the car actually is, the driver is the only person to judge the performance of the automobile and
make changes accordingly. All these actions are required to complete the race and must all be
performed with precision for victory.
Although Formula One is arguably the most prominent motor racing competition, there are many
competitions around the world with local status, for example, NASCAR, CART World Series, Indy
Car Racing, Touring Car Championships, and World Rally Championship. Motor car racing drivers
in all competitions must be aware and concentrate during every second of race utilizing numerous
motor and cognitive skills simultaneously. The following chapter allows us to appreciate why
drivers should be considered as high-level athletes.

*Email: fatihmfk@hotmail.com
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Sports Injuries
DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-36801-1_221-1
# Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013

Fig. 1 Singapore circuit is seen with 23 curves

Muscular Strength and Effect of G-Force

During a Formula One race, the lateral G-force at a curve exerted on a driver can be as much as
5G. This means the strain on the neck muscles must accommodate up to 20300 N. Acceleration
frequently reaches up to 1G and braking up to 4G. A Formula One car can brake from 180 km/h to
0 in 80 m which means 4G deceleration. Obviously, these forces acting on driver require high
strength and endurance in neck musculature. Race circuits typically have 23 curves and last for
61 laps (Singtel Singapore Grand Prix) (Fig. 1). The speed is less in rally races; however, there are
more bends and higher magnitude of vibration. Acceleration or deceleration is almost always
multidirectional during a race.
G-force creates high stress on neuromuscular system as a whole (Backman 2005) but predominantly the neck and upper body muscles. The weight of the head and helmet, 2530 kg, may increase
up to four- to vefold while cornering. Neck exercises are therefore an important part of a drivers
training program. Large elastic bands are used to simulate the demands of high G-force acting
on neck.
Most pedals in the Formula One cars are stiff and may require up to 80 kg to depress them. This is
obviously performed continuously during a race requiring leg strength and endurance (Backman
2005). The braking power is not produced only by ankle plantar exion but generated through the
torso, core, knee exion, and hip extensors. Drivers training programs include a well-balanced
exercise of the feet, legs, and hips.
Grip strength and endurance is another important part of training programs. Backman et al. found
that there is signicantly higher grip strength in open-wheel drivers and rally drivers, when
compared to physically active control group of nondriving males (Baur et al. 2006). There have
been no studies comparing racing drivers and other sportsmen, but it is likely that drivers need higher
grip strength for controlling the steering wheel. Small precise adjustments are required rather than
pure strength to maintain the racing line on the circuit. This is an ability in one side but also requires
regular exercises for the forearm.

Vibration
During a race, drivers are subjected to continuous very high frequency vibrations throughout their
body. There are two sources of vibration: the engine and the circuit surface itself. As a race
progresses, rubber particles are worn from the tires so that they become rougher and form debris
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Sports Injuries
DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-36801-1_221-1
# Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013

Fig. 2 (a) The dimensions of the cockpit. (b) The position of the Formula One driver within the automobile

on the racing surface increasing vibrations further. The engine is positioned behind the drivers seat
at the back of the cockpit, and so engine vibrations are passed directly to the driver. Although the
track surface is assumed to be smooth, when a car travels at very high speeds, even small bumps, at
just a few millimeters high, become an important source for vibration. Car suspensions have
maximal stiffness to prevent disturbance of the balance of the automobile, and as a result drivers
feel all bumps as jumps.
The vibrations have been associated with lower back pain (LBP), sciatica, and an increased risk of
prolapsed intervertebral disc (PID). Palmer et al. found that whole-body vibration while driving
increases the risk of LBP but not the risk of PID or nerve root entrapment for occupational drivers
(Palmer et al. 2012). Videman et al. did not nd that disc degeneration as a long-term effect of
vibration of rally driving (Videman et al. 2000). Seventy percent of rally drivers reported discomfort
in the lumbar spine, and 54 % reported discomfort at the cervical spine (Manseld and Marshall
2001). There is no published document about the effect of vibration on Formula One drivers spine.
However, drivers anecdotally report back pain after the races to some extent.
A secondary factor for back pain is sitting in an uncomfortable position in an extremely narrow
cockpit. Drivers lie on a backseat with an angle of around 120
made specically for the prole of
their back and have little opportunity to adjust their position for comfort (Fig. 2a, b). They also have
a much narrower eld of vision than one might expect due to the tight connes of the cockpit but also
the bulky helmet (Fig. 3a, b).

Cardiovascular Fitness
In previous studies, the heart rate of drivers during a race has been noted to be very high, 8293 % of
individual maximal heart rate (Schwaberger 1987; Lighthall et al. 1994; Jacobs and Olvey 2000;
Manseld and Marshall 2001; Jacobs et al. 2002). Schwaberger reported heart rate (HR) with a mean
level of 174/min during automobile racing. This corresponded to 90 % of the maximal heart rate
achieved at the end of exhaustive bicycle ergometry (Schwaberger 1987). Jacobs et al. have
measured a mean HR value of 152/min when driving at competitive speed on a road racing course
(Jacobs and Olvey 2000). Lighthall et al. measured the HR during road racing competition and found
HR to be in average 169 bpm (Lighthall et al. 1994).
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Sports Injuries
DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-36801-1_221-1
# Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013

Fig. 3 (a) The vision of the pilot, from top, front (blue), and rear (yellow) through the side mirrors. (b) The vision of the
pilot from the side, front (blue), and rear (yellow) through the side mirrors

Increased secretion of catecholamines is thought to be caused by psychological stress in sports.

Given the risks of high-speed car racing, it is reasonable to consider that these stresses and
correspondingly catecholamine levels would be increased. The increased lactate levels have also
been noted as a result of increased glycogenolysis and glycolysis in response to catecholamine
stimulation (Kindermann and Keul 1977). Schwaberger measured the catecholamine excretion
during the race (2,523 ng/min) and found that it was twice as high as the level obtained during
exhausting exercise (1,219 ng/min) (Schwaberger 1987). This result explains the high HR besides
the relatively less physical activity according to exhausting exercises (Klarica 2001). The competition itself, drivers ability to cope with his psychological and physical condition, type and
performance of race automobile, and circuit are possible reasons which effect on heart rate
(Jacobs and Olvey 2000; Backman et al. 2005).

Oxygen Consumption and Carbon Monoxide Effect

Oxygen uptake during race driving has been measured to correspond to 7983 % of the drivers
maximal oxygen consumption (Jacobs et al. 2002). The maximal oxygen consumption values
obtained on the tests were similar to those previously reported for professional football, baseball,
and basketball players. One should not forget the inuence of carbon monoxide during a motor car
race. Needless to say that CO exposure decreases psychomotor performance. Furthermore, Walker
et al. demonstrated that the combining effect of CO and heat produces signicantly greater negative
effect on the driver when compared to heat alone (Walker et al. 2001a).

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Sports Injuries
DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-36801-1_221-1
# Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013

Fig. 4 The Batak board (Quotronics Ltd, Surrey, UK)

Reaction Time
Reaction time may be the most inuential factor of a drivers ability. In an automobile going with
300 km/h, 1 s is a very long time, and the difference between the life and the death is considerably
smaller. Most races are won with as little as 0.110 s over a 2-h competition. There are only small
differences between drivers and their cars, so decision-making and reaction times are very important. Drivers have specic exercise programs aimed at reducing their reaction times. One of the most
popular of these is Batak board (Quotronics Ltd, Surrey, UK) (Fig. 4). Formula One drivers could
respond signicantly quicker than untrained individuals. Whereas a one-minute exercise was
commonly found to be maybe physically exhausting for an untrained individual, the Formula One
drivers could continue this exercise for an hour. This suggested that the energy expenditure for a unit
action is signicantly less for a Formula One driver, so that they maintain maximum concentration,
accuracy in perception, and reaction precision during the race.

Heat and Sweating

It is shown that high temperature signicantly decreases concentration, reaction times, and at the end
performance (Walker et al. 2001b). The temperatures inside the cockpit at times reach around 50
C
especially at circuits in hot countries with high humidity, e.g., Sepang, Malaysia. Heat effect can be
amplied by higher levels of humidity, around 75 % within the cockpit. This is unarguably due to the
loss of body uids in the extreme conditions of a race. Formula One drivers lose approximately 23 l
of water during a race. A person losing just 4 % of their body weight can lose up to 40 % of their
psychophysical capacity. Loss of concentration is one of the most signicant effects of losing high
amount of uid. In races with extreme conditions like Australia, Malaysia, Bahrain, and Abu Dhabi,
the uid intake regime is arranged according to the demands of each driver before, during, and after
the race. Although the need of each driver may change, the average recommended daily uid intake
is 4 l. Drivers are encouraged to drink the special uid installed in the cockpit with a pipe going

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Sports Injuries
DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-36801-1_221-1
# Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013

Fig. 5 The circuits in the calendar of 2013 Formula One championship

through their helmet. The capacity of the bottle is 750 mls, and therefore, frequent rells are
required.

Psychological Training
There are numerous studies demonstrating the effectiveness of psychological interventions in sports.
Goal setting, visualization, anxiety control, effective communication, and team building are some of
the areas that can assist performance in motorsports. For motor car racing drivers, setting goals and
reviewing circuit maps before the race is vital. This enables the opportunity for visualization and
imagery to take place, so that the driver has mentally driven the course many times before race day.
This can be guided imagery, where drivers can follow a perfect race line on the circuit. Modern
simulators are used for this purpose. The mind is tailored for the conditions, the automobile, and the
strategy. Educating a driver about breathing techniques and other thought control skills for
remaining calm at times of pressure, e.g., qualifying and at the start of a race, also plays an integral
part of psychological development. Drivers are under high psychological stress just before the race.
There are often many distractions around a driver, such as sponsors, fans, and the media. After
competition, condence, concentration, physical state, and ability to follow their plan and implement skills under pressure must be reviewed.

Jet Lag
The performance of an athlete declines with the phenomenon of dysrhythmia which is most
commonly caused by moving across the earths time zones, namely, jet lag. Transmeridian ights
are part of the Formula One calendar. There are 19 races in Formula One 2013 calendar in
10 different time zones (Fig. 5).

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Sports Injuries
DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-36801-1_221-1
# Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013

These time zone shifts trigger changes in metabolism including body temperature, ability to
mobilize energy substrates, excretion of water and metabolites, arousal levels, sleep/wake cycles,
and reaction time. The severity of these adverse effects and the time required for resynchronization
depend on the ability to preset the bodily rhythms prior to ying, the number of time zones crossed,
the direction of ight, and the drivers personality, age, social interaction, and diet plan (Loat and
Rhodes 1989). Nevertheless, it is demonstrated that chronic jet lag experience may result in
cognitive decits (Cho et al. 2000) and, in particular, memory impairment by upregulating the
levels of circulating corticosteroids (Lupien et al. 1994). There is no evidence that conrms whether
these decits are temporary or permanent. Each driver and their team have their own method to
overcome these problems.

Conclusion
Drivers must have very high-level tness in order to have satisfactory performance; that is why their
programs include weight lifting, swimming, Swiss ball exercises, jogging, skiing, coordination and
balance exercises, and reaction time exercises. Formula One drivers also undertake dedicated
exercises for improving their neurocognitive functions. Motorsports drivers are high-level athletes
with comparable tness levels to those in other sports.

Cross-References
Cervical Spine Care in Sports
Epidemiology and Medical Coverage of Motocross and Supercross Races
Head Injuries in Sports
Motorsport Injuries: Current Trends and Treatment Concepts
Planning the Medical Aspects of a Sports Event
Spine Injuries on the Field

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DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-36801-1_221-1
# Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013

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