"The heart rate monitors shows that for one hour and a half hours drivers stay at 184 beats per minute average, with a peak of 201. And in GP2, it is one hour the average is 196 – with a peak of 207. It is a bit more in GP2 because the cars are similar, there is more wheel-to-wheel fighting, the racing is shorter – and there no power steering so the car is heavier. In no other sport do you experience this level of heart rate for so long."
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For shoulder and arms, the average on each corner is 10kg that you have to turn. The maximum is 15kg - 20kg depending on corners. 30kg is maximum of neck.
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While the physical demands of being an F1 driver are quite obvious, the brain skills needed to be successful are much less talked about. One of the myths about racing drivers is that all they need are wizard-quick reaction times, but that could not be further from the truth.
You can ask GP2 front-runner Jules Bianchi to testify on that front after I whipped him 9-0 in the reaction test head-to-head competition.
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"We want to work on the mental side in order to obtain the maximum performance of the brain constantly. There was one race where a driver was able to stay in qualifying form all race long – a heart rate of around 176 beats for every lap. All the race long – the difference was five beats. It means he was close to the limit all the time and the BPM line was perfectly straight. So it is possible to achieve this but it's very hard work to reach this level."