Body weight in sport

Why the weight of expectation is driving F1 to reach new lows

 Jenson Button has confessed that he effectively starves himself as F1 hurtles into an era of jockey-sized drivers. Eating disorders are rife in the world of horse racing, where jockeys drive down their weight to guarantee rides on the best horses. Frankie Dettori, one of the tiniest sportsmen at just 54.8kg, has admitted taking diuretic drugs in his quest to meet the riding weights demanded by racehorse owners.

Now, in F1, drivers are shaving ounces off already lean frames because teams are deciding not to hire drivers whose extra pounds could be a critical factor in finding speed. The Grand Prix Drivers’ Association, the F1 drivers’ union, is so concerned that it is demanding that regulation minimum weights are raised next season to give themselves some belt room.

Mark Webber, a fraction over 6 feet, or 1.8m, and 75kg, warns that the ideal driver weight is now between 60 and 65kg because every 5 kg of extra weight means a loss of 0.2 seconds a lap – a huge drag in F1 terms, in which lap times are measured in fractions.

In rugby union, the mission is to bulk up, with even the shortest of forwards built like tanks. Tom Youngs, the England hooker, is short enough to be a racing driver but almost twice the weight, 102kg.

Sir Bradley Wiggins, Britain’s Olympic champion cyclist, has to carry his own weight on his bike, though, and is an incredible beanpole of a sportsman at less than 11 stone,  70kg, even though he is over 6 feet, 1.8m.

There are no suggestions that eating disorders are rife in F1, although David Coulthard, one of the tallest drivers during his time in the sport, said that he was bulimic as a teenager headed for F1 and the McLaren team, regularly vomiting his food to keep his weight to a minimum.

Button says he struggles to make the weight for his McLaren car. He is a seriously competitive triathlete, weighs in at 70kg and has only 6% body fat. This makes him one of the leanest athletes in sport but he too is 6 feet, 3 inches, 1.9m, taller than Sebastian Vettel, the jockey-sized world champion, who weighs in at just 64kg. Button says he couldn’t be any heavier so he fasts. He eats limited amounts of food and it is always high in protein and no carbohydrates. If he doesn’t do this, he says, it’s the end of his career.