Driver Fitness

[paddy]

I don't know whether this is important, but there seemed to be quite a difference in how the drivers looked after the race. Alonso looked pretty knackered as did several of the others, but Lewis seemed fairly fresh. I haven't seen the drivers looking so tired for quite a while and it brought back happy memories of the ever staggering Nige.
This could be a factor as the season draws to a close and the added pressure of the championship comes on.
How much hotter would it have been if this had been a day race? Anymore punishing and I think some may have struggled.
I also wonder whether Kimi's shunt was fatigue related?

[Super Hans]

Lewis looked fresher because he has very short hair, therefore he avoids the drowned-rat look sported by his long-haired rivals.

I really do think it's as simple as that.

[paddy]

May be, but if you watched Alonso he was bending and stretching and looked in a fair bit of discomfort. I didn't see any of that from Lewis. I can assure you as well I have very short hair and it hasn't improved how I look after excercise!!!!!!

[Marbot]

Yes,Hamilton's 'freshness' was very....Schumacher-esque.

[steve_r]

Obviously Lewis is younger, but I agree that the short hairstyle helps avoid a bad hair day.

Trulli looked absolutley wiped out after retiring.

[BootsOntheSide]

Lewis' apparent superior physical fitness has been noted several times. He clearly works hard at maintaining fitness, but he does have a natural advantage there. Also, the McLaren might be an easier car to drive, and most of the races he's finished have been relatively stress-free.

[paddy]

I agree with the Schumacher analogy. Very dispiriting when you are on your last legs to look at someone and they look like they've driven to the shops.

[Super Hans]

Originally Posted by paddy

May be, but if you watched Alonso he was bending and stretching and looked in a fair bit of discomfort. I didn't see any of that from Lewis. I can assure you as well I have very short hair and it hasn't improved how I look after excercise!!!!!!

I take your point.

The McLaren looked like hard work in Singapore, so it's impressive that Lewis seemed in pretty good shape afterwards.

Trulli's condition was Piquet / Mansell-esque by comparison.

[EdLeake]

The fact that Lewis is dark skinned hides a lot too, no blush or rouge for his cheeks.

When I get out of a car I look like I've been wrestling a grizzly bear, I have a 'footballers' hair cut so I do have a rather dishevelled look yet I'm fit and healthy guy.

[chillibowl]

another point could be that after the first stint LH was able to just settle in and decided that 3rd was an excellent result with the ferrari's way behind. not having to look for the limit lap after lap made his day more manageable and less physical at least.

Trulli who looked terrible had a much harder day, but i would have to say youth and conditioning were the big differences here.

[Hendrik]

Heidfeld said the race wasn't that exhausting as expected. He was stuck in traffic all race long so he had no chance to push, so he had a quite easy drive. I think it was the same for Hamilton, once Massa was out of the game he could cruise his McLaren home, more or less.

[JamesRamone]

Hamilton always looks fresh, but as someone said above i think it's more to do with his lack of hair, rather than being much fitter than the other sportsmen.

[JeremySmith]

Let's face it Lewis is super fit...

[thejester]

Do you mean super fit in a sports science way, or the way the kids mean it?

[pottiella]

Apparently Alonso's drink can failed (like in one of his malaysia wins) so he was incredibly dehydrated and was struggling on the podium.

If it's that bad and gruelling, I can only imagine dehydration would be an immense factor to looking like left for dead afterwards.

Ironically, Alonso has a great record for these hot and/or humid conditions - malaysia x 2, bahrain x 2, china, japan, australia...and add singapore to that too. He looks shot afterwards, but I guess you can't fault a guy for looking shattered if he ends up winning.

[JeremySmith]

Originally Posted by thejester

Do you mean super fit in a sports science way, or the way the kids mean it?

I mean Lewis is super fit in a "I will do anything I need to do way" or the McLaren way...

[RaiseYourFist]

Yeah, Alonso had short hair when he was in McLaren too and I have seen Hamilton with longer hair from his earlier years in GP2.

I would guess RD makes his drivers cut their hair so they look good on the podium.

[JeremySmith]

Short hair is very popular these days..Ron Dennis has nothing to do with it...come on now

[foreversideways]

Drivers with long hair remind Ron of when he had some

[rocketracer]

forget driver fitness - how funny was it when the ferrari mechanics were almost doubled over, homer simpson style, and out of breath because they couldnt run the length of the pitlane!

cmon guys it's not that far!

[foreversideways]

So perhaps the question should be how fit do you need to be to b a mechanic !!!, and if the you think the Ferrari guys were bad, have a look at some of the Indy Car guys

[jedrinck]

Or Montoya who has physically adapted to NASCAR culture. Vettel still looks like 16 after a race, he's hard to beat in that category.

[foreversideways]

Vetel is 16 !!!!! isn't he ??