Lessons from F1 for Business Professionals

Welcome back to weekend coffee chats, the Business Breakdown series. For the next few weeks we’re stepping out of the virtual office, and into the virtual race arena to dive into another industry for a change.

If you’re an F1 (Formula 1) Fan, happy new season ! I’ve recently started watching and it’s quite the experience I have to say. Now of course let’s get some things out of the way, if you’re not a fan no worries join along for the ride to learn something from a different industry. Also, I’m aware that this industry is a controversial one as it affects the environment and isn’t a necessity but a want in addition to a few more points we’ll discuss later. All valid points that should be taken into consideration, but then again since it already exists we might as well address it. We can examine the good and learn from it, call out the things that need improvement and the bad. We can take caution from the bad on what to avoid and what to focus on not having around in our industries and work as we’ve seen the damage it’s done elsewhere.

Irrelevant of F1, it’s easy judging an industry or a phenomena as wasteful and looking away from it or ignoring it, but what’s hard and necessary is understanding what makes it a phenomena and how it can be improved since it’s already around and probably staying for a while. (unless it’s something completely awful which is not what i’m talking about here, i’m talking about normal topics with a majority of with or against view)

In that hope, let’s start our examination of F1, this will be a multi-post series so one post isn’t too long to read and we’ll see how many we’ll be needing along the way. (If this reminds you of Tim Urban’s website waitbutwhy method, yes it’s inspired by him but this is the amateur version, as Tim’s blog is quite phenomenal)

So, what got me thinking there’s anything to learn from F1 for starters? Well, I’ve been watching some of the preparations that the drivers were posting on their social media accounts prior to the season beginning and it caught my attention. There’s a lot that goes in the background for these teams to perform race in and race out, which made me think how are they so effective and what learnings can we take away from them?

Let’s start off with the drivers.

It was previously perceived that the drivers just drive the car and that’s pretty much it. However nowadays with all the technological improvements with the cars, drivers need to train and stay fit to be competitive. You’ll notice drivers mentioning their training regime or diet in their interviews or recently youtube channels. They train pre-season start multiple times a day, an average training day (available on youtube) has a training session then recovery then a second session with some opting for a third one in the evening. That could look like a gym session then a massage then a long cycling trip in addition to everything else they have to do. For their food they have certain plans to stick to, since the teams work on making the cars as light as possible the driver needs to be as light as possible as well. To put that in perspective a healthy average individuals’ BMI is around 18.5-24.9% while for an F1 driver it’s rumored to be around 4-6% (Can’t find an exact number online but estimates by fitness websites).

They also work on their mental strength, since performing under pressure and chronic stress of the long season can take a toll on them. That’s more of a taboo topic still as you can rarely find the drivers speaking about going to therapists or using a coaches focusing on their mental health. It seems however that it’s what’s being done but not publicly discussed or shown (mentioned in the Niko Rosberg podcast episode with Toto Wolf). So unfortunately no specific tips but the general arch is that working with someone to help you get mentally strong is the direction.

What I found important to note is that each step along the way these drivers have teams supporting them with each part, for the food and exercise some have personal coaches that travel with them and make sure they stay fit and healthy.

They also understand the importance of recovery and give it an equally important weight through massages, sauna, sports massages, meditations, personal activities that reduces their stress and others (Some golf with their families while others hit the sauna with their friends).

When was the last time you’ve did something for the recovery of your health from spending a minimum of 48 hours in front of a screen or on your feet? In our industries no one even mentions this, the best effort I’ve seen is “have a nice weekend” or “if you’re feeling burnout take a few days off” which is ok, but not enough anymore. The more we spend time in front of these screens the more we have to work on our recovery and make time for it just like these world class athletes, so our performance is sustainable and high level as well. Of course I know most of us are young and not made of money or have a huge company budget behind us, so a couple of helpful ideas would be friends packages as some places offer a 50% discount if you get a friend, seasonal sales, or asking your company if they would reimburse sports massages (long shot I know but we need to start somewhere)

What also caught my attention is not only their hard work but also their confidence. Whenever a driver is asked about their preparedness for the season or their fitness, they express how confident they feel in their training regime and how they’ve worked hard and believe it’s their year to be a champion. You could argue it’s just in front of the camera and the public, which is possible we can rarely know someone’s intent, but it also could be their genuine belief that since they’ve done everything they can and should that they have a 50/50 chance of getting it. Of course it’s not as simple as that but you get the idea.

Takeaway for us?

• Work hard physically but also most important mentally as well, and prioritize recovery
• Get professional help and advice wherever and whenever you can afford it (fitness, posture, diet, mental health, exc.)
• Try to showcase confident in yourself and potential, even if you’re aiming higher than where you are right now, where you are is already a result of lots of work and dedication so internalize it. I know though the topic of confidence is a whole world on its own, but you can start with identifying and addressing what’s stopping that confidence from materializing and then focus on eliminating the cause. In the end you have a 50/50 chance of getting what you strive for.

Tune in next week for part#2 where we discuss the village aka the teams behind these drivers supporting and pushing them to get to where they are today, and of course the cars. (they have to drive something after all)

Till next time 🙂 !

Disclaimer: None of this information is to be used as advice, it’s just for reading and entertainment. All information used is publicly available.