Why Are Formula 1 Drivers Considered Athletes?

In recent years, both the organization of races in our country and in 2021 a legendary title fight emergence, as well as Formula 1With the aim of appealing to a wider audience, the number of followers of this sport has also increased. With the increase in the number of followers, the number of questions to be answered also increased.

One of the controversies that comes with so many people just starting to get interested is “Are Formula 1 drivers athletes?” there was a discussion. After all, when we left driving a car There was no such sport. So why are racing drivers called athletes? Why do those who do not accept pilots as athletes?

First, let’s break down some prejudices:

“However, straight road, straight road everyone drives” Do not argue with those who say, leave; not worth your effort. “Cars do the main job, man!” Don’t take those who say that too seriously. If you built the best car in the world best pilot in the world you want to use. Under Vettel, under Alonso more slowly look at what they did with the cars, I don’t know who made the best climb of the season with the tractor that Alfa Romeo gave me last year. to Raikkonen Look, the effect of talent and experience is more clearly understood.

In fact, the most important criticism against the racers is again through another race, horse race it’s coming over. In horse races, the main competitor is the horse, Horse of the Year It is said that a similar situation applies to Formula 1 and that the most important thing is the vehicle. So is this true? Come on, let’s see.

With a simple Google search Jockey of the Year We see that there is such a thing. For example, the Jockey of the Year award in 2021 Gokhan Kocakaya had received. Of course, Horse of the Year is also selected, and the team that already built the best car in Formula 1 wins the constructors’ championship.

Indeed, these criticisms not organic eitherIt was an idea to criticize a pilot’s receiving the Athlete of the Year award at the time. In fact, it was not an idea that found many supporters in the sports community, but at first glance “Yeah, why should driving be a sport?” he was able to say.

So what does athlete mean?

Although we say athlete, the word for athlete in many languages ​​is actually is an athlete. in ancient greece athlon comes from the word and its meaning “A person competing for a prize”is From this perspective, pilots are athletes, but MasterChef in Turkey And people compete for prizes, are they also food athletes?

Athlete When we look at the meaning of the word from TDK “a person who does sports” we get the answer. Since this explanation is of no use to us, let’s go and look at the word “sport”. “All of the movements performed according to some rules, performed individually or collectively, with the aim of improving the body or mind.“Riders also need to be prepared physically and mentally, races have rules. From this point of view, they are considered athletes. Also, athlete Let’s look at the word. “Anyone involved in athletics,” he says. It still won’t work for us. So what is athletics? Here too “Running, jumping, weight lifting, throwing, etc., which are used to develop body strength, agility, abilities. general name of individual sports performed alone. has an expression. Finally something useful came up. So the pilots:

• body strength
• Agility
• talent development

to do and stand-alone competition required. We count how many people are in the car: 1. The competition part alone is complete. Let’s examine the other three titles together. Even if I compare with myself to see the difference between Formula 1 athletes and a normal person, it will be very useful to know my own scores in some evaluations that we can use in comparison.

Body strength:

First of all, one of the most basic points in this field; ability to bear weightis inner strength and power that can be applied. As cars accelerate, there is a feeling of inertia on the runway, like an airplane accelerating. This feeling is not difficult to sustain. What if the plane suddenly stops? If the plane has to stop so that we don’t get thrown and break a place We’re wearing that belt. 5G during braking in Formula 1 vehicles you have strength. If you hit the wall, 15-16G force will be on you.

To fully understand this, let’s do it this way, multiply the weight of the things on you by the number of G forces acting on it. 8 kilograms your helmet feels like 40 kilograms when braking. Max Verstappen like 51G If you hit the wall with force, that helmet 408 pounds applies force. You and I would probably have broken our neck, the man was on TV in the evening.

Another point is to actually use those tools. how hard it is not knowing. It takes a lot of force to hold the steering wheel, even pressing the accelerator and brake. Go to a gym and increase the leg press to 100 kilograms. set. Let’s say we chose an easy track and do a set of 15 in this leg press. Full 90 sets. IN EXACTLY AN HOUR AND A HOUR. Why did I ask for this since I don’t mean your life? In Formula 1 cars, you need to apply 100 kilograms of force for the brakes to work. Pilots brake 15-20 times per minute. Is it necessary to give examples to the rest of the body one by one? I don’t think so, but let me tell you, muscles in our body that we don’t know exist even they need to run.

For the sake of fairness, I’ll say I did it myself. in Istanbulpark I’ll do a qualifying lap, but you have to pick me up from the wall in the pit entrance lap. Whereas AlphaTauri’s It is much easier for me to apply 100 kilograms of force, since the combined weight of the two pilots does not match my weight.

Durability If we include the concept of business, the situation becomes even more serious. Because inside the cockpit 55-60 degrees and the pilots’ breaths per minute reach 40 at the highest speeds. Their pulse during the race between 170-180 is happening. There can be only one reason why I, representing the standard person, stayed in that heat for so long, I am cooking meat on the barbecue for a large group.

Agility:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UE0Y3LVZbE

There are two ways to measure this. One of them, everyone can try starting challenge. This challenge, in which we try to stop the counter by pressing the screen as soon as the five red lights go out, serves to measure the speed of the fingers.

Pilots do this at the latest. in the 0.3 they can. I also entered this time period when I downloaded and tried applications from the Internet, but considering that I write 3-4 thousand words a day and have been holding a game controller in my hand since childhood, it is not surprising that I press the keys quickly. Here is our main game Swamp (not in the coffee shop).

Measures hand-eye coordination In this game, you have to press the flashing keys on the screen as quickly and in time as possible. The more buttons you press in a minute, the better. F1 drivers in this field 70-80 points while the average person is doing 50. If we multiply my 30-second score by 2, my score is 84. His reputation is goalkeeper Mignolet, who is a goalkeeper with good reflexes. Imagine that there are pilots with faster reflexes than him. Heikki Kovalainen If you have superhuman reflexes such as 121, you can do it.

Ability to develop:

Formula 1 drivers watch in the simulator and aim to prepare for races. From a very narrow space they have to control both the track and their mirrors and react to what they see. This ability can only be perfected over time and allows champions to appear by passing a certain level.

Drivers dedicate themselves to their racing careers from a very young age. Every workout they do to become a better pilot to enable them to develop their skills.

In other words, when we look at what makes an athlete an athlete, Formula 1 pilots are at least football playersathletes as well as tennis players and other athletes. There’s only one area where the average person like me is better than anyone else in Formula 1: it’s eating up my life. Faster than the Ferrari team to change tires.