(Motorsport-Total.com) – Formula 1 is enjoying its last days of vacation: teams and drivers are spending the remaining free moments before the second half of the season kicks off next week with the Dutch Grand Prix in Zandvoort.
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But how should this eagerly awaited break actually be classified? Can it act like a real season restart? Our colleagues from Motorsport.com Italy, a sister platform of Motorsport-Total.com in the Motorsport Network, asked Riccardo Ceccarelli, mental coach and head behind Formula Medicine.
“From a certain perspective, I would clearly say: Yes, you have to understand this time as a complete season restart. What is the purpose of a vacation for a driver, an athlete at all? To clear the mind. This certainly applies not only to professional athletes but basically to all of us.”
“We draw a positive conclusion from a vacation if we have succeeded in immersing ourselves so deeply in another world that we could completely leave professional worries behind. At exactly this moment, our brain reacts like a shut-down computer: it is completely reset once to then restart like new.”
Question: “So the topic concerns everyone. But how valuable is this effect specifically for racing drivers?”
Riccardo Ceccarelli: “Extremely valuable. If a driver does not clear his mind but constantly glances at the championship table and worries about the teammate being ahead, he makes life unnecessarily difficult for himself.”
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“It is a mistake to calculate or desperately think during vacation that you absolutely have to win the next race. Exactly that must not happen during a break.”
“Such thoughts simply have no place during a recovery phase, as they only increase the stress level. This directly affects the emotional level: our limbic system then lets us experience feelings that should actually be positive but absolutely are not in this context.”
Break and switching off are important
Question: “So the less one talks about racing and Formula 1, the better?”
Ceccarelli: “Every person is a bit different. However, the basic rule during vacation is: switch off the brain and do not waste any energy on professional problems. A vacation must be a real immersion.”
“That is why you also choose a nice environment with all comforts. Whoever is in a pleasant oasis of well-being is automatically distracted from the demands of everyday professional life.”
“However, if a driver talks nonstop about his job with fans, friends, and relatives during vacation, he does not create the necessary distance. He deprives himself of what we call the search for well-being.”
Question: “So the vacation should be consciously understood as a search for well-being?”
Ceccarelli: “Exactly. When I return to my workplace afterwards, I am full of energy and drive. It feels like starting from zero – no matter that I return to the same reality I just left. The brain is rested, the mind clear: the frontal lobe is freed from all ballast and superfluous things. You start again with full batteries.”
Question: “Sounds quite simple in theory …”
Ceccarelli: “At least for two weeks, the problems were somewhat on ice in the freezer, neither disturbing nor burdening. It is actually somewhat like a real new beginning.”
Question: “Is it therefore accurate to say that the summer break divides the Formula 1 season into two blocks? Can the return to the track be a real turning point for one’s season?”
Ceccarelli: “Yes, absolutely – provided that this mental cleansing we talked about actually succeeds. How often have we experienced ourselves that we could not progress at work because thoughts burdened us or we were nervous? When you then take a short five-minute coffee break and talk about completely different things, the brain briefly disconnects – and you can tackle the tasks afterwards with a much clearer head.”
“This positive effect of a coffee break can be multiplied many times: after all, it is not about a five-minute break but two whole weeks of vacation. This longer period unfolds a completely different effect, as it sustainably eliminates both physical exhaustion and mental stress.”
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What is allowed and what is not during vacation?
Question: “This tendency towards mental relaxation could tempt drivers to slack off on physical preparation discipline. Are there negative consequences if training is neglected or nutrition is changed?”
Ceccarelli: “That is an extremely important point. Because of course, an athlete who otherwise lives by strict rules and completely throws them overboard during vacation ultimately pays the price.”
“Whoever did not drink alcohol before and enjoys an aperitif every evening during vacation, or who used to go to bed at fixed times and suddenly stays up all night, must be very careful: he may have cleared his mind but risks returning to the track with a tired, sluggish body.”
“A professional athlete must therefore stay away from such excesses. Small deviations are completely fine, but one should not overdo it.”
Question: “So what is the optimal behavior for an athlete?”
Ceccarelli: “You can definitely treat yourself sometimes. It is perfectly fine to go to bed later one evening – as long as it does not become the rule and you catch up on sleep afterwards.”
“The basic lifestyle must not collapse: it is pointless to free the mind if the body is not at its best afterwards. The drivers are well-trained professionals who know exactly what matters.”
“Real outliers were seen more among mechanics in the past. They were not professional athletes back then, although they should have lived exactly like that. When we came back from vacation before, the pit stop mechanic sometimes limped because he had overdone it during the holidays: he tried a thousand new sports, overestimated his physical limits, and got injured.”
“The team bosses were regularly worried because they found people who were completely exhausted from a reckless vacation lifestyle and looked like they had just come from war.”
Who benefits the most?
Question: “Then it will be especially exciting in Zandvoort to watch the pit stop times to see who stayed in shape during the vacation …”
Ceccarelli: “No, that was an example from many years ago! Meanwhile, the culture among mechanics has fundamentally changed: they act extremely responsibly, if only because the full racing calendar no longer allows any slip-ups.”
“But it is true: in the past, team bosses were actually more worried about the fitness of the mechanics than the drivers after the summer break. Today, you hardly find a mechanic who is not in top shape. The pressure to professionalize is huge – otherwise, these mammoth seasons could not be endured anymore.”
Question: “Finally: who actually benefits more from this regeneration phase: a young wild one like Kimi Antonelli or an experienced veteran like Lewis Hamilton?”
Ceccarelli: “In my opinion, the break helps the generation in between the most. A Hamilton brings a lot of experience and knows exactly how to deal with such phases. Kimi Antonelli, on the other hand, is still very young and approaches many situations with a certain lightheartedness and pure fun.”
“But in the middle category – let’s take Charles Leclerc as a prototype of this age group, not as an individual: you no longer have the completely inexperienced teenager like Kimi, but also not yet the established champion who, like Hamilton, has already won everything.”
“Drivers at Charles’ age feel the pressure enormously because time is ticking and results are needed. Exactly this type of driver can draw the greatest strength from such a vacation.”
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