How do F1 drivers deal with jet lag during the season?

F1 is a truly global motorsport championship, as a season typically covers five continents within a 10-month period.

This means the paddock is constantly on the move and F1 drivers need to get comfortable with a new time zone at short notice.

Australia is a particularly difficult one as Melbourne – host of the Australian Grand Prix – is 11 hours ahead of the United Kingdom, which is where over 50% of F1 teams are headquartered.

F1 also visits countries like Japan and Mexico who have a time difference of five plus hours to the UK, meaning teams and drivers have certain ways to combat the effects of jet lag.

So, what are these methods and how bad can the jet lag be?

Why do F1 teams need to consider jet lag?

The 2024 F1 season will feature a record-breaking 24 grands prix, so teams will constantly switch between time zones in order to get from one destination to the next.

Some of these circuits also have a significantly different time zone to the other, like Shanghai is 12 hours ahead of Miami yet the two races are separated by just a couple of weeks on the calendar. So, when a person undertakes such heavy travelling like that, it will cause jet lag which is extreme tiredness felt after a long flight.

It is common for everybody in the paddock because F1 has a gruelling schedule and runs to such tight timings. A grand prix weekend, for example, typically goes from Thursday to Sunday meaning teams and drivers do not spend long in one location – especially when the races are on consecutive weekends.

This leaves drivers with minimal time to recover from jet lag, which is not ideal because the impact it could have on athletes is huge, as extreme tiredness can lead to a lack of concentration – an essential skill when driving a racing car at high speeds.

Jet lag can therefore have a negative impact on performance which means it is essential for teams to overcome the possibility of that.

However, it is not just the drivers that need to overcome jet lag – it’s the same for the whole garage. Imagine how difficult it would be to complete a highly pressurised pitstop in less than two seconds while the crew are all suffering from jet lag.

Every member of an F1 team needs to be at peak condition during the race weekend, which is why squads must consider ways in which to overcome jet lag.

How do F1 drivers overcome jet lag?

F1 drivers…