F1 Legend Fernando Alonso: ‘Giving Up Meat Has Been Great for My Energy’
The Spanish racing legend currently drives for Aston Martin. In 2005, he became F1’s youngest world champion (he was 24 at the time). Now aged 43, he is the oldest driver on the grid. He sat down with Men’s Health.
How has your training evolved from your first GP in 2001 to now?
It has changed. Training when you are 20 is different to in your forties. The biggest change is that I do a lot less cardio and a lot more weights now. After age 33, 34, you start losing muscle by maybe 1% every year. That happens to every human being. We try to recover that [loss].
Does what you gain in experience compensate for any physical edge you might lose with age?
Yes. Motor sport is not dependent on the physical strength of the athlete. It’s a combination of man and machine. The driver has to be fit enough to finish the race without any mistakes, and to be able to push at the maximum, but strength isn’t just physical, it’s also mental. And when you feel good within yourself, I think you perform better.
What does your current training schedule look like?
Off-season, we do the heavier part of the training: four or five hours a day, a combination of two or three days of cardio – biking, swimming, running or whatever – and three days in the gym lifting weights, especially the upper part of the body, with the neck the star of the show. And then, during the F1 season, we have 24 races in different time zones, so we do more maintenance training, getting ready for the weekend, just two hours a day.
Is your diet meticulously controlled?
Yes, because we need to stay the same weight throughout the season. The car itself is built around me, [to accommodate] my weight. We do the seat-fit in February. It’s made exactly to the shape of our back and shoulders, so you can’t be more than, say, half a kilo out, for 11 months.
What does your diet look like now?
Last November, I changed to a vegetarian diet – partly for nutrition, and a bit of ethics, as well. It was easier than expected. Sometimes I miss a bit of Spanish ham or something, but that’s not very often.
At first, it was hard to believe that there are ways of keeping the protein up without the meat and fish. But everything has protein in it, in one way or another. And some of the shakes can be better than what you eat.
I’ve felt the benefits to my energy levels. I think my sleep is better. But everyone is different. I encourage everyone to try different things because food is powerful.
You’ve won two Championships in in 2005 and 2006. What career goals are you still hoping to hit?
Obviously the first one that comes to my mind is to win a race again soon. My last win in Formula 1 was back in 2013. I want to feel that emotion again. I know that I’m not young anymore, and I don’t know how many more years I will have in Formula 1, so the time is precious now.
After Formula 1, I also have some challenges that I want to attempt. One of them is competing again in Dakar Rally, as I did in 2020.
Are things easier or harder for the new generation of drivers entering F1?
I think it’s different. It’s true that they are well prepared – they have a lot of simulator hours, they know all the circuits, all the cars.
When I came to Formula 1 in 2001, we didn’t have simulators, so I remember going to Australia to walk the track. ‘Ok, first corner is right, second corner is left’, these kinds of things. Now, if a new driver comes to F1, they do 1,000 laps in in Australia before flying there. So, there are advantages. But it will never be easy when you get in the real car and do the first lap – you know, the stress and the pressure.
Is the experience of driving very different to 20 years ago?
Twenty years ago, the cars were more physical to drive. They were lighter and felt faster – or that was the impression they gave, the stop-watch doesn’t say that! Those cars had more mechanical grip, so the drivers could feel everything inside the cockpit. Now the cars are more sophisticated. They are a lot softer, in terms of the feedback. You rely less on pure instinct to drive. Twenty years ago, it was just a car that went very fast, but still not so different to any other car.
Have the technical advances made it more challenging for drivers?
We have a lot of data these days. Our cars are full of sensors and you’re getting a lot of information from many different departments on how to optimise performance. So when you jump in the car, you have to mix everything and drive in the way you’ve been told to, at the same time as going fast.
We also have a lot of [additional] activities now, there’s a lot of interest from fans, social media, all these things. You have a lot more things in your head than you did 20 years ago, and you have to deal with all of those in order to perform. It’s a bit more of a mental exercise.
Are you a good sleeper?
I sleep well. Sleep is key for everything I do – for our lifestyle, the travelling, you must sleep every opportunity you have. I sleep nine hours, average. If I can sleep 10 or 11 hours one night, that’s even better.
Which of these statements feels truer to you: I love winning or I hate losing?
I hate losing.
If you could have dinner with one driver this evening, who would you choose?
Ayrton Senna.
If you had to do one exercise every day for the rest of your life, which would you choose?
I would take my bicycle out every day if I could. My favourite place to cycle is my hometown in Oviedo.
Least favourite exercise?
Neck training [strengthening the neck with weights or resistance bands] is not very comfortable. But we have to do it because the neck is the most important part of the driver. You get used to it, but I imagine that for a person that is not a driver, it would not be a nice thing.
The G forces are something people cannot really understand until they live it, you know? Even on a roller coaster, it’s not the same. When we break, we have 5Gs [a force equal to five times a person's weight]. It's unthinkable for people at home. But that’s the magic of the sport!
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