How professional race car drivers prepare for Florida's heat and humidity

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. —

Before every race, drivers prepare for the physical and mental toll.

"If they blink, they lose the sight of more than a football field," driving coach Samuel Feldman said.

However, sometimes, despite all the preparations, it’s the weather that can make all the difference.

"Weather and racing go hand in hand very much," engineer Ian Lehn said.

From Formula 1 in Miami to the Daytona 500 to IndyCar in St. Petersburg, Florida, is a massive hub for motorsports. However, our state’s heat and humidity can create grueling conditions for drivers.

"People don't understand how tough it is to drive these cars," NTT IndyCar Series driver Marcus Ericsson, who won the Indianapolis 500 in 2022, said.

"You are in a car for over an hour, having your body acted on by probably an average of about three-plus times your weight through gravity," Feldman said.

We stopped by the Motor Enclave to get a taste. While IndyCars reach top speeds of over 230 mph and Formula 1 cars can often top over 200 mph, we got a glimpse quickly climbing nearly 100 mph on the straightaway, then quickly braking for the first turn. While we felt only a fraction of the G-force drivers experience, the pros can feel a force as heavy as a grand piano.

"So imagine doing that with a suit, helmet, in the sun, for two hours," Motor Enclave club pro Gerardo Bonilla said.

"Your heart rate's spiked, you're in that hot cockpit, you have a full fire suit on, a helmet, not a lot of airflow," NTT IndyCar Series driver Kyle Kirkwood said.

"It feels like you're in a fighter jet, like you're a fighter jet pilot, and the heat, because of that, you don't have air running through," Ericsson said.

Drivers can face extreme conditions inside the cockpit with temperatures up to 140 degrees, leading to dehydration.

Even for a two-hour race in Florida, it's common for drivers to experience significant weight loss.

"I would probably lose around anything from four to six pounds in just fluid from the amount you sweat through the race," Ericsson said.

"Hydration is probably the biggest part of that survival so that your brain can focus on the driving," Bonilla said.

It’s why in the months leading up to a race, it’s time to put the pedal to the medal through intense physical training.

"Because they don't have power steering, upper body is important, so stuff from the bench press to a front raise for shoulders to shrugs, anything that can strengthen the upper body," Feldman said.

Hot weather also has a huge impact on track conditions. Generally, the hotter it is, the better the tire grip, but the trade-off is that the tires wear down faster.

"Living in Florida, you don't want to walk barefoot on black tarmac when it's really hot, and it's sunny out," Kirkwood said. "That's essentially what's happening to our tires, too."

"That track is just getting baked," Lehn said.

Engineers have to factor in everything from heat and humidity to rain and pressure.

"They put rain tires on the cars, and the drivers train for it," Bonilla said. "And some of the drivers hype on it. They love driving in the rain because now it feels like the car has twice the power and half the grip, but you still got to drive."

"If you don't account for the change in barometric pressure, those pressures could be different inside of the cylinder, which is a huge, a huge issue," Lehn said.

"It's a lot tougher than people expect," Ericsson said.

Despite the elements, Bonilla says one of the best parts of racing is the people.

"The community of motorsports is a very tight-knit community," Bonilla said. "Teams compete against each other. But when one team has a tragedy, all the teams come in and support that team."

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