And for dinners: a bit more free. Dinners are normally, let’s say, my cheat meal kind of times. When I’m at home, normally I would go out with my friends, and I’ll go to restaurants and stuff like that. The only thing I really have to avoid, because I hate it, is any seafood or shell-based food. Basically anything under the sea is a big no-no, and I cannot even get near so that’s like the biggest âNo.â
Normally it’s Italian. Italian is my favorite cuisine, I would say pasta, pizza, that kind of thing is my go-to. Race weekendsânot something too heavy, but it can be even like a small chicken burger. Maybe some more wraps, but really not a lot. I’ll never have a big meal or a big evening meal on a race weekend. It’s normally kept to smaller quantities, but the bit more often of snacks and bars and that kind of thing. I never have a big lunch or a big breakfast or a big dinner.
What’s your training regimen like? Are there exercises specifically for drivers that you focus on?
The most important thing that the driver needs is endurance. So whether that’s cycling or running, I fluctuate with what I prefer, but at the minute it’s probably running. I have a group chat with my friends where we all put our runs in a group chat to try and keep it competitive and motivate one another to go running, I feel like that helps a lot. So running for me, but it’s a 5k, 10k but also, more importantly, I’m running in heat.
Running normally with a hoodie on, thermals on, because the big task of being behind the wheel is it’s not always nice and cool, and you’re not performing at your optimum body temperature. You’re normally over. So doing your runs, or maybe cycling inside with your hoodie with the heaters onâthat kind of thing, just to get your body acclimatizing and trying to getting as used to that as possible.
The neck is probably the biggest thing, I would say. For you, in a car, straight away, the thing you would struggle with most is your neck, because it’s the thing that gets used the least in normal life, but it’s the thing that’s almost used the most, and the only thing that’s really not supported when you’re in a race car. So a lot of neck work to try and improve on these things, and that includes core, glutes, all of these kind of things tie in together, and then it’s just mobility and just stretching a lot, because the last thing we can ever do is have an injury because of tightness and things like that, especially post-race. Keeping on top of that is very important. So neck, cardio endurance, heat training, and then the the core, glutes, mobility are probably the main things.
How much time would you say you spend on training during the week?
It depends where we are in season. Often it’s better that I almost don’t do anything for two or three days between races and more just stretching is what I would do. But when there’s a longer break, when we’re off for three three and a half weeks, I would probably sayâprobably not every day, but at least every other day. It might be that you do two days and then two days off, or one day on, one day off. But normally during the season, because we do 24 races in quite a short amount of time, we can stay in the rhythm of it, and you keep your body in it. But as soon as you have a bit too long of a break, keeping on top of neck is quite important, and the cardio side of things as well. So I would say, at least every other day.
Have you always been a fragrance guy?
Yeah. I mean, we’re getting so sweaty so often, [laughs] whether you’re training or driving or, you know, when I’m at the factory, we’re on the simulator a lot, the must that I always have the team do is make sure that there’s either like an aftershave or a fragrance or deodorant. I think it’s such a simple thing, but it’s something that is also your personality, but it also you just never want to smell bad, right? it’s a basic thing in life. I think it’s a normal hygiene thing in life, and it’s just always a nice thing, and it gives you good confidence when you know you’re smelling good. So I would say, since I started driving and racing, because you normally just sweating and hard and so much you always want to be making sure you’re smelling good.
Is there anything in particular you like about Polo Red?
Apart from the fact that I was part of the whole thing, I don’t like things being generally too overpowering and too strong. I like probably a little bit more a lighter side. So a couple of the main things that we have are the grapefruit, the red grapefruit, this is a bit more like a fun, joyful part of it. And then you have the mixture of this with the the sage, the woods, the coffee, which gives it the slightly heavier, darker side of it. it’s a good mix of not too overpowering, not overkill. When you’re doing sports and stuff like that, it’s the perfect thing.
When you are preparing for a race, what is your ritual to get centered?
The main thing is normally time alone. Quietness, which is not always an easy thing to find on a race weekend, especially before the raceâjust that peace and tranquility. My main thing is always to fist-bump my team on the grid. That’s like my thing that I do, because they’re just as much part of my race, with the pit stops, and they’re the guys who build my car every weekend. They’re just as much on board with me as I am being the one that’s actually driving the car. And I’m not just saying it because this is the interviewâthis is what it’s based upon. But normally, I always give a few puffs of the fragrance that I have before I go out and do the racing. This is something I normally do through the whole weekend. But again, it’s such a simple thing. But before I go out on Sunday just to give that little bit more confidence booster, and just like, âI’ve got it, and I know what I need to think of, I can focus on my race is,â normally, a quick spray of a fragrance and making sure I’m smelling good, not because I necessarily just know I want to be smelling good and everyone’s going to be smelling me or something, but it’s just more like a mental thing of just a bit of confidence and, with racing and when so much stuff’s going on, little things along the way can help you be in the right mindset and make sure you’re ready to go out and do what you got to do, and not letting bad thoughts get in the way.
