Regardless of where you race or what series, heat is a by-product of motorsport that can drastically impact a racing driver’s health and performance.

The human body adapts well to heat, but when that heat reaches up to 82°C in closed-cabin cars, that poses new and unique challenges.

Add on top of that the multiple layers of clothing required to race (underwear, socks, fire suit, fire-resistant shoes, gloves, balaclavas, and, of course, a crash helmet), then you have a real challenge on your hands when pushing the machine to the limit consistently.

I’m here to give you the results of my research and experience to explain how heat impacts performance and provide strategies to overcome its challenges.

How Heat Affects Racing Drivers

In 2018, Kasey Kahne retired from NASCAR due to chronic issues caused by dehydration during races. Heat severely dehydrates you. This especially applies if you don’t replenish liquids during the race.

Heat stress and dehydration also cause greater perceptions of:

• Discomfort

• Reduced performance

• Cognitive impairment

• Heat stroke

• Loss of consciousness

Safety is a top priority in motorsport. However, protecting drivers in some areas might be putting them in danger in others.

To meet racewear regulations, drivers must wear layers of fireproof safety clothing including underwear, socks, fire suit, fire-resistant shoes, gloves, balaclavas, and, of course, a crash helmet.

As a result, the uniform impedes heat loss, eliminates skin exposure to sweat evaporation, and impairs thermoregulation.

This predisposes drivers to dangerous levels of heat stress that can have serious short and long-term effects on performance.

Is there a solution?

How Racing Drivers Can Combat Heat

Although sufficient data is yet to emerge as a tried and tested technique for reducing the effects of heat on racing drivers, here are a few techniques to help you:

Hydrate Aggressively

It’s rare to see elite racing drivers walking around the paddock without a drink in their hand. Whether it’s raining or sunny, staying sufficiently hydrated is essential to optimising your body and mind for performance.

If your race category/ series allows it, fit a drinking tube to your helmet and take sips throughout racing events. This is what they do at the pinnacle of motorsports - Formula 1. As Kimi Raikkonen’s various radio calls suggest, when drivers don’t have “the drink”, it can be quite annoying.

Replenishing the fluids you lose throughout the race is key to avoiding the effects of heat, but you also need to aggressively hydrate post-race to recover.

Train in the heat

Acclimatising your body to heat, although is one of the best ways to manage heat stress, can be nearly impossible without the appropriate facilities (especially if you live in British weather).

It’s not an instant fix, either. Heat acclimation needs to be structured in a programme to help slow dehydration, and maintain cognitive function and driving ability in hot environments.

Training with high intensity in hot weather is the best way of doing this without the appropriate facilities. However, if you can, top sports universities have facilities that you can enquire about training in to acclimatise your body to perform in the heat.

Wear cooling undergarments

Ice vests are a cost-effective solution to combat the temperatures. These vests, designed to be worn under racing suits, offer a strategic cooling effect, helping drivers maintain optimal body temperatures even amidst intense competition.

Improve cardiovascular health

Studies show a strong link between cardiovascular health and heat tolerance. By prioritising exercises that improve heart health (like running), drivers can better manage heat stress, ensuring they stay focused on the track.

Recap

Whatever time of year wherever you are in the world, knowing how to manage heat can be the difference between winning and losing.