Dodgy Business: Making the fighting weight
With the advent of KERS, Tony Dodgins wonders how much of an impact drivers' weight will have on performance and compares F1 to that other great weight-related sport boxing.
Something Robert Kubica said at the BMW launch got my attention. He was talking about the disadvantages of being a taller, thus heavier driver at a time when the added 30-45 kilos of KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems) becomes a reality in Formula One.
"Last year," he said, "I tried to lose weight and in the first half of the season I was maybe too light, I'd say." Kubica had dropped around six kilos and the implication was that the weight loss may have impacted on things such as strength, endurance and concentration.
Share Or Save This Story
Autosport 70: F1's age-old problems and how to fix them
Best features of 2012: Early signs Kimi would star
2012: F1 as it should be?
The hidden truths of Schumacher's comeback
Celebrating Peter Sauber: F1 survivor
Raikkonen and Lotus: Opinion dividers
Ferrari tactics: Right or wrong?
Can Ferrari find the magic bullet?
How real-time scrutineering ensures fair and consistent competition in motorsport
How MotoGP brakes work: Secrets of stopping a 220mph bike
Hyundai enacts contingency plan after WRC Kenya fuel issue
Vanwall working on 2025 WEC comeback with heavily-revised Hypercar
Why F1 2026 worst case fears could be key to new rules success
How the F1 driver market situation sits for each team with 2025 openings
What's been going wrong for Leclerc in F1's tiny margins qualifying game
What the Chinese GP's highlights reveal about its first F1 race for five years
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
