2019-08-01_Men_s_Health_South_Africa

That TAG Heuer is involved in F1 is

no surprise; in a sport where seconds

are dissected into fragments so small

it’s difficult to believe, a Swiss watch

brand makes perfect sense (and in fact,

it has been involved in the sport since its

inception in 1950, with 2019 marking

the 50-year anniversary of the brand’s

iconic Monaco timepiece). Likewise, its

choice to partner with Red Bull Racing

makes perfect sense. Winning, after all,

is addictive. And so, it seems, is the famed

Monaco street circuit itself.

“For me, it’s my favourite track in

qualifying. It’s the one lap with the most

adrenaline. You’re so close to the wall and

trying to extract everything you can. The

race there is 95% qualifying. You need to

really make sure you nail everything in

t h a t l ap.”

While driving a car for two hours every

Sunday doesn’t sound overly demanding

(especially in the vast emptiness of the

Australian bush, where a two-hour drive

will carry you halfway to your letterbox),

it’s a different game entirely in an F1

machine. The power, the grip and the

brutal physicality of the experience see

drivers thrown against their harnesses

like they’re attached to a multi-directional

bungee cord, all while battling heat or rain,

or both.

“It’s very physical. Especially with

these new cars. Last year, every weekend

we broke a track record. F1 cars have never

been as fast as they are at the moment,”

Gasly says.

“We pull up to 5.5 G when braking, and

five G in the corners. It’s clearly a lot more

physical than people think. It’s not like

driving a normal car; pressing two pedals

and turning the wheel.

“A race is between 90 minutes and

two hours, and depending on the location

• like Singapore or Malaysia, which are
  really hot – you’ll lose up to three litres
  of liquid during a race. So, after one-and-
  a-half-hours of racing, you’ve lost three
  kilograms, and you’re still driving at
  350km/h and you need to stay focused.
  “Whatever I do in training or in the
  simulators, there is nothing that demands
  such an intense focus as what you feel on
  the track... to what you experience when
  the lights go out at the start. I almost
  become someone else. There’s a switch that
  f licks on in your head, and you just become
  t h i s d i f fer ent g u y.”
  But roughly an hour before this stirring
  Jekyll-Hyde transformation takes place,
  you know exactly where you’ll find F1’s
  most exciting prospect: Gasly will be in the
  Land of Nod.

“F1 DEMANDS AN INTENSE FOCUS. THERE’S A

SWITCH THAT FLICKS ON IN YOUR HEAD, AND

YOU JUST BECOME THIS DIFFERENT GUY.”

SPEED