Though this year’s Bahrain round will be a night race for the first time, the debate over driver weights continued in the paddock at Sakhir on Thursday after suggestions in Malaysia that some of the heavier racers are dehydrating themselves right up until the end of qualifying in order to minimise their weight.
At 59 kg Williams’ Felipe Massa is believed to be the lightest driver currently, and at 75 kg Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg and Sauber’s Adrian Sutil, who are both tall, the heaviest. The drivers’ racing kit - flameproof underwear, socks, gloves, balaclava, boots, helmet and HANS device - adds around 4-5 kg. Last year Giedo van der Garde found his situation at Caterham so tight that the team reverted to the 2012 stepped nose because it was half a kilo lighter than the smoother 2013 version.
Weight has a huge impact on lap time. On a 5.412 km track such as Sakhir, every extra 10 kg can add three or four-tenths of a second, which is highly significant when you consider that in Malaysia the top 11 drivers in Friday practice were covered by a second… And though the minimum weight of 2014 cars rose from 642 to 691 kg, there is no allowance for disparity in driver weight in the overall equation, thus conferring a significant packaging and weight distribution benefit on teams who have lighter drivers.
McLaren’s Jenson Button said before the season that he needed to lose a kilo from his 71, and seriously considered going the dehydration route. But after spending five days prior to Malaysia doing humidity training at a camp in Phukhet run by four-time triathalon champion Chris McCormack, he revealed with evident relief that he no longer had the problem that he been anticipating
, or at least a revolutionary new turbo design that splits the components up and allows smaller intercoolers and piping and a more compact engine/gearbox design.