Inside the diet of an F1 driver: Private chefs, blood tests and NO fish

Lando Norris has opened up about his 'strict' diet as an F1 star, admitting that he doesn't cook any of his own meals.

Like many top sports stars, Norris has a chef on hand to help him get the perfect balance of nutrients into his body for an ever-more demanding F1 schedule (and, presumably, to rule out the risk of giving himself food poisoning).

The McLaren star even revealed that he does frequent blood tests to figure out what sort of things he needs his chef to cook to balance things out. For example, as he revealed to Sidney Schutte, head chef at two Michelin star restaurant Spectrum, he's often low in Omega 3 thanks to his decision not to eat fish.

While not eating fish might seem like an unnecessary limitation to put on his own diet, that's nothing compared to some in the sporting world. Current NFL coach Jim Harbaugh, for example, famously insisted that quarterback Wilson Speight not have any chicken as part of his diet.

Why avoid a meat that so many athletes use as a staple of their highly specialised diets? Well, Harbaugh believed that chickens are 'a nervous bird', and didn't want his star QB to have any part of that (for what it's worth, Harbaugh has rolled back his stance on chickens in the years since. The 61-year-old now owns some, and 'plays and runs around with them' in his yard).

Norris reveals unusual pre-race meal

Nervous birds aside, Norris said of his own intake: “My diet’s quite strict. I'll have a chef who does all my food. I always do blood tests, to see what I'm lacking, because I don’t eat fish so Omega 3 I'm normally very low. then he’ll cook foods that is special for me, what I'm deficient in. Iron. Magnesium. Omega 3. Whatever it may be.”

The Brit also revealed that he usually has a burger post-race, with Schutte expressing his surprise that his performance team don't have a problem with that practice – and Norris replying: “No, that’s not cheating. That’s legal! My trainer gives me the burger, so if he gives it to me it’s fine.”

Norris' burger comment speaks to something still often misunderstood about athletes' diets – the simple fact that exercise burns calories and fat reserves, and that those need to be replenished.

While the 1,500 calories burned over the course of some F1 races is nothing compared to the 8,000 calories a cyclist can go through over the course of a tough one-day race (or tour stage), that still needs to be put back in the body, and you can't achieve that with a big bowl of leafy greens.

All of that being said, we'd love to hear what combination of factors goes into Norris' pre-race fuel being 'popcorn, pretzels, and pineapple'. That's quite the flavour profile.

READ MORE: Why is Lando Norris the most hated man in F1?

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