Racing, Rehearsals & Recovery: A Physio’s Role in Filming the F1 Movie

So, where to start with this one? Certainly one of the most unique experiences when it comes to films that I’ve been involved with. If I’m honest, there is something very special about sports movies that are striving to gain the approval of sports-dedicated fans. Attention to tiny details within the sport that general movie-goers would not recognise, but the purest see. At the point of writing this, I am super excited to see the next teaser/trailer, and cannot wait to see the movie. 

It's a lovely day, enjoying the vibrant energy of the film set

How It All Started

In terms of the journey, it started in early January 2023, where my availability was checked for a “racing movie” that included a bit of travel and a lot of filming at race tracks across the World. Having worked in F1 and other motor sports in the Performance Coach role, and at that point 11 years of film experience, I couldn't help but be very excited about the mysterious project. As the weeks passed and more details became available, it was clear that this was one of the most ambitious projects I’d seen, and because of my experience, it was right up my street. I was asked to outline what my role would look like to support such a project and how I may be able to influence drivers health and performance with the ultimate aim to getting the car ready, but also to help keep them safe as the cast expose themselves to speeds and G-forces that they were unaccustomed to.  

The interesting part is that for film, it is never going to be a copy and paste from a driver's conditioning playbook, as there are a number of different factors that alter the context dramatically. But first things first, we had to try to affect the fundamentals, and for driving, that is cardiovascular performance, stability within the drivers' trunk, and of course, the strength and capacity of their necks. We had some unbelievably talented stunt drivers whose careers took them to the brink of F1 themselves as well as multiple Championships across many driving formulas across the World, and on top of that experience and talent, they had many years of stunt driving in films. This unique mix allows them to drive in a way that those who are just racers can’t relate to, to nearly crash, essentially. I digress, but it was amazing to watch the cars dance in the drivers' hands to what some might call choreography on four wheels. Anyway, these drivers have driven much faster than we were due to drive but their goals were more along the lines of topping up some of the traits listed above as they had a great base from their years of experience and once they had a few days in the car their bodies often took over and adapted very quickly to the challenges. 

Neck and Back Conditioning

For cast, the starting point was lower, and the big challenge for this kind of conditioning is the barrier to loading necks and backs. Most people don’t like the sensation of exercising their necks as the stress or tightness they feel can be translated into a negative by their bodies or even a threat. So we had to go through a period of desensitizing them to that, and starting to build a foundation of stability and capacity. You’ll see a ton of amazing exercises from F1 drivers and their Performance Coaches to strengthen necks, but remember, these drivers have had years of driving experience and neck training behind them. So , building from the ground up can be very simple , and progress can be very quick initially. Drip feeding isometric hold against your own resistance (video) is and was a simple, accessible place to start. You control the effort levels, so naturally you can be safe by listening to what your neck likes and holding there rather than throwing a huge weight into the neck and resisting against that. By manipulating the variables within these simple exercises, we went along was to improving tolerance to load as well as stability and capacity. Interestingly, some long-term neck tightness and pains actually cleared up just from adding these exercises to the end of sessions. This is actually quite common for those who have not trained their necks before. 

Warm up station

Prep Phase 

During the prep and rehearsal phases, this is easier to administer because the schedule is predictable, and it is all about preparing to shoot. Constant work hours allow the development of routine, and that is exactly what the body enjoys and needs. Progress was good, and then some more advanced neck work could be done. This can be in the form of more dynamic isotonic work, which can have the effect of building a bit of muscle size, as well as further increasing the neck's capacity to absorb force through high-speed corners or aggressive breaking zones. Again, these exercises are very accessible and essentially utilise the weight of your own head against gravity by shifting your body's position and starting to work, in a controlled manner, through range. Exercises were started in a simple linear motion before adding complexity by adding rotation. So simple, but when dosed effectively and at the right movement, super effective. 

Training on set

In prep, the primary aim was to make the cast comfortable and safe when driving, slowly being exposed to greater speeds and learning about how the car is handled in certain situations which really is an amazing science. In our context, the stunt drivers were the teachers and imparted their knowledge on the cast to help them understand why they do certain things as well as why the car reacts in a certain way. So this primary focus was achieved by churning out the laps, making some errors, understanding the errors, and reapplying the principles with this new knowledge they had. It does take a huge amount of resilience to drive at the speeds they were driving at and to go again, especially after a wobble. Sometimes it’s hard to remember that they are not actually drivers. After thousands of km (more laps at Silverstone than most F2 drivers have done), these skills were being grooved in , and the cast really started to enjoy themselves. 

One thing to know about these cars is how affected they are by the environment. Cold days = great difficulty getting breaks and tyres up to temperature, so it’s counter-intuitive to a novice that driving faster in these conditions actually will make it safer, because tyres have more grip and brakes are more responsive. Also, confidence is key. Confidence to actually go fast and trust the machine you’re sitting in to do its job and keep you safe. For these reasons, I think what the cast achieved was insanely impressive. 

The prep phase is as good as it gets with a focus on just the driving and doing the things to prepare for the shoot, hence the name of the phase. From here on in, focus is naturally divided as more things come into play. 

Rehearsal Phase 

In racing, you have clear, defined times the drivers are in the car, either in terms of several laps or a specific time. Often, these stints are very long and continuous. Not really getting a break unless there’s a red flag or a safety car. Whereas when rehearsing and filming, there are other considerations and many other amazing people and departments who need input on the prop (in this case the car… and yes the car would be defined as a prop, incredible right??) and cast.

So what that means is that a pre-defined number of laps are often planned, and this includes out laps to get tyres and brakes up to temperature before the hot laps take place where all the departments have their eyes on what’s being captured. Whilst this is happening, the cast are trying to execute their lines, and actually perform whilst handling a very fast car and keeping it on the track. The cognitive capacity of the cast to do this was insane, as let's not forget they had only had a couple of months to go from novice in these cars to rehearsals. A testament to their ability to take on these new skills, but also the training and coaching from the stunt drivers, who imparted their vast knowledge of driving and digestible ways for the casts to take on. 

The runs would often be cut short for technical tweaks from departments, including camera and sound, as they were literally innovating every day to capture the vision from the director. Naturally, this also changed when they were able to show new things that were possible, so every day it evolved. That could mean a stop-start day from the drivers, which, from a physiological and energy side, isn’t ideal, but it was essential to get everything as close to perfect as possible. Depending on the temperature and exposure, the drivers were losing a lot of water and were, at times, at risk of heat exhaustion if not managed well. As a group, this was done by a key group from the head of stunts, the stunt drivers and myself, to ensure adequate opportunities to cool down and rehydrate were given. Let’s not forget that as little as 2% of bodyweight lost in water can lead to a 30% reduction in aerobic capacity, as well as the obvious drop off in cognitive function and reactions. Hard enough for elite drivers to cope with, and something we had to be mindful of as the cast also had to act in the car. Using hydration tablets in their fluids was essential to get as much of the fluid they took in to work from them and reduce the amount excreted. We used Precision Hydrations 500s, which everyone enjoyed, and were light on the stomach.  

Treatment and warm up space in Silverstone

Prep and rehearsals were the vast amount of the intense driving was done. Longer stints meant a lot of learning taking place. Interestingly, our stunt drivers can drive around at speeds of 140-180mph with a heart rate of around 120 bpm when they were driving together, which just goes to show just how well they function at high speeds, although this wasn’t necessarily high speeds for them. Even more interestingly, at least for a geek like me, is that their heart rates jumped by 15-20% when they were on the track with the cast. This is due to a number of things, including their amazing ability to coach and protect the cast whilst delivering high speed and performance. It was almost like a cast tax on their physiology. 

When we were away in the hotter locations, these stints were incredibly taxing. High levels of heat = High levels of sweat = A reduction in aerobic capacity = Reduced ability to regulate temperature…. As you can see, that’s quite a vicious cycle. So we had to take every opportunity to reduce exposure to the sun and heat during these stints. Hydration tablets were added to water to enable their bodies to retain as much of the fluid they were putting in as possible, ice vests were used between runs in the car, and then the obvious things like umbrellas and fans were used to block the sun and attempt to get some cooler air around them. Post-driving rehydration was the number one priority, and depending on the day's schedule, ice baths were used. There are tonnes of ways to utilise ice baths, but we utilised protocols specifically to aid muscular recovery. 

Filming Phase 

This is obviously where the magic is captured that we all see on the screen. On this project, it could be a relatively quiet time for myself, as the physio and trainer, especially if everything is going well on a physical front. The cast have full focus on delivering a performance related to their role, and it was very important to allow space for them to happen. This is where a background in elite performance needs to be managed. As it is often impossible to deliver what physiologically and physical performance-wise is the gold standard. You need to time your run as the trainer, and be ok with letting go of some of the details so as not to intrude too much on their mental prep and creative sides of the job. However, there are some safety-related things that you have to stand your ground on. Things like ensuring the time to warm up is not compromised, as that compounding effect of the warm up , as well as the acute effect of readiness for each drive, is essential. Especially if we want to achieve our goal of minimal disruption in terms of filming and also the cast members' bandwidth, because they might then need to manage unnecessary tightness or discomfort. Thankfully, we had created an environment where this was very much part of the routine, and mental prep for the car, and that went a long way to ensuring we lost no time in the car to pain, and the studio's money was never lost for this reason. 

As much as you need to give space for the rest of the work to be done, it was important to attempt to find a balance and subtle ways to get the message across that we need to be consistent with some of the things that have been done well up to that point. That can be a challenge because cast have their processes, and needs in terms of onscreen performance, things that they may have been doing for many years. Not interfering with those was key, along with creating an environment where the cast knows you’re always around or close by to jump in when the opportunity arises. Those with backgrounds in elite sports have to let go of their need for what they deem the gold-standard approach is, and potentially prioritise those big rocks or those things that have the smallest input for the largest impact. There is certainly no one size fits all, but knowing this and being flexible, and armed with multiple ways to get an outcome, is and was required. Obviously, there are lots of things that cannot be spoken about, so I thought it best to just outline to philosophy adopted in a huge production like this. 

I could literally talk all day about the project and my philosophy around getting the best out of high-profile cast on these productions , but I’ll cut it short here. Hopefully, I’ve given you a bit of a true, realistic insight into what it requires to be a physio and trainer in this setting. It’s not for everyone, that’s for sure, but it is a point in cinematic history that I’m proud to have been a tiny part of. 

Thanks for taking the time to read this, I hope this gave you an enjoyable insight to the F1 Movie and how a physio and trainer is utilised in projects like these.

‍

Barry

Explore more of what we offer at Production Physiotherapy. Link here: https://linktr.ee/productionphysio