Max Verstappen and Lando Norris special training revealed

Pushing for perfection is a common practice in F1, as the drivers attempt to condition themselves to extract every millisecond they can from their cars.

Training various muscles, including the neck, is vital in order for the driver to deal with the demands the car places on their bodies.

However, one overlooked element, according to Dr. Zoe Wimshurst, is the eyes. Wimhurst has worked with various drivers in the past, including champions Max Verstappen and Lando Norris, to boost their perceptual systems.

“Max was just a one-off session, Lando I've worked with on and off way before he was in F1,” Wimhurst told RacingNews365 in an exclusive interview.  

Through these sessions, Wimhurst was able to get a "good global understanding of how his vision system works.”

Wimhurst, who is the founder of Performance Vision, explained her chance to work with Verstappen came through a connection while she was working in rugby.

“I worked with the Harlequins rugby coach for many, many years and Max's performance coach at the time used to be an intern,” she said.

“He knew about the work I did with rugby players and he wanted to see if it could be any benefit to Max as well.”

Wimhurst's work with athletes has included sessions with Cristiano Ronaldo and a number of Olympians.

While she seeks to find gain through improved vision and perceptions, she has also worked to boost the psychological impact a driver has while on the track.

“Every athlete that I work with, from a psychological point of view, you speak to them about what kind of a persona do you want your opponent to feel like you have?” she stated.

“Then you basically put on your game face and you say, 'Okay, this is how I'm going to be when I'm at the track, because this is going to be most intimidating or most off-putting or, you know, lull everyone into a false sense of security'.

“But psychologically, you'll want to impose this particular persona on what you're doing so that it's going to get you that tiny little advantage.”

Although Wimhurst's session with Verstappen was a one-off occurrence, she has had more extensive work with Norris.

This included a deeper dive into his immediate surroundings in the car and how they could impact his reactions.

"Lando's performance coach came to me when they were looking at the inside colour of his helmet,” she said.

“They asked, 'Is this something that could affect his vision?' We did a bunch of tests and found that absolutely, yes, this could be impacting his vision.

"I would never just recommend something just because it works for Lando. 

“Things like visor colour, there are things that work better for most people, but there are still individual differences in there.”

Wimhurst insisted that consistent training is required to keep the eye muscles in tune, highlighting its important nature to go hand-in-hand with drills to stay on top of their game.

“The muscles that control your eyes are skeletal muscles, so like your biceps and your hamstrings, you can train them to work faster,” she stated.

“They're going to revert back down if you don't keep training them.

“I think the visual system is, in sport in general, one of the most overlooked systems, and it is a growing field.”