Come 2014, lighter & shorter F1 drivers will be in demand

GREATER NOIDA: "I couldn't be heavier than I am, so I fast. I don't eat carbohydrates at all."
"Haven't eaten for last 5 years!"
One would imagine the above to be a conversation between two beauty pageant contestants. Strangely, and somewhat sadly, the statements were made by two of F1's more well-known drivers, former world champion Jenson Button and Red Bull's Mark Webber.Over the past few weeks, the talk in the paddock has centred on drivers' height and weight in light of the design changes that the 2014 regulations bring.
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner, on Friday, joked, "If Adrian Newey had his way, both the drivers would have to lose 15 kilos between now and Melbourne."
Drivers will have to contend with a heavier car due to the new turbo-charged engine, the new Energy Recovery System and coolers. And though the minimum weight limit has been raised from 642 kilos to 690, teams would ideally like to design the car and package around a lighter, shorter driver giving them more leeway to fit things around. The 'ideal' weight for a F1 driver now seems to be in the 60-65 kg range, giving the smaller guys like three-time world champion Sebastian Vettel a weight advantage.
Webber is 6 feet tall and weighs around 75kg compared with his teammate Vettel who is 175cm and weighs 64kg. Button is also 6 feet and weighs 70 kilos. And the way the sport is poised, may need to shed some weight. "I have about six per cent body fat and I am on the limit in our car," he said. "I couldn't be heavier so I fast before the race. I eat limited amounts of food and it is always high in protein and no carbs, which puts weight on. And this is all of the time – all year," he adds.
Force India's Paul Di Resta is another 6-foot tall driver worried about his future, given the teams' inclination to shop around for smaller drivers. "Next year it would be nice if the FIA made it a more level-playing field. The smaller guys weigh less. It's not something we can change," he shrugs.
The common perception in the paddock is that it is Nico Hulkenberg's frame – he's 74 kilos – that is keeping teams from snapping up the very obviously-talented German.
The weight concerns are nothing new. Driver weight is scrutinised even more minutely since the arrival of KERS, because it introduced a new component weighing upwards of 20kg that wasn't there before. Ahead of the 2009 season drivers including Fernando Alonso , Rubens Barrichello and Robert Kubica all spoke about shedding pounds to compensate for the car's weight gain. In 2011, Hulkenberg was, apparently, asked by Force India to lose weight during the season after the driver had put on 1.5 kilos within three months.
At the Korean Grand Prix, Button had spoken up for taller drivers like himself. "If a driver is over the weight by 5kg, that is 0.2sec a lap and it is the end of your career basically. In qualifying that could be a position or two and in the race it could be five or six seconds," he said.
Webber and Di Resta, though, are also worried about the implications of putting the body through strict diets. "Of course. I would love to be 65 kilos but I'm 75. It places a lot of pressure on your immune system ," says Webber. Di Resta concurs , "For me I would rather be a kilo heavier and be fit. Your body is always on the edge."