Best Things To Pack To Overcome Jet Lag, According To F1 Driver Daniel Ricciardo 

They could be in Monaco one week, and Canada the next. With 24 races covering five continents in just one season of Formula One, F1 drivers often find themselves travelling week after week for months on end, averaging about 100 flights a year. 

So who better to ask for travel hacks than an F1 driver, and one with 13 years of experience under his belt too. Daniel Ricciardo is among the most well-loved personalities in the paddock. But you don’t have to be a die-hard F1 fan to know the 35-year-old Visa Cash App RB driver — the Australian is one of the breakout stars of Netflix’s F1 docuseries, Drive to Survive, for his brilliant bon mots and sparkling personality, and is the newest face of Western Australia’s tourism campaign. 

Speaking to 8days in the Visa Cash App RB (VCarb) F1 team’s hospitality tent at the recent Singapore Grand Prix weekend, Daniel reveals there’s more to contend than jet lag for the Singapore race (we also taught him about Singapore’s infamous uwu bird, but that's another story). For F1 drivers, Singapore is the most physically demanding race on the calendar, no thanks to the heat and humidity. In fact, they train the whole year with the Singapore Grand Prix in mind — if you’re fit enough for Singapore, you’re fit enough for the rest of the races.

“There’s a lot of heat acclimatization, like cycling in heat chambers,” Daniel reveals. His teammate, Japanese driver Yuki Tsunoda, confirms this and tells us that “from two or three weeks before [the Singapore Grand Prix], you want to be in the sauna quite often as well.” 

Then of course, there are time zones and jet lag to grapple with. We hear from some F1 team personnel that teams and drivers typically operate on European time zone when they’re in Singapore. So that could mean going to bed at 3am and waking up for brekkie at 1pm, like McLaren’s Lando Norris, winner of this year’s race, did while he was here.

“F1 drivers travel a lot…,” we remark. “Too much,” Daniel interjects, before our conversation turns to some of his best travel hacks he’s learnt in his 13 years travelling the world as an F1 driver.  

What Daniel Ricciardo packs to help him beat jet lag 

#1: Eye mask. “I don’t sleep well when there’s light, so I really like blackout shutters if I’m in a hotel. If I’m somewhere that doesn’t have it, then I’ll sleep with an eye mask.”
#2: Snacks, like protein bars. “You never know where you are, so I’ll always have some snacks [in my bag].”
#3: Perfume. “I’ll always have some perfume. Because sometimes we don’t have time to have a shower [in between events or engagements] then you have to [sprays perfume action]. It’s a last resort safety mechanism.”
#4: Multi-vitamins. “I always take some multi vitamins, specifically some vitamin C, zinc and magnesium. And for me this helps with recovery and fighting off any immunity, so if we’re jet lagged and haven’t slept well, or are a bit sleep deprived, this usually buys me a few extra days before I maybe get sick or get a bit rundown.”

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