Yes, Drivers are Athletes

Photo: Motorsport.com

Checked in to Motorsport.com this evening to see if anything new had turned up. It had, in the form of further confirmation of a claim that somehow gets refuted time after time (cough...Donavan McNabb...cough).

Formula One's 2017 cars will be stronger and faster than ever, which has led Renault's Jolyon Palmer to believe physical fitness will be more important to drivers than ever next season: "If it is what we think, then I think it will show early on who has been in the gym over the winter and who hasn't. If drivers aren't in the gym this winter they will be found out."

Drivers need to go to the gym because they need to be fit to do their job well. To me, it sounds like something Captain Obvious would say in a Hotels.com commercial. I don't think it's any coincidence that Jimmie Johnson and Michael Schumacher, two of the fittest drivers ever in their respective racing divisions, both have seven championships. If you try to argue auto racing isn't a sport (I mean, it is called motorsport, but what the hey), I'll usually let it slide. Take it out on the drivers by saying they're not athletes and I'll destroy all your arguments and bury you into the ground.

So there you have it. For the umpteenth time, racing drivers are athletes. If you're still unconvinced, click here for further scientific confirmation.