How sleep powers F1Ⓡ drivers
Formula 1Ⓡ does not care about jet lag.
A driver can land in a new time zone on Thursday, qualify on Saturday, and race on Sunday, with milliseconds separating the grid. Between constant travel, night races, and unfamiliar hotel rooms, perfect sleep is rarely realistic.
The goal is to build a routine that can handle disruption.
That is the thinking behind Eight Sleep’s partnership with Aston Martin Aramco: giving Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll a consistent, temperature-regulated sleep environment wherever they race.
1. Fernando Alonso is F1Ⓡ’s ultimate marathon man
Alonso has made more Grand Prix starts than any driver in F1Ⓡ history, with more than 400 and counting.
He has raced in 29 countries, competed at 36 circuits, and spent nearly 25 years in the sport. He made his F1Ⓡ debut before four current drivers on the grid were born.
2. He is the oldest driver on the 2026 grid, and still hungry
Born in 1981, Alonso is racing at 44, making him the oldest F1Ⓡ driver in more than 50 years.
Rather than treating age as an inevitable decline, he approaches it like an engineering problem: maintain the body, understand the data, and recover properly.
“I love what I do. I love racing,” he says. “I did my first race when I was three.”
3. Lance Stroll reached an F1Ⓡ podium at just 18
Stroll made his F1Ⓡ debut in 2017, almost straight out of high school and before he had his full road license.
A few weeks later, he finished on the podium at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, becoming the second-youngest driver in F1Ⓡ history to do it.
Later that season, he became the youngest driver ever to start an F1Ⓡ race from the front row.
4. Alonso and Stroll are now in their fourth season together
The two have raced alongside each other at Aston Martin Aramco since 2023.
In a sport where driver lineups change quickly, four consecutive seasons makes them one of the more established pairings on the 2026 grid.
5. The siesta is one of sport’s most misunderstood recovery tools
A short nap of around 20 to 30 minutes can help improve alertness without leaving someone feeling groggy.
Sleep for too long, though, and the body can move into deeper stages, making it harder to wake up and potentially disrupting sleep later that night.
Done properly, a nap is not indulgence. It is a measured recovery tool, which is very F1Ⓡ when you think about it.
6. The F1Ⓡ calendar tests recovery as much as speed
A season includes roughly 24 races across five continents, with teams traveling around 120,000 kilometers a year.
For drivers, that means constant flights, changing time zones, late nights, and very few weeks that look the same.
7. Sleep is the part of race weekend nobody sees
For Alonso, preparation starts with a light dinner on Saturday and an attempt to mentally switch off after qualifying.
“The night before the race is crucial,” he says. “I try to have a minimum of eight or nine hours before the Sunday race.”
Outside of the car, Stroll also prioritises relaxation when his busy schedule allows.
“Wherever we are in the world, I go back to the motorhome and just chill, watch TV, put on a movie,” he says. “I’m getting a really good night’s sleep, optimizing my sleep to make sure I feel a hundred percent for the Grand Prix.”
Different routines, same goal: arriving at the grid fully recovered.
8. Away from the track, they could not be more different
Alonso is a serious cyclist and has spent years chasing motorsport’s Triple Crown. He has two Le Mans victories and has competed at the Indy 500.
Stroll grew up bilingual in Montreal and still races GT cars during breaks in the F1Ⓡ calendar.
Same team, very different ways of spending a day off.
“Performance is built on the details you don’t see, and recovery is one of the most important,” says Alonso. “With the Eight Sleep Pod, I wake up feeling fully rested and ready.”
“Consistency is everything across a long season,” says Stroll. “Eight Sleep helps me maintain the right recovery routine, race after race.”
FAQs about the Aston Martin Aramco F1Ⓡ Team
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Who drives for Aston Martin Aramco? Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll. Alonso is a two-time World Champion and drives car number 14. Stroll drives car number 18.
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How long have Alonso and Stroll been teammates? Since 2023. The 2026 season is their fourth consecutive year together.
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What is Fernando Alonso known for? Alonso won the Formula 1Ⓡ World Championship in 2005 and 2006. He has 32 Grand Prix victories, holds the record for the most F1Ⓡ starts, and has won the 24 Hours of Le Mans twice.
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What is Lance Stroll known for? Stroll became the second-youngest driver in F1Ⓡ history to finish on the podium at the 2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix. He also earned pole position at the 2020 Turkish Grand Prix.
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How do Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll use Eight Sleep? Both use the Eight Sleep Pod as part of their recovery routines, helping them maintain a more consistent sleep environment throughout the season.
