Gasly to prepare extra for condensed 2020 season: "You lose three kilos per race"

While other drivers are spending more time racing online, Pierre Gasly has revealed he has ramped up his physical training during his extra months off, warning of how hectic the F1 calendar will be later in the year once the sport returns.

Racing will not return until June at the earliest, with six races having been postponed and the Monaco Grand Prix having been cancelled altogether. Potentially, there will be a full season of F1 condensed into the last seven months of the year, meaning the schedule will get rather hectic.

Gasly realised with the very physical nature of Formula 1, he'll need to be in even better shape than usual to cope with the latter months of the year, as he explained to AFP.

"We have a plan for the next few weeks and we're doing even more than usual," he told the French medium.

"I have never had, over the past 10 years, two months ahead of me before the season resumes to prepare physically.

"I already felt largely ready, we had worked really well during the winter, but to add another two months of preparation, it's an opportunity to be even stronger physically when the season starts."

The season-opening race currently is the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in early June but this is subject to change, with the 24-year-old Gasly looking to build on a very strong second half of the 2019 season.

The 2020 season could end up having around 17 or 18 races in total, predictions have it, albeit all in quick succession.

"It's exhausting as you lose between two and three kilos per race and then you have the flights," said Gasly. "There is an intensity during a race weekend – from morning to evening, it never stops.

"But if we have three or four races in a row, it is up to us to prepare in the best condition, pay even more attention to recovery and to be at 100 per cent capacity each time."