How To Maintain Focus During A Race Day

Why do so many drivers start the day fast and finish it slow?

Most drivers start the day very focused. They arrive in the morning, they have their breakfast, they leave the hotel, they get into the car, they arrive at the paddock, they’re listening to music, they are focused and pumped.

But what I’ve noticed among many drivers I have worked with at Babyrace is that the focus unfortunately gradually gets smaller and smaller during the day.

Why focus fades during a race day

Because distractions creep in. And their focus, that once was really good, starts to fade.

And I can see the track performance start to fade with it.

So my call is for drivers to acknowledge this as much as possible and try to maintain the focus throughout the day.

Does it matter if racing is just a hobby?

Of course, if their ambition is to just treat racing as a hobby and have a good time, then there’s no real need to focus as much as possible.

But if your ambition is to become a race winner, a world champion, and ideally a professional paid racing driver, then your goal is to really build an unshakable focus. So you can really become the next Max Verstappen or Ayrton Senna.

Yes, occasionally you can still get good results and fast lap times by not being super focused. Especially if it’s a track you know really well, if the kart is really dialled in, and everything just feels effortless.

But the reality is that it’s not that many times that you have such an advantage over your competitors, in terms of your track knowledge or your equipment.

So you can’t base yourself off a few occasions where you were just superior thanks to your extra track knowledge and your package. You need to base yourself on all the other occasions, where you will have a similar package to the others — or maybe sometimes even a slightly inferior one — or where you may not know the track that well and you have to play catch up.

Why new tracks demand maximum focus

Think about it. We all have to drive at new tracks at some point.

If you’re just used to driving always at the same track, you feel like it’s kind of happening automatically, and you drive in your subconscious. And yes, it’s okay to drive in your subconscious — you’re normally supposed to be driving on autopilot.

But once you get to a new track, you need to put in a bit more effort. You need to have the maximum focus in order to actually absorb all the information from your senses and receptors.

From your touch, from your hearing, from your vision — all of the sensorial information you get from anything. From your butt, from your hands on the steering, from your pedals on the floor tray.

So it’s really about making sure you have the maximum focus to absorb all of this information, which in turn is going to skyrocket your performance.

Focus is a skill you can learn

And again, it’s not something you’re born with. It’s something that you’re going to develop over your racing career. I really believe that focus is a skill that can be learned.

I’ve read a bunch of books on the topic. One of those was called Stolen Focus — it’s really nice. The other one is called Deep Work, which is also highly related to the focus aspect.

If you want the training side of this rather than the race-day side, I went deeper into how racing drivers train focus and concentration separately.

How to build your focus bubble

You really want to make sure you develop an environment where there are no distractions, where you can create your own bubble.

I really like to create that one myself. I try to get some noise-cancelling headphones — I have mine from Apple — and I just literally block out all distractions.

People want to talk to me, especially teammates. They want to just tell jokes. But anytime I put my headphones on, I’m like: no, you’re not going to distract me.

It’s literally an indication for all the people around me that what I’m here to do is to win. And in order to win, I’m here to focus. It always works.

So my recommendation is for all drivers to get themselves noise-cancelling headphones. But it’s not really just about that. It’s not “oh yeah, I’m gonna buy Bose, I’m gonna buy Beats, I’m gonna buy Apple.” No, it’s not just that.

You’ve got to make sure you use it, first of all. And on top of that, you stack up some habits that actually create your environment of focus.

The phone problem

Think about that. Instead of having your phone and being on social media and scrolling TikTok or Instagram, you can use your phone just to listen to music.

But you should put your phone on airplane mode, with only Bluetooth enabled for your headphones. You really need to try to detach yourself from the internet, because the internet has a lot of distractions.

Building that habit is also what makes telemetry actually useful — the data only helps if you are in the right state to read it properly.

Listen to music and just be super locked in. You’ll see that by doing so, you’ll be able to maintain focus way more during the day.

Teammates: the biggest distraction of all

One of the reasons for distraction that I believe is the main one is just teammates. Being around teammates who are distracted themselves is going to make you distracted too.

Remember, we are the average of the five people we are most surrounded with. That plays in life for anything — but also in this case, for the focus level.

So you really want to make sure you isolate yourself. You create a mental bubble, so that no distractions can get inside your bubble, and in turn make your results way better.

I still remember those races where I was unfortunately with my teammates and they were distracted, and they distracted me too. But then after that I was like a complete wall against teammates and anybody who would try to talk to me.

Anytime I put my headphones on it’s very visible, and people know that okay, Alessio is trying to focus and you shouldn’t distract him.

If they try to talk to you but you have headphones on, you don’t even have to reply. You just assume that they understand you are not listening, because you can’t listen. So you just forget about them, do not reply, just ignore them. And after they do it once or twice, they’ll stop talking to you at all.

The midday nap

If you feel a bit tired at midday or so, find a quiet place and have a quick nap for like 30 minutes.

I promise you it’s going to be regenerating. I really like to have it when I have the time or the chance. It also helps me to reduce stress, and to block out distraction and anxiety.

If anxiety rather than tiredness is your problem, breathing exercises are the faster fix.

What music actually helps

Your phone is one of the biggest sources of distraction, so you’ve got to make sure you keep your phone at bay. Ideally you just have your phone in the background, just for your music.

I like to listen to high beat songs like Eminem, that are good for pumping me up, or the Black Eyed Peas, or some other specific songs like the Gladiator soundtrack. But I also really enjoy listening to piano songs, because they calm me down.

So it’s a bit of a mix. You have to know yourself and kind of experiment with yourself. There is more on whether music before racing actually improves focus if you want to go deeper.

Remember, when the final comes, or when the qualifying comes, the driver will make the difference. It’s the driver that has visualised the lap more than anybody else. The driver is ready to go and knows exactly what he needs to do in order to find lap time from the session before.

He knows exactly the session strategy. Maybe in qualifying he knows exactly what he’s got to do to pick up that pole position. He has followed the trends of the track evolution, so he knows: oh, the track is going to probably get faster by three tenths, and I know normally this kind of corner gets really fast when everybody goes on new tires, so I can probably go in with no brakes. Simple things that can make a big difference in results.

Losing a race because of a lack of focus is just the biggest crime that a driver can do to themselves and to their career, and something they will regret for sure.

I did regret the few occasions where I realised I wasn’t that focused.

But I promise you, if you do the combination of these things, you’ll become a monster. Please don’t become the next driver that’s going to lose a race, lose a championship, or lose the opportunity to become a professional racing driver because of an occasional lack of focus. That’s the biggest crime I see in racing.

Frequently asked questions

Why does focus fade during a race day?

Because distractions accumulate. Drivers arrive sharp in the morning, then spend the day surrounded by teammates, phones and paddock noise. The focus drains gradually rather than suddenly, which is exactly why it goes unnoticed — until the lap times start drifting with it.

How do you block out distractions in the paddock?

Noise-cancelling headphones are the single most effective tool, partly because they physically block sound and partly because they are a visible signal that you are not available. Put the phone on airplane mode with Bluetooth only, and replace scrolling with work next to the kart — cleaning, onboard review, telemetry.

Should a driver nap during a race day?

Yes, if there is a gap and you feel tired. About 30 minutes in a quiet place is genuinely regenerating, and it reduces stress and anxiety as well as tiredness. It is a reset, not a luxury.

Does music help a racing driver focus?

It does, but the type matters and it is personal. High-tempo tracks work for building energy before a session, while calmer piano music works for settling nerves. The important part is that the phone stays a music player and does not become a social media feed.