Nico Hulkenberg has denied being one of the drivers obsessed with extreme weight loss.
Amid rumours of deliberate dehydration, when it emerged that a driver had passed out last week in Malaysia, eyes turned to racers like Nico Hulkenberg, who standing at over six foot is one of the very tallest on the grid.
But the German has revealed he actually ate McDonald’s in Kuala Lumpur!
"This was the exception rather than the rule," Hulkenberg smiled to Germany’s Sky, "but this was an emergency — I was really hungry and needed to have something.
"There’s a McDonald’s on almost every corner," he grinned.
Hulkenberg said he is not obsessed with his weight in 2014 because, as a tall driver, he has worked hard throughout his career to be as light as possible.
"I think some of the other guys had some more weight in reserve that they had to lose now, but for me I’m more or less what I was at the end of last year. I couldn’t lose any more," said the Force India driver.
One of the drivers who has lost weight is Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg, despite the fact he is at least 6 centimetres shorter than Hulkenberg.
"I had to make the sacrifice if I want to balance the car perfectly," he said.
"The diet alone is easy, but training with little food is hell," Rosberg told Germany’s Bild am Sonntag.
"I have eaten no sugar since early December — for my dream I’m living like a monk," he smiled.