Sebastian Vettel's personal trainer is Finnish Tommi Pärmäkoski. Both men came to Red Bull last winter.Which one is a physically stronger contendent for the championship - the youngest (Vettel) or the oldest German star (Michael Schumacher)?
– It's hard to tell since I don't know the the physical state of the older man. I'm sure he has the basics in order too. Hopefully the younger one is stronger. At least he has done good things right but the old doesn't look bad either when you look at him, Pärmäkoski thinks.
– Schumacher was the one who lifted the physical condition up to a completely new level in F1. Sebastian is from that age who knows how beneficial it is for a driver.
26-year old Pärmäkoski came to F1 by accident.
– I was in Kuortane when McLaren had their camp there. I went to look at what kind of training F1-drivers do. That way Sebastian heard about me. He had an Italian personal trainer who couldn't work full-time because he had a family. I came in his place.
Pärmäkoski himself played icehockey earlier.
Vettel and Pärmäkoski are very similar personalities and get along perfectly.
– It's important that our relationship works so well because we spend 300 days a year together. The social action is highlighted.
Pärmäkoski admits that Vettel is a very demanding employer.
– Of course a top athlete always has demands of what he wants. I think that Seb has clear goals. On the other hand Seb also questions what he is doing and wants to know why things are done.
Vettel and Pärmäkoski moved closer to the German border in the autumn and they live now in a small village 40 km away from Zürich airport.
Even though Vettel is moving he is still going to continue his badminton-hobby with Räikkönen.
– Kimi is one hour away from Seb. Badminton will definitely keep on going. It's a Number One -thing.
– I've heard that the Finn is still a little ahead but don't go and tell Kimi that we are training a damn lot of badminton in secret, Pärmäkoski jokes.
Vettel has learned a lot of Finnish from Räikkönen and Pärmäkoski. Yet Pärmäkoski and Vettel communicate in English.
– I have studied German. I talk more German than Seb talks Finnish eventhough he is better in Finnish swearwords than I am in German swearwords.
Vettel has prepared himself very well for upcoming season. His physical condition is good.
– You don't start the season just like that. We have specific schedules, when there's more training and when there's more resting. The difficulty is the travelling and the huge amount of media-work in the business, Pärmäkoski says.
Source: Turun Sanomat /HEIKKI KULTA
Courtesy: Nicole
