WATCH: 'It’s as if the outside world doesn’t exist' – The drivers on what it's like once the helmet goes on

We've all watched them do it hundreds of times: the drivers flip down their visors and wait for the lights to go out. But what's going through their minds at that moment – helmet on, fingers gripping the steering wheel, eyes firmly fixed on the start lights?

We decided to ask, and you can see what the drivers had to say in the video above – though you won't be surprised to hear how their focus narrows to an extreme level.

"When you put the helmet on, you do become a different person," says one. "It’s hard to describe the feeling. When the car starts, nothing else matters," adds another, a thought echoed by a third racer who says: "It’s almost as if the outside world doesn’t exist."

Hit play on the video to get inside the mind of the F1 racers once they're in their natural habitat...

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