YEONGAM ― Formula One is all about on-track action, and the drivers get all the attention. But F1 is also a team sport with a crew of more than a hundred working for a each team throughout the Grand Prix series.
The Korea Herald had a chance to visit the Team Lotus garage on Friday to get a better understanding of how much teamwork is involved.
“Just be aware, keep your eyes open, because lots of people move in and out. And it gets extremely loud in here,” said Tom Webb, PR officer of Team Lotus, standing in front of stacks of tires outside the team’s garage.
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Heikki Kovalainen of Team Lotus prepares for the qualifying run on Saturday at the Korean Grand Prix. (Team Lotus) |
An ear-piercing engine sound filled the air as soon as he finished the sentence.
“Obviously the cars are very noisy, so we all have our own set of headphones,” he said while pointing at the pairs of ear wear hung on the walls.
“Absolutely no pictures are allowed here as there is so much sensitive information,” he warned as we stepped into the garage.
Inside, it looked like a scene from a sci-fi film, where computer screens of various sizes, neat tool boxes and the F1 machines filled the 135-square-meter area.
“We take up to about 10,000 different items and transfer about 27 tones of equipment to each race, so we can make any changes we need to the car,” Webb explained.
Webb first showed The Korea Herald the computer desks at the back end, the data center for the F1 team.
“This is where our system engineers sit during the race, looking at all the data coming from the cars, such as hydraulic pressure and oil temperatures,” he said.
The cars are monitored with more than a hundred different sensors, according to Webb.
“This is where we control our cars from.”
In the middle of the garage were the two racing cars striped down into pieces for a very precise check before being sent out to the track.
“They just came off from this morning’s practice session. And our technicians are making any changes necessary for the afternoon’s practice.”
According to Webb, this is crucial work as any problems with the car can have serious consequences when the action starts.
And the changes, he said, are not just replacing a few light bulbs, as might happen in most motorists’ garages ― a car is literally waiting to be built.
The atmosphere inside the garage was focused and the technicians never slowed down for a moment.
“We have 14 dedicated crews for each driver, and about 40-45 people work here throughout the Grand Prix,” Webb said.
By Oh Kyu-wook (
596story@heraldcorp.com)
