Over the Dutch Grand Prix weekend, Haas gave ESPN behind-the-scenes access to capture a glimpse of what life is really like inside a Formula 1 team.
Equipped with a camera and a notebook, the idea was to document the vital work that is rarely captured by race weekend broadcasts and is not considered glamorous enough to make the final cut of “Drive to Survive.” What we found was a remarkable team effort, spearheaded by two veteran drivers, but made possible by a workforce of dedicated specialists, including super-intelligent engineers, quick-fingered mechanics and hard-working hospitality staff.
Pit stop practice is a constant through any team’s race weekend. From Thursday afternoon to the Sunday morning before the race, the pit crew (made up of a mix of mechanics from both cars) refine their carefully choreographed tyre changes to a fine art.
Each member of the 20-person crew has a job, including back-up rear- and front-jack operators (should the initial jacks used to lift the car fail) and three mechanics per tyre — on, off and gunner. The aim is to get all four tyres changed and make a front wing adjustment as requested by the driver as quickly as possible, and perhaps more importantly, as consistently as possible.
During the Thursday of a race weekend, pit stop practice is completed without the car running, meaning it has to be pushed into place by mechanics not on the pit crew, with another member of the team in the cockpit to hit the brakes and stop the car on its marks.
Each practice stop during the weekend is timed, filmed and reviewed to understand where precious seconds may be leaking away. On Friday morning, Haas’ performance coach and team physiotherapist Faith Atack-Martin leads a pit stop review in the garage, where practice stops are picked apart and screens display data and information on where performance can be improved.
Friday practice represents the first time the crew get to attempt a practice stop on a running car as the drivers return to the pits between runs out on track. All practice stops are designed to replicate race conditions, with the crew in the garage waiting for the call for the car to come in, and then taking the tyres out of the garage and into the pit lane to complete the stop.
The hour-long practice sessions are busy times in the Haas garage. Extreme winds and wet weather on Friday at Zandvoort meant running in the first practice session was limited, which added pressure on the team to get data from the second session.
The practice sessions are a rare opportunity to get photos of the drivers waiting between runs in the cockpit. Tools remain at hand in case changes need to be made to the car during the session, but with time on track at a premium, the focus is on getting the car running and gathering data.
Rain from the North Sea was lashing through the seaside town of Zandvoort on Saturday morning ahead of final practice. The Haas drivers were scheduled for an appearance at the circuit’s fan zone prior to 10 a.m., and the two drivers caught a shuttle bus from the paddock to take them to a main stage a few minutes’ drive away.
Despite the grim weather, Danish driver Kevin Magnussen arrives at the shuttle bus wearing jeans and a t-shirt, while teammate Nico Hülkenberg has dressed more appropriately in a Haas-branded rain jacket. Commenting on his teammate’s choice of attire, Hülkenberg says, “that’s because he’s a viking.”
Following some small talk about routes into the circuit and various models of Porsche 911, Magnussen doubts many fans will have made the trip to the stage to stand and wait in the rain. He couldn’t be more wrong.
Like rockstars returning for an encore, the two drivers walk out to resounding cheers from a soaked crowd. They answer a series of fan questions, varying from their expectations throughout the weekend to what it’s like being “racing dads.”
As the Q&A comes to an end, Haas’ ever-prepared senior communications manager, Jessica Borrell, hands branded caps to the drivers to throw out into the crowd. A few lucky fans get their hands on the free merchandise before the drivers and two very wet photographers pile back into the minibus and head back to the paddock.
After Saturday’s final practice session, both drivers headed straight for a debrief with engineers. The trackside engineering office is temporarily constructed from two trailers that open up and connect to create a wide first-floor working space. In one corner of the temporary structure is the debrief table, where the two drivers sit facing each other with their race, performance and tyre engineers in attendance along with team principal Ayao Komatsu.
Following final practice, Hülkenberg was first to arrive, clearly still frustrated about his crash during the session. The German went straight to his laptop and started analysing data from the incident before his engineer, Gary Gannon, arrived to discuss the incident in greater detail.
Voices remain hushed, with the drivers and each member of the engineering team talking via headsets. It’s usually an entirely private moment between drivers and engineers away from prying eyes, and after a handful of photos, it felt like the right time to leave.
Back at the team’s hospitality unit, coffee is being prepared for guests. Attention to detail is everything in F1, including the preparation of a cappuccino.
When asked if it’s possible to take a photo of the process, the catering staff collectively nominate Kelsey Subedi as the head barista. The perfectly steamed milk is topped by a dusting of cocoa powder in the shape of the Haas logo.
The hospitality staff regularly work the longest hours in a Formula 1 team. Unlike those working on the car, whose time at the circuit is dictated by the FIA’s curfew rules to stop them working through the night, the hospitality staff are almost always the first to arrive and the last to leave.
Through a sliding door on one side of the hospitality, chefs Grant Brunsden and Fabrizio Valenti are working in the team’s narrow galley kitchen. There’s barely enough space to toss a pancake, but the two cooks work around each other as Valenti poaches eggs for the mechanics’ breakfast and Brunsden prepares a beef tartare for lunch.
Along with the rest of the catering staff, the two chefs ensure the team is fully fuelled for the race weekend, while also producing a menu to satisfy the standards of VIPs and representatives from the team’s sponsors.
By the time the driver arrives in the garage ahead of Sunday’s race, everything is in its right place. Hülkenberg first heads to the engineering station, where he talks with Gannon, before walking to the corner of the garage to prepare himself for the 72-lap race.
The German’s helmet, gloves and headphones are all neatly placed on a shelf for him to prepare. Over the background din of one of the cars being fired up, his trainer, Martin Poole, shares a joke as Hülkenberg gets ready, inserting his custom-made headphones into his ears, zipping up his overalls, reaching for his fireproof balaclava and finally putting on his helmet.
He approaches the car from right, steps over the halo and lowers himself into the cockpit, where his belts are fastened and tightened by a mechanic. With everything set, the pit lane opens and Hülkenberg heads for the track for a series of reconnaissance laps before arriving on the grid.
An issue with the battery on Magnussen’s car required a change ahead of the race, resulting in a pit-lane start for the Dane. However, when the car is fired up ahead of the race, an issue is detected and the engine is quickly shutdown again.
Four mechanics go to work on the car immediately, removing the bodywork on the right-hand side and reaching into the depths of the Ferrari power unit. The emergency surgery is a team effort, seemingly requiring four pairs of hands to locate the issue and fix it. The job takes little more than five minutes before the sculpted sidepod is returned to its rightful place and bolted up.
The car is fired up and checked over to ensure everything running as it should do. A couple of minutes later, Magnussen arrives in the garage, apparently none the wiser about his team’s handiwork.
Following his reconnaissance laps, Hülkenberg arrives on the grid to find his mechanics there waiting for him. The car is jacked up and rolled to its grid spot, where the rest of the team waits along with all the tools they might need for any last-minute dramas.
Hülkenberg gets out of his car and returns to Gannon for a trackside debrief based on the behaviour of the car on the handful of laps he took to get to the grid. Hülkenberg then leaves the grid for one final “comfort break” — a quick trip to the bathroom — ahead of the race.
Team owner Gene Haas looks on as the car receives its final pampering ahead of the race start. He doesn’t attend every grand prix, but in Zandvoort, the 71-year-old is keen to pore over every detail of the car’s new front wing and takes photos of rival cars leaving the pits. Clearly he’s still a huge fan of the sport at heart.
Ahead of the Dutch national anthem, the mechanics and engineers line up proudly behind the rear wing of the car, creating a perfect “family photo.” Hülkenberg returns after standing at the front of the grid for the anthem, and in the space of five minutes, the track is cleared of all but the vital staff to see the car away on the formation lap.
The garage is a remarkably calm place during the race. Mechanics sit in rows on foldable chairs watching screens mounted to the walls as the engineers base themselves around the central hub of data screens in the middle.
Rounds of coffee and homemade cakes are passed among the mechanics as they follow the race, but at any point the calm could be shattered by the need for an unscheduled pit stop. As things pan out, it’s only one routine tyre change per car in Zandvoort, and both are completed within the target time.
As the call is made to come in, the mechanics leap from their chairs and into position to receive the car and send it on its way within a few fleeting seconds. High fives and slapped backs follow two jobs well done.
Despite the crews’ efforts, it becomes clear with ten laps to go that neither driver is likely to score points. Knowing that an additional pit stop would mean game over anyway, the mechanics start packing away their chairs and turn their attention to the de-rigging and packdown needed to prepare all the team’s equipment for transportation to the next event.
All the intensity of the race weekend leaks away the moment the chequered flag drops. On to the next one.
