What is this to be an F1 mechanic

Formula 1 mechanics is often described as the unseeded heroes of the championship. But what exactly is to be part of Pitlane action at the highest level of motorsport?

Calum Nicholas, Senior Power Unit Assembly Technician and Book Author for Red Bull Life in pitlaneThe subject has been opened on the subject and how he reduces his personal role with the team’s effort in Pitstops – finally, Nicolas is also part of the Red Bull Pitcre, which held a world record for the fastest pitstop in 1.82 seconds, Until McLaren In 2023, he was thrown out in Qatar.

Nicholas said, “I am responsible for all the red bull parts that integrate an engine in our chassis.” “So when you think about the power unit and you think about getting snow from your supplier and obtaining those components, then in our case, all those parts that need to be made on the engine and chassis. Is.”

Full-on race weekend

While Gaurav comes on Sunday, a race weekend actually spreads in an entire week’s attempt that ends for Race Day.

“It depends on whether you are on a flyway, where all this is air freight, or whether you are going into a European race,” Nicholas explained. “The European race, we exit on Tuesday afternoon and our first day in the garage will be on Wednesday.

“Wednesday and Thursday are the days of your construction. So they are days where you are really collecting the car, preparing the parts, checking any validity, fire up, all these things for your weekends To prepare.

On Friday, the pitstop starts with exercise and prepare the car for the first practice sessions, while the gap between FP1 and FP2 is used to make any engineering changes: “Friday nights are much better. , What they used to do were such a long day on the week.

Saturday is traditionally the easiest day for a mechanic. Nicholas said, “provided you have nothing uncommon, such as a shunt or anything, Saturday can be quite good because you have got a initial curfew. It is usually an evening when you can go and a The night can be out, “Nicholas said,” Nicholas said.

“Then Sunday is the longest day of the race now. You are in the morning and even if the cars are in Parc Ferme, there are many works that you can do outside it.

“For me, a Sunday morning looks like preparing any engine for the next race, to deal with any returns of parts and parts, and preparing the end of the race, when we strip the car Going to the factory and bits will have to be brought back.

“So I have a lot of Sunday’s administrator. Surely Sunday morning, I am clinging to my laptop too much, doing all this work and making sure that when the checker flag falls, I get I am ready to do one with a hundred parts in two cars, stripping, sending homes, sending homes.

“Once when all this happens at the end of the night and the cars are taken away, you have got to pack all your goods and need to decompose any bits of the garage. As long as we Till the packing finish, your race is beautiful by the day of 14-hour.

Factory day

The 24-race calendar means that during the season, most of the mechanics that are part of the race team do not see: “Once the season starts, we are only in a day race in the factory between the race, In the race, I do only one day, those weeks are closed.

“We go to do too much pitstop practice, with any meeting, any goods we need to deal with the next program. And functional fitness is something we are on, so that we are quite big, so that everyone’s ability We are quite big to maintain. “

soft skills

While the role of a mechanic focuses mainly on the car or in a pitstop, known as soft skills, it has become an important tool for Nicolas.

“There are skills and job basics to conduct engineering operations to read and understand the way engineering drawing. After this, much is able to understand what some complex business systems can be.

“But in the context of raw qualities, I speak a lot about soft skills. So your ability to communicate, work as a team member who can achieve things and work things that can work Often, things are not going well in stressful situations.

“We have a lot of personality in the garage. Everyone has a role that they take. Like we have people who are your suffering aunt. Everyone will go and mourn about their problems and they will please you. There are people who can break a rigid environment with sharp or funny comments.

“So these things you do not necessarily consider skills, are really important when you are traveling 200 days a year with the same people. For that harmonious unit, all those soft skills become really important. . “

Job “side hustle”

For the physical part of the job, which involves providing sub -two second pitstops on a consistent basis, mechanics have access to both team physio, who travel with the team, and are the factory training personnel.

“Personally, this is the most important thing for us,” Nicholas said about the pitstops. “One of the reasons I found in Formula 1 was to do the pitstop. But in reality, Pitstop is a secondary role for me. My primary work is as an engine technician. The pitstop is like my side. So some Also, my skill, my skill.

It is common to rely on the services of former athletes to replace tires in NASCAR, but Nicholas does not think it will go in that direction in F1, as with the number of operating personnel operating as 58 on the track, Being 58, part of the pitcou will always be a side activity.

“I think F1 is different from many American chains like NASCAR, it is that for many people who do Pitstop, Pitkru is their primary role. So obviously you train for the role that you train Your primary role is in our position.

Fierce calendar

Being part of the travel team, a lot of time from home, which can be difficult on families, and the increasing number of races on the calendar has made it difficult.

Nicholas said, “When I was younger, I sacrificed in my personal life and to run, they were just my sacrifice,” Nicholas said. “This is just an option that you make as a person. As you move forward with life, now I just reached a point where I accept the sacrifices that others around me Are being done by people.

“I think most of us who are in the same position like me, with young families, the first thing we would probably say is partner to understand, it’s important!”

As the F1 calendar burden is felt, the teams are looking at the employees to roam as much as possible to ensure that a balance can be hit to avoid burnouts, some Nicolas insisted: “I think I think That it is absolutely necessary, clearly from a personal point of view and being able to do a job that still enables you to do a life.

“Professional burnout is a real thing. You are talking about highly skilled people who are working on the border a lot of time. We are carrying boundaries forward. That is what we do in Formula 1. The best is working. During a time, you have to accept that if you do not give those brakes, you are going to see professional burnouts.

But although the option in Red Bull has been there for some time, some people are reluctant to use a walk, Nicolas accepted as one of them: “The last time I ran, when my daughter was born when I was born Was Rusted three and I am not doing this.

“We have reached the point where we are going to roam and we are going to complete these things. I think everyone has now accepted that in a long time it is better that you probably something in a year Run, and choose, and choose those who work for you, reach a point where you are completely tired in two years and you cannot move forward.

It’s not easy to stop

Despite the challenges, mechanics live longer in their roles compared to many other individuals working in F1.

“This is an understanding that you are doing it because you love it,” Nicholas concluded. “If you are a talented engineer, technician or mechanic, you can earn more money outside the racing. People who take it out, who are in the padock and are doing it in a year, are doing so because they are doing so because they are doing so They are doing loving it.

“Once you feel how brilliant it can be, it’s a very difficult thing. It’s not easy to say: ‘Oh no, I had enough. The calendar is too long.” So at one time you like: ‘Oh my God, it’s really difficult, this 24-race calendar.’ At the same time, it is not that you just want to say: ‘Oh forget this, I am walking away.’ This is not so easy.

Life in Pitlane by Calum Nicholas is now available to pre-order.