Backstage in Overseas' Races

When a race is held overseas, far away from Panasonic Toyota Racing’s headquarters in Europe, one of the most important jobs is to competently and efficiently pack and transport everything that the team will need for the race. Read on to learn more about this important behind-the-scenes job performed by the staff of Panasonic Toyota Racing to support the team during overseas races.

There are boxes everywhere – 96 of them to be precise – some large, some small, most fairly anonymous, save for the odd Toyota logo and an identity badge. Yet in them nestles more than 40 tonnes of state-of-the-art Formula 1 racing hardware, including three chassis and enough spares to build a new car virtually from scratch.(The boxes are stacked on certain pallets, which are transported to the race by air freight. Eight or nine pallets are generally required to move the equipment to an overseas race site.)

One could be forgiven for wondering where to start, but in a few short hours, a handful of people will have assembled the foundations of Panasonic Toyota Racing's home from home, the Cologne factory in miniature.This advance party of 10 is headed by chief mechanic Gerhard Lecoq, and comprises four mechanics and six 'truckies' – men who would normally drive the team's commodious articulated transporters to the European races. They start building the garage at 8.00am on Monday. The general mood is cheerful and optimistic.

Lecoq's team works from his masterplan, which lists every component part of the garage and tells them in precisely which box it can be found. The plan also has a detailed floor layout of where everything must go.

No time can be wasted

“First we build the gantries that carry all the overhead equipment for the cars,” says Lecoq. “Then we construct the dividing walls of the garage according to the layout designed in Cologne. This splits the garage into separate areas for all the different operations – engines, tyres, composites, telemetry, etc – and helps everyone work as efficiently as possible.”

As with all things F1, preparation is the key. The cars, spares and tools have travelled directly from the race in Malaysia and, before that, Australia. Consequently, the planning for Bahrain all had to take place long before the start of the season.

On day two, reinforcements arrive and the individual operations areas are set up in more detail. The pitwall awning, the team's strategic nerve centre come race day, is also assembled. Meanwhile, any spare hands are kept busy ensuring that the garage and every component is kept spotlessly clean – not just as a matter of pitlane pride, but because even dust particles can compromise performance.

The cars themselves are left boxed up and virtually untouched until Wednesday, by which time the rest of the team has arrived, the garage is finished and the latest parts have arrived from Cologne. Crucially, this also ensures that no time is lost searching for missing items.

“When you arrive at the track, you can only lose time,” says Lecoq. “You can never gain it. There is no time to get parts from the factory, so everything must be in the right place and go together smoothly. Wasted time only helps your rivals.”

Well-Being of the Team Members are Very Important

As general manager F1 operations, it's Richard Cregan's job to ensure all the parts and personnel are on site when they are needed. With more than 80 staff to organise, this could be a logistical nightmare, but, again, good preparation pays dividends. Every team member is issued with a comprehensive event handbook, containing information on every aspect of the race, including details of the circuit, itineraries, daily work schedules, even the appropriate dress code for each day.

“The team are very familiar with what needs to be done, but having a document that sets it out clearly helps ensure that everyone knows exactly what's going on at any time,” he says. “There are so many things to be considered that we have to do everything we can to reduce the chances of problems arising.” This preventative policy also applies to the well-being of the team members. Most of them have a fitness regime to keep them busy when they're away from the track, and there's always a team doctor on hand.

“It's very important that all the staff are in good physical and mental condition,” says Cregan. “Keeping them fit and healthy helps stop them falling ill while they're away. Multiple time zones, different hotels, recycled air on the flights and the stress of life away from home all take their toll. We try to minimise the chances of complications. This is especially important when so many people are working closely together – if they aren't able to perform on race day, it affects everyone.”

Fresh Produce is Integral to the Team's Smooth Running

To this end eating well and staying properly hydrated are crucial for everyone while they're working. The man responsible for keeping the troops suitably fed and watered is Philip Jochum, along with his two chefs and two service staff.

“Each day, we cook lunch and dinner for all team personnel and any guests,” he says. “We use locally sourced foods where possible, and try to introduce a little regional flavour to the menu. For example, in Bahrain we're cooking some traditional machbous, a type of grouper fish served with rice.”

Finding reliable suppliers in each country isn't always easy, but fresh produce is integral to the team's smooth running.

“They're not fussy eaters, though,” says Jochum. “As long as it's tasty and there's lots of it they're not bothered. Chicken curry and Wiener schnitzel are favourites. They love ice cream, too – at a hot race, we can get through nearly 1000 tubs!”

As well as 100kg of fruit and vegetables, and more than 80kg of meat, Panasonic Toyota Racing munches its way through 20kg of pasta and 15 litres of tomato sauce. Then there's the small matter of 2500 bottles of water and 2000 cans of drink. Racing fuel comes in many forms.