Regardless of what time an F1 race starts, you should know that the teams will have been working long beforehand to be prepared. This session is the last of the weekend, and precision timing is crucial for the team and driver to arrive in top form for the start of the race.
Preparation prior to an F1 race
The teams usually arrive at the circuit around 7:30 in the morning to have breakfast in their motorhomes . The strategy meeting takes place around 9am, with the lead strategy engineer, who will usually have been up late on Saturday calculating the different possible race scenarios and planning the best strategies for the race.
These strategies are based on a combination of historical data (such as the possibility of a safety car, the length of the pits, the position of the team in the paddock, etc.), practice data, grid position and weather forecasts. .
Drivers typically start race day by doing some light warm-up exercises at the hotel, and perhaps getting a massage, before heading to the track. It’s a long wait until the lights go out, some prefer to watch the main Formula 2 race to analyze the best possible lines or track conditions, while others stay in their rooms to enjoy a quiet moment or simply they spend time visualizing the race in their mind.
Drivers typically eat two and a half hours before the race at the latest, after which they only ingest water and electrolyte drinks to stay mentally active.
90 minutes before the start of the F1 formation lap: briefing
About an hour and a half before the race, the whole team meets in the garage to discuss the race plan. This translates into discussions of start strategy, different pit stop scenarios, a detailed weather report and any organizational updates not previously specified by the team.
Last 60 minutes before the F1 race: driver warm-up
At this point, it is crucial that pilots get into a relaxed but confident state.
Each has a different routine, but they generally include eye muscle exercises, reaction exercises, stretches, and active exercises like jumping rope, boxing, push-ups, and reaction games that focus on the hands, feet, or toes. fingers.
Meanwhile, the teams prepare the generators and cooling fans, which use dry ice to cool the cars once they are on the starting grid.
Last 40 minutes before the start of the F1 race: opening of the pit lane
When the pit lane opens, the cars will go out for an installation lap. This is a legacy from the past, when teams dismantled their cars and rebuilt them between qualifying and the race.
Back then these laps were used to make sure everything worked. Now, with the cars in parc fermé conditions between qualifying and the race, there are more for a driver to get a better idea of the track conditions.
The drivers usually do a lap, return to the pits and then go out again to then meet their mechanics and engineers (with a maximum of 42 people for each car) who are already waiting on the grid for the arrival of the car.
The drivers stop at the back of the grid and it is the mechanics who lift the car, slide the ‘wheel boards’ under it and drag it to its starting position.
Once in place, drivers get out of the car and try to unwind, often cooling off under umbrellas or throwing ice towels over their shoulders. Some try to avoid grill interviews, but others don’t mind talking.
Many put on headphones and disconnect with the music. Daniel Ricciardo, for example, recently revealed the playlist with which he can be seen dancing on the grid within minutes of starting a race.
While the pilots tune in to their tunes, the rest of the team is checking the radio transmissions. There is one main channel for everyone to listen to, while the individual structures connect to different group channels and the team manager has a direct link to the drivers, allowing him to contact them whenever he wants.
The flow of information in the general channels will include up-to-date weather conditions such as wind speed and angle, possible strategy changes, tire temperature instructions and any last minute issues.
On the grid, each person has a specific set of tasks to perform. Each car has a #1 mechanic and a senior race engineer, both of whom take joint responsibility for organizing the rest of the people working on the car.
They will install cooling fans, tire blankets and connect the ‘umbilical cord’ to a laptop to control the car. Among other things, the engineer will verify that the steering wheel switches are set correctly for the start of the race and that the front wing angles are correct. Meanwhile, the electrical engineers prepare the start-up sequence.
In turn, the teams’ garage is empty, with chairs lined up for the mechanics to sit in during the race when they are forced to leave the grid.
30 minutes to the start of the F1 race: Pit lane closes
This is the limit for single-seaters to leave the garage. After this, any driver who has not made it out must start the race from the pit lane exit. This happens when teams need to make last-minute repairs or go for wet tires if the weather looks iffy.
The drivers who have managed to get to the grid will walk through the pit lane, sometimes being captured by television crews. After that, they join the formal proceedings on the grid, including the national anthem and the #WeRaceAsOne initiative.
From this moment on, a series of sirens and acoustic signals mark the approaching start time: ten minutes, five minutes, three minutes, one minute and fifteen seconds before the start of the formation lap.
10 minutes to the start of the F1 race: the grid is cleared
The hustle and bustle on the grid suddenly calms down as journalists, special guests and non-technical team members are forced off the grid. That leaves only the drivers, the staff working at the start and the FIA officials.
By this time, the drivers are already inside the car having gone through the pre-race rituals: Sebastian Vettel, for example, always enters the car from the left. Engineers run final system checks, making sure the mirrors are in the correct position.
The last 5 minutes before the F1 race: countdown
Five red lights start the countdown to the race. At that point the wheels should be on and the blankets disconnected from power (but can still be left around the tires). If that is not the case, the teams receive a penalty.
Non-essential team personnel must begin to leave the grid, leaving no more than 16 people per car on the grid after the three-minute signal. On the pit wall, the engineering team sits in front of timing screens and laptops.
At the one minute signal, the engines must be started, the tire covers removed and the cars lowered from their stands (the wheeled boards mentioned above).
All team personnel must leave the grid, taking any remaining material with them. If a mechanic is still around the car with 15 seconds to go, that car will have to start from the pits.
After that, the green lights come on and the formation lap begins, with all cars driving at limited speed. As soon as the cars are running, the mechanics return to the pits and prepare for any incidents on the first lap.
Inside the garage, engineers connect to a variety of laptops and screens displaying data graphs, circuit maps with moving dots, lights and gear numbers, race TV feeds and cameras from the pit crew. This is the race control center, and for the next hour and a half it will be very busy.
The formation lap in F1 racing
This single lap preparation before the start is crucial to the start of the race. Riders must remain grouped and cannot overtake or rehearse starts. Most perform maneuvers to warm up their tires.
They do a number of pre-startup operations as directed by their engineers, such as selecting settings to warm up the brakes and so on.
What is the start of a Formula 1 race like?
When the cars are correctly positioned on the grid, the start sequence of five red lights at the traffic light begins, progressively dimming until all are off. This was introduced to F1 in 1996 to reduce the risk of false starts. The previous red and green system often caused errors when the red color went off and the green did not turn on.
This automated sequence is started by FIA race director Michael Masi , after the cars’ transponders have confirmed that everyone is in position. The lights go out one after the other with each passing second, giving drivers cues as they go through their start sequences.
The last light activates a start detection system and a preset but random interval that determines when it goes out and when they start the race, making it impossible to predict.
As soon as the lights go out, as the great Murray Walker used to shout excitedly… “come on, come on, come on!”
