A Formula 1 box is much more complex than what is shown on TV. The 400 square meters that each team is entitled to are divided into several departments, where around 100 people work frantically. The heart of the pit is the telemetry room, where the behavior of the cars on the track is analyzed by an army of computers. Each team has its own specific way of dealing with the data coming from the tracks. And, of course, they do everything to hide this weapon from the competition, so much so that TV cameras and cameras are not allowed in this sector. But, at the invitation of Renault, the reporter from Mundo Strange was able to take a peek at the French team’s telemetry room during practice at the last Brazilian GP.
Filled with powerful computers, with 45 liquid crystal displays, it looks like the command center of a spaceship. There, the F-1 performance is monitored by 40 technicians. The cars are equipped with dozens of sensors, which transmit to the box, via radio, information about the conditions of the engine, suspension and everything that may affect the performance of the bolide. On the screens in the telemetry room, they show everything from how many times the pilot pressed the brakes in a lap to the oil temperature. If, for example, the oil gets too hot or the engine wobbles, technicians will know what adjustments need to be made. That information then goes straight to the chief engineers’ notebooks, who pass orders to the mechanics. Simple? No. Even with all this technology, many problems are slow to be diagnosed. And new data never stops coming in. All in the middle of a lot, a lot of rush.
More than a garage Cars and parts share space with a supercomputer center and even a kitchen
1. Secret room
In telemetry, more than ten high-powered computers receive details of the cars’ performance on the track. Part of the data can go to the team’s headquarters in Europe to be analyzed, in real time, by even more powerful computers that decipher the information with greater speed. Desktop computers outside of telemetry only in the rooms of the electronic engineers, who take care of these sensitive F-1 components
2. Chilled gasoline
Everyone sees those super bombs on TV that inject gasoline into cars at the pit stop. But few people know that in the pit there is also a machine to remove fuel from the car. It sucks in gasoline, cools the fuel and injects it back into the tank at 18°C, the ideal temperature for making the most of the energy in the fuel.
3. Warm tires
When the cars are in the pits, the four tires are under electric blankets, which raise the temperature of the rubber to 80ºC. With the heat, grip on the asphalt grows, preventing the wheels from spinning and giving more speed. Tire pressure and temperature are measured after practice – information that helps develop better compounds
4. Engine fan
After a few laps on the track, the car returns smoking and it is necessary to quickly cool the engine, which even when stopped remains very hot. The equipment that does this is basically fans equipped with dry ice, which blow cold air into the bolide’s radiators. A team takes about ten engines to each GP. Sometimes they are removed from the cars and analyzed by engineers in an exclusive engine room. These exhaust fans also suck the gases emitted by the engines inside the box. Thanks to them, the air is not unbreathable as in an ordinary auto repair shop.
6. Eye on the small screen
In training, the drivers follow the competition’s performance from inside their own car. A liquid crystal screen – which shows the same TV images you see at home – can be placed anywhere in the box, as it is suspended by an articulated bar. Without the pilots around, the mechanics take over the small screen.
7. Holders and reservation
Three cars are in the pit: the two starters and, in the middle of them, the reserve. Eight mechanics and three engineers take care of each F-1. Only the starters go out to train, but all hits made on them also go to the reserve, used in case of emergency. If you need to change a nose, spoiler or any other moving part of the chassis, just go to the parts warehouse.
8. Fast food
Each box has its own kitchen and dining room, which are located close to the team leader’s private room. Pastas, being easy to transport and prepare, dominate the menu. In Renault’s kitchen at GP Brasil, two chefs worked. The cafeteria, next door, had about 50 seats.