Secret Mechanic: Playing it safe can hurt

Whenever Formula 1 returns to a country or track we've used in the past, it's inevitable those of us working in the sport compare it to the 'good old days'.

More often than not the old hands scoff at the sub-standard modern take on an old classic they all loved, harking back in the glory days when the women were fast and the racing was dangerous.

At the recent Austrian Grand Prix, however, things were a bit different.

We left this picturesque mountain-side facility not only with a sense that the new owners might actually have made one of F1's classic venues even better, but more significantly perhaps that this season's dominant leaders got a real run for their money this time around.

We all know the Mercedes team has enjoyed a significant advantage over everyone else during the first part of this championship, but cracks have begun creeping through and the chasing pack is showing signs of being ready to capitalise.

It hurts when you're the dominant team and people want you to be beaten © LAT

I've been in an F1 team that's enjoyed a lot of success - where success is expected - and when it happens on a regular basis most people outside of that team want someone else to win 'for the good of the sport'.

As a mechanic, that can hurt a bit, knowing that your peers, the people running the sport and a huge chunk of the watching millions are all willing you to fail, just to add a bit of spice to the show.

It can feel as if you're being portrayed as the sport's villains, just because you've done a better job than everyone else, when those inside the team rightly feel they deserve the credit and plaudits for doing just that.

To be consistently successful in F1 is no mean feat. It takes hard work, clever people, dedication, sacrifice, attention to detail, a bit of luck and the ability to make some difficult decisions, often under great pressure.

Many teams have most of those attributes and do an amazing job, but the last element, the decision-making skills, can really make the difference between winning and losing.

The ability to get the tough calls right; the bravery to know when to take risks and when to consolidate; knowing when to fight to the death and take on the big boys; all are things that have to be learned and perfected through the experience of winning.

In Austria the guys at Williams finally got a result that represented the impressive, if sporadically optimised, pace that their car's shown, and locking out the front row on Saturday afternoon was certainly a popular conclusion to the day.

Having also been in a team on the fringes of success, during a period of prolonged domination by Michael Schumacher, I can also tell you what a great feeling it is to know that almost the whole world shares your joy that the status quo finally looks like being broken.

When it comes to finding yourselves in a position like Williams did, on the fringes of challenging the major players, it can be an odd experience inside the team.

Our Secret Mechanic was on the end of a few Schumacher/Ferrari drubbings © LAT

Any F1 squad is made up of people of all levels of experience. Some have been used to winning in the past, some never have. Some have responsibility to shareholders, or need to look at events from a company perspective, and others are solely wrapped up in the competitive arena of the pitlane.

All this means that when it comes to making those tough decisions about how to approach a race - like Williams had to in Austria - the team can be split about what's most important to get from the result.

As a mechanic, like a driver I just want my car to win. If there's an opportunity to fight for it, I want to take it. I envisage the celebrations, knowing how popular we'd be as underdogs, taking victory from the 'establishment'; I see the headlines and taste the champagne and that's all I want from the moment that it looks like becoming a possibility.

I imagine there were plenty of folk inside that Williams garage feeling exactly the same on Saturday evening at the Red Bull Ring.

Management often has to look at things a little differently and, from the outside at least, it appears that's what they might have done.

There's a certain level of pressure that comes with having your cars in P1 and P2 on the grid, and as a mechanic, again like a driver, you get used to it if you're fortunate enough to do it regularly.

The first time I remember strapping my driver into the car, on pole position, I was a bag of nerves. Had I done everything correctly, had I followed all the correct procedures, were the wheels done up properly? I was terrified of failure when I felt the whole world was watching and willing us on to win the race.

The fear in that one moment meant I'd have happily settled for a good third or fourth position, as long as the car came home without any problems.

Williams front-row lockouts used to be more common than they are today © LAT

A few years later, when we found ourselves in the now familiar position at the front of the field, there was no fear. My experience meant I knew everything was right and that we'd given our driver the very best shot at winning the grand prix.

We knew what we had to do and were utterly confident in ourselves. Other teams feared us and there was only one result that would've meant a successful day on that occasion.

Of the 500 or so people in the Williams team, most will have been overjoyed to finally see one of their drivers on the podium on Sunday evening, a deserved haul of points and an overdue and welcome injection to the otherwise pitiful bonus kitty.

The guys and girls who weren't at the team throughout their glory days will, I'm sure, see it as a fantastic result worthy of lengthy celebration.

The Williams old-timers, though, the experienced heads and particularly those inside the garage, might see it a little differently. While they'll have rightly celebrated as hard as the rest, they may find it difficult not to feel just a little cheated that their team management couldn't be more aggressive with strategy and go all out against Brackley's big boys. I know I would.

Winning a grand prix isn't easy, but it's a very special achievement and if you're lucky enough to be presented with the opportunity, the best teams will always go for it.