F1 uncovered: A weekend behind the scenes with a chief mechanic

With 24 races on the calendar now, working in Formula 1 is a mental and physical challenge like never before. You may have noticed the drivers expressing some disgruntlement over the packed schedule towards the end of the year – and they’re staying in five-star hotels and flying either first class or private.

The reality for the team mechanics is truly brutal. They’re the ones arriving at the venue almost a week before the race and leaving six hours after the chequered flag drops on Sunday. The packing up process begins before the race ends.

It’s not just the people who start to show some signs of wear and tear, but the cars themselves. In this era of the budget cap there is less of a throwaway culture. Teams often arrive at the final races with components that, while still within their ‘life’, have seen a fair bit of use – because producing new ones to replace those nearing the end of their life cycles isn’t always an option owing to budget restrictions.

And it’s up to the mechanics to ensure every aspect of the car remains robust, safe, and capable of delivering peak performance.

In Qatar – the penultimate round of the 2024 championship – a high-speed track configuration which required drivers to spend a lot of the time on the kerbs meant Haas chief mechanic Toby Brown spent the weekend paying additional attention to brake ducts and floors, as well as trying to look after his crew in the garage. Here’s how it went.

THURSDAY

11.30
Arrival at the track

For most of the guys this was our third day at the track. We arrived on Tuesday but due to some customs delay – which impacted multiple teams – we weren’t able to touch the cars and some of the work was delayed until Wednesday.

Brown's natural spot is in the garages, overseeing the work of crews on both Haas cars

Photo by: Dom Romney / Motorsport Images

But because the front and rear suspensions go through a two-race cycle, the cars stayed together between Las Vegas and here. The aim is to leave the cars in one piece when we finish on Wednesday night and it all went smoothly.

There was another delay on Thursday morning as we arrived at half past 11 but couldn’t get into the track because they were still doing security checks. So we started about an hour later.

The first thing is the set-up work. The set-up sheet usually comes in on the Tuesday, so we put all the values into the car on a Wednesday and finish it on a Thursday morning as we build both cars complete. The most important thing on both Wednesday and Thursday is to make sure we have all the correct specs of the parts on the cars.

We have to make sure that our cars don’t deviate from our submission by more than three millimetres either way – so the window is very small

13.30
Legality checks

The next milestone is all the legality checks. The FIA don’t check you before an event, so it’s up to us to make sure the car is legal. We’ve got all the same tools that they do. Some things, like the flexibility checks on both wings, are done at the factory, and here it’s mainly about the bodywork.

We as a team declare our CAD model to the FIA and then we have to make sure that our cars don’t deviate from our submission by more than three millimetres either way – so the window is very small. And it’s quite a long process because you have a sort of scanner and you follow the programme going through a lot of points. Then it gets uploaded to the server so the engineers can look at it and make any adjustments if necessary.

Usually it goes smoothly, but sometimes there are surprises – like a couple of events before we changed the gearbox, and when we fitted the rear wing, which had passed all the tests with the previous one, it was suddenly outside the legality window – so we had to do some good old-fashioned grinding.

16.30
Fire up

Then we take the cars apart somewhat for the fire-up. And that is basically to make sure that everything is working as it should – which usually takes about an hour. Again, there is a checklist of all the procedures.

Mechanics travel with their car to legality checks and into the pitlane for pitstop practice

Photo by: Dom Romney / Motorsport Images

If you’ve been watching F1 for a long time, you’ll have noticed how much the reliability has improved over the years. These cars just don’t break down anymore, and it’s all down to the checks we do. Every Thursday, all the teams spend hours checking that everything is working perfectly.

This time, everything was fine, so at about half past five we started making some set-up changes – believe it or not, even before we hit the track for the first time. But that’s standard procedure, because the engineers might change their minds after talking to the drivers or get some new ideas, so it’s always an evolving thing.

21.25
Pitstop practice

It was a fairly calm day, so we actually started our pitstop practice a little earlier than planned. As usual we did about 11-12 stops, all went well, and we left the track about 45 minutes before curfew.

It’s part of my job to look after the guys. It’s 24 races a year – and when I started in 2003 we had 16. So it’s a tough calendar and for me the curfew time is just an advisory. If we can finish earlier, we can go home earlier – and especially at this time of year, it’s good for morale.

FRIDAY

12.00
Arrival at the track

We arrived at noon, had breakfast and went straight to work: there are a few things to do in the morning before practice. First, there’s the fire-up: this time it’s fairly quiet and straightforward. We don’t take the floor off, the bodywork stays on the car – because all the checks were done the day before and this is more of a precaution. So we warm the car up a bit, fire it up at a given time and check everything is still OK.

15.00
Car presentation

Then it’s time for the ‘car presentation’. Both cars have to be complete. One has to stay in the garage and the other is pushed into the pitlane for the journalists, photographers and TV crews to see.

Mechanics get plenty of opportunities to ensure they're sharp for pitstops

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

For the media it’s a chance to see the latest changes and for us it’s a bit of a break. For me personally, there’s a bit of administration, doing job lists, preparing for the next event and stuff like that – all pretty boring. We also use this time to do more pitstop practice since the car is complete and already in the pitlane.

The hour or so before the first practice we do the cooling changes – because the aero guys check the weather and can send out the latest settings. As soon as we get the cars back in, we take them apart and do these changes: blanking, internal blanking, brake ducts, brake drums. There are seven different specs for brake cooling – sometimes we even fit asymmetric parts – and it’s up to the engineers to tell us which ones they want for the session.

16.30
Free practice 1

We have a detailed plan for each practice session: tyre sets, fuel, number of laps and so on – and our priority is to stick to that plan. There aren’t any big set-up changes during the session, as it’s only an hour and it’s more important to do laps than be stuck in the garage.

There’s no time to make any time-consuming changes, so it’s usually limited to a few suspension settings and wings.

So, apart from changing tyres, we measure the plank and adjust the ride height if necessary. This track is quite smooth, so the changes weren’t that big – unlike Interlagos, for example, where nobody expected the resurfaced track to be so bumpy.

We raised the ride height quite dramatically there, also for the drivers’ comfort, because they said it was the worst it’s ever been. This time we had three runs and everything went well.

20.30
Sprint qualifying

There is a three-hour gap between sessions and we get the new set-up sheet about an hour before the start of sprint qualifying. There’s no time to make any time-consuming changes, so it’s usually limited to a few suspension settings and wings.

The session itself was good, with Nico [Hulkenberg] getting through to Q3 again. Kevin [Magnussen]’s car was nominated for a scan with the FIA, so we took it to their garage. The inspection itself takes about 20 minutes, but you’re held up for about an hour.

Qatar circuit features harsh kerbs which give mechanics plenty of headaches as they juggle old and worn parts

Photo by: Dom Romney / Motorsport Images

Then we came back, took the floor off both cars, checked if there was any damage. And towards the end of the year, when some of the parts are getting quite old, we’ll do more repairs on those little bits of floor or brake ducts.

This circuit is pretty tough in that respect. The cars run on the kerbs for about a quarter of the lap and, because of the vibration, it’s breaking all the bodywork. So after both sessions we had to either replace brake ducts or repair them, which sometimes means just gluing them back together.

SATURDAY

13.00
Repairs and preparations for the sprint race

First thing this morning we had to put one of the brake ducts back on the car that was damaged in the sprint shootout the day before. We have a pool of parts, but towards the end of the season we won’t be getting any new ones, so we have to balance a bit.

Obviously the most damaged parts go to the back of the queue. Our reliability engineers keep track of all the repairs. And we also have to inform the FIA. In some cases you can do a self-declared repair: so I take a photo of the part before we repair it, let them know what we’re going to do, and after their approval we can carry on.

This time it was a brake duct winglet and another aero part that was damaged. So on Friday evening I had to email the FIA to get their approval – and once we got it we took the part off and repaired it. In the morning it was ready to go back on the car.

17.00
Sprint race

The pitlane opens at 16.30, half an hour before the start. We go to the grid just before that, collect the cars as they arrive and take them to their starting positions.

My main objective is to make sure we have everything we need and that everything is on time. There is a strict procedure before the race with several key points. I stay with one car and another engineer is there with the other to make sure the timing is correct.

Once repairs are complete, Brown accompanies the cars on to the grid for the sprint race start

Photo by: Dom Romney / Motorsport Images

With three minutes to go, there can only be eight people per car on the grid, so we have to make sure everyone’s gone and only those who are supposed to be there are left.

Then we come back. I usually help push one of the tyre trolleys back into the garage – and then we get ready for the race. It’s my job to make sure everyone is in their place in the garage before the start.

The race itself went well, with Nico finishing seventh and scoring another couple of points. The cars came back in good shape but, as the parts were getting long in the tooth, we had to fix some damaged brake ducts again as well as some floor edges.

After the session it was more of the same: floor off, brake ducts to repair. At that point I was pretty sure we’d have to run the cars with a few winglets missing for the next event in Abu Dhabi

We also have to go through a checklist. The brakes are measured and replaced if necessary, we take the floor off to see if everything is still OK, and just carry on with the repairs to get the cars ready for qualifying.

21.00
Qualifying

We didn’t make any major changes to our cars since the engineers were relatively happy with the performance in the sprint race. Nico got knocked out in Q1, which had nothing to do with him or us, but Kevin made it through to Q3.

After the session it was more of the same: floor off, brake ducts to repair. At that point I was pretty sure we’d have to run the cars with a few winglets missing for the next event in Abu Dhabi.

Later that night we were called back to the FIA for a rear wing pullback test and a scan on Nico’s car. That was supposed to be done at midnight, but we got there a little sooner so that everyone could go home a little earlier.

Haas mechanics had a busy day of it on Saturday in Qatar

Photo by: Dom Romney / Motorsport Images

SUNDAY

14.14
Legality checks

When I got back to the hotel last night, around 1am, I had another invitation from the FIA – for another test this morning. So they’ve really liked spending time with us this week.

They always select randomly who they invite over the weekend. Some races I go down there every day, like this week, some races I don’t. But you have to expect to see them more the better you do.

They only do certain checks. We’ve done the front wing check, I’d say four times this year, and the front floor flexibility, which is how much the floor flexes up, about five times.

It’s always a bit of an exam feeling. And in Monaco we failed. We had a new rear wing and with the previous one we knew exactly where the limitation was. So we measured it as usual – and we were sure we’d be all clear. When I saw their tool go through the DRS slot, I just couldn’t believe it. And that’s because the limitation was in a different place, but we hadn’t checked that particular tiny gap on the outer edge.

The FIA guys understood that it was a fair mistake and how we made it, but they just didn’t have any choice but to disqualify us. I guess that was the one for experience... Now we are scrupulously checking.

Everything was fine this weekend and we were done with the checks, we got the cars ready to fire up, took the floors off, made sure everything still worked as it should, and put the back together again.

15.15
Final pitstop practice

All the stops went really well. We’ve had a pretty good year with pitstops to be fair. At the last event in Vegas we were one of the most consistent teams throughout the pitlane. We’re not the fastest, but consistency is what you need.

Brown was encouraged by Haas team's consistency in stops, despite not having the best equipment in the pitlane

Photo by: Dom Romney / Motorsport Images

It was quite an achievement because it’s no secret our pitstop equipment isn’t as advanced as some teams. So when we do well, I think it’s because the guys are doing a great job and outperforming the equipment. We have an ongoing project to try and bring in new things and make it easier for the guys to do the job quicker – but that takes time.

We’re still a small team. But that’s a good thing. That’s what I say to the guys: “Look, because we’re such a small operation, you have so much more input into the product than someone who’s working at Mercedes, Ferrari, wherever, on that half of the pitlane – because it’s all done for them. We have to have a lot more input into what goes on!” And to their credit, we’ve had a really good year with pitstops.

We’ve spent so much time together that we work really well as a group. We all know each other. We bond a lot. We went on a team-building trip last year and I’d say within the first hour the people who were doing the course just said, “You don’t need it because you’re already a team”. It was one of those courses for people who work in an office and have never spoken to the guy who’s sitting 15 metres away. We live in each other’s pockets for over 24 weeks a year. So we all get along!

We’re lucky that we have two experienced drivers so they don’t crash as often, which is a really big plus

Once that’s done, it’s time to grab lunch, get your suit on and get ready for the race.

SUNDAY: GRAND PRIX

19.00
The race

The pitlane opens 40 minutes before the race, so we get to the grid just before that. It’s all standard procedure and I’m there to go between two cars to make sure everything is working, we have power in the generators, that electrically we’re all OK. With five minutes to go I help push one of the trolleys back, but stay on the pitwall to make sure I see both cars leave their grid positions.

I then go back to the garage and check we’re ready for any emergency pitstops. This time we had to do one right after the start after Nico’s incident in Turn 1. He came back with a puncture, but the car was OK – so we sent him back.

Kevin finished ninth, so we got some more points, but Gasly, who we were fighting with, got lucky with the Safety Car, which gave him a good position in fifth.

Magnussen had a good run to the points, but good fortune around the safety car vaulted Gasly ahead

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

After the race we have to go to scrutineering. We didn’t have any checks on Kevin’s car, it was just weighed and we were free to take it. Then we collected Nico’s car since he spun off in the race. It was delivered to the end of the pitlane and we took it back to the garage.

21.00
Packing up

Again, despite Nico’s off, both cars were in good shape. We’re lucky that we have two experienced drivers so they don’t crash as often, which is a really big plus. When you look at Williams, with everything that’s been going on recently, you really feel for them.

I have to do a report for the engineers, taking lots of weights and measurements of different parts of the car. I take lots of pictures, put them in an album, upload them to a server and share the link – so they can see all the photos of the damage and all the attrition we’ve had.

Then it’s time to pack up, which usually takes a good five or six hours, before we finally head to the hotel for one last night in Qatar before heading to Abu Dhabi.

Following the race, Brown and the mechanics have the enormous task of packing up ready for the next leg of the triple header

Photo by: Dom Romney / Motorsport Images