F1 uncovered: A weekend behind the scenes with a race engineer

You know the drill: the ‘team radio’ banner pops up on screen 
and, a second or two later, amid crackles and the aural backdrop
of engine blare, a driver’s voice emerges – generally raised in a tone of tetchy complaint, sometimes at an outright screaming pitch.


The voice that responds is usually altogether more measured, both in tone and content, delivering the likes of “copy” or “understood” (or indeed some other variant of “just shut up and drive the car”) in the manner of an airline pilot informing the cabin crew to take their seats for landing.

This is the voice of the race engineer. Yet they are not just there to act as a verbal punchbag for those occasions when the tyre strategy hasn’t worked out. The race engineer is the first point of contact for any driver, since it’s their job to ‘run’ the car with them, trying to turn the stream of thoughts of their closest colleagues into a decent set-up that can help both achieve a better result.

They’re the ones who have an overview of what’s happening with the car throughout the weekend, from the time it’s fired up on Thursday until it crosses the line on Sunday. It’s their job to know the strengths and weaknesses not only of their cars, but also their drivers, in order to get the best out of that combination. That’s why it’s often said the relationship with the race engineer
is vital for the drivers.

Gary Gannon’s weekend at Imola was always going to be challenging for a number of reasons. The fact that his driver, Nico Hulkenberg, had never raced there was one of them – but the pair were also tasked with carrying out an important test during practice to help the team assess its new aero package.

Here’s how it panned out...

Gannon was tasked with guiding Hulkenberg through his maiden visit to Imola, but that was hardly the most pressing item on his agenda

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

THURSDAY

08.45
Engineering meetings

“There’s no running on Thursday, but it’s still a very busy day in terms of setting up for the weekend. After arriving and a quick breakfast,
I usually go straight into an array of meetings with different groups, starting with IT to check that all the systems are working, then electronics: since we had a lot of test equipment on the car, it was an important one, but the guys did a good job of preparing everything.

“Then I had a meeting with our Ferrari engineers to give us any kind of limitations for the weekend. Nothing too special, but they did remind us about the bumps in the track – especially in turns 12 and 14 – because you can’t upshift with wheelspin as it’s bad for the gearbox, so we have to remind the drivers.

“Then at nine o’clock, we had our big pre-race meeting, which is run by the factory and lasts about 45 minutes. We’re in our engineering room, but it’s them who give us their expectations for the weekend in terms of tyres, set-up, aero, weather and strategy. The main takeaways were: although previously the right-front was a limitation at Imola due to graining, with the new construction of the fronts it should shift to the rear being a limitation. This affects the set-up, the driving style and the way we need to manage the tyres.

“Then the aero guys briefed us on how the new package is supposed to work and all the tests they want us to do. Strategy-wise, it’s pretty straightforward: with a pitstop loss of 28 seconds, the only real option is a one-stop race.

“We then sat down with our performance engineer, Marty,
and went through a number of set-up ideas we had worked on earlier in the week.”

12.30
Catch up with Nico

“We then met up with Nico in our hospitality area. Typically on Thursday, it starts with lunch together and jokes and inter-group banter, which is always fun – but then it quickly turns into a serious meeting. We have a Zoom call every week so he’s always aware of our plans.

A small sensor issue required a precautionary engine change that created more work for the mechanics

Photo by: Mark Sutton

“This time he knew there’d be sensors on the car to help the team assess the upgrade. So we asked him to sacrifice a couple of runs – but even though he’s never raced here, it was an easy sell because it helps the team move forward.”

13.30
Fire up

“Exactly 24 hours before FP1 we fire up the car for the first time during the weekend. Normally I’m not too involved, but I like to be in the garage to make sure everything goes smoothly, and this time it didn’t go to plan. We fitted a new engine that wasn’t yet part of our allocation and I could see it was starting to take a lot of time, so I got more involved.

“We spoke to our Ferrari engineer, Claudio, and because we found a small sensor issue, we decided to change the engine –
just as a precaution. That meant that instead of getting the car ready and doing our legality checks, we proceeded with an engine change. The guys started at around 3pm
and finished at 6.30pm and we
were able to do the fire-ups just before curfew. We were hoping
to get the floor on the car as well, but in the end, we didn’t have enough time, so we put it off
until the next morning.”

14.30
Run programme meetings 

“While I was keeping an eye on what was going on in the garage, I had a couple of other meetings. At 2pm we had radio and system checks, then at 2.30pm another technical meeting where we go through the exact run programme. Then another meeting with Pirelli, basically to confirm our expectations about the limitations of the tyres for the weekend. And then another chat with Marty about the set-up.

“When we met with Nico, we came up with some new ideas 
we could try in FP2. The engine change gave us the opportunity to make them. Some things require the gearbox to be taken off and the internals removed and put back together, and what we had in mind would take an hour and involve Ferrari mechanics as well as our own, so it’s not a decision to be taken lightly. I didn’t want to take the car apart for that. But since we changed the engine anyway, we decided to go ahead with it.

“I was in constant discussion with our number-one mechanic Matt about Friday’s morning job list and what we could and couldn’t try.
I had a list of what I wanted to do – but we dropped a few things because we didn’t think we’d have enough time to do them all.”

Red flags interrupted FP1 run plan for Hulkenberg

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

FRIDAY

09.15
Arrival at the track

“Friday morning was supposed to be about catching up on the things we hadn’t been able to do the day before, but more problems arose. We had an issue with the water pump and, instead of doing all the work we’d missed on Thursday, we had to worry about whether we’d be able to run in the first session at all.

“We got it recovered. The guys put the car together and did all the fire-ups by 12, so at 12.30 – for our usual run plan meeting – we were sure we could start the session.”

13.30
Free practice 1

“We had a clear plan in place on Thursday, with three runs for FP1: the first with big rake to check the aero performance of the new package, the second with smaller rake to get more data, and then the final run with no rake to cross-compare the cars.

“What happened in reality was very different. The first run went as planned. We asked Nico to stay off the kerbs – because you don’t want to shake the big structure – and not to use DRS. And it went quite well. The second run was first interrupted by red flags, so we lost some time – but then we lost even more because as soon as we came back out, the aero engineer reported that he wasn’t getting any data from the rakes, and then two other people reported that their channels weren’t working either.

“We boxed and tried to investigate the problem, but then more electrical issues occurred and we couldn’t fix them, only to find out later that it was because one of the looms was trapped by the bodywork and damaged. Anyway, we had to abandon the second run with the rakes. We took it off and did the last run, so we had the data to compare the two packs.”

17.00
Free practice 2

“The second session was a more typical one with low and high-fuel runs, but as soon as we went out we discovered the ride was terrible, also because of the bumps – it was worse than in 2022, so we had already tried to rethink the approach – and Nico reported there was something wrong with the car on ride.

Hulkenberg struggled with his ride in FP2 after taking a wrong direction on set-up

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

“Ultimately, it was related to a set-up change we made on Thursday when we decided to change the engine as well. It was a specific suspension setting and, basically, we made a mistake and instead of making the car softer as intended, it actually made the ride terrible.

“The guys tried to understand it with the data but fortunately, as soon as I explained the symptoms to the mechanics, they were able to say, ‘Ah, we know what it is’ – so we were able to fix it very quickly and get the car out again. However, our first run, which was supposed to be seven laps on mediums, ended up being two laps. Luckily, then Nico was able to do a couple more laps on mediums to get a better feel for the car – and we were actually quite happy with the revised setup.

“We then went out as planned for a high-fuel run, a couple of laps fewer than planned because of the time lost earlier.”

20.30
Friday evening technical meeting

“We had a quick debrief after the second session, but then we always have a big meeting late on Friday with the guys from our factories in Italy and UK. They gave us all their assessments of the set-up changes
we had made and the first discoveries after comparing two packages. A lot of things worked well, but a few didn’t, which made us want to investigate further.”

Both race drivers and reserve Bearman join the engineers for debriefs

Photo by: Mark Sutton

SATURDAY

06.15
Catch up with the performance engineer

“Last night – after the engineering meeting – I made a big list of set-up changes we wanted to consider. So in the morning Marty and I met at the hotel for a couple of hours, to go through all the ideas and changes we might make, and to make sure that when we got to the track we were ready to work on the changes.

“We left for the track at 8.15am, and should have been here by 9.15 – instead we arrived at 9.27 because of the traffic. We had two minutes for breakfast and then went straight into the meeting, which was about the set-up between the two cars, sharing what we’re doing. It’s always interesting to know what the other car is doing with the ride height, downforce levels, etc.

“By the time it was done, Nico was already at the track, so we were able to talk to him over breakfast to finalise a particular set-up change we’d talked about the night before but hadn’t made a decision on.”

12.30
Free practice 3

“FP3 was basically Nico’s first chance to work on the qualifying simulation and the session went well. We went out on mediums and Nico was able to do some timed laps. But with the car changing and the wind direction as well, he was a bit off compared to Kevin – and then the session was red-flagged.

“At that point we could have gone to softs or back to mediums – and after talking to him we decided to do the latter. He’s seen the data by then, he knows what to adjust, and he went out and found all the missing time immediately, which is always impressive with Nico. So we ended up 10th, but he was still a bit nervous going into qualifying that we weren’t competitive because a lot of cars weren’t getting laps together, so we should have been around P14.

“So, after a debrief he came up with ideas of what he wanted to change on the car – and we had to go through every one of them. Have we got all the downforce we need? Should we go lighter? And in those moments, sometimes it’s important to resist the temptation to try and make things better by making radical changes. Because you can easily make the car worse.”

Keeping the same level of downforce from FP3, Hulkenberg shone in qualifying to secure a Q3 berth

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

16.00
Qualifying

“We made some mechanical changes in the end but we kept the same level of downforce, and went into qualifying a bit apprehensive, not sure where it was going to end up. And the first run wasn’t great. Just a bit scrappy on his side, but the great thing about Nico is that he knows that – and he told us right away: ‘I’m going to clean that up.’ So there’s no need to change the car. And he went out again and did a monster lap, which put him in P1, which became P3 at the end of Q1.

“Then Q2 – another amazing second run, which got us back into Q3. And then in the final, we probably didn’t get the most out
of it. We used scrubbed tyres
on the first run, but that can be distracting because you lose some references. But P10 in the end
was also not too bad.

“After a debrief, I usually go and look at all the sets of tyres we’ve run, just in case we need to use them in the race – to see if there are any cuts, abrasions, to find the ones we need to keep in case we need them on Sunday. This time we probably wouldn’t need them anyway, unless there’s some sort of crazy red-flag, safety car scenario at the end, but it’s always important to keep track for occasions like last year in Melbourne.

“Then we had a summary meeting at 7pm, which was pretty straightforward this time since there was nothing too mysterious about the cars. So we really just talked about strategy expectations for Sunday’s race.”

SUNDAY: GRAND PRIX

10.00
Engineering meetings

“We talked about strategy last night, but on Sunday morning we have a final look at the plan during a short meeting between the two race engineers and strategy engineer. It’s a chance to ask questions and challenge any ideas we’re not sure about. But for this race the strategy was very straightforward: start on mediums, finish on hards. So there wasn’t a lot of negotiating.

“Then Nico is always here early on Sundays, so he’s already around asking questions about what we’re going to do in the race. We had a quick discussion about the race plan, the balance and what we expect from the tyres.

Sunday holds a morning of meetings for Gannon to fine-tune plans for the race

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

“At 10.45 we meet with Ferrari, because they manage the actual fuel mass in the car. There are a lot of things we have to think about: will the drivers have to lift and coast? Will we be in traffic? Will we have DRS? All of that determines how much fuel for the start of the race and how we’re going to manage it.”

11.30
Strategy meeting

“This is where Faissal, our strategy engineer, goes through the strategy plan for both cars in detail: what we’re going to do under the Safety Cars, what the scenarios are after the first lap and things like that.

“Then I usually go out and talk
to the car crew and make sure
the car is coming together correctly. This time there were no problems out there.”

12.30
Pre-race briefing

“Everyone talks about procedures, what we’re doing on the laps to the grid, what aero balance and front wing flap we’re using and we go through the strategy. The team manager will tell us if there are any special procedures from the FIA.”

14.20
Grid

“I went into the garage at 1.50pm, 30 minutes before the pitlane opens. And then the driver comes out at 2.10pm. And then we always have a quick chat about the wind direction, the track temperature, confirm how many laps to the grid we do and then decide whether we’re going to be one of the first cars out or wait for a gap. So we went on the earlier side this time, we did our three laps to grid, which put us on the grid at about 2.27pm. The pitlane closed at 2.30pm.

After three laps at a time agreed with Gannon, Hulkenberg's car is pushed into position on the grid by the team mechanics

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

“On the grid I always talk with Nico about the balance during 
these three laps, and then he goes to the toilet or somewhere before
he walks to the front of the grid for the national anthem. During that time I’m talking to the other engineers, giving them Nico’s feedback on the balance. It’s all
the usual routine.

“After that I go to the mechanics and they check the flap angle we had on the car and make sure that what we set in the garage is still there for the race start, because even though it shouldn’t change
at all, it’s super important to know where our balance is for the race start. I’m checking the tyres with the tyre technician to make sure everything is set up correctly and they’re all at the right temperature. I have a bunch of other little
checks that I do.

“Mike, the controls engineer, comes out to talk to Nico about the practice starts and he also brings me overlays of the data we have on the laps to grid so I can quickly check how our balance was compared with FP2 high fuel.

Then we have the national anthem, Nico comes back from that and we have a final talk about the balance and what we’re going to do in the race. Mike talks to Nico about
the starts and what he needs to do based on what we did on the laps-to-grid starts. And then with 10 minutes to go, Nico gets in the car. We put on the race start tyres and
then we just slowly work through our countdown.

“The starting tyres appear on the race monitor, which Marty, the performance engineer, informs me about on the intercom, and then I tell Nico the relevant ones, like the cars around us: ‘everybody’s on medium and only Perez is on the soft’, for example. With 30 seconds to go we all go off to the side and watch Nico go for his formation lap – and then I run to the garage.”

15.00
Race

“And then in the race we’re monitoring the balance, the temperatures, how the tyres are working and we’re constantly trying to help Nico improve.

“We stopped earlier than planned to cover Tsunoda and the other cars that pitted earlier than we expected, which was all triggered by Alonso pitting very early. We covered them and then, as we predicted in the pre-race, we ended up catching a slow Williams that was difficult to overtake. So we were stuck behind them for a couple of laps.

The pre-race ceremonies involve a flurry of activity for Gannon

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

Then Tsunoda got through and we got through, so that part was OK, but we couldn’t really make any progress on Tsunoda. So we couldn’t get into the top 10 – because people who went longer on the first stint had more success, like Stroll for example.

“So, we lacked the pace to fight Tsunoda for P10. Nico did a good job of keeping the tyres alive, but we stopped earlier than planned because we had to react to the cars around us. If we hadn’t done that, maybe we could have stayed out longer and had a better second stint, but it’s difficult to be sure.
So the race was OK and we did
well and Nico did well, but the result was P11.

“Then we did our driver debrief, changed and went to the airport.”

Despite a strong qualifying, Hulkenberg ultimately missed out on the points at Imola

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images