How F1 teams and personnel react in pressurised situations

As the 2021 Formula 1 season reaches its climax with the double-header in Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi, all eyes are on championship protagonists Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton to see if there will be any more fireworks, or if either will make a potentially title-deciding mistake.

But the spotlight will also be on their Red Bull and Mercedes teams and those working in them, all of whom will be under the most extraordinary pressure as a year’s worth of work hinges on the outcome of these two final weekends – both for the prestige of the drivers’ title and the financial rewards that result from constructors’ championship glory.

Can Toto Wolff and Christian Horner lead their teams by example and ensure every small detail is correct, that every part is in compliance with the rules and that every pitstop is as close to perfect as possible?

Generally, I find that when you have someone strong in charge of the team you work for, it tends to inspire you to follow suit. My time at McLaren, guided by Ron Dennis, is a good example of this. I have had a few circumstances where it has helped me to thrive in pressurised situations, and others where my competitive temperament has got the better of me.

At the 1987 Japanese Grand Prix in Suzuka, my driver Stefan Johansson was running second in the closing stages, but Ayrton Senna was rapidly catching him up in his Lotus. In those days radio coverage wasn’t great, and I had been trying to warn Stefan that he would be caught on the last lap. Unfortunately, he didn’t hear the message and was overtaken, thereby finishing third.

In a fit of fury, I left the pitwall and stormed into the McLaren garage where I tore off my radio and threw it onto the floor, where it unfortunately smashed. Ron had followed me into the garage and, witnessing my anger, just calmly told me, “It’s character building stuff!”

As Berger won, Johansson (right) was beaten to second by Senna at Suzuka in 1987 - and Wright wasn't happy

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A year earlier when I was engineering Alain Prost, we had arrived in Adelaide for the last race of the year, certainly not expecting the outcome that came about. The Williams pair of Nigel Mansell and Nelson Piquet were in a strong position for one of them to win the championship, but luck was on our side.

Early in the race, Prost suspected he had picked up a puncture and pitted for a change of tyres. In those days Ron controlled the pitstop with the lollipop and as usual, had told the guys to just take it easy and make sure they got everything right. The change of tyres was executed perfectly in under 15 seconds and Prost rejoined the race.

Our other driver Keke Rosberg, in his last F1 race, had been leading easily until he suddenly stopped on the main back straight with what he thought was an engine failure. In fact, his right-rear tyre had started to delaminate and was hitting the floor, causing the noise. Had Keke looked in his mirrors, he might well have seen the problem and been able to get back to the pits.

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As has been well documented, a few laps later Mansell had his rear tyre explode in dramatic fashion on the same back straight. He’d been cruising around, it seemed, on his way to become world champion.

Prost had worked his way back up into second place when the Williams team, having seen what had befallen Mansell, decided to call Piquet in and change his tyres as a precaution. Prost then led, but the Bosch ECU on his car was showing his fuel level to be critical. There followed much discussion on the pitwall between Udo Zucker, then the Bosch technician, Ron, myself and the Porsche engineers as to whether we could believe the readout. There was nothing we could do about it of course so it was with great relief when Prost crossed the line with the readout showing minus five litres.

Of course, at McLaren during 1988/89, there were many tense moments. The infamous incident at Imola, when Senna went against the agreement that he and Prost had forged that would allow whoever got to Rivazza first to then control the race, is one I remember very clearly. Because of this, tensions between the two drivers escalated to such an extent that when we were testing at Pembrey in Wales, they wouldn’t even talk to each other.

Ever the rational leader, Ron flew down in the TAG helicopter and had the two of them in the back of the truck for at least an hour. Having been read the riot act, Senna emerged virtually in tears. But even so, despite Ron’s efforts, the relationship was never the same again.

Dennis wasn't afraid to read the riot act to Senna and Prost

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Another calm and calculating team manager that I worked with was Jean Todt, then head of Peugeot Talbot Sport, when we were running the 905 Group C sportscars. The 1991 season had been a bit of a disaster and there was a lot of pressure heaped on him and the team by the Peugeot car company, as this ultimately affected its image and impacted its road car sales figures.

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The ultimate goal for Peugeot was to win Le Mans. We changed many things on the car and Todt organised a huge testing program, which included many 36-hour sessions at Paul Ricard over the winter period. This resulted in a reliable car ready to take on the World Championship and Le Mans.

However, even the best laid plans can go awry. When my car piloted by Derek Warwick, Yannick Dalmas and Mark Blundell was running in the lead early on the Sunday morning, it developed an electrical fault resulting in the engine cutting out. At this point, the car was on the Mulsanne Straight, some way from the pits. Todt duly gathered all the relevant engine and electronics people together to find a solution.

I was then told quite calmly to instruct Derek how to keep the car running, by effectively recycling the ignition every time the problem occurred until he managed to pit the car. Again, calmly, the electricians changed a few components, including the battery, and the car rejoined the race before going on to win. The pressure, especially when we didn’t know if the starter motor would work, was intense, but I must admit I was impressed with how the situation was handled.

The problem, as I see it, is that teams are now so large – with many engineers employed to cover just one aspect of the car’s function – that they need good coordination and communication to avoid making a wrong decision. But these decisions also need to be made swiftly – after all, making a decision and sticking with it can often be better than making no decision at all.

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A good example of this was at a test many years ago in Jerez. I wasn’t involved with running the car, but witnessed an embarrassing scene where the test engineer was waiting for an answer from one or more engineers sitting in the support truck looking through data. The driver, still sat in the car, was getting fed up with not being told what the next move or decision was to be, and was on the verge of getting out in a huff.

Both the leaders of the Red Bull and Mercedes teams exude strength, in the Dennis ilk, even if amid the tense off-track politicking that has dominated the season there exists very little by way of a relationship between them.

Horner and Wolff have differing leadership styles

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To the observer, the Red Bull team radiates confidence. That can only come from the top and by having experienced members in the right jobs. Horner may draw criticism from certain quarters for his “straight-talking” mantra – including his criticism of Yuki Tsunoda in Mexico and the “rogue marshal” in Qatar – but exudes calm when questioned by the media, even in the thick of a live session. This will always give team members confidence.

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Mercedes boss Wolff has led his team to seven consecutive championship doubles, a feat unprecedented in F1 history that surpasses even Ferrari’s dominance at the turn of the millennium. But it’s interesting to note that Wolff has a more fiery temperament than Horner and can often be seen throwing his arms in the air or banging his fists when things are not going the team’s way – as seen recently in Brazil.

The ability to motivate and stir the troops to respond from adversity is an important quality, with Hamilton pulling out two race-winning performances on the spin since his qualifying disqualification at Interlagos. But a level-headed approach from a team leader tends to yield the best results, so it will be a challenge for both outfits to keep their emotions in check with the titles so finely poised – and the likelihood that they will be decided at the very last race.

Of course, the most acute pressure may be felt by mechanics, particularly following the FIA’s technical directive designed to remove elements of automation in pitstops that have put greater emphasis back on the human element. Teams must be able to perform the four tyre changes in under three seconds to be competitive – the slow stop for Verstappen at Monza ultimately put him into the wheel-to-wheel situation with Hamilton that resulted in their collision – and do so without any mistakes.

Can you imagine if a wheelnut being cross-threaded caused one of the title contenders to retire, as happened to Valtteri Bottas at Monaco, and decides the championship outcome? Now that is pressure…

Scrutiny on the mechanics will be intense to avoid slow stops that cost positions

Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images