Haas F1 chief mechanic Toby Brown explains the team’s setup on the starting grid
INTERVIEW OLEG KARPOV PICTURE ANDY HONE
F1 UNCOVERED
1 “What you see here is our usual grid setup. It’s very important that everything is in exactly the same place at every track we go to, so that the whole process of getting ready for the race goes as smoothly as possible.
“Perhaps the only difference is the barrier around the car. In this case, we qualified in the top 10, so we’re quite high up on the grid, and that’s the busy end of it. So we have that barrier – like other teams – to keep people away from the car while we work on it. The other end, towards the back rows, is less busy, so we can do without barriers there for the most part.”
2 “Everyone working on the grid has a clearly defined role. There’s a small portable table by the side for our systems engineer, who sends all the communications to the car, does the software changes and the necessary checks, and our Ferrari engine engineer – he’s got his hand up, which probably means he’s starting the engine. You can see them both working on their laptops, which are connected to the car. You can also see a small power pack underneath – basically a battery to help start the car. The other two guys are our ERS engineer and Ferrari systems engineer.”
3 “There are four guys on the grid responsible for fitting tyres to the car. You can see Troy here in front of the car. He’s responsible for the left-front tyre – and there’s a tyre gun on the ground next to him. We have two of those on the grid: one for both left and right front tyres and another one for the rear tyres as well. These are the guns we use in the garage, but not for pitstops – those are a bit more sophisticated and faster. On the grid we just need something simpler.
“Troy’s other colleagues are next to their tyres. This picture was taken when there was still plenty of time to go, so everyone was more or less relaxed, but the closer you get to the start of the race, the stricter the procedure becomes. With five minutes to go, you would see everyone in their respective positions.”
4 “This is Matt Thompson, the number-one mechanic on Nico Hülkenberg’s car. He’s got a countdown clock and all the bullet points of what needs to happen and when: installation lap tyres off the car, race tyres on the car, blankets unplugged and so on. The tyre blankets, for example, are connected to the generator and they have to be unplugged with five minutes to go. There are several
