Performing Under Pressure: Chief Mechanic

It’s a long week for Oracle Red Bull Racing’s mechanics – but the times they’re most busy are perhaps not when you might think…

You

need

lots

things

your

way

win

Formula

One

race.

Great

car

and

driver

the

top

his

game

are

the

obvious

ones

–

but

all

the

pieces

have

work

harmony.

succeed,

everyone

the

team

needs

having

good

day…

There’s a common misconception that we arrive at a racetrack with two cars tucked away in their transporter, ready to go. More properly, we arrive at a racetrack with a vast selection of sub-assemblies and parts, that have the potential to become F1 cars. The responsibility for turning those into a pair of RB19s falls to chief mechanic Phil Turner.

The Main Man (third from left)

Phil’s been with Red Bull Racing since before it was Red Bull Racing, rising through the ranks to become our Chief Mechanic in 2013. In the normal course of events, the job isn’t hands-on: if you see Phil on the floor wielding a torque wrench it’s because things aren’t going to plan. “I still get dirty if I have to,” he says, “but mostly I’ll leave it to the guys. They’re the professionals; they work on the cars, day in, day out, and most of the time, I’d just be getting in the way.”

So, what does the Chief Mechanic do? “My job is mostly planning,” says Phil. “I’m making sure the cars are built to the correct specification, handed down by the engineering team. I’m making sure we use the right parts, and those parts are lifed to get through the whole race weekend. I’m making sure all of our spare assemblies are built and ready to go, and that all of the departments at the track are happy with where they’re at: basically, trying to bring everything together into the end product.”

The timeline of work in the garage extends a long way back from the point at which the cars first appear for Friday’s practice sessions. The recent Spanish Grand Prix provides a good insight into how the garage and Phil use their time, with the crew flying into Barcelona late on Monday afternoon. Tuesday, Phil spent at the hotel, preparing the build operation, looking through build specs, liaising with the factory and the logistics operations to ensure everything that should be at the Circuit de Catalunya would be there, all in preparation for the crew to go into the paddock on Wednesday morning to begin work at 08:30.

Team Getting The RB19 Ready

“The rules allow us to fire-up the engine 24 hours before the start of FP1 – so all of our timings work back from that point,” says Phil. “When we come in on Wednesday morning we have three separate pieces – chassis, engine, gearbox – to build-up separately and then put together. The aim is that, by the time we leave on Wednesday evening, the cars are in one piece, the hydraulic systems have been checked, and the car has oil and water, ready to be fired-up.

“When we arrive on Thursday morning, the first job is to set-up that car. We’ll have received a set-up sheet from the race engineers at this point, and we’ll do the set-up it dictates, check all the ride-heights, cambers, toes, corner weights, and have that done before the first fire-up.”

On Dutch Soil (second from right)

While Phil describes the Wednesday/Thursday built and prep as ‘consistently busy’, he calls Friday ‘intense’ but argues Saturday morning is when he and the garage team are under the most pressure – thanks to a relatively recent rule that requires the team have ‘covers on’ – ie work on the car finished for the evening – within three hours of FP2 ending. During that time the crew will strip the car of the testing equipment and harness used for data collection during practice, that would be just dead weight at the sharp end of the weekend. They’ll be allowed to resume work on the car three hours before the beginning of FP3 on Saturday.

“Friday is intense because you have the two track sessions and then a short preparation period before the covers have to go on – but the engineers can work later into the evening, and so when we come in on Saturday morning, there will be new set-up sheets. We’ll be perhaps changing bodywork parts, setting-up the car again, doing new legality checks – so that’s probably the busiest period. At the same time, we’ve also got to fit in things like pitstop practice, so everything is quite condensed. We’ve taken to calling Saturday morning the new Friday night.”

In contrast, Sunday is, according to Phil, ‘usually quite chilled’. Once the car has left the garage on Saturday for its first run in Q1, the specification is fixed, so other than routine maintenance, preparation and inspections, there little that can be done to it. “That’s how it works if Qualifying has been clean: the guys have time for breakfast, the car is on display outside the garage for the media, and it’s fairly quiet,” says Phil. “Of course, it’s not always like that. In Monaco, for example, Checo had quite a sizeable qualifying crash – that made Sunday morning quite intense for his side of the garage – both sides actually, as everyone helped out. Sunday mornings like that, definitely not relaxed.”

Phil Turner

Things like repairing the car after a qualifying crash or, famously in 2020, rebuilding the front end of Max’s car on the grid in Hungary, tend to lead to a very lively garage in the aftermath, everyone charged with adrenaline – though Phil argues he’s quite happy without the buzz. “Days like that, it’s always good to put yourself under pressure, because it keeps you on top of your game, and you do get a massive buzz out of it, because it’s the ultimate example of teamwork – but to be honest, I like normal weekends! Nice, smooth practice sessions, qualify on pole, good start, lead every lap, finish the race 30 seconds ahead. For me, that’s a very nice weekend!”

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