The final laps of the Russian Grand Prix, which determined the final results in the Sochi race, brought to the spotlight the importance of radio communications between the drivers and their respective track engineers.
More than just reading the times, after the Russian race the focus was on the reading of the team radio messages, the channel through which it was possible to reconstruct what happened in the excited final stages of Sochi.
In this scenario, the role of the track engineer emerged in an important way, at the top of a communication chain that is actually much more substantial, which includes the pit wall, garage and remote garage.
The voices of the track engineers have become familiar even to the general public, given that every race weekend they are broadcast live on television, becoming an integral part of the action.
For decades, the task required of a track engineer was that of technical interface for the driver, a role that provided (and still provides) to be able to interpret the information and driving sensations of those in the car, transforming them into operations to be physically performed on the car.
In the last decade, the evolution of radio communications has added a fundamental task to the track engineers’ agenda, namely the management of a very important communication channel that has become crucial in the management of a race weekend.
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Today the engineer is a driver-coach
“The biggest evolution in this role was driver-coatching – explained to Motorsport.com the Race Director of Ferrari, Laurent Mekies – 15 or 20 years ago a track engineer could hardly have provided a driver with driving advice, as he is able to do today, as there was no real-time data available as we currently have. “
“Formula 1 has evolved a lot, I mean the level of analysis and estimates in real time, today we have a much more in-depth knowledge of tires, we read many more real-time parameters, and in general there are many more sensors in the car. We have evolved the simulation models thanks to a greater number of sensors on the car, and this allows us to interpret the data we receive from the car in real time and obtain information which is then passed on to the driver”.
The track engineer is a sort of bridge between the driver and a work group that works behind him, structured as a real chain of command. And, as in all activities that involve the coordination of a staff, there is training that is carried out relentlessly.
“Each team has its own type of communication procedure – confirmed Laurent Mekies – which goes beyond the attitude of the individual engineer. We do some tests, there is specific training, after the race weekends we listen and re-analyze both the communications you hear via radio between the engineer and the driver, and those that occur in the internal communication chain “.
“If, for example, we think of Sochi, this information included weather estimates, the conditions of the tires of all the drivers on the track, information on the car and the lap pace of the opponents, all data read in real time. It is a chain of command that is combined with communication protocols, flows of dialogue and decisions that pass from the remote garage, to the garage on the track, to the pitwall and finally to the driver. We need a time for discussion, decision and communication “.
An ad ‘hoc’ language for each driver
The part of this work that emerges to the attention of the general public is the radio team, through which, over time, fans have learned about the personalities of the drivers.
Each track engineer has developed his own method of approaching his driver, trying to marry the dialogues with the character of those in the car in the best possible way.
“It is the personalization of communications – confirmed Laurent Mekies – not all drivers want the same amount of information, not all want it at the same time, and not all in the same way. There are drivers who want to be motivated, others who prefer to be left alone. There are drivers who constantly ask for lap times, which become information that serves as a reference, let’s say an extra charge, others who prefer a more silent approach with communications reduced to a minimum. The relationship between the engineer and the driver is fundamental on this front, it is necessary to understand the correct approach to the divers in the car in the best conditions to perform. The way of communicating, as well as the tone of language, are not to be considered in absolute way, sometimes a dialogue that seems more excited is aimed at the personality of the driver, at what he needs to perform in the best way “.
“The challenge is to make fewer mistakes than others, because everyone makes them”, concluded Laurent Mekies, and in fact the streak of perfect decisions is a feat bordering on the impossible.
Just as the line that separates an impeccable decision from a sensational mistake is very thin.
Years ago Fernando Alonso was at the center of a case when by radio he addressed the Ferrari pit wall with an unclear statement: did he say ‘stupid’ or ‘geniuses’? It is the fate of those who work in these roles: a split second, a very small detail, makes a huge difference on the final outcome.
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