Who fixes what after a crash?
Discussion
This came to my mind watching Le Mans a few weeks back.
After a fairly sizeable crash in motorsport, where the team hopes to get the car out again, who decides who's fixing what when the car arrives back in the pits?
Scenes of the Audi being swamped by a team of mad engineers all who seemed to know instantly their role in fixing the car which looked a total mess seemed amazing to me.
Does one guy direct and point people to certain jobs? How long does it take to identify all that needs doing - I'm guessing data collection as the car drives back to the pits?
Do people just know instantly from looking what needs to be done and then 'stakes their claim' to fixing that part? What if by accident no one 'picks' an item needing doing?
It just seems like chaos!
Thanks for those who help with my ignorance!
After a fairly sizeable crash in motorsport, where the team hopes to get the car out again, who decides who's fixing what when the car arrives back in the pits?
Scenes of the Audi being swamped by a team of mad engineers all who seemed to know instantly their role in fixing the car which looked a total mess seemed amazing to me.
Does one guy direct and point people to certain jobs? How long does it take to identify all that needs doing - I'm guessing data collection as the car drives back to the pits?
Do people just know instantly from looking what needs to be done and then 'stakes their claim' to fixing that part? What if by accident no one 'picks' an item needing doing?
It just seems like chaos!
Thanks for those who help with my ignorance!
Great question.
I would have thought that each engineer is given a list of jobs they do in the event of an accident, graded according to their expertise. Then when the car comes in they can give it the once over and get to work.
In fact, they've probably played out and rehearsed repairing the damage from every conceivable accident and it's just a case of the race engineer saying 'scenario 12' and they all hop to it.
Oddly, I think Lewis fuel leak in the McLaren in Canada (?) last year was a great demo of the level of preparation, simply because it was such a simple problem 'mopping up liquid' with a quite cleary rehearsed method. Man holding kitchen towel, man removing sheets of towel and passing them on to... man moppin up fuel and passing is to... man binning towels.
Slick.
I would have thought that each engineer is given a list of jobs they do in the event of an accident, graded according to their expertise. Then when the car comes in they can give it the once over and get to work.
In fact, they've probably played out and rehearsed repairing the damage from every conceivable accident and it's just a case of the race engineer saying 'scenario 12' and they all hop to it.
Oddly, I think Lewis fuel leak in the McLaren in Canada (?) last year was a great demo of the level of preparation, simply because it was such a simple problem 'mopping up liquid' with a quite cleary rehearsed method. Man holding kitchen towel, man removing sheets of towel and passing them on to... man moppin up fuel and passing is to... man binning towels.
Slick.
I think mechanics have an area they look after - e.g. there are a couple of guys for front bodywork, one for each wheel, another for each brake/hub assembly, another two for radiators/ducting, a transmission guy, a couple for suspension and so on. When the car comes in they all work on their area.
From what I've seen this is how F1 teams work, not only for fixes but also for setup and assembly/maintenance.
So in the fuel issue that the poster above mentioned the chief mechanic would of said "lets open it up", two guys were already assigned to removing the engine cover, a couple more to remove the airbox, I suspect an engine guy was observing, all that took maybe 30 seconds. All mechanics wear headphone gear, communication will be the most important thing - it lets the decision makers do their job, the mechanics can clear up, give an ETA meantime the data engineers feed to the engine experts, who will be looking at that and finding out what the mechanics find to solve whatever caused the over fuelling.
From what I've seen this is how F1 teams work, not only for fixes but also for setup and assembly/maintenance.
So in the fuel issue that the poster above mentioned the chief mechanic would of said "lets open it up", two guys were already assigned to removing the engine cover, a couple more to remove the airbox, I suspect an engine guy was observing, all that took maybe 30 seconds. All mechanics wear headphone gear, communication will be the most important thing - it lets the decision makers do their job, the mechanics can clear up, give an ETA meantime the data engineers feed to the engine experts, who will be looking at that and finding out what the mechanics find to solve whatever caused the over fuelling.
In terms of Audis Le Mans preparation they will spend the week between test day and the race day practising replacing components that may need to be replaced in the race. They do 1 lap of the Bugatti circuit, pit like they would do in the race then wheel the car into the garage and replace/fix something that will only be known to the mechanics when the car is on its way in.
As mentioned above in F1 each mechanic will have an area of the car that is his responsibility and he will be tasked with the upkeep and repairs of that area. If there are people without jobs to do then they help those who have work to be done. At Red Bull each mechanic has their own personal tool tray which only has the tools in that they need to do their jobs.
Generally though the chief mechanic will assign and delegate jobs to those who know how to fix the issue quickly and in almost all teams the mechanics will know their roles all season long in order to prevent " mass panic" when something goes wrong.
This is a good example of what its like in the heat of the moment. http://youtu.be/suaZjKRQpI4
As mentioned above in F1 each mechanic will have an area of the car that is his responsibility and he will be tasked with the upkeep and repairs of that area. If there are people without jobs to do then they help those who have work to be done. At Red Bull each mechanic has their own personal tool tray which only has the tools in that they need to do their jobs.
Generally though the chief mechanic will assign and delegate jobs to those who know how to fix the issue quickly and in almost all teams the mechanics will know their roles all season long in order to prevent " mass panic" when something goes wrong.
This is a good example of what its like in the heat of the moment. http://youtu.be/suaZjKRQpI4
Edited by anonymous-user on Friday 29th June 17:57
Watch the film 'Truth in 24' - it's available on the USA iTunes and, I think, on Youtube.
Audi practise changing parts and then practise again. It's attention to detail, like the small lift Audi had this year, that wins races.
Every mechanic knows what they are supposed to do and just get on with it.
In F1 each mechanic has his/her area of the car that they are responsible for.
Audi practise changing parts and then practise again. It's attention to detail, like the small lift Audi had this year, that wins races.
Every mechanic knows what they are supposed to do and just get on with it.
In F1 each mechanic has his/her area of the car that they are responsible for.
tux said:
This is a good example of what its like in the heat of the moment. http://youtu.be/suaZjKRQpI4
Great 'mechanic's eye view' - but the biggest faff looked like getting the thing in and out of the garage!Edited by tux on Friday 29th June 17:57
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