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Megaflow said:
AnonymousF1 said:
talksthetorque said:
How many HGVs worth of kit (everything from tyres to branded napkins) are typical at European race, and how many at a flyaway event.
Anything up to 5-7 per team. Less for a flyaway but still a substantial amount of kit.@Megaflow when you say TV compound - do you mean all the F1 branded media 'sheep pen" type stuff,"stand here please Mr Brundle and Mr Button" floor mats, etc or just what the media bring themselves?
Also is it weird I'm more interested in the infrastructure behind the event that asking stuff about variable diffs, diffusers and upper floor winglets etc ?

Not quite. The TV production suite. About 5 mins before the start of the race an F1 branded graphic pops up showing the circuit the race is at etc. When that pops up the broadcast company, Sky in the UK, have switch from their feed, to the Formula One Management feed. From that point on everything is filmed, controlled and directed on site by F1 themselves and is supplied to all broadcasters.
The TV compound, cameras, microphones, cabling etc is all shipped race to race. Well actually race 1 set is sent to race 3, because it takes so long to prep it all, they will have started on race 2 as race 1 finishes.
The grey structure to the left of this shot is the TV compound and moves to every race.
https://www.motorsportimages.com/photo/1016638064-...
The TV compound, cameras, microphones, cabling etc is all shipped race to race. Well actually race 1 set is sent to race 3, because it takes so long to prep it all, they will have started on race 2 as race 1 finishes.
The grey structure to the left of this shot is the TV compound and moves to every race.
https://www.motorsportimages.com/photo/1016638064-...
Megaflow said:
Stuff
Excellent. Thank you. I do remember broadcasts from years ago when the commentators were chuntering about the local director focussing in on their local driver running round on his own in fifteenth too much and not on the battle for the lead/crucial pit stop etc. Didn’t know it was all the same stuff ( and I guess team) now. Yep, it has all been under the control of F1 for some time now, I can’t remember when. I knew about it already, but I had an interesting chat with a guy removing the mics at Monza in 2019 which is how I learnt about the two weeks to set up and alternative sets, etc. It is a mind bending logistical excercise.
Even in various smaller championships it's surprising just how much the pit buildings are transformed over a day or two, and to an extent it can look like a disproportionate amount of work for what at the end of the day ends up being a couple hours or so of racing!
Slightly off topic but if the background infrastructure type stuff is interesting, a lot of the very big music tour setups are worth an eyeball as well. The stages that the likes of AC/DC, Rammstein etc get put together for what again ends up being a couple hours entertainment is incredible, there are various timelapse videos of these things being built on YouTube.
Slightly off topic but if the background infrastructure type stuff is interesting, a lot of the very big music tour setups are worth an eyeball as well. The stages that the likes of AC/DC, Rammstein etc get put together for what again ends up being a couple hours entertainment is incredible, there are various timelapse videos of these things being built on YouTube.
Ian974 said:
Even in various smaller championships it's surprising just how much the pit buildings are transformed over a day or two, and to an extent it can look like a disproportionate amount of work for what at the end of the day ends up being a couple hours or so of racing!
Slightly off topic but if the background infrastructure type stuff is interesting, a lot of the very big music tour setups are worth an eyeball as well. The stages that the likes of AC/DC, Rammstein etc get put together for what again ends up being a couple hours entertainment is incredible, there are various timelapse videos of these things being built on YouTube.
I work in an exhibition related industry and have been there for the builds ( up to a week) and the tear downs (as fast as is humanly possible) and know that most of the branding backgrounds can get thrown, as it's cheaper to rent hardware l( framework)locally, and print new signage at the next show than transport it as the likelihood of damage is high. But when you're talking cameras and hardware like that it's a different ball game.....Slightly off topic but if the background infrastructure type stuff is interesting, a lot of the very big music tour setups are worth an eyeball as well. The stages that the likes of AC/DC, Rammstein etc get put together for what again ends up being a couple hours entertainment is incredible, there are various timelapse videos of these things being built on YouTube.
Unrelated - As someone asked Gary Anderson on a recent podcast:
Has anything ( like a bit of aero gubbins) fell off a car during a race and given a performance improvement?
Thank you for answering the questions.
Why are the tyres cut up after the race, must be so expensive getting them ready for a race!
How do you think this season will unfold?
Have Honda taken a step forward with their engine?
Why does it look like Mercedes are struggling?
Why is their an actual plank under the car, could they not use anything more advance these days?!
How difficult is it to correlate a wind tunnel with the actual car?
Which team has the best engineers and why?
I would have thought that a team of 10 aero guys, for instance, would be able to match Adrian Newy. However he just seems to be an unmatchable force!
How do the modern cars start their engines, in the old days, you needed a starter guy at the back. However Perez was able to restart his car
I understand that supplied customer engines do not provide the source code. So customers have difficulty pushing their engines to the same level as the factories. However, is it possible to reverse engineer the supplied software?
In terms of customer engines, do they get the latest spec, just limited using software?
How much help do the factories provide in the installation of the engines and is this an additional cost to the customer?
....
Been a fan for a while!
Why are the tyres cut up after the race, must be so expensive getting them ready for a race!
How do you think this season will unfold?
Have Honda taken a step forward with their engine?
Why does it look like Mercedes are struggling?
Why is their an actual plank under the car, could they not use anything more advance these days?!
How difficult is it to correlate a wind tunnel with the actual car?
Which team has the best engineers and why?
I would have thought that a team of 10 aero guys, for instance, would be able to match Adrian Newy. However he just seems to be an unmatchable force!
How do the modern cars start their engines, in the old days, you needed a starter guy at the back. However Perez was able to restart his car
I understand that supplied customer engines do not provide the source code. So customers have difficulty pushing their engines to the same level as the factories. However, is it possible to reverse engineer the supplied software?
In terms of customer engines, do they get the latest spec, just limited using software?
How much help do the factories provide in the installation of the engines and is this an additional cost to the customer?
....
Been a fan for a while!

Apologies if this question has already been asked, and if my question is a stupid one, but it’s something I was thinking of last night.
What’s the difference between road car oil and F1 oil?
Do F1 cars run oil filters?
How often does the oil get changed? After every session?
Is the oil used during the race different from the oil used during practice & qualifying ?
What’s the difference between road car oil and F1 oil?
Do F1 cars run oil filters?
How often does the oil get changed? After every session?
Is the oil used during the race different from the oil used during practice & qualifying ?
Restarting the engines would be an interesting one. As a completely uneducated guess I'm assuming the hybrid kit is capable of firing up the ICE if required?
For endurance stuff for example the LMP hybrids seem to run out of the pit box on electric power then the motor only kicks in once it's up to speed
For endurance stuff for example the LMP hybrids seem to run out of the pit box on electric power then the motor only kicks in once it's up to speed
Ian974 said:
Restarting the engines would be an interesting one. As a completely uneducated guess I'm assuming the hybrid kit is capable of firing up the ICE if required?
For endurance stuff for example the LMP hybrids seem to run out of the pit box on electric power then the motor only kicks in once it's up to speed
Correct regarding hybrids starts, but I think the Mercedes engines didn’t have the capability until last / this season.For endurance stuff for example the LMP hybrids seem to run out of the pit box on electric power then the motor only kicks in once it's up to speed
It’s in the Le Mans / endurance rules to only run on electric in the pits.
105.4 said:
Apologies if this question has already been asked, and if my question is a stupid one, but it’s something I was thinking of last night.
What’s the difference between road car oil and F1 oil?
Do F1 cars run oil filters?
How often does the oil get changed? After every session?
Is the oil used during the race different from the oil used during practice & qualifying ?
Engineering explained had an interesting YouTube video on this, not overly deep, but interesting nonetheless What’s the difference between road car oil and F1 oil?
Do F1 cars run oil filters?
How often does the oil get changed? After every session?
Is the oil used during the race different from the oil used during practice & qualifying ?
C2Red said:
Engineering explained had an interesting YouTube video on this, not overly deep, but interesting nonetheless
Thanks C2 
I remember the ‘fuel wars’ of the early 90’s, but I can’t ever remember lubricants being mentioned in old editions of Autosport or Motorsport News.
105.4 said:
Apologies if this question has already been asked, and if my question is a stupid one, but it’s something I was thinking of last night.
What’s the difference between road car oil and F1 oil?
Do F1 cars run oil filters?
How often does the oil get changed? After every session?
Is the oil used during the race different from the oil used during practice & qualifying ?
The oil doubles as race fuel/ petrol 😉, or at least it used to a few seasons back. What’s the difference between road car oil and F1 oil?
Do F1 cars run oil filters?
How often does the oil get changed? After every session?
Is the oil used during the race different from the oil used during practice & qualifying ?
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