The pitbox Experience of visiting Red Bull Racing during winter testing
During F1 winter testing in Barcelona, I was fortunate to be invited to visit the pitbox of the Aston Martin Red Bull Racing. During Grand Prix weekends, this is one of the most desirable places to be. And during the season VIP guests and sponsors are invited for this kind of visit. What is this experience like?
When arriving at the track, it's 12 degrees and slightly sunny. I can already hear the sound of the F1 cars 1.6 turbo engines going round the track. The paddock is full of F1 trucks and lot's of temporary hospitality units by all teams. Mercedes has brought not one, but two of these to the track. Shiny black and glass 2 or 3 levels building, including a rooftop bar. Quite impressive. But the most beautiful one, is the Alfa Romeo one, a open and light unit with lots of glass. In between the trucks, some driver cars and motor homes. And obviously a mix of press, paddock visitors, team members and F1 drivers is present.
When arriving at the track, it's 12 degrees and slightly sunny. I can already hear the sound of the F1 cars 1.6 turbo engines going round the track. The paddock is full of F1 trucks and lot's of temporary hospitality units by all teams. Mercedes has brought not one, but two of these to the track. Shiny black and glass 2 or 3 levels building, including a rooftop bar. Quite impressive. But the most beautiful one, is the Alfa Romeo one, a open and light unit with lots of glass. In between the trucks, some driver cars and motor homes. And obviously a mix of press, paddock visitors, team members and F1 drivers is present.
The green paddock pass 'PDK' for 2019. That's like getting handed a bar of gold for F1 fans.
And then, the big moment is there. Before we go to the pitbox, I receive a green paddock pass 'PDK' for 2019. That's like getting handed a bar of gold for F1 fans. Next we take the stairs down to the backside of the paddock and walk to the entrance of the Red Bull Racing pitbox. The team members are working on tires and parts. First view on the entrance of Red Bull Racing, shows on the team's boarding the championships wins, and also a lot of warning signs. Including the one that taking pictures is not allowed. And obviously during testing new cars it's even more applicable, so also by the management this is mentioned.
After walking through the small corridor, we come to two sliding doors. When opening these, we are in the view box of the pitbox. At first it looks much smaller then expected, or seen on TV. Together with several other guests, it feels like entering a special and bit secret place. I immediately see that Dr Helmut Marko and team principal Christian Horner are only a few meters away talking about the car and results so far. At the back there is the helmet of Max Verstappen in a storage space, he is not present. At the left side of the garage, a team of around 7 engineers is working on the RB15. And luckily, the car has been stripped from the engine covers, and floor. So the amazing packaging of the Honda power unit, exhausts, colling and electronics are visible. It's amazing to see how tight these are packaged. And also the shape in which the parts are designed to fit in the shape of the engine covers is special. The angle and shape of the cooling radiator for instance is at a high angle and follows the outline of the car. As a natural response you would like to take pictures, but that's not allowed. So mental pictures is all I have.
Tire management on the steering wheel?
Were I'm standing I can also see 5 Honda engineers working on the car or looking at screens with data. The car is being worked on, so the engine is off. In the pitbox there are a lot of screens, obviously for timing, and TV coverage, but track data, real time car telemetry and track positioning is in screens. I feels a bit unreal being here, so close to the cars and engineers working on the car.
As part of the visit, I also get to opportunity to hold the steering wheel (older edition) of the RB car. It's lighter than I had expected, given the fact that there is a lot of tech in the wheel. Most F1 fans will know the obvious buttons on the wheel, like pit limiter, brake balance, engine settings. But one that is not that obvious is the one for tire management. The first thought was; settings for tires? But it's all about strategy. The button has around 10 settings that the driver can use to inform the team about tire performance during the race. So he doesn't have to inform them on the radio, were all other f1 teams can listen with them. So to be more secret about it, the team gets the info via a tire status button. So they know when the driver would like to do a pit stop or not. After that I'm handed the carbon wing of a front wing. It's really light weight, and although very strong feels delicate. The aero shape of these small wings is amazing precise. During my visit I'm told that around 100 team members of Red Bull Racing are present at the test. And they are checking data but also preparing tests, replace parts and check on the There are two shifts, one day and one night shift (7 pm – 7 am).
All of a sudden, the engine is fired up. But the covers are still off and engineers are working on the car. The head engineer is a bit shocked by the engine start, and point to one of the engineers to stop the engine again. A quick discussion follows with the engineer that started the engine, but none of the other engineers were disturbed it seems. They are still making adjustment to the floor, and are making adjustments to the settings of the car.
A few minutes later, the engine is started again. A smell of burned petrol fills the pitbox, although most of it is captures by the system that is connected to the exhaust.
The Honda engine sounds a bit rough, and gives a nice rumble. The revs stay low and steady as the team does some more checks. It doesn't seem that the cars will be ready soon, so we decide to leave the pitbox and go to the paddock again and view other cars on track. And so a great experience ends, keeping in mind that this probably is as close as it gets to actually driving an F1 car; holding the steering wheel and being in the pitbox.
Watch this video of Red Bull Racing, where Christian Horner shows the pitbox.
And then, the big moment is there. Before we go to the pitbox, I receive a green paddock pass 'PDK' for 2019. That's like getting handed a bar of gold for F1 fans. Next we take the stairs down to the backside of the paddock and walk to the entrance of the Red Bull Racing pitbox. The team members are working on tires and parts. First view on the entrance of Red Bull Racing, shows on the team's boarding the championships wins, and also a lot of warning signs. Including the one that taking pictures is not allowed. And obviously during testing new cars it's even more applicable, so also by the management this is mentioned.
After walking through the small corridor, we come to two sliding doors. When opening these, we are in the view box of the pitbox. At first it looks much smaller then expected, or seen on TV. Together with several other guests, it feels like entering a special and bit secret place. I immediately see that Dr Helmut Marko and team principal Christian Horner are only a few meters away talking about the car and results so far. At the back there is the helmet of Max Verstappen in a storage space, he is not present. At the left side of the garage, a team of around 7 engineers is working on the RB15. And luckily, the car has been stripped from the engine covers, and floor. So the amazing packaging of the Honda power unit, exhausts, colling and electronics are visible. It's amazing to see how tight these are packaged. And also the shape in which the parts are designed to fit in the shape of the engine covers is special. The angle and shape of the cooling radiator for instance is at a high angle and follows the outline of the car. As a natural response you would like to take pictures, but that's not allowed. So mental pictures is all I have.
Tire management on the steering wheel?
Were I'm standing I can also see 5 Honda engineers working on the car or looking at screens with data. The car is being worked on, so the engine is off. In the pitbox there are a lot of screens, obviously for timing, and TV coverage, but track data, real time car telemetry and track positioning is in screens. I feels a bit unreal being here, so close to the cars and engineers working on the car.
As part of the visit, I also get to opportunity to hold the steering wheel (older edition) of the RB car. It's lighter than I had expected, given the fact that there is a lot of tech in the wheel. Most F1 fans will know the obvious buttons on the wheel, like pit limiter, brake balance, engine settings. But one that is not that obvious is the one for tire management. The first thought was; settings for tires? But it's all about strategy. The button has around 10 settings that the driver can use to inform the team about tire performance during the race. So he doesn't have to inform them on the radio, were all other f1 teams can listen with them. So to be more secret about it, the team gets the info via a tire status button. So they know when the driver would like to do a pit stop or not. After that I'm handed the carbon wing of a front wing. It's really light weight, and although very strong feels delicate. The aero shape of these small wings is amazing precise. During my visit I'm told that around 100 team members of Red Bull Racing are present at the test. And they are checking data but also preparing tests, replace parts and check on the There are two shifts, one day and one night shift (7 pm – 7 am).
All of a sudden, the engine is fired up. But the covers are still off and engineers are working on the car. The head engineer is a bit shocked by the engine start, and point to one of the engineers to stop the engine again. A quick discussion follows with the engineer that started the engine, but none of the other engineers were disturbed it seems. They are still making adjustment to the floor, and are making adjustments to the settings of the car.
A few minutes later, the engine is started again. A smell of burned petrol fills the pitbox, although most of it is captures by the system that is connected to the exhaust.
The Honda engine sounds a bit rough, and gives a nice rumble. The revs stay low and steady as the team does some more checks. It doesn't seem that the cars will be ready soon, so we decide to leave the pitbox and go to the paddock again and view other cars on track. And so a great experience ends, keeping in mind that this probably is as close as it gets to actually driving an F1 car; holding the steering wheel and being in the pitbox.
Watch this video of Red Bull Racing, where Christian Horner shows the pitbox.
Fire up the Honda engine, smell the petrol.