Tracking the movement of Formula One circus

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The Formula 1 circus is in town. For the ringmaster Bernie Ecclestone and performers like Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso to make their appearances in the coming days, the unsung heroes — mechanics and the logistics team — have been slogging at the Buddh International Circuit since the beginning of this week. They are the first ones to arrive at any Grand Prix venue to unpack tons of equipment that come in six cargo planes and numerous sea freights.

The paddock, which will turn into ramp for a host of celebrities over the weekend, is already a hive of activity with garages taking shape and hospitality areas being branded and kitted out.

Narain Karthikeyan, India’s lone representative for the second edition of the Indian Grand Prix, says mechanics and engineers are the real heroes. “They come to the track before us and leave after us,” says Narain.

For the European rounds — eight races this season — most of a team’s equipment will travel by road in trucks as all the teams are based in the continent. For the remaining 12 events — called flyaway races — the logistical effort is a nightmare as equipment has to be flown out on jumbo jets, dealing with Customs officials of various countries.

“At present six cargo planes chartered by Formula One Management (FOM) carry the consignment from one venue to another with each team getting an allowance of 30 tons. The cargo will have cars, pit equipment and spare parts.

Unpacking has to be done in a day and the garages should be ready by Wednesday. As soon as the race gets over, another race starts — against time — for disassembling and packing them back into cargo,” explains Team Lotus co-ordinator Geoff Simmonds.

Apart from air cargo, the teams bring in equipment through the sea freight which contains hospitality furniture, catering equipment and consumables. “We have five equal sets of sea freight.

The shipment that reached Delhi was sent five weeks back, while three others are already on their way to Abu Dhabi, Texas and Sao Paulo. So that every time we arrive on the circuit, we have these items at our disposal,” says Beat Zehnder, Sauber team manager.

Apart from the massive logistics, F1 has its own information superhighway. A study reveals that there are approximately 180 large computers and 300 laptops in use between the 12 teams, supplied by over 3.5km of power cable and sending information through 5.5km of data cable. The team members are equipped with 1,100 walkie-talkies and headsets.