Lessons of Teamwork from F1 pitstops in Singapore

Here are some insights into Teamwork that I picked up from the Recent F1 Night Race in Singapore:

1. Clarity of roles

Every single person in the technical team knows what their job description is and they execute their task to perfection. The pit stop crew (which involves changing tires and refueling) practices about 80 times every race weekend and about 1700 pitstops per season. That means that if your purpose in the team is to clean the visor of the driver, you will be doing that all the way. There is no glamour between different job scopes. There are no individuals, only team players.

2. Speed and Precision

Each pitstop takes approximately 5-9 seconds. Imagine, with 25 crew working at the same time, they have perfected the art of quick change and not getting in the way of each other. There are a total of 4 wheel men to remove each tire and it takes only 4 seconds to do it.

3. Everyone listens to each other

Most people will think that F1 Drivers are the stars of all teams. The person behind him, called the Race Strategist is equally important. He/she decides when to make a pit stop and what strategy to adopt when the race progresses. Even drivers will have to listen and follow the strategist’s plans. A good strategy will put their car right in front of rival cars when they exit the pit lane.

4. Trust among team members

The Front Jack Man has to stand in front of the incoming F1 car even when it is approaching the pit lane at 80km/hr. He has to trust the skills of the driver to stop right in front of him as he quickly jacks up the car for the rest of the team members to do their jobs.