020 021 the races with the tightest turnarounds, before the chequered flag of a race is even waved, the DHL crew is already taking apart and packing away equipment. The cars are completely stripped down and each component is placed in its own foam slot, after being wrapped with bubble wrap. During the intense back-to-back races, teams work through the night until 6am to empty the paddock. Constraints are so tight that the trucks carrying the main supplies will be double or even triple-manned so that they are able to travel without having to ever stop, other than for fuel. With flyaway races, the most important items are immediately driven to the airport and loaded onto Boeing 777s and 747s chartered by F1; each team must pay for the space that they use. If back-to-back European races aren’t hard enough, they also sometimes happen between overseas races. In 2018, the Bahrain grand prix was held on Sunday, and by Thursday morning, everything had to be set up over 4000 miles away in Shanghai, China. To assist with this, for the relatively cheap and non-critical items, teams use a leapfrog system. At any one time, every team will have up to six different containers that are crisscrossing the world as sea freight, which they will eventually catch up with depending on where the F1 schedule takes them. Teams begin shipping cargo out for the first five fly-away races of the season in January. They have multiple duplicate sets of the same thing and the cargo will be sent on rotation around the world. For example, after the Australian Grand Prix has finished, the sea freight will be sent to the sixth fly-away race of the year in Singapore and stored there until the Grand Prix weekend in September. All of this doesn’t even include the catering for the hundreds of staff members, the fan hospitality areas, as well as the street races which require the shutting down of public roads and construction of an entire temporary racetrack. The troubles of customs and difficulties due to Brexit, also add even more complications to the mix. Moving forward, attempts to reduce the carbon footprint of this global operation are becoming a key focus. The current calendar sees lots of unnecessary jumping between continents, but the sport is committed to reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2030, and part of that commitment includes testing biofuels for transport trucks, utilising more fuel-efficient aircraft, and innovating shipping techniques. These initiatives show a deeper dedication within Formula 1 to preserving the racing spectacle, while also being more environmentally conscious in how it does so. The tireless work of meticulous planning and collaboration between DHL, F1, and the teams allow for seamless transition of the F1 world, to bring the action to fans across the globe every single year. Sources: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MH6Loko0BOA https://f1destinations.com/the-logistics-of-formula-1/ https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/formula-1-logistics-how-do-teams-move-equipment-betweenraces-4980912/4980912/ Wieczorek A. (2019) “Logistics in Racing Sports on the Example of F1”, Transport Economics and Logistics Routes taken by non-critical cargo freight.
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