Behind The Scenes of Panasonic Toyota Racing: Life as a
Race Engineer and a Mechanic's Role
The work of a race engineer at Panasonic Toyota Racing is
vital to the success of the team – and it is certainly
never dull, as Francesco Nenci and Gianluca Pisanello are
finding out.
The two Italians provide an invaluable link between their
driver – Gianluca works with Jarno Trulli and Francesco
works with Ralf Schumacher - and the engineers and mechanics
working in the garage and paddock offices to give them the
fastest possible car.
Gianluca and Francesco are always at their driver’s
side, whether dissecting the latest data from a practice session
or making make-or-break decisions via the radio during qualifying
or the race. Without their race engineer, a driver’s
life would be even harder.
A race engineer at Panasonic Toyota Racing spends around
two thirds of each year on the road, travelling to races and
tests in the search of that vital fraction of a second which
will catapult Jarno and Ralf further up the grid. All that
hard work can come down to a split-second decision, which
is where a race engineer really shows his skill.
“For sure there is a lot of emotion and excitement,
especially for me during qualifying. But you have to be calm,
cool, stay precise and transmit the calmness to the people
you are working with,” says Gianluca, 36, who joined
Toyota in 2003.
It is one thing making the right decision in times of pressure,
but quite another to take an endless stream of data from engine,
gearbox, suspension, aerodynamics and find the tiny adjustments
necessary to turn a good car into a truly competitive car.
And, in Formula 1, every second counts – even when
it comes to communicating with drivers out of the car. Francesco,
who has been a race engineer at Toyota since 2005 after joining
the team in 2001, says: “You always have to somehow
translate the mechanics of the car and the systems in a way
that you can link them to his sensations.”
A race engineer is surrounded by data, with as many as four
technical briefings a day during a Grand Prix weekend to discuss
topics as diverse as tyres, engines and fuel strategy. That
continues away from the track as well, where Gianluca and
Francesco dedicate their time to looking at all the data from
previous sessions to formulate their attack on the next race,
along with their colleagues.
Francesco, 38, explains: “Obviously back in Cologne
after a race event or a test event, the first thing we have
to make sure is we analyse everything we did and try to understand
what you have done well and what you have done wrong, because
sometimes not everything goes as planned.
“The continuous target is to be able to beat our competitors
and get the car as quick as possible. So every morning my
mind is already on the case, about what we have done and what
we could do better.”
As well as that enormous task, the race engineer is the first
port of call should any abnormalities be diagnosed on their
car following a race or test. For that, they rely on Panasonic
Toyota Racing’s dedicated group of mechanics, such as
gearbox specialist Michael Kornprobst.
It his job to ensure whenever Ralf Schumacher arrives at
a Grand Prix, his gearbox is in the best possible condition.
“If I see any damage to the gearbox I naturally have
to tell the race engineer about it, he then passes this on
to the relevant engineers who make the adjustment,”
he says.
For some people, this job could be very stressful, but for
mechanics such as Michael, who has been at Panasonic Toyota
Racing since 2000, that kind of pressure is part of day to
day life.
He adds: “You have got to really concentrate on what
you are doing because with so many routines it is not so easy
to avoid forgetting something but that’s what your colleagues
are for. They keep an eye out and give me a hand if anything
goes wrong or if I don’t do something right. We really
do work as a team to make sure nothing goes wrong.”
At Panasonic Toyota Racing, the success of the team depends
on every team member completing his job to the best possible
standard. But it also relies upon a special bond, between
mechanics on the workshop floor and also between a racing
driver and his race engineer.
Gianluca has enjoyed a close relationship with his driver
Jarno Trulli after stepping up to become his countryman’s
race engineer late last season. He says: “He does not
behave like a superstar, he likes simple things, he likes
to stay with his friends, he doesn’t like the spotlight
but the most important thing for me is that when he jumps
into the car he is extremely fast.”
For a race engineer, that is the most important thing.
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