Ensuring
the right products at the right time, in the right place and in the correct
quantity has always been the mantra for success of any business. Formula#1 or
better known as F1, being the fastest racing event on earth, has a huge
viewership all over the world with each team having millions of fans. However,
every fan who celebrates his/her favourite driver winning or getting a podium
finish needs to know the secret behind the organizing of the races. How are
these races and practice sessions held with the venue changing every week and
the organizing time reducing year after year?
Formula
one is the fastest racing game played on earth with cars crossing 300kmph
around pre-determined stretch of road as quickly as possible. It is about
drivers fighting wheel-to-wheel in ferociously rapid machines. For some casual
observers this is all that Formula One will ever be, but those who delve a
little deeper will discover a vast, ever moving circus of people and parts.
There’s lot more behind the scene that goes into this ferocious neck to neck
battle that takes the whole world on ride.
When
Sebastian Vettel won the Canadian Grand Prix on 9/6/2013, he understandably
received most of the plaudits. But supporting Vettel’s superb driving effort
was a crew of over 162 odd people with over 24 cars and many more accessories
and tool kits required for an entire season. Teams usually take three complete
cars to each venue and another one can be built from parts. They used to take
several engines and gear boxes. This all has to be repeated from 17 to 19 times
per season plus testing which is another several times during the season and
another several times off-season.
On
one hand, where the fans just have an idea of the grand prix on a Sunday
afternoon, the actual race starts much before. The logistics race starts much
earlier than the Formula 1 season as soon as the next season’s calendar is
confirmed, teams starts they work.
The
several logistics battles the teams face before each and every race can be
summarized as below:
·
Travel
Distance: The amount of travelling involved each season for each of the
teams is something around 160,000 kilometres (100,000
miles) which includes all the testing and racing sessions including at least at
least 30 tonnes of equipment, including up to 100 personnel.
·
Accommodation:
For each of the races besides the booking of flights, arrangement of visas and hotel reservations has to be crucially
planned. There is also the use of hire vehicles to transfer team personnel from
the hotel to the track and vice versa, and not to mention to events pertaining to
marketing and branding.
·
Cars and
Equipments Logistics: Planning how the cars will make their way to the race
tracks on five continents with barely any time to catch the breath in between
races. For the fly away races a lot of equipment is sent by ship three months
before the race. This includes garage and motor home constructions, cables and
other heavy equipment. The air transportation of the equipment is managed by
FOM (Formula One Management). Teams take 22-24 tonnes plus the cars. Part of the equipment is sent by ships,
mostly big and heavy items like cables, garage and motor-home constructions.
Assembling of the garages and motor homes as well as hospitality facilities
which are standard equipment for each of the teams, for special guests and sponsors
representatives takes around 7-8 hour.
·
Dismantle of the garages and packing back takes
roughly the same time. It means that if there are back to back races, there is
very little time.
· Fuel and
Tires Delivery: Formula 1 team needs around 2000 - 2200 liters of fuel
during a GP weekend. It is delivered by their fuel suppliers, for example for
Renault it is Elf and for Ferrari it is Shell. Tires are delivered by tires
supplier, which nowadays is only the Bridgestone and it is also a huge challenge,
because every team needs to get 14 sets of tires for dry conditions and six
sets of tires for wet conditions per single car.
·
Secure
data links: It connects the team to its base, enabling telemetry and other
data to be sent directly back (which in turn allows engineers to study any
potential problems, even while the race is running).
·
Development
in the standard of racing: One of the biggest challenges is that the
breathless pace of development in Formula One makes life harder; the parts
often need to be delivered at the very last minute, normally by hand brought in
a suitcase by one of team members. The same happens when spare parts of the car
were used due to repairs after some accidents; then more spare parts are
required in the garage. For this every spare part has its own unique serial
number so replacement can be rushed from the factory to the track with no time
lost. In the containers and trailers all spare parts, tools and equipment have
their dedicated place in the garage on the track. Especially designed garages
and motor homes are fast to assembly and fast to dismantle. After all, the
speed is everything in Formula 1, even in the preparation before the race.
With
the spread of F1 races outside Europe, the amount of transport and logistics is
also bound to increase manifold. Already the amount of transport required for a
season of Formula One racing has been described, only half-jokingly, as being
not dissimilar to that needed for a medium-sized military campaign.
REFRENCES:
1. http://www.formula1.com/inside_f1/understanding_the_sport/5297.html
2. http://paultan.org/2011/04/10/the-formula-1-world-championship-logistical-challenges
This article is written by Aman Anshu. He is
a PGDM student of 2013-15 batch of IIM Raipur. He has done B.F. Tech (Apparel
Production) from National Institute of Fashion Technology, New Delhi. His areas
of interest include Sports, SCM and Finance. He can be reached at
pgp13061.aman@iimraipur.ac.in.
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