Race strategy can make or break a race if the team does not make the right decisions for their cars. Most of these decisions are made on the pitwall by a small set of the team who then relay this information back to the drivers.
The pitwall is made up of several key figures in the team, including the team principal and the race engineers, who will all be looking to achieve the best result possible. During a race, the team will be monitoring important data from the car and analysing performance.
F1 fans will be familiar with seeing shots of the pitwall during a grand prix weekend, but here’s everything you need to know about what it does:
What is the pitwall?
The pitwall typically refers to the structures that are built along the top of the chemin de ronde (wall-walk), against the fence between the pitlane and the main straight. It is the place where the team’s race engineers, lead strategists and other key members of the team will sit during the grand prix weekend.
Each team will have their own set-up, with around three to eight seats for different team roles, as well as an intercom panel and monitors that display various key pieces of information, including real-time race data, track times and the weather.
The pitwall has a key role as to whether a team has a successful grand prix and is where the team monitors the car’s performance, as well as making strategic decisions and communicating with their driver. The pitwall team will be making the pivotal decisions about the car’s set-up, when cars should come in for a pitstop and making sure their drivers are happy in the car.
The pitwall also has small openings onto the main straight that can be used to pass through pit boards to display information to the drivers. The board is held through the pit wall and displays lap times, positions and key instructions to the cars as they go past.
Pit boards are still used to relay information to the driver in case there is an issue with the radio, or the driver misses any previous messages. Drivers know to expect a pit board on the main straight and will be anticipating being given that information.
Although the pitwall is now a physical wall of the team’s key figures, in the early days of Formula 1 some tracks had just a white line to separate the main straight and the pitlane, leaving no space for the strategy team. The safety risk eventually led to firstly a low wall being placed to differentiate between the two but is now a more substantial wall with a catch fence to protect all of those in the pitlane.
F1 teams also face a penalty if they climb the pitwall during celebrations at the end of a grand prix. Although this penalty has been in place for years, the FIA recently reminded teams of the “potentially grave consequences” where someone could fall onto the track.
Who sits on the pitwall?
Several key figures will sit on the pitwall to help monitor each session and make strategic decisions on how their drivers can improve. Who is sat on the pitwall will vary from each team, with some choosing to have the same people in the seats for each session and others opting to revolve the pitwall team.
There will usually be people with similar roles sitting on the pitwall, which will include the team principal, head of race strategy and the driver’s race engineers. Other roles that could be sat on the pitwall are the sporting director, technical officer, data analyst and head of race engineering.
This does differ from team to team though. Fans will have noticed that Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff sits inside the garage, while Red Bull’s Christian Horner chooses to sit on the pitwall.
Each person on the pitwall will be monitoring data and communicating between themselves to make a decision on the strategy.
A race engineer is responsible for communicating with the team’s drivers through their radios, and their voices are some of the most recognisable in Formula 1. They are responsible for relaying key information about the car, lap times and any strategy changes to the driver, as well as making critical decisions about when a car should come in for a pitstop and some of the car’s set-up.
A race strategist will also be sat on the pitwall and will be analysing data about the car’s performance, which includes tyre wear and fuel consumption. They will also be looking at the weather radar and adjusting their strategy plan if there is an expected weather change.
The pitwall is also where the teams can feed information to the driver by a pit board. These are physical boards which are passed through small gaps in the fence with information such as lap times and track positions.
Do people sit in a specific order on the pitwall?
Each team will have a different layout for how their pitwall team will be ordered and despite the fact they are all sat closely together, they will be communicating via their intercom headsets as F1 is too loud to just shout to each other.
The lead strategist for the session will sit next to the team principal and the head of race engineering so that they are able to communicate easily and discuss data before potentially making a big decision.
What do they look at on a pitwall?
Each person on the pitwall will be looking at their own set of data that is relevant to their roles. There will be various pieces of information on display including video feeds of their cars, a real-time tracker and timing screens between each car.
On the pitwall, there will also be more in-depth information about each car, including fuel load, temperature and a weather radar, which can be used to monitor any potential rain, its heaviness and how long it is expected to last.
The monitors on the pitwall can be interchanged per session to give the team the relevant information they need to make the best strategy decisions. For example, micro-sector times are extremely important in qualifying, to help relay information to the drivers on where they can improve to set faster lap times, but this is less important in a practice session.
Who can they talk to on the pitwall?
Not only are the pitwall team able to talk amongst themselves, but they are also able to communicate with the rest of the team, this includes the garage and mechanics, but also back to the team’s factories.
Although everybody in the team has the ability to communicate with each other, most of the team will be restricted in using the intercom, apart from a few key members of the team.
