A Breakdown of the Mercedes F1 Pitwall and What They Do

The Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One team’s winning streak finally came to an end. Max Verstappen clinched his first victory of the season at the Silverstone Circuit for the 70th Anniversary GP.

The Silver Arrows had to settle for an unusual P2 and P3 finish for Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas, respectively. Nonetheless, the results are no indication of a failure on the part of the management.

However, there’s still no denying that Red Bull was the better team that night. Yet, Mercedes’ pit wall has always been a step ahead in terms of management, consequently solidifying their position at the top of the food chain.

The Sporting Director of the team, Ron Meadows, recently took the fans on a virtual tour of the Pit Wall on their YouTube channel. The Brit explained everything that goes down in the den where tensions run high, rather enduringly.

Ron Meadows takes F1 fans on a virtual tour of Mercedes Pit Wall

The 56-year-old has been a prominent member of the Mercedes Formula 1 outfit for quite some time. He accurately explained the role of 5 seats in the Pit Wall of Mercedes team.

The first seat, on the extreme right, is occupied by Simon Cole, the Chief Engineer of the team. Ron said, “He is responsible for the reliability of the cars, how they run, he decides if the car sees an overload or the temperatures are too high or low.

“Also during the race, he is our weatherman.” He jokingly added that 10 years ago, everyone wanted to become a weatherman. But they decided to put Cole in that position as he was too good at it.

Next to Cole sits James Vowles, the Motorsport Strategy Director of the team. Ron explained, “James has the final say about the strategy during the race. He has a lot of intercoms in front of him.

“He is in contact with the factory in Brackley, Brixworth, and also from the garage. James has the final say on when we pit and what tires we are going to take.” 

Cole is followed by James Allison, the Technical Director of the team. Ron admits that he does not attend all the races. He says, “James comes along probably every third race because he is busy trying to make the car faster and build a next year car as well.”

Up next is Andrew Shovlin, the Trackside Engineering Director. He basically controls the harmony of the garage. Between the two engineering sides to ensure the visibility of the setup and how the team is going to operate.

He bridges the gap between the two garages so as to ensure effective communication between both sides.

Lastly, Ron Meadows opened up about his work. He sits on the extreme left side of the Pit Wall. About his role, he explained, “My role is to ensure that we stay out of trouble with the FIA and we abide by the sporting regulations.

“I control the pit crew with James and tell them what tires to put on. I have a direct line to Race control with the Michael Masi and the guys upstairs. They provide my feedbacks during the race and then I bounce back to them asking if it’s correct or not.”

SOURCE- Mercedes AMG Petronas- YouTube