Teamwork... the name of the game in Formula One

In their role as the gladiators of the hi-tech age, it is always the drivers who are the centre of attention and make the headlines in Formula One.

However, they are only ever as good as the team that backs them up. It is the people in the background who, with great commitment and under enormous time pressure, create the conditions for a successful performance on the race track.

"A good team is more important for success than a good driver," says Alex Burns, General Manager at WilliamsF1.

The headquarters of WilliamsF1 at Grove in Oxfordshire, UK, is a kind of United Nations in Formula 1. In the team's expansive complex, more than 500 people from 13 countries work by day - and often by night as well - with tremendous devotion, for Antonio Pizzonia and Mark Webber to start a race in optimally prepared cars.

The Chinese GP is no exception. Most of the employees - about a third each - work in the fields of research and development or in manufacturing the production of the car's individual components.

At the race itself, around 90 people are employed by the BMW WilliamsF1 Team - from truck drivers to engine specialists, from kitchen helpers to sponsorship consultants.

These background people are rarely in the public eye for more than a short time - for instance, when the mechanics spend mere seconds completing a pit stop.

But when, after the season's finale in Shanghai, they add up the miles they have travelled to the 19 races on four continents this year, their total will be well above 100,000 kms.

Since the early years of F1, it's not only the technology and the safety that have developed rapidly. The number of people employed by the teams has also risen dramatically.

The intimate race teams, in which everyone could do almost everything and which considered the art of improvisation more important than cool technical calculation in many situations, have grown into medium-sized industrial companies with a host of specialists.

Let us take a closer look at the example of WilliamsF1. When, in 1980, the team founded by Frank Williams won the first of its nine manufacturers' championships and also claimed the world drivers' championship for Alan Jones, its list of employees featured only 50 people.

Over the past six years alone, the number has doubled.

Burns says: "F1 is a highly attractive field for ambitious engineers, because it is a manageable environment for them to work with and develop the latest technologies. And that is exactly the kind of challenge such people are after."

Despite the size of WilliamsF1, it is still possible for an engineer specialising in a certain field to understand the entire vehicle. It is precisely this fact that, for Burns, distinguishes the work from that at a large automotive company or airplane manufacturer.

He says: "With us, each engineer can experience for him or herself how the individual parts merge into a whole and how much the component they have developed contributes to the success of the project."

An important prerequisite for creativity is an atmosphere in which people are comfortable.

But, what makes WilliamsF1 an attractive employer? Burns sums up the advantages.

"We work in a very informal atmosphere," he said. "Frank Williams himself regards that as important, as he takes a great interest in the well-being of his company and his employees.

"We also pay very well, but the young people aren't interested in the money alone.

"What they are looking for is an interesting task in a friendly environment, and that is what we offer."

To cover the increasing demand for good engineers, WilliamsF1 co-operates closely with the technical faculties of Oxford and Cranfield Universities. There are also close ties to Cambridge.

The 2005 season, with its 19 grands prix, including six back-to-back races - each held on two consecutive weekends - put the employees under an enormous strain. The specialists in the factory, where the cars had to be serviced and rebuilt in the shortest possible time for the next race, were no exceptions.

The members of the on-site teams were also subjected to the additional travel stress of frequent flyers as they flew to four continents with varying time zones. All this took its toll.

Are they at least allowed to spend the bonus points collected in their frequent flyer programmes privately?

"Of course, they are," said Burns. "But when are they going to do that? They don't have the time to."