Inside a Formula 1 Paddock | Hitting the Apex

A Formula 1 paddock is a fascinating place.

An imperfect an analogy is it closely resembles a mullet: Business in the front, party in the back.

The paddock sits behind the garage, where cars are serviced. In the front, the garage opens up the pit lane, where serious business happens.

But in the paddock area behind the garage, there is a mix of teams working and people partying like it’s 1999.

The juxtaposition of elite mechanics, engineers, and strategists plying their trade at the height of industry adjacent to the privileged few partying, needing to be “seen,” is as bizarre as it is spectacular.

As journalists, we are able to enter the Paddock prior to it opening to fans with VIP Access and Paddock Passes, and it is a shockingly serene place.

The Bizarrely Normal

Mercedes is the first paddock. This means they are also at the front of the pit lane, which can be an advantage. Mercedes earned this advantage by winning the Constructors Championship last year. And they pretty much go in team finish order from there. Haas sits at the end, almost off to the side, out of the way.

Across from garages are “hospitality” areas for each of the teams, and for Pirelli, Formula 1’s tire manufacturer (who also has a garage).

The best way to describe a hospitality area is it a combination break room for the teams and party room for the VIP members the team has invited.

And within the hospitality areas and garages, the VIPs want to be seen. The areas around Mercedes, Red Bull, Ferrari, and McLaren are teaming with people, trying to take selfies.

As you get down to Haas, it is almost deserted. This is not to say that Haas isn’t popular. Haas Team Boss Guenther Steiner remains one of the most popular people in the Paddock. They are the only American team, something they take pride in.

But people are there to be seen, and that means standing in front of the big boys.

The fan access is quite remarkable, if you’re willing to pay for it. A Paddock Club ticket (if you can find one), can be purchased for $18,900 on TicketSmarter. And what access do you get for the price of a Hyundai Venue?

Everything.

You’re free to wander around the Paddock (the garages and Pit Lanes are off limits, although you will have the ability to take a guided tour). And you know who else wanders the Paddock?

Drivers, Team Bosses, the teams themselves.

Drivers and Team Bosses trying to get from Hospitality (which, for them, is a place to unwind, grab a bite, relax) must pass through a maze of fans all wanting selfies.

What’s the point of just seeing the drivers? You have to be seen with the drivers.

And the drivers mostly oblige. The Team Bosses as well. Because again, $18,900.

For media, we have prescribed interview points where we can speak to people. So you’ll walk within feet of the famous drivers, and not really acknowledge it.

But the teams aren’t the only celebrities. Sky Sports, with coverage throughout the world, is a celebrity culture unto itself. And it is not uncommon to walk past Karun Chandhok on his way to an interview.

And then it dawns on you. Outside of the party goers, everyone else is at work. The pundits, the teams…they’re doing their jobs, as is all media.

Getting to the press conference area and interview pen, where we’re allowed to speak to drivers, involves navigating fans with drinks in hand, and TV crews doing live shots.

It’s a Small World After All

Outside of the oddity of people trying to work in a partying environment, the other thing that strikes you is how friendly the teams are with each other.

For fans of Formula 1, the attitude generally is to love your team with a passion and hate the other teams. They are the “enemy.”

The Paddock, however, paints a picture of camaraderie that you don’t really see when observing from a fan perspective.

With much of the world transitioning to remote work over the last few years, it is easy to sympathize. These are competitors, but they are also work colleagues that know each other and are friendly with each other. So when they see each other, it’s a great time to stop, have a chat, catch-up.

This extends to the Team Bosses prior to a press conference, swapping stories.

And there is a reason for that. Because for all of its glitz and glamour, Formula 1 is an expensive sport with low margins. Teams often operate at a loss, and many have failed over the years.

There are currently 10 teams on the grid. But there are a 134 teams that have failed.

F1’s recent moves with financial cost caps, and franchise/stakeholder ownership have moved everything towards stability. The last Formula 1 team to fail entirely (meaning cease to exist versus being bought out) was Manor in 2016. That level of stability is unprecedented in Formula 1.

And the reason for that stability is a shift away from an “every team for themselves” model to a “rising tide tips all boats” model. It’s something the team bosses took pride in when speaking about potentially adding an 11th team. They talked about revenue sharing, and whether the financials would justify it. This sort of collective thought would have been a foreign concept decades ago.

So while the teams compete on track, they want everyone to succeed off of it.

That friendliness is on display in the Paddock.

Formula 1 After Dark

After the days’ events are over, the Paddock returns to normal with a remarkable swiftness.

Nothing is out of place. It is immaculately clean.

The fans have long since been ushered out, surely heading to South Beach for the after party where they’ll spend the GDP of a small country. There are still some team personnel milling about. Formula 1’s imposed curfew means they are forced to relax for the evening, where in a bygone era they would pull an all-nighter working on the car.

There are some drivers still here. On Saturday night, I saw Kevin Magnussen casually chatting with a member of the Alpine team, his work done for the day.

Media are still allowed in the Paddock area at this point, and it does provide a glorious, night view.

When the weekend is over, the teams will pack up and leave, and move onto the next location, in this case, to Spain. Soon, there won’t be evidence of what took place here.

Just part of the bizarre and fascinating world behind the scenes of Formula 1.

Vishnu Parasuraman is a contributor for @FiveReasonsSports. He covers the Miami Hurricanes  for Sixth Ring Canes and Formula 1 for Hitting the Apex. You can follow him on twitter @vrp2003