15 July 2026 15:00 (UTC)
They’re the best seats in the house, so how do teams decide who gets them?
The pit wall has become an iconic element of Formula 1, a key subplot to what is happening out on track. TV cameras spend an increasing amount of time during Qualifying and the race capturing the reactions on the pit wall, but who is up there and what are their roles during the sessions?
‘Pit wall’ is the shorthand, while the structure itself is called the pit stand, and every team treats theirs differently. We have seven seats: some teams have four, others eight. Some teams will have the same people in the same places every session, others will have blank spaces or a revolving cast of characters.
A more technical lineup may be used during a test or practice session, with senior management occupying those seats on race day. Meanwhile, some teams will swap positions depending on whether the cars are running from right to left or left to right.
Many of the original reasons for the pit wall have been rendered redundant by improvements in technology: timing is done via transponder rather than stopwatch, cameras cover every inch of track, and telemetry and radio comms are delivered in real time to every console, from the pit stand to the garage, and right back to the MTC.
Technology, however, is not everything. For some senior staff, it’s about being in a position where you can influence and communicate, but without getting under the feet of a busy crew in a cramped garage. There’s also a human element: out on the pit wall, you’re in the middle of the action, garages to your back, grandstands looming overhead, cars whistling by inches away. These are the best seats in the house.
So, who’s on our wall, in what order do they sit, and what are they doing?
Paul joined McLaren in 2001 and started working trackside as a car systems technician in 2005. 20 years on, his title, Support and Logistics Director, doesn’t quite paint the full picture.
Although he is responsible for everything from travel logistics to team services, across a race weekend, the electronic systems configuration of the cars falls under his purview, as does the supporting IT infrastructure that enables us to go racing, and the off-car tool chain behind it.
The way in which data is collected from the car and distributed to the team also falls within his remit, as does the slightly more mundane but utterly crucial task of ensuring radio communications are working as they should.
Paul will sit on the stand during practice, Qualifying and some races, but will switch to the central engineering island in the garage on a Sunday when Zak is in attendance and on the pit wall.
Randy leads our strategy group, but his role is multifaceted. While each car will have its own individual strategists, Randy’s overview is holistic, making the decisions that are best for the team. That might mean splitting strategies or juggling the order.
During Qualifying and the race, he’ll spend much of his time in discussions with Team Principal Andrea Stella and each driver’s Race Engineers and Strategists, ensuring he is across every possible scenario and equipped to make the right decisions.
He’ll also often serve as point man, charged with updating the team when inclement weather is approaching. And during Qualifying, he’ll keep an eagle eye on other garages from his vantage point, with a running commentary on who’s firing up, heading out, or staying put.
Next to Randy is Will Courtenay, who joined the team at the beginning of the year as Sporting Director.
While the majority of the Sporting and Strategy Team will work from the (mostly) calmer, (usually) cooler confines of Mission Control at the McLaren Technology Centre, there is a need for boots on the ground to provide an in-person perspective alongside the data.
Chiefly, Will’s role is to liaise with the Race Director and brief Race Engineering on the latest instructions and opinions from Race Control.
It’s also useful to have a second pair of senior eyes and ears alongside Randy on the pit wall, who can help monitor proceedings. It just means nothing is missed if he is embroiled in a discussion with Andrea or one of the engineers.
Team Principals always sit on the pit wall, but it’s been Andrea’s natural habitat for longer than most, spanning his decade at McLaren and his tenure as a Race Engineer at Ferrari.
When he’s on the pit wall, Andrea acts as an extra pair of eyes for the race engineering group. It’s no coincidence that he’s seated between Randy and Zak, because, on the rare occasion the team is faced with a momentous and difficult decision, that’s the triumvirate that will make the final call.
Primarily, though, over the course of a normal weekend, Andrea will spend his time on the pit wall studying race data and offering insight to the Race Engineers. A lot of the time, he’ll be focused on the bigger picture, but he’ll also get stuck into the more granular details, such as suggesting how a driver might get a better exit from a particular corner.
Zak is both metaphorically and geographically at the centre of the team, sitting in the middle of the pit wall. His pedigree as a racing driver makes him a useful extra pair of eyes, and while he won’t be heard on the wider team channels, he’ll be talking to the people around him on the wall.
McLaren Racing’s empire spans multiple series, meaning Zak isn’t present for every Grand Prix (though he probably spends more time at race tracks than anyone else in papaya).
When he’s away, his seat will be filled by Paul Barnes, who sits on the pit wall during practice and Qualifying, but switches to the central engineering island in the garage on a Sunday when Zak is on the pit wall.
Most of the weekend, the Race Engineers will operate from their workstations on the engineers’ island in the garage, only taking up their seats on the pit wall for the Grand Prix.
Ahead of the race, they’ll be on the grid with their driver discussing any final details and mentally preparing one another for the Grand Prix. During this period, and on the formation lap, they’ll hand over executive responsibility to the Performance Engineer before taking back control once they reach the pit wall and plug into comms.
While the garage allows them to be more hands-on during practice and in Qualifying, the pit wall offers a better vantage point during the race, when the drivers aren’t in and out of the garage. It means they’re able to assess ambient conditions and physically see and hear the car on track, which can be useful for judging tyre degradation and various other factors.
When Will and Tom aren’t on the pit wall during practice, their seats will often be taken up by a member of our Senior Technical Leadership team, such as Rob Marshall or Neil Houldey, if they’re in attendance. Or, by Lando and Oscar - our drivers will join the team on the pit wall if they're sitting out a Free Practice session, and being replaced by one of our Development Drivers, as part of the 2026 Formula 1 regulations, which require teams to field a rookie driver in four Free Practice 1 sessions per season.
The person with the greatest need to be on the pit wall is the Car Ops Director. Every team has one, with varying job titles and descriptions. Ours is Charlie Hooper.
When Charlie is seated, one of his (many) responsibilities is acting as the liaison between race engineering and the pit crew, which is why he sits between our two Race Engineers.
It’s Charlie who calls the crew out to the box for a pit stop, telling them which driver, what tyres, what wing adjustment and how long they have to prepare. If there’s a time penalty, he’ll be counting the crew down. When both cars arrive at once, such as in the Spanish Grand Prix, it’s his job to help orchestrate a bit of car ballet.
Seated on the pit wall, Charlie has a view of everything he needs to see. He can see the box, both sides of the garage, and down the pit lane to the cars coming in. From here, he’s able to offer an ETA, as well as information on who else is around and whether any other teams are in their boxes and potentially in the way.
Each space on our pit wall features a stool and footrest, a window overlooking the track, a communications panel, and two large monitors. How those monitors are configured is unique to the individual, and sometimes unique to the event. Some people will have a fixed arrangement, others will change it from race to race or even session to session, depending on their requirements.
There are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of different data windows that can be opened, from borderline-impenetrable telemetry to the generic timing screens. People prioritise the seven or eight things they really need and tile their displays accordingly, usually with a few more pages tabbed behind.
A strategist, for example, is always going to have a GPS window open, showing where the cars would feed out were they to make a pit stop. On a stormy day in Spa, they’ll likely have the weather forecast open as well, whereas on a warm evening in Qatar, this may not be required.
