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This weekend will be a busy one with three of our racing teams competing across three different countries. The McLaren Formula 1 Team are contesting the Spanish Grand Prix, the Arrow McLaren IndyCar Team are participating in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES Detroit Grand Prix, and the NEOM McLaren Formula E Team are competing at the Shanghai E-Prix, a double header event comprising two rounds in one weekend.

We’ve enlisted three expert guides to take you behind the scenes of race day from start to finish in each of the three series. Formula 1 Race Engineer Will Joseph, Arrow McLaren General Manager Brian Barnhart, and NEOM McLaren Team Manager Gary Paffett are your behind-the-scenes guides for a very busy Sunday.

Woking time (BST)/ local time

21:30 Saturday (05:30) – Shanghai E-Prix arrival

As our Formula 1 team are wrapping up dinner and getting ready to go to bed after Qualifying in Barcelona, the Formula E crew have their alarms set long before dawn.

FE events involve several days of build-up and preparation, and the race days themselves are congested with sessions and commitments, meaning the drivers have to be in shortly after 06:00 for engineering meetings.

“Race day is packed,” Gary explains. “You’ll turn up and have practice at 8am, maybe even earlier, depending on the sunrise.”

It means operations have to be carefully coordinated.

“It's very much about having the right procedures, and making sure everything is in there, everything is timed, and we know what we're doing at the right time.

“The last thing you want to do is get caught out not having enough time to do something, or suddenly doing something in a rush. A lot of it is routine. A lot of it we've done many, many times before. We know the constraints that we've got.”

 

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00:00 (08:00) Shanghai E-Prix Practice

The first track activity of the day in Shanghai will be the 40-minute Free Practice 3 session. This follows on from Saturday’s action, the first half of the double header, which included two Free Practice sessions, Qualifying, and the race.

While drivers are getting accustomed to the track conditions, or simply getting a handle on the car, mechanics and engineers are fettling setups and monitoring elements such as plank wear and the brakes. One of the biggest aspects of Formula E is battery management.

“You have to condition it to a certain temperature,” Gary says. “They work in a very tight window of temperature operation. That's a legality thing. If you're outside of that, you'll get a penalty. You've got to make sure you are heating and cooling the battery.

“A lot of the time is taken up by charging the car. With FE, from a battery that's very low on charge to fully charged, it can take 45 minutes to maybe an hour.”

02:20 (10:20) Shanghai E-Prix Qualifying

Formula E has an intricate Qualifying structure that provides entertainment and throws additional challenges at teams and drivers.

“You have two Qualifying groups, A and B, with 11 cars in each, and the fastest four in each go through,” Gary says. “Then you have quarter-finals, semi-finals, and a final.

“It’s a long process if you’re involved in all of that – the drivers have to go out and deliver a lap three or four times. The rules are also different for the group stages and the Duels – the drivers have more power for the Duels, so that alters the car performance and makes it quite a step change.”

Once the Duels are over, there’s a very brief respite for the team.

“This is the quietest part of the day: you go into the post-Qualifying parc fermé where the FIA are going through the cars, checking the legality of the cars,” Gary says.

07:05 (15:05) Shanghai E-Prix

The pause is only brief, as there’s a race that needs planning.

“It’s a pretty busy period getting the cars ready for the race,” Gary says. “There’s about an hour and a half until the time we leave the garage for the race.”

An E-Prix lasts around 45 minutes, bringing a busy day to a conclusion, before the strenuous pack-up work begins.

“With the days being so hectic, it's a case of managing people,” Gary says. “We stress to people, the amount of travelling you do, the jet lag that you are experiencing, the hot countries - it's tough. It's hard work and they're long days. We really do emphasise to people that they should try to stay healthy and keep themselves fit.”

“Everyone in Formula E, in any team, but certainly in our team, is a multitasker. No one ever says ‘That's my job and that's all I'm doing.’ Everyone will help another person out with something.”

08:30 (09:30) Spanish Grand Prix arrival

Just as the E-Prix comes to an end, the Formula 1 crew over in Barcelona will start swiping through the paddock turnstiles.

A lot of work has already been done through the preceding practice sessions, and Saturday’s Qualifying hour, but there are still protocols to run through.

“We're immediately into preparation,” Will says. “Some people are working out how much fuel to add to the car, because there’s a deadline with the FIA to declare it. We’ll talk with Lando and Oscar about how they're going to drive, and what we learnt from Friday’s high-fuel run, which affects how we work the tyres to avoid overheating or graining.

“Everyone is communicating with one another, because everyone has something to feed in that will make us better as a whole.

“That obviously includes Andrea, who will talk about the racing objectives and what we're trying to achieve. Additionally, conversations will be taking place between our Performance Engineers and Strategists, as well as with those back at the factory, and with Randy, who is at the track.

“We’ll also have conversations involving Fran, the Engine Engineer, as well as with Peter or JD, the Controls Engineer, with Charlie, regarding pit stops and pit lane control, and with Adrian, who is across both cars.

“Part of that is gaining information for ourselves, and part of that is sharing information with others.”

11:30 (06:30) Detroit Grand Prix arrival

The INDYCAR event schedule changes. The Indianapolis 500 is a multi-week event, while other rounds are condensed into just a single day. For Detroit, the morning’s warm-up session means that the IndyCar crew will arrive in the paddock around 06:30, three hours in advance, to prepare for a crucial period of running.

“The majority of our races are on road courses or street circuits,” Brian says. “We do have a handful of ovals, and they are a little bit different. Due to the time compression, the race day procedures and responsibilities we have are probably more challenging on the road and street courses because that's where we have the final warm-up session.”

The build-up is also about getting everyone into the right frame of mind for the day ahead.

“It’s all about the competition: that's why we all do it,” Brian says. “It's a challenge, you want to make the right decisions. You try to ensure that everybody has each other’s backs. You stay focused on trying to control the aspects of the event that you can control and execute.”

13:00 (14:00) Spanish Grand Prix grid

Among the most frantic times of any event is the immediate build-up, especially in Formula 1, where the grid can be a bustling place, filled not just with cars and personnel, but guests, celebrities, and the media.

“I think, inevitably, as you get closer to the pit lane opening, there is this excitement building,” Will says. “Our grid procedure starts 15 minutes before the pit lane opens, so that's 55 minutes before the formation lap. There are specifically timed procedures such as radio checks, sending the car to the grid, cooling the car on the grid, and making sure the tyres are on the grid and on the car at the right time.”

Will and Lando will have several discussions once the MCL39 is parked up in its grid spot.

“You can't change the setup, but you can change the front wing flap angle,” Will says. “We might be talking about the balance, as the wind direction could have changed. The fuel levels will also be totally different from Qualifying, as they’re now at maximum fuel. If the weather looks tricky, you’re getting information about the forecast.

“Personally, I need to be calm and relaxed so that my colleagues are also calm and relaxed. It can be a hectic place, especially at the front of the grid, so while you have to enjoy that moment, you also have to take a step back. Ultimately, we've got jobs to do on the grid, and if there's something going on, we will focus on that. If there's not, I will stand over by the wall and just let the world happen around me.” 

 

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14:00 (15:00) Spanish Grand Prix

Grands Prix usually last around 90 minutes, and in the garage and on the pit wall, Will and the other senior engineers have to be on constant alert, managing the race, while being reactive to any potential curveballs.

“Every event has its own challenge that we're trying to deal with,” Will says. “Whether it’s the tyres degrading very quickly and the way to victory will be through tyre management, or if it’s going to be a more deterministic race, and therefore we're going to have to pit into people and overtake. Every race is different and has its own challenge, and we deal with those challenges on a race-by-race basis.”

Teamwork is a relentless benefit to both sides of the garage.

“Inevitably, at the end of the day, each side of the garage is still competing with one another, but it's done in a very honest and open way,” Will says. “We've had examples at races where we've helped the other side of the garage and they've helped us, because ultimately, as a team, you're trying to achieve 1-2s.”

14:30 (09:30) Detroit Grand Prix warm-up

While Formula 1 is in the midst of its Spanish Grand Prix, Pato, Christian, and Nolan are getting ready to climb into the cockpit.

INDYCAR’s half-hour warm-up session is crucial, as Brian explains, due to the tyre regulations.

“We have to make a tyre declaration for which tyre we're starting the race on, and that happens 30 minutes after the Chequered Flag [in warm-up],” Brian says. “We have two options, either the softer alternative or the harder primary, and you have to run both in a street race for a minimum of two laps. Much of the discussion on the timing stand is predicated somewhat on your Qualifying position and your anticipation of what your competitors, either in front of or behind you, are going to do. It’s also about which tyres you think will be preferred for longer, and the number of pit stops.

“A lot of discussions play into that, based on what your tyre reads were from the Friday Practice and the Saturday Qualifying, though warm-up is usually cooler than the race.

“We then carry that further and go into the engineering trailer where all three cars, drivers, Race Engineers, Performance Engineers, and management, are on headsets, and we discuss what the race strategy for the day is going to be. Again, kind of rehashing all those types of considerations. Each car goes through and talks about what their strategy for the day is going to be.”

 

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17:30 (12:30) Detroit Grand Prix

The last of the three races, 10 hours after the lights went out for the Shanghai E-Prix, will be IndyCar’s dash around Detroit.

For Brian, it’s about remaining relaxed and ensuring the team maximises its potential at a race that can be littered with incidents and cautions.

“Just do what you can, and demonstrate that leadership, talking on the intercom, on the stand, and saying, ‘Stay positive, stay calm,” Brian says. “Don't go back in time and compare, and don't accept being a victim. We do the best we can to respond to whatever happens and the hand we’re dealt. We do everything we can to achieve the results we deserve. Some days your best result may be a seventh place. On those days, you make sure you get the seventh and don't accept a 15th.”

Once the INDYCAR race wraps and pack-up begins, hopefully around 14:30 local time – 19:30 back at the McLaren Technology Centre – it’ll be coming up on 24 hours since a full-throttle race day began for the Formula E team in Shanghai.