As fast as as it gets

Bahrain is famous for its Formula One Grand Prix. But the logistics behind such a race, to most, are a mystery. DHL, the official logistics partner for Formula One, shares its secrets.

The Bahrain International Circuit, home to the Bahrain Formula One Grand Prix

Fin Kimi Räikkönen with Ferrari may be the best driver in the world, having taken home the 2007 FIA Formula One World Championship, but Dave Spargo, Regional Director Middle East for DHL Express, insists the DHL team that works with Formula One is the best group of logistics professionals in the world.

“It is the absolute pinnacle of logistics,” says Spargo. “These guys are working on milliseconds, fractions of a millimetre. A day where they lose is a day from hell. They cannot afford any element of their business to be anything but 100%.”

DHL, whose Middle East headquarters are based in Bahrain, the home of the Bahrain Grand Prix, is Formula One’s official logistics partner. DHL transports 22 racing cars, 11 T-cars and an average of 44 engines to the overseas races, averaging around 50 tonnes of equipment per race.

Many of the approximately 20,000 pieces of equipment that travel to each race can help determine whether a car wins or loses. DHL shared the following story about one particular piece, part No. 7758110.

The last ride Part No. 7758110 is an idle stop plate. Just one of around 4,000 parts to be found in a Formula One engine, it’s not very big and, like everything else in Formula One, not very heavy. At around three ounces, the weight of a mobile phone, the BMW engine from which it has been removed has parts weighing even less. Part No.7758110 is a longish thin aluminum plate with two holes, a small tube and a spring at one end. Its job is to stop the engine dying when the driver lifts off the accelerator. The problem with part No.7758110 – it’s gone kaputt!

Part No. 7758110 gave up the ghost after 560 brief but frantic test kilometers in Barcelona. A mechanic has found cracks in it. It’s around 6pm on Tuesday evening. The cracks are marked with a felt-tip pen and photographed. An electrician carefully snaps away at the part from all angles, packs it in a brown box and addresses the package. At the same time, an e-mail with photos of the damaged part is sent off: “Part to be dispatched to Munich with the next engine delivery.” After about an hour, part No.7758110 sets off on its last ride.

Formula One logistics professionals have to work as fast as the cars

By courier van, plane and taxi to the Bavarian metropolis, to the headquarters of BMW Motorsport. This is the end of the road for part No.7758110, but now a race against time begins. By Friday, part No. 7758110’s new and improved successor, to be known as part No.7758173, must arrive in Barcelona for the last day of testing. The final drawings for the new part are completed and the factory in Ingolstadt is informed of the urgency of the situation. The drawings and CAD model are supposed to arrive there in less than two hours.

Around 20,000 pieces of equipment travel to each Formula One race

Part No.7758173 is carefully crafted until it is the optimum shape. After three hours’ work, just before 12 noon, it is finished: Part No.7758110 has a successor. The new component is much stronger and looks more complicated. It is also fatter than its predecessor and has put on weight; it will weigh five ounces at birth. At 12:03 precisely, the drawings and CAD model are dispatched to the factory.

Just three hours later and one hour’s car journey away, the final machining begins. Shortly before 8 am on Thursday morning the son of part No.7758110 sees the light of day and is immediately made ready for the trip to Munich. During the night, part No.7758173 has passed through several machines. The final stage is a meticulous half-hour examination by laser. It is perfect in every detail.

At 09:02 on the dot, the package containing part No.7758173 arrives at its creator, BMW Motorsport. However, it can’t begin its journey to Barcelona yet. It must first undergo in-house quality control checks. A trained eye gives the part the once-over, checking for obvious faults, then various measuring devices ensure it conforms to original specifications.

At around 11 am, the workshop fits part No.7758173 to an F1 engine for the first time, in order to carry out test bed checks. For an hour and a half, the engineers observe the hellishly loud full-throttle tests from their soundproofed booth. The first trip is round a virtual Hockenheim Ring. The long forest straights do it no damage. Part No.7758173 survives the test without a scratch.

Now, it’s a question of urgency. Late that afternoon, four more 7758173s arrive at BMW Motorsport. They are immediately whisked off to the airport from where they waft their way over to Spain. On arrival at the airport, they are collected by a mechanic and that same night they are fitted to the engines. Exactly 62 hours after part No.7758110 began its last ride, BMW Motors have received a new idle stop plate with time to spare. Its name? Part No.7758173.