Next Sunday, another Formula 1 season will start in Melbourne, a traditional sport and the passion of many fans around the world. The geographical character, the time pressure and the high costs involved make this competition one of the most challenging when thinking about logistics.
To be champion of the 2017 season, the driver will have to compete in races on 20 circuits spread across 5 continents, over 8 months (Figure 1). This means transferring the entire infrastructure from China to Bahrain in less than 48 hours, for example.
The number of races held outside Europe has doubled in the last 15 years, which poses an even greater challenge for the teams, as the 10 competing teams are based on the European continent. As a result of all this geographical dispersion of the competition, it is estimated that over the course of the season each team will travel more than 160.000 km between races and testing sessions.
Figure 1 – Location of the 2017 F1 season races
Source: ILOS
Since 2004, DHL has been the official logistics service provider for F1, being responsible for transporting the most diverse items: from cars and their spare parts to television cables, fuel, computers, furniture and kitchen utensils. for preparing hundreds of meals for the teams. For this, the company uses road, air and sea transport, depending on the location of the next race.
Formula 1 logistics is a full-time job. Preparations begin a year in advance and extra attention is given to the new circuits. In January, the teams ship their first sea containers to the venues that will host the first races outside of Europe. For DHL, a Grand Prix weekend starts nine days before the race, when the teams receive their shipments, and ends about three hours after the checkered flag is waved, when the cars are disassembled, their parts carefully packed and the pit infrastructure demobilized and stored for transport. By Tuesday, most of the equipment will either have been returned to the team headquarters or will have already left for the next circuit, when the period between races is just one week.
Figure 2 – Packed car
Source: Quora
For the Grand Prix that take place in Europe, the more than 600 tons of material are transported in around 100 trucks. For races located on other continents, transportation is done using six special Boeing 747 cargo planes, chartered by Formula One Management (FOM), which fly from London and Munich to the race venue. Items with a lower degree of criticality and lower cost, which are purchased in larger quantities (marketing materials, workbenches and tool carts, among others), are shipped in advance, by sea. For shipping these items, each team has about five identical sets of 40-foot containers.
Figure 3 – Loading aircraft by DHL to transport F1 material
Source: DHL
Carrying the fuel needed for each race, per team, includes 2.500 liters of fuel, 140 liters of engine oil, 40 liters of gear oil and 90 liters of engine coolant. Fuel is transported in special fireproof canisters with capacities between 50 and 200 liters. While in transit, fuel needs to be protected from extreme temperatures such as the Malaysian heat and the North Atlantic cold.
As race day approaches, there are often needs for changes to the cars not foreseen by the teams. To bring new parts and meet this type of urgency, DHL has an express air service, which is also capable of streamlining customs procedures and organizing transport from the airport to the racetrack by helicopter, guaranteeing deliveries within a period of up to 24 hours.
Did you think the work ended there? Negative. In addition to all the logistics of materials and equipment carried out by DHL, the teams still need to take care of their members. In European races, teams have more than 130 people in each GP, while in races outside Europe this number is reduced to around 90 people. This means that hundreds of hotel reservations and airline tickets need to be arranged even before the official season schedule is released.
Flight bookings generally start 11 months before the race, as this is the longest advance window allowed by airlines. In general, the grand prix in Europe is easier to plan: although there is greater competition for trips to tourist cities such as Barcelona, Budapest and Milan, European flights are shorter and more regular, making it easier for people to arrive in in time. On the other hand, races like Melbourne, Australia are the hardest to plan. In addition to the distance to the headquarters of the teams, which makes the solution of logistical problems more complicated and time-consuming, the lack of direct flights and the need for connections in different countries increases the risk of losing luggage.
Added to this, it is necessary to arrange to obtain visas from different countries for people of different nationalities. For China, for example, the visa must be requested at most 2 months in advance and it is a process that lasts 3 days, which requires a great deal of planning by the teams.
Considering that each F1 car costs around 10 million dollars and is made up of parts ranging from 1,5mm diameter screws to a chassis made of 60 layers of carbon fiber, it is possible to estimate the stress that logistics professionals involved in the sport move all this, in a short period of time, to cities all over the world.
If inside the tracks the race is against the clock, outside it is no different!
References
<https://www.formula1.com/en/championship/inside-f1/understanding-f1-racing/Logistics.html>
<http://www.dhl.com/en/about_us/partnerships/motorsports/formula_1.html>
<http://www.mydhl.lu/files/dhl_f1_fact_sh_97713875.pdf>
<https://www.wired.com/2014/11/ship-f1-car-across-globe-36-hours/>
<https://www.quora.com/How-are-Formula-1-cars-transported-between-Grand-Prix-venues>
<http://www.mclaren.com/formula1/blog/thefifthdriver/On-the-move-with-McLaren/>
<http://www.mclaren.com/formula1/blog/thefifthdriver/on-the-road-with-mclaren-moving-freight/>
<http://www.logisticadescomplicada.com/a-logistica-da-formula-1/>
Fernanda Monteiro
More than 11 years of experience in training and consultancy projects, focusing on Logistics and Supply Chain. In consultancy, he carried out projects such as Transformational Logistics Plan, Diagnosis of logistics operations, Strategy and Calendarization of Transport Operations, Measuring the Cost of Serving, Market Study, Mapping of Inventory Reduction Opportunities, Review of the S&OP Process, Management Plan Training and Implementation of Commercial Processes in companies such as Nestlé, Raia Drogasil, Ipiranga, Lojas Americanas, B2W, Coca-Cola, Andina, Embraco, Martins Atacado, Loja do Mecânico, Santo Antônio Energia, Ecoporto and Silimed. She is currently one of the teachers of the Inventory Management Course taught every six months by ILOS. She worked on the development and management of Online Courses in Logistics and Supply Chain, Supply Processes, Demand Planning, Inventory Management and Industrial Management. Still in the training area, she was responsible for applying ILOS business games in companies such as Raia Drogasil, Fibria, NEC, Novartis and Moove.
