The Big Question...

With the 2011 Formula One season nearly upon us, so many people are looking forward to watching the driver's, see what the pit wall has in store for strategy and how their favourite team will progress.

You see Formula One and you see this elusive and exclusive lifestyle that so many people year to be a part of.  The see the driver's enter the paddock through high security that only a select few of the rich and famous can follow.  There are high class parties, award shows, and women associated with each grand prix weekend.

What most fans don't come to think of is how. How is this lifestyle achieved week after week? 

Montreal Circuit the other 357 days of the year.

How is it that a barren space such as this can transform into such an elite place?

The teams will arrive as little as the Monday before the race and will turn an empty garage into a mechanics dream.  

When they describe Formula One as being not dissimilar to that needed for a medium-sized military campaign, they are not joking.  Take a look at the picture shown here on the paddock area on the Gilles Villeneuve circuit. The only think that was left by the team were the skid marks on the asphalt. Not much really to work with.  It must take an army of men and women to transform the pits.

Montreal Circuit grand prix weekend

In only just a few days later, the face's of the teams arrive. They don't arrive to an empty space but to a fully functional place as shown here.

The place is buzzing and the scene is set for a memorable weekend.  The only thing is, not one outsider really knows how it came to be. 

If you have ever been to a flyaway, it is all glamour and glitz.  The countries that have been selected to host a grand prix weekend sometimes take it to the extreme.  All vying to be the best for both fans and driver's.  But what about the people behind the scenes?  I am curious as to which host grand prix city is the best for the men and women that are the back bone to the circuit.

Singapore pit lane prior to teams arrival

So the big question is.... exactly how many men and women does it take to take an empty space like the Singapore garage,

Full prepared garage prior to race weekend

And more precisely, how long does it take them to turn it into the most modern, technologically advanced space available to their top notch driver's and teams?


The faces of Formula One are certainly untouchable but their lives are easily viewable. It is this secret society of individuals that you don't know, don't hear about and chances are, you never see that I find most intriguing.

As a novice technological geek, I would find it unbelievably fascinating to witness this transformation happen.