“Box, Box, Box”: What F1 can teach us about communicating with remote teams.
Drive Business Performance with Lessons from Elite Motorsport
The pressure to perform is higher than ever. Companies need to be agile, efficient, and innovative to stay ahead. But what if the key to unlocking your team's potential wasn't in a traditional business textbook, but on a Formula 1 racetrack? Welcome to the world of Motorsport To Business®, where we take the proven strategies of elite motorsport and apply them directly to your organisation.
At Ignition Human Performance®, we're not just fans of racing, we're an integral part of it. Our team consists of world-class professionals from the pit lane to the podium, including engineers, team leaders, and performance coaches who have lived and worked in the most demanding performance environments on earth. We've seen firsthand how clear communication, razor-sharp strategy, and a relentless focus on improvement lead to victory.
Now, we're bringing those same principles to you.
How to Communicate With Remote Teams
With an increase in hybrid and remote working, and many companies now operating across global markets with geographically dispersed teams, leaders are navigating a new landscape for communication with their employees. New rules of engagement are needed to ensure that information can be shared effectively.
Formula 1 teams have been operating in remote working environments, away from their factory headquarters, for over 70 years. For many years, teams would be entirely disconnected from their factories - or perhaps in touch only via telephone calls - across the race weekend.
“Box, Box, Box”: What F1 can teach us about communicating with remote teams.
Communication in the Workplace
With an increase in hybrid and remote working, and many companies now operating across global markets with geographically dispersed teams, leaders are navigating a new landscape for communication with their employees. New rules of engagement are needed to ensure that information can be shared effectively.
Formula 1 teams have been operating in remote working environments, away from their factory headquarters, for over 70 years. For many years, teams would be entirely disconnected from their factories - or perhaps in touch only via telephone calls - across the race weekend.
Over the last few years teams have been splitting their trackside programme. Nowadays F1 race teams travel to 23 or 24 events across the world from North America to Australia each season, and they are heavily reliant on communication links with their control rooms back at base. This has become particularly important since 2008, when a cap was placed on the number of technical personnel allowed to attend races.
Mission Control
‘Mission control’ centres for F1 teams are where communication happens between HQ and the remote operation at the track. This communication is essential to the team’s race operation and ultimately the performance of the car over the race weekend. Regardless of the location and time zone difference, mission control is always operational in real time and in direct contact with the Race Team.
The Race Support Room (RSR), as the mission control centre is called at Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team, is a room of about 30 specialist engineers who are monitoring all the on-car systems and the circuit characteristics through data telemetry channels over the race weekend. It serves as a centralised hub for communication, ensuring that everyone involved has access to the same information at the same time.
The engineers in the RSR are in constant communication with the trackside team via an intercom system which is split into 15 to 20 different communication channels. Many conversations are happening throughout the weekend through each of the channels on subjects such as strategy, weather, on-car systems and tyres, often simultaneously.
This means there is a lot of noise, so it’s very important to ensure that communication is short, succinct and to the point. With so much information being shared during a race, if anything is missed it could cost the team valuable places on track, so it’s important to have clear communication protocols to ensure that information is conveyed accurately and efficiently.
Each area of the engineering team has its own communication channel, and personnel all have access to the information they need. Some channels are relevant for just one of the cars and others, such as the strategy channels, cover both cars. When the car is on track, generally only one person, the race engineer, will communicate directly with the driver.
Teams also restrict the channels that the car mechanics are able to listen to, so that they only hear the information that they need – again to cut out the noise and reduce the potential for confusion. The mechanics receive clear information from a single source on the pit wall, the Sporting Director, so there’s never any duplication and it’s timed exactly for when they need to hear it.
How Teams Master Remote Communication
When there’s a lot happening during the race, one of the biggest challenges is understanding which messages are the most important. Communication needs to be carefully prioritised so it’s received when needed. It’s also important to transfer critical information at a point when it’s quiet on the radio, so it’s not missed.
For this reason, there are clearly defined radio protocols and use of language will be specific. Messages may start with the name of the person being addressed, followed by the name of the speaker and the subject - “John, it’s Jane on Strategy.” Straight away, the recipient of the message is paying attention, knows who is speaking and why.
Teams also specifically use clear language which is not likely to be misunderstood over the radio in noisy conditions. Terms such as ‘Negative’ and ‘Affirm’ are clearer than Yes and No. When bringing the car in for a pit stop, the engineer will call ‘Box, Box, Box’, but if the stop is aborted, they will clearly say ‘Stay out!’
There are also clear protocols for speaking to the drivers based on their individual preferences. Some drivers like to build a picture of what’s happening in the race and therefore seek more communication, others want less information, less frequent communication or only the bigger picture. Some only want to hear from the engineers at certain points on the lap. Clear and concise communication at the right time helps to reduce the potential for errors.
It’s also critical that the engineering team focuses on the information the driver is providing and listens to their feedback. The driver is on the front-line and has first-hand information about the track conditions and how the car is handling.
So what can F1 teach us about remote communication?
In the same way as the Race Team, remote employees are subjected to a lot of noise and distraction in their working lives. We need to filter out the irrelevant information and only give people the information they need.
Ensure messages are clear and unambiguous
Keep communication simple and to the point, using simple, jargon-free language. This will help to ensure that nothing is misunderstood or miscommunicated. It also reduces workload if communication is understood first time and doesn’t need to be repeated.
Keep it concise
People don’t have time to absorb lengthy communication. A short, clear message is more likely to be read and will have more impact than several lengthy pages of text. Where information does need to be more detailed, provide a concise summary or bullet points at the start to capture the key messages.
Provide information only when it’s needed
Less is often more when internal communication is concerned. Try to share information only when it’s needed
Target employees with the right information
Ensure the information people are receiving is directly relevant for them. The F1 mechanics at the track only receive information that they need to know. Similarly, there’s no point telling a team in the USA about changes to the staff canteen in the UK. Try to ensure that information is targeted to the right audience.
Ensure communication is timely
Ensure that people receive the information when they need it, and have time to process that information.
Make time to listen to feedback that’s coming through
Listen to the people on the front-line. They are the ones dealing with the conditions day-to-day.
In crisis situations, keep communication calm and to a minimum, with only the necessary people communicating.
When a pit stop goes smoothly and the car comes out in the right position, that’s down to effective communication between mission control, the trackside engineering team, the race mechanics and the driver.
Companies can also benefit from establishing clear communication channels, protocols, and expectations to reduce the risk of misunderstandings and promote effective collaboration. Ultimately, clear communication is about ensuring the right information is sent at the right time to the right people to enable them to perform at their best.
Every so often a story captures our imagination not just because of the drama, but because it reflects the power of determination, resilience and the human spirit. In the world of motorsport, few stories are as iconic as that of Niki Lauda, whose journey from a privileged Austrian family to the pinnacle of Formula 1 embodies the essence of courage against the odds. It’s a narrative that offers not only an inspiring tale of one man’s victory over adversity but also a roadmap for individuals and organisations seeking to build motivation, purpose and unity within their teams.
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Julien Simon-Chautemps, was most recently Kimi Räikkönen’s last Formula One Race Engineer.
Julien is a race and performance engineering specialist with over 22 years of experience in Formula 1, Formula 2, Formula 3 and multiple other motorsport series. He has travelled to over 265 F1 Grand Prix, completing 14 seasons in F1 working for teams like Toyota, Caterham, Lotus, Renault and Alfa Romeo Sauber. During this time Julien worked closely with drivers like Marcus Ericsson, Romain Grosjean, Robert Kubica and Jolyon Palmer to name a few. In 2022 Julien has launched JSC7 Engineering ltd, a motorsport consultancy service that provides Julien's extensive expertise to clients wishing to engage specialist race engineering advice.
Mark Arnall is a world-renowned fitness expert with a career in F1 that has spanned 26 years. In that time, he has worked as performance coach for Mika Häkkinen (5 years), David Coulthard, Kimi Räikkönen (20 years) and most recently in 2022 Sebastian Vettel. During his career Mark has Aldo worked with legendary F1 teams McLaren, Ferrari, Lotus, Alfa Romeo and Aston Martin.
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As part of our ethos "Watch on Sunday, Learning on Monday" here at Ignition Human Performance, we are always looking for ways to take the lessons you will see this weekend at the race track and look at how they can be translated into unlocking business or personal performance.
As part of our ethos "Watch on Sunday, Learning on Monday" here at Ignition Human Performance, we are always looking for ways to take the lessons you will see this weekend at the race track and look at how they can be translated into unlocking business or personal performance.
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The Ignition Book Club is a weekly review of different books from the bookshelf in the Ignition Human Performance office. These books all have a common cross over, which is a focus on lessons from elite motorsports that can be translated into business performance
The Ignition Book Club is a weekly review of different books from the bookshelf in the Ignition Human Performance office. These books all have a common cross over, which is a focus on lessons from elite motorsports that can be translated into business performance.
The Ignition Book Club is a weekly review of different books from the bookshelf in the Ignition Human Performance office. These books all have a common cross over, which is a focus on lessons from elite motorsports that can be translated into business performance.
The Ignition Book Club is a weekly review of different books from the bookshelf in the Ignition Human Performance office. These books all have a common cross over, which is a focus on lessons from elite motorsports that can be translated into business performance.
With the announcement this week that Motorsport To Business® powered by Ignition Human Performance, would be rejoining MBP's Official Partner Network (having worked as a team partner to their BTCC team MB Motorsport the last two seasons), our Managing Director Nick Butcher met up with their CEO, former F1 Driver Mark Blundell, to reflect on the lessons he has learnt from a career in motorsport and business.
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