Modern Formula 1 teams are huge companies with hundreds of employees all working hard to try to be the best in the sport. But within these vast organisations there are the teams within a team \u2013 the small cadre of people centred around helping each driver perform at their maximum.<\/p>\n
Formula 1.com is delving into those bubbles to gain a greater understanding of the lives of those who work closely with the stars of F1. This week Bradley Lord, Mercedes\u2019 Team Representative and Chief Communications Officer, explains how his team guides its drivers in dealing with the media, managing relationships, and co-ordinating activities through a race weekend.<\/p>\n
Part of the obligation for Formula 1 drivers throughout the course of a Grand Prix season is to regularly converse with the championship\u2019s media corps. This group encompasses the print press, internet journalists, digital and social media, and broadcast media \u2013 and drivers have to deal with a torrent of press requests across the course of a campaign.<\/p>\n
Acting as a go-between for drivers are the teams\u2019 communications officers, who assist with managing a driver\u2019s calendar, dealing with requests and interviews, and accompanying drivers to the media sessions \u2013 they are the people you will regularly see standing next to a driver during on-screen interviews.<\/p>\n
Grand Prix weekends typically last for four days, with three days of on-track activity preceded by a day of media activities on the Thursday.<\/p>\n
\u201cA media schedule on a race weekend is built firstly around the core points of the regulations,\u201d Lord explains.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are certain paragraphs in the sporting regulations that outline the minimum availability \u2013 so that\u2019s after practice, after Qualifying, and after the race, and also includes clauses that says drivers must be, if requested to do so, be available at reasonable times to talk to the media, so that\u2019s useful, as it embeds access for media.<\/p>\n
\u201cGenerally the way teams will structure that is to really front-load the weekend, so most media activities, including one-to-ones or more in-depth conversations, will take place on a Thursday.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s then a window, usually after Qualifying, to do more on a Saturday, then post-race on a Sunday everyone\u2019s keen to debrief and get home.\u201d<\/p>\n
Managing a driver\u2019s schedule is important to ensure that they are never distracted from their main objectives at each race weekend.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the teams I\u2019ve worked with, you really try and leave the drivers in as much peace as possible through the performance parts of the weekend,\u201d Lord says.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn Saturday morning there\u2019s the fan forum, but between practice and Qualifying that\u2019s complete time dedicated to being with the engineers, preparation, recuperation, relaxation, ahead of Qualifying, because we don\u2019t want any distractions.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe try and build the schedule, be it sponsor appearances, Paddock Club, meet-and greets, in a way that doesn\u2019t cost the drivers any performance. We can\u2019t make them faster, but if we organise it badly, we can make it slower.\u201d<\/p>\n
Teams are conscious of interest surging and waning at various intervals throughout the course of a season, and plan accordingly where possible.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe generally agree a bit of an approach at the start of the year: where you want to focus, what the priorities are,\u201d Lord says. \u201cA driver\u2019s national media are important \u2013 so that\u2019s Italian media for Kimi<\/a> [Antonelli], the British media for George<\/a> [Russell], so you\u2019ll probably offer a bit more access there, just so they\u2019re able to look after their core journalists, and generally the media group also accompany them through the racing pyramid and have been there on the road to success.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s important to respect existing relationships too, whether that\u2019s working on the team side, or the driver\u2019s side.\u201d<\/p>\n The Formula 1 news cycle can sometimes be relentless and part of the role of a communications officer is to be across all subjects to ensure that drivers aren\u2019t surprised by a topic or a left-field query, while also separating the wheat from the chaff.<\/p>\n \u201cThe way we work with drivers is we brief them, and we have a traffic lights system where green is a topic to say what you think \u2013 and we try and have as many greens as possible \u2013 and then if we want to present a particular point it might be a red or an amber, but it\u2019s very rare there\u2019s a conflict.<\/p>\n \u201cOur job is to protect the drivers, and if something has gone wrong the team will always stand in front of the driver and not leave the driver exposed, that\u2019s part of the team work of the sport. Our main goal with Kimi and George, and Lewis beforehand, is to be yourselves and be authentic, and don\u2019t tell lies, because that trips you up and you get found out.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of the briefing process is giving them context and awareness. Very few of the drivers spend time digesting and consuming media, so our job is to give them a scan of what\u2019s going on and what might be coming up \u2013 \u2018just so you know you might be asked about this, we\u2019d suggest this is a good way to navigate that, don\u2019t get drawn into this particular situation or discussion\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n Lord has seen the evolution of Formula 1 across the past few decades and has seen how that has influenced and affected the commitments drivers now have with the media.<\/p>\n \u201cIt remains as important as ever, particularly as Formula 1 is growing, to have an independent media corps, who hold us to account,\u201d Lord stresses. \u201cIt\u2019s not just content that the teams or series produces \u2013 independent voices and independent media are important, as it upholds the integrity and credibility of the sport.<\/p>\n \u201cI came into a sport where we were printing, photocopying and handing out press releases in the media centre, which feels like the Stone Age!<\/p>\n