“It’s huge. If you have an improvement worth two-tenths of a lap time and you can bring it forward by a race, it’s fantastic. You have access to a bit more performance from the car.
“It’s a company philosophy where we push everyone to try to be as efficient as possible and we point out the things that are preventing them from being efficient. We’re very, very focused on asking ourselves: can we do this a little bit faster? What prevented that update from getting to the finish line one race sooner? And then dealing with that critical path.
“Human nature can sometimes be a hindrance. We all have a little margin because we don’t want to let the team down, but when we add up all those margins we suddenly realise that it could have been done quicker, so we try to look for the best we can do and work on that basis, but then if we struggle to meet that optimistic deadline we don’t start pointing fingers.
“It’s a very different mindset. Part of the job is making sure people feel comfortable to challenge themselves, safe in the knowledge that if something unexpected happens, they’re not going to be blamed. We don’t blame anyone, but we look at what happened and try to improve.”
Following the summer break, the design offices of all 10 teams will now have their attentions set on 2025, although the many close battles on the pitch may mean the 2024 calendar is not yet fully finalised. Manufacturing operations will continue to live in the moment, however, with at least one update (possibly more) on the way in the coming weeks and months.
We’ve already seen some game-changing things this year and the balance of power could shift again before the season is out. We want to see the big moments on track, the spectacular pit stops or brave strategic decisions that decide a championship, but behind the scenes, a huge amount of hard work and thought in a factory is just as likely to tip the scales.