F1 Explains: inside Audi's amazing trackside home

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2:13I am standing in the middle of the Formula One paddock, the very heart of the sport. This is where you'll find the drivers, the engineers, the mechanics and everyone involved in this weekend's Grand Prix, including me, Christian Hugill. Hello. The paddock is sort of like a small town which moves around the world and each team has a home here. When we race in Europe, the teams bring a motorhome with them. You'll have seen them on the TV. Huge buildings, each the size of a very big house, painted with team colours, covered in sponsors, usually full of people sitting around and having coffee. I promise they're doing some work as well.

2:50They are amazing bits of architecture, especially when you consider they're temporary. They're built for every European race weekend and then they're pulled down afterwards, put in a container and taken to the next track. So many F1 Explains listeners have questions about these motorhomes and how they travel around the world, including... Get ready, everybody.

3:31Kira, we don't know where they're from, but welcome to F1 Explains and welcome to Audi, where outside we find Alan McNish. Alan, it is a total joy to have you here. Thank you for hosting us here on F1 Explains. Yeah, thank you very much. And it's also great to hear there's so many questions about how we travel around the world as well. They are just questions that have come in about the motorhomes specifically. They are a curious bunch, our listeners, Alan. Well, Well, you're living in the 90s and the 2000s if you're calling them a motorhome. Well, there you go. That's an old adage in that respect.

4:04But now these are a little bit more than a motorhome. Motorhomes, actually, there was a lot of American listeners there. In the US, they still use physically motorhomes as their base. The drivers stay in them over the course of the weekend. That's a different situation over here in Formula One. But at the same time as well, these are full structures as opposed to something that you can jump in, switch on and drive off into the distance to the next Grand Prix. Absolutely. Well, Alan, we call this podcast F1 Explains. Explain to us, what's the more up-to-date terminology? This is actually our hospitality unit.

4:39Hospitality unit. Because we're very hospitable people. That's what it's all about. Very hospitable people. Alan, you're going to take us in in a moment just for those new to Formula One. Audi are a new name to Formula One. Explain your role, your job title and what you do here. Well, Audi has joined Formula One at the beginning of this year. It's the first time actually entering into Formula One itself. It's obviously got a great history in the sport across the board from rallying through to touring car to sports car racing to Dakar to Formula E. But this is the first time into Formula One itself.

5:13I've been with Audi as a driver since 2000 been with the Formula 1 project since the very beginning of it when it was just an idea in a few people's heads and then the ultimate execution of it and now the racing director of the team Alan it's lovely to see you here and of course one thing you've graciously missed off that list of your skills is former Formula 1 driver with Toyota Alan as somebody who fell in love with F1 in the late 90s and 2000s I do like it when we have someone from my ear I said this the other week we had one Pablo Montoya on so you've driven these cars you know what it's like Yeah, yeah, no, no, definitely.

5:45And it's definitely something that from any driver's career when they're a young kid in karting or coming through the sport, you always look to see what ideally you want to achieve at some point in your memory or your thoughts. And from a single seater point of view, it is Formula One. There's no question about it. And to sit in one of those cars, strap yourself in for the first time in your career is a memory you will never forget. There's a lot of other memories you would like to forget, but that particular one is one you will never, ever forget. I'm sure you've had more ups than downs. Now, Alan, let's go back to these hospitality units.

6:21Are these team buildings permanent or temporary? No, these are temporary units because, effectively, they go from all of the European races. We're in Barcelona here this weekend. It's Thursday afternoon. On Sunday night, I walked out of this particular unit in Monaco at the Grand Prix. And so between that time, it's been dismantled in Monaco, driven to Barcelona and erected here again for this weekend. It is funny, isn't it? Because I've never been in here, but when you do go in the other team's units, you don't feel like you're in a temporary unit. You feel like you're in a room. And we all get used to rooms as human beings, don't we?

6:52And therefore, it's really weird stepping out of that room into a completely different surrounding. Yeah, well, you're stepping out of France going into Spain, effectively. Yes, exactly. You plug your computer back in and it just works as if it was just literally yesterday. and it's the same when we go from here to Spielberg to Austria and it'll be, so for us it is in a way a home away from home it is where we work, it's our office, it's our place where we sit down and have dinner it's where we have our meetings, it's where we sort of relax it's also where we host all of our VIPs and guests that are coming through the partners of the team and so it's a multifunctional place but it's one that is integral to the way that we go racing How long does it take to build and deconstruct these?

7:35Because as we stand outside it, it looks so permanent. It looks like the sort of thing that if you told me take that down, it would take months. And yet we know that's not the case. No, it's not. So roughly they take about two days to take down and two days to put back up again. So back-to-back weekends like we have here are actually quite a stretch for the teams to be able to achieve that. And it is a race in a lot of ways in the Grand Prix, but it's also a race then to bring everything, the whole infrastructure, not just necessarily our hospitality unit, but also the trucks and everything else to get to the next Grand Prix.

8:08And you mentioned the next Grand Prix. How do they get there? They drive. They literally pack them onto trucks and then they will drive from here to wherever that Grand Prix happens to be. And so we've effectively got like a setup unit that will come here in advance, put the base down, and then when the rest of the structure arrives, and it's just sat on top, a little bit like a Lego construction, if you like. And then the trucks are waiting for it to go to the next Grand Prix from there. Now, I'm fortunate enough, Alan, to have been in every other team's hospitality unit, except for yours, because yours is new.

8:46I was in the old one. Your lovely team, as you've said before, are very hospitable, but I've never been in this one. So we're about to have a tour. Before we step inside, Alan, let's go for a quick break.

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9:46Because a single victory is only the beginning. Dell Technologies. Built for you. Learn how Dell Technologies can support your business at dell.com forward slash McLaren. Cadillac has entered Formula One, deepening the racing pedigree behind every V-Series on the road. Discover a lineup that delivers pure adrenaline in the form of modern luxury. Experience the quickest Cadillac ever, the all-electric Lyric V, The peak performance of the CT5V Blackwing, the nimble agility of the Optic V and the legendary roar of the Escalade V. All engineered to thrill. Find out more about Cadillac's performance story in Formula One and our race-tested V-Series line-up at Cadillac.com.

10:43welcome back to f1 explains and today we are looking at the wonderful world of formula one team's hospitality units i'm with the audi racing director alan mcnish alan it's a shiny new building that we're about to step inside of i've never done this before are you happy to give f1 explains a little tour of your shiny new building i think we should come on let's go inside now this could be interesting on any number of levels because we're not a we're Not a small podcasting unit. Producer Jamie's got a massive, great big box with him, so this should be interesting. There's somebody waiting for us on the front desk.

11:12Hello, what's your name? Hello, hi, nice to meet you, Nicole. Hello, Nicole. Have people been nice about your new motorhome? Yes, they are super excited about our new motorhome. Excellent. Alan, I've done the thing again, haven't I? I've called it a motorhome. I need to lose points for that. You're definitely not going to get a cup of tea or coffee, that's for sure, until you get the messaging correct. Now, we're in here on the ground floor section of it, and as you walk in, you sort of get the feeling of Audi, the premium nature of the brand, and that brand runs through everything that we do.

11:39And it's a clear, important point because it's the first touch point for many people into our world of the Audi Revolut Formula One team. And so therefore, it has to look the part as well as be functional. On the ground floor here, it's quite an open space. There's lots of tables. This here on the right-hand side as we come in is a lounge area, seating area, nice and relaxed, a couple of little sort of lie-back chairs, table. and actually I'm surprised how many people just sit down there just to take a few minutes, to take their own breath as well and to catch up. That's people that are either working with the team or alternatively others that are just here having some fun like yourself.

12:17Immediately after the little desk, there's a staircase to the left. There's this seating area that Alan's just beautifully described on the right. The thing that I always enjoy, Alan, about the detailed nature of the Formula 1 teams is even the seating is in the Audi colours. who've got the Audi reds, the Audi grey. These, I don't even know what you'd call these. They're like seats, but they're just very round. They look comfortable. They are comfortable as well. It's even the tiny little details that they're in the right colour and they're beautifully comfortable. They have been checked. They have been comfort checked.

12:47And they were checked as comfortable, so you're OK there. Is that someone's job? That someone's job is checking whether they are comfortable or not. Hello, I'm a comfort checker. I was literally about to say I'm a comfort checker for Formula One. Behind the chairs, we've got the tables where it looks like we've just had lunch. Is that correct? Yes, it is. So basically here is where the team have lunch. It's where they sometimes have dinner at night. Also, we host guests for special team dinners as well, very exclusive ones. And it's in here with our catering service as well. Excellent. So lunch has just been served.

13:17Do we know what was on the menu today? There was a lot of salad. There was some chicken and there was also some spaghetti bolognese. Well, it wasn't spaghetti bolognese. It was what was it, Alex? It's for fale bolognese, apparently. and a vegetable curry. And so there was a multitude of different things, depending on your appetite and your taste. Never even heard of Farfali. Fantastic. Excellent. There's also a coffee machine. Formula One teams get very competitive about which coffee is the best, in my experience. Well, I don't even know why you're even saying that, which coffee's the best. You know which one it is.

13:48It's this one. Go on, what are your credentials? Well, the best part about this one is we had a fantastic little machine there. Yes. And we could put your face onto the cappuccino. So then when you took your first sip of cappuccino, your face was actually sitting on there or the Audi Revolut F1 team logo or whatever it may be. Can I tell you something? I don't know how this is going to go down. McLaren did that with theirs in Miami for me and they put my dog on the coffee. Can you... My dog, yeah. I've got a six-month-old puppy called Derek. That's very nice. Would you guys put the dog on the coffee?

14:19Aye. Then you'll be my favourites. Forget McLaren. Well, we've forgotten them already. Exactly. You and the dog. It's a picture of you and the dog are on there. This is the competitive nature of Formula One. they're trying to one-up themselves lovely should we leave them to go we should and we should come around this way because then as it comes back there's obviously a depth to this place as well and so you know being some restrooms to our side here always helpful yep very important for the guys that we've got a fridge just different things and guess what another coffee machine coffee machine i like that you've got two coffee machines we've got multiples don't worry but this is something that I really like it's a cold plate so if you think of it like a hot plate to keep your plates warm and keep food warm this is actually one that keeps everything cool as well your level of detailed knowledge of this I know like fundamentally your job's the motor racing side of it but you know every little detail about this motorhome I'm really impressed well yeah you kind of do when you see it being built up over a period of time you know these these things are not just sort of bought off the shelf they're actually designed specifically for the needs so therefore but it went through a whole lot of planning process to make sure it was exactly as we wanted it.

15:29And that's the detail. Like in your own kitchen at home, if you're fortunate enough to be able to sort of do a bespoke kitchen, then you will have things exactly as you want them. I'd love a cold plate. I didn't think when I was watching F1 in the 2000s that Alan McNish would want to talk me through the design of a cold plate, but I'm really glad you have it. Well, just wait till we get to the kitchen, mate. Are we going to the kitchen? Yeah, we'll give you a quick sneak view into the kitchen. This is where the magic actually happens in here. In terms of that. And I don't know if you can see, but there's your Fofalli, by the way.

15:59Yes, Fofalli. Yeah. Oh, it looks lovely. It looks like pasta. It does look like spaghetti bolognese, but apparently isn't. It smells divine as well. It's a proper industry-grade kitchen. You wouldn't know you were at a Formula One race. No, it's a fully functional kitchen. Apparently, the Fofalli is very good. Yeah, it's very good. What's in a Fofalli? Fofallic? You're going to have to help me. Is it meat, is it? No, we're doing paella for tomorrow, and I don't know. And what's your name? Natto. It's lovely to meet you. Are you one of the chefs? Yeah. Great to meet you. Good luck with it. Thank you very much.

16:34I'm still not fully sure what for falfa is, Alan. I can't lie to you. Well, you've got the pasta, and then you've got the different sauces from it. Right, fine. Excellent. OK, great. And if we go upstairs to the first floor. So we're moving away from out the kitchen, up the stairs. Yeah, this is the back stairs, because you've got to have different stairwells, obviously, in terms of safety regulations. And here we've got an area that is... It's enormous. ...that opens up. And again, a little bit like downstairs, there's tables in front of us, different size tables. You know, you've got 10 seating tables.

17:05You've got four seating tables. You've got a sort of bench bar where it looks onto various television monitors that you can watch the race or whatever it may be. I've got a lot of thoughts. Number one, it doesn't look like it's this big from the outside. I'm fairly sure this is something like a TARDIS if you're a Doctor Who fan. You've also got like a full-on sim room with big glass red panels separating it. It's beautiful in the Audi silver and red. It really is gorgeous. This is lovely. Yeah, it is. You know, this sim room has got two racing sims and it's, I would say, predominantly for guests.

17:40However, in Monaco, I did see Gabby going in there, setting it up and having a go himself. So I think there you actually see the sort of integration of it in some ways but it's interesting how you know this side of the digital world is obviously coming into our motorsporting world and simulation and simulators are a major part about how we develop cars now it's certainly not on these are not on that particular level because the buildings that are used for those are significantly larger however you do like to bring that to the race as well absolutely it looks fantastic and in this magical seating area on floor number one do you want to explain to us who's over on the far right hand side we've got gabby and jose who is gabriel bortoletto and jose who is his engineer and roberto on the other side is actually working with them as well so they're having their little team meeting at the moment so you know when i said it's functional drivers use it not necessarily just to sit down to have you know to have lunch or whatever it may be but actually it's a functional unit where some of the meetings are going because it's a quiet calm space as well where you can think in the truck in the garage it's all busy there's a lot of action and you know that absorbs your energy so you know there's always a point where you've got to try and relax and conserve a little bit of energy as well and as we said alan you've been in gabby's shoes imagine that's a difficult mix for a formula one driver sometimes when you need to come in here and just have a place to talk to your team and be but also there are vip guests there might be competition winners there might be people doing podcasts it must be a difficult balance when sometimes you want to switch yourself off and talk to the world i think motorsport is probably the only sport where you combine yes i would say that style as you said and the actual sporting side so if you think of a driver on the grid and then think of the world cup final that's going to be happening in the u.s in a few weeks time you know you don't see any of the players seven minutes before or ten minutes before doing an interview in live television global tv but actually it's natural and normal and expected and correct in formula one and so from that point of view they've got a fantastic ability to detach what they're actually doing and still keep the focus on the actual job itself however you know we try to make sure that they have got their space because ultimately racing drivers are there to race and so therefore that's job number one absolutely now there is something a little bit different about your new hospitality unit speaking of the drivers because in some of the paddock hospitality units the drivers have their own room in these buildings that's reserved for them you've got that but it's not here is it no no no we actually have that across in our truck area um where the the trucks are on the other just on the other side literally you know five five meter walk it's not very far but uh therefore we've got a separation point and it's partly that as well they are separated they can go there it's their own space um there's arguments for both sides of things however for us we have got we feel a pretty good balance of that and ultimately you know what we've tried to do here is have flexible operating areas as well and so as you can see with gabby and nico will be here later with his engineering crew as well they'll sit down and utilize it in that flexible way you've just touched upon it but formula one weekends are so intense for drivers even we're recording this as you mentioned on a Thursday of a race weekend he's got a whole weekend ahead of him lots of driving it must be nice to have those spaces to go and sort of be in your own headspace for a little bit yeah or just switch off yes actually take 10 seconds so that you're not doing anything and then sort of reset and go on from there and it's very important but it's not just necessarily them I think everybody is flat out all the course of a weekend from Thursday when you arrive until Sunday night when you leave, every single person in the team is flat out.

21:37And that's one of the things that I love about this sport, is that there's never really a time to rest. You've always got to be working. Absolutely. Alan, is there anywhere I should like to take it? Yes, there definitely is. There's one other place. Because you love the kitchen so much. I do. If you look to your right here. You've got another kitchen. We have got an open plan kitchen as well. So the chefs will prepare the foods in front. And because this actually is an area where our VIPs are predominantly sitting and having lunch, then they can see everything being prepared in front of them. And that's another thing that I personally like a lot about it, because it is that sort of, I would say, brings it together as a sort of more of a family feel than something that's prepared and sort of then brought out from the back.

22:19It's actually there in front of you. You can see it as it's evolving. And then there's another staircase. Yes, there is. So then we've got a third floor, which we can't go up to at the moment because we've got stuff going on up there. But upstairs, we've got various meeting rooms, a boardroom, and also a beautiful deck, which has got one of the coolest things that you will ever see in your life. You touch a button, and so this patio door just slides open. It is full Star Wars. In a temporary building. It's ridiculous. So then there's a nice outdoor space as well where you can sit, where you could have dinner, where you could have lunch, where you can just sit and relax a little bit.

22:56Adam, let's just take a quick sit down before we finish, because we may have been quite light-hearted with a lot of this and had fun with it and, you know, gone into the kitchen and things, but there's been something that's truly impressed me about the Audi project ever since it was started to be spoken about, and that's the ambition of it. I'm guessing things like this, which might, on the face of it, not seem as important, are really important for you guys setting your standards in this sport. I think there's two aspects to that. One is it is definitely the way we want to go racing. And that is absolutely premium, top quality from the beginning to the end of the project.

23:31And the second factor is it's got to actually represent us as well in Formula One, but generally. And I think this facility definitely does that. There's no question about it. What we have done in the design and build process is look at some of the core values as well that we've got as a team. and to integrate those and that also includes the way we build it up the way we pack it down the way we transport it around europe and it's something that i think you know took a long time to be able to get it to the standard that it is in terms of design and build but now it's here it is that statement um that we wanted to put forward and just finally alan we should talk to you just one question on the racing side of things i think coming into these new regulations there was so much talk about cadillac being a new team about new engine suppliers with the likes of red bull partnering with ford for example i think it sort of went a bit under the radar at the start of the season that you guys are a totally new engine supplier being a works team as it's called for the first time making your own engine and for me personally the reason for that is because it all seemed to go so smoothly you were very similar levels of competitiveness to what you were last year while making your new your own engine as opposed to buying one in to me that's truly impressive now i know that you'll want to push further on but it strikes me that the start of this works audi journey you must be very pleased with well i think there's two parts it's uh where you start where you end up we're obviously very much focused where we want to end up not necessarily where we are today and uh everybody's really working hard for that however at the same time we basically started working on the power unit because Audi was the first power unit company to sign in to the new regulations.

25:16They were the ones that signed on the dotted line first. And so from that point of view, that was a big commitment. But also it was a lot of work in the background. And that's the thing because Formula One was running on for a few years whilst this was in preparation in the background. Now, I think we've definitely shown some speed. There's no question about it, but we're a company and also we're a group of people that are just not satisfied unless you're winning. And so therefore everybody's got the energy and focus to do that. But certainly, you know, getting points in Melbourne, the first ever Grand Prix was a good starter.

25:53Absolutely. And one final, final question. I don't think I can speak to a Scotsman on the weekend we're recording this where the World Cup's starting without asking, are you a football fan? Yes, and the first game's against Brazil and we've got a Brazilian driver. and he thinks they're going to win but they've got no chance but they've got no chance absolutely none I've got my Scotland top ready I was wearing it last week I'll be wearing it next Wednesday night and that's it it's going to be a Scotland victory against Brazil I've got a Scotland World Cup top well everybody should have one despite being an Englishman but I'm about to marry a Scotsman so I'm about to consider myself an adoptive Scotsman are you?

26:26yeah Gretna Green? we're going very specific here we're getting married on a boat in Edinburgh I am yeah next year down the 4th or 4th well a boat called Fingal which is in Leith really yeah the boat doesn't go anywhere it just sits there it sits there but yeah there's I don't know how controversial this is as Englishman to be saying because I'm about to be married into a Scottish family I've got more than a soft spot for the Scottish football team so I'll be also keeping a I'll be wishing you well against Brazil put it that way Alan this has been an utter pleasure thank you so much for being so gracious with your time and showing us around it's great to have Audi in the sport Great to have you here in this role, Alan.

27:04We really appreciate you taking the time to show us around on F1 Explains. Thank you very much, and I look forward to seeing you all soon.

27:14Racing Director of Audi's Formula One team, Alan McNish there. Can I be honest with you, F1 Explains listeners, just between us, in the best possible way, that was one of the strangest experiences of my life. And I mean that in a wonderfully strange way, because you know if you're a regular listener to this podcast, I bang on about it all the time. I grew up watching F1 in the 90s and 2000s and it was great seeing Alan McNish come in because, you know, a Scotsman coming into F1 as well as a Brit, I obviously loved that. And then all these years later, I find myself wandering around a kitchen with him and I always get blown away by the passion in Formula 1 but they want to beat each other with absolutely everything.

27:58the pride ex-Formula 1 driver Alan McNish talks about the kitchen and the cold plate it's just like yeah we've got the best cold plate we're doing it better than all the other teams the level of competitiveness in this sport is just absolutely fantastic Alan is a lovely man who was so gracious with his time and knows everything about this motorhome there is no not motorhome I'll be honest with you guys people do still call them motorhomes a lot in the paddock it's not just me but hospitality units one thing we didn't mention now something that staggers me about formula one weekend is at the end of the weekend the speed of which it all gets packed away is phenomenal i'm talking minutes after the checkered flag bang we're in pack down mode there's no let's have a drink then we'll pack up they are packing away but normally the teams have to wait to take their hospitality units down because they have to wait for a crane.