Since its inception in 2005, Red Bull has established itself as one of the most efficient and dominant teams in F1. Their seamless operations have been key to their sustained success. However, even the best face challenges—and Red Bull is no exception.
No one knows this better than mechanic Calum Nicholas, who has been in the Red Bull garage for well over a decade.
At times, he has had to race against the clock to get a car out for a session—a task made even more challenging by the zero margin for error. Nicholas recently recalled a moment when he feared his team wouldn’t be able to pull it off.
It happened at the 2018 Chinese GP, where he was working on Daniel Ricciardo’s car.
The entire crew knew that Ricciardo’s power unit wouldn’t last beyond FP3—and that’s exactly what happened. With just hours left to fit a new engine into his car, the Milton Keynes-based team was racing against the clock. They managed to get it done, but only with a minute to spare before qualifying.
“We knew we’d have this massive issue trying to get that car out [with the new power unit] for Qualifying. Ultimately we managed it [and] we got the car out with like a minute to spare,” he revealed on the High Performance Podcast.
When you just can’t wait to leave the garage…
Great work by @RedBullRacing to get @DanielRicciardo out on track for Q1 earlier. The Aussie qualified P6 #ChineseGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/kbRcJa1S5c
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 14, 2018
The team’s efforts paid off tremendously for the Honey Badger. In qualifying, Ricciardo secured a third-row start with P6. However, by the time the checkered flag waved, the Australian had claimed his sixth Grand Prix victory.
How Red Bull orchestrated Max Verstappen’s epic 2020 Hungarian GP comeback drive
The 2018 Chinese GP wasn’t the only heart-stopping moment in Nicholas’ career. He recalled how, during the 2020 Hungarian GP, Verstappen crashed his RB16 into the barriers on the parade lap, sustaining damage to the suspension and front wing.
Typically, at that stage, a team would accept a Did Not Start (DNS) result and move on. However, the Red Bull crew sprang into action, executing a stunning repair job to get Verstappen’s car onto the grid just in time for the formation lap.
“The crew that was on Max’s Car in Hungary when he had that off on the way to the grid and watching them change like pretty much an entire left front corner was another one you know. I don’t think there’s a lot of teams that would have even attempted it,” he said.
Their efforts ensured that the Dutchman started the Grand Prix from P7. He finished P2 in the race — a feat that wouldn’t have been possible without the work put in by Nicholas and Co.
