F1 teams are 3600 times faster than me at teamwork....

[#1]

tl;dr - Carlos Sainz (four time Grand Prix winner!) from the Atlassian Williams Racing Formula 1 Driver, is giving a keynote at Team Euopre '25 on teamwork... I'm excited! See why below....

I realized today that an F1 team is 3600 times faster than me at changing tires:

1. I take 30 minutes (on a good day) to change ONE tire
2. F1 teams can change all four tires (plus refuel the car, adjust things etc) in 2 SECONDS
3. 30 * 60 = 1800 seconds
4. 4 * 1800 = 7200 seconds (assuming I change all four tires)
5. 7200 / 2 = 3600 times faster

I know that was a lot of math (and hurts my head, especially if you watch a video of them!) but it is an amazing lesson in teamwork.

Think about it - an F1 pitstop requires a team of 20+ people to perform a pitstop. When I'm in a room with 20+ people I have problems navigating, let alone performing any complex process.

Somehow, despite the noise, physical danger, multiple complex tasks and more that team is able to do something 3600 times faster than me.

Just watching them is incredible - each pit crew member knows exactly where to stand, exactly how to move each part of their body to do their job. The more I think about it though, the more I realize their teamwork extends well beyond just those 20ish folks.

The driver has to know exactly where, and how, to stop their car. The team has thought this through in insane detail - for example the driver has a button that will limit the cars speed to the maximum limit in pit row, preventing the driver from going too fast.

The pit crew need specialized tools like wrenches, winches and more, tools that someone had to design and teach the team to use. This requires lots of team members who may never step onto the track designing and maintaining these tools.

And then someone has to coordinate the entire group, coach them on how to operate and make sure they're safe every step of the way.

The more I think about it the more I realize those 2 seconds are a distillation of decades of practicing teamwork.

So now that I"ve rambled on about how slow I am at changing tires I bet you're wondering why I'm posting this....

Well, I've heard that Carlos Sainz, (the Atlassian Williams Racing Formula 1 Driver) will be giving a closing keynote at Team '25 Europe that will focus on teamwork. I'm incredibly curious to see how F1 teams, like Williams, use teamwork to drive forward (get it?), but also excited for the inspiration I'll get in applying those lessons to my work.

If you're considering going check out this page for more in (including info to help convince your manager....)

On a personal aside - If you're going to Team '25 Europe let me know! I"d love to meet in person :D 

[Lucas Modzelewski _Lumo_]

It reminded me of a great movie: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1950186/