How I learned a model for high performance from Formula 1

Unveiling the secrets of success on the fast track of Formula 1

Four pre-punched block sheets of 8.5 by 11 inches, protected with tape in the corners, held every grade I received while pursuing my journalism degree. One sheet per year, one side per semester. I wrote down all my grades to keep track of my performance and meet my goal: to have at least a 6.0 out of 7.0 average in all my classes during my degree. 

During those years, I strove to be the best. I went to all my classes, took notes with the painstaking precision of a model ship, revised my lectures in the afternoon, and studied weeks in advance for my tests. I saw all that time spent on my university projects as an act of self-love. I believed that having good results required me to give all my time and energy. 

My superb outcomes reinforced that idea.  

After four years of diligent effort, I graduated and felt like all that effort had led nowhere. I didn't know what I wanted to do, and I couldn't find a job I considered adequate. After so much grind, I ended up disillusioned with my post-university life. As I received the diploma, the grading system left my life and my drive to be the best left with it. Suddenly, I started associating high performance with soul-sucking.

I redefined my ambitions. For the last five years, how to excel disappeared from my list of priorities. Instead, I’ve been focusing on doing my work the best way I possibly can while also having time to do what I enjoy the most: writing. 

My inner dialogue had a “The pursuit of high performance has left the chat” notification.

That was until I watched twenty men drive at 220 miles per hour around a circuit to win a race. 

Maybe there is a way to high-perform without it sucking the soul out of your pursuits.

I’ve never been a sports watcher, but in February, during a day that seemed more like winter than the summer we have at that time of year, I started watching Netflix’s Drive to Survive after hearing cool things about it from a cousin. It seemed dramatic and high-stakes, like a telenovela without the cringe-worthy stuff. It had to be good. This popular series gives a behind-the-scenes look at the drivers and races of the Formula One World Championship.

I watched a group of professional drivers steer the challenging curves of Formula One circuits episode after episode.

And I was hooked. 

It was a clear representation of effort and high performance. Seeing those drivers push themselves to the limit, meticulously prepare, and execute with precision resonated with me. It made me realize that maybe high performance doesn't have to drain your soul.

Decoding the anatomy of Formula 1

What initially looked like a bunch of men driving cars very fast to beat each other suddenly became the embodiment of high performance. Those cars look uncomfortable, warm, and tight. How can these guys perform at such an outstanding level week after week? Their commitment to their profession and performance is clear. My TV screen transmitted the meticulous preparation, unwavering focus, relentless drive, discipline, and dedication these drivers have. 

The first thing I learned about Formula 1 is that there are only ten teams with two drivers each, which equals twenty drivers in the sport as a whole. The small number of athletes caught my attention.

Who is the fastest is determined by a point-scoring system. The driver who scores the most points at the end of the season wins the Driver’s Championship. But, in the races, only the first ten places get points. 

The winner of the race gets 25 points, the second place gets 18 points, and so on, until the tenth place gets just 1 point. Position is everything to win a championship. So, it’s all about the fine margins. Milliseconds can make a difference between the championship and second place.

That precision and thoroughness made me develop an instant admiration for the sport. Handling a task with that level of accuracy demonstrates respect, care, and passion. And while the drivers give the sport their everything, the sport is mostly brutal to perform. 

The Singapore Grand Prix is one of the prestigious Formula 1 races held annually as part of the World Championship. It takes place on a street circuit in Singapore, with cars racing through the city street under the dazzling lights of the cityscape. It’s known for its challenging layout, tight corners, and unique atmosphere, as it’s one of the few night races on the F1 calendar. 

Singapore Grand Prix circuit

“The Singapore Grand Prix is unforgiving”. Motorsport journalist and Formula One presenter Will Buxton explains. 

“Drivers would lose between three and four kilos of weight over the course of the Grand Prix. That’s three or four liters of bodily fluid, which affects not only bodily function but cognitive function. It has 50% more corners than most normal race circuits. It’s probably twice as hard as most race circuits and being a street circuit and being funneled within those concrete walls where the slightest mistake could derange the race. It probably is the greatest challenge on the F1 calendar.”

As I listened to Buxton explaining the Singapore Grand Prix, I thought about how, given the circumstances, the teams in Formula 1 need to have their own strategies to showcase their unique advantages and downplay their limitations. Coordinating the driver, car, engine, pit crew, engineers, and team principal to perform at their peak requires some serious juggling.

While studying for my degree, I strived for the best result in everything I did. I put the same effort into the exams worth 10% of the final grade as those worth 50% because I didn’t want to be mediocre. That’s a great way to waste time (and many weekends). After a while, it also led me in the opposite direction: working aimlessly without focusing on goals, as I’ve been doing for a while.

Having everything work in sync at 100% is a challenge. Yet, each group of people that constitutes a Formula 1 team has its own ways of maintaining top-level results throughout the season. 

In fact, through Formula 1, I’ve realized that high performance is a universal model—not an innate ability but a skill you can learn.

Putting your efforts into a directed method is valuable. 

This is what I’ve learned from drivers, pit crew, and team principals about high performance:

Drivers 

In Formula 1, a car goes over 200 miles per hour in a closed circuit, right next to nineteen other cars doing the same thing. If you are not a professional, it’s almost a death sentence. This is why the drivers' abilities are so important. 

We can only be rational and logical after we have been emotional. The primary mode of the brain is to feel; the secondary is to think. In a race, drivers must be entirely focused on controlling this. Strengthening concentration is critical to their success.

Discipline, teamwork, and precision are paramount in the driver's arsenal.

Nothing is left to chance. Every section of the race and possible scenario must be approached strategically, like going to the boxes to change tires or the front wing.

Yet, those most successful at the sport also approach what they do outside the sport as a strategy for excelling in it. 

As of April 2024, British driver Lewis Hamilton is the most successful driver in Formula 1 history. He started his career in 2007 and has collected 104 wins and seven world championships. 

While on a Mercedes road car test drive in 2022, he pressures his team to start on time: “Let’s get on with it. We are losing time.” He comments that he left his house at 5:45 a.m. that morning. His teammate, George Russel, reacts surprised at his alarm setup and mentions he woke up at 8:15, quickly joking that that’s the reason Hamilton “gets the big bucks.”  

Lewis Hamilton in a Mercedes race car

Without discipline and focus on his goals and performance in general, Lewis Hamilton wouldn’t have such an amazing record. High performers don’t get formed by chance; staying cold-headed and focused is key to success in this sport and life.

Pit Crew

If everything goes perfectly, the fastest plausible pit stop lasts 1.7 seconds. During this time, the pit crew changes the car’s tires, adjusts its front wing if necessary, cleans the air vents, and ensures everything is in optimal condition before sending the car roaring back onto the track. 

Pit stops are a dance. This rhythm-oriented task showcases the team’s expertise and is the culmination of meticulous preparation. To do it successfully, the pit crew needs to feel confident in their skills and focus on the job. 

Adaptability and resilience are as crucial for the pit crew as precision and teamwork.

Calum Nicholas, Red Bull Senior Power Unit Assembly Technician, uses a mantra to do this effectively. “I have to push everything else out of my mind, so I use the mantra “See the nut. Hit the nut” as the car approaches. It helps me focus on the one job.”

Red Bull Pit Stop

Even as the crew calms down after the rush of adrenaline when the car leaves the pit, it doesn’t last long. Because they never know what will happen, they go back to focus mode almost immediately in case of another pit stop. 

“You must understand that you know the skill. You’ve practiced the skill a hundred times, and that as long as you focus on what you’ve practiced, it’s going to be okay,” says Nicholas.

Confidence in our abilities helps us feel at ease while performing. And therefore, it helps us reach successful results.

Team Principals

In Formula 1, you don’t have many chances to rework things. Your car must be able to perform the first time you drive it. To do this, team principals regularly conduct rigorous performance analyses to see what works and what doesn’t. 

The goal is to have a safe and high-performing car and team so they run multiple simulations with the data they have. A high portion of success is assured if you have reliable data.

At the same time, team principals keep in mind that there is always a way to be quicker since that’s the nature of the sport. Therefore, they must look at competitors daily to identify their weaknesses and strengths. Applying continuous improvement principles to safety is also a priority. 

Focus and discipline underpin the leadership of team principals, along with a commitment to continuous improvement.

Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff explains, “I don’t do the car. My job as a leader is to create an environment where we can excel.” He also mentions that measuring everything, being rigorous, and having an environment for improvement is critical to a high-performing team. 

Toto Wolff analyzing data

The roadmap to universal high-performance

Through Formula 1, I learned that high performance can be synthesized into a universal model, replicable in every area of life. You don’t need to drive cars at 220 miles per hour to develop this set of aptitudes; you can create them and apply them in your area of interest or expertise to walk the path toward top-notch outputs. 

What I’m saying is that high performance is a skill. 

What you need to have to develop this skill won’t surprise you. They are pretty universal competencies yet incredibly impactful if applied thoughtfully. The ones I’ve identified Formula 1 members have are:

Discipline, teamwork, precision, adaptability, resilience and focus. 

What each requires and how much you have to develop each one depends on your area of expertise and the work you do. What I believe is universal is the ingredient needed to work on these skills: having clear standards for how you live. With that, I mean having rules for yourself. You have to look at these self-imposed rules not as constraints but as good decisions made in batches, as these standards make decision-making easier. 

At the end of the day, it’s easier to hold your principles 100% of the time than it is to hold them 98% of the time. 

This high-performance model seems natural in Formula 1, but it applies to every field and area of expertise. One hospital in London was inspired by Formula 1 to improve its patient handover. Let me explain how each of these skills was relevant in that case.

How Formula 1 Pit Stops transformed patient handovers in a hospital

In 2003, the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit of Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children in London faced challenges with its patient handover processes, which were often chaotic and informal. These handovers involved transferring patients from one unit to another or during shift changes, and they were crucial moments where communication breakdowns or errors could occur. Such errors could lead to patient safety risks, as vital information might be missed or equipment might not be appropriately set up, potentially resulting in delays in patient care or other adverse outcomes.  

To revamp its patient handoff techniques, it copied the choreographed pit stops of Italy's Formula One Ferrari racing team. 

• They implemented a systematic handover protocol to enhance discipline during patient transfers.

• Reorganizing the surgical team's roles and responsibilities around the patient enhanced teamwork, mirroring the coordination in a racing pit stop.

• A meticulous approach to equipment setup and patient monitoring during handovers improved precision.

• Incorporating contingency planning techniques learned from the Ferrari team into the handover process enhanced adaptability.

• Promptly identifying and addressing changes in patient condition during handovers strengthened resilience.

• The introduction of structured handover checklists and procedures heightened focus, ensuring effective communication of crucial information between teams.

Following this model, a three-year-old left the surgery room after having open-heart surgery and was moved to the intensive care unit seamlessly.

The model works. You must apply it in a mindful way that works for your case.

Revolutionizing Performance

Before embracing these qualities, my performance lacked consistency and direction, leaving me feeling unfulfilled. However, delving into the mindset and practices of Formula 1 has reshaped my perspective, and I feel much more motivated in both my professional and personal initiatives. 

In the exhilarating world of Formula 1, success transcends mere speed and precision on the racetrack; it embodies discipline, collaborative teamwork, adaptability to shifting circumstances, resilience in the face of challenges, and unwavering focus on our goals.

These traits, honed by drivers, pit crews, and team principals, extend far beyond the motorsport; they are transferable skills applicable to any pursuit of greatness. I’ve realized that honing these skills while striving for high performance is not just a tool–it’s a pathway to achieving what you truly value. 

That journey has been about cultivating a sense of purpose in my writing practice.

That means working on something while cultivating a purpose that leads to fulfillment. That’s what I do with my writing practice. I went from annotating my university grades on a paper sheet because I believed that would lead to fulfillment to finding what I enjoy doing: writing.

In my writing practice, each ability plays a vital role:

• Discipline ensures I maintain my desired writing frequency.

• Teamwork comes into play as I collaborate with peers, exchanging feedback and refining ideas.

• Precision is crucial in articulating ideas clearly with every sentence I craft.

• Adaptability is key in navigating challenges like writer's block, revisions, or altering the scope of my work.

• Resilience helps me weather criticism and setbacks encountered along the writing journey.

• Focus enables me to remain undistracted, allowing me to see my writing projects through to completion.

Moving forward, I am inspired to approach my work and writing with renewed focus and dedication, aiming for excellence while embracing the excitement of creation, much like the Formula 1 drivers do when they hit the track.

—Catalina