Alfa Romeo’s team manager Beat Zehnder spoke about the amount of logistical tires teams have to jump through on a regular basis, which was made even worse during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Zehnder is responsible for booking flights and hotels for the team’s trips, including up to 80 employees per race weekend, and for arranging the transportation of the team’s cargo from track to track.
Perhaps surprisingly, he says, preparing for races in Europe can be more difficult than the “flyaway” races in America and Asia – especially in double or triple header racing schedules.
“You normally make all flight and hotel bookings by the end of September of the following season at the beginning of December, before you go into the Christmas holidays. Now I’ve just booked all the way to Barcelona, ”said Zehnder to Auto Motor Und Sport.
“In the past it would have hit me terribly in the stomach that we had booked so little. Today you have to live with it. “
With the pandemic ruining normal plans to book hotels and flights well in advance of the season, changing the current calendar means teams will have to do a lot more at the last minute, adding to the already high stress levels of around the world to travel.
For example, representatives of the Nürburgring have stated that they would be interested in hosting a race again this year when a slot becomes available.
But instead of booking standard economy flights for his team this year, Zehnder and Alfa have found a smart way:
“We work with Edelweiss, a subsidiary of Swiss [Air]and charter an entire aircraft every time. The charter is currently not much more expensive than normal economy flights.
“It’s a win-win situation between the provider and us. We need flights and they need flying lessons so their pilots and crew can keep their licenses. But we’re not just doing it because it’s convenient, we’re also in a bubble in Covid times.
“The plane to Bahrain [for winter testing] was an A320, which of course was completely occupied with economy seats. Certain employees are normally allowed to fly Business Class with us. In the end, the charter was no more expensive than what scheduled flights would have cost us. “
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Switching between races in Europe poses additional challenges as the cars have to be moved by truck. With double headers popping up in Portugal and Spain, the reduced time periods mean that teams have the added cost of hiring more drivers to move their cargo.
“Basically, double and triple heads are worse in Europe than overseas,” explains Zehnder. “In races overseas, it’s because you drive a little longer, but in Europe you need several drivers for the trucks because you have to drive through without a break.
“The distance between the two race tracks is 1,300 kilometers. You need three drivers each to drive through without interruptions. With 20 trucks, you have to employ 60 drivers, all of whom have to be Covid-tested.
“However, only two drivers can sit in one truck at a time. How to organize sleeper buses with cabs moving in parallel. Logistically and organizationally, Europe is a much bigger effort. “
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