In the Mercedes-million-pound engine compartment, SunSport exclusively meets drivers, engineers and SPIES of the F1 champions

WELCOME to Mission Control – and that mission is to keep the F1 world title.

SunSport was given special access to the top-secret Mercedes Race Support Room – the nerve center at the heart of the team’s success.

5

SunSport received special access to Mercedes’ top secret Race Support Room in BrackleyPicture credits: Daimler AG

5

Teams of people work tirelessly to ensure that Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas can do their bestPicture credits: Daimler AG

5

Deep inside Merc’s Brackley headquarters, SunSport had the opportunity to witness important conversations between drivers, engineers and spiesPicture credits: Daimler AG

Deep inside Merc’s multi-million dollar high-tech headquarters in Brackley, I witnessed the important conversations between drivers, engineers – and spies – during qualifying for the US GP in Austin, about 4,900 miles away.

So what is the RSR?

Think of it like a mission control at NASA, with a giant screen and up to 30 key managers evaluating all the data transmitted from Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas’ cars.

There is even an army of spies deciphering secret encrypted messages from Mercedes rivals.

About 10 students are tasked with monitoring the airways, eavesdropping on radio traffic and watching video footage to see what the other teams and drivers are up to.

They then pass on the transcripts from the radios and photos of the teams to senior Merc bosses to evaluate and inform the pit lane to help with their strategic decisions.

FREE BETS: GET OVER £ 2,000 IN NEW CUSTOMER OFFERS

In return, Merc grants the volunteers free access to their communications while they gain vital racing experience.

Merc boss Toto Wolff calls the RSR the team’s ‘remote brain’ and adds: “While we’re racing, everyone in the RSR keeps the machine moving.

“When we sleep, they learn so that we have a car and an engine that runs faster than everyone else.”

But the rules for my visit were very clear – no photos and no repetition of sensitive conversations!

The secrecy is understandable, Mercedes is driver and constructor winner seven times in a row and should stay that way.

A huge screen dominates the room with 14 other screens.

You can see recordings of Hamilton and Bottas’ garage, the weather radar, lap times, a huge track overlay and relevant GPS locations of all 20 cars.

The RSR is connected to the pit wall so that Brackley engineers can share information.

But that’s before we even talk about the massive amounts of data coming back into the war room from the car.

Mercedes is cautious about the number of sensors on their car, but the number is in the hundreds.

Every piece of information is analyzed and questioned and no less than FIVE Strategists set out to choose the best racing strategy.

The key is prepared so that when a curveball appears there is always a contingency and the predicted eventuality.

That’s how important the RSR is, strategic decisions in Great Britain lead to victories.

During the espionage missions, Dominique Riefstahl, who runs the Race Support Room, revealed: “It’s additional manpower because you have to listen to people worth 20 car feeds, you just need ears to monitor all the TV feeds, you needs eyes on the ground. “

Joseph McMillan, Senior Race Strategy Engineer, added, “The students do things like listening to all the radio broadcasts and transcribing so we can see all of the text and cut out videos.

“They volunteer at the weekend because it’s cool.”

5

The Race Support Room is packed with monitors while staff and volunteers keep track of thingsPicture credits: Daimler AG

5

The information collected in the RSR helps the Mercedes bosses to work out their strategies for winning the racePicture credits: Daimler AG

The information gathered helps Merc-Boffins compose their strategies for winning races.

McMillan added, “This year’s Spanish GP is a great example of where a decision was made here, not on the track, that resulted in victory.

“We switched from a one-stop to a two-stop for Lewis. I did the math, said, ‘Here’s the plan, we should do this.’

“Chief strategist James Vowels looked at it and said, ‘Yeah, you’re right.’ He did it and Lewis won. “

Perhaps one of the biggest surprises when you spend time in the RSR is the amount of feedback Hamilton gives his team over the radio.

He is constantly asking questions about his competitors, tire temperatures and suggesting changes to the setup.

For anyone who thinks he’s jumping in the car and driving, I can assure you that it just isn’t.

The level of information he gives the team on his laps is incredible and shows why Hamilton trusts the RSR as much as the guys in his garage do.

Hamilton said: “The RSR is so important to the team and the way we work over the weekend.

“When we hold our big communication meetings, the RSR team listens on the other line and we’re just one big team.

“The guys at the RSR at the factory do a lot of simulations, prepare, find answers, download information, and understand that information so we can make the right decisions over a weekend.

“They are a super important addition to what we do on the track as we have a limited number and are an integral part of us in achieving our goal of winning races.”

I learn that Hamilton has to be careful how much he says over the radio.

When he’s out of the garage, his audio is fair game and available to his rivals.

F1 2021 calendar: training times, dates and information about the racetrack

That all changes when he’s back in the garage and is reminded every time to “plug in” his radio to keep it off the airwaves.

But here too, Merc excels, with a network of transcribers typing in what other drivers say, while the digital boffins are able to monitor what’s going on elsewhere and capture still images from real-time footage.

Dominique Riefstahl, who heads the RSR, says his role is to keep an eye on both their cars and their opponents.

He says: “I am the first port of call if there are any questions from the road and make sure we involve the right people to analyze, answer and find the image we are looking for.

“As a simple example: At the start we first have the onboards of our cars, but also the cars around us already finished and see them live.

“If something should happen to us, it will be checked and we could see whether there is a contact or not.

“Then it could also be that Max Verstappen went over the track limits in a certain curve or we went over the track limits?”

Outside of the RSR, there are even more details on how much work is being done behind the scenes and off the track.

Riefstahl added: “We are supported by systems that do all the automation of the cars and there are people who work in the F1 simulator.”

The scale of the operation is overwhelming and when I leave shortly after midnight, about 60 minutes after qualifying in Austin, work in Brackley is only just beginning.

Lewis Hamilton amazes a group of children by dressing up and delivering an inspirational speech