F1's Population Explosion

Far from allowing Formula 1 teams to operate competitively on a smaller scale, the ever-increasing technology at their disposal has increased overall staffing levels – massively.

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During Tyrrell's heyday with Jackie Stewart in the early 1970s, the team peaked at 19. But in its final, declining years before being sold to become British American Racing in 1998, it employed around 120.

The Mercedes F1 team of the mid-1950s, which dwarfed most of its rivals, had around 200 people making everything from the engines to the exquisitely upholstered seats, whereas today's Silver Arrows incarnation, if you take into account all those at its chassis and engine facilities, numbers more than 1,000.

You get the idea. F1 teams have gotten bigger – way, way bigger.

The challenge remains unchanged; to design, build and successfully run a couple of grand prix cars. So why the exponential growth? The answer can be found with a close examination of the front of a car.

Although Renault's current power deficit conceals the fact over a whole lap, the Red Bull RB10 is the best of the 2014 cars aerodynamically. Look at its front wing in comparison to that of the McLaren MP4/5, which dominated in 1989. In both cases, the wing exists to generate downforce to make the car faster through the turns. But the latest wings are creations of irreducible complexity comprising 80-plus "tools," designed not just to create downforce, but to set up airflow structures that make that downforce more consistent and allow the whole car to work.

A "barn door" main plane, a couple of flaps and some endplates – five effective parts – is child's play compared to the hugely elaborate designs of today. Twenty-five years ago, the front wing was a modular part, whereas today it's integral to the performance of everything behind it, part of an elaborate airflow system that you need a supercomputer to understand. When you change a modern front wing, it's not just a question of whether it makes the wing produce more downforce, but how it influences airflow under the floor, around the sidepods, through the rear diffuser or over the rear wing. This complexity is replicated throughout the car. A grand prix car is orders of magnitude more complicated than the best that the late 1980s had to offer, even though the regulations are more restrictive.

"The standards of design are so high now that you end up working niche areas," explains Christian Horner, team principal of Red Bull Racing, F1's most successful squad of the decade. "If you go back 20 years, the size of an aero department or design office would have been less than half of what it is now, and probably a quarter. The key to success is exploring all aspects and leaving no stone unturned through performance, reliability, the way you operate, the pit-stop performance. Even the freight and logistics is massively important."

Glance at want ads for F1 job vacancies and you can see the extent of this specialization...

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