One of the most mind-boggling things about Formula 1 is the logistics of the so-called “circus”. It is one of the few sports where a temporary village is unpacked from rail cars and shipping containers within a few hours, and after its use ceases a few days later, it is repacked and sent to the next destination and repeated.

This is a monumentally complex, yet impressive, logistical puzzle that has been fine-tuned to be as clever as possible. Watching the pit lane after the post-race celebrations is like watching a colony of ants at work. Everyone has a specific job when the track is closed and the team-colored wagons are filled with everything from cars and parts, tires, tools, furniture, to the paddock and hospitality units, including the cuisine and catering – which is something to behold.

All 10 teams have their own catering service, which in total feeds more than 1,000 people in the paddock during a race weekend. Each team can accommodate around 100 people, including staff and guests, and sometimes up to 200 for busier races and larger teams like Red Bull and Mercedes.

Nutrition is at the heart of the teams’ culinary operations. Like a car, fueling up allows for good performance, and the type of food available in F1 slowly evolved over the years as people became more health conscious, the job became more demanding as the calendar was getting longer and people were spending more time away from home.

Increasingly, staying fit and healthy and having good food options while traveling 24 weekends a year is becoming a necessity. A source said that in the past you could find staff sitting together at the bar after work, whereas today you are more likely to find them doing a workout together – it doesn’t It’s not uncommon to see people running laps around the track once the work is finished. the day of operation is over.

For team management, “leading by example” was a phrase used to manage health and wellbeing as well as fatigue. Management is taken care of the same as everyone else.

“I think that applies not only to taking care of yourself, but any type of thing you do for the team and with the team,” said Mike Krack, Aston Martin team principal, about leading by example. “You can’t expect someone to come at 7:30 a.m. if you come at 9:30 a.m…. If you don’t lead by example, you can’t ask your people to do things if you don’t do them not yourself.”

Similarly, fatigue management is a key issue that teams like McLaren have invested resources into in recent years.

“With 24 races and in general, fatigue management is a very important part of the F1 business,” said McLaren team principal Andrea Stella. “It’s not just for reasons of performance or well-being, but also for health, because you have to look at it very holistically.

“(This is) why almost every team invests in… track doctors, physiotherapy and even mental health, something that McLaren generally supports. Investing in health, well-being being and performance – – if you are not well rested, you will not do a good job when you are at the edge of the track.

Nutrition is a pillar that the team can manage effectively, and catering is configured according to the team’s needs. The overall goal is to provide balanced meals with high nutritional value to ensure everyone is fueled efficiently during their workday.

Each kitchen supplies, prepares, cooks and serves food to its staff twice a day and three times on Fridays – this is the longest day on the circuit for team staff. Catering teams manage everything from menu writing, to local sourcing, to managing allergies and dietary requirements, providing high-quality, healthy, nutritionally dense food and what people want to eat, and making it appetizing when served in a tiny format. cooking in a campervan that runs most of the time on a generator.

“Our goal, and what our company stands for, is to provide the best variety and healthy food options with lots of (nutrients) and to meet all the requirements of the team and different departments,” said Tanja Untermoser, head of hospitality at Mercedes, at ESPN. “We take care of everyone: mechanics, engineering, marketing, management and drivers have a separate nutritional plan that we take into consideration to meet all requirements.”

The requirements are extremely widespread. Mechanics may not want to eat what drivers have to eat, and some may want sweet treats like they would at home, so teams offer those as well. The key to finding balance is to eat normal foods every day, but stock up on quality products and use few ingredients.

Aston Martin offers steak and fries every Saturday, but on another day they may offer chicken and chorizo ​​or chickpea stew, salmon and rice or pasta and a salad bar. An all-team cooked breakfast might still involve a few British staples such as bacon, eggs and hash browns, but it’s not exactly a greasy spoon.

Mercedes offers two menus throughout the year, an à la carte for guests and partners which changes daily and a buffet for the team. The menus are creative and uniquely personalized. for example, some offerings may be quick to eat for a busy mid-morning crew of mechanics, rather than a sit-down meal, while others will be suited to the racing climate.

“We have a head chef who creates the menus in advance based on all the comments, feedback and improvements, what the team liked, together with a Mercedes nutritionist,” Untermoser said. “He makes a first draft for the whole year and sends it in and we go through it little by little. A third of the season is planned and it changes after that.”

Food supply can be an issue during some races.

The teams have a purchasing department that essentially does purchases in advance, working with local knowledge and translators to find what they need. This is tricky in countries like China and Japan, where not only is the language barrier difficult, but some products are extremely difficult to obtain.

Although the task is difficult in some parts of the world, the benefit of F1 returning year after year to the same locations means that the process is relatively smooth and relationships with external partners are well established. The difficulty arises when a new race is added to the calendar and the process starts from scratch.

“We organize all 24 races and it’s different if we are in Azerbaijan and Italy, so overall the European races are easier to buy and get the product, but we can say that we make sure that every race has the highest level and quality that we deliver,” said Untermoser. “If there was on the menu before, for example, veal, but it’s not of high quality, then we would replace it with good quality chicken or beef.”

Generally, teams aim to have as little food waste as possible. Anything that can be reused, like pasta and rice, is. But there is the added difficulty of customs and some countries not allowing certain foods to be imported, meaning catering teams may arrive at a race with few supplies and must make sure advances that they have exhausted or redirected their current stock.

Europe is one of the most consistent sourcing countries, and some team members can enjoy the comfort of home, such as a coffee roast in east London. At European circuits, The Gentlemen Baristas, a London-based roaster, works with Aston Martin to supply and serve hot drinks in the team’s hospitality unit.

Other drinks offered at Aston Martin and Mercedes are sugar-free fizzy cans, or homemade ones like raspberry lemonade, which were available the day Mercedes invited ESPN to lunch to taste their food first-hand.

F1’s pursuit of marginal gains is no different when it comes to nutrition. At Mercedes in particular, Untermoser explained that everything is homemade, even the muesli and granola.

“We take great pride in cooking with as little fat as possible, which is why we always try to replace butter with olive oil. For example, we make potato mousseline; sometimes we we make it lactose-free using alternatives, and the muesli and granola in the morning we prepare it ourselves only with honey or maple syrup,” Untermoser said. “Everything is homemade, so that’s the good thing: that everything you have in your hands is what’s inside.”

The attention to detail is striking. Right down to the arrangement and presentation, the edible flowers on the salads, as well as the freshly cut flowers in the vases on the tables – even the bread is homemade.

The scale of the work accomplished by so few people in a small kitchen reminds us once again that good strategy, good planning and perfect execution are not reserved just for on-track action in Formula 1.