uly 18th 2020, Max Verstappen qualifies 7th for the Hungarian Grand Prix. With Red Bull fighting Mercedes for the Constructor’s championship and Max fighting Lewis Hamilton and Vallteri Bottas for the Driver’s Championship, this wasn’t his best qualifying session.

July 19th 2020, during the formation lap, Max crashed his car, damaging his front wing and suspension. In the next 22 minutes, Red Bull mechanics performed an absolute miracle.

How did they do it? How did they go from a crashed car to giving Max a chance to fight for a podium in under 23 minutes? And what can we learn about incident management from one of the most demanding engineering disciplines in the world?

Key Points

• Importance of clear communication: During the incident, the crew communicated effectively to assess the damage, determine the necessary repairs, and track the time remaining.
• Technical proficiency at the highest level. F1 is one the most complex engineering disciplines on the face of the Earth. What these people did in under 23min is nothing short of amazing.
• Clear processes. Everyone new their place. Everyone knew exactly what they needed to do. Coordination was as close to perfection as it could be.
• Clear communication. Clear messages between people (engineers, managers, etc). Zero confusion. Everyone focused on getting the job done.
• The calmness on everyone's voice. No shouting. No need to emphasize urgency or pressure on requests. They know people will perform at their best if they're as calm as they possibly can.
• Making quick decisions: The team had to rapidly decide whether to attempt a fix on the grid or forfeit Verstappen’s starting position.
• Teamwork: The mechanics worked together efficiently to remove and replace damaged parts within a tight timeframe.
• Postmortem: Formula 1 team debriefs are brutal but it’s the price to pay for excellence.