What is the pitwall in F1? Who sits there and what do they do?

Race strategy can make or break a race if the team does not make the right decisions for their cars. Most of these decisions are made on the pitwall by a small set of the team who then relay this information back to the drivers. 

The pitwall is made up of several key figures in the team, including the team principal and the race engineers, who will all be looking to achieve the best result possible. During a race, the team will be monitoring important data from the car and analysing performance. 

F1 fans will be familiar with seeing shots of the pitwall during a grand prix weekend, but here’s everything you need to know about what it does:  

The pitwall typically refers to the structures that are built along the top of the chemin de ronde (wall-walk), against the fence between the pitlane and the main straight. It is the place where the team’s race engineers, lead strategists and other key members of the team will sit during the grand prix weekend. 

Each team will have their own set-up, with around three to eight seats for different team roles, as well as an intercom panel and monitors that display various key pieces of information, including real-time race data, track times and the weather.  

The pitwall has a key role as to whether a team has a successful grand prix and is where the team monitors the car’s performance, as well as making strategic decisions and communicating with their driver.  The pitwall team will be making the pivotal decisions about the car’s set-up, when cars should come in for a pitstop and making sure their drivers are happy in the car.  

The pitwall also has small openings onto the main straight that can be used to pass through pit boards to display information to the drivers. The board is held through the pit wall and displays lap times, positions and key instructions to the cars as they go past. 

Pit boards are still used to relay information to the driver in case there is an issue with the radio, or the driver misses any previous messages. Drivers know to expect a pit board on the main straight and will be anticipating being given that information. 

Although the pitwall is now a physical wall of the team’s key figures, in the early days of Formula 1 some tracks had just a white line to separate the main straight and the pitlane, leaving no space for the strategy…