The former mechanic of four-time world champion Max Verstappen has opened up on the less-than-glamorous realities of working for a Formula One team after McLaren mechanics were subject to baseless criticism from fans on social media.
The team-members at the constructor had come under social media scrutiny over last weekend’s Italian Grand Prix for an incident involving world champion contender Lando Norris.
The Briton had been leading versus his team-mate Oscar Piastri in second place at Monza, before an unexpectedly lengthy pit-stop forced him to fall four seconds behind the Australian.
Mechanics had to take longer time over a wheel-nut issue on the front left tyre, and when Norris emerged from the pit lane, McLaren enacted controversial team orders which saw Piastri hand the place back to his world title rival.
In the wake of the chaotic end to the race, one fan on social media had laid blame at the feet of those behind-the-scenes, hitting out at their apparent ‘mistake’ during their ‘three second work shift’.
Former Red Bull mechanic Calum Nicholas spotted the swipe and was unwilling to take the jibe lying down.
McLaren mechanics came under fire after Lando Norris was delayed by a pitstop at Monza
But former Red Bull senior engineer Calum Nicholas was quick to come to their defence
Nicholas worked with world champion Max Verstappen during his decorated Red Bull career
Instead, he took to social media to highlight the stressful, and likely underpaid, conditions mechanics worked under to bring a race weekend to life.
‘This is why so few people in the paddock interact on here by the way. Bs (bulls***) opinions like this. It’s embarrassing,’ Nicholas responded, before adding: ‘Average salary for an F1 Tech is closer to £60k by the way.
‘The average working week is about 70 hours. Most fly economy, and nobody gets paid more for being on the pit crew.’
With only 60 operations personnel allowed at the track during a race weekend, Nicholas continued in conversation with his supporters, there would be ‘no room’ for some people to be employed solely for pitstops.
Former chief engineer Nicholas, who published his memoir also shed light on ‘Life in the Pitlane’ earlier this year, also shed light on conditions at the start of his career, noting that he had been ‘insanely underpaid’ making’£42,000′ as his first salary in the highly skilled role.
Nicholas also shared his belief that the sport’s cost cap – which came into effect in 2021 – had a knock-on effect on salaries too.
‘I mean, my general answer to this is “yes”,’ Nicholas said in response to a fan. ‘In fact, “The cost of the cost cap” is a chapter of my book that I thought was one of the most important.
‘But let’s be clear, even without it, pit crew would not earn £350k a year,’ Nicholas continued, joking that if it ever reached that level, he ‘might consider a comeback’.
Norris was handed back his second place by team-mate Oscar Piastri at the Italian Grand Prix
The pay offered to engineers and mechanics in the sport comes in stark contrast to the vast sums commanded by the drivers at its centre.
In 2022, Verstappen signed a deal worth a staggering £40million a season to keep him at Red Bull until 2028.
But seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton blew that deal out of the water with his shock move to Ferrari ahead of the start of this season.
The long-time Mercedes driver made the seismic move between constructors in a deal worth an eye-popping £60m per season.
Although McLaren might have wished to avoid pitstop issues in Monza, the team will have been delighted with their second and third place finishes in Italy, with both of their drivers still very much in world championship contention.
Piastri still leads Norris on 324 points, but the Briton is snapping at his heels on 293 points – some 63 points ahead of defending champion Verstappen.