In Formula 1, once all the cars cross the finish line, and the black-and-white checkered flag is waved, a new race begins off track.
“We’re racing 24 times a year, all over the world,” McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown explains. “Every race week, we are debriefing and at the same time we’re preparing for the next race.”
The urgency increases when there’s back-to-back races. Then, The McLaren F1 Team only has four days to share and analyze an avalanche of content off track to make data-driven decisions. This intense sprint is just as critical to McLaren’s success as Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri’s driving, though it’s not the story in the spotlight after a win.
In this race, success isn’t measured in laps and points but in split-second decisions that could make or break race day. Dropbox gives this elusive behind-the-scenes work its due in The Race Between Races, a short film debuting September 23.
The shadow race gets some shine
F1 fans are already familiar with the ins and outs of race weekends: Typically drivers and pit crews test their setups on Friday, then Saturday there’s a qualifying run to determine the starting grid before the race on Sunday. Mondays are rest days for the drivers.
But when Piastri asks Norris who he “reckon[s] has the toughest job on the team,” they both agree: “Not us.” F1 fans soon understand why, as The Race Between Races swings the spotlight over to the work The McLaren F1 Team does across engineering, IT, marketing, race strategy, manufacturing, and more—a group of approximately 1,200 people.