Trevor Carlin: “As far as we knew, Louis was out”

Primed for a strong weekend, Carlin were making all of the right noises going into the French Grand Prix and looked set to build on an impressive Round 4 in Monaco, when both drivers made the podium.

But, less than a minute into qualifying Louis Delétraz’s rear wing lay dumped on the Circuit Paul Ricard, which threatened a horror show for Carlin, who faced the prospect of their driver failing to set a time.

Team Principal Trevor Carlin admits he feared the worst when Giuliano Alesi smacked the back of their Swiss driver and he praised the miraculous work of his team for getting him back out on track.

“Really, as far as we knew Louis was out and there was nothing we could do. But the boys didn’t give up and they got it fixed.

“The guys were ready. Some of them have come from the former European F3 and series like that, so they have done Macau where there are a lot of fast repairs needed and they were ready. It was an incredible job, because it was the rear wing, including all of the DRS, and a top rear wishbone.

“The boys managed to change all of that brilliantly. There was damage to the rear floor too, but of course it would be impossible to change a rear floor in a session. We did what any good race team does and got loads of tape and taped it up and hoped it wouldn’t fall out. We got some duct tape on there and it was brilliant.”

It was an incredible job, because it was the rear wing, including all of the DRS, and a top rear wishbone.

With the aid of a red flag, the Carlin team were able to work so swiftly that Delétraz missed a mere three laps of the session, truly remarkable when considering the extent of the crash and the damage done.

As well as fixing the physical damage to their vehicle, the team needed to repair the mental frustration boiling inside of Delétraz, who was at risk of missing the entire session.

“We had a really good plan,” Carlin explained. “We got both cars out nice and early at the front of the queue and then we couldn’t believe it when all of a sudden we had Louis on the radio saying he had been hit. The camera then flashed and we could see his rear wing smashed and one of them sitting in the middle of the track.

“It is a bit of a shock when a car goes flying over the top of you and of course he was angry, but we said ‘right, we can fix this.’ The red flag helped us with the timing and I think we only missed three laps - it was an amazing job by everybody.

“It was frustrating because we know that we were in good shape to get both cars qualifying in the top seven, top eight. It was good recovering because really we should have been starting P20, but thanks to the lads and Louis we started P12.”

The hardest part for Carlin was having to stand back and spectate as one half of his team’s race weekend threatened to implode right before his eyes. As Team Principal, Trevor was unable to make a hands on contribution, but thankfully, had complete trust in his team to get the job done.

“From my point of view, the most frustrating thing is that I am not allowed to help, because I am a hands on kind of guy. I have always worked on the cars in every championship I do, be it F4, Indycar, or whatever, so it was really frustrating for me that I was not allowed to touch the car in that situation, because all I wanted to do was help. Instead, I stood back, didn’t get in their way and didn’t get too involved. They are professionals these lads, so I let them get on with it.”

Two top eight finishes in qualifying could have set the British based team up nicely to close the gap between themselves and Campos Racing in the standings. Despite the turmoil at the start, it very nearly still came to fruition, stated Carlin: “Louis had actually done a purple first sector towards the end just as the red flag came out.

They are professionals these lads, so I let them get on with it.

“We believe that if he had finished that lap then he could have comfortably been in the top eight, which would have been quite amazing considering how badly the car had been damaged. I am chuffed with the team and chuffed with Louis for staying calm, not panicking and trusting us to put it back together again. “