How F1 teams and drivers travel between each grand prix

Follow us on Google Discover

F1 is renowned for its globe-trotting, with 24 races in 20 countries in the 2026 season, but how do teams and drivers travel to each grand prix? How is everything transported?

One weekend you are in Azerbaijan and Baku, and the next weekend you are nearly 7,000 miles away in the United States and Miami.

There’s no two ways about it, you need to be on the other side of the globe, along with all the kit and equipment needed to run your cars.

Teams therefore face tight travel deadlines between races, especially back-to-back events.

So how exactly do F1 teams and drivers travel between races – why do some pieces of equipment go by air and others by sea?

How F1 teams travel

Immediately after the end of an F1 race, the team will begin its pack-up process.

They need to dismantle the garage, and cars when they return from FIA parc ferme after the race.

Everything is then packed into freight pallets, with a place for everything and everything in its place.

At European races, the huge motorhomes must also be taken down and packed away – with the time-consuming process not a problem at flyaway events where circuits provide accommodation for the teams.

Once everything has been packed up, some of it goes to the airport and the rest to the sea port for transportation.

Big, important things such as the chassis, engines/gearboxes and wings are flown from event to event to ensure they actually get there as an F1 race without cars would be rather difficult.

F1 teams based in the UK will travel to East Midlands Airport and load up a couple of Boeing 747 cargo aircraft with all their equipment that is needed to travel.

About 34 tonnes of air freight is required by teams.

The sea freight consists of smaller items such as wheel guns, tyre blankets, trolleys and basically anything you can have multiple sets of.

F1 sea freight generally moves a few races ahead of time. For example, if a set of things is used in Canada, it might be loaded onto a cargo ship for delivery to Mexico City, about four months later.

What about the drivers?

As soon as a driver is finished with their post-race media engagements and engineering debriefs, they’ll leave for the airport and either travel home or to the next race.

They’ll generally travel in business or first class.

However, media and the mechanics who have just taken down the garage and stripped the car and packed it all away will mostly be in economy class.