SCRUTINEERING AT THE BRITISH GRAND TITLE TITLE PRIX
Paula Alderman, who first scrutineered at the British Grand Prix back in 1994, was assigned to the Alpine team this year. She spends most weekends of the year volunteering on Club events with a wide range of different organisers including MSVR, British Automobile Racing Club( BARC) and British Racing & Sports Car Club( BRSCC) and only recently returned to the F1 paddock.
“ It’ s important to get to know the people in the garage and work with them,” she says about the role.“ The teams I’ ve worked with in the past have all been friendly and this year the atmosphere in the garage was really good. The teams understand the job we’ ve got to do and if there’ s anything we’ re not sure about, they’ re happy to explain it all.”
Richard Vincent, another member of the team, followed in the footsteps of his dad – a scrutineer for 52 years – and got his licence at the age of 18. It is now 30 years since he started volunteering and included in his long list of events is a multitude of British Grands Prix – he has worked at all but eight of the races in the UK since he started.
“ To be part of one of the biggest sporting events in the country, and the atmosphere that comes with it, is incredible,” he says.“ Getting to be in a garage observing a team is great, but it’ s not just about that, it’ s about soaking up the atmosphere all around the rest of the track. A lot of us are camping on site and we really get immersed in the whole weekend.”
The Weekend
The scrutineering team changes each year, with a mix of newcomers and experienced hands. Mason says there is plenty of rotation among the group, both between the F1 and support paddocks and between the garage allocations within the F1 pits, and newcomers are paired with the more experienced crew to help them settle in.
Mason also has two deputies and a weigh platform scrutineer, who help in the garages when needed. They spend their weekends walking up and down the pit lane, looking after the welfare of the scrutineering team, and also provide a courier service for any parts that need to be taken from the garage to the FIA for safe keeping.
“ Obviously, sometimes the eyes are a little bit more on the top teams in the pit lane, so we want to make sure that we’ ve got the most experienced scrutineers with them, but then we try to randomise it,” says Mason.“ I keep a record, so the intention is not to give the same team the same scrutineer ever year.
“ There is always the draw of the big teams and the bigname drivers, but actually people often find they get a better overall experience with some of the other teams because they’ re not as externally pressured, and they more embrace the scrutineer coming in.”
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Scrutineers are tasked with ensuring compliance with the sporting regulations at permitted events
Revolution- October 2025
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