Motorsport: Mechanic values years with McLaren

Former McLaren F1 chief mechanic Stephen Giles. Photo / Supplied

It's a long way from Monaco to Manfeild; hopefully not so far from Mika to Mitch.

Stephen Giles, who will send out Mitch Evans in the New Zealand Grand Prix at Man-feild today, was once the main man in the McLaren garage, working side by side with former world champion Mika Hakkinen at F1 Grand Prix like Monaco - and with such stars as David Coulthard, Kimi Raikkonen and Juan Pablo Montoya.

Giles headed to the UK in 1992, planning to stay for six months - but was there 14 years. He got a job with McLaren's test team in 1996, being promoted to the race team the following season.

He was No 2 mechanic for Coulthard in 1997 and 1998 and No 1 with Hakkinen in his championship-winning years of 1999 and 2000. From 2001-2006 he was McLaren's chief mechanic, with 35 people on staff.

He describes the job as "1 per cent glamour and 99 per cent hard grind". The team would spend six months a year travelling. All night work sessions were commonplace until restrictions were introduced in 2004.

The lead-up to the 1999 season as particularly "horrendous". The crew worked for two months without a day off, then didn't go to bed on either the Friday or Saturday nights before the race on Sunday.

"I think I worked out I did 126 hours over that week," says Giles. "We used to treat it like aircraft assembly. Every single part had to be checked and verified. I am a bit of a perfectionist but if anything went wrong, it was all down to me."

That was before the all-out pressure of F1 raceday. Giles was the man controlling the pit stops - "doing the lollipop".

"The pressure was intense but you got used to it," says Giles. "There was always the thought that one little mistake could cost the race, or worse, lead to serious injury but you had to put it out of your mind."

Giles retains treasured memories of working alongside some of the best .

"Mika [Hakkinen] had a dry sense of humour but was pretty reserved - a typical Finn," remembers Giles. "He did mellow with age. As a driver, he was one of the quickest guys I have seen. His speed in qualifying was amazing. He was a bit like Aryton Senna and he could wring the neck out of any car."

One stand-out memory is the audacious passing move - some say the best of all time - that Hakkinen put on Michael Schumacher at Spa in 2000, to win the race and take back the Championship lead.

"It was absolutely brilliant - people still come up to me and want to talk about it."

Coulthard was often the nearly man, with two seasons finishing third and another as runner-up but Giles can't say enough about the Scot.

"DC [Coulthard] was the best driver I ever worked for," says Giles. "He was down to earth, a great guy - possibly too nice for Formula One, where they have all got egos. They have to."

Since returning home in 2006 he has set up the Giles motorsport team, which took out the 2009 and 2010 Toyota Racing Series titles.

They look well placed to defend in 2011, with young Kiwis Evans and Nick Cassidy in red-hot form and first and second in the championship.

"Mitch has delivered and it sets him up well for his European season this year. His potential is huge. Nick puts on lot of pressure on himself but has shown outstanding ability in his rookie TRS season."