1.88 seconds
Car jacked. Wheel nuts off. Four wheels off. Four wheels on. Wheel nuts on. Car off the jacks. Car pulling away...
What do you think you can achieve in 1.88 seconds? My bet is not too much at all considering it is such a small space of time. In Formula One however, a game of thousandth of seconds, it's remarkable what can be achieved.
About a week and a half ago at the German Grand Prix the fastest ever pit stop was conducted by Red Bull Racing Honda. A stop and four-wheel-change that took only 1.88 seconds. An F1 pit stop in the current format involves a tyre change only as refuelling has been banned and the pit stops have been getting progressively faster and faster. The pit stop is timed from the moment the car comes to a complete stop until it is dropped and starts moving away so a stop of 1.88 seconds is a remarkably short space of time to complete the task.
If you watch the video as the driver pulls into his pit box you'll see a pile of people, around 20 who are all critical to the pit stop. Here's a typical break down for one of the top (richest) teams:
- Four wheel gun people
- Four wheels off people
- Four wheels on people
- Front jack person
- Front jack person back up
- Rear jack person
- Rear jack person back up
- Two hold car steady people
- One external starter person (in case the driver stalls the car)
- Two change front wing setting people
- One front observer
- One rear observer
Some teams have more or less but to effect a satisfactory pit stop these days the pit crew need to act as one unit with all 20 or so of them working in synergy. If one person makes a boo boo the stop will take longer and could cost the driver back out on the race track where his competitors are running around at speeds of over 300kph.
Image taken by me (Adelaide Motorsport Festival 2018): Leyton House CG891 driven by Ivan Capelli in 1989 including the Adelaide F1 Grand Prix.
The car in 1989 with its pit crew, mechanics and engineers. Image lifted from the Adelaide Motorsport Festival FB page. I was at this race, a brutal wet race that was stopped, restarted and then halted 11 laps short of the scheduled 81 laps. Thierry Boutsen in a Williams-Renault won the race.
In Germany the race was wet which I believe has assisted the team in making the stop so quickly as the driver would have approached a little more slowly to ensure he hit his marks stopping the car exactly where the crew were waiting with the air guns. The crew would have been able to follow the wheel nuts with their guns, just as the car was coming to a stop and located them perfectly possibly saving a tenth or so of time. I'm not certain but I think the pit stop time this one displaced as the fastest was about 2.0 seconds so that tenth has made a massive difference.
Video here - Red Bull Racing Honda 1.88 second pit stop
I've been following this sport for 40 years of my life and have marvelled at many aspects of it from the technology, on-track-driving, bravery of the drivers, depth of financial investment and of course the strategy and finesse around the pit stops. I'm pleased I've got to see the pit stop come down well below 2 seconds and wonder at where it could go from here.
Just for fun here's a video of F1 pitstops gone wrong with a few classics including some during the refuelling era.
The 2019 season is taking it's summer break for the next three weeks so F1 freaks like me have to resort to recorded races and YouTube to get our fix however the circus is back for the Belgium Grand prix September 1st which I am looking forward to. Currently the standings are:
Constructors standings:
Mercedes - 438 points
Ferrari Red Bull - 288 points
Racing Honda - 244 points
McLaren Renault - 82 points
Drivers standings:
🇬🇧Lewis Hamilton - 250 points
🇫🇮Valteri Bottas - 188 points
🇳🇱Max Verstappen - 181 points
🇩🇪Sebastian Vettel - 156 points
I feel that unless something drastic happens Hamilton will take another title this year and it doesn't seem like Mercedes can be beaten either, however in F1 anything can happen. The driver market is hotting up and after the summer break most of the 2020 driver lineups will be set. I think we're in for some surprises but we will have to wait and see.
Hurry up 1 September!
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That was an incredibly fast stop! :D
I haven't watched F1 in years because they pushed it all to a subscription, pity.
I know, a sign of the times...Everything costs.
Yep, killer stop huh? A bit different from the old days.
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I remember when a 7 second stop was considered lightning fast - before refueling came in.
Crazy to think huh? All things progress I suppose...that's what I mean by the comment where will it go in the future!
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Have you watched any formula E?
Yep, most of them. I don't mind it. It's not F1 of course, but it's good, has some good drivers and concepts.
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Might check some out online.
Wow that is fast😎
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I've changed a few flat tires in my day...Not that fast though! 😁
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I did win a wheel changing contest at a car show once but still way way slower then this🤣
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Well, maybe a second calling? Give Red Bull Racing Honda a call, you might get a gig! I assume they pay well. Would make for some good blogs too.
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Haha yep could be a new career for me👍
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Amazing to see what a synchronized team can do when working together! Happens many places in life!
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Haha... Thierry Boutsen, our national racing legend. I was only 12 in 1989, and never really followed F1 racing, but even I know about him ;0)
(Wait... maybe I I did follow for a while, because I remember watching the race in which Aerton Senna died in the San Marino Grand Prix. Hmm... memory is a weird thing)
Yeah, it was a while ago. Ayrton Senna died in 1994 yes, and the day before his death Roland Ratzenberger died during qualifying at the same track. A pretty bleak weekend.
Theirry Boutsen won 3 Grand Prix, had 15 podiums and raced in 164 races...A pretty good driver for sure.
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You did not go into what the pit crew does to get this good.? Are they even human, or machine/man hybrids...?
I did not see how many hours of practice to make this purrfect..?
I bet with a better bunch of helpers than these lazy felines, i could knock out all 10 of these tires in 2..........
........
.... Wait for it......
Days.
That is what it took me back in 2005. And I had a good crew. We swapped all 10 off a truck I was selling. To the one I had just purchased. So really it was a 20 tire pit stop (weekend).
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Haha, 20 tyres - One weekend. Great effort. Back in the day I worked for Mack and putting those rears on in the factory was difficult enough, let alone in the field. Imagine doing it here:
Video from the TV show Outback Truckers - One of my favourite shows.
So, the F1 pit crews practice. And practice. Thousands of pit stop practices over the off season and in-season, makes them better. They still get it wrong though.
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