(DHL via youtube.com)
Formula One is the Pinnacle of motorsport with technology at
its core. One thing that has been consistent for many years in the sport is
pit-stops. Teams up and down the pit-lane have seen their Grand Prix results
decided.
In 2010 due to safety concerns refuelling during pit stops
was banned in Formula One and as a result of this we saw pit-stop times
reduced.
At last weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix, Kimi Raikkonen and Ferrari set
the fastest pit-stop of the weekend with a 2.32s. Last year I asked former Williams
Team manager Dickie Stanford how many practice pit-stops they carry out over
the course of a race weekend to which he replied 60.
Over the last few years pit-stop time have been dramatically
reduced. Last weekend saw an extremely quick stop by Ferrari which helped Kimi
Raikkonen to finish the race in second place just behind race winner Lewis
Hamilton. This was a dramatic improvement for the Italian team as in the
opening Grand Prix of the season in Australia the Iceman was forced to retire
from the race after a wheel nut was not secured correctly.
In the opening four Grand Prix of the season Ferrari have
recorded three of the fastest pit-stop times while the Sahara Force India
Formula One Team have one.
During the 1980’s Formula One pit-stops were extremely
dangerous as pit-crews went into the pit-lane with no safety gear at all, no
helmet’s and no fire proof overalls. In 2008, Ferrari introduced a traffic
lights system replacing the lollipop man.
Formula One is not like IndyCar. In the American single-seat
category each car has their own pit box, so if a team like Andretti Autosport
are running four cars they have four crews working on their cars however in
Formula One each team just have the one pit crew to service both cars.
Formula One teams have managed to get stops down to 2.32s
stops and with that sort time it is inevitable that mistakes will be made no
matter what crews do in terms of their preparation for stops. It had been
suggested that teams would have to work to a target pit stop time however that
has not been introduced and it is likely not to be introduced.
(Mercedes AMG PETRONAS F1 Team)
© Ben Johnston 2015
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