Red Bull sets a new world record......

[Henry Schmidt]

Red Bull stationary pit stop times in Malaysia:
Red Bull set a new world record in Malaysia and no, we are not talking about the number of times Mark Webber may or may not have cursed Sebastian Vettel.

McLaren changed Jenson Button's four wheels in 2.31s (old world record) at the German Grand Prix last year, but the Milton Keynes squad bettered that mark by quite some distance.

'In fact, having reviewed the data, we're pretty sure we beat the previous mark on five separate occasions during the race,' the team said on its website.


Sebastian Vettel Stop 1 (Lap 5): 2.13 seconds

Mark Webber Stop 1 (Lap 7): 2.13 seconds

Mark Webber Stop 2 (Lap 19): 2.05 seconds

Mark Webber Stop 3 (Lap 31): 2.21 seconds

Mark Webber Stop 4 (Lap 43): 2.26 seconds

Pretty soon they'll be changing the tyres on the fly.

[Captain Ahab Jr]

Would be interesting to know how they timed that, if its the time between the car stopped to car going that is a very impressive time.

Only a few ways to reduce a pit stop time, you can shorten each movement, speed up each movement, overlap movements simultaneously and reduce the number of movements.

Car positioning is probably the most critical effect on time as if the mechanics all have to shuffle along from their set position, then they will be slow.

There is so little margin for error the team that does it with the minimum number of mistakes is usually the fastest.

Changing on the wheels automatically on the fly was considered by some teams when they went from fuel to no fuel stops, the FIA stamped on that pretty quickly.

[Henry Schmidt]

They were calling it the stationary time.

[James Brown]

time to reduce the pit guys to 4 tire changers and 2 jack men and a paddle flipper guy

[Tanick]

That is stupidly fast. A mate of mine is the Tyre Technician for Vettel and does his rear left tyre during the race. Looks like he's going to have to get some more practice in.

[ZAMIRZ]

^It's the same crew for both drivers.

[livi]

Brilliant. Usually takes me half an hour to change between winter and summer wheels..

[theFONZ]

Here is the McLaren record...

World Record - Fastest F1 Pit Stop by McLaren - YouTube

[URY914]

Don't blink

[Henry Schmidt]

Team work and dedication at it's finest.

I'm surprised no one has chimed in to proclaim "it's Newey! No real talent in the pits, just the Newey design" lol

[Zeke]

Seems no one uses the air jack anymore. Too slow.

[GG Allin]

I swapped off my snows last weekend, took me all afternoon.

[flatbutt]

Originally Posted by GG Allin

I swapped off my snows last weekend, took me all afternoon.

you didn't have 12 guys helping you.

[Tanick]

Originally Posted by ZAMIRZ

^It's the same crew for both drivers.

I must admit I don't follow F1 and wasn't aware of this. My mate looks after the wheels and tyres for Vettel (and Coulthard before him) and I understood that he did the changes on his car too. I'll ask when I see him next and find out exactly how it works.

[Captain Ahab Jr]

Originally Posted by Tanick

I must admit I don't follow F1 and wasn't aware of this. My mate looks after the wheels and tyres for Vettel (and Coulthard before him) and I understood that he did the changes on his car too. I'll ask when I see him next and find out exactly how it works.

I think he will do the same job during pitstops for both drivers, there are not enough mechanics at each race for two crews. Teams will have a few reserve mechanics in case of injuries to cover the usual crew.

If he does the wheels/tyres I'm sure it will be his job to make sure the right tyres are up to temperature and given out for the correct corner of each car when the race engineer requests a pit stop. I'm guessing his job in the pit stop would be fitting or removing the wheel on the rear corner on the garage side

Doing a pitstop is a suprisingly calm experience when you are in the middle of it, your mentally sampling rate shoots up to cope with increased speed of what you are doing. I wouldn't want to do it for a living though as there is huge pressure not to make a mistake.

[Captain Ahab Jr]

Originally Posted by Zeke

Seems no one uses the air jack anymore. Too slow.

banned, no powered lifting allowed

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by Captain Ahab Jr

banned, no powered lifting allowed

I hadn't heard that. Only McLaren did that anyway that I know of. But I think it would still actually be slower. The rear jack man has to get into place, raise and lower the car and the front guy has to raise and lower then step back in 2 seconds. I can't see the time to spare.

Frankly, I think too much emphasis is placed on pitting. I think all series ought to have a minimum time for a stop. Let's say it was 20 seconds for stock cars. That would cost a lot less in training super athletes to perform the stop. It would also allow more time for adjustments and repairs.

At this point a crew chief has a choice sometimes of, "Do we put water in it or go for broke to try and win before it blows up?" I think it's safer for those in the pits and those on the track to not have to make that decision.

I don't decry the F1 rule to not let teams fuel the cars if stops are going to be so rushed. It might be better if NASCAR didn't spill a quart every time they pit. Take some time!

[Captain Ahab Jr]

Originally Posted by Zeke

I hadn't heard that. Only McLaren did that anyway that I know of. But I think it would still actually be slower. The rear jack man has to get into place, raise and lower the car and the front guy has to raise and lower then step back in 2 seconds. I can't see the time to spare.

Frankly, I think too much emphasis is placed on pitting. I think all series ought to have a minimum time for a stop. Let's say it was 20 seconds for stock cars. That would cost a lot less in training super athletes to perform the stop. It would also allow more time for adjustments and repairs.

At this point a crew chief has a choice sometimes of, "Do we put water in it or go for broke to try and win before it blows up?" I think it's safer for those in the pits and those on the track to not have to make that decision.

I don't decry the F1 rule to not let teams fuel the cars if stops are going to be so rushed. It might be better if NASCAR didn't spill a quart every time they pit. Take some time!

Think Williams were first with powered jacks on the front. Think they were banned to prevent a development war and were starting to get a bit too dangerous.

Front jack man is usually faster lifting as the car basically runs into him, rear jackman is usually faster lowering as he doesn't have to get out of the way. Main downside with powered front jack is extra weight which slows the time down required to swing it clear of the car. The speed/distance moved for lifting and removing when using a powered front jack are very different, it was a tricky balance to get right for saving time.

F1 pit stop development is as fast paced as car development as it can make the difference of a gaining or losing a place on track.

Take the front jack as an example most are an evolution of one teams design, lets say Team A designs the quickest, Team B copies and improves, then Team C takes it further and eventually Team A has to do a redesign to regain the advantage they had. If Team A is successful the cycle is repeated.

Last fueled pit stops were around low 4 secs, then dropped down to mid-high 2 secs with no fuel. Finding ways to reduce time now is very difficult as reaction times make up a lot of the time of a pit stop.

Not sure where teams need to go to get below 2 secs but I'll bet my house it will happen. Won't make the racing any better but must be good fun trying to get there.

[911pcars]

Anyone notice the pit work in an Indy Car race? Most teams don't have the remote cranking motor in position when/if the driver stalls the engine upon leaving the pit space. Is it against the rules to have it ready or do they have to wait for the engine to stop?

Sherwood