Mercedes left embarrassed by Red Bull as Lewis Hamilton shown what must improve
Red Bull have left Mercedes red-faced by showing off their brilliance at pit stops in a unique challenge, which saw them set another impressive record. The reigning champions have led the way in terms of pit stops over the last few years and recently won their sixth straight DHL Fastest Pit Stop award.
Max Verstappen has certainly reaped the rewards of Red Bull’s consistency in the pit lane, with the Dutchman set to challenge for his fourth Drivers’ Championship title in as many years next season. It is no secret that Red Bull have the finest pit crew in the business and they have now managed to achieve a world first by completing a pit stop in total darkness.
A team of 22 mechanics were given just three blindfolded practice attempts before they were thrust into the dark and tasked with pulling off a successful stop. The seemingly impossible feat was achieved on the 10th attempt in a time of 2.84 seconds, which is quicker than many of their rivals have managed at recent Grand Prix weekends.
Red Bull sporting director Jonathan Wheatley said: “In terms of human performance, a pit-stop is an extraordinary thing, with 22 people who all have to be sub-two seconds. It’s been described as a choreography in the past and there’s certainly an element of that.
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“There’s a rhythm to it all, they’re taking cues from sounds, movements, all sorts of things. It’s fascinating to observe it working and I’ve not [previously] experienced this level this year, carrying us to a sixth DHL trophy and now a pitch black pit-stop.”
Red Bull’s momentous achievement will also serve to embarrass Mercedes, who have let their standards slip with the speed of their pit stops over the last few months. They recorded stops of 3.6 and 3.4 seconds at the United States Grand Prix earlier this year, prompting Lewis Hamilton to point the finger at his Silver Arrows pit crew after the race.
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“I do think we would have been in a fighting position to fight with Max,” he said. “I think we made our life a lot harder today than it probably needed to be. I think in one of the pit stops, I might have been a bit long, which then made it harder for the guys. The stop wasn’t that great overall, so there’s lots of areas that could have been better.”
Toto Wolff went on to admit that Mercedes will need to change their approach in order to avoid being left behind by their rivals, saying: “Our mindset in the last 12 years, we don’t need to be world champions in pit stops, we need to avoid very slow pit stops. It’s coming to a situation now where we realise that it has got so competitive and we just need to ramp up our game up there.”
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