Ferrari: A prize for pit stops

Ninety pit stops to retain the top spot. Having been the best when it came to the average time for changing tyres in 2012, Scuderia Ferrari has done it again this year. It’s not just the statistics that bear this out, but also an independent judge in the shape of Sky Sport F1. They have awarded the “Pit Stop Challenge trophy for quickest stops of the 2013 season to the Ferrari crew, with its Head of Track Operations Diego Ioverno picking up the award on their behalf.

“This recognition is very pleasing,” said Ioverno talking to ferrari.com. “It rewards the work we have done, not just in terms of performance, but it also acknowledges the repetitive element which is even more important in this area. It means nothing to complete a pit stop in under two seconds, if after that you do ten of them that take over three. The rest of the team also deserves recognition for this because in the background there’s also the work going on to improve the equipment, the materials and the design of the parts of the car that are involved during the wheel changes.”

Of the ninety pit stops, only eleven took over three seconds to green, in other words when the light goes out with the car already on the ground. Five of those times involved unusual circumstances, such as the DRS failure on Alonso’s car in Bahrain, Massa’s punctures in Bahrain and England, and once, in China, at Fernando’s third pit stop, it was decided to err on the side of caution, given the lead the Spaniard had over his closest pursuer. On no less than 53 occasions, the stop took under 2”5, which can be considered the threshold between a great pit stop and an ordinary one. The best time overall was the 1”95, at Alonso’s first stop during the Japanese Grand Prix. The average time for the two Scuderia drivers is almost identical: Alonso had a 2”44 to green and 2”75 in total, in others words including leaving the pit, while Massa had a 2”49 to green and a 2”76 in total.

However, pleasure in having the value of your work appreciated is short lived for the pit stop crew: the customary photo in the somewhat unusual early December sunshine and then it’s everyone back to work within the Logistics hangar for a tyre change session: because behind it all there is no great secret, just plenty of practice.