Sam Michael on Red Bull and McLaren’s pit stop blunders

Last time out at the European Grand Prix, the Red Bull of Sebastian Vettel showed immense pace in relation to the rest of the field. Until the safety car period on lap 27, the reigning World Champion was in a world of his own in the lead of the race. If the German hadn’t have retired shortly afterwards, he would most likely have stormed to his second win of the season.

As it transpired, Fernando Alonso stole victory away from Red Bull in an emotional victory for the Spaniard. McLaren, however, suffered a dismal end to the race as Lewis Hamilton crashed out after a collision with Pastor Maldonado. Along with another pit stop blunder, this was a weekend to forget for the Woking-based outfit. However, the team’s Sporting Director Sam Michael believes Red Bull’s pace at Valencia was most likely circuit-specific and expects the gap between McLaren and Red Bull to close up once again this weekend.

“It [Red Bull’s pace] probably has got some circuit-specific nature to it.” Explained Sam Michael, “If you look forward to Silverstone it’s definitely more in line with where the McLaren’s strengths are. However, it’s clear Red Bull have taken a step forward, although I don’t think it’s as big as the pace that Sebastian Vettel showed in that first stint and we are hoping to correct that at Silverstone. We have upgrades going to Silverstone as well, as we do at every race. So we are hoping they can bring at least a tenth. So regardless of where Red Bull were in Valencia - and they were very strong - our target is to be on the front row and challenging for a win.”

When asked why he thinks Sebastian Vettel’s first stint at the European Grand Prix wasn’t reflective of the pace of the RB8, he explains that it most likely has a lot to do with the Pirelli tyres.

“I’d be pretty surprised if they maintained a second-a-lap gap to the rest of the field.” Continued Sam Michael, “It was impressive pace but ultimately, as we’ve seen throughout this year, if you get the tyres working properly and you fall into that window then you can generate enormous amounts of grip. We’ve seen that probably four or five times this year. So Sebastian [Vettel] was certainly better on the tyres in that first stint. I think it was reflective of that rather than the car.”

Throughout the 2012 season, it’s fair to say that a lot of points for McLaren have been lost due to pits stop blunders. Jenson Button suffered one during the Chinese Grand Prix, which ruined his chance of victory. Lewis Hamilton has endured the majority of these blunders, with the latest episode occurring at the European Grand Prix. However, Sam Michael has explained how McLaren are not trying to be the quickest in the pits, but instead the most consistent team with the quickest average pit stop time.

“Our target is consistency.” Said Sam Michael, “Our target is not the fastest stationary time but the fastest average time. Our internal target is to achieve three-second pit stops consistently. Consistency always has been our goal and all of the technology that we have added has actually been to add consistency, rather than speed.

“Everyone has similar pains. Look at Red Bull in Montreal, they had a problem with a front-right tyre. Look at Ferrari in Valencia last week - the front-left tyre wasn’t even changed when they changed the front wing on Massa’s car. Mercedes are still having problems retaining wheel nuts. So we’re not unique in having issues with equipment or technical process. We do take it very seriously internally.”

However, with McLaren aiming for victory at this weekends British Grand Prix, another pit stop error during the race could be detrimental to any chances of victory for either Button or Hamilton. Sam Michael is confident these errors have been identified and rectified, and with 800 practice pit stops completed earlier in the week, there is no denying the McLaren mechanics are trying their best.

“We identified the problem in Valencia and why that failed and the design has been modified for Silverstone.” Continued Sam Michael, “On Monday this week, we completed 800 pit stops on the jacking systems, with no faults at all. So during a race weekend, we would probably do about 50 pit stops, including all of the practices. So effectively we did 16 Grand Prix weekends on Monday. So we believe that we have solved it, but at least we have done good due diligence on the new design we have got for Silverstone.”

With McLaren confident their pit stops will not suffer the same embarrassing blunders during this weekends British Grand Prix, they will undeniably be hoping that they can bring the fight to Red Bull as they try and take victory in front of their adoring home fans.

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