What is it and why is it being introduced?

What is the new pit stop rule and what will it do?

The new rule for pit stops – enacted by a technical guideline – aims to slow down pit stops. It does this by setting limits on how quickly different parts of the pit stop can be completed.

Certain actions in the pit stop must not be faster than 0.15 seconds, while the minimum time between releasing the wheel cannons from the wheels and switching on the traffic light on the gantry to green is now 0.2 seconds.

The rule was announced in June and was originally intended to take effect from the Hungarian Grand Prix, but has been postponed to the Belgian Grand Prix.

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Why is it being introduced?

As pit stops get faster and faster, the FIA ​​introduced the rule to both reduce the risk of botched pit stops or loose wheels, and to prevent teams from using active systems to control pit stops.

Loose wheel cars are something Formula 1 has seen before, and while teams are usually able to prevent cars from exiting the pits before the wheel is fully secured, there have been times when a loose wheel has Wheel wreaked havoc.

At the 2020 Austrian Grand Prix, Kimi Raikkonen withdrew dramatically when his steering wheel deviated from his car during a safety car restart, while both Haas cars were eliminated after pit stop problems at the 2018 Australian Grand Prix.

Romain Grosjean, Haas F1 Team VF-18 pit stop

Photo by: Sutton Images

Another incident with Raikkonen occurred during the 2018 Bahrain Grand Prix. A mistake in his pit stop resulted in him getting the green light despite a mechanic standing in front of his left rear wheel. Raikkonen set off, ran over the mechanic’s leg and broke it in the process.

An incident occurred at the 2013 German Grand Prix in which someone outside the team was involved.

Red Bull rider Mark Webber was fired with a loose bike and the bike broke loose as he drove out of his pit lane. It ricocheted down the pit lane, narrowly evading mechanics from neighboring workshops, and hitting an unsuspecting cameraman in the back. The force of the wheel knocked him off his feet and smashed him to the ground, leaving him with a broken shoulder and broken ribs.

Which teams will be most affected?

Since the rule aims to slow down pit stops, the teams with the fastest pit stops will be more affected.

Red Bull had by far the fastest pit stops in 2021 and has so far achieved five pit stops under two seconds. They also had the fastest pit stop in eight of the eleven races in 2021 (with Mercedes, Aston Martin and Williams one each).

While Mercedes has the second quickest pit stops on average, their average pit stop is almost a quarter of a second slower – Red Bull’s average stop is 2.57 seconds, while Mercedes is 2.81 seconds. With Red Bull being the only team to break the two-second mark, it is very likely that they will be hardest hit by the change.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB16B, makes a pit stop

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

How did the teams react?

Unsurprisingly, Christian Horner and Red Bull as a whole spoke out against the new rule. Horner said: “Formula 1 is about innovation and competition. Seeing pit stops under two seconds is a remarkable feat and we should encourage it, not try to control it, where else does it stop? to slow us down, ”he said. “First we had the rear wing thing and now they have marked our pit stop equipment as illegal. But it’s all hot air. “

In June, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff said that although they had not actively asked for Red Bull to be examined, they had asked for clarification about the pit stops.

“We asked the FIA ​​about a safety mechanism that is related to a system we are using and whether it could be optimized. That happened three or four weeks ago, I would say. And it was a technology question.

“So that triggered something else? Maybe. I do not know. But we asked ourselves this question. “