DHL FASTEST PIT STOP AWARD: 2016 FORMULA 1 UNITED STATES GRAND PRIX

Red Bull do it again! The Austrian-British team executed the fastest pit stop of the race in the 2016 FORMULA 1 UNITED STATES GRAND PRIX. The “Bulls Crew” have already managed this once before during the current season. When Max Verstappen called in for his first new set of tires at Austin, his car was stationary for only 2.10 seconds – an impressive time.

However, the crew of the young Dutchman were only marginally faster than that of Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg. His mechanics needed just hundredths of a second longer to change wheels on Sunday. Taking third place in this side-competition was Jenson Button whose McLaren crew put in a strong 2.14-second performance. Of the 45 pit stops during the race on the Circuit of the Americas, 23 took less than three seconds.

In the 2016 DHL Fastest Pit Stop Award, Williams have such a huge lead that they can no longer be caught. In fact, they wrapped up the title several weeks ago. The mechanics servicing Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas have been fastest on 13 out of 18 race weekends so far. They are followed by Mercedes on three and Red Bull on two. None of the other teams contesting the 2016 Formula 1 series have outperformed the others this year in terms of speedy wheel changes.

2nd stop: Verstappen and Räikkönen out of luck – Rosberg in luck

The second tire change for Max Verstappen in Austin went less smoothly. He had misunderstood a radio message from his team and thought that they had called him in. But when he arrived in the pit lane, his crew were not ready. This cost the 19-year-old valuable seconds. Kimi Räikkönen had even worse luck. The rear right wheel on the Finn’s car was not fully secured during his second stop. He came to a halt at the end of the pit lane and was forced to retire. Two examples of how crucial a good pit stop is for a successful race outcome.

By contrast, fortune smiled on Nico Rosberg during his second stop. The German had started alongside pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton but was jumped by Daniel Ricciardo on the first corner. When the Australian pitted for the second and last time, Rosberg moved up to P2 with one tire change of his own still to complete. But then Ricciardo’s team-mate came to his aid – Verstappen had to park his car on track after suffering a gearbox failure.

This was followed by a virtual safety car phase, during which the Silver Arrows man was able to take his pit stop without losing position. As a result, he stayed second behind Hamilton and lost only a few points to his closest rival in the drivers’ championship. “Unfortunately the Virtual Safety Car gave Nico a free stop and track position on Daniel,” said Red Bull team principal Christian Horner after the race. “Without that we would have had track position on Nico, who would have had a softer tire available to him, but it would have been a fight on the circuit between the two guys rather than dictated through the Virtual Safety Car.”

In the US, the top teams generally opted for a two-stop strategy. Of the drivers who subsequently finished in the Top Ten, only Sebastian Vettel and Felipe Massa had their tires changed three times. The Brazilian was forced to do so after sustaining a puncture in a collision with Fernando Alonso in the closing stages of the race. The longest stint of the day was driven by Marcus Ericsson in one of the two Saubers. After making his only stop of the race, the Swede completed a further 38 laps on medium tires.