DHL Fastest Pit Stop Award: 2017 FORMULA 1 UNITED STATES GRAND PRIX

Mercedes complete the fastest tire change in the United States Grand Prix at Austin and extend their lead in the DHL Fastest Pit Stop Award.

Mercedes take DHL Fastest Pit Stop in Austin

Mercedes can look back on a perfect weekend at the United States Grand Prix. The Silver Arrows won the Constructors’ title before the end of the season thanks to Lewis Hamilton’s victory at the Circuit of the Americas. They demonstrated perfect teamwork too and completed the DHL Fastest Pit Stop.

The fastest stop of the race was also the last one. Valtteri Bottas came in again on Lap 52 to change tires and bolted on fresh ultrasofts. The Mercedes crew sent the Finn back out on his way in 2.15 seconds and took the fastest pit stop of the race from Red Bull.

Daniel Ricciardo’s tire change of 2.21 seconds was, therefore, the second quickest at the Circuit of the Americas, followed closely by Kimi Räikkönen‘s. He was equipped with fresh tires in 2.22 seconds.

“The first words today go to our team – in the factories at Brackley and Brixworth, as well as the fantastic support we receive from Mercedes-Benz in Stuttgart. I am so proud of what has been achieved: winning across a rule change, something has never been done before in the sport, and doing it because every team member has dug deeper to find performance, been even more diligent on reliability and this has come together in the most special way,” said delighted Head of Mercedes Motorsport Toto Wolff, speaking about his team’s performance.

Different strategies up front

While race winner Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Räikkönen in third place only stopped once, Sebastian Vettel, Max Verstappen and Valtteri Bottas went for a two-stop strategy. Vettel dropped down the field from second to fourth place for a while but was able to overtake Bottas again on fresh tires, and then teammate, Räikkönen, let him through.

There were 26 pit stops in total at Austin, half of which were completed in less than three seconds – a strong performance by pit crews during this 17th race of the season in Texas.

Fastest pit stops: 2017 FORMULA 1 UNITED STATES GRAND PRIX

01 Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) - 2.15s
02 Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull) 2.21s
03 Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) 2.22s
04 Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 2.24s
05 Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) 2.27s
06 Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) 2.27s
07 Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) 2.29s
08 Felipe Massa (Williams ) 2.35s
09 Stoffel Vandoorne (McLaren) 2.50s
10 Fernando Alonso (McLaren) 2.67s

Mercedes extend lead in DHL Fastest Pit Stop Award

Thanks to their strong performance at Austin, Mercedes extended their lead in the DHL Fastest Pit Stop Award. The Silver Arrows now have 428 points, followed by Williams with 355 and Red Bull with 296 points. Since there are at most 129 points to be taken from the last three races of the season, only defending champions Williams can still catch Mercedes.

Next race: 2017 FORMULA 1 GRAN PREMIO DE MÉXICO

Formula 1 is heading to Mexico this weekend for the 18th race of the season. Williams completed the DHL Fastest Pit Stop there last year when they changed Felipe Massa’s tires in 2.06 seconds. The fastest wheel swap of 2015, the year that Formula 1 returned to the Autódromo Honduras Rodríguez, was by Ferrari, who bolted on fresh tires for Sebastian Vettel in 2.30 seconds.