It’s difficult not to marvel at a Formula 1 pit stop—four tires changed in under 3 seconds. McLaren even set a record with a 1.8-second pit stop at the Qatar Grand Prix in October.
F1 world champions Red Bull decided to take the challenge of a pit stop to a new level recently when the team was asked to complete a pit stop in total darkness. The test was to see if a pit crew that had practiced pit stops hundreds, if not thousands, of times could complete pit stop in total darkness.
Call it the ultimate test of muscle memory.
“The Pitch Black Pit Stop was a challenge we could literally never see coming our way as a race team, but in typical Red Bull fashion, we have come to expect the unexpected,” Oracle Red Bull Racing sporting director Jonathan Wheatley said. “The sense of sight, being able to see the car, your teammates and what you are doing are intrinsic to a successful pit stop, so having that taken away presented some serious hurdles.
“However, what soon became clear is how fluid the Team are in their approach, communication, ability and cohesive spirt; that the task at hand was almost second nature. I was really proud of their performance. The time of 2.84 seconds is a strong stop even in broad daylight. I’m certainly not saying that I would like to turn the lights out in a race, but being able to pull this off so succinctly, in the pitch black, shows what a well-oiled machine the crew is and testament to the fact we have won six consecutive DHL’s Fastest Pit Stop Awards. Beautiful work.”
The lead-up to the test and the actual stop was chronicled by Red Bull. The results were surprising.
Take a look:
Mike Pryson covered auto racing for the Jackson (Mich.) Citizen Patriot and MLive Media Group from 1991 until joining Autoweek in 2011. He won several Michigan Associated Press and national Associated Press Sports Editors awards for auto racing coverage and was named the 2000 Michigan Auto Racing Fan Club’s Michigan Motorsports Writer of the Year. A Michigan native, Mike spent three years after college working in southwest Florida before realizing that the land of Disney and endless summer was no match for the challenge of freezing rain, potholes and long, cold winters in the Motor City.