Pit stops to take sub-3 seconds in 2010

[Guest]

Caps lock is activated.

[John S]

Looks like pit stops will take on a whole new feel this year, there is potential to lose more time through error as a proportion of the whole stop, so will these faster conditions lead to more fumbling?

F1 looks set to stage lightning-fast pit stops in 2010.

Williams spokeswoman Claire Williams revealed that the Grove based team was on Thursday practicing pit stops for the forthcoming season.

Refuelling has been banned for 2010, meaning that the only routine action to take place during pit stops this year will be the changing of tyres.

"The guys have made it into the sub-three second range to change a set of tyres!" she exclaimed.

OneStopStrategy.com, Today

[Jericoke]

It will also mean adjustments to wings, clearing radiators will cost time as well.

I suspect that the wing changes will be far more important though, as the cars change weight, probably worth an extra second in the pits.  Or... I know that the wings cannot be changed by the driver, or on the track, but could they be computer controled during a pitstop?  Just send a bluetooth command to a servo?

[Williamsfan]

It will be exciting as I am sure it will lead to more mishaps.  I cannot believe that a team can consistently do a change that quickly during the course of a race, but who knows, maybe they will.  That is insanely quick though, sub 3 seconds.  Damn!

[Scott]

It will also mean adjustments to wings, clearing radiators will cost time as well.

I suspect that the wing changes will be far more important though, as the cars change weight, probably worth an extra second in the pits.  Or... I know that the wings cannot be changed by the driver, or on the track, but could they be computer controled during a pitstop?  Just send a bluetooth command to a servo?

I thought the wings could be controlled by the driver this year, but only so much and only so many times per lap (I think once or twice).

[PG_Gabriel]

Damaging a wing will have a a Much larger effect on a drivers race. Maybe we will see something like that wing changing trolley that Toyota had in one race last year, or maybe the year before?

[Andy B]

Sub 3 seconds?
As the time is takne from the car stopping and restarting I find that hard to believe sub 5 maybe, I think there might be a little gamesmanship going on here!!

[raindancer]

Without refueling that seems realistic to me. But wonder if anyone has done a time and motion study of the pit lane at these speeds and times and with a scenario where everyone pits at the same time for some reason.

[Alianora La Canta]

I thought the wings could be controlled by the driver this year, but only so much and only so many times per lap (I think once or twice). {Scott - 4 posts ago}

The front wing can be controlled by the driver this year as with last, but the mechanics can still adjust the wing during stops (and aren't limited to the few degrees a driver is permitted to use).

[Alianora La Canta]

Sub 3 seconds? No no
As the time is takne from the car stopping and restarting I find that hard to believe sub 5 maybe {Andy B - 3 comments ago}

The record at Autosport 2007 for a tyre change was 3.8 seconds. That was with three people who had no experience of taking F1 tyres on or off doing the tyre change in a display area where you couldn't just chuck the tyre away because it would have landed in the crowd or on one of the sides of the Toyota truck where the public competition took place. At that point the in-team record for a tyre change was 3.08 seconds. Sub-3 seconds sounds plausible.

[monty]

I know I'm stating the obvious but if it is 3 seconds from when the car stops , or 5 seconds, it is almost irrelevant because (depending on circuits) it takes 20-30seconds from leaving the circuit to rejoining and more time will be won or lost in braking and pulling away than the total time taken actually changing the wheels.
In reality the pit stop is just a throw of the dice. It only really makes a difference if something goes wrong or if the car leaving the circuit was in some way holding up cars behind.

[Jericoke]

I know I'm stating the obvious but if it is 3 seconds from when the car stops , or 5 seconds, it is almost irrelevant because (depending on circuits) it takes 20-30seconds from leaving the circuit to rejoining and more time will be won or lost in braking and pulling away than the total time taken actually changing the wheels.
In reality the pit stop is just a throw of the dice. It only really makes a difference if something goes wrong or if the car leaving the circuit was in some way holding up cars behind.

I imagine that pit stop time variation will be the same as ever... most pit stops are within 2 seconds of each other (there's just no possibility of a 'splash and go', but that was a rare strategy in F1 anyway).  We've seen many times where that extra second in the pit stop is the difference between a clear track, and coming out in traffic.  Everyone is just going to have to adjust their calculations by 4 or 5 seconds... and some people are going to get it wrong to start.