F1 Pitstops will be slower this season

[John S]

Teams have agreed to ban Helium powered trye guns at races.

In recent years teams have used Helium because it's low density spins the gun faster, giving up to 30% increase in speed. World supplies of the gas, which are non-renewable, are diminishing so on cost and enviroment grounds using Helium is unsustainable.

Returning to compressed air means the record time for a stop of 2.43 secs, set by Mercedes at the Korean GP in 2011, could stand for many many years to come.

Now come on hands up all of you that knew that the wheel guns were fired up on Helium? I confess I was blissfully unaware.  - I cetainly can't remember the so called experts on TV making anyone aware.

 

[Scott]

No, I didn't realize it either.  But I guess it explains why they never interview the pit crew after a lousy stop...they'd all be talking with Donald Duck voices   

[Canada Darrell™]

I didn't know that and I still say that to make this a TEAM sport all pit-stop personnel should be required to stay inside the garage or behind a wall until the car comes to a complete stop.

[lkjohnson1950]

Yes, I think one thing NASCAR has right is the Pit Stop. F1 would be more interesting if they adopted rules limiting the number of people used and making them wait behind a line at the door until the car stops. Then you could really see the difference a great stop could make.

[Scott]

I'll third that.  I don't like the 3sec pit stops anyhow - it would be nice to have another bit of strategy thrown in after the refuelling was banned.  5-6 guys - and each tire changer has to scramble around a la NASCAR and change two tires - from a safety point of view it would be two less things for the lollipop guy to have to watch out for as well, not to mention pneumatic hoses hanging all over the place.    

[John S]

I still say that to make this a TEAM sport all pit-stop personnel should be required to stay inside the garage or behind a wall until the car comes to a complete stop.

Nah, I have to disagree. The pressure on the crew to make lightning pitstops can result in c*ck ups which can change the race positions and makes for much better viewing for us TV spectators.
 
The American model is based in the main on yellow flag periods, when you often get most of the field trying to get service at the same time. Not allowing anyone over the wall is a major safety measure in such crowded situations. In F1 it is rare to have more than a handful of cars in the pits together so keeping the present larger crews makes the races more exciting I think.

   

[Jugirl]

Helium...I will fess up I had no idea either.

I can see both sides of the pit stop debate but I think I will have to side with John on this one as the lightning stops causes pressure and the pressure causes the mistakes.

Ju

[cosworth151]

I agree with John & Ju on this one. The fast stop requires much more precision, IMO.

[David]

I'm on the fast stop bench too, much more pressure to be precise.

Oh, and I too had no idea they used helium gas rather than compressed air.

[Scott]

Pressure?  I'd say the F1 pit crew could be easily replaced by robots - the total range of motion for each of the 15 guys is probably less than half a metre.  Go watch a few NASCAR pit stops and you'll see pressure.

[David]

Pressure?  I'd say the F1 pit crew could be easily replaced by robots - the total range of motion for each of the 15 guys is probably less than half a metre.  Go watch a few NASCAR pit stops and you'll see pressure.

It's the pressure to get it right when your talking about split seconds. No doubt the NASCAR guys have much more physical pressure on them.

[Scott]

I still don't see it.  The NASCAR guys nail their pit stops in 13-14 seconds (instead of 3-4sec), and - just like F1 - if they make a tenth of a second mistake or delay, then the other car gets out ahead.  The advantage of having longer pit stop times is the strategy on the track.  It mixes it up a lot more, and causes you to consider when to make the pit stop a more critical decision.

Think of the pressure of 2 guys and 20 lug nuts vs 4 guys and 4 nuts and talk about pressure to not make a mistake - that's aside from running around the car and mounting much heavier wheels.

Watch carefully - each tire guy has to take off and put on 5 nuts per wheel.


 

[David]

That was pretty impressive. 

Still prefer my F1 stops all the same. 

[cosworth151]

A 2 second mistake in a NASCAR pit stop is a 10% increase. The same error in F1 almost doubles the pit stop.

[Scott]

That doesn't matter - the same number of cars can get past you in 2 seconds in either NASCAR or F1.