F1 Pit Stop Ballet 

Watch Ferrari’s F1 pit crew do a pit stop in a bit over two seconds. Crazy impressive.

5 Comments leave a comment below

  1. Not nearly as impressive as a quarter of the guys doing it all manually in 15 seconds. NASCAR FTW.

  2. Hate to correct you @bootska, but in NASCAR they use the same equipment as in F1 (only less efficiently, as they have multiple bolts per wheel and 1/3 of the people to do it with, plus they refuel in NASCAR). The process itself is pretty much the same.

    It’s not like they use a tyre iron in NASCAR or anything – they don’t. Both F1 and NASCAR changes are impressive, but NASCAR pit crews don’t do anything ‘manually’ in comparison to F1 crews.

  3. In F1 the lifts are pneumatic, the fuel is pumped, and they only have one bolt hub on a car that weighs about 1300 lbs. Add fueling and you’re looking at about 7.5/8 seconds total. Total of 18 guys.

    Compared to a standard floor jack (manual), fueling (gravity), and standard 5 lug pattern on a car that weighs 2.5x as much (3200 lbs). each tire changer changes two tires. Using 7 guys with an average time of 14 seconds.

    It’s an analog versus digital comparison. While not nearly as graceful, I find the analog more impressive.

  4. To be clear @bootska, I’m not saying F1 is better than NASCAR or vice versa – they both have awesome pit crews, cars and tech that makes them both exciting in their own way. This isn’t a petrol-head version of Apple versus Android or PlayStation versus Xbox.

    I’m just saying that NASCAR is not manual.

    FYI, there’s no fuel being pumped in F1, hence the 2-second stops. F1 haven’t refueled cars since 2010. And the jacks in NASCAR are known as ‘one-pump’ because they’re hydraulic – they’re not manual.

    There’s really nothing that is manual in NASCAR, it’s just a bit less efficient (fewer people, more lugs, heavier tyres, heavier car) and so takes longer, but I reiterate they’re both great to watch.

  5. Anyway, great job these guys are doing. The training video is also pretty impressive …
    http://youtu.be/FzOdmKYpIeU