DHL FASTEST PIT STOP AWARD

Kick Sauber beat terrible weather in Brazil to execute the DHL Fastest Pit Stop

A mechanic’s job in Formula 1 is made particularly tough as soon as it starts to rain. Even when conditions are perfect, managing to complete pit stops in less than three seconds on a regular basis will always be like walking a tightrope. But many other risk factors have to be taken into account as soon as the rain begins to come down fast as it did in the Brazilian GP. So you can maybe appreciate just why Kick Sauber deserve to be applauded yet again for taking their second DHL Fastest Pit Stop of the season.

Much can go wrong when it rains, and the driver’s role becomes more important than ever, as levels of grip are much reduced in the wet as everyone knows. And of course, drivers never get a chance to practice in conditions like these, so driving into the stalls in the pits is much more difficult. Assessing levels of grip becomes pure guesswork when conditions are constantly in a state of flux, and drivers can easily find themselves coming to a stop too far forward or too far back.

And then at the same time, the mechanic’s job is not made easy either. Here again, everything is made more difficult in the race, because of course, levels of grip decrease when you have to kneel soaking wet in the pit lane, and removing tires at speed while using impact wrenches and jacks becomes much harder.

Still, Zhou Guanyu and his Kick Sauber crew remained unfazed. Zhou came into the pits on lap 27 to replace his by now worn-out intermediates on which he had started the race with fresh inters, as rain was beginning to fall with increasing intensity once again. His mechanics accomplished their task in just 2.52 seconds, which, of course, is by no way worthy of comparison to any of the best stops in the dry but is still an excellent performance in the wet.

It’s just Kick Sauber’s showing out on track that has been none too good. Their car has been practically the worst in the field since the end of the summer break and has been without prospect in any of the subsequent races. The rain didn’t help either. Zhou’s was the last car to finish. “The race was extremely disappointing for all of us,” said team spokesperson Alessandro Alunni Bravi, adding, “Despite the disappointment and bitter taste left by the race results, we saw some positive signs in qualifying, which we believe are due to small improvements in our package. The next two weeks will be therefore crucial for us to bring further upgrades for the last triple-header and to regroup.”