Red Bull took on a new challenge and completed a pit stop in complete darkness: The crew had ten attempts for a fast time
Red Bull’s Formula 1 team has completed its first pit stop in complete darkness at the end of 2023, achieving a time of 2.84 seconds at its Milton Keynes factory
The world champion team, known for its quirky PR activities, trained its pit crew for the so-called “Pitch Black Pitstop” to celebrate winning the DHL Award for the fastest pit stops in six consecutive years.
The trophy is awarded to the team that completes the fastest pit stops during the entire Formula 1 season. Points are awarded in each Grand Prix, which are added up at the end of the year. This year, Red Bull overtook Ferrari and McLaren to win the title for the sixth time since 2018.
Now the racing team has set itself a new challenge and completed a pit stop in complete darkness.
After three blindfolded exercises, the 22 members of the pit crew were plunged into complete darkness in a dark factory, with their helmet visors also blacked out. After ten attempts, they improved their time from 8.84 seconds in the first attempt to 2.84 seconds, which is faster than some teams manage on a race weekend.
While the tire change crew worked blind, the front and rear jack operators and the driver wore night vision goggles provided by the military.
“The sense of sight, the ability to see the car, your teammates and what you’re doing, is essential to a successful pit stop and not being able to do that again was a big challenge for us,” said Red Bull’s Sporting Director Jonathan Wheatley.
“However, it quickly became clear how fluid the team’s approach, communication, skills and cohesion were, making the task at hand almost second nature. I was really proud of their performance,” he continues.
“The time of 2.84 seconds is a strong stop even in broad daylight. I’m certainly not saying I’d like to turn off the lights in a race, but the fact that we did it so quickly in the dark shows what a well-oiled machine the crew is and is testament to the fact that we’ve won the DHL Fastest Pit Stop Award six times in a row. Great work.”
However, Red Bull also suffered a minor setback last season, as the fastest pit stop of all time has been out of their hands since Qatar. McLaren had completed a pit stop with Lando Norris in 1.80 seconds, beating Red Bull’s record of 1.82 seconds
