Formula 1
Red Bull completes first F1 pitstop in total darkness
Red Bull's Formula 1 team has bookended 2023 by completing the first ever pitstop in total darkness, clocking in at 2.84s in its Milton Keynes factory.
Filip Cleeren
Edited: Dec 16, 2023, 1:48 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
The world championship-winning team, which is known for its quirky PR activities, trained its pit crew to pull off the so-called "pitch black pitstop" as a celebration for winning the DHL Fastest Pitstop Award for six consecutive years.
The trophy is handed out to the team that pulls off the fastest pitstops on average across the F1 season, with Red Bull beating Ferrari and McLaren in the standings this year.
After three practices using blindfolds, the 22 pit crew members were then "fully plunged into darkness" in a dark factory, with their helmet visors also blacked out.
Following 10 attempts they sharpened their time from a first attempt of 8.84s down to 2.84s, which is faster than some teams achieve over a race weekend.
While the tyre change crew operated blind, its front and rear jack operators and the driver wore night vision devices provided by the military.
"The sense of sight, being able to see the car, your team-mates and what you are doing are intrinsic to a successful pitstop, so having that taken away presented some serious hurdles," said Red Bull's sporting manager Jonathan Wheatley.
Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool
Red Bull Racing pitch black pit stop
"However, what soon became clear is how fluid the team is in its approach, communication, ability and cohesive spirit; that the task at hand was almost second nature. I was really proud of their performance.
"The time of 2.84 seconds is a strong stop even in broad daylight. I'm certainly not saying that I would like to turn the lights out in a race, but being able to pull this off so succinctly, in the pitch black, shows what a well-oiled machine the crew is and testament to the fact we have won six consecutive DHL Fastest Pit Stop Awards. Beautiful work."
Red Bull has also held the world record for fastest F1 pitstop during a grand prix, until its time of 1.82s was beaten by Lando Norris' pit crew at McLaren during this year's Qatar Grand Prix, bringing it down to 1.80s.
In 2023 Red Bull won all but one grand prix with its dominant RB19 as Max Verstappen walked to his third straight world championship with a record 19 race wins.
Read Also:
Formula 1Red Bull: 20kg weight purge for "cut and shut" RB19 was key to F1 2023 dominance
Formula 1New AlphaTauri name still under wraps as FIA publishes 2024 F1 entry list
Formula 1Sauber to run under Stake F1 Team name in 2024-25
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Interview: How F1 sponsorship reflects the changing face of the audience
Next article FIA opens up on "unsustainable" deficit it has been fighting to cut
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Filip Cleeren
Five key takeaways from F1's big African Grand Prix reveal in Rwanda
Formula 1
Formula 1
Five key takeaways from F1's big African Grand Prix reveal in Rwanda
F1 signs historic 10-year Rwanda deal to host African Grand Prix
Formula 1
Formula 1
F1 signs historic 10-year Rwanda deal to host African Grand Prix
Latest news
Phillip Island to remain in use despite MotoGP and WorldSBK departures
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Australian GP
1 h
Phillip Island to remain in use despite MotoGP and WorldSBK departures
Did Max Verstappen already know the impact of Red Bull’s big upgrade when he signed his new deal?
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Singapore GP
2 h
Did Max Verstappen already know the impact of Red Bull’s big upgrade when he signed his new deal?
WEC: Barcelona 6 Hours schedule and TV times
WEC
WEC WEC
Barcelona
3 h
WEC: Barcelona 6 Hours schedule and TV times
Brennan Poole joins Jordan Anderson Racing for 2027 NASCAR O'Reilly season
NASCAR O'Reilly
NOAP NASCAR O'Reilly
Phoenix II
4 h
Brennan Poole joins Jordan Anderson Racing for 2027 NASCAR O'Reilly season
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe