Max Verstappen’s team makes pit stops in pitch darkness: ‘Some would have thought it impossible’ | formula 1

The members of the Formula 1 team were asked in advance to predict how long such a pit stop would take. Verstappen guessed at 6.69 seconds. He thus underestimated his team, because after ten attempts the clock stopped at 2.84 seconds.

Red Bull speaks of the very first pit stop in the dark in the history of the sport. ‘The team practiced for three days in advance at the Red Bull Technology Campus. It wasn’t until the day of the challenge that they were completely plunged into darkness, with the visors of the pit crew’s helmets also black. In front of 27 specialized cameras, it took 22 pit crews and 10 attempts to achieve what some had thought impossible. The end result was an incredible stop of 2.84 seconds, just one second off the team’s record time at the 2019 Brazilian Grand Prix.

Jonathan Wheatley, sporting director at Red Bull, says he is proud of the achievement. ‘2.84 seconds is a strong stop even in broad daylight. “I’m not saying I’d like to turn the lights off during a race, but for them to accomplish this in pitch darkness shows what a well-oiled machine the pit crew is.”

View the images of the pit stop in the dark here.