The Pitch Black Pit Stop

It’s lights out and away we go, but with a whole new meaning.

Lights out and away we go

A pit stop is a symphony of precision – it’s over almost as quickly as you can say “box box” and even mere mortals can simply hear when it’s a good one. With countless hours of practice, Oracle Red Bull Racing’s pit crew know how to complete the perfect pit stop by now, and to prove it we’ve won the DHL Fastest Pit Stop Award for the last six years.

Even away from track we’ve found ourselves completing pit stops in some pretty wild places, from London’s Parliament Square to literal zero gravity. What we’re saying is that we’re pretty darn good at pit stops by now, so how do you challenge a team that’s already at the top of their game?

Well, what if you took “lights out” a bit more literally? One RB14, eighteen pit crew members, zero lights – that’s right, we’re doing a Pitch Black Pit Stop.

What's a Pit Stop?

Although it’s over in the blink of an eye, the pitstop is one of the most important parts of any Formula One Grand Prix and it can be the difference between winning and losing.

The crew have to be pin-point accurate to ensure the car is stationary in the pit box for as little time as possible.

The laws of Formula One, in a normal, dry race, state that each driver has to use at least two different compounds of tyre during the Grand Prix, hence at least one reason for a pit stop.

Poetry In Motion

Dark Mode Incoming

When the Team choose to bring a driver in, the radio call will be “box, box,” and Max or Checo (or both if we’re attempting a double stop) will prepare to enter the pitlane while the crew jump from the garage to their positions around the pit box. The driver will pull into the pit lane and reduce speed to either 60kph or 80kph, depending on which circuit the Team is racing at.

Once the car is stopped on the blocks, a perfectly choreographed dance begins. 18 people will have their hands on the car in the coming moments. The car gets jacked up, the wheel gunner loosens the wheel nut, all four wheels are removed, then replaced by four new wheels, then the gunner reapplies the wheel nut, the car gets dropped and they’re off into the distance normally to the sound track of fresh rubber squealing on the asphalt. And the Team has done all that work in as little as 1.82s.

2.84 Seconds Is Incredible

Specialist Equipment

1x 3D rig with 1x RED Komodo, 1x RED Komodo Full Spectrum Infrared
3x RED Komodo Full Spectrum Infrared
3x RED Epic Helium
5x GoPro 12
5x GoPro 12 Full Spectrum Infrared
1x GoPro 360
2x Heat vision cameras
Total cameras: 21
Total pit crew: 22
Total filming crew: 27
Total filming time: 4 hours

In The Dark

The Night Vision

The Team attempted 3 tries with a static car and with blind folds on in July to find out if it was at all possible and while it was proven to be possible. Doing it quickly was going to be another matter.

The first attempts were made with blacked out visors on the crews’ usual helmets so that Lee, Chief Mechanic, could observe and see any mistakes in full light to ensure that the crew were able to pull off the pit stop safely.

After that, it was lights out and away we went.

Infrared lighting and night vision experts we brought it to enable us to flood the room with enough Infrared lighting so that the 4 infrared cameras could film in high definition. This was combined with roaming broadcast cameras to allow the team to film when the lights where on.

Military spec night vision goggles were given to the front and rear jackmen, and the driver to ensure that the pit stop could be carried out as safely as possible. It was essential that the driver could see where to stop so that no one was injured. And for the jackmen, they could easy damage the car if they were unable to see it.

Behind The Scenes Of The Pitch Black Pit Stop

The Pit Crew

Many hands make light work, and that is certainly true of a pit stop crew. More than 20 people are involved in a pit stop – and that doesn’t include the back-up crew or the back-up, back-up crew!

SPECIAL:

Talking

Bull

Podcast

Talking Bull, the Official Oracle Red Bull Racing Podcast, with HP Poly speaks to Jonathan Wheatley and Rich Wolverson, two members of the Team who are heavily involved with our award-winning pit crew.

The

Wheels

First let’s focus on what’s involved at each corner of the car. There are three positions; the wheel gunner, the wheel off and the wheel on. There are four of each position. The front wheel off crew members also wear a plastic ‘stop marker’ on their arm signalling where the driver needs to stop.

In Action In The Dark

The

Jacks

Away from the wheels there will be two jackmen, one at the front and one at the rear. They’re the first to begin the stop. There is also a spare rear jackman, should the jack not work properly.

Nerves Of Steel

The

Stabilisers

With the car up on jacks, it can become unsteady so there are two stabilisers who are situated in the middle, between the front and rear wheel teams. They will help keep the car steady whilst the wheels are being changed.

Let's Get This Pitch Black Pit Stop

The

Adjusters

If a driver has requested a front flap adjustment there will also be two wing adjusters at the front ready to raise or lower the flap depending on what the Team or driver requested.

With such specialised positions, you’d think it could be a job for life, but not so. During the offseason everyone in the garage will try various positions to see what works best. Certain attributes can help people in particular roles. Upper-body strength and handedness are factors, but temperament plays into it too: gunners need to be calm; the front jack needs to live on his wits and so on. Finally, the team needs balance – the physical rather than metaphorical sort – it’s no good if one corner is consistently quicker than its opposite: that makes the car lurch on the jacks and nobody goes very quickly. The trick is to have a pit crew that can work beautifully in unison every time.

Top Work Team!