Pit Stop - Notable Pit Stops

Notable Pit Stops

• 1963 Daytona 500: Wood Brothers Racing developed choreographed pit stops to reduce the amount of time spent on pit road. Driver Tiny Lund spent so little time on pit road that he went on to win the race without changing his tires once. For this, Wood Brothers Racing is often credited with inventing the modern pit stop.
• 1965 Indianapolis 500: Wood Brothers Racing fielded a Ford powered Lotus driven by Scottish Formula One driver Jim Clark. This brought their new concept of fast pit stops into open-wheel racing. Clark won the race with an average speed of 150.686 (a new Indianapolis 500 record). This was Ford's first win at Indy.
• 1976 Indianapolis 500: A world record was set for time taken in a pit-stop when Bobby Unser pitted in four seconds.
• 1981 Daytona 500: During the final round of pit stops, Richard Petty's crew called off a planned tire change, and serviced fuel only. The lightning-fast stop put Petty back on the track in the lead, and he held off a shocked Bobby Allison for a record 7th Daytona 500 victory.
• 1982 Indianapolis 500: Gordon Johncock and Rick Mears were running together on the track as they approached their final pit stops. Johncock's crew saved time by giving him just enough fuel to finish the race, sending him out with an 11-second lead. The better-handling Mears closed the gap but ran out of laps as Johncock hung on to win by 0.16 seconds.
• 1989 Portuguese Grand Prix: Nigel Mansell came in too fast and missed his pit box. He then reversed back to take his spot, and mechanics changed the tyres. Due to reversing in pit lane, he was disqualified. He did not acknowledge the black flag, collided with Ayrton Senna and was given one-race ban.
• 1991 First Union 400: After an offseason of discussion at the end of the NASCAR season during the Atlanta Journal 500 when Melling Racing rear tire changer Mike Rich was killed by Ricky Rudd's car going out of control during a pit stop, NASCAR experimented with various rules on tire changes in an attempt to prevent a similar incident from happening again. The first was to only allow tire changes during green flag racing, with the first lap after the restart being assigned to cars that started in odd-numbered starting positions, and the second lap after restart for even-numbered starting positions. The rule was unpopular, and teams began to change tires only for regularly scheduled times under the green flag. After the first five races, NASCAR experimented with a rule for the Valleydale Meats 500 in Bristol. The same odd-even rules were used for the first two laps of a pit stop under caution, with the cars starting double-file, with the odd cars on the inside and even cars on the outside. After more complaints, for the seventh race, at North Wilkesboro Speedway, NASCAR reverted to the rules prior to the 1990 crash, along with a new rule mandating a pit lane speed limit. By the middle of the 1990s, almost all motorsport began enforcing a pit lane speed limit.
• 1991 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach: Michael Andretti's pit service was complete as he passed by Emerson Fittipaldi, who began exiting his pit area. Fittipaldi was apparently unaware that Andretti was approaching, and as the two made wheel-to wheel contact Andretti's car was launched into the air. Andretti's damaged car slid into another pit stall, but, though very angry, Michael walked away uninjured. As this incident took place in the wake of a tragic crash in NASCAR that killed a mechanic, this incident prompted CART to mandate pit lane speed limits.
• 1991 Portuguese Grand Prix: Nigel Mansell lost a wheel instantly after making his stop. The mechanics put the wheel back on in the middle of pit road, and Mansell was disqualified for the second time in three years in the event.
• 1993 Australian Grand Prix: McLaren's Ayrton Senna came into the pit unexpectedly for new tires; the team serviced the car in under four seconds.
• 1994 San Marino Grand Prix: Michele Alboreto lost a wheel after his pit stop. The wheel caused injuries to mechanics from Ferrari and Lotus. Following this and other tragic events during the weekend, the pit lane speed limit was introduced in Formula One.
• 1994 German Grand Prix: Benetton driver Jos Verstappen came into the pits; while refuelling, some fuel was accidentally sprayed onto the hot bodywork of the car – a few seconds later the fuel ignited and Verstappen's car was engulfed in a ball of flames. Verstappen escaped the incident with burns around his eyes, as he had his visor up during the pit stop.
• 1995 Spanish Grand Prix: Johnny Herbert exited his pit box with the rear jack still attached to his car. It fell off harmlessly at the pit lane exit.
• 1996 24 Hours of Daytona: "Mad Max" Papis was charging around the track on the final stint of the race, trying to catch the leader. On his final pit stop, Papis entered the pit area at full speed (~200 mph). Despite still finishing second, the startling sight helped earn him the name "Mad Max." This is no longer possible, as almost all federations controlling motorsport have adopted pit lane speed limits because of crew safety.
• 1998 British Grand Prix: Two laps from the finish, Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher was issued with a ten-second penalty, meaning he had to drive through the pit lane obeying the speed limit, stop at the penalty box (not the team's pit box), and remain stationary for ten seconds before leaving the pits and continuing with the race. On the final lap of the race, Schumacher came in to serve the penalty and in doing so crossed the finish line (which extends across the pit lane) before reaching his pit box and before Mika Häkkinen crossed the finish line on the race track.
• 1999 Portland Grand Prix: Gil de Ferran was leading but had insufficient fuel to make it to the finish. Rather than try to conserve fuel, de Ferran's Walker Racing team instructed him to drive all-out to build enough of a margin to make an extra pit stop. The strategy was a gamble as a yellow flag would bunch the field and wipe out any margin de Ferran built. The green flag stayed out, de Ferran pitted without losing the lead and he went on to take the team's first win in four years.
• 2001 24 Hours of Le Mans: Joest Racing changed the transaxle on their Audi R8 (a process that usually takes hours) in less than 5 minutes. They went on to win the overall race.
• 2002 UAW-Daimler Chrysler 400: Sterling Marlin of Chip Ganassi Racing spun while attempting to make a late race pit stop, causing him to break the pit road speed limit. At the time, NASCAR's penalty for speeding while entering pit road was to hold the driver in his pit stall for an additional 15 seconds. The official in Marlin's pit was not informed of the penalty until after the crew released the car. NASCAR determined that they had no precedent for forcing Marlin to return to the pits as his early release was their mistake (and they could not order him back for a stop and go penalty). Marlin won the race by 1.163 seconds. Following the incident, NASCAR amended its rules so that all speeding violations are enforced with a drive through penalty (forcing the driver to travel the length of pit road at the speed limit).
• Sprint All-Star Race XVIII (2002): Roush Racing's Jeff Burton made a pit stop on the final lap of the first 40-lap segment. A pit stop for tires was mandatory during the segment, but the rule did not stipulate when it had to be taken. By selecting a pit stall only 100 yards shy of the start/finish line, Burton did not have to spend the time all the other drivers took traveling the entire length of pit road. Since Sprint All-Star Race XIX, the rule was modified to mandate the stop within a specific number of laps in the race.
• 2008 Canadian Grand Prix: Ferrari's Kimi Räikkönen came to a stop at the end of the pit lane as the exit was closed, with the red indicator light on. Räikkönen was alongside BMW's Kubica at the end of the pit lane when Hamilton sped towards them not noticing the red light at first. Hamilton slid into the back of Räikkönen's car, with Nico Rosberg further hitting the back of Hamilton. Both Hamilton and Räikkönen retired from the race, each leaving their vehicles at the exit of the pitlane. Both Hamilton and Rosberg were penalised a 10 place grid penalty at the next Grand Prix in France.
• 2008 Singapore Grand Prix: Ferrari's Felipe Massa drove off with the fuel hose still attached to the car knocking down a member of the pit crew while he attempted to head back to the track as he was mistakenly shown the green signal. The problem was later attributed to the failure of Ferrari's automated light system. This being the first night race in F1, the Ferrari team subsequently resumed the use of the traditional lollipop man for the remainder of the season.
• 2011 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix: Lewis Hamilton entered the pit lane and had his service in 3.19 seconds followed seconds later by Jenson Button having a 4 second pit stop with Hamilton having the possibly fastest pit stop in F1 and then the fastest double pit stop combined time.
• 2012 Chinese Grand Prix: The Ferrari team complete a pit stop for Fernando Alonso in 2.4 seconds.
• 2012 German Grand Prix: The Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team complete a pit stop for Jenson Button in 2.31 seconds, making it the fastest pit stop in Formula 1 history.