PITSTOP PANORAMA

For the second consecutive year, Williams hold the record for the quickest in-race pitstop, a 2.02s on Felipe Massa’s car during the British Grand Prix. In a specially composed 360-degree image, we look at who does what…

It’s a pitstop image like you’ve never seen before – and with Williams, so it’s fast

1 Left-front wheel off

Each wheel has three mechanics: one to take the old wheel off, another to operate the wheel gun, and a third to locate the new wheel on the hub. These mechanics make up 12 of the 21 personnel deployed in a pitstop.

2 Left-front wing adjust

This mechanic adjusts the flap angle of the front wing, as requested by the driver, to fine-tune the car’s aerodynamic characteristics for different tyre compounds or weather conditions. Another crew member also cleans the rear wing to ensure aero performance isn’t compromised by debris caught in the slot gaps.

3 Front jackman

Raises the front of the car as quickly as possible when the car stops in the pitbox. A corresponding jackman lifts the car at the rear. There are also spare hydraulic jacks on standby in case of a malfunction.

4 Controller

Ultimately responsible for overseeing the pitstop, the controller holds the car in position (by operating the red and green traffic light with remote control) to ensure that the car isn’t unsafely released into traffic.

5 Right-front wheel gunman

The art of loosening and connecting the wheel nut takes hours of practice. Fixed too loosely, the new wheel could come off; whereas a nut fixed too tight might be slow to release at the next stop. During the off-season Williams personnel will practice up to 300 times in the factory, and they’ll carry out around 70 further drills every GP weekend. That’s a total of 1,700 practice pitstops a year.

6 Right-front wheel off

Once the nut is removed, the wheel has to be pulled well clear. In 2017 the size of the fronts increased in width to 305mm from 245mm, and the rears went from 660mm to 670mm. Williams’s fastest pitstop time in 2017 was a 2.02s (for Felipe Massa at the British GP), compared with their quickest time of 1.92s with the smaller tyres in 2016.

7 Marker holder

As a visual aid for the driver, one member of the pitcrew holds a fluorescent chevron marker at the point where the front-right tyre needs to stop in the pitbox.

8 Left-rear off

Every member of the crew is trained in another role (in addition to their own), although this will always be on the same side of the car to avoid confusion.

9 Car steady

Two people (either side) hold on to the car to ensure it doesn’t pivot on its jacks, which would make the tyre-changing process more difficult. Last year, Williams recorded the fastest pitstop in eight of the 20 races.