Red Bull sets a new F1 pit stop time record

What can you do in 1.91 seconds? Blink your eyes and not much more? We, mere mortals, can’t even begin to fathom how they managed it, but F1 Gran Prix mechanics just replaced all four wheels on a racecar in less than two seconds.

The record-breaking pit stop occurred during the Great Britain stage of the championship last weekend. Pierre Gasly, a French-born professional racing driver currently competing for the Red Bull Racing team, had his rubber swapped out for new in 1.91 seconds.

That said, the nut-wrench-wielding team only came 0.01 s ahead of the previous record set by Williams, a British F1 team that has fallen on hard times lately. Interestingly, when Williams scored its record of 1.92 seconds at the 2013 F1 Gran Prix USA, it was essentially a tie with the Red Bull Racing team. However, the masters of the race refused to acknowledge both teams as winners, and instead counted the milliseconds. As a result, Williams has held the record since 2013 until now.

Gasly’s crazy fast pit stop was not a freak accident, either. The team at the other side of the stop serviced Max Verstappen in 1.96 seconds (you have to make it under 2 seconds to get the unofficial Grandmaster title). Be sure to watch the video with the fastest three pit stops during the Silverstone race!

We would like to add that all teams aspiring to break the new record should act quickly. The upcoming changes to the championship rules may bring back refueling, making visits to the pit lane a considerably longer affair.