Mercedes vow to work on pit-stop prowess after "losing time" to Red Bull

Lewis Hamilton pit stop in Imola — Photo: © LAT Images

Mercedes

Mercedes vow to work on pit-stop prowess after "losing time" to Red Bull

Red Bull often post two of under two seconds

Ian Parkes

Friday 23 April 2021 05:00

Mercedes has vowed to work on its pit-stop prowess after conceding "we're not the best" in what could prove to be a vital area in this year's battle for the F1 title.

Rivals Red Bull have perfected the art of a rapid tyre charge as the team holds the record for the fastest stop of sub-two seconds, and often hover around that mark.

Mercedes has rarely come close to such precision during a grand prix, and in a year when fine margins could determine the outcome of the drivers' and constructors' championships, the team know they have to improve.

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Sunday's Emilia Romagna Grand Prix saw the team encounter a problem with Lewis Hamilton's front-right tyre as it attempted the overcut on Max Verstappen, only to be hit with a faulty wheel gun.

Recognising Mercedes' stops are generally slower than that of Red Bull, trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin said: “Well, it is fair to say that we're not the best.

"We are losing time in the pit stops and it is an area that we have been focusing on for a while now.

"In particular though, in Lewis' stop, we did have an issue with one of the pit stop guns. For the next stop, we actually changed to a different gun and that seemed to resolve that issue.

"Also, there was a short hold. We had held him for around four-tenths of a second because [Antonio] Giovinazzi was coming down the pitlane just at the point that Lewis was ready to go.

"As I said, there were some specific instances that affected us in the race in Imola and we will look to work on those."

In terms of addressing the problem going forward, Shovlin added: "Longer-term we are still looking at what we can do with the crew, [and] with the equipment, trying to find a bit more time in the stops.”