Red Bull Racing have taken their pit-stop skills to another level by becoming the first ever Formula 1 team to successfully complete a pit-stop in complete darkness.
At their Milton Keynes base, the world champions first performed the pit stops with their crew blindfolded having made three practice attempts.
And then the crew was given 10 attempts at pulling off the remarkable feat.
With the lights turned off, they completed the challenge in their final attempt.
In a remarkable feat, they produced their quickest time of 2.84 seconds relying completely on muscles memory in the absence of any visual aid.
“Some teams in the pit lane would love to do that (2.84 seconds) in a normal race – but to do it blindfolded,” said chief mechanic Lee Stevenson. “Incredible, absolutely incredible.”
Red Bull Sporting director Jonathan Wheatley praised the crew for their fluidity.
“The Pitch Black Pit Stop was a challenge we could literally never see coming our way as a Race Team, but in typical Red Bull fashion, we have come to expect the unexpected!” Wheatley said.
“The sense of sight, being able to see the car, your team-mates and what you are doing are intrinsic to a successful pit stop, so having that taken away presented some serious hurdles. However, what soon became clear is how fluid the team are in their approach, communication, ability and cohesive spirt; that the task at hand was almost second nature.
“I was really proud of their performance. The time of 2.84 seconds is a strong stop even in broad daylight!
“I’m certainly not saying that I would like to turn the lights out in a race, but being able to pull this off so succinctly, in the pitch black, shows what a well-oiled machine the crew is and testament to the fact we have won six consecutive DHL’s Fastest Pit Stop Awards. Beautiful work.”
Red Bull won a sixth straight Fastest Pit Stop Award which is given to the team logging consistentlly fast timings throughout a season.
