Formula 1 race Pitstop

Most of us who love excitement definitely must have watched Formula 1 racing. It may look simple for an amateur racing enthusiast that they may dream to win the race if they have a best roaring engines zooming past the lanes. However, there is lot of perfection and practice required for competing in Formula 1 racing. One of the most important aspect of Formula 1 racing is pit stop.

What is pit stop?

The pit stop is an earmarked place for a racer to stop for few moments to change tyres and refuel the car and continue.

Any guess what is the time allowed? It is only 7 seconds to complete the whole maintenance exercise. A pit stop, though is never as easy as it looks. The job in the pits is one of the most toughest in the world of formula 1 racing.

Steps involved:

1.The driver enters the pitlane at full speed and reduces it to a speed limit of 80kms/hr and brings the car to a halt at the pit. The fuel filler flap automatically pops open. The driver sets his vehicle in nuetral and keeps his foot on the brake so that the wheels dont turn.

2. The car is lifted up on its jacks and mechanics start removing the wheels. And the fuel is pumped into the car.

3. All the four wheels have been changed,the car is lowered to the ground and the last fuel is pumped in, the driver is shown a board by Lollipop telling him to engage the gear.

4. The fuel hose is detached and the car is ready to go.

Team involved:

1. Lollipop man - Team leader who waves the card.

2. Front jack and rear jack specialists- To lift the car.

3. Wheel changing crew - For Each wheel there will be 2-3 members

4. Refuellers - The refueller has two assisting crew. The rig delivers 12 litres of high octane fuel per second. The fuel pipe will be too heavy and requires atleast two members to lift.

5. Fire crew - overseeing these operations are 2 fire extinguishing crew members holding the pipes and ready to blast the water in case the car catches fire during refuelling.

6. Other crew - For doing cleaning debris and small repairs

Now all this action has to be completed in precisely 7 seconds.. Yes just 7 seconds.
Being part of the pit crew is one of the exciting jobs in a racing team. It is a potentially hazardous job. The mechanics don't get any risk allowance seperately and it is almost impossible for them to find life insurance.

The whole sequence is practised a minimum 25-30 times a day and especially on racing days many more times.

The pit-stop crew can make or break a race. They are crucial to the whole race for a driver.

Airliners have benchmarked their practise of housekeeping and refuelling the aircrafts, repairs etc., on seeing the Formula 1 racing pit stop. The down time of an aircraft from destination to destination will be very small and within the available time they need to finish all the maintenance without any flaw.

Life is also a race and there are pitstops, the pitstops refuels the car and gives the much needed break for the driver, even it is just for seconds.

Our friends, family members are pitstops for every human being. The race goes on...