What makes Red Bull's pit stops so fast? 'Don't rely on equipment'

Red Bull Racing didn't dominate on the track, but in the pit lane, there were few teams that could fight Red Bull. The team's pitstops were often the fastest of all and the 2020 record ended up at 1.86 seconds. They achieved that twice, in Russia with Max Verstappen and in Portugal with Alexander Albon. Helmut Marko knows the secret of the fast pitstops.

"For us, the continuity and interaction between mechanics is extremely important. There is mutual trust. On top of that, of course, there is the physical and mental preparation and a lot of training. Our equipment is also very good, of course, but in the end, it's all about the people, they can make the difference", Marko explains in conversation with Auto, Motor und Sport. 

Replacements cause for slow stops

The Austrian himself admits that mistakes were made at the pit stops, mainly by corona. "A stop sometimes lasted longer than three seconds. Unfortunately at the crucial moment in the race in Turkey. There was somebody who misaligned the wing and somebody else who pressed the wrong button, causing the car to go off the jacks too early. They were both replacements because of the coronavirus".

Yet in the end, Red Bull can be proud of what they put down. In the end, they scored 555 points, well ahead of Williams in second place. They also achieved fifteen fastest pit stops in the race and were the only team to record a time under two seconds in 2020. Williams came closest with a stop of exactly two seconds, but they never managed to get below that magical limit.