F1 | Ferrari sets the standard in pit stops: fastest average and unmatched consistency. Despite a challenging 2025 season, Ferrari has established itself as the benchmark for pit stops in F1.

The 2025 Formula 1 season was disappointing for Ferrari on the sporting side, but some bright spots have emerged. The Scuderia has become the benchmark for pit stops, recording the fastest stop on nine occasions throughout the championship. Moreover, Ferrari is the team with the fastest average pit stop time, clocking in under 2.5 seconds.

It’s no secret that Ferrari’s 2025 campaign did not go according to plan, with the team still waiting for its first win of the season. However, this doesn’t mean there aren’t areas to analyze and build on for the future, especially regarding operational procedures.

With the SF-25 development largely frozen and technical issues persisting—from ride height management to skid block wear—attention has naturally shifted to other areas. Growth margins are being sought in aspects beyond the car’s performance: strategy, trackside management, tire preparation, and pit stop efficiency.

Consistency over raw speed

Looking at the season, Ferrari has often shown solid performance in strategy and procedures. Yet, especially after the summer break, some gaps and errors emerged that impacted results, contrasting with the strong start of the year. Both drivers and team principal Frederic Vasseur repeatedly stressed the need to take a step forward.

One area where Ferrari has firmly established itself as a reference for the grid is pit stops. While this is a partial consolation compared to pre-season objectives, a winning team is built brick by brick. When the car cannot compete with rivals, excelling in every other aspect becomes critical.

It’s not enough to be fast—consistency is key. By the end of the season, Ferrari’s mechanics are likely to win the F1 award for the fastest overall pit crew. This recognition isn’t about a single fastest stop but about maintaining steady performance to stay among the best in every race.

Data highlights Ferrari’s dominance

The true challenge is executing stops consistently. The fastest stop is irrelevant if it cannot be repeated. McLaren, for example, recorded the three quickest stops of the year, including a remarkable 1.91-second stop, yet consistency is what sets Ferrari apart. Over approximately sixty stops, Ferrari exceeded three seconds only five times, well below the threshold that can affect race strategy.

Consistency is also evident in the season’s fastest stops. Ferrari appears five times among the top ten pit stops, with two stops of 2.0 seconds in Monaco and Saudi Arabia, surpassing McLaren’s three and Red Bull’s two. This consistency results from targeted investments to close the pit stop gap, an area where Ferrari previously lagged. Since 2023, the team introduced new-generation wheel guns with LED strips to aid the monitoring of tire removal and attachment.

Alongside technology is the human factor, with over a thousand pit stop drills conducted during the winter break. Sensors on each gun allow technicians to analyze every stage in detail. Each crew member must be perfectly prepared for rotations and role changes, ensuring peak performance under pressure.

“One thing we are proud of is the consistency over the first ten races, even with a major rotation of operators. With more races, we felt the only way to maintain performance throughout the season while balancing work-life was to rotate the pit crew,” explained Diego Ioverno mid-season.

Comparing teams, McLaren averaged just under three seconds per stop but made numerous errors, exceeding three seconds 24 times, four times more than Ferrari. Mercedes averaged 2.73 seconds, and Red Bull 3.18 seconds, with occasional mistakes over ten seconds. Interestingly, Yuki Tsunoda’s pit stops were slightly faster on average than Max Verstappen’s.