A red at the top
If Ferrari needs a solid foundation to rebuild for the future in a season that was meant to be a fight at the top but is turning into a difficult battle just to secure a top-5 finish, that foundation must be the mechanics. Never more than this year have the ‘men in red’ shown their worth, delivering lightning-fast pit stops reminiscent of the golden era with Jean Todt, Ross Brawn, and Michael Schumacher. Back then, refueling was also a factor—now banned by the regulations—but when it comes to tire changes, Ferrari is the benchmark on the entire grid this season.
Even at their home race in Imola, the red crew didn’t disappoint, executing the fastest pit stop of the race: 2.04 seconds to change the tires on Charles Leclerc’s car. It’s the second-fastest pit stop of the entire season, only beaten by the flat 2-second stop—also by Ferrari—back in Saudi Arabia, again on car #16. The overall numbers are impressive: in six out of the seven Grands Prix held this year, Ferrari’s mechanics have been the fastest. The only exception was Sauber’s “win” in Miami.
However, at the Emilia Romagna GP, Red Bull’s mechanics also returned to strong form, with the pit stops for Tsunoda and Verstappen clocking the second- and third-fastest times of the day. The Anglo-Austrian team had dominated the pit stop category in recent years, winning F1’s best pit crew award for seven consecutive seasons from 2018 to 2024. This year, however—at least for now—Ferrari is in front. In a Ferrari team increasingly adrift, one area of excellence remains.
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