A very good development process for the SF2017H car is needed for Scuderia Ferrari in order to successfully challenge Mercedes for both Formula One titles this season, but the Maranello team should also improve when it comes to the pit-stop pace and the time spent by the two drivers, Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen, during the tyre change, especially considering the small difference which has been seen between Mercedes and Ferrari at the first races of the 2017 Formula 1 championship.
Williams, which finished on top of F1’s pit-stop standings last year, managed the best times at the Australian, Chinese and Bahrain Grands Prix, opening up a comfortable advantage over its rivals, although truth be told this did not help the team in a significant way given the final results. At the most recent race, the 2017 Russian Grand Prix, Red Bull Racing completed a 2.33s service on Max Verstappen’s car, which represents the fastest pit-stop of the 2017 campaign so far.
After the first four races of the season, using the standard 25-1 points system, Williams continues to lead the standings with a total of 121 points, 44 points ahead of Red Bull, and a further 22 up on World Champion team Mercedes. Scuderia Ferrari is only sixth in this table, with 42 points so for, and the Maranello team should try to improve and gain tenths of a second which could prove vital in a Formula One era where overtaking on the track has become very difficult and the pit-stop strategy most often decides the podium finish. Sebastian Vettel scored his two wins of the season after overtaking Mercedes with a better pit-stop strategy, despite the fact that the Saftey Car did not help Scuderia Ferrari’s German driver on two occasions this season.
Formula 1 DHL fastest pit-stop award standings ahead of the 2017 Spanish Grand Prix, which is scheduled to take place on 14 May at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Montmelo:
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