Scuderia Ferrari was the fastest team in Sakhir when it came to performing pit stops. First and second place in terms of tire changes for Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, followed by Red Bull. Alpine is, once again, at the bottom also of this ranking.
Ferrari emerged as the second force in the first Grand Prix of the 2024 Formula 1 season, securing the first podium with Carlos Sainz and the fourth position with Charles Leclerc, both trailing behind the Red Bull duo of race winner Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez.
For the Prancing Horse team, the gap to bridge with Red Bull – even though it would be more accurate to refer to Red Bull RB20 number 1, that of Max Verstappen – has halved compared to the Bahrain Grand Prix of the previous season, despite braking system issues that slowed Charles Leclerc down and could have allowed the Maranello team to compete more effectively for the second position at the 5.412 km Bahrain International Circuit.
However, the Italian side leaves Sakhir and heads to Jeddah, the venue for the second race of the Formula 1 season where the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix will take place, as a benchmark in a rather important ranking in today’s World Championship, where tenths or even hundredths of a second can determine the course of a Grand Prix.
We are talking about the ranking of the fastest pit stops made in 2024. In Sakhir, Ferrari was the fastest in executing its pit stops, securing both the first and second positions in this special ranking.
The fastest pit stop was carried out on Charles Leclerc’s SF-24 number 16 in 2.23 seconds, while the second – although tied with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen – was executed on Carlos Sainz’s Red car in 2.27 seconds.
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However, Red Bull has certainly not lost efficiency in a crucial aspect where they have often been a benchmark in recent seasons. In addition to Max Verstappen’s second-place, Sergio Perez achieved the third-best time during his pit stop in 2.29 seconds, just 2 hundredths slower than his teammate and Carlos Sainz’s pit stop.
McLaren complete the Top 5 with Lando Norris’s pit stop in 2.33 seconds, one hundredth better than Yuki Tsunoda’s pit stop made by Racing Bulls. Behind the Faenza-based team, the gaps are more pronounced, with Mercedes securing the seventh pit stop in the ranking for Lewis Hamilton in 2.51 seconds. In eighth position is Haas, which changed Kevin Magnussen’s tires in 2.56 seconds, and Aston Martin in ninth with Lance Stroll’s pit stop in 2.57 seconds.
At the bottom of the most important ranking, the one related to the final results in the Bahrain Grand Prix, but as well as in the one dedicated to pit stops, we find Alpine. Esteban Ocon had his tires replaced in 2.64 seconds, a full 4 tenths slower than Ferrari’s reference with Leclerc.
Last season at the Lusail International Circuit in Qatar, the team led by Italian engineer Andrea Stella completed a pit stop for Lando Norris in just 1.80 seconds. This earned McLaren a place in the Guinness World Records thanks to the remarkable performance set by the Woking mechanics. In this image you can find the top ten fastest pit stops in history. Since the 2023 Formula 1 Qatar Grand Prix, the record has not been broken yet.
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