Ferrari think they have figured out cause of slow pit stops

F1 News

9 December 2020 at 18:11
Last update 9 December 2020 at 19:18
  • GPblog.com

2020 is a season that Ferrari would probably like to forget quickly, and their pit stops have been further cause for concern. The team have had several long pit stops, something they think they've figured out by now.

A difficult season for Ferrari

The problem also occurred in Bahrain when Sebastian Vettel stood still for a long time during his pit stop, something that also happened at Imola. This led to criticism from Vettel, who felt the team needed an "upgrade of the pit stop equipment".

Ferrari says they consider any pit stop that lasts longer than 3.5 seconds as "failed", and 22 percent of their pit stops this year were above that percentage. Diego Ioverno, Vehicle Operation Engineer, explained to Motorsport-Total.com what is causing the slow pit stops.

"It's a specific problem with the lock bolt on the wheels. The thread is not strong enough, so the bolt has been stripped several times. This is a reliability problem, and we are working hard to fix it for next year."