“Ferrari’s mistake in Sainz’s stop in the Netherlands was unjustified”

Ferrari made a lot of mistakes this season, some of which were repeated during pit stops. Most recently, Carlos Sainz’s 12.7-second stop last weekend ruined the Spaniard’s chances at Zandvoort. After the race, Mattia Binotto, Ferrari boss, confirmed that the problem was the late call for the Spaniard to enter the pits, which caused the tires to not be ready. The front ones arrived perfectly, but in particular, the left rear did not arrive in time, not because it was in the way, but because the mechanic of the left rear wheel was positioned at the front of the car. He was right where he needed to be, and he circled the car as best he could until he got to where he needed to go and delivered the tire to the mechanic who needed to fit it.

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For fans, journalists and people outside a box, this is a strange act. But more so for people who know in detail the dynamics and work carried out in an F1 garage. We define Edu Llorens, who from 2017 to 2021 is a mechanic for AlphaTauri (formerly Toro Rosso)and surely, it is tire manager in one of the two boxes, occupying the position of ‘Tyre Technician’.

Its role is not to remove the wheel from the box, or to put it on. His job at a pit stop, among other things he did in the race, was to make sure the four mechanics had the right tires to stop.

This is how a pit stop works

“The tire manager has prior information from the engineer and he knows what strategies the team is considering, and therefore, what tires he should put in the race. But just to inform the whole team, there is a light with each set of wheels opening to indicate which set to take. This light changes during the race”, explain in DM the former coach of the Faenza team, is now on other professional challenges away from the ‘Great Circus’.

“For example, on the first lap the light usually comes on on hard tires, and as the race goes on it gets updated. And there are other variables, like if a ‘Safety Car’ comes out, that can change you of the compound you plan to put in. Therefore, you must always be attentive, especially the four who have to take the tires. They must always wear a helmet and gloves to be ready at any time”, he added.

With this information, you have to imagine that in the middle of the race, a team wants to make a pit stop. The procedure is as follows: “They call the pilot to the pits. The light of the set of tires to be put on the car comes on, and in the event of a last-minute change in relation to the planned approach, the light of the set to be taken also changes to avoid oversights. , which may occur… ”.

“At that moment, The tire technician knows that all pit stop mechanics who have to ride a tire always get it right and there are no errors., which happened, because I’ve seen people get the wrong tire because it had a light on the last time he looked at it. It’s something that can happen because of the stress of the moment”, remarks the Catalan, making it clear that “that’s why you always have to be attentive”.

But it may happen that, for whatever reason, a mechanic is distracted and a tire won’t go down. The tire technician should realize. But he’s not the only one, that’s where the so-called “escort team” comes in.

What is an escort team?

“The escort team is a second group that comes out when there is an emergency. A clear example is the case of a nut breaking, as happened to Bottas in Monaco (2021). That’s where the escort team comes in, comes out with a second set of tires”, remarks the man from Igualada. “In AlphaTauri we are two from the escort team, but a big team like Ferrari should have about four people. Therefore, it seems impossible to me that one of the wheels was not removed”.

But he saw something even more strange in the detailed retelling of what happened. “I thought the mechanic left late, something that surprised me a lot because it’s super rare.. But what we saw later in the replays was even more strange and they have no reason. The rear wheel mechanic can never be the front.”, clarification. And this is according to the ex of AlphaTauri, during the practice stops that take place at the Grand Prix, each mechanic internalized his approach to the car. Hence the surprise.

“Inside the box there are always people, people ready with helmets and gloves. Things like this cannot happen in a box with so many people.”. He says this with conviction and wonder. Especially, with the number of times a team practices pit stops over the weekend and throughout the course.

2,000 pit stop practices per year

“In every race there is a ‘pit stop practice’. In other words, a team usually practices around 10 pit stops per race per day of the Grand Prix, from Thursday to Saturday, which could be around 12 or 13 if they make a mistake. Meanwhile, on Sunday about 5 or 6 were practiced, just so the mechanics could face the race with a good feeling. More or less, we can talk about 40 or 45 pit stops for each race, and there are 22 appointments throughout the course. In total, around 1,000 pit stops a year at the Grand Prix”, explains Llorens, without forgetting that many more are carried out in the pre-season and at the factory.

“In the winter they do ‘pit stop practice’ every day, and before the chassis is ready they can do a double practice session. Quiet, in the winter you can make about 1,000 pit stops for training. In total, about 2,000 in a whole year”, added Edu.

Lack of attention

All these practices aim to ensure that the choreography between the members of the parade is perfect and that it is as close as possible to 2 seconds. Carlos’s at Zandvoort was 12”7, and for Llorens, a late call to the pit is not to blame. It is a lack of attention.

“It’s not the fault of the late call. Unforeseen events like this can happen in a race and the mechanic must be prepared just in case things happen. There may be yellow flags, safety cars, a virtual safety car, tires may break… and the mechanics must be ready. The late call is unexcused. The call is made when it is made and the mechanic must obey”concluded Edu Llorens.