Longest Pit Stops In F1 History – Global Sports Planet

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Pit stops are a critical part of F1 races, as in this sport, every second is important and can either give you victory or doom your race. Since the beginning, the art of the pit stop has evolved considerably and gone from being stops up to a few minutes to perfectly coordinated dances of just a few seconds.

Red Bull has the best pit crew and is the team currently holding the record for the fastest pit stop in history, with an impressive 1.82 seconds during the 2019 Brazilian GP. However, today\’s pit stops are not without their problems and complications, and some can be quite lengthy due to incidents or human error.

Let\’s look at some of the longest pit stops in F1 history without further ado.

1. Valtteri Bottas – 2021 Monaco GP

Valtteri Bottas and the Mercedes team hold the record for the longest pit stop in Formula 1. A pit stop is not considered to be completed until all four tires are removed, and four new tires are put on. Well, the Mercedes team could not complete Valtteri Bottas\’ 2021 Monaco GP pit stop until 155,700 seconds after it began, or in other words, 43 hours and 15 minutes.

Bottas was running second behind Max Verstappen and decided to make an early pit stop to change tires. However, his race ended due to a wheel nut stuck on the right front tire. It was impossible, no matter how hard his mechanics tried to get it out.

Finally, the tire was removed back at Mercedes\’ Brackley factory using expert gear. It was a weekend to forget for the Silver Arrows. With Bottas out of the race, Lewis Hamilton finished only seventh.

2. Rubens Barrichello – 2001 Malaysian GP

The 2001 Malaysian GP was a very chaotic race, due to the changing weather, going from dry to wet, in which many drivers went off the track, spun off, and crashed constantly.

The Ferraris of Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello started first and second and finished the race in those positions as well, but, like the rest, they were not without problems. Early in the race, Ross Brawn called both drivers in for a double pit stop to change to wet tires when it started to rain.

Barrichello arrived first, but his pit stop lasted 1 minute and 12 seconds, as the team was missing the Brazilian\’s front right tire due to a tire mix-up and debris had to be removed from his sidepods as well, while Schumacher sat behind the whole time. The duo emerged 10th and 11th and began their comeback.

3. Lewis Hamilton – 2019 German GP

The 2019 German GP was held at the Hockenheim circuit, and in addition to being the main sponsors of the race, Mercedes also celebrated the one hundred and twenty-fifth anniversary of its motorsport activity, with a commemorative livery.

However, this celebratory weekend turned out to be one of the worst in the team\’s history, as Bottas retired after an accident, while Lewis Hamilton finished ninth.

The race was very chaotic, as it rained a lot, and there were many accidents and off track. Hamilton was leading on lap 29, and due to an accident, the Safety Car came out. However, in the last corner, the Englishman hit the barriers, damaging his front wing, so he immediately came into the pits.

As it happened in the last corner, the team was not prepared, so they had to bring out not only new tires but a new wing, which took 50.3 seconds, causing Hamilton to drop to fifth place.

4. Esteban Tuero – 1998 Argentine GP

Argentine Esteban Tuero made his F1 debut in 1988 at the age of 19, becoming the then-third-youngest (now eighth youngest) F1 driver in history, although he only competed in that season, with Minardi.

In his home Grand Prix, the Argentinean started 20th and, as usual, did not finish the race. However, his race did not go unnoticed, as he made one of the worst and longest pit stops in history. When he came into the pits, one of his tires was missing, and the mechanics did not know where it was. Eventually, one of the mechanics found it in the garage.

This mishap lengthened his pit stop to 41.8 seconds. The mechanics also had trouble getting the fuel hose into the car, but it went unnoticed in the face of the missing tire.

5. Antonio Giovinazzi – 2021 Spanish GP

During the 2021 Spanish GP, Alfa Romeo driver Antonio Giovinazzi had a very peculiar problem that ruined his pit stop, lengthening it to 35.1 seconds.

After starting 14th, the Italian made an early pit stop at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya to change tires from soft to medium. However, when the mechanics removed the tires, they could not put the set they had prepared, as the left front tire had an air pressure error, probably due to a puncture, so they left him in suspension for a while without tires.

The mechanics could not simply change a tire, as they have to match the compounds and the rest of the sets, so they had to go to the garage and take a whole new set of tires, compromising Giovinazzi\’s race.

6. Eddie Irvine – 1999 European GP

The 1999 European GP was hosted at the Nürburgring, Germany, and was one of the most eventful and exciting races of the season, marked by the rain, and with Eddie Irvine, Mika Häkkinen, Heinz-Harald Frentzen, and David Coulthard all having championship aspirations.

However, it was a bad race for all of them, as the best finisher was Häkkinen, who finished fifth. Irvine, on the other hand, was eighth but had a slow pit stop that compromised his race, making him lose a lot of time.

On lap 20, Irvine\’s teammate Mika Salo, who was replacing Michael Schumacher, having broken his leg a few races earlier, damaged his front wing and came into the pits to change it. Irvine came in a lap later to change tires, but the pit crew was not prepared for that stop, with the right-rear mechanics seemingly confused over a last-minute change in tire choice.

All in all, the pit stop lasted 28.2 seconds.

7. Mika Häkkinen – 1999 British GP

The 1999 British GP seemed to be perfect for Mika Häkkinen. The Finn had taken pole position and was leading the race for the first few laps. However, his race changed completely at the pit stop.

Häkkinen was the first to stop, and when his tires were changed, the Finn noticed that the left rear tire was loose, so he had to make another stop on the next lap. At this pit stop, McLaren mechanics had a similar problem to Mercedes during the 2021 Monaco GP, and could not remove the tire as it was stuck.

After a while of trying, the mechanics managed to remove the tire and put a new one, completing the pit stop in 27.6 seconds. Häkkinen went out on track, but before completing the lap, the tire flew off, leaving him with 3 tires.

Miraculously, as he was in the final part of the circuit, the Finn managed to enter the pits and they changed the tire again, in another long pit stop of 24.1 seconds. However, a few laps later he retired as the tire was still giving problems.

8. Valtteri Bottas – 2020 Shakir GP

The 2020 Shakir GP, held on the “Outer Circuit” configuration of the Bahrain International Circuit in Shakir, was one of the most exciting races of the season. Mercedes gave a clear example of how a bad pit stop can doom the entire team\’s race.

On lap 63, George Russell, who replaced Lewis Hamilton for testing positive for Covid-19, was leading the race, while Valtteri Bottas was second, so the weekend was going perfectly. However, after a Virtual Safety Car that was changed to a full Safety Car, Mercedes called both drivers in for a double pit stop that was disastrous.

The Mercedes pit crew had radio communication issues, which led to confusion over which set of tires to prepare first, and they didn\’t have much time to think. In the end, one of the worst-case scenarios of all occurred, dooming the race for both drivers. Russell was illegally sent out with Bottas\’ front tires and was then forced to pit again on the next lap to fit a set of his own tires.

The Finn, on the other hand, stayed for 27.4 seconds in the pit box and was eventually sent out with the same tires he had come in with. The mistake left Bottas fourth and Russell fifth, and at the end of the race, they finished eighth and ninth respectively.

9. Nigel Mansell – 1989 Portuguese GP

In the 1989 Portuguese GP, Nigel Mansell made a mistake during his pit stop that ruined his victory. The Englishman started third and overtook Ayrton Senna and Gerhard Berger during the first part of the race so that by lap 24 he was already leading the race.

However, everything changed when he went to make his pit stop. Mansell entered the pits slightly faster, so he braked, locked up the tires, and pulled away so as not to run over his pit crew, missing the pit box by a few meters.

Despite his pit crew moving to where he had stopped to change tires, Mansell engaged reverse gear and drove back the short distance into the right spot, ignoring his mechanics who signaled him not to reverse the car. The pit stop lasted a total of 20.10 seconds.

Because of this, Mansell was given a black disqualification flag a few laps later, as driving in reverse in the pit lane was expressly forbidden, even though the pit crew could legally push a car backwards.

And if that wasn\’t enough, while Mansell was shown the black flag, the Englishman was trying to overtake Senna, and both cars collided, leaving the Brazilian out of the race as well.

10. Mark Webber – 2011 Monaco GP

We previously commented that Red Bull has the best pit crew, although that does not mean that sometimes they also make mistakes. During the 2011 Monaco GP, they had a pit stop that compromised both their drivers, Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber, although the latter, as usual, had worse luck.

Vettel was leading the race and decided to make a pit stop on lap 16, however, it was slower than normal, as his right front tire was not ready when he arrived, and due to a radio communication error, he was fitted with hard compound tires instead of soft.

Immediately after, Mark Webber also entered the pits, but they did not have his tires ready, so the mechanics had to go to the garage and get them, while the Australian waited in the pit box, losing about 15 seconds until his tires were put on.

Most likely, they did not expect Vettel to make a pit stop on that lap, so the German got Webber’s tires, who had no tires ready by the time he stopped. In the end, Vettel won the race, while Webber finished fourth.

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Conclusion

Pit stops are one of the most important moments in every Formula 1 race, as it is a delicate moment in which any small mistake can be fatal. Nowadays, teams have highly trained mechanics who change all 4 tires in just a couple of seconds in a perfectly synchronized dance.

However, many times errors occur that, whether human, communication or mechanical, compromise the race of the driver and the entire team, at best causing them to lose a few seconds, and at worst meaning the end of their race.