Amid McLaren’s Crew of 24, Lando Norris’ Pivotal Support Steals the Show Over Record-Breaking Feat

Formula 1, if summed up, is all about the margins! Margins on the track, margins in timings, margins in the speed, and margins in the speed at which things are done. These margins make or break the race and all are as crucial as the next one. One of these margins includes the pit stops. Pit stops have always been a crucial part of F1 and the teams have increasingly gotten better at them. Now, a pit stop consists of about 24 members, or at least the one at McLaren does. These 24 members made the record for the fastest pit stop in the sport’s history by completing one at 1.80 seconds. However, as revealed by McLaren’s Car Operations & Engineering Director Charlie Hooper, this incredible feat wouldn’t have been possible without Lando Norris.

Generally, one would not assume the driver has any influence in the pit stops. However, Hooper busted that myth while discussing the record pit stop on The Fast and The Curious podcast. Hooper revealed a driver’s influence, in this case, Lando Norris, influence on a pit stop while going through the step-by-step process.

Hooper began, “Alright, I’ll walk you through a bit step by step. Firstly, a pit stop, the end result is the same for every team but how a team kind of goes around it is different. The number of people they’ve got so, for instance, we’ve got 24 people doing this in one stop.”

“So Lando, in the box, he’s got to do job no. 1; Stop on the marks, in position. If he’s a little bit too long so not in line with the pit crew or a little bit too short, you’re already off to a bad start. You want to have it right on the marks and guys ready to go with their jobs. So, that’s job no. 1, Lando’s got to do his job,” he revealed Norris’s contribution.

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Each and every one on this 24-member team was monumental in securing this world record. Now, as we all know, so was Norris. This incredible feat will definitely become a long-standing record.

However, there are those who want to break this record and bring the bragging rights back to their garage.

Red Bull men fire a warning at Lando Norris and Co. putting the record pit stop in contention

As you mature in Formula 1, you realize pit stop and pit stop strategy are a crucial part of a race. In fact, some pit stops can make or break the race for a team. This is exactly why F1 has established an award for the fastest pitstop awarded after every race.

Back in the 2019 Brazilian GP, Red Bull took the award home as Max Verstappen took home the winner’s trophy. However, this award was special as Red Bul made the world record with their pit stop, which lasted a mere 1.82 seconds. This record stood for four years until McLaren took the bragging rights after the 2023 Qatar GP going 0.02 seconds faster. However, the Red Bull man Calum Nicholas wants to change this scenario as soon as possible and bring the record back to their garage.

Calum Nicholas issued a warning to the Woking team and said, “Those guys worked super hard on their pitstops, they put in the hours. They’ve done an amazing bit of work. So not annoyed at McLaren at all. On the other hand, I would very much like it back. I imagine that all of my colleagues feel the same way. So now it’s just a case of get your head down, get practicing, and let’s see if we can get it, get it back to where we believe it belongs.”

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A pitstop below 2 seconds has already become the norm for the teams. However, pushing every second and every milli second is where the difficulty lies. It will be interesting to see if this record will keep exchanging hands between Red Bull and McLaren.