The fastest Mercedes mechanics of 2010

The team may not have had the fastest car on track in 2010, but the Mercedes tire changers were the fastest in the pitlane.

An analysis by German newspaper Auto Motor und Sport showed that the Brackley team moved around the cars of Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg faster in pit stops than any of their rivals.
The refueling ban in force this year has shifted attention to the speed of tire changes.
The fastest pit stop of the 2010 season lasted just 2.9 seconds, and was made by Red Bull staff in Vettel's car at Monza. But overall, the Mercedes mechanics proved to be the fastest, making the fastest pit stop on 8 occasions: Malaysia, Turkey, Germany, China, Spain, Monaco, England and Belgium.
Second best were the Red Bull mechanics, being the fastest of all in Bahrain, Australia, Hungary, Italy and Abu Dhabi.
The Ferrari mechanics were the fastest 3 times, while the Sauber ones won this challenge in Korea and Brazil.
McLaren's mechanics have achieved the fastest tire change on just one occasion this year, in Japan.
Mercedes also managed to be the fastest thanks to a fully automatic traffic light system, which is up to half a second faster than the traditional lollipop.
Red Bull then said that it chose the tire changing mechanics after a series of tests and training sessions last winter, while the lollipop operator took on this role after winning a psychological exam.
The worst team of 2010, as far as pit stops are concerned, was Lotus: the Malaysian team made the slowest pit stops 5 times, followed by HRT and Renault with 4 worst performances each.

Filippo Ronchetti