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Lotus race team manager, Paul Seaby said his target is to improve pit stop times before the team travels to China for the next Formula 1 Grand Prix.
“On Wednesday the crew came in in for pit stop practice. We had a good, productive day, starting with a briefing to analyse where improvements need to be made before completing about forty practice stops with a running show car. We tried out a new rear jack which proved to be an instant hit, raising the rear of the car a lot quicker. We're looking for tenths of a second, so any small details like that can make a big difference,” said Seaby in an interview posted on the Lotus team website.
“Our best stops are down to about 2.4 seconds now and we're consistently hitting between 2.5 and 2.7 seconds which is not bad at all for a live stop,” he added.
Seaby indicated that the crew members are working hard with trainers.
“We have two in-house trainers working with the crew in the gym, predominantly focusing on the muscles and movements required during pit stops. This involves mainly core and a fair bit of arm strengthening work too. There's a lot of twisting involved in a pit stop and the equipment is quite heavy - in particular the wheel guns - so this can help our guys prepare for the challenge. We're looking at starting a training programme to be carried out in the hotel rooms during a race weekend too,” Seaby said.
“For both myself and the crew, the main priority at the moment is to get our pit stops more competitive and - more importantly - consistent. We want to give the drivers a better chance of keeping up with the cars in front, or preferably further ahead of those behind! We know we can do it; it's just a matter of instilling that confident mind set to allow them to relax and breeze through the stops as second nature. There's certainly no lack of effort, and we're sure it will come,” he explained.
“On Wednesday the crew came in in for pit stop practice. We had a good, productive day, starting with a briefing to analyse where improvements need to be made before completing about forty practice stops with a running show car. We tried out a new rear jack which proved to be an instant hit, raising the rear of the car a lot quicker. We're looking for tenths of a second, so any small details like that can make a big difference,” said Seaby in an interview posted on the Lotus team website.
“Our best stops are down to about 2.4 seconds now and we're consistently hitting between 2.5 and 2.7 seconds which is not bad at all for a live stop,” he added.
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| Photo: Lotus F1 Team |
Seaby indicated that the crew members are working hard with trainers.
“We have two in-house trainers working with the crew in the gym, predominantly focusing on the muscles and movements required during pit stops. This involves mainly core and a fair bit of arm strengthening work too. There's a lot of twisting involved in a pit stop and the equipment is quite heavy - in particular the wheel guns - so this can help our guys prepare for the challenge. We're looking at starting a training programme to be carried out in the hotel rooms during a race weekend too,” Seaby said.
“For both myself and the crew, the main priority at the moment is to get our pit stops more competitive and - more importantly - consistent. We want to give the drivers a better chance of keeping up with the cars in front, or preferably further ahead of those behind! We know we can do it; it's just a matter of instilling that confident mind set to allow them to relax and breeze through the stops as second nature. There's certainly no lack of effort, and we're sure it will come,” he explained.