‘It is our attitude at the beginning of a difficult task which, more than anything else, will affect its successful outcome.’ – William James, psychologist, 1842-1910.
That pit stops are critical to winning or losing a Formula 1 (F1) race passes many people by, for the main focus is upon watching the driver searching to get the car to go as fast as possible around the straights and bends of the track – it’s all about speed. That is, until the driver brings the car to a stationary halt for a pit stop. It is then all about how fast the pit crew can get the driver and car back on the track again.
It seems paradoxical that despite the many millions of dollars spent on developing, designing, manufacturing a modern F1 car and then employing a driver who can realise its potential, that one of the most important aspects of winning a Grand Prix comes down to the human factor of a pit stop. This is purposeful, for in a sport brimming with latest high technology the time that a car sits at rest comes down to a 20-member pit crew working together with two just hand jacks (front and rear) and four hand wheel-nut guns to change all four wheels as well as make manual aerodynamic adjustments to the front and rear wings.
Pit stops are mandatory and consequently a critical moment in a race. Taken at the right time and executed effectively a pit stop can give competitive advantage with race places potentially being gained. On the other hand, get it wrong and places can quickly slip away. Get it badly wrong and not only are places lost but people could get injured.
Being a member of the pit crew is not a job for the fainthearted – it is physical, mental, and stressful with no hiding places. Any mistakes and failures are not just embarrassing but there for all to witness. You really do not want to be the mechanic who drops the wheel nut and watch it roll across the pit lane, or to fumble with the wheel gun whilst trying to engage it to remove the wheel, for the pit stop can go downhill quickly with your other team members failing because of you.
A pit stop cannot begin until the driver has brought the car to a stationary position on the pit stop markers. Failure to do this means precious time is lost. A driver engaging the gears and accelerating before the jacks have the car back on the ground can lead to wheel spin and time lost as does a driver who waits too long. The driver, who many might see as the ‘customer’, is as highly invested in an effective pit stop for they are as involved as the pit crew.
In the 2016 F1 season there were some 933 pit stops made with average number of pit stops made per race being 44.4 or some 2.01 pit stops per driver. Given the number of pit stops, the processes involved, and the large size of a pit crew the potential for failure is high.
F1 race teams in common with most leading global organisations have for many years recognised the importance of teamwork and understand that getting people to work together that high performance on a continuous basis is more about attitude than process. F1 Pit crews train continually throughout the days and weeks of the season improving their teamwork, their processes, building the trust, and the openness underpinning continual improvement.
In the words of Jonathan Wheatley, the Team Leader of the Red Bull team: ‘A pit stop starts several laps before the car comes in. If everything is in order, then everyone’s mental state is right when they walk out. If it’s a rushed stop I think they’re in a different frame of mind, so the first thing is to get everyone into the correct mindset. I might talk to them a little bit; give them something to think about.’
Wheatley goes to the very heart of the learning and performance dichotomy by stressing the importance of the ‘mental state’ or ‘frame of mind’ - the attitude - of the pit crew members. He understands that conscious learning over time becomes unconscious and habitual being highly effective particularly in known or normal situations - a regular pre-planned pit stop. However, when things become non-habitual and out of the ordinary things occur - an unplanned pit stop - he recognises that unconscious learning can be easily affected by negative conscious thoughts that creep in such as limiting beliefs and/or the fear of failure. Crucially he rightly sees his role as the team leader being to anticipate and remove any distractions by getting the pit crew to think and work upon positive beliefs - their attitude - about their capabilities so they can perform at the highest level possible.
Red Bull set the pit stop record of 1.92 seconds at the 2013 US GP that has since been equaled by the Williams team at the 2016 European Grand Prix. The importance of the pit stop is now recognised with the introduction of the ‘DHL Fastest Pit Stop Award’ in 2016 and the publishing of the pit stops times for each team in every GP.