Mercedes top of the stops

Posted on 07/12/2010

Michael Schumacher makes a pit stop © Getty Images

Although the Mercedes team did not field the best car in 2010 it had the fastest pit crew in pitlane.

That is the result of an analysis by Germany's Auto Motor und Sport which showed that the team turned around Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg faster in pitstops than any rival outfit.

The fastest stop in was 2.9 seconds, achieved by the Red Bull crew during a Sebastian Vettel pit stop at Monza.

But overall, Mercedes' was the fastest crew, emerging with the quickest stop of the race on eight occasions - in Malaysia, Turkey, Germany, China, Spain, Monaco, Britain and Belgium.

Red Bull was next best, changing the RB6's tyres quickest at five grands prix, ahead of Ferrari's three quickest stops with Sauber best in Korea and Brazil. Surprisingly, McLaren was only fastest once this season, in Japan.

Mercedes' stops were achieved with a fully automatic 'traffic light' system which is up to half a second faster than using a traditional 'lollipop man'.