With Ferrari proving to be the champion of pitstops so far this season, it's inevitable that its Formula 1 rivals will start paying a close eye to what the team has done to speed things up.
But after delivering the two fastest pitstops of the season opener in Australia, and the quickest tyre change of 2025 in China with a 2.05-second turnaround for Charles Leclerc, its process interestingly also recently came under the spotlight of the FIA.
It has emerged that after the Chinese Grand Prix, as part of the extra physical checks the FIA does on random cars, the governing body looked into the pitstops of the Italian squad.
It was an unusual step, especially because the physical inspection of competitors normally focuses on specific technical aspects that may be of interest.
Removing automation
The checks come as part of a long-running drive by the FIA to ensure that there is no automation in pitstops – which risks making things too fast and could compromise safety when things go wrong.
Article 10.9.2 of F1’s Technical Regulations is clear that automatic pitstop systems – where sensors can detect a tyre change is complete and then give the signal to a driver to leave – are outlawed.
A clause states: “Any sensor systems may only act passively.”
But this has not stopped teams from pushing the boundaries and finding ways to speed things up.
This could be through the use of extra light systems that can help pre-empt decisions or bypass certain processes – such as trying to get jacks removed early before the wheel gun operators have totally finished.
To stamp out attempts that could trigger dangers when things go wrong, the FIA laid out some revised guidelines to teams ahead of the 2025 season that stipulates a strict order for which pitstops can take place.
This moves away from a previous reliance on there being a timing delay between the pitstop being completed and the driver being given the signal to leave to account for human reaction time.
Instead, The Race has learned that there is a new strict process that pitstops must be completed in for the 2025 season.
This is as below.
New-for-2025 pitstop rules
STATE 1: Wheel nut correctly fastened.
Wheel gun operator sends corner completed message
STATE 2: Corner complete signal received
Final corner completed AND signal(s) to release the jack(s) sent
STATE 3: Jacks released to drop the car.
Control system receives confirmation the mechanisms of both jacks have fully released.
STATE 4: OK signal given to the driver.
The FIA also makes clear that the "OK signal” to the driver may only be triggered following confirmation that the mechanisms of both jacks have been fully released.
It cannot be instantaneously triggered by an action of the pit equipment control system or by either the wheel or the jack operators' completion signals.
Furthermore, the FIA has stated that any system aimed to help the driver leave their pitstop before the proper processes have been completed, or help them be updated about progress during it, is not allowed.
The guidance in the TD states that any automatic signal to the driver to leave the pits (such as a light signal on the traffic light or an audio signal or a haptic signal) given before all jack mechanisms are confirmed to be fully released is not permitted.
The FIA also adds: “Any feedback about the intermediate status or progress of the pitstop to the crew (for example LED indicators on gun hardware) must remain hidden from and imperceptible to the driver to prevent anticipation of the driver ‘OK’ signal.
“The same criterion applies for any other type of automatically generated signal whatsoever which would give feedback about the intermediate status or progress of the pit stop.”
Teams are also not allowed to run a system where the jack operator can be ordered to release the car prior to the wheel gun operators giving the all-clear.
Ferrari all clear
The FIA’s inspection of the Ferrari included a look at its pitstop equipment, as well as an analysis of both mock pitstops that the team did as well as those conducted in the Chinese GP.
Furthermore, logged data of Ferrari’s source code of its pitstop systems were looked at as well to ensure there was nothing untoward happening.
The FIA’s conclusion was that everything was in order with what Ferrari is doing, which will now leave rivals needing to dig a bit deeper to work out just what the Scuderia has done to lay down the benchmark stops so far this year.
