Plans to lower Formula 1 pit lane speed limit rejected by FIA

[Hampus Andersson]

Why is 3 stop the most common strategy? Why not 4 stop or 5 five stop?

Because of the track.. and how it destroys/takes care of the tires.
As you know, we´ve had 1-stoppers all the way to 4-stoppers in 2011.

The reason most teams run 3-stoppers has to do with the track. Had tires only lasted for 10 laps you would have seen way more stops.
Had they been Bridgestone´s you probably would have seen 1-stoppers at the same track.

With those strategies, the tires would be even fresher and therefore faster. The answer, obviously is, that while the car would produce faster lap times, the additional time lost in the pits would negate this advantage.

I disagree, Had that been true then we would have seen teams go for as little pitstops as possible.
Two teams with equal cars will pit the same amoutn of time, the correct times in order to maximize the performance from the car over 1.5 hours.
Remember China? Vettel was a sitting duck because of his strategy..

Hamilton did 3-stops, Vettel did 2-stops.

Yes, the lap times are slower due to the tires being slightly more worn, but the time lost on the track would be less than the time lost on an additional stop.

That depends entirely on the car. As it is in 2011 that is not true for every team except maybe Sauber which had been confirmed by Pirelli to be the kindest car on it´s tires.
If you stay out your laptime will plummet like a rock compared to someone who can gun it at all times.

Oh, and don't try to tell me 1 second doesn't matter. Formula 1 race engineers would gladly sell their mother into slavery for a lap time improvement of one tenth.

One second of performance from the car yes. 1 second in 1.5 hours no. It´s minute..

1 second over a race is obviously a bit less - but if it's for free, due to a rule change - I'm sure they'd gladly take that. Also, one second can easily turn into a whole lot more if it means you end up behind a rival car after a pit stop instead of in front.

A bit? it´s 1% worth and that is calculating very highly with a total pit time of 1 minute when in reality it´s probably half that.

Last but not least, I said this is only one explanatory theory for why many teams would ask for a change in pit lane speed limit. If you have a better one, feel free to share it.

Yea i have one... It´s called safety. Try standing next to the freeway and see how that feels.
Now imagine a car coming right at you at those speeds. It´s a safety issue for the pit crew that can be killed if something goes wrong.

And it will. Charlie just does not realize it yet.

 

[Markus Neumann]

Remember China? Vettel was a sitting duck because of his strategy..

Hamilton did 3-stops, Vettel did 2-stops.

China is actually a perfect example. If the pit lane speed limit would have been 60kph, Vettel would have won. Hamilton obviously would have produced the same lap times, but he wouldn't have caught up to Vettel because the gap between the two after Hamilton's third stop would have been bigger.

It´s called safety. Try standing next to the freeway and see how that feels.
Now imagine a car coming right at you at those speeds. It´s a safety issue for the pit crew that can be killed if something goes wrong.

And it will. Charlie just does not realize it yet.

I agree. Following occam's razor, this would definitely be the best explanation. Hence why I listed it in my first post. But we don't know if it's the correct explanation, which is why I mentioned two more possibilities.

 

[Hampus Andersson]

China is actually a perfect example. If the pit lane speed limit would have been 60kph, Vettel would have won. Hamilton obviously would have produced the same lap times, but he wouldn't have caught up to Vettel because the gap between the two after Hamilton's third stop would have been bigger.

Not really. You are adding around 10 seconds tops at most for the total time spent in pitlane.
Hamilton catched Vettel with 6 full laps to go.

I agree. Following occam's razor, this would definitely be the best explanation. Hence why I listed it in my first post. But we don't know if it's the correct explanation, which is why I mentioned two more possibilities.

I don´t think there´s much to explain. It´s about safety for the pit crew.
Just as removing re-fuelling was safety based and not for some team to gain a minuscule of time in 1.5 hours.