Red Bull misses the world record in Portugal

Red Bull has once again risen above itself in Portugal. The team performed three pit stops during the race at Portimao, all of which were completed at lightning speed. The Austrian team’s first and slowest tire change was completed in just 2.10 seconds on lap nineteen. The other two pit stops were just a bit faster.

Max Verstappen came in on lap 23 for his first and only pit stop, which the Red Bull pit crew completed in 1.96 seconds. Another 23 laps later, Alexander Albon entered the pit lane for a second time. His team did not give him the time to blink his eyes or clean his visor, because after standing still for just 1.86 seconds, the traffic light in front of him turned green.

Red Bull equaled the best season performance in the pit lane with a pit stop of 1.86 seconds. However, it was not a world record, as team boss Christian Horner predicted. It had been in the hands of the Verstappen and Albon team for some time, but the team cannot match the 1.82 seconds, set in Brazil in 2019, this season.

Of the fastest ten pit stops this season, nine were from Red Bull. Seven of them were faster than two seconds. Only Williams is also on that list, with a pit stop of 2.00 seconds in Russia. In the standings, the team is 190 points ahead of number two Mercedes, making the pit stop championship almost impossible to slip away from the racing stable.