Valtteri Bottas experienced a delay of nearly 50 seconds during his second pit stop at the Bahrain Grand Prix due to a cross-threading issue at the front axle.
During the recent Saudi Arabian race, Zhou Guanyu faced a similar delay of approximately 25 seconds when he made his pit stop. Despite being one of the few drivers who hadn’t pitted when the safety car was deployed, the Chinese driver, dealing with cooling problems, was on track to secure an 11th-place finish.
Alessandro Alunni Bravi, a representative of the team, emphasized that the pit stop mishaps were not due to any fault of the mechanics or crew, praising their diligent efforts.
He acknowledged the recurring issue experienced by both Bottas and Zhou and assured that the team is diligently working to rectify it to avoid any recurrence in upcoming races.
“In an attempt to produce quicker stops this year the team made changes, which will now be reviewed,” Alunni Bravi explained. “We have new equipment, we have a new design of all the parts. Of course, there is something that needs to be improved. And we are working in all the areas with a 360-degree approach in order to have a consistent pit stop, a quick pit stop, but also to not have any kind of problem.”
“For us, it’s crucial now because we have had this problem in the last two races,” he continued. “So we cannot afford to have an issue during the races, because the potential of the car is there to fight for the points. And we have of course jeopardised this opportunity both in Bahrain and in Jeddah because of an issue. It’s something on our side that we have investigated, and we are working to fix.”
Racing director Xevi Pujolar also acknowledged the urgency of addressing the pit stop issue before the upcoming Australian race.
“I think it’s clear that still, we’re not where we want to be,” he said. “And we need to do some further changes for Melbourne. Because we are too fragile, I would say.”
“We are causing a cross thread. And it takes time because we have to change the wheel nut,” he added, emphasizing the need to investigate and implement solutions to ensure smoother operations in the future.
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