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I think I read a thread saying that this season (2022), F1 pitstops must be at least 2 seconds and cannot go lower. I think that this gives a disadvantage to Red Bull since their pitstop timing is superb.

I just want to know, what would happen if a team made a pitstop in less than 2 seconds?

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I don't know where you read this, but it's not quite accurate.

What was happening before - and what the FIA have outlawed for 2022 - is that teams were using automated systems to predict when each stage of their pit-stop was going to happen, allowing them to react to it faster than would otherwise be possible - for example, releasing the front jack at the exact instant the last wheel went on. Reacting to events before they've happened naturally carries risks - namely, that the event actually hasn't happened, and you're now releasing the car in an unsafe condition.

The FIA outlawing these systems, and reintroducing human reaction times, means that pitstops are slightly slower and more deliberate, such that making a pitstop in less than 2 seconds is now much harder than before. However, doing so is neither illegal nor impossible: at the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix, McLaren broke the world record for fastest pitstop by changing Lando Norris' tyres in just 1.80 seconds. They faced no punishment and were awarded the DHL Fastest Pit Stop award for that race.

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  • "they would most likely come under investigation by the FIA." <- this is sort of the crux of the question to me - is there any information available on what sort of penalties would be applied if teams were found to be breaking this rule?
    – Philip Kendall
    Commented Jul 13, 2022 at 9:58
  • Just a nitpick point - I think these rules were first introduced in the 2021 Belgian GP (pushed back from the Styrian GP) via a technical directive, which also introduced a minimum time of 0.15s to complete certain tasks.
    – ImClarky
    Commented Jul 13, 2022 at 16:56

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