Pit Stop: Who Are Part Of This Seven-Second Rush?

Who all are a part of this seven-second rush?

• Lollipop man: He is the head of the pit crew. He directs the driver to the exact point to stop at in the pit and lets them know about the time till when he should keep the brakes on. He also directs him on when he should change to first gear and when he is ready to start the race again.
• Front jack man: He works in close coordination with the lollipop man. As soon as the car stops, he puts a lever to lift the car by 5-10 cms. He is also accountable for changing the damaged nose of the car.
• Rear jack man: He is the one who places the jack as soon as the car reaches the pit.
• Wheelmen: There are three units of wheelmen assigned to each tyre. In every unit, there’s one guy who removes the nuts and screws, a second one who removes the wheels while a third one fits in the new tyre. One of them also cleans the driver’s helmet.
• Fuel guys: Two team members refuel the car at the speed of 12 litres per second.
• Also present: Firemen wearing fireproof jackets and crew members who remove any dirt that gets stuck to the radiator while racing to avoid the car from catching fire.

Fact finding: Any racer who stops his car in the pit stop for ten seconds lets his competitor gain approximately half a kilometre over the stopped car. That’s why a pit stop crew has to be really quick.

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Men over machines: In 2008, Ferrari replaced the lollipop man with a traffic light system. However, after a human error caused Felipe Massa to drive off with his fuel hose still attached during the Singapore Grand Prix, the lollipop man was called back.

From the October 2012 issue of FHM India.