• Team News

Ferrari finds solution for faster tyre changes

ESPNF1 Staff
February 19, 2010 « Lotus has 'potential' - Kovalainen | »
Ferrari has been practising pit stops in Jerez © Getty Images
Enlarge
Related Links

Ferrari has designed a new wheel nut in an effort to lower its tyre-changing time ahead of the season opener in Bahrain.

With in-race refuelling banned this year, the length of pit stops will be entirely dependent on the speed of tyre changes. Early indications suggest that the target time to replace all four tyres is around the three-second mark, meaning any mistakes will be heavily punished.

Ferrari's innovative new design features a cone-shaped nut that integrates better with the wheel gun. The nut also automatically fastens, when previously it needed to be pulled manually by a mechanic. "We have worked over the winter to speed up the process of changing tyres," said designer Nikolas Tombazis.

A number of teams have been focussing on pit stop practice in Jerez this week, as the bad weather made development and set up work difficult.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
ESPN Staff Close