The fastest F1 pit stop changed four tyres in 1.80 seconds
Twenty-plus crew, four wheels off and on, and the car is gone before you finish reading this.
In a Formula 1 race, a car stops, all four wheels are swapped, and it rejoins the track - often in less than two seconds. The world record, set by McLaren for Lando Norris at the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix, stands at 1.80 seconds.
That beat the previous best of 1.82 seconds, set by Red Bull for Max Verstappen at the 2019 Brazilian Grand Prix - and it did so even though cars and tyres have grown larger and heavier under newer rules.
The choreography is brutal: more than 20 mechanics swarm the car, three to each wheel, while others steady it and operate the jacks. Every wheel comes off and a fresh one goes on in a fraction of a second.
Guinness World Records has tracked the fastest stop since 2013 - in eleven years the record fell by just 0.12 seconds.
At that point the limit isn’t the equipment; it’s how fast human hands can move in perfect unison.
Sources & references
2 referencesWell-established. Corroborated by 2 independent sources.
