With Red Bull being the most dominant force of the season, McLaren has come out of nowhere to snatch all the attention by becoming the second-fastest team on the grid. As such, the Woking-based outfit has become the biggest threat to Red Bull in terms of race pace. As McLaren continues to improve, the storm they have brought with it is not limited to the grid. The pace extends to pit, and with it, McLaren has snatched away a record held by Red Bull for nearly five years.
When the season began, McLaren was perhaps the seventh or the eighth-fastest team on the grid. However, Zak Brown and Co. never lost faith and were always optimistic about the upgrades they would bring to the car as the season progressed. Now, they stand as the second-fastest team on the grid, and the Qatar GP was the latest example of just how good they have become. Rookie Oscar Piastri landed the first race win of his senior career with a Sprint victory on Saturday, followed by McLaren locking out two-thirds of the podium for the second race in a row.
McLaren now holds the record for the fastest Pitstop in F1 history
Other than being the fastest team on the grid, Red Bull takes pride in their consistently quick pitstops. Over the years, the Austrian outfit has set the benchmark with their quick pits, which seemingly look like their cars never entered the pit to begin with. 2019 was particularly quick for the team as they set record times one race after another, clocking in sub-2-second pitstops.
Per DHL’s fastest pitstop award, the 2019 Brazil GP saw Red Bull complete a pit maneuver in 1.82 seconds, creating a record for not only the fastest pitstop of the season but also the fastest in the history of the sport. However, DHL Motorsport’s official X page now reports that McLaren has taken the coveted title from the Milton Keynes-based outfit.
There’s fast and then there’s THIS! 😳⏱️
The moment a new F1 pit-stop world record was set! 👏#QatarGP 🇶🇦 pic.twitter.com/M7fJrGBiRc
— McLaren (@McLarenF1) October 9, 2023
During the race in Qatar, Lando Norris came in for a pit maneuver that lasted only 1.80 seconds, breaking the previous record by 0.02 seconds. As McLaren gears up to take the challenge to Red Bull next season, a blisteringly fast pitstop will only add to their ambitions as the Woking team continues to take the rest of the grid by surprise.
2024 is shaping up to be an incredible season for the Woking-based team
Race 1 of the season in 2023 for McLaren in Bahrain, and it was as bad as it could’ve been for them. Rookie Oscar Piastri earned a DNF in his debut race, while Norris finished the race two laps after race winner Max Verstappen. Cut to Race 18, and it’s a whole new story. Piastri took his second-consecutive podium of the season with a P2 finish, while Norris secured P3 for his fifth podium finish of the season. The incredible turnaround has resulted from the perfectly timed and impressive upgrade packages introduced by McLaren over the season.
This team delivers AGAIN! 💪🧡#QatarGP 🇶🇦 pic.twitter.com/KhLoRuzyVT
— McLaren (@McLarenF1) October 8, 2023
With the race in Silverstone, McLaren brought their first major upgrade package that saw almost every aero part on the car be replaced by a new version, greatly boosting its performance. Following the British GP, the Woking-based outfit never looked back and now stands as the second-fastest team on the grid. Finishing the Qatar GP merely 4-5 seconds behind Verstappen’s RB19, the team has come a long way from where it started the season. With impressive showings in Japan and Qatar, experts believe the team is ready for something big and forecast that they will be the ones to challenge Red Bull for the title once the 2024 season begins.
