McLaren 'working very hard' to improve F1 pit stops

McLaren Formula 1 team principal Andreas Seidl says his side is “working very hard” to improve its pit stop reliability ahead of the final two rounds of the 2019 season.

The Woking squad endured a nightmare stop in Mexico as a problem when Lando Norris came in cost him significant time and ultimately ruined his chances of a strong result.

Norris was told to stop at the end of the pit lane before he was pushed back into the pit box so mechanics could fix a cross-threaded wheel not on his left-front.

McLaren managed to avoid a repeat of its pit lane dramas at last weekend’s United States Grand Prix, though it did not feature inside the top 10 fastest pit stops set during Sunday’s race.

“Pit stops are definitely an area in the team where we still have to improve quite a lot,” Seidl admitted in Austin.

“We have to help the race team out here, the mechanics especially, by let’s say updating our car hardware and equipment in the future simply to allow them to do better and reliable pit stops.

“That’s a project we’re working very hard on. Unfortunately it takes time. It’s part of the process we’re in at the moment to become a better team.

“The difference to the top three teams is not just car performance but also how they pull it off weekend by weekend, the consistency they are having in their results, and that’s something we are working on very hard.”

McLaren holds a 38-point advantage over nearest midfield rivals Renault heading into the remaining two races in Brazil and Abu Dhabi.