F1
The top 10* most influenctial pit stops in our F1 history
The pit lane can cause pleasure and pain, but these are the 10 stops that live long in the memory - plus an extra one that will live longer than the others...
Do the maths: 430-plus Grands Prix over 22 seasons and counting – with two drivers per race – makes for a lot of Formula 1 pit stops.
But for Oracle Red Bull Racing since 2005, not every pit stop has the same significance.
From ground-breaking to record-setting, from race-winning to championship-clinching, these – in chronological order – are our pick of the 10 (well, 11) most influential pit stops in our history, the first of them coming when we were new to this F1 thing …
1. Smooth stop, first podium
When: 28 May, 2006
Where: Monaco Grand Prix, lap 29
Who: David Coulthard
Why: Any tale worth telling has a first page, and that came for ‘DC’ at the most famous Grand Prix of all in Red Bull Racing’s second year. Starting from a season-best seventh on the grid put the Scottish veteran in position A to strike if opportunity presented itself, and a smooth lap 29 pit stop from sixth became third with six laps left when Jarno Trullli’s Toyota expired. It was the team’s first-ever podium in Coulthard’s 200th race.
David Coulthard takes the Team's first podium at the 2006 Monaco Grand Prix
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Monaco is a track where you know something can happen … we are a team that is building at the moment, and it’s great to get these results.
2. One stop to number 1
When: 14 November, 2010
Where: Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, lap 24
Who: Sebastian Vettel
Why: A famous night in Oracle Red Bull Racing’s history, and one that produced a season finale worthy of the star billing under the Yas Marina Circuit floodlights. With four drivers vying for the crown, Vettel – from pole – stayed out after teammate Mark Webber (lap 11) and Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso (15) pitted, his own stop on lap 24 seeing him reclaim the lead when Jenson Button (McLaren) boxed with 16 laps left. Seb’s pit lane entry to exit time (20.061secs) was the fastest of the entire race, and victory meant he became the team’s first world champion in its sixth season.
Sebastian Vettel wins his first World Championship in 2010
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Speechless … all I could try to do was win this race and do my best. We only led this championship once, but it was when it mattered.
3. Box, Box!
When: 24 March, 2013
Where: Malaysian Grand Prix, lap 42
Who: Sebastian Vettel
Why: It rained a little, then a lot, then not at all – it was a standard Sepang afternoon, but one with a not-so standard 73 pit stops. Eight – and the fastest four – were by Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel, the latter of whom pitted for the final time on lap 42 and then took the lead over the former following Webber’s fourth stop, and against instruction from the pit wall. The team 1-2 was comfortable – third-placed Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) was eight seconds adrift.
The Team perform one of many pit stops in the 2013 Malaysian Grand Prix
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I had a bit more speed and it was a close fight.
4. Breaking boundaries
When: 17 November, 2013
Where: USA Grand Prix, lap 28
Who: Mark Webber
Why: The sun was setting on Webber’s F1 tenure – Austin 2013 was the penultimate race of his 215-start career – but the Australian earned a piece of F1 history on his way out when the RBR pit crew serviced his RB9 in just 1.923secs on lap 28, the first time a pit stop had broken the previously unthinkable sub two-second barrier. The lightning stop helped keep Webber in the podium places for the remaining 28 laps, and keep his name in the sport’s record books for the next three years.
Mark Webber ready for his final race in the US in 2013
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A good job for the whole team and I'm happy to finish on the podium on what will be my last F1 race here in America.
5. How low can you go?
When: 17 November, 2019
Where: Brazilian Grand Prix, lap 21
Who: Max Verstappen
Why: The team had continually lowered the pit stop benchmark in 2019, from round 10 at Silverstone (1.91secs) to the next race in Germany, where Verstappen’s RB15 was stationary for just 1.88secs. Round 20 at Interlagos, though, was something else. In what became his eighth F1 victory and first from pole position, Verstappen starred on track with two passes for the lead over reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), and the team played its part with a 1.82sec pit stop on lap 21 that helped Max get back into the lead five laps later.
Max celebrates with the Team after the 2019 Brazilian Grand Prix
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It wasn’t easy out there … I focus on my job and the team also try to do a perfect job in the pits and on the strategy, and clearly today it worked out pretty perfectly.
6. First time for everything
When: 23 May, 2021
Where: Monaco Grand Prix, lap 34
Who: Max Verstappen
Why: When you’re presented with an open goal – at Monaco particularly – you best not miss, and Verstappen didn’t as he converted a front-row start to win after the Ferrari of pole-sitter Charles Leclerc broke down on the installation lap after the Monegasque had crashed in qualifying. Max led into turn one, led all 78 laps aided by a faultless lap 34 pit stop, and claimed his second win of the young season to lead the standings for the first time in his then 124-race career. It was a taste of what was to follow across the subsequent 17 rounds of a rollercoaster campaign …
Max wins the 2021 Monaco Grand Prix
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We as a team so far made the smallest mistakes, and that is why we are ahead … I hope we can keep that going for the rest of the season.
7. Bold call leads to big result
When: 24 October, 2021
Where: USA Grand Prix, laps 10 and 29
Who: Max Verstappen
Why: Sometimes, plan B ends up being the A-grade choice. When pole-sitter Verstappen was beaten to the first turn by Lewis Hamilton, the team responded by aggressively undercutting the Mercedes by pitting early on lap 10 of the 56-lap race, then again on lap 29. It meant Hamilton had tyres that were eight laps younger for the final 19 laps after his own second stop, and was 8.8secs from the lead. Max’s advantage was just 0.8secs with one lap left, but a flawless drive from a gutsy strategic call saw him keep the championship lead; without it, the two title protagonists would have been tied on points.
Max Verstappen wins the United States Grand Prix in 2021
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I wasn’t sure it was going to work … the last few laps were fun. A bit sideways through the high-speed corners, but super happy to hang on.
8. Checo takes his chances
When: 29 May, 2022
Where: Monaco Grand Prix, lap 16
Who: Sergio Pérez
Why: A pre-race deluge delayed proceedings in the Principality, and extreme wets were the only tyre to be on once racing got underway. Pérez, from third behind Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, was the first of the frontrunners to pit for intermediate tyres on lap 16; after Leclerc, Sainz and his teammate Max Verstappen did likewise inside the next five laps, the Mexican led in Monaco for the first time. By the time the two-hour cut-off came after a red flag and 64 laps, Checo was a Grand Prix winner for the third time, becoming his country’s most successful F1 driver to boot.
Sergio Pérez wins the 2022 Monaco Grand Prix
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You dream of winning here, after your home race there is no other more special weekend to win … it’s a massive day for myself and for my country.
9. Max's perfect 10
When: 31 July, 2022
Where: Hungarian Grand Prix, laps 16 and 38
Who: Max Verstappen
Why: Proof that it’s not where you start, it’s where you finish? Verstappen’s 2022 win in Budapest, where he was victorious from 10th on the grid, at that stage the furthest back he’d started before a victory. A Q3 power issue left Max on the fifth row, but a pair of lightning pit stops on a day where Oracle Red Bull Racing had the four fastest stops of the race vaulted him into the lead on lap 51, an eighth win of a 15-season a formality – especially after he’d saved a 360-degree spin at the penultimate corner as he fought Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
Max Verstappen during the Hungarian Grand Prix 2022
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I was hoping that I could get close to a podium … we had a really good strategy, always pitting at the right time. It was a crazy race.
10. Fine margins, finer result
When: 6 April, 2025
Where: Japanese Grand Prix, lap 21
Who: Max Verstappen
Why: Winning when you clearly have the fastest car is something, but when you don’t? Arguably more satisfying, and Verstappen produced a two-step high-wire act to deny a dominant McLaren, which came to Suzuka having won in Australia and China. Max put the RB21 on pole with a brilliant lap 0.012secs faster than Lando Norris, then stayed ahead after a lap 21 head-to-head pit race with McLaren that saw the cars return to the track side by side, Max centimetres ahead. On a weekend of tiny margins that demanded perfection, Max’s win became more meritorious in hindsight, as it was the only non-McLaren victory in the opening six rounds.
Max Verstappen wins the 2025 Japanese Grand Prix
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We made all of the right calls, were constantly pushing. Yesterday was beautiful, and the key to the win was to start from pole. We maximised everything we could.
BONUS - A Championship-Winning gamble
When: 12 December, 2021
Where: Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, lap 53
Who: Max Verstappen
Why: Verstappen led for just 11 corners at Yas Marina, but they were enough to win a race that’ll be debated forever. Max and Lewis Hamilton came to the final round level on points, ensuring a winner-takes-all finale; a safety car following a crash for Nicholas Latifi (Williams) with five laps remaining saw Verstappen pit from second as Hamilton stayed out in P1. The final green-flag lap of the season saw the Dutchman take the lead and his first world championship in the most dramatic of circumstances.
Max Verstappen becomes World Champion
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I couldn't have asked for a more insane last race, not really having a chance of winning until the last lap. Of course, with that safety car restart we had the fresher tyres, but you still need to do the move – luckily it worked out.