A Red Bull Formula 1 car drives into the pits, the team’s crew poised in anticipation of its arrival.
The front and rear jack men hoist up the car, the wheel guns fire into life as all four tyres are removed and changed. And when this rapid dance of sorts is all done, the clock stops at 2.8seconds.
The time is a full second outside the world record set last season, but it's worth noting that this was a stop done in total darkness.
McLaren might have eclipsed the world champions' record for the fastest ever stop in F1 history but Red Bull, much like when it comes to the racing itself, boast the No1 pit crew in the sport.
Points are awarded to pitstop teams at each grand prix weekend and for a sixth consecutive season Red Bull came top to win the DHL Fastest Pitstop Award.
For 34 years, Jonathan Wheatley has been involved in pitstops, as the team’s sporting director he is an overseer of that particular domain.
“In terms of human performance, a pit-stop is an extraordinary thing, with 22 people who all have to be sub-two seconds,” he tells Standard Sport. “It’s been described as a choreography in the past and there’s certainly an element of that. There’s a rhythm to it all, they’re taking cues from sounds, movements, all sorts of things.
“It’s fascinating to observe it working and I’ve not [previously] experienced this level this year, carrying us to a sixth DHL trophy and now a pitch black pit-stop.”
The pitstop is almost a high-speed art form and it starts with working out the best people for each specific role. As Wheatley puts it: “There are positions in a pit crew which suit body type or physique, or whether you're left-handed.”
They have to be prepared for every eventuality; the stress of a race, ever-changing weather conditions from the heat of Singapore to the cool of the night race in Las Vegas. Hydration and specific fitness for any given role are vital for the perfect pitstop. And then there is keeping it up during a marathon 22-race season.
Red Bull, like other teams, have experienced injuries and illness. The extent of sickness within the team come the Mexican Grand Prix was such that it was a “real Dad’s Army of a crew”, according to Wheatley. Red Bull still won the race without any notable pitstop blemishes.
Then there’s marrying the very different people and personalities from all manner of day jobs within the team.
“You’ve got all these people wired differently and managing a competitive crew is one of the most rewarding and fantastic things,” he notes. “These people work in IT, they’re mechanics, technicians, engineers, they work in part supplies, spares. We’re lucky to have good all-rounders capable of performing several jobs.”
Jon Caller is the No2 mechanic on world champion Max Verstappen’s car but doubles up as a gunman.
Of the pitch-black pitstop, he says: “We’ve had worse live stops in a race with our eyes wide open. It’s amazing what’s possible with practice.”
For his fitness, the key is working on the forearms, lower back and core which take more of a beating in the thick of the battle, and everyone works on their fitness to avoid letting their teammates down.
When a mistake is made – he still remembers one personally in undergunning on Sergio Perez’s car last season – there is not a blame culture but he admits crew are hard on themselves.
"I’ve had dreams of pitstops going well - and going badly!"
In contrast, when it goes well, he says: “Everyone’s buoyed up, it lifts the garage. But you can’t rest on your laurels of a good pitstop, as we constantly need to up our game. We’re here because we like competition and we like winning.”
Caller’s lost count of the number of pitstops over the course of a season, be that at a grand prix weekend or the team’s Milton Keynes headquarters. But it has got to the point where it seeps into his sleep.
“I’ve had dreams of it going well and it going badly,” he recalls. “That’s how much it infiltrates your life. You’re living and breathing it, and you’re in it with guys you’re spending more time with than your families.”
Chris Gent has been the Red Bull front jackman since 2008 and is also Verstappen’s head mechanic.
“When you’re head-to-head with someone in a race, a pitstop can make all the difference,” he says. “It can win or lose you the race.
“We do so many practice pitstops in a year. In the winter, it’s every day twice a day in the factory until we go away to the first test or race. And then there’s practice at the circuit; Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday.”
In Gent’s position, there are times when a driver misjudges the entry point and hits him in the shins. On each occasion, he has come away without major injury.
In the dark, there were no such issues, a stunt which Gent genuinely believes has actually made Red Bull’s pitstop crew even better, a sensory exercise to improve them further.
As for Wheatley, he picked up a wheel gun away from prying eyes the other day to see if he still had the skill. As it transpired, he didn’t!
And as for repeating the relative risk of a pitch-black pitstop, he adds: “I don’t think we’ll turn the lights off every week.”
