BETTER PARTSShould F1 introduce mandatory pit stops before every race?
In Qatar the drivers were required to stop three times. Do we want to see that more often?
No, we didn't always watch the Qatar GP with a big grin. After the Mercedes collision the race was not much fun anymore. What did provide an extra layer was the maximum stint length that the FIA had set. As a result, everyone had to change tires three times. Should F1 implement mandatory pit stops every weekend?
The extra rule came as an emergency measure from the FIA for Pirelli. The Italian F1 rubber wore out faster than predicted. New tires would therefore not be able to last longer than twenty laps at a time. With 57 laps on the clock and a maximum of 18 laps per tire set, each driver was required to enter three times to reach the end of the race.
Horner does not think mandatory pit stops in F1 are logical
We liked it, also because for the first time in a long time drivers did not have to think about saving tires, but could just go all out. Others with a little more knowledge think differently about the issue. One Christian Horner, for example, doesn't like it. "I think you have to give freedom to create creativity," Horner told Motorsport.com .
According to the Red Bull team boss, mandatory pit stops would have an effect on qualifying because teams will save tires for the race. “And that doesn't make sense if you ask me,” Horner adds. The team boss understands why the FIA decided to do it for the race in Qatar, but in the future he does not see mandatory pit stops in F1.
'It was a different race [than normal thanks to the extra rule] and it tested the strategists in a different way. The thing is, it [the rule] makes it [the pit stop strategy] a lot more predictable, because you know what the maximum stint length is for each car," says Horner. Now we think that you can play with that margin of eighteen laps, but hey, maybe that is the reason why we are sitting behind a laptop in Amsterdam and Mr. Horner is the boss of an F1 team.