Williams is clearly taking the F1 pitstop award a lot more seriously than its rivals, as Guy Martin is joining the team’s pit crew for Spa-Francorchamps.
Whether that’ll speed up the pitstops or not, we’re unsure. It’s a random announcement but a cool one nonetheless, though.
Martin is a truck mechanic by trade, but rose to fame through his road racing (such as the fearsome Isle of Man TT) and TV shows focused on engineering and his adventures.
He’s had no F1 experience at all, so is being chucked into the deep end with Williams, and is visiting the team’s factory ahead of the Belgian GP weekend to go through the tasks he’ll be performing.
Here’s the Williams squad’s description of what he’ll be up to in Belgium:
“During the race weekend, Guy will be tasked with helping to set up the garage before assisting the car crew build the FW40 car. Guy will proceed to work two 90-minute practice sessions on Friday, a further hour practice session on Saturday before a three-stage qualifying session and then the race itself.”
“The pit crew look after both of Williams’ drivers – Felipe Massa and Lance Stroll – and every pitstop is crucial. Guy will be working with the fastest team in the business, with the team having set the fastest pitstop of the season so far at just 2.02-seconds during the British Grand Prix.
“After the race, as the drivers head for the nearest airport, a whole new day of work begins for the mechanics. It takes at least 10 hours to strip the cars, take down the garage, and pack everything away, ready to be transported to the next race. Guy will, of course, stay to the end.”
A busy schedule, then!
Hopefully there’ll be a TV crew filming his experiences, so we can see just how he gets on.
