Expert: Adam - 12/15/2005

Question
This is my first e-mail to you.
I'm a college student in Japan and I'm Japanese.
Recently, I'm interested in F1.
I am challenging to be a comic writer and I would like to write about F1.

Simple Question: At least how many people are needed for pit-in?

I am looking forward to hear from you.

Answer
Hello Ken, thanks for the question.
At the moment I believe there are no formal rules in F1 about maximum numbers of pit crew for a pit stop, however under the current rules it is most efficient to have:
3 per wheel x 4 wheels = 12
lollipop map = 1
rear jack man = 1
front jack man = 1
Refuelling = 2-3 (normally 2)
Cleaning out sidepods & driver's visor x 2
= 19 mechanics

Other formulae (not F1) do restrict numbers of team personnel per car.

Hope this helps,
Adam