Sauber pitstops now among F1's best under Wheatley

Sauber has quietly emerged as a frontrunner in the pitlane this season, making a dramatic leap from its 2024 woes to rank as one of the most consistent and rapid pit crews on the Formula 1 grid.

Earlier in the year, the Hinwil-based squad climbed to third in the official fastest pitstop rankings, trailing only Ferrari and McLaren. Even a rare setback at Silverstone, where a jammed left-front delayed Nico Hulkenberg by 4.6 seconds, couldn’t stop the German from claiming his first career F1 podium.

“It must have been a bit of a nervous moment,” said team principal Jonathan Wheatley. “They’ve been solid all year.”

The progress marks a stark contrast to last season, when a flawed redesign of the wheel hubs over the winter triggered repeated failures and disrupted races.

“We now have stable equipment,” Sauber sporting director Inaki Rueda told Auto Motor und Sport.

“That was the area where we had problems at the beginning of last season, but that improved over the course of the year.

“It allowed us to put together a good plan for pitstop training in the winter. The guys worked hard there.” Their hard work paid off, Sauber recorded the fastest overall stops at both the Miami and Barcelona rounds.

“The pitstop time is getting shorter and shorter, but the really fast stops aren’t our goal at all. It’s simply about being consistent and avoiding slow stops, Rueda said.

“If you can do that, the fast pitstops will come naturally.” Rueda also pointed to Wheatley’s influence.

The former Red Bull sporting director, renowned for his work with the record-breaking Red Bull pit crew, has brought quiet but meaningful change to the team’s approach.

“The trend with pitstops was already going in the right direction before Jonathan started here,” Rueda noted. “But of course, his expertise helps us further improve the processes.

“It’s not something that can be implemented immediately. Jonathan also knows that what works for Team A doesn’t automatically work for Team B.

“So we have to look at how we can adapt and utilise his experience for our team.”