F1 pitstop equipment: All you need to know about tools used during a pitstop

Pit stops are the small intermissions in F1 that hold the power to change the face of the races. A driver can leapfrog his rival in the pit stops if his crew aces their work and helps him gain time. With an average change of tires now only costing around 2.5 seconds, pitstop equipment, and the vast number of crew members surrounding the car while servicing have made it possible.

Over the years, teams have found ways to reduce time, and with the ban on refueling, the focus of pit stops has now shifted to changing tires, with slight alterations to front wings also taking place occasionally. So, without further ado, let's take a look at the equipment that makes an F1 pitstop possible:

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Pitstop equipment used in F1

#1 Front Jack

The front jack is a swivel jack that absorbs the car's momentum when the driver rolls into the box. This device engages with the front wing, lifting the car from the front.

It is made in such a way that the front jack man can move out of the way after it has been engaged, so that the person will not fall in the path of the F1 car after it has been serviced. It is achieved with the help of a quick-release device at the handles that allows it to be disengaged from a different angle.

#2 Rear Jack

The rear jack is responsible for lifting the car from the rear, as its name suggests. It is slower than the front jack, due to its operator not being able to stay in the desired position as the F1 car rolls into the marks.

It is muscle-powered like its front counterpart, and lifts the rear crash structure to allow the car to be serviced on. These also have a quick-release function, so that their operators would not have to make the counter motion to lower the car, making the pit stop slower.

#3 Wheel guns

Wheel guns are the heart of an F1 pitstop. They unscrew the lug nut of the Pirelli tires before they are removed by a crew member. These automatically switch to the opposite direction for delivering torque as soon as they have unscrewed the nut on the previous tire.

The guns then tighten the nut when the next set of tires is placed on. Some teams also have lights on the wheel guns to confirm that the wheel nuts have been tightened firmly.

#4 Wing winders

Sometimes during pit stops, front wing adjustments can be made to increase/decrease the downforce of the front end of the car. This decision is often taken with the driver's approval when they come in for a pit stop.

Two members of the pit crew have torque drivers that rotate the flap's angle controller in the desired direction.

#5 Stop/Go Light

After the car has been serviced, usually, the team's chief mechanic will give the green light for the drivers to go. This is a crucial process, as any small mishap can end a driver's race or make for an unsafe release.

Thus, any fault in the traffic light could make the drivers lose heaps of time, as Red Bull found out at the Bahrain GP earlier in 2025.

# Honorable Mentions

Though not equipment, two pit crew members stabilize the car during the pit stops from the energy going through the chassis. On the other hand, sometimes during pit stops, drivers may have to get into the box for a hydraulics or pneumatics top-up.

Though these are rare, one-off instances occur for some drivers.