The pit stop minimum time has caused a lot of confusion over the first four races of the Formula E season.

As drivers have to change car during a pit stop at each ePrix, Formula E decided to install a minimum pit stop time of one minute and 11 seconds. To clarify this is the time from when the driver enters the pit lane to when the driver exits the pit lane, not the amount of time the driver has to sit in the garage waiting to be released back into the pit-lane.

The pit stop minimum time did not really play a factor in the first three races, because the time taken to go round the track was longer than one minute and 11 seconds. However, in Buenos Aires the lap times were shorter than one minute 11 seconds, as drivers were completing the lap in one minute and eight seconds. Therefore, this caused drivers to go a lap down after they had taken their pit stop.

To add to this the safety car was deployed as the cars entered their pit stop window. This meant that drivers and teams had to work out if they were a lap down or not in order to pass the safety car. This lead to drivers becoming unsure whether or not they should pass the safety car.

Nelson Piquet who finished the Buenos Aires in third place was shocked to find out he was finished on the podium. Due to the confusion of where everybody was after the safety car period, the Brazilian driver assumed he was a lap down when he wasn’t.

Piquet said after the race ” It was the biggest surprise, I finished the race and I had no idea I was on the lead lap. It was because of the confusion of the safety car period as we stayed out and didn’t come in. So we lost a lap basically, but I think it was a miss-communication between me and team, as they never told me I was on the lead lap. So I saw everybody fighting in-front and I thought I am not going to get in the middle of this, because if I do something silly or try to pass them they are going to blame me. So I sat back and I crossed the line and I said sorry guys its all I could do today and they said good job P3. I was like what?”

Jarno Trulli also thought that the pit stop minimum time should also be looked at for next years but the Italian driver admits that the sport is still finding out what works well and what doesn’t.

“To be honest there are a few things that could be changed in the sport to improve it and the pit stop times could be one of these ones. But Formula E is in its first year and is still discovering what works and doesn’t work but hopefully they can make these changes in the future. We have to remember that these types of races have never happened before with this type of car. Buenos Aires did show that there are some regulations about the car swap that needs to be improved. It should be something that the teams will discuss for the rules next year.” said Jarno Trulli.

Antonio Felix Da Costa also echoed that Formula E is still learning how to handle these situations, but admits that it is the same for every driver and every team so it should not affect anything.

“It’s the same for everybody, so it should not affect anything really. Obviously, if we had a safety car like we had in Buenos Aires then it can become confusing. I think that race direction made a mistake by bringing out the safety car in that moment and that’s why there was that confusion at the race in terms of where everybody was. You have to remember we are all learning still and I’m sure situations like this will happen again and they will be handle better.” said the Amlin Aguri driver.

Sam Bird also reckons that the pit stop minimum time should not cause to much of an issue for drivers and the teams as it is the same for everybody.

“The organisers have to look at it, as it is nothing to do with me. My job is to work hard with my engineers and the rest of the team at Virgin. Whatever the pit stop time is its the same for everybody so it doesn’t really matter. It could be the quickest possible time or the slowest possible time, as it is the same for everybody it doesn’t really matter.” said Bird.

The teams could encounter the same problems in Miami, as teams predict that a lap will take 65 to 70 seconds. Therefore, when drivers leave the pit lane they will more than likely be a lap down on the pack and could be shown blue flags which could destroy their race.