Why do the mechanics sometimes push the cars as the driver drives away out of the pits?

Question

Why do the mechanics sometimes push the cars as the driver drives away out of the pits?

Answer 1

Just in case he stalls the car, it'll be easier to get it going

Answer 2

Every little bit of speed helps.

Answer 3

That doesn't happen in F1 but they do it in american racing leagues like nascar and indy. It should be banned because it's stupid.

Answer 4

It does happen very occasionally in F1 still, usually when the driver is having problems getting away from his pit-box, or there’s some kind of technical problem.

F1 cars are very light, 600Kg or thereabouts so just a couple of pit crew members pushing the car out of the pit box can mean the difference between getting away with only a couple of seconds lost or the car stalling and having to be restarted.

As F1 cars don’t have their own starter motors, starting one up is quite time consuming, so it’s worth that little push!

Answer 5

I have not seen that happen in Formula 1 yet. I do know that they push the car into the garage however.

Answer 6

The driver may stall the engine. When the car stops, the driver keeps reving the engine to keep it going. If the car doesn't go, it most likely is stalled, so the crew pushes the car until the car can get going on it's own again. A few years back crews could push it all the way down pit road when there weren't many cars in the pits, but I don't think it's allowed anymore.