The F1 Strategy Report

F1 Strategy Report British Grand Prix 2017

Race10 – 51 Laps – 5.891km per lap – 300.307km race distance – low tyre wear

British GP F1 Strategy Report Podcast – our host Michael Lamonato is joined by Zach Priest from Superlicense F1 Podcast.

Mercedes driver and three-time F1 champion Lewis Hamilton was an unstoppable force at his home race, taking a dominant and record-equalling British Grand Prix victory at Silverstone.

He led every single lap in what was a lights to flag victory, but while there wasn’t much action at the very front of the field, there were plenty of entertaining battles and storylines further back – with the podium positions only decided on the last lap.

Late drama due to tyre problems prevented Kimi Raikkonen of a strong second place, with Valtteri Bottas benefitting to finish runner-up and give Mercedes a 1-2 finish. Raikkonen finished third, though, with Sebastian Vettel picking up a puncture just one lap after his team-mate.

It wasn’t the most fascinating strategic race, but nevertheless, there were plenty of interesting headlines to delve into. Let’s take a look…

Rain stays away

In typically Silverstone style, rain played its part during the British GP weekend, but it didn’t arrive for the race. Light showers disrupted the early stages of FP3 and impacted the first segment of qualifying, but the circuit eventually dried out and the sun started to emerge from behind the clouds.

On race day, there was a smaller chance of rain, but despite reports of a few drops, it never really materialised. This meant teams avoided any strategy curveballs and kept it at a straightforward one-stop race. Annoyingly, it did start to chuck it down at Silverstone after the race…

Popular compounds

As we’ve seen before, drivers largely stuck to just two of the three dry tyre compounds during the weekend – the soft and super-soft, which both proved to be durable and had similar performance levels (around seven tenths between them).

Pirelli has been very cautious with its 2017 compounds and it’s prevented drivers from using alternative strategies, with most being one-stop races. It was the same story at Silverstone, although there was a bit more of an opening for a two-stop, but this would likely leave drivers in traffic.

Vettel’s mixed fortunes

Ferrari racer and championship leader Vettel pretty much lose his chance of F1 victory at Silverstone in the first few corners, when Max Verstappen got ahead of him and into third. The Red Bull was lapping around one second slower than Hamilton and this dropped Vettel out of contention by the first stops.

However, he did move ahead of Verstappen with an early pitstop on lap 19, ditching super-softs for softs. It was a perfectly-executed undercut, with a brilliant outlap and a slightly faster stop. This enabled him to pull ahead of Verstappen, but he didn’t have the pace to hold off a charging Bottas.

The tyre issues

Pirelli has said that the tyre woes suffered by Ferrari on lap 49 and 50, for Raikkonen and Vettel respectively, are different. The Italian tyre manufacturer is now evaluating what happened. What’s clear, though, is that Vettel’s was a puncture as his tyre was completely destroyed, while Raikkonen’s still kept its shape.

The late drama cost Vettel the most, as he slipped to seventh, while Raikkonen’s tyre let go later around the lap and was still inflated so he made it back to the pits at a quicker pace. This was crucial in keeping him P3.

Bottas fights back

For the second race in a row, Mercedes knew one of its drivers had a grid penalty before qualifying and did something different to set up an attacking race strategy. Bottas set his best Q2 time on softs, which meant he started on the middle tyre compound for a long opening stint before pitting on lap 32.

By that stage, he had already made up a few spots after a good first lap, but having the supersoft tyres at the end of the race allowed him to charge up the order and enjoy some brilliant battles. Verstappen holding Vettel up early on helped, as did Raikkonen’s issue, but it was nevertheless a strong performance – to go from ninth to second.

Ricciardo’s feisty charge

Daniel Ricciardo lined up 19th on the grid after penalties and a mechanical issue in qualifying. With more tyres available, he used fresh super-softs for his long first stint, looking after the tyres well – while also battling his way past slower cars.

He had a few knock-backs, after being forced wide early on and dropping back to last, and also losing three spots in the pitstop. The Aussie made those back up though in less than two laps. He was aggressive when he needed to be, but it was also a classic drive of tyre preservation too, keeping his super-softs in good shape and giving him fresher softs for a final fight to the flag.

No points for Vandoorne

Stoffel Vandoorne enjoyed his best weekend of the season so far, making it through to Q3 and almost scoring a point. It all unravelled with a slow pitstop on lap 26, allowing Felipe Massa to undercut him – helped by the Brazilian going from softs to super-softs. Vandoorne kept with Massa though and came close to finishing P10, but it wasn’t meant to be this time.

Sauber try the ‘zero-stop’

The early safety car period on lap two opened up the opportunity to take a risk and Sauber did just that with Pascal Wehrlein. He pitted to go from softs to the unflavoured mediums, the only time the compound was used in the race, before then stopping again to go back onto fresh softs.

The SC basically gave him two free pitstops, but while tyre wear continues to be low, degradation was higher than recent races due to the demanding Silverstone circuit. This meant degradation wasn’t low enough to pull off this daring strategy and several other drivers (such as Wehrlein) had to go for a second stop late in the race.

Jack Leslie @JackLeslieF1

Longest Stints

Supersoft: Ricciardo (32 laps)
Soft: Magnussen (37 laps)
Medium: Wehrlein (1 lap)

Stints by Driver

F1 Strategy Report Austrian Grand Prix 2017

Race 9 – 71 Laps – 4.318km per lap – 306.452km race distance – low tyre wear

Austrian GP F1 Strategy Report Podcast – our host Michael Lamonato is joined by Luke Smith from NBC Sports.

While the first and last laps of the 2017 Austrian Grand Prix were pretty exciting and action-packed, the rest of the race fell a bit flat – caused, in part, due to the lack of strategy and the durable tyres at the Red Bull Ring.

Valtteri Bottas converted pole position into his second Formula 1 victory, holding off a late charge from Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel to give Mercedes a vital win. Daniel Ricciardo brought the “shoey” back with a podium for Red Bull on home soil.

As has been the case at a few races this year, strategy didn’t really play a crucial part in the race, with limited options. However, there were still some interesting storylines to dive right into:

One-stop for all

Sometimes, during the 2017 season, we’ve seen the one-stop strategy be the most popular – but a few drivers have tried the two-stop, just to give it a go. That wasn’t what happened in Austria, with all of the 16 classified finishers completing just one trip through the pits.

This was because the tyres at the Red Bull Ring were incredibly durable, and there was little difference in terms of grip and speed. In fact, it was the closest we’ve seen the three compounds in terms of performance all year, and this meant the ultra-soft wasn’t the only strong option.

But, as the one-stop race ruled the day, we saw a fairly standard strategy from most drivers – pitting between laps 30 and 44. Proof of how durable the tyres were is in the longest stints completed. On the softs, it was 56 laps (Nico Hulkenberg), on super-softs 39 laps were managed (Stoffel Vandoorne) and a monster 44 laps (Kimi Raikkonen) were done on ultra-softs.

Blistering Pirellis

We don’t often see drivers struggling with tyre blistering on these new Pirelli tyres, but it happened quite a lot during the race in Austria. It didn’t impact performance too much, although it did mean a few drivers struggled for a brief while, but it was definitely a factor and probably concerned a few strategists on the pit wall.

Strategy uncertainty

Due to the warm and sunny conditions on Friday, teams thought the soft tyre was arguably the best performer in terms of pace and durability. It’s got a high working range, but the milder conditions the rest of the weekend suited the lower working range of the super and ultrasofts, which sparked a bit of uncertainty on which tyre to go for.

A mixed starting grid

The starting grid is usually made up of two of the three tyre compounds, but that wasn’t the case in Spielberg. All three compounds were used for the start, with a couple of drivers (the most high-profile being Lewis Hamilton) opting for super-softs and Felipe Massa opting for softs.

It was interesting to see all three being picked, and just goes to show the close performance and durability of the compounds. There wasn’t a massive amount between them, and this meant all three were more widely used during the weekend – whereas, quite often, the hardest tyre is left unloved.

Quali move for Hamilton

Knowing that Hamilton had a five-place gearbox penalty before qualifying meant Mercedes could do something different and get the British driver to set his best Q2 time on the super-soft tyre. The leading teams have such an advantage that there was no real risk of Hamilton not making it to Q3 on super-softs, and the tyres were closely matched in terms of performance.

This meant that Hamilton had slightly less performance for the first stint, but as he was racing with cars slightly slower than his own, it wasn’t an issue. He was able to go a little longer and the tyres held up enough for him to make up ground in those final laps, before a final stint on the more grippy ultra-softs which allowed him to attack Ricciardo for third in the end – he just missed out on a podium.

The Kimi train

Ferrari appeared to keep Kimi Raikkonen out longer in his first stint, giving him the lead and attempting to slow down Valtteri Bottas – who had emerged behind the Finn on fresh tyres – and allow Sebastian Vettel to catch up. But, his tyres weren’t in great shape by that point and the Iceman failed to pull off the strategy call. So, it didn’t really work.

First lap drama

The start and first lap pretty much secured the results they scored for many. Bottas got a perfect start, so good the FIA investigated him for a jump start before taking no further action, and this allowed him to establish a gap and control the pace. Behind, Daniil Kvyat smashed into Fernando Alonso and Max Verstappen, with the two drivers spinning around being forced to retire. Williams moved from the second-last row into the points due to the first lap and Jolyon Palmer also made up ground, so this was their gains came from, rather than strategy. A few drivers made up more ground than others and this meant they were able to elevate their positions without the intervention of strategy.

Late attacks

Hamilton was able to close on Ricciardo late on due to the slightly better performance of his ultra-softs and the general pace of the Mercedes. This meant it was a tense final few laps but he ended up just missing out, losing some time from a failed pass on the penultimate lap. We saw once again that the Ferrari seems to treat the softer compounds a bit better and while Vettel stopped before Bottas, his tyres seemed in better condition towards the end and the car has always gone well on super-softs. He closed the gap fairly quickly as Bottas appeared to struggle a bit, but he couldn’t get close enough to make a move and ran out of time.

Jack Leslie @JackLeslieF1

Longest Stints

Ultrasoft: Raikkonen (44 laps)
Supersoft: Vandoorne (39 laps)
Soft: Hulkenberg (56 laps)

Stints by Driver

F1 Strategy Report Azerbaijan Grand Prix 2017

Race 8 – 51 Laps – 6.003km per lap – 306.049km race distance – low tyre wear

Azerbaijan GP F1 Strategy Report Podcast – our host Michael Lamonato is joined by Ted Kravitz from Sky Sports F1.

So straightforward was the 2016 European Grand Prix, held on the streets of Azeri capital Baku, that few expected the retitled 2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix to be anything more than another snooze-fest.

Instead the Caspian Sea-set race proved one of the most dramatic of the season to date. Carbon fibre shards sprinkled the streets like confetti such was the ferocity with which Formula One’s 20 drivers took to the challenge of sport’s most unusual circuit, as if to make up for last year’s dearth of racing.

Few of the thrills and spills came about through strategy, however — indeed it was more a race of circumspection than tactical execution — but the reasons for the action are traceable to a handful of key ingredients that conspired to create one of the year’s most memorable races.

The Background

Pirelli’s conservative rubber construction has been a theme of 2017, the tyre manufacturer forced to guess how much downforce the 2017 cars would produce long before any would have the chance to turn a wheel in anger.

This was certainly true in Baku, where the same-named compounds as 2016 — the mediums, softs, and supersofts — were selected. In 2017, however, the supersoft is as hard as last year’s soft, the soft as hard as the medium et cetera, meaning in truth the tyres were a step harder than last season’s already too stable rubber.

Combined with the dustiness of the city streets the tyres put grip at perhaps the highest premium of any F1 race on the calendar. For Mercedes, and in particular for Lewis Hamilton, this could have spelt trouble, with the Briton struggling with tyre warm-up at Monaco and Russia, circuits with similar characteristics.

Mercedes has been slowly coming to grips (pun intended) with this problem, and it showed as much this weekend when it turned around concerning Friday practice form into a full second of advantage over Ferrari, hitherto the superior car on its tyres, during qualifying. Hamilton alone had half of that time over teammate Valtteri Bottas.

Perhaps adding to Ferrari’s woe was a technical directive issued by the race director ahead of the event clarifying that the FIA would not tolerate oil being burnt as fuel for performance. Rumours of oil burning have been simmering for much of the season, but this clarification, which was the second of the year, suggested talk was more than just idle speculation — and lo, Ferrari’s engines seemed off the pace …

First lap carnage set up big wins for Ricciardo & Bottas

Casualties of the trying conditions were Valtteri Bottas and Daniel Ricciardo, who dropped to the back of the field early in the race.

Bottas was the root cause, tangling with compatriot Kimi Räikkönen at turn two on the first lap, puncturing a tyre and damaging some of the Ferrari’s bodywork. Ricciardo, an innocent bystander, had some of the debris collect in his brake ducts, leading to severe overheating.

Bottas limped back to the pits one lap down, while Ricciardo persisted until lap five before stopping. Both were now on the soft tyre and determined to attempt an ambitious undercut.

Plans changed when the first safety car was triggered on lap 11, however, which gave Bottas a chance to unlap himself and both drivers the opportunity to move back onto the preferable supersoft tyre while the rest of the field made the mandatory switch to the soft tyre.

Could this have proved the strategic lynchpin, with both using the superior rubber to scythe through the field for the remaining 40-odd laps? Last time out in Canada Romain Grosjean was able to complete 68 laps on the supersoft tyre and finish in the points.

We weren’t to know, however; a red flag period to enable marshals to clear debris on lap 22 enabled everyone to switch back to the supersoft tyre, negating the advantage.

But the lack of offset wouldn’t deter either driver, with Bottas and Ricciardo making a phenomenal nine passes apiece from P20 and P17 which, combined with retirements and other accidents, brought them to the top of the field.

Vettel shoots himself in the foot

The race had to be turned on its head first, however, for Ricciardo and Bottas to press their advantage, and it conveniently did so between the second safety car and the red flag period.

Sebastian Vettel was caught unaware just before the second safety car restart by Lewis Hamilton slowing to both bunch up the field and give the safety car time to travel back to the pits down Baku’s ludicrously long straight without getting caught by the field.

The Ferrari nudged the back of the Mercedes, causing minor damage to both and leaving Vettel staunchly believing he had been brake-checked. Incensed, accelerated until he drew level with Hamilton and then drove into him.

Though the impact was heavy, neither car was damaged. Regardless, the stewards soon after handed Vettel a 10-second stop-go penalty, the most severe punishment available to them before disqualification.

Not only was it an unedifying brain-snap by a four-time world champion, but it lost him and Ferrari the race. They weren’t to know it, but the ensuing red flag period concluded with Hamilton’s car having its headrest improperly fitted to the car, requiring him to make an unscheduled pit stop late in the race.

Ironically enough, replacing the head rest took longer than Vettel needed to serve his penalty, so the German emerged from pit lane leading his rival, with Hamilton unable to reverse the order before the end of the race. The pair finished fourth and fifth.

Force India lose a one-two finish

Some circumspection would have paid dividends for Force India’s drivers, too, who retrospectively threw away what could have been an easy one-two when they crashed into each other at turn two after the second safety car restart.

Esteban Ocon made a lunge down the inside of Sergio Perez at turn two, but his momentum was such that he pinned his teammate against the barrier. Both cars were damaged and dropped to the back of the field.

Ocon recovered to sixth by the end of the race, but damage to Perez’s car ultimately proved fatal, putting paid to a sensational podium repeat for the Mexican in Azerbaijan.

Stroll is F1’s youngest (rookie) podium-getter

Lance Stroll scored his first Formula One points just two weeks ago at his home race in Canada, and though they were expected to deliver him a confidence breakthrough, no-one could have predicted the rookie would finish on the podium one round later.

Unlike fellow podium-getters Ricciardo and Bottas, Stroll’s third place was about keeping his cool while his competitors cracked around him.

A strong qualifying result — eighth ahead of teammate Felipe Massa — meant he benefitted from the retirement of Max Verstappen (P7), the Force India clash and Kimi Räikkönen’s puncture (P4), Hamilton’s head rest stop (P3) and Vettel’s penalty (P2).

It looked like the 18-year-old would finish runner-up — or perhaps win the race had Ricciardo’s engine mimicked Verstappen’s and failed spontaneously — but Bottas’s dogged pursuit of the Williams car meant the Finn snatched second place by just 0.1 second as the pair crossed the line.

McLaren the unhappiest points scorers in history

McLaren had its first 2017 points at last, but you wouldn’t have guessed it by looking at the team, which seemed no less despondent than when it had suffered one of Honda’s trademarked late-race engine failures.

Fernando Alonso proclaimed after the race that he could have won the grand prix had any other engine powered his car — indeed the Spaniard had picked his way up to eighth from his P19 grid slot by the red flag period, just two placed behind Ricciardo.

Was there a degree of theatre to it against a backdrop of McLaren’s seemingly inevitable split with Honda by the end of the year? Absolutely — but then Alonso has always excelled in these dogfight-style grands prix.

His and the team’s frustrations would have been amplified by the only brief part Alonso was able to play in a scrap with Vettel and Hamilton as they attempted to recover ground after their late-race stops.

Briefly Alonso held them back, and he dared to spar with his fellow class-leading drivers, but his car was never going to be up to the task.

Points were nonetheless in the bag after a classic Alonso drive in subpar machinery. The question persists: will it be the engine or Alonso that leaves McLaren in 2017?

Michael Lamonato @MichaelLamonato

Longest Stints

Supersoft: Ricciardo, Bottas, Stroll, Vettel, Hamilton, Ocon, Magnussen, Sainz, Alonso, Wehrlein, Ericsson (29 laps)
Soft: Ericsson (12 laps)

Stints by Driver

Boletim Estratégico: Grande Prêmio do Canadá 2017

7ª Etapa – 70 Voltas – 4.361km por volta – 305.270km distância total – desgaste baixo de pneus

Canadian GP F1 Strategy Report Podcast – our host Michael Lamonato is joined by Ernie Black – the F1 Poet.

O circuito Gilles Villeneuve já se tornou referência de corridas eletrizantes, e 2017 não foi exceção, com um GP do Canadá recheado de momentos emocionantes.

Mesmo com as altas temperaturas e a natureza desafiadora da pista, a superfície lisa proporciona um desgaste mais baixo da borracha, limitando a variedade de escolhas estratégicas.

Essa degradação foi baixa mesmo com os três compostos mais macios sendo levados para Montreal, todavia, se por um lado a corrida não foi muito aberta em termos de estratégia, ainda tivemos diversas histórias interessantes para observar.

Como Hamilton venceu a prova?

De maneira breve, Lewis e a Mercedes estavam em uma liga própria na corrida. Mesmo com alguns sinais de competitividade da Ferrari na sexta e no sábado, a equipe alemã trabalhou duro para resolver seus problemas com os pneus, especialmente os ultra macios, evolução que ficou evidente no GP do Canadá.

Além disso, liderando tranquilamente, o inglês teve a chance de correr de cara para o vento e administrar sua corrida com tranquilidade. Lewis partiu para uma estratégia básica de apenas uma parada, trocando sua borracha na volta 32. A princípio a Mercedes havia indicado que optaria pela escolha segura dos pneus macios, entretanto, a performance animadora e os baixos índices de degradação dos super macios mudaram a estratégia da equipe.

Bottas perde terreno

Ficou evidente que o finlandês não tinha performance para desafiar Hamilton, terminando 19 segundos atrás do líder. Todavia, Bottas poderia ter feito uma corrida mais tranquila caso não tivesse ficado preso atrás de Esteban Ocon após sua única parada.

Seu pit-stop foi mais cedo do que esperado porque, segundo a equipe, o piloto havia dechapado seu pneu e precisava trocá-lo. Ele precisava encontrar três segundos para voltar a frente da Force India e poderia ter alcançado essa marca se tivesse parado de acordo com a estratégia original, mas o contratempo custou caro.

Bottas perdeu cerca de 2 segundos atrás de Ocon, perdendo ainda mais terreno em relação ao seu companheiro de equipe. O finlandês terminaria em segundo de qualquer forma, mas teria encarado um GP do Canadá muito mais tranquilo não fosse uma largada ruim e o tempo perdido atrás da Force India.

Corrida de recuperação de Vettel

As chances de pódio do alemão desapareceram ainda na primeira volta, após o toque de Max Verstappen na curva 1, danificando sua asa dianteira. O ritmo de corrida da Ferrari ainda pareceu ser muito forte, mas o dano impactou a pressão aerodinâmica do alemão significativamente.

A equipe ainda optou por não chamar o líder do campeonato para os boxes enquanto o carro de segurança estava na pista, uma decisão intrigante, uma vez que o piloto poderia voltar no final do trem e ter mais tempo, pneus e uma asa dianteira inteira para recuperar o tempo perdido de uma maneira mais eficiente, mesmo que a estratégia de duas paradas ainda fosse a indicada.

O alemão parou na volta 5, após a saída do Safety Car, calçando os super macios e partindo para um longo stint intermediário. A Ferrari ainda o chamaria novamente para colocar os ultra macios em uma segunda parada tardia, estratégia que quase não funcionou, mas Vettel ainda conseguiu saltar as Force Indias, terminando a prova em 4º. O tetracampeão estava 29 segundos atrás de Hamilton após a primeira parada e terminando 35 segundos atrás do líder, provando que seu bólido tinha um ótimo ritmo de prova.

Paradas pouco efetivas

A Ferrari optou por parar Kimi antecipadamente, com o objetivo de saltar Sergio Perez, que havia ultrapassado a Ferrari ainda na primeira volta. Entretanto, o finlandês não estava perto o suficiente para fazer a manobra funcionar. Quando ficou claro que a estratégia não tinha funcionado, a escuderia chamou Kimi novamente, trocando para ultra macios em busca de um último stint meteórico, mas uma falha nos freios acabou com o possível ataque.

Daniel Ricciardo foi chamado na volta 18 para cobrir a parada de Kimi, mas o australiano tinha uma vantagem suficientemente grande para não precisar mudar de estratégia. A Red Bull ainda o devolveu para a pista com pneus macios, um certo risco, tendo em vista os níveis reduzidos de aderência, mas o piloto conseguiria chegar até o final do GP sem intercorrências.

Isso também fez com que Daniel tivesse pneus inteiros na briga pela 3ª posição nas voltas finais, contudo, o australiano ainda questionou a escolha da Red Bull, já que os super macios pareciam ser a opção ideal e diversos pilotos conseguiram chegar até o final com tranquilidade usando os pneus vermelhos.

Quando Raikkonen e Ricciardo pararam, Perez teve a pista livre mas não aproveitou a oportunidade. Seu ritmo não era forte o suficiente para concluir um overcut e a Force India acabou o chamando para os boxes na volta seguinte, trocando para os super macios, que eram a melhor opção na briga pelo pódio, mas Perez começou a sofrer com desgaste excessivo perto do fim da prova.

Force India vs Force India

Uma das principais batalhas no GP do Canadá foi a batalha interna na Force India, com Perez se negando a deixar Ocon passar para tentar desafiar Daniel Ricciardo, decisão que acabou custando uma posição para os dois ao serem ultrapassados por Sebastian Vettel. Na volta 49, as Ferraris ainda estavam 13 segundos atrás, mas se aproveitaram muito bem dos pneus novos.

Ricciardo enfrentou dificuldades com níveis baixos de aderência dos pneus macios. Enquanto isso, Ocon começava a apresentar um ritmo de corrida melhor e Perez lidava desgaste nos seus super macios. Dito isso, o processo lógico seria deixar o francês tentar buscar o último degrau do pódio, mesmo que por apenas algumas voltas.

Perez não aceitou as ordens de equipe e até negociou com seu engenheiro pelo rádio. Sem uma voz mais clara ou uma postura mais firme, a prova acabou com a batalha interna entre Ocon e Perez, facilitando a aproximação de Vettel e permitindo que Ricciardo tivesse um final de prova menos perigoso.

Alonso quase pontua

Fernando Alonso quase marcou seu primeiro ponto de 2017, não fosse um problema de motor com 2 voltas restantes, jogando fora a 10ª posição do espanhol. Mesmo que o abandono não seja surpresa, sua performance até esse ponto havia sido extremamente animadora, chegando a estar em 4º durante um stint inicial bem extenso com os ultra macios.

O bicampeão trocou para super macios na volta 42 e manteve suas ótimas voltas até ser forçado a sair da prova. Além disso, Alonso havia dominado seu companheiro de equipe durante todo o final de semana e estava muito competitivo na corrida, sendo traído pela Honda mais uma vez.

Primeiros pontos de Stroll

O canadense vinha sofrendo forte pressão em sua temporada de estreia devido a alguns acidentes e pilotagens abaixo da média, entretanto, o jovem piloto se recuperou com uma ótima performance em casa. Stroll fez algumas ultrapassagens com os ultra macios, antes de calçar os super macios na volta 25 e voltar ainda mais competitivo para a segunda metade da prova, terminando seu primeiro GP do Canadá em 9º.

Apenas uma parada

Como previsto pela Pirelli, o baixo índice de desgaste em Montreal fez com que a estratégia de uma parada fosse a escolha mais segura e indicada, mesmo que algumas equipes ainda tenham optado pelo caminho mais agressivo de duas passagens pelos boxes. A utilização dos três compostos na corrida não tem sido comum em 2017, mas a diferenças entre os três pneus era pequena no Canadá. Os três foram bem resistentes durante o final de semana, Vandoorne levou os ultra macios mais longe, completando 45 voltas com o composto, Grosjean fez 68 com os super macios e Ricciardo rodou 52 calçando os macios.

Texto Original: Jack Leslie @JackLeslieF1

Stints mais longos

Ultra macios: Vandoorne (45 voltas)
Super macios: Grosjean (68 voltas)
Macios: Ricciardo (52 voltas)

F1 Strategy Report Podcast 2017 Episode 6 – Monaco Grand Prix

Episode 6 of the 2017 Strategy Podcast: by Apex Race Manager provides insight & analysis of strategic decisions made during the 2017 Monaco Grand Prix.

Our host Michael Lamonato is joined by Matt Clayton, Australian Motorsport Editor, RedBull.com.

Our guest Matt Clayton

For full written report about the strategy plays in this race, and detailed data (including all the stints and tyre choices) click here. All of the previous written reports are here.

All of our previous F1 Strategy Report Podcasts are here.

APEX Race Manager – it’s out now on iOS & Android.

Contact us on twitter @strategyreport.

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