6 Sep 2016

Race 14 – 53 Laps – 5.793km per lap – 306.720km race distance – low tyre wear

Italian GP F1 Strategy Report Podcast – our host Michael Lamonato is joined by Luca Manacorda from FormulaPassion.it.

Nico Rosberg claimed his first win at the historic Monza circuit in dominant style, with his Italian Grand Prix success cutting the gap to his Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton in the drivers’ championship to just two points.

He benefitted from Hamilton’s poor start and was unchallenged, scoring his seventh victory of the year. Hamilton bounced back to finish second, with Sebastian Vettel pleasing the Tifosi by crossing the line third for Ferrari.

It was a pretty straight-forward race at Monza, but there were still some fascinating strategy stories to emerge from the weekend.

One stop for Mercedes

The track was always going to suit Mercedes. But I don’t think many of us were expecting the gap to the chasing pack to be quite so big. It looked to be around eight tenths in qualifying, up to one second in the race – well, from practice pace anyway.

In reality, that proved to be the case too. Mercedes had such an advantage and the W07 was kind on its tyres, meaning both Rosberg and Hamilton could make a one-stop strategy work and still finish clear of the Ferraris on softer and fresher tyres.

There were few drivers who completed a one-stop race. Despite the heavy braking zones and several quick corners, Monza typically produces fairly minimal tyre wear and degradation. It was higher in 2016, but Mercedes had such a pace advantage that they were able to make a one-stop work perfectly.

Two trips to the pits

Most of the field pitted twice, owing to the warmer temperatures in Italy for the race – conditions were slightly cooler than on Saturday, but still quite hot – and softer compounds compared to previous races at the track.

A few more drivers may have attempted a one-stop race but with such close racing, many had to react to those around them and that committed them to two-stops. In terms of complete race strategy, there were some unusual options, including Esteban Ocon starting on the mediums for a very long first stint.

Williams too conservative?

Valtteri Bottas enjoyed a pretty lively race, all things considered. He was up to fourth on lap one and ended up spending most of the Italian GP defending from Daniel Ricciardo. But Williams lost its edge with a conservative strategy call, which enabled Red Bull to overcut and give Ricciardo the advantage.

The Australian ended up making a great move on Bottas into Turn 1 to snatch fifth, helped by the fact he was on the super-softs for the final stint, whereas the Williams was on the softs.

Bottas was one of the early pitters but two final stints on the middle tyre of the three selected meant he couldn’t hold off Ricciardo and the earlier second stop was perhaps too soon, with a later trip to the pits and move to the super-soft being better to fend off the advanced of the Red Bull.

Double super-soft

Ferrari went for a more aggressive strategy on a two-stop race by putting both Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen onto a second super-soft stint after their first round of pitstops. The team was the only one to choose this option and it enabled them to run with a quicker pace in the first half of the race.

However, with the pace of Mercedes, Ferrari was always going to have both cars behind the Silver Arrows duo in Italy. Hamilton was certain to bounce back and the team experienced higher wear than Mercedes in practice, which was a slight indication of what was to come in the race.

It was a braver move, to have two super-soft stints, but in the end it didn’t count for much as the Mercedes car was just so dominant. Third and fourth was clearly the maximum.

Grosjean ekes out the tyres

Romain Grosjean did something different for Haas and it brought him into the mix for a point, but he ended up just missing out. He started on the soft tyre, like a few others, but stayed out far longer than his rivals.

He didn’t pit for the first time until lap 28 and then tried to get to the end on a set of super-softs. It worked out but his tyres lost their flair and edge in the final laps, which prevented his charge and meant he just missed out on a point.

Force India struggles slightly

The two Force India drivers are typically light on their tyres and can find more life than others, but we didn’t quite see that this weekend. If there was any team trying a one-stop, it would’ve been them.

But they struggled more than other races with tyre wear and this meant they had to settle for two stops for Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg. The car’s pace was good enough to complement the strategy and they finished eighth and 10^th, but it would’ve been interesting to see what they could’ve done with a one-stop.

Jack Leslie @JackLeslieF1

Longest Stints

Medium: Ocon (32 laps)
Soft: Grojean (28 laps)
Supersoft: Grojean (24 laps)

Most Stops

Nasr, Alonso (3)

30 Aug 2016

Image: SPA, BELGIUM – AUGUST 28: Mark Webber drinks champagne from the boot of Daniel Ricciardo of Australia and Red Bull Racing on the podium during the Formula One Grand Prix of Belgium at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps on August 28, 2016 in Spa, Belgium (Photo by Charles Coates/Getty Images)

Race 13 – 44 Laps – 7.004km per lap – 308.052km race distance – medium tyre wear

Belgian GP F1 Strategy Report Podcast – our host Michael Lamonato is joined by Craig Scarborough – F1 journalist.

Following a much-needed break, Formula 1 returned from its summer holidays refreshed and ready for the challenge of Spa-Francorchamps. It proved to be a pretty exciting Belgian Grand Prix, particularly in the first 15 laps.

Nico Rosberg proved unchallenged at the front of the field to win the race, with Daniel Ricciardo a strong second for Red Bull and Rosberg’s Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton recovering from 21^st to third after engine change grid penalties.

The famous race track sparked a whole host of interesting talking points when it came to F1 strategy, here were the main headlines:

Varied first stint strategies

It’s rare we see all three Pirelli tyre compounds being used for the first stint, but drivers lined up on the grid on a wide range of choices. Fernando Alonso and Hamilton, starting from the back, went for the mediums.

Several top 10 drivers opted for the softs after making it through to Q3 on the mid-range compound – the tactics had already begun in qualifying! The soft compound was the most popular for the first stint at Spa, with only six starting on the super-softs. We looked set for a very interesting strategic race.

Early stops for many

Getting caught up in incidents on the first lap caused several drivers – including Sebastian Vettel, Kimi Raikkonen, Max Verstappen and Felipe Nasr – to stop early on for repairs and a fresh set of tyres. A few also pitted to retire (Jenson Button and Pascal Wehrlein).

The safety car came out after Kevin Magnussen’s huge crash at the top of Eau Rouge (which he escaped from with just a small cut to his left ankle) and this prompted some drivers to pit, but then the red flag came out for barrier repairs.

Under the regulations, drivers were able to change tyres under the red flag and six of them – including the top three finishers – decided to do so. This gave them a free pitstop, a huge advantage at Spa.

A disadvantage for some

But the red flag proved to be a disadvantage for those who had pitted under the safety car, as they had already lost track position. One example was Nico Hulkenberg, who had been running second, but fell behind Ricciardo to third with his early stop.

It’s one of those dangers with reacting to incidents. Teams who pitted under the safety car assumed the red flag wouldn’t be shown, expecting to gain time from it, but others might have predicted a red flag and stayed out, knowing they could change tyres and get a free stop.

Changing things up

The race went from a clear three-stop strategy with a range of options to a simple medium/soft or soft/medium run to the flag. Most drivers went for the softs for the stint after the red flag and conclude the Belgian GP on the mediums.

Daniil Kvyat and Jolyon Palmer went for the super-softs for a final aggressive stint but they failed to make the most of it and gain positions. The super-softs suffered more in the warmer conditions but the softs worked well and even the mediums were competitive, while lasting a long time too.

It was unusual to see all three compounds getting used so much, usually the hardest of the three is largely ignored throughout the weekend but with smaller differences in the compounds and slightly cooler conditions compared to qualifying meant we didn’t see as much degradation and wear as many expected.

Three-stops don’t pay off

Hamilton’s race to third was largely helped by the early mayhem. At the safety car period he was running in fifth place. Mercedes put him on a more aggressive three-stop strategy, like Red Bull did with Max Verstappen, but while Hamilton had the pace to make progress and gain two more spots to take the podium, it didn’t work quite so well with Verstappen and he finished down in 12^th.

Tricky tyre pressures

During the very warm free practice sessions on Friday, some drivers complained at the tyre pressures being too high. Romain Grosjean claimed his tyres were giving up mid-corner and there was a lack of grip. There was also high degradation and wear due to the high temperatures.

Pirelli opted to keep the tyre pressures and it didn’t seem to be too much of an issue during the race, which took place in slightly cooler and cloudier conditions. But given the number of drivers complaining after Friday practice (Felipe Massa even called it a “joke”), it makes you wonder whether the pressures should’ve been tweaked for Saturday and Sunday.

Jack Leslie @JackLeslieF1

Longest Stints

Medium: Massa (22 laps)
Soft: Verstappen (17 laps)
Supersoft: Palmer (10 laps)

Most Stops

4 – Verstappen, Palmer

2 Aug 2016

Race 12 – 67 Laps – 4.574km per lap – 306.458km race distance – medium tyre wear

German GP F1 Strategy Report Podcast – our host Michael Lamonato is joined by Abhishek Takle – F1 journalist.

The Hockenheimring returned to the Formula 1 calendar as host to round 12 of the 2016 season, with the German Grand Prix being the final race before the summer break. Lewis Hamilton dominated after a strong start to take his sixth win of the year.

Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen put in strong performances to score Red Bull’s first double podium of the season, finishing in second and third. Nico Rosberg lost further ground in the championship race with a fourth place on home soil.

The race threw up plenty of interesting strategy headlines, with a variety of different options being used up and down the grid. Here are the main strategy stories to emerge from the German GP.

Two laps for Dany Ric

Tyre degradation was higher in Germany than at previous races, meaning any extra laps completed on a tyre in qualifying could have had an impact on the first stints of the race. Ricciardo had to go for two laps on his fastest Q2 run, with those super-soft tyres then being used at the start of the race.

This meant they weren’t quite as fresh as the tyres his rivals were running but it proved to not have much of an impact, as he was able to stop one lap later than Verstappen and Rosberg. It didn’t particularly help his fight to beat Verstappen but he ended up moving ahead of him later on.

Gutierrez starts on softs

Esteban Gutierrez qualified in the coveted 11^th grid position, meaning he was the first to have free reign of strategy when it came to choosing a tyre compound to start on. Haas opted to do something different and put him on the softs – the Mexican was the only driver to start on this tyre.

But a disastrous start caused him to fall to as low as 18^th place, which had a big impact on the rest of his race. The strategy brought him back into play for a more positive result but he ended up finishing just six seconds off his first point of the season, coming home 11^th.

Three stop rules the day

When F1 last visited Hockenheim, a two-stop strategy was the way to go. The tyres were more durable back then and the cars have evolved a lot since, but Pirelli predicted it would be very close between a two and a three stop race this year.

The three-stop was a safer bet, due to the tyre wear rates, but a two-stop could still work well if drivers were in clean air and could manage the tyres. Three trips to the pitlane proved to be the most popular choice in 2016, due to the tyre degradation and warm temperatures at the Hockenheimring.

But with a three stop comes a more diverse mix of compound strategies, we saw the leading four cars on different tyres during the final two stints. The soft and super-soft were the only compounds used throughout the race, as expected after limited running on the hardest compound (the mediums – seriously, what’s the point in them anyway?).

Vettel makes his own calls

Sebastian Vettel proved to be very vocal on the radio during the race when it came to race strategy. Before his final stop the German was told to pit but he replied “negative”, saying the super-soft tyres he was on could last a few more laps and were in good shape. He ended up pitting on lap 46 but he couldn’t take advantage of the fresher tyres compared to his rivals and ended up finishing well clear of the top four in fifth place.

Perez does the undercut

Sometimes the undercut doesn’t work all that well but it proved to be pretty handy in Germany, Perez leapfrogged several cars with early stops. He had a poor first lap, describing it as the “worst start” of his career, but a strategy change from Force India helped him move up the order. All of his three stops were earlier than his rivals and he used his strong tyre management skills to move up to 10^th place in the closing stages.

Ambitious Bottas

Williams tried a two-stop strategy for Valtteri Bottas but the brave move didn’t work, the Finnish driver pitted to change from super-softs to softs on lap 12 and then went for another fresh set of softs on the 33^rd tour of the race.

The long final stint didn’t quite work and Bottas ended up losing ground and a position to Jenson Button in the final laps, just holding off the hard-charging Perez. It was a similar story for Fernando Alonso, he was on a three-stop race but McLaren struggled more with degradation and the Spaniard ended up falling out of the top 10 with a few laps to go.

Rosberg doesn’t have the pace

Rosberg picked up a five-second penalty for forcing Verstappen off the road at Turn 6 and it was served at his final stop, but a stopwatch problem – according to Toto Wolff – meant the wait before the pit crew got to work was eight seconds instead. This cost Rosberg time but he lacked pace throughout the entire race.

The German dropped from first to fourth on lap one and struggled to fight back early on. He at one stage found himself up in second place after a super-soft second stint and a third stint on the softs, but the penalty cost him dearly and he ended up closing in on Verstappen late on, coming within two seconds of third place.

Hamilton out front

But while he looked less comfortable compared to Rosberg in practice, it all came together for Hamilton on race day. He took the lead at the start, opened up an advantage and put in a straightforward three-stop race, pitting on laps 14, 34 and 47 – going for a super-soft/soft/super-soft/soft strategy. It worked well and he crossed the line well clear of Ricciardo.

Jack Leslie @JackLeslieF1

Longest Stints

Medium: Not used
Soft: Magnussen (34 laps)
Supersoft: Grojean (23 laps)

Most Stops

3

26 Jul 2016

Image: BUDAPEST, HUNGARY – JULY 24: Max Verstappen of the Netherlands drives the 6 Red Bull Racing Red Bull-TAG Heuer RB12 TAG Heuer during the Formula One Grand Prix of Hungary at Hungaroring on July 24, 2016 in Budapest, Hungary. (Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images)

Race 11 – 70 Laps – 4.381km per lap – 306.630km race distance – medium tyre wear

Hungarian GP F1 Strategy Report Podcast – our host Michael Lamonato is joined by Jack Leslie from JLF1.

The 2016 Hungarian Grand Prix kicked off the second half of the Formula 1 season in a rather underwhelming fashion. There were some good battles and overtakes, as well as a bit of added tension with the two Mercedes cars racing at the front of the field, but it all fell a little flat.

Lewis Hamilton enjoyed a strong launch from the grid and took the lead into Turn 1, controlling the race from there. Nico Rosberg had to settle for a close second, while Daniel Ricciardo picked up another Hungaroring podium in third. While the race wasn’t the most exciting of the season so far, plenty of strategy stories and headlines emerged from round 11 of the 2016:

Two stop the way to go

As predicted by Pirelli prior to the race, a two-stop strategy with the first stint on the super-soft and two further stints on the soft tyre compound proved to be the most popular strategy. We saw a few drivers and teams shake things up and try something different with the order of tyre usage but overall, the two-stop race dominated.

But what F1’s tyre supplier didn’t predict correctly was when those stops would take place. There was talk beforehand of drivers ditching the super-soft before lap 10 and guidelines were once again given for the number of laps completed – 14 laps for the super-soft and 29 for the soft. These were ignored.

Despite the highest track temperature of the season so far, the soft and supersoft compounds worked well at the Hungaroring and its new, grippy and less bumpy track surface. It was less abrasive than the previous surface and this not only meant we saw quicker lap times but it also elongated the stints too.

Hamilton on control

The race winner went for a pretty standard two-stop strategy, pitting on lap 16 to change from super-softs to softs and then moving onto another pair of the middle compound on lap 41. Both times he undercut Rosberg, obviously as the leader he got priority but there was a moment where this didn’t look to be the case as the Red Bulls closed on Rosberg.

It looked like Hamilton was in complete control at the front of the field, maybe even slowing the pace slightly to drop Rosberg back. The German driver kept within close proximity of his team-mate all race but didn’t look to have the edge or enough speed to properly try an overtake.

He got close a few times, partly due to traffic (we’re looking at you, Esteban Gutierrez) and a late Turn 12 mistake but Rosberg just didn’t have enough left in the tank to make a move. Hamilton always seemed to respond and get the gap back out to around the two second mark.

Kimi tries something different

One of the few drivers to go off course when it came to race strategy was Kimi Raikkonen and Ferrari had to take a risk with him. Qualifying did not go to plan and the Finn started down in 14^th place on the soft tyre, unlike the majority of his rivals. With Ferrari’s superior pace he was able to weave his way up the order and well into the top 10 by the time he stopped for super-softs on lap 29.

This is a good point to make – the top three teams have such an advantage now that making progress on an alternative strategy after a poor qualifying is fairly easy work. An aggressive middle stint on the super-softs further brought him into contention but he struggled to get past Max Verstappen in the closing stages, which damaged his red-marked tyres (and his front wing).

Sixth was still a good recovery and his pace throughout was impressive, it makes you wonder what could have been had he started further up. Of course, Verstappen was held up behind Raikkonen after his first stop but that would come back to bite the Ferrari, who then got stuck viewing the Red Bull RB12’s rear end for the final part of the Hungarian GP.

Mediums fail to work

A couple of drivers appeared to be attempting a one-stop race but the hot temperatures and lack of grip on the medium compound meant everyone had to switch strategies and move onto a two-stop. Drivers reported sliding on the mediums and they just didn’t work with the track surface, proving to be too hard and not grippy enough.

We have largely seen that the hardest compound is rarely used during race weekends, making you question whether we really need three options. While it is occasionally used, as was the case un Hungary, using it in the race doesn’t typically work and we saw this once again.

Felipe Massa, Sergio Perez (who lost time when his pit crew forgot to turn up), Rio Haryanto and Jenson Button all tried the medium tyre but without much success. Perez and Massa even looked to be trying a one-stop but ended up having to switch to softer compounds.

Palmer almost scores a point

Renault switched things up with the two-stop by putting Jolyon Palmer on a soft/super-soft/soft strategy. It actually worked quite well, in a similar way to Raikkonen’s, with the Brit moving steadily up the order and into contention for his first F1 points. But with the track being so tough to pass on, a spin at Turn 4 threw that hard work away and he eventually finished 13^th.

Jack Leslie @JackLeslieF1

Longest Stints

Medium: Massa (40 laps)
Soft: Ricciardo (37 laps)
Supersoft: Magnussen (24 laps)

Most Stops