The F1 Strategy Report

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.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: iTunes | Android | RSS

F1 Strategy Report Monaco Grand Prix 2017

Race 6 – 78 Laps – 3.337km per lap – 260.286km race distance – very low tyre wear

Monaco GP F1 Strategy Report Podcast – our host Michael Lamonato is joined by Matt Clayton, Australian Motorsport Editor, RedBull.com.

The 2017 Monaco Grand Prix was far from a thriller, but with the new breed of Formula 1 cars, was that really much of a surprise?

Kimi Raikkonen lined up on pole position but it was Sebastien Vettel who claimed victory, extending his championship lead over Lewis Hamilton to 25 points.

Hamilton’s recovery to seventh place came after a disappointing qualifying session, where traffic and yellow flags saw him eliminated in Q2.

Despite high temperatures, the low-grip track surface and durable nature of the Pirelli tyres limited strategy. Nevertheless, there was still some scope to do something different and plenty of strategic headlines to delve into:

How Raikkonen lost the race

He was starting from the best place on the grid after a stunning qualifying lap, but Raikkonen wasn’t quite so happy (let’s be honest, when’s he ever that smiley?) after the Monaco GP. Qualifying is even more crucial around the streets of Monte Carlo and with a strong start, the battle for the win came down to the pitstops.

Some have suggested Ferrari directly favoured Vettel by giving him a stronger strategy, in order to maximise track position. Of course, this was denied, but the Raikkonen pitstop call doesn’t make a whole lot of sense really – maybe it’s just another one of Ferrari’s occasional strategy errors.

Raikkonen pitted just after Max Verstappen and Valtteri Bottas, who were both doing solid but not spectacular sector times on super-softs. Ferrari must’ve known traffic could play its part too, but still stopped Raikkonen. It wasn’t a super-quick pitstop, so maybe they just missed the window they wanted, but it still cost him time and (most importantly) track position.

His pace was comparable – but not quite so as consistent – as Vettel’s, but when he realised he was behind him, he backed off. Definitely a missed opportunity and no wonder he was even more downbeat than usual afterwards.

And how Vettel won it

Keeping in touch with Raikkonen through the first stint put Vettel in a strong position, with the ‘overcut’ working much better than many expected. The ultra-soft had very little degradation and around a seven tenth advantage, so it was surely going to be the best tyre to be on. Vettel stayed out five laps longer than Raikkonen and pitted on lap 39.

He picked up his pace with some impressive in-laps, which were traffic-free (as Raikkonen was caught up behind some slower cars), and a good stop meant he emerged clear of his team-mate in first place.

Ricciardo’s long first stint

Daniel Ricciardo put in a very similar strategy to Vettel, utilising the ‘overcut’ and pitting several laps later than his closest rivals Max Verstappen and Valtteri Bottas. The ultra-softs kept a good pace for some time, enabling Ricciardo to do some fast laps and pit on lap 38. He emerged ahead, much to Verstappen’s frustration…

Mad Max vs Flying Finn

What made things even worse for Verstappen was than he not only lost a place to Ricciardo, but he also dropped behind Bottas too. This was after Mercedes aced the in-lap and pitstop for Bottas, who pitted one lap earlier and did a nice out-lap as well. The ‘undercut’ worked well for Bottas and this cost Verstappen. Had he done something similar to Ricciardo, it might have been a very different result. In the end, though, he stopped for a second time at the safety car.

Hamilton stays out

As mentioned earlier, surely a smart move was to stay out as long as possible on the incredible durable but quick ultra-soft tyre. That’s what Hamilton did and it worked very well, he used the Mercedes W08’s strong pace (not shown in Q2) and the ultra-soft to move up the order as others pitted.

Then, when he decided to stop on lap 46, from sixth place, he only lost one position. The strategy played out very well in getting Hamilton up the order, helped by a few incidents and drivers getting caught in battles, which cost them time in the process. Maximum damage limitation for the three-time champion with a ‘super-overcut’, you could call it.

Vandoorne does the same

Stoffel Vandoorne looked on course for a point in 10^th place after doing the same as Hamilton and staying out for a long opening ultra-soft stint, pitting on lap 43. It looked to have worked as he gained a few spots but crashing out just after the restart put pay to his race.

Unscheduled stops

A number of drivers should really have scored better results had it not been for unscheduled trips to the pits. Sergio Perez ditched his ultra-softs fairly early for super-softs (in part due to a front wing change) and this dropped him down to P16, which put him in slower traffic. A point may have been possible without a “PlayStation” move on Daniil Kvyat which required another stop for repairs.

His team-mate Esteban Ocon’s impressive run of top 10 results came to an end due to a puncture, which denied him a possible point as he had to stop for a second time – which was no-one’s plan, really. Kevin Magnussen also picked up a puncture, which prevented him from beating his team-mate Romain Grosjean.

Barely any deg

Monaco’s low-grip track surface really is unique, presenting a completely different set of conditions. Pirelli took the three softest compounds to Monaco but even the ultra-soft had barely any degradation or wear, the tyre manufacturer admitting it could probably last the entire race.

Pascal Wehrlein did the most ultra-soft laps with 56 before he was pitched into the barrier, his Sauber on its side, by Jenson Button at Portier. Perez did the most super-soft laps with 47, while the soft wasn’t used in the race and barely made an appearance all weekend. This meant a one-stop was always going to be the only strategy call.

Jack Leslie @JackLeslieF1

Longest Stints

Ultrasoft: Wehrlein (56 laps)
Supersoft: Perez (47 laps)

F1 Strategy Report Podcast 2017 Episode 5 – Spanish Grand Prix

Episode 5 of the 2017 Strategy Podcast: by Apex Race Manager provides insight & analysis of strategic decisions made during the 2017 Spanish Grand Prix.

Our host Michael Lamonato is joined by Craig (Scarbs) Scarborough from ScarbsTech.com.

Our guest – Scarbs

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.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: iTunes | Android | RSS

F1 Strategy Report Spanish Grand Prix 2017

Race 5 – 66 Laps – 4.655km per lap – 307.104km race distance – medium tyre wear

Spanish GP F1 Strategy Report Podcast – our host Michael Lamonato is joined by Craig (Scarbs) Scarborough from ScarbsTech.com.

This is what we’ve been waiting for, right? A wheel-to-wheel, strategic and exciting battle between two top drivers and teams for Formula 1 race victory.

That’s exactly what happened at the 2017 Spanish Grand Prix, with Lewis Hamilton overhauling Sebastian Vettel in a feisty battle to take his 55th career victory and 2nd of the season.

It was a race that featured so many fascinating ingredients: From clashes to overtakes, battles and incidents. But strategy also played a crucial role in deciding the result of the Spanish GP.

The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya’s unique characteristics and the warm Spanish temperatures threw up numerous strategy decisions and headlines, let’s take a look at the most important ones:

How did Hamilton win it?

There were a few interesting strategic points that helped Hamilton win the race. Having lost the lead to Vettel at Turn 1, Mercedes opted to go much longer with Hamilton’s first stint, sacrificing the gap to the Ferrari at that stage in order to better set up the race later on.

Mercedes tried to maximise the time spent on the softs, at the start and end of the race, which gave him an advantage against Vettel in the final stint. He was of course helped by a perfectly-timed final stop, which took advantage of the virtual safety car.

This prompted Ferrari to pit Vettel the lap after the VSC had finished. This put Hamilton right into contention and on the soft tyre, he had the performance advantage to eventually take the lead back and storm to victory.

Where’d it go wrong for Vettel?

Ferrari tried the undercut with Vettel and while this gained him some time, he did lose out behind the slower Daniel Ricciardo initially, coming out in some traffic. Valtteri Bottas then held him up for a few more laps, which brought Hamilton closer after he emerged from his pitstop.

The VSC really did seal the deal for Vettel. Having to put under green flag conditions cost him a large chunk of time and he was then put onto the less grippy medium tyre for the final part of the race, when the soft compound could still go the distance and had better performance.

Soft tyre the way to go

As was evident with Hamilton’s strategy, the soft tyre was by far the preferred race compound and teams tried to spend as little time as possible on the mediums. This was because the soft tyre had better grip and performance while still having impressive durability.

Pascal Wehrlein’s Sauber did the most laps on a set of soft tyres with 33, while Nico Hulkenberg, Marcus Ericsson and Wehrlein managed 32 laps on the mediums. The hard tyre only appeared in the early part of FP1 and was not seen again.

Felipe Massa called the tyre a “joke” and Esteban Ocon admitted it was “terrible”, with no grip. Pirelli seemed too conservative with their tyre picks for Spain, obviously with limited data when the choices were made.

Pascal stars with alternative strategy

Wehrlein was the only driver to complete a one-stop strategy in the race and because of the durability of the tyres, it worked out really well. The Sauber seems fairly kind on its tyres and the German driver was able to go until lap 33 on his soft tyres, before switching to mediums.

The long opening stint helped him rise up the order and, helped by numerous retirements and incidents, he found himself in seventh place at the chequered flag. This was helped by the Barcelona track being tricky to overtake at, with Carlos Sainz Jr. shadowing him for much of the last stint.

His one stop was well timed by the virtual safety car but the call was rushed, which meant he pulled into the pits too late to make the bollard which drivers must stay right of. This gave him a five-second time penalty and dropped him to eighth, still Sauber’s first points of 2017.

Kvyat basically one-stops

Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat basically did a one-stop. Well, kind of. He technically pitted twice but his first trip to the pits was on lap one, to ditch the mediums he started with. The Russian driver started from the back row anyway, so it was a risk worth taking, and then he was left on the more favoured soft. This helped him make up ground and he eventually finished ninth.

All of the stops

Quite a few drivers benefitted from the first lap incidents and various retirements to make up places, leading to rather lonely races. Daniel Ricciardo mirrored Hamilton’s two-stop to finish a distant third.

The Force Indias of Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon went for soft-soft-medium stints and claimed fourth and fifth, ahead of Nico Hulkenberg, who did the same. They benefitted the most from the action-packed opening laps.

Lost opportunities?

Felipe Massa lost out on a potential foruth place with his lap one puncture, after contact with Fernando Alonso while trying to avoid the Kimi Raikkonen/Max Verstappen incident. This put both drivers out of sync and made it hard for them to recover – Alonso lost a few places, while Massa fell to the back of the pack. A late puncture for Kevin Magnussen after a clash with Kvyat cost him a possible ninth, which also caused an unscheduled stop.

Jack Leslie @JackLeslieF1

Longest Stints

Soft: Wehrlein (33 laps)
Medium: Wehrlein, Hulkenberg, Ericsson (32 laps)

F1 Strategy Report Russian Grand Prix 2017

Race 4 – 52 Laps – 5.848km per lap – 303.897km race distance – very low tyre wear

Russian GP F1 Strategy Report Podcast – our host Michael Lamonato is joined by Josh Kruse from Crash.net.

The Russian Grand Prix wasn’t a thriller, but we weren’t expecting one at the Sochi Autodrom. However, it did throw up a fair few exciting moments and an intense battle for victory.

Valtteri Bottas stormed into the lead at the start and looked in control through the first part of the race, before coming under pressure from Sebastian Vettel’s Ferrari late on.

Despite having Vettel breathing down his neck, he kept ice cool to secured his maiden F1 win. Vettel came home second, with Kimi Raikkonen picking up his first podium of 2017 in third.

The unsurprisingly low degradation at the Sochi Autodrom limited strategy opportunities, but there was still a decent amount of strategy storylines to emerge from the Russian GP:

Lightning start

Mercedes and Ferrari looked pretty equal in terms of race pace, so the start was going to be crucial in deciding the Russian GP. Bottas got the perfect launch from the line and tucked into Vettel’s slipstream, moving ahead of him on the run to Turn 2. It was the moment that won him the race.

Ferrari tries something different

Completing fewer laps in Q2 gave Ferrari slightly fresher tyres for the first stint of the race and with the SF70H seeming to be kinder on the Pirelli rubber too, it allowed the team to try a slightly different strategy in order to leap-frog Bottas.

Of course, it didn’t work, but it was still worth a shot. Vettel ran seven laps longer for his first stint, and was still putting in good lap times before diving into the pits. He lost 2.1 seconds to Bottas in the pit phase but a strong run-up to the stop helped him stay ahead of Raikkonen.

Running longer was a gamble for Ferrari but practice long-run pace had indicated the Prancing Horse may have had the edge. From there, with seven laps fresher tyres, Vettel was able to gradually chip away at the leader – helped by a small error by Bottas at Turn 13.

This brought him right into contention but traffic played its part as he got onto the gearbox of the Mercedes. On the last lap, Bottas passed Felipe Massa’s Williams easily on the main straight, but Vettel had to wait until Turn 4 to do so and this cost him vital seconds.

Bottas could well have hung onto the lead even if Massa hadn’t been there, but it certainly provided him with more breathing room.

Hamilton struggles

It was an unusually forgettable weekend in Russia for Lewis Hamilton, on a track many expected Mercedes to dominate at. He looked in better shape on Friday but lost some form on Saturday, before struggling with overheating from a very early part of the race.

He pitted on lap 30, one lap later than Raikkonen and four before Vettel, but wasn’t able to make the most of the fresher tyres due to the overheating issues. Hamilton believes there were some set-up issues as well, which didn’t help matters. So, a lot of work to do for Mercedes to work out what went wrong.

Massa loses positions

A slow puncture for Felipe Massa cost him a potential sixth place. He was on for a one-stop strategy but a trip to the pits on lap 41, switching from new super-softs to used ultra-softs, caused him to fall to the bottom of the top 10. Despite the fresher tyres, he was unable to make much progress in the end and finished one lap down in ninth.

Hulkenberg on the alternate

One of the major strategies that stood out in the race was Nico Hulkenberg’s drive to eighth. He went very, very long on the ultra-softs, putting in a huge 40-lap stint, which left him with fresh super-softs for the final 12-lap run to the flag.

A poor start lost him positions and the alternative strategy looked to be a bid to claw back ground but he finished eighth, just behind Esteban Ocon in the second Force India. The sole Renault to make it to the chequered flag looked decent in race trim, so more could’ve been possible without lap one.

Going for a two-stop

Only four drivers stopped twice for new tyres, and Massa’s was unscheduled. For Stoffel Vandoorne, Marcus Ericsson and Pascal Wehrlein, they pitted for the first time at the end of lap one, after the safety car was deployed to clear Jolyon Palmer and Romain Grosjean’s crashed cars.

It was thought that they’d be able to ditch the super-softs they started the race on and make it to the end on ultra-softs but that wasn’t the case for any of the drivers. They all pitted from laps 20-24 and then ran to the end.

The strategy was a brave one and was probably done to try and catapult the cars into a point or two if the opportunity arose, but none of the three drivers had the pace to really make an impact on the top 10 and they were the last of the finishers, Vandoorne 14th ahead of Ericsson and Wehrlein.

Low deg

The Sochi Autodrom’s smooth surface meant there was very low degradation, so a one-stop was always going to be the favoured strategy. Hulkenberg put in the most laps on the ultra-soft with 40, while Kevin Magnussen and Daniil Kvyat managed 30 laps on the ultra-softs.

Soft tyres barely featured at all throughout the weekend, due to the low wear and grip levels, so the higher grip super and ultra-softs were inevitably going to dominate. In fact, the softs only appeared on Friday and not much running was completed on them.

Jack Leslie @JackLeslieF1

Longest Stints

Ultrasoft: Hulkenberg (40 laps)
Supersoft: Magnussen (30 laps)

F1 Strategy Report Bahrain Grand Prix 2017

Race 3 – 57 Laps – 5.412km per lap – 308.238km race distance – medium tyre wear

Bahrain GP F1 Strategy Report Podcast – our host Michael Lamonato is joined by Rodney Gordon from Superlicense Podcast.

The on-track action wasn’t quite as red hot as the temperatures at the 2017 Bahrain Grand Prix but it was still an enjoyable race, with plenty of fun and frenetic battles to keep an eye on.

Sebastian Vettel emerged victorious for Ferrari, with strategy playing an important part of the four-time champion getting the better of Mercedes racers Lewis Hamilton and polesitter Valtteri Bottas.

Alongside the thrills and spills of the racing at the Bahrain International Circuit, there were plenty of strategy options to take and storylines to monitor.

And it’s our job to share the major strategy headlines from each F1 race, so let’s get going:

The Bottas Train

In the early stages of the race, it looked as if leader Bottas simply didn’t have the pace of those in the train of cars forming behind him. He was unable to open up a gap to Vettel and this allowed Hamilton and the Red Bulls to close in too.

But, as it turns out, Bottas was suffering with high tyre pressures following a generator failure on the grid, which caused him to struggle in the opening laps. It wasn’t because he was simply slower, but because the tyres weren’t working as they normally would and he was sliding around quite a bit.

Ferrari goes for the undercut

The undercut has always worked well in Bahrain, with drivers pitting earlier than rivals to get the jump on fresher tyres. Ferrari put this strategy to good use with Vettel’s first stop, although this was helped by Mercedes suffering slow stops with wheel gun issues.

He stopped on lap 10 for new super-softs, taking advantage of his fresh Pirelli rubber in the limited opportunity he had. The deployment of the safety car could’ve ruined his race but actually, the slow Mercedes stops and good timing from Ferrari meant Vettel took the lead.

Five seconds lost

Hamilton could well have been all over the back of Vettel’s car in the final laps of the race, had he not picked up a five-second time penalty for holding up Daniel Ricciardo at the pitlane entry before his first stop.

It was a lose-lose situation for Hamilton really, and we’ve not seen penalties handed out for backing up on pit entry. He would’ve been stuck behind Bottas in the pits, or lost time lingering back before entering the pits. Hamilton went for the latter and it came back to bite him.

The five-second penalty proved crucial in him losing out in the fight for victory. Without it, the six-second gap to Vettel at the chequered flag would clearly have been much less.

Softs for the Silver Arrows

Interestingly, Mercedes opted to fit softs for Hamilton’s shorter final stint, staying out longer on his yellow-marked tyres and pitting for fresher scrubbed softs on lap 41. Many thought super-softs would’ve worked better due to the improved performance, and some got over 20 laps out of their super-softs. Hamilton questioned the call over team radio but Mercedes said the data showed it was the better tyre. Who knows if he could’ve made up ground quicker on super-softs.

Underwhelming Iceman

Kimi Raikkonen put in another fairly forgettable performance, seemingly struggling more with the SF70H compared to Vettel. He had a poor first lap in Bahrain and lost ground, which meant he was cooped up behind old team-mate Felipe Massa for quite some time and this cost him in the fight for a potential podium.

His super-soft tyre performance was underwhelming, he couldn’t quite bring them to life. Ferrari could have also pitted him earlier for a second time, he was left out a little too long on super-softs and lost a bit of time. An earlier switch to new super-softs could’ve brought him closer to Bottas in the scrap for third, as he finished just behind the Mercedes.

Red Bull fired up

Daniel Ricciardo said after the race he thought Red Bull could be in contention for victory in the opening stint, with the Aussie behind team-mate Max Verstappen. Both were latched onto the lead battle but their gap to the leader was flattered by Bottas’s slow pace early on.

Ricciardo eventually dropped back, struggling to warm up the softs and wearing through the super-softs quicker than a lot of other cars. This seems to suggest Verstappen and Ricciardo would’ve slipped back anyway, even if it wasn’t for Verstappen’s brake failure and the ‘Honey Badger’ just generally lacking pace.

Ballsy Perez

A brave first lap from Sergio Perez saw him vault up five places, making up another in the first stint to move into the fight for points. He went for a more aggressive super-soft/super-soft/soft strategy, putting the extra grip in the opening two stints to good use and making up a lot of ground.

The safety car played its part in him shooting up the field, but he drove well, looked after his tyres, knew when to attack and wrapped things up with a solid soft-tyre stint to finish the race in seventh – despite starting 18^th.

Two-stop dominates

These new, more durable, wider Pirelli tyres meant we were expecting a lot of one-stop races but the demanding nature of the Bahrain circuit and warm temperatures meant two stops dominated proceedings, with only Pascal Wehrlein – on his racing return – going for a one-stop (and it almost worked for him).

The tyres held up pretty well despite the conditions, which helped Wehrlein almost score a point. Esteban Ocon did the most laps on super-softs with 26, while Wehrlein’s 45-lap soft tyre stint was the longest. The medium tyre wasn’t even used at all and barely played a part in the whole weekend, because the soft and super-softs worked so well and held their grip for so long.

Starting on softs

Marcus Ericsson was the only driver to start the race on softs, the rest went for super-softs. He tried something different and looked on course for a one-stop race, like Wehrlein, but it didn’t work out as well. Staying out during the safety car came back to bite him and he quickly dropped down the order. Progress had started to be made on super-softs when he retired with a gearbox failure.

Jack Leslie @JackLeslieF1

Longest Stints

Supersoft: Ocon (26 laps)
Soft: Wehrlein (45 laps)