Monthly Archives: July 2016

British Grand Prix 2016

15 Jul 2016

Race 10 – 52 Laps – 5.891km per lap – 306.198km race distance – medium tyre wear

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

Formula 1 returned to the historic Silverstone circuit for the British Grand Prix, with Lewis Hamilton dominating to claim his fourth victory at the track and of the 2016 season so far. There was controversy in the fight for second, with Nico Rosberg being demoted to third behind Max Verstappen after a penalty for breaching radio rules.

Drying conditions after early rain shook up the British GP strategy, but the evolving track environment and deployment of the Virtual Safety Car played a crucial role in deciding the final finishing positions. Here are the major strategy stories to hit the headlines at Silverstone.

Starting behind the safety car

The wet weather Pirelli tyre has gone through several improvements over the years, so it was frustrating to see the British GP start behind the safety car after an earlier rain shower on the grid. With the sun out and warm conditions, Silverstone gradually dried out but had to wait until the end of lap five for the race to properly begin.

We’ve seen this caution from the FIA before. Drivers complained of aquaplaning in the opening one or two laps but by lap three or four, conditions seemed to be ready to race. In fact, several drivers dived into the pitlane as soon as the safety car went in to change onto the intermediate tyres.

When to change

One of the best elements in terms of strategy in a wet-to-dry race is the element of unknown. Drivers each have different comfort levels on a drying track and feel the conditions differently. It’s fascinating to see the change to a drier tyre play out and is always one of the most interesting strategy features in these races.

Some opted to make a move right as the safety car retreated to the pits while others opted to stay out one lap, or even more. Those who stayed out on the intermediates benefitted from the deployment of the Virtual Safety Car for Pascal Wehrlein’s stranded Manor, while the change to dry tyres later on was treacherous – off the racing line, conditions were still tricky and we saw plenty of spins and incidents because of this.

VSC winners and losers

The deployment of the VSC was a big boost for Hamilton, Rosberg, Verstappen, Sergio Perez and Felipe Nasr, who all gained time and were elevated positions due to the decrease in the differing speeds of the cars on track compared to those in the pits. It hit Daniel Ricciardo hard in his fight for a podium, Nico Hulkenberg lost time too alongside several others.

Pirelli’s lap guides

After qualifying Pirelli shared in their post-race press release a set of lap number guides for each tyre, if things were to remain dry. Silverstone is a tough track for the tyres and with problems there in the past, as well as fairly high tyre degradation in practice, it was clear they wanted to give an estimate of what each tyre was capable of. It wasn’t necessarily a ‘you can’t do any more laps than this’ statement but more a piece of advice.

The wet start meant most of this information wasn’t really necessary but typically the teams still did more laps than advised, especially the medium compound. Felipe Massa did the most laps on the soft tyre with 13, below Pirelli’s guide, but a whole host of drivers did over 30 laps on the medium.

Medium tyre works well

As expected, the medium tyre was the preferred race tyre, with strong performance while still holding up well on long stints. It also had good performance in the slippery conditions, warming up fairly quickly and not producing too much degradation or wear. This is why we saw so many drivers go right to the end on the white-marked tyre after switching from the intermediates.

Of course, a few drivers struggled out there with tyre degradation, particularly the Williams drivers. The car lacks downforce and that’s not something you want at Silverstone. Massa had to stop again for a set of softs, while Fernando Alonso and Kevin Magnussen also had to pit for a third time.

Mercedes unstoppable again

Well, Hamilton was. The three-time world champion looked in a league of his own all race, he excels in wet weather (we saw this at Silverstone in 2008) and is obviously just as quick in the dry. His superiority in the wet looked even greater in the early laps before the switch to intermediates, where he scampered off into the distance as team-mate Rosberg struggled.

Rosberg hasn’t typically gone well in the wet while driving for Mercedes, perhaps due to a characteristic in the car, set-up or he just doesn’t feel as confident in those conditions. While Hamilton was well clear out front, Rosberg had to fend off Verstappen and he ended up finishing ahead of him, only to be demoted by the radio penalty. Red Bull were best of the rest, the Silverstone track clearly suiting the RB12.

But the gap to Rosberg behind did mean Mercedes were able to double-stack their cars in the pitstops, which really helped them maximise the strategy and the conditions. They even snatched the quickest stop award away from Williams, breaking the team’s nine-race run!

What if it had been dry?

It’s always interesting to think what could’ve happened if the race had been dry throughout. The predicted quickest strategy was a two-stop with two soft tyre stints and one on the mediums, but a dry race would’ve opened up more strategy options and we could’ve seen a very different race outcome. It was quite warm on Sunday and the higher temperatures would have likely produced higher tyre wear and a few more three-stop races.

Jack Leslie @JackLeslieF1

Longest Stints

Wet: Rosberg, Ericsson, Perez, Nasr, Verstappen, Hamilton (7 laps)
Intermediate: Alonso, Magnussen, Gutierrez, Hulkenberg, Sainz (12 laps)
Medium: Vettel (37 laps)
Soft: Massa (13 laps)

Most Stops

Palmer, Massa, Alonso, Magnussen (3 – including drive-throughs)

All the Data

Thanks to Pirelli Motorsport for the detailed infographics

8190_British-Race1-EN

8194_British-Race2-EN

Stints by Driver

SCSafety Car
Physical Lap 1 – 5
Virtual Lap 7-8

 

RedAss-Black-top3. Ricciardo
Start P4
Wet  6 laps Pit 30.198
Intermediate 11 laps Pit 28.813
Medium 35 laps
Finished P4 (+0)

 

Stallion-Black-top5. Vettel
Start P11
Wet 5 laps Pit 29.163
Intermediate 10 laps Pit 31.381
Medium 37 laps
Finished P9 (+2)

 

Mercury-Black-top6. Rosberg
Start P2
Wet 7 laps Pit 21.890
Intermediate 10 laps 29.715
Medium 35 laps
Finished P3 (-1)

 

Stallion-Black-top7. Raikkonen
Start P5
Wet 5 laps Pit 29.578
Intermediate 11 laps Pit 30.462
Medium 36 laps
Finished P5 (+0)

 

Hars-Black-top8. Grosjean
Start P13
Wet 5 laps Pit 31.632
Intermediate 11 laps Pit 30.862
Medium 1 laps
Retired L17 (DNF)

 

Saucer-Black-top9. Ericsson
Start P22
Used Wet 7 laps Pit 35.393
Intermediate 4 laps
Retired L11 (DNF)

 

RageR-Black-top11. Perez
Start P10
Wet 7 laps Pit 29.475
Intermediate 10 laps 28.915
Used Medium 35 laps
Finished P6 (+4)

 

Saucer-Black-top12. Nasr
Start P21
Wet 7 laps Pit 30.981
Intermediate 9 laps Pit 30.143
Medium 35 laps
Finished P15 (+6)

 

McLaren-Black-top14. Alonso
Start P9
Wet 5 laps Pit 32.374
Intermediate 12 laps Pit 28.799
Medium 22 laps Pit 28.936
Medium 12 laps
Finished P13 (-4)

 

Franks-Black-top19. Massa
Start P12
Wet 6 laps Pit 29.243
Intermediate 10 laps Pit 29.403
Medium 22 laps Pit 29.346
Soft 13 laps
Finished P11 (+1)

 

Renboat-Black-top20. Magnussen
Start P16
Wet 5 laps Pit 30.804
Intermediate 12 laps Pit 29.201
Medium 23 laps Pit 28.450
Soft 9 laps
Finished P17 (-1)
Hars-Black-top21. Guttierrez
Start P14
Wet 5 laps Pit 41.508
Intermediate 12 laps Pit 29.884
Medium 34 laps
Finished P16 (-2)

 

McLaren-Black-top22. Button
Start P17
Wet 6 laps Pit 30.093
Intermediate 11 laps Pit 29.588
Medium 34 laps
Finished P12 (+5)

 

Burro-Black-top26. Kvyat
Start P15
Wet 6 laps Pit 30.315
Intermediate 10 laps Pit 30.327
Medium 36 laps
Finished P10 (+5)

 

RageR-Black-top27. Hulkenberg
Start P8
Wet 5 laps Pit 30.747
Intermediate 12 laps Pit 29.867
Used Medium 35 laps
Finished P7 (+1)

 

Renboat-Black-top30. Palmer
Start P18
Wet 6 laps Pit 29.784
Intermediate 10 laps Pit 55.697
Medium 3 laps Pit 41.486
Used Medium 18 laps
Retired L37 (DNF)

 

RedAss-Black-top33. Verstappen
Start P3
Wet 7 laps Pit 31.995
Intermediate 11 laps Pit 29.429
Medium 34 laps
Finished P2 (+1)

 

Mercury-Black-top44. Hamilton
Start P1
Wet 7 laps Pit 30.343
Intermediate 10 laps Pit 28.728
Medium 35 laps
Finished P1 (+0)

 

Burro-Black-top55. Sainz
Start P7
Wet 5 laps Pit 30.786
Intermediate 12 laps Pit 29.895
Medium 35 laps
Finished P8 (-1)

 

Franks-Black-top77. Bottas
Start P6
Wet 5 laps Pit 29.808
Intermediate 11 laps Pit 29.282
Medium 36 laps
Finished P14 (-8)

 

Manner-Black-top88. Haryanto
Start P19
Wet 6 laps Pit 29.998
Intermediate 11 laps Pit 30.135
Medium 7 laps
Retired L24 (DNF)

 

Manner-Black-top94. Wehrlein
Start P20
Wet 5 laps Pit 31.812
Intermediate 1 lap
Soft 47 laps
Retired L6 (DNF)

10-britain-lap-chart

NORTHAMPTON, ENGLAND – JULY 10: Max Verstappen of the Netherlands driving the (33) Red Bull Racing Red Bull-TAG Heuer RB12 TAG Heuer leads Nico Rosberg of Germany driving the (6) Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team Mercedes F1 WO7 Mercedes PU106C Hybrid turbo on track during the Formula One Grand Prix of Great Britain at Silverstone on July 10, 2016 in Northampton, England. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)

Boletim Estratégico: GP da Inglaterra

14 Jul 2016

NORTHAMPTON, ENGLAND - JULY 10: Max Verstappen of the Netherlands driving the (33) Red Bull Racing Red Bull-TAG Heuer RB12 TAG Heuer leads Nico Rosberg of Germany driving the (6) Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team Mercedes F1 WO7 Mercedes PU106C Hybrid turbo on track during the Formula One Grand Prix of Great Britain at Silverstone on July 10, 2016 in Northampton, England. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)
NORTHAMPTON, ENGLAND – JULY 10: Max Verstappen of the Netherlands driving the (33) Red Bull Racing Red Bull-TAG Heuer RB12 TAG Heuer leads Nico Rosberg of Germany driving the (6) Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team Mercedes F1 WO7 Mercedes PU106C Hybrid turbo on track during the Formula One Grand Prix of Great Britain at Silverstone on July 10, 2016 in Northampton, England. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)

10ª Etapa – 52 Voltas – 5.891km por volta – 306.198km distância total – desgaste médio de pneus

British GP F1 Strategy Report Podcast – nosso host Michael Lamonato recebe Luke Smith da NBC Sports.

A Fórmula 1 retornou ao templo histórico de Silverstone para o GP da Inglaterra, com uma vitória dominante de Lewis Hamilton, sua 4ª na temporada e no circuito. Ainda tivemos polêmica na briga pela 2ª posição, com Nico Rosberg sendo rebaixado para 3º devido a uma penalidade pelas mensagens de rádio.

A pista secando bagunçou o grid. Além disso, a evolução da pista e o Safety Car Virtual foram fator decisivos na briga por posições. Aqui estão os principais pontos estratégicos do GP.

Largando sob Safety Car

O pneu de chuva extrema da Pirelli passou por inúmeras evoluções com o passar do anos, por isso foi frustrante assistir a largada do GP da Inglaterra atrás do Safety Car, graças a chuva que castigou o circuito antes da prova. Com a aparição do sol e as altas temperaturas, a pista foi secando gradualmente mas ainda assim tivemos que esperar até a volta 5 para que a corrida começasse de verdade.

Nós já vimos esse cuidado da FIA antes. Alguns pilotos relataram aquaplanagem nas duas primeiras voltas, mas a partir das voltas 3 e 4 a pista já parecia em condições de corrida. Outro indicativo dessas condições apropriadas foi o tráfego no pit-lane em busca dos intermediários logo que o carro de segurança voltou para os pits.

Quando Trocar?

Um dos melhores elementos estratégicos em uma transição do molhado para o seco é o desconhecido. Cada piloto tem um nível de conforto diferente em uma pista secando, além de um julgamento particular das condições. Assistir a mudança para os pneus slicks é sempre fascinante e com certeza uma das partes mais fascinantes da corrida.

Alguns optaram por fazer a troca logo que o Safety Car voltou para os pits, enquanto outros optaram por ficar mais uma volta, ou até mais. Aqueles que escolheram permanecer na pista com os pneus de chuva se beneficiaram com o Safety Car virtual gerado pelo acidente de Pascal Wehrlein, já a troca para os slicks foi traiçoeira, com muitas escapadas e rodadas sendo causadas pelo piso extremamente escorregadio fora do traçado ideal.

Sorte e revés no VSC

A entrada do Safety Car Virtual beneficou Hamilton, Rosberg, Verstappen, Perez e até Felipe Nasr, que se aproveitaram da velocidade mais baixa do pelotão para fazer a parada e ganhar muito tempo em relação aos concorrentes. No entanto, prejudicou Nico Hulkenberg e praticamente tirou Daniel Ricciardo da briga por um pódio.

Guia da Pirelli

Após o Quali, a Pirelli publicou um guia com o número de voltas sugeridas em cada composto, se a pista permanecesse seca. Silverstone costuma ser uma pista dura para os pneus e com os problemas recentes no circuito, aliados a um alto índice de desgaste nos treinos livres, ficou claro que a fornecedora italiana queria dar uma estimativa do que cada composto era capaz. Não foi expressamente “Você não pode dar mais voltas que isso”, mas sim um conselho.

A largada no molhado significou que boa parte daquela informação não era mais necessária, entretanto, equipes ainda deram mais voltas do que o recomendado, especialmente no pneu médio. Felipe Massa foi o piloto com mais voltas calçando pneus macios, com 13, ainda abaixo do guia da Pirelli, mas boa parte do grid passou das 30 voltas nos médios.

Médios funcionando bem

Como esperado, os pneus médios foram os mais utilizados na corrida, com ótimo desempenho e resistindo bem ao desgaste duro da pista inglesa. Além disso, apresentaram boa performance na pista escorregadia, aquecendo rapidamente e evitando uma degradação repentina. Por esse mesmo motivo nós vimos tantos pilotos indo até o final com os pneus brancos, após se livrarem dos intermediários.

Obviamente, alguns pilotos sofreram com o desgaste de pneus, especialmente os da Williams. O bólido não tem tanta downforce, algo que realmente faz falta em Silverstone. Massa teve que parar novamente, dessa vez para os macios, enquanto Alonso e Magnussen também foram obrigados a parar pela terceira vez.

Mercedes imbatíveis novamente

Bom, Hamilton foi. O tricampeão parecia estar em uma liga própria durante todo o GP, a pista molhada é uma de suas especialidades (Interlagos 2008 mandou lembranças) e ainda é obviamente rápido no piso seco. Sua superioridade sob chuva ficou ainda mais clara logo após a passagem para os intermediários, quando o inglês sumiu na liderança enquanto Rosberg encarava dificuldades.

O alemão tradicionalmente não tem apresentado bons resultados na chuva nessa passagem pela Mercedes, talvez por uma característica do carro, ajustes ou apenas uma falta de confiança em condições adversas. Enquanto Hamilton estendia sua liderança, Rosberg tinha que se defender de Max Verstappen, missão que o alemão cumpriu na pista, mas caiu para 3º após receber a punição pela mensagem de rádio. A Red Bull foi a melhor do resto, em uma pista que recebe muito bem o RB12.

A diferença entre os companheiros de equipe possibilitou que a Mercedes chamasse os dois para os boxes na mesma volta, o que realmente ajudou a maximizar suas estratégias e condições na prova. A equipe até roubou o prêmio de pit-stop mais rápido da Williams, quebrando a sequência de 9 corridas da equipe de Grove.

E se não tivesse chovido?

É sempre interessante pensar no que poderia ter acontecido se a corrida tivesse sido disputada no seco desde o início. A estratégia mais rápida parecia ser de duas paradas, com dois stints nos pneus macios e um nos médios, entretanto, uma pista seca poderia abrir o leque de possibilidades e poderíamos ter visto um resultado bem diferente. Domingo foi um dia bem quente e as altas temperaturas poderiam aumentar a degradação e gerar mais estratégias de três paradas.

Jack Leslie @JackLeslieF1  – BR version by Fernando Campos.

Stints mais longos

Chuva Extrema: Ericsson, Perez, Nasr, Verstappen – 7 voltas
Intermediários: Alonso, Magnussen, Gutierrez, Hulkenberg – 12 voltas
Médios: Vettel – 37 voltas
Macios: Massa – 13 voltas

Mais paradas

Palmer, Massa, Alonso, Magnussen – 3 (Incluindo drive-throughs)

Fonte

Thanks to Pirelli Motorsport for the detailed infographics

8190_British-Race1-EN

8194_British-Race2-EN

Stints by Driver

SCSafety Car
Physical Lap 1 – 5
Virtual Lap 7-8

 

RedAss-Black-top3. Ricciardo
Start P4
Wet  6 laps Pit 30.198
Intermediate 11 laps Pit 28.813
Medium 35 laps
Finished P4 (+0)

 

Stallion-Black-top5. Vettel
Start P11
Wet 5 laps Pit 29.163
Intermediate 10 laps Pit 31.381
Medium 37 laps
Finished P9 (+2)

 

Mercury-Black-top6. Rosberg
Start P2
Wet 7 laps Pit 21.890
Intermediate 10 laps 29.715
Medium 35 laps
Finished P3 (-1)

 

Stallion-Black-top7. Raikkonen
Start P5
Wet 5 laps Pit 29.578
Intermediate 11 laps Pit 30.462
Medium 36 laps
Finished P5 (+0)

 

Hars-Black-top8. Grosjean
Start P13
Wet 5 laps Pit 31.632
Intermediate 11 laps Pit 30.862
Medium 1 laps
Retired L17 (DNF)

 

Saucer-Black-top9. Ericsson
Start P22
Used Wet 7 laps Pit 35.393
Intermediate 4 laps
Retired L11 (DNF)

 

RageR-Black-top11. Perez
Start P10
Wet 7 laps Pit 29.475
Intermediate 10 laps 28.915
Used Medium 35 laps
Finished P6 (+4)

 

Saucer-Black-top12. Nasr
Start P21
Wet 7 laps Pit 30.981
Intermediate 9 laps Pit 30.143
Medium 35 laps
Finished P15 (+6)

 

McLaren-Black-top14. Alonso
Start P9
Wet 5 laps Pit 32.374
Intermediate 12 laps Pit 28.799
Medium 22 laps Pit 28.936
Medium 12 laps
Finished P13 (-4)

 

Franks-Black-top19. Massa
Start P12
Wet 6 laps Pit 29.243
Intermediate 10 laps Pit 29.403
Medium 22 laps Pit 29.346
Soft 13 laps
Finished P11 (+1)

 

Renboat-Black-top20. Magnussen
Start P16
Wet 5 laps Pit 30.804
Intermediate 12 laps Pit 29.201
Medium 23 laps Pit 28.450
Soft 9 laps
Finished P17 (-1)
Hars-Black-top21. Guttierrez
Start P14
Wet 5 laps Pit 41.508
Intermediate 12 laps Pit 29.884
Medium 34 laps
Finished P16 (-2)

 

McLaren-Black-top22. Button
Start P17
Wet 6 laps Pit 30.093
Intermediate 11 laps Pit 29.588
Medium 34 laps
Finished P12 (+5)

 

Burro-Black-top26. Kvyat
Start P15
Wet 6 laps Pit 30.315
Intermediate 10 laps Pit 30.327
Medium 36 laps
Finished P10 (+5)

 

RageR-Black-top27. Hulkenberg
Start P8
Wet 5 laps Pit 30.747
Intermediate 12 laps Pit 29.867
Used Medium 35 laps
Finished P7 (+1)

 

Renboat-Black-top30. Palmer
Start P18
Wet 6 laps Pit 29.784
Intermediate 10 laps Pit 55.697
Medium 3 laps Pit 41.486
Used Medium 18 laps
Retired L37 (DNF)

 

RedAss-Black-top33. Verstappen
Start P3
Wet 7 laps Pit 31.995
Intermediate 11 laps Pit 29.429
Medium 34 laps
Finished P2 (+1)

 

Mercury-Black-top44. Hamilton
Start P1
Wet 7 laps Pit 30.343
Intermediate 10 laps Pit 28.728
Medium 35 laps
Finished P1 (+0)

 

Burro-Black-top55. Sainz
Start P7
Wet 5 laps Pit 30.786
Intermediate 12 laps Pit 29.895
Medium 35 laps
Finished P8 (-1)

 

Franks-Black-top77. Bottas
Start P6
Wet 5 laps Pit 29.808
Intermediate 11 laps Pit 29.282
Medium 36 laps
Finished P14 (-8)

 

Manner-Black-top88. Haryanto
Start P19
Wet 6 laps Pit 29.998
Intermediate 11 laps Pit 30.135
Medium 7 laps
Retired L24 (DNF)

 

Manner-Black-top94. Wehrlein
Start P20
Wet 5 laps Pit 31.812
Intermediate 1 lap
Soft 47 laps
Retired L6 (DNF)

10-britain-lap-chart

4 Jul 2016

With

Michael Lamonato

Michael Lamonato

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Episode 9 (2016) – Austrian Grand Prix

Episode 9 of the 2016 Strategy Podcast: by Formula Legend provides insight & analysis of strategic decisions made during the 2016 Austrian Grand Prix.

Our host Michael Lamonato is joined by Ted Kravitz from Sky Sports F1 in an extra long (and extra insightful!) episode.

Our guest Ted Kravitz from Sky Sports F1
Our guest Ted Kravitz from Sky Sports F1

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.

If you’re into F1 strategy make sure you check out Formula Legend – it’s free for iOS & Android. Contact us on twitter @beermogul.

Austrian Grand Prix 2016

4 Jul 2016

Race 9 – 71 Laps – 4.362km per lap – 307.020km race distance – medium tyre wear

Austrian GP F1 Strategy Report Podcast – our host Michael Lamonato is joined by Ted Kravitz from Sky Sports F1 in an extra long (and extra insightful!) episode.

Formula 1 returned to the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Austria, for round nine of the 2016 season. The breathtaking scenery and backdrop at the undulating circuit were matched by a truly frenetic race, which featured some very interesting strategy points.

Lewis Hamilton stormed to win number three of the year, following a last-lap overtake (which involved the now infamous contact) on team-mate Nico Rosberg. Max Verstappen and Kimi Raikkonen completed the podium. There were a number of major strategy headlines to emerge from the race.

Teams play the Q2 game

All three Pirelli tyre compounds were used for the start of the race, with Rio Haryanto and Felipe Nasr opting for the softs, a large majority of the drivers who qualified from 11-22 on the super-soft and most of the top 10 on the ultra-soft.

But we also saw a few drivers who made it through to Q3 go for a fastest lap in Q2 on the middle tyre compound, the super-soft. Drivers in the top 10 start on the tyre they set their best time on in the second segment and Daniel Ricciardo, Kimi Raikkonen, Max Verstappen, Felipe Massa and Sebastian Vettel all setting going for this strategy.

With little difference between the ultra and super-soft tyres in terms of pace, it meant they could run at similar speeds to those on the softest compound while having a more durable tyre to work with. But overall it fell a bit flat for those trying to make it work, some made it work better than others but for one driver it didn’t work out at all…

Vettel goes long

Vettel opted for a long first stint on the super-soft tyre to see how much progress he could make from ninth on the grid after his gearbox penalty. He was running in the lead and was running decent pace, despite the softer compounds not lasting that long in Austrian GP practice. But it all ended in tears on lap 26 when his right-rear tyre exploded on the main straight. Pirelli is still investigating the issue, it was side of the car that gets the least load, so many feel it was not due to wear but perhaps debris. We will wait and see.

The Ultrasofts last

In practice many drivers were struggling with tyre graining and higher degradation than expected but this proved to not be the case on Sunday, with many managing long stints. One of these drivers was Hamilton, who did 21 laps in total on the ultrasofts in his opening stint.

With the tyre working well, Mercedes kept him out far longer than team-mate Nico Rosberg. Perhaps, with spits of rain falling, they were seeing what the weather would do or if a safety car would emerge. It did – for Vettel’s crash – but not in time for his stop. Still, it made you think once again, could Pirelli go even softer with this top of the range tyre?

It’s also worth noting many drivers pitted under the safety car and the brief pause in the race helped some to eke out their stints and save having to stop again or fall into tyre trouble at the end of their runs.

Rosberg vs Hamilton

This was a fascinating part of the race. Despite Hamilton’s ultra-softs lasting long, Rosberg managed to get the undercut with some seriously quick laps on the soft, which helped him move ahead of Hamilton when the British driver emerged from his stop.

Mercedes opted to keep Rosberg out until lap 55 before stopping again, a very considerable stint on the hardest of the three tyres. Hamilton had managed to cut the gap to his team-mate during this time due to his fresher tyres and both stopped again for the second time.

This time Hamilton pitted first and moved a bit closer when Rosberg emerged but they were on different tyres, the former on the softs and the latter on the super-soft. It was puzzling but the cooler temperature didn’t work as well for the super-softs and Hamilton was able to close in and eventually try an overtake on the final lap.

We all know what happened with the contact and Rosberg was handed penalties for the crash and continuing to the flag with a damaged car. It was unusual to see the super-soft not working as well and Hamilton being able to challenge on the harder compound, the temperatures and track conditions certainly played a crucial role in how the tyres worked and how different they worked compared to practice.

Ricciardo loses out

Both Red Bulls started on the super-soft, with Ricciardo lining up fifth and Verstappen eighth. But it was the 18-year-old star who proved the quicker of the two during the race, with Ricciardo struggling more with the tyres, to get them up to temperature and make them last.

It was never going to be a particularly strong track for Red Bull despite it being the team’s home circuit, but Verstappen enjoyed much better performance on the tyres – maybe just through a better set-up with the condition changes – and he worked his way up the order with some extremely long stints.

He only stopped once, whereas Ricciardo pitted twice, and did some feisty defending from Raikkonen late on. Meanwhile Ricciardo lost ground throughout the race with his tyre struggles and ended up fifth, just ahead of Jenson Button.

Wehrlein scores a point

Arguably the most heart warming story of the race was Pascal Wehrlein scoring a point for Manor in P10, just behind Valtteri Bottas. He qualified in P12 and had two strong, short stints on the ultra-soft early on, pitting for the final time just before the safety car. Despite recent rear deg struggles Wehrlein completed a brilliant final stint on the softs and was quick right through to the end.

Jack Leslie @JackLeslieF1

Longest Stints

Soft: Raikkonen, Grosjean, Button, Verstappen, Sainz, Wehrlein (42 laps)
Supersoft: Nasr (27 laps)
Ultrasoft: Hamilton (21 laps)

Most Stops

Hulkenberg (5 – including drive-throughs)

All the Data

Thanks to Pirelli Motorsport for the detailed infographics

8014_Austrian-Race2-EN

8018_Austrian-Race1-EN

Stints by Driver

SCSafety Car
Lap 27 – 31

 

RedAss-Black-top3. Ricciardo
Start P5
Used Supersoft  14 laps Pit 21.183
Soft 46 laps Pit 22.284
Ultrasoft 11 laps
Finished P5 (+0)

 

Stallion-Black-top5. Vettel
Start P9
Used Supersoft  26 laps
Retired Lap 26 (DNF)

 

Mercury-Black-top6. Rosberg
Start P6
Used Ultrasoft 10 laps Pit 21.890
Soft 45 laps 21.035
Supersoft 16 laps
Finished P4 (+2)

 

Stallion-Black-top7. Raikkonen
Start P4
Used Supersoft 22 laps Pit 21.916
Used Soft 49 laps
Finished P3 (+1)

 

Hars-Black-top8. Grosjean
Start P13
Supersoft 26 laps Pit 22.662
Used Soft 45 laps
Finished P7 (+6)

 

Saucer-Black-top9. Ericsson
Start P18
Supersoft 12 laps Pit 22.980
Used Soft 38 laps Pit 24.326
Used Supersoft 20 laps
Finished P15 (+3)

 

RageR-Black-top11. Perez
Start P16
Ultrasoft 9 laps Pit 21.883
Supersoft 17 laps 21.412
Soft 43 laps
Finished P17 (-1)

 

Saucer-Black-top12. Nasr
Start P21
Soft 43 laps Pit 22.707
Supersoft 27 laps
Finished P13 (+8)

 

McLaren-Black-top14. Alonso
Start P14
Supersoft 8 laps Pit 21.924
Soft 18 laps Pit 22.879
Soft 38 laps
Finished P18 (-4)

 

Franks-Black-top19. Massa
Start P10
Supersoft 12 laps Pit 21.097
Used Soft 44 laps Pit 21.231
Supersoft 7 laps
Finished P20 (-10)

 

Renboat-Black-top20. Magnussen
Start P17
Supersoft 11 laps Pit 22.033
Soft 38 laps Pit 27.119
Supersoft 21 laps
Finished P14 (+3)
Hars-Black-top21. Guttierrez
Start P11
Supersoft 21 laps Pit 22.053
Supersoft 20 laps Pit 21.921
Used Soft 29 laps
Finished P11 (+0)

 

McLaren-Black-top22. Button
Start P3
Used Ultrasoft 9 laps Pit 22.859
Soft 17 laps Pit 22.035
Soft 45 laps
Finished P6 (-3)

 

Burro-Black-top26. Kvyat
Start Pitlane
Ultrasoft 2 laps
Retired Lap 2 (DNF)

 

RageR-Black-top27. Hulkenberg
Start P2
Used Ultrasoft 8 laps Pit 22.601
Supersoft 16 laps Pit 21.580
Soft 26 laps Pit 27.834
Used Ultrasoft 13 laps
Finished P19 (-17)

 

Renboat-Black-top30. Palmer
Start P19
Supersoft 12 laps Pit 21.754
Soft 38 laps Pit 22.728
Supersoft 20 laps
Finished P12 (+7)

 

RedAss-Black-top33. Verstappen
Start P8
Used Supersoft 15 laps Pit 21.945
Soft 56 laps
Finished P2 (+6)

 

Mercury-Black-top44. Hamilton
Start P1
Used Ultrasoft 21 laps Pit 22.918
Soft 33 laps Pit 22.109
Used Soft 17 laps
Finished P1 (+0)

 

Burro-Black-top55. Sainz
Start P15
Supersoft 9 laps Pit 22.605
Soft 19 laps Pit 33.462
Soft 43 laps
Finished P8 (+7)

 

Franks-Black-top77. Bottas
Start P7
Used Ultrasoft 9 laps Pit 21.047
Used Soft 42 laps Pit 21.639
Supersoft 19 laps
Finished P9 (-2)

 

Manner-Black-top88. Haryanto
Start P20
Soft 27 laps Pit 23.326
Supersoft 23 laps Pit 25.234
Used Supersoft 20 laps
Finished P16 (+4)

 

Manner-Black-top94. Wehrlein
Start P12
Ultrasoft 13 laps Pit 22.613
Used Ultrasoft 10 laps Pit 23.738
Soft 47 laps
Finished P10 (+2)

09-austria-lap-chart

SPIELBERG, AUSTRIA – JULY 02: Max Verstappen of the Netherlands driving the (33) Red Bull Racing Red Bull-TAG Heuer RB12 TAG Heuer on track during final practice for the Formula One Grand Prix of Austria at Red Bull Ring on July 2, 2016 in Spielberg, Austria. (Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images)