Episode 15 of the 2016 Strategy Podcast: by Formula Legend provides insight & analysis of strategic decisions made during the 2016 Singapore Grand Prix.

Our host Michael Lamonato is joined by James Allen from JA on 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 @strategyreport.

21 Sep 2016

Race 15 – 61 Laps – 5.065km per lap – 308.828km race distance – low tyre wear

Singapore GP F1 Strategy Report Podcast – our host Michael Lamonato is joined by James Allen from JA on F1.

Some will say the Singapore Grand Prix kicked off and ended in dramatic fashion, but the mid-part was a little dull. For those interested in strategy, that’s far from the case.

The Marina Bay Street Circuit hosted a fascinating race, with Nico Rosberg just holding off Daniel Ricciardo to take the win and snatch back the top spot in the drivers’ standings. Lewis Hamilton rounded out the podium after beating Kimi Raikkonen.

Singapore saw a whole host of great drives up and down the field, including Sebastian Vettel’s charge from last to fifth and Kevin Magnussen snatching a point with 10^th. We saw a diverse range of strategies used during the race, here were the main headlines.

Qualifying strategy

Red Bull was the only team to do something different and take a risk in Q2, with both Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen setting their best time on the super-soft tyre. They made it through to Q3, meaning they were the only drivers in the top 10 to start on the red-marked Pirelli tyre.

It showed how confident Red Bull felt at the Marina Bay track, with the RB12 being well-suited to the layout. It’s hard to really tell just how much of an advantage it gave them, but the gap between the super-softs and ultra-softs wasn’t massive and it helped both drivers be in better shape at the end of the opening stints.

Aggressive tyre stints

Ferrari opted for quite an aggressive strategy with Vettel to help him move up the field from last on the grid after a problem in qualifying. The German driver started on the softs for a long first stint, helping him pick off the stragglers, before two shorter ultra-soft stints to aggressively weave up the order.

It worked well and was one of the alternative strategies in the race. Red Bull went for a super-soft/super-soft to kick off the race, which helped him to eke out an advantage over the chasing Hamilton. The Mercedes driver felt the soft tyre was the wrong call and it caused him to lose touch of the RBR car.

Perez goes long

Once again we saw a Force India going for several long stints on the soft tyre. Sergio Perez opted for two long segments on the yellow-marked Pirelli compound, having ditched the ultra-soft for the early safety car (ironically caused by his team-mate Nico Hulkenberg). It saw him make steady progress up to eighth and was effectively a two-stop, as the safety car stop was pretty much free.

Merc triggers a big strategy move

Mercedes turned the race on its head when it pitted Hamilton on lap 45 to try and get back ahead of Kimi Raikkonen’s Ferrari. Stopping one lap earlier and with fresh super-softs helped him move ahead of the Iceman, with Ferrari reacting to put Raikkonen on the ultra-softs.

This didn’t look like a particularly great call. He did close in on Hamilton towards the end of the race but struggled to close the gap early in the stint and this harmed his challenge. Red Bull then seemingly reacted by pitting Ricciardo, maybe feeling threatened by the pace of the Mercedes and Ferrari cars.

It looks like that’s what happened, anyway. Ricciardo could’ve gone to the end on the softs but that would’ve put his second place under threat from the closing Hamilton and Raikkonen. In the end it saw him quickly cut the gap to Rosberg, who did stay out. But he just ran out of time on his super-softs. It proved to be an awesome finish to the race though.

Toro Rosso too conservative?

Daniil Kvyat looked in good form in Singapore and even said Toro Rosso was too conservative on their strategy, which saw him pit for ultra-softs on lap 15 and then go for two super-soft stints, switching tyres on lap 37. He felt possibly challenging Fernando Alonso for seventh was on the cards if they’d been a bit more aggressive, maybe following McLaren with an earlier second stint and move to the softs. The car looked quick so it could’ve been possible.

The undercut works well

As always in Singapore, the undercut worked well with the warm track conditions and gap between the tyre compounds, coupled with the step up in tyre nominations. We saw several times that pitting earlier worked a treat, particularly with Hamilton and Raikkonen.

Ricciardo also stopped one lap before Rosberg and this put him closer to the Mercedes, but the Red Bull driver was on the medium-nominated tyre. He could’ve stayed out a few laps longer and then elongated his middle stint, to give him fresher softs for a final drive to the flag on the same compound as Rosberg – this could’ve worked better. But again, Red Bull had to react to those behind them in this case and it almost paid off.

Jack Leslie @JackLeslieF1

Longest Stints

Soft: Perez (36 laps)
Supersoft: Kvyat (24 laps)
Ultrasoft: Wherlein (24 laps)

Most Stops

Ericsson, Massa, Verstappen, Hamilton, Raikkonen, Ricciardo, Ocon, Sainz (3)

Episode 14 of the 2016 Strategy Podcast: by Formula Legend provides insight & analysis of strategic decisions made during the 2016 Italian Grand Prix.

Our host Michael Lamonato is joined by Luca Manacorda from FormulaPassion.it.

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.

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)