Episode 21 of the 2016 Strategy Podcast: by Apex Race Manager provides insight & analysis of strategic decisions made during the 2016 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Our host Michael Lamonato is joined by Nathan Harper from Beermogul Games (Apex Race Manager).

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.

V8 Race Manager: The V8 Supercar race management simulation – it’s out now on iOS & Android.

Contact us on twitter @strategyreport.

29 Nov 2016

Race 21 – 55 Laps – 5.554km per lap – 305.355km race distance – low tyre wear

Abu Dhabi GP F1 Strategy Report Podcast – our host Michael Lamonato is joined by Nathan Harper from Beermogul Games (Apex Race Manager).

The 2016 Formula 1 season came to a close in tense style at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, with Lewis Hamilton winning the race in controversial style after employing tactics to try and snatch the title away from Nico Rosberg.

But second place for Rosberg was enough to take the championship, holding off Sebastian Vettel in the closing stages to become a first-time title winner. The 2016 finale threw up plenty of interesting strategy stories, here are the main headlines:

Verstappen bounces back

Facing the wrong way at the exit of Turn 1 on the opening lap isn’t the ideal situation, but few drivers could go from 22^nd to fourth like Max Verstappen did – at the Yas Marina Circuit of all places, too.

Having clashed with Nico Hulkenberg and dropped to last place, Verstappen put his super-soft tyres (which clearly weren’t badly damaged after his spin) to good use and quickly advanced up the order through the midfield runners, proving how strong the Red Bull car was compared to those further down the grid.

Running long on the super-soft tyre ended up putting Verstappen back into contention, as he was able to lap for longer at a fast pace. It brought him into the play and ahead of Daniel Ricciardo, but Vettel’s charge meant he lost out on a possible third place – in part due to Verstappen’s soft tyres fading, as he was one of only two drivers on a one-stop strategy.

Employing the undercut

There were a few interesting strategy points from the first round of stops, in particular the tactics of Ferrari and Red Bull with Kimi Raikkonen and Ricciardo. On ultra-softs, Ferrari pitted Raikkonen on lap seven, giving him two extra laps on fresh Pirelli rubber before Ricciardo stopped.

The two had been close on the track before the stops and Red Bull seemingly pitted Ricciardo on lap nine to not lose too much time against Raikkonen, which proved to be right because he came out just behind the Ferrari. The overcut (if you can call it that) almost worked for Ricciardo.

But he eventually got the jump when Red Bull stopped Ricciardo first on lap 24, going from old softs to new softs. Ferrari reacted but it wasn’t enough and the Red Bull was through.

It all works out for Vettel

After the first round of stops, it wasn’t looking all that great for Vettel. He was running in sixth place, a little way off those ahead of him. But Ferrari actually got their strategy right in the end, despite some feeling a long second stint on softs was a mistake.

In the end, the softs ended up working well for a long stint, helped by the cooler conditions in the night. Vettel briefly held the lead when he stayed out and then pitted later on, for super-softs. This put him on the attack for the final part of the race and he put the tyre advantage to good use from the get-go.

He was quickly able to pass Raikkonen, Ricciardo and Verstappen, moving into third place. But one step higher on the podium wasn’t possible due to Rosberg’s strong top speed, while Vettel’s tyres also went off towards the end. Surprisingly, considering it wasn’t expected to be a good race tyre, the super-softs held up well in the end.

Hamilton does his own thing

This was the main event. Rosberg vs Hamilton for the title and after the first stops, it was Hamilton leading from Rosberg. The title was Rosberg’s at that point and Hamilton knew he had to do something if he wanted to swing it in his favour. But he had few options at his disposal.

The route he chose to take didn’t go down well with Mercedes. He tried to back Rosberg into the chasing pack in the final part of the race, helping Vettel and the Red Bulls to catch up. Mercedes told him several times to speed up but he continued to run at his own pace, which has caused a huge debate.

In the end, Hamilton won from Rosberg, so the plan didn’t quite work. But it was fascinating to see Hamilton putting his own strategy call into play. He spiced up and added a splash of tension into the race, which was welcome from a viewing point of view, but obviously it put Mercedes in a tricky situation. It’ll surely be talked about for quite some time…

Super-soft saves it

Many thought the super-soft tyre should’ve been avoided all weekend but in the race, it actually worked very well. Verstappen used it on his long first stint, with Ricciardo also running it early on as Red Bull gambled in its qualifying strategy. Vettel also put on the super-softs to end the race.

Quite a few drivers also went onto the super-soft tyre for the final stint, seemingly mimicking Vettel. It put them in a stronger position for the run to the flag, but it didn’t have quite the same impact for the likes of Esteban Ocon and Romain Grosjean.

Going long

One driver who did something VERY different was Marcus Ericsson. Because, what did he have to lose? Sauber put him on a ridiculously long first stint on the softs, going all the way to lap 38. By that time he was struggling a lot and fell down the field, but a super-soft stint to end the race helped him make up a bit of ground.

Jack Leslie @JackLeslieF1

Longest Stints

Ultrasoft: Perez (9 laps)
Supersoft: Verstappen (21 laps)
Soft: Ericsson (38 laps)

Episode 20 of the 2016 Strategy Podcast: by Apex Race Manager provides insight & analysis of strategic decisions made during the 2016 Brazilian Grand Prix.

Our host Michael Lamonato is joined by Fernando Campos.

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.

V8 Race Manager: The V8 Supercar race management simulation – it’s out now on iOS & Android.

Contact us on twitter @strategyreport.

16 Nov 2016

Race 20 – 71 Laps – 4.309km per lap – 305.909km race distance – medium tyre wear

Brazilian GP F1 Strategy Report Podcast – our host Michael Lamonato is joined by Fernando Campos.

The 2016 Brazilian Grand Prix will be one of those races we’ll all remember for many years to come. Lewis Hamilton took victory in the heavily disrupted race, which took place in wet conditions and included several safety car periods and red flags.

The chaotic and action-packed Brazilian GP saw Nico Rosberg finish in second place, meaning the title fight between the Mercedes duo will go down to the 2016 finale in Abu Dhabi. But all eyes were on Max Verstappen as he swept up the order to third.

But with wet weather came limited strategy, especially with the red flags meaning cars could change tyres if needed. Nevertheless, we’ve picked out the major strategy headlines to emerge from the Brazilian GP as there’s still plenty to be discussed.

Track drying out?

The weather at Interlagos is notoriously difficult and there were several moments where it looked like things would dry out enough for some quicker and more trouble-free running. This tempted several drivers to go onto intermediates, with some gambling in the early stages after the safety car start.

But the rain never really went away and remained quite constant throughout, which meant the inters proved to be the wrong tyre to be on throughout the race. Many did go for inters in that early period, before ending up changing back to the wet compound later on.

No pit stop

Lewis Hamilton became the first driver since Alain Prost at the 1993 German Grand Prix to win a F1 race without making a proper pit stop. Technically he did change tyres twice during the red flags, going for a new set of wets first and then a used set afterwards, but a proper pit stop was never completed by the Mercedes crew on Hamilton’s car.

Strategic tension

One of the main interesting strategic points from the race was the tension and vibe at Mercedes, Hamilton and Rosberg both didn’t want to stop for wets and lose track position, in case of a safety car or red flag – or to lose out to one another.

With the title fight being so close and the stakes being so high, each driver seemed a little wary of what was going on. Pitting could mean being stuck behind the other or losing ground and especially for Hamilton, that would’ve had an impact on the championship. In the end though, both managed to change tyres during the red flags.

Incidents, everywhere

There were quite a few incidents during the race, as you’d expect from the heavy rain and tricky conditions. Romain Grosjean binned his Haas on his way to the grid and didn’t even make the start, while Marcus Ericsson then crashed towards the end of the lap after 14 laps and deployed the safety car.

Kimi Raikkonen smashed his Ferrari on the pit straight, which ended up bringing out the first red flag on lap 20. These incidents and crashes proved to be quite important in the race outcome and the flow of the race too, making it especially stop-start.

Verstappen loses win?

Undoubtedly, Verstappen excelled in the wet conditions and he proved to be quick from the start. He was as high as second at one point in the race and was one of the drivers to pit for intermediates after Ericsson’s crash, ending up going back onto the wets.

Red Bull opted to pit Verstappen for inters once again on lap 43, going for the gamble. It failed and the subsequent pit stop to go back to wets dropped him well outside the top 10 – as low as 15^th. But the feisty and phenomenal way he moved his way back up the grid was truly incredible and will surely be talked about for years.

The pit stop proved to be a mistake and lost him a huge amount of track position. His new wet tyres gave him an advantage but he certainly looked quick all the way through the race, particularly on the wets. You have to think a win could’ve been possible in those conditions after such a fightback.

Button tries something different

Jenson Button is usually brilliant in wet conditions but the two switches he made to inters backfired and he ended up finishing last of those who made the chequered flag. There was simply too much water and too quickly a changing environment on track for the inters and this proved to be costly for track position and the end result.

Wet tyre lasts

It wasn’t particularly surprising but the wet tyre held up decently in the conditions, especially in terms of the life of the tyre. Drivers weren’t happy with how they performed in terms of getting rid of the water, especially with the amount of aquaplaning going on.

But in general the wets did last quite a while without too much wear or degradation, with the longest stints on it being 43 laps (for Hamilton, Rosberg, Sergio Perez, Felipe Nasr and others). The inters held up quite well too, with Bottas going for the longest stint (33 laps). It’s a shame they didn’t quite work as well as the wets too….

Jack Leslie @JackLeslieF1

Longest Stints

Intermediate: Bottas (33 laps)
Wet: Vettel, Rosberg, Perez, Nasr, Alonso, Kvyat, Hulkenberg, Ocon, Hamilton, Sainz (43 laps)