5 Oct 2016

Race 16 – 56 Laps – 5.543km per lap – 310.408km race distance – medium tyre wear

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

The 2016 Malaysian Grand Prix kicked off with high drama at the first corner, before calming down until the excitement returned for the final 20 laps.

Daniel Ricciardo held off his team-mate Max Verstappen to take his first win of the year, after Lewis Hamilton retired from the lead with 15 laps to go after a spectacular and fiery engine failure.

As always in Sepang, strategy proved to be a crucial element in deciding the race order and there were some fascinating decisions made by the teams. Here are all of the major strategy headlines from the Malaysian GP:

Rosberg fights back

Nico Rosberg was rudely tapped into a spin at the first corner by Sebastian Vettel, ruining the Ferrari driver’s race and severely hampering Rosberg’s challenge. He dropped right to the back of the field but his fight back was impressive and showed the dominance of the Mercedes W07.

Mercedes opted for quite an aggressive strategy to get him up the field. Having started on the soft tyre, he then switched to the hard compound for a long middle stint, where he could make progress up the field due to the advantage he had with his car.

The team moved onto another set of hard tyres for the third stint but then reacted to those around Rosberg and pitted for softs under the Virtual Safety Car for Hamilton’s stranded Silver Arrows, by which point he was already into podium contention and was able to recover to third.

Verstappen does something different

Verstappen started well but the Vettel/Rosberg incident delayed him and he lost a little ground. Red Bull opted to split their strategies and unusually it was the second car on the road, Verstappen, who pitted first.

He went onto another used set of softs for the second stint, before going onto the hard compound on lap 27. Verstappen was looking in a good position to challenge, despite stopping more times than Ricciardo, but the final trip to the pits on lap 41 – where he went for scrubbed softs again – got rid of his advantage and meant he couldn’t quite challenge for victory.

Could Verstappen have won, though?

It seems possible Verstappen could have gone to the end on the hard tyres he went onto on lap 27, there were longer stints out there on that compound but it was a risk. Because the VSC levels the pace of the field out, pitstops don’t cost as much time and Ricciardo would’ve easily closed in on fresher rubber.

Verstappen, on a different strategy, had looked in a good position but its possible that even if he had stayed out, he would’ve lost the win to Ricciardo. He would’ve had a better chance if Red Bull had put him on new softs, like Ricciardo, for the run to the flag but they may well have been limited with tyre options on Verstappen’s car.

Palmer nabs a point

Jolyon Palmer finally picked up his first F1 point with 10^th place in a very unusual strategy. It’s not often we see all three tyre compounds used at the start but Palmer had the hard tyre for his first stint, so this is exactly what we saw.

He moved up the order and dropped back as others pitted, switched tyres and went for different strategies, but decent and consistent pace throughout his long first stint brought Palmer into contention and the hard tyre held up well in the warm conditions.

The Brit went onto a new set of softs on lap 31 and from there, he was able to make it to the finish while holding off the advances of Carlos Sainz Jr. and Marcus Ericsson. It was a good drive from Palmer and was also thanks to a strong strategic move by Renault.

All three compounds get good use

Considering the warm temperatures, the Pirelli tyres held up very well in the heat and humidity of Malaysia and that meant we could well have saw most of the field pit just twice. The Virtual Safety Cars shook this up though and effectively gave people the chance to pit without losing as much time.

All three tyre compounds got extensive use during the race, with the medium being run by quite a few people in the middle of the stint – Valtteri Bottas, Felipe Nasr and Kevin Magnussen even started on the compound. The hard tyre held up well, with a smaller gap to the medium, so it was actually a popular race tyre.

Early stops for some

A couple of drivers suffered hits early in the race, with the first corner mayhem sparking several incidents behind them. Felipe Massa, Daniil Kvyat, Esteban Gutierrez and Kevin Magnussen all stopped on lap one and that put them on the back foot from the very beginning. With the VSC then out on lap nine, that made it harder for them to bounce back.

Jack Leslie @JackLeslieF1

Longest Stints

Hard: Palmer (31 laps)
Medium: Nasr (32 laps)
Soft: Palmer (25 laps)

Most Stops

Massa, Gutierrez, Raikkonen, Alonso, Hulkenberg, Verstappen, Kvyat, Rosberg, Wehrlein (3)

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)

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