Two pit stops were the way to go for almost every driver in the Korean Grand Prix, as was the case last year.
Everyone bar Daniel Ricciardo started on the super-soft tyre then switched to the medium for the next two stints.
Teams were battling higher than expected tyre degradation, a problem which may have been exacerbated by overnight rain, and trying to keep from making three stops if they could. This is partly because pit stops were taking almost three seconds longer than last year due to the lower pit lane speed limit and revised pit exit.
However the nine laps spent behind the Safety Car in the second half of the race meant we never really got to see who’d been too ambitious with their strategies, and whether anyone would have been forced to make a late third pit stop. Mark Webber did pit three times but that was because he damaged a set of tyres on debris from Sergio Perez’s blow-out.
Korean Grand Prix tyre strategies
The tyre strategies for each driver:
| Stint 1 | Stint 2 | Stint 3 | Stint 4 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sebastian Vettel | Super soft (11) | Medium (20) | Medium (24) | |
| Kimi Raikkonen | Super soft (11) | Medium (14) | Medium (30) | |
| Romain Grosjean | Super soft (10) | Medium (21) | Medium (24) | |
| Nico Hulkenberg | Super soft (10) | Medium (16) | Medium (29) | |
| Lewis Hamilton | Super soft (9) | Medium (20) | Medium (26) | |
| Fernando Alonso | Super soft (9) | Medium (19) | Medium (27) | |
| Nico Rosberg | Super soft (10) | Medium (18) | Medium (27) | |
| Jenson Button | Super soft (4) | Medium (18) | Medium (33) | |
| Felipe Massa | Super soft (6) | Medium (23) | Medium (26) | |
| Sergio Perez | Super soft (10) | Medium (21) | Medium (24) | |
| Esteban Gutierrez | Super soft (7) | Medium (24) | Medium (24) | |
| Valtteri Bottas | Super soft (8) | Medium (20) | Medium (27) | |
| Pastor Maldonado | Super soft (7) | Medium (16) | Medium (32) | |
| Charles Pic | Super soft (9) | Medium (21) | Medium (25) | |
| Giedo van der Garde | Super soft (11) | Medium (19) | Medium (25) | |
| Jules Bianchi | Super soft (10) | Medium (20) | Medium (25) | |
| Max Chilton | Super soft (12) | Medium (18) | Medium (25) | |
| Jean-Eric Vergne | Super soft (12) | Medium (12) | Medium (14) | Medium (15) |
| Daniel Ricciardo | Medium (18) | Medium (13) | Super soft (21) | |
| Adrian Sutil | Super soft (3) | Medium (25) | Medium (10) | Super soft (3) |
| Mark Webber | Super soft (12) | Medium (18) | Medium (1) | Super soft (5) |
| Paul di Resta | Super soft (7) | Medium (16) | Medium (1) |
Korean Grand Prix pit stop times
How long each driver’s pit stops took:
| Driver | Team | Pit stop time | Gap | On lap | |
| 1 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 22.208 | 9 | |
| 2 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 22.251 | 0.043 | 29 |
| 3 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 22.270 | 0.062 | 9 |
| 4 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 22.401 | 0.193 | 29 |
| 5 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 22.474 | 0.266 | 6 |
| 6 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus | 22.519 | 0.311 | 10 |
| 7 | Mark Webber | Red Bull | 22.587 | 0.379 | 12 |
| 8 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull | 22.662 | 0.454 | 11 |
| 9 | Mark Webber | Red Bull | 22.718 | 0.510 | 30 |
| 10 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus | 22.767 | 0.559 | 31 |
| 11 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 22.807 | 0.599 | 28 |
| 12 | Sergio Perez | McLaren | 22.901 | 0.693 | 10 |
| 13 | Kimi Raikkonen | Lotus | 22.924 | 0.716 | 11 |
| 14 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull | 22.935 | 0.727 | 31 |
| 15 | Esteban Gutierrez | Sauber | 23.096 | 0.888 | 7 |
| 16 | Jules Bianchi | Marussia | 23.097 | 0.889 | 10 |
| 17 | Adrian Sutil | Force India | 23.155 | 0.947 | 28 |
| 18 | Daniel Ricciardo | Toro Rosso | 23.194 | 0.986 | 31 |
| 19 | Kimi Raikkonen | Lotus | 23.236 | 1.028 | 25 |
| 20 | Esteban Gutierrez | Sauber | 23.408 | 1.200 | 31 |
| 21 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 23.412 | 1.204 | 10 |
| 22 | Pastor Maldonado | Williams | 23.470 | 1.262 | 7 |
| 23 | Mark Webber | Red Bull | 23.490 | 1.282 | 31 |
| 24 | Pastor Maldonado | Williams | 23.642 | 1.434 | 23 |
| 25 | Nico Hulkenberg | Sauber | 23.654 | 1.446 | 10 |
| 26 | Max Chilton | Marussia | 23.761 | 1.553 | 12 |
| 27 | Paul di Resta | Force India | 23.814 | 1.606 | 7 |
| 28 | Jules Bianchi | Marussia | 23.814 | 1.606 | 30 |
| 29 | Jean-Eric Vergne | Toro Rosso | 23.845 | 1.637 | 24 |
| 30 | Paul di Resta | Force India | 23.854 | 1.646 | 23 |
| 31 | Daniel Ricciardo | Toro Rosso | 23.892 | 1.684 | 18 |
| 32 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams | 23.912 | 1.704 | 8 |
| 33 | Giedo van der Garde | Caterham | 23.987 | 1.779 | 11 |
| 34 | Jean-Eric Vergne | Toro Rosso | 24.016 | 1.808 | 38 |
| 35 | Nico Hulkenberg | Sauber | 24.112 | 1.904 | 26 |
| 36 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams | 24.240 | 2.032 | 28 |
| 37 | Charles Pic | Caterham | 24.320 | 2.112 | 9 |
| 38 | Charles Pic | Caterham | 24.366 | 2.158 | 30 |
| 39 | Jean-Eric Vergne | Toro Rosso | 24.477 | 2.269 | 12 |
| 40 | Giedo van der Garde | Caterham | 24.548 | 2.340 | 30 |
| 41 | Jenson Button | McLaren | 25.946 | 3.738 | 22 |
| 42 | Max Chilton | Marussia | 26.299 | 4.091 | 30 |
| 43 | Jenson Button | McLaren | 26.948 | 4.740 | 4 |
| 44 | Adrian Sutil | Force India | 29.829 | 7.621 | 3 |
| 45 | Sergio Perez | McLaren | 38.893 | 16.685 | 31 |
| 46 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 42.432 | 20.224 | 28 |
| 47 | Adrian Sutil | Force India | 71.445 | 49.237 | 38 |
2013 Korean Grand Prix
Image © Williams/LAT
Mike Dee (@mike-dee)
6th October 2013, 14:50
Red Bull falling behind in the pit stops!
Sri Harsha (@harsha)
6th October 2013, 15:21
It was Just other teams also Catching up in Pit stops. RBR are where they are
Chris (@tophercheese21)
7th October 2013, 0:39
Either way it’s the same net result lol .
George (@george)
6th October 2013, 17:29
Is it just me or were the pitstops really good this race? I saw at least 4 or 5 in the mid-2’s, and that’s just what they showed on screen.
czhihong (@czhihong)
7th October 2013, 7:17
Yes, I thought the pit stops were quicker than usual too. Saw a lot bunched in the 2.4-2.5 seconds region, when they’re usually more like 2.8-3.0.
Greg_C
7th October 2013, 0:31
So F1 is going to more advanced energy recovery systems along with greatly reduced fuel comsumptions to promote or “appear” greener , more environmentally aware ? But how many sets of tyres are used in a race weekend ? What a waste of resources , whats wrong with making tyres that last and can be pushed instead of these throw away plastic bag tyres?
JS (@js)
7th October 2013, 8:41
Hi,
Well, so weren’t all these regulations about tyres supposed (among others) to allow the team to play with the strategy, and have different strategic options? The first table is pretty impressive in that respect: I could not imagine something more uniform (although there were the safety cars, which might have changed things, I doubt we would have seen a totally different table without them).
erix
7th October 2013, 15:05
Daniel who?