Strategy in the Russian Grand Prix was shaped by unusually durable tyres, which Nico Rosberg completed almost the entire race distance on.
Having switched to medium compound tyres on his second lap Rosberg was still improving his lap times until the end of the race. He set the fastest lap of the race on the penultimate lap, by which time his tyres were 51 laps old, though it was beaten on the final tour by Valtteri Bottas.
Both the Toro Rosso drivers appeared among the top seven fastest laps, demonstrating the same pace they showed in qualifying. But poor fuel economy meant neither finished in the points.
Unusually, Daniel Ricciardo set two lap times which equalled his quickest of the race to within a thousandth of a second, on the 50th and 53rd (and final) laps.
Russian Grand Prix lap times
All the lap times by the drivers (in seconds, very slow laps excluded):
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 | 47 | 48 | 49 | 50 | 51 | 52 | 53 | |
Lewis Hamilton | 107.49 | 105.342 | 104.933 | 104.745 | 104.08 | 104.184 | 103.958 | 103.882 | 103.817 | 104.169 | 103.686 | 104.17 | 104.011 | 103.951 | 103.742 | 103.751 | 103.577 | 103.768 | 103.724 | 103.407 | 103.594 | 103.248 | 103.73 | 103.701 | 103.467 | 104.115 | 108.275 | 125.597 | 103.603 | 103.619 | 103.961 | 103.255 | 103.426 | 102.976 | 103.191 | 103.771 | 103.492 | 102.194 | 102.805 | 101.853 | 102.516 | 102.795 | 102.425 | 102.074 | 102.277 | 102.083 | 102.193 | 101.606 | 102.61 | 102.663 | 102.984 | 102.862 | 103.396 |
Nico Rosberg | 112.669 | 129.911 | 105.571 | 105.34 | 106.992 | 104.962 | 105.338 | 105.52 | 104.803 | 104.927 | 104.384 | 104.65 | 105.202 | 104.89 | 104.163 | 104.037 | 104.181 | 104.237 | 104.691 | 103.828 | 104.05 | 103.775 | 103.695 | 103.503 | 103.76 | 103.144 | 103.687 | 103.704 | 103.943 | 104.844 | 103.155 | 102.77 | 103.45 | 102.67 | 102.551 | 102.408 | 102.088 | 103.43 | 103.091 | 102.784 | 102.623 | 102.913 | 102.458 | 102.274 | 102.3 | 101.972 | 102.067 | 101.904 | 102.27 | 101.752 | 101.757 | 101.36 | 101.953 |
Valtteri Bottas | 109.127 | 105.641 | 105.225 | 104.652 | 104.468 | 104.237 | 104.147 | 104.029 | 103.856 | 103.994 | 104.236 | 104.353 | 104.46 | 104.05 | 104.247 | 103.94 | 104.303 | 104.651 | 104.209 | 104.544 | 104.952 | 104.878 | 105.267 | 105.214 | 105.325 | 109.97 | 126.544 | 103.952 | 104.406 | 105.053 | 105.515 | 103.519 | 103.398 | 103.787 | 103.319 | 103.096 | 103.615 | 102.777 | 102.864 | 102.535 | 102.568 | 102.23 | 102.806 | 102.457 | 101.83 | 102.192 | 102.071 | 101.908 | 101.544 | 102.186 | 101.534 | 101.592 | 100.896 |
Jenson Button | 110.056 | 106.188 | 105.479 | 106.121 | 105.157 | 105.404 | 105.064 | 104.708 | 105.123 | 105.298 | 105.154 | 105.012 | 104.792 | 104.649 | 104.919 | 104.644 | 104.443 | 104.496 | 104.455 | 104.559 | 104.352 | 108.573 | 125.119 | 104.349 | 104.034 | 104.376 | 104.142 | 104.112 | 104.111 | 103.85 | 103.972 | 103.657 | 103.443 | 103.533 | 103.682 | 103.413 | 103.271 | 103.749 | 103.107 | 103.189 | 103.1 | 102.763 | 102.739 | 102.659 | 102.806 | 102.969 | 101.964 | 102.879 | 102.272 | 102.151 | 102.081 | 102.338 | 102.502 |
Daniil Kvyat | 114.272 | 109.144 | 106.704 | 107.599 | 107.988 | 106.046 | 105.533 | 105.814 | 105.665 | 105.504 | 105.597 | 105.553 | 105.633 | 105.448 | 105.301 | 105.16 | 105.945 | 105.206 | 105.271 | 110.003 | 128.511 | 104.582 | 104.627 | 105.185 | 104.734 | 104.397 | 104.93 | 105.009 | 104.198 | 104.511 | 105.073 | 104.837 | 104.8 | 105.262 | 107.732 | 105.796 | 112.507 | 125.016 | 105.767 | 102.882 | 102.585 | 103.227 | 102.206 | 102.68 | 102.523 | 102.361 | 102.437 | 102.417 | 102.208 | 102.028 | 102.222 | 102.022 | |
Daniel Ricciardo | 115.016 | 107.423 | 107.119 | 107.149 | 105.555 | 106.892 | 105.843 | 105.24 | 105.584 | 105.891 | 110.292 | 126.435 | 105.599 | 104.622 | 104.617 | 104.694 | 104.699 | 104.935 | 104.069 | 104.427 | 104.103 | 104.681 | 104.34 | 104.519 | 103.955 | 104.247 | 104.673 | 103.819 | 103.506 | 104.186 | 103.989 | 104.093 | 104.255 | 104.072 | 103.988 | 103.888 | 103.808 | 103.876 | 104.061 | 103.754 | 103.414 | 103.844 | 103.661 | 103.775 | 103.68 | 103.396 | 103.178 | 103.465 | 103.14 | 103.05 | 103.461 | 103.528 | 103.05 |
Fernando Alonso | 110.798 | 106.579 | 105.497 | 105.672 | 105.226 | 105.291 | 105.416 | 106.113 | 106.154 | 105.352 | 104.886 | 104.605 | 104.745 | 104.729 | 104.649 | 104.561 | 104.697 | 104.744 | 104.426 | 104.236 | 104.252 | 104.057 | 104.152 | 104.303 | 109.712 | 131.323 | 105.425 | 104.966 | 104.68 | 104.434 | 104.501 | 104.48 | 104.229 | 103.972 | 104.057 | 103.996 | 104.231 | 104.075 | 104.161 | 103.685 | 103.462 | 103.943 | 103.647 | 103.75 | 103.745 | 103.132 | 103.43 | 103.226 | 103.171 | 103.078 | 103.289 | 103.641 | 102.179 |
Kimi Raikkonen | 115.606 | 108.418 | 106.814 | 107.229 | 106.579 | 106.162 | 105.656 | 105.985 | 105.45 | 105.63 | 105.561 | 105.502 | 105.727 | 105.415 | 105.202 | 105.023 | 105.319 | 104.855 | 104.629 | 104.624 | 104.684 | 104.581 | 105.359 | 104.19 | 104.303 | 110.482 | 125.82 | 104.624 | 104.332 | 104.78 | 104.797 | 105.149 | 104.618 | 104.789 | 105.447 | 105.472 | 105.254 | 105.241 | 103.909 | 103.743 | 103.425 | 103.8 | 103.466 | 103.104 | 102.919 | 103.224 | 103.067 | 103.061 | 102.934 | 103.124 | 103.387 | 103.333 | 103.817 |
Jean-Eric Vergne | 112.641 | 107.195 | 109.011 | 108.518 | 106.662 | 106.1 | 105.607 | 105.592 | 105.806 | 105.571 | 105.673 | 105.061 | 105.692 | 105.399 | 105.187 | 104.865 | 104.603 | 104.814 | 104.756 | 104.858 | 104.917 | 105.493 | 109.664 | 127.882 | 104.749 | 104.84 | 105.297 | 105.197 | 105.063 | 104.837 | 105.188 | 105.127 | 105.004 | 105.047 | 104.735 | 104.728 | 104.71 | 107.067 | 104.848 | 104.941 | 105.916 | 104.878 | 104.136 | 104.119 | 103.659 | 104.319 | 104.158 | 104.308 | 104.668 | 104.016 | 102.806 | 105.561 | 102.55 |
Sebastian Vettel | 114.632 | 106.956 | 107.603 | 106.584 | 105.834 | 106.994 | 105.468 | 105.181 | 105.319 | 105.357 | 105.219 | 105.493 | 105.125 | 105.11 | 105.381 | 105.329 | 105.069 | 104.71 | 104.575 | 104.58 | 104.762 | 104.555 | 104.137 | 104.626 | 104.713 | 104.517 | 104.719 | 104.735 | 104.782 | 109.715 | 127.395 | 105.052 | 104.278 | 103.848 | 103.842 | 103.912 | 103.653 | 103.78 | 103.413 | 103.535 | 103.325 | 103.355 | 103.523 | 103.841 | 103.314 | 103.403 | 103.35 | 103.635 | 102.967 | 102.698 | 103.716 | 102.684 | 102.63 |
Kevin Magnussen | 113.179 | 107.292 | 107.423 | 105.761 | 105.579 | 105.628 | 105.165 | 104.981 | 105.178 | 105.018 | 105.176 | 105.705 | 104.975 | 105.111 | 104.737 | 104.409 | 104.286 | 104.114 | 104.046 | 103.927 | 104.93 | 104.189 | 104.072 | 103.862 | 104.144 | 108.931 | 124.864 | 103.942 | 103.989 | 104.295 | 104.608 | 103.873 | 104.217 | 104.115 | 104.095 | 103.65 | 103.801 | 103.72 | 103.963 | 103.889 | 104.102 | 103.408 | 103.307 | 103.076 | 103.424 | 103.344 | 104.223 | 103.541 | 103.335 | 103.755 | 103.12 | 103.523 | 103.363 |
Sergio Perez | 116.827 | 108.126 | 107.207 | 106.792 | 107.505 | 106.464 | 105.921 | 105.97 | 105.789 | 105.634 | 105.561 | 105.661 | 105.897 | 105.679 | 105.436 | 105.281 | 105.256 | 105.416 | 105.484 | 106.533 | 105.205 | 104.731 | 105.046 | 104.866 | 109.071 | 125.152 | 104.326 | 105.342 | 104.159 | 104.377 | 105.064 | 104.842 | 104.77 | 105.316 | 104.074 | 103.796 | 104.19 | 103.863 | 104.911 | 103.556 | 103.313 | 103.403 | 103.441 | 103.281 | 103.199 | 103.133 | 102.924 | 103.01 | 102.943 | 103.171 | 103.416 | 103.264 | 103.217 |
Esteban Gutierrez | 117.34 | 108.08 | 107.314 | 106.687 | 107.512 | 106.769 | 106.411 | 106.588 | 106.705 | 106.183 | 106 | 105.733 | 106.633 | 106.629 | 107.625 | 105.58 | 105.828 | 105.322 | 105.205 | 105.35 | 105.523 | 105.438 | 105.402 | 105.078 | 105.014 | 105.183 | 106.369 | 105.462 | 104.848 | 104.923 | 107.408 | 105.306 | 105.353 | 105.049 | 105.053 | 105.387 | 106.766 | 105.681 | 113.02 | 127.061 | 105.969 | 105.633 | 104.201 | 104.287 | 104.075 | 104.741 | 104.243 | 106.518 | 104.807 | 106.383 | 104.716 | 104.145 | |
Adrian Sutil | 120.924 | 110.122 | 109.104 | 108.868 | 108.114 | 107.436 | 107.994 | 107.81 | 107.05 | 107.068 | 107.165 | 111.13 | 128.122 | 105.362 | 105.464 | 105.559 | 105.579 | 106.971 | 105.95 | 105.442 | 105.347 | 105.077 | 105.188 | 106.53 | 105.216 | 105.685 | 105.697 | 113.17 | 104.293 | 104.625 | 104.858 | 104.861 | 104.912 | 105.346 | 106.625 | 105.46 | 105.401 | 104.414 | 104.002 | 103.929 | 103.996 | 103.822 | 104.115 | 106.484 | 104.583 | 106.365 | 104.153 | 104.692 | 107.18 | 105.36 | 106.052 | 106.365 | |
Romain Grosjean | 119.175 | 108.775 | 110.575 | 106.977 | 107.161 | 107.295 | 106.821 | 106.935 | 106.414 | 107.346 | 107.905 | 106.395 | 106.384 | 106.151 | 105.886 | 105.784 | 105.851 | 106.823 | 106.102 | 110.125 | 126.535 | 105.984 | 106.21 | 106.035 | 107.412 | 106.48 | 105.969 | 108.148 | 105.668 | 105.682 | 105.924 | 105.593 | 105.586 | 105.204 | 105.61 | 106.671 | 105.511 | 106.989 | 105.663 | 105.131 | 106.489 | 105.081 | 106.123 | 104.593 | 104.891 | 106.212 | 104.726 | 104.51 | 104.461 | 104.502 | 104.718 | 104.921 | |
Marcus Ericsson | 119.903 | 109.285 | 109.997 | 108.004 | 107.319 | 107.375 | 107.572 | 108.061 | 107.619 | 107.089 | 107.361 | 106.92 | 107.042 | 107.916 | 106.869 | 106.327 | 106.658 | 106.629 | 106.254 | 106.365 | 106.199 | 105.902 | 105.667 | 105.731 | 105.865 | 106.117 | 112.534 | 130.13 | 106.578 | 109.094 | 106.184 | 106.461 | 106.269 | 106.006 | 107.892 | 107.695 | 107.499 | 108.83 | 106.374 | 107.794 | 107.607 | 108.186 | 111.575 | 128.904 | 104.352 | 104.413 | 104.067 | 103.979 | 105.265 | 105.959 | 106.164 | ||
Nico Hulkenberg | 118.298 | 108.099 | 107.409 | 106.728 | 107.058 | 106.807 | 108.075 | 106.359 | 106.398 | 106.468 | 106.341 | 105.931 | 107.299 | 106.984 | 106.518 | 105.611 | 105.808 | 105.473 | 105.385 | 105.11 | 105.362 | 105.16 | 105.339 | 109.023 | 124.803 | 104.644 | 103.786 | 104.48 | 104.154 | 104.305 | 103.859 | 103.544 | 103.644 | 103.762 | 104.433 | 105.668 | 103.304 | 103.231 | 104.101 | 104.724 | 103.13 | 103.035 | 102.806 | 102.841 | 102.811 | 103.136 | 102.966 | 102.804 | 102.95 | 102.685 | 102.992 | 103.114 | 103.298 |
Felipe Massa | 120.434 | 125.798 | 105.193 | 104.601 | 106.13 | 105.529 | 105.216 | 105.114 | 104.494 | 105.344 | 104.495 | 104.421 | 105.121 | 104.652 | 104.964 | 104.074 | 103.926 | 103.921 | 104.229 | 105.474 | 105.334 | 104.824 | 105.067 | 104.883 | 105.111 | 105.289 | 110.054 | 125.082 | 103.84 | 103.339 | 104.372 | 104.823 | 104.76 | 105.244 | 104.359 | 103.841 | 103.867 | 104.047 | 105.087 | 103.387 | 103.359 | 103.423 | 103.371 | 103.386 | 103.14 | 103.181 | 102.879 | 103.002 | 103.101 | 102.972 | 103.546 | 103.151 | 103.37 |
Kamui Kobayashi | 121.749 | 110.753 | 110.169 | 109.358 | 110.693 | 108.936 | 108.795 | 108.531 | 108.899 | 108.229 | 107.977 | 108.199 | 108.377 | 107.965 | 108.081 | 107.607 | 107.407 | 107.659 | 109.297 | 107.827 | 113.892 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Max Chilton | 122.191 | 111.585 | 110.789 | 115.332 | 131.378 | 108.383 | 108.557 | 108.268 | 126.792 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pastor Maldonado | 120.537 | 109.947 | 109.266 | 109.085 | 111.114 | 109.254 | 108.367 | 108.08 | 107.712 | 107.688 | 107.822 | 107.931 | 107.724 | 107.684 | 108.477 | 107.268 | 107.937 | 107.828 | 107.138 | 107.08 | 111.576 | 127.496 | 105.991 | 108.375 | 107.287 | 105.567 | 106.251 | 105.794 | 105.378 | 105.183 | 105.092 | 106.886 | 107.18 | 106.87 | 105.645 | 104.583 | 105.66 | 107.227 | 104.308 | 105.665 | 105.16 | 104.227 | 104.231 | 104.248 | 108.406 | 104.189 | 104.055 | 106.459 | 104.033 | 104.03 | 104.436 | 106.361 |
Russian Grand Prix fastest laps
Each driver’s fastest lap:
Rank | Driver | Car | Fastest lap | Gap | On lap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams-Mercedes | 1’40.896 | 53 | |
2 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1’41.360 | 0.464 | 52 |
3 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1’41.606 | 0.710 | 48 |
4 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 1’41.964 | 1.068 | 47 |
5 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso-Renault | 1’42.022 | 1.126 | 52 |
6 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1’42.179 | 1.283 | 53 |
7 | Jean-Eric Vergne | Toro Rosso-Renault | 1’42.550 | 1.654 | 53 |
8 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull-Renault | 1’42.630 | 1.734 | 53 |
9 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India-Mercedes | 1’42.685 | 1.789 | 50 |
10 | Felipe Massa | Williams-Mercedes | 1’42.879 | 1.983 | 47 |
11 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1’42.919 | 2.023 | 45 |
12 | Sergio Perez | Force India-Mercedes | 1’42.924 | 2.028 | 47 |
13 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull-Renault | 1’43.050 | 2.154 | Set on 2 laps |
14 | Kevin Magnussen | McLaren-Mercedes | 1’43.076 | 2.180 | 44 |
15 | Adrian Sutil | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’43.822 | 2.926 | 42 |
16 | Marcus Ericsson | Caterham-Renault | 1’43.979 | 3.083 | 48 |
17 | Pastor Maldonado | Lotus-Renault | 1’44.030 | 3.134 | 50 |
18 | Esteban Gutierrez | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’44.075 | 3.179 | 45 |
19 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus-Renault | 1’44.461 | 3.565 | 49 |
20 | Kamui Kobayashi | Caterham-Renault | 1’47.407 | 6.511 | 17 |
21 | Max Chilton | Marussia-Ferrari | 1’48.268 | 7.372 | 8 |
2014 Russian Grand Prix
Image © Daimler/Hoch Zwei
Chris (@cgturbo)
12th October 2014, 18:18
“Unusually, Daniel Ricciardo set two lap times which equalled his quickest of the race to within a thousandth of a second, on the 50th and 53rd (and final) laps.”
Any ideas if the sector times were very similar (I would be amazed if they were the same), or was it a case of gained in one sector, lost out in the others?
Regardless, you can’t get more consistent than that XD
gdewilde (@gdewilde)
13th October 2014, 9:07
Lap 50: 36.351 – 35.704 – 30.995
Lap 53: 36.175 – 35.722 – 31.153
So only the middle sector was more or less the same ;-)
Mr win or lose
13th October 2014, 9:50
Cool stuff! Where did you find the sector times?
Carlos Furtado das Neves
14th October 2014, 14:21
Great info! Can you tell us where did you find this data?
Thanks.
Simon (@simon999)
12th October 2014, 19:06
Very fortuitous for Rosberg, in the end. I don’t think anyone expected the tyres to have almost zero degredation, even with the conservative choice.
He went from last to second in just over half race distance (good drive!), but without the normal “penalty” of another stop being needed. In any other race this year he’d have faced another fight through the middle-order, which would have made the latter half of the race a bit more interesting!
Theo Parkinson (@theo-hrp)
12th October 2014, 19:29
Well Rosberg didn’t actually go from last to second. When a driver undercuts another we don’t say they went from 15th to 6th, we say they went from 7th to 6th. Nico technically went from 2nd to 4th, but when you factor in his pit issues over 5 second stop, he went from 7th to 4th. Definitely not bad considering the traffic, but not exactly what I’d call a recovery drive, like you said. Plus he caused his crisis, which according to people’s opinions of Bottas in Australia, means it doesn’t count.
Randy (@randy)
12th October 2014, 19:42
Hamilton cruised throughout the race because he didn’t want to tax the engine unnecessarily. Ended up 13 seconds ahead of everyone else.
Rosberg had to cruise because he had to do whole race on single tyres, and he went *through the field* in little more than half of the race.
At this stage Mercedes could just skip the qualifying and still finish 1-2 starting from the pit lane.
Patrickl (@patrickl)
12th October 2014, 20:19
Rosberg didn’t go “through the field”. He simply made his stop earlier and of course ended back up on roughly the same position after everyone made their stop. Which took about half the race.
If they really start at the back it’s a lot harder to make it back to the front. Imagine him having to make a stop just after halfway through the race (when he was pushing). Rosberg would have dropped back to P5 behind Magnussen and 20 seconds behind Bottas. He then would have had to overtake several faster cars instead of just waiting for them to pit.
ColdFly F1 (@)
12th October 2014, 19:59
Catherham seems to be improving, and Ericsson within the team!
Craig Woollard (@craig-o)
12th October 2014, 21:10
@coldfly I’ve been really impressed with Ericsson ever since Caterham changed their braking system. He has consistently been towards the front of the Caterham/Marussia battle and has at times even troubled the Saubers and the Lotuses. Given that form, it would be somewhat harsh to drop him at the end of the year.
Boomerang
13th October 2014, 21:50
But it wouldn’t be harsh to drop some people from Lotus’ technical department.
Theoddkiwi (@theoddkiwi)
12th October 2014, 21:21
I look forward to those who have complained all these years about Pirelli and their fragile tyres. Look what happens when we have zero degridation. What an exciting race!
I can only imagine how far in front Hamilton could have finished if he wanted to push all the way.
Boomerang
13th October 2014, 11:12
It proves my theory that last year’s controversial Mercedes’ Barcelona test had only one goal: Helping Pirelli to design tires which will suit Mercedes’ cars. Good job Pirelli!
sonia luff (@sonia54)
13th October 2014, 19:01
Strange how Merc haven’t looked back since that secret test lol
Mandy
13th October 2014, 16:56
What I find very interesting, is why did Red Bull keep Vettel out for a stint of 30 laps on soft compound (longest of the top runners), when it was obvious that he was loosing time? One can clearly see that he was pulling away from Dan last few laps of his stint, gap was around 2 seconds when Dan pitted for medium compound. Also, it was easily visible that the medium compound is keeping its performance for a much longer than 23 laps, how much Vettel drove on them. He lost 3 seconds in only last few laps before pitting compared to Dan. When he switched to mediums, he was again faster or equal to Dan, and kept the pace easily to the end. Horner said that “He had that tyre for approximately half the race and, when we pitted for the prime, we expected the prime to have good performance in the second half of the race. But, as it turned out, a new harder tyre had no more performance than an older tyre. So he was only able to do the same times as Daniel.”
Very strange, considering lap times are showing that he had a pace 1 second per lap stronger than before pitting, indicating that he was losing considerable amount of time by not pitting at least 4-5 laps earlier..
Team orders in RB? What do you think?
Boomerang
13th October 2014, 21:46
They tried it in a discrete manner, but it didn’t work.
Brian Frank (@brianfrank302)
14th October 2014, 8:41
Exactly my thoughts. Vettel could’ve finished higher IMO.