Pit stop problems delay Williams pair

2014 Brazilian Grand Prix tyre strategies and pit stops

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Debris, speed limits and seat belts caused a succession of problems for the Williams drivers in the pits – even when they managed to stop in the correct boxes.

The trouble began when Felipe Massa came in for his first pit stop on lap six and broke the speed limit on the reconfigured pit lane. “I hit the limiter twice by mistake,” he explained.

He was handed a five second time penalty to serve at his next pit stop. Massa then compounded his problem by pulling into McLaren’s pit box by mistake – he blamed the similar colour of their mechanics’ overalls and the fact the garage order had been changed earlier in the weekend for the confusion.

Both Williams drivers also had to have debris removed from their cars during their pit stops, but despite these delays Massa was still able to finish on the podium. Valtteri Bottas lost more time, however, when his seat belts had to be adjusted during his first pit stop.

A further slow pit stop dropped Bottas further out of contention.

Massa’s eagerness to be serviced by the McLaren crew could be explained by the fact they’re the quickest in F1 at the moment. They produced the fastest pit stop of the race for Jenson Button on lap 27 – the sixth time they have done so in the last seven races.

Brazilian Grand Prix tyre strategies

The tyre strategies for each driver:

Stint 1Stint 2Stint 3Stint 4
Nico RosbergSoft (7)Medium (19)Medium (24)Medium (21)
Lewis HamiltonSoft (8)Medium (20)Medium (23)Medium (20)
Felipe MassaSoft (5)Medium (20)Medium (25)Medium (21)
Jenson ButtonSoft (6)Medium (21)Medium (23)Medium (21)
Sebastian VettelSoft (6)Medium (18)Medium (24)Medium (23)
Fernando AlonsoSoft (7)Medium (21)Medium (24)Medium (19)
Kimi RaikkonenSoft (8)Medium (27)Medium (36)
Nico HulkenbergMedium (16)Medium (20)Medium (24)Soft (11)
Kevin MagnussenSoft (7)Medium (19)Medium (21)Medium (24)
Valtteri BottasSoft (6)Medium (20)Medium (16)Medium (28)
Daniil KvyatMedium (18)Medium (20)Medium (21)Soft (11)
Pastor MaldonadoSoft (4)Medium (23)Medium (18)Medium (25)
Jean-Eric VergneSoft (9)Medium (18)Medium (19)Medium (24)
Esteban GutierrezSoft (8)Medium (19)Medium (21)Medium (22)
Sergio PerezSoft (5)Medium (20)Medium (22)Medium (23)
Adrian SutilMedium (18)Medium (21)Soft (10)Medium (21)
Romain GrosjeanMedium (24)Medium (16)Medium (19)Soft (4)
Daniel RicciardoSoft (7)Medium (20)Medium (12)

Brazilian Grand Prix pit stop times

How long each driver’s pit stops took:

DriverTeamPit stop timeGapOn lap
1Jenson ButtonMcLaren22.62027
2Sebastian VettelRed Bull22.7460.12648
3Pastor MaldonadoLotus22.8650.24527
4Daniel RicciardoRed Bull22.8710.25127
5Lewis HamiltonMercedes22.8740.25451
6Sergio PerezForce India22.9970.37725
7Jenson ButtonMcLaren23.0180.3986
8Romain GrosjeanLotus23.0230.40340
9Kevin MagnussenMcLaren23.0610.4417
10Fernando AlonsoFerrari23.0770.45752
11Pastor MaldonadoLotus23.0900.47045
12Fernando AlonsoFerrari23.1340.51428
13Daniel RicciardoRed Bull23.1410.5217
14Sebastian VettelRed Bull23.1950.57524
15Romain GrosjeanLotus23.1970.57759
16Felipe MassaWilliams23.2200.6005
17Nico RosbergMercedes23.2400.62050
18Fernando AlonsoFerrari23.2780.6587
19Valtteri BottasWilliams23.2940.6746
20Nico HulkenbergForce India23.3230.70336
21Nico RosbergMercedes23.3460.72626
22Lewis HamiltonMercedes23.3510.7318
23Jenson ButtonMcLaren23.3830.76350
24Nico HulkenbergForce India23.4110.79160
25Esteban GutierrezSauber23.4180.79848
26Kimi RaikkonenFerrari23.4270.8078
27Sergio PerezForce India23.4670.8475
28Nico HulkenbergForce India23.5540.93416
29Esteban GutierrezSauber23.6611.0418
30Nico RosbergMercedes23.7301.1107
31Pastor MaldonadoLotus23.7531.1334
32Jean-Eric VergneToro Rosso23.7821.1629
33Sebastian VettelRed Bull23.8081.1886
34Jean-Eric VergneToro Rosso24.0021.38246
35Kevin MagnussenMcLaren24.1311.51147
36Kevin MagnussenMcLaren24.1901.57026
37Lewis HamiltonMercedes24.2241.60428
38Esteban GutierrezSauber24.2671.64727
39Adrian SutilSauber24.3021.68239
40Daniil KvyatToro Rosso24.3851.76538
41Jean-Eric VergneToro Rosso24.4081.78827
42Daniil KvyatToro Rosso24.7262.10659
43Adrian SutilSauber24.8532.23349
44Daniil KvyatToro Rosso25.0012.38118
45Romain GrosjeanLotus25.5912.97124
46Valtteri BottasWilliams26.4633.84342
47Felipe MassaWilliams26.9184.29850
48Kimi RaikkonenFerrari27.9345.31435
49Adrian SutilSauber29.4656.84518
50Sergio PerezForce India30.0677.44747
51Felipe MassaWilliams30.0847.46425
52Valtteri BottasWilliams35.28412.66426

2014 Brazilian Grand Prix

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Image © Williams/LAT

Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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7 comments on “Pit stop problems delay Williams pair”

  1. Troubles in the pitlane meant getting a glipse of Claire today.

    #ClaireWilliamsFanClub :D

  2. Massa eager to be serviced by McLaren….LOL Keith!

  3. Out of interest, anyone know why the pit garage allocation was changed?
    I though it was based on last years constructors standings: Red Bull as reigning champs pick first or last garage, then everyone else is in order.
    Or did they swap to one of the vacated Marussia / Caterham garages?
    Thanks

    1. i also want to know why..

    2. @eurobrun @hahailham1 It was to make moving between the hospitality and pits easier for Sir Frank Williams, but he did not attend the race.

  4. @fastiesty Thanks for that. That’s actually really nice to know that the effort was made and that ‘protocol’ or ‘regulations’ didn’t get in the way of what is a nice gesture – even though he was ultimately unable to attend. Here’s hoping that he’s fit enough for the last race of the season.

Comments are closed.