2016 European Grand Prix tyre strategies and pit stops

2016 European Grand Prix

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Williams produced the fastest pit stops again but they weren’t quick enough to make Felipe Massa’s two-stop strategy work.

He slipped from fifth on the grid to tenth at the chequered flag after an early visit to the pits followed by a return for a second set of soft tyres.

A one-stop strategy was overwhelmingly the preferred choice of the front-runners but not everyone was able to get the performance necessary to make it work. Surprisingly that included the Red Bulls, who finished in the lower reaches of the top ten.

2016 European Grand Prix tyre strategies

The tyre strategies for each driver:

Stint 1Stint 2Stint 3
Nico RosbergSuper soft (21)Soft (30)
Sebastian VettelSuper soft (20)Soft (31)
Sergio PerezSuper soft (16)Soft (35)
Kimi RaikkonenSuper soft (8)Soft (43)
Lewis HamiltonSuper soft (15)Soft (36)
Valtteri BottasSuper soft (19)Soft (32)
Daniel RicciardoSuper soft (6)Soft (16)Medium (29)
Max VerstappenSuper soft (5)Soft (15)Medium (31)
Nico HulkenbergSoft (20)Super soft (31)
Felipe MassaSuper soft (7)Soft (21)Soft (23)
Jenson ButtonSuper soft (6)Soft (19)Soft (26)
Felipe NasrSuper soft (7)Soft (17)Soft (26)
Romain GrosjeanSuper soft (10)Soft (16)Medium (24)
Kevin MagnussenSuper soft (6)Soft (44)
Jolyon PalmerSuper soft (11)Soft (20)Super soft (19)
Esteban GutierrezSuper soft (8)Soft (21)Super soft (21)
Marcus EricssonSoft (16)Super soft (9)Soft (25)
Rio HaryantoSuper soft (1)Soft (48)
Fernando AlonsoSuper soft (5)Soft (19)Soft (18)
Pascal WehrleinSoft (29)Medium (10)
Carlos Sainz JnrSuper soft (4)Soft (23)Super soft (4)
Daniil KvyatSuper soft (5)Soft (1)

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2016 European Grand Prix pit stop times

How long each driver’s pit stops took:

DriverTeamPit stop timeGapOn lap
1Felipe MassaWilliams19.4457
2Valtteri BottasWilliams19.7320.28719
3Daniel RicciardoRed Bull19.8400.3956
4Felipe MassaWilliams19.8580.41328
5Nico RosbergMercedes20.0580.61321
6Max VerstappenRed Bull20.0690.6245
7Lewis HamiltonMercedes20.1080.66315
8Daniel RicciardoRed Bull20.1550.71022
9Jenson ButtonMcLaren20.1850.7406
10Fernando AlonsoMcLaren20.2820.8375
11Nico HulkenbergForce India20.3470.90220
12Sebastian VettelFerrari20.4220.97720
13Marcus EricssonSauber20.5591.11425
14Jolyon PalmerRenault20.5611.11631
15Kimi RaikkonenFerrari20.5931.1488
16Sergio PerezForce India20.6141.16916
17Jenson ButtonMcLaren20.6401.19525
18Fernando AlonsoMcLaren20.6541.20924
19Felipe NasrSauber20.6701.2257
20Felipe NasrSauber20.7131.26824
21Kevin MagnussenRenault20.7721.3276
22Jolyon PalmerRenault20.9651.52011
23Carlos Sainz JnrToro Rosso21.0301.58527
24Marcus EricssonSauber21.0831.63816
25Romain GrosjeanHaas21.1321.68710
26Esteban GutierrezHaas21.5332.08829
27Carlos Sainz JnrToro Rosso22.0282.5834
28Max VerstappenRed Bull22.4973.05220
29Romain GrosjeanHaas23.5884.14326
30Daniil KvyatToro Rosso24.8025.3575
31Pascal WehrleinManor26.1876.74229
32Esteban GutierrezHaas29.2279.7828
33Rio HaryantoManor33.40513.9601

2016 European Grand Prix

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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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4 comments on “2016 European Grand Prix tyre strategies and pit stops”

  1. Can someone explain why the difference in performance for RBR? Hopefully Horner or the pilots will be interviewed and asked to elucidate this question. I’m really liking the three compounds rule. Wasn’t for that, they would be stuck with the softs.

    1. Slow inlap and exit for Verstappen. Remember that the times are for the full pit stop including coming in and going out. I can’t remember the exact stationary pitstop time for Verstappen on that stop, but I think it was 2.8 seconds. At most he lost 1 second while stationary. He lost the other 2 seconds on his entry lap and exit.

  2. Ferrari should start paying Vettel for his strategic choices as well.

  3. Wow, Haryanto 48 laps on Softs! Red Bull should ask him how he does it :)

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