Williams were the fastest team in the pits once again though driver Valtteri Bottas could hardly have been happy about it this time.
It wasn’t just the quicker stop which got Massa ahead of Bottas, however. He also enjoyed the benefit of the ‘undercut’ by pitting two laps earlier than his team mate. This was despite the fact Bottas was running ahead of him at the time.
“Being the lead car in the first stint I was hoping for the better strategy out of the two of us,” said Bottas after finishing tenth behind Massa.
However Williams’ single-stop strategy did allow them to move both cars into the top ten at the expense of the Haas drivers.
2016 Japanese Grand Prix tyre strategies
The tyre strategies for each driver:
| Stint 1 | Stint 2 | Stint 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nico Rosberg | Soft (12) | Hard (17) | Hard (24) |
| Max Verstappen | Soft (10) | Hard (18) | Hard (25) |
| Lewis Hamilton | Soft (13) | Hard (20) | Hard (20) |
| Sebastian Vettel | Soft (12) | Hard (22) | Soft (19) |
| Kimi Raikkonen | Soft (12) | Hard (14) | Hard (27) |
| Daniel Ricciardo | Soft (10) | Hard (22) | Hard (21) |
| Sergio Perez | Soft (12) | Hard (17) | Medium (24) |
| Nico Hulkenberg | Soft (11) | Hard (17) | Medium (25) |
| Felipe Massa | Medium (24) | Hard (29) | |
| Valtteri Bottas | Medium (26) | Hard (27) | |
| Romain Grosjean | Soft (10) | Hard (20) | Hard (23) |
| Jolyon Palmer | Medium (25) | Hard (27) | |
| Daniil Kvyat | Soft (10) | Soft (13) | Hard (29) |
| Kevin Magnussen | Hard (25) | Medium (27) | |
| Marcus Ericsson | Medium (26) | Hard (26) | |
| Fernando Alonso | Soft (9) | Hard (18) | Hard (25) |
| Carlos Sainz Jnr | Soft (13) | Hard (24) | Soft (15) |
| Jenson Button | Hard (19) | Soft (17) | Soft (16) |
| Felipe Nasr | Hard (25) | Medium (27) | |
| Esteban Gutierrez | Soft (11) | Hard (17) | Hard (24) |
| Esteban Ocon | Soft (12) | Hard (19) | Hard (21) |
| Pascal Wehrlein | Soft (13) | Hard (19) | Hard (20) |
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2016 Japanese Grand Prix pit stop times
How long each driver’s pit stops took:
| Driver | Team | Pit stop time | Gap | On lap | |
| 1 | Felipe Massa | Williams | 22.463 | 24 | |
| 2 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 22.673 | 0.210 | 12 |
| 3 | Sergio Perez | Force India | 22.721 | 0.258 | 29 |
| 4 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 22.732 | 0.269 | 33 |
| 5 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 22.762 | 0.299 | 26 |
| 6 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren | 22.786 | 0.323 | 9 |
| 7 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 22.788 | 0.325 | 28 |
| 8 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India | 22.832 | 0.369 | 11 |
| 9 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 22.855 | 0.392 | 10 |
| 10 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 22.887 | 0.424 | 34 |
| 11 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Toro Rosso | 22.938 | 0.475 | 37 |
| 12 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso | 22.943 | 0.480 | 23 |
| 13 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India | 22.952 | 0.489 | 28 |
| 14 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Toro Rosso | 22.986 | 0.523 | 13 |
| 15 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 22.989 | 0.526 | 13 |
| 16 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso | 22.990 | 0.527 | 10 |
| 17 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | 22.996 | 0.533 | 10 |
| 18 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren | 23.032 | 0.569 | 27 |
| 19 | Kevin Magnussen | Renault | 23.072 | 0.609 | 25 |
| 20 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 23.150 | 0.687 | 29 |
| 21 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 23.226 | 0.763 | 12 |
| 22 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 23.244 | 0.781 | 12 |
| 23 | Jenson Button | McLaren | 23.342 | 0.879 | 36 |
| 24 | Jolyon Palmer | Renault | 23.452 | 0.989 | 25 |
| 25 | Sergio Perez | Force India | 23.605 | 1.142 | 12 |
| 26 | Romain Grosjean | Haas | 23.741 | 1.278 | 10 |
| 27 | Esteban Gutierrez | Haas | 23.792 | 1.329 | 28 |
| 28 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber | 24.011 | 1.548 | 26 |
| 29 | Esteban Gutierrez | Haas | 24.110 | 1.647 | 11 |
| 30 | Esteban Ocon | Manor | 24.256 | 1.793 | 31 |
| 31 | Jenson Button | McLaren | 24.375 | 1.912 | 19 |
| 32 | Pascal Wehrlein | Manor | 24.630 | 2.167 | 13 |
| 33 | Esteban Ocon | Manor | 24.973 | 2.510 | 12 |
| 34 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams | 25.007 | 2.544 | 26 |
| 35 | Felipe Nasr | Sauber | 25.131 | 2.668 | 25 |
| 36 | Romain Grosjean | Haas | 25.429 | 2.966 | 30 |
| 37 | Pascal Wehrlein | Manor | 25.461 | 2.998 | 32 |
| 38 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | 25.861 | 3.398 | 32 |
2016 Japanese Grand Prix
- FIA bans the ‘Verstappen block’
- Wolff blames Verstappen protest on “miscommunication”
- 2016 Japanese Grand Prix team radio transcript
- Second Driver of the Weekend win for Rosberg
- Themes of 2016 continue in average Suzuka race
F1 in Figures (@f1infigures)
9th October 2016, 14:43
It seems the 1-stop strategy was the way to go in the midfield.
sethje (@seth-space)
9th October 2016, 15:59
The Ferrari strategie to put VET on soft was the mistake of the year. It cost them a podium and i can not see how this ever could have worked.
Ruben
9th October 2016, 18:09
If Vettel has prove himself to Ferrari, then I wonder what the pitwall has to do to finally draw the boss his wrath. Wasn’t track position key when fighting a Mercedes? And don’t get me started on the guys who make the gearboxes. There’s alot of things wrong at Ferrari. The drivers aren’t the problem.
Janet54321
11th October 2016, 11:36
Yes, Vettel might have had a telling off after some of the first corners crashes that have taken points from both reds, but time after time, wrong tyre strategy has caused lost points and even possible wins.
Surely if Marchionne wants better results he should seek better minds who can put two and two together. On Sunday, fans and commentators could see it was time to get Vettel in but he was left to be undercut, carbon copy of Rikkonen the previous race.