For the second year in a row a one-stop strategy was clearly the way to go in Mexico. Even drivers who started the race on super-soft tyres, like Max Verstappen, were able to complete the race by switching to the medium compound.
Sebastian Vettel also ran a long opening stint albeit on the soft tyres, almost reaching half-distance before pitting.
Those who pitted early had to make passes on the track, including Daniel Ricciardo and Kimi Raikkonen. But for some, like Sergio Perez, the straight-line speed of their rivals proved too much to overcome.
Lewis Hamilton enjoyed the fastest complete pit stop of the race when he made his single visit to the pits.
2016 Mexican Grand Prix tyre strategies
The tyre strategies for each driver:
| Stint 1 | Stint 2 | Stint 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lewis Hamilton | Soft (17) | Medium (54) | |
| Nico Rosberg | Soft (20) | Medium (51) | |
| Max Verstappen | Super soft (12) | Medium (59) | |
| Sebastian Vettel | Soft (32) | Medium (39) | |
| Daniel Ricciardo | Super soft (1) | Medium (49) | Soft (21) |
| Kimi Raikkonen | Soft (20) | Medium (25) | Medium (26) |
| Nico Hulkenberg | Super soft (14) | Medium (57) | |
| Valtteri Bottas | Super soft (19) | Medium (52) | |
| Felipe Massa | Super soft (14) | Medium (57) | |
| Sergio Perez | Soft (20) | Medium (51) | |
| Marcus Ericsson | Soft (1) | Medium (69) | |
| Jenson Button | Soft (17) | Medium (53) | |
| Fernando Alonso | Soft (16) | Medium (29) | Soft (25) |
| Jolyon Palmer | Super soft (1) | Medium (69) | |
| Carlos Sainz Jnr | Super soft (12) | Medium (58) | |
| Felipe Nasr | Medium (49) | Super soft (21) | |
| Daniil Kvyat | Soft (13) | Soft (34) | Super soft (23) |
| Kevin Magnussen | Soft (12) | Medium (39) | Super soft (19) |
| Esteban Gutierrez | Soft (12) | Medium (36) | Soft (22) |
| Romain Grosjean | Soft (11) | Medium (39) | Soft (20) |
| Esteban Ocon | Soft (15) | Medium (54) | |
| Pascal Wehrlein |
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2016 Mexican Grand Prix pit stop times
How long each driver’s pit stops took:
| Driver | Team | Pit stop time | Gap | On lap | |
| 1 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 21.709 | 17 | |
| 2 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 21.775 | 0.066 | 12 |
| 3 | Felipe Massa | Williams | 21.863 | 0.154 | 14 |
| 4 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 21.997 | 0.288 | 20 |
| 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 22.035 | 0.326 | 32 |
| 6 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | 22.087 | 0.378 | 1 |
| 7 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India | 22.134 | 0.425 | 14 |
| 8 | Sergio Perez | Force India | 22.213 | 0.504 | 20 |
| 9 | Kevin Magnussen | Renault | 22.271 | 0.562 | 12 |
| 10 | Kevin Magnussen | Renault | 22.384 | 0.675 | 51 |
| 11 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams | 22.396 | 0.687 | 19 |
| 12 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 22.398 | 0.689 | 20 |
| 13 | Jenson Button | McLaren | 22.438 | 0.729 | 17 |
| 14 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | 22.443 | 0.734 | 50 |
| 15 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren | 22.461 | 0.752 | 16 |
| 16 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso | 22.665 | 0.956 | 13 |
| 17 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Toro Rosso | 22.747 | 1.038 | 12 |
| 18 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso | 22.865 | 1.156 | 47 |
| 19 | Romain Grosjean | Haas | 22.957 | 1.248 | 11 |
| 20 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 22.974 | 1.265 | 45 |
| 21 | Esteban Gutierrez | Haas | 23.110 | 1.401 | 48 |
| 22 | Felipe Nasr | Sauber | 23.540 | 1.831 | 49 |
| 23 | Romain Grosjean | Haas | 23.678 | 1.969 | 50 |
| 24 | Esteban Ocon | Manor | 23.866 | 2.157 | 15 |
| 25 | Jolyon Palmer | Renault | 23.897 | 2.188 | 1 |
| 26 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren | 25.171 | 3.462 | 45 |
| 27 | Esteban Gutierrez | Haas | 25.198 | 3.489 | 12 |
| 28 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber | 32.608 | 10.899 | 1 |
2016 Mexican Grand Prix
- Vettel pips Hulkenberg to Mexico Driver of the Weekend
- Off-track drama enlivens Mexican procession
- Top ten pictures from the 2016 Mexican Grand Prix
- 2016 Mexican Grand Prix Predictions Championship results
- 2016 Mexican Grand Prix team radio transcript
Phylyp (@phylyp)
31st October 2016, 5:56
Titbit – Ricciardo and Magnussen were the only two drivers who used all 3 compounds of tyre in the race.
KaIIe (@kaiie)
31st October 2016, 7:44
One-stopper is the way to go, so what does Ferrari do? Pit Kimi twice. Classic. In the end, it probably made no difference, but still…
Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
31st October 2016, 8:29
I may be wrong, but didn’t the actual pit stop times used to be shown after each race? It is usually Williams that do best there. But it would be nice to see the fastest pit stop time as well as overall time.
Phylyp (@phylyp)
31st October 2016, 8:39
@thegianthogweed – stopped times for the top 5 are shown here: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CwDS0YfVYAAlIfr.jpg
Its interesting to note that Verstappen had the 2nd fastest pit lane time, but doesn’t even figure in the top 5 “stopped” times. He must have really been on the speed limiter! (Either that, or the quickest getaway!)
Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
31st October 2016, 11:23
@phylyp
Karun Chandhok mentioned on channel 4 that is really helps drivers pull out of the pits if they use a load of wheel spin pulling out earlier in the weekend. This is so it sort of adds the rubber to the surface and makes it far less slippery. Maybe Red bull did more of this earlier in the weekend.
And yes, I did think it would be a Williams at the top. They have done so well this year with there stops. A massive improvement over last year.
Phylyp (@phylyp)
31st October 2016, 13:04
Cheers, @thegianthogweed 👍
kanan
1st November 2016, 11:10
Is Vettel doing his own strategy now?