2016 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix tyre strategies and pit stops

2016 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

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Daniel Ricciardo regretted the decision to stick with a two-stop strategy after being leapfrogged by team mate Max Verstappen in Abu Dhabi.

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in pictures
With race leader Lewis Hamilton restricting the pace at the front of the field, less conservative strategies became viable options for those behind. In retrospect Red Bull appear to have slipped up by choosing to pit Ricciardo on lap ten when his team mate further back was holding up the Ferraris.

“I think we should have just gone long and one-stopped but in hindsight it’s always easy to say,” Ricciardo conceded.

That early pit stop forced Ricciardo to stick to a two-stop strategy which dropped him behind his team mate.

“I saw Max [Verstappen] spin in mirrors in turn turn so I thought he was out of the race,” said Ricciardo, “and then he does a one-stop and fights for the podium so he did well.”

“I just feel we hurt with the two-stop strategy as the super-soft was a good tyre today.”

2016 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix tyre strategies

The tyre strategies for each driver:

Stint 1Stint 2Stint 3Stint 4
Lewis HamiltonUltra soft (7)Soft (21)Soft (27)
Nico RosbergUltra soft (8)Soft (21)Soft (26)
Sebastian VettelUltra soft (8)Soft (29)Super soft (18)
Max VerstappenSuper soft (21)Soft (34)
Daniel RicciardoSuper soft (9)Soft (15)Soft (31)
Kimi RaikkonenUltra soft (7)Soft (18)Soft (30)
Nico HulkenbergUltra soft (8)Soft (18)Soft (29)
Sergio PerezUltra soft (9)Soft (18)Soft (28)
Felipe MassaUltra soft (8)Soft (22)Soft (25)
Fernando AlonsoUltra soft (7)Soft (31)Super soft (17)
Romain GrosjeanSoft (20)Soft (18)Super soft (17)
Esteban GutierrezSuper soft (8)Soft (20)Soft (27)
Esteban OconSoft (22)Soft (14)Super soft (18)
Pascal WehrleinUltra soft (6)Soft (18)Soft (30)
Marcus EricssonSoft (38)Super soft (16)
Felipe NasrSuper soft (7)Soft (29)Soft (18)
Jolyon PalmerUltra soft (7)Soft (14)Soft (20)Super soft (13)
Carlos Sainz JnrSuper soft (6)Soft (22)Soft (13)
Daniil KvyatSuper soft (8)Soft (6)
Jenson ButtonSoft (12)
Valtteri BottasUltra soft (6)
Kevin MagnussenSoft (1)Soft (4)

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2016 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix pit stop times

How long each driver’s pit stops took:

DriverTeamPit stop timeGapOn lap
1Nico RosbergMercedes21.21829
2Max VerstappenRed Bull21.2210.00321
3Sergio PerezForce India21.3080.0909
4Lewis HamiltonMercedes21.3550.13728
5Nico HulkenbergForce India21.4820.26426
6Felipe MassaWilliams21.5390.32130
7Sebastian VettelFerrari21.7110.4938
8Carlos Sainz JnrToro Rosso21.7610.5436
9Daniel RicciardoRed Bull21.7680.55024
10Felipe MassaWilliams21.7750.5578
11Nico HulkenbergForce India21.8340.6168
12Sebastian VettelFerrari21.8720.65437
13Daniil KvyatToro Rosso21.8960.6788
14Carlos Sainz JnrToro Rosso21.9350.71728
15Kimi RaikkonenFerrari21.9590.7417
16Sergio PerezForce India22.0120.79427
17Esteban GutierrezHaas22.0320.8148
18Daniel RicciardoRed Bull22.0840.8669
19Kimi RaikkonenFerrari22.0870.86925
20Esteban GutierrezHaas22.1020.88428
21Jolyon PalmerRenault22.1450.92721
22Fernando AlonsoMcLaren22.2481.03038
23Fernando AlonsoMcLaren22.4281.2107
24Romain GrosjeanHaas22.5271.30938
25Jolyon PalmerRenault22.5881.37041
26Lewis HamiltonMercedes22.6001.3827
27Romain GrosjeanHaas22.8381.62020
28Pascal WehrleinManor22.9491.73124
29Marcus EricssonSauber22.9911.77338
30Esteban OconManor23.0261.80836
31Felipe NasrSauber23.2722.0547
32Nico RosbergMercedes23.7532.5358
33Esteban OconManor24.0352.81722
34Jolyon PalmerRenault24.7813.5637
35Kevin MagnussenRenault27.0685.8501
36Felipe NasrSauber29.9338.71536
37Pascal WehrleinManor33.39512.1776

2016 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

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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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6 comments on “2016 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix tyre strategies and pit stops”

  1. I really don’t know why more people didn’t go Sunday SS at the end. It seemed pretty obvious from Verstappen’s stint that was the smart way to go, and the stunning pace Vettel had backed that up.

    1. *Super Soft

      1. I agree, Super Soft have been very good at the end, especially because of the lower temperatures. Just based on Max’s 1st stint, RedBull strategy with Ricciardo has been a surprise, if they would have kept him on track for more laps we would have seen a really fun race with Hamilton pushing hard get P1 and Rosberg trying to keep the pace. I understand that the two Mercs were fighting for the title, but RBR really did nothing to try to get a win for Ricciardo, which looking at SS performance and durability (plus Max comeback) would have been possible.

  2. After getting through Q2 on the Super Soft as a tactical move for the race, I was very surprised to see RIC pitting only 1 lap after HAM, ROS, VET, RAI. I expected we would have seen RIC go another 10 or 15 laps to enable him to do what VET ended up doing later. Did RB not have the confidence in the SS tyre ? They were in a position to be able to split strategy with VES so nothing really lost at this race. Subsequently it was good to see VET with the bit between his teeth and his positive words for his team during the podium interview. Bring on 2017 !

    1. Maybe Ricciardo couldn’t make that tyre work as long as Verstappen

  3. Strange, Max Verstappen / RedBull did the fastest pitstop according to DHL fastest lap. https://www.formula1.com/en/championship/awards/dhl-fastest-pit-stop-2016.html

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