F1’s return to more durable tyres was widely predicted to reduce the number of pit stops seen during the race, and so it proved.
Every driver who finished in the top ten only needed to make a single pit stop for tyres: Daniil Kvyat’s additional stop was for an engine air top-up. Prior to that he had done 37 laps – more than half the race distance – on a set of ultra-soft tyres which he had already used in Q2.
Teams’ simulations indicated a two-stop strategy would have been quicker by around eight seconds, but only if the car avoids traffic. As Lewis Hamilton’s race showed, getting stuck behind another car following a pit stop is a greater problem now that it was 12 months ago. The increased turbulence makes overtaking more difficult and the performance advantage from a fresh set of tyres has diminished.
Mercedes defended the strategy they used during yesterday’s race saying they had little choice other than to pit Hamilton when they did. But the lesson they and other teams will have learned is that it’s more important than ever to ensure a driver can rejoin the track in clear air after a pit stop.
2017 Australian Grand Prix tyre strategies
The tyre strategies for each driver:
| Stint 1 | Stint 2 | Stint 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sebastian Vettel | Ultra soft (23) | Soft (34) | |
| Lewis Hamilton | Ultra soft (17) | Soft (40) | |
| Valtteri Bottas | Ultra soft (25) | Soft (32) | |
| Kimi Raikkonen | Ultra soft (26) | Soft (31) | |
| Max Verstappen | Ultra soft (25) | Super soft (32) | |
| Felipe Massa | Ultra soft (20) | Super soft (37) | |
| Sergio Perez | Ultra soft (17) | Soft (39) | |
| Carlos Sainz Jnr | Ultra soft (18) | Soft (38) | |
| Daniil Kvyat | Ultra soft (34) | Super soft (15) | Ultra soft (7) |
| Esteban Ocon | Ultra soft (15) | Soft (41) | |
| Nico Hulkenberg | Ultra soft (16) | Soft (14) | Ultra soft (26) |
| Antonio Giovinazzi | Soft (15) | Super soft (40) | |
| Stoffel Vandoorne | Ultra soft (9) | Soft (46) | |
| Fernando Alonso | Ultra soft (16) | Super soft (34) | |
| Kevin Magnussen | Soft (1) | Super soft (43) | Ultra soft (2) |
| Lance Stroll | Super soft (5) | Ultra soft (24) | Ultra soft (11) |
| Daniel Ricciardo | Ultra soft (25) | ||
| Marcus Ericsson | Super soft (21) | ||
| Jolyon Palmer | Soft (15) | ||
| Romain Grosjean | Ultra soft (13) |
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2017 Australian Grand Prix pit stop times
How long each driver’s pit stops took:
| Driver | Team | Pit stop time | Gap | On lap | |
| 1 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 21.440 | 25 | |
| 2 | Felipe Massa | Williams | 21.568 | 0.128 | 20 |
| 3 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 21.709 | 0.269 | 17 |
| 4 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Toro Rosso | 21.762 | 0.322 | 18 |
| 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 21.988 | 0.548 | 23 |
| 6 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 22.033 | 0.593 | 26 |
| 7 | Sergio Perez | Force India | 22.045 | 0.605 | 17 |
| 8 | Esteban Ocon | Force India | 22.154 | 0.714 | 15 |
| 9 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 22.189 | 0.749 | 44 |
| 10 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 22.208 | 0.768 | 25 |
| 11 | Lance Stroll | Williams | 22.293 | 0.853 | 5 |
| 12 | Lance Stroll | Williams | 22.380 | 0.940 | 29 |
| 13 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren | 22.484 | 1.044 | 16 |
| 14 | Nico Hulkenberg | Renault | 23.130 | 1.690 | 16 |
| 15 | Nico Hulkenberg | Renault | 23.159 | 1.719 | 30 |
| 16 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso | 24.026 | 2.586 | 49 |
| 17 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso | 25.559 | 4.119 | 34 |
| 18 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Sauber | 28.591 | 7.151 | 15 |
| 19 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 31.336 | 9.896 | 1 |
| 20 | Stoffel Vandoorne | McLaren | 39.562 | 18.122 | 9 |
2017 Australian Grand Prix
- 2017 Australian Grand Prix team radio transcript
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- 2017 Australian Grand Prix radio notes: Race
Nolog
27th March 2017, 15:00
No coincidence that Bottas former Williams and Massa tops the pit-stop chart.
Euro Brun (@eurobrun)
27th March 2017, 17:34
Its very interesting that despite the larger, heavier tyres, total pit stop times (entry to exit) were no slower than last year. In fact some teams were actually slightly faster than 12 months ago.
Impressive.
Tristan
27th March 2017, 18:04
I was surprised Red Bull didn’t bring Verstappen in for a 3rd stint on fresh ultras towards the end (if he had them). I thought it would have been on strategy-wise with 15 laps to go and the 40 second gap behind to Massa.
I guess it would have been hard to catch back up to Raikkonen but there was nothing to lose really.
@F1-liners (@f1-liners)
28th March 2017, 8:38
His Super Softs were holding up better than expected; he even did a FLAP after your suggested 2nd stop.
PS KVY did more laps on the Ultras than VER on the Supers.
erikje
27th March 2017, 19:52
in a review of the race one of the studio guests stated the pit stop call was made by Hamilton himself. Not by the team.
Any confirmation?
Neil (@neilosjames)
27th March 2017, 22:48
That’s true. Hamilton himself said so. But I’d imagine the team at least had some input.
GeeMac (@geemac)
28th March 2017, 9:14
Speaking to the BBC after the race (you can hear it on their podcast) he said something along the lines of “it’s my job to tell the team how the tyres are doing”. So he told the team they were done and they pulled him in, but it was actually only a lap earlier than they originally planned.
If that is the case, he probably still would have got caught behind Verstappen and lost out to Vettel in the pitstops.
@HoHum (@hohum)
28th March 2017, 4:44
Still one pit stop too many.
Bustertje
28th March 2017, 8:18
Ditching the mandatory pit stop would make for some interesting racing, wouldn’t it?