Pirelli’s ultra-soft tyres proved remarkably durable at Sochi. Nico Hulkenberg managed to go 40 laps on his set.
As a result a one-stop strategy was the way to go for almost the entire field. The only drivers who pitted more than once were those who used the Safety Car period to get rid of their super-soft tyres, which allowed them to run on ultra-softs until the finish, and Felipe Massa.
The Williams driver pitted twice because he suffered two separate punctures. “The first one wasn’t too damaging because it came at a reasonable time for a one-stop strategy,” said chief technical officer Paddy Lowe. “But the second one took him well out of position to ninth, which is a much worse result than the sixth place he was on for.”
“We need to understand the reasons for the punctures as there may be more to it than bad luck,” he added.
Although most pit crews were only called on for a single stop per driver, most were remarkably consistent. Valtteri Bottas enjoyed the quickest stop of the race on his way to victory.
2017 Russian Grand Prix tyre strategies
The tyre strategies for each driver:
| Stint 1 | Stint 2 | Stint 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Valtteri Bottas | Ultra soft (27) | Super soft (25) | |
| Sebastian Vettel | Ultra soft (34) | Super soft (18) | |
| Kimi Raikkonen | Ultra soft (29) | Super soft (23) | |
| Lewis Hamilton | Ultra soft (30) | Super soft (22) | |
| Max Verstappen | Ultra soft (29) | Super soft (23) | |
| Sergio Perez | Ultra soft (27) | Super soft (25) | |
| Esteban Ocon | Ultra soft (26) | Super soft (26) | |
| Nico Hulkenberg | Ultra soft (40) | Super soft (12) | |
| Felipe Massa | Ultra soft (21) | Super soft (20) | Ultra soft (10) |
| Carlos Sainz Jnr | Ultra soft (24) | Super soft (27) | |
| Lance Stroll | Ultra soft (26) | Super soft (25) | |
| Daniil Kvyat | Ultra soft (21) | Super soft (30) | |
| Kevin Magnussen | Ultra soft (21) | Super soft (30) | |
| Stoffel Vandoorne | Super soft (1) | Ultra soft (23) | Ultra soft (27) |
| Marcus Ericsson | Super soft (1) | Ultra soft (20) | Ultra soft (30) |
| Pascal Wehrlein | Super soft (2) | Ultra soft (18) | Ultra soft (30) |
| Daniel Ricciardo | Ultra soft (5) |
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2017 Russian 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 | 29.356 | 27 | |
| 2 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 29.567 | 0.211 | 29 |
| 3 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 29.739 | 0.383 | 30 |
| 4 | Lance Stroll | Williams | 29.791 | 0.435 | 26 |
| 5 | Sergio Perez | Force India | 29.868 | 0.512 | 27 |
| 6 | Felipe Massa | Williams | 29.920 | 0.564 | 41 |
| 7 | Felipe Massa | Williams | 29.923 | 0.567 | 21 |
| 8 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Toro Rosso | 29.973 | 0.617 | 24 |
| 9 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso | 29.991 | 0.635 | 21 |
| 10 | Stoffel Vandoorne | McLaren | 30.006 | 0.650 | 1 |
| 11 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 30.097 | 0.741 | 34 |
| 12 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 30.152 | 0.796 | 29 |
| 13 | Esteban Ocon | Force India | 30.253 | 0.897 | 26 |
| 14 | Nico Hulkenberg | Renault | 30.280 | 0.924 | 40 |
| 15 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber | 30.655 | 1.299 | 21 |
| 16 | Pascal Wehrlein | Sauber | 30.799 | 1.443 | 20 |
| 17 | Pascal Wehrlein | Sauber | 31.266 | 1.910 | 2 |
| 18 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber | 32.235 | 2.879 | 1 |
| 19 | Stoffel Vandoorne | McLaren | 35.998 | 6.642 | 24 |
| 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 36.559 | 7.203 | 21 |
2017 Russian Grand Prix
- Sepang pays Haas compensation for Grosjean’s 2017 crash
- F1 better without “artificial” overtaking – Vettel
- Honda unreliability “completely unacceptable” – Alonso
- Maiden victory earn Bottas first Driver of the Weekend win since 2014
- 2017 Russian Grand Prix team radio transcript
RAM
30th April 2017, 19:09
I think this year’s compouns are still too hard. Just like in 2014 where they used only soft and mediums, the cars were quickly separated without any chance to try and compensate for their lack of pace compared to the guys in front.
This, together with the characteristics of the track, can only sum up to one of the worst races of the year for sure.
George (@george)
30th April 2017, 21:59
Praying for rain at Monaco…
Jimmi Cynic (@jimmi-cynic)
1st May 2017, 7:35
Was thinking when I saw the title: “2017 Russian Grand Prix tyre strategies and pit stops” that it would be a very short post. And it is. Thanks, Keith, for not fluffing it up.
kanan
1st May 2017, 14:04
Ferrari should look into their pit stops and starts.
Sean Doyle (@spdoyle17)
1st May 2017, 14:49
Watching Pérez’s stop, there was a half-second hiccup on one of the tyre changes. Did any other drivers have crew-performance related delays to their stops?