2017 Belgian Grand Prix tyre strategies and pit stops

2017 Belgian Grand Prix

Posted on

| Written by

Lewis Hamilton’s two visits to the pits were the fastest complete stops of the Belgian Grand Prix.

Belgian Grand Prix in pictures
However like most of the leading drivers he wouldn’t have made a second pit stop had the Safety Car not given them the opportunity to put on fresher rubber. This played into Ferrari’s hands as they, like rivals Red Bull, had saved a fresh set of ultra-soft rubber.

Red Bull gambled on strategy with Daniel Ricciardo, who was their only remaining driver after Max Verstappen’s early retirement. They attempted to complete the race using only the softest tyres available, despite Ricciardo’s concerns about blistering. The Safety Car period gave them the option of a free second pit stop, so whether he would have made it became a moot point.

Kevin Magnussen was very unhappy with his ultra-soft tyres at the beginning of the race. He repeatedly urged his team to bring him in and his lap nine pit stop was one of the earliest. He put on soft tyres intending to run to the end of the race, but after pitting for super-softs under the Safety Car he locked up, spoiled his tyres, and eventually pitted for another set of the ultra-softs.

2017 Belgian Grand Prix tyre strategies

The tyre strategies for each driver:

Stint 1Stint 2Stint 3Stint 4
Lewis HamiltonUltra soft (12)Soft (18)Soft (14)
Sebastian VettelUltra soft (14)Soft (16)Ultra soft (14)
Daniel RicciardoUltra soft (14)Super soft (16)Ultra soft (14)
Kimi RaikkonenUltra soft (15)Soft (14)Ultra soft (15)
Valtteri BottasUltra soft (13)Soft (17)Soft (14)
Nico HulkenbergUltra soft (11)Soft (18)Ultra soft (15)
Romain GrosjeanUltra soft (10)Soft (19)Super soft (15)
Felipe MassaSuper soft (11)Soft (18)Ultra soft (15)
Esteban OconUltra soft (10)Super soft (17)Super soft (2)Ultra soft (15)
Carlos Sainz JnrUltra soft (19)Soft (10)Super soft (15)
Lance StrollSuper soft (9)Soft (20)Ultra soft (15)
Daniil KvyatSuper soft (18)Ultra soft (12)Ultra soft (14)
Jolyon PalmerUltra soft (8)Soft (22)Ultra soft (14)
Stoffel VandoorneSuper soft (18)Ultra soft (12)Ultra soft (14)
Kevin MagnussenUltra soft (9)Soft (21)Super soft (4)Ultra soft (10)
Marcus EricssonSuper soft (8)Soft (15)Soft (6)Ultra soft (15)
Sergio PerezUltra soft (12)Super soft (13)Super soft (4)Ultra soft (13)
Fernando AlonsoUltra soft (10)Soft (15)
Max VerstappenUltra soft (7)
Pascal WehrleinSoft (2)

Go ad-free for just £1 per month

>> Find out more and sign up

2017 Belgian Grand Prix pit stop times

How long each driver’s pit stops took:

DriverTeamPit stop timeGapOn lap
1Lewis HamiltonMercedes22.03712
2Lewis HamiltonMercedes22.3570.32030
3Sebastian VettelFerrari22.4430.40614
4Daniil KvyatToro Rosso22.4440.40718
5Kimi RaikkonenFerrari22.5330.49615
6Felipe MassaWilliams22.6670.63011
7Romain GrosjeanHaas22.7560.71929
8Kevin MagnussenHaas22.8280.7919
9Daniel RicciardoRed Bull22.9000.86314
10Kevin MagnussenHaas22.9080.87130
11Valtteri BottasMercedes22.9190.88230
12Romain GrosjeanHaas22.9250.88810
13Valtteri BottasMercedes22.9630.92613
14Kimi RaikkonenFerrari22.9630.92629
15Felipe MassaWilliams23.0921.05529
16Lance StrollWilliams23.1091.07229
17Daniel RicciardoRed Bull23.1801.14330
18Esteban OconForce India23.2001.16327
19Marcus EricssonSauber23.2211.18423
20Sergio PerezForce India23.2891.25212
21Daniil KvyatToro Rosso23.3411.30430
22Esteban OconForce India23.3641.32710
23Nico HulkenbergRenault23.5071.47011
24Nico HulkenbergRenault23.5391.50229
25Kevin MagnussenHaas23.7371.70034
26Marcus EricssonSauber23.7921.75529
27Marcus EricssonSauber23.9991.9628
28Carlos Sainz JnrToro Rosso24.0952.05819
29Fernando AlonsoMcLaren24.1582.12110
30Carlos Sainz JnrToro Rosso24.3702.33329
31Jolyon PalmerRenault24.6742.63730
32Lance StrollWilliams24.6972.6609
33Sebastian VettelFerrari25.6503.61330
34Stoffel VandoorneMcLaren26.1874.15030
35Jolyon PalmerRenault26.2024.1658
36Sergio PerezForce India26.5744.53729
37Stoffel VandoorneMcLaren26.8944.85718
38Sergio PerezForce India28.5946.55725
39Esteban OconForce India29.6467.60929
40Kimi RaikkonenFerrari30.3738.33617

Note Raikkonen’s lap 40 pit stop was to serve a ten-second stop-go penalty.

2017 Belgian Grand Prix

Browse all 2017 Belgian Grand Prix articles

Author information

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...

Got a potential story, tip or enquiry? Find out more about RaceFans and contact us here.

One comment on “2017 Belgian Grand Prix tyre strategies and pit stops”

  1. How did Sergio ended up ahead of Ocon in spite of the 5 second penalty? Sergio made up that difference in just 2 laps? Sounds unbelievable.

Comments are closed.