2017 Japanese Grand Prix tyre strategies and pit stops

2017 Japanese Grand Prix

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The Japanese Grand Prix was tipped by many to be the first dry race in a while where drivers would need to make more than one pit stop.

2017 Japanese GP in pictures
With track temperatures exceeding 40C – more than 20C higher than they’d been in practice and qualifying – it seemed more than likely. But when the chequered flag fell it was clear a single stop had been the way to go – few drivers pitted twice and none of those who did scored points.

So what changed? The early Safety Car period was significant. It helped push drivers towards sticking to a one-stop strategy. With the midfield being compressed by the Safety Car, the front runners knew an early pit stop would leave them stuck in traffic.

On top of that the amount of time spent behind the Safety Car also reduced the demand on the tyres for several laps, making it easier for drivers to eke them out to a one-stopper.

Even so some of them experienced substantial tyre degradation at the end of the race. Max Verstappen experienced particularly severe front-left tyre wear.

2017 Japanese Grand Prix tyre strategies

The tyre strategies for each driver:

Stint 1 Stint 2 Stint 3 Stint 4
Lewis Hamilton Super soft (22) Soft (31)
Max Verstappen Super soft (21) Soft (32)
Daniel Ricciardo Super soft (25) Soft (28)
Valtteri Bottas Soft (30) Super soft (23)
Kimi Raikkonen Soft (28) Super soft (25)
Esteban Ocon Super soft (20) Soft (33)
Sergio Perez Super soft (21) Soft (32)
Kevin Magnussen Super soft (19) Soft (34)
Romain Grosjean Super soft (23) Soft (30)
Felipe Massa Super soft (17) Soft (35)
Fernando Alonso Super soft (25) Soft (27)
Jolyon Palmer Soft (39) Super soft (13)
Pierre Gasly Super soft (22) Soft (17) Super soft (13)
Stoffel Vandoorne Super soft (9) Soft (25) Super soft (18)
Pascal Wehrlein Soft (2) Super soft (1) Soft (22) Soft (26)
Lance Stroll Super soft (4) Soft (31) Super soft (10)
Nico Hulkenberg Soft (38) Super soft (2)
Marcus Ericsson Soft (7)
Sebastian Vettel Super soft (4)
Carlos Sainz Jnr

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2017 Japanese Grand Prix pit stop times

How long each driver’s pit stops took:

Driver Team Pit stop time Gap On lap
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull 22.620 21
2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 22.724 0.104 22
3 Lance Stroll Williams 22.736 0.116 35
4 Romain Grosjean Haas 22.781 0.161 23
5 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 22.876 0.256 30
6 Felipe Massa Williams 22.956 0.336 17
7 Kevin Magnussen Haas 23.065 0.445 19
8 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 23.199 0.579 38
9 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso 23.344 0.724 22
10 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren 23.399 0.779 34
11 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren 23.430 0.810 9
12 Lance Stroll Williams 23.475 0.855 4
13 Sergio Perez Force India 23.634 1.014 21
14 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 23.699 1.079 28
15 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 23.796 1.176 25
16 Esteban Ocon Force India 24.078 1.458 20
17 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso 24.413 1.793 39
18 Pascal Wehrlein Sauber 24.424 1.804 2
19 Fernando Alonso McLaren 24.636 2.016 25
20 Pascal Wehrlein Sauber 24.918 2.298 3
21 Pascal Wehrlein Sauber 24.952 2.332 25
22 Jolyon Palmer Renault 25.618 2.998 39

2017 Japanese Grand Prix

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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...

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1 comments on “2017 Japanese Grand Prix tyre strategies and pit stops”

  1. As always, the drivers were nursing their tires in order to get away with just one stop. Two stops may have been faster, but also much riskier, so one stop was the preferred strategy.

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