A one-stop strategy was the way to go in Brazil despite the seriously hot conditions at Interlagos.
After losing ground at the start, Sergio Perez tried to get back in the fight by running longer than the others, almost reaching half-distance on his super-softs. But it wasn’t enough to help him pass Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso once he got back on track.
The only drivers who deviated from a one-stop strategy did so because of specific circumstances: Either being forced to because of damage (such as Lance Stroll) or because they had enough of a gap over their closest pursuer to make a pit stop without losing a position (Max Verstappen).
2017 Brazilian Grand Prix tyre strategies
The tyre strategies for each driver:
| Stint 1 | Stint 2 | Stint 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sebastian Vettel | Super soft (28) | Soft (43) | |
| Valtteri Bottas | Super soft (27) | Soft (44) | |
| Kimi Raikkonen | Super soft (29) | Soft (42) | |
| Lewis Hamilton | Soft (43) | Super soft (28) | |
| Max Verstappen | Super soft (28) | Soft (34) | Super soft (9) |
| Daniel Ricciardo | Soft (1) | Soft (42) | Super soft (28) |
| Felipe Massa | Super soft (27) | Soft (44) | |
| Fernando Alonso | Super soft (28) | Soft (43) | |
| Sergio Perez | Super soft (35) | Soft (36) | |
| Nico Hulkenberg | Super soft (30) | Soft (40) | |
| Carlos Sainz Jnr | Super soft (31) | Soft (39) | |
| Pierre Gasly | Soft (44) | Super soft (26) | |
| Marcus Ericsson | Soft (44) | Super soft (26) | |
| Pascal Wehrlein | Super soft (1) | Soft (69) | |
| Romain Grosjean | Super soft (1) | Soft (47) | Super soft (21) |
| Lance Stroll | Super soft (28) | Soft (39) | Super soft (2) |
| Brendon Hartley | Super soft (27) | Soft (13) | |
| Esteban Ocon | Super soft | ||
| Stoffel Vandoorne | Super soft | ||
| Kevin Magnussen | Super soft |
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2017 Brazilian Grand Prix pit stop times
How long each driver’s pit stops took:
| Driver | Team | Pit stop time | Gap | On lap | |
| 1 | Lance Stroll | Williams | 22.486 | 28 | |
| 2 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 22.644 | 0.158 | 62 |
| 3 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 22.736 | 0.250 | 28 |
| 4 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 23.064 | 0.578 | 27 |
| 5 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 23.121 | 0.635 | 43 |
| 6 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 23.170 | 0.684 | 29 |
| 7 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 23.180 | 0.694 | 28 |
| 8 | Felipe Massa | Williams | 23.275 | 0.789 | 27 |
| 9 | Sergio Perez | Force India | 23.275 | 0.789 | 35 |
| 10 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren | 23.342 | 0.856 | 28 |
| 11 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | 23.484 | 0.998 | 43 |
| 12 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Renault | 23.550 | 1.064 | 31 |
| 13 | Pierre Gasly | Toro Rosso | 23.748 | 1.262 | 44 |
| 14 | Brendon Hartley | Toro Rosso | 23.830 | 1.344 | 27 |
| 15 | Nico Hulkenberg | Renault | 24.054 | 1.568 | 30 |
| 16 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber | 24.164 | 1.678 | 44 |
| 17 | Lance Stroll | Williams | 24.756 | 2.270 | 67 |
| 18 | Romain Grosjean | Haas | 25.845 | 3.359 | 1 |
| 19 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | 25.946 | 3.460 | 1 |
| 20 | Pascal Wehrlein | Sauber | 26.439 | 3.953 | 1 |
| 21 | Romain Grosjean | Haas | 34.438 | 11.952 | 48 |
faulty (@faulty)
13th November 2017, 1:16
I wonder why Pérez’s strategy didn’t allow him to leapfrog Massa.
Sean Doyle (@spdoyle17)
13th November 2017, 9:56
From what I remember watching the gaps, the only “good” time for PER to pit was either the same lap or one after MAS, when there was just barely enough space for him to tuck in a few seconds back of MAS and not in a pack of dirty air. Force India expected too much of those old supersofts, (rubber naming suggestion: Hardest (HT), Hard (H), Medium (M), Soft (S), Softest (ST),) and there was still Alonso’s dirty air slowing Pérez down while those behind him filled the gap which would’ve given Checo clean air for the first few laps of his stint.