2017 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix tyre strategies and pit stops

2017 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

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Before the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix weekend began Pirelli announced it will add two new tyre compounds to its 2018 range. It has also developed less “conservative” tyres for next season.

This race showed why many feel they are needed. There was almost no variation in strategy between the drivers. Everyone who reached Q3 started the race on ultra-softs, as did all bar three of the other starters. Those who ran the only realistic alternative strategy didn’t really benefit from it.

Aside from Lance Stroll, who struggled badly with his tyres and made three visits to the pits, everyone pitted just once during the race. Some tried to stay out longer than the others to gain an advantage, but degradation was so low it made little to no difference.

Will that change next year when Pirelli can choose from ‘hyper softs’ and ‘super hards’ along with the existing five tyre compounds? The teams will begin to find out when they run the new tyres for the first time in next week’s test.

2017 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix tyre strategies

The tyre strategies for each driver:

Stint 1Stint 2Stint 3Stint 4
Valtteri BottasUltra soft (21)Super soft (34)
Lewis HamiltonUltra soft (24)Super soft (31)
Sebastian VettelUltra soft (20)Super soft (35)
Kimi RaikkonenUltra soft (15)Super soft (40)
Max VerstappenUltra soft (14)Super soft (41)
Nico HulkenbergUltra soft (17)Super soft (38)
Sergio PerezUltra soft (16)Super soft (39)
Esteban OconUltra soft (31)Super soft (24)
Fernando AlonsoUltra soft (21)Super soft (33)
Felipe MassaUltra soft (22)Super soft (32)
Romain GrosjeanUltra soft (32)Super soft (22)
Stoffel VandoorneUltra soft (12)Super soft (42)
Kevin MagnussenUltra soft (22)Super soft (32)
Pascal WehrleinSuper soft (28)Ultra soft (26)
Brendon HartleySuper soft (26)Ultra soft (28)
Pierre GaslyUltra soft (30)Super soft (24)
Marcus EricssonSuper soft (30)Ultra soft (24)
Lance StrollUltra soft (11)Super soft (18)Ultra soft (6)Ultra soft (19)
Carlos Sainz JnrUltra soft (31)Super soft (0)
Daniel RicciardoUltra soft (19)Super soft (1)

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2017 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix pit stop times

How long each driver’s pit stops took:

DriverTeamPit stop timeGapOn lap
1Sebastian VettelFerrari21.22120
2Max VerstappenRed Bull21.2690.04814
3Lewis HamiltonMercedes21.2740.05324
4Felipe MassaWilliams21.4490.22822
5Valtteri BottasMercedes21.4780.25721
6Pierre GaslyToro Rosso21.5190.29830
7Lance StrollWilliams21.5430.32229
8Brendon HartleyToro Rosso21.5980.37726
9Kimi RaikkonenFerrari21.6090.38815
10Lance StrollWilliams21.6130.39211
11Romain GrosjeanHaas21.8500.62932
12Esteban OconForce India21.8650.64431
13Sergio PerezForce India21.8690.64816
14Kevin MagnussenHaas21.8750.65422
15Lance StrollWilliams21.9080.68735
16Carlos Sainz JnrRenault21.9560.73531
17Stoffel VandoorneMcLaren22.1250.90412
18Marcus EricssonSauber22.1760.95530
19Fernando AlonsoMcLaren22.5411.32021
20Pascal WehrleinSauber22.9591.73828
21Daniel RicciardoRed Bull23.4772.25619
22Nico HulkenbergRenault29.7248.50317

2017 Abu Dhabi 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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2 comments on “2017 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix tyre strategies and pit stops”

  1. Hulkenberg’s pitstop had me wondering – in the case of a 5-second penalty, must the penalty be taken before any work is done, or can it be done after the tyres are changed?

    i.e. today the car drives in, waits 5 seconds, changes tyres, drives off. Can they instead do – car drives in, changes tyres, waits 5 seconds after green on gantry, drives off?

    It seems like waiting 5 seconds at the beginning runs the risk of heat soak in the wheel nuts, which might be a contributory/causative factor to wheel nuts jamming.

    I vaguely seem to recollect that in more than one occasion in the past, cars that served such a penalty in the pit had this sort of problem.

    1. @phylyp

      in the case of a 5-second penalty, must the penalty be taken before any work is done, or can it be done after the tyres are changed?

      It’s the former. Can’t touch the car before the penalty is served.

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