Would Pierre Gasly have won the Italian Grand Prix if he hadn’t been able to fit fresh tyres during the red flag period?
The AlphaTauri driver made his first pit stop before the Safety Car was deployed for Kevin Magnussen’s retirement. The pit lane entrance was closed initially, but early leader Lewis Hamilton came in, incurring a costly 10-second stop-and-go penalty.Most of the remaining drivers made their pit stops once the pit lane entrance was opened. That left Hamilton, yet to serve his penalty, leading ahead of Lance Stroll, who had not yet pitted, and Gasly, who had.
Soon after the restart following that incident, Charles Leclerc suffered a heavy crash which led to the race being red-flagged. At this point the whole field had the option of fitting new tyres while in the pits.
Gasly was among those who took advantage of the opportunity. Having started on softs, hard tyres were fitted at his original pit stop. The red flag gave him the chance to run to the end on a new set of mediums.
Other drivers who had pitted under the Safety Car had much less to gain. Carlos Sainz Jnr, who chased Gasly home, had already switched to the medium compound, and did not have another new set he could use.
Had Gasly not had a ‘free’ pit stop, Sainz would have had a slight advantage in terms of tyre age and a softer – but potentially less durable – compound. Given that most drivers preferred the medium tyre for the second stint, its fair to assume Sainz would have been more of a threat at the end.
Almost half the field took advantage of the opportunity to fit fresh tyres during the red flag. Hamilton, Stroll, Kimi Raikkonen, Antonio Giovinazzi, Nicholas Latifi, Esteban Ocon, George Russell and Alexander Albon did the same.
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2020 Italian Grand Prix lap chart
The positions of each driver on every lap. Click name to highlight, right-click to reset. Toggle drivers using controls below:
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2020 Italian Grand Prix race chart
The gaps between each driver on every lap compared to the leader’s average lap time. Very large gaps omitted. Scroll to zoom, drag to pan and right-click to reset. Toggle drivers using controls below:
Position change
| Driver | Start position | Lap one position change | Race position change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lewis Hamilton | 1 | 0 | -6 |
| Valtteri Bottas | 2 | -4 | -3 |
| Sebastian Vettel | 17 | -1 | |
| Charles Leclerc | 13 | 0 | |
| Max Verstappen | 5 | -2 | |
| Alexander Albon | 9 | -6 | -6 |
| Carlos Sainz Jnr | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| Lando Norris | 6 | 3 | 2 |
| Daniel Ricciardo | 7 | 2 | 1 |
| Esteban Ocon | 12 | 3 | 4 |
| Daniil Kvyat | 11 | 0 | 2 |
| Pierre Gasly | 10 | 0 | 9 |
| Sergio Perez | 4 | 0 | -6 |
| Lance Stroll | 8 | 0 | 5 |
| Kimi Raikkonen | 14 | 2 | 1 |
| Antonio Giovinazzi | 18 | 4 | 2 |
| Romain Grosjean | 16 | 0 | 4 |
| Kevin Magnussen | 15 | -5 | |
| George Russell | 19 | 2 | 5 |
| Nicholas Latifi | 20 | 1 | 9 |
2020 Italian Grand Prix lap times
All the lap times by the drivers (in seconds, very slow laps excluded). Scroll to zoom, drag to pan and toggle drivers using the control below:
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2020 Italian Grand Prix fastest laps
Each driver’s fastest lap:
| Rank | Driver | Car | Fastest lap | Gap | On lap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1’22.746 | 34 | |
| 20 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | McLaren-Renault | 1’23.882 | 1.136 | 40 |
| 13 | Lance Stroll | Racing Point-Mercedes | 1’23.897 | 1.151 | 42 |
| 1 | Daniel Ricciardo | Renault | 1’23.898 | 1.152 | 38 |
| 5 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1’23.961 | 1.215 | 51 |
| 3 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri-Honda | 1’24.037 | 1.291 | 34 |
| 11 | Lando Norris | McLaren-Renault | 1’24.232 | 1.486 | 50 |
| 9 | Sergio Perez | Racing Point-Mercedes | 1’24.336 | 1.590 | 50 |
| 18 | George Russell | Williams-Mercedes | 1’24.421 | 1.675 | 39 |
| 15 | Daniil Kvyat | AlphaTauri-Honda | 1’24.479 | 1.733 | 44 |
| 10 | Esteban Ocon | Renault | 1’24.490 | 1.744 | 52 |
| 17 | Romain Grosjean | Haas-Ferrari | 1’24.785 | 2.039 | 48 |
| 14 | Kimi Raikkonen | Alfa Romeo-Ferrari | 1’24.835 | 2.089 | 29 |
| 19 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo-Ferrari | 1’24.856 | 2.110 | 43 |
| 12 | Alexander Albon | Red Bull-Honda | 1’24.888 | 2.142 | 39 |
| 6 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams-Mercedes | 1’24.999 | 2.253 | 39 |
| 8 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull-Honda | 1’25.539 | 2.793 | 10 |
| 7 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas-Ferrari | 1’25.787 | 3.041 | 10 |
| 4 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1’26.026 | 3.280 | 19 |
| 16 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1’27.107 | 4.361 | 4 |
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2020 Italian Grand Prix tyre strategies
The tyre strategies for each driver:
| Stint 1 | Stint 2 | Stint 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pierre Gasly | C4 (19) | C2 (7) | C3 (27) |
| Carlos Sainz Jnr | C4 (22) | C3 (31) | |
| Lance Stroll | C4 (26) | C3 (27) | |
| Lando Norris | C4 (22) | C3 (31) | |
| Valtteri Bottas | C4 (22) | C3 (31) | |
| Daniel Ricciardo | C4 (22) | C3 (31) | |
| Lewis Hamilton | C4 (20) | C3 (6) | C2 (2) |
| Esteban Ocon | C4 (22) | C3 (4) | C4 (27) |
| Daniil Kvyat | C2 (22) | C3 (31) | |
| Sergio Perez | C4 (22) | C3 (31) | |
| Nicholas Latifi | C3 (16) | C2 (10) | C3 (27) |
| Romain Grosjean | C3 (22) | C2 (31) | |
| Kimi Raikkonen | C3 (18) | C2 (8) | C4 (27) |
| George Russell | C3 (22) | C2 (4) | C3 (27) |
| Alexander Albon | C4 (22) | C3 (4) | C2 (27) |
| Antonio Giovinazzi | C3 (20) | C2 (6) | C4 (4) |
| Max Verstappen | C4 (22) | C3 (8) | |
| Charles Leclerc | C4 (17) | C2 (6) | |
| Kevin Magnussen | C3 (1) | C2 (16) | |
| Sebastian Vettel | C2 (6) |
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2020 Italian Grand Prix pit stop times
How long each driver’s pit stops took:
| Driver | Team | Pit stop time | Gap | On lap | |
| 1 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo | 23.998 | 20 | |
| 2 | Pierre Gasly | Toro Rosso | 24.096 | 0.098 | 19 |
| 3 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 24.344 | 0.346 | 17 |
| 4 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | McLaren | 24.398 | 0.400 | 22 |
| 5 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 24.410 | 0.412 | 22 |
| 6 | Kimi Raikkonen | Alfa Romeo | 24.454 | 0.456 | 18 |
| 7 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 24.612 | 0.614 | 22 |
| 8 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 24.671 | 0.673 | 20 |
| 9 | George Russell | Williams | 25.249 | 1.251 | 22 |
| 10 | Esteban Ocon | Renault | 25.290 | 1.292 | 22 |
| 11 | Daniel Ricciardo | Renault | 25.498 | 1.500 | 22 |
| 12 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso | 25.920 | 1.922 | 22 |
| 13 | Romain Grosjean | Haas | 25.936 | 1.938 | 22 |
| 14 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 26.149 | 2.151 | 22 |
| 15 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams | 26.335 | 2.337 | 16 |
| 16 | Sergio Perez | Racing Point | 26.693 | 2.695 | 22 |
| 17 | Alexander Albon | Red Bull | 29.661 | 5.663 | 22 |
| 18 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo | 31.480 | 7.482 | 30 |
| 19 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 31.643 | 7.645 | 28 |
| 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 40.078 | 16.080 | 1 |
| 21 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1516.864 | 1492.866 | 26 |
| 22 | Lance Stroll | Racing Point | 1517.308 | 1493.310 | 26 |
| 23 | Pierre Gasly | Toro Rosso | 1519.879 | 1495.881 | 26 |
| 24 | Kimi Raikkonen | Alfa Romeo | 1520.985 | 1496.987 | 26 |
| 25 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo | 1521.825 | 1497.827 | 26 |
| 26 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams | 1523.130 | 1499.132 | 26 |
| 27 | Esteban Ocon | Renault | 1523.223 | 1499.225 | 26 |
| 28 | George Russell | Williams | 1527.938 | 1503.940 | 26 |
| 29 | Alexander Albon | Red Bull | 1528.247 | 1504.249 | 26 |
NB. Some drivers’ pit stops occured during the red flag period.
2020 Italian Grand Prix
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davey (@djdaveyp87)
6th September 2020, 23:27
One question I have is why Mercedes did not leave Hamilton’s penalty as long as possible a la Alfa Romeo. He would have pulled more gap, potentially second and the penalty would have been slightly less painful.
davey (@djdaveyp87)
6th September 2020, 23:28
*seconds
Dave (@daveliney)
6th September 2020, 23:52
Even if he waited two laps he would still have been last, and by going first he makes sure that he does not need to overtake Giovinazzi. In both first and last he was in clean air so could put in his best lap times. Also, as his team said, another safety car in those two laps would have made things worse.
Vincent (@vinnivinni)
7th September 2020, 10:19
Would it not be possible to wait for the last lap and cross the Finish in the pits?
davey (@djdaveyp87)
7th September 2020, 10:57
@vinnivinni
That one isn’t possible. I think it’s 3 laps.
@daveliney
Either way he would not have needed to overtake Giovanazzi. He wasn’t a factor.
Vincent (@vinnivinni)
7th September 2020, 11:23
You are right, I looked up the Sporting Regulations.
Article 38.3(d) is the ten second stop‐and‐go time penalty.
Esploratore (@esploratore)
8th September 2020, 2:38
The charts highlight how strong the hamilton-mercedes combination is: the joint best driver in the by far best car.