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Below is the table for the pitstop strategies for the British Grand Prix, showing that most drivers opted for a two-stopper at Silverstone. The only drivers to attempt a one-stop race were Nelson Piquet Jr and Adrian Sutil. The tyres were fairly evenly matched as well, with many drivers complaining that they couldn’t get them up to temperature. Brawn particularly struggled with this, although Ferrari seemed to have improved significantly in this area. Only two drivers retired at Silverstone; Sebastien Bourdais and Heikki Kovalainen. Continue Reading

With the car weights from qualifying now published, we can see who did well during Saturday afternoon’s running and who did not. We can also work out how much fuel was in the cars and therefore how far they each go into the first stint before stopping. The key figure comes from Williams, who say that a lap of Silverstone uses about 2.48kg of fuel. Taking away the car and driver combined minimum weight of 605kg, and minus a couple of laps for grid formation and margin, we can divide the remainder by the per-lap amount and see who is going for a two stopper and who is heavy and going for a one stop race. Continue Reading

Most drivers started the Turkish Grand Prix on the preferred harder compound tyre and divided the race in to three stints with two stops. However, some decided to be a little daring and try three stops (and even one stop), but it seemed that the two-stop option turned out to be the faster. The talking point is Sebastian Vettel’s race, who started on a three-stopper, but after losing his advantage, Red Bull should have changed him to a two-stop. They didn’t and the German spent most of the afternoon chasing other drivers. Continue Reading

The post-qualifying weights of the cars competing in the Turkish Grand Prix have been (not quite) published by the FIA, and from the data provided we can see who did well during Saturday’s running and who did not. Also, from this data and Williams’s reckoning that a normalised distance of 5km around Istanbul Park requires 2.49kg of fuel, we can work out that the 5.338km circuit would use 2.66kg of fuel. Taking away the minimum car-and-driver weight of 605kg, plus 2 laps (5.32kg) for grid forming and margin, we can have a guess at when each of the drivers will stop first. Continue Reading

The pitstops and tyre strategies proved interesting for the Spanish Grand Prix, with eventual race winner Jenson Button being switched to a two-stopper despite the team’s simulations indicating that three stops was the faster option. Rubens Barrichello remained on a three-stopper and finished the race in second. All drivers started on the soft compound apart from Giancarlo Fisichella and Sebastian Bourdais, who tallied four stops during the race. Most teams opted for a two-stop race, although Kazuki Nakajima joined Barrichello with three visits to his team. Continue Reading

With fast cars being stuck behind slower cars during the Bahrain Grand Prix, a few drivers altered their strategies as the race unfolded, with Rubens Barrichello going for a three-stop run rather than a two-stopper like his team mate. Ultimately, for those at the front the two-stop scenario worked out better for them and Jenson Button won after timing his stops perfectly; a classic trait of team principal Ross Brawn. Here are the pitstop timings and tyre choices made by the twenty competing drivers this afternoon. Continue Reading

With qualifying complete the FIA have released the weights of the cars so we can ascertain who did well and who did not during Saturday’s running. We can also take a look and see what the group outside the top-ten are doing with their strategies and providing rain or safety cars do not hamper the race, we can also take a guess as to when the drivers will be making their first stops and also how many stops they may make. Continue Reading

Detailed below are the weights of all the cars post-qualifying. With this information now available from the FIA, we can assess the competitiveness of each of the drivers in qualifying and also have a few guesses at their strategies for tomorrow’s race. Safety car periods negate any prediction though, as the pilots can conserve fuel when following the Mercedes, although in previous Chinese Grands Prix, Bernd Mylander was rarely pressed into action. The results are listed in order of qualifying lap times, and it should also be noted that although Timo Glock set the fourteenth fastest time in Q2, the German has been demoted to nineteenth due to a penalty. Continue Reading

With the heavy rainfall experienced in Sepang, all strategies went cleanly out of the window. All cars started on the soft tyre, the compound being not as soft as the super-softs Bridgestone took to Melbourne last weekend. Because of this, the soft tyre lasted a lot longer than the super-soft did and the durability meant that the drivers could use it for longer stints. The ruling about drivers using both compounds is negated when it rains, and as the drivers ended up swapping between the full wet weather tyre and the intermediate rubber, the hard compound was not used. Continue Reading

Listed below are the weights of all the cars post-qualifying. The information is now made available by the FIA after qualifying is complete and it allows us to see who did well and who didn’t during Saturday’s running. From this we can work out who might be stopping first and we can have a guess at strategies for each driver. However, some factors will come in to play during tomorrow’s race, the safety car having the biggest impact on fuel consumption, and therefore pitstop times. Continue Reading