Formula Legend Hungarian Grand Prix Strategy Report

Strategy played an important part in deciding the race result, with Sebastian Vettel storming to a surprise second victory for Ferrari. Neither Mercedes made it onto the podium, with Daniil Kvyat and Daniel Ricciardo making it a Red Bull 2-3 and giving the Milton Keynes-based outfit its best result of the season so far.

Conditions remained dry and were warmer than some had previously expected during Sunday’s race, with a wide variety of strategies used. F1 now heads into a four-week summer break, enabling drivers, teams and members of the F1 circus to take some time off, reflect and relax, after a busy first half of the year. Here are the main strategy stories from the Hungarian Grand Prix:

Two or Three Stops

As F1 tyre supplier Pirelli predicted, a mix of two and three stop strategies were used during the race – although drivers passed through the pit lane several more times, mainly because of penalties or the debris on the pit straight during the Safety Car period.

Unlike most previous races this season, the difference between a three and a two stop was relatively minor, and both were competitive. Vettel used a conventional two-stopper to take victory, staying out of trouble and putting in a faultless drive. He stopped on the 21st and 43rd laps, with two stints on the soft tyre and one on the medium compound to finish the race.

Of the top 10, only three drivers (Vettel, Daniil Kvyat and Jenson Button) pitted twice. The remaining seven (including Daniel Ricciardo, Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg) pitted three times. However, many had to complete an extra, unscheduled stop due to damage following collisions.

Soft Tyres Rule

It quickly became evident over the race weekend that the soft tyre would be the preferred race compound and the more competitive of the two. The cooler conditions compared to Friday and Saturday for the race helped even more, meaning all of the field – apart from Pastor Maldonado – started on the yellow-banded Pirelli tyre.

A popular strategy was to use the soft tyre in the middle stint too, and end on the mediums. The options heated up quickly, had good grip for the slow corners and traction zones, and also lasted a good distance – the longest medium tyre stint was 25 laps, and the longest soft tyre stint was 26 laps.

Most of those who stopped three times went onto the medium tyre for the third stint, and ended the race on the soft – giving them an advantage on the quicker compound. Rosberg was one of the few to switch to the primes for the second stint, and when the Safety Car was deployed, Mercedes initially hinted that the team would fit the softs for the final run to the flag.

However, he emerged on the slower prime tyre, which was what his nearest rivals were also on. Had he gone to the softs like Ricciardo, he would have been much more competitive, could have easily challenged Vettel for the win and edged away from Ricciardo, who eventually hit him and gave the German a puncture. The decision to go to the mediums directly impacted his chance of fighting for victory and, you could say, cost him a much better result.

Strong pace, despite Safety Car

The deployment of the Safety Car in the second half of the race, after Nico Hulkenberg’s scary front wing failure and crash, was seen as a huge blow for Ferrari and a big help to Mercedes. Rosberg and Hamilton were able to close the gap to the leading Ferrari drivers, giving them a chance to once again fight for victory.

Many expected the Mercedes duo to easily move up the order and take the lead, but it turns out that the Safety Car didn’t impact the race leader. Raikkonen dropped back due to a MGU-K problem, but Vettel was able to keep to his strategy and had strong pace on the restart, pulling away from the pack.

While he was helped by the battles and incidents behind, it still proved that the Ferrari package was strong and able to challenge Mercedes. Sure, had it been a more trouble-free race for the current championship leaders, then the result could have been different. But Vettel’s pace was strong, he didn’t falter while others did and he put in a perfect run.

Incidents mix things up

As mentioned previously, incidents and contact played a big part in shaping the race and the strategies drives were forced to switch to. The best example of this is with the two Mercedes drivers, with Rosberg pitting unexpectedly due to a puncture, and Hamilton stopping for a new front wing after contact with Ricciardo.

The Red Bull driver also had to stop again due to the contact with Rosberg that caused the puncture, but whereas the Mercedes had to limp back to the pits and lost huge amounts of time, Ricciardo was able to lap at a decent pace and stopped without losing a position. It also enabled his team-mate Kvyat to retain second, as he was given a 10-second time penalty for going off and gaining an advantage.

Jack Leslie

Longest Stints

Medium: Maldonado (25 laps)
Soft: Stevens (26 laps)

Most Stops

Maldonado & Hamilton (6 – including drivethroughs)

Pirelli Strategy Infographics thanks to @pirellisport (click for detail)