Russian Grand Prix strategy report

Lewis Hamilton stormed to a dominant second Russian Grand Prix win, with Sebastian Vettel second and Sergio Perez third after a last lap clash between Valtteri Bottas and Kimi Raikkonen. The latter picked up a penalty and that dropped him to eighth, giving Mercedes the constructors’ championship. Here are the main strategy points from the race:

One stop rules the day

The Sochi street track has an unusually smooth track surface. Temperatures were cool throughout the weekend and the wet weather on Friday, along with a diesel spill, meant conditions on the circuit remained rather green and low grip throughout.

Despite Pirelli opting to bring softer tyre compounds compared to 2014, nominating the super-soft and soft, degradation and wear rates were low during the race and this meant a one-stop strategy was used by many.

With a lack of running in all three practice sessions due to the diesel spill, rain and Carlos Sainz Jr’s huge FP3 crash, teams went into qualifying and the race with very little data and information. Early indications did suggest the tyres would hold up well, with the soft compound being slightly better suited to the race, but there were still a lot of unknowns.

Drivers complained during the dry running about getting their tyres up to temperature, with many struggling in the colder conditions and on the low grip surface. This proved to be tricky in qualifying and we saw most drivers in Q3 opting for two warm-up laps before going for a flier.
In the race, the low wear and degradation coupled with two Safety Car periods meant it was an easy one-stop Russian Grand Prix for many. Five drivers, including Hamilton and Vettel, who started on the super-soft compound went all the way until around lap 30 before stopping.

Safety Car stoppers make up ground

The first Safety Car was deployed at the end of lap one following a collision between Nico Hulkenberg, Max Verstappen (who was able to continue) and Marcus Ericsson. This helped drivers elongate their first stints, but the second appearance of the Mercedes GT AMG saw several dive into the pits.

Perez, Daniel Ricciardo, Sainz Jr and Jenson Button decided to stop and switch to the soft tyre. The teams were confident the drivers could make it to the end but preserving the prime compound would be crucial to reach the chequered flag.

It appeared to be working in the closing stages, with Perez and Ricciardo running third and fourth at one point, before Raikkonen and Bottas moved ahead of them both. Ricciardo retired, as did Sainz Jr, and cost both a chance of a top eight result.

However, Perez and Button continued and helped by the last lap contact finished third and ninth respectively, showing that 41 laps on the soft tyre could be done – although if the race had gone on any longer, both would have likely found the cliff.

The two drivers are both renowned for being kind on their tyres, so it was hardly surprising that with the conditions, they made the strategy work. As Ricciardo said after he had retired, it was a risk, but it paid off for them both. It would have been interesting to see how the Red Bull and Toro Rosso cars would have fitted into the scenario.

Starting on the soft

Pastor Maldonado, Felipe Massa, Ericsson and Fernando Alonso were the only drivers to start on the prime tyre and then switch to the option for the final stint. With both tyres lasting a long time and the super-soft giving consistently good lap times, three of the four drivers used it to make progress.

Ericsson was, of course, eliminated on lap one. Maldonado stopped on lap 30 and picked up places as others hit trouble, finishing eighth. Massa was caught out in qualifying by a mistake and traffic, so he was out of position.

As proved by Bottas, the pace of the Williams was probably equal to the Ferrari, so he was able to pass Maldonado, who was on the same strategy, and make up more ground compared to the Lotus. He also benefitted from the numerous incidents and finished a fine fourth.

Alonso was always going to struggle and the McLaren was a sitting duck on the straights, but he enjoyed some good battles and finished 10th. However, a five-second time penalty for exceeding track limits dropped him to 11th. You also have to consider the fact that only 15 drivers were classified and two of them failed to reach the chequered flag.

Jack Leslie @JackLeslieF1

Longest Stints

Supersoft: Alonso (40 laps)
Soft: Perez, Button (41 laps)

Most Stops

Stevens, Verstappen (2 – including drivethroughs)