South Korea – Race: Summary of Strategies

Sebastian Vettel signed with Red Bull for a third consecutive victory after his successes in Singapore and Japan. Vettel started the race from second place on the grid, equipped with Super Soft tires, before switching to Softs for two stints. He claimed victory ahead of his teammate Mark Webber after gaining an advantage over him in the first corner. Vettel’s fourth victory of the season puts him in the lead of the championship, while Ferrari, thanks to Fernando Alonso’s third place and Felipe Massa’s fourth, overtakes McLaren for second place in the constructors’ standings.

Lewis Hamilton was the first of the Top 10 drivers to pit on lap 13, on a circuit where the front-right tire is particularly tested. Nevertheless, with low wear levels, both compounds showed great durability and solid performance on the Yeongam circuit. Vettel made his first stop two laps after Hamilton, fitting the Soft tires like him. Sergio Perez employed a different strategy with Sauber, starting the race on Soft tires, then switching to Super Softs on lap 18 and finishing the race on Softs for the last 22 laps.

Webber also tried to make the tire strategy work to his advantage by stopping before his teammate twice, but Vettel was able to stop for the second time on the 35th lap and come out ahead with a 2.9-second lead. He completed a final stint of 20 laps, while Webber was aggressive over 23 laps, setting the fastest lap of the race on the penultimate lap.

The top 10 started the race on Super Soft tires. These were between 0.2 and 0.6 seconds faster per lap than the Soft tires. The highest-ranked driver at the start on Soft tires was Jenson Button (McLaren), but the 11th on the grid was immediately taken out due to an accident at the start. Perez was therefore the best-placed finisher with a starting strategy on Soft tires, finishing 11th.

Hamilton made three pit stops, finishing 10th and ending his difficult race on Super Softs after a final stop on the 42nd lap. The Englishman tried to regain positions towards the end using the extra performance offered by the softest compound in the Pirelli range, but he quickly found himself under pressure from Perez after picking up a large piece of debris on his car.

In contrast, Pastor Maldonado (Williams) stopped only once, switching from Super Softs to Softs on lap 21 and completing a series of 34 final laps. The Venezuelan crossed the finish line in 14th place.

Paul Hembery, Pirelli Motorsport Director: « We saw the majority of drivers adopt a two-stop strategy in the end, just like last year, even though this year’s Soft compound was softer than the 2011 one. A one-stop strategy was, however, proven possible. We are satisfied with the performance of both compounds, which generated less graining compared to free practice and qualifying, thanks to significant track evolution. Congratulations to Red Bull and Sebastian Vettel, who have won more races than anyone else this season, thanks to good tire management this time. This allowed him to control his lead over the other drivers in Korea and take the championship lead for the first time since Barcelona. We witnessed many interesting battles throughout the standings with a wide variety of strategies adopted, each driver trying to gain an advantage. With specific demands placed on the front-right, the final part of the race was crucial, but Vettel managed everything perfectly. »

[From the official press release published by Pirelli]

To better understand this chart, you can use the FIA’s lap-by-lap summary by clicking here.