Belgium – Race: Summary of Strategies

It was Jenson Button’s McLaren that claimed victory for the second time this season at the Belgian Grand Prix, thanks to a one-stop strategy and perfect tire management. Button, who won for the second time this season and for the first time at Spa, triumphed with a 13-second lead at the finish. Having already won in Australia in March, Button is also the first driver of the season to have led the race from start to finish.

Button started from pole, fitted with P Zero White medium tires, before pitting on the 20th lap to switch to the P Zero Silver hard compound, with which he re-emerged in the lead with an intact advantage, ahead of Sebastian Vettel’s Red Bull. On the same strategy, last year’s winner pitted a lap later and finished second, after starting from 10th position.

The teams had to adapt their tire strategies following the first corner accident that took out four cars right from the start and brought out the safety car for four laps to clear the numerous debris. The moderate pace under the Safety Car with a full fuel load at the beginning of the race allowed several drivers to switch to a one-stop strategy, while the majority of competitors stuck to their original plans.

At the start, only Nico Hülkenberg (Force India) and Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) were equipped with hard tires. However, Hülkenberg stopped twice, finishing fourth from the 11th place on the grid, ahead of Rosberg, who finished 11th after starting 23rd.

Kimi Räikkönen, with his Lotus, is the best-placed driver making two stops in the race, securing a third position less than thirty seconds behind Button.

Paul Hembery, Director of Pirelli Motorsport: This year’s Belgian Grand Prix was truly unpredictable, firstly with Friday’s rain leaving teams with minimal information on slick tires before qualifying and the race. Then, a lengthy safety car intervention at the start of the race once again changed the parameters, with several teams quickly adapting their strategy to make the most of the situation. Jenson Button and McLaren were brilliant in their tire management, stopping only once, while distancing themselves from their rivals. The same can be said for Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull, who also effectively adopted a single-stop strategy to gain eight positions. Although Spa places greater demands on tires than any other circuit on the calendar, our tires performed very well in terms of performance and durability. Button efficiently completed a final 24-lap stint with the mediums, over 160 kilometers, without losing speed.

At the end of the Belgian Grand Prix, the pressure is mounting on Fernando Alonso, with Vettel taking second position, 24 points behind the Ferrari driver, who remains in the lead.

[From the official press release published by Pirelli]

To get a better understanding of this graph, you can use the FIA lap-by-lap summary by clicking here.

Summary of pit stops at the 2012 Belgian Grand Prix: