India – Race: Summary of Strategies

Sebastian Vettel took another step towards the Formula 1 World Championship title by winning with Pirelli in India after a perfect weekend behind the wheel of his Red Bull. He was the fastest in the three free practice sessions, the qualifying rounds, and won the race, clinching four consecutive victories in a single season for the first time in his career, and increasing his lead to 13 points in the drivers’ championship. Vettel also had a perfect weekend in India last year, during Pirelli’s first visit, which means no other driver has yet led a lap on the Buddh circuit.

Just like the other top 10 on the grid, Vettel started the race with the P Zero Yellow soft tire and switched to the P Zero Silver hard tire on the 33rd lap, without losing the lead in this one-stop strategy. Despite the constraints of the Indian track and the ambient temperature of 30°C, this strategy was the most used. Fernando Alonso (Ferrari), second with the same strategy, stopped four laps earlier and seized the second position 10 laps before the finish, at the expense of Mark Webber (Red Bull), third, four seconds behind the Spaniard.

Romain Grosjean (Lotus) was the highest placed driver on the grid to start the race with the hard P Zero Silver tire. He switched to softs on lap 36. This decision proved successful, as he managed to gain two positions to finish 9th. An identical strategy was used by Michael Schumacher (Mercedes), Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso), and Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber).

The other Sauber – Sergio Perez’s – stopped twice and was forced to retire following contact with a Toro Rosso. The incident caused a puncture, just like on the first lap with Schumacher and Maldonado (Williams) on the 31st lap. In all three cases, it was contact with a competitor that caused the cuts in the tires (by the endplates of the front wings). Consequently, Perez stopped prematurely for his second stop but had to retire afterward.

Jenson Button (McLaren) completed the longest stint on hard tires, lasting 25 laps, and finished in 5th place. Grosjean and Kobayashi completed the longest stint on soft tires, both stopping on lap 36. The Japanese driver finished in 14th place on softs, after starting 17th on the grid.

Paul Hembery, Pirelli Motorsport Director: Both the hard and soft tires performed extremely well in India, showing low levels of degradation and allowing drivers to push to the maximum on this fantastic circuit. Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull gave us a lesson in tire management and strategy, doing everything right from start to finish. Grosjean and Kobayashi attempted a different strategy with a first long stint on hard tires, which also paid off, showing how tire strategy can make the difference, even for drivers starting outside the top 10 on the grid. Last year, most drivers stopped twice. This year, only one stop was necessary despite offering softer compounds. Congratulations also to Ferrari and Fernando Alonso, who showed an excellent race pace and straight-line speed to climb from fifth to second position, promising an exciting end to the championship. We are now heading to Abu Dhabi, which will be a completely different challenge.

[From the official press release published by Pirelli]

In order to have a better understanding of this chart, you can use the lap-by-lap synthesis from the FIA by clicking here.