2013 Hungarian GP tyre strategies and pit stops

2013 Hungarian Grand Prix

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Three-stop strategies were the order of the day for most drivers in Hungary. But once again Lotus used their car’s ability to look after its tyres to make one fewer stop and gain places.

Kimi Raikkonen exploited a two-stop strategy to move up from sixth in the opening stages to finish second.

During his final, 28-lap stint he was able to keep Sebastian Vettel behind despite the Red Bull driver’s tyres being 13 laps fresher.

Both McLaren drivers also used two-stop strategies. However Sam Michael later said they would have preferred to run a three-stop strategy for Jenson Button, which would have been quicker, but there were few chances to bring him into the pits and get him out again in clear air.

Another driver who made a two-stop strategy work was Nico Hulkenberg, including a 34-lap stint at the end of the race (one lap short of half the total distance), in a car which previously had severe trouble with rear tyre degradation.

For the seventh time in ten races Red Bull performed the fastest pit stop.

Hungarian Grand Prix tyre strategies

The tyre strategies for each driver:

Stint 1Stint 2Stint 3Stint 4
Lewis HamiltonSoft (9)Medium (22)Medium (19)Medium (20)
Kimi RaikkonenSoft (13)Medium (29)Medium (28)
Sebastian VettelSoft (11)Medium (23)Medium (21)Medium (15)
Mark WebberMedium (23)Medium (20)Medium (16)Soft (11)
Fernando AlonsoSoft (12)Medium (22)Medium (14)Medium (22)
Romain GrosjeanSoft (13)Medium (12)Medium (22)Medium (23)
Jenson ButtonMedium (24)Soft (13)Medium (33)
Felipe MassaSoft (11)Medium (20)Medium (17)Medium (22)
Sergio PerezMedium (23)Soft (15)Medium (31)
Pastor MaldonadoSoft (9)Medium (19)Medium (23)Medium (18)
Nico HulkenbergSoft (11)Medium (24)Medium (34)
Jean-Eric VergneSoft (8)Medium (22)Medium (20)Medium (19)
Daniel RicciardoSoft (10)Medium (28)Medium (31)
Giedo van der GardeSoft (8)Medium (19)Medium (17)Medium (24)
Charles PicSoft (13)Medium (25)Medium (30)
Jules BianchiMedium (20)Soft (13)Medium (13)Medium (21)
Max ChiltonMedium (21)Soft (13)Medium (16)Medium (17)
Paul di RestaSoft (9)Medium (17)Medium (22)Medium (18)
Nico RosbergSoft (10)Medium (19)Medium (19)Medium (16)
Valtteri BottasSoft (10)Medium (23)Medium (9)
Esteban GutierrezMedium (23)Medium (5)
Adrian SutilMedium (19)

Hungarian Grand Prix pit stop times

How long each driver’s pit stops took:

DriverTeamPit stop timeGapOn lap
1Sebastian VettelRed Bull21.34311
2Lewis HamiltonMercedes21.4540.11131
3Fernando AlonsoFerrari21.5990.25612
4Felipe MassaFerrari21.6120.26948
5Kimi RaikkonenLotus21.6430.30042
6Sebastian VettelRed Bull21.6660.32355
7Felipe MassaFerrari21.7530.41031
8Fernando AlonsoFerrari21.7530.41048
9Mark WebberRed Bull21.7620.41923
10Lewis HamiltonMercedes21.8400.4979
11Nico RosbergMercedes21.8540.51148
12Sebastian VettelRed Bull21.8630.52034
13Pastor MaldonadoWilliams21.8800.53728
14Daniel RicciardoToro Rosso21.9960.65338
15Nico RosbergMercedes22.0150.67210
16Mark WebberRed Bull22.0220.67959
17Valtteri BottasWilliams22.0230.68010
18Romain GrosjeanLotus22.0540.71113
19Pastor MaldonadoWilliams22.1030.7609
20Jenson ButtonMcLaren22.1070.76424
21Lewis HamiltonMercedes22.1360.79350
22Jules BianchiMarussia22.1590.81620
23Kimi RaikkonenLotus22.1610.81813
24Jules BianchiMarussia22.2210.87833
25Fernando AlonsoFerrari22.2490.90634
26Romain GrosjeanLotus22.2670.92425
27Jean-Eric VergneToro Rosso22.2820.93930
28Max ChiltonMarussia22.3010.95834
29Nico HulkenbergSauber22.3030.96011
30Max ChiltonMarussia22.3230.98021
31Sergio PerezMcLaren22.3230.98023
32Mark WebberRed Bull22.3491.00643
33Giedo van der GardeCaterham22.3841.04144
34Esteban GutierrezSauber22.4251.08223
35Charles PicCaterham22.4501.10738
36Romain GrosjeanLotus22.4511.10847
37Charles PicCaterham22.4651.12213
38Jenson ButtonMcLaren22.4961.15337
39Nico HulkenbergSauber22.6061.26335
40Valtteri BottasWilliams22.6121.26933
41Nico RosbergMercedes22.6281.28529
42Sergio PerezMcLaren22.7221.37938
43Paul di RestaForce India22.7231.38026
44Jean-Eric VergneToro Rosso22.7451.4028
45Paul di RestaForce India22.7541.4119
46Giedo van der GardeCaterham22.8311.48827
47Felipe MassaFerrari23.0121.66911
48Paul di RestaForce India23.0271.68448
49Jules BianchiMarussia23.0301.68746
50Giedo van der GardeCaterham23.2001.8578
51Max ChiltonMarussia23.2571.91450
52Jean-Eric VergneToro Rosso23.7562.41350
53Daniel RicciardoToro Rosso24.0332.69010
54Pastor MaldonadoWilliams24.7963.45351

2013 Hungarian Grand Prix

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Image © Lotus/LAT

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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6 comments on “2013 Hungarian GP tyre strategies and pit stops”

  1. Strange to see the change of minds at Lotus: their first stints were exactly the same, but then Grosjean did a very short stint while Raikkonen just kept on going. Grosjean got stuck behind JB and Vettel in his second stint, but the decision to then bring him in earlier was one I doubted as soon as I saw him coming in. Why didn’t he just drop back from Vettel to prevent overheating and just a 2-stop like Raikkonen did?

    On a different note: looking at the Caterham, Pic did a 2-stop while Van der Garde did a 3-stop, but in contrast to the front of the field (Button and Raikkonen), a 2-stop didn’t work out for Pic, even though he said he didn’t have any problems.

    1. Chris (@tophercheese21)
      29th July 2013, 4:15

      but then Grosjean did a very short stint while Raikkonen just kept on going.

      When I saw him come in so early, I thought it might have been Lotus just trying to apologise to the stewards for his move on Button.

      In hind sight it might have been better to just take the drive through for it because a drive through is quicker than a pitstop.

    2. Mr win or lose
      29th July 2013, 23:21

      Lotus pulled in Grosjean early to cover Button, but it didn’t work out very well. Strangely, all teams decided to use the medium tyres for the majority of the race, even though the tyre-wear levels seemed rather low, while the soft tyre was almost a second a lap faster.

  2. Pretty good pit stops all around. No major issues at all, which is rare.

    1. Indeed, all stops within 3,5 seconds of each other – doesn’t happen all that often.

  3. Does anyone have a theory as to why McLaren went for the soft tyres on the second stint? It would make sense to leave them for when car is lighter at the end of the race surely?
    Also, why did Vettel have such difficulty getting past Button when Hamilton achieved that feat very quickly? Aero, engines, set up??
    I would like to think it was engine – but then nothing seems to be decided by who’s got the best/ most powerful/ efficient engine anymore. (tyres, tyres, tyres…)
    Maybe this is why F1 fails to attract more of the major car manufacturers world wide.

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