2013 Korean Grand Prix tyre strategies and pit stops

2013 Korean Grand Prix

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Two pit stops were the way to go for almost every driver in the Korean Grand Prix, as was the case last year.

Everyone bar Daniel Ricciardo started on the super-soft tyre then switched to the medium for the next two stints.

Teams were battling higher than expected tyre degradation, a problem which may have been exacerbated by overnight rain, and trying to keep from making three stops if they could. This is partly because pit stops were taking almost three seconds longer than last year due to the lower pit lane speed limit and revised pit exit.

However the nine laps spent behind the Safety Car in the second half of the race meant we never really got to see who’d been too ambitious with their strategies, and whether anyone would have been forced to make a late third pit stop. Mark Webber did pit three times but that was because he damaged a set of tyres on debris from Sergio Perez’s blow-out.

Korean Grand Prix tyre strategies

The tyre strategies for each driver:

Stint 1Stint 2Stint 3Stint 4
Sebastian VettelSuper soft (11)Medium (20)Medium (24)
Kimi RaikkonenSuper soft (11)Medium (14)Medium (30)
Romain GrosjeanSuper soft (10)Medium (21)Medium (24)
Nico HulkenbergSuper soft (10)Medium (16)Medium (29)
Lewis HamiltonSuper soft (9)Medium (20)Medium (26)
Fernando AlonsoSuper soft (9)Medium (19)Medium (27)
Nico RosbergSuper soft (10)Medium (18)Medium (27)
Jenson ButtonSuper soft (4)Medium (18)Medium (33)
Felipe MassaSuper soft (6)Medium (23)Medium (26)
Sergio PerezSuper soft (10)Medium (21)Medium (24)
Esteban GutierrezSuper soft (7)Medium (24)Medium (24)
Valtteri BottasSuper soft (8)Medium (20)Medium (27)
Pastor MaldonadoSuper soft (7)Medium (16)Medium (32)
Charles PicSuper soft (9)Medium (21)Medium (25)
Giedo van der GardeSuper soft (11)Medium (19)Medium (25)
Jules BianchiSuper soft (10)Medium (20)Medium (25)
Max ChiltonSuper soft (12)Medium (18)Medium (25)
Jean-Eric VergneSuper soft (12)Medium (12)Medium (14)Medium (15)
Daniel RicciardoMedium (18)Medium (13)Super soft (21)
Adrian SutilSuper soft (3)Medium (25)Medium (10)Super soft (3)
Mark WebberSuper soft (12)Medium (18)Medium (1)Super soft (5)
Paul di RestaSuper soft (7)Medium (16)Medium (1)

Korean Grand Prix pit stop times

How long each driver’s pit stops took:

DriverTeamPit stop timeGapOn lap
1Fernando AlonsoFerrari22.2089
2Lewis HamiltonMercedes22.2510.04329
3Lewis HamiltonMercedes22.2700.0629
4Felipe MassaFerrari22.4010.19329
5Felipe MassaFerrari22.4740.2666
6Romain GrosjeanLotus22.5190.31110
7Mark WebberRed Bull22.5870.37912
8Sebastian VettelRed Bull22.6620.45411
9Mark WebberRed Bull22.7180.51030
10Romain GrosjeanLotus22.7670.55931
11Fernando AlonsoFerrari22.8070.59928
12Sergio PerezMcLaren22.9010.69310
13Kimi RaikkonenLotus22.9240.71611
14Sebastian VettelRed Bull22.9350.72731
15Esteban GutierrezSauber23.0960.8887
16Jules BianchiMarussia23.0970.88910
17Adrian SutilForce India23.1550.94728
18Daniel RicciardoToro Rosso23.1940.98631
19Kimi RaikkonenLotus23.2361.02825
20Esteban GutierrezSauber23.4081.20031
21Nico RosbergMercedes23.4121.20410
22Pastor MaldonadoWilliams23.4701.2627
23Mark WebberRed Bull23.4901.28231
24Pastor MaldonadoWilliams23.6421.43423
25Nico HulkenbergSauber23.6541.44610
26Max ChiltonMarussia23.7611.55312
27Paul di RestaForce India23.8141.6067
28Jules BianchiMarussia23.8141.60630
29Jean-Eric VergneToro Rosso23.8451.63724
30Paul di RestaForce India23.8541.64623
31Daniel RicciardoToro Rosso23.8921.68418
32Valtteri BottasWilliams23.9121.7048
33Giedo van der GardeCaterham23.9871.77911
34Jean-Eric VergneToro Rosso24.0161.80838
35Nico HulkenbergSauber24.1121.90426
36Valtteri BottasWilliams24.2402.03228
37Charles PicCaterham24.3202.1129
38Charles PicCaterham24.3662.15830
39Jean-Eric VergneToro Rosso24.4772.26912
40Giedo van der GardeCaterham24.5482.34030
41Jenson ButtonMcLaren25.9463.73822
42Max ChiltonMarussia26.2994.09130
43Jenson ButtonMcLaren26.9484.7404
44Adrian SutilForce India29.8297.6213
45Sergio PerezMcLaren38.89316.68531
46Nico RosbergMercedes42.43220.22428
47Adrian SutilForce India71.44549.23738

2013 Korean Grand Prix

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    Image © Williams/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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    8 comments on “2013 Korean Grand Prix tyre strategies and pit stops”

    1. Red Bull falling behind in the pit stops!

      1. It was Just other teams also Catching up in Pit stops. RBR are where they are

        1. Chris (@tophercheese21)
          7th October 2013, 0:39

          Either way it’s the same net result lol .

    2. Is it just me or were the pitstops really good this race? I saw at least 4 or 5 in the mid-2’s, and that’s just what they showed on screen.

      1. Yes, I thought the pit stops were quicker than usual too. Saw a lot bunched in the 2.4-2.5 seconds region, when they’re usually more like 2.8-3.0.

    3. So F1 is going to more advanced energy recovery systems along with greatly reduced fuel comsumptions to promote or “appear” greener , more environmentally aware ? But how many sets of tyres are used in a race weekend ? What a waste of resources , whats wrong with making tyres that last and can be pushed instead of these throw away plastic bag tyres?

    4. Hi,

      Well, so weren’t all these regulations about tyres supposed (among others) to allow the team to play with the strategy, and have different strategic options? The first table is pretty impressive in that respect: I could not imagine something more uniform (although there were the safety cars, which might have changed things, I doubt we would have seen a totally different table without them).

    5. Daniel who?

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