2017 Russian Grand Prix tyre strategies and pit stops

2017 Russian Grand Prix

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Pirelli’s ultra-soft tyres proved remarkably durable at Sochi. Nico Hulkenberg managed to go 40 laps on his set.

As a result a one-stop strategy was the way to go for almost the entire field. The only drivers who pitted more than once were those who used the Safety Car period to get rid of their super-soft tyres, which allowed them to run on ultra-softs until the finish, and Felipe Massa.

The Williams driver pitted twice because he suffered two separate punctures. “The first one wasn’t too damaging because it came at a reasonable time for a one-stop strategy,” said chief technical officer Paddy Lowe. “But the second one took him well out of position to ninth, which is a much worse result than the sixth place he was on for.”

“We need to understand the reasons for the punctures as there may be more to it than bad luck,” he added.

Although most pit crews were only called on for a single stop per driver, most were remarkably consistent. Valtteri Bottas enjoyed the quickest stop of the race on his way to victory.

2017 Russian Grand Prix tyre strategies

The tyre strategies for each driver:

Stint 1Stint 2Stint 3
Valtteri BottasUltra soft (27)Super soft (25)
Sebastian VettelUltra soft (34)Super soft (18)
Kimi RaikkonenUltra soft (29)Super soft (23)
Lewis HamiltonUltra soft (30)Super soft (22)
Max VerstappenUltra soft (29)Super soft (23)
Sergio PerezUltra soft (27)Super soft (25)
Esteban OconUltra soft (26)Super soft (26)
Nico HulkenbergUltra soft (40)Super soft (12)
Felipe MassaUltra soft (21)Super soft (20)Ultra soft (10)
Carlos Sainz JnrUltra soft (24)Super soft (27)
Lance StrollUltra soft (26)Super soft (25)
Daniil KvyatUltra soft (21)Super soft (30)
Kevin MagnussenUltra soft (21)Super soft (30)
Stoffel VandoorneSuper soft (1)Ultra soft (23)Ultra soft (27)
Marcus EricssonSuper soft (1)Ultra soft (20)Ultra soft (30)
Pascal WehrleinSuper soft (2)Ultra soft (18)Ultra soft (30)
Daniel RicciardoUltra soft (5)

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2017 Russian Grand Prix pit stop times

How long each driver’s pit stops took:

DriverTeamPit stop timeGapOn lap
1Valtteri BottasMercedes29.35627
2Max VerstappenRed Bull29.5670.21129
3Lewis HamiltonMercedes29.7390.38330
4Lance StrollWilliams29.7910.43526
5Sergio PerezForce India29.8680.51227
6Felipe MassaWilliams29.9200.56441
7Felipe MassaWilliams29.9230.56721
8Carlos Sainz JnrToro Rosso29.9730.61724
9Daniil KvyatToro Rosso29.9910.63521
10Stoffel VandoorneMcLaren30.0060.6501
11Sebastian VettelFerrari30.0970.74134
12Kimi RaikkonenFerrari30.1520.79629
13Esteban OconForce India30.2530.89726
14Nico HulkenbergRenault30.2800.92440
15Marcus EricssonSauber30.6551.29921
16Pascal WehrleinSauber30.7991.44320
17Pascal WehrleinSauber31.2661.9102
18Marcus EricssonSauber32.2352.8791
19Stoffel VandoorneMcLaren35.9986.64224
20Kevin MagnussenHaas36.5597.20321

2017 Russian Grand Prix

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Author information

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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5 comments on “2017 Russian Grand Prix tyre strategies and pit stops”

  1. I think this year’s compouns are still too hard. Just like in 2014 where they used only soft and mediums, the cars were quickly separated without any chance to try and compensate for their lack of pace compared to the guys in front.
    This, together with the characteristics of the track, can only sum up to one of the worst races of the year for sure.

  2. Praying for rain at Monaco…

  3. Was thinking when I saw the title: “2017 Russian Grand Prix tyre strategies and pit stops” that it would be a very short post. And it is. Thanks, Keith, for not fluffing it up.

  4. Ferrari should look into their pit stops and starts.

  5. Watching Pérez’s stop, there was a half-second hiccup on one of the tyre changes. Did any other drivers have crew-performance related delays to their stops?

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