paulsimery: 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix tyre strategies and pit stops

2012 Brazilian Grand Prix tyre strategies and pit stops is an original article from F1 Fanatic. If this article has been published anywhere other than F1 Fanatic it is an infringement of copyright.

Sebastian Vettel’s championship hopes were almost wrecked when a fault on his radio led to him making a slow extra pit stop late in the race.

Brazilian Grand Prix tyre strategies

The tyre strategies for each driver:

	Stint 1	Stint 2	Stint 3	Stint 4	Stint 5	Stint 6
Lewis Hamilton	Medium (10)	Intermediate (8)	Hard (36)
Jenson Button	Medium (23)	Hard (34)	Intermediate (14)
Mark Webber	Medium (9)	Intermediate (10)	Hard (36)	Intermediate (16)
Sebastian Vettel	Medium (10)	Intermediate (9)	Hard (33)	Medium (2)	Intermediate (17)
Felipe Massa	Medium (15)	Intermediate (4)	Medium (36)	Intermediate (16)
Nico Hulkenberg	Medium (23)	Hard (34)	Intermediate (14)
Fernando Alonso	Medium (10)	Intermediate (8)	Medium (38)	Intermediate (15)
Kimi Raikkonen	Medium (5)	Intermediate (14)	Medium (34)	Intermediate (17)
Nico Rosberg	Medium (9)	Intermediate (9)	Hard (2)	Hard (30)	Intermediate (20)
Paul di Resta	Medium (10)	Intermediate (8)	Hard (39)	Intermediate (11)
Bruno Senna	Medium
Sergio Perez	Medium
Michael Schumacher	Hard (5)	Hard (3)	Intermediate (9)	Hard (37)	Intermediate (17)
Kamui Kobayashi	Hard (8)	Intermediate (10)	Hard (36)	Intermediate (17)
Daniel Ricciardo	Medium (9)	Intermediate (10)	Hard (32)	Hard (5)	Intermediate (5)	Wet (9)
Pastor Maldonado	Medium (1)
Jean-Eric Vergne	Medium (15)	Intermediate (5)	Hard (9)	Hard (27)	Intermediate (15)
Romain Grosjean	Hard (5)
Vitaly Petrov	Medium (14)	Intermediate (5)	Hard (35)	Intermediate (16)
Heikki Kovalainen	Medium (15)	Intermediate (4)	Medium (18)	Hard (19)	Intermediate (3)	Wet (11)
Timo Glock	Medium (14)	Intermediate (5)	Medium (12)	Hard (25)	Intermediate (14)
Charles Pic	Medium (13)	Intermediate (7)	Medium (35)	Intermediate (15)
Narain Karthikeyan	Medium (13)	Intermediate (7)	Hard (31)	Hard (4)	Intermediate (14)
Pedro de la Rosa	Medium (14)	Intermediate (5)	Medium (31)	Hard (5)	Intermediate (14)

With 20 laps to go, the track was drying and Vettel’s pace on medium tyres was dropping, a consequence of the rear end damage his car suffered on lap one.

His radio was also not working properly – Red Bull were able to talk to him but they could no longer hear what he was saying. He pitted for medium-compound tyres with 19 laps remaining but was back in two laps later as the rain returned for a set of intermediates.

This was his fourth pit stop of the day. Due to the radio problem his team weren’t prepared for his arrival and didn’t have his tyres ready. The delay cost him seven to eight seconds.

When he returned to the track once again he had fallen to tenth place. With Fernando Alonso third, the Ferrari driver was in a position to win the drivers’ championship with 16 laps remaining.

Two drivers elected to use full wet weather tyres during the final rain shower: Heikki Kovalainen and Daniel Ricciardo. The track never really got wet enough for them to take advantage and the safety car deployment on the penultimate lap also cost them a chance to reap the benefit.

However they did manage to complete a race using all four available types of rubber: medium and hard slicks, intermediates and wet weather tyres.

Brazilian Grand Prix pit stop times

How long each driver’s pit stops took:

	Driver	Team	Pit stop time	Gap	On lap
1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull	20.997		10
2	Mark Webber	Red Bull	21.006	0.009	55
3	Daniel Ricciardo	Toro Rosso	21.182	0.185	19
4	Mark Webber	Red Bull	21.232	0.235	19
5	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull	21.256	0.259	52
6	Jean-Eric Vergne	Toro Rosso	21.302	0.305	20
7	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India	21.347	0.350	23
8	Paul di Resta	Force India	21.364	0.367	18
9	Timo Glock	Marussia	21.442	0.445	19
10	Daniel Ricciardo	Toro Rosso	21.444	0.447	51
11	Jenson Button	McLaren	21.456	0.459	57
12	Kimi Raikkonen	Lotus	21.541	0.544	5
13	Jenson Button	McLaren	21.550	0.553	23
14	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren	21.606	0.609	18
15	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	21.680	0.683	19
16	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	21.806	0.809	18
17	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	21.827	0.830	54
18	Heikki Kovalainen	Caterham	21.849	0.852	59
19	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	21.862	0.865	56
20	Daniel Ricciardo	Toro Rosso	21.973	0.976	61
21	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull	22.016	1.019	19
22	Jean-Eric Vergne	Toro Rosso	22.061	1.064	56
23	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	22.243	1.246	17
24	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India	22.250	1.253	57
25	Jean-Eric Vergne	Toro Rosso	22.362	1.365	15
26	Paul di Resta	Force India	22.389	1.392	57
27	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	22.427	1.430	55
28	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	22.472	1.475	10
29	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	22.486	1.489	8
30	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	22.596	1.599	15
31	Vitaly Petrov	Caterham	22.702	1.705	54
32	Heikki Kovalainen	Caterham	22.721	1.724	37
33	Kimi Raikkonen	Lotus	22.731	1.734	19
34	Charles Pic	Marussia	22.746	1.749	20
35	Daniel Ricciardo	Toro Rosso	22.838	1.841	9
36	Daniel Ricciardo	Toro Rosso	22.923	1.926	56
37	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	23.000	2.003	18
38	Heikki Kovalainen	Caterham	23.002	2.005	56
39	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	23.018	2.021	9
40	Vitaly Petrov	Caterham	23.031	2.034	14
41	Charles Pic	Marussia	23.082	2.085	55
42	Mark Webber	Red Bull	23.127	2.130	9
43	Timo Glock	Marussia	23.251	2.254	14
44	Heikki Kovalainen	Caterham	23.429	2.432	15
45	Timo Glock	Marussia	23.544	2.547	31
46	Narain Karthikeyan	HRT	23.625	2.628	51
47	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber	24.254	3.257	18
48	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	24.262	3.265	20
49	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren	24.410	3.413	10
50	Charles Pic	Marussia	24.427	3.430	13
51	Pedro de la Rosa	HRT	24.510	3.513	55
52	Timo Glock	Marussia	24.816	3.819	56
53	Pedro de la Rosa	HRT	25.375	4.378	50
54	Pedro de la Rosa	HRT	25.787	4.790	14
55	Jean-Eric Vergne	Toro Rosso	25.976	4.979	29
56	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	25.980	4.983	5
57	Pedro de la Rosa	HRT	26.573	5.576	19
58	Narain Karthikeyan	HRT	26.739	5.742	20
59	Narain Karthikeyan	HRT	27.113	6.116	13
60	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber	27.266	6.269	8
61	Vitaly Petrov	Caterham	27.452	6.455	19
62	Narain Karthikeyan	HRT	27.480	6.483	55
63	Paul di Resta	Force India	28.336	7.339	10
64	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull	28.932	7.935	54
65	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	31.768	10.771	50
66	Kimi Raikkonen	Lotus	32.309	11.312	53
67	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber	32.823	11.826	54
68	Heikki Kovalainen	Caterham	38.291	17.294	19

Aside from Vettel’s fourth pit stop, Red Bull’s pit work was very rapid in Brazil – they managed four of the five quickest stops. McLaren, unusually, were not among the fastest.

Toro Rosso also had a good day in the pits. But Ferrari’s best effort was almost seven-tenths slower than the quickest of the day.