2016 Japanese Grand Prix tyre strategies and pit stops

2016 Japanese Grand Prix

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Williams were the fastest team in the pits once again though driver Valtteri Bottas could hardly have been happy about it this time.

2016 Japanese Grand Prix in pictures
His team mate Felipe Massa enjoyed the quickest complete pit stop of the race when he came in on lap 24. He spent two-tenths of a second less in the pit lane than any other driver on his only stop, and two-and-a-half seconds less than Bottas.

It wasn’t just the quicker stop which got Massa ahead of Bottas, however. He also enjoyed the benefit of the ‘undercut’ by pitting two laps earlier than his team mate. This was despite the fact Bottas was running ahead of him at the time.

“Being the lead car in the first stint I was hoping for the better strategy out of the two of us,” said Bottas after finishing tenth behind Massa.

However Williams’ single-stop strategy did allow them to move both cars into the top ten at the expense of the Haas drivers.

2016 Japanese Grand Prix tyre strategies

The tyre strategies for each driver:

Stint 1Stint 2Stint 3
Nico RosbergSoft (12)Hard (17)Hard (24)
Max VerstappenSoft (10)Hard (18)Hard (25)
Lewis HamiltonSoft (13)Hard (20)Hard (20)
Sebastian VettelSoft (12)Hard (22)Soft (19)
Kimi RaikkonenSoft (12)Hard (14)Hard (27)
Daniel RicciardoSoft (10)Hard (22)Hard (21)
Sergio PerezSoft (12)Hard (17)Medium (24)
Nico HulkenbergSoft (11)Hard (17)Medium (25)
Felipe MassaMedium (24)Hard (29)
Valtteri BottasMedium (26)Hard (27)
Romain GrosjeanSoft (10)Hard (20)Hard (23)
Jolyon PalmerMedium (25)Hard (27)
Daniil KvyatSoft (10)Soft (13)Hard (29)
Kevin MagnussenHard (25)Medium (27)
Marcus EricssonMedium (26)Hard (26)
Fernando AlonsoSoft (9)Hard (18)Hard (25)
Carlos Sainz JnrSoft (13)Hard (24)Soft (15)
Jenson ButtonHard (19)Soft (17)Soft (16)
Felipe NasrHard (25)Medium (27)
Esteban GutierrezSoft (11)Hard (17)Hard (24)
Esteban OconSoft (12)Hard (19)Hard (21)
Pascal WehrleinSoft (13)Hard (19)Hard (20)

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2016 Japanese Grand Prix pit stop times

How long each driver’s pit stops took:

DriverTeamPit stop timeGapOn lap
1Felipe MassaWilliams22.46324
2Nico RosbergMercedes22.6730.21012
3Sergio PerezForce India22.7210.25829
4Lewis HamiltonMercedes22.7320.26933
5Kimi RaikkonenFerrari22.7620.29926
6Fernando AlonsoMcLaren22.7860.3239
7Max VerstappenRed Bull22.7880.32528
8Nico HulkenbergForce India22.8320.36911
9Max VerstappenRed Bull22.8550.39210
10Sebastian VettelFerrari22.8870.42434
11Carlos Sainz JnrToro Rosso22.9380.47537
12Daniil KvyatToro Rosso22.9430.48023
13Nico HulkenbergForce India22.9520.48928
14Carlos Sainz JnrToro Rosso22.9860.52313
15Lewis HamiltonMercedes22.9890.52613
16Daniil KvyatToro Rosso22.9900.52710
17Daniel RicciardoRed Bull22.9960.53310
18Fernando AlonsoMcLaren23.0320.56927
19Kevin MagnussenRenault23.0720.60925
20Nico RosbergMercedes23.1500.68729
21Sebastian VettelFerrari23.2260.76312
22Kimi RaikkonenFerrari23.2440.78112
23Jenson ButtonMcLaren23.3420.87936
24Jolyon PalmerRenault23.4520.98925
25Sergio PerezForce India23.6051.14212
26Romain GrosjeanHaas23.7411.27810
27Esteban GutierrezHaas23.7921.32928
28Marcus EricssonSauber24.0111.54826
29Esteban GutierrezHaas24.1101.64711
30Esteban OconManor24.2561.79331
31Jenson ButtonMcLaren24.3751.91219
32Pascal WehrleinManor24.6302.16713
33Esteban OconManor24.9732.51012
34Valtteri BottasWilliams25.0072.54426
35Felipe NasrSauber25.1312.66825
36Romain GrosjeanHaas25.4292.96630
37Pascal WehrleinManor25.4612.99832
38Daniel RicciardoRed Bull25.8613.39832

2016 Japanese Grand Prix

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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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4 comments on “2016 Japanese Grand Prix tyre strategies and pit stops”

  1. It seems the 1-stop strategy was the way to go in the midfield.

  2. The Ferrari strategie to put VET on soft was the mistake of the year. It cost them a podium and i can not see how this ever could have worked.

  3. If Vettel has prove himself to Ferrari, then I wonder what the pitwall has to do to finally draw the boss his wrath. Wasn’t track position key when fighting a Mercedes? And don’t get me started on the guys who make the gearboxes. There’s alot of things wrong at Ferrari. The drivers aren’t the problem.

    1. Yes, Vettel might have had a telling off after some of the first corners crashes that have taken points from both reds, but time after time, wrong tyre strategy has caused lost points and even possible wins.

      Surely if Marchionne wants better results he should seek better minds who can put two and two together. On Sunday, fans and commentators could see it was time to get Vettel in but he was left to be undercut, carbon copy of Rikkonen the previous race.

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