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Most drivers
went for a one-stop soft-medium strategy in Spain, including the top three,
but two and even three stops were also seen during the 66-lap race.
Conditions were variable, with sunshine, a few drops of rain and wind making
the track hard to predict, with changeable grip levels. The race ended with
temperatures that were 17 degrees ambient and 26 degrees on track.
The new surface has made the track considerably quicker, with the
frontrunners lapping up to four seconds faster than they did last year. The
race lap record was also broken by a similar margin; making this the
fastest-ever race on the current Barcelona circuit.
Nearly all the drivers started on the soft tyre, with an early safety car
from lap one helping to reduce wear and degradation rates.
MARIO ISOLA - HEAD OF CAR RACING
“We saw different thinking from the top teams about whether or not this was
a one or a two stop race, with the track conditions having been extremely
hard to predict from the beginning of the weekend, not helped by the
overnight rain. The laps under the safety car also affected race strategy,
reducing wear and degradation at a crucial point in the race. Tyre-wise, we
encountered no issues at all and no signs of blistering, with lap records
and fastest laps set even when drivers were running on older medium compound
tyres. This applied to the whole field, which was very evenly matched in
terms of pace. Now we remain in Barcelona for the first in-season test of
the year, which will include development testing of the 2019 tyres, with
McLaren and Force India.”
TRUTHOMETER
Lewis Hamilton won the race using a one-stopper, going from soft to medium
on lap 26. His team mate Valtteri Bottas followed an identical strategy but
pitted six laps earlier. |
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