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This year’s
world champion, Sebastian Vettel, has taken his 13th win of the season – and
his ninth in a row – at the Brazilian Grand Prix. The German started from
pole and took the lead on lap two, using a two-stop strategy to win: a
couple of stints on the P Zero White medium tyre followed by a final stint
on the P Zero Orange hard.
His Red Bull team mate Mark Webber finished second on an identical strategy,
on his final grand prix before moving to endurance racing. Ferrari’s
Fernando Alonso was third after choosing a different two-stop strategy,
using the hard tyre for his middle stint.
The only other driver to have won nine races in a row before was Alberto
Ascari in the 1950s – but this was across two seasons, also using Pirelli
tyres.
The biggest challenge all the teams and drivers faced was having no dry
running on the hard and medium tyres prior to the start of the Brazilian
Grand Prix, due to consistent rain on Friday and Saturday. The race started
in dry conditions with ambient temperatures of 20 degrees and track
temperatures of 26 degrees, with a 50 per cent chance of rain.
All the drivers got underway on the medium compound tyre apart from
McLaren’s Jenson Button, who started 14th on the grid, and Sauber’s Esteban
Gutierrez, who started from 17th. The first driver to switch from the medium
to the hard compound was Toro Rosso’s Jean-Eric Vergne, who came in on lap
10. Button took his first set of mediums on lap 20, the first of the hard
tyre starters to stop – and was then back on the medium on lap 43. The
strategy helped him to a fourth place finish by the end: his best of the
year.
Vettel pitted from the lead on lap 24 for more mediums and re-emerged in
front, stopping again for the hard tyre on lap 47: the same lap as his team
mate, as Red Bull feared a safety car. Although there was no heavy rain,
some drops then started to fall – adding an extra element of uncertainty.
The rain became slightly heavier in the closing laps, but not enough for any
of the competitors to use the Cinturato Green intermediates.
The tyres performed perfectly in line with expectations despite the varying
conditions. There were punctures seen on the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and
the Williams of Valtteri Bottas, but this was as the result of contact
between the two.
The final record of this season – the last of the V8 engine era – was set by
Marussia’s Max Chilton, who became the first rookie to finish every race of
his debut year.
Pirelli’s motorsport director Paul Hembery said: “The fact that there
was no dry running prior to the start of the grand prix meant that
formulating the right tyre strategy was a matter of educated guesswork for
all the teams. And with no rubber having been laid down on the track
previously, it was extremely hard to calculate the wear and degradation
levels. The weather forecast remained uncertain throughout the race to
complicate matters even further, with different teams interpreting the
information in various ways. However, they had to bear in mind their
obligation to run both compounds if conditions stayed dry – which turned out
to be the case. This race has marked the end of an era and now the cars,
along with the tyres, change completely for next year. Congratulations to
Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull for a record-breaking season, and best of luck
for the future to Mark Webber, who ends his distinguished Formula One career
here in Brazil.”
Truth-O-Meter:
With no dry running, we thought that it would be hard to predict a specific
strategy for the 71-lap Brazilian Grand Prix beyond saying that a two-stop
strategy should be quickest. This turned out to be the case, with Vettel
pitting on lap 24 and 47. Only six of the 19 finishers stopped three times. |
