2013 Monaco Grand Prix tyre strategies and pit stops

12 comments on “2013 Monaco Grand Prix tyre strategies and pit stops”

1. 

   tmax (@tmax)
   26th May 2013, 22:23

   Unfortunately Nicole rosberg was robbed of the fastest lap in the race and hence he missed out on the Grand Chelm. That would have been an incredible feat for him.
   1. 

      bullfighter
      26th May 2013, 23:54

      If not for the finger, the fastest lap would have been Kimi’s, not Nico’s. But I agree, it would have sealed a perfect weekend.
   2. 

      Mike Dee (@mike-dee)
      27th May 2013, 1:24

      Why robbed? Rosberg could have done the same as Vettel and do a fast lap at the end…
      1. 

         tmax (@tmax)
         27th May 2013, 2:31

         It seems one needs a nerve for steel and the intense competitive thirst to set the fastest lap of the race in the last lap in monaco when you know that you are winning.

         BTW vettel set the fastest lap in the penultimate lap. The pit radioed him to slow down and not to go for it again as he has enough points in championship. But then vet tel being vet tel did it again in the last lap.
         1. 

            Mike Dee (@mike-dee)
            27th May 2013, 15:19

            No, he only did it in the penultimate lap – Vettel’s last lap was a lot slower. I am pretty sure Roquelin saw that Vettel was letting himself fall back in the third lap from the end to create some space and knew what Vettel was going to do in the penultimate lap.

            The radio calls are always delayed, so they played it when he was doing his fastest lap.

            @tmax
2. 

   Martin (@aardvark)
   26th May 2013, 22:30

   Keith, could you do a post on Safety Car strategy? From the live commentary a lot of people were confused about what was happening. I know I was. I still can’t understand how Hamilton went from P2 to P4 but others were unaffected.
   1. 

      Mike Dee (@mike-dee)
      27th May 2013, 0:40

      HAM screwed up. Basically, once the SC comes out, you are supposed to drive slower but keep the gap to the car in front the same (I don’t know the precise rule, but this is it basically for the first lap of the SC at least). Hamilton dropped back, presumably to make smooth double stop for Mercedes, but he overdid it, and fell too far behind.
      1. 

         tmax (@tmax)
         27th May 2013, 2:26

         Some (NBC commentary team) say it was the payback to Rosberg for Malaysia. Though I did not quite understand how that helped. It seems his slowing down helped Nico make a clean pit and exit before vettel and Webber could overtake him.

         It seems he was supposed to leave a cushion of 6 seconds but he gave a 10 seconds cushion which screwed his position.
      2. 

         DaveW (@dmw)
         27th May 2013, 2:49

         He pulled into the box a few seconds at most after Rosberg but Vettel and Webber were long gone by the time he came out. So I’m not sure what he could have done. In fact, if the SC didn’t hold up the RBRs until Mirabeau then both MBs would have been jumped. It seemed to me that MB passed the pit entrance at least once after Massa hit the wall and I was really baffled that they didn’t pit, even if it meant stacking, given that several other cars had started to pit already. They really got lucky to win with that gaffe.
         1. 

            Mike Dee (@mike-dee)
            27th May 2013, 15:55

            Yes, it’s true, I was really surprised that Rosberg stayed in front. As to Hamilton – I think by staying closer to Rosberg, he would have come out close to Webber, but probably not much he could do about Vettel.

            I timed it just – I think Hamilton lost around 6 seconds by not being directly behind Rosberg, and he came out maybe 5 to 7 seconds behind Webber – this is hard to time though because of the strange pit exit.
            1. 

               Mike Dee (@mike-dee)
               27th May 2013, 15:56

               @dmw that is
3. 

   GeeMac (@geemac)
   27th May 2013, 7:05

   There are two things I don’t understand:

   1) Why Mercedes waited a lap to stop; and
   2) Why they didn’t just do a “traditional” stacked pit stop with Lewis and Nico (i.e. bring them in at the same time and have Hamilton queue behind)? It seems to me that if they did Hamilton would have got out ahead of the Red bulls. Is it because the Monaco pit lane isn’t big enough to stack the cars?

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