The very first
Grand Prix in Azerbaijan was won by Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg, who
started from pole and stopped just once, passing from supersoft to soft
tyres, without ever losing the lead.
The top six started on the supersoft and stopped only once for the soft
tyre, between laps 8 and 21. This meant that their soft tyre stints lasted
up to 43 laps, in the case of Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen. The result was
achieved despite a higher wear rate than expected owing to warmer
temperatures than those seen in practice and qualifying.
The highest placed of the three drivers to have instead started on the soft
was Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg, who finished ninth from 12th on the grid.
Hulkenberg stopped just once, while the best of the two-stoppers was Red
Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo, who used all three compounds nominated for
Azerbaijan: supersoft, soft and medium, which was the case also for his team
mate Max Verstappen.
Another alternative strategy was adopted by Manor’s Pascal Wehrlein, who
completed a very long 29-lap opening stint on the soft, then reverted to the
medium before his retirement. Renault’s Kevin Magnussen, by contrast, had a
very long closing stint on the soft tyre that even lasted for 46 laps.
Manor’s Rio Haryanto went even longer: 48 laps.
Paul Hembery, Pirelli motorsport director: “The Baku grand prix contained a
number of surprises; firstly with track temperatures still in excess of 50
degrees after one third of the race, and with very little drop in
temperature throughout. And secondly because the much-anticipated safety
cars never materialised. As expected, it was a one-stop race for the winner,
with quite high wear and low degradation despite the long lap length and
very high top speeds. We saw a number of different strategies being tried,
including some very long stints even on the supersoft, which was key to Nico
Rosberg’s victory on this spectacular track.”
Truthometer: We predicted a winning strategy of just one-stop, starting on
supersoft and moving to soft on lap 22. Rosberg actually stopped one lap
earlier than we thought. |