KEY MOMENTS
* Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton is now the most successful Formula 1 driver
of all time, having taken his 92nd career win with a one-stop medium-hard
strategy: predicted as the fastest tactic, despite a relative lack of
pre-race running.
* All three Pirelli compounds performed well despite the big challenges of
the weather and the track, with a particularly impressive performance from
the P Zero Yellow medium. Renault’s Esteban Ocon racked up 53 laps on it
while Hamilton completed 45 laps (40 in race plus 5 in Q2) on this compound,
with excellent consistency.
* His team mate Valtteri Bottas, who finished second, ran an identical
strategy, stopping one lap later.
* Behind them, there was plenty of variation in strategy: with four
different strategies in the top 10.
* Most drivers stopped once but there were five two-stoppers – three of them
using all three compounds - including Racing Point’s Sergio Perez, who
finished seventh despite having to stop on lap one following some contact.
* The weather remained quite cool for most of the day, with track
temperatures in the region of 25 degrees centigrade and a few drops of rain
just after the race start, as well as towards the end of the grand prix.
HOW EACH TYRE PERFORMED
HARD C1: Used by the Mercedes drivers for the second stint, taking two laps
to warm up but then, and providing extremely strong performance as shown by
Hamilton with his fastest lap at the end of the race. Haas driver Kevin
Magnussen was the only driver to start on this compound.
MEDIUM C2: Played a key role in the race. Used to set pole and chosen by
just over half the drivers to take the start, this tyre was capable of some
very long stints, providing an excellent balance between performance and
durability combined with great consistency.
SOFT C3: The softest compound in the range also demonstrated pace as well as
consistency: McLaren driver Carlos Sainz used the instant speed of the red
tyre to take the lead at the beginning of the race, with Pierre Gasly
(AlphaTauri) completing 28 laps on it..
MARIO ISOLA - HEAD OF F1 AND CAR RACING
“We’re very happy with the performance of all three compounds on a demanding
circuit that the teams didn’t know well; also having had reduced running in
free practice. Despite this, all three compounds showed both speed and
durability, with a wide range of different strategies. Conditions today were
tricky with reasonably cool track temperatures and even a bit of rain, but
that didn’t prevent us seeing some impressively long stints, particularly on
the medium tyre – which was clearly the one to have, as it also set pole.
Congratulations to Lewis Hamilton for his incredible record: we’re
privileged to witness history being made.” |