30
October
2016
|
23:50
Europe/Amsterdam

2016 Mexican Grand Prix – Race

LEWIS HAMILTON WINS FOR MERCEDES WITH A ONE-STOP STRATEGY: SOME OF THE FASTEST SPEEDS EVER SEEN IN F1 IN MEXICO

ONE AND TWO-STOP STRATEGIES SEEN AT THE MEXICAN GRAND PRIX: MOST DRIVERS START ON SOFT TYRE AND STOP JUST ONCE

ALTERNATIVE STRATEGY FROM RED BULL’S DANIEL RICCIARDO WHO MOVES ONTO MEDIUM ON LAP ONE AND USES ALL THREE COMPOUNDS

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton has won the Mexican Grand Prix from pole, after starting on the soft tyre and then running a one-stop strategy by switching to the medium. During the course of the race, Williams driver Valtteri Bottas clocked 372kph on the speed trap (running the medium tyres): quite close to the fastest speed ever seen in a Formula 1 race. Most drivers started on the soft compound, including the two Mercedes on the front row of the grid. Directly behind them were two Red Bulls starting on the supersoft, which theoretically allowed them a faster start at the expense of a shorter first stint. However, Daniel Ricciardo changed to the medium tyre during a virtual safety car period on lap one, before completing a second stop to have a rapid final stint on the soft and finish fourth after using all three compounds. All the drivers apart from Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat chose the medium tyre for the second stint, (with Sauber’s Felipe Nasr having started on mediums). Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel completed the longest first stint on softs, only swapping from the soft to the medium on lap 32. Nasr completed the longest first stint of the race, starting on medium and then switching to supersoft only on lap 49, demonstrating the consistency of all the compounds throughout the race. Renault’s Jolyon Palmer also ran the entire race bar one lap on the medium tyre. Conditions were warmer than they were during free practice, with track temperatures remaining just below 40 degrees throughout the grand prix. A key part in today’s strategy calculations was the length of the pit lane: the longest of the season, which increases the time needed to make a pit stop. Paul Hembery, Pirelli motorsport director: “Today’s race contained a strong strategic element, with the front row starting on the soft tyre, followed by the second row on the supersoft tyre. There were still a number of question marks about strategy heading into the race, with teams having to react to events as they happened and make the most of every opportunity that presented itself. As expected though, most drivers were able to complete the race with just one pit stop, extracting a low wear life from the tyres.” Fastest times of the day by compound

 MediumSoftSupersoft
FirstVET  1m22.497sRIC     1m21.134sMAG   1m23.146s
SecondRAI   1m22.512sHAM   1m23.045sVES    1m23.397s
ThirdHAM 1m22.596sVET    1m23.197sKVY    1m23.618s

Longest stint of the race:

MediumEricsson, Palmer69 laps
SoftKvyat34
SupersoftKvyat23

Truthometer: Lewis Hamilton started on the soft, then stopped for the medium on lap 17: the same strategy as was adopted by his team mate Nico Rosberg in second after stopping on lap 20. For more information: please visit our all-new website, which is regularly updated with exclusive in-depth features, news and reviews. To find out more, please visit: www.pirelli.com/global/en-ww/mexico-2016-race