2014 Singapore Grand Prix F1: Strategy Overview

Pirelli was planning, before the race, an ideal three-stop strategy. However, the race events made a two-stop strategy possible and effective.

2 stops

Two teams attempted, with the help of the safety car, the two-stop strategy, which seemed highly improbable at the beginning of the race. However, with a seven-lap interruption, it became possible and even allowed the Red Bulls to both get on the podium and Felipe Massa to achieve a surprising finish in the top 5. The key was, of course, to make the soft tire stint last as long as possible at the end of the GP.

Ultimately, the big loser in this game was Valtteri Bottas: he changed his tires at the same time as Massa (23rd lap compared to 22nd for the Brazilian) but, suffering from power steering issues, he couldn’t hold on at the end of the race and dropped from 6th to 11th position in one lap. Marcus Ericsson was the other driver who stopped twice.

3 stops

This was Pirelli’s preferred strategy and the most used one, with mixed fortunes. While Lewis Hamilton managed to secure a victory with a series of fastest laps during his third stint on super-soft tires, the third pit stop certainly cost Fernando Alonso a podium finish.

Jean-Eric Vergne seems to be the other big winner of this aggressive strategy as he managed to secure 6th position despite two 5-second penalties during this race, thanks to an ultra-fast and incisive final stint on soft tires.

Among the drivers with three pit stops are Räikkönen, Hülkenberg, and Magnussen, who make up the back of the top 10. The last two mentioned employed a different strategy in the order of tires used (respectively SS/SS/M/M and SS/M/SS/SS) from that of their peers within the top ten. Outside the top 10, Grosjean, Kvyat, Bianchi, and Chilton are the other competitors with 3 stops on the board.

4 stops

Sergio Pérez is the highest-ranked driver to have made three stops: due to a contact with Adrian Sutil upon exiting his second stop. He took the opportunity to switch his super-soft tires for soft ones, which allowed him to finish the race with the softest compounds, securing an almost unexpected top 10 finish. Pastor Maldonado, on the other hand, took a free pit stop under the safety car, during which he did not lose any positions.