Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2014 F1: Strategy Summary

By winning the last Grand Prix of the season in Abu Dhabi, Lewis Hamilton clinched his second Formula 1 World Championship title. The Mercedes driver opted for a two-stop strategy and, equipped with super-soft tires, surged from his second place on the grid to take the lead at the first corner. He then completed two stints with the soft tires.

Mercedes clinches a 16th victory, allowing them to break the record of 15 wins previously set by Ferrari and McLaren. Hamilton, with 11 victories to his name this season, also becomes the first World Champion wearing Mercedes colors since Juan Manuel Fangio’s triumph.

Hamilton was pitted against Williams driver Felipe Massa in the final laps of the race. On a different strategy from the Briton, the Brazilian started on super-soft tires from 4th place on the grid, switched to softs, and then completed the last 13 laps on the softest compound, which was about a second faster per lap. Massa was thus able to close the gap to less than three seconds under the checkered flag, while his teammate Valtteri Bottas completed the podium by choosing a combination of super-softs / softs / softs.

After being excluded from qualifying, the two Red Bull drivers started from the pit lane on the same strategy (soft/soft/super-soft). Daniel Ricciardo climbed to 4th place after temporarily holding the third spot on the podium and set the fastest lap of the race. The Australian was also the highest-ranked among the six drivers out of twenty at the start who chose to begin on soft tires.

With the drop in ambient temperatures and the thermometer on the track, the circuit gained speed as the event progressed. The teams were therefore particularly vigilant about tire wear and degradation. The two types offered performed as expected, allowing the drivers to push without restraint.

Paul Hembery, Director of Pirelli Motorsport: « Congratulations to Lewis Hamilton for his World Championship title, but also to Nico Rosberg for being a formidable competitor throughout the season. The tire performance was as expected, in line with the data gathered before the race. We witnessed different and interesting strategies, with Massa highlighting the excellent performance of the super-soft tires towards the end, while Daniel Ricciardo made a brilliant comeback from the back of the field thanks to a start on soft tires. It was a fascinating conclusion to a very convincing year, but we are already focused on 2015. The next season will begin on Tuesday on this track with two days of testing where our new tires will hit the track for the first time. »

Article entirely written from the Pirelli press release