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The top four
finishers at the Russian Grand Prix used the same ultrasoft-soft strategy,
having also occupied the first four places on the grid.
By contrast, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was fifth from the very back of the
grid after using an alternative soft-ultrasoft strategy and leading for a
large part of the race.
Some graining was seen on the ultrasoft, also due to weather that was a bit
cooler than previous days, with some rain falling before the start of the
race (which nonetheless remained dry from start to finish).
All three compounds were used, in track temperatures of around 30 degrees
centigrade.
MARIO ISOLA - HEAD OF CAR RACING
“There were no real surprises during this race, with the top four drivers
carrying out the strategy that we predicted to be theoretically quickest,
but we saw a brilliant drive from Max Verstappen and his Red Bull team mate
Daniel Ricciardo, who used an alternative strategy to move up into the top
six from the back of the grid. Tyre degradation was very low, which allowed
for some long stints on the soft. Generally speaking, the tyre performance
on these fastest-ever Formula 1 cars was exactly in line with our
expectations, with a new race lap record set at the very end by Valtteri
Bottas on the soft.”
THE WINNING STRATEGY
Lewis Hamilton won the race using one pit stop, going from ultrasoft to soft
on lap 14, as we expected. The top four followed the same strategy, ahead of
Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo who started on soft. The
highest-classified driver to start the race on hypersoft was Sauber’s
Charles Leclerc in seventh. |
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