2016 British Grand Prix tyre strategies and pit stops

2016 British Grand Prix

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Almost every driver who finished the British Grand Prix ignored Pirelli’s stint length advice.

Ten drivers pitted when the Safety Car came in
Formula One’s official tyre supplier advised teams to run no more than 28 laps on the medium compound tyre. However every points-scoring driver in the race and 14 of the 17 total finishers did just that.

A wet start to the race reduced the strategic options available to teams as all the drivers had to start the race on the wet weather tyres. By the time the start was given five laps in ten drivers felt the conditions were ready for intermediate tyres and pitted.

Felipe Massa was one of the few drivers who made a late pit stop to switch to the soft tyres, dropping out of the points as a result. Unusually Williams did not have the fastest complete pit stop of the race – their best effort was only eighth-quickest.

2016 British Grand Prix tyre strategies

The tyre strategies for each driver:

Stint 1Stint 2Stint 3Stint 4
Lewis HamiltonWet (7)Intermediate (10)Medium (35)
Nico RosbergWet (7)Intermediate (10)Medium (35)
Max VerstappenWet (7)Intermediate (11)Medium (34)
Daniel RicciardoWet (6)Intermediate (11)Medium (35)
Kimi RaikkonenWet (5)Intermediate (11)Medium (36)
Sergio PerezWet (7)Intermediate (10)Medium (35)
Nico HulkenbergWet (5)Intermediate (12)Medium (35)
Carlos Sainz JnrWet (5)Intermediate (12)Medium (35)
Sebastian VettelWet (5)Intermediate (10)Medium (37)
Daniil KvyatWet (6)Intermediate (10)Medium (36)
Felipe MassaWet (6)Intermediate (10)Medium (22)Soft (13)
Jenson ButtonWet (6)Intermediate (11)Medium (34)
Fernando AlonsoWet (5)Intermediate (12)Medium (22)Medium (12)
Valtteri BottasWet (5)Intermediate (11)Medium (35)
Felipe NasrWet (7)Intermediate (9)Medium (35)
Esteban GutierrezWet (5)Intermediate (12)Medium (34)
Kevin MagnussenWet (5)Intermediate (12)Medium (23)Soft (9)
Jolyon PalmerWet (6)Intermediate (10)Medium (3)Medium (18)
Rio HaryantoWet (6)Intermediate (11)Medium (7)
Romain GrosjeanWet (5)Intermediate (11)Medium (1)
Marcus EricssonWet (7)Intermediate (3)Intermediate (1)
Pascal WehrleinWet (5)Intermediate (1)

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2016 British Grand Prix pit stop times

How long each driver’s pit stops took:

DriverTeamPit stop timeGapOn lap
1Kevin MagnussenRenault28.45040
2Lewis HamiltonMercedes28.7280.27817
3Fernando AlonsoMcLaren28.7990.34917
4Sergio PerezForce India28.9150.46517
5Fernando AlonsoMcLaren28.9360.48639
6Sebastian VettelFerrari29.1630.71315
7Kevin MagnussenRenault29.2010.75117
8Felipe MassaWilliams29.2430.7936
9Valtteri BottasWilliams29.2820.83216
10Felipe MassaWilliams29.3460.89638
11Nico RosbergMercedes29.3950.9457
12Felipe MassaWilliams29.4030.95316
13Max VerstappenRed Bull29.4290.97918
14Sergio PerezForce India29.4751.0257
15Kimi RaikkonenFerrari29.5781.1285
16Jenson ButtonMcLaren29.5881.13817
17Nico RosbergMercedes29.7151.26517
18Jolyon PalmerRenault29.7841.3346
19Valtteri BottasWilliams29.8081.3585
20Daniel RicciardoRed Bull29.8131.36317
21Nico HulkenbergForce India29.8671.41717
22Esteban GutierrezHaas29.8841.43417
23Carlos Sainz JnrToro Rosso29.8951.44517
24Rio HaryantoManor29.9981.5486
25Jenson ButtonMcLaren30.0931.6436
26Rio HaryantoManor30.1351.68517
27Felipe NasrSauber30.1431.69316
28Daniel RicciardoRed Bull30.1981.7486
29Daniil KvyatToro Rosso30.3151.8656
30Daniil KvyatToro Rosso30.3271.87716
31Lewis HamiltonMercedes30.3431.8937
32Kimi RaikkonenFerrari30.4622.01216
33Nico HulkenbergForce India30.7472.2975
34Carlos Sainz JnrToro Rosso30.7862.3365
35Kevin MagnussenRenault30.8042.3545
36Romain GrosjeanHaas30.8822.43216
37Felipe NasrSauber30.9812.5317
38Sebastian VettelFerrari31.3812.9315
39Romain GrosjeanHaas31.6323.1825
40Pascal WehrleinManor31.8123.3625
41Max VerstappenRed Bull31.9953.5457
42Fernando AlonsoMcLaren32.3743.9245
43Marcus EricssonSauber35.3936.9437
44Jolyon PalmerRenault41.48613.03619
45Esteban GutierrezHaas41.50813.0585
46Jolyon PalmerRenault55.69727.24716
47Marcus EricssonSauber104.98076.53010

2016 British Grand Prix

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Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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2 comments on “2016 British Grand Prix tyre strategies and pit stops”

  1. How much time did the cars that pitted right after the SC came in lose to the driver’s who stayed out and pitted during the VSC period? Seems like that played the biggest part in today’s race. PER jumped from 10th to 4th with a cushion to RIC in 5th when he came out.
    Anyone know the delta laptimes for the VSC period?

  2. I was indeed expecting drivers to make a late switch to the soft tires, but it never came. Possibly the lower track temperatures made the tires last longer.

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