Austrian GP race strategy analysis and how top teams gambled on different tire compounds

07/01/2024 07:41 AM

Regardless of the race winner at the Red Bull Ring circuit, the Austrian GP has all the elements to be considered the best event of the year so far. Red Bull and McLaren were evenly matched. Verstappen showed a clear superiority on the Hard C3 compound, while Lando Norris excelled on the Medium C4, especially during the final stint. This resulted in a great battle, ending as we know. It was an exciting GP, and even if it had ended with the Dutchman’s victory, it wouldn’t have been any less thrilling.

However, the climax of the duel between Max and Norris, alongside Russell’s victory (his second career win, the first being in Brazil 2022), will make the 2024 Austrian GP an event to be remembered for years to come.

After this nice preamble, let’s look at the Austrian GP race strategies. With drivers having completed the Sprint Race on Saturday with a single set of Medium tires, it was expected that they would predominantly use Medium C4 and Hard C3 compounds for the main race, generating two-stop strategies. Apart from rare cases dictated by circumstances, the tactic involving two sets of yellow tires and one set of white was the most common.

Strategy Summary
Russell won using the M-M-H strategy, with similar stints on all three sets; Stroll, finishing 13th, followed a similar line. Then we have Piastri, Sainz, Hamilton, Perez, Gasly, Ocon, Sargeant, and Norris (if he had finished the race) on M-H-M; Hulkenberg, Magnussen, and Ricciardo on the equally promising M-H-H, which allowed them to reach the top 10, along with Tsunoda, Albon, and Bottas.

Finally, Verstappen with M-H-M-S, forced to a final stop after contact with Norris, Alonso with M-M-H-S to snatch the fastest lap from Max, and Charles Leclerc’s troubled M-H-M-M-M (one set of mediums probably the same as the one mounted at the start) after he had to pit on the first lap to replace the wing following contact with Oscar Piastri.

The Verstappen-Norris contact originates from an incident 13 laps earlier
Delving into more detail and leaving aside Charles Leclerc’s race, heavily affected by the initial contact, let’s try to understand the incident that led to Norris’s retirement. To do this, we need to go back 13 laps.

It all stems from the last tire change when on lap 52 both Max and Lando decided to pit for their final set of Mediums (used for Verstappen, new for Norris). The gap between them at the moment they passed the detection point of the last sector was 7.5 seconds, due to the better pace of the Dutchman on the Hards. However, upon exiting the pits, the gap had significantly reduced to just 2.8 seconds. This was because of traffic and perhaps the Red Bull crew’s hesitation to avoid an unsafe release, almost costing Norris during the first stop, causing their champion to lose nearly 5 seconds.

Back on track, Lando immediately showed more pace. The Briton didn’t hold back and could use DRS by lap 54. Lando began to apply pressure, attacking repeatedly, and even received a 5-second penalty for repeatedly violating track limits. The penultimate attack was crucial, with Verstappen forcing him wide and causing the penalty. The decisive move, leading to the McLaren driver’s retirement, came right after the FIA announcement. The mistake was Verstappen’s, who was given a 10-second penalty. Adding insult to injury, Lando’s retirement meant he couldn’t serve the penalty, which would be converted into grid positions for his home GP.

We don’t believe it’s a stretch to say the contact between the two resulted from Red Bull’s mechanics’ hesitation during the pit stop. The first stint on the Mediums wasn’t bad. Norris and McLaren probably managed to immediately extract the maximum potential from the C4 compound, while Max would have needed some time. If his crew had been quicker, he would have had over 7 seconds to bring the tires into the right operating window and manage the lead.

McLaren was sensational on the Mediums, as demonstrated by Piastri’s P2
Would Verstappen be celebrating the victory without the pit stop error? Hard to say, but he would have had more chances. What we can say is that McLaren was truly sensational on the Mediums today, especially in the last stint. The first run wasn’t as promising, but the last, perhaps due to a lighter fuel load, was sensational. Both Norris’s, which nearly earned him the victory, and Piastri’s, which secured him second place.

Until the last stop to mount the Mediums, Piastri was in P6 behind Russell, Sainz, and Hamilton. Using an undercut brilliantly in the second and final pit stop, Oscar gained P5 on lap 55 with about a 5-second deficit to Sainz. With the C4s, the Australian erased the gap to the Spaniard, and on lap 65 (when the Norris-Verstappen contact occurred), Piastri made the decisive move to take P2. At that point, with the Virtual Safety Car also in play, it was impossible to catch Russell, who won the GP with a 1.9-second lead.

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