One-stop Strategy likely for 2013 Abu Dhabi F1 GP

Top 3 2013 Abu Dhabi F1 GP qualifiers: 1. Webber 2. Vettel 3. Rosberg

Red Bull’s Mark Webber will start the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix from pole position after qualifying fastest on the yellow soft compound, which has been nominated together with the white medium this weekend.

Qualifying was held as usual in the afternoon and evening, with Q1 starting in daylight and Q3 finishing in darkness, under the lights. Webber’s 1m39.957s pole lap, the 13th of his career and his second of this season, means that he equals the pole position record for an Australian, established by Jack Brabham.

With Sebastian Vettel qualifying second, this was the fourth Red Bull one-two of the season. With  up  to  a  second and  a  half  lap  time  difference  between  the  two  compounds,  strategy  was  an  important  consideration right from the start of Q1. The majority of the drivers  started on the medium compound, but both Red Bull drivers were straight  out  on  the  soft  tyres,  and  did  not  use  the  medium  at  all  during  qualifying. This hen prompted the rest of the field to switch to the soft compound  for the rest of Q1, with Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton going quickest in the closing seconds.
The top 16 drivers,  who went through to Q2, were covered by just six-tenths of a second.  They all  used soft tyres throughout  the  session,  at  the end of  which Mercedes was again quickest:  this  time  with  Nico  Rosberg leading Hamilton.

The  final  top  10  all  started  Q3  on  soft  tyres.  Webber  set  his  pole  lap  right  at  the  end  of  the  session,  with track temperature stabilising at 34  degrees. His time was more than half a second faster than last year’s pole from Lewis Hamilton.

Red  Bull  also  finished  one-two  in  the  final  free  practice  session,  during  which  all  the  drivers  used  both  tyre
compounds. Vettel led Webber, concluding the session with a qualifying simulation.

Paul Hembery

Pirelli’s motorsport director Paul Hembery said:  “Two  key  factors shaped the strategy during qualifying: the big lap time difference  between the two compounds  and the high degree of track evolution, which meant that the fastest times were usually set at the end of each session  once the most rubber had been  laid  down on the surface. As an extra factor, track temperature was consistently falling with the sun going down during qualifying, which adds another challenge from a tyre engineering perspective.

We’re expecting a one-stop race tomorrow for most drivers, but some may try something different. With the wear and degradation rates that we can see so far, the options are open. While the soft tyre has a significant  performance advantage, it’s also capable of consistent performance over a longer run.

We’ve got the same tyre nomination as India but  the situation at this race is a lot less clear-cut, which means that strategy can make a real difference tomorrow.”

The Pirelli mystery strategy predictor:
One  stop  is theoretically  the quickest approach to the 56-lap Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, irrespective of starting on the
soft or the medium compound. So, if starting on the soft, we would expect drivers to change to the medium on lap 12
and then go to the end. Or if starting on the medium, change to the soft on lap 43 and then go to the end.

The optimal two-stop strategy is: start on the soft, change to the medium on lap nine, and a final stint on the medium
from lap 32.

Yas Marina Hotel

Fastest compounds in Free Practice no.3:

1.  Vettel    1m41.349s  Soft New
2.  Webber    1m41.571s  Soft New
3.  Hamilton  1m41.580s  Soft New

Top 10 tyre use:
Webber    Soft    1m39.957s
Vettel      Soft    1m40.075s
Rosberg     Soft    1m40.419s
Hamilton    Soft    1m40.501s
Raikkonen    Soft    1m40.542s
Hulkenberg    Soft    1m40.576s
Grosjean    Soft    1m40.997s
Massa    Soft    1m41.015s
Perez      Soft    1m41.068s
Ricciardo    Soft    1m41.111s

See 2013 Abu Dhabi F1 GP qualifying results.

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