Racing, not saving tyres - Canadian GP strategy analysis

Paul di Resta of Great Britain and Force India drives during the Canadian Formula One Grand Prix at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on June 9, 2013 in Montreal, Canada. (Getty Images)

The 2013 Canadian Grand Prix may not have offered the same sort of excitement as many would have expected, but at least it was not about saving tyres. Drivers were able to push them to the extreme almost throughout the race, without having the need to preserve their tyres. Most drivers completed the race on a two-stop strategy, while only three drivers completed 70 laps of the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on a single stop. In the end, Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel dominated the race from start to finish, winning the race ahead of Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, who lost a heap of time to reach P2. The drivers who qualified well on Saturday, thanks to the wet conditions, didn’t have the pace in dry conditions during the race and held up the field. That played a minor role in why so many drivers were lapped during the race. However, the main reason for this was Vettel’s relentless pace.

Alonso: Did he have the pace to challenge Vettel?

Vettel finished the race 15 seconds clear of second placed Alonso and lapped whole of the field except the top 5 finishers. It’s hard to say that anyone’s pace was closer to the defending world champion. But if you look at the lap times, it shows a different story.

Alonso had another poor qualifying session and could only start the race from 6th place. In the race, he was ahead of the Williams of Valtteri Bottas by the end of first lap, but it took him 39 more laps to overtake Mark Webber for final spot on the podium. By the time he overtook Webber, he was 24 seconds behind Vettel and had no chance to win the race. It was this time he spent behind Webber and Nico Rosberg that cost him the race.

Once Alonso was ahead of Webber and in the clear, he was matching Vettel’s times and was continuously chasing second placed Lewis Hamilton. Over the next 20 laps, he reduced the gap over his former teammate from over 10 seconds to nil before finally overtaking the British driver. In the process he lost about three seconds to Vettel.

With only 7 laps to go, Alonso had no option but to settle in for second. During these laps, he was faster than Vettel but the latter was not running up to his car’s full potential.

Di Resta executes his strategy beautifully to finish 7th

Paul di Resta executed his reverse one-stop strategy beautifully in the race to finish the Canadian Grand Prix in 7th place, having started the race from 17th. Di Resta was furious with the team on Saturday after mechanical problems relegated him to 17th in qualifying. But Force India came up with a great strategy for the race, which Di Resta executed beautifully. The Scottish driver completed a whopping 56 laps on a single set of medium tyres during his first stint – more than any other driver has managed this season. Force India’s VJM06 is very easy on its tyres and Di Resta used this advantage to its full potential. When Di Resta pitted at the end of lap 56, he came back in the same position as the gap to Adrian Sutil was over 20 seconds. Sutil also helped his teammate by keeping a faster Felipe Massa at bay.

The German eventually finished the race in 10th place after his drive through penalty ensured a double points finish for Force India at their 100th Grand Prix. But the result could have been better had Di Resta qualified in the top 10. He lost 44 seconds to Vettel by the time he reached P7. His pace was slightly faster than 6th place finisher Jean Eric Vergne and with Rosberg being forced to pit thrice, Di Resta could have finished as high as 5th.

Laps Charts Courtesy: FIA