DHL FASTEST PIT STOP AWARD: 2016 FORMULA 1 GRANDE PRÊMIO DO BRASIL

Surprise winner in dramatic race! Renault secured the DHL Fastest Pit Stop Award in the 2016 FORMULA 1 GRANDE PRÊMIO DO BRASIL for the first time since their return to F1. Jolyon Palmer’s second tire change took only 2.35 seconds – an excellent time in view of the tricky weather conditions for both drivers and mechanics. And it wasn’t a one-off, as the third-fastest stop in São Paulo was also undertaken by the crew on the British driver’s car.

Second place in this special awards category went to series winners Williams. Valtteri Bottas was stationary in the pits for only six hundredths of a second longer than Palmer on his best time before being able to continue on fresh tires. Well established British racing outfit Williams has already secured victory overall in the 2016 DHL Fastest Lap Awards with a total of 14 successes. Apart from Williams, only Mercedes (three times) and Red Bull (twice) have managed to take wins on the day this year. Renault are now the fourth team.

The number of pit stops lasting less than three seconds, 14 in all, was relatively small in São Paulo due to the heavy rain, but the total number of tire changes was extremely high at 62, especially in view of the fact that one driver, Romain Grosjean, was unable to compete in the race and three more retired at an early stage. In the normal way of things, they would have added to the statistics with more stops.

Heavy rain made a big impact on the race and the strategies of teams at the Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace. The race began on a wet track behind the safety car which subsequently had to come out four more times. There were also two periods when the race was stopped, the first time after Kimi Räikkönen had crashed out. All cars had been shod with wet-weather tires for the start, but as early as Lap 7, Kevin Magnussen in the Renault then became the first to try his luck on intermediate tires, despite the fact that the rain had not completely subsided. Several more drivers followed his example.

Whilst they were able to post some terrific lap times, the experiment was a flop. There was too much water on the track, so that teams who’d made the switch had to quickly change back to full wets. The next time cars ventured out on intermediates was after the second stoppage. However, the weather again failed to improve, and cars had to swap tires yet again.

As a result, Red Bull drivers Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo, plus McLaren veteran Jenson Button all made five stops. The Australian also received a five-second time penalty for coming in while the pit lane was out of bounds, as the Sauber of Swedish driver Marcus Ericsson was in the way following a crash.

Verstappen, who drove a strong race with plenty of overtaking maneuvers, said afterwards: “I was told that Daniel had pitted for intermediates and was going fast, so I followed that plan. For a lap or so, it was really good, but then more rain came, which resulted in no grip in the last sector. There was no way we could carry on, so we had to pit again for wets.” The soft, hard and medium tires originally specified by tire manufacturer Pirelli for the 2016 FORMULA 1 GRANDE PRÊMIO DO BRASIL were never used.