The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2011 was the 18th round of the 2011 F1 season, and took place at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, UAE, on November 13th.
Lewis Hamilton won the race after starting in the 2nd position, followed by Fernando Alonso, and Jenson Button completing the podium.
Sebastian Vettel started from the pole position, but didn't manage to cross the finish line, as he had a puncture that could not be repaired, and had to retire on lap 1st.
Final results
Race evolution
Pit Stops
There were a total of 42 pit stops during the race.
The most popular pit stop windows were:
- Laps 15-18: 14 stops
- Laps 33-36: 7 stops
- Laps 38-44: 9 stops
The fastest pit stop was Pastor Maldonado's, stopping the clock at 12.897 seconds during his pit stop on lap 30, while the slowest one was was Jaime Alguersuari's, who stopped the clock at 43.574 seconds, 30.677 seconds slower than Maldonado, during his pit stop on lap 15.
These times include the time the driver spent going through the pit lane, as well as the actual time he stopped for the mechanics to work on his car.
Strategy
We saw a variety of options in terms of pit stop strategies during this race, however most drivers chose a 2 stops. Only 2 drivers tried a 1 stop, and 2 drivers tried a 3 stops.
The race winner, Lewis Hamilton, was on a 2 stops strategy.
1 stop
-
2Vitantonio Liuzzi
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1Paul di Resta
2 stops
-
-Sergio Pérez
-
6Kamui Kobayashi
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1Felipe Massa
-
-Jaime Alguersuari
-
1Lewis Hamilton
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3Fernando Alonso
-
-Jenson Button
-
1Adrian Sutil
-
1Michael Schumacher
-
-Heikki Kovalainen
-
1Nico Rosberg
-
-Jarno Trulli
-
1Vitaly Petrov
-
12Rubens Barrichello
-
1Daniel Ricciardo
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9Pastor Maldonado
-
-Timo Glock
3 stops
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2Bruno Senna
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-Mark Webber
Excluding those drivers who could not finish the race, those on a 1 stop strategy gained 1.5 positions on average, the ones on a 2 stops strategy gained 2.13 positions on average, while those on a 3 stops strategy lost an average of 1 positions.
This difference in possitions gained, together with a deeper nalaysis of each strategy, reinforces the conclusion that a 2 stops strategy was the best option.
It is important to note that this might not always be the case for other races held at the Yas Marina Circuit, as the conditions might change from year to year, in terms of wheel degradation, accidents, safety cars, etc.
Incidents
There race went on mostly with no incidents. Only 4 divers were involved in circumstances that were severe enough to prevented them from finishing the race.
These included, Daniel Ricciardo, who suffered from an unidentified mechanical problem on lap 48, Sébastien Buemi, who experienced an hydraulic malfunction on lap 19, Jérôme d'Ambrosio, who saw the breaks of the car give up on lap 18, and Sebastian Vettel, who had a puncture that could not be repaired on lap 1.
Mechanical
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Daniel RicciardoLap 48
Hydraulics
-
Sébastien BuemiLap 19
Brakes
-
Jérôme d'AmbrosioLap 18
Puncture
-
Sebastian VettelLap 1
Qualifying
Sebastian Vettel managed to get the pole position by 0.141 seconds and a final lipe time of 1:38.481. Right next to him, completing the first line of the grid, was Lewis Hamilton.
Track evolution
As the qualifying session went on, with the track rubbering in, and the drivers testing the limits of the grip of their cars, the times per lap dropped, and all of the drivers that took place in Q2 improved their times in this second session.
The Q3 is the time were all the remaining drivers put all their cards on the table, even those with a superior car who might have been managing their times in Q1 and Q2 push their cars to the limit in Q3. That being said, the changing conditions of the track made it difficult to find these limits, and only 2 drivers were able to improve their Q2 times.