The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2016 was the 21st round of the 2016 F1 season, and took place at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, UAE, on November 27th.
Lewis Hamilton won the race from the pole, followed by Nico Rosberg, and Sebastian Vettel completing the podium.
Final results
Race evolution
Pit Stops
There were a total of 37 pit stops during the race.
The most popular pit stop windows were:
- Laps 6-9: 15 stops
- Laps 20-22: 4 stops
- Laps 24-30: 10 stops
- Laps 36-38: 6 stops
The fastest pit stop was Nico Rosberg's, stopping the clock at 21.218 seconds during his pit stop on lap 29, while the slowest one was was Pascal Wehrlein's, who stopped the clock at 33.395 seconds, 12.177 seconds slower than Rosberg, during his pit stop on lap 6.
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 4 drivers tried a 1 stop, and 1 driver tried a 3 stops.
The race winner, Lewis Hamilton, was on a 2 stops strategy.
1 stop
-
4Kevin Magnussen
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2Daniil Kvyat
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2Max Verstappen
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7Marcus Ericsson
2 stops
-
3Carlos Sainz
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2Pascal Wehrlein
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-Lewis Hamilton
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2Kimi Räikkönen
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1Fernando Alonso
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3Felipe Nasr
-
-Nico Rosberg
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2Sebastian Vettel
-
-Nico Hülkenberg
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1Felipe Massa
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1Esteban Gutiérrez
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2Daniel Ricciardo
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-Sergio Pérez
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3Romain Grosjean
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7Esteban Ocon
3 stops
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2Jolyon Palmer
Excluding those drivers who could not finish the race, those on a 1 stop strategy gained 4.5 positions on average, the ones on a 2 stops strategy lost an average of 1 positions, while those on a 3 stops strategy lost an average of 2 positions.
This difference in possitions gained, together with a deeper nalaysis of each strategy, reinforces the conclusion that a 1 stop strategy was the best option, even if Lewis Hamilton managed to win the race making 2 stops.
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 were some incidents during the race, with 5 drivers who didn't manage to cross the finish line.
These included, Carlos Sainz, who retired dure to damage caused by a collision with other cars on lap 41, Daniil Kvyat, who experienced issues with the gearbox on lap 14, and Jenson Button, Valtteri Bottas, and Kevin Magnussen, all of whom suffered a suspension problem.
Collision damage
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Carlos SainzLap 41
Gearbox
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Daniil KvyatLap 14
Suspension
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Jenson ButtonLap 12
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Valtteri BottasLap 6
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Kevin MagnussenLap 5
Qualifying
Lewis Hamilton dominated all the qualifying sessions and took the pole by 0.303 seconds, with a final lap time of 1:38.755. Nico Rosberg was right behind him, helping Mercedes score a one-two and monopolize the first line of the grid.
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 12 out of the 16 drivers that took place in Q2 were able to improve their times.
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. It therefore comes as no surprise that 8 out of the 10 drivers that took place in Q3 were able to improve their times.