The Austrian Grand Prix 2018 was the 9th round of the 2018 F1 season, and took place at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Austria, on July 1st.
Max Verstappen won the race after starting in the 4th position, followed by Kimi Räikkönen, and Sebastian Vettel completing the podium.
Valtteri Bottas started from the pole position, but didn't manage to cross the finish line, as he experienced an hydraulic malfunction, and had to retire on lap 13th.
Final results
Race evolution
Pit Stops
There were a total of 23 pit stops during the race.
The most popular pit stop windows were:
- Laps 15-15: 11 stops
The fastest pit stop was Lewis Hamilton's, stopping the clock at 20.980 seconds during his pit stop on lap 52, while the slowest one was was Stoffel Vandoorne's, who stopped the clock at 46.557 seconds, 25.577 seconds slower than Hamilton, during his pit stop on lap 1.
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 1 stop. Only Stoffel Vandoorne, Daniel Ricciardo, Carlos Sainz, Lance Stroll, Sergey Sirotkin and Lewis Hamilton decided to try something different with a 2 stops strategy.
The race winner, Max Verstappen, was on a 1 stop strategy.
1 stop
-
5Fernando Alonso
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1Kimi Räikkönen
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3Sebastian Vettel
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1Romain Grosjean
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3Max Verstappen
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5Esteban Ocon
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1Pierre Gasly
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9Charles Leclerc
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9Sergio Pérez
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3Kevin Magnussen
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10Marcus Ericsson
2 stops
-
-Stoffel Vandoorne
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11Daniel Ricciardo
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3Carlos Sainz
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-Lance Stroll
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4Sergey Sirotkin
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14Lewis Hamilton
Excluding those drivers who could not finish the race, those on a 1 stop strategy gained 4.55 positions on average, while those on a 2 stops strategy lost an average of 0.33 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.
It is important to note that this might not always be the case for other races held at the Red Bull Ring, 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 6 drivers who didn't manage to cross the finish line.
These included, Stoffel Vandoorne, who retired dure to damage caused by a collision with other cars on lap 65, Lewis Hamilton, who suffered a fuel pressure loss on lap 62, Brendon Hartley, and Valtteri Bottas, both experienced an hydraulic malfunction, Daniel Ricciardo, who suffered from problems with the exhaust on lap 53, and Nico Hülkenberg, who suffered an engine malfunction on lap 11.
Collision damage
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Stoffel VandoorneLap 65
Fuel pressure
-
Lewis HamiltonLap 62
Hydraulics
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Brendon HartleyLap 54
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Valtteri BottasLap 13
Exhaust
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Daniel RicciardoLap 53
Engine
-
Nico HülkenbergLap 11
Qualifying
Valtteri Bottas managed to get the pole position by 0.019 seconds and a final lipe time of 1:03.130. Lewis Hamilton was right behind him, helping Mercedes score a one-two and monopolize the first line of the grid.
The second line fo the grid was dominated by Ferrari, with Sebastian Vettel in third position, and Kimi Räikkönen in fourth.
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 15 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.