The Brazilian Grand Prix 2013 was the 19th round of the 2013 F1 season, and took place at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace in São Paulo, Brazil, on November 24th.
Sebastian Vettel won the race from the pole, followed by Mark Webber, and Fernando Alonso completing the podium.
Final results
Race evolution
Pit Stops
There were a total of 47 pit stops during the race.
The most popular pit stop windows were:
- Laps 19-26: 16 stops
- Laps 41-44: 7 stops
- Laps 46-48: 11 stops
The fastest pit stop was Giedo van der Garde's, stopping the clock at 17.339 seconds during his pit stop on lap 52, while the slowest one was was Sebastian Vettel's, who stopped the clock at 32.899 seconds, 15.560 seconds slower than van der Garde, during his pit stop on lap 47.
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 1 driver tried a 1 stop, and 6 drivers tried a 3 stops.
The race winner, Sebastian Vettel, was on a 2 stops strategy.
1 stop
-
2Charles Pic
2 stops
-
3Daniel Ricciardo
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3Heikki Kovalainen
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8Valtteri Bottas
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13Sergio Pérez
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10Jenson Button
-
2Nico Hülkenberg
-
1Paul di Resta
-
-Fernando Alonso
-
4Jules Bianchi
-
3Nico Rosberg
-
5Esteban Gutiérrez
-
2Mark Webber
-
-Pastor Maldonado
-
-Sebastian Vettel
3 stops
-
7Jean-Éric Vergne
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2Adrian Sutil
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2Felipe Massa
-
4Lewis Hamilton
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2Giedo van der Garde
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3Max Chilton
Excluding those drivers who could not finish the race, those on a 2 stops strategy gained 2.15 positions on average, while those on a 3 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 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 Autódromo José Carlos Pace, 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 3 divers were involved in circumstances that were severe enough to prevented them from finishing the race.
These included, Charles Pic, who suffered from an unidentified mechanical problem on lap 58, Valtteri Bottas, who had to retire due to an accident on lap 45, and Romain Grosjean, who suffered an engine malfunction on lap 2.
Mechanical
-
Charles PicLap 58
Accident
-
Valtteri BottasLap 45
Engine
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Romain GrosjeanLap 2
Qualifying
Sebastian Vettel managed to get the pole position by 0.623 seconds and a final lipe time of 1:26.479. Right next to him, completing the first line of the grid, was Nico Rosberg.
Track evolution
The conditions of the track got worse between the two sessions of the qualifying, and only 3 drivers were able to improve their Q1 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. However, the conditions of the track worsened from Q2 to Q3, and none of the drivers were able to improve their Q2 times.