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The German Grand Prix 2016 was the 12th round of the 2016 F1 season, and took place at the Hockenheimring in Hockenheim, Germany, on July 31st.
Lewis Hamilton won the race after starting in the 2nd position, followed by Daniel Ricciardo, and Max Verstappen completing the podium.
Nico Rosberg started from the pole position, but only managed to finish 4th.
Final results
Race evolution
Pit Stops
There were a total of 60 pit stops during the race.
The most popular pit stop windows were:
- Laps 7-9: 5 stops
- Laps 11-14: 13 stops
- Laps 25-29: 10 stops
- Laps 31-34: 10 stops
- Laps 42-47: 15 stops
The fastest pit stop was Lewis Hamilton's, stopping the clock at 18.475 seconds during his pit stop on lap 47, while the slowest one was was Felipe Massa's, who stopped the clock at 36.395 seconds, 17.920 seconds slower than Hamilton, during his pit stop on lap 26.
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 3 stops. Only Felipe Massa, Kevin Magnussen, Valtteri Bottas, Marcus Ericsson, Romain Grosjean and Esteban Gutiérrez decided to try something different with a 2 stops strategy.
The race winner, Lewis Hamilton, was on a 3 stops strategy.
2 stops
-
12Felipe Massa
-
-Kevin Magnussen
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2Valtteri Bottas
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4Marcus Ericsson
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7Romain Grosjean
-
-Esteban Gutiérrez
3 stops
-
5Jolyon Palmer
-
3Daniil Kvyat
-
-Felipe Nasr
-
1Sergio Pérez
-
1Carlos Sainz
-
1Max Verstappen
-
3Nico Rosberg
-
1Daniel Ricciardo
-
1Nico Hülkenberg
-
-Pascal Wehrlein
-
1Sebastian Vettel
-
4Jenson Button
-
1Rio Haryanto
-
1Lewis Hamilton
-
1Kimi Räikkönen
-
1Fernando Alonso
Excluding those drivers who could not finish the race, those on a 2 stops strategy gained 1.8 positions on average, while those on a 3 stops strategy lost an average of 0.2 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, even if Lewis Hamilton managed to win the race making 3 stops.
It is important to note that this might not always be the case for other races held at the Hockenheimring, 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 2 divers were involved in circumstances that were severe enough to prevented them from finishing the race.
These included, Felipe Nasr, who had a power unit failure on lap 57, and Felipe Massa, who suffered a suspension problem on lap 36.
Power Unit
-
Felipe NasrLap 57
Suspension
-
Felipe MassaLap 36
Qualifying
Nico Rosberg managed to get the pole position by 0.107 seconds and a final lipe time of 1:14.363. 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 Red Bull, with Daniel Ricciardo in third position, and Max Verstappen in fourth.
But the team pairings didn't stop there, as the two Ferraris were right behind them, with Kimi Räikkönen in fith position, and Sebastian Vettel in sixth.
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 15 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.