The Hungarian Grand Prix 2017 was the 11th round of the 2017 F1 season, and took place at the Hungaroring in Budapest, Hungary, on July 30th.
Sebastian Vettel won the race from the pole, followed by Kimi Räikkönen, and Valtteri Bottas completing the podium.
Final results
Race evolution
Pit Stops
There were a total of 21 pit stops during the race.
The most popular pit stop windows were:
- Laps 28-35: 12 stops
The fastest pit stop was Lewis Hamilton's, stopping the clock at 21.338 seconds during his pit stop on lap 31, while the slowest one was was Max Verstappen's, who stopped the clock at 33.605 seconds, 12.267 seconds slower than Hamilton, during his pit stop on lap 42.
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 Marcus Ericsson and Pascal Wehrlein decided to try something different with a 2 stops strategy.
The race winner, Sebastian Vettel, was on a 1 stop strategy.
1 stop
-
5Romain Grosjean
-
3Lance Stroll
-
-Valtteri Bottas
-
-Lewis Hamilton
-
2Kevin Magnussen
-
-Sebastian Vettel
-
-Kimi Räikkönen
-
5Sergio Pérez
-
1Paul di Resta
-
2Carlos Sainz
-
1Fernando Alonso
-
2Esteban Ocon
-
5Daniil Kvyat
-
-Max Verstappen
-
2Stoffel Vandoorne
-
5Nico Hülkenberg
-
2Jolyon Palmer
2 stops
-
4Marcus Ericsson
-
3Pascal Wehrlein
Excluding those drivers who could not finish the race, those on a 1 stop strategy gained 1.14 positions on average, while those on a 2 stops strategy gained 3.5 positions on average.
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 Sebastian Vettel managed to win the race making 1 stop.
It is important to note that this might not always be the case for other races held at the Hungaroring, 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 4 drivers who didn't manage to cross the finish line.
These included, Nico Hülkenberg, who saw the breaks of the car give up on lap 67, Paul di Resta, who had an oil leak on lap 60, Romain Grosjean, who had problems with a wheel nut on lap 20, and Daniel Ricciardo, who retired dure to damage caused by a collision with other cars on lap 0.
Brakes
-
Nico HülkenbergLap 67
Oil leak
-
Paul di RestaLap 60
Wheel nut
-
Romain GrosjeanLap 20
Collision
-
Daniel RicciardoLap 0
Qualifying
Sebastian Vettel managed to get the pole position by 0.168 seconds and a final lipe time of 1:16.276. Kimi Räikkönen was right behind him, helping Ferrari score a one-two and monopolize the first line of the grid.
The second line fo the grid was dominated by Mercedes, with Valtteri Bottas in third position, and Lewis Hamilton in fourth.
But the team pairings didn't stop there, as the two Red Bulls were right behind them, with Max Verstappen in fith position, and Daniel Ricciardo 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 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. It therefore comes as no surprise that 8 out of the 10 drivers that took place in Q3 were able to improve their times.