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The Indian Grand Prix 2013 was the 16th round of the 2013 F1 season, and took place at the Buddh International Circuit in Uttar Pradesh, India, on October 27th.
Sebastian Vettel won the race from the pole, followed by Nico Rosberg, and Romain Grosjean completing the podium with an expectacular comeback, all the way from the 17th position of the grid.
Final results
Race evolution
Pit Stops
There were a total of 44 pit stops during the race.
The most popular pit stop windows were:
- Laps 1-2: 5 stops
- Laps 5-8: 8 stops
- Laps 26-33: 18 stops
The fastest pit stop was Esteban Gutiérrez's, stopping the clock at 18.423 seconds during his pit stop on lap 16, while the slowest one was was Jules Bianchi's, who stopped the clock at 33.937 seconds, 15.514 seconds slower than Gutiérrez, during his pit stop on lap 5.
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 2 drivers tried a 1 stop, and 4 drivers tried a 3 stops.
The race winner, Sebastian Vettel, was on a 2 stops strategy.
1 stop
-
14Romain Grosjean
-
4Adrian Sutil
2 stops
-
4Paul di Resta
-
1Jean-Éric Vergne
-
-Charles Pic
-
-Sebastian Vettel
-
1Jules Bianchi
-
-Nico Rosberg
-
1Kimi Räikkönen
-
1Felipe Massa
-
3Lewis Hamilton
-
6Pastor Maldonado
-
16Mark Webber
-
4Sergio Pérez
-
5Max Chilton
-
1Valtteri Bottas
-
1Daniel Ricciardo
3 stops
-
3Fernando Alonso
-
12Nico Hülkenberg
-
4Jenson Button
-
1Esteban Gutiérrez
Excluding those drivers who could not finish the race, those on a 1 stop strategy gained 9 positions on average, the ones on a 2 stops strategy gained 1.38 positions on average, 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 Sebastian Vettel 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 Buddh International Circuit, 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 4 divers were involved in circumstances that were severe enough to prevented them from finishing the race.
These included, Nico Hülkenberg, who suffered from an unidentified mechanical problem on lap 54, Mark Webber, who had a problem with the alternator on lap 39, Charles Pic, who experienced an hydraulic malfunction on lap 35, and Giedo van der Garde, who retired dure to damage caused by a collision with other cars on lap 1.
Mechanical
-
Nico HülkenbergLap 54
Alternator
-
Mark WebberLap 39
Hydraulics
-
Charles PicLap 35
Collision
-
Giedo van der GardeLap 1
Qualifying
Sebastian Vettel managed to get the pole position by 0.752 seconds and a final lipe time of 1:24.119. Right next to him, completing the first line of the grid, was Nico Rosberg.
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 6 out of the 10 drivers that took place in Q3 were able to improve their times.