The Italian Grand Prix 2014 was the 13th round of the 2014 F1 season, and took place at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza in Monza, Italy, on September 7th.
Lewis Hamilton won the race from the pole, followed by Nico Rosberg, and Felipe Massa completing the podium.
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 18-27: 18 stops
The fastest pit stop was Kevin Magnussen's, stopping the clock at 24.214 seconds during his pit stop on lap 21, while the slowest one was was Marcus Ericsson's, who stopped the clock at 28.685 seconds, 4.471 seconds slower than Magnussen, during his pit stop on lap 30.
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 Esteban Gutiérrez decided to try something different with a 3 stops strategy.
The race winner, Lewis Hamilton, was on a 1 stop strategy.
1 stop
-
2Sebastian Vettel
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3Sergio Pérez
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1Nico Hülkenberg
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2Kimi Räikkönen
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1Romain Grosjean
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5Kevin Magnussen
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14Fernando Alonso
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2Pastor Maldonado
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2Jenson Button
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1Kamui Kobayashi
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1Felipe Massa
-
-Nico Rosberg
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1Valtteri Bottas
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1Jean-Éric Vergne
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1Adrian Sutil
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-Lewis Hamilton
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4Daniel Ricciardo
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1Jules Bianchi
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10Daniil Kvyat
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2Marcus Ericsson
3 stops
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4Esteban Gutiérrez
Excluding those drivers who could not finish the race, those on a 1 stop strategy gained 1.05 positions on average, while those on a 3 stops strategy lost an average of 4 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 Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, 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, Fernando Alonso, who suffered an engine malfunction on lap 28, and Max Chilton, who had to retire due to an accident on lap 5.
Engine
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Fernando AlonsoLap 28
Accident
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Max ChiltonLap 5
Qualifying
Lewis Hamilton dominated all the qualifying sessions and took the pole by 0.274 seconds, with a final lap time of 1:24.109. Nico Rosberg 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 Williams, with Valtteri Bottas in third position, and Felipe Massa in fourth.
But the team pairings didn't stop there, as the two McLarens were right behind them, with Kevin Magnussen in fith position, and Jenson Button 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 9 out of the 10 drivers that took place in Q3 were able to improve their times.