The Malaysian Grand Prix 2013 was the 2nd round of the 2013 F1 season, and took place at the Sepang International Circuit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on March 24th.
Sebastian Vettel won the race from the pole, followed by Mark Webber, and Lewis Hamilton completing the podium.
Final results
Race evolution
Pit Stops
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There were a total of 73 pit stops during the race, but only 72 which can be considered "normal", since clearly had to resolve some serious issues during his pit stop on lap Array which took the team 2 minutes, 3.124 seconds.
The most popular pit stop windows were:
- Laps 5-8: 21 stops
- Laps 17-22: 18 stops
- Laps 28-36: 17 stops
- Laps 40-44: 11 stops
The fastest pit stop was Mark Webber's, stopping the clock at 20.736 seconds during his pit stop on lap 19, while the slowest one was was Jenson Button's, who stopped the clock at 1 minutes, 44.833 seconds, 1 minutes, 24.097 seconds slower than Webber, during his pit stop on lap 35.
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
The race was not obvious in terms of pit stop strategy, with different teams and different drivers choosing to make anywhere from 2 to 4 stops.
The race winner, Sebastian Vettel, was on a 4 stops strategy.
2 stops
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12Adrian Sutil
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6Paul di Resta
3 stops
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5Daniel Ricciardo
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3Kimi Räikkönen
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3Pastor Maldonado
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7Valtteri Bottas
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10Jenson Button
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5Romain Grosjean
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7Jean-Éric Vergne
4 stops
-
-Sebastian Vettel
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3Felipe Massa
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7Giedo van der Garde
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6Jules Bianchi
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5Max Chilton
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3Mark Webber
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1Lewis Hamilton
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4Nico Hülkenberg
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-Sergio Pérez
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2Esteban Gutiérrez
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6Charles Pic
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2Nico Rosberg
Excluding those drivers who could not finish the race, those on a 3 stops strategy gained 5.5 positions on average, while those on a 4 stops strategy gained 2.75 positions on average.
This difference in possitions gained, together with a deeper nalaysis of each strategy, reinforces the conclusion that a 3 stops strategy was the best option, even if Sebastian Vettel managed to win the race making 4 stops.
It is important to note that this might not always be the case for other races held at the Sepang International Circuit, 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 6 drivers who didn't manage to cross the finish line.
These included, Jenson Button, who withdrew on lap 53, Daniel Ricciardo, and Pastor Maldonado, both had to retire, Adrian Sutil, and Paul di Resta, both had problems with a wheel nut, and Fernando Alonso, who retired dure to damage caused by a collision with other cars on lap 1.
Withdrew
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Jenson ButtonLap 53
Retired
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Daniel RicciardoLap 51
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Pastor MaldonadoLap 45
Wheel nut
-
Adrian SutilLap 27
-
Paul di RestaLap 22
Collision
-
Fernando AlonsoLap 1
Qualifying
Sebastian Vettel managed to get the pole position by 0.913 seconds and a final lipe time of 1:49.674. Right next to him, completing the first line of the grid, was Felipe Massa.
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 9 out of the 15 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. However, the conditions of the track worsened from Q2 to Q3, and none of the drivers were able to improve their Q2 times.