The Monaco Grand Prix 2013 was the 6th round of the 2013 F1 season, and took place at the Circuit de Monaco in Monte-Carlo, Monaco, on May 26th.
Nico Rosberg won the race from the pole, followed by Sebastian Vettel, and Mark Webber completing the podium.
Final results
Race evolution
Pit Stops
There were a total of 30 pit stops during the race.
The most popular pit stop windows were:
- Laps 22-31: 20 stops
The fastest pit stop was Max Chilton's, stopping the clock at 19.553 seconds during his pit stop on lap 48, while the slowest one was was Pastor Maldonado's, who stopped the clock at 40.507 seconds, 20.954 seconds slower than Chilton, during his pit stop on lap 1.
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 5 drivers tried a 2 stops, and 2 drivers tried a 3 stops.
The race winner, Nico Rosberg, was on a 1 stop strategy.
1 stop
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8Paul di Resta
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6Daniel Ricciardo
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1Mark Webber
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3Jenson Button
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-Felipe Massa
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-Nico Hülkenberg
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1Fernando Alonso
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9Sergio Pérez
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2Jean-Éric Vergne
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1Sebastian Vettel
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3Adrian Sutil
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2Valtteri Bottas
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-Nico Rosberg
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2Lewis Hamilton
2 stops
-
4Pastor Maldonado
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1Jules Bianchi
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5Kimi Räikkönen
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6Esteban Gutiérrez
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4Romain Grosjean
3 stops
-
-Giedo van der Garde
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8Max Chilton
Excluding those drivers who could not finish the race, those on a 1 stop strategy gained 1.55 positions on average, the ones on a 2 stops strategy lost an average of 0.5 positions, while those on a 3 stops strategy gained 4 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 Nico Rosberg 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 Circuit de Monaco, 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 7 drivers who didn't manage to cross the finish line.
These included, Sergio Pérez, who suffered a suspension problem on lap 72, Romain Grosjean, Daniel Ricciardo, and Pastor Maldonado, all of whom retired dure to damage caused by a collision with other cars, Jules Bianchi, who saw the breaks of the car give up on lap 58, Felipe Massa, who had to retire due to an accident on lap 28, and Charles Pic, who experienced issues with the gearbox on lap 7.
Suspension
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Sergio PérezLap 72
Collision
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Romain GrosjeanLap 63
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Daniel RicciardoLap 61
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Pastor MaldonadoLap 44
Brakes
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Jules BianchiLap 58
Accident
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Felipe MassaLap 28
Gearbox
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Charles PicLap 7
Qualifying
Nico Rosberg managed to get the pole position by 0.091 seconds and a final lipe time of 1:13.876. 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 Sebastian Vettel in third position, and Mark Webber in fourth.
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 all of the drivers that took place in Q3 managed to improve their times in this last session.