The Spanish Grand Prix 2020 was the 6th round of the 2020 F1 season, and took place at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Montmeló, Spain, on August 16th.
Lewis Hamilton won the race from the pole, followed by Max Verstappen, and Valtteri Bottas completing the podium.
Final results
Race evolution
Pit Stops
There were a total of 35 pit stops during the race.
The most popular pit stop windows were:
- Laps 19-23: 10 stops
- Laps 27-29: 6 stops
- Laps 41-42: 4 stops
- Laps 44-45: 4 stops
The fastest pit stop was Max Verstappen's, stopping the clock at 21.532 seconds during his pit stop on lap 21, while the slowest one was was Kevin Magnussen's, who stopped the clock at 24.148 seconds, 2.616 seconds slower than Verstappen, during his pit stop on lap 28.
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 6 drivers tried a 1 stop, and 1 driver tried a 3 stops.
The race winner, Lewis Hamilton, was on a 2 stops strategy.
1 stop
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1Kevin Magnussen
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4Sebastian Vettel
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1Sergio Pérez
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11Charles Leclerc
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2Esteban Ocon
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2Daniel Ricciardo
2 stops
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2Alexander Albon
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1George Russell
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-Kimi Räikkönen
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-Daniil Kvyat
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1Max Verstappen
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4Antonio Giovinazzi
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1Pierre Gasly
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2Lando Norris
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1Carlos Sainz
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-Lewis Hamilton
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1Lance Stroll
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1Nicholas Latifi
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2Romain Grosjean
3 stops
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1Valtteri Bottas
Excluding those drivers who could not finish the race, those on a 1 stop strategy gained 1.6 positions on average, the ones on a 2 stops strategy lost an average of 0.31 positions, while those on a 3 stops strategy lost an average of 1 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 Lewis Hamilton 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 Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, 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 1 divers were involved in circumstances that were severe enough to prevented them from finishing the race.
These included, .
Electronics
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Charles LeclercLap 38
Qualifying
Lewis Hamilton dominated all the qualifying sessions and took the pole by 0.059 seconds, with a final lap time of 1:15.584. Valtteri Bottas was right behind him, helping Mercedes score a one-two and monopolize the first line of the grid.
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 7 out of the 10 drivers that took place in Q3 were able to improve their times.