In Qatar, we witnessed a rather unusual weekend. Amid track limits, curbs that could damage tires, high degradation, and the risk of graining, there was no shortage of challenges. From a strategic perspective, it was a race where very little was needed to make a mistake. Mercedes seemed to have made the biggest mistake at the beginning of the GP when Hamilton (by his own admission) erred in his attack on George Russell at the first corner, where they arrived side by side with Verstappen on the inside. This collision with his teammate resulted in his retirement. For George, who had to rebuild from the back after an early pit stop, the race seemed hard to recover. However, his exceptional performance combined with that of Mercedes enabled him to finish the race in fourth place, behind Verstappen and the strong McLarens. How did he do it? Let’s find out together.
Strategy Overview
As usual, we begin our analysis by providing a complete picture of the strategies. Since the FIA had made it mandatory for each set of tires to complete no more than 18 laps, we expected the Soft tires to play a fundamental role in the race. We anticipated seeing many S-M-M-M or S-M-M-H strategies. However, only six drivers considered this approach.
Hamilton started the race with the C3 tire, but he ended his race at the first corner, while George Russell managed to finish the race in fourth place, making a remarkable comeback. Both Alfa Romeo drivers also made it into the top 10 using the Soft tire. The other drivers who used the Soft tire but failed to score points were Magnussen and Lawson.
The remaining strategies used were mostly of the M-M-H-M type or similar, with the use of a single set of the white C1 hard tires. There were, however, some exceptions that can be divided into two categories. Bottas, Zhou, Magnussen, and Lawson used two sets of Hard, one set of Medium, and one set of Soft tires, while Albon, Tsunoda, and Hulkenberg chose to adopt two sets of Medium and two sets of Hard tires.
There is one driver who made four pit stops, and his name is George Russell. This highlights how he managed to climb from 18th to 4th position.
Russell Bases His Comeback on the Overcut
Reviewing the race and the final strategies seen during the GP, it becomes clear that Russell managed to recover all those positions from 18th to 4th place, primarily based on the overcut. He took advantage of the pit stops made by Bottas, Stroll, Magnussen, and Lawson to overtake four cars early in the race. However, everything that happened from the third lap to the end of the race is solely thanks to Russell and his team. Mercedes displayed exceptional pace and utilized the moments when they were stuck in traffic to manage their tires, ultimately constructing Russell’s comeback.
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After his second pit stop, George Russell was in 15th place, and he reached 6th place with his third pit stop on the 33rd lap. Finally, he left the pit lane in 4th place when, on the 50th lap, he decided to switch to the Soft tire. If you review the race (here’s the link), you’ll notice that all the fastest laps set by George were made before entering the pits. Given the high tire degradation seen this weekend, it was challenging to execute such a strategy, making Mercedes’ achievement even more remarkable. In Qatar, the German team may have missed a significant opportunity, but they leave with the awareness that they have potential, and that’s what truly matters, especially for 2024.
Ferrari Watches from the Sidelines
With Mercedes making a stunning comeback and McLaren claiming another double podium, demonstrating promising performances (though not yet at the level of Verstappen, who has certainly been much less taxed, as demonstrated by how easily he secured the fastest lap at the end of the race), Ferrari can only watch. Carlos Sainz‘s retirement was a cold shower, and hearing Charles Leclerc, who was never involved in the battles that matter, trying to find something to say to motivate the Maranello team is even more discouraging. Charles finished 5th, far from the performances of McLaren and Mercedes. To be honest, he was gifted 5th place by Fernando Alonso, who finished 6th following his mistake.
There’s little to consider regarding tire strategies and the order in which they were used. Ferrari is lacking in management and doesn’t have the pace to keep up with other competitors on these types of circuits. Other teams are advancing, building for the future to challenge Red Bull. Ferrari appears to be stuck, fighting the same problems since the beginning of the 2023 Formula 1 season.
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