Tick/untick drivers?������ names to show their laps, click and drag to zoomĪlonso came out of the pits ahead of Webber but behind Petrov. Look at how Vettel’s lap times increased from laps eight to 13 on the chart below – from 1’45.337 to 1’46.667.įerrari called Alonso in on the lap after that – just as the super-soft tyres came back to life and the other cars’ lap times improved. Their thinking was probably also influenced by the loss of pace the front runners were experiencing on the super-soft tyres at that point in the race. In essence, they were wagering Alonso’s ability to get past Petrov and Rosberg against Webber’s – and the gamble failed. Some of these – Vitaly Petrov and Nico Rosberg – did not need to pit again following earlier stops under the safety car.Īt that point Ferrari knew they had enough of a gap over Webber to bring Alonso in and keep him in front of the Red Bull. Webber was delayed by Jaime Alguersuari following his pit stop and Ferrari tried to take advantage of that by pitting Massa two laps afterwards in an attempt to get him out ahead of the Red Bull.īut this didn’t work: Webber made it past Alguersuari on the lap Massa came in, and the Ferrari driver lost 1.4 seconds more in the pits compared to Webber.įerrari’s concern now was that Webber was going to do the same as he did following his early pit stop at Singapore – keep picking off the cars in front of him quickly enough to stay in touch with the leaders. It’s easy to criticise strategic decisions in hindsight – particularly one as costly as this – so it’s important to understand why they did it. Pit stops Abu Dhabi Grand Prix pit stopsįerrari brought Alonso in on lap 15, four laps after Webber pitted. Unfortunately for Alonso, Ferrari’s preoccupation with Webber meant they lost out to several other cars. Finishing fifth instead of fourth would cost him the world championship with Vettel leading. With Sebastian Vettel leading, that made it imperative for Alonso not to lose track position to Mark Webber. But one that did happen was highly significant – Jenson Button passing Fernando Alonso for third. There were fewer changes of position on the opening lap than usual.
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