Ferrari’s US Grand Prix-winning strategy
In the US GP, Ferrari was in-tune with its tyres. Mark Hughes looks at the tactical choices that led to its superb Stateside 1-2
Carlos Sainz pits for hard tyres at Austin; the Ferraris were fast and worked superbly with the rubber
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In recent years the US Grand Prix at COTA has been a two-stop race. When the Mercedes strategy team informed Lewis Hamilton that this year, based on the information gleaned in the sprint race on the partly resurfaced track, it was set to be a one, he was dubious.
The one-stop never works here, Hamilton insisted – until it was pointed out to him that he’d won here in 2017 on a one-stop, as did Kimi Räikkönen in ’18. The new surface was sufficiently kinder to the tyres that almost everyone went in planning to stop only once, with a combination of the medium and hard tyre. Making the one-stop didn’t even require the drivers to control their pace. The only slight concern was whether the rear would actually wear out (as opposed to simply losing performance) but that turned out not to be an issue.
Max Verstappen complained about his car’s handling
So the strategic variation became just how long the opening stint was and playing the track position game against the tyre performance. Ferrari’s tyre degradation was so good it was able to use it as a weapon against Red Bull, by bringing Carlos Sainz in as early as lap 21 to spring him past Max Verstappen for second place. Red Bull refused to respond and just hoped they’d have better pace than Sainz on their six-lap newer rubber in the second stint. But Red Bull did not.
Not only was the Ferrari super-fast yet easy on the rubber, but Verstappen found that the Red Bull did not respond well to the harder tyre. “I was just struggling for balance, for grip,” he reported. “I couldn’t really brake or rotate the car very well. So I just tried to do my own race. I think we did the best strategy we could as a team. And then it was just surviving to the end.”
“One-stop? Errr…”
Ferrari’s boss Frédéric Vasseur suggested that some key set-up choices this circuit forces you to make played a key role in the car’s great tyre performance here. “Austin is also a strange one because you have the first part, very high speed, bumpy, and the last part is low speed, smooth. And you have to decide where you want to be competitive. I think the other teams went a little bit in all directions between Saturday and Sunday but we kept the advantage. In terms of tyre deg it’s a big advantage to be in good shape in the last part.”