Form is Temporary, Class is Permanent - USA 2022
Source: Aston Martin F1
Formula 1 returns to the Americas for a second race in the United States. It was a record crowd at Austin and the spectacle didn’t disappoint with a three-way battle for victory. But that wasn’t the only performance that captivated the masses. In his last outing around the Circuit of the Americas, Sebastian Vettel drove like a man in his prime, ready to lay his mark on the sport. But instead, it was a drive from a seasoned champion who was at his best to deliver a P7 result (following Fernando Alonso’s post-race penalty). So how did Vettel and Aston Martin deliver another top performance and what would things have looked like had the pitstop gone smoothly? Let’s jump straight into it.
Make The Most of What You’re Dealt
Chart 1: Race Lap Chart
As the lights went out, Vettel had a strong getaway, positioning himself in the middle of the pack as they all ascended the hill for the approach to turn 1. Vettel opted to take a wide and open line after spotting George Russell making a staunch claim for the apex against Carlos Sainz. But Sainz’s line was sharper than Russell had expected, who also failed to slow the car appropriately to handle such an event. What ensued was inevitable, with Russell careering into the side of Sainz, sending him into a spin. Vettel took to the outside with little compromise, but the same could not be said for others contesting the corner. Vettel was now in P5 and jostling with Lando Norris through the esses of sector 1. Norris reclaimed the position momentarily before suffering a snap of oversteer and conceding the place back to Vettel who held a firm and clean line through the complex of corners. Vettel had the legs into the hairpin of turn 11 and begun to stretch his legs for the rest of the race.
All this action is captured in the first data point of Chart 1 above, which neatly summarises Vettel’s ascent from P10 on the grid to P5 by the end of the first lap. With both Sergio Perez and Charles Leclerc out of order due to grid penalties, it was likely that Vettel would have to concede those positions to the faster cars. But would he be able to fight for the best of the rest?
Chart 2: Race Story - Cumulative Delta Plot
Vettel held on P5 for 4 laps before losing position to Perez as shown in Chart 2 above. It would be the same story for his teammate, Lance Stroll, shortly after. But both Aston Martin drivers held onto their pace and were lapping more competitively than the remainder of the field to their rear, with the exception of Leclerc. But even then, it took the Monegasque until lap 12 before he had made it clear of his old Ferrari teammate.
Chart 3: Race Pace Compared
The race entered the first pit window, with several drivers opting for their first change of tyres. Both Astons attempted to stretch their first stints but Stroll suffered poorer degradation as shown in Chart 3 on the first stint and was brought into the pits a few laps after Russell. Having not suffered the same issues, Vettel continued his march, extracting a good and consistent pace from his machinery. Vettel’s patience would be rewarded in the form of a perfectly timed safety car at the hands of Valtteri Bottas losing the rear end and getting beached in the gravel. The deployment of the safety car invited the likes of Leclerc and Vettel to dive into the pits for a cheap pitstop. And so they did, with Leclerc jumping up to the rear of Perez while Vettel resumed the race on the tail of Russell and ahead of his teammate Stroll.
The race was once again underway with all the cars zipping through sector 1. Alonso was flying and had Stroll in his sights as he got a powerful exit out of the turn 11 hairpin, catapulting him on the back straight. Alonso tucked into Stroll’s slipstream before darting left to make the pass. But before Alonso could get a clear path, Stroll made a late dart to the left also - giving Alonso nowhere to go but into his rear. The contact launched Alonso into the air as the Alpine front wing wedged with the rear tyre wall of the Aston. Alonso ended his wheelie with a hard landing and high-speed excursion into the fence that pushed him straight back onto the track. Alonso kept the car pointing forwards and carried his momentum, while Stroll was sent spinning into the other fence - suffering severe damage to the car. Thankfully, both drivers were okay but the shunt did mean that the safety car had to resume its duties on track.
Chart 4: Tyre Strategy Summary
Somehow, Alonso carried on the race albeit was out of the fight with Vettel, leaving the German in a more comfortable position to consolidate his P6. The race resumed once more with Vettel pumping out lap times that were close to that of Russell and better than Norris as shown in Chart 3. Vettel’s pace in the second stint was helped by being on the medium tyre versus the hards for both Russell and Norris. Although part of this is also down to the Mercedes and McLaren opting for a medium-hard-hard strategy instead of Aston’s medium-medium-hard as shown in Chart 4 above. The Aston performed well on the medium tyre, as can be seen by the pace difference after Norris’ second pitstop. Despite having a fresh set of hard tyres, Norris’ pace lags that of Vettel between laps 35 to 41 in Chart 3 prior.
Vettel’s pace was a key component to his mid-race charge that kept him in touch with the front pack and well clear of the rest of the midpack as shown in Chart 2 earlier. Not only this, but the German was able to stretch out his second stint to 23 laps, well beyond what was suggested by Pirelli’s tyre strategy midpoints - see Chart 4. All of this helped Vettel take the temporary lead of the race - a welcome throwback to his race-winning ways. Vettel was looking nailed on for a solid result having laid the groundwork with a strong middle stint. All that was needed now was a strong final stint to see the chequered flag. But one more pitstop still remained.
Chart 5: Pitstop Gain/Loss
Vettel pulls into the pits and the crew begin their routine. But there’s an issue with the loading of the front left wheel. The team scrambled to get it aligned correctly along with the proper re-raising and lowering of the car. Chart 5 above shows that Vettel was left stationary for almost 15 seconds longer than Norris on his final pitstop. Such a delay was more than enough to nullify Vettel’s earlier gain from pitting under the safety car and crucially dumping the German back in the pack to suffer from the dirty air. The implication of this can be seen in Chart 2 earlier with Vettel resuming the race behind Yuki Tsunoda while Vettel’s “hypothetical” plot (assuming a more normal pitstop time) resumes the race clear of the midpack with some risk to Kevin Magnussen. However, given Magnussen’s one-stop strategy, it would be hard to see it taking Vettel long to clear the traffic with fresh tyres.
But it was a different story for the real race plot, which saw Vettel having to clear the gaggle of cars between Tsunoda and Magnussen. Yet despite the usual issues of DRS trains, Vettel was able to switch on the tyres and hammer out the pace once again. Vettel did more than just damage limitation, as he broke through the DRS train and came up to the rear of Magnussen - as can be seen in Chart 1 earlier. Vettel was closing in, with Magnussen just trying to get to the end of the race on an old set of mediums. It all comes down to a last-lap showdown between the two drivers, both battling wheel to wheel all the way through sector 3. It takes all the way to the final turn for Vettel to muscle his car in front and get the traction to sprint to the line - grabbing P8 by the skin of his teeth. And while it was a result that fell short of what could have been, it was still a result that commanded applause given the overcoming of adversity and not least a performance from an outgoing champion.
Watchpoints for the Next Grand Prix
Formula 1 takes a trip south to the vibrant Mexican Grand Prix. The track is high in the skies with thinner air becoming a test of the engines and aero balance of the cars. Will Red Bull continue their reign of form or will there be an unsuspecting contender in the mix? Can Perez dig deep and take the fight to Verstappen to claim the all-desired home victory? And how will the Mclaren and Alpine battle in the constructor’s championship continue to play out? Only a few outings left before the end of the season. I’ll see you at the next one.
