The cold had convinced Red Bull to give Max Verstappen mediums instead as he had pitted earlier, allowing him to pass Leclerc who eventually pitted for a set of softs. But it was too late. Verstappen won and Leclerc was sixth.
More often, incidents along the way, such as accidents, can force a change of plans, particularly when the safety car is deployed. This requires the cars to follow the safety car at a slow speed to allow cars in these incidents to be cleared. Because overtaking is prohibited and the cars back up behind the safety car, this wipes out the time gaps between the cars and forces the strategists to quickly rethink. Sometimes it’s more time efficient to pit while the cars are slowing down.
Collins said strategists would discuss “every three to four laps” what to do if the safety car is deployed so there is a plan to respond. “Inevitably, doubts will come up again when the safety car comes out, depending on what happened or who retired,” she said. “It’s always a bit hectic. The radio is very crowded as many people are talking.”
These decisions are often made at headquarters, where strategists and engineers tally up the numbers and track what other cars are doing. They sit in mission-control-style rooms with rows of screens and computers, where staff are given tasks such as listening to other teams’ radio calls, analyzing tire damage, or watching the weather radar when it’s raining.
They can then feed information back to the senior strategists along the route, who will make the final decision. “The hard part of strategy is getting people to get the information down to the pit wall at the right time and know when something is really critical,” said Collins.
A recent example of adjusting plans during a race was the Dutch Grand Prix. Knowing he lacked the speed to beat Red Bull, Mercedes changed his tire strategy. It was decided that Lewis Hamilton would only pit once instead of twice, while Red Bull’s Verstappen was to pit twice. Mercedes figured this would give an eight-second lead once the pit stops were completed, which it was hoped would be enough for Hamilton to win.
“We knew we didn’t have the fastest car,” Shovlin said. “But we felt like if we could put it on a better strategy it would give us a chance to win.”