Debris, speed limits and seat belts caused a succession of problems for the Williams drivers in the pits – even when they managed to stop in the correct boxes.
The trouble began when Felipe Massa came in for his first pit stop on lap six and broke the speed limit on the reconfigured pit lane. “I hit the limiter twice by mistake,” he explained.
He was handed a five second time penalty to serve at his next pit stop. Massa then compounded his problem by pulling into McLaren’s pit box by mistake – he blamed the similar colour of their mechanics’ overalls and the fact the garage order had been changed earlier in the weekend for the confusion.
Both Williams drivers also had to have debris removed from their cars during their pit stops, but despite these delays Massa was still able to finish on the podium. Valtteri Bottas lost more time, however, when his seat belts had to be adjusted during his first pit stop.
A further slow pit stop dropped Bottas further out of contention.
Massa’s eagerness to be serviced by the McLaren crew could be explained by the fact they’re the quickest in F1 at the moment. They produced the fastest pit stop of the race for Jenson Button on lap 27 – the sixth time they have done so in the last seven races.
Brazilian Grand Prix tyre strategies
The tyre strategies for each driver:
| Stint 1 | Stint 2 | Stint 3 | Stint 4 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nico Rosberg | Soft (7) | Medium (19) | Medium (24) | Medium (21) |
| Lewis Hamilton | Soft (8) | Medium (20) | Medium (23) | Medium (20) |
| Felipe Massa | Soft (5) | Medium (20) | Medium (25) | Medium (21) |
| Jenson Button | Soft (6) | Medium (21) | Medium (23) | Medium (21) |
| Sebastian Vettel | Soft (6) | Medium (18) | Medium (24) | Medium (23) |
| Fernando Alonso | Soft (7) | Medium (21) | Medium (24) | Medium (19) |
| Kimi Raikkonen | Soft (8) | Medium (27) | Medium (36) | |
| Nico Hulkenberg | Medium (16) | Medium (20) | Medium (24) | Soft (11) |
| Kevin Magnussen | Soft (7) | Medium (19) | Medium (21) | Medium (24) |
| Valtteri Bottas | Soft (6) | Medium (20) | Medium (16) | Medium (28) |
| Daniil Kvyat | Medium (18) | Medium (20) | Medium (21) | Soft (11) |
| Pastor Maldonado | Soft (4) | Medium (23) | Medium (18) | Medium (25) |
| Jean-Eric Vergne | Soft (9) | Medium (18) | Medium (19) | Medium (24) |
| Esteban Gutierrez | Soft (8) | Medium (19) | Medium (21) | Medium (22) |
| Sergio Perez | Soft (5) | Medium (20) | Medium (22) | Medium (23) |
| Adrian Sutil | Medium (18) | Medium (21) | Soft (10) | Medium (21) |
| Romain Grosjean | Medium (24) | Medium (16) | Medium (19) | Soft (4) |
| Daniel Ricciardo | Soft (7) | Medium (20) | Medium (12) |
Brazilian Grand Prix pit stop times
How long each driver’s pit stops took:
| Driver | Team | Pit stop time | Gap | On lap | |
| 1 | Jenson Button | McLaren | 22.620 | 27 | |
| 2 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull | 22.746 | 0.126 | 48 |
| 3 | Pastor Maldonado | Lotus | 22.865 | 0.245 | 27 |
| 4 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | 22.871 | 0.251 | 27 |
| 5 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 22.874 | 0.254 | 51 |
| 6 | Sergio Perez | Force India | 22.997 | 0.377 | 25 |
| 7 | Jenson Button | McLaren | 23.018 | 0.398 | 6 |
| 8 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus | 23.023 | 0.403 | 40 |
| 9 | Kevin Magnussen | McLaren | 23.061 | 0.441 | 7 |
| 10 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 23.077 | 0.457 | 52 |
| 11 | Pastor Maldonado | Lotus | 23.090 | 0.470 | 45 |
| 12 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 23.134 | 0.514 | 28 |
| 13 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | 23.141 | 0.521 | 7 |
| 14 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull | 23.195 | 0.575 | 24 |
| 15 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus | 23.197 | 0.577 | 59 |
| 16 | Felipe Massa | Williams | 23.220 | 0.600 | 5 |
| 17 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 23.240 | 0.620 | 50 |
| 18 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 23.278 | 0.658 | 7 |
| 19 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams | 23.294 | 0.674 | 6 |
| 20 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India | 23.323 | 0.703 | 36 |
| 21 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 23.346 | 0.726 | 26 |
| 22 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 23.351 | 0.731 | 8 |
| 23 | Jenson Button | McLaren | 23.383 | 0.763 | 50 |
| 24 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India | 23.411 | 0.791 | 60 |
| 25 | Esteban Gutierrez | Sauber | 23.418 | 0.798 | 48 |
| 26 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 23.427 | 0.807 | 8 |
| 27 | Sergio Perez | Force India | 23.467 | 0.847 | 5 |
| 28 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India | 23.554 | 0.934 | 16 |
| 29 | Esteban Gutierrez | Sauber | 23.661 | 1.041 | 8 |
| 30 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 23.730 | 1.110 | 7 |
| 31 | Pastor Maldonado | Lotus | 23.753 | 1.133 | 4 |
| 32 | Jean-Eric Vergne | Toro Rosso | 23.782 | 1.162 | 9 |
| 33 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull | 23.808 | 1.188 | 6 |
| 34 | Jean-Eric Vergne | Toro Rosso | 24.002 | 1.382 | 46 |
| 35 | Kevin Magnussen | McLaren | 24.131 | 1.511 | 47 |
| 36 | Kevin Magnussen | McLaren | 24.190 | 1.570 | 26 |
| 37 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 24.224 | 1.604 | 28 |
| 38 | Esteban Gutierrez | Sauber | 24.267 | 1.647 | 27 |
| 39 | Adrian Sutil | Sauber | 24.302 | 1.682 | 39 |
| 40 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso | 24.385 | 1.765 | 38 |
| 41 | Jean-Eric Vergne | Toro Rosso | 24.408 | 1.788 | 27 |
| 42 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso | 24.726 | 2.106 | 59 |
| 43 | Adrian Sutil | Sauber | 24.853 | 2.233 | 49 |
| 44 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso | 25.001 | 2.381 | 18 |
| 45 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus | 25.591 | 2.971 | 24 |
| 46 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams | 26.463 | 3.843 | 42 |
| 47 | Felipe Massa | Williams | 26.918 | 4.298 | 50 |
| 48 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 27.934 | 5.314 | 35 |
| 49 | Adrian Sutil | Sauber | 29.465 | 6.845 | 18 |
| 50 | Sergio Perez | Force India | 30.067 | 7.447 | 47 |
| 51 | Felipe Massa | Williams | 30.084 | 7.464 | 25 |
| 52 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams | 35.284 | 12.664 | 26 |
2014 Brazilian Grand Prix
- Rosberg earns first Driver of the Weekend win of 2014
- 2014 Brazilian Grand Prix fans’ video gallery
- Solid Brazilian Grand Prix opens up title fight
- 2014 Brazilian Grand Prix team radio transcript
- Sponsor Watch: 2014 US and Brazilian Grands Prix
Image © Williams/LAT
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
9th November 2014, 21:50
Troubles in the pitlane meant getting a glipse of Claire today.
#ClaireWilliamsFanClub :D
greg-c (@greg-c)
10th November 2014, 23:47
@fer-no65
I so agree,
Mog
9th November 2014, 22:59
Massa eager to be serviced by McLaren….LOL Keith!
Euro Brun (@eurobrun)
9th November 2014, 23:35
Out of interest, anyone know why the pit garage allocation was changed?
I though it was based on last years constructors standings: Red Bull as reigning champs pick first or last garage, then everyone else is in order.
Or did they swap to one of the vacated Marussia / Caterham garages?
Thanks
Ilham Shaq (@hahailham1)
10th November 2014, 0:36
i also want to know why..
Iestyn Davies (@fastiesty)
10th November 2014, 0:56
@eurobrun @hahailham1 It was to make moving between the hospitality and pits easier for Sir Frank Williams, but he did not attend the race.
Euro Brun (@eurobrun)
10th November 2014, 12:20
@fastiesty Thanks for that. That’s actually really nice to know that the effort was made and that ‘protocol’ or ‘regulations’ didn’t get in the way of what is a nice gesture – even though he was ultimately unable to attend. Here’s hoping that he’s fit enough for the last race of the season.