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RACE ANALYSIS: How pit stops played a crucial part in deciding the Barcelona Feature Race
Round 6 in Barcelona was one that will live long in the memory as we got two incredibly entertaining races that gave us two drivers standing on the top step for the first time this season.
Victor Martins claimed victory in the Sprint Race while Jak Crawford came out on top in the Feature, but just how did the DAMS Lucas Oil driver take the win?
A part of it was the pace he and his team showed throughout the weekend, but there were other elements that came into play. Let us explain…
RACE START AND AN INTRUIGING FIRST STINT
Crawford started from second on the grid after missing out on Pole Position to Hitech Pulse-Eight’s Paul Aron by just 0.002s – the closest margin in Formula 2 history.
READ MORE: Juan Manuel Correa's Barcelona Weekend in his Words
So, both drivers opted to start on the Soft tyre, meaning that while they would be quicker in the initial stages, their tyres would degrade quicker than those on the Hards.
What would have helped them preserve their rubber was the early Safety Car intervention, following a collision between Victor Martins and Dennis Hauger that left both stuck in the gravel on the opening lap.
But with the track clear and a return to racing on Lap 4, Aron, having kept hold of the lead at the start, was showing great pace to hold a 3.1s lead over Crawford by the time the DAMS driver pitted on Lap 8.
The Estonian had been faster by a minimum of four-tenths per lap, and on Lap 4, he was a whole eight-tenths quicker than Crawford.
DAMS Team Principal Yannick Hubert revealed after the race that they pitted Crawford early because he “overheated” his tyres.
Crawford himself said: “I was struggling a lot on the Soft Tyre. I made the call on the radio, that I was going to get passed by Franco Colapinto, and we needed to box now.”
CRAWFORD PITS AND ARON STAYS OUT
Crawford came back out in P17 and in clean air with PREMA Racing’s Andrea Kimi Antonelli 21s up the road. He also had no competition from behind so could get his Hard tyres through the warm-up phase and up to temperature without being compromised.
While he did this, Hitech kept Aron out on track.
It took the Aston Martin Development driver half a lap to get up to temperature as his 37.111s middle sector on Lap 9 was his slowest until his final tour. However, he completed a 27.242s final sector, which was three-tenths quicker than Aron.
On to Lap 10, and this is where the big difference was made. Aron was now struggling quite a lot and completed a lap of 1:32.024, while Crawford was now the quickest driver on track having set a 1:29.642.
Explaining why in the post-race press conference, Crawford said: “My engineer said to target 30.6. I think I did a 29.4 or something close, so I was fully going for it. I knew that was my chance to get ahead of Paul.”
The undercut was now well and truly in play and on Lap 11, Crawford took a further second and a half out on Aron, with Hitech now making the decision to bring him into the pits.
READ MORE: Hubert hails ‘fantastic’ double podium for DAMS in Barcelona
ARON LOSES THE EFFECTIVE RACE LEAD
The Estonian driver’s pitstop lasted 32.346s and was actually quicker than his DAMS rival’s – who did a 32.671s stop – and he came out in front.
But he had to go through the initial tyre warmup phase and with Crawford flying, he was able to overtake the Hitech driver heading down to Turn 4.
In the laps that followed, Aron was still somewhat quicker and had closed in on Crawford but went through the gravel at the final corner of Lap 13.
This dropped him down the order and gave his rival breathing room which he would use to win the race.
DID PITSTOPS DECIDE THE REST OF THE PODIUM ORDER?
In actual fact, yes. Crawford’s teammate Juan Manuel Correa used the alternative strategy – which is starting on the Hards before finishing on the Softs – effectively to finish in P3 after starting in P8. But did he have a chance to win?
Correa was the quickest driver in the closing stages and having made his way up to third, Crawford and Colapinto ahead admitted they feared he was going to catch them.
However, he came home in third, six and a half seconds behind Crawford. But why was that? Well, it could be due to a slightly slow pit stop.
HIGHLIGHTS: Crawford earns first win of 2024 with Barcelona Feature Race victory
When Correa pitted from the lead on Lap 27, he had a 33.5s lead over Isack Hadjar in P10 – effectively P6 – and a further two and a half seconds on Zane Maloney in P11.
However, a 34.848s stop – the slowest of the day – caused by the left front tyre being slow to go on, and more impactfully, being held to avoid an unsafe release into the path of Kush Maini caused him to come out behind both.
He was able to overtake Maloney and Hadjar but would have lost time behind them and would have damaged his tyres running in their dirty air and was therefore slower than Crawford in the final two laps.
It’s hard to know whether he would have caught the pair and won the race with a quicker stop. But one similar to that of his teammates could have made things quite interesting to end the race.