Does Leclerc’s strategy show Hamilton should have finished higher than fourth?

Lewis Hamilton’s recovery from 16th on the grid to finish fourth allowed him to leave Mercedes on a greater high than seemed likely after his Saturday setback.

But he took the chequered flag one place behind a driver he started three places ahead of. Does Charles Leclerc’s strategy show Hamilton, like the Ferrari driver, should have started the race on the medium tyre compound instead of the hards?

Both drivers made gains at the start, aided by Max Verstappen punting Oscar Piastri into a spin at the first corner and Sergio Perez being rotated by Valtteri Bottas. It put both on course to finish ahead of cars they might otherwise have had a hard time passing.

Hamilton was the only driver to start on the hard rubber, yet he picked up four places and started the second lap in 12th. But Leclerc’s softer rubber allowed him to make a quicker getaway and he completed the first lap in eighth place, a gain of 11 positions, by far the best start any driver has made all year.

From there Leclerc continued to gain places on his medium rubber. By lap 12 he had picked off Fernando Alonso and the Haas pair. Hamilton was only just starting to get stuck into the midfielders ahead of him as their tyres began to fade. As others pitted, however, within two more laps only Verstappen separated him from Leclerc on the track, and he was doomed to serve a 10-second time penalty which would drop him behind the Mercedes.

Ferrari brought Leclerc in early for his first pit stop, spreading the strategy options between their drivers as they sought to apply pressure to race leaders and championship rivals McLaren. At this stage of the race a Safety Car intervention would have forced Hamilton into an earlier switch to medium rubber than he wanted, leaving him vulnerable at the end, but none came.

Instead he hung on until lap 34, the latest of any driver, before pitting. By this time Verstappen had finally come in and Mercedes waited as late as they dared before changing Hamilton’s tyres while he could still come out ahead of the world champion.

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Hamilton revelled in his medium rubber over the final stint, repeatedly setting fastest lap as he homed in on George Russell, eventually passing his team mate on the final lap. At one stage his team suggested a podium finish might be possible, but although Leclerc’s old hard tyres faded towards the end, he had sufficient time in hand to out-run his rival.

Could Hamilton have done even better on Leclerc’s strategy? The Ferrari driver’s incredible start was the key to his race, and although his softer rubber undoubtedly gave him a useful traction advantage at that point, Leclerc also deserves credit for how he exploited the opportunities which opened up to him. Race starts are unpredictable moments: Leclerc wasn’t just on the right tyres at the right time, he also put himself in the right places.

Hamilton’s pace at the end of the race should have delivered him the fastest lap, but Haas decided to brighten up Kevin Magnussen’s final race by letting him have a go for it. He had been taken out of contention when he became Bottas’s second victim earlier in proceedings.

A set of soft tyres allowed Magnussen to produce a 1’25.637 which was over a second and a half quicker than anyone else managed. As he finished 16th, he was not eligible to score the bonus point which went with it. This was the final race before the bonus point is dropped, so F1’s least necessary rule went out in a blaze of irrelevance.

2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix lap chart

The positions of each driver on every lap. Click name to highlight, right-click to reset. Toggle drivers using controls below:

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2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix race chart

The gaps between each driver on every lap compared to the leader’s average lap time. Very large gaps omitted. Scroll to zoom, drag to pan and right-click to reset. Toggle drivers using controls below:

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2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix lap times

All the lap times by the drivers (in seconds, very slow laps excluded). Scroll to zoom, drag to pan and toggle drivers using the control below:

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2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix fastest laps

Each driver’s fastest lap:

Rank	#	Driver	Car	Lap time	Gap	Avg. speed (kph)	Lap no.
1	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas-Ferrari	1’25.637		222	57
2	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1’27.278	1.641	217.83	44
3	4	Lando Norris	McLaren-Mercedes	1’27.438	1.801	217.43	52
4	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren-Mercedes	1’27.690	2.053	216.8	51
5	1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull-Honda RBPT	1’27.765	2.128	216.62	56
6	55	Carlos Sainz Jnr	Ferrari	1’27.765	2.128	216.62	55
7	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin-Mercedes	1’27.948	2.311	216.17	51
8	24	Zhou Guanyu	Sauber-Ferrari	1’27.982	2.345	216.09	56
9	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	1’28.018	2.381	216	51
10	63	George Russell	Mercedes	1’28.195	2.558	215.56	56
11	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin-Mercedes	1’28.604	2.967	214.57	42
12	30	Liam Lawson	RB-Honda RBPT	1’28.751	3.114	214.21	52
13	61	Jack Doohan	Alpine-Renault	1’29.121	3.484	213.32	56
14	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Haas-Ferrari	1’29.152	3.515	213.25	17
15	22	Yuki Tsunoda	RB-Honda RBPT	1’29.200	3.563	213.13	41
16	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine-Renault	1’29.212	3.575	213.11	37
17	43	Franco Colapinto	Williams-Mercedes	1’29.411	3.774	212.63	5
18	23	Alexander Albon	Williams-Mercedes	1’29.438	3.801	212.57	46
19	77	Valtteri Bottas	Sauber-Ferrari	1’29.482	3.845	212.46	14

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2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix tyre strategies

The tyre strategies for each driver:

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2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix pit stop times

How long each driver’s pit stops took:

Rank	#	Driver	Team	Complete stop time (s)	Gap to best (s)	Stop no.	Lap no.
1	4	Lando Norris	McLaren	21.276		1	26
2	55	Carlos Sainz Jnr	Ferrari	21.28	0.004	1	25
3	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Haas	21.53	0.254	1	13
4	63	George Russell	Mercedes	21.656	0.38	1	26
5	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	21.678	0.402	2	29
6	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	21.694	0.418	1	34
7	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	21.869	0.593	1	20
8	22	Yuki Tsunoda	RB	21.869	0.593	1	22
9	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	22.053	0.777	2	32
10	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine	22.059	0.783	1	14
11	23	Alexander Albon	Williams	22.065	0.789	1	12
12	61	Jack Doohan	Alpine	22.08	0.804	1	22
13	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	22.09	0.814	4	55
14	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	22.437	1.161	2	37
15	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	22.815	1.539	3	30
16	24	Zhou Guanyu	Sauber	23.024	1.748	1	12
17	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	23.266	1.99	1	11
18	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	23.326	2.05	1	13
19	30	Liam Lawson	RB	23.415	2.139	1	23
20	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	23.582	2.306	1	4
21	43	Franco Colapinto	Williams	24.941	3.665	1	3
22	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	26.363	5.087	1	12
23	24	Zhou Guanyu	Sauber	28.765	7.489	2	39
24	1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	32.652	11.376	1	29
25	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	32.774	11.498	2	32
26	77	Valtteri Bottas	Sauber	41.144	19.868	1	6

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