Stint Analysis
Evaluating tire performance, degradation, and strategy across each pit-stop window.
A stint is the set of laps between pit stops — and analyzing each stint individually is how teams and analysts evaluate whether strategy worked. Stint analysis compares average pace, degradation rate, and stint length across drivers and compounds to determine who had the faster race car versus who had the better strategy. It's the analytical foundation behind Sportami's tactical race breakdowns: when we say 'the undercut gained 3 seconds,' that comes from comparing stint data.
Evaluating tire performance and strategy across each pit stop window
Key Ideas
Stint Pace vs. Lap Time
A single lap time can be misleading — affected by traffic, mistakes, or yellow flags. Stint pace averages across many laps, filtering out noise to reveal true performance. A driver with a worse fastest lap but better stint average often has the more effective race strategy.
Degradation Rate per Stint
Measuring how much lap times worsen per lap within a stint reveals the degradation rate. A rate of 0.05 seconds per lap is gentle; 0.15 is aggressive. Drivers with lower degradation rates can extend stints, gaining strategic flexibility and potentially avoiding an extra pit stop.
Stint Length vs. Strategy
Longer stints with gentle degradation suit one-stop strategies. Shorter stints on softer compounds suit two-stop strategies. Comparing stint lengths across the field shows which teams made the right strategy call and which paid a price for the wrong one.
Compound Effectiveness
Stint analysis reveals which tire compound actually worked best. The soft might be 0.5 seconds faster per lap but only last 15 laps, while the medium is 0.3 slower but lasts 30. Total stint time (pace × length) determines the true winner — sometimes the 'slower' tire wins the race.
How It Works
A single lap time can be misleading — affected by traffic, mistakes, or yellow flags. Stint pace averages across many laps, filtering out noise to reveal true performance. A driver with a worse fastest lap but better stint average often has the more effective race strategy.
Measuring how much lap times worsen per lap within a stint reveals the degradation rate. A rate of 0.05 seconds per lap is gentle; 0.15 is aggressive. Drivers with lower degradation rates can extend stints, gaining strategic flexibility and potentially avoiding an extra pit stop.
Longer stints with gentle degradation suit one-stop strategies. Shorter stints on softer compounds suit two-stop strategies. Comparing stint lengths across the field shows which teams made the right strategy call and which paid a price for the wrong one.
Stint analysis reveals which tire compound actually worked best. The soft might be 0.5 seconds faster per lap but only last 15 laps, while the medium is 0.3 slower but lasts 30. Total stint time (pace × length) determines the true winner — sometimes the 'slower' tire wins the race.
See the Why
In Sportami's post-race analysis, stint comparison charts show each driver's stints as separate segments with average pace and degradation rate. When two drivers' stint averages are close but one has lower degradation, that driver likely had a tire management advantage — even if they weren't setting the fastest laps.
Real-World Examples
One-Stop vs. Two-Stop Verdict
Driver A does two stints of 25 laps each. Driver B does three stints of 16-17 laps each. Stint analysis shows driver B's average pace was 0.4 seconds faster per lap, but the extra pit stop cost 23 seconds. Net result: driver A gained 5 seconds overall. The one-stop strategy won.
Tire Management Advantage
Two teammates on identical strategies show very different stint data. Driver A degrades at 0.08 seconds per lap; driver B at 0.14 seconds per lap. Over a 30-lap stint, that's 1.8 seconds of extra degradation for driver B — nearly a position's worth of time lost purely through tire management.
Wrong Compound Choice
A team chooses hard tires for the second stint, expecting low degradation to compensate for slower initial pace. Stint analysis shows the hards never reached optimal temperature, averaging 0.6 seconds slower than rivals on mediums. The compound's theoretical advantage never materialized because conditions didn't suit it.
Quick Check
Why is stint average pace more useful than fastest lap time for comparing drivers?
Reveal answer
A fastest lap can be set on a clear track with fresh tires — it's a peak, not a representative measure. Stint average pace accounts for all the normal race conditions (traffic, degradation, fuel weight) and reveals who was genuinely faster across a sustained run.