Whilst I haven't published any predictions so far, I have made a note of my views as they shifted across the weekend.
Thursday:
Button, Barrichello, Massa, Vettel, Webber, Alonso, Rosberg, Glock
Friday (after practice):
Massa, Button, Barrichello, Raikkonen, Webber, Alonso, Hamilton, Rosberg
Saturday (after qualifying):
Vettel, Button, Barrichello, Webber, Massa, Trulli, Raikkonen, Rosberg
Put simply, Brawn's slow practice pace didn't fool me, whereas Red Bulls did. McLaren and BMW flattered to deceive yesterday as well, although Kubica did make it into Q3 for only the 2nd time since Malaysia.
I don't forsee much carnage tomorrow, but we'll only find out once the race is underway. Note: Fisichella has struggled to survive the first corner here (there was a piece in the preview show for ualifying, showing him spinning or crashing every time he's been here, on lap one at turn one).
Showing posts with label Brawn. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Brawn. Show all posts
06 June 2009
10 May 2009
How the race was lost
This time the 3 quickest cars were the Brawn, Red Bull and Ferrari. 6 drivers therefore had a good chance of winning. Here's how they went, and went wrong.
Button: Qualified on pole, but lost out on first straight. Despite slightly lighter car, he slipped to 1.5s behind Rubens. Switched to 2 stop strategy at first stop, which proved the right thing to do.
Barrichello: Poor qualifying, but recovered on first lap to lead. Stayed on 3-stop strategy but foolishly left a full length final stint on the slower tyres. Had he put, say, 4 laps more fuel on board, the fuel might have slowed him a second, but he would have recovered about 8 a the end of the stint. Emerged 7 seconds behind Jenson, which became 13 by the end.
Vettel: Qualified 2nd whilst heavier than the Brawn cars. Slipped behind Massa at the start. Stuck to same strategy as Massa, which was pure folly, as he could have been as quick as the Brawns. Ended up 5th, promoted to 4th only by Massa's problems.
Webber: Poor qualifying, left him 5th on grid. Good fight with Alonso as safety car came in. If he'd slipped behind, it would have been curtains. Went longer on 2nd stint, putting twice as much fuel in as Rubens (who stopped on same lap) which meant he was on the soft tyre longer than any other leading 2 stopper. This enabled him to leapfrog Massa and Vettel, but Jenson was long gone. Couldn't pass Rubens, but kept him in sight at the end.
Massa: Qualified really well, but only gained one spot off the grid, using his KERS. Had he managed to get in front, the race would have looked very different, and it would have taken quite some Brawn or Red Bull ingenuity to get passed him. Screwed up final stop, leaving him short fuelled, which cost him 4th and 5th places, he ended up 6th, joining Kimi on 3pts in the standings.
Raikkonen: Had the same car as Massa, but a spectacular Q1 misjudgement left him 16th on the grid. Jumped to 10th on lap 1, but problems first with his KERS and then with his throttle gave him a DNF. Never even ran in the points.
Button: Qualified on pole, but lost out on first straight. Despite slightly lighter car, he slipped to 1.5s behind Rubens. Switched to 2 stop strategy at first stop, which proved the right thing to do.
Barrichello: Poor qualifying, but recovered on first lap to lead. Stayed on 3-stop strategy but foolishly left a full length final stint on the slower tyres. Had he put, say, 4 laps more fuel on board, the fuel might have slowed him a second, but he would have recovered about 8 a the end of the stint. Emerged 7 seconds behind Jenson, which became 13 by the end.
Vettel: Qualified 2nd whilst heavier than the Brawn cars. Slipped behind Massa at the start. Stuck to same strategy as Massa, which was pure folly, as he could have been as quick as the Brawns. Ended up 5th, promoted to 4th only by Massa's problems.
Webber: Poor qualifying, left him 5th on grid. Good fight with Alonso as safety car came in. If he'd slipped behind, it would have been curtains. Went longer on 2nd stint, putting twice as much fuel in as Rubens (who stopped on same lap) which meant he was on the soft tyre longer than any other leading 2 stopper. This enabled him to leapfrog Massa and Vettel, but Jenson was long gone. Couldn't pass Rubens, but kept him in sight at the end.
Massa: Qualified really well, but only gained one spot off the grid, using his KERS. Had he managed to get in front, the race would have looked very different, and it would have taken quite some Brawn or Red Bull ingenuity to get passed him. Screwed up final stop, leaving him short fuelled, which cost him 4th and 5th places, he ended up 6th, joining Kimi on 3pts in the standings.
Raikkonen: Had the same car as Massa, but a spectacular Q1 misjudgement left him 16th on the grid. Jumped to 10th on lap 1, but problems first with his KERS and then with his throttle gave him a DNF. Never even ran in the points.
26 April 2009
How the race was lost
Going into the race, Trulli and Vettel were the favourites. Brawn, Red Bull and Toyota seemed well matched for pace, so here's how 5 of their drivers lost.
Trulli - Lost the lead into the first corner, but wasn't held up by his teammate, so that wasn't where the race was lost. After his first pit stop, however, he was held up fighting with Alonso, and then gradually lost more time on the harder tyre. At the end, he failed to take advantage of the softer tyre to usurp Vettel for second.
Glock - Poor qualifying lap, but recovered well to take the lead. Held up by Rosberg after his first stop and then had absolutely no pace on the harder tyre (about 1s per lap slower than his teammate on the SAME tyres). Ended up slipping into Rosberg and Alonso's fight.
Vettel - Fuelled longer than anyone else on the first 3 rows, but slipped behind Hamilton into the first corner. Button followed through into turn 2, leaving him 5th. Wasn't able to follow Button past Hamilton so lost time there. Was then held up by Trulli, so unable to take advantage of the softer tyres. Used his fuel strategy well to pass Trulli, but should have been in the same position as Button.
Webber - Held up by Sutil in Q1, started 18th. Quickly got into the middle of the field, runing 11th until his first stop. However, he then unable to make any further progress, proving either that overtaking is still impossible, or else that he hasn't got the knack. A poor performance, he should at least have recovered to the points.
Button - Qualified only 4th and dropped behind Hamilton at the start. However, he managed to get past Lewis at the beginning of lap 2, and then took advantage of his tyres and his fuel to take the lead. He then never looked back.
Barrichello - Poor qualifying lap, left him 6th, with 4 heavier cars ahead of him. The KERS cars then passed him on the first straight, but he recovered to get back ahead of Alonso and Massa in turn 1. Also passed Kimi on lap 1, leaving him where he started in 6th. However, his 3 stop strategy only slowed him down, bringing him into a fight for 6th, rather than into the fight for 2nd to 5th.
Trulli - Lost the lead into the first corner, but wasn't held up by his teammate, so that wasn't where the race was lost. After his first pit stop, however, he was held up fighting with Alonso, and then gradually lost more time on the harder tyre. At the end, he failed to take advantage of the softer tyre to usurp Vettel for second.
Glock - Poor qualifying lap, but recovered well to take the lead. Held up by Rosberg after his first stop and then had absolutely no pace on the harder tyre (about 1s per lap slower than his teammate on the SAME tyres). Ended up slipping into Rosberg and Alonso's fight.
Vettel - Fuelled longer than anyone else on the first 3 rows, but slipped behind Hamilton into the first corner. Button followed through into turn 2, leaving him 5th. Wasn't able to follow Button past Hamilton so lost time there. Was then held up by Trulli, so unable to take advantage of the softer tyres. Used his fuel strategy well to pass Trulli, but should have been in the same position as Button.
Webber - Held up by Sutil in Q1, started 18th. Quickly got into the middle of the field, runing 11th until his first stop. However, he then unable to make any further progress, proving either that overtaking is still impossible, or else that he hasn't got the knack. A poor performance, he should at least have recovered to the points.
Button - Qualified only 4th and dropped behind Hamilton at the start. However, he managed to get past Lewis at the beginning of lap 2, and then took advantage of his tyres and his fuel to take the lead. He then never looked back.
Barrichello - Poor qualifying lap, left him 6th, with 4 heavier cars ahead of him. The KERS cars then passed him on the first straight, but he recovered to get back ahead of Alonso and Massa in turn 1. Also passed Kimi on lap 1, leaving him where he started in 6th. However, his 3 stop strategy only slowed him down, bringing him into a fight for 6th, rather than into the fight for 2nd to 5th.
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