The tag will say Friday, but that is just for consistency's sake. Monaco being so special, "Friday" practice happened yesterday. Simple post, this, to gauge gaps between teams, it will look at total laps, fastest time and the difference between the sessions.
Session 1:
Brawn - Barrichello- 1:17.189 - 0.000 - 26+28 = 54 laps total
Ferrari - F. Massa - 1:17.499 - 0.310 - 31+30 = 61
McLaren - Hamilton - 1:17.578 - 0.389 - 26+30 = 56
Williams - Nakajima- 1:18.000 - 0.811 - 29+27 = 56
Renault - F. Alonso- 1:18.283 - 1.094 - 31+36 = 67 (Piquet ran lots of laps)
Red Bull - Webber - 1:18.348 - 1.159 - 22+16 = 38 (Vettel engine blown,no penalty)
Toro Rosso - Buemi - 1:18.695 - 1.506 - 37+31 = 68 (Buemi ran more laps than anyone else)
Force India-Fisichella-1:19.534-2.345 - 28+24 = 52
BMW - Robert Kubica- 1:19.560 - 2.371 - 20+23 = 43 (Kubica had mechanical trouble)
Toyota - Timo Glock- 1:19.698 - 2.509 - 24+28 = 52
Session 2:
Williams - Rosberg - 1:15.243 - 0.000 - 45+43 = 88
McLaren-Hamilton-1:15.445 - 0.202 - 35+45 = 80
Brawn-Barrichello- 1:15.590 - 0.347 - 41+36 = 77
Ferrari - F. Massa - 1:15.832 - 0.589 - 42+43 = 87
Red Bull - S. Vettel - 1:15.847 - 0.604 - 33+27 = 60
Renault - N. Piquet - 1:16.286 - 1.043 - 43+39 = 82
Force India-A. Sutil- 1:16.675 - 1.432 - 38+45 = 83
Toyota-Jarno Trulli- 1:16.915 - 1.672 - 43+45 = 88
Toro Rosso-Buemi- 1:16.983 - 1.740 - 48+48=96
BMW - N. Heidfeld - 1:17.109 - 1.866 - 40+2 = 42 (Kubica blew his engine early on)
You'll notice how much quicker the 2nd session was compared to the first. Saturday will be quicker still. Drivers in bold beat their teammates in both sessions. Remember, though, that Thursday is worthless in F1 (except for sponsors).
Tyres: Super-softs and softs have been brought here, as an exception to the "2 compounds apart" rule, which will reduce the need for leading teams to run on softs in Q1. This will further empower them to 2-stop, on fresh tyres throughout (2 stints on super-softs, 1 on softs, I think). Weaker teams will 1 stop and put the longer stint on the soft (harder) tyre, to avoid problems faced in some years.
Weather: looks like it will be clear and dry, which spoils the fun somewhat.
Showing posts with label Friday Practise. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Friday Practise. Show all posts
22 May 2009
08 May 2009
Friday Practice Review
Button won the first session, Rosberg the second. Highlights can be found on the BBC (first session, second session). The BBC describe the major headlines here.
Below is a list, by team, of the fastest drivers in each session, and then overall (almost mirrors 2nd session). Please forgive the poor formatting, one day I'll learn html.
Practice 1 .. Gap .. Practice 2 .. Gap .. Overall .. Gap
.. Brawn .. 0.000 .. Williams .. 0.000 . Williams .. 0.000
.. Toyota .. 0.355 .. Renault .. 0.193 ... Renault .. 0.193
... BMW ... 0.422 ... Brawn ... 0.255 ... *Brawn* .. *0.209*
. Williams . 0.860 . Red Bull .. 0.439 .. Red Bull .. 0.439
.. Renault . 0.954 Toro Rosso 0.983 .. *Toyota* *0.564*
.. Ferrari .. 1.056 ... Ferrari ... 1.011 ... *BMW* .. *0.631*
.. Red Bull . 1.135 Force India 1.082 . Toro Rosso 0.983
.. McLaren . 1.278 . McLaren . 1.221 .. Ferrari .. 1.011
. Toro Rosso 1.289 ... BMW ... 1.360 . Force India 1.082
. Force India 1.290 .. Toyota .. 1.772 .. McLaren . 1.221
The less obvious headlines are that Toyota and BMW are in better shape than they appear, because they did their only fast times in the first session, when conditions were slower (less rubber on the track, mainly). Secondly, the gap across the field is miniscule, with 1.221s between the fastest McLaren and the fastest car.
Button's first session time was slightly quicker than Barrichello's 2nd session one, but it doesn't affect their 3rd ranking. Alonso's fastest lap should be taken with all the usual salt (as should those of Williams, as always) for this is Spain, and he is Fernando.
Having said that, not everyone will have done a low fuel, soft tyre lap at all (and those that did might not have run on Q2 levels, but instead with, say, 10 laps' worth on board).
Trouble did strike Adrian Sutil, who failed to complete a lap in the 2nd session, having come last in the first. His fastest lap was 1.737s slower than Button's in the first session, so hopefully he'll pick time up tomorrow morning, otherwise he'll fail again, to get through to Q2.
Final note - this race we have the harder tyres (soft and hard, rather than super-soft and medium) and it appears that the soft is better, even on longer runs, so that will affect Sunday strategy.
Below is a list, by team, of the fastest drivers in each session, and then overall (almost mirrors 2nd session). Please forgive the poor formatting, one day I'll learn html.
Practice 1 .. Gap .. Practice 2 .. Gap .. Overall .. Gap
.. Brawn .. 0.000 .. Williams .. 0.000 . Williams .. 0.000
.. Toyota .. 0.355 .. Renault .. 0.193 ... Renault .. 0.193
... BMW ... 0.422 ... Brawn ... 0.255 ... *Brawn* .. *0.209*
. Williams . 0.860 . Red Bull .. 0.439 .. Red Bull .. 0.439
.. Renault . 0.954 Toro Rosso 0.983 .. *Toyota* *0.564*
.. Ferrari .. 1.056 ... Ferrari ... 1.011 ... *BMW* .. *0.631*
.. Red Bull . 1.135 Force India 1.082 . Toro Rosso 0.983
.. McLaren . 1.278 . McLaren . 1.221 .. Ferrari .. 1.011
. Toro Rosso 1.289 ... BMW ... 1.360 . Force India 1.082
. Force India 1.290 .. Toyota .. 1.772 .. McLaren . 1.221
The less obvious headlines are that Toyota and BMW are in better shape than they appear, because they did their only fast times in the first session, when conditions were slower (less rubber on the track, mainly). Secondly, the gap across the field is miniscule, with 1.221s between the fastest McLaren and the fastest car.
Button's first session time was slightly quicker than Barrichello's 2nd session one, but it doesn't affect their 3rd ranking. Alonso's fastest lap should be taken with all the usual salt (as should those of Williams, as always) for this is Spain, and he is Fernando.
Having said that, not everyone will have done a low fuel, soft tyre lap at all (and those that did might not have run on Q2 levels, but instead with, say, 10 laps' worth on board).
Trouble did strike Adrian Sutil, who failed to complete a lap in the 2nd session, having come last in the first. His fastest lap was 1.737s slower than Button's in the first session, so hopefully he'll pick time up tomorrow morning, otherwise he'll fail again, to get through to Q2.
Final note - this race we have the harder tyres (soft and hard, rather than super-soft and medium) and it appears that the soft is better, even on longer runs, so that will affect Sunday strategy.
24 April 2009
Practise makes perfect
Another Friday, another Rosberg fastest lap. One day I'll believe he's going to keep it going all weekend long. Actually, this is his last "best chance" as many teams are massively upgrading their cars for the next Grand Prix in Barcelona.
Morning session:
All cars ran between 15 and 24 laps, in a 90-minute session (which tells you how little traffic there was until the end). Hamilton put in a quick lap early on, which was never beaten (although it was on low fuel). The BMWs came in 2nd and 3rd, but on the softer tyres (and presumably also low-fuelled). Only 4 cars were more than 1.5 seconds outside Rosberg's time, with Glock, Alonso and the Toro Rosso's ending up in positions 17-20. Just over 6 tenths separated Button in 5th from Fisichella in 16th place.
Afternoon session:
Busier. Only 5 cars ran for less than 30 laps, with 3 drivers managing 37. Even closer spaced field, too, with Trulli in 3rd and Buemi in 13th 0.511s apart. Curiously, if the order were repeated in the first Qualifying session, then the back 5 would be the two BMWs, both Ferraris and Heikki Kovaleinen (all from last year's top 3 teams). How times change.
What we've learnt:
That the field is closer than ever, with Force India's improvements shunting them into the midfield (Sutil 7th in second practise). Tomorrow will be even higher pressure than usual, and anyone repeating Vettel's China strategy (1 run in each session) will find things very difficult, unless their car is much quicker.
My updated predictions for the race:
Win: Button
2nd: Barrichello
3rd: Vettel
4th: Trulli
5th: Glock
6th: Rosberg (I always fall for it slightly)
7th: Alonso
8th: Sutil (honestly, the field is so close, it could be ANYONE)
Morning session:
All cars ran between 15 and 24 laps, in a 90-minute session (which tells you how little traffic there was until the end). Hamilton put in a quick lap early on, which was never beaten (although it was on low fuel). The BMWs came in 2nd and 3rd, but on the softer tyres (and presumably also low-fuelled). Only 4 cars were more than 1.5 seconds outside Rosberg's time, with Glock, Alonso and the Toro Rosso's ending up in positions 17-20. Just over 6 tenths separated Button in 5th from Fisichella in 16th place.
Afternoon session:
Busier. Only 5 cars ran for less than 30 laps, with 3 drivers managing 37. Even closer spaced field, too, with Trulli in 3rd and Buemi in 13th 0.511s apart. Curiously, if the order were repeated in the first Qualifying session, then the back 5 would be the two BMWs, both Ferraris and Heikki Kovaleinen (all from last year's top 3 teams). How times change.
What we've learnt:
That the field is closer than ever, with Force India's improvements shunting them into the midfield (Sutil 7th in second practise). Tomorrow will be even higher pressure than usual, and anyone repeating Vettel's China strategy (1 run in each session) will find things very difficult, unless their car is much quicker.
My updated predictions for the race:
Win: Button
2nd: Barrichello
3rd: Vettel
4th: Trulli
5th: Glock
6th: Rosberg (I always fall for it slightly)
7th: Alonso
8th: Sutil (honestly, the field is so close, it could be ANYONE)
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