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Kimi Raikkonen has converted a brilliantly working 2-stop strategy to a race wing for Lotus, immediately confirming the long run pace of the E21. Fernando Alonso finished in second place, 10 seconds behind while Sebastian Vettel completes the podium in third.
stefan_ wrote:Last year Ferrari was way more off the pace than any other top 5 team this year but they still fought for the title until the last race.
I wouldn't be surprised if Lotus will fight toe to toe with Red Bull on Sunday.
Thank you very much Stefan...that paints a bit of a better picture for me even though there are still concerns....but I guess the anxiety will be there through till the chequred flag.....stefan_ wrote:I only saw FP2 and from the onboard footage it seems like the RBR has a good stability (slight oversteer sometimes) but a good one-lap performance. Ferrari are in the same are, Lotus probably somewhere around there but it's hard to tell because Kimi combined one-lap flyers with 10-12 laps stints.
Mercedes seem to be good on the one-lap flyers but on long stints it doesn't help much if your car goes straight when it should take a corner or the gearbox has problems.
I have no idea what McLaren is doing. The guys from Williams said yesterday that they are still evaluating aero packages, don't know it they did it in FP1 or continued in FP2 (to me it seemed that they were still evaluating in FP2).
looky look, he looks quite like a winner.CHT wrote:Bianchi looking look in the Marussia.
http://en.mclarenf-1.com/index.php?page ... ULl2Rxg-UxTamburello wrote:Has anyone got the times for the stints immediately after those 'low fuel' runs on the options, i.e. those start of the race simulations?
. . .
. to 3 sad smilies , not good Thank you!Blackout wrote:http://en.mclarenf-1.com/index.php?page ... ULl2Rxg-UxTamburello wrote:Has anyone got the times for the stints immediately after those 'low fuel' runs on the options, i.e. those start of the race simulations?
Pity I can't rate you for that....but wow that was very observant....and thank you thank you thank you for sharing with us.....now I don't feel as if i have missed the prictice sessions.....you painted some very clear pictures with you words.....an absolute wonderfull read.....keep posting your observations for us to read.....and thank you once again ! ! ! =D> =D> =D> =D> =D> =D> =D> =D> =D>Earnard Beccelstone wrote:Some observations on P1 and P2. Apologies for wall of text
I was sitting at turns 11/22 for FP1 and a combination of 1/2, 13 and 14 for FP2, so got to see a mix of high-ish and medium speed turns and some decent braking.
These are basically in order of relative speed
Redbull: Looks serene with Vettel at the wheel, although the rear end appeared a little unstable when coming out of 12. Looked a little more brutal with Webber at the wheel. I got the feeling he was chucking it into the corners harder, notably at turn 13. Webber's rear end looked less stable than Vettel's in FP1, about the same in FP2.
Both Redbull drivers sounded like they were getting onto the throttle earlier than any other drivers, especially through turns 12 and 14. Webber was getting a little ragged out of 12 quite often. He was hitting the inside curb harder than Sebastian and it looked to be unsettling the car on exit. Otherwise, its quite difficult to tell the relative speeds.
The Redbulls looked absolutely planted in the breaking zones though. Must give their drivers great confidence.
Accelerating through the traction zone, their engines had a very distinctive low register buzzsaw note. The Lotus sounded similar, but it wasn't nearly as aggressive a sound.
Ferrari: Looked fundamentally planted. I'd say the car was visually the most stable of the field through 11/12 in FP1 and matched by the Redbull, Lotus and Mercedes in FP2 through turns 13 and 14 . Lots of cars (noticably the Williams, Marrussia, Torro Rosso and to a lesser extent the McLaren and Sauber) had very loose rear ends at the exit of 12, plenty of twitching and oversteer correction.
Both Fernando and Filipe seemed to be taking slightly wider lines than others through corners 12 and 14. The Ferrari and the Mercedes were the only cars I witnessed bottoming out. Both Filipe and Nico were leaving parts of the plank at turn 12 during FP1.
Aurally, the Ferrari was very distinctive on corner entry, with a big dirty bark of noise as it breaks. The engine overrun noise on downshift is distinctive enough that I could pick the Ferrari out from all the other cars with my eyes closed.
Mercedes: Nothing spectacularly noteworthy. Both drivers had some lock-ups and it seemed a little less planted than either the Redbull or Ferrari when under braking.
It seemed to me that Lewis was hustling his car a bit more than Nico; willing to experiment with more lines and much more committed to the apex. Nico's front right was typically kissing the yellow paint on the apex on 12 and 13. By comparison, Lewis generally had most of the right wheel on the curb, and was much more willing to go out wide on corner exit.
Lotus: Like the Mercedes, solid but not spectacular. Both Kimi and Romain appeared to be taking it comparatively easy - maybe as a result of their lack of mileage in testing. The only thing worth noting is that it looked like the cars both had a bit of understeer. Romain in particular seemed to be missing apexes in the faster corners.
McLaren: Looked like a fair bit of understeer in the car. There was also some noticeable front end instability in breaking with Perez' car, although maybe that was him setting the car up for the corner. Button and Perez were both giving the ripple strips on the exit of turn 12 a wide berth.
I think there is speed in the car, its just going to be difficult to find. Both Button and Perez were really hitting the throttle through the fast 11/12 chicane, something that most other drivers with the exception of the Rebulls, Mercedes and Ferrari weren't doing.
Force India: Very impressive for a midfield team. The car looked really pointy and locked in to what the drivers wanted straight from the get-go. Both Sutil and di Resta were hitting apexes with almost metronomic precision. No instability in the car that I could see. I get the feeling they could surprise again like 2010.
Williams: Looked very messy in FP1 but much better in FP2. Heaps of oversteer moments coming out of turn 12, particularly with Maldonado. Once the track rubbered in it looked much better. Very stable out of 12 and early on the throttle out of 13.
I though both drivers were surprisingly slow on the option tyres: neither were attacking the track with anything like the same levels of aggression that the drivers in the top teams were displaying. I feel like Valeri and Pastor got the message "DON'T WRECK THE CAR" and Williams were trying to gather as much tyre data as possible with longer runs.
The car's engine note is easily the highest register of any.
Sauber: Hmmm, almost anonymous. The cars just didn't appear that fast. They looked perfectly drivable: stable, no major over/understeer that I saw and the drivers were on the throttle fairly early at corner exit. Yet, the car just didn't seem to be carrying the mid-corner speed of the fastest four or five teams and it looked like Hulkenburg and Gutierrez were a touch tentative in the braking zones.
Torro-Rosso. Understeer! JEV didn't seem to be worrying about apexes in 12 or 13, although he was riding the curb a little on 14. Ricciardo seemed to be taking tighter lines through 11/12 and was entering 14 from out wider. The difference between their driving styles was the most noticeable out of any pairing, very different lines through corners. JEV seems to be hooking the car through the corners, while DR seems to be more about straight lines.
Marussia. Very, very nervous in FP1, probably the worst of the field. Looks like it had over and understeer and there was not much that could be done. Both drivers were fairly tentative for most of the sessions. When they did push, the car actually looked alright. Maybe its got a very narrow sweet spot.
The Marussia had a really (and I mean REALLY) distinctive hiss/whine/whistle when braking. Like a high speed turbine spooling down or something. Reminded me of the mechanical supercharger whine on a Bf 109. Maybe related to KERS? Like the Ferrari, you could blindfold me and I'd be able to recognise the car just by the sound it make while under braking.
Caterham: The biggest disappointment for me. Just didn't seem to be carrying any speed through 11/12. Was better in turn 13 than the Marussia, but just seems to be fundamentally lacking downforce and therefore mid-corner speed.