Chinese GP 2010 - Shanghai

[Just_a_fan]

I was surprised to see Button faster than Hamilton and look forward to the story behind that.

Hamilton was a tenth up in each of the first two sectors and then lost 3 tenths on Button in the last sector which is odd. The replay of LH's lap on BBC suggested that the thing just didn't want to play in the corner before the long straight. I'm betting that's where he lost the time.

LH looked totally bemused in a post qualy interview as to why the car suddenly didn't perform. I expected him to be front row from his pace in Q2.

I fear tomorrow will be a fairly boring race unless the weather intervenes.

I wonder how many front wings will be damaged in the long first / second corners...

[ringo]

Hamilton looked like he may have over drived the car, but at the same time, it was plain to see the car was sliding around a bit. He also said it bottomed out somewhere. Just a bad quali for him, and he should have had a second lap but i don't know what happened there.
All he did was rubber the track more the other guys.
Car should be on the front row if he is normally 3.5 tenths up on Button.

What side is the p1 grid slot on outside of the turn or inside?
The start will be very interesting with that tightening turn.

[WhiteBlue]

Actually the miracle was a bit reduced by Bridgestone's comment
on Seb Vettel's pole lap.

The key to a fast qualifying lap here today was to conserve the soft compound tyres through the first sector to be able to push harder in sector two and three. Pushing too hard in sector one meant that there was not the same amount of rear stability from the tyres in the second two sectors.

I guess that those who weaved excessively on the out lap or pushed too much in sector1 payed the price. Hamilton, Schumacher and Webber may have been among those loosing out to their team mates with better tyre strategy. Sutil also pushed too hard in S1 and could have ended up in front of Schumacher if he had managed the tyres better.

[rubbergoat]

Hey guys,

Here are some graphs I made for my qualifying analysis post for the Chinese Grand Prix:











For the full post be sure to visit my blog 'Making Up The Numbers': http://f1numbers.wordpress.com/2010/04/ ... -analysis/

I hope you like it and that you are looking forward to the race tomorrow. I really hope it rains or I fear we won't be seeing a very exciting race


//RubberGoat
http://f1numbers.wordpress.com/

[dougskullery]

Any thoughts on McLaren's choice to do Lewis' first quick lap in Q3 with enough fuel for another run on fresh tyes? I don't quite think I see the logic.

[rahulsampath]

Of all those teams using outboard mirrors,force india is the first to change the mirror.

[WhiteBlue]

Any thoughts on McLaren's choice to do Lewis' first quick lap in Q3 with enough fuel for another run on fresh tyes? I don't quite think I see the logic.

I think it did not have an influence. It was the use of the soft tyres probably that made the difference.

[Hannah.]

Any thoughts on McLaren's choice to do Lewis' first quick lap in Q3 with enough fuel for another run on fresh tyes? I don't quite think I see the logic.

Yea, nor do I, especially as every lap of fuel was estimated to add a tenth of a second - surely it basically made Lewis's first flyer a write off? Everyoneelse managed to come in for tyres and fuel, why not Hamilton?

Oh well, nothing can be done now, just have to hope for an exciting, rainy race

[Mr Alcatraz]

Any thoughts on McLaren's choice to do Lewis' first quick lap in Q3 with enough fuel for another run on fresh tyes? I don't quite think I see the logic.

I think it did not have an influence. It was the use of the soft tyres probably that made the difference.

WB I agree with this statement.
The wind may have also been a factor. I don't have the data in front of me but I think this lap was only about .15 off his best time of the weekend. But more importantly .5 better than FP3. I'm not sure it was a poor lap.
Fred said he extracted every thing the Ferrari was worth.
I havn't read The Boss'" comments! about his!

[Pierce89]

Any thoughts on McLaren's choice to do Lewis' first quick lap in Q3 with enough fuel for another run on fresh tyes? I don't quite think I see the logic.

I think it did not have an influence. It was the use of the soft tyres probably that made the difference.

WB I agree with this statement.
The wind may have also been a factor. I don't have the data in front of me but I think this lap was only about .15 off his best time of the weekend. But more importantly .5 better than FP3. I'm not sure it was a poor lap.
Fred said he extracted every thing the Ferrari was worth.
I havn't read The Boss'" comments! about his!

Fred and Vettel definitely outdrove Lewis in Q3, Macca would not have done that with the fuel if it would cost them time. I think it has more to do with the fact that on heavy fuel the Macca is blazing fast ,but, on lower fuel loads the F10 & RB6 pick up more speed. It's already been stated that the RB6 is extremely efficient at higher ride heights, which is what China quali was always going to require for a fast lap.

[donskar]

Sorry, no graphs from me (I'm not QUITE that obsessive , just some observations:

Michael is not dominating Nico. And I doubt Nico has better equipment!

Hamilton is not dominating Button. Button quitly goes about his business and is doing very well indeed.

Alonso is faster than Massa. (No attack on Massa here -- I like him -- but Fernando IS faster.)

Colin Chapman is alive and is occupying Adrian Newey's body. He is the greatest technical mind in F1 at the moment (and has been at or near the top for some time).

Pre-season there was much talk of the Mclaren being superbly developed and the Ferrari being too small a step forward. Well . . . Maybe not. Even with the F-duct McL must stretch to match the Ferrari, and the RBR seems out of reach for the moment. Worse, RBR knows what McL has (the F-duct) and can probably match it. Does McL what RBR has? I don't think so.

The new teams aren't embarrassing, but they haven't added much beyond stretching the rear of the grid.

It's a good year for F1, but continuing RBR domination will be no better for the series than the Ferrari-Schumacher years.

[Just_a_fan]

Actually the miracle was a bit reduced by Bridgestone's comment
on Seb Vettel's pole lap.

The key to a fast qualifying lap here today was to conserve the soft compound tyres through the first sector to be able to push harder in sector two and three. Pushing too hard in sector one meant that there was not the same amount of rear stability from the tyres in the second two sectors.

I guess that those who weaved excessively on the out lap or pushed too much in sector1 payed the price. Hamilton, Schumacher and Webber may have been among those loosing out to their team mates with better tyre strategy. Sutil also pushed too hard in S1 and could have ended up in front of Schumacher if he had managed the tyres better.

Hamilton definitely had the back end moving around in the first sector through turn 1 /2. Probably didn't help him then. And yet his Q2 time was pretty good.

His first and second sectors were quicker than most in Q3 too which would suggest Bridgestone were right.

[andartop]

I havn't read The Boss'" comments! about his!

Here it is: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/82954

Apparently he was "baffled".
And, of course, he was on the limit, as always.

[ringo]

Any thoughts on McLaren's choice to do Lewis' first quick lap in Q3 with enough fuel for another run on fresh tyes? I don't quite think I see the logic.

I think it did not have an influence. It was the use of the soft tyres probably that made the difference.

WB I agree with this statement.
The wind may have also been a factor. I don't have the data in front of me but I think this lap was only about .15 off his best time of the weekend. But more importantly .5 better than FP3. I'm not sure it was a poor lap.
Fred said he extracted every thing the Ferrari was worth.
I havn't read The Boss'" comments! about his!

The lap looked kinda poor to me, he missed some apexes and i think that neutral downshift problem was still there in the second sector. I'd say he could have been at least 3 tenths quicker. I say this based on Button's lap. Not to bash Button, but there is a consistent 3 tenths gap between the 2 drivers and Button himself didn't get his perfect lap. The Mclaren was good enough for at leat the 2nd row.
On the bright side i think their car will be better with heavy fuel tomorrow and they should have an opportunity to pass rosberg and Alonso on the back straight.. if Alonso plays nice.

[Just_a_fan]

And, of course, he was on the limit, as always.

As the car was moving around with the back end sliding in some corners, I think we can safely say he was on the limit...

That doesn't stop you disliking him though so don't worry...