Well the numbers are taken straight from the F1 website, you're welcome to check.Andres125sx wrote:If you look at the race you know thats not true... how could they overtake FI and catch RBR being one second slower?Edax wrote: If you look at the race they have gained since australia, but they are still 4 seconds of the leader and close to a second of their nearest rivals, judged by the fastest laps produced by the teams.
1 Mercedes 1’42.062 43
2 Ferrari 1.586 46
3 Sauber-Ferrari 1.840 45
4 Williams-Mercedes 1.928 40
5 Red Bull-Renault 2.452 41
6 Toro Rosso-Renault 2.517 42
7 Lotus-Mercedes 2.750 36
8 Force India-Mercedes 2.760 46
9 McLaren-Honda 3.994 38
source: f1fanatic
That fast laps are not a good reference since both McL retired before the last stint, and its in the last stint when fast laps are done becase of the lighter car
http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2015/03/29/m ... t-ferrari/
Of course the numbers are subject to interpretation. The way I see it Button set his fastest lap in clean air with softs, after his last pitstop. So that is likely about as fast as the car could go. The conditions where the others set the lap differ a bit, but that does not matter since Button had no obvious disadvantage except a few kilos of fuel. In the data I also included the lap number. For most teams the difference would not be more than 5-10 kg's. So in ideal conditions I think a difference of .8 to 1 for most midfield teams is realistic.
As for your comment about catching the others. One thing is that they seem to maintain the pace better throughout the stint and suffer less dropoff. If you look at individual stints then they loose time at the start of the stint and gain it back at the end. Looking at the fastest lap only of course does not acknowledge that so that explains why Mclaren was gaining, but mainly at the end of their stints.
I don't know whether that is because of the way the Mclaren handles the tires or the fact that the other teams have been abusing the tires more running in dirty air and fighting each other. In any way I do not expect tire degradation to be such a big factor in the coming races, so where they stand at the beginning of the stint is more representative of their current position.
Also consider that both FI divers were involved in collisions and got 10 second penalties plus hulkenberg suffered from a failed two stop strategy. Add to that the brake problems and damage of the RBR team.
The way I see it Mclaren has made a step forwards since Australia, but even under the most favorable circumstances (clean run, other teams having problems) they haven't really been able to bring the fight to the midfield. Moreover in chasing the midfield they already pushed their equipment too far.
They still have a long way to go. And for the record I do hope they get there. It would be a terrible waste for F1 if they went the Brabham/Yamaha way.