The McLaren is faster than the Red Bull

[BlackCountryBob]

Lewis had to save his KERS as he would have lost an extra half a second through the middle and final sectors and lost the benefit of the DRS activating down the straight.

From my recollection of the graphics, Lewis was using about half his KERS after crossing the line and saving the rest to burn out of the last turn where Seb was clearly faster; it wasn't used in the middle sectors.

I guess the compromise was that the entire KERS could have been used after crossing the line to give around 10s of boost but if he did not then make the pass, he would have fallen back badly next time out of the last turn forcing him to have to close back up and maybe not be in a position to capitalise on a mistake.

 

[snowy]

I wish I had recorded the onboard feed now. But I felt sure this was not going to be a particularly eventful or auspicious race. As it turned out there is quite a lot to take onboard.

 

[Pyrope]

The DRS limitation in Spain was the fault of the track. The long, fast corner leading to the DRS zone was just too much for Lewis to hold on to Seb and get a shot at passing him. That corner before the straight has always been Barcelona's big problem, and is usually the reason races there are dull.

 

[Chad Stewarthill]

Out of interest, the fastest laps for the four drivers look like this:

LH 1:26.727 (lap 52)
SV 1:27.162 (lap 60)
MW 1:27.187 (lap50)
JB 1:27.518 (lap 63)

So Hamilton's best lap was not only 0.4sec quicker than Vettel's, but also 0.8sec quicker than that of his teammate (with 11 laps more fuel on board).

 

[f1fansp]

That corner before the straight has always been Barcelona's big problem, and is usually the reason races there are dull.[/quote]

As you say, the main problem here has historically been the track layout.
There was a lot of comment during the race that the DRS activation point was too far back, but I don't think DRS should be used and adjusted simply to compensate for deficiencies in the track.

I think there were a few DRS overtakes, even a McLaren on RBR, JB on MW, when they were on different tyre strategies, presumably with different traction out of the last corner.

 

[snowy]

Out of interest, the fastest laps for the four drivers look like this:

LH 1:26.727 (lap 52)
SV 1:27.162 (lap 60)
MW 1:27.187 (lap50)
JB 1:27.518 (lap 63)

So Hamilton's best lap was not only 0.4sec quicker than Vettel's, but also 0.8sec quicker than that of his teammate (with 11 laps more fuel on board).

The particularly weird thing about this is that they all set their fastest lap on the prime tyre! Considering it was supposed to be two seconds a lap slower than the option I find it very odd that they should have been able to beat the quickest lap on the option just five or six laps later on the prime.

 

[Chad Stewarthill]

The particularly weird thing about this is that they all set their fastest lap on the prime tyre! Considering it was supposed to be two seconds a lap slower than the option I find it very odd that they should have been able to beat the quickest lap on the option just five or six laps later on the prime.

I can only guess that it was a combination of:
a) less fuel on board
b) track more rubbered-in, causing a smaller delta between prime and option lap times than anticipated.
c) it's possible that the teams were able to get better pace out of the primes with the data gained through the weekend.

 

[Chad Stewarthill]

Oh, and possibly
d) adreniline

 

[MCLS]

In Hamilton's case it could be chasing down Vettel and in Vettel's case it could be because he was being chased by Hamilton.

 

[Chad Stewarthill]

In Hamilton's case it could be chasing down Vettel and in Vettel's case it could be because he was being chased by Hamilton.

I refer you to the post just above yours.

 

[MCLS]

Have you not considered E? A mix of all of them

 

[Chad Stewarthill]

Have you not considered E? A mix of all of them

Yes; the clue was in the phrase 'a combination of', in my original post.

 

[MCLS]

 

[Chad Stewarthill]

He he! I could do with one of those 'smartarse' smileys that someone referred to the other day.

 

[sportsman]

 

[tranquility2k9]

An intruiging article on why Red Bull are so much faster in qualifying than in the race:- http://www.thef1times.com/community/display/00240

If what that article is saying is true (and it makes complete sense) then by RB gaining much more downforce through using 100% gasses off-throttle, then this is also what is allowing them to use the DRS when others cannot. So if you took away their advantage in using exhausts gasses off-throttle, then you'd also take away most of their DRS advantage, equaling a significant drop in 1 lap performance relative to the others. I'm pretty sure this is where they're gaining 80% of their 1 lap advantage and so when the regulations likely change, this could hurt them a lot.

 

[Eskimo43]

There is definately a compromise game going on here because the Mclaren does look the better package in race trim, at the expense of its qualification set-up. With the exception of Turkey, Lewis has chased Seb in every race, pretty much in every section of the race, closing down 4-5 second gaps effectively. This does suggest that the Mclaren is able to run well in dirty air - something most teams have suffered with of late. I agree that if Lewis had passed Seb with a few laps to go he may well have won by a considerable margin because the overall speed differential on the primes was obvious.
Montreal will be the first real test of the Red Bulls because on current form one would expect the Mclarens to be too powerful along the straights and be too good on their tyres. Next week could be down to quali and strategy because of the lack of overtaking areas but traffic could prove to be the random factor which could allow brave over-takers to take advantage.
One thing is "for sure" (don't you just love counting the number of times that is said??) - this season is not over yet and could prove to be the most exciting ever.

 

[MCLS]

Maybe its the simple fact that Red Bull go banzai on their tyres in qualifying and obviously can't keep that pace up otherwise their tyres would be shredded in 4 laps

 

[Road of Bones]

Mark Hughes has an interesting take on why McLaren seem to be quicker than Red Bull in the races:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/formula_one/13514134.stm

Kind of mirrors what MCLS says...

 

[Grizzly]

One thing is "for sure" (don't you just love counting the number of times that is said??)

Why does for sure everyone in F1 for sure feel the need to for sure say that everytime they say something for sure?

Really annoying! For sure.

Anyhow nice post, i tend to agree.