Grand Prix 2011 Korean Grand Prix Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

Party time has officially begun... if you are Red Bull anyway

So, its now over, Sebastian Vettel is the 2011 world champion after finishing third behind Fernando Alonso and winner Jenson Button. Vettel is not only the youngest ever world champion, but the youngest person to defend his championship after walking to the championship with (so far) a podium in every race bar one and a phenomenal record in qualifying with pole in near enough every single race.

The RB7 has no doubt been the best car of the season and has been night and day quicker than anything else on wheels. Adrian Newey must now be known as the scourge of F1 as he has designed yet another car that has won the championship but surely this has to be one of if not the best car he has ever designed as the RB7 doesn't have the fragility that has struck Newey designed cars.

For Mclaren they have finally found the winning formula again after winning a track that everyone thought Red Bull would walk, however , like in 2010 and 2009, it has come too late and has cost them a shot at the title, but Mclaren really have been Red Bulls only consistent challenger this year due to the surprise lack of speed from the Ferraris.

It hasn't been a great season for Ferrari, in pre season all the signs pointed towards a very strong year for the Scuderia, but it was apparent early on that they were only the third fastest team behind Mclaren (whose pre season was shocking in comparison). After an early season shuffle and because of new regulations they were able to win in Silverstone but that has been the only highlight for Fernando Alonso and as for Massa it has been even worse.

Going into Korea we go into the real unknown as it is unclear who has the best package suited to Korea as the only race we've had at the circuit was severely rain affected so it should be a jump into the darkness, although it will be an even bigger jump when we go to India in the not too distant future.

So congratulations Seb, who is starting to rewrite the record books almost with the ease that Schumacher did in his pomp. Eight world championships for Seb by the time he's finished?

For Galahads brilliant circuit write up, see here http://cliptheapex.com/pages/korean-international-circuit/
 
Higher top speeds are only an advantage on the straights. A fast lap requires the car to be fast through the corners as well. Red Bull have a downforce advantage allowing them to carry higher speeds through the corners hence their overall advantage in pace over a whole lap. When Mclaren and Ferrari have used high downforce settings their straight line speed has not been significantly different to the Red Bull. This has been the case throughout this season and last year.
 
Korea 2011


POS NO DRIVER KPH TIME OF DAY
1 18 S. BUEMI 320.6 15:58:15
2 19 J. ALGUERSUARI 320.5 16:41:10
3 16 K. KOBAYASHI 318.2 15:09:34
4 6 F. MASSA 317.1 15:51:08
5 7 M. SCHUMACHER 316.8 15:31:01
6 14 A. SUTIL 316.2 15:49:31
7 8 N. ROSBERG 316.1 15:25:17
8 5 F. ALONSO 316.0 15:51:09
9 4 J. BUTTON 315.8 15:23:30
10 10 V. PETROV 315.4 15:31:02
11 9 B. SENNA 315.1 15:16:48
12 3 L. HAMILTON 314.1 15:52:40
13 17 S. PEREZ 313.4 15:11:25
14 1 S. VETTEL 312.9 16:18:28
15 15 P. DI RESTA 312.8 16:02:06
16 2 M. WEBBER 312.6 16:20:21
17 12 P. MALDONADO 312.5 15:16:46
18 21 J. TRULLI 312.1 15:47:57
19 20 H. KOVALAINEN 311.4 15:47:57
20 11 R. BARRICHELLO 310.9 15:13:12
21 22 D. RICCIARDO 309.2 15:53:29
22 25 J. D'AMBROSIO 308.6 16:27:49
23 24 T. GLOCK 306.7 15:07:53
24 23 V. LIUZZI 304.5 15:46:19
 
Trying to find race-day speeds from previous races - in the meantime here's some speed trap data from Monza 2011 qualifying:

1: Sergio Pérez - Sauber-Ferrari - 349.2 km/h (216.9 mph)
2: Bruno Senna - Renault - 347.2 km/h (215.7 mph)
3: Vitaly Petrov - Renault - 344.8 km/h (214.2 mph)
4: Felipe Massa- Ferrari -342.3 km/h (212.7 mph)
5: Fernando Alonso - Ferrari - 342.2 km/h (212.6 mph)
6: Sébastien Buemi - Toro Rosso-Ferrari - 341.9 km/h (212.4 mph)
7: Jaime Alguersuari - Toro Rosso-Ferrari - 341.8 km/h (212.3 mph)
8: Kamui Kobayashi - Sauber-Ferrari - 341.7 km/h (212.3 mph)
9: Rubens Barrichello - Williams-Cosworth - 340.4 km/h (211.5 mph)
10. Pastor Maldonado - Williams-Cosworth - 340.2 km/h (211.4 mph)
11. Nico Rosberg - Mercedes - 339.5 km/h (210.9 mph)
12. Paul di Resta - Force India-Mercedes - 339.3 km/h (210.8 mph)
13. Adrian Sutil - Force India-Mercedes - 338.7 km/h (210.4 mph)
14. Michael Schumacher - Mercedes - 338.7 km/h (210.4 mph)
15. Jérôme d’Ambrosio - Virgin-Cosworth - 336.7 km/h (209.2 mph)
16. Timo Glock - Virgin-Cosworth - 336.6 km/h (209.1 mph)
17. Daniel Ricciardo - HRT-Cosworth - 336.2 km/h (208.9 mph)
18. Mark Webber - Red Bull-Renault - 336.1 km/h (208.8 mph)
19. Vitantonio Liuzzi - HRT-Cosworth - 335.7 km/h (208.6 mph)
20. Jenson Button - McLaren-Mercedes - 333.1 km/h (206.9 mph)
21. Lewis Hamilton - McLaren-Mercedes - 332.7 km/h (206.7 mph)
22. Jarno Trulli - Lotus-Renault - 331.8 km/h (206.1 mph)
23. Heikki Kovalainen - Lotus-Renault - 331.8 km/h (206.1 mph)
24. Sebastian Vettel - Red Bull-Renault - 327.7 km/h (203.6 mph)
 
Them Ferrari engines seem to be packing some grunt though. Back to the old days when Enzo insisted horsepower was more important than handling. Perhaps explains a lot about Ferrari's current fortunes...
 
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