2011 relative qualifying pace

[johnnoble1990]

Ha. I bet Red Bull are fearing that HRT improvement. If you continue the line's trend they'll be over a second ahead by Silverstone.

 

[Galahad]

So much for Virgin's B-spec so far...eurgh.

 

[teabagyokel]

One thing I've been wondering about is Ferrari's "comeback" at the Turkish Grand Prix. To my mind, Ferrari simply confirmed a pattern which has prevailed all season. They've been 5th in Qualifying, and they've been faster in the race only for issues unrelated to pace [Alonso hitting Hamilton, Two Stop Strategy in China and Alonso's Poor Start in Australia] to deny them their podium.

They've not comeback; they've not moved!

 

[Jru]

I can see what you mean TBY, and it may be that it only appeared that way with McLaren moving backwards against Ferrari. They had managed to perfectly mirror each other for the first 3 races in terms of trend but with McLaren faster (at least in qualifying). For this race it would seem that it just didn't happen for McLaren - whether this be updates or performance and so the Ferrari looks to have gained a chunk relative to McLaren (as seen on the quali graph and in the race) and so Ferrari are challenging RBR instead. I could believe that the 3 teams are a lot closer in the race than in qualifying, although I would say the RBR is still better with McLaren and Ferrari fairly similar (think of Malaysia where Alonso was faster than Hamilton for reasonable periods of the race)

 

[teabagyokel]

While I know there are precious few ways to do it otherwise, I think one of the things that needs to be borne in mind when referring to this data is that Red Bull are the bottom line and are not stationary themselves.

 

[Brogan]

Yes, it's not scientific by any means but really it's the only way to do it this year.

At the very least it should show general trends.

 

[Jru]

Sorry if that comment was to me, I realise that the RBR is set as the limit, but I was more trying to compare the trends of McLaren and Ferrari (relative to RBR) which were remarkably identical, just with McL having a faster overall time.

 

[Brogan]

It wasn't directed at anyone Jru, just a general comment

I suppose another interesting thing to see is how qualifying pace and performance carries through to the race, although there really are too many variable to measure that with any real accuracy this season due to KERS, tyres, DRS, etc.
As we've seen, one small mistake and it can ruin the tyres for that stint which will absolutely destroy overall race performance.

 

[Jru]

I agree about the race pace being hard to measure, and that stacks with TBY saying that the Ferrari real pace has been hidden until today when Alonso finally avoided one of those sorts of mistakes you (and others TBY) mention.

 

[teabagyokel]

I agree about the race pace being hard to measure, and that stacks with TBY saying that the Ferrari real pace has been hidden until today when Alonso finally avoided one of those sorts of mistakes you (and others TBY) mention.

Well, its not all mistakes. If Alonso's DRS had been working in Sepang, then I think he would have reached the podium there.

 

[Slyboogy]

Well, its not all mistakes. If Alonso's DRS had been working in Sepang, then I think he would have reached the podium there.

He would have been on the podium if he and Hamilton didn't do the dodgy business

 

[teabagyokel]

He would have been on the podium if he and Hamilton didn't do the dodgy business

Yes, and if his DRS had been working he'd have got past Hamilton; he nearly did so without the flap, after all!

 

[Jen]

Yes, and if his DRS had been working he'd have got past Hamilton; he nearly did so without the flap, after all!

Never thought I would see you stand up for Alonso - not contentious

 

[teabagyokel]

Never thought I would see you stand up for Alonso - not contentious

In this case it is certainly warranted.

 

[Brogan]

Unfortunately it looks as if the tyres are going to render this exercise pointless.

Still, that charts and tables have been updated.

What is clear is that Red Bull have once again increased the gap to all of the teams.
If Seb V's KERS had been working then undoubtedly the gap would have been bigger.

 

[teabagyokel]

Red Bull have increased the gap to every other team this weekend! They're a stunningly good team/car at the moment.

 

[Slyboogy]

What about Williams? With Maldonado?

 

[teabagyokel]

What about Williams? With Maldonado?

 

[MCLS]

It says in Spain that HRT were over 8% behind Red Bull, shouldn't that result in a DNS?

 

[Brogan]

It's fastest times across the three qualifying sessions.

So for HRT it's from Q1 and Q3 for Red Bull.

That's a fair way of doing it though as Red Bull don't use the faster tyre through Q1.