Best Laps #1 - Melbourne

Q: How does the best lap of the whole weekend (3 practice sessions, 3 qualifying
periods and the race) compare to the best lap of the weekend in 2008?

Here are two tables - one compares driver with driver; easy enough if the same
driver remains in the same team. If not we compare the 2008 driver with the guy
who replaced him.

Note: Honda has morphed into Brawn-Mercedes, while Force India have switched
from Ferrari to Mercedes power.

'S' is the session when the best lap was achieved (P1/P2/P3/Q1/Q2/Q3/R)
'Lps' are the total laps in all sessions
'Diff' is the gain/loss in seconds
'%Diff' is the difference in time as a percentage of the 2008 time

Negative Diff/%Diff mean that the driver/team improved. Positive means they
got worse.

There can be several reasons for the variations seen.
2008 Team         2008 Driver S   Lps  Time    2009 Driver S   Lps  Time    Diff.  %Diff
========================================================================================
[Honda] Button Q2 86 1'26.259 Button Q2 147 1'24.855 -1.404 -1.63
[Honda] Barrichello Q2 134 1'26.173 Barrichello Q2 157 1'24.783 -1.390 -1.61
Red Bull-Renault Webber P3 70 1'26.407 Webber Q2 130 1'25.241 -1.166 -1.35
Red Bull-Renault Coulthard Q2 88 1'26.063 Vettel Q2 112 1'25.121 -0.942 -1.09
Williams-Toyota Rosberg Q2 130 1'26.059 Rosberg Q2 155 1'25.123 -0.936 -1.09
Toyota Glock Q2 119 1'26.164 Glock Q2 168 1'25.281 -0.883 -1.02
Toyota Trulli Q2 92 1'26.101 Trulli Q2 160 1'25.265 -0.836 -0.97
Williams-Toyota Nakajima Q2 121 1'26.413 Nakajima Q2 105 1'25.607 -0.806 -0.93
Ferrari Räikkönen Q1 126 1'26.140 Räikkönen Q2 137 1'25.380 -0.760 -0.88
F India-[Ferrari] Sutil P3 80 1'27.489 Sutil Q1 128 1'26.742 -0.747 -0.85
Renault Piquet P3 84 1'27.284 Piquet Q1 118 1'26.598 -0.686 -0.79
Renault Alonso P3 141 1'26.082 Alonso Q2 132 1'25.605 -0.477 -0.55
T Rosso-Ferrari Bourdais Q1 125 1'27.446 Bourdais Q1 141 1'26.964 -0.482 -0.55
Ferrari Massa Q2 114 1'25.691 Massa Q2 142 1'25.319 -0.372 -0.43
BMW Sauber-BMW Kubica Q2 127 1'25.315 Kubica Q2 150 1'25.152 -0.163 -0.19
BMW Sauber-BMW Heidfeld Q2 130 1'25.518 Heidfeld Q2 145 1'25.504 -0.014 -0.02
F India-[Ferrari] Fisichella P3 83 1'26.682 Fisichella Q1 1361'26.677 -0.005 -0.01
McLaren-Mercedes  Kovalainen  Q2 134 1'25.452 Kovalainen  Q2  78 1'25.726 +0.274 +0.32
T Rosso-Ferrari Vettel Q2 98 1'25.842 Buemi Q1 145 1'26.503 +0.661 +0.77
McLaren-Mercedes Hamilton Q2 140 1'25.187 Hamilton Q1 130 1'26.454 +1.267 +1.49
S Aguri-Honda     Sato        Q1  77 1'28.208
S Aguri-Honda Davidson P3 39 1'28.912

Notes

The second table takes the best lap time from both drivers in each team and compares
with the equivalent team last season. Probably a better comparison.

2008 Team         2008 Driver S   Lps  Time    2009 Driver S   Lps  Time    Diff.  %Diff
========================================================================================
[Honda] Barrichello Q2 220 1'26.173 Barrichello Q2 304 1'24.783 -1.390 -1.61
Red Bull-Renault Coulthard Q2 158 1'26.063 Vettel Q2 242 1'25.121 -0.942 -1.09
Williams-Toyota Rosberg Q2 251 1'26.059 Rosberg Q2 260 1'25.123 -0.936 -1.09
Toyota Trulli Q2 211 1'26.101 Trulli Q2 328 1'25.265 -0.836 -0.97
Renault Alonso P3 226 1'26.082 Alonso Q2 250 1'25.605 -0.477 -0.55
Ferrari Massa Q2 240 1'25.691 Massa Q2 279 1'25.319 -0.372 -0.43
BMW Sauber-BMW Kubica Q2 257 1'25.315 Kubica Q2 295 1'25.152 -0.163 -0.19
F India-[Ferrari] Fisichella P3 163 1'26.682 Fisichella Q1 264 1'26.677 -0.005 -0.01
McLaren-Mercedes  Hamilton    Q2  274 1'25.187 Kovalainen  Q2  208 1'25.726 +0.539 +0.63
T Rosso-Ferrari Vettel Q2 223 1'25.842 Buemi Q1 286 1'26.503 +0.661 +0.77
S Aguri-Honda     Sato        Q1  116 1'28.208

All data from http://www.formula1.com or http://www.fia.com.
 
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