Best Laps #3 - Shanghai

Best Laps of the Event

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.

[size=1]
2008 Team 2008 Driver S Lps Time 2009 Driver S Lps Time Diff. %Diff
=========================================================================================
Red Bull-Renault Coulthard P3 139 1'36.712 Vettel Q2 116 1'35.130 -1.582 -1.64
[Honda] Button P3 144 1'36.958 Button Q1 144 1'35.533 -1.425 -1.47
F India-[Ferrari] Sutil P2 99 1'37.617 Sutil P2 125 1'36.829 -0.788 -0.81
[Honda] Barrichello Q2 154 1'36.079 Barrichello Q2 148 1'35.503 -0.576 -0.60
Williams-Toyota Nakajima P3 139 1'36.713 Nakajima Q2 130 1'36.193 -0.520 -0.54
Red Bull-Renault Webber Q2 151 1'35.686 Webber Q2 135 1'35.173 -0.513 -0.54
Williams-Toyota Rosberg Q2 149 1'36.210 Rosberg P2 155 1'35.704 -0.506 -0.53
Toyota Trulli Q2 99 1'35.715 Trulli Q2 122 1'35.645 -0.070 -0.07
Toyota            Glock       Q2  156 1'35.937  Glock       Q2  137 1'36.066 +0.129 +0.13
F India-[Ferrari] Fisichella P2 146 1'37.473 Fisichella Q1 133 1'37.672 +0.199 +0.20
Renault Alonso Q2 153 1'35.461 Alonso Q2 130 1'35.803 +0.342 +0.36
Ferrari Räikkönen Q2 143 1'35.355 Räikkönen Q2 148 1'35.856 +0.501 +0.53
BMW Sauber-BMW Heidfeld Q2 151 1'35.403 Heidfeld Q2 133 1'35.975 +0.572 +0.60
T Rosso-Ferrari Vettel Q2 153 1'35.386 Buemi Q2 153 1'35.965 +0.579 +0.61
Renault Piquet Q2 156 1'35.722 Piquet P3 136 1'36.464 +0.742 +0.78
McLaren-Mercedes Hamilton Q2 142 1'34.947 Hamilton Q2 140 1'35.740 +0.793 +0.84
McLaren-Mercedes Kovalainen Q2 135 1'35.216 Kovalainen Q2 136 1'36.032 +0.816 +0.86
Ferrari Massa Q2 143 1'35.135 Massa Q2 103 1'36.033 +0.898 +0.94
BMW Sauber-BMW Kubica Q2 150 1'35.814 Kubica P3 130 1'36.742 +0.928 +0.97
T Rosso-Ferrari Bourdais Q2 158 1'35.478 Bourdais Q1 141 1'36.906 +1.428 +1.50
[/size]

Notes

This week the trend is towards slower times than last October, perhaps mainly because of
temperature and tyre differences.


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.

[size=1]
2008 Team 2008 Driver S Lps Time 2009 Driver S Lps Time Diff. %Diff
=========================================================================================
F India-[Ferrari] Fisichella P2 245 1'37.473 Sutil P2 258 1'36.829 -0.644 -0.66
[Honda] Barrichello Q2 298 1'36.079 Barrichello Q2 292 1'35.503 -0.576 -0.60
Red Bull-Renault Webber Q2 290 1'35.686 Vettel Q2 251 1'35.130 -0.556 -0.58
Williams-Toyota Rosberg Q2 288 1'36.210 Rosberg P2 285 1'35.704 -0.506 -0.53
Toyota Trulli Q2 255 1'35.715 Trulli Q2 259 1'35.645 -0.070 -0.07
Renault           Alonso      Q2  309 1'35.461  Alonso      Q2  266 1'35.803 +0.342 +0.36
BMW Sauber-BMW Heidfeld Q2 301 1'35.403 Heidfeld Q2 263 1'35.975 +0.572 +0.60
T Rosso-Ferrari Vettel Q2 311 1'35.386 Buemi Q2 294 1'35.965 +0.579 +0.61
Ferrari Massa Q2 286 1'35.135 Räikkönen Q2 251 1'35.856 +0.721 +0.76
McLaren-Mercedes Hamilton Q2 277 1'34.947 Hamilton Q2 276 1'35.740 +0.793 +0.84
[/size]

Force India take the most-improved position this week, just ahead of Brawn, Red Bull and
Williams. Toyota were just faster than last year. Most of the others were over half a
second down.

Data from http://www.formula1.com and http://www.fia.com.
 
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