Head To Head Nico Rosberg vs Lewis Hamilton

[Monkeyhead]

One thing that seems to have disappeared is that of the two drivers being on different tyre strategies.

I think the problem was that:
1) They had to overtake the Williams', so therefore there was not much strategical freedom
2) The super-soft tyre was really vulnerable. Different tyre strategies seem to be possible only if the tyre degradation of the soft and hard tyre are comparable, so the hard tyre is just the "slow" tyre. In this race the natural tyre strategy was super-soft/soft/soft, as the super-soft tyre didn't last nearly as long as the soft tyre.

The only difference was that Hamilton was slightly underfueled as usual. I don't know if he has a more fuel-efficient driving style, as I don't think 2 kg less fuel will make a noticeable difference in the performance of the car.

 

[Galahad]

If he was running 2kg lighter than Rosberg for the whole race, for example, (and I appreciate it might not be as simple as that) that would be worth around 0.1s/lap or 6-7 seconds over a typical race, depending on circuit. So well worth having.

 

[Mephistopheles]

But how do you know that Lewis needs less fuel than Nico? the fuel stats we see on the screen are given in percentages and so it is a percentage of what fuel a driver started with we don't know exactly how much fuel each driver starts with for all we know Nico may start with less fuel than Lewis.

Or am I talking bollocks again?

 

[Galahad]

It is shown as a percentage, yes, so you could be absolutely right. On the other hand the data is taken from the fuel flow meter, which is just recording the amount passing through, and not keeping track on what's remaining in the tank. So unless the FIA sources all the cars' starting fuel levels (plausible but administratively taxing for the purpose of a graphic) and then applies a coefficient to the fuel flow figure, I suspect it is actually a percentage of the fuel limit (i.e. 100kg).

But there may be someone better informed than me.

 

[Mephistopheles]

I thought the teams monitored the fuel flow and forwarded the readings on to the FIA and it would be a simple thing for the teams to input the starting weight of the fuel but I'm only guessing here It would be nice to know for sure

 

[rufus_mcdufus]

It looks like Lewis uses close to 2% less fuel than Nico over the whole race. Even if it was 1% that is pretty significant and the difference in weight would've won him the race today I think.
Why is Lewis so much more fuel-efficient? We're forever told he destroys tyres, something not so evident this season (if ever frankly), but that's rather incompatible with the hard evidence that he's good at economical driving.

 

[Incubus]

It could be a multitude of things, really... maybe a better understanding of the gains to be had from the myriad of toys on this year's cars, the cunning use a bit of toe from backmarkers here and there, saving power when you're stuck in trafic anyway, it all adds up.

 

[The Artist.....]

I thought the teams monitored the fuel flow and forwarded the readings on to the FIA and it would be a simple thing for the teams to input the starting weight of the fuel but I'm only guessing here It would be nice to know for sure

In this case it's the percentage of the permitted amount that the driver may use; so in this case, if it says 52.3% used, that means 52.3kg used- for any driver.

Why is this important? Well the FIA don't actually know what mass of fuel had been put into the car at the start. Also, as Galahad says, this data is from the fuel flow meter.

Whether they actually would fuel Lewis lighter is another question; actually using too little fuel may be a disadvantage here; as it means you aren't accessing as much power as you have available. It's a coin toss for which is better; fuel with 95kg, and be able to run faster due to slightly less mass, or fuel to 100kg, and have marginally more power available?!? Which is better? I certainly don't know!

 

[rufus_mcdufus]

There seem to be other factors that hamper using that extra fuel, such as brake cooling in this race. Lewis could've really used that 2kg less in this race. It might be the case fuel saving/weight isn't an advantage in other races, ones which are less demanding on other car resources.

 

[olegg]

I didn't think that it is conspiracy against LH.
But he has many technical trouble in the season if compare with Rosberg.
There was in Austria again: LH have problem on both pits.

GP: pit time ROS - pit time HAM = dif
Malaysia: 46.366 - 46.967 = 0,601
Bahrain: 49.758 - 49.833 = 0,075
China: 1:14.664 - 1:14.384 = -0,280
Spain: 44.563 - 46.541 = 1,978
Monaco: 24.672 - 27.509 = 2,837
Canada: 48.984 - 47.971 = -1,013
Austria: 43.138 - 44.781 = 1,643
Total: add 5,841 seconds for LH in 7 race (14 pits)

 

[FB]

To an extent you can understand that the man on the front left wheel might be a bit nervous when there are flames coming off the brakes...

 

[KekeTheKing]

A month ago I was of the opinion that the Monaco incident would be long forgotten and would have minimal impact on this Championship. Well so far I'm wrong and with the way things have been going it's having a massive impact.

Even in the red mist of Monaco, Lewis conceded that he could have/should have gotten the job done on his first run in Q3. This has clearly had a carry over effect when we see Hamilton pushing just as hard in his first run as his second. Mistakes during what should be more or less a "banker" run for the Mercedes are very costly and only further the pressure on the second run.

Until Lewis gets back on top in Qualifying, Rosberg very much has the upper hand in all aspects of this rivalry right now. Things can change in an instant however.

 

[Incubus]

...as indeed they have already this season. Three races ago it was all about the hopeless task facing Rosberg...

 

[Mephistopheles]

Hamilton has already stated that the pitstops did not cost him the win, indeed what cost him the win was his mistakes in Q3

 

[rufus_mcdufus]

Mind you, Lewis is hardly going to criticise his team for making mistakes. He's made that gaff a few times before and got burned in the media

 

[Mezzer]

Hamilton has already stated that the pitstops did not cost him the win, indeed what cost him the win was his mistakes in Q3

Very clearly it was both as, I would have thought, anyone would recognize. Had he been closer to Rosberg he could have challenged more, which of course in no way means he would have won.

 

[Lewywo4]

Very clearly it was both as, I would have thought, anyone would recognize. Had he been closer to Rosberg he could have challenged more, which of course in no way means he would have won.

Mezzer,,,,,Sky's Anthony Davidson explains piece, gives a very good example.to what you have said.

http://www1.skysports.com/f1/news/2...t-prevent-him-beating-nico-rosberg-in-Austria

 

[Mephistopheles]

Oh right so just totally ignore what Lewis himself says and put your own spin on it, pit shit happens through nobody's fault and yet two massive errors of his own making means fuck all, still we all know he can do no wrong don't we, so it really does have to be somebody else's fault doesn't it....

 

[Lewywo4]

I don't expect him to criticize the team in public, because the floodgates would just open for his detractors to have a field day. I would think that Lewis though, should speak with the team on how to improve his pit stops, and problems that he may have with his brakes, which prevents him at times to really push hard.

 

[olegg]

Mezzer,,,,,Sky's Anthony Davidson explains piece, gives a very good example.to what you have said.

http://www1.skysports.com/f1/news/2...t-prevent-him-beating-nico-rosberg-in-Austria

Thanks for link to so clear explain the moves of drivers on first pit stop.

I also think that saturday Hamilton faults doesn't except the sunday missed possibilities.
Mercedes has faults on the pit stops not first year.
It is success for them now they have good car and have possibility fix lost of time on the pits.
But such advantage will be not always.