Top Speeds #12 - Spa-Francorchamps

Top Speed Comparisons #12 - Spa-Francorchamps

I posted these comparisons from 2006 to 2008 to illustrate changes in top speeds as measured through the speed traps.

These were the top speeds registered by each driver during the event.

Team              Driver       Sess  Speed
===========================================
Ferrari Badoer Q1 324.3 kph
Brawn-Mercedes Barrichello Race 316.0
F India-Mercedes Sutil Race 315.6
BMW Sauber-BMW Heidfeld Race 314.6
Renault Grosjean Q1 314.5
Ferrari Räikkönen Q1 314.5
Renault Alonso Race 314.1
F India-Mercedes Fisichella Race 313.8
Brawn-Mercedes Button P2 313.8
Red Bull-Renault Webber Race 312.8
Toyota Glock Race 312.6
McLaren-Mercedes Hamilton Q2 312.3
McLaren-Mercedes Kovalainen Q2 312.0
Toyota Trulli Q2 311.1
BMW Sauber-BMW Kubica Race 310.7
Williams-Toyota Rosberg P2 310.4
Red Bull-Renault Vettel Q1 310.3
T Rosso-Ferrari Buemi Race 310.0
T Rosso-Ferrari Alguersuari P2 306.2
Williams-Toyota Nakajima Race 305.6

Note: Luca Badoer's impressive 324.3 kph was logged at 14:19:44, which I estimate was about 20s into his final
lap, although his accident came after the checkered flag, which should have been at 14:20:00, so perhaps it wasn't
'during' the accident.


The first table (below) compares the 2008 team/driver combination with the equivalent 2009 team/driver - the same
driver if possible, otherwise the 2008 driver is compared to his 2009 replacement. This comparison is intended as
a team comparison, but the first (driver) table is also of some interest - but should be read with care.

Notes

Honda have been renamed Brawn-Mercedes and Force India have switched from Ferrari to Mercedes engines.

'S#' Session in which the top speed was recorded (P1/P2/P3/Q1/Q2/Q3/R)
'Diff' difference in top speed (km/hr)
'%Dif' difference in top speed (as percentage of 2008 speed)

Belgian GP 2008/2009

2008                                    2009
Team-Engine Driver S# km/h Driver S# km/h Dif. %Dif.
=========================================================================
Ferrari Massa R 311.5 Badoer Q1 324.3 +12.8 +4.11
F India-[Ferrari] Fisichella R 304.5 Fisichella R 313.8 +9.3 +3.05
Toyota Trulli Q1 302.1 Trulli Q2 311.1 +9.0 +2.98
[Honda] Barrichello R 306.9 Barrichello R 316.0 +9.1 +2.97
Renault Piquet Q2 306.7 Grosjean Q1 314.5 +7.8 +2.54
Toyota Glock Q2 305.3 Glock R 312.6 +7.3 +2.39
[Honda] Button R 306.8 Button P2 313.8 +7.0 +2.28
Renault Alonso Q2 307.7 Alonso R 314.1 +6.4 +2.08
Ferrari Räikkönen P1 308.7 Räikkönen Q1 314.5 +5.8 +1.88
Williams-Toyota Rosberg Q2 305.2 Rosberg P2 310.4 +5.2 +1.70
Red Bull-Renault Webber R 308.8 Webber R 312.8 +4.0 +1.30
BMW Sauber-BMW Heidfeld R 310.7 Heidfeld R 314.6 +3.9 +1.26
F India-[Ferrari] Sutil R 312.2 Sutil R 315.6 +3.4 +1.09
BMW Sauber-BMW Kubica R 308.0 Kubica R 310.7 +2.7 +0.88
T Rosso-Ferrari Vettel R 308.1 Buemi R 310.0 +1.9 +0.62
Red Bull-Renault Coulthard Q2 308.8 Vettel Q1 310.3 +1.5 +0.49
McLaren-Mercedes Hamilton R 310.8 Hamilton Q2 312.3 +1.5 +0.48
Williams-Toyota   Nakajima     P2 306.0 Nakajima     R  305.6  -0.4 -0.13
T Rosso-Ferrari Bourdais R 307.0 Alguersuari P2 306.2 -0.8 -0.26
McLaren-Mercedes Kovalainen R 315.4 Kovalainen Q2 312.0 -3.4 -1.08

Seventeen drivers managed better top speeds than in 2008.


The second table compares the top speed achieved by each team (IE the top
speed of both drivers), and as such is a better comparison.

2008                                    2009
Team-Engine Driver S# km/h Driver S# km/h Diff. %Diff.
========================================================================
Ferrari Massa R 311.5 Badoer Q1 324.3 +12.8 +4.11
[Honda] Barrichello R 306.9 Barrichello R 316.0 +9.1 +2.97
Toyota Glock Q2 305.3 Glock R 312.6 +7.3 +2.39
Renault Alonso Q2 307.7 Grosjean Q1 314.5 +6.8 +2.21
Williams-Toyota Nakajima P2 306.0 Rosberg P2 310.4 +4.4 +1.44
Red Bull-Renault Webber R 308.8 Webber R 312.8 +4.0 +1.30
BMW Sauber-BMW Heidfeld R 310.7 Heidfeld R 314.6 +3.9 +1.26
F India-[Ferrari] Sutil R 312.2 Sutil R 315.6 +3.4 +1.09
T Rosso-Ferrari Vettel R 308.1 Buemi R 310.0 +1.9 +0.62
McLaren-Mercedes  Kovalainen   R  315.4 Hamilton     Q2 312.3  -3.1 -0.98

Only McLaren were unable to improve. It's worth pointing out that Kovalainen's 2008 top speed was 3.2 kph faster
than anyone else, and so may be due to unusual circumstances.


Taking the positions from table 2 at each race (1 is most improved, 10 is least improved) and averaging them
gives a season average position.

Team             R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8 R9 R10 R11 R12   Tot  Avg.
=======================================================================
1. F India-Mercedes 3 2 3 1 1 1 1 1 - 3 2 8 26 2.36
2. Brawn-Mercedes 2 6 5 4 2 3 5 3 - 2 1 2 35 3.18
3. Red Bull-Renault 5 1 2 7 5 4 4 5 - 4 9 6 52 4.73
4. Renault 7 3 7 9 3 10 2 7 - 7 7 4 66 6.00
Toyota 10 4 6 2 7 8 9 2 - 9 6 3 66 6.00
6. Ferrari 8 9 1 10 10 2 10 8 - 6 5 1 70 6.36
7. BMW Sauber-BMW 1 5 9 6 8 7 7 6 - 5 10 7 71 6.45
Williams-Toyota 6 8 8 8 6 6 6 4 - 10 4 5 71 6.45
9. McLaren-Mercedes 9 10 10 3 4 5 8 10 - 1 3 10 73 6.64
10. T Rosso-Ferrari 4 7 4 5 9 9 3 9 - 8 8 9 75 6.82

Ferrari move up from 10th to 6th due to Badoer's 'suspect' speed.

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