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[QUOTE="Brian_W_Lawrence, post: 9441, member: 135"]
[b]Top Speed Comparisons #12 - Spa-Francorchamps[/b]

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.

[pre]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[/pre]

[b]Note:[/b] 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.

[b]Notes[/b]

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)

[b]Belgian GP 2008/2009[/b]

[pre]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[/pre][pre]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[/pre]

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.
  
[pre]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[/pre][pre]McLaren-Mercedes  Kovalainen   R  315.4 Hamilton     Q2 312.3  -3.1 -0.98[/pre]

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.
  
[pre]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[/pre]

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

All data from [url="http://www.fia.com"]http://www.fia.com[/url] or [url="http://www.formula1.com"]http://www.formula1.com[/url].
[/QUOTE]

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