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Archive for January, 2010

Rubens and Nico to Williams. Nico to Brawn

BBC is reporting that Barrichello and Hulkenberg have signed for Williams.

Nico Rosberg is expected to move to Brawn.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/8337807.stm

Marcus

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Top Speeds #13 – Monza [very delayed]

Apologies for getting so far behind with the usual stats. I’ll try and get them all done
before too long. I’m proposing to do all remaining races in each category posted in one
thread, so the other Top Speed stats will follow in this thread.

Believe it not, but some people miss these and actually save them for posterity :-)

Top Speed Comparisons #13 – Monza
=================================

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
===========================================
F India-Mercedes  Sutil        R     344.8 kph
T Rosso-Ferrari   Alguersuari  P1    344.1
Red Bull-Renault  Webber       Q1    343.8
BMW Sauber-BMW    Heidfeld     R     343.8
Red Bull-Renault  Vettel       R     343.1
F India-Mercedes  Liuzzi       R     342.8
T Rosso-Ferrari   Buemi        R     342.6
Brawn-Mercedes    Barrichello  R     342.5
Brawn-Mercedes    Button       R     342.3
McLaren-Mercedes  Hamilton     Q1    342.3
Toyota            Glock        R     341.5
BMW Sauber-BMW    Kubica       Q1    341.0
McLaren-Mercedes  Kovalainen   R     340.0
Toyota            Trulli       R     339.4
Ferrari           Räikkönen    Q1    339.4
Ferrari           Fisichella   Q2    339.3
Renault           Alonso       P2    339.1
Williams-Toyota   Rosberg      R     338.5
Williams-Toyota   Nakajima     R     338.3
Renault           Grosjean     P2    337.2

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)

Italian GP 2008/2009
====================

2008                                    2009
Team-Engine       Driver       S# km/h  Driver       S# km/h   Dif. %Dif.
=========================================================================
[Honda]           Barrichello  P2 336.7 Barrichello  R  342.5 +5.8  +1.72
[Honda]           Button       P2 336.7 Button       R  342.3 +5.6  +1.66
[F India-Ferrari] Sutil        P2 339.3 Sutil        R  344.8 +5.5  +1.62
Red Bull-Renault  Webber       P2 338.9 Webber       Q1 343.8 +4.9  +1.45
Williams-Toyota   Rosberg      P2 333.7 Rosberg      R  338.5 +4.8  +1.44
[F India-Ferrari] Fisichella   P2 338.1 Liuzzi       R  342.8 +4.7  +1.39
T Rosso-Ferrari   Bourdais     P2 340.3 Alguersuari  P1 344.1 +3.8  +1.12
Toyota            Glock        P2 339.1 Glock        R  341.5 +2.4  +0.71
T Rosso-Ferrari   Vettel       P2 340.4 Buemi        R  342.6 +2.2  +0.65
Red Bull-Renault  Coulthard    P2 341.2 Vettel       R  343.1 +1.9  +0.56
Renault           Alonso       P2 338.4 Alonso       P2 339.1 +0.7  +0.21
Williams-Toyota   Nakajima     P2 337.8 Nakajima     R  338.3 +0.5  +0.15
Toyota            Trulli       P2 339.0 Trulli       R  339.4 +0.4  +0.12
BMW Sauber-BMW    Heidfeld     P2 343.4 Heidfeld     R  343.8 +0.4  +0.12

Renault           Piquet       P2 338.1 Grosjean     P2 337.2 -0.9  -0.27
Ferrari           Räikkönen    P2 341.4 Räikkönen    Q1 339.4 -2.0  -0.59
Ferrari           Massa        P2 341.4 Fisichella   Q2 339.3 -2.1  -0.62
BMW Sauber-BMW    Kubica       P2 344.1 Kubica       Q1 341.0 -3.1  -0.90
McLaren-Mercedes  Hamilton     P2 346.8 Hamilton     Q1 342.3 -4.5  -1.30
McLaren-Mercedes  Kovalainen   P2 344.8 Kovalainen   R  340.0 -4.8  -1.39

Fourteen drivers managed better top speeds than in 2008. Note that most of the
2008 event was wet.

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.
=========================================================================
[Honda]           Barrichello  P2 336.7 Barrichello  R  342.5 +5.8  +1.72
[F India-Ferrari] Sutil        P2 339.3 Sutil        R  344.8 +5.5  +1.62
T Rosso-Ferrari   Vettel       P2 340.4 Alguersuari  P1 344.1 +3.7  +1.09
Red Bull-Renault  Coulthard    P2 341.2 Webber       Q1 343.8 +2.6  +0.76
Toyota            Glock        P2 339.1 Glock        R  341.5 +2.4  +0.71
Renault           Alonso       P2 338.4 Alonso       P2 339.1 +0.7  +0.21
Williams-Toyota   Nakajima     P2 337.8 Rosberg      R  338.5 +0.7  +0.21

BMW Sauber-BMW    Kubica       P2 344.1 Heidfeld     R  343.8 -0.3  -0.09
Ferrari           Räikkönen    P2 341.4 Räikkönen    Q1 339.4 -2.0  -0.59
McLaren-Mercedes  Hamilton     P2 346.8 Hamilton     Q1 342.3 -4.5  -1.30

Only BMW Sauber, Ferrari & McLaren were unable to improve.

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 10 11 R12 R13  Tot  Avg.
========================================================================
 1. F India-Mercedes  3  2  3  1  1  1  1  1  -  3  2   8   2   28  2.33
 2. Brawn-Mercedes    2  6  5  4  2  3  5  3  -  2  1   2   1   36  3.00
 3. Red Bull-Renault  5  1  2  7  5  4  4  5  -  4  9   6   4   56  4.67
 4. Toyota           10  4  6  2  7  8  9  2  -  9  6   3   5   71  5.92
 5. Renault           7  3  7  9  3 10  2  7  -  7  7   4   6   72  6.00
 6. Williams-Toyota   6  8  8  8  6  6  6  4  - 10  4   5   7   78  6.50
    T Rosso-Ferrari   4  7  4  5  9  9  3  9  -  8  8   9   3   78  6.50
 8. Ferrari           8  9  1 10 10  2 10  8  -  6  5   1   9   79  6.58
    BMW Sauber-BMW    1  5  9  6  8  7  7  6  -  5 10   7   8   79  6.58
10. McLaren-Mercedes  9 10 10  3  4  5  8 10  -  1  3  10  10   83  6.92

All data from www.fia.com or www.formula1.com.

Brian W Lawrence
Wantage,
Oxfordshire, UK
Brian_W_Lawre…@msn.com

posted by admin in Uncategorized and have Comments (4)

Recent developments

So – Bridgestone out after 2010.  There’s time to line up another source
of tires, but what other manufacturer is likely to step up?

And – Toyota out immediately.  What are the penalties for leaving before
2012 under the new Concorde agreement?  Why is the FIA talking about
needing to clarify the legal situation (especially as this prolongs the
uncertainty around Sauber Qadbak’s entry)?  And why are the FIA and
Ferrari sniping at each other again over cost containment?

Oh, and does anyone think that if the Renault board had decided today to
continue in F1 they wouldn’t have announced it immediately (rather than
delaying past their PR event already scheduled for Thursday)?


Mark Jackson – http://www.alumni.caltech.edu/~mjackson
     Not knowing is much more interesting than believing
     an answer that might be wrong.    - Richard Feynman

posted by admin in Uncategorized and have Comments (4)

Best Laps #13 – Monza (very delayed)

Best Lap Comparison – Italian GP 2009
=====================================

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
=========================================================================================
Renault           Piquet      P2  109  1’26.195 Grosjean    Q2  138 1’23.728 -2.467 -2.86
[Honda]           Button      P2  123  1’25.309 Button      Q2  153 1’22.955 -2.354 -2.76
[Honda]           Barrichello P2  111  1’25.296 Barrichello Q2  155 1’22.976 -2.320 -2.72
Toyota            Trulli      P2  130  1’25.753 Trulli      Q2  152 1’23.611 -2.142 -2.50
F India-[Ferrari] Fisichella  P2   82  1’25.204 Liuzzi      Q2  137 1’23.207 -1.997 -2.34
Renault           Alonso      P2  123  1’25.481 Alonso      Q2  151 1’23.497 -1.984 -2.32
F India-[Ferrari] Sutil       P2  114  1’24.669 Sutil       Q2  150 1’23.070 -1.599 -1.89
Red Bull-Renault  Coulthard   P2  112  1’25.100 Vettel      Q2  127 1’23.545 -1.555 -1.83
Toyota            Glock       P2  138  1’25.397 Glock       P3  138 1’23.959 -1.438 -1.68
Red Bull-Renault  Webber      P2  120  1’24.521 Webber      Q2   81 1’23.273 -1.248 -1.48
Williams-Toyota   Nakajima    P2  106  1’25.330 Nakajima    Q1  146 1’24.074 -1.256 -1.47
McLaren-Mercedes  Hamilton    P2  106  1’23.983 Hamilton    Q2  151 1’22.973 -1.010 -1.20
T Rosso-Ferrari   Bourdais    P2  147  1’25.192 Buemi       Q1  166 1’24.220 -0.972 -1.14
McLaren-Mercedes  Kovalainen  P2  113  1’24.365 Kovalainen  Q1  168 1’23.515 -0.850 -1.01
Ferrari           Räikkönen   P2  113  1’23.861 Räikkönen   Q1  166 1’23.349 -0.512 -0.61
BMW Sauber-BMW    Heidfeld    P2  121  1’23.947 Heidfeld    P3  144 1’23.490 -0.457 -0.54
Ferrari           Massa       P2  127  1’24.247 Fisichella  Q1  147 1’23.828 -0.419 -0.50
BMW Sauber-BMW    Kubica      P2  108  1’23.931 Kubica      Q2  110 1’23.866 -0.065 -0.08

Williams-Toyota   Rosberg     P2  136  1’24.110 Rosberg     Q1  151 1’24.121 +0.011 +0.01
T Rosso-Ferrari   Vettel      P2  140  1’24.773 Alguersuari Q1  104 1’24.951 +0.178 +0.21

Notes

Only Nico Rosberg and Jaime Alguersuari were unable to better the equivalent time from 2008.
It should be noted that all the 2008 best times were set during Friday practice, the only
dry sessions that weekend.

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 P2  234  1’25.296 Button      Q2  308 1’22.955 -2.341 -2.74
Renault           Alonso      P2  232  1’25.481 Alonso      Q2  289 1’23.497 -1.984 -2.32
Toyota            Glock       P2  268  1’25.397 Trulli      Q2  290 1’23.611 -1.786 -2.09
F India-[Ferrari] Sutil       P2  196  1’24.669 Sutil       Q2  187 1’23.070 -1.599 -1.89
Red Bull-Renault  Webber      P2  232  1’24.521 Webber      Q2  208 1’23.273 -1.248 -1.48
McLaren-Mercedes  Hamilton    P2  219  1’23.983 Hamilton    Q2  319 1’22.973 -1.010 -1.20
T Rosso-Ferrari   Vettel      P2  287  1’24.773 Buemi       Q1  270 1’24.220 -0.553 -0.65
Ferrari           Räikkönen   P2  240  1’23.861 Räikkönen   Q1  313 1’23.349 -0.512 -0.61
BMW Sauber-BMW    Kubica      P2  229  1’23.931 Heidfeld    P3  254 1’23.490 -0.441 -0.53
Williams-Toyota   Rosberg     P2  242  1’24.110 Nakajima    Q1  297 1’24.074 -0.036 -0.04

All 10 teams were quicker than last year, partly due to the weather in 2008.

Taking the positions of the teams from table 2 we can produce an average position for
the season to date.

    Team              R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8 R9 10 11 12 13  Tot  Avg.
=======================================================================
 1. Brawn-Mercedes     1  1  2  2  1  1  1  1  -  4  1  2  1   18  1.50
 2. F India-Mercedes   8  6  1  1  5  2  3  5  -  2  2  1  4   40  3.33
 3. Red Bull-Renault   2  4  3  3  2  4  4  6  -  3  3  5  5   44  3.67
 4. Williams-Toyota    3  2  4  6  3  7  2  2  -  1  4  4 10   48  4.00
 5. Toyota             4  3  5  7  4  9  5  3  - 10  7  3  3   63  5.25
 6. Renault            5  5  6  4  8  5  6  4  -  7  6  7  2   65  5.42
 7. T Rosso-Ferrari   10  7  8  5  6  3  7  9  -  6 10 10  7   88  7.33
 8. BMW Sauber-BMW     7  8  7  9  9 10  8  8  -  5  8  6  9   94  7.83
 9. Ferrari            6  9  9 10  7  6  9  7  -  9  9  8  8   97  8.08
10. McLaren-Mercedes   9 10 10  8 10  8 10 10  -  8  5  9  6  103  8.58

Brian W Lawrence
Wantage,
Oxfordshire, UK
Brian_W_Lawre…@msn.com

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Way OT Thank you

It’s, (roughly) the 11th minute of the 11th hour of the 11th day of
the 11th month.  In the US it’s Veteran’s Day, in Europe it’s
Armistice Day, but …

I want to thank everyone who served their country in the military,
regadless of country or military.

- dillon  I am not invalid

"Always shoot first.  At the very least you’ll
distract the guy enough to make the second one count"
— Lazurus Long

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2010 entry list

The "official" entry list has been posted by the FIA (on the deadline
set by their 2010 sporting regulations):

No Driver                  Entrant                   Constructor
1  Jenson BUTTON (GB)      VODAFONE McLAREN MERCEDES McLAREN MERCEDES
2  Lewis HAMILTON (GB)     VODAFONE McLAREN MERCEDES McLAREN MERCEDES

3  Nico ROSBERG (D)        BRAWN GP FORMULA ONE TEAM BRAWN MERCEDES
4  TBA                     BRAWN GP FORMULA ONE TEAM BRAWN MERCEDES

5  Sebastian VETTEL (D)    RED BULL RACING           RED BULL RENAULT
6  Mark WEBBER (AUS)       RED BULL RACING           RED BULL RENAULT

7  Felipe MASSA (BR)       SCUDERIA FERRARI MARLBORO FERRARI
8  Fernando ALONSO (E)     SCUDERIA FERRARI MARLBORO FERRARI

9  Rubens BARRICHELLO (BR) AT&T WILLIAMS             WILLIAMS COSWORTH
10 Nico HULKENBERG (D)     AT&T WILLIAMS             WILLIAMS COSWORTH

11 Robert KUBICA (PL)      RENAULT F1 TEAM           RENAULT
12 TBA                     RENAULT F1 TEAM           RENAULT

14 Adrian SUTIL (D)        FORCE INDIA F1 TEAM       FORCE INDIA MERCEDES
15 Vitantonio LIUZZI (I)   FORCE INDIA F1 TEAM       FORCE INDIA MERCEDES

16 Sebastien BUEMI (CH)    SCUDERIA TORO ROSSO       STR FERRARI
17 TBA                     SCUDERIA TORO ROSSO       STR FERRARI

18 TBA                     LOTUS F1 RACING           LOTUS COSWORTH
19 TBA                     LOTUS F1 RACING           LOTUS COSWORTH

20 TBA                     CAMPOS META 1             CAMPOS DALLARA
21 Bruno SENNA (BR)        CAMPOS META 1             CAMPOS DALLARA

22 TBA                     US F1 TEAM                US F1 COSWORTH
23 TBA                     US F1 TEAM                US F1 COSWORTH

24 Timo GLOCK (D)          VIRGIN RACING             VIRGIN COSWORTH
25 TBA                     VIRGIN RACING             VIRGIN COSWORTH

No major surprises.  Minor surprises:

- While Manor’s expected renaming to Virgin Racing has taken place,
   Brawn’s to Mercedes Grand Prix is relegated to a footnote saying
   they’ve indicated their "intention" to do so.

- Neither Toyota nor [BMW] Sauber is listed.  Another footnote:
   "Toyota Motorsport GmbH remains formally bound by the Concorde
   Agreement to put forward a team for participation, though it has
   indicated that it will not be in a position to do so.  "An
   announcement will be made regarding this entry in due course."
   Whoever ends up running in the 13th slot will evidently be
   assigned numbers 26 and 27; wonder if Bernie will put them at
   the end of the pit lane.

Non-surprises:

- Drivers listed.
– Confirmation of Renault power for Red Bull.  Really, what other
   possibility was there?

Likely red herring:

- The "Constructor" for entrant Campos Meta 1 reflects the folks
   actually building the car ("Campos Dallara"); the omission of
   mention of an engine is almost certainly an oversight.


Mark Jackson – http://www.alumni.caltech.edu/~mjackson
     Not knowing is much more interesting than believing
     an answer that might be wrong.    - Richard Feynman

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Rubens and Nico to Williams. Nico to Brawn

BBC is reporting that Barrichello and Hulkenberg have signed for Williams.

Nico Rosberg is expected to move to Brawn.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/8337807.stm

Marcus

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Top Speeds #13 – Monza [very delayed]

Apologies for getting so far behind with the usual stats. I’ll try and get them all done
before too long. I’m proposing to do all remaining races in each category posted in one
thread, so the other Top Speed stats will follow in this thread.

Believe it not, but some people miss these and actually save them for posterity :-)

Top Speed Comparisons #13 – Monza
=================================

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
===========================================
F India-Mercedes  Sutil        R     344.8 kph
T Rosso-Ferrari   Alguersuari  P1    344.1
Red Bull-Renault  Webber       Q1    343.8
BMW Sauber-BMW    Heidfeld     R     343.8
Red Bull-Renault  Vettel       R     343.1
F India-Mercedes  Liuzzi       R     342.8
T Rosso-Ferrari   Buemi        R     342.6
Brawn-Mercedes    Barrichello  R     342.5
Brawn-Mercedes    Button       R     342.3
McLaren-Mercedes  Hamilton     Q1    342.3
Toyota            Glock        R     341.5
BMW Sauber-BMW    Kubica       Q1    341.0
McLaren-Mercedes  Kovalainen   R     340.0
Toyota            Trulli       R     339.4
Ferrari           Räikkönen    Q1    339.4
Ferrari           Fisichella   Q2    339.3
Renault           Alonso       P2    339.1
Williams-Toyota   Rosberg      R     338.5
Williams-Toyota   Nakajima     R     338.3
Renault           Grosjean     P2    337.2

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)

Italian GP 2008/2009
====================

2008                                    2009
Team-Engine       Driver       S# km/h  Driver       S# km/h   Dif. %Dif.
=========================================================================
[Honda]           Barrichello  P2 336.7 Barrichello  R  342.5 +5.8  +1.72
[Honda]           Button       P2 336.7 Button       R  342.3 +5.6  +1.66
[F India-Ferrari] Sutil        P2 339.3 Sutil        R  344.8 +5.5  +1.62
Red Bull-Renault  Webber       P2 338.9 Webber       Q1 343.8 +4.9  +1.45
Williams-Toyota   Rosberg      P2 333.7 Rosberg      R  338.5 +4.8  +1.44
[F India-Ferrari] Fisichella   P2 338.1 Liuzzi       R  342.8 +4.7  +1.39
T Rosso-Ferrari   Bourdais     P2 340.3 Alguersuari  P1 344.1 +3.8  +1.12
Toyota            Glock        P2 339.1 Glock        R  341.5 +2.4  +0.71
T Rosso-Ferrari   Vettel       P2 340.4 Buemi        R  342.6 +2.2  +0.65
Red Bull-Renault  Coulthard    P2 341.2 Vettel       R  343.1 +1.9  +0.56
Renault           Alonso       P2 338.4 Alonso       P2 339.1 +0.7  +0.21
Williams-Toyota   Nakajima     P2 337.8 Nakajima     R  338.3 +0.5  +0.15
Toyota            Trulli       P2 339.0 Trulli       R  339.4 +0.4  +0.12
BMW Sauber-BMW    Heidfeld     P2 343.4 Heidfeld     R  343.8 +0.4  +0.12

Renault           Piquet       P2 338.1 Grosjean     P2 337.2 -0.9  -0.27
Ferrari           Räikkönen    P2 341.4 Räikkönen    Q1 339.4 -2.0  -0.59
Ferrari           Massa        P2 341.4 Fisichella   Q2 339.3 -2.1  -0.62
BMW Sauber-BMW    Kubica       P2 344.1 Kubica       Q1 341.0 -3.1  -0.90
McLaren-Mercedes  Hamilton     P2 346.8 Hamilton     Q1 342.3 -4.5  -1.30
McLaren-Mercedes  Kovalainen   P2 344.8 Kovalainen   R  340.0 -4.8  -1.39

Fourteen drivers managed better top speeds than in 2008. Note that most of the
2008 event was wet.

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.
=========================================================================
[Honda]           Barrichello  P2 336.7 Barrichello  R  342.5 +5.8  +1.72
[F India-Ferrari] Sutil        P2 339.3 Sutil        R  344.8 +5.5  +1.62
T Rosso-Ferrari   Vettel       P2 340.4 Alguersuari  P1 344.1 +3.7  +1.09
Red Bull-Renault  Coulthard    P2 341.2 Webber       Q1 343.8 +2.6  +0.76
Toyota            Glock        P2 339.1 Glock        R  341.5 +2.4  +0.71
Renault           Alonso       P2 338.4 Alonso       P2 339.1 +0.7  +0.21
Williams-Toyota   Nakajima     P2 337.8 Rosberg      R  338.5 +0.7  +0.21

BMW Sauber-BMW    Kubica       P2 344.1 Heidfeld     R  343.8 -0.3  -0.09
Ferrari           Räikkönen    P2 341.4 Räikkönen    Q1 339.4 -2.0  -0.59
McLaren-Mercedes  Hamilton     P2 346.8 Hamilton     Q1 342.3 -4.5  -1.30

Only BMW Sauber, Ferrari & McLaren were unable to improve.

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 10 11 R12 R13  Tot  Avg.
========================================================================
 1. F India-Mercedes  3  2  3  1  1  1  1  1  -  3  2   8   2   28  2.33
 2. Brawn-Mercedes    2  6  5  4  2  3  5  3  -  2  1   2   1   36  3.00
 3. Red Bull-Renault  5  1  2  7  5  4  4  5  -  4  9   6   4   56  4.67
 4. Toyota           10  4  6  2  7  8  9  2  -  9  6   3   5   71  5.92
 5. Renault           7  3  7  9  3 10  2  7  -  7  7   4   6   72  6.00
 6. Williams-Toyota   6  8  8  8  6  6  6  4  - 10  4   5   7   78  6.50
    T Rosso-Ferrari   4  7  4  5  9  9  3  9  -  8  8   9   3   78  6.50
 8. Ferrari           8  9  1 10 10  2 10  8  -  6  5   1   9   79  6.58
    BMW Sauber-BMW    1  5  9  6  8  7  7  6  -  5 10   7   8   79  6.58
10. McLaren-Mercedes  9 10 10  3  4  5  8 10  -  1  3  10  10   83  6.92

All data from www.fia.com or www.formula1.com.

Brian W Lawrence
Wantage,
Oxfordshire, UK
Brian_W_Lawre…@msn.com

posted by admin in Uncategorized and have Comments (4)

Recent developments

So – Bridgestone out after 2010.  There’s time to line up another source
of tires, but what other manufacturer is likely to step up?

And – Toyota out immediately.  What are the penalties for leaving before
2012 under the new Concorde agreement?  Why is the FIA talking about
needing to clarify the legal situation (especially as this prolongs the
uncertainty around Sauber Qadbak’s entry)?  And why are the FIA and
Ferrari sniping at each other again over cost containment?

Oh, and does anyone think that if the Renault board had decided today to
continue in F1 they wouldn’t have announced it immediately (rather than
delaying past their PR event already scheduled for Thursday)?


Mark Jackson – http://www.alumni.caltech.edu/~mjackson
     Not knowing is much more interesting than believing
     an answer that might be wrong.    - Richard Feynman

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Best Laps #13 – Monza (very delayed)

Best Lap Comparison – Italian GP 2009
=====================================

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
=========================================================================================
Renault           Piquet      P2  109  1’26.195 Grosjean    Q2  138 1’23.728 -2.467 -2.86
[Honda]           Button      P2  123  1’25.309 Button      Q2  153 1’22.955 -2.354 -2.76
[Honda]           Barrichello P2  111  1’25.296 Barrichello Q2  155 1’22.976 -2.320 -2.72
Toyota            Trulli      P2  130  1’25.753 Trulli      Q2  152 1’23.611 -2.142 -2.50
F India-[Ferrari] Fisichella  P2   82  1’25.204 Liuzzi      Q2  137 1’23.207 -1.997 -2.34
Renault           Alonso      P2  123  1’25.481 Alonso      Q2  151 1’23.497 -1.984 -2.32
F India-[Ferrari] Sutil       P2  114  1’24.669 Sutil       Q2  150 1’23.070 -1.599 -1.89
Red Bull-Renault  Coulthard   P2  112  1’25.100 Vettel      Q2  127 1’23.545 -1.555 -1.83
Toyota            Glock       P2  138  1’25.397 Glock       P3  138 1’23.959 -1.438 -1.68
Red Bull-Renault  Webber      P2  120  1’24.521 Webber      Q2   81 1’23.273 -1.248 -1.48
Williams-Toyota   Nakajima    P2  106  1’25.330 Nakajima    Q1  146 1’24.074 -1.256 -1.47
McLaren-Mercedes  Hamilton    P2  106  1’23.983 Hamilton    Q2  151 1’22.973 -1.010 -1.20
T Rosso-Ferrari   Bourdais    P2  147  1’25.192 Buemi       Q1  166 1’24.220 -0.972 -1.14
McLaren-Mercedes  Kovalainen  P2  113  1’24.365 Kovalainen  Q1  168 1’23.515 -0.850 -1.01
Ferrari           Räikkönen   P2  113  1’23.861 Räikkönen   Q1  166 1’23.349 -0.512 -0.61
BMW Sauber-BMW    Heidfeld    P2  121  1’23.947 Heidfeld    P3  144 1’23.490 -0.457 -0.54
Ferrari           Massa       P2  127  1’24.247 Fisichella  Q1  147 1’23.828 -0.419 -0.50
BMW Sauber-BMW    Kubica      P2  108  1’23.931 Kubica      Q2  110 1’23.866 -0.065 -0.08

Williams-Toyota   Rosberg     P2  136  1’24.110 Rosberg     Q1  151 1’24.121 +0.011 +0.01
T Rosso-Ferrari   Vettel      P2  140  1’24.773 Alguersuari Q1  104 1’24.951 +0.178 +0.21

Notes

Only Nico Rosberg and Jaime Alguersuari were unable to better the equivalent time from 2008.
It should be noted that all the 2008 best times were set during Friday practice, the only
dry sessions that weekend.

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 P2  234  1’25.296 Button      Q2  308 1’22.955 -2.341 -2.74
Renault           Alonso      P2  232  1’25.481 Alonso      Q2  289 1’23.497 -1.984 -2.32
Toyota            Glock       P2  268  1’25.397 Trulli      Q2  290 1’23.611 -1.786 -2.09
F India-[Ferrari] Sutil       P2  196  1’24.669 Sutil       Q2  187 1’23.070 -1.599 -1.89
Red Bull-Renault  Webber      P2  232  1’24.521 Webber      Q2  208 1’23.273 -1.248 -1.48
McLaren-Mercedes  Hamilton    P2  219  1’23.983 Hamilton    Q2  319 1’22.973 -1.010 -1.20
T Rosso-Ferrari   Vettel      P2  287  1’24.773 Buemi       Q1  270 1’24.220 -0.553 -0.65
Ferrari           Räikkönen   P2  240  1’23.861 Räikkönen   Q1  313 1’23.349 -0.512 -0.61
BMW Sauber-BMW    Kubica      P2  229  1’23.931 Heidfeld    P3  254 1’23.490 -0.441 -0.53
Williams-Toyota   Rosberg     P2  242  1’24.110 Nakajima    Q1  297 1’24.074 -0.036 -0.04

All 10 teams were quicker than last year, partly due to the weather in 2008.

Taking the positions of the teams from table 2 we can produce an average position for
the season to date.

    Team              R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8 R9 10 11 12 13  Tot  Avg.
=======================================================================
 1. Brawn-Mercedes     1  1  2  2  1  1  1  1  -  4  1  2  1   18  1.50
 2. F India-Mercedes   8  6  1  1  5  2  3  5  -  2  2  1  4   40  3.33
 3. Red Bull-Renault   2  4  3  3  2  4  4  6  -  3  3  5  5   44  3.67
 4. Williams-Toyota    3  2  4  6  3  7  2  2  -  1  4  4 10   48  4.00
 5. Toyota             4  3  5  7  4  9  5  3  - 10  7  3  3   63  5.25
 6. Renault            5  5  6  4  8  5  6  4  -  7  6  7  2   65  5.42
 7. T Rosso-Ferrari   10  7  8  5  6  3  7  9  -  6 10 10  7   88  7.33
 8. BMW Sauber-BMW     7  8  7  9  9 10  8  8  -  5  8  6  9   94  7.83
 9. Ferrari            6  9  9 10  7  6  9  7  -  9  9  8  8   97  8.08
10. McLaren-Mercedes   9 10 10  8 10  8 10 10  -  8  5  9  6  103  8.58

Brian W Lawrence
Wantage,
Oxfordshire, UK
Brian_W_Lawre…@msn.com

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