Pole position and strategy advantage put Vettel in strong position to win
Sebastian Vettel will be hard to stop in tomorrow's race
Sebastian Vettel starts the British Grand Prix from pole position and with more fuel on board than anyone in the top ten – giving him an excellent chance of winning tomorrow.
Here’s the drivers’ fuel weights in full.
| Qualifying | Name | Weight | Fuel (kg) | First stint (laps) |
| 1 | Sebastian Vettel | 666.5 | 61.5 | 24 |
| 2 | Rubens Barrichello | 657.5 | 52.5 | 20 |
| 3 | Mark Webber | 659.5 | 54.5 | 21 |
| 4 | Jarno Trulli | 658 | 53 | 20 |
| 5 | Kazuki Nakajima | 652.5 | 47.5 | 18 |
| 6 | Jenson Button | 657.5 | 52.5 | 20 |
| 7 | Nico Rosberg | 661.5 | 56.5 | 22 |
| 8 | Timo Glock | 660 | 55 | 21 |
| 9 | Kimi Raikkonen | 654 | 49 | 19 |
| 10 | Fernando Alonso | 654 | 49 | 19 |
| 11 | Felipe Massa | 675 | 70 | 27 |
| 12 | Robert Kubica | 689.5 | 84.5 | 33 |
| 13 | Heikki Kovalainen | 695.5 | 90.5 | 35 |
| 14 | Nelson Piquet Jnr | 682.5 | 77.5 | 30 |
| 15 | Nick Heidfeld | 665.5 | 60.5 | 23 |
| 16 | Giancarlo Fisichella | 668 | 63 | 24 |
| 17 | Sebastien Bourdais | 687.5 | 82.5 | 32 |
| 18 | Adrian Sutil | 692 | 87 | 34 |
| 19 | Lewis Hamilton | 666 | 61 | 23 |
| 20 | Sebastien Buemi | 672.5 | 67.5 | 26 |
martinb said on 20th June 2009, 22:34
Alonso and Raikkonen are side-by-side with identical fuel loads. What’s the betting Alonso pits four laps after Kimi? Somehow the Renaults squeeze a lot out of a drop of petrol.
My betting is Vettel will pit directly after Button, even if he has fuel for more laps, because Brawn has proved to be the better strategist, so they’ll copy him.
At the post-quali press conference, Vettel indicated that he had put in a truly exceptional lap for pole. Expect his race pace to be more modest.
Damon said on 21st June 2009, 10:01
Indeed. It will be very interesting to compare Renault’s and Ferrari’s fuel consumption.
Yuma said on 20th June 2009, 22:40
How does it work with the fuel, I know that the drivers from Q3 have to start with the same tires and same fuel from Q3 but what about the drivers from Q2 and Q1 do they have to start with the same tyres from there Q too or can they change and adjust there fuel level ???
F1Yankee said on 20th June 2009, 23:14
yes, drivers out at q1 and q2 can change their fuel.
Hakka said on 21st June 2009, 4:55
They don’t have to start with the same tyres. They can even change tyres on the grid itself, after the installation lap.
They do have to use the tyres used for qualifying at some point in the race though – i.e. they can’t go for all new sets of tyres for the race (unless it rains, which introduces a combination where that is possible).
antonyob said on 20th June 2009, 23:52
i wonder how vettel will cock it up this week. it is a rather amusing aside that those who claimed Vettel as the anti Hamilton hero now have to deal with the fact that their ” hero” is flawed too.
btw i love vettel and Lewis. oh no, how does that work. errrmmm because its not football div
pSynrg said on 21st June 2009, 0:09
If Vettel bins this one he’ll go down a notch or two in everyone’s estimation methinks. Of course the opposite is true if he bags the win. His racecraft is evolving, is it there yet?
Prospect of Button going aggresive is exciting. I think he’s in with a chance even if Vettel stays on it. Vettel will get slower as Jenson gets faster. Their driving styles are almost opposite. Vettel hard and aggresive, Button smooth and progressive.
My money’s on Jenson…
neracer said on 21st June 2009, 0:23
webber and button winge like 2 old men – the things they said after quali just show them to be trashy. webber always blames everyone else, i hope raikkonen knocks him out post-race and button’s crying ‘cos he’s P6 – worried he’s going to actually race! I just hope vettel and barrichello hold it together tomorrow cos they’re much better than their teammates.
Stoo said on 21st June 2009, 0:51
From what I saw post-quali, Button wasn’t being a winge at all. He simply said the same as Ross in that he was having problems with grip in the fast corners. I don’t think that means he’s “trashy”.
The problem for Ruben’s is that Jens is a more consistent driver lap in lap out. I hope Ruben’s can get a win, he’s a great driver and a big favorite of mine, but he’ll need to keep it together as Jens will do a jump on him.
Vettel has the makings of a champion, but does, and recently has, made the smallest of errors and lost position for it… he’ll need to keep his cool with the guys behind him all wanting the top points.
Brian said on 21st June 2009, 0:34
Its all Vettel and Webber in the race. LLRB.
F1Fan said on 21st June 2009, 1:35
Once again Webber managed to screw it up when it counted. There is no excuse for not getting pole w/ three laps of fuel less than Vettel. And that it was because Kimi held him up is bologni. With this useless Webber there is always an excuse. He’s done it many times before. I said in another post and will say it here again … watch him crash in lap-1 or if he survices, he will crash later. He won’t finish the race.
Oliver said on 21st June 2009, 3:12
Webber was forced to turn in early by Kimi, he took a different line into that corner that he would normally have. Not saying that cost him pole, just saying he would have lost some time doing that.
Macca said on 21st June 2009, 5:32
Proberbly didn’t cost him pole but it definatly cost him a front row birth.
Prisoner Monkeys said on 21st June 2009, 2:08
If Red Bull’s pace is going to be like this for the rest of he season, this could get very interesting: Button has sixty-one points and needs eight-two to win. Vettel has twenty-nine points, and so likely needs three wins to cach the distance back to Button. So the next three races stop being about themselves and start becoming a larger race to see who can bank more points. Button needs to get his twenty-two as soon as possible, while Vettel needs to take the fight to him. I think this is going to make the season very interesting …
mp4-19b said on 21st June 2009, 5:52
has anyone noted hamilton is carrying 666 kgs. number of the satan!!!
James_mc said on 21st June 2009, 9:54
If you read the Daily Mail, he is Satan! Lol!
TommyB said on 21st June 2009, 10:39
Haha true! Last year he was God this year he’s Satan and now Jenson is God
ajokay said on 21st June 2009, 11:24
Vettel is carrying 666.5 too…
TommyB said on 21st June 2009, 12:04
Satan and a half :P
mertyazan said on 21st June 2009, 8:58
Why Red Bull team works for Weber.In Turkey I doubted when they pitted vettel three times.Now I’m sure.Why they put less fuel weber not wettel.They wanted weber on the poll not vettel.Other thing corrected my opinion.In press release redd bull engineer says:
Mark seemed to be on for pole, but finished third in the end as he was blocked by Raikkonen, so again that gives me a little bit of mixed feeling.
Someone says Red Bull sales in australia very important for team.Any opinion on these sunject
Go Renault 09" said on 21st June 2009, 9:34
@ mertyazan
My opinion is learn to spell!! soft drink sales have nothing to do with racing!!
Jelle van der Meer said on 21st June 2009, 9:43
Raikonnen blocking Webber without being penalized is quite surprissing. I would assume FIA would no longer stand for Ferrari International Assistence.
Actually, has anyone noticed there have been no penalties (other than gear box) given by the FIA since Australia.
Is the FIA secretly starting to listen to fans or try to avoid more screw ups as in 2008 pushing fans more to FOTA.
Little bit the same as Bernie suddenly keeping the door open on Silverstone.
Back on subject, both Vettel’s Q3 and Q2 laps were absolutely stunning. His Q2 lap the fastest ever since chicanes were put in and his Q3 lap was adjusted for weight 0.6 faster than the #2.
Red Andy said on 21st June 2009, 10:28
Sutil was penalised for “blocking” Webber in qualifying in Bahrain. But there were similar “blocks” done in Monaco and now at Silverstone with no penalty.
I’ve always said that penalising drivers for getting in each other’s way is a joke, because part of the challenge of this kind of qualifying is making enough space for a clear run. But what is most important is that the rules are applied consistently.
mertyazan said on 21st June 2009, 10:05
Go Renault 09
Red Bull is a soft drink company.Why Red Bull entered f1 racing.for sport ?.
They selling more than coca cola in australia
Bigbadderboom said on 21st June 2009, 12:05
@ mertyazan If a team is looking to lock out the front row, and so obviousley much quicker than the rest of the field, then it’s swings and roundabouts really, 2 like for like cars will result in one stopping earlier , giving the other 2 fast laps. I still fancy Webber for the win, Vettell will make a mistake and Rubens will have is usual tortoise getaway. In fact I wouldn’t be suprised to see Webber leading into lap 2.
martinb said on 21st June 2009, 16:28
British GP: Comparing Predicted and Actual pit stops.
Grid . . kg . .Pred. Actual . . . . Fin.. . . . . . . La. T La T La T La T 60La
01 VET 61.5 24 s -- - 22 s 45 h 01
02 BAR 52.5 20 s -- - 20 h 48 s 03
03 WEB 54.5 21 s -- - 21 s 48 h 02
04 TRU 53.0 20 s -- - 19 s 47 - 07
05 NAK 47.5 18 h -- - 16 h 41 - 11
06 BUT 53.5 20 s -- - 19 h 50 s 06
07 ROS 56.5 22 h -- - 19 - 44 - 05
08 GLO 55.0 21 - -- - 20 s 49 h 09
09k RAI 49.0 19 s -- - 17 s 43 h 08
10 ALO 49.0 19 h -- - 19 - 40 - 14
11k MAS 70.0 27 - -- - 24 s 46 h 04
12 KUB 84.5 33 - -- - 29 - 48 - 13
13 KOV 90.5 35 s 35 h 36!h 39r RET
14 PIQ 77.5 30 - -- - 30 - -- - 12
15 HEI 60.5 23 - -- - 22 - 48 - 15
16 FIS 63.0 24 - -- - 22 - 46 - 10
17 SUT 87.0 34 - -- - 35 - -- - 17
18 HAM 61.0 23 - -- - 21 s 45 h 16
19 BUE 67.5 26 - -- - 23 - 43 - 18
20 BOU 82.5 32 - 25 - 36!h 40r RET
k = KERS, h = hard tyres, s = soft tyres
Fine and dry, no safety car.
Temp. air: 16 C, track: 30 – 26 C
Wind. 3.6 m/s
Order at end of first lap:
VET, BAR, WEB, NAK(+1), RAI(+4), ROS(+1), TRU(-3), MAS(+3), BUT(-3), GLO(-2), HEI(+4), ALO(-2), KUB(-1), FIS(+2), HAM(+3), PIQ(-2), BOU, BUE(+1), KOV(-6), SUT
KERS on first lap: RAI(+4), MAS(+3) good advantage.
Incidents: (1?)HEI damaged front wing, didn’t pit, (16)NAK slow pitstop, (35)BOU into back of KOV who moved across as BOU overtook, (45)HAM spins at Vale.
Unscheduled pits: (36)BOU nose, KOV puncture; (39)KOV retires (unknown reason), (40)BOU retires (oil pressure?).