Trulli in strong position to beat Fisichella (Belgian Grand Prix fuel and strategy)
Jarno Trulli's heavier fuel load should work to his advantage
Giancarlo Fisichella’s light fuel load could leave him vulnerable to attack from Jarno Trulli and Nick Heidfeld in tomorrow’s Belgian Grand Prix.
Trulli is carrying 8.6kg more fuel than his fellow Italian who he shares the front row of the grid with. Here’s the fuel weight in full and a look ahead to tomorrow’s race:
| Grid | Name | Weight | Fuel (kg) | First stint (laps) |
| 1 | Giancarlo Fisichella | 648 | 43 | 12 |
| 2 | Jarno Trulli | 656.6 | 51.6 | 15 |
| 3 | Nick Heidfeld | 655 | 50 | 14 |
| 4 | Rubens Barrichello | 644.5 | 39.5 | 11 |
| 5 | Robert Kubica | 649 | 44 | 12 |
| 6 | Kimi Raikkonen | 655 | 50 | 14 |
| 7 | Timo Glock | 648.5 | 43.5 | 12 |
| 8 | Sebastian Vettel | 662.5 | 57.5 | 17 |
| 9 | Mark Webber | 658 | 53 | 15 |
| 10 | Nico Rosberg | 670 | 65 | 19 |
| 11 | Adrian Sutil | 678.5 | 73.5 | 22 |
| 12 | Lewis Hamilton | 693.5 | 88.5 | 27 |
| 13 | Fernando Alonso | 684.4 | 79.4 | 24 |
| 14 | Jenson Button | 694.2 | 89.2 | 27 |
| 15 | Heikki Kovalainen | 697 | 92 | 28 |
| 16 | Sebastien Buemi | 685 | 80 | 24 |
| 17 | Jaime Alguersuari | 704.5 | 99.5 | 30 |
| 18 | Kazuki Nakajima | 706.1 | 101.1 | 31 |
| 19 | Romain Grosjean | 704.7 | 99.7 | 30 |
| 20 | Luca Badoer | 691.5 | 86.5 | 26 |
The Red Bulls also stand to gain positions as they are fuelled at least as heavily as all of the cars in front of them.
However Timo Glock will be ruing qualifying five places behind team mate Trulli despite carrying considerably less fuel.
Trulli looks like Toyota’s best hope of finally winning a Grand prix. The prospect could hardly come at a better time – the company’s budget for 2010 will not be decided on until November and there are fears its parent company could pull them out of F1.
Jenson Button, who starts a dismal 14th, is running a long first stint in the hope it will help him gain places on his championship rivals.
The start
The short run to the La Source hairpin has caused plenty of trouble for drivers in the past. So how will the start unfold this year?
Fisichella will start from the right-hand side of the grid – i.e. with the inside line for the first corner. The racing line cuts diagonally across the grid and so the ‘clean side/dirty side’ effort is not especially pronounced here.
Inevitably these days you look for the KERS-powered cars to make the biggest moves at the start, and once again these are the Ferraris and McLarens.
In the last four races Kimi Raikkonen has gained at least two places at the start and at the Circuit de Catalunya he made up six. Getting into the lead from sixth on the grid will be a bit of a stretch, but with the long straight towards Les Combes to use it’s definitely possible.
Further back the two McLarens have a lot of places to make up from 12th and 15th. Jenson Button will be hoping Lewis Hamilton can get in among the Red Bulls – but he’s probably already resigned himself to losing a place to Heikki Kovalainen at the start.
How do you think the Belgian Grand Prix will unfold? Have your say in the comments.
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Rahim said on 30th August 2009, 6:52
Heidfeld
trulli/kimi
barrichello/vettel
PJA said on 30th August 2009, 9:25
Assuming it is a dry race I don’t think Fischella, Trulli or either BMW driver will win, I am surprised that Barrichello is the lightest but then Brawn haven’t been on form this weekend. As long as they have reliability I wouldn’t be surprised if the winner was Raikkonen, Vettel or Webber.
Raikkonen should be able to make up a few places at the start with KERS and then use it to help overtake during the race.
Although it seems unlikely I am still hoping for rain though.
Santiago said on 30th August 2009, 12:12
This is my bet.
1. Vettel
2. Kimmi
3. kubica
4. Ham
5. Fisi
6. Bar
7. Truli
8. Alonso
martinb said on 13th September 2009, 17:07
Forgot to post this (not that anyone ever reads it):
Belgian GP (Spa); Comparing predicted and actual pit stops.
Grid . . kg . .Pred. Actual . . . . Fin
.. . . . . . . La. T La T La T La T 44Laps
01 FIS 43.0 12 s -- - 14 s 31 m 02
02 TRU 51.6 15 m 01 - 21 - 22r RET
03 HEI 50.0 14 m -- - 14 - 33 - 05
04 BAR 39.5 11 s 01 m 28 m -- - 07
05 KUB 44.0 12 s -- - 13 m 31 s 04
06k RAI 50.0 14 s -- - 14 m 31 s 01
07 GLO 43.5 12 m -- - 13 s 33 - 10
08 VET 57.5 17 m -- - 16 m 35 s 03
09 WEB 53.0 15 - 14 - 19d 35 s 09
10 ROS 65.0 19 m -- - 19 m 34 s 08
11 SUT 73.5 22 - 01 - 25 - -- - 11
12k HAM 88.5 27 - 01! -- - -- - STOP
13 ALO 79.4 24 m -- - 25 s 27r RET
14 BUT 89.2 27 m 01! -- - -- - STOP
15k KOV 92.0 28 s -- - 27 m -- - 06
16 BUE 80.0 24 m -- - 22 m 31 - 12
17 ALG 99.5 30 - 01! -- - -- - STOP
18 NAK 101.1 31 - -- - 29 - -- - 13
19 GRO 99.7 30 - 01! -- - -- - STOP
20k BAD 86.5 26 - -- - 25 - -- - 14
k = KERS, m = medium tyres, s = soft tyres
(medium favoured at start)
Safety car: laps 2,3,and 4.
Fine and dry. No rain anywhere on circuit.
Temp. air: 17 C, track: 32 C
Wind: 3 m/s
Order at end of first lap:
FIS, RAI(+4), KUB(+2), GLO(+3), WEB(+4), HEI(-3), ROS(+3), VET, ALO(+4), KOV(+5), BUE(+5), NAK(+6), BAD(+6); Pits: SUT, TRU, BAR; Stop: BUT, HAM, ALG, GRO
INCIDENTS
(1)On grid BAR almost stalls, ALO’s wheel contacts SUT’s front wing in melee; at Les Combes GRO hits BUT, ALG hits HAM, all four out (13)GLO long stop (fuel rig), (16)WEB pulls out in front of HEI in pit lane, gets drive-through penalty, (20)TRU slow stop (tyre not ready, fuel rig) (25)ALO slow stop (damaged spinner), (22)TRU retires, (27)ALO retires (left front wheel), (43)BAR engine starts smoking, burns in parc ferme.
UNSCHEDULED PIT STOPS
(1)BAR, TRU (nose cone), SUT, (19)WEB (drive through penalty)