Malaysian GP team mate comparisons

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No prizes for guessing which Red Bull driver was happiest at Sepang

Compare how each teams’ drivers did in the Malaysian Grand Prix with these links: McLaren, Mercedes, Red Bull, Ferrari, Williams, Renault, Force India, Toro Rosso, Lotus, HRT, Sauber, Virgin.

And see below for a summary of how they got on at Sepang.

Qualifying comparison

TeamDriverLap timeGapLap timeDriverRound
McLarenJenson Button1’52.211-0.8391’53.050Lewis HamiltonQ1
MercedesMichael Schumacher1’51.717+1.0441’50.673Nico RosbergQ3
Red BullSebastian Vettel1’50.789+1.4621’49.327Mark WebberQ3
FerrariFelipe Massa1’53.283+0.2391’53.044Fernando AlonsoQ1
WilliamsRubens Barrichello1’51.511+0.5101’51.001Nico HulkenbergQ3
RenaultRobert Kubica1’46.951-1.8091’48.760Vitaly PetrovQ2
Force IndiaAdrian Sutil1’50.914-1.3401’52.254Vitantonio LiuzziQ3
Toro RossoSebastien Buemi1’49.207-0.2571’49.464Jaime AlguersuariQ2
LotusJarno Trulli1’52.884+0.0091’52.875Heikki KovalainenQ1
HRTKarun Chandhok1’56.299-0.9701’57.269Bruno SennaQ1
SauberPedro de la Rosa1’48.771+0.9791’47.792Kamui KobayashiQ2
VirginTimo Glock1’52.398-7.5791’59.977Lucas di GrassiQ1

Race fastest lap comparison

TeamDriverFastest lapGapFastest lapDriver
McLarenJenson Button1’38.501+0.7561’37.745Lewis Hamilton
MercedesMichael Schumacher1’42.084+3.9551’38.129Nico Rosberg
Red BullSebastian Vettel1’37.813+0.7591’37.054Mark Webber
FerrariFelipe Massa1’37.784+0.5531’37.231Fernando Alonso
WilliamsRubens Barrichello1’39.428+0.3041’39.124Nico Hulkenberg
RenaultRobert Kubica1’38.074-2.6191’40.693Vitaly Petrov
Force IndiaAdrian Sutil1’38.160-4.4341’42.594Vitantonio Liuzzi
Toro RossoSebastien Buemi1’37.610-1.8791’39.489Jaime Alguersuari
LotusJarno Trulli1’43.753+1.0521’42.701Heikki Kovalainen
HRTKarun Chandhok1’44.790-0.5441’45.334Bruno Senna
SauberPedro de la RosaNo time1’43.340Kamui Kobayashi
VirginTimo Glock1’58.423+15.1991’43.224Lucas di Grassi

Race average lap comparison

TeamDriverAverage lapGapAverage lapDriver
McLarenJenson Button1’41.184+0.2581’40.926Lewis Hamilton
MercedesMichael Schumacher1’43.576+2.8281’40.749Nico Rosberg
Red BullSebastian Vettel1’40.507-0.0871’40.594Mark Webber
FerrariFelipe Massa1’40.991-0.2171’41.208Fernando Alonso
WilliamsRubens Barrichello1’43.096+1.2781’41.818Nico Hulkenberg
RenaultRobert Kubica1’40.839-2.7341’43.574Vitaly Petrov
Force IndiaAdrian Sutil1’40.883-15.7931’56.677Vitantonio Liuzzi
Toro RossoSebastien Buemi1’41.917+0.1491’41.768Jaime Alguersuari
LotusJarno Trulli1’50.895-11.6112’02.506Heikki Kovalainen
HRTKarun Chandhok1’47.948-0.8601’48.807Bruno Senna
SauberPedro de la RosaNo time1’44.954Kamui Kobayashi
VirginTimo Glock1’58.423+10.8101’47.613Lucas di Grassi

Image (C) Red Bull/Getty images

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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47 comments on “Malaysian GP team mate comparisons”

  1. US Williams Fan
    6th April 2010, 0:26

    Look at how close the McLaren and Red Bull Renaults are!
    I think that these two inter-team rivalries will make the season all the more interesting. Ferrari is up there too.

    A little dissapointed with Schumacher’s speed….. but it looks like the car was more to blame than the driver in this case?

    1. Given that one of his wheels fell off, I’d say his race times don’t necessarily tell the whole story. :)

      1. That’s a great picture of Vettel & Webber on the podium. Perfectly illustrates how an average race lap pace difference of 0.087 seconds results in either jubilation or frustration.

        1. Also demonstrates perfectly how a favourable pit stop strategy by the team results in jubilation or frustration.

          Another one for the Malaysia facts & stats – the second race in a row that RBR has made pit stop calls that have adversely affected Webber.

          1. Not quite. Since Vettel was leading the race, he gets preference. That’s a general standard with any team.

    2. Schumacher went out early so didn’t run on lighter fuel or the option tyres.

  2. Yeh, probably why Webber was disapointed with himself for not getting the win. The mistake here and some in Melbourne as well, are not helping him. Then again Vettel made a few more mistakes last season. I would be happy if the champioship was fought out between Vettel and Webber. (With webber winning in the end)

    1. Mark Webber the new Keke Rosberg? With the kind of season we might have, it could happen, and if it did, deservedly so.

    2. Well, given the much touted new points system rewarding wins rather than places, and yet we have – thus far – winless Massa leading the championship, I’d say anything is possible. But when was the last time that someone came from behind to win the WDC? In recent years IIRC the eventual champ has pretty much lead from start to finish.

      1. Off the top of my head Raikkonen in 07, he snuck it away on the last race didnt he?

        1. Yeeeessss, but Kimi was leading the championship from round one, on account of his win at Melbourne. Can’t recall off the top of my head when exactly he relinquished the lead to Alonso, and when Alonso relinquished it to Hamilton (Canada I think). So technically, Kimi was in the hunt from day one. For sure. :D

          1. Kimi was leading the championship only after the first and the last race in 2007.

      2. The only thing the new system does is “undervalue” second places. All the other postions simply get 2.5 times as much points as last year.

        Since Massa scored only one second place he does lose much due to the “new” system

  3. Will we see more of the “Massa Monorail” this season? I really hope the last two races were just coincidence and not another “Trulli Train” in the making.

    1. Haha, that is one good thing with Trulli in the Lotus, the train behind him is markedly shorter. But I like the phrase “Massa Monorail”. I bet Alonso is sick of being hitched to it…

    2. RedBullRacer
      6th April 2010, 3:59

      I hope it doesn’t happen, although I must admit I really love the term ‘Massa Monorail’ and would be very happy indeed if one of the BBC commentators ends up using it!

    3. Both Ferraris seemed to be doing excellent impressions of rail transport. Massa with his monorail and Alonso with his steam train on the penultimate lap.

    4. I didn’t see that one. I saw Massa holding off Alonso while being held by Button (so in fact, a Button train). In any case, if Alonso wants to be in front of Massa, he has to make a better work of his starting position because on track Massa has shown that he can keep the Spaniard behind a whole race, if needed. And he has every right to do so.

      1. No last week Alonso wasn’t allowed to pass Massa. This week Massa was doing better. Alonso didn’t have a good start and drove around with a broken gearbox, still he was quicker than Massa.

        1. Where did you take it from? It starts again, just like it was with Kimi. Alonso beats Massa, it is because he is so wonderful. Massa beats Alonso, the team held Alonso back – Just for the fun of it, it seems.

    5. “Massa Monorail”

      I can see that one coming up on the live blogs!

    6. Massa is no good at all. If FIAT and Santander did not have such a great interest in the Brazilian market, Massa would be driving in formula 3.

      1. Wow, exaggerate much?

      2. If a guy who was one point away from winning the title in 2008 should be in F3, so should 95% of the F1 field…

      3. You got it Bartholomew. That is the deal: No Massa at Ferrari, no future for Santander and Fiat in Brazil. And that is not all: Massa has to beat Alonso once every two races otherwise the deal is off – so expect Ferrari to sabotage Alonso every now and then. Sound ridiculous? It is because it is.

  4. given how quickly points can be gained or lost this season i think consistency will play a key role in defining the ending order.

    We have seen hamilton out perform button on two races, but the current defending champ’s victory in australia has him having the edge in the points.

    Massa has been consistent finishing all races (with 2 podiums) yet he barely passed alonso who retired in malaysia. Yet as it has been said and quoting C4 on the “Massa Monorail” it is clear that it is the reason why alonso hasnt been able to outscore Massa other than in bahrain. good to see though there were no team orders and even alonso is supportive of their battle, but might he regret it afterwards (lets not forget he has now used 1 more engine than massa aswell thanks to his clutch problems which surely cost him the team mate battle as well)? time will tell.

    rusty schumi is having a tough time with roseberg (i know he didnt finish in malaysia), but as the championship progresses i am sure he will at least catch up to his team mate who has at least more current experience with the slicks and aerodynamics of the current cars.

    Redbull seems to be a one-sided performance. I think Webber has always lacked a bit of consistency (as well as being a bit hot headed maybe) and it looks like he might have a tougher time with vettel who has surely matured from last season.

    As a Scuderia Ferrari fan i hope we have a Red constructors championship but I want Vettel to be World Champion (cause I cant stand alonso nor hamilton so I hope to see him in Red at some point in his career).

    1. Agree with most of that except Redbull being one sided. A second place by webber behind Vettel is hardly one sided. And it could have been a similar result in Melbourne albeit for a badly timed pitstop. You may be proven to be correct, but too early to tell at Redbull. I think Vettell will out perform Webber but not by much more then last season.

      1. Malaysia was Webber’s first great result of the year. If Vettel hadn’t had his reliability issues in Bahrain and Australia, he’d have three wins locked up already. Webber’s issues so far this season were of his own doing, Vettel’s were not. I think they’re both great drivers, but clearly Vettel’s surpassed Webber at this point.

      2. Looking at the times, Webber lapped within an eyelash of Vettel’s times. I don’t think there is anything between them in ultimate pace. However, Webber consistently fails to the seize the moment, or somehow falls prey to some wacky strategic eff up, from which he never recovers. It is always this way when you are measuring a great against a phenomenon. See Kovalainen v. Hamilton, Schumacher v. Barrichello, Alonso v. Trulli

    2. Yes, Roseberg is impressive so far. I think everyone knew he had talent, but to be beating Schumacher so far is opening quite a few eyes.

    3. Webber would have won the race in Australie if they had called him in on time.

      As it was they messed up his strategy and dropped him well back down the order. he ended up on P6 after his first stop instead of P2 where he should have stayed.

      Webber just always gets the short end of the stick with Red Bull. That is going to cost him a lot this season because every stop you come in last potentially loses the driver a position.

  5. theRoswellite
    6th April 2010, 5:23

    Here is a little teammate comparison:

    Looking at their race finishing order, for the 3 races so far, this is the AVERAGE, or per/race, ADVANTAGE:

    Robert Kubica 14 over Vitaly Petrov*
    Nico Rosberg 8 over Michael Schumacher
    Rubens Barrichello 5.1 over Nico Hulkenberg
    Jaime Alguersuari 5 over Sebastien Buemi
    Pedro de la Rosa 4.1 over Kamui Kobayashi
    Heikki Kovalainen 4 over Jarno Trulli
    Felipe Massa 2 over Fernando Alonso
    Lucas di Grassi 1.3 over Timo Glock
    Mark Webber .6 over Sebastian Vettel
    Karun Chandhok .6 over Bruno Senna
    Adrian Sutil .3 over Vitantonio Liuzzi
    Lewis Hamilton .3 over Jenson Button

    (So Kubica is finishing an average of 14 places per race ahead of Petrov.)

    With only 3 races run it is hard to predict trends. For example, is Schumacher really doing the second to the worst against his teammate? Well he is by the numbers, but his breakdown in Sepang, finishing 21st is what placed him there. The same can be said for Alonso.

    As the season progresses these numbers should be more reflective of the drivers ability, or luck, to finish the race.

    (Petrov ran well, for a while, in Sepang, but he just isn’t finishing is he?)

    1. Can you really count drivers that have no finishes so far this year though? I think not, which means your Renault, Sauber, and Virgin comparisons are fairly immaterial.

    2. Counting DNF’s, as a driver finishing dead last, ruins the whole comparison.

      1. theRoswellite
        6th April 2010, 16:33

        @ Patrickl:

        I understand what you’re saying, and that is certainly true if you are only looking for comparisons of HOW THE DRIVERS ARE DOING WHEN THEY ARE RUNNING, but with this data I was looking for just how the driver is doing relevant to his ability to “accomplish the race”; and in this case there is an important distinction between the guy who spins into the gravel on the first lap and the driver who makes it to half distance before he comes to grief in some way.

        If you just say both drivers were DNF you miss some, perhaps, subtle differences in “performance”. I know, in this example, there would be a very real difference to the sponsors and other members of the team, not to mention that constant one-on-one competition between the drivers.

        But, thanks for the criticism, I’m sure for most folks, what your saying is true.

        1. If the drivers had spun out or something it would make sense, but in most cases they DNF because of mechanical failure. For instance, Petrov’s car broke down twice.

  6. I have been comparing team mates too:
    http://www.f1news.cz/novinky/34467-jak-dopadly-souboje-tymovych-kolegu-v-malajsii/
    (There are 3 tables concerning: qualification, fastest lap in race and average race lap)

  7. Well Alonso beat Massa in qualifying but lost in the race, this has happened every single time this year. First time Massa outqualified Alonso and Alonso went on to win the race, last 2 races Alonso outqualified Massa and Massa “beat” him in the race. All three times due to problems with the car. Massa had an overheated engine in Bahrein, Alonso had a broken gearbox and a blown engine in Sepang and Alonso made a mistake early in Austalia after which he couldn’t pass Massa.

    Hamilton beats Button here again although Button outqualified him. Hamilton drove a superb race here (despite the weaving-incident). Kubica – Petrov should be onesided, Kubica again did so extremely well this weekend! Very classy performance getting that Renault to the 4th place!! Hülkenberg was a lot better than Barrichello here! I wonder if that’s going to be a trent from now on. He outqualified him, had a higher racepace and he ended in front of Rubens. That being said, the Williams looked horrible in “normal” conditions. They both lost a lot of places during the race. But I think The Hulk’s first objective is to keep up with Barrichello. He did that reasonably well in Bahrein, couldn’t do anything in Australia but here he was clearly the better driver (already!). It should strengthen his confidence although I do think Rubens will strike back a few times.

    Red Bull is going to be onesided. Vettel is a major talent and Webber is an average driver IMO. Webber outqualified him for the first time and he was very very close to Vettel here but Vettel won the race after a great startand probably led the most laps in the first three GP’s.

    1. Alonso’s engine was overheated in Bahrein too.

      They were both following cars too closely and that overheats the engine.

      When Alonso lost Vettel in front he could drive freely of course though.

      1. hehe you’re on F1today as well aren’t you? :)

  8. Wow how close was Trulli to Heikki’s time?! 0.009 seconds.

  9. Good race from Hamilton and Alonso. I just wonder if it were Alain Prost and not Alonso whether he would have settled for points and not tried to pass Button? Oh, and thanks to Bridgestone for giving us two tyre compunds that made for varied strategy and a good race.

    1. And nice to see Renault are well on the road to recovery. Average lap times in the same ball park as Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes.

      And big cheers for Force India. Right there on pace with the big boys. Just wish that Williams had performed better.

    2. Alonso and Hamilton is a chip of the same block. That’s how they don’t or did not get on. They are racers and will always try and overtake what’s in front of them. Not always the best strategy, but very entertaining.

  10. So can we agree that Ferrari should have paired Alonso with Kubica?

    1. Why is that Pawel? So Alonso could be in front?

  11. The fastest lap comparisons should take the DNF into account, by comparing the fastest lap of Schumi with Nicos fastest lap up until the lap where Schumi parked the Merc, and so on. This would be more informative, as the fuel weight is affecting lap times a lot. (Nico was faster all the same, but not that much).
    Impressive to see Sutils fastest lap time…
    But in the end the drivers ability to coast the car to the finish line is also worth some sponsor money: To finish first, first You must finish! Virgin has now learned this lesson, and they are now forcing themselves to focus on fuel efficiency. They might learn something new from this, which can give them an advantage later?

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