Rear wing tweak key to McLaren's pace

Rear wing tweak key to McLaren’s pace

Abu Dhabi GP FP2 analysis

November 12, 2010 at 5:31 pm by Keith Collantine

Lewis Hamilton, McLaren, Abu Dhabi, 2010

McLaren say they’ve finally got their Suzuka rear wing working, which was key to Lewis Hamilton’s pace in second practice today.

However Ferrari seemed to suffer a drop-off in performance when running with a higher fuel load at the end of the session.

Find all the times and interactive data from second practice here.

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Tick/untick drivers’ names to show their laps, click and drag to zoom

Lewis Hamilton set the fastest time around Abu Dhabi by Friday evening, and he credited it to the team finally getting a handle the rear wing it has been trying to perfect for four races:

We’ve been hoping for some time to improve our revised rear wing. It hasn’t really been working fully since we first tested it at Suzuka, so we’ve not been able to use it to its fullest extent. We knew that it had potential though – and to have it finally working properly is a huge plus for us.

The car feels good, so I’m hopeful for a good qualifying result tomorrow afternoon. Of course, it will be tough, because the Red Bulls tend to pull out half a second in Q3, but our pace is closer to theirs than it’s ever been.

Of all the weekends this year, this time I feel like we really do have the right package to challenge the fastest cars. I think we can fight for the front row.
Lewis Hamilton

Jenson Button was running a different programme which goes some way to explaining the 1.2 second gap between the two. No wonder McLaren were so keen to make sure those new parts arrived in time.

It also explains why Button topped the speed trap at 319kph while Hamilton was bang in the middle on 311.5kph – behind all the other championship contenders.

But also remember how quick Hamilton was here last year, topping all three parts of qualifying.

At the time he said he particularly enjoyed hustling his car around the tight sequence of bends at the end of the lap which reminded him of a kart track. In that last part of the lap he was two tenths of a second faster than anyone and almost a whole second up on Button.

As Hamilton pointed out, the Red Bulls (and Ferraris, for that matter), always seem to keep a little pace in hand for qualifying.

The super-soft tyre runs in second practice were also disrupted by a yellow flag caused by Jaime Alguersuari. As we don’t know how many laps each driver had to abort and how much life they had taken out of their tyres, we can’t take these times completely at face value. And there are the usual questions of fuel load and engine life.

Ferrari have got some work to do. Although the car appears to have pace Alonso’s heavy-fuel running at the end of the session gave cause for concern.

If you zoom in on the final ten minutes in the chart above and compare his spread of lap times to the likes of Hamilton’s and Vettel’s you can see Alonso’s lap times increasing a much quicker rate.

At this point Ferrari could have done with Felipe Massa on the track gathering more data, but he was stopped by the side of the road. The radio feed captured him telling the team he’d run out of fuel.

It would be extraordinarily unusual for a team of Ferrari’s calibre to make so basic a mistake as to send a car out without enough fuel in it. And we saw at Spain last year, when Massa was low on fuel at the end of the race, how accurately they can measure fuel use when a car is on the track.

However Cosworth explained some of the peculiar engine difficulties faced at Abu Dhabi which may have caught Ferrari out:

Turn seven is very tight, which can lead to possible issues with engine push into the corner, as well as pick-up out of it.

The engine is usually in full injection cut on the way into the corner, both to save fuel and reduce the amount of engine push, although the latter is a driver preference. A balance must be found to allow the engine speed to drop low enough in full cut to negotiate the turn without the risk of an engine stall.

If the minimum car and engine speed thresholds for full cut are too high, the engine will fire-up mid corner, potentially upsetting the balance of the car. If they are too low, then there is the possibility of an engine stall.

Ferrari ran a different rear wing in FP2 to FP1, and their straight-line speeds increased by almost 5kph as a result

Meanwhile, on the topic of engines, Mark Webber changed his between the two practice sessions.

Finally, the problem of graining reared its head again due to the low-grip surface due to the rain which fell before practice. Bridgestone’s Hirohide Hamashima explained:

Once the dry tyres were used, drivers encountered a very slippery and green surface so we saw a lot of sliding and resultant graining on both front and rear tyres. This graining occurred even when used with low fuel loads on the harder medium compound, showing just how slippery it was.

The track surface improved considerably in the second session, as shown by the quicker lap times. There was much less graining – next to none with the medium compound – however it was still seen on the super soft compound when used with heavier fuel loads.”
Hirohide Hamashima

Pos.	Car	Driver	Car	Best lap	Gap	Lap	At time	Laps
1	2	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	1’40.888		15	64	25
2	5	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull-Renault	1’41.145	0.257	19	72	28
3	8	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	1’41.314	0.426	17	63	29
4	6	Mark Webber	Red Bull-Renault	1’41.315	0.427	18	67	29
5	11	Robert Kubica	Renault	1’41.576	0.688	19	65	31
6	7	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	1’41.583	0.695	18	64	20
7	12	Vitaly Petrov	Renault	1’42.096	1.208	15	58	31
8	1	Jenson Button	McLaren-Mercedes	1’42.132	1.244	10	32	28
9	15	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Force India-Mercedes	1’42.203	1.315	20	63	31
10	4	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	1’42.222	1.334	19	71	29
11	3	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	1’42.246	1.358	8	29	29
12	10	Nico Hülkenberg	Williams-Cosworth	1’42.449	1.561	12	37	32
13	14	Adrian Sutil	Force India-Mercedes	1’42.535	1.647	15	71	21
14	23	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber-Ferrari	1’42.768	1.880	13	46	26
15	9	Rubens Barrichello	Williams-Cosworth	1’42.914	2.026	20	57	37
16	22	Nick Heidfeld	Sauber-Ferrari	1’42.950	2.062	24	71	34
17	17	Jaime Alguersuari	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	1’43.128	2.240	16	59	16
18	16	Sebastien Buemi	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	1’43.584	2.696	25	72	33
19	19	Heikki Kovalainen	Lotus-Cosworth	1’45.180	4.292	22	64	36
20	24	Timo Glock	Virgin-Cosworth	1’45.259	4.371	23	74	31
21	18	Jarno Trulli	Lotus-Cosworth	1’45.612	4.724	20	63	35
22	25	Lucas di Grassi	Virgin-Cosworth	1’46.053	5.165	23	78	29
23	20	Christian Klien	HRT-Cosworth	1’47.210	6.322	20	60	32
24	21	Bruno Senna	HRT-Cosworth	1’47.434	6.546	7	17	28

Ultimate laps

An ultimate lap is a driver’s best three sector times added together.

Pos.	Car	Driver	Car	Ultimate lap	Gap	Deficit to best
1	2	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	1’40.854		0.034
2	5	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull-Renault	1’41.046	0.192	0.099
3	8	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	1’41.225	0.371	0.089
4	6	Mark Webber	Red Bull-Renault	1’41.244	0.390	0.071
5	7	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	1’41.459	0.605	0.124
6	11	Robert Kubica	Renault	1’41.576	0.722	0.000
7	3	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	1’41.819	0.965	0.427
8	1	Jenson Button	McLaren-Mercedes	1’41.999	1.145	0.133
9	12	Vitaly Petrov	Renault	1’42.023	1.169	0.073
10	15	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Force India-Mercedes	1’42.129	1.275	0.074
11	4	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	1’42.188	1.334	0.034
12	10	Nico Hülkenberg	Williams-Cosworth	1’42.256	1.402	0.193
13	14	Adrian Sutil	Force India-Mercedes	1’42.503	1.649	0.032
14	23	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber-Ferrari	1’42.648	1.794	0.120
15	9	Rubens Barrichello	Williams-Cosworth	1’42.757	1.903	0.157
16	22	Nick Heidfeld	Sauber-Ferrari	1’42.863	2.009	0.087
17	17	Jaime Alguersuari	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	1’43.117	2.263	0.011
18	16	Sebastien Buemi	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	1’43.433	2.579	0.151
19	19	Heikki Kovalainen	Lotus-Cosworth	1’45.180	4.326	0.000
20	24	Timo Glock	Virgin-Cosworth	1’45.199	4.345	0.060
21	18	Jarno Trulli	Lotus-Cosworth	1’45.564	4.710	0.048
22	25	Lucas di Grassi	Virgin-Cosworth	1’45.857	5.003	0.196
23	20	Christian Klien	HRT-Cosworth	1’47.015	6.161	0.195
24	21	Bruno Senna	HRT-Cosworth	1’47.176	6.322	0.258

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69 comments on Rear wing tweak key to McLaren’s pace

BBT said on 12th November 2010, 20:36

Keith, do you want to take that comment back made yesterday about Hamilton not being realistically able to come second behind Vettel?

As it happens I think RBR still have plenty in the bag but Hamilton does seem to go very well on this track.

I still predict VET, HAM, WEB, ALO, BUT… still realistic ;-)

- Aussie Fan said on 13th November 2010, 2:55
  
  Why would he take that comment back, its not even qualifying yet. Fp1 & Fp2 times mean squat.
  
  - BBT said on 13th November 2010, 9:03
    
    Agreed in a way. Probably won’t be P1 in FP3 but the race result is still a realistic possibility.
    
    Anyway I think one of Vet, Alo, Web won’t finish the race, lets wait and see
    
MacademiaNut said on 12th November 2010, 21:18

I have a theory on why Lewis would want anyone other than Vettel to win the WDC. In 2008, Vettel was the one that overtook HAM to take the coveted 5th place. VET did not give up that position to HAM to win the WDC. So, HAM will not help VET in any case even though he might consider doing something to make sure VET doesn’t get WDC.

- Adam Tate said on 12th November 2010, 22:40
  
  I don’t know, that seems a bit nutty and far fetched there Macademia.
  
- Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine) said on 12th November 2010, 23:04
  
  I don’t believe Hamilton will be pulling over for anyone.
  
  Because he, more than anyone else (except perhaps Felipe Massa), knows you can win a world championship in the last corner of the last race.
  
  - MacademiaNut said on 13th November 2010, 3:51
    
    @Keith: Of course, I don’t expect HAM to pull over for anyone. See my prediction for the race. :)
    
    Just thought it will be interesting given what happened in 2008 that VET might lose the championship because he couldn’t get ahead of HAM during the race.
    
Alexi (@alexi) said on 12th November 2010, 21:36

I feel like Red Bull will lack the pace when they need it the most.

F1Fan said on 12th November 2010, 21:40

So it’s starting to look like this: Vettel on pole, Webber or Lewis 2nd, Lewis or Webber 3rd, Alonso 4th. And if this ends up being the final order in the race, Vettel will be the champion. And I will have no problem w/ it, because he should have already clinched the title, but for the DNFs and the collision w/ Webber. Tomorrow’s Q could be the best of all time.

- Hare (@hare) said on 12th November 2010, 21:50
  
  I’ll think you’ll find Alonso will be champ if he finishes 4th and Webber finishes 2nd. If Vettel wins, and Alonso finishes 5th, they will be level on points, but Vettel will take it on 4th place count back, having got 1 more 4th place than Alonso.
  
- Adam Tate said on 12th November 2010, 22:43
  
  Taking the DNF’s and crashed out of the equation Vettel would have been crowned champion sometimes ago, but part of being a champion is leading your team and managing your driving to avoid costly DNF’s and crashes in the first place. In this regard, Alonso has been far and away the best of the championship contenders this year. Does that mean I prefer him to win? No, just a point I find relevant.
  
  - Hare (@hare) said on 13th November 2010, 11:55
    
    To finish first…. etc
    
Lenny said on 13th November 2010, 0:06

Okay guys, I have been out of the loop for a couple of days..fill me in on the engine situation. Last I heard was commentary durng Brazil which went along the lines of:
Vet and Alo will need to use the same engine for practices, qual and race at abu dhabi
Web will be able to use ones for each. I note Web’s situation from his interview post practice that he used his Brazil engine for P1, changed for P2, will keep that in for P3 and will change again before qual to his Suzuka engine….
But i suppose I am after info on the other contenders. Can anyone help me to save me from searching through threads (as I know tis has surely been addressed and discussed somewhere).

- Aussie Fan said on 13th November 2010, 2:56
  
  I don’t think Webber can do that, I was sure that you have to have your quali & race engine in the car for FP3 too, I am sure that is written in the rules.
  
  - BBT said on 13th November 2010, 9:08
    
    Alonso will have a next to new engine for Quali and the race having only completed FP miles with it, that is if it is true he has the Bahrain engine (changed just in case but was found to be 100% ok after) for the race which due to the regulations he could not use until this weekend
    
    - Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine) said on 13th November 2010, 9:47
      
      The Bahrain engines were supposed to be used again in Shanghai:
      
      Ferrari to use Bahrain engines in China
      
      But Alonso blew an engine in practice in Shanghai:
      
      Chinese Grand Prix practice report
      
      Were these not the same engine?
      
      I’ve seen these “Alonso can use a different engine in Abu Dhabi” reports on various websites but they all seem to be just pointing out that clause in the regulations, I’m not aware that any of them have proved Alonso can still use the reconditioned Bahrain unit.
      
      And if he could, I can’t imagine Ferrari being too keen to let that fact get out.
      
      - BBT said on 13th November 2010, 10:10
        
        You could well be correct, I had read you blog entry above. It could of been the Bahrain engine that went in Shanghai, if it was I assume the regulations allowed it to be used in FP but not in the race until the final round of the session. Maybe this is why people believe the engine changed in Bahrain is available now, thinking it wasn’t allowed to be even used in FP. Or maybe as you point out its just pointing out the regulations and people (including myself) have jumped to the wrong conclusion.
        
        I don’t know. But one thing is a fact, and that is that the engine he has for Sunday according to Alonso at least, has plenty of mileage. Its interesting but not a big issue, lets face it sometimes engines blow first time out of the box and others can last 5 or 6 races, although engine manufactures do seem to be good a predicting when they are at the end of their natural life.
ed24f1 (@ed24f1) said on 13th November 2010, 10:43

Keith, wasn’t it revealed after Barcelona 2009 that there actually wasn’t a problem with Massa’s fuel tank and he had enough?

Fixy (@fixy) said on 13th November 2010, 15:10

McLaren could help Fernando if they stay in front of the Red Bulls. They will help the Red Bulls if they stay behind them and in front of Alonso.