# How Webber climbed from 18th to third

### 2011 Chinese Grand Prix analysisPosted on | 17th April 2011, 14:5417th April 2011, 17:06Author Keith Collantine

Mark Webber started 18th, fell to 20th, yet somehow finished third.

How did he gain 15 places on his start position to finish on the podium?

The answer to that and more in the post-race analysis.

### Lap 1

Sebastian Vettel lost the lead at the start of the race after making a poor getaway. He blamed a lack of grip on the left-hand side of the grid for his trouble.

It didn’t stop Lewis Hamilton, who also started on left side, from getting past. But other odd-numbered started had problems: look at Fernando Alonso, Sergio Perez and the Toro Rossos in the chart above.

### Pit stops

A mixture of strategies made for an exciting race.

Most drivers preferred a two-stop strategy but four of the top five drivers elected to pit three times. And Narain Karthikeyan, who finished last, only had to stop once.

Tyre compounds

 Stint 1 Stint 2 Stint 3 Stint 4 Sebastian Vettel Soft Soft Hard Jenson Button Soft Soft Soft Hard Lewis Hamilton Soft Soft Soft Hard Nico Rosberg Soft Soft Soft Hard Fernando Alonso Soft Soft Hard Felipe Massa Soft Soft Hard Jaime Alguersuari Soft Soft Paul di Resta Soft Soft Hard Sebastien Buemi Soft Hard Hard Hard Vitaly Petrov Soft Soft Hard Adrian Sutil Soft Soft Hard Soft Sergio Perez Soft Soft Hard Kamui Kobayashi Soft Soft Hard Michael Schumacher Soft Soft Soft Hard Rubens Barrichello Soft Soft Hard Nick Heidfeld Soft Soft Hard Pastor Maldonado Soft Soft Hard Hard Mark Webber Hard Soft Soft Soft Heikki Kovalainen Soft Soft Hard Jarno Trulli Soft Soft Hard Jerome d’Ambrosio Soft Soft Hard Timo Glock Soft Soft Soft Hard Vitantonio Liuzzi Soft Hard Soft Narain Karthikeyan Soft Hard

### Race progress

Mark Webber started 18th, struggled on his hard tyres, was passed by Sergio Perez, and slumped to 20th place by lap 11. So how on earth did he finish third?

It turned out that getting the hard tyres out of the way at the start was a master stroke. By the end of the race, when practically everyone else was on the hard tyres, Webber was lapping around one-and-a-half seconds faster.

On his climb through the field he benefited from other drivers making pit stops but also had to make some passes. Among those he took were Vitaly Petrov and Michael Schumacher.

His last pit stop dropped him behind Fernando Alonso – after that he passed Alonso, the other Ferrari of Felipe Massa, Nico Rosberg and Jenson Button.

This chart shows how far each driver was behind the leader (in seconds) on each lap.

http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/charts/2011drivercolours.csv

 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 Sebastian Vettel 2.034 1.944 1.696 1.958 2.097 2.067 2.053 2.023 1.858 1.88 1.81 1.605 0.998 3.762 18.097 12.12 5.521 5.051 4.799 5.007 5.029 4.638 4.159 3.888 0 0 0 0 0 0 3.278 20.55 15.778 16.005 16.531 16.724 16.729 16.113 11.523 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.262 2.805 4.047 5.223 5.198 Jenson Button 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2.493 19.054 13.836 6.629 6.629 6.228 6.403 6.593 6.423 6.295 9.851 21.152 20.566 19.375 17.854 17.232 14.667 10.257 8.284 2.329 1.714 2.886 4.535 9.39 25.258 19.834 7.952 7.657 6.969 6.881 6.179 6.786 7.918 8.333 8.555 8.776 7.807 6.322 5.902 6.841 7.691 9.053 10 Lewis Hamilton 1.378 1.16 1.043 1.185 1.253 1.384 1.28 1.425 1.252 1.295 1.206 0.912 0.635 0 3.997 15.856 8.249 7.876 7.925 7.947 8.146 8.125 8.343 8.108 8.127 23.226 22.193 20.683 19.16 15.799 10.712 9.136 2.992 2.573 3.032 2.682 1.839 5.121 16.798 5.856 5.673 5.77 5.007 4.636 3.758 3.342 2.944 1.647 0.978 0.448 0.322 0 0 0 0 0 Nico Rosberg 2.932 3.134 3.087 3.575 4.286 4.443 4.687 4.787 4.933 5.53 6.047 9.645 23.548 18.18 13.643 7.813 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.803 17.888 16.709 15.858 14.706 12.235 8.031 6.283 0.539 0 0 0 0 0 0 5.469 4.964 6.476 5.976 5.687 7.171 8.409 8.91 9.172 9.563 10.448 8.884 8.325 8.786 10.847 11.198 13.448 Fernando Alonso 4.171 4.514 4.464 5.06 5.795 6.177 6.188 6.644 6.965 6.977 6.849 6.819 5.684 2.314 0 0 12.343 12.931 13.352 13.931 14.594 14.997 16.187 17.017 13.968 14.253 14.749 16.203 17.88 18.447 16.642 21.491 34.107 34.762 35.886 36.611 37.035 37.171 33.673 22.896 23.295 23.763 24.405 24.796 26.27 27.333 28.578 29.218 30.556 30.699 30.151 29.994 30.66 31.03 31.201 30.622 Felipe Massa 3.575 3.7 3.734 4.24 4.965 5.093 5.295 5.507 5.495 6.183 6.359 6.157 4.478 1.323 2.655 15.526 7.512 7.347 7.38 7.445 7.492 7.385 7.127 7.214 3.612 3.279 3.25 3.413 3.334 2.51 0 0 0 17.984 18.539 18.777 18.912 18.723 14.354 3.699 4.054 3.988 4.132 4.685 6.524 7.399 7.989 8.065 9.368 11.109 12.163 12.602 14.282 15.264 15.913 15.84 Jaime Alguersuari 6.964 8.664 10.346 12.69 14.435 16.987 19.615 22.129 29.344 Paul di Resta 4.69 5.852 6.364 8.471 10.145 11.127 11.857 12.743 14.029 14.711 20.15 36.684 35.671 31.073 26.649 22.379 15.414 16.419 17.307 18.425 19.639 20.503 21.373 22.628 19.595 21.31 23.365 24.81 25.888 26.613 25.822 33.628 48.078 49.252 52.049 53.252 54.325 55.329 51.969 41.843 42.954 43.963 45.099 45.716 46.553 48.184 49.799 51.027 52.695 53.248 53.781 55.322 59.176 61.951 65.012 68.757 Sebastien Buemi 8.049 10.077 11.486 13.702 15.789 17.376 19.84 22.443 25.384 26.596 27.328 33.498 51.77 48.498 45.259 45.256 60.561 60.517 60.826 61.286 62.73 63.166 63.738 64.387 63.771 64.278 64.752 65.283 66.169 65.995 64.339 65.96 68.408 88.068 89.015 89.564 89.749 91.414 88.39 77.503 78.012 77.935 78.384 78.514 78.433 78.782 79.91 81.56 82.105 81.728 81.877 82.199 83.72 85.491 88.493 90.671 Vitaly Petrov 7.645 9.457 10.704 13.133 15.012 16.624 17.873 18.891 19.196 19.744 19.78 19.266 18.634 16.217 14.612 11.483 11.43 30.52 31.125 31.698 32.522 32.928 33.647 33.805 30.682 31.072 31.624 32.299 34.075 34.966 32.486 32.211 29.104 31.955 34.349 36.029 43.329 62.025 57.948 48.084 49.5 50.483 51.071 51.953 54.863 56.903 57.217 56.892 56.7 55.381 54.415 54.422 56.361 56.842 57.581 57.404 Adrian Sutil 5.364 6.611 7.059 9.093 10.834 11.967 12.826 13.872 14.538 15.428 16.063 16.058 15.897 13.817 16.466 29.44 22.242 23.02 23.905 25.302 26.656 27.179 28.142 28.969 26.53 27.628 29.228 30.666 32.659 37.889 54.514 55.298 51.893 53.222 55.399 57.083 58.543 59.95 56.927 47.086 48.034 49.041 50.22 51.501 53.767 56.098 79.692 106.223 105.853 104.924 104.538 104.811 105.685 104.815 103.872 Sergio Perez 9.749 12.351 13.45 16.126 18.371 19.932 21.864 23.614 25.826 27.207 28.082 28.484 26.984 23.323 20.475 21.712 31.134 31.6 31.555 32.204 32.905 33.329 34.121 34.513 31.188 31.755 32.303 32.749 34.704 36.356 34.727 35.219 32.417 35.228 38.888 45.967 65.683 65.627 61.223 50.13 50.26 51.228 52.435 52.103 54.138 56.46 69.049 74.407 84.804 88.962 116.529 116.256 118.072 118.89 120.35 Kamui Kobayashi 7.156 8.973 9.662 10.652 11.76 13.245 13.986 15.196 16.018 16.826 17.55 17.377 17.048 19.953 33.295 30.997 23.264 23.59 24.441 25.676 27.259 27.86 28.92 29.879 27.241 28.624 30.374 31.678 33.771 40.087 55.186 54.56 50.428 51.237 52.892 54.597 55.809 56.633 53.324 43.018 44.041 44.892 45.919 46.484 47.672 48.96 50.491 51.99 53.349 54.091 54.998 56.225 58.642 60.494 62.128 63.273 Michael Schumacher 5.729 7.099 7.858 9.422 11.242 12.654 13.377 14.773 15.44 20.182 35.29 33.955 31.308 26.429 22.732 17.483 12.036 12.269 12.921 13.478 14.134 14.627 15.865 16.608 14.36 19.639 37.421 35.909 35.975 35.775 32.813 32.524 27.701 28.224 28.388 28.425 28.526 29.468 30.097 37.041 37.423 36.978 36.462 35.855 35.347 35.189 35.174 34.766 34.879 34.895 33.373 32.516 32.48 32.468 31.923 31.026 Rubens Barrichello 9.351 11.527 12.48 16.095 17.738 19.479 21.156 24.509 26.918 28.365 28.709 29.315 28.508 26.073 24.885 27.126 38.55 39.292 40.224 41.927 42.88 43.655 44.357 45.594 42.895 43.585 44.924 46.562 47.819 47.913 46.561 47.332 44.822 47.835 56.78 76.95 78.746 79.874 77.142 67.649 69.006 69.845 70.469 70.501 70.755 71.958 73.641 74.859 76.828 77.576 78.222 79.738 82.272 84.775 88.017 90.189 Nick Heidfeld 8.971 10.755 12.106 14.258 16.399 18.116 20.293 22.808 25.061 25.541 25.639 25.387 24.328 21.045 18.846 16.484 11.92 19.565 38.15 37.756 38.045 37.787 37.764 37.85 34.23 34.849 35.167 35.167 36.588 41.24 56.358 55.924 52.385 53.828 55.968 57.665 59.056 60.37 57.572 47.877 49.057 51.067 54.421 55.399 56.283 57.739 59.26 60.231 61.285 61.231 60.644 60.726 62.329 63.512 65.325 72.739 Pastor Maldonado 11.034 13.324 14.86 17.099 20.048 21.931 24.647 28.536 33.357 43.209 62.459 60.992 59.369 56.029 52.174 47.171 40.4 41.475 42.941 44.629 46.683 48.116 50.43 52.958 56.632 75.107 75.503 75.595 75.972 74.994 72.4 72.368 69.19 71.612 75.025 78.367 81.49 84.911 84.703 83.135 110.717 110.908 111.772 112.858 113.165 113.494 113.975 114.477 117.624 117.913 117.959 118.535 121.283 123.418 125.279 Mark Webber 9.961 11.857 12.859 15.035 16.739 18.761 20.715 23.085 26.531 35.653 53.704 51.831 49.17 43.453 38.343 32.753 26.084 25.566 25.441 25.752 27.592 28.393 29.467 30.337 31.845 46.881 45.354 43.554 41.439 38.714 34.151 33.054 29.444 30.382 29.89 29.274 28.775 29.097 24.404 17.055 31.553 28.613 26.048 25.049 23.6 21.689 20.198 18.039 16.05 12.972 11.255 8.745 9.238 8.96 8.675 7.555 Heikki Kovalainen 10.585 13.843 16.508 18.952 21.799 23.946 25.807 28.893 31.582 33.565 34.564 35.967 36.654 34.713 32.779 31.536 27.652 31.451 39.64 60.551 63.451 65.709 67.243 68.98 67.014 68.093 69.637 70.352 71.423 71.439 69.817 70.332 67.4 70.008 72.778 75.497 78.012 80.558 79.227 74.717 94.858 96.579 97.847 98.336 99.231 100.775 104.553 107.47 109.062 109.938 110.255 112.813 114.683 115.473 116.94 Jarno Trulli 10.864 14.574 16.995 20.028 22.651 25.071 27.026 30.023 33.811 36.299 38.422 39.773 40.193 38.205 37.024 35.025 30.713 35.201 39.478 50.185 71.953 73.708 75.169 76.753 74.336 76.972 78.496 79.393 80.564 80.608 78.871 79.786 76.877 79.146 82.736 85.949 88.895 92.198 91.8 83.999 87.798 97.475 119.442 121.385 124.497 127.508 128.823 132.832 134.582 134.859 137.1 136.8 137.425 138.174 139.09 Jerome dAmbrosio 13.747 18.414 22.004 25.573 29.581 33.756 37.716 41.499 44.775 47.955 51.199 54.136 56.433 56.698 56.895 56.326 53.783 59.187 65.308 75.761 100.957 104.129 107.865 112.765 111.729 114.77 118.165 124.645 127.803 129.448 129.492 132.409 132.155 144.054 168.912 172.643 175.961 179.089 178.163 170.313 175.125 178.418 182.79 185.78 188.809 192.756 196.717 200.127 203.423 209.296 215.215 221.475 227.646 231.249 Timo Glock 12.723 17.453 21.002 24.824 28.911 32.664 36.315 39.943 43.389 46.795 49.889 53.281 55.707 55.725 56.426 59.56 76.068 79.233 82.783 86.702 90.907 94.69 99.28 102.978 104.33 109.23 113.721 121.285 144.564 145.854 145.505 148.26 147.007 150.706 156.941 163.858 169.877 173.392 177.947 202.151 206.906 214.828 218.257 223.859 228.31 233.209 236.677 241.865 247.896 250.84 252.765 255.682 259.136 261.49 Vitantonio Liuzzi 12.415 17.879 22.577 27.524 32.044 36.569 40.628 44.627 52.975 67.459 71.036 74.006 76.251 76.094 76.08 75.642 76.899 82.44 88.549 95.334 108.916 138.193 144.627 148.922 150.744 154.511 158.511 162.183 165.595 168.28 170.205 173.529 174.413 179.142 185.043 190.15 196.706 201.03 202.087 195.393 201.167 207.372 217.255 223.949 236.915 261.074 265.23 268.195 270.602 272.095 273.008 273.781 276.05 279.271 Narain Karthikeyan 14.213 19.231 23.416 28.042 32.725 37.284 41.299 45.387 49.695 54.724 58.899 62.127 64.772 65.098 65.821 65.222 63.702 69.394 74.738 80.661 86.813 93.187 105.438 137.446 139.81 149.559 154.496 158.495 161.984 166.214 166.632 171.719 172.883 178.174 183.31 188.328 192.853 199.747 200.22 193.394 197.804 203.231 209.133 217.658 222.233 227.945 235.13 241.823 250.195 255.074 258.991 267.899 274.476 280.443

### Lap chart

Six different drivers led the race – both McLarens and Ferraris, Vettel and Rosberg. Hamilton only held the lead for a total of six laps.

Paul di Resta was on course for more points in ninth place with six laps to go. But he couldn’t keep Vitaly Petrov and Kamui Kobayashi behind.

This chart shows the drivers’ positions on each lap.

http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/charts/2011drivercolours.csv

 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 Sebastian Vettel 1 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 5 7 4 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 5 5 4 4 4 4 3 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 Jenson Button 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 4 9 5 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 5 8 6 5 5 4 4 4 3 3 2 2 3 3 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 4 4 4 4 3 3 3 3 3 3 4 4 Lewis Hamilton 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 3 7 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 4 4 8 6 6 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 2 2 4 4 4 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 Nico Rosberg 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 6 9 8 4 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 4 4 3 3 3 3 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 3 4 4 4 5 5 5 5 5 4 4 4 4 5 5 5 Fernando Alonso 5 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 5 5 3 1 1 9 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 5 3 3 4 5 6 6 6 10 9 9 9 8 8 8 7 6 6 6 6 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 Felipe Massa 6 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 4 4 2 2 6 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 5 5 5 5 4 3 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 4 5 6 6 6 6 6 6 Jaime Alguersuari 7 10 10 11 11 11 12 12 12 17 Paul di Resta 8 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 10 16 14 14 13 11 10 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 10 12 12 11 11 10 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 10 11 11 11 11 Sebastien Buemi 9 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 12 13 18 18 18 18 20 20 19 19 17 17 17 17 17 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 17 19 19 19 19 18 18 17 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 15 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 Vitaly Petrov 10 12 12 12 12 12 11 11 11 11 10 9 9 8 7 5 3 6 13 12 12 12 12 12 12 11 11 10 10 10 8 8 7 7 8 8 8 9 13 13 13 13 12 12 12 13 13 11 11 11 11 10 9 9 9 9 9 Adrian Sutil 11 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 7 7 6 6 6 13 11 10 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 8 8 8 11 13 14 14 14 13 13 12 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 15 16 16 16 15 15 15 15 15 Sergio Perez 12 16 17 17 17 17 17 17 16 14 14 13 11 11 11 10 10 16 15 13 13 13 13 13 13 12 12 11 11 11 10 11 11 9 10 10 10 14 14 14 14 14 14 13 13 12 12 13 13 15 15 17 17 17 17 17 Kamui Kobayashi 13 11 11 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 9 8 8 7 9 15 14 12 11 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 9 9 9 13 14 13 13 13 12 12 11 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 11 11 10 10 10 10 Michael Schumacher 14 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 11 16 14 13 13 11 9 8 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 5 13 13 12 9 9 8 6 6 6 6 6 7 7 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 Rubens Barrichello 15 15 15 15 16 16 16 16 17 16 15 14 12 12 12 12 12 17 17 17 15 15 15 15 15 15 14 14 15 15 15 12 12 11 11 15 16 16 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 14 14 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 Nick Heidfeld 16 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 12 12 11 10 10 10 8 8 7 9 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 13 12 12 13 14 15 15 15 15 14 14 13 12 12 12 12 13 14 14 14 14 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 Pastor Maldonado 17 20 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 19 19 22 21 21 20 19 19 18 18 18 16 16 16 16 16 16 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 17 17 17 17 17 17 18 19 19 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 Mark Webber 18 17 16 16 15 15 15 15 15 15 17 20 18 17 17 17 16 13 12 11 11 11 11 11 11 13 15 15 14 14 12 10 9 8 7 7 7 7 6 6 6 7 7 7 7 6 6 6 6 6 6 5 5 5 4 3 3 Heikki Kovalainen 19 18 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 18 16 15 15 15 15 14 15 14 14 16 18 18 18 18 18 18 17 17 17 17 17 17 17 16 16 16 15 15 16 16 16 18 17 17 17 17 17 17 17 17 17 16 16 16 16 16 Jarno Trulli 20 19 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 18 17 17 16 16 16 17 15 16 15 17 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 18 18 18 18 19 19 19 17 18 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 Jerome dAmbrosio 21 23 23 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 21 19 20 20 21 21 20 19 19 20 20 22 22 22 21 21 21 21 21 20 20 20 20 20 20 21 21 21 21 21 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 Timo Glock 22 22 21 21 21 21 21 21 21 21 20 18 19 19 19 20 21 22 22 22 22 21 21 20 20 20 20 20 20 21 21 21 21 21 21 20 20 20 20 20 23 23 23 23 22 22 22 22 22 21 21 21 21 21 21 Vitantonio Liuzzi 23 21 22 23 23 23 23 23 23 24 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 22 22 22 22 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 22 Narain Karthikeyan 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 23 22 21 22 22 22 22 22 21 21 21 21 20 20 21 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 21 21 21 21 21 21 21 21 21 22 22 22 22 22 23

### Fastest laps

Vettel’s slow final stint meant he only set the eighth-fastest lap of the race.

 Rank Driver Car Fastest lap Gap On lap 1 Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1’38.993 42 2 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1’40.415 1.422 48 3 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1’40.623 1.630 39 4 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1’41.157 2.164 54 5 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1’41.166 2.173 41 6 Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1’41.215 2.222 46 7 Vitaly Petrov Renault 1’41.261 2.268 50 8 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1’41.321 2.328 47 9 Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1’41.643 2.650 39 10 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1’41.678 2.685 39 11 Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1’41.696 2.703 45 12 Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1’41.702 2.709 46 13 Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1’42.031 3.038 45 14 Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 1’42.052 3.059 53 15 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1’42.070 3.077 41 16 Nick Heidfeld Renault 1’42.406 3.413 51 17 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1’42.577 3.584 32 18 Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1’42.614 3.621 45 19 Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 1’42.672 3.679 45 20 Vitantonio Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 1’43.384 4.391 52 21 Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1’44.381 5.388 54 22 Jerome d’Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1’44.806 5.813 45 23 Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1’45.700 6.707 5 24 Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1’46.081 7.088 41

### All lap times

The lap times chart illustrates the benefit of Webber’s strategy in the closing stages of the race. Over the final 20 laps, despite making a pit stop, he gained 11 seconds on his team mate.

This chart shows all the drivers’ lap times.

http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/charts/2011drivercolours.csv

 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 Sebastian Vettel 107.942 104.769 104.636 104.275 104.094 104.007 104.018 104.132 104.365 104.741 105.048 105.136 105.367 111.161 122.384 103.2 104.424 102.784 102.761 103.016 102.622 102.558 102.467 102.677 102.936 103.054 102.727 103.111 102.964 104.097 109.097 120.475 102.392 102.238 101.735 101.795 101.927 101.675 101.457 101.551 101.671 101.933 101.797 102.221 101.777 101.373 101.321 101.712 101.608 102.58 102.993 103.873 102.97 103.269 103.394 103.117 Jenson Button 105.908 104.859 104.884 104.013 103.955 104.037 104.032 104.162 104.53 104.719 105.118 105.341 105.974 110.89 124.61 103.959 103.816 103.254 102.612 102.983 102.79 102.779 102.818 106.504 118.125 102.468 101.536 101.59 102.342 101.532 101.409 101.23 101.209 101.396 102.381 103.251 106.777 118.159 100.623 101.192 101.376 101.245 101.709 101.519 102.384 102.505 101.736 101.934 101.829 101.611 101.508 102.191 102.366 102.877 103.58 104.089 Lewis Hamilton 107.286 104.641 104.767 104.155 104.023 104.168 103.928 104.307 104.357 104.762 105.029 105.047 105.697 107.762 112.046 121.036 103.416 102.881 103.062 102.83 102.799 102.928 103.164 102.713 106.843 118.153 101.694 101.601 101.441 100.736 100.732 101.627 101.02 101.592 101.668 101.252 101.079 105.573 117.724 102.132 101.488 102.03 101.034 101.85 100.899 100.957 100.923 100.415 100.939 102.05 102.867 102.289 101.427 102.027 102.218 103.142 Nico Rosberg 108.84 105.061 104.837 104.501 104.666 104.194 104.276 104.262 104.676 105.316 105.635 108.939 119.877 103.029 103.512 103.347 103.21 103.254 103.013 102.808 102.6 102.949 102.946 102.948 107.627 120.139 101.548 102.26 101.812 101.626 101.615 101.455 101.42 101.472 101.209 101.602 101.922 102.291 106.047 118.543 101.166 103.445 101.297 101.932 103.261 102.611 101.822 101.974 101.999 103.465 101.429 102.052 101.888 104.088 102.569 105.392 Fernando Alonso 110.079 105.202 104.834 104.609 104.69 104.419 104.043 104.618 104.851 104.731 104.99 105.311 104.839 105.027 105.735 109.177 123.366 103.842 103.434 103.387 103.263 103.352 104.136 103.778 103.775 103.339 103.223 104.565 104.641 104.664 104.014 108.052 119.78 102.666 102.333 102.327 102.346 102.427 102.549 102.297 102.07 102.401 102.439 102.612 103.251 102.436 102.566 102.352 102.946 102.723 102.445 102.454 102.093 102.397 102.389 102.563 Felipe Massa 109.483 104.984 104.918 104.519 104.68 104.165 104.234 104.374 104.518 105.407 105.294 105.139 104.295 105.242 109.381 122.048 103.009 103.089 103.046 102.873 102.647 102.842 102.688 103.035 103.222 102.721 102.698 103.274 102.885 103.273 103.309 103.203 107.164 119.995 101.764 101.84 102.057 102.102 101.678 102.419 102.026 101.867 101.941 102.774 103.616 102.248 101.911 101.788 102.911 104.321 104.047 103.05 103.107 103.009 102.867 103.069 Jaime Alguersuari 112.872 106.559 106.566 106.357 105.7 106.589 106.66 106.676 111.745 Paul di Resta 110.598 106.021 105.396 106.12 105.629 105.019 104.762 105.048 105.816 105.401 110.557 121.875 104.961 103.799 103.625 104.907 104.058 104.259 103.901 103.926 103.814 103.813 103.816 104.203 103.791 104.769 104.782 104.556 104.042 104.822 105.028 111.009 121.614 103.185 104.006 102.805 102.995 103.295 102.687 102.948 102.782 102.942 102.933 102.838 102.614 103.004 102.936 102.94 103.276 103.133 103.526 104.152 105.281 104.802 105.279 106.887 Sebastien Buemi 113.957 106.887 106.293 106.229 106.042 105.624 106.496 106.765 107.471 105.931 105.85 111.511 124.246 105.125 104.81 109.174 126.328 103.21 103.322 103.268 104.044 103.385 103.518 103.597 106.208 103.561 103.201 103.642 103.85 103.923 104.163 104.824 109.612 121.671 102.156 102.151 102.107 103.956 103.023 102.187 102.18 101.856 102.246 102.351 101.696 101.722 102.449 103.362 102.153 102.203 103.142 102.933 102.948 103.798 105.22 105.32 Vitaly Petrov 113.553 106.671 106.131 106.442 105.834 105.649 105.281 105.18 104.835 105.267 105.154 104.827 105.342 105.98 106.444 106.048 110.97 122.344 103.618 103.381 103.424 103.355 103.665 103.106 103.701 103.444 103.279 103.786 104.74 104.988 103.339 102.928 104.057 104.862 103.603 103.282 109.222 120.987 101.97 103.21 103.087 102.916 102.385 103.103 104.687 103.413 101.635 101.387 101.416 101.261 102.027 102.618 103.366 102.508 102.957 102.965 Adrian Sutil 111.272 106.106 105.332 106.047 105.696 105.17 104.891 105.208 105.196 105.609 105.753 105.336 105.813 106.317 110.698 122.151 103.825 104.032 103.898 104.205 103.954 103.472 103.909 103.775 104.385 104.152 104.327 104.549 104.957 109.327 122.444 103.987 103.759 103.34 103.386 103.286 103.382 103.698 103.024 103.233 102.619 102.94 102.976 103.502 104.043 103.704 124.915 128.243 101.238 101.651 102.607 102.884 102.301 101.157 101.275 Sergio Perez 115.657 107.461 105.983 106.689 106.2 105.598 105.964 105.912 106.742 106.1 105.993 105.743 104.474 104.736 105.201 110.414 120.445 103.72 102.968 103.457 103.301 103.373 103.738 103.34 103.499 103.621 103.275 103.557 104.919 105.749 104.19 103.695 104.362 104.822 104.869 108.681 121.638 102.235 101.643 101.981 101.801 102.901 103.004 101.889 103.812 103.695 113.91 107.07 112.005 106.738 130.56 102.338 103.243 102.845 103.678 Kamui Kobayashi 113.064 106.676 105.573 105.003 105.063 105.522 104.773 105.372 105.352 105.527 105.842 105.168 105.645 111.302 121.391 106.879 103.29 103.58 103.864 104.043 104.183 103.55 104.006 103.907 104.186 104.437 104.477 104.415 105.057 110.413 120.918 102.577 103.032 102.82 102.864 103.307 103.134 103.115 102.738 102.768 102.694 102.784 102.824 102.786 102.965 102.661 102.852 103.211 102.967 103.322 103.9 103.838 103.844 103.879 103.852 104.287 Michael Schumacher 111.637 106.229 105.643 105.577 105.775 105.449 104.755 105.558 105.197 109.461 120.226 104.006 103.327 103.518 104.352 103.928 105.576 103.487 103.665 103.365 103.256 103.442 104.184 103.691 104.576 108.333 120.509 101.599 103.03 103.897 102.857 102.914 102.341 102.534 101.373 101.639 102.023 103.233 106.676 120.018 102.053 101.488 101.281 101.614 101.269 101.215 101.306 101.304 101.721 102.596 101.471 101.754 101.391 102.015 101.673 102.245 Rubens Barrichello 115.259 107.035 105.837 107.628 105.598 105.778 105.709 107.515 106.939 106.166 105.462 105.947 105.167 105.962 106.861 111.418 122.447 103.996 103.945 104.511 103.553 103.724 103.648 104.185 104.125 103.744 104.066 104.749 104.221 104.191 104.467 103.974 104.654 105.024 110.154 121.772 103.718 103.419 103.315 103.581 103.028 102.772 102.421 102.253 102.031 102.576 103.004 102.93 103.577 103.328 103.639 104.127 103.961 104.53 105.46 105.314 Nick Heidfeld 114.879 106.643 106.235 106.165 106.096 105.754 106.209 106.677 106.783 105.199 105.216 105.089 104.915 105.114 105.85 106.815 106.459 110.899 121.598 102.414 102.889 102.691 102.923 103.034 103.204 103.673 103.045 103.111 104.385 108.749 120.937 102.769 103.625 103.454 103.349 103.299 103.313 103.605 103.249 103.379 102.851 103.943 105.151 103.199 102.661 102.829 102.842 102.683 102.662 102.526 102.406 102.693 103.03 103.21 104.031 110.556 Pastor Maldonado 116.942 107.149 106.42 106.252 106.904 105.92 106.748 108.051 109.351 114.571 124.368 103.874 104.351 105.057 104.194 104.174 104.252 104.329 104.479 104.496 104.654 104.382 105.26 105.476 110.498 121.529 103.123 103.203 103.341 103.119 103.225 103.171 103.986 104.433 104.622 104.944 105.045 105.712 105.839 111.506 129.253 102.124 102.661 103.307 102.084 101.702 101.802 102.214 104.755 102.869 103.039 103.187 104.175 104.162 104.079 Mark Webber 115.869 106.755 105.886 106.189 105.659 106.059 105.986 106.532 107.976 113.841 123.169 103.468 103.313 102.68 102.939 103.587 104.354 102.736 102.888 103.119 104.44 103.75 104.02 103.818 108.332 118.09 101.2 101.311 100.849 101.372 101.256 102.106 103.554 102.949 100.717 100.986 101.423 102.613 101.354 105.725 116.169 98.993 99.232 101.222 100.328 99.462 99.83 99.553 99.619 99.502 101.276 100.101 101.92 101.749 101.933 102.022 Heikki Kovalainen 116.493 108.117 107.549 106.457 106.802 106.184 105.893 107.248 107.219 106.702 106.117 106.744 106.661 106.456 106.115 107.934 107.139 107.053 111.202 123.719 105.5 105.207 104.48 104.685 104.858 104.133 104.271 103.826 104.035 104.113 104.197 103.718 104.232 104.619 103.979 104.321 104.437 104.837 104.716 108.564 121.812 103.654 103.065 102.71 102.672 102.917 105.099 104.629 103.2 103.456 103.31 105.169 103.297 102.817 103.685 Jarno Trulli 116.772 108.569 107.305 107.046 106.578 106.457 105.987 107.159 108.318 107.207 107.241 106.692 106.394 106.409 106.868 107.178 106.711 107.742 107.29 113.515 124.368 104.704 104.407 104.532 104.407 105.69 104.251 104.008 104.135 104.141 104.082 104.118 104.255 104.28 104.799 104.815 104.868 105.594 105.649 105.273 105.47 111.61 123.764 104.164 104.889 104.384 102.636 105.721 103.358 102.857 105.234 102.311 102.052 102.776 103.134 Jerome dAmbrosio 119.655 109.526 108.474 107.582 107.963 108.212 107.992 107.945 107.806 107.899 108.362 108.278 108.271 108.662 108.246 108.608 108.48 108.658 109.134 113.261 127.796 106.121 106.682 107.848 105.788 106.095 106.122 109.591 106.122 105.742 105.863 106.12 106.91 113.91 126.067 105.333 105.24 105.419 105.121 105.224 106.483 105.226 106.169 105.211 104.806 105.32 105.282 105.122 104.904 108.453 108.912 108.871 107.598 105.63 Timo Glock 118.631 109.589 108.433 107.835 108.042 107.79 107.683 107.79 107.976 108.125 108.212 108.733 108.4 108.415 108.75 112.311 127.531 106.419 106.563 106.727 106.805 106.732 107.536 106.646 108.176 107.954 107.218 110.675 126.243 105.387 105.47 105.958 105.911 105.71 107.444 108.519 107.941 105.806 110.602 137.278 106.426 109.855 105.226 107.823 106.228 106.272 104.789 106.9 107.639 105.524 104.918 105.528 104.881 104.381 Vitantonio Liuzzi 118.323 110.323 109.582 108.96 108.475 108.562 108.091 108.161 112.878 119.203 108.695 108.311 108.219 108.24 108.035 108.739 112.28 108.795 109.122 109.593 116.182 132.226 109.38 107.243 108.646 106.821 106.727 106.783 106.376 106.782 107.744 106.527 108.048 106.74 107.11 106.709 108.478 106.615 107.104 106.38 107.445 108.138 111.68 108.915 114.743 125.532 105.477 104.677 104.015 104.073 103.906 103.384 103.696 105.248 Narain Karthikeyan 120.121 109.877 109.069 108.639 108.638 108.596 108.047 108.25 108.838 109.748 109.293 108.569 108.619 108.723 108.772 108.578 109.503 108.946 108.357 108.731 108.752 109.323 115.197 134.956 109.188 112.803 107.664 107.11 106.453 108.327 106.237 108.29 108.328 107.302 106.345 106.62 106.447 109.185 106.52 106.248 106.081 107.36 107.699 110.746 106.352 107.085 108.506 108.405 109.98 107.459 106.91 111.519 108.004 107.994

2011 Chinese Grand Prix

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## 76 comments on “How Webber climbed from 18th to third”

1. Webber’s lap times are just insane. after first stint of hard tyre, he was faster than anyone on the grid. I’m sorry I underestimated hime before the race. Now he should improve quali pace.

1. d1sciple (@)
17th April 2011, 16:54

His laps were very comparable with Hamilton for the second and third stints. The final stint his is much faster as he is on soft tyres. I wonder if anyone will change up the strategy and suffer the hard tyres at the beginning of a race, to gain the advantage that Webber had at the end of it. It might be a faster overall strategy if the early lap times are closer on heavier fuel loads.

1. Thats what I’m hoping for. And since they used the same tires they qualified on would there be any gains in starting on a more used pair of hards instead of softs? For instance using hards for two hot laps in Q3 instead of just 1 to give them extra wear

1. Using hards on Q3 will likely put you close to 10th; why not use the hards from Q1, and not run at all on Q3?

1. A Red Bull on the hard tyres might be faster than most cars on soft tyres.

2. No it wouldn’t work if you were in the top ten, it only works because you are out of the top ten in the fastest car in the race. The track then comes to the soft tyres.

3. Webber used hard tyres in Q1, but for some reason he eliminated himself in that session. If he had made it to Q3, he would have been 7th at least, as the Toro Rossos were 2.5 seconds slower than Fattle. If he had been 7th in the qualify on hard tyres, his winning chances would have been pretty high, I think.

In the race he didn’t suffer too much from his first stint on hard tyres, as he was fighting much slower competitors. So being in the rear of the field isn’t only disadvantageous. ;)

2. Fantastic information. Thanks Keith, this was a lot of work, methinks.

1. Thanks very much, appreciate it :-)

1. @MinusTwo – PlusOne! :P I agree! Keith, this is absolutely fascinating. I just ticked the top four drivers and I love how they fluctuated throughout the race, but all somehow bunched up at the end. Webber’s lap chart is incredible. That line just falls from the sky! :D

2. I very much agree as well Keith. Great graphs to give deep insight of how it worked!

Great to see that blue line below the water for most of the race to quitly pop up right at the top end to get on the podium.

1. I think, keith should take over Formula1.com.

3. Great work, is it possible to zoom into the final chart (All lap times) and analyse only a selected number of laps?

1. You can filter out drivers but not periods of laps.

1. How long have the “select none”-button been there? Is it new or have I just missed it forever?! Anyway, Good! ;D

2. Yeah they’ve always been there, at least since the move from the old Flash charts to these ones :-)

3. Hi Keith – what tool do you use for these graphs, and where do you get the data?

2. Monk.who.sold.his.RedBull
18th April 2011, 15:33

Yupp! Super-Data! Super-Presentation! Super-Keith? ;-)
Now if only I cud see the same details for the 2005 Jap GP, that Kimi won( from what? 16th? ) – now, that wud be fabulous !!!!!

3. Great race by Mark, does make you wonder how far the red bulls would have finished in front had they had a front row start and got away clean. Tremendous pace for a 3 stop considering how far back he was.

Love this stuff Keith, great work all.

4. jarno faster than alonso. tho he did it 10 laps after alonso did his’s.

1. Amazing discovery! I’m really suprised by Lotus

1. Yes! Incredible! I can barely believe that! :O

1. Oh my gosh, I had to scroll back up to just make sure that was true!

Wow Lotus!

And good for Trulli!

5. Ivan Vinitskyy
17th April 2011, 15:21

Webber was very fortunate to run in clear eair for as long as he did. Had he been stuck for 10 laps, this strategy wouldn’t have worked.

1. As DC said during the race though “strategy is the key” Red Bull needed to work to get him in clean air. He was able to get those insanely quick laps by making sure that after a pit stop he was in the clear air. Indeed very lucky though. I was thinking it would have been great to see a yellow flag towards the end of the race and see Webber try and overtake all the leaders. Despite going for him (Iâ€™m Australian) I didn’t think he had a chance really. To salvage third from his start is really unbelievable. Vettel was unlucky with his radio problems but I think the KERS problems on both the Red Bulls is going to become more of an issue as the races go on. Both Vettel and Hamilton were lucky that there was not another 2 or 3 laps as I wonder if Webber would have been able to catch them. Would be good to look at the replay and see if he had of pitted for his last set of tyres one or two laps earlier if he would have been able to make up those spots and win.

1. I think Alonso was the reason. Webber took 6 laps to overtake him, what costs his victory.

1. Webber got past Alonso quite quickly.

Just check the race progress chart above.

1. Before, Alonso got past Webber (after his stop). These 6 laps I mencioned envolve all that laps.

Alonso was sixth at lap 40. Webber got back sixth at lap 45.

6. Add 21 seconds for a working KERS and he would have won?

1. Not to mention all the overtakes which would have been so much easier with KERS.

7. Captain Phingerspex
17th April 2011, 15:31

Fabulous work Keith. I love these kind of graphs, where you can really get a feel for what’s going on – and special thanks for making them interactive, to clear away the info we don’t want to see at a particular time.
Well done!

8. See how Webber was the only car to try this hard-compound-first strategy in this race?

Last year, a strategy like Webber’s would not work, as overtaking even with a tire wear/grade advantage later in the race was not enough to nip through the field as he did yesterday. This year, DRS, KERS and more frequent pit stops by other cars make this strategy much more viable. We may see more Q1/Q2 qualifiers start races on the harder compound after this performance.

1. Maybe even the top 10. Don’t rule out someone like Kobayashi, Perez, di Resta or Sutil to try hards in the Q3, as they’re not fast enough to qualify much higher anyway.

1. Entirely possible. But note that Webber struggled in his first stint against lesser cars on softer tires. Starting 10th on hards might lead to more positions lost than Webber’s two spots, as the competition is better nearer the top.
But then if more and more mid-pack teams use the hard-first approach on a regular basis, that will become less of a gamble.

2. Petrov might have done something like that as well, he had free choice as well due to him not running in Q3

2. Agree, last year it only worked out to get someone in 13th into the points. This year it could work to give you a shot at the podium.

It reminds of Monza 2009 where only three cars went for 2-stops (of course we had race fuel qualifying) and everyone else went for one-stop because they knew they couldn’t compete for pole (except the Brawns who were just playing the long game). If only we could get rid of the Top-10-qualifying rule about tyres.

1. Yes yes yes, If they would get rid of that rule it would make it even more exciting!

9. Congratulations Mark Webber, excellent race of recuperation. Congratulations to Keith by the work.

10. If the race was joy, this analysis is ecstasy! Thanks Keith. Got my ID working too:-)

The joy of having a race weekend is doubled when we have analysis like these available on the net.

11. Surely after seeing how much Webber closed on the guys in the final part of the race it’s worth a gamble for some to Qualifying on hard tyres.

Then you are able to run Hard, Soft, Soft, Soft like Webber did and pick off a load of drivers at the end of the race.

1. I hope so, that’d be interesting to see if someone can repeat that trick. Button, for example, could be the one.

12. Did anyone else notice that the BBC coverage has started using lap time graphs similar to these. I wonder where they got the idea… lol. Nice work Keith.

13. Felipe was three/four positions ahead of Fernando with a few laps remaining. His last stint was too long and this caused him to end up just in front of his teammate, even if with 15 seconds of margin.

1. More or less the same as Vettel then. Only difference being, that Alonso also did not have a 3 stopper.

2. That’s the difference in strategies for ya …

A driver can make a stop less and get ahead, but obviously the cars who do more stops will close right back up at the end due to their better laptimes.

1. True. The two stoppers planned on getting ahead, just maintaining a constant pace, and hoping that the three stoppers would have way too overtaking to seriously challenge them at the end. The three stoppers were planning to catch overtake drivers on worn out tyres with ease, and were pushing hard through out. Honestly, if the hard tyres degraded slightly lesser, then 2 stop would be the better strategy. The 3 stop worked well for aggressive overtakers and quick drivers such as Lewis, but it didn’t work for tyre managing coasters such as Jenson.

14. Had he known how well it was going to go he could probably have done 2 laps less on hard tyres, and 1 more lap in stints 2 and 3 and pinched 2nd. Great effort

15. notice how no one from red bull management was getting excited over Webber’s thrilling drive and instead were tearing their heads apart over their failure to hand Golden Brat Vettel another win on the plate.

1. Thats because they lost no matter what way you look at it. When you have a car that is 0.8 seconds quicker per lap and you fail to win then you know you have done something very wrong.

2. Webber:

Congratulations to Lewis. It was good that someone finally… of course Seb is in the same team, but he’s been on a phenomenal run and we’re all here together fighting for victories.

Only Webber would say that! Obviously 100% true, he needed Vettel checked given he couldn’t quite catch him himself in the race, but hardly taken from the RBR team PR handbook.

1. Agreed, I loved seeing Webber speak his mind like that in the interview room! He was merely reading the writing on the wall, but he made it quite humorous to boot!

1. vettel laugh when webber said that…..

16. Cant believe there is no news on alonso and his little DRS open in the wrong place affair! any news on that keith?? grat stats keep up the good work!

1. Same thing happened when the underneath of Lewis’s car broke in AUS. FIA media blackout :P

I’m guessing it was a glitch in the FIA system and they are not saying anything because it would embarrass them.

2. Andrew Benson@BBC explains what the FIA said about it: it activated 600 meters later than it should, and it also deactivated 600m later; From the video it seems the auto disable at breaking kicked in to close it over the corner though. That’s still a bit of a worrisome software glitch, it staying open after the driver expects it, even with that safety working(or did Alonso override it for the corner?).

17. Pirelli publish it after each race.

18. Most people are happy that Vettel/the RBRs didn’t win today. So, they are not invincible, alright. BUT:
-Mark Webber started 18th due to a catastrophic mistake in Q3. Nevertheless, after an awesome race he finished in the podium, and looked like he could have won in a few more laps.
-Seb Vettel had a poor start, his KERS didn’t work and his 2-stop strategy was a disaster. Nevertheless he was 2nd.
-It still seems to me that no team/driver can beat the RBRs this year unless they fail on their own. Last year they would have had the win in their pocket by midseason if it weren’t for unreliability and sophomoric mistakes. Their reliability seems to have improved now, and I’m afraid this year they will be unstoppable.

1. I agree, despite being on the wrong strategy Vettel was only 5s from victory and Webber after being 20th after lap 11 was only 7 secs away. With these obstacles only an inspired Hamilton could beat them. If they sort out the problems with Webber’s car he will be the only person who can challenge Vettel unless McLaren and Ferrari make huge improvements.

1. i wonder what will happen if rbr can fix their kers, then rbr will flying and noone can catch them…..

19. I think the days are actually using this stats to analyse the race too, alway great to see this.

20. I think it also helped that he had less fuel when he was running on softs

Lower fuel = less degradation and thus more grip for more laps + Webber could really take advantage of the superior pace of soft tyres on a light car

1. There’s a big problem with the softs. They seem to be about a second faster than the primes, and that’s fine. But they also should last much less than the primes, and actually last almost the same. So the strategy is unbalanced: every driver tries to stay in the softs for as long as possible. For a balanced act, the options should last about half, or the primes quite a bit longer.

21. Great job Keith, this data is put together very well!

Webber was flying in the late stages of the race. Extremely entertaining

22. We Want Turbos
17th April 2011, 22:46

Excellent work by Mark. This is exactly what he needed to lift him, I’ll bet my house on a webber win in Turkey.

1. I sure hope so!

23. Webbers drive was the highlight of the race, along with hamilton winning; not vettel again!
Where did heidfeld go wrong, he was on hards to start with also, wasn’t he?
All the doubters out there who don’t believe in webbers ability or age really need to shut it. He has had some of the best drives in the last year or so, brazil(09) monaco budapest spain silverstone china and don’t forget about germany in 09 after getting a drive through he still won! He has talent and its about time everyone started to realise it.
Its a shame it took him so long to get into a decent car, because others outside the f1 field would have realised it sooner!
I’m not saying he is the best driver in the field, but his true grit, never die attitude and spirit is something to be admired.

24. Webber’s was a strategy that would only work for a top-10 qualifier without the stupid Q3 tyres rules. Make them use the Q3 tyres at some point in the race, but forcing everyone in the top 10 to use them first limits the strategies available.

Also, I don’t understand how doing one qualifying lap (and an in- and out- lap) does so much damage to the tyres. I realise they go at full pelt, but the tyres last at race pace for 15-16 laps. Surely a qualifying lap would just knock 2 laps off their lifetime, or is there something I’m missing.

25. No KERS for Webber hence no twin KERS-DRS passes in the easy zone.

26. Why Autosport abandoned this kind of graphical analysis is beyond me.

Great work to whoever owns this website and does those graphs.

1. That’d be me and you’re very welcome, glad you like it!

27. But other odd-numbered started had problems: look at Fernando Alonso, Sergio Perez and the Toro Rossos in the chart above.

Perez started 12th, didn’t he? Though the theory looks good, +6 positions gained for the right-hand starters, but on the other hand Schumacher itself did +5.

28. Thanks for posting this, it makes working out strategies much easier!

29. Firstly thank you Keith. Your hand work makes analyzing the race a joy. It’s interesting to see the different times from each driver over the entire race. Webber showed true form, that car is phenomenal ever without KERS and without Vettel.

30. Sorry i havent read all comments but it seems to me that Ferrari really dropped the ball yesterday with Massa. He had the pace to get on the podium in china if hed been on a three stop strategy and would have utterly trounced Alonso has Rob made the right call for his baby. He was ahead of Lewis into the first stops and had shown real pace. No reason to think he would not have been right there duking it out with Ham till the end.
Nando ought to take not and get his act together. Massa is an Istanbul specialist! Might put a few quid on him…

31. Following Webbers logic on tyre stratergy imagine where Petrov could have come starting from 10th if he’d also gone Hard, soft, soft soft. Maybe best stratigy is to get into q3 then dont run and start on hards…

32. After the first couple of last never in my worst dream I would have predicted Webber to be there on the podium. A true Grit drive by him.