Red Bull have the edge on race pace in Singapore

2011 Singapore GP FP2 analysis

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Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull, Singapore, 2011

“Not too bad” was Sebastian Vettel’s typically understated assessment of his car’s performance around the streets of Singapore.

But with the fastest time of the day and promising race pace at the end of the second session, Vettel must be eyeing a potential ninth win of the season.

Here’s all the data from the second practice session:

Longest stint comparison

  • Red Bull’s stint pace looks strong, with Ferrari and McLaren not quite able to match it.
  • While Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton maintained a similar pace over their first five laps, Vettel was able to gain lap time as his fuel load came down. All three were on super soft tyres.
  • For a clearer comparison, look at Nico Rosberg’s stint in the Mercedes – he was running a higher fuel level than his team mate and clearly lost pace throughout the stint. “The critical element will be the longevity of the tyres and understanding how to work them to the maximum for as long as possible,” said Ross Brawn.

This chart shows all the drivers’ lap times (in seconds) during their longest unbroken stint:

https://www.racefans.net/charts/2011drivercolours.csv

1234567891011
Sebastian Vettel112.893112.737114.208112.77112.702112.429116.762112.374112.667113.021
Mark Webber113.326112.659113.975119.577112.756112.662114.355114.061
Lewis Hamilton113.361113.352114.334122.313113.545117.985
Jenson Button115.498114.427119.648109.751
Fernando Alonso112.388112.16112.332118.297112.546115.131112.809
Felipe Massa112.911123.943112.657118.149114.816126.126
Michael Schumacher115.669116.049116.531116.833
Nico Rosberg116.394117.657115.295115.869116.491116.607117.227116.91119.18
Bruno Senna117.816116.931116.226116.348116.383117.675118.56119.701118.9118.186
Vitaly Petrov117.477119.215118.296118.505118.847121.556
Rubens Barrichello117.184115.55118.285117.399116.237116.187119.579
Pastor Maldonado117.636116.776117.176116.455116.941116.957117.028122.743127.134
Adrian Sutil116.864115.403116.899116.131115.952115.923115.927118.366117.136
Paul di Resta111.465123.925118.594
Kamui Kobayashi120.297123.041119.426117.184117.151118.41121.681
Sergio Perez116.218117.092115.956116.452116.608116.621
Sebastien Buemi112.395118.585112.257121.043112.649112.389
Jaime Alguersuari115.439112.172112.017112.261
Heikki Kovalainen116.251117.618117.116117.4118.845117.748
Jarno Trulli116.069115.15119.318115.893121.023115.363115.047115.381
Daniel Ricciardo120.726121.135122.021123.031125.331121.108120.768124.838
Vitantonio Liuzzi121.815122.063121.576122.729125.473123.741
Timo Glock118.833118.748119.327120.837121.465120.684120.225
Jerome d’Ambrosio120.256119.514119.951119.524122.208120.836121.051124.647121.584121.794121.777

Ultimate lap times

An ultimate lap is a driver’s fastest three sector times combined.

  • Alonso had a little more time in hand on his fastest run.
  • However both Vettel and Hamilton aborted earlier runs on super soft tyres due to traffic, suggesting they could have gone quicker on fresher tyres.
CarDriverCarUltimate lapGapDeficit to best
11Sebastian VettelRed Bull-Renault1’46.3740.000
25Fernando AlonsoFerrari1’46.4160.0420.159
33Lewis HamiltonMcLaren-Mercedes1’47.1150.7410.000
46Felipe MassaFerrari1’47.1200.7460.000
52Mark WebberRed Bull-Renault1’47.2650.8910.000
67Michael SchumacherMercedes1’48.4182.0440.000
714Adrian SutilForce India-Mercedes1’48.8662.4920.000
84Jenson ButtonMcLaren-Mercedes1’49.1522.7780.599
917Sergio PerezSauber-Ferrari1’49.5783.2040.000
1016Kamui KobayashiSauber-Ferrari1’49.7013.3270.029
1119Jaime AlguersuariToro Rosso-Ferrari1’49.7923.4180.000
129Bruno SennaRenault1’50.2413.8670.000
1315Paul di RestaForce India-Mercedes1’50.3453.9710.000
1410Vitaly PetrovRenault1’50.3994.0250.000
158Nico RosbergMercedes1’50.6774.3030.113
1611Rubens BarrichelloWilliams-Cosworth1’50.8974.5230.000
1712Pastor MaldonadoWilliams-Cosworth1’50.9374.5630.000
1818Sebastien BuemiToro Rosso-Ferrari1’50.9874.6131.270
1920Heikki KovalainenLotus-Renault1’51.8355.4610.115
2021Jarno TrulliLotus-Renault1’52.4896.1150.000
2124Timo GlockVirgin-Cosworth1’53.4517.0770.128
2225Jerome d’AmbrosioVirgin-Cosworth1’53.9567.5820.693
2322Daniel RicciardoHRT-Cosworth1’54.5008.1260.254
2423Vitantonio LiuzziHRT-Cosworth1’55.1988.8240.000

Complete practice times

  • Despite the gap to his team mate, Mark Webber believes he knows where he can find time on his set-up: “I need to find a bit more pace, but there’s a bit of low hanging fruit which we can grab tonight, which will be good for us. Seb’s going alright, so I just need to find a bit more and get into it tomorrow.”
  • Michael Schumacher said: “the difference between the tyres is quite big”. Drivers were finding improvements of one second per lap or more when switching from the soft to the super soft tyres.
  • Jerome d’Ambrosio and the two HRTs were both outside 107% of Vettel’s time (1’53.820). Liuzzi was furthest away, 1.3 seconds off the notional 107% time. But in the circumstances of qualifying, with the front runners likely to do their times on soft tyres, they have a good chance of getting into the race.
  • The removal of some kerbs around the track may have helped drivers reduce their times. These are likely to be reinstated tomorrow.
  • However not everyone everyone was using the extra space offered by the removal of the kerbs. Hamilton said: “We don’t yet know whether or not the kerbs will be reinstated tonight, so I continued driving as though the kerbs were there. If they’re not replaced, then we should gain an extra couple of tenths by being able to run as wide as some of the others did.”
CarDriverCarBest lapGapStint lapAt timeLaps
11Sebastian VettelRed Bull-Renault1’46.3743/36232
25Fernando AlonsoFerrari1’46.5750.2011/25928
33Lewis HamiltonMcLaren-Mercedes1’47.1150.7413/36922
46Felipe MassaFerrari1’47.1200.7461/25023
52Mark WebberRed Bull-Renault1’47.2650.8911/26328
67Michael SchumacherMercedes1’48.4182.0441/37027
714Adrian SutilForce India-Mercedes1’48.8662.4921/36231
817Sergio PerezSauber-Ferrari1’49.5783.2041/36227
916Kamui KobayashiSauber-Ferrari1’49.7303.3561/25229
104Jenson ButtonMcLaren-Mercedes1’49.7513.3774/4209
1119Jaime AlguersuariToro Rosso-Ferrari1’49.7923.4181/24914
129Bruno SennaRenault1’50.2413.8671/24831
1315Paul di RestaForce India-Mercedes1’50.3453.9711/1928
1410Vitaly PetrovRenault1’50.3994.0251/24929
158Nico RosbergMercedes1’50.7904.4162/21128
1611Rubens BarrichelloWilliams-Cosworth1’50.8974.5231/16424
1712Pastor MaldonadoWilliams-Cosworth1’50.9374.5633/36130
1820Heikki KovalainenLotus-Renault1’51.9505.5763/36026
1918Sebastien BuemiToro Rosso-Ferrari1’52.2575.8833/6914
2021Jarno TrulliLotus-Renault1’52.4896.1152/36425
2124Timo GlockVirgin-Cosworth1’53.5797.2051/26225
2225Jerome D’AmbrosioVirgin-Cosworth1’54.6498.2752/47625
2322Daniel RicciardoHRT-Cosworth1’54.7548.3802/45829
2423Vitantonio LiuzziHRT-Cosworth1’55.1988.8243/56025

Speed trap

  • Unusually, the two Mercedes drivers are more or less at opposite ends of the speed chart.
#DriverCarEngineMax speedGap
114Adrian SutilForce IndiaMercedes291.3
26Felipe MassaFerrariFerrari290.11.2
37Michael SchumacherMercedesMercedes2901.3
42Mark WebberRed BullRenault289.41.9
515Paul di RestaForce IndiaMercedes288.23.1
61Sebastian VettelRed BullRenault2883.3
73Lewis HamiltonMcLarenMercedes287.53.8
85Fernando AlonsoFerrariFerrari287.43.9
916Kamui KobayashiSauberFerrari286.94.4
1017Sergio PerezSauberFerrari286.84.5
1118Sebastien BuemiToro RossoFerrari286.64.7
1219Jaime AlguersuariToro RossoFerrari286.25.1
1310Vitaly PetrovRenaultRenault2865.3
149Bruno SennaRenaultRenault285.45.9
1525Jerome D’AmbrosioVirginCosworth284.76.6
164Jenson ButtonMcLarenMercedes283.97.4
1724Timo GlockVirginCosworth283.38
1811Rubens BarrichelloWilliamsCosworth282.78.6
1922Daniel RicciardoHRTCosworth282.39
2023Vitantonio LiuzziHRTCosworth2829.3
2120Heikki KovalainenLotusRenault279.811.5
2221Jarno TrulliLotusRenault279.811.5
2312Pastor MaldonadoWilliamsCosworth279.711.6
248Nico RosbergMercedesMercedes278.712.6

2011 Singapore Grand Prix

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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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    14 comments on “Red Bull have the edge on race pace in Singapore”

    1. Jerome d’Ambrosio and the two Virgins HRTs were both outside 107% of Vettel’s time (1’53.820). Liuzzi was furthest away, 1.3 seconds off the notional 107% time.

      Minor error in an otherwise awesome article :)

      1. Just changed it, thanks PJ.

    2. I’d have thought that this track would be all about max downforce, yet once again FI are at the top of the speed times and are looking none to shabby for a midfield team overall.

    3. Vettel looks like he’s going to annihilate all this weekend, Webber is nowhere by comparison.

      1. Standard issue 2011!

      2. But if he wins with 1 or 100 seconds on Alonso nothing will change. The points awarded are the same and if Alonso, Webber and Button finish right behind him, Vettel won’t be mathematically champion.
        On a side note, if Massa was 4th and Alonso 5th, would Ferrari issue team orders?

    4. The “ultimate lap times” are most informative, showing apparently Vettel and Alonso in a class of their own. But has anyone had the time to compare these numbers with the “quali” times afterwards? It would be interesting to know which drivers have the skill to approach their “ultimate” on a single lap that really counts.

      1. That’s what the “Deficit to best” stands for. It’s basically their current lap time as on the P2 scoreboards, minus their ultimate lap. These would all be from their quali simulations on the supersofts; as all of them set green or purple sectors on those tyres

    5. Interesting to see what McLaren is doing in practice…

      It appears (from the practice pics at least, since I havent had a chance to watch the practice sessions yet) that Lewis is running the small-flap wing that they had on at Spa and Monza, and Jenson is running the large-flap wing that they’ve used at every other race.

      Being that the small-flap wing seems to offer better qualifying pace for them (due to more effective DRS), and the large-flap wing has seemed to offer better race pace, my guess is that they are trying to figure out if they can afford to sacrifice race pace for better qualifying position. This is somewhat supported by Lewis’ trap speed being nearly 4km/h faster than Jenson’s (although that isnt taking into account the multitude of other variables that could contribute to this).

      Just speculation on my part of course, but I love when we get any insight into how teams run their practice strategies!

      1. Interesting observation!

        I also think it will be fascinating to see how the midfield fight – here Mercedes, FI, Renault, Sauber (to some extent) will turn out. Even Williams seems to be in it somewhat, if they can get through Q2, that is. STR didn’t do a long stint, due to that shunt by Buemi and a problem on Alguesuari’s car so they are harder to judge, but should be about there too.

      2. After looking at the pictures I think you are absolutely right. Lewis rear wing clearly has a much smaller flap compared to the one on Jenson’s car.

      3. I would think it’s the reverse; if they could sacrifice quali position for a bit more race pace

    6. Vettel vs Alonso.

      Alonso seems able to match.

    7. So that’s pretty much both sessions where Vettel has had almost 1s his team mate. Crushing stuff there.

    Comments are closed.