Red Bull looking strong as rain hits rivals’ plans

2013 British Grand Prix Friday practice analysis

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Not for the first time this year, Friday practice was affected by rain.

“We do seem to have been affected by an unusually high number of rained-out Friday practice sessions this year,” said McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh.

“While it’s the same for everyone, it can be frustrating when you’re trying to run through a large and intensive programme of testing.”

McLaren weren’t the only ones whose development programme took a hit. Pirelli brought their prototype tyres again but, as in Canada, wet running meant the teams did little mileage on them. “That was frustrating but not all together surprising this time, given that we’re in England,” admitted motorsport director Paul Hembery.

Mercedes’ one-lap pace was much in evidence, Nico Rosberg heading the times. But team mate Lewis Hamilton couldn’t match his performance.

“I’m struggling a little with the balance of my car so there’s some work to do overnight to get us into shape for qualifying,” said Hamilton afterwards. “We haven’t quite got it hooked up yet and you can really tell that on this circuit, particularly with Becketts and Maggots. I’m confident we’ll fix it tomorrow though.”

Red Bull weren’t far off Mercedes and their race pace looked better. But Sebastian Vettel says they have to play their cards right in the final practice session.

“For [final practice] tomorrow we need to decide if we go for short runs, to prepare for qualifying, or long runs trying to look more at the race set up,” said Vettel.

The pattern so far this year has seen Mercedes and Red Bull excel in qualifying, while Ferrari and Lotus have tended to be stronger in the races. Kimi Raikkonen was outside the topten but he was busy testing the team’s Drag Reduction Device and didn’t run the softer medium tyre.

Fernando Alonso was tenth and says his team will need an “impeccable” strategy on Sunday. “We will have to take into account the fact that on Sunday we can expect very different conditions to those we saw today, because the track will definitely be drier and the temperatures higher,” he added.

The Force India and Toro Rosso drivers also looked promising: Jean-Eric Vergne said “as soon as I left the garage I could tell the car felt very good”. That may be a concern for McLaren, who were hoping to make gains with their upgrade package.

Here’s all the data from Friday practice.

Longest stint comparison

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

https://www.racefans.net/charts/2013drivercolours.csv

12345678910111213141516
Sebastian Vettel98.99398.94398.30798.37498.68198.74899.083100.64798.51
Mark Webber100.39398.78498.32798.42798.11298.768100.525102.13399.95599.00697.918
Fernando Alonso98.49199.246105.26799.21299.59698.76998.4698.80499.48998.44498.575
Felipe Massa103.466
Jenson Button100.32799.382101.87399.63299.425
Sergio Perez95.96994.329101.76394.1399.10794.243
Kimi Raikkonen94.88496.8296.73598.013103.6295.787
Romain Grosjean97.45298.65797.82697.84898.62998.17298.48598.20698.61498.296
Nico Rosberg99.40399.78599.05898.48298.81799.4299.1199.28599.238101.69499.02898.96398.51598.922
Lewis Hamilton99.86499.18399.60298.79598.95299.32299.42399.35398.867104.35999.026105.83798.312
Nico Hulkenberg100.21299.974100.026100.94999.802100.512100.258100.298100.038100.021100.47999.952100.075100.092100.114
Esteban Gutierrez95.80295.328105.32495.052102.04894.998102.72695.2
Paul di Resta98.89899.08799.49399.25599.198.747
Adrian Sutil99.17898.9599.081103.62799.056100.50299.73899.346
Pastor Maldonado101.57100.609100.154100.073103.375101.661107.903102.369101.058101.252101.297101.872101.623
Valtteri Bottas95.528111.01295.07109.79395.636109.67795.718104.29195.4
Jean-Eric Vergne104.002100.30299.44499.27399.32299.53299.204103.63699.41699.12999.25599.131100.526
Daniel Ricciardo99.49899.314101.186100.24499.842100.1799.83299.66999.641100.12799.61
Charles Pic101.202100.633101.551100.368100.239101.139102.06101.21101.315104.245101.105101.064
Giedo van der Garde103.668104.155103.089102.22101.041100.912101.735102.394102.21101.656101.2101.52102.482102.025101.82103.101
Jules Bianchi104.946101.582101.172100.515100.769101.324101.396103.968101.985101.097100.983
Max Chilton103.037102.74101.893101.78101.958101.674101.648101.244

Sector times and ultimate lap times – second practice

PosNo.DriverCarS1S2S2UltimateGapDeficit to best
19Nico RosbergMercedes29.411 (5)37.580 (1)25.257 (1)1’32.2480.000
22Mark WebberRed Bull-Renault29.267 (1)37.866 (3)25.414 (3)1’32.5470.2990.000
31Sebastian VettelRed Bull-Renault29.359 (3)37.677 (2)25.644 (10)1’32.6800.4320.000
414Paul di RestaForce India-Mercedes29.281 (2)38.040 (7)25.511 (5)1’32.8320.5840.000
510Lewis HamiltonMercedes29.410 (4)38.105 (9)25.396 (2)1’32.9110.6630.000
615Adrian SutilForce India-Mercedes29.478 (6)37.966 (6)25.572 (6)1’33.0160.7680.297
719Daniel RicciardoToro Rosso-Ferrari29.623 (8)38.055 (8)25.487 (4)1’33.1650.9170.006
818Jean-Eric VergneToro Rosso-Ferrari29.661 (10)37.902 (4)25.602 (8)1’33.1650.9170.125
98Romain GrosjeanLotus-Renault29.649 (9)37.964 (5)25.614 (9)1’33.2270.9790.095
103Fernando AlonsoFerrari29.618 (7)38.124 (10)25.752 (11)1’33.4941.2460.000
115Jenson ButtonMcLaren-Mercedes29.740 (12)38.367 (12)25.593 (7)1’33.7001.4520.040
1211Nico HulkenbergSauber-Ferrari29.899 (15)38.215 (11)25.782 (13)1’33.8961.6480.000
136Sergio PerezMcLaren-Mercedes29.733 (11)38.475 (14)25.775 (12)1’33.9831.7350.147
147Kimi RaikkonenLotus-Renault29.812 (14)38.437 (13)25.871 (14)1’34.1201.8720.000
1512Esteban GutierrezSauber-Ferrari30.033 (17)38.800 (15)26.064 (15)1’34.8972.6490.101
1617Valtteri BottasWilliams-Renault29.929 (16)38.865 (16)26.134 (16)1’34.9282.6800.142
1716Pastor MaldonadoWilliams-Renault29.776 (13)39.045 (17)26.166 (17)1’34.9872.7390.140
1822Jules BianchiMarussia-Cosworth30.048 (18)39.364 (20)26.374 (19)1’35.7863.5380.016
1920Charles PicCaterham-Renault30.308 (20)39.162 (18)26.409 (20)1’35.8793.6310.200
2021Giedo van der GardeCaterham-Renault30.260 (19)39.281 (19)26.364 (18)1’35.9053.6570.079
2123Max ChiltonMarussia-Cosworth30.411 (21)39.997 (22)26.654 (21)1’37.0624.8140.267
224Felipe MassaFerrari30.627 (22)39.592 (21)28.792 (22)1’39.0116.7634.455

Complete practice times

PosDriverCarFP1FP2Total laps
1Nico RosbergMercedes1’32.24836
2Mark WebberRed Bull-Renault1’32.54727
3Sebastian VettelRed Bull-Renault1’32.68035
4Paul di RestaForce India-Mercedes1’32.83238
5Lewis HamiltonMercedes1’55.4581’32.91133
6Daniel RicciardoToro Rosso-Ferrari1’54.2491’33.17144
7Jean-Eric VergneToro Rosso-Ferrari1’57.8911’33.29042
8Adrian SutilForce India-Mercedes1’33.31338
9Romain GrosjeanLotus-Renault1’33.32239
10Fernando AlonsoFerrari1’33.49436
11Jenson ButtonMcLaren1’33.74030
12Nico HulkenbergSauber-Ferrari1’55.0331’33.89643
13Kimi RaikkonenLotus-Renault1’34.12030
14Sergio PerezMcLaren1’34.13030
15Esteban GutierrezSauber-Ferrari1’55.8251’34.99841
16Valtteri BottasWilliams-Renault1’56.3611’35.07036
17Pastor MaldonadoWilliams-Renault1’55.3541’35.12742
18Jules BianchiMarussia-Cosworth1’59.8761’35.80235
19Giedo van der GardeCaterham-Renault1’58.8591’35.98438
20Charles PicCaterham-Renault1’36.07938
21Max ChiltonMarussia-Cosworth1’59.7191’37.32940
22Felipe MassaFerrari2’06.5341’43.46613

Speed trap

#DriverCarEngineMax speed (kph)Gap
122Jules BianchiMarussiaCosworth308.6
23Fernando AlonsoFerrariFerrari308.50.1
34Felipe MassaFerrariFerrari308.30.3
423Max ChiltonMarussiaCosworth307.90.7
516Pastor MaldonadoWilliamsRenault307.61
615Adrian SutilForce IndiaMercedes307.41.2
714Paul di RestaForce IndiaMercedes307.41.2
89Nico RosbergMercedesMercedes306.71.9
910Lewis HamiltonMercedesMercedes3062.6
1017Valtteri BottasWilliamsRenault305.72.9
1118Jean-Eric VergneToro RossoFerrari305.13.5
1219Daniel RicciardoToro RossoFerrari304.83.8
137Kimi RaikkonenLotusRenault304.14.5
142Mark WebberRed BullRenault303.25.4
1521Giedo van der GardeCaterhamRenault302.75.9
1620Charles PicCaterhamRenault302.66
175Jenson ButtonMcLarenMercedes302.56.1
188Romain GrosjeanLotusRenault302.46.2
191Sebastian VettelRed BullRenault302.36.3
206Sergio PerezMcLarenMercedes302.16.5
2112Esteban GutierrezSauberFerrari300.38.3
2211Nico HulkenbergSauberFerrari297.411.2

2013 British Grand Prix

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Image © Red Bull/Getty

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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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11 comments on “Red Bull looking strong as rain hits rivals’ plans”

  1. What on earth was Valtteri Bottas trying with his fast and slow laps? (Longest stint chart)

    1. fast lap – cooling the tires – fast lap – cooling the tires etc.

  2. Τhat’s why Hulkenberg couldn’t pass a Marussia even with the DRS.

  3. I wasn’t able to watch either session, was Kimi using DRS? I would have expected a higher top speed with the DRD, unless they plan to run more downforce using the DRD to help survive the straights.

    1. I think I heard somewhere that he wasn’t

  4. Clearly some force beyond our power does not want those new tyres.

  5. tough one to predict – let’s see what FP3 reveals but right now I’m guessing RBR or Merc for pole and Ferrari for the race win.

    1. Alonso will need to qualify in the top 4 to have a proper chance of winning. otherwise the red bulls could just run off into the distance while he’s too busy fighting the cars around him.

  6. I’m hoping the upgrades Lotus brought work, else Kimi will find himself slipping further away from the championship fight.Between the aero package for Grosjean and the still unraced “device” they could claw back some of the time they lost in the last 2 races.
    If it rains in qualy, it’s gonna ruin their week-end so it remains to be seen how things pan out.
    Elsewhere, it seemed like tyres were the main item on the agenda.Just hoping for an entertaining race as it all seems pretty balanced now

  7. Is anyone else trying to enter a prediction and it not going through, as mine isn’t working. I am trying to enter tine: 1:29.087 and Pole: Vettel and Positions Vet, Ros, Ham, Alo, and Webber, but it is not registering my prediction. Kinda bugging me as I have tried numerous times and it isnt registering?

  8. Loving Bottas’ chart.

Comments are closed.