Lotus within a tenth of Red Bull on Friday

2013 Hungarian Grand Prix Friday practice analysis

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Red Bull led both practice sessions on Friday at the Hungaroring but the opposition are not far behind.

The Lotus drivers in particular seemed to have the pace in their E21 to take the fight to the championship leaders. But neither had clean runs on their first laps.

Romain Grosjean made a mistake on his first flying lap, then had a tidier second run in which he had the quickest run through the middle part of the lap. His sector times put him within a tenth of a second of both Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber. Kimi Raikkonen’s soft tyre runs were repeatedly spoiled by traffic.

Neither of the Lotuses used the Drag Reduction Device at a circuit where DRS plays a diminished role in lap time and ultimate downforce is at a premium.

Ferrari were also within range of the Red Bulls. However it bears remembering that Red Bull set their times earlier in the session while track conditions were still improving.

Sebastian Vettel did not have a trouble-free practice. He had braking problems in the first session which recurred later on: “My long run wasn’t completely clean, as we had to abort it at the start due to the brakes being a bit hot.”

His quickest lap was just three-tenths of a second off last year’s pole position time. The soft tyres proved quicker than the mediums by up to one-and-a-half seconds, which will make them the preferred compound for qualifying.

Teams are likely to make two or three pit stops in the race. With each stop taking around four seconds longer due to the lowering of the pit lane speed limit, the advantage of making fewer stops has increased.

Unusually Esteban Gutierrez was faster than his more experienced team mate in both of today’s sessions. But Sauber were running different programmes on their two cars as they tested their latest upgrades.

“We were able to draw some conclusions about the new parts we brought here, and it seems like everything is working as expected,” said Gutierrez. “But we still have to wait and see what happens in qualifying.”

However the Toro Rosso drivers were simply off the pace, even lagging behind the Williams pair. “We were definitely too slow today,” said Jean-Eric Vergne, “so I expect we will need to make big changes on the car for tomorrow.”

“I was overheating the rear tyres too much, which gave me a lot of understeer on the long runs and we were far from feeling comfortable today.”

Here’s all the data from the first two practice sessions.

Longest stint comparison – second practice

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

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

12345678910111213141516171819
Sebastian Vettel86.12486.58786.70687.0487.86387.8891.76287.52288.049
Mark Webber86.6386.51986.47286.59887.27387.87994.37490.7286.66187.59586.70987.16986.79487.46194.44186.69886.96789.11987.101
Fernando Alonso87.44987.49487.50187.69187.78287.92488.05789.35789.89389.686
Felipe Massa87.96988.24793.20388.25888.10588.09287.82893.01288.82489.32588.67588.57188.504
Jenson Button87.59187.72887.75387.56787.77888.79389.07687.71187.518
Sergio Perez88.97588.40488.46288.15588.11688.03788.06488.80688.36590.77688.09
Kimi Raikkonen87.08587.24187.68887.57687.52288.85288.26287.54
Romain Grosjean87.65687.40188.52191.65787.09287.09487.19187.37889.44587.69187.15587.173
Nico Rosberg89.48589.05489.57892.36588.94689.05489.01996.2988.91488.0188.24188.21490.38992.02288.23288.23288.30988.721
Lewis Hamilton88.07287.82487.93387.76887.84587.63687.55697.48287.50987.65889.65388.214
Nico Hulkenberg89.22989.31889.61988.88889.90589.13589.07289.26789.16590.79588.76789.70989.26588.82789.67393.09389.03989.837
Esteban Gutierrez89.51189.77189.11589.54489.02788.62989.26289.7589.289.36888.69
Paul di Resta88.48489.19288.42888.41990.87890.05888.15887.859
Adrian Sutil88.91388.66688.47589.61688.30888.40691.80189.50589.02189.18689.43889.379
Pastor Maldonado90.82590.33190.38190.50791.87499.790.25391.12890.01590.28391.34392.483
Valtteri Bottas90.76690.22590.0897.59691.02590.90191.13695.62291.01493.3492.559
Jean-Eric Vergne90.7690.09889.50189.9590.75190.32990.34990.0489.9390.0590.406
Daniel Ricciardo89.91390.77490.9491.80289.75588.66190.18189.24789.00588.97892.889.16589.11888.99188.957
Charles Pic91.16691.82390.87290.47491.7490.65190.63790.12689.72690.033
Giedo van der Garde92.10991.35793.11191.11890.58790.65290.5490.49591.30498.19491.311
Jules Bianchi92.49692.01191.78390.9691.23192.34990.99491.13891.74496.50491.47794.57291.90793.382
Max Chilton90.57590.79490.82892.13591.22291.326

Sector times and ultimate lap times

PosNo.DriverCarS1S2S2UltimateGapDeficit to best
11Sebastian VettelRed Bull-Renault29.208 (4)29.159 (3)22.897 (1)1’21.2640.000
22Mark WebberRed Bull-Renault29.141 (1)29.261 (5)22.906 (2)1’21.3080.0440.000
38Romain GrosjeanLotus-Renault29.311 (7)29.120 (1)22.917 (3)1’21.3480.0840.069
43Fernando AlonsoFerrari29.282 (6)29.152 (2)22.992 (5)1’21.4260.1620.000
54Felipe MassaFerrari29.276 (5)29.257 (4)22.972 (4)1’21.5050.2410.039
610Lewis HamiltonMercedes29.196 (3)29.347 (6)23.259 (9)1’21.8020.5380.000
77Kimi RaikkonenLotus-Renault29.333 (8)29.395 (7)23.167 (7)1’21.8950.6310.116
89Nico RosbergMercedes29.159 (2)29.568 (8)23.264 (10)1’21.9910.7270.000
95Jenson ButtonMcLaren-Mercedes29.351 (9)29.735 (12)23.094 (6)1’22.1800.9160.000
1015Adrian SutilForce India-Mercedes29.438 (10)29.581 (9)23.285 (11)1’22.3041.0400.000
1114Paul di RestaForce India-Mercedes29.519 (12)29.787 (14)23.210 (8)1’22.5161.2520.010
126Sergio PerezMcLaren-Mercedes29.502 (11)29.712 (11)23.315 (12)1’22.5291.2650.000
1312Esteban GutierrezSauber-Ferrari29.653 (15)29.668 (10)23.316 (13)1’22.6371.3730.200
1416Pastor MaldonadoWilliams-Renault29.600 (14)29.748 (13)23.433 (14)1’22.7811.5170.000
1511Nico HulkenbergSauber-Ferrari29.551 (13)29.829 (15)23.461 (16)1’22.8411.5770.000
1617Valtteri BottasWilliams-Renault29.669 (16)30.011 (16)23.629 (18)1’23.3092.0450.337
1718Jean-Eric VergneToro Rosso-Ferrari29.695 (18)30.240 (18)23.434 (15)1’23.3692.1050.000
1819Daniel RicciardoToro Rosso-Ferrari29.737 (19)30.158 (17)23.499 (17)1’23.3942.1300.017
1920Charles PicCaterham-Renault29.680 (17)30.783 (19)23.848 (20)1’24.3113.0470.014
2021Giedo van der GardeCaterham-Renault30.059 (20)31.088 (21)23.826 (19)1’24.9733.7090.092
2122Jules BianchiMarussia-Cosworth30.084 (21)30.869 (20)24.176 (21)1’25.1293.8650.014
2223Max ChiltonMarussia-Cosworth30.226 (22)31.619 (22)24.802 (22)1’26.6475.3830.000

Complete practice times

PosDriverCarFP1FP2Total laps
1Sebastian VettelRed Bull-Renault1’22.7231’21.26453
2Mark WebberRed Bull-Renault1’22.9821’21.30866
3Romain GrosjeanLotus-Renault1’23.1111’21.41760
4Fernando AlonsoFerrari1’23.0991’21.42656
5Felipe MassaFerrari1’24.2991’21.54456
6Lewis HamiltonMercedes1’24.1571’21.80270
7Nico RosbergMercedes1’23.5311’21.99168
8Kimi RaikkonenLotus-Renault1’23.0101’22.01152
9Jenson ButtonMcLaren1’23.3701’22.18067
10Adrian SutilForce India-Mercedes1’23.3901’22.30461
11Paul di RestaForce India-Mercedes1’24.6081’22.52660
12Sergio PerezMcLaren1’23.5911’22.52963
13Pastor MaldonadoWilliams-Renault1’23.9111’22.78157
14Esteban GutierrezSauber-Ferrari1’24.1191’22.83763
15Nico HulkenbergSauber-Ferrari1’24.3141’22.84162
16Jean-Eric VergneToro Rosso-Ferrari1’24.2041’23.36949
17Daniel RicciardoToro Rosso-Ferrari1’24.3831’23.41165
18Valtteri BottasWilliams-Renault1’24.1501’23.64661
19Charles PicCaterham-Renault1’25.8271’24.32562
20Giedo van der GardeCaterham-Renault1’26.8081’25.06561
21Jules BianchiMarussia-Cosworth1’27.6171’25.14359
22Max ChiltonMarussia-Cosworth1’26.64733
23Rodolfo GonzalezMarussia-Cosworth1’28.92725

Speed trap

#DriverCarEngineMax speed (kph)Gap
16Sergio PerezMcLarenMercedes298.1
22Mark WebberRed BullRenault296.61.5
35Jenson ButtonMcLarenMercedes296.12
43Fernando AlonsoFerrariFerrari2962.1
521Giedo van der GardeCaterhamRenault295.13
620Charles PicCaterhamRenault294.53.6
710Lewis HamiltonMercedesMercedes294.14
84Felipe MassaFerrariFerrari293.94.2
99Nico RosbergMercedesMercedes293.84.3
1011Nico HulkenbergSauberFerrari293.74.4
117Kimi RaikkonenLotusRenault293.34.8
1215Adrian SutilForce IndiaMercedes293.24.9
1314Paul di RestaForce IndiaMercedes293.15
1417Valtteri BottasWilliamsRenault292.85.3
1512Esteban GutierrezSauberFerrari292.25.9
1619Daniel RicciardoToro RossoFerrari2926.1
171Sebastian VettelRed BullRenault291.86.3
1816Pastor MaldonadoWilliamsRenault291.76.4
1923Max ChiltonMarussiaCosworth291.76.4
2022Jules BianchiMarussiaCosworth291.66.5
218Romain GrosjeanLotusRenault291.17
2218Jean-Eric VergneToro RossoFerrari289.98.2

2013 Hungarian Grand Prix

Browse all 2013 Hungarian Grand Prix articles

Image © Lotus/LAT

Author information

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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46 comments on “Lotus within a tenth of Red Bull on Friday”

  1. Ferrari were also within range of the Red Bulls. However it bears remembering that Red Bull set their times earlier in the session while track conditions were still improving.

    Funny. Romain set the flying lap latter than both ferrari duo. But you only take into account of track evolution for ferrari ‘s cases while neglecting it when you were talking about Lotus.

    Double standard much huh?

    1. Shreyas Mohanty (@)
      26th July 2013, 18:33

      @manished Even I have noticed a tiny tiny bit of anti-ferrarism and pro-redbullism in F1F’s articles. I have never observed any bias towatds lotus, though. May be I am wrong, but that’s how I feel many a time.

      1. I don’t see a bias in F1F’s articles – most of them are actually quite neutral or they really try to be. Maybe Ferrari should build faster cars if you wanna see them receiving more praise :)

      2. OmarR-Pepper (@)
        26th July 2013, 22:55

        I think it’s just how this season is going @shreyasf1fan, I mean, Red Bull is the one to beat (again) and if you see more compliments is just fairness, not favoring them.
        There are as many articles regarding Ferrari as the ones about Mercedes, Lotus, even Force India, and Red Bull. And that can probably also be proportional to their performance on the weekend.

        1. Shreyas Mohanty (@)
          27th July 2013, 4:49

          @omarr-pepper touche.

      3. Sorry mate…Keith’s view are very impartial and and is typically based on facts.

        1. Agreed. Another fantastic article.

    2. You only take into account of track evolution for ferrari ‘s cases while neglecting it when you were talking about Lotus.

      No I don’t. You’re the one making that distinction.

      1. Quote where exactly Keith makes these pro-Lotus anti-Ferrari comments. He just made a general comment regarding Red Bull in the same paragraph as the Ferrari?

  2. Come on Ferrari, can you improve the pace of the car so Fernando can challenge for the world title.

    1. Shreyas Mohanty (@)
      26th July 2013, 18:40

      @m0nzaman Even if they do, it’ll be a case of too little, too late.

      1. By this stage of the championship, Alonso had a bigger point lead than Vettel has now. So I don’t think it would be too late, though, I do think it’s unlikly. Also, Alonso would need help from Grojean taking out Vet in the start at Spa.

        1. Sorry, I mean this from 2012.

        2. @chebeto0 that’s not strictly true: after 9 rounds of the 2012 F1 world championship Alonso led Webber by 13 points and Vettel by 29. This year, it’s Vettel leading Alonso by 34. What is also worth noting is factoring in points lost out with the respective driver’s control, in 2013 it’d be Vettel leading by 33 and in 2012 Vettel leading by 3.

          I’ll link to my logic upon your request in how I established those hypothetical values.

          1. @vettel1 I think @chebeto0 meant with 10 rounds to go, which would put it at Hockenheimring last year..

          2. @wsrgo that’s my point though: that wouldn’t be the same stage as this year!

  3. What a difference between the top speed of Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel.
    Could it be that Webber is thinking that he might need to do a bit of overtaking, as usual, while Vettel does not?

    1. running different package to evaluate. low df and high df

      Lotus duo were the same as well as others.

    2. It’s pretty clear, isn’t it? Red Bull are sabotaging Vettels car!

    3. You say that, but it’s only 4.8km/h – that’s not massive but significant enough to suggest they were running completely different set-ups!

  4. I missed practice, and it’s hard from these graphs to tell who is looking good on the long run. So far, Mercedes’ pace does not look as disastrous as feared, though on their fast lap both drivers lost quite a bit on time in the final sector.

    It doesn’t look like the changed tyres will make the championship battles any more interesting, with Red Bull looking the clear favourites.

    1. @adrianmorse Red Bull were frequently a second faster than everybody on the long runs: they were dipping into the mid 26’s and from the commentary on Sky I heard of nobody else breaking the 26 barrier – they were all circulating in the 27’s.

  5. Shreyas Mohanty (@)
    26th July 2013, 18:45

    I always feel an over-glorification of RBR and downplay of SF in @keithcollantine ‘s articles. Now people will pounce on me :-P

    1. Yes, that’s the fault of the mirrors, they usually reflect ;)

  6. Shreyas Mohanty (@)
    26th July 2013, 19:25

    @caci99 I am not saying I may be right, it’s just a hunch. And not as a Ferrari fan, I know that team is stupid to let their chances go. But as an example, look at the title of the article – Lotus is close to RBR but no mention of Ferrari though they had as much pace as Lotus.

    1. @shreyasf1fan
      yes. How unfair. A factually true headline. That incidentally doesn’t include Ferrari.
      It must be a conspiracy!

      1. Shreyas Mohanty (@)
        26th July 2013, 20:41

        @mads try looking at the times again and get your own facts straight!

        1. @shreyasf1fan
          FP2 (fastest times of Friday)
          Romain: 1’21.417
          Fernando: 1’21.426
          I don’t see how it can be factually incorrect to say that Lotus is quicker.
          And if you look at the long runs, Grosjean is quicker then the Ferrari’s as well.
          So what facts is it that I am missing?

        2. @shreyasf1fan The fact is that a Lotus was directly behind the Red Bulls. If you take into account all the best sectors Grojean was literally “within a tenth of Red Bull”, if you take the actual fastest lap he was still third and faster than the Ferraris. Ferrari doesn’t have to feature on the title of every article. What should the title be? “Fastest Red Bull, then Lotus, then Ferrari, then it doesn’t matter” or “4th and 5th for Ferrari – other teams also showed up”?

    2. Ferrari are mentioned as being not too far behind as well. But the article is correct, Lotus look closer and therefore the most likely to challenge the very strong looking Red Bull. I see nothing wrong with this and I’m a Ferrari fan too.

    3. You’re right. And Mercedes were only a couple of tenths behind Ferrari and only a couple of tenths ahead of McLaren, who were only a couple of tenths ahead of Force India, who weren’t far ahead of Sauber, who Williams were quite close to, who were just ahead of Toro Rosso, Caterham, and Marussia. Clear bias for not making that clear.

    4. It’s also worth mentioning the long run pace: Lotus look significantly closer to Red Bull than Ferrari do, which naturally puts them in the front seat as likely challengers. Headlines are meant to be short and cut to the chase and as Lotus are #1 contenders then they are included in the headline, not Ferrari.

    5. @shreyasf1fan i think keith is doing Alonso now, playing options down :)
      i know what you mean, i root for Ferrari and it is sad when your team doesn’t make headlines, but at the moment they need to really up their game to their own standart.

      1. @shreyasf1fan & @caci99
        To be honest I have not come across articles on F1F which are apparently biased. Nevertheless, I too have sensed some sort of unfair remarks/treatments towards Ferrari/Fernando.

  7. Why do overheating rear tyres cause understeer? I would have thought oversteer but I think Dan knows better than me!

    1. @mike-dee
      My guess is that to reduce the overheating of the rear tyres they added downforce to the rear, to stop the rear from sliding, which then created understeer instead. But I am not sure.

    2. @Mike-Dee – Perhaps he meant that the tyres were overheating in the rear, so they had to change the setup in order to reduce that, which lead to the car having more understeer?

    3. Thanks. That makes sense.

  8. I think Mark Webber would have to put in an exeptionally poor performance to not take 2nd on the grid and finish in P2.

    The Red Bull owns this track and the rest of this season

    1. Here’s hoping they will!!!

    2. That long-stint graph really shows how well the RBR’s are going to do this weekend.
      RBR 1st/2nd.

      1. Yep.

        People always say dont read too much into practice times.. but so far it has been a pretty accurate assesment of sunday’s race pace. Saturday pace is always determined by FP3 though

        1. @todfod I will agree on race pace but single lap as you said will only be determined at the earliest tomorrow morning: Mercedes haven’t really turned up the gas yet one gets the impression and of course the Lotuses (Loti?) were both impeded to some extent during their quali runs.

  9. Button’s run looks promising in comparison, although of course we don’t know how long that pace would last or the tyres it was done on from the chart.

  10. Yeah..pole for Vettel and then he is just going to drive away into the distance.

    So yeah, season over. Bring on the Turbos!

  11. Conventional wisdom would say that Bianchi shouldn’t be below Van der Garde on the time sheets, so I’m thinking that Marussia is losing the car development battle with Caterham in a big way.

    Pretty encouraging that Williams isn’t so far down the order in practices – I really hope they can squeeze out a point on Sunday. What happened to STR? Hungaroring is typically kind to the Constructors Formerly Known as Minardi.

Comments are closed.