Mercedes ‘not blowing everyone away’ – Ricciardo

2014 Monaco Grand Prix Thursday practice analysis

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Daniel Ricciardo is encouraged by Red Bull’s performance after lapping two tenths of a second off the Mercedes drivers’ pace during the first practice session.

“If we’re going to challenge the Mercs then I think this is the place for it,” said Ricciardo after Thursday’s two practice sessions.

“They don’t seem to have one sector at the moment which is blowing everyone away, but obviously it’s still early days.”

Red Bull expected to be closer to Mercedes in Monaco because the track is predominantly slow corners with no long straights. However Ferrari were the second-fastest team on Thursday, thanks to Fernando Alonso’s flying lap on super-soft tyres at the end of second practice.

Not all the drivers managed to get a quick lap in on the faster rubber when the track was busy at the end of the session. Second practice began on a wet track which limited the amount of running the teams were able to do. As Saturday and Sunday are forecast to be warm and dry they saw little value in running until the track had dried.

There had been concerns over grip levels on the parts of the track where it has been resurfaced. The new Tarmac runs from Casino, through Mirabeau to the Tunnel, and two other smaller patches have also been relaid.

But after driving the track today Jenson Button was very pleased with the amount of grip he found. “Yesterday, I said that the new asphalt in the middle sector might lack grip, but I’m really pleased to be able to say that the organisers have done a fantastic job with the fresh surface,” he said.

“A lot of circuits could learn from the job they’ve done with the asphalt here: considering it’s brand new, it’s really good – there’s so much grip.”

Jean-Eric Vergne was another driver who got a quick lap in late in the second practice session, moving his Toro Rosso up the order. He was followed by Valtteri Bottas, and although he was significantly quicker than his team mate in both practice sessions, Felipe Massa was hindered with a power unit sensor problem.

Longest stint comparison – first practice

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

Because wet conditions were forecast for the second practice session, most teams did their longest runs during the first:

https://www.racefans.net/charts/2014drivercolours.csv

123456789101112131415
Sebastian Vettel80.93980.10385.82280.32979.77488.27979.38184.23381.47379.25479.11679.086
Daniel Ricciardo83.81891.64480.11585.46579.41688.81579.63183.58478.61678.6183.053124.868
Lewis Hamilton82.20580.57680.54281.09782.57280.30582.76880.338
Nico Rosberg87.75381.49678.56478.30387.42881.33681.033
Fernando Alonso83.93788.85290.96678.9388.65287.38386.41379.01994.04887.634109.786121.389
Kimi Raikkonen79.93994.79585.55579.97285.76179.46785.93881.9798.69780.15188.628129.76
Romain Grosjean83.74180.67883.67781.55580.21585.3780.62191.79287.702150.003
Pastor Maldonado84.61985.8291.72182.46581.6980.880.67187.37686.10281.01992.00584.594153.522
Jenson Button82.95794.32281.98881.49781.32681.3996.63384.60281.06694.40281.579141.304
Kevin Magnussen83.18381.64582.70586.56581.2582.4584.961129.35
Nico Hulkenberg84.93187.96182.6489.1381.50496.38390.27291.415
Sergio Perez88.84789.33783.25982.481.44681.00680.71189.715
Adrian Sutil86.64485.11786.52199.2882.18590.544
Esteban Gutierrez85.37382.09588.36581.13784.76683.72281.08493.04581.1886.80680.704
Jean-Eric Vergne83.83680.95893.41288.14680.28894.38980.38492.98980.26
Daniil Kvyat86.10486.6289.7692.00782.55182.62983.39682.30983.41682.67288.42883.65685.97138.683
Felipe Massa83.33591.84587.5892.81381.81687.665
Valtteri Bottas83.56980.71697.68180.28679.63690.17479.88679.49485.389
Jules Bianchi85.76986.77881.60781.81988.16881.31
Max Chilton88.13589.56985.817
Marcus Ericsson85.71983.29382.83982.55195.80182.26485.3782.06390.89785.64887.89386.01389.64790.542147.882
Kamui Kobayashi88.81684.48882.49285.63386.31783.34186.788103.774178.941

Complete practice times

PosDriverCarFP1FP2Total laps
1Lewis HamiltonMercedes1’18.2711’18.90144
2Nico RosbergMercedes1’18.3031’22.86242
3Fernando AlonsoFerrari1’18.9301’18.48246
4Daniel RicciardoRed Bull-Renault1’18.5061’19.77948
5Sebastian VettelRed Bull-Renault1’19.0431’19.01748
6Jean-Eric VergneToro Rosso-Renault1’20.2601’19.35150
7Valtteri BottasWilliams-Mercedes1’19.4941’19.42140
8Kimi RaikkonenFerrari1’19.4671’45.50935
9Sergio PerezForce India-Mercedes1’19.6661’19.66838
10Nico HulkenbergForce India-Mercedes1’19.8561’19.71248
11Jenson ButtonMcLaren-Mercedes1’20.0331’19.72151
12Kevin MagnussenMcLaren-Mercedes1’19.7891’20.23045
13Esteban GutierrezSauber-Ferrari1’20.1181’21.46741
14Romain GrosjeanLotus-Renault1’20.2071’21.70039
15Pastor MaldonadoLotus-Renault1’20.2411’20.97745
16Felipe MassaWilliams-Mercedes1’20.5171’20.39433
17Daniil KvyatToro Rosso-Renault1’20.9141’20.62250
18Adrian SutilSauber-Ferrari1’20.7361’20.81136
19Jules BianchiMarussia-Ferrari1’21.3101’21.93740
20Kamui KobayashiCaterham-Renault1’22.4921’21.92444
21Marcus EricssonCaterham-Renault1’22.0631’23.16446
22Max ChiltonMarussia-Ferrari1’25.8171’22.68320

Speed trap – second practice

#DriverCarEngineMax speed (kph)Gap
144Lewis HamiltonMercedesMercedes287.9
277Valtteri BottasWilliamsMercedes287.40.5
34Max ChiltonMarussiaFerrari2870.9
419Felipe MassaWilliamsMercedes286.81.1
527Nico HulkenbergForce IndiaMercedes285.42.5
611Sergio PerezForce IndiaMercedes285.12.8
725Jean-Eric VergneToro RossoRenault283.94
822Jenson ButtonMcLarenMercedes283.74.2
914Fernando AlonsoFerrariFerrari283.64.3
1017Jules BianchiMarussiaFerrari282.55.4
1126Daniil KvyatToro RossoRenault282.35.6
1220Kevin MagnussenMcLarenMercedes281.86.1
1399Adrian SutilSauberFerrari280.27.7
149Marcus EricssonCaterhamRenault279.98
1510Kamui KobayashiCaterhamRenault279.68.3
1621Esteban GutierrezSauberFerrari279.28.7
173Daniel RicciardoRed BullRenault277.310.6
1813Pastor MaldonadoLotusRenault277.110.8
191Sebastian VettelRed BullRenault275.712.2
208Romain GrosjeanLotusRenault274.213.7
216Nico RosbergMercedesMercedes267.420.5
227Kimi RaikkonenFerrariFerrari260.427.5

2014 Monaco 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 “Mercedes ‘not blowing everyone away’ – Ricciardo”

  1. Curious that the W05s are at opposite ends of the speed trap chart with a 20kph difference. All other teammate pairs are very close. As everyone has max DF on here, that means either big gearing difference, or possibly Nico is not getting a good launch out of Portier.

    1. I think Nico’s speed isn’t correct. Shouldn’t be down in that chart so much

    2. Don’t read anything into the speed trap numbers for the session. Half of the speeds (including Rosberg’s) were set on a damp track and were beginning to brake for the chicane when their speeds were recorded which explains the 20 km/h difference. There is unlikely to be any difference in gearing as the ratios are set at the start of the season (minus one change if they get things wrong).

      1. The speeds are correct.

  2. The speed traps are right. And for that the strategies are obviously different. I think Nico is the guy the watch this weekend, obsviously the guy to beat is Hamilton. As for the RBR there are still a huge distance to the Mercedes, 0,2s at Monaco is still a long way.
    BTW Monaco deserves a page for the Helmet’s :P @keithcollantine, and for that should be always a page with them updated, i love the helmet’s…

    1. Forget the last sentence, as always F1 Fanatic and @keithcollantine and his “crew” delivered and have done an awsome and complete job, that’s why i came here, amazing…

  3. Ricciardo did show Vettel up a bit during the first session – but of course, we don’t know fuel loads etc, so too early to draw conclusions.

  4. And Riccardo, thinks mercedes is not blowing them away. I just like the way they start talking in the media before race day then after the race they agree that th W05 seems to be running in another competition.

  5. I don’t really think they were trying to blow anyone away, just taking it easy, although of course it will be closer here anyway.

  6. Hope you’re right mate.

    With a bit more development Marussia will be beating Sauber this year. Way to go guys, way to go.

  7. The speed trap here surely the least important for the year.
    Dan’s comments are fine, he is not likely to say “we are closer but they will still smash us” is he. Anyway, Dan is due to make a place or 2 on lap one, so no better place I say :)

  8. “A lot of circuits could learn from the job they’ve done with the asphalt here: considering it’s brand new, it’s really good – there’s so much grip.”

    I think the asphalt’s high grip compared to new tarmac at other tracks, can be attributed to the fact Monaco has cars driving over it all day every day… Instead of just a few times a year like India, or Austin

  9. I think Ricciardo has a very good performance.

  10. I think Mercedes is even further ahead than they were before. The only time I saw them running full out was during the dry spell in FP1 and they were a full 1.5 seconds ahead of everyone. Then they realized how obvious it was and started sand bagging. I’m telling you, it looked bad.

Comments are closed.