Mercedes wary of Ferrari advance in Canada

2014 Canadian Grand Prix Friday practice analysis

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Seeing the two Mercedes drivers on top of the timing screens ceased to be a thing of novelty some time ago.

But those hoping their competition would be closer this weekend spied a glimmer of hope, as Red Bull, Ferrari, Williams and McLaren all lapped within a second of the W05s around the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

Part of the reason for this appeared to be that Mercedes did not find as great an increase in lap time when they switched from the soft to the super-soft tyre.

“One of our biggest jobs will be to analyse and understand why the [super-soft] tyre didn’t perform as well on our car in comparison to the [soft] and also how to manage graining on the option during the race,” said the team’s executive director of business Toto Wolff.

“It is a short lap here, which closes up the field anyway, but it feels like Ferrari might be pushing us harder this weekend.”

However we can’t discount the possibility that Mercedes ran their cars with more fuel on board for their super-soft runs. Particularly as most teams found the super-soft was easier to switch on for a flying lap.

“It seems like everyone is still struggling with tyre warm-up with the [soft], but the [super-soft] felt a lot better.” noted Valtteri Bottas. The Williams driver was on the periphery of a tightly-knit group behind the Mercedes compromising his team mate, the two Ferraris and Sebastian Vettel’s Red Bull.

“I didn’t have the perfect lap yet with the supersoft,” Bottas added, “so I think there’s a little bit more to come”.

Despite a problem with his engine in the first session, and still being “not 100% happy with the handling of the F14 T”, Kimi Raikkonen was narrowly the quicker of the two Ferrari drivers. Vettel edged his time late in the session, which will have been partly thanks to better track conditions later in the session, as grip levels at the little-used venue tend to improve rapidly.

Vettel, who was the pole sitter at this race for the last three years, was also higher up the speed chart than usual for Red Bull. The fastest cars clocked top speeds 10kph (6.2mph) higher than last year, thanks to the new V6 turbo engines.

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/2014drivercolours.csv

1234567891011121314151617181920
Sebastian Vettel81.20980.6680.55280.59880.4581.22787.14880.20780.054
Daniel Ricciardo86.05481.60681.24180.77381.281.12881.47981.41881.71182.586
Lewis Hamilton80.02780.18380.06980.19180.29581.83580.45680.50880.15980.182.60280.40581.33380.503
Nico Rosberg80.20780.32780.38279.91181.18680.74580.51780.41682.08680.2988.32180.62880.02481.958
Fernando Alonso80.61681.46680.65981.33881.23282.92780.905
Kimi Raikkonen81.05780.64380.44580.08280.2980.99180.39980.318
Romain Grosjean82.79881.86881.47882.04181.76981.4981.60481.82585.14786.27882.05
Pastor Maldonado83.59482.582.08583.69781.48381.69883.97381.39581.76181.357
Jenson Button81.97281.12480.73283.95180.81481.22380.41480.68480.70780.71780.636
Kevin Magnussen81.49380.73583.10481.81182.42582.22981.77485.22381.83284.87581.62481.32881.39481.14581.17181.56181.74381.75682.408
Nico Hulkenberg80.67480.18780.68380.75281.1181.49181.33181.34381.42981.16981.47180.67
Sergio Perez81.13980.82180.95580.66680.91481.07981.14581.23180.94981.30181.281.22682.853
Adrian Sutil82.88281.60481.35881.05182.12381.63581.43781.49581.48581.52881.64681.33381.30481.52881.64281.14281.4181.49381.70281.965
Esteban Gutierrez81.98481.54581.54482.23882.39381.91682.25983.58282.43282.01782.0282.64784.773
Jean-Eric Vergne82.48781.26780.84882.17681.30381.33281.65781.75981.44981.46681.89782.87
Daniil Kvyat85.56680.31279.61489.48478.73286.08678.823
Felipe Massa79.84579.53980.33881.65379.80279.35679.56880.09579.25178.88285.12579.66980.89780.58479.18179.60779.909
Valtteri Bottas80.85780.91780.72880.77482.50582.11680.77581.39383.07981.72182.54582.388
Jules Bianchi92.127
Max Chilton82.2182.40983.15382.02383.07282.92582.74283.78583.13282.79282.85882.96483.03282.81483.11683.98583.501
Marcus Ericsson85.07282.87683.00482.41886.4
Kamui Kobayashi89.30890.8784.0184.16583.91783.99387.04684.17584.01390.10885.3984.653

Sector times and ultimate lap times – second practice

PosNo.DriverCarS1S2S3UltimateGapDeficit to best
144Lewis HamiltonMercedes21.210 (1)24.689 (1)30.199 (1)1’16.0980.020
26Nico RosbergMercedes21.296 (2)24.772 (4)30.225 (2)1’16.2930.1950.000
31Sebastian VettelRed Bull-Renault21.491 (5)24.721 (2)30.361 (4)1’16.5730.4750.000
47Kimi RaikkonenFerrari21.383 (4)24.868 (7)30.397 (5)1’16.6480.5500.000
519Felipe MassaWilliams-Mercedes21.509 (6)24.862 (6)30.310 (3)1’16.6810.5830.093
614Fernando AlonsoFerrari21.381 (3)24.769 (3)30.536 (8)1’16.6860.5880.015
777Valtteri BottasWilliams-Mercedes21.532 (8)24.839 (5)30.497 (7)1’16.8680.7700.025
820Kevin MagnussenMcLaren-Mercedes21.524 (7)24.995 (11)30.412 (6)1’16.9310.8330.121
922Jenson ButtonMcLaren-Mercedes21.553 (10)24.960 (9)30.546 (9)1’17.0590.9610.000
1025Jean-Eric VergneToro Rosso-Renault21.555 (12)24.929 (8)30.696 (11)1’17.1801.0820.000
113Daniel RicciardoRed Bull-Renault21.541 (9)24.967 (10)30.881 (13)1’17.3891.2910.255
1227Nico HulkenbergForce India-Mercedes21.748 (13)25.089 (15)30.617 (10)1’17.4541.3560.258
138Romain GrosjeanLotus-Renault21.553 (10)25.049 (13)31.024 (17)1’17.6261.5280.000
1413Pastor MaldonadoLotus-Renault21.777 (14)25.025 (12)30.939 (15)1’17.7411.6430.127
1511Sergio PerezForce India-Mercedes21.836 (16)25.051 (14)30.875 (12)1’17.7621.6640.057
1699Adrian SutilSauber-Ferrari21.780 (15)25.244 (17)30.913 (14)1’17.9371.8390.027
1721Esteban GutierrezSauber-Ferrari22.067 (19)25.216 (16)30.961 (16)1’18.2442.1460.096
184Max ChiltonMarussia-Ferrari22.043 (18)25.357 (18)31.293 (19)1’18.6932.5950.000
1926Daniil KvyatToro Rosso-Renault21.973 (17)25.518 (19)31.231 (18)1’18.7222.6240.010
2010Kamui KobayashiCaterham-Renault22.599 (20)25.691 (20)31.435 (20)1’19.7253.6270.519
219Marcus EricssonCaterham-Renault23.253 (21)26.484 (21)32.390 (21)1’22.1276.0290.291
2217Jules BianchiMarussia-Ferrari24.530 (22)29.133 (22)35.690 (22)1’29.35313.2552.774

Complete practice times

PosDriverCarFP1FP2Total laps
1Lewis HamiltonMercedes1’17.2541’16.11867
2Nico RosbergMercedes1’17.3841’16.29371
3Sebastian VettelRed Bull-Renault1’18.1311’16.57354
4Kimi RaikkonenFerrari1’18.5781’16.64846
5Fernando AlonsoFerrari1’17.2381’16.70148
6Felipe MassaWilliams-Mercedes1’19.5751’16.77444
7Valtteri BottasWilliams-Mercedes1’18.3611’16.89357
8Kevin MagnussenMcLaren-Mercedes1’18.5161’17.05273
9Jenson ButtonMcLaren-Mercedes1’18.4461’17.05971
10Jean-Eric VergneToro Rosso-Renault1’18.6431’17.18054
11Romain GrosjeanLotus-Renault1’19.1421’17.62660
12Daniel RicciardoRed Bull-Renault1’18.4351’17.64462
13Nico HulkenbergForce India-Mercedes1’18.7331’17.71265
14Sergio PerezForce India-Mercedes1’18.9591’17.81955
15Pastor MaldonadoLotus-Renault1’19.3401’17.86861
16Adrian SutilSauber-Ferrari1’19.1081’17.96471
17Esteban GutierrezSauber-Ferrari1’19.8041’18.34058
18Max ChiltonMarussia-Ferrari1’20.8441’18.69360
19Daniil KvyatToro Rosso-Renault1’19.1771’18.73230
20Jules BianchiMarussia-Ferrari1’20.2001’32.12718
21Kamui KobayashiCaterham-Renault1’20.24438
22Marcus EricssonCaterham-Renault1’21.4041’22.41846
23Alexander RossiCaterham-Renault1’21.75727

Speed trap – second practice

#DriverCarEngineMax speed (kph)Gap
119Felipe MassaWilliamsMercedes333.8
277Valtteri BottasWilliamsMercedes331.72.1
327Nico HulkenbergForce IndiaMercedes330.23.6
425Jean-Eric VergneToro RossoRenault3294.8
520Kevin MagnussenMcLarenMercedes328.85
621Esteban GutierrezSauberFerrari328.75.1
722Jenson ButtonMcLarenMercedes327.95.9
81Sebastian VettelRed BullRenault327.66.2
96Nico RosbergMercedesMercedes327.16.7
1044Lewis HamiltonMercedesMercedes326.57.3
1114Fernando AlonsoFerrariFerrari326.27.6
127Kimi RaikkonenFerrariFerrari3258.8
1311Sergio PerezForce IndiaMercedes324.69.2
144Max ChiltonMarussiaFerrari324.29.6
1599Adrian SutilSauberFerrari3249.8
169Marcus EricssonCaterhamRenault322.711.1
1710Kamui KobayashiCaterhamRenault320.513.3
1813Pastor MaldonadoLotusRenault320.313.5
1926Daniil KvyatToro RossoRenault319.814
208Romain GrosjeanLotusRenault318.715.1
213Daniel RicciardoRed BullRenault317.915.9
2217Jules BianchiMarussiaFerrari30429.8

2014 Canadian Grand Prix

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Image © Ferrari/Ercole Colombo

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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 wary of Ferrari advance in Canada”

  1. Mercedes running with a lot of wing, or just a lot of fuel? 7kmph gap is pretty big.

  2. Either Ricciardos’ car is down on power compared to Vettel or he is running more downforce which would be a reversal of the normal minor difference between these cars, curious.

    1. Dennis the menace (@)
      7th June 2014, 4:53

      I think Red Bull may have been testing different set ups and as you suggest playing with the amount of down force.

    2. That looks like a really unoptimal set-up on Ricciardo’s car. Lower top speed and lower lap times? Normally you’d increase downforce to the point of getting faster lap times at the expense of top speed (making it harder to overtake and being vulnerable to being overtaken), but no more.

      Perhaps they’re still finding the limits, or Ricciardo is carrying more fuel too…

    3. @hohum Vettel is running the improved unreliable pre-season package, whereas Ricciardo is running the normal car. Besides they’re running different set-ups.

  3. Wow! Hamilton’s and Rosberg’s stint pace is sooooooo close. With some decent overtaking spots on the track we could see a real race long battle between the Merc boys.

  4. Ricciardo seems to be struggling at this track (as he did last year). I don’t think the difference between him and Vettel can be explained away just by Vettel going out later, and also Daniel’s long run graph does not look too good.

  5. Massa’s long stint looks particulary quick !

    1. Exactly what I noticed. Williams might be the team taking the challenge to the Mercs this weekend. They’re definitely the dark horse.

      Ferrari have improved… but my guess is that they are still a tenth or two off the Bulls and a second behind the Mercs

    2. I’ve never bet before, but from that long run pace and top speed I just went and put a few dollars on MAS at 80/1. (Still have HAM for the win in the Predictions, as that is important to get right. See what happens in P3)

  6. steve (@maximustotalus)
    7th June 2014, 10:36

    i think we might actually see bottas/massa on the podium this weekend as with that high speed i dont think anyone will be able to pass them and if they are behind the ferraris and keep close for the straights i can see them breezing past in the drs i think redbulls will qualify between the williams/ferraris and the mcclaren/force indias

  7. I see the cars hitting more than 375 km/h in Monza! who else agrees? This year’s cars are slower but when it comes to top speed, I think that we might witness an all time F1 top speed record this year!

    1. Now that would be something! It’d be even cooler if they took out the first chicane so the cars can take the first turn at top speed (Curva Grande, I think?)

      I remember seeing the Audi LMP cars taking that first turn at Monza without the chicane (just straight into Curva Grande) and the speed they carried into the turn was AWESOME. I suppose the downside would be missing the overtaking attempts at the chicane on the F1 layout…

    2. Michael Brown
      7th June 2014, 14:51

      While I miss the higher speed cornering the cars used to have, it’s good to see the top speeds go up by quite a lot.

      The fastest lap of the 2013 GP was 1:16.1 set by Webber in the race. Hamilton beat that in practice.

Comments are closed.