Rain may wreck Hamilton’s plan to do race fuel run

2014 British Grand Prix Friday practice analysis

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Lewis Hamilton’s engine problem in the second practice was not as bad as it could have been – he was running an old engine, and was always going to have a fresh one for tomorrow.

However he missed out on doing a high-fuel stint – “my most important run of the day”, according to Hamilton – which will disadvantage him compared to team mate and principle championship rival Nico Rosberg.

Hamilton intends to make up for lost time in the final practice session: “We will change my programme around tomorrow morning to try and recover the time that I lost and make sure that I can complete my race preparation with a long run,” he said.

Unfortunately for Hamilton the weather may upset those plans. It’s forecast to start raining at Silverstone later this evening and persistent drizzle is expected to remain until late morning, scuppering his chance of doing a long run on slick tyres.

Until then he will have to make do as best he can with Rosberg’s data – or at least as much of it as he can extract from his team mate, as the two have become increasingly unco-operative with each other as the championship fight gets more and more serious.

As usual Ferrari’s Friday pace was strong but as we have seen several times this season they tend to run light at this stage in the weekend – something Force India acknowledged during the first session.

Red Bull, enjoying the return to a more downforce-orientated circuit, are back among the podium contenders. Daniel Ricciardo believes there’s still time to be found in their car: “With the [hard tyre], it was really good but with the [medium] we didn’t find enough time so, if we analyse tonight and get it right, then tomorrow we should be closer.”

The wind which blew the rain clouds towards the circuit caused other problems for the drivers today, as Ricciardo acknowledged. “The wind here is always really strong and today in particular we had really strong gusts coming through and it changes a lot between the corners,” he said.

“One corner you feel like the car is really sharp and then another corner you feel like it doesn’t have any grip at all.”

But if the forecast runs true to form wind will be a secondary consideration for the drivers tomorrow. Especially if the rain stays long enough to interfere with qualifying – a situation Red Bull would certainly welcome.

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

12345678910111213141516
Sebastian Vettel100.182100.425101.27999.85799.733100.198102.85299.88199.98499.632100.017100.07799.685
Daniel Ricciardo96.69996.606107.43795.511
Lewis Hamilton94.508123.22102.86111.311
Nico Rosberg99.56599.42999.21799.34103.30399.13999.14498.999102.845102.41299.163101.85499.50899.756104.879101.357
Fernando Alonso100.201100.519100.069100.198100.061101.024102.374100.382100.467100.322100.308100.09199.93799.981
Kimi Raikkonen99.231100.936106.69297.239105.393102.485101.34698.993
Romain Grosjean103.344103.882107.424102.676102.204102.225102.048103.864104.649
Pastor Maldonado102.954102.445102.326101.871101.874101.47101.32102.05105.31103.086102.248101.651102.399102.115102.362
Jenson Button101.229100.975101.156100.959100.72100.633105.99102.094101.749100.677100.625100.432100.624101.158
Kevin Magnussen102.674101.888101.946102.074101.608101.668101.087101.055101.169103.092103.363102.665101.647102.446104.293104.163
Nico Hulkenberg102.639101.79101.716102.26102.014101.936101.551102.062
Sergio Perez101.512102.815101.909103.005101.759101.626101.312101.604101.294101.295101.262100.753101.323
Adrian Sutil99.576103.97699.015107.97399.124117.84899.055
Esteban Gutierrez101.618101.726101.494102.375101.392101.22101.416101.633101.61101.33101.891101.333101.865
Jean-Eric Vergne101.617100.955101.538100.561100.389100.041100.005
Daniil Kvyat101.911100.919100.987100.823100.857101.118100.811100.877
Felipe Massa101.056100.688100.942106.517100.471100.354100.064104.994100.368104.393
Valtteri Bottas101.424101.544100.927101.013101.095101.394104.118107.672104.511
Jules Bianchi98.671110.12698.658
Max Chilton103.74103.238103.086103.232103.212104.134104.422103.518105.056104.117105.762
Marcus Ericsson104.198104.717104.82104.794104.566104.337
Kamui Kobayashi105.374105.887106.203104.969106.68104.191104.383

Sector times and ultimate lap times – second practice

PosNo.DriverCarS1S2S3UltimateGapDeficit to best
144Lewis HamiltonMercedes29.780 (1)38.522 (1)26.122 (1)1’34.4240.084
26Nico RosbergMercedes29.790 (2)38.785 (2)26.161 (2)1’34.7360.3120.000
314Fernando AlonsoFerrari30.123 (4)38.884 (3)26.237 (3)1’35.2440.8200.000
43Daniel RicciardoRed Bull-Renault30.173 (6)38.895 (4)26.340 (4)1’35.4080.9840.103
51Sebastian VettelRed Bull-Renault30.056 (3)39.056 (5)26.429 (6)1’35.5411.1170.086
677Valtteri BottasWilliams-Mercedes30.170 (5)39.279 (6)26.436 (7)1’35.8851.4610.131
722Jenson ButtonMcLaren-Mercedes30.196 (7)39.393 (7)26.639 (10)1’36.2281.8040.000
820Kevin MagnussenMcLaren-Mercedes30.326 (10)39.531 (9)26.409 (5)1’36.2661.8420.033
97Kimi RaikkonenFerrari30.199 (8)39.549 (11)26.612 (9)1’36.3601.9360.194
1019Felipe MassaWilliams-Mercedes30.430 (15)39.505 (8)26.596 (8)1’36.5312.1070.140
1125Jean-Eric VergneToro Rosso-Renault30.296 (9)39.543 (10)26.744 (14)1’36.5832.1590.000
1226Daniil KvyatToro Rosso-Renault30.365 (11)39.655 (13)26.670 (11)1’36.6902.2660.088
1321Esteban GutierrezSauber-Ferrari30.429 (14)39.765 (15)26.704 (12)1’36.8982.4740.053
1413Pastor MaldonadoLotus-Renault30.417 (13)39.935 (17)26.712 (13)1’37.0642.6400.000
158Romain GrosjeanLotus-Renault30.685 (17)39.553 (12)26.859 (17)1’37.0972.6730.000
1611Sergio PerezForce India-Mercedes30.590 (16)39.881 (16)26.765 (15)1’37.2362.8120.000
1727Nico HulkenbergForce India-Mercedes30.370 (12)40.161 (18)26.790 (16)1’37.3212.8970.128
1899Adrian SutilSauber-Ferrari30.819 (18)39.733 (14)26.934 (18)1’37.4863.0620.034
1917Jules BianchiMarussia-Ferrari30.965 (20)40.386 (19)27.227 (20)1’38.5784.1540.080
2010Kamui KobayashiCaterham-Renault31.100 (22)40.811 (22)27.114 (19)1’39.0254.6010.043
214Max ChiltonMarussia-Ferrari30.943 (19)40.723 (21)27.406 (21)1’39.0724.6480.152
229Marcus EricssonCaterham-Renault31.085 (21)40.607 (20)27.711 (22)1’39.4034.9790.359

Speed trap – second practice

#DriverCarEngineMax speed (kph)Gap
177Valtteri BottasWilliamsMercedes320.7
220Kevin MagnussenMcLarenMercedes3200.7
311Sergio PerezForce IndiaMercedes319.61.1
422Jenson ButtonMcLarenMercedes317.63.1
527Nico HulkenbergForce IndiaMercedes317.53.2
66Nico RosbergMercedesMercedes3164.7
726Daniil KvyatToro RossoRenault315.65.1
819Felipe MassaWilliamsMercedes315.45.3
944Lewis HamiltonMercedesMercedes3155.7
1099Adrian SutilSauberFerrari314.56.2
1117Jules BianchiMarussiaFerrari3146.7
1214Fernando AlonsoFerrariFerrari313.47.3
137Kimi RaikkonenFerrariFerrari313.17.6
1425Jean-Eric VergneToro RossoRenault311.98.8
1521Esteban GutierrezSauberFerrari310.410.3
1610Kamui KobayashiCaterhamRenault309.810.9
179Marcus EricssonCaterhamRenault308.811.9
184Max ChiltonMarussiaFerrari308.712
193Daniel RicciardoRed BullRenault307.613.1
201Sebastian VettelRed BullRenault307.613.1
218Romain GrosjeanLotusRenault306.614.1
2213Pastor MaldonadoLotusRenault306.214.5

Complete practice times

PosDriverCarFP1FP2Total laps
1Lewis HamiltonMercedes1’36.1551’34.50836
2Nico RosbergMercedes1’35.4241’34.73660
3Fernando AlonsoFerrari1’36.2631’35.24455
4Daniel RicciardoRed Bull-Renault1’36.6231’35.51132
5Sebastian VettelRed Bull-Renault1’36.9211’35.62747
6Valtteri BottasWilliams-Mercedes1’36.01633
7Jenson ButtonMcLaren-Mercedes1’36.9631’36.22859
8Kevin MagnussenMcLaren-Mercedes1’37.2311’36.29965
9Kimi RaikkonenFerrari1’36.7061’36.55452
10Jean-Eric VergneToro Rosso-Renault1’37.2271’36.58351
11Felipe MassaWilliams-Mercedes1’39.4611’36.67136
12Daniil KvyatToro Rosso-Renault1’37.1751’36.77860
13Esteban GutierrezSauber-Ferrari1’38.0561’36.95153
14Pastor MaldonadoLotus-Renault1’37.06435
15Romain GrosjeanLotus-Renault1’37.9101’37.09754
16Sergio PerezForce India-Mercedes1’37.7201’37.23659
17Nico HulkenbergForce India-Mercedes1’37.44927
18Adrian SutilSauber-Ferrari1’37.52025
19Daniel JuncadellaForce India-Mercedes1’38.08323
20Giedo van der GardeSauber-Ferrari1’38.32819
21Jules BianchiMarussia-Ferrari1’38.9171’38.65823
22Kamui KobayashiCaterham-Renault1’39.06831
23Max ChiltonMarussia-Ferrari1’39.8141’39.22452
24Marcus EricssonCaterham-Renault1’40.5971’39.76240
25Robin FrijnsCaterham-Renault1’42.26111
26Susie WolffWilliams-Mercedes1’44.2124

2014 British Grand Prix

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Image © Daimler/Hoch Zwei

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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 “Rain may wreck Hamilton’s plan to do race fuel run”

  1. If I were Hamilton and qualy is dry, I’d be one of the first on track and put in a very quick lap. Then pit, get fuel and chuck on a set of tyres he would have used today then do a 14ish minute ‘long-run’. Heck, Q1 and Q2 are a joke to Mercedes, why not use it for good instead of idling in the pits?

    1. NB. Q3 is also a joke to Mercedes lol!

      1. Except Austria. I don’t think Merc found it quite so laughable

        1. Chris (@tophercheese21)
          5th July 2014, 6:56

          Mercedes were not on the front row because of mistakes by the drivers.

          It all had gone according to plan, then they’d have been 1-2 again. Lewis was something like .500 up on Massa’s time by the second split before he ran wide at the penultimate corner.

    2. Not a terrible idea, actually.

      Maybe some wet-running in Practice 3 isn’t a bad idea anyway, since the website I’m looking at shows 40% chance of afternoon showers on Sunday. It would be cool for Lewis to put down another great drive at Silverstone, in the wet, and close the gap to Rosberg. I don’t want this points gap to become any larger…

    3. It might be worth doing this if Q3 is infact wet, but his engineer Bonnington would have to be constantly updating Lewis on cars around him to avoid blocking penalties.

      1. The cars are in parc ferme, so whilst you might learn quite a bit, there wouldn’t be a lot you could do with that information. Diff settings, wing angles, tyre pressures, that’s pretty much it

        1. @sdtaylor91 Still a very valuable exercise if you ask me – despite not being able to make wholesale changes to the car

    4. You can’t use practice tyres in Qualifying. The teams give the set of tyres they use in FP1 and FP2 right after each session. So no, not a brilliant idea.

  2. I would suspect that if data-sharing between the two sides of the garage are good Nico’s data is good for Lewis’s car.
    The lack of practice is probably something else.

    What is a curiosity to me is Kevin Magnussen’s straight line speed; I had read that those odd suspension things were draggy. Given the numerous long straights things might look better than they seem for McLaren.

    Also going to my first race day since I saw Eddie “The Eagle” drive a truck round Donnington many many… many years ago.

  3. If it weren’t for the Saubers, apparently carrying a lot of wing, the speedtrap figures would provide a perfect linear illustration of the maximum power output of the PUs as they stand this year. Ferrari can console themselves with the thought that at least they are ahead of the French manufacturer of cute shopping trolleys and bland rep-mobiles.

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