Low grip a concern before crucial qualifying

2014 Hungarian Grand Prix Friday practice analysis

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Under sunny skies at the Hungaroring the Mercedes pair asserted their usual competitive edge over the rest of the field on Friday.

As expected, Red Bull led the charge against the silver cars, the RB10s revelling in the rapid changes of direction in the middle of the lap.

Even assuming they were carrying comparable fuel loads to the Mercedes, which tend to run heavy at this stage in the weekend, they seem too far off to be a genuine threat. But they should be close enough to profit from any continuation of Mercedes’ technical problems, which have compromised at least one of their cars’ performances in three of the last four weekends.

Drivers often struggle for traction at the Hungaroringin the early stages of a race weekends, and the particularly high temperatures in the second session didn’t help matters. Even Friday’s pace setter haLewis Hamilton was not immune.

“We struggled with poor grip on track today,” he admitted. “I don’t know if that’s down to the tyres or the track itself but it was quite bad throughout both sessions.”

Qualifying takes on an added importance for all drivers at this track. Hamilton will be acutely aware that despite having the most competitive car underneath him, his average starting position over the last three races is little better than twelfth.

That’s not entirely been down to errors on his part, of course, but with overtaking opportunities so limited at the Hungaroring, now is the time for the mistakes and the mechanical maladies to stop.

Mercedes aside, the form team of the last few rounds has been Williams. But the aerodynamic efficiency of the FW36 will not be as well-rewarded here as it was in the past few races, as Valtteri Bottas appreciates.

This circuit is tighter and it’s going to be more difficult for us than the last three grands prix. It’s going to be really close tomorrow

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

1234567891011121314151617
Sebastian Vettel89.11788.71688.80589.26990.36788.97589.01589.09390.29289.29889.14189.05189.57189.38889.65489.30689.506
Daniel Ricciardo90.49291.53590.75590.30690.74590.61890.81990.99991.522
Lewis Hamilton88.81888.64288.48688.63589.21488.6388.88188.541101.08988.87688.85489.215
Nico Rosberg88.99688.71888.62388.57788.977105.11588.1988.48388.25289.08889.06589.372
Fernando Alonso89.33289.13989.05689.48889.46989.06689.3189.326
Kimi Raikkonen86.11698.92886.19797.1285.73
Romain Grosjean87.03194.822
Pastor Maldonado90.21991.03290.54589.97790.08590.03790.98292.33790.73490.44890.66491.01690.85791.337
Jenson Button90.63890.49190.34889.9990.4491.40689.8490.0490.27592.67990.62890.82690.75191.398
Kevin Magnussen90.15489.25689.27990.15290.09889.93390.20390.43494.35896.373
Nico Hulkenberg89.20889.52989.32289.76688.97289.17889.54889.08689.28390.9789.37589.222
Sergio Perez90.43889.75189.60689.45690.22990.63889.98789.94593.18589.822
Adrian Sutil90.34490.14490.38491.10990.89491.07791.01790.40790.62290.99393.50693.04791.149
Esteban Gutierrez90.93591.2590.71792.40791.27590.65890.72590.678
Jean-Eric Vergne90.19590.52491.0590.51690.36390.51992.50190.44590.59190.50891.472
Daniil Kvyat93.91390.82290.57691.10890.71891.3790.52990.13792.30390.82691.23690.912
Felipe Massa96.22387.42697.79588.134
Valtteri Bottas90.44690.18890.17390.39790.26490.43990.76593.8190.18590.17290.190.17390.67594.82591.008
Jules Bianchi91.91392.14193.38892.003
Max Chilton92.5492.16792.63794.79792.14192.91392.9
Marcus Ericsson93.2394.28793.73493.34693.86193.58994.93394.20193.002
Kamui Kobayashi94.71194.49394.02994.70594.96597.699104.897

Sector times and ultimate lap times – second practice

PosNo.DriverCarS1S2S3UltimateGapDeficit to best
144Lewis HamiltonMercedes29.784 (1)30.894 (2)23.729 (1)1’24.4070.075
26Nico RosbergMercedes29.876 (2)30.843 (1)23.998 (4)1’24.7170.3100.003
31Sebastian VettelRed Bull-Renault30.039 (5)31.083 (3)23.989 (3)1’25.1110.7040.000
414Fernando AlonsoFerrari29.967 (4)31.320 (4)24.150 (7)1’25.4371.0300.000
520Kevin MagnussenMcLaren-Mercedes30.053 (6)31.511 (7)23.975 (2)1’25.5391.1320.041
622Jenson ButtonMcLaren-Mercedes29.922 (3)31.688 (11)24.089 (6)1’25.6991.2920.535
77Kimi RaikkonenFerrari30.112 (8)31.580 (9)24.038 (5)1’25.7301.3230.000
877Valtteri BottasWilliams-Mercedes30.058 (7)31.564 (8)24.258 (8)1’25.8801.4730.119
93Daniel RicciardoRed Bull-Renault30.271 (10)31.362 (5)24.317 (11)1’25.9501.5430.033
1019Felipe MassaWilliams-Mercedes30.269 (9)31.505 (6)24.552 (18)1’26.3261.9190.076
118Romain GrosjeanLotus-Renault30.499 (13)31.609 (10)24.432 (14)1’26.5402.1330.481
1225Jean-Eric VergneToro Rosso-Renault30.555 (15)31.712 (13)24.290 (9)1’26.5572.1500.146
1326Daniil KvyatToro Rosso-Renault30.562 (17)31.710 (12)24.310 (10)1’26.5822.1750.107
1427Nico HulkenbergForce India-Mercedes30.535 (14)31.866 (14)24.340 (12)1’26.7412.3340.048
1599Adrian SutilSauber-Ferrari30.317 (11)32.139 (17)24.463 (15)1’26.9192.5120.000
1611Sergio PerezForce India-Mercedes30.402 (12)32.117 (16)24.421 (13)1’26.9402.5330.073
1713Pastor MaldonadoLotus-Renault30.605 (18)31.929 (15)24.485 (16)1’27.0192.6120.000
1821Esteban GutierrezSauber-Ferrari30.559 (16)32.195 (18)24.490 (17)1’27.2442.8370.236
1910Kamui KobayashiCaterham-Renault30.716 (19)32.495 (19)25.159 (22)1’28.3703.9630.000
2017Jules BianchiMarussia-Ferrari30.893 (21)32.587 (20)24.989 (20)1’28.4694.0620.000
214Max ChiltonMarussia-Ferrari30.822 (20)32.654 (21)25.062 (21)1’28.5384.1310.048
229Marcus EricssonCaterham-Renault31.045 (22)33.005 (22)24.789 (19)1’28.8394.4320.197

Speed trap – second practice

#DriverCarEngineMax speed (kph)Gap
144Lewis HamiltonMercedesMercedes309.3
277Valtteri BottasWilliamsMercedes309.10.2
327Nico HulkenbergForce IndiaMercedes308.11.2
419Felipe MassaWilliamsMercedes307.12.2
522Jenson ButtonMcLarenMercedes306.72.6
66Nico RosbergMercedesMercedes306.62.7
711Sergio PerezForce IndiaMercedes306.52.8
899Adrian SutilSauberFerrari305.43.9
920Kevin MagnussenMcLarenMercedes304.44.9
104Max ChiltonMarussiaFerrari304.35
1121Esteban GutierrezSauberFerrari303.95.4
127Kimi RaikkonenFerrariFerrari303.26.1
1314Fernando AlonsoFerrariFerrari302.76.6
1426Daniil KvyatToro RossoRenault302.76.6
159Marcus EricssonCaterhamRenault302.76.6
1625Jean-Eric VergneToro RossoRenault302.27.1
1710Kamui KobayashiCaterhamRenault302.27.1
181Sebastian VettelRed BullRenault300.88.5
1917Jules BianchiMarussiaFerrari3009.3
2013Pastor MaldonadoLotusRenault3009.3
213Daniel RicciardoRed BullRenault297.611.7
228Romain GrosjeanLotusRenault297.112.2

Complete practice times

PosDriverCarFP1FP2Total laps
1Lewis HamiltonMercedes1’25.8141’24.48265
2Nico RosbergMercedes1’25.9971’24.72069
3Sebastian VettelRed Bull-Renault1’27.2201’25.11161
4Fernando AlonsoFerrari1’26.8721’25.43749
5Kevin MagnussenMcLaren-Mercedes1’27.3571’25.58062
6Kimi RaikkonenFerrari1’26.4211’25.73059
7Daniel RicciardoRed Bull-Renault1’27.7821’25.98345
8Valtteri BottasWilliams-Mercedes1’28.3301’25.99958
9Jenson ButtonMcLaren-Mercedes1’27.8041’26.23460
10Felipe MassaWilliams-Mercedes1’27.9601’26.40242
11Daniil KvyatToro Rosso-Renault1’28.2081’26.68974
12Jean-Eric VergneToro Rosso-Renault1’27.6831’26.70367
13Nico HulkenbergForce India-Mercedes1’28.1011’26.78967
14Adrian SutilSauber-Ferrari1’29.0251’26.91964
15Sergio PerezForce India-Mercedes1’28.3761’27.01363
16Pastor MaldonadoLotus-Renault1’28.2661’27.01968
17Romain GrosjeanLotus-Renault1’28.5931’27.02138
18Esteban GutierrezSauber-Ferrari1’27.48032
19Kamui KobayashiCaterham-Renault1’30.3631’28.37065
20Jules BianchiMarussia-Ferrari1’31.2481’28.46946
21Max ChiltonMarussia-Ferrari1’31.0041’28.58640
22Marcus EricssonCaterham-Renault1’30.8921’29.03658

2014 Hungarian 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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8 comments on “Low grip a concern before crucial qualifying”

  1. Ros gets bad rap because when he went vs Webber. Fact is they all peak diff times, Ros shown great drives in past be it his first ever win or be it Singapore in Williams. He is a great driver he must be as we know Ham is great. Im loving the fight, would rather it be a tiny bit easier for my guy Hamilton. But Ham is on it and Nico is their still so their both great for me. It is a fact Ham has edged Nico this year it takes nothing away from Ros but take all the driving into consideration with no bad luck, Ham deserves to be top.

    1. Too add to that statement look at kimi, isit a stretch to say that Ferrari was an awesome car in 07 when he won, i think it was i just think Ham and Alo were best pairing. Look at Kimi in 05 and 03 that was his peak for me everyone is diff, but id take 05 over 07 Kimi anyday. Kimi in 05 and 03 had unbeatable speed was more impressive than Alo

      1. He will be back…i believe in the iceman :)

        1. Unbeatable speed ?
          Agreed ,
          Unbreakable car ?
          Sigh !

  2. From the look of that graph, Vettel is sitting pretty. Fastest after 12 laps, and only losing half a second after five more…

  3. Vettel, Alonso,and Hülkenberg look like the best of the rest. Could make for an interesting race if it stays like that for Sunday.

  4. No grip and still top the time sheets? Nah it’s alright Lewis.

  5. Williams seems to be showing poor race pace. This should open the doors wide for Ferrari and Force India for the 3rd place.

Comments are closed.