Red Bull appear closer to Mercedes in Germany

2014 German Grand Prix Friday practice analysis

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Has the FIA’s ban on Front Rear Inter-Connected suspension held Red Bull close the gap to Mercedes?

At first glance the lap times appear to support the view that they have. Red Bull were just 0.102s slower than Mercedes during the second practice session on Friday. They’ve only been closer than that in second practice once all season – in Malaysia – and until this weekend had been 0.74s off Mercedes on average in this session.

It is striking, however, that Red Bull only achieved their quickest time with one of their cars – Daniel Ricciardo’s. Sebastian Vettel was a further eight tenths of a second off which suggests he was running a different programme – perhaps a heavier and more representative fuel load. “It’s tomorrow when we’ll see how close we really are,” Ricciardo admitted.

The loss of FRIC won’t just be felt at the front of the field. Marussia have also taken the system off their car.Max Chilton had done some preliminary set-up work without it during the Silverstone test, but the team were unhappy with the balance of their cars in the first session and made “large set-up changes” ahead of second practice.

Williams gave their test driver Susie Wolff a public vote of confidence by keeping their word about giving her a second run in the car, even as the team now faced the additional complication of having to hone their car’s set-up without FRIC.

“Susie was driving this morning and did a really good job, worked well and drove sensibly,” said head of performance engineering Rob Smedley. “The feedback we got helped us get used to the car without our interconnected suspension which was valuable.”

The banning of FRIC is likely to have some effect on the competitive order as some teams will inevitably have had more highly-developed systems than others and therefore more to lose from removing them. But the full consequences may not be known until F1 visits a circuit with a bumpier surface and more rapid changes of direction than Hockenheim – such as the Hungaroring next week.

The weather forecast for Sunday remains doubtful but tomorrow’s qualifying session is likely to see a repeat of today’s hot conditions. Expect traffic to be a problem, particularly during Q1, as the narrow and twisty final sector often sees drivers getting in each other’s way as they try to back off to make space for their flying runs.

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

123456789101112131415
Sebastian Vettel83.75383.10183.17983.18283.16383.70783.76684.18386.80484.23783.86284.20383.84283.849
Daniel Ricciardo82.65382.69683.04983.1383.23582.89182.89182.70383.0383.85184.64884.642
Lewis Hamilton83.15183.35483.46483.00986.93782.9482.96982.8883.02483.172
Nico Rosberg82.69885.22582.65282.19282.46482.39882.5587.37982.35983.10385.44183.585
Fernando Alonso83.60283.77483.90184.86684.38583.46984.05583.46783.58383.58483.90483.8783.83683.92784.543
Kimi Raikkonen83.3883.33883.2384.5483.585.05684.03683.3283.775
Romain Grosjean84.98686.98285.39985.20585.27285.0486.19986.01286.4
Pastor Maldonado85.08485.12984.22984.04784.08184.12484.28684.50184.48685.00186.345
Jenson Button84.59283.95183.61984.22284.14485.49784.90884.99484.97385.20985.436
Kevin Magnussen84.43984.83885.05384.29484.83284.82384.88785.1485.16284.9348585.272
Nico Hulkenberg83.44883.183.12983.12183.02983.8183.04383.60183.63783.32483.74184.34785.083
Sergio Perez82.55982.96382.63182.60682.883.00483.55483.415
Adrian Sutil84.64284.45989.18584.55584.3884.55484.31484.98584.9185.28786.16386.954
Esteban Gutierrez85.60985.27185.28285.98988.33385.91286.10386.36186.88988.285
Jean-Eric Vergne83.70383.44284.32883.81986.05683.74584.1284.04584.497
Daniil Kvyat84.40384.19984.11484.54484.18984.58385.665
Felipe Massa82.64582.64583.6483.03783.20183.18784.30484.04585.8484.00884.37285.005
Valtteri Bottas83.24983.70584.06283.9896.64483.84484.18285.02985.26788.437
Jules Bianchi86.96386.33486.08387.35986.9186.09986.55586.99487.21887.08689.285
Max Chilton85.519100.95985.18485.60185.71986.30686.44187.94
Marcus Ericsson86.96687.54886.18787.03786.85786.27786.33686.30786.50586.7487.86787.379
Kamui Kobayashi84.47694.36889.34584.09194.58883.72892.59183.756

What the drivers said

First practice

Second practice

Sector times and ultimate lap times – second practice

PosNo.DriverCarS1S2S3UltimateGapDeficit to best
144Lewis HamiltonMercedes17.052 (2)36.472 (1)24.817 (3)1’18.3410.000
26Nico RosbergMercedes17.008 (1)36.609 (3)24.748 (1)1’18.3650.0240.000
33Daniel RicciardoRed Bull-Renault17.075 (3)36.607 (2)24.761 (2)1’18.4430.1020.000
47Kimi RaikkonenFerrari17.267 (7)36.696 (7)24.924 (4)1’18.8870.5460.000
520Kevin MagnussenMcLaren-Mercedes17.301 (10)36.660 (4)24.999 (6)1’18.9600.6190.000
619Felipe MassaWilliams-Mercedes17.254 (6)36.750 (10)25.020 (7)1’19.0240.6830.000
722Jenson ButtonMcLaren-Mercedes17.235 (4)36.676 (6)25.181 (12)1’19.0920.7510.129
81Sebastian VettelRed Bull-Renault17.347 (11)36.832 (12)24.948 (5)1’19.1270.7860.121
914Fernando AlonsoFerrari17.241 (5)36.737 (9)25.160 (10)1’19.1380.7970.191
1077Valtteri BottasWilliams-Mercedes17.468 (17)36.664 (5)25.253 (14)1’19.3851.0440.000
1199Adrian SutilSauber-Ferrari17.290 (9)36.992 (14)25.135 (9)1’19.4171.0760.000
1227Nico HulkenbergForce India-Mercedes17.287 (8)36.703 (8)25.453 (17)1’19.4431.1020.150
1326Daniil KvyatToro Rosso-Renault17.430 (15)36.915 (13)25.107 (8)1’19.4521.1110.000
1411Sergio PerezForce India-Mercedes17.394 (12)36.789 (11)25.398 (16)1’19.5811.2400.000
1525Jean-Eric VergneToro Rosso-Renault17.421 (14)37.161 (15)25.178 (11)1’19.7601.4190.000
1613Pastor MaldonadoLotus-Renault17.405 (13)37.377 (17)25.202 (13)1’19.9841.6430.174
178Romain GrosjeanLotus-Renault17.461 (16)37.449 (18)25.324 (15)1’20.2341.8930.124
1821Esteban GutierrezSauber-Ferrari17.618 (18)37.177 (16)25.669 (18)1’20.4642.1230.040
1917Jules BianchiMarussia-Ferrari17.814 (19)37.579 (19)25.935 (19)1’21.3282.9870.000
209Marcus EricssonCaterham-Renault17.850 (20)37.657 (20)26.363 (21)1’21.8703.5290.000
214Max ChiltonMarussia-Ferrari17.989 (21)37.705 (21)26.204 (20)1’21.8983.5570.000
2210Kamui KobayashiCaterham-Renault18.425 (22)38.539 (22)26.691 (22)1’23.6555.3140.073

Speed trap – second practice

#DriverCarEngineMax speed (kph)Gap
119Felipe MassaWilliamsMercedes332.2
277Valtteri BottasWilliamsMercedes329.82.4
36Nico RosbergMercedesMercedes329.42.8
411Sergio PerezForce IndiaMercedes3284.2
544Lewis HamiltonMercedesMercedes323.58.7
627Nico HulkenbergForce IndiaMercedes321.910.3
725Jean-Eric VergneToro RossoRenault321.810.4
83Daniel RicciardoRed BullRenault321.610.6
921Esteban GutierrezSauberFerrari321.510.7
1022Jenson ButtonMcLarenMercedes32111.2
1126Daniil KvyatToro RossoRenault32111.2
127Kimi RaikkonenFerrariFerrari320.811.4
1320Kevin MagnussenMcLarenMercedes320.711.5
1499Adrian SutilSauberFerrari320.611.6
154Max ChiltonMarussiaFerrari319.512.7
1614Fernando AlonsoFerrariFerrari319.213
1717Jules BianchiMarussiaFerrari318.913.3
1813Pastor MaldonadoLotusRenault316.116.1
199Marcus EricssonCaterhamRenault315.117.1
201Sebastian VettelRed BullRenault313.718.5
2110Kamui KobayashiCaterhamRenault312.419.8
228Romain GrosjeanLotusRenault310.721.5

Complete practice times

PosDriverCarFP1FP2Total laps
1Lewis HamiltonMercedes1’19.1961’18.34163
2Nico RosbergMercedes1’19.1311’18.36568
3Daniel RicciardoRed Bull-Renault1’19.6971’18.44362
4Kimi RaikkonenFerrari1’20.2101’18.88759
5Kevin MagnussenMcLaren-Mercedes1’20.1051’18.96072
6Felipe MassaWilliams-Mercedes1’20.5421’19.02455
7Jenson ButtonMcLaren-Mercedes1’19.8331’19.22164
8Sebastian VettelRed Bull-Renault1’20.0971’19.24863
9Fernando AlonsoFerrari1’19.4231’19.32953
10Valtteri BottasWilliams-Mercedes1’19.38534
11Adrian SutilSauber-Ferrari1’20.5051’19.41759
12Daniil KvyatToro Rosso-Renault1’20.3371’19.45255
13Sergio PerezForce India-Mercedes1’20.5981’19.58152
14Nico HulkenbergForce India-Mercedes1’20.5921’19.59354
15Jean-Eric VergneToro Rosso-Renault1’20.5861’19.76055
16Pastor MaldonadoLotus-Renault1’21.8541’20.15865
17Romain GrosjeanLotus-Renault1’21.6031’20.35855
18Esteban GutierrezSauber-Ferrari1’20.50440
19Susie WolffWilliams-Mercedes1’20.76922
20Giedo van der GardeSauber-Ferrari1’20.78223
21Jules BianchiMarussia-Ferrari1’22.9821’21.32855
22Marcus EricssonCaterham-Renault1’23.2561’21.87056
23Max ChiltonMarussia-Ferrari1’23.2991’21.89850
24Kamui KobayashiCaterham-Renault1’22.5721’23.72843

2014 German Grand Prix

Browse all 2014 German Grand Prix articles

Images © Red Bull/Getty, Williams/LAT

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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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18 comments on “Red Bull appear closer to Mercedes in Germany”

  1. Perez’s long run pace looks impressive..and if rain stays aways and the temperartures are fairly high we can see a force india leading the race similar to canada.. hulkenberg’s long stint was compromised by yellow flags :(…Biggest surprise are both mclarens though…

  2. Force India long runs look mighty, on par with RedBull and Williams. Game on!

    1. Yup, if they qualify well I can see them fight for a podium here.

  3. Sounds like Rosberg needs to let Ross have a drive to show him what line to take.

    1. Hamilton and rosberg keep doing this, copying each others driving and braking to find the best way around the track. it would be better if they didn’t share data and worked it out the old fashioned way, by feel.

  4. “…What the drivers said…”

    Looks like ‘Ross’ (Nico´s RE) has had a lot to say about driving style.

    :D

    “…Has the FIA’s ban on Front Rear Inter-Connected suspension held Red Bull close the gap to Mercedes?…”

    I bet not. Those weather conditions (faced for the first time this year) plus track lay-out must be playing into Red Bull hands, at least on this friday.

    Theres a lot of data to Mercedes go through until tomorrow.

  5. Hmmm. Vettel seems to be quite a few KPH down from the front runners in the speed trap. Running too much wing maybe?

    1. I noticed it’s more that Dan is quite a few kph up on normal RBR trap speed, maybe Seb was running high downforce setup to be ready for a wet race while Dan was running a new dry setup.

      1. I’m totally baffled, care to enlighten me?

    2. Also down a lot compared to Ricciardo.

    3. ResultantAsteroid
      19th July 2014, 1:00

      Noticed it and thought maybe he’s limiting the RPM of the engine, he’s on his 4th ICE now. But who knows.

    4. Or the usual PU problems?

    5. more likely fuel. vettels car is bound to be 10-15kph slower anyway because of the Renault engine, but whether he was running heavy or ricciardo running light, we do not know. it is more likely ricciardo was running light, as he was “only” 10kph slower, which isn’t usual this year for Renault powered cars.

  6. I think Ricciardo run lower on fuel and nailed his lap. He’s consistently a couple of tenths faster then Vettel in every sector. I expect Mercedes to still be at least 6 tenths ahead of Redbull. That said, it’s not even sure Redbull will be 2nd fastest and take #3 and #4 on sunday. I bet Ferrari and Williams will give Redbull trouble.

  7. Last year Red Bull and Mercedes teamed up to change the tyres this year McLaren and RedBull teamed up to change FRIC. Perhaps next year McLaren will be mighty quick. On paper good track for Williams but their car seemed much stiffer than usual and all round all cars seemed to carry more ride height other than that I didn’t notice anything.

  8. Maybe the qualifying and race are very exciting.

  9. Maybe the qualifying and race will be very exciting.

  10. force india’s long run pace of sergio seems to faster than sebastian and at par with daniel..nico looking good as well..both of them quicker than williams hoping for force’s second podium.

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