Hamilton: McLaren have “more pace up our sleeves”

2011 European GP FP2 analysis

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Lewis Hamilton, McLaren, Valencia, 2011

Lewis Hamilton says McLaren can go quicker having been second fastest behind Fernando Alonso in Valencia on Friday.

Here’s all the data from the second practice session for the European Grand Prix.

Longest stint comparison

  • Pirelli’s Paul Hembery gave an estimate for how long each type of tyre should last in the race: “With the new medium tyre, we should see a range of about 30 laps on race day and about 20 laps for the soft tyre, putting us on course to meet our targets for this event.” That would mean drivers could complete the distance with two pit stops.
  • Nick Heidfeld was especially pleased with his final stint: “I had my best long run ever in the afternoon session in terms of not encountering traffic; it was amazing and very good for learning about the car. I could make some changes from the steering wheel which was possible with having such a long run, and also it was good for learning the tyre characteristics of the new medium compound.”

https://www.racefans.net/charts/2011drivercolours.csv

123456789101112131415
Sebastian Vettel103.309103.538106.604102.847103.011103.001103.045114.082102.382116.651102.559132.749
Mark Webber103.605103.096102.659103.098109.315103.467102.555102.518102.994111.147106.74102.856107.745
Lewis Hamilton103.38104.05107.835103.408106.18109.153104.343106.484104.708
Jenson Button104.925105.006104.483107.963103.985103.822104.073
Fernando Alonso103.666104.362110.678103.89107.077104.379
Felipe Massa104.009103.992103.574104.572104.118106.143105.44104.344
Michael Schumacher105.331104.944104.941106.637105.088105.244105.366105.181105.316
Nico Rosberg105.87105.416105.844111.938108.604109.439105.373109.307105.573105.672106.106106.411108.087
Nick Heidfeld105.565105.337105.138105.178104.935105.219104.592105.129105.505105.98105.835106.328106.946
Vitaly Petrov105.267104.914105.827104.812105.589106.134105.736105.761105.472
Rubens Barrichello105.978105.702105.353111.659105.294108.15107.977106.851107.758115.495106.786110.024107.225
Pastor Maldonado106.48105.831105.769105.619106.408106.158106.282105.987106.523106.858107.613
Adrian Sutil103.89104.152104.483105.041103.954104.218104.992
Paul di Resta101.192100.726111.824100.363105.66
Kamui Kobayashi109.119106.363106.07106.502106.55106.345106.685
Sergio Perez105.329105.257105.447105.783105.263105.135105.089104.921105.172105.486105.686107.374105.763105.761107.342
Sebastien Buemi104.932103.273107.761103.114107.964102.873103.094
Jaime Alguersuari
Heikki Kovalainen106.169106.334106.097106.336106.525106.738107.042108.1107.996106.751106.626107.436108.597107.831
Jarno Trulli108.769107.317111.589106.341106.021
Narain Karthikeyan112.881108.962120.077111.317124.339107.557
Vitantonio Liuzzi107.943107.715109.046111.602108.636109.856116.987109.814
Timo Glock113.496104.063106.692
Jerome d’Ambrosio107.326107.28108.244109.154108.498108.322108.782107.845107.58

Ultimate lap times

An ultimate lap time is a driver’s best three sectors added together.

  • Kamui Kobayashi flat-spotted his front-right soft tyre soon after putting it on and felt he could have found more time.
  • Both Renault drivers got clean laps on the soft tyres. Vitaly Petrov said they were “around 1.5 seconds quicker than the mediums.”
CarDriverCarUltimate lapGapDeficit to best
15Fernando AlonsoFerrari1’37.8810.087
21Sebastian VettelRed Bull-Renault1’38.0860.2050.179
33Lewis HamiltonMcLaren-Mercedes1’38.1360.2550.059
47Michael SchumacherMercedes1’38.3150.4340.000
52Mark WebberRed Bull-Renault1’38.4030.5220.128
66Felipe MassaFerrari1’38.4430.5620.000
74Jenson ButtonMcLaren-Mercedes1’38.4440.5630.039
88Nico RosbergMercedes1’38.7500.8690.231
99Nick HeidfeldRenault1’39.0401.1590.000
1010Vitaly PetrovRenault1’39.5861.7050.000
1114Adrian SutilForce India-Mercedes1’39.6131.7320.013
1211Rubens BarrichelloWilliams-Cosworth1’40.0202.1390.000
1317Sergio PerezSauber-Ferrari1’40.1182.2370.413
1412Pastor MaldonadoWilliams-Cosworth1’40.1732.2920.128
1518Sebastien BuemiToro Rosso-Ferrari1’40.1852.3040.269
1615Paul di RestaForce India-Mercedes1’40.3632.4820.000
1716Kamui KobayashiSauber-Ferrari1’41.8523.9710.231
1820Heikki KovalainenLotus-Renault1’41.9814.1000.175
1921Jarno TrulliLotus-Renault1’42.2394.3580.000
2024Timo GlockVirgin-Cosworth1’42.2734.3920.000
2125Jerome d’AmbrosioVirgin-Cosworth1’42.5164.6350.293
2223Vitantonio LiuzziHRT-Cosworth1’44.4006.5190.060
2322Narain KarthikeyanHRT-Cosworth1’46.8628.9810.044

Complete practice times

  • Lewis Hamilton was second overall but expects to be competitive, saying: “I think we’ve got some more pace up our sleeves for the rest of the weekend.”
  • But McLaren are having some difficulties with the new medium tyre. Hamilton said it was “difficult to switch on” and team principal Martin Whitmarsh admitted: “both Lewis and Jenson were unable to achieve a truly satisfactory balance with it.”
  • Michael Schumacher was fourth but doesn’t expect to be in the top three on Sunday. He said: “under normal circumstances we will not yet be strong enough to fight for the podium, and will most likely find ourselves starting around the fourth row.”
CarDriverCarBest lapGapStint lapAt timeLaps
15Fernando AlonsoFerrari1’37.9683/36635
23Lewis HamiltonMcLaren-Mercedes1’38.1950.2271/26229
31Sebastian VettelRed Bull-Renault1’38.2650.2971/25735
47Michael SchumacherMercedes1’38.3150.3471/36230
56Felipe MassaFerrari1’38.4430.4753/36332
64Jenson ButtonMcLaren-Mercedes1’38.4830.5153/36632
72Mark WebberRed Bull-Renault1’38.5310.5631/25426
88Nico RosbergMercedes1’38.9811.0133/35733
99Nick HeidfeldRenault1’39.0401.0721/25035
1010Vitaly PetrovRenault1’39.5861.6181/16627
1114Adrian SutilForce India-Mercedes1’39.6261.6582/46831
1211Rubens BarrichelloWilliams-Cosworth1’40.0202.0523/35534
1312Pastor MaldonadoWilliams-Cosworth1’40.3012.3333/33034
1415Paul di RestaForce India-Mercedes1’40.3632.3954/5907
1518Sebastien BuemiToro Rosso-Ferrari1’40.4542.4864/47132
1617Sergio PerezSauber-Ferrari1’40.5312.5631/54837
1716Kamui KobayashiSauber-Ferrari1’42.0834.1152/23434
1820Heikki KovalainenLotus-Renault1’42.1564.1883/35739
1921Jarno TrulliLotus-Renault1’42.2394.2713/47325
2024Timo GlockVirgin-Cosworth1’42.2734.3051/18921
2125Jerome D’AmbrosioVirgin-Cosworth1’42.8094.8412/33835
2223Vitantonio LiuzziHRT-Cosworth1’44.4606.4925/56129
2322Narain KarthikeyanHRT-Cosworth1’46.9068.9383/53616

Speed trap

  • The McLaren drivers were using DRS again in this session
  • As we have seen before, Mercedes get especially good performance from their Drag Reduction System
#DriverCarEngineMax speedGap
17Michael SchumacherMercedesMercedes317.3
28Nico RosbergMercedesMercedes316.90.4
36Felipe MassaFerrariFerrari316.80.5
412Pastor MaldonadoWilliamsCosworth315.71.6
511Rubens BarrichelloWilliamsCosworth315.71.6
615Paul di RestaForce IndiaMercedes315.71.6
710Vitaly PetrovRenaultRenault315.41.9
89Nick HeidfeldRenaultRenault315.22.1
914Adrian SutilForce IndiaMercedes315.12.2
105Fernando AlonsoFerrariFerrari314.92.4
114Jenson ButtonMcLarenMercedes314.52.8
123Lewis HamiltonMcLarenMercedes3143.3
1318Sebastien BuemiToro RossoFerrari313.63.7
142Mark WebberRed BullRenault312.64.7
151Sebastian VettelRed BullRenault312.54.8
1622Narain KarthikeyanHRTCosworth312.35
1725Jerome D’AmbrosioVirginCosworth312.25.1
1817Sergio PerezSauberFerrari312.25.1
1921Jarno TrulliLotusRenault312.15.2
2020Heikki KovalainenLotusRenault311.95.4
2123Vitantonio LiuzziHRTCosworth311.36
2216Kamui KobayashiSauberFerrari310.96.4
2324Timo GlockVirginCosworth310.76.6

2011 European Grand Prix

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    Image © McLaren

    Author information

    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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    52 comments on “Hamilton: McLaren have “more pace up our sleeves””

    1. Pirelli’s expectations from the tires have not been that accurate “lately”. I got a feeling someone will do the race with only 1 pit stop..

      1. The Last Pope
        24th June 2011, 18:05

        They may try. But I could see them being defenseless to overtakes by the end of the race.

      2. Going the opposite way, because it’s a street circuit I could see some drivers gambling on and thus forcing others into a three-stop race, a bit like how Turkey went from three to four stops. The two DRS zones may make that a viable option.

        But I would love to see a front-runner try 1 stop! What I find strange is that Pirelli think the soft will go 20 laps and the medium 30, that’s 50 of the 57 laps gone. So I wouldn’t bet against it.

        1. I would describe Valencia as “street circuit” rather than street circuit.

          1. There’s only two real street circuits on the calendar. Monaco and Singapore. The other circuits are more temporary than street. Not necessarily the same thing. Valencia doesn’t even have any road markings and was designed by Tilke, it’s not a street circuit.

            1. My thoughts exactly.

          2. Melbourne is a street circuit or rather its a Race track that half of it is used as a main road for the rest of the year and the another quarter is used a minor road. There is only a small section of Melbourne that you can’t drive on outside of race week.

            Believe me plenty of traffic use the track as a normal road, which is why some people get upset during the race weekend as they don’t have their nice little shortcut anymore.

          3. I would describe Valencia as “street circuit” rather than street circuit.
            The phrase “urban circuit” might be better.

        2. that’s 50 of the 57 laps gone.

          That’s why I said this!
          Tires have lasted more than Pirelli’s expectations, and those 7 laps can be achieved quite easily..

          1. The Last Pope
            24th June 2011, 20:22

            Yes, although its whether the old tyres are still fast enough to compete with cars that are on much newer rubber.

            1. I’d expect at least one Sauber to try the one stopper, and HRT very probably, maybe Virgin as well.

      3. If someone will try, it will be the Saubers.

    2. With the Ferraris 2kph different in the speed trap, it will be interesting to see which direction they go in downforce wise.

    3. Mclaren its getting anoying they always are overhyping themselves

      1. Thank you, finally some one else sees this!

        1. I’ve been saying it for awhile too, I keep pointing out to people that according to McLaren they’ve been faster than Red Bull for two years now. Maybe more. It’s bordering on delusion.

      2. Which team hasn’t beaten their own drum?

        The fact that you hate McLaren means that it annoys you when they say it, but they don’t say it more than the others.

        1. NO other team (except maybe Red Bull) over advertise and over hype themselves. NO team.

          1. Except for Mercedes, Renault and well… Everyone down to HRT.

            Remember Kolles saying “HRT aims to beat Lotus”?

            1. Remember Kolles saying “HRT aims to beat Lotus”?

              They aim at beating Lotus because they admit they are behind and they want to progress. But McLaren is saying that as they are now they’re faster than Red Bull.

          2. I think RedBull are quite recluse in self promotion…. Their cars do the talking!

            1. RB actually give the other teams some hope by not constantly talking up their advantage… and suddenly come quali and race they destroy them with ease.

    4. yeeeaaaahhhh ok lewis…..

      you talk but dont walk.

      1. Haha, was about to say the same!

      2. Walk? He isn’t in a walkathon. He’s supposed to drive.

    5. Mclaren can go quicker. Everyone can go quicker.

      1. What Ham actually said (from hte rent-a-quote session) was basically the usual “its slippery, need to improve setup, we can go faster” stuff.

        That is, more or less what everyone was saying. It just looks a lot more dramatic quoted in isolation.

    6. ScottishNotBritish
      24th June 2011, 19:22

      This really calls in to question Force India’s (and others) wisdom of running their third driver in P1.

      Because of Hulk’s crash Di Resta has only managed 3 fast laps all day. This is a bit ridiculous for a rookie who has never before raced at this circuit.

      I must say, though, that Di Resta has been coping with these pressures remarkably well.

      1. to be fair he still has an hour in FP3, then q1, q2, and possibly q3.
        there’s at least an hour and a half for him to drive on before the race.
        and we’ve seen he’s very very quick at adapting to circuits and going fast in no time.
        Complain if he crashes on the first lap of the race.
        I hate it when people complain before there’s anything to complain about

      2. He has. I can’t imagine he’s under any pressure to really challenge for the podium, just to beat his team mate. He’s doing a great job of that. I’m sure he will be frustrated at not being at the wheel long enough today though.

      3. It’s a double-edged sword: had they not given di Resta track time on Fridays last year, would he be doing as well as he is now he’s a full-time racer?

      4. I would add, the world championship’s stuck it in the barriers in practice twice already this year, so let’s not be too hard on Hülkenberg.

        1. Champion Keith, champion.

          1. Indeed.

          2. Although the way it’s run sometimes, I’d agree with Keith on both points. :/

          3. That’s a familiar name.

    7. What a difference a couple of hours makes. Alonso was around .5s behind Webber on the FP1 ultimate lap timings (including 2 session best sectors) and he’s not .2s AHEAD of Webber? That’s a lot of downforce to find.

    8. Damn, I only know noticed the “Select all | Select none” buttons after clicking 20 boxes! How long have they been there? :D

      1. Ever since these charts were introduced in December!

        1. Seriously? I must get my eyes checked!

      2. José Baudaier
        25th June 2011, 8:29

        WoW, I had never noticed them there neither. Thank you for that info.

    9. ive just watched hamiltons post p2 interview,and he thinks the expected hotter temps tomorrow will help them get the performance they need out of the hard tyre.we’ll have to wait and see tho.

    10. Keith, you are showing the Canadian flag in the main page header. Shouldn’t it be the Spanish flag or the European one?

      1. Who cares what flag is it, this is racing mate not WW1 or WW2!

      2. The cache must be showing you the wrong image for some reason. Refresh the page and you should see the correct image.

    11. Today looked like a development day so you’d think so.

      Apparently they were testing this wing in Canada too. At the moment they’re looking to develop a wing that has a greater effect when the DRS is open but apparently this can lead to less efficiency in the closed position, so they’re trying to work out how to get the best of both worlds.

      If they’ve succeeded – and perhaps Hamilton is alluding to this – then it should give them an extra boost in qualifying.

    12. Everyone can go quicker so it’s no news what Lewis is saying. Don’t understand why people argue about it either? I think it’s only because he is the one saying it..

      I think Vettel will be beaten for pole tommorrow by Alonso. I definetly hope so. The new rule for the engine mapping must hurt Red Bull’s pace in qualifying. I can’t imagine it doesn’t. I do hope Newey isn’t coming with another hole in the regulations on this.

      1. F1 is all about holes in the regulations. Seems like a lot of people need a reality check.

    13. Don’t forget Webber. Remember he’s also in a Red Bull.

    14. Rumour has it Webber will be “flipping” quick come race time.

    15. i can see a major DNF today from one or two redbulls…and the seven time world champion will be on pondium at number two.
      I pray..so help us me god…

      1. oops! so help us god !

    Comments are closed.