After the European Grand Prix I created a series of charts to see how the race lap times by the drivers in each of the top three teams compared.
This time I’ve repeated the exercise for all 20 drivers in the Belgian Grand Prix.
Which drivers coped best with the wet weather? Which team mates were the most closely matched – and who dominated the guy in the other car? Have a look at the charts , read my interpretations and share your conclusions below.
Ferrari: Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa
Kimi Raikkonen qualified with slightly less fuel than Felipe Massa and after passing him on lap one quickly pulled away on the damp track.
Massa pegged him in the second stint and when they switched to the harder tyres in the third stint Massa was occasionally quicker. But when the rain returned (around lap 38) Raikkonen’s laps were faster than Massas – until he crashed.
McLaren: Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen
Heikki Kovalainen’s race was spoiled by his penalty but once he cleared traffic he was on course for points before he stopped on the final lap. It looks as though McLaren gave him a longer middle stint to help him gain positions later in the race – his lighter fuel load in stint three meant he was lapping very quckly.
Comparing the beginning of Lewis Hamilton’s third stint with Raikkonen’s we can see how the McLaren driver found pace on the harder tyres more quickly than the Ferrari did. Because the data only begins with lap two we can’t see Hamilton’s very quick first lap – but his lap two spin is plain to see.
BMW: Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica
The BMW pair were very closely matched in their second and third stints, but Kubica was quicker in the early laps when the track was still damp
Renault: Fernando Alonso and Nelson Piquet Jnr
Not much to say here: Alonso was very consistent as usual, and Piquet is a poor basis for a comparison.
Williams: Nico Rosberg and Kazuki Nakajima
Both ran long one-stop strategies and although Nakajima pitted two laps later than Rosberg he was often losing over half a second per lap to his team mate. Williams were the only team to put both their drivers on wet tyres at the end of the race.
Red Bull: David Coulthard vs Mark Webber
Poor Webber. He was having an excellent run until his collision with Kovalainen (the big spike on lap ten). In terms of time he ‘only’ lost eight seconds, but losing his track position advantage over the BMW drivers and Sebastian Vettel probably hurt his performance more.
Coulthard was on a planned one-stop strategy but the team gambled on wet tyres for him on lap 42.
Toyota: Jarno Trulli vs Timo Glock
After his spin in the first lap Jarno Trulli had to move up through the field which is why his lap times suddenly deteriorated in the middle of his first stint. On the occasions when Trulli wasn’t in traffic his and Glock’s lap times were very close.
Toro Rosso: Sebastien Bourdais vs Sebastian Vettel
Sebastien Bourdais’ lap times in his first stint dropped off the pace around lap ten. His second stint was quicker and comparable to team mate Vettel’s – except that Vettel would have had a couple of laps’ more fuel on board.
Honda: Jenson Button vs Rubens Barrichello
Compare this chart with those above and it’s easy to see how much slower Honda are than their rivals. The closeness of Button and Barrichello’s times suggest their getting as much time out of a poor package as they can.
Force India: Giancarlo Fisichella vs Adrian Sutil
Giancarlo Fisichella lost a lot of time pitting for a new front wing on the first lap so as the rain began to fall later in the race Force India pitted him for wet tyres on lap 40 – two laps before anyone else. Sutil’s consistent and quick pace and sure-footedness in the tricky conditions at the end were rewarded with a late gain of two positions to put him 13th.
Share your interpretation of the team mates’ lap times below.
Tengil
10th September 2008, 15:26
“Not much to say here: Alonso was very consistent as usual, and Piquet is a poor basis for a comparison.”
One thing is worth saying: Piquet was the only driver (as far as I know) on hard tyres at the start.
Very interesting this btw, thanks
ajokay
10th September 2008, 15:54
Certainly a great deal of dedication shown here. Nice one Keith. Really interesting to see the how inconsistant the ‘less good’ drivers are with their lap times spiking up and down a great deal compaired to the more experienced and talented drivers in the field.
Although, I’m guessing with a longer track like Spa, and therefore longer lap times, it’s harder to keep nailing consistant laps, than somewhere like Hockenheim, where the laps can take the best part of a minute less.
Brar
10th September 2008, 16:36
Very nice work and analyses.
Piquet was with hard tyres and one stop strategy, His line in the graph shows a tendency to embed with Alonso line after first stint.
Clive
10th September 2008, 16:48
Just two points, really. Lap times do not indicate which drivers were in traffic and which were not – so, although interesting as a general reflection of pace, they are not necessarily a true indicator of the relative speed of team mates. This is most clearly shown in the Heidfeld/Kubica chart. After the Kovalainen/Heidfeld clash at the first corner, Nick is deep in traffic and this explains his slower times compared with Kubica’s. On lap 6 he gets past Piquet and immediately his times become better than Kubica’s. After the first pit stops, there is very little to choose between the two and one must presume that traffic was no longer a major factor for either of them.
The Toyota times are interesting because we were told that Trulli was slow since his car had been damaged in his first lap accident. The graph seems to give the lie to this, as Trulli and Glock were putting in almost identical times until lap 7. Then Trulli falls way behind and I am left to wonder what on earth happened to him on that lap.
Fred Schechter
10th September 2008, 17:14
Poor Honda guys. Imagine what they could do if they weren’t both driving and getting everything out of both of their cars, and actually had,, I don’t know,, power,, grip, downforce,,
I’d peg either for lots of points if they just had the ride.
The williams duo seems quite well matched,, I’m really curious what Kazoo would do in a great car.
Plus the sebastien duo seems rather well matched also.
Finally,, wake up prancing horse. Kimi may be fast, and last year’s champ,, but check out Mr. Consistent! Massa for Ferrari #1!!
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
10th September 2008, 17:15
Ah I forgot Heidfeld was stuck behind Piquet – good point Clive.
Daniel
10th September 2008, 17:18
excellent time comparisons, would be great if you could generate them more often. Great job Keith.
SkinBintin
10th September 2008, 18:43
I like the colors you used for BMW best :P
cuvy
10th September 2008, 18:59
Again a nice analysis, keep the good work Keith!
BTW, where do you get the laptimes of every driver from?
IDR
10th September 2008, 19:54
Great analysis Keith, thanks for that.
One question, Where the data came from?
I would like to have a look at the effect of one lap of fuel in the times, and see how consistent is the information I’m taking from some webs for using my calculations on qualifying.
On Alonso analysis, we should have in consideration that Piquet was heavy fuel loaded for 1 stop strategy.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
10th September 2008, 20:11
Cuvy & IDR – the FIA publishes the drivers’ lap times and I’ve added the PDF at the end of the article. Lots of stats fun to be had in there.
Alex-Ctba
10th September 2008, 21:08
Thank you for the graphs. Very Nice. After All life goes on. It’s a very funny situation for us brazilian’s F1 fan…to be living these Alain Prost’s days…
nicho
10th September 2008, 23:07
Thanks Keith!
Wesley
10th September 2008, 23:58
Great job as usual Keith,thanks for all your efforts.
…and thanks to Clive for standing up for our boy Quick Nick!
todd
11th September 2008, 3:29
looks like sutil was doing a nice consistant job compared to fisi
Trig
11th September 2008, 10:27
I love these things Keith… keep up the good work!
:)
Rabi
11th September 2008, 12:43
Piquet was on inters not on hard at the start of the race so that made a huge difference.
Interesting to see how close some of the drivers are to one another, Kubica/Heidfeld, Button/Barrichelo and Vettel/Bourdais.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
11th September 2008, 12:51
Rabi – Actually I think he was on the hard tyres. He was running a one-stop strategy and given how much fuel he would have started with and the fact the track was largely dry it’s very unlikely they’d have started him on wet weather tyres, and if they had his lap times would surely have dropped off very sharply after a few laps.