Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, 2015

Raikkonen sets fastest lap but Vettel impresses

2015 Canadian Grand Prix lap times and fastest laps

Posted on

| Written by

Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, 2015The Ferrari drivers set the fastest laps during the Canadian Grand Prix. But while Kimi Raikkonen was the quicker of the two over a single lap, Sebastian Vettel showed better race pace.

A technical problem in qualifying and a penalty for not obeying red flags in practice had left Vettel 15 places behind Raikkonen on the grid. However they ended the race in consecutive positions – Raikkonen fourth, Vettel fifth – and separated by less than five seconds.

Vettel’s race was compromised early on by a slow first pit stop which cost him at least three seconds. However after his second visit to the pits he was able to make more progress. From laps 41 to 69 he took 4.4 seconds out of his team mate despite running tyres which were five laps older and a harder compound.

At the time Raikkonen was pursuing Valtteri Bottas, but he fell short of catching the Williams driver by 4.5 seconds. This was despite setting the race’s fastest lap on his first lap after leaving the pits on his set of super-softs. He had to make this set of tyres last 30 laps, though Felipe Massa went three laps further on the same compound.

For Raikkonen, however, four laps into this stint Vettel was already lapping quicker on his soft tyres, which explains why he was gaining on Raikkonen so quickly at the end.

2015 Canadian Grand Prix lap times

All the lap times by the drivers (in seconds, very slow laps excluded):

http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/charts/2015drivercolours.csv

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70
Lewis Hamilton 85.16 79.511 79.329 79.075 79.142 78.697 78.817 78.902 78.793 78.909 78.469 78.7 78.331 78.425 78.386 78.051 78.328 78.939 78.455 78.597 78.375 78.763 78.081 78.847 78.645 78.617 78.443 78.632 94.813 80.971 78.319 78.263 78.923 78.016 78.458 78.395 78.74 79.188 78.917 78.827 78.718 78.471 78.202 78.359 78.252 78.063 78.076 78.04 78.087 78.022 78.275 78.062 77.651 78.031 78.044 77.501 77.946 77.921 77.837 78.56 77.782 77.97 78.14 77.472 77.677 77.616 77.74 77.93 78.042 79.409
Nico Rosberg 86.19 79.794 79.732 79.056 79.101 79.089 79.109 79.344 78.909 78.795 78.673 78.74 78.462 78.758 78.338 78.232 78.335 78.715 79.039 78.363 78.243 78.693 78.715 79.141 78.396 78.567 78.221 77.97 79.241 93.758 80.108 78.01 78.055 78.392 78.543 78.64 79.164 79.049 78.619 78.55 78.586 78.199 78.375 78.322 78.008 78.27 77.92 78.161 78.419 77.955 78.031 77.803 77.865 78.082 77.888 77.905 77.882 78.135 77.926 78.215 77.981 78.084 77.637 77.661 78.35 78.134 78.592 78.063 77.984 78.148
Kimi Raikkonen 86.878 80.064 79.374 79.325 79.288 79.155 79.19 79.168 79.368 79.308 79.055 78.855 78.795 78.843 78.696 78.763 78.798 78.665 79.099 79.109 78.839 78.801 78.897 79.204 79.138 94.994 90.378 78.696 78.325 78.584 78.489 78.738 78.828 78.869 78.916 79.222 78.608 78.474 78.421 95.181 79.995 76.987 77.465 77.902 77.989 77.862 78.239 78.388 77.846 78.561 78.521 78.139 78.083 78.328 78.398 78.136 78.147 77.988 77.96 78.064 78.113 78.601 78.464 77.653 77.968 77.667 77.979 77.99 78.287 83.652
Valtteri Bottas 87.753 80.542 79.87 79.307 79.318 79.123 79.095 79.224 79.445 79.262 79.066 79.102 78.89 78.996 78.913 78.779 79.082 78.856 79.162 79.109 79.893 78.952 79.005 79.091 79.17 79.161 79.507 97.332 80.503 78.316 78.288 78.979 78.875 78.913 78.88 79.303 78.625 78.756 78.389 78.496 79.209 78.73 78.684 78.76 78.554 78.828 78.437 78.669 78.441 78.618 78.717 78.622 78.61 78.574 78.885 78.721 78.606 78.53 78.372 78.502 78.378 78.462 78.375 78.268 78.549 78.267 77.922 78.629 79.371 83.193
Romain Grosjean 88.746 80.662 80.305 80.085 79.809 79.861 79.836 79.487 79.699 80.012 79.879 79.938 79.636 79.442 79.248 79.363 79.38 79.296 79.489 79.801 79.632 79.952 79.74 80.301 81.472 80.09 96.425 81.254 78.649 79.187 79.285 79.003 78.736 78.736 79.435 79.314 79.16 79.393 79.493 78.993 78.873 78.49 78.77 78.455 78.573 78.685 78.69 78.673 113.465 81.379 77.969 78.264 78.389 79.498 79.118 78.299 78.225 78.407 78.239 79.176 78.312 78.461 78.707 78.475 78.106 78.454 78.362 78.116 79.062
Pastor Maldonado 90.289 80.78 80.332 79.875 80.253 80.237 79.875 80.194 80.241 79.796 80.145 80.142 80.272 80.09 80.116 80.384 96.045 81.698 79.558 79.683 79.363 79.346 79.843 79.498 79.019 78.852 78.948 79.075 81.351 79.499 78.914 79.105 78.742 79.106 78.928 78.913 78.88 78.74 78.901 78.701 78.825 78.689 78.687 78.697 78.653 78.529 79.032 78.886 79.208 78.981 78.385 78.822 78.499 78.404 79.591 78.873 78.761 78.885 78.652 78.709 78.591 79.276 79.47 78.821 78.795 78.679 78.799 79.141 79.113 79.627
Nico Hulkenberg 89.264 80.787 80.51 80.181 80.13 80.104 80.006 80.09 80.137 79.949 80.078 80.302 80.003 80.261 80.351 80.075 79.937 80.311 80.223 80.052 79.816 79.938 80.072 80.05 79.709 80.069 80.497 95.434 81.495 79.631 79.456 79.564 79.39 79.863 79.259 79.249 79.004 78.858 79.592 78.852 78.673 78.562 89.011 80.119 78.389 78.847 78.865 79.298 78.835 78.984 79.224 78.65 78.424 78.707 78.648 78.331 78.468 79.675 78.4 78.821 78.526 81.513 78.653 78.601 78.269 78.238 78.457 78.346 78.649
Daniil Kvyat 90.84 81.673 80.716 80.805 80.316 80.207 80.148 80.306 80.378 80.479 80.598 80.495 80.239 79.856 80.656 80.191 79.934 80.066 80.928 81.117 80.163 80.412 80.086 80.096 79.971 79.814 96.137 81.794 79.625 79.21 79.427 79.955 79.812 79.707 79.426 80.117 79.259 80.059 79.599 80.389 79.57 79.648 79.844 79.139 79.039 79.26 79.24 79.325 79.013 78.84 78.835 78.813 82.256 79.42 78.719 78.922 79.878 78.982 78.607 78.853 78.52 78.508 78.28 78.279 78.084 78.554 78.207 78.362 78.048
Daniel Ricciardo 91.29 81.997 81.279 80.359 80.262 80.309 80.524 80.544 81.161 81.145 80.535 80.225 81.057 80.45 80.722 80.317 80.297 80.389 80.089 80.739 80.325 80.352 96.699 81.736 79.321 79.693 79.887 79.457 80.477 79.848 79.974 80.02 79.629 79.61 79.7 79.599 79.719 81.589 80.414 80.059 79.64 79.43 79.426 79.164 79.536 79.557 82.91 79.816 79.546 79.523 79.479 79.8 80.217 80.201 79.561 79.321 79.488 79.899 79.97 79.753 79.328 79.494 79.29 81.195 79.867 79.416 79.06 81.942 81.656
Sergio Perez 91.917 82.323 81.182 80.886 80.549 80.017 79.995 80.217 79.966 80.162 80.229 80.239 80.226 80.616 81.18 80.896 80.315 80.399 80.502 80.245 80.165 80.267 80.544 95.994 81.769 78.902 80.085 79.186 79.564 79.766 79.587 79.716 80.05 79.4 79.19 79.933 79.604 79.839 80.239 79.967 79.862 79.6 79.554 79.554 79.671 79.256 79.383 79.11 78.889 79.225 81.926 79.522 79.064 79.436 81.313 79.964 79.66 79.202 79.676 79.542 78.898 79.16 79.277 79.632 79.667 80.071 80.962 80.804 80.163
Carlos Sainz Jnr 94.316 82.301 81.972 81.774 81.422 81.184 81.013 81.224 80.685 80.694 80.604 80.4 80.381 80.603 80.335 80.391 80.367 80.582 80.793 80.62 79.985 81.416 80.65 80.07 80.125 80.141 96.845 81.996 79.396 79.286 79.151 79.248 79.331 81.403 79.509 79.532 79.121 79 79.031 79.231 79.476 79.341 81.07 80.07 79.343 79.069 79.477 79.135 79.281 79.329 79.137 79.249 79.197 79.19 79.386 79.156 78.961 79.104 79.31 79.246 78.811 79.33 79.258 80.518 79.738 79.4 79.348 79.195 78.891
Marcus Ericsson 92.866 82.644 81.459 81.205 80.954 81.121 80.852 80.818 81.743 80.797 80.556 80.377 80.249 80.705 80.475 80.238 79.962 80.352 80.328 80.594 81.013 81.338 81.039 80.694 80.425 80.154 80.473 97.567 82.92 79.41 80.023 80.102 79.867 79.994 80.019 80.327 82.933 80.112 79.617 79.543 79.649 79.824 79.452 79.167 79.544 79.083 79.241 79.094 79.276 79.733 79.657 81.546 79.956 80.08 81.171 79.527 79.392 78.89 79.377 79.051 79.659 80.728 79.468 79.067 79.458 79.009 79.026 80.093 79.922
Fernando Alonso 92.417 82.75 82.098 82.391 81.818 81 81.027 81.222 81.547 81.065 80.845 80.68 80.654 80.76 80.476 80.511 80.738 81.263 81.108 80.886 80.81 80.535 80.48 80.491 80.786 80.673 81.166 80.668 81.173 80.706 96.685 83.765 80.722 80.62 80.543 80.609 80.049 79.979 80.052 79.964 79.58 79.957 79.928 82.418
Felipe Nasr 94.641 83.435 81.877 81.921 81.358 81.099 80.943 80.674 81.466 81.355 81.934 81.514 81.458 81.192 81.663 81.478 81.396 81.107 81.413 80.728 80.758 80.736 81.586 81.637 81.358 98.463 83.512 79.867 79.903 79.943 79.975 80.576 79.943 79.963 80.152 80.219 79.854 79.608 79.71 80.899 80.017 79.975 79.717 79.952 80.465 79.517 79.088 79.749 79.451 80.875 79.707 79.871 79.356 79.87 79.699 80.03 80.989 79.801 80.266 82.307 80.12 79.172 79.35 80.026 80.388 80.225 80.102 83.37
Felipe Massa 93.643 82.091 81.516 81.078 80.963 81.094 80.863 80.779 80.293 79.364 79.429 79.397 79.35 79.497 79.815 79.498 79.509 79.996 80.047 79.519 79.678 79.806 79.714 79.374 79.448 79.655 80.22 79.823 80.771 80.78 79.67 79.741 79.696 79.767 80.398 80.682 96.417 79.955 78.173 78.305 78.54 78.259 78.808 78.275 78.3 78.225 77.858 77.894 78.173 77.697 77.916 77.793 77.907 78.308 77.843 77.927 77.83 78.056 77.762 77.706 77.926 77.983 77.758 77.553 78.042 77.718 77.601 77.583 77.788 78.683
Roberto Merhi 97.233 83.872 83.455 83.085 83.095 83.349 84.191 84.059 83.908 83.095 82.633 82.6 82.452 82.264 82.494 82.286 83.244 83.215 83.421 82.123 82.559 82.494 82.052 83.072 82.127 82.92 83.52 83.069 82.758 84.007 82.293 82.869 81.97 81.988 103.062 83.494 80.804 80.858 80.807 81.166 82.001 81.957 82.338 82.32 81.452 81.567 81.178 81.135 81.193 82 82.595 82.01 81.821 81.524 81.626 82.474 83.101
Will Stevens 97.916 84.219 83.095 83.005 82.888 83.224 83.546 83.045 83.978 82.996 82.724 82.426 82.377 82.25 82.506 82.284 82.705 83.508 83.145 83.865 82.451 82.182 82.117 82.336 83.103 83.139 82.581 82.071 82.63 82.453 83.616 82.235 82.605 105.353 85.758 81.111 80.744 80.707 80.975 81.337 82.453 83.935 81.924 81.852 81.901 81.638 134.767 85.486 82.08 80.835 80.849 82.793 81.575 82.033 82.761 83.271 81.689 81.929 81.853 81.717 85.246 81.689 83.918 81.513 81.737 81.923
Sebastian Vettel 94.928 81.937 80.966 81.368 80.413 80.968 101.133 81.071 79.97 78.645 78.482 78.617 78.835 78.616 79.496 78.573 78.595 80.881 82.333 79.334 78.691 78.544 78.46 78.526 78.124 78.973 78.935 78.895 78.789 78.92 79.302 78.917 78.248 78.362 96.427 79.905 77.481 77.299 77.472 77.428 78.614 78.603 79.499 78.23 77.828 77.959 77.675 77.772 79 77.898 77.799 77.723 77.955 77.545 78.018 77.499 77.811 78.116 77.105 77.494 77.677 77.58 78.068 77.781 77.712 77.803 77.981 77.58 77.573 80.291
Max Verstappen 95.581 82.718 81.782 81.969 81.503 81.319 81.148 80.952 80.991 80.964 80.644 81.002 80.612 80.407 80.438 80.217 80.02 80.59 80.332 80.405 80.782 80.344 80.116 80.289 80.153 79.855 79.919 80.081 80.405 80.769 79.946 80.825 80.936 80.896 80.267 80.113 80.067 80.275 108.627 81.186 79.552 79.696 79.219 78.972 79.329 78.93 79.314 78.753 78.664 78.616 78.728 78.662 78.692 78.732 78.754 78.81 78.77 78.731 79.419 79.431 80.956 79.153 79.465 80.025 79.607 79.966 79.389 79.266 79.112
Jenson Button 106.219 85.274 82.195 82.034 81.424 80.754 81.077 82.291 82.201 81.054 81.019 80.997 81.029 80.823 81.064 81.46 81.225 81.42 81.417 81.349 82.715 82.69 81.379 82.803 81.404 82.674 81.51 81.181 80.755 80.993 80.658 80.433 80.329 80.378 83.26 80.58 80.185 80.294 79.823 80.301 80.301 80.258 81.221 97.909 82.185 79.352 79.13 79.105 78.856 79.109 79.178 79.083 79.523 81.427

2015 Canadian Grand Prix fastest laps

Each driver’s fastest lap:

Rank Driver Car Fastest lap Gap On lap
1 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1’16.987 42
2 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1’17.105 0.118 59
3 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1’17.472 0.485 64
4 Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes 1’17.553 0.566 64
5 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1’17.637 0.650 63
6 Valtteri Bottas Williams-Mercedes 1’17.922 0.935 67
7 Romain Grosjean Lotus-Mercedes 1’17.969 0.982 51
8 Daniil Kvyat Red Bull-Renault 1’18.048 1.061 69
9 Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1’18.238 1.251 66
10 Pastor Maldonado Lotus-Mercedes 1’18.385 1.398 51
11 Max Verstappen Toro Rosso-Renault 1’18.616 1.629 50
12 Carlos Sainz Jnr Toro Rosso-Renault 1’18.811 1.824 61
13 Jenson Button McLaren-Honda 1’18.856 1.869 49
14 Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes 1’18.889 1.902 49
15 Marcus Ericsson Sauber-Ferrari 1’18.890 1.903 58
16 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull-Renault 1’19.060 2.073 67
17 Felipe Nasr Sauber-Ferrari 1’19.088 2.101 47
18 Fernando Alonso McLaren-Honda 1’19.580 2.593 41
19 Will Stevens Manor-Ferrari 1’20.707 3.720 38
20 Roberto Merhi Manor-Ferrari 1’20.804 3.817 37

2015 Canadian Grand Prix

Browse all 2015 Canadian Grand Prix articles

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...

Got a potential story, tip or enquiry? Find out more about RaceFans and contact us here.

42 comments on “Raikkonen sets fastest lap but Vettel impresses”

  1. Profile Photo

    bezza695 (@bezza695)
    7th June 2015, 23:57

    impressive that they went 1.6 seconds faster last than last year, without the use of Safety Car, I say that because had they used a safety car they probably would have gone even faster because they’d have had more fuel to use and less to save

    1. kpcart
      8th June 2015, 13:23

      being on the right tyre with lower fuel helped

  2. Profile Photo

    Lance (@lancelot)
    8th June 2015, 0:07

    Fantastic race pace by Vettel. Here goes the myth about Raikkonen’s superior pace.

    Lost opportunity for Vettel and Ferrari.

    1. Profile Photo

      Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
      8th June 2015, 1:02

      @lancelot I don’t agree, with this article’s assessment nor your comment. I felt that the soft tyre was the race tyre to be, and so did most teams, and as the norm the harder tyre performs better as late as the race progresses. As soon as Vettel first went behind Massa it was clear what Ferrari was thinking, the yellow tyre was already producing good lap times and so Ferrari pitted early. Considering how easily Massa was carving up the field and how long he was expected to go this was the right decision, as Ferrari had no chance of overtaking Massa.
      One thing that needs to be mentioned is how old Raikkonen ss set was, at least 3 laps old. Vettel yellow set was new.
      I think the race pace analysis is in the end inconclusive, because Raikkonen’s mistake lead to a strategic change, in such a strategic race this has a major impact in instant pace. Vettel fought hard and achieved the best result possible. Raikkonen failed to deliver 3rd after making a crucial mistake.
      Honestly neither Ferrari had particularly spectacular pace, however Ferrari faired much better than last year, Raikkonen was in my view (not Coulthard’s) quite close to the Mercs after the first stint but as everyone saw Raikkonen emulated last year’s blunder.

      1. Profile Photo

        Lance (@lancelot)
        8th June 2015, 1:08

        One thing that needs to be mentioned is how old Raikkonen ss set was, at least 3 laps old. Vettel yellow set was new.

        What are you talking about? At the end Vettel was faster on older, harder tyres. Raikkonen’s pace on SS was worse than Massa’s whose SS was several laps older than his.

        The fact that Vettel finished a few seconds behind Raikkonen without a help of SC and with a long first pit stop speaks volumes how much better his pace was. Raikkonen’s pace was poor, no excuses.

        1. Profile Photo

          celeste (@celeste)
          8th June 2015, 5:06

          @lancelot I think he is talking about Kimi´s tyres being used in qualy, whyle Vettel having go out in Q1 has new tyres…

    2. Layercake
      8th June 2015, 1:58

      There is no Myth about KR’s pace. It just hasnt been around for a while.

      1. kpcart
        8th June 2015, 13:25

        since 2006 i beleive. if only Vettels qualifying went normally, i think he would have be .3 faster then raikonnen, like he consistently is, splittling the mercedes, and perhaps pushing mercedes in the second half of the race when they were running in slowdown parade mode.

        1. Profile Photo

          sato113 (@sato113)
          8th June 2015, 15:13

          *since 2007 you mean…

          1. vtf
            8th June 2015, 16:23

            He was better at McLaren. He was still good at 2007, but not as his usual self.

  3. fati
    8th June 2015, 0:22

    At some point it looked like Raikkonen might lap Vettel, so seeing at the end Sebastian just behind his teammate was fascinating.

  4. Profile Photo

    uan (@uan)
    8th June 2015, 0:34

    A lost opportunity for Ferrari. But if it’s similar in Austria, it should be interesting.

    1. Profile Photo

      evered7 (@evered7)
      8th June 2015, 5:09

      A lost opportunity indeed. Vettel’s race ended on Saturday and Kimi disappointed as well with his spin (although not his fault). I couldn’t understand the decision to go on SS for Kimi’s last stop. Maybe they thought his relaxed driving style would help it.

      But with fuel on the brink, there was no way Kimi was going to a race like Bahrain here. Will look forward to Austria to see how much they have closed on Mercedes. @uan

    2. Edgar
      8th June 2015, 17:32

      Vettel’s pace was good, indeed, as was his strategy, making good use of the sets of new tyres he didn’t use on qualy.

      But IF he started on P3 he wouldn’t start the race with so many new sets to use and probably would go for a one stop. And this would require some tyre saving, which Bottas and both Mercedes did. And his pace wouldn’t be so strong then.

      1. vtf
        9th June 2015, 17:40

        Or he would have 2 sets of softs, and try undercut 2 times or maybe he would have the pace for on-track action. Or maybe Mercedes would simply go even faster.

  5. Profile Photo

    Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
    8th June 2015, 1:05

    Did both Ferrari’s run the updated PU? I swear Seb sounded different from the onboard. I couldn’t tell a different sound note from the q1 onboard. Have Ferrari experienced a recurrence of their “glitches”?

    1. xxytz
      8th June 2015, 5:10

      For a moment there this reminded me of the times people talked about Vettel’s RBR having a different sound than the rest of the field.

  6. Profile Photo

    Daniel (@dstaplet13)
    8th June 2015, 2:01

    Wish I could adjust the y-axis range and x-axis range. Makes it easier to sort out how the top six were fairing against each other visually.

    This was a fantastic result for the Williams squad.

  7. Profile Photo

    RV (@zenren)
    8th June 2015, 4:10

    Raikkonen had to save fuel which was the primary reason he had to lap at same pace as others; it has got nothing to do with the tyres. Even with consistent 1m 18s lap times from top runners, all top drivers used up around 99 litres of fuel in the race.

    That spin cost Raikkonen around 10s, which is what we should look at from a fuel usage point of view- he should have been 10 seconds further up based on fuel he used. Vettel was lapping slower initially and hence had a little more fuel with him to push slightly faster. With the cap on fuel usage, 2-stop is no longer the faster option without a safety car. There was not enough fuel for Raikkonen to push after a couple of very fast laps, which ensured he didn’t leave a pit window for Bottas. The only way Kimi’s second pitstop would have worked was in case Bottas needed a second stop.

    @Keith
    Do they release fuel usage information? That is more crucial for this race’s analysis than tyre or stint length.

    1. Profile Photo

      PorscheF1 (@xtwl)
      8th June 2015, 5:26

      @zenren – More fuel usage means he also went faster on a first part of the race where he gained time he according to you lost again when fuel saving, non-excuse. Vettel also lost plenty of time being stuck behind other cars which cost him easily more than 10 seconds if you like. Vettel his pace was much better and he would have made minced meat out of Bottas had this spin happend to him.

      1. Profile Photo

        RV (@zenren)
        8th June 2015, 7:08

        Kimi didn’t lose time due to slow laps – it is just that he was not significantly faster than the one-stoppers. In Canada, the only way to make 2-stop work is in case of a error-free run which was not the case with Kimi. He lost 10 seconds with the spin and 20 seconds with the second pit stop that top runners didn’t take. Even after this, he finished 5 seconds behind Bottas, which means he recovered 25 seconds from Bottas’s lead. That was the maximum fuel margin Ferrari had. Mercedes engine is more fuel efficient than Ferrari which is probably going to matter more in tracks like Canada where the fuel usage is very tight. It should be interesting to see the true pace of Ferrari once Fuel saving is not really going to be a big worry.

        Ferrari and Williams were similar when it came to race pace yesterday. Vettel did many overtakes but never overtook Massa on track for the same reason. Faster by a couple of tenths is not enough to overtake in Canada. Ferrari didn’t have so much extra pace to overtake the Willaims on track. Vettel pitted every time he saw the gearbox of Massa and eventually undercut him during second stop. So I doubt if he would have passed Bottas.

        1. vtf
          8th June 2015, 16:28

          I was amazed by people who thought Vettel should have been able to overtake Bottas in Bahrain. That track is not a good track for overtake anyway. There’s just the start-finish lane and that’s it. You would need significant 1 lap advantage to overtake there.

        2. Profile Photo

          bull mello (@bullmello)
          8th June 2015, 21:19

          @zenren – Excellent analysis. So many fans look at one aspect, one incident, one moment in a race to fit into their preconceived conjecture instead of looking at all aspects and factors that go into every driver’s complete race weekend.

  8. Profile Photo

    Duc Pham (@ducpham2708)
    8th June 2015, 6:27

    So, who’s coming to Ferrari? As I don’t think Kimi will still for another year.

    I’m very impressed with Bottas, he kept Vettel behind in Bahrain, kept Kimi behind in Spain and again in Canada albeit having a slower car. Wouldn’t surprise me if Ferrari replace Raikkonen with Bottas this winter.

    1. vtf
      8th June 2015, 16:31

      People don’t get this fact: Bahrain and Spain are not good places for overtake anyway. Without significant 1-lap advantage you cannot overtake in a circuit where the only opportunity is on start-finish lane. Bottas has been rather calm and did a good job. But he was not actively defending against anyone for a long time. In Spain, Vettel’s defense for 30 laps against a car 0.8 secs faster was much more impressive than what Bottas did there.

    2. Profile Photo

      Nick (@npf1)
      9th June 2015, 11:45

      Funny how Raikkonen had a torrid season and everyone thinks he’d retire; now he’s having a much better season and people want him replaced. As much as I’d like to see fresh blood at Ferrari, I’m confused as to why people are acting like Raikkonen is driving poorly.

      1. vtf
        9th June 2015, 17:44

        +1

      2. Profile Photo

        Nase (@)
        10th June 2015, 11:04

        They are ’cause he is.

  9. Profile Photo

    Tony Hamilton (@tonybananas)
    8th June 2015, 12:19

    Seb only did what Kimi did in Malaysia

    1. Profile Photo

      Samhainhell (@samhainhell)
      8th June 2015, 13:08

      Seb actually has shown the same pace as the mercedes drivers today and that is why I vote on him for this race..
      If I am not mistaken after the first pit stop seb had 49 sec or 50 sec behind hamilton and he was cabable of keeping that gap..

      1. vtf
        8th June 2015, 16:33

        Even with getting stuck behind plenty of Mercedes cars for a few laps before overtaking them. Moreover he was on the slower 2 stop strategy.

    2. Profile Photo

      Nase (@)
      9th June 2015, 17:13

      In Malaysia, Räikkönen finished over 53 seconds behind Vettel (55 if you don’t consider the final lap, where Vettel cruised over the line). After the Safety Car, his race started with a gap of 20 seconds behind Vettel, and it never stopped growing, not even in laps 24-34 and 40-56, when he was running in clean air. There was no turning point in his race, he just lost over 30 seconds in the course of 50 laps.

      Vettel, on the other hand, finished 4 seconds behind Räikkönen (7.5 seconds if you don’t count the final lap), and he was indeed faster than Räikkönen after having been up to 15.5 seconds on aggregate behind the latter (on lap 28) and starting their final stint (after Räikkönen came out of the pits on lap 40) 13 seconds behind the Finn. So he was effectively faster than his team mate after a relatively early maximum gap, and managed to reduce the gap even while moving through the traffic.

      Allow me to ask the rhetorical question: Is that really the same thing? I don’t think it is.

      But allow me to seize the opportunity and highlight the performance of a man, who – in my opinion – is being unjustly eclipsed by Vettel’s race:
      Felipe Massa started his final stint almost 38 seconds behind Bottas and finished 20 seconds behind the latter (not counting the final lap, in which Bottas lost 2 seconds) – so he gained more than 17 seconds (more than twice as much as Vettel took away from Räikkönen), while moving up the field and using a rather extreme strategy that pushed his super-soft tyres to the max.

      1. vtf
        9th June 2015, 17:48

        Mostly I agree with you, but comparing teammates on different strategy is harder than that.

        1. Profile Photo

          Nase (@)
          10th June 2015, 11:54

          @vtf
          OK. It’s a factor that I didn’t take into account, but simply because it doesn’t mitigate the facts that I mentioned – it’s actually rather the opposite.
          The evidence is scant, but it’s clear that the soft tyres were performing better over the lenght of a stint, as evidenced by the fact that no-one (except Räikkönen and the Manors) tried to spend more time on the super-softs than on the softs. The average stint on softs was about 50% longer than on super-softs, and it was pretty clear that Williams were trying to do the same with Massa, but his tyres started dropping off too early after his hunt through the pack (just like Vettel’s), so that they had to pit him before he reached the optimal pit stop window, leaving Massa with a fragile set of tyres that he had to keep alive for a very long time.

          If we compare the Ferrari’s pace during the last stint with the Williams’, we can see that Vettel, on 35 laps old softs, took 8 seconds from Räikkönen, who was on 30 laps old super-softs.
          Bottas, who was on 42 laps old softs, lost 17 seconds to Massa, who was on 33 laps old super-softs.
          As we can see, the Ferraris and Williamses were on very similar strategies during the second half of the race. However, Massa managed to outperform Bottas quite drastically on tyres that were getting old, while Räikkönen was suffering on the same tyres. If we add those two figures, we could surmise that Massa outperformed Räikkönen by some 25 seconds (not real, on-track, seconds, but a virtual figure that seems to take the respective cars’ performance into account by virtue of comparing the team mates’ performances) over the last 30 laps or so.

          1. vtf
            10th June 2015, 13:39

            Btw, in Malaysia Raikkonen’s car was damaged, he was lacking downforce I think. So it was normal that he was losing time compared to his teammate.
            I also think Ferrari was not good on supersoft at last race in Canada. Vettel got rid of them pretty quickly and Raikkonen used supersofts almost throughout the race. I think that made a significant difference.

          2. Profile Photo

            Nase (@)
            12th June 2015, 14:58

            @vtf
            Yes, I know. However, what I don’t know is how badly the car was damaged. The only thing we can state objectively is that Räikkönen was lapping slower than Vettel throughout the entire Malaysian GP, while Vettel managed to reduce his gap after his final pit stop in the Canadian GP. So we can’t say that Räikkönen did the same thing as Vettel – he simply didn’t.

            As for the use of the soft vs. the super-soft tyres, my answer is tripartite:

            1. The only reason to assume that Ferrari performed better on the softs was Vettel catching up on Räikkönen. However, the fact that Ferrari switched Räikkönen back to super-softs after his botched middle stint goes great lengths to show that the data available pointed towards the red-banded tyres being their preferred race tyre (which isn’t too much of a surprise, because Ferrari have virtually always favoured the softer compound in the past couple of years). Also, the analysis of Räikkönen’s lap times shows no signs of his tyres offering too little grip or degrading after a couple of laps.
            He did put in two very quick laps after his final pit stop, before settling for high 1:17s to low 1:18s for the next couple of laps, then dropping into the 1:18.5s. This would’ve been a pattern consitent with steady and early tyre degradation. But then, 6 laps from the finish, he started lapping in the 1:17s again for a few laps, matching Vettel’s pace. So his pace (or lack thereof) definitely wasn’t due to the tyres. It was just him driving slower than the car and tyres permitted.

            2. When comparing Räikkönen’s lap times on the soft compound with his final stint, we can see that his lap times on the primes started with a 1:18.3 and ended with a 1:18.4. During his final stint, only 6 laps (not counting the final one) were slower than that 1:18.3 lap during the middle stint. It is thus pretty obvious that the option tyres did work better for him.

            3. As for Vettel’s tyre choice:
            Ferrari’s strategy for him was to avoid running into Massa’s rear at all cost, since they estimated that it would be virtually impossible to overtake him. That’s why, when he caught the Williams for the second time in the race, on lap 36, they told him to do “the opposite of Massa“, which resulted in a pit stop due to Massa continuing on the track (as he probably wanted to stretch his stint for as many laps as possible before having to switch to super-softs). But since that was on lap 36, his strategists decided to go with soft tyres, because they probably believed that Vettel would’ve run into trouble when trying to cover half a race distance on the softer tyres. So, in this case, their choice was not primarily due to performance considerations, but rather due to durability considerations, while Räikkönen’s pit stop on lap 40, long before his tyres showed any signs of degradation, seems to have taken place as early as possible, upon reaching Ferrari’s calculated breakaway point between the two compounds. There were no other reasons for them to pit him on lap 40. Vettel was too far behind to be an immediate threat. Bottas had been 1.5 seconds ahead of him ever since his spin. His lap times weren’t getting slower at all. The only possible explanation for his pit stop on that exact lap, to those exact tyres, is that Ferrari’s calculations must’ve spewed out the result that, in order to attack Bottas, the best bet was to switch to super-soft tyres as early as possible.
            That didn’t work, but, as the lap times show, that wasn’t the tyres’ fault.

  10. Profile Photo

    BVBN (@bvbn)
    9th June 2015, 8:22

    Keep it coming Reds!

  11. Aluxs
    10th June 2015, 10:14

    ‘Vettel impresses’ – you mean while driving the second fastest car, in a track where it’s easy to overtake, and where he still managed to cause two crashes being as hopeless wheel to wheel as he ever is? Were we watching the same race? Or is Keith just the ever resilient Vettel fan boy that he’s ever been.

    Last year he got showed up for the fraud many of us knew him to be, so he went to a team where he could once again have a formerly good, but now far past his prime team mate, and preferential treatment.

    1. bola
      10th June 2015, 13:53

      First of all: I am not answering to you. I don’t care about you, and seeing what you wrote I am not sure what’s wrong with you. But I’m making this comment, because this is the Internet, and unfortunately some people tend to believe everything they read here. Like your baseless arguments.
      1. Vettel doesn’t have a problem with wheel-to-wheel racing.
      2. It might be easier to overtake in Canada, but his car doesn’t have the raw pace or straight line speed to DRS breeze past everyone else on track.
      3. If he had preferential treatment inside the team, one would think Raikkonen would be asked to give way for him.
      Considering even someone like Hamilton with a far superior car had some minor moments coming through the field last season, it was a great drive from Vettel. At least he didn’t just solely use DRS for all of his overtakes which made his drive more fun to watch compared to Massa who had a great moment with Ericsson and great race pace on supersofts.

      1. Aluxs
        16th June 2015, 3:23

        1. Vettel is hopeless wheel to wheel – just look at his shocking performance in Abu Dhabi 2012, or the crash he caused in the season finale of the same year, 2010 Turkey, Spa 2010, or just the fact he’s never once pulled off a ballsey or exciting move like Webber on Alonso at Eau Rouge.

        2.

        but his car doesn’t have the raw pace or straight line speed to DRS breeze past everyone else on track.

        Actually, it really does. Ferrari have made huge jumps in performance since last year, both aero and engine wise. That, combined with DRS means it’s incredibly easy to get passed other cars.
        3. Ferrari are openly giving Kimi the upgrades far slower, and worse strategies as well. Ferrari know it would be a PR nightmare to give the most popular driver on the grid an open number two status.

  12. dee
    10th June 2015, 19:16

    Did you people even realize Raikkonen was on supersoft tyres almost the whole race while Vettel was on softs? I suspect Ferrari was not as good as Mercedes on supersofts whereas they were on pace with soft tyres.

  13. vtf
    11th June 2015, 0:28

    I think if they pitted Vettel after first lap, he could have reached podium.

Comments are closed.