Rain makes for inconclusive practice day in Monaco

21 comments on “Rain makes for inconclusive practice day in Monaco”

1. 

   damonsmedley (@damonsmedley)
   24th May 2012, 19:01

   One thing I’ve noticed this year is the Toro Rosso guys using practice a lot more than most drivers, particularly when the track is wet. At the Melbourne Grand Prix, we walked the track in FP2 and whilst there were several appearances from all the drivers, the only cars that seemed to be continuously on-track (and they stayed there when everyone else was parked in the garage) were the two Toro Rossos. Why is that? Are the drivers trying to get experience? And if so, why are they the only ones doing it? I noticed it again today when JEV and RIC were both pumping in laps on the intermediates.
   1. 

      US_Peter (@us_peter)
      24th May 2012, 22:54

      That’s nothing new. Often times in the past couple years when the track was wet or changing, Alguersuari would be the only driver on track.
   2. 

      @HoHum (@hohum)
      25th May 2012, 0:18

      Remember Olivier Panis ?!
   3. 

      Tom Bisset (@pianoshizzle)
      25th May 2012, 0:24

      Their first win was with Vettel at Monza (the year it was really, really wet). Maybe they feel that their best chance of a race win or a high scoring points position is going to be in a race that is wet so are capitalising on running laps in the wet to collct valuable data in case the rain comes down on race day in Monaco, or at any of the other races this year.
   4. 

      bosyber (@bosyber)
      25th May 2012, 8:32

      What @us_peter,@hohum and @pjanoshizzle said, and indeed probably the two drivers not having much experience yet. If the team is really only expected to develop them for Red Bull, might as well give them track time. Especially in Monaco too, where getting to know the track is so important.
      1. 

         Julian (@julian)
         25th May 2012, 10:31

         Let’s not forgot that if it’s just the torro rossos on the track all the cameras are looking at them.
         But I’m sure that’s only a small part (if at all) of why they do that.
2. 

   Bradley Downton (@bradley13)
   24th May 2012, 19:56

   @keithcollantine – Can I just ask, is there any data from the wet part of the session only? It would be interesting to see the drivers quickest times on the inters, I know I heard Perez was about 1 second quicker than anyone.
3. 

   Todd (@braketurnaccelerate)
   24th May 2012, 21:32

   Let’s hope for Felipe, it continues to rain.
4. 

   AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
   24th May 2012, 22:47

   The speed trap is all over the place. A Lotus not at the top, an RB8 in the top 5 and a couple of quick Ferrari’s.
5. 

   DVC (@dvc)
   25th May 2012, 0:57

   @keithcollantine I’ve got a few suggestions on how to make the plot better:

   Just having the lap time dots equally spaced on the x-axis is not optimal, we could have more useful information than that. If session time was along the x-axis, and the data points positioned based on when the lap as completed that would be better. We could then see when each driver was doing their quick and slow times, and compare them to others who completed laps at the same time. In sessions like this one where it rains, the periods of wet/dry could be marked on the top axis.

   Also, I’d like the lap time data points to be connected up by lines only when they are part of the same stint. This way we can see which laps are out laps, which are in laps, and how long each driver is going for on a stint.

   It might be possible to go even further, different symbols could be used for the data points for each different compound tyre.

   With all of these things the plot wouldn’t be any more cluttered than it is now, but it would convey a lot more information. Are any of these things possible Keith?
   1. 

      bosyber (@bosyber)
      25th May 2012, 8:50

      It might indeed make for a very informative plot, @dvc. But it also seems like a much more complicated procedure for generating these plots (and I can only hope for @keithcollantine that creating these is at least partly automated).

      I don’t know if the laptime is coupled to session time, for example (if not, almost impossible to reconstruct accurately I’d think). Even if it is, you’d then get two problems: One, the plot stretches over the whole session, quiet times will give empty bits of space used, with around it dense clusters of laps, making the plot less clear.;And two, comparing two stints done at different times, but on same tyres, ~fuel load is hard, as you’d need a time-shifted view anyway, that would amount to something like the current plot.

      In addition, automatically determining when a stint is a stint, and when it is two stints is very complicated and bound to need tweaking and even manual intervention. Similar with possibly filtering out back-off laps.

      Then, using different symbols for different compounds: that is easy when the info is there, but it will make the plot very cluttered very quickly.

      Already I find the easiest way to digest these is to “select none”, then add drivers in small groups (either grouped by length of stint, average pace of stint, by team etc.) to see how they fit in the rest of the data as otherwise it is a lot of lines coming together. Putting more information in will only increase that.

      Yes, I too have considered creating graphs like this for myself (and then perhaps create a recipe to generate them), but it gets complicated and fiddly very quickly. And as I indicated, the result is not clearly much more useful in the end, thanks to all those things. So until someone can help Keith get such a procedure perfected, I’d say these current plots are very good.
      1. 

         DVC (@dvc)
         26th May 2012, 12:07

         I understand that doing something like this would depend on the level of automation, and the information available. It wouldn’t be any more cluttered though, and would provide a better tool for people analysing the session performance of various drivers. I think the result would be much more useful. I disagree with your opinion that it wouldn’t be much more useful.

         p.s. I’m a scientist who is trained to produce informative and useful plots.
6. 

   xeroxpt (@)
   25th May 2012, 2:17

   I think it was pretty conclusive, Lotus is the team to beat, Button is not as fast as he wants to and Alonso is obviously up there and in familiar fashion I dont think theres much more out of that Ferrari, Ferrari just dont “sandbag” also like expected the Mercedes have good pace, if its hot Lotus or Vettel will make pole if its cool Rosberg will be on pole.
   I know about the conditions nonetheless this should be unnacceptable how to make a prototype worse than the dallara chassis, the difference between power outputs on both the HRT and GP2 cars should provide more than .3, the distance between Narain and Cecotto.
   1. 

      vishy (@vishy)
      25th May 2012, 4:37

      If we have seen anyone consitently at the top during quali it is Hamilton. I think Hamilton will be on pole.
7. 

   Tiaan (@niaato)
   25th May 2012, 6:57

   Probably a stupid question, but why do the teams have FP1 & 2 on Thursday at Monaco ?
   1. 

      IDR (@idr)
      25th May 2012, 8:06

      Partying on thursday night, so Friday hangover.
   2. 

      DVC (@dvc)
      25th May 2012, 8:48

      The Monaco Grand Prix date is traditionally set by a religious event, and that entails a Friday off.
   3. 

      Tim Katz (@timkatz)
      25th May 2012, 8:50

      It was originally so that the local populace and shops, bakers, restaurants etc could open on Friday and restock before the race weekend (as opposed to having three days without replenishment time in a row).
      Nowadays, with the advent of freezers etc, this might not be necessary any more, and IDR might be right! :)
      1. 

         Tiaan (@niaato)
         25th May 2012, 10:51

         Noted…..thx very much guys!
8. 

   Rahim.RG (@rahim-rg)
   25th May 2012, 9:38

   Raikkonen for Pole:)
   1. 

      suka (@suka)
      25th May 2012, 9:46

      I wouldn’t mind…

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