Few chinks in Red Bull’s armour in India

31 comments on “Few chinks in Red Bull’s armour in India”

1. 

   xjr15jaaag (@xjr15jaaag)
   26th October 2012, 17:18

   Interestingly, despite their lack of straight line speed, Vettel is second fastest in S1, which I think contains that immense straight.
   1. 

      Bob (@bobthevulcan)
      26th October 2012, 17:36

      Yes it does, but Sector 1 also contains three slow corners – Turns 1, 3 and 4. This just happens to play into the Red Bull advantage of low-speed traction.
      1. 

         @HoHum (@hohum)
         26th October 2012, 23:02

         Not just “traction out of the corners” but a higher speed through the corner means starting down the straight from a higher speed.
   2. 

      McLar3n
      26th October 2012, 17:36

      Methinks that’s coz of their brilliant traction off the line. The main straight starts off with a very slow corner, and RBR must be shooting right out of it.
   3. 

      crr917 (@crr917)
      26th October 2012, 17:37

      It is hardly lack of top speed – RB used to be 20+ kmh down on the leader in this chart and now it’s just 8kmh behind. more impressively, RB is just 2 and 4 kmh behind Ferrari and McLaren.
      1. 

         crr917 (@crr917)
         26th October 2012, 17:41

         *4 km/h slower than Ferrari and 2 km/h slower than Mclaren*
         1. 

            HK (@me4me)
            26th October 2012, 17:57

            Redbull probably chooses acceleration over top speed, therefor lacking ultimate speed, but reaching it much earlier. Traction out of a slow corner helps too.
            1. 

               xjr15jaaag (@xjr15jaaag)
               26th October 2012, 23:37

               Like at Monza?
   4. 

      Max Jacobson (@vettel1)
      26th October 2012, 22:41

      They can run huge amounts of downforce it seems now that the DDRS is on the car, so they enihilate the opposition through the corners.
2. 

   Bob (@bobthevulcan)
   26th October 2012, 17:33

   Alonso and Hamilton’s long stint lap times look very competitive, so I should expect them to be in contention for the podium places, while Vettel looks as strong as ever. It’s also disappointing to see even more mechanical issues at McLaren.

   As for tyre strategy, what are the chances we’ll see a repeat of Korea – drivers (in the case of Korea, Perez) going for a one-stop strategy, only to see it backfire due to higher than anticipated wear?
   1. 

      raymondu999 (@raymondu999)
      26th October 2012, 18:46

      @bobthevulcan no issues to what I gather – but they’ve erred too much on the side of race setup, and aren’t putting enough energy in their tyres for a single flyer
3. 

   Omar de la Cruz (@omardelacruz)
   26th October 2012, 19:11

   Can anyone tell me what Lotus meant with this tweet? “Ferrari are laying a new road with their pit stop pullaways… An observation from an undisclosed team source”
   
   I wasn’t able to watch any of the sessions. Thanks!
   1. 

      Mads (@mads)
      26th October 2012, 19:30

      @omardelacruz
      I think they are talking about this:
      
      1. 

         Mads (@mads)
         26th October 2012, 19:32

         You will of cause need the link…. http://www.firstpost.com/topic/place/new-delhi-ferraris-felipe-massa-of-brazil-drives-out-of-pit-image-00MfahZ14V3uJ-140-1.html
         1. 

            Omar de la Cruz (@omardelacruz)
            26th October 2012, 19:41

            Thanks!
4. 

   JamieFranklinF1 (@jamiefranklinf1)
   26th October 2012, 19:14

   Quite interesting to see that Alonso is around a second per lap faster than Webber. It could well be that Red Bull are sandbagging a little, as per usual, but if Fernando can get into 3rd of 4th in quali, then I reckon he may be able to secure 2nd in the race.

   I can’t see anyone but Vettel winning though, the Red Bull is just too far ahead, and not much can stop the Bull charging, especially in Vettel’s hands. The only thing I can see stopping them now is mechanical problems, or some incident out on track, and neither seem likely. I think we’ve been spoilt by top retirements (Not that they’re necessarily good), and is unlikely to happen much more…although I wouldn’t be surprised if McLaren wanted to prove me wrong.
   1. 

      BBT (@bbt)
      26th October 2012, 19:57

      Agree with that. RBR are ahead by a fair margin. Should be a formality. RBR sand bagging on the race stint almost certainly (enough to get race data), they have been stronger in this aspect all session, and there is no reason to believe otherwise this weekend. RBR 1-2 barring reliability or silly mistakes.
5. 

   BBT (@bbt)
   26th October 2012, 19:53

   Not much there to suggest RBR aren’t going to walk away with it.
   The most interesting thing is Ferrari are ahead (if not level at worst case) with Mclaren, but then we have known that for a race or two when it comes to race pace.
6. 

   AdrianMorse (@adrianmorse)
   26th October 2012, 20:14

   Hamilton sounded pretty optimistic about his race pace, but from this graph there is nothing much to get excited about I think. Vettel’s long run is at least as good, if not better than Hamilton’s, and although Webber started out a little slower, he didn’t insert any slow-down laps like Hamilton, Vettel, and Alonso, and he did get down to those 1m31s later in his stint too.

   The season is not over yet, but more and more it feels like it’s turning into a huge anti-climax, first of all for the obvious reason of Vettel running away with the championship (and all of the races), but also because of the tyres. Pirelli made this year’s tyres softer, so how is it possible that degradation is so much less of an issue than throughout 2011 and also the start of 2012?
   1. 

      raymondu999 (@raymondu999)
      26th October 2012, 20:31

      @adrianmorse Well the teams have gotten used to the tyres and understand how to set up their cars for the tyres now, for one.

      For another there is a lot less downforce now, with less flexing in the front wing and no direct EBD effect. The primary issue with the 2012 Pirellis is degradation (which is a function of heat) and not wear (which is about the amount of rubber left on the tyre). With this less downforce, cars go through corners slower, and the tyre gets less heat in it, which helps degradation.
7. 

   Luis o
   26th October 2012, 21:39

   I hope I don’t regret loosing hours of sleep this saturday and sunday morning.
   1. 

      Wallbreaker (@wallbreaker)
      26th October 2012, 23:27

      +1
8. 

   DaveW (@dmw)
   26th October 2012, 21:52

   It is totally awesome that McLaren and Ferrari have good race pace. It will be of no moment once Vettel runs up a 6 second lead in the first few laps.

   I think McLaren should settle for a race where Hamilton’s suspension does not break. They will need it to regain P2 in the WCC, without which they will have to consider this season one of their most disappointing in a generation.
9. 

   Max Jacobson (@vettel1)
   26th October 2012, 22:45

   Red Bull ominous over the single lap yet again, not so much in race pace though. Given Vettel’s ability to pull out a gap in clean air I think he’ll be pulling away however (if on pole).
   1. 

      Wallbreaker (@wallbreaker)
      26th October 2012, 23:28

      Which is only a formality I think.
10. 

    John H (@john-h)
    26th October 2012, 23:53

    Remember Murray’s comically bad dictum… F1 is IF backwards! Mark my words, Vettel DNF this wknd.
11. 

    John H (@john-h)
    26th October 2012, 23:55

    Run more wing Torro roso for Pete’s sake!!!
12. 

    Tyler (@tdog)
    27th October 2012, 0:13

    It looks like Lotus are seriously considering a one stopper.
13. 

    James (@goodyear92)
    27th October 2012, 0:53

    There’s not much here to suggest this won’t be another of Vettel’s weekends. Even if McLaren can match Red Bull through the race, it’s going to be nigh on impossible to remain close to them in the last two sectors, and their top speed is nothing too advantageous in comparison. It’s also worth pointing out that both McLaren and Ferrari’s race pace looked faster than the Bulls’ during practice at Korea. It came to the actual race, and it just wasn’t the case. I imagine the same will happen here as well. If Vettel wins and Alonso is further back than second, I will begin to lose hope for anything but a dull conclusion to the title battle.

    Alonso or Lewis, please pull something out of the bag!
14. 

    Lachie (@lachie)
    27th October 2012, 6:54

    I think I’ve finally crossed over into tape-and-decide mode. I’ll tape the qualy and if I see the result is interesting watch it back, otherwise I have better things to do than watch yet another roflstomp :(
15. 

    AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
    27th October 2012, 8:22

    It looks pretty dire for McLaren. Low top speed and nowhere in the times. Looks like they’re trying to take a leaf out of Red Bull’s book and failing.

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