2013 German Grand Prix lap charts

20 comments on “2013 German Grand Prix lap charts”

1. 

   Mike Dee (@mike-dee)
   7th July 2013, 20:14

   Why did Webber lose 54 seconds to Vettel when the safety car was deployed?
   1. 

      JackySteeg (@jackysteeg)
      7th July 2013, 21:38

      I assume it’s because on Vettel’s 24th lap, he completed most of it at full speed. As Webber was a lap down, his 24th lap was behind the safety car, presumably 54 seconds slower on that lap. Is that right…?
      1. 

         Mike Dee (@mike-dee)
         7th July 2013, 21:56

         Explains one slow lap, but not two. But I might be missing something.
         1. 

            Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
            7th July 2013, 22:55

            @mike-dee didn’t he pit as the SC was deployed? so did Vettel, maybe he held him up.
2. 

   Tom (@newdecade)
   7th July 2013, 20:53

   Rosberg really was appallingly slow after the safety car
3. 

   Rigi (@rigi)
   7th July 2013, 21:50

   the safety car cost grosjean a possible win today…
   1. 

      Mike Dee (@mike-dee)
      7th July 2013, 21:56

      Indeed. But it also gained Kimi a possible win.
      1. 

         q85
         7th July 2013, 22:10

         anyone losing points to webber today must be angry. Not cos he got his lap back as that rule has been there for ages it just usually doesnt effect the points but more due to the fact that the unsafe pit release wasnt a penalty of some kind.

         Odd decision to investigate both pit releases after the race.
         1. 

            BreezyRacer (@breezyracer)
            8th July 2013, 13:01

            That rule is in place so that we don’t wind up with a Marussa leading the pack on a restart. It’s a good rule IMO. It worked in Webber’s case only because Webber had a really strong race pace. It seems to me that he was the fastest car in the second half of the race, and that’s with passing 11 or 12 cars during the period. It seems to have been an exceptional drive that nobody saw on the telly ..
4. 

   Mike Dee (@mike-dee)
   7th July 2013, 22:27

   I am almost certain that Kimi would have won had he skipped his last stop.

   – He was 14 seconds ahead of Vettel with 12 laps to go.

   – Vettel was closing at half a second per lap.

   – Perez had his second pit stop on the same lap as Kimi, and he staid out until the end, and his lap times didn’t increase in the last 12 laps.

   – Vettel could not have gone quicker because he also had to defend from Grosjean.

   So I think Kimi would have had around 7-8 seconds advantage over Vettel at the end.

   Of course, all this was not known when they took the decision, but I think it would have been worth the risk as the absolute worst that could have happened would have been Kimi ending up in fourth position.
   1. 

      BreezyRacer (@breezyracer)
      8th July 2013, 12:56

      You are not including a factor for continued tire degradation on Kimi’s car. He already had lots of laps on those tires and his pace was no better than Grosjan until the pit stop. In fact he needed the soft tires to pass Grosjan if I’m remembering it correctly.
      1. 

         Mike Dee (@mike-dee)
         9th July 2013, 8:52

         @breezyracer Well, Perez’ tyres didn’t really degrade a lot, and the Lotus is quite gentle on the tyre as well.

         Furthermore, Vettel’s tyres were of course also degrading.

         Plus there would have been 7-8 seconds of buffer that Kimi could have used to drive more slowly to preserve the tyre.

         Overall, I think it would have been worth the gamble as it would probably have gained the win (+7 points), and there was only a chance of dropping to fourth (-6 points).

         The drop to fourth would not have been certain anyway even if Vettel would have overtaken Kimi: Grosjean could have been ordered not to overtake Kimi and defend from Alonso.
   2. 

      sumedh
      9th July 2013, 10:18

      Interesting!
      I think you could be right.

      If Kimi and Alonso both hadn’t pitted, Vettel would have had to overtake both of them in the final few laps and that wouldn’t necessarily have happened.
      1. 

         Mike Dee (@mike-dee)
         9th July 2013, 14:15

         For Alonso it is different as he had to pit as had not used the soft tyre yet.
5. 

   DaveW (@dmw)
   8th July 2013, 3:11

   Those Mercedes curves are something to behold. What happened to the iron clad conclusions that Mercedes had beat their tire woes due to their cheat-test in Barcelona and were racking up major points as a result? They got some tires today that are less heat-soaking than those used at the ultra highspeed, tire-killing Silverstone track and they still got wiped out. If not for the SC, Hamilton would have been a bit more than 25 seconds behind. A search team was sent out for Rosberg.
6. 

   juan fanger (@juan-fanger)
   8th July 2013, 4:33

   Impressed by Maldonado’s track on the soft at the end – that wheel nut cost Williams a good score :(
7. 

   AdrianMorse (@adrianmorse)
   8th July 2013, 11:08

   Just looking at the lap charts again, and considering the “Rosberg blocked Hamilton” thread on the forum, perhaps Nico’s reluctance to let Hamilton by did cost Lewis a place. I initially thought that 5th would have been the maximum possible anyway, and he was lucky to get Button at the end after Jenson was held up by the Caterhams, but perhaps he could have defended 4th from Alonso.

   Fernando was on Lewis’ tail just prior to the safety car, and Lewis was managing to keep Alonso behind (who was on much fresher tyres) until his pit stop just before the safety car. If Hamilton hadn’t been held up by Rosberg, he would have been a little further up the road, and would have held track position after the safety car. Then Alonso would have more than half the race to overtake Hamilton, but he would have had to do it on track, most likely, as trying the undercut with the soft tyres for a final stint would be risky.
8. 

   watenaccio (@kieranh76)
   8th July 2013, 22:07

   I think Grosjean would have won. It was a two horse race with Vettel and Grosjean had newer tyres. Had he not been forced to pit at the SC he would have overtaken Vettel be it on the track or pumping in a few laps then going on softs with 10 to go. Just my view.
   1. 

      BreezyRacer (@breezyracer)
      8th July 2013, 22:45

      Actually Vettel had 1 lap newer tires. He pitted after Grosjean.
      1. 

         Mike Dee (@mike-dee)
         9th July 2013, 8:54

         @kieranh76 @breezyracer

         I think watenaccio is referring to a hypothetical race without safety car. Vettel would have stopped shortly after his actual stop (although he might have tried to draw this out), whereas Grosjean might have been able to go to lap 45 or so, when he could have put on the softs.

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