Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, Hungaroring, 2014

Low grip a concern before crucial qualifying

2014 Hungarian Grand Prix Friday practice analysis

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Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, Hungaroring, 2014Under sunny skies at the Hungaroring the Mercedes pair asserted their usual competitive edge over the rest of the field on Friday.

As expected, Red Bull led the charge against the silver cars, the RB10s revelling in the rapid changes of direction in the middle of the lap.

Even assuming they were carrying comparable fuel loads to the Mercedes, which tend to run heavy at this stage in the weekend, they seem too far off to be a genuine threat. But they should be close enough to profit from any continuation of Mercedes’ technical problems, which have compromised at least one of their cars’ performances in three of the last four weekends.

Drivers often struggle for traction at the Hungaroringin the early stages of a race weekends, and the particularly high temperatures in the second session didn’t help matters. Even Friday’s pace setter haLewis Hamilton was not immune.

“We struggled with poor grip on track today,” he admitted. “I don’t know if that’s down to the tyres or the track itself but it was quite bad throughout both sessions.”

Qualifying takes on an added importance for all drivers at this track. Hamilton will be acutely aware that despite having the most competitive car underneath him, his average starting position over the last three races is little better than twelfth.

That’s not entirely been down to errors on his part, of course, but with overtaking opportunities so limited at the Hungaroring, now is the time for the mistakes and the mechanical maladies to stop.

Mercedes aside, the form team of the last few rounds has been Williams. But the aerodynamic efficiency of the FW36 will not be as well-rewarded here as it was in the past few races, as Valtteri Bottas appreciates.

This circuit is tighter and it’s going to be more difficult for us than the last three grands prix. It’s going to be really close tomorrow

Longest stint comparison – second practice

This chart shows all the drivers’ lap times (in seconds) during their longest unbroken stint:

http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/charts/2014drivercolours.csv

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
Sebastian Vettel 89.117 88.716 88.805 89.269 90.367 88.975 89.015 89.093 90.292 89.298 89.141 89.051 89.571 89.388 89.654 89.306 89.506
Daniel Ricciardo 90.492 91.535 90.755 90.306 90.745 90.618 90.819 90.999 91.522
Lewis Hamilton 88.818 88.642 88.486 88.635 89.214 88.63 88.881 88.541 101.089 88.876 88.854 89.215
Nico Rosberg 88.996 88.718 88.623 88.577 88.977 105.115 88.19 88.483 88.252 89.088 89.065 89.372
Fernando Alonso 89.332 89.139 89.056 89.488 89.469 89.066 89.31 89.326
Kimi Raikkonen 86.116 98.928 86.197 97.12 85.73
Romain Grosjean 87.031 94.822
Pastor Maldonado 90.219 91.032 90.545 89.977 90.085 90.037 90.982 92.337 90.734 90.448 90.664 91.016 90.857 91.337
Jenson Button 90.638 90.491 90.348 89.99 90.44 91.406 89.84 90.04 90.275 92.679 90.628 90.826 90.751 91.398
Kevin Magnussen 90.154 89.256 89.279 90.152 90.098 89.933 90.203 90.434 94.358 96.373
Nico Hulkenberg 89.208 89.529 89.322 89.766 88.972 89.178 89.548 89.086 89.283 90.97 89.375 89.222
Sergio Perez 90.438 89.751 89.606 89.456 90.229 90.638 89.987 89.945 93.185 89.822
Adrian Sutil 90.344 90.144 90.384 91.109 90.894 91.077 91.017 90.407 90.622 90.993 93.506 93.047 91.149
Esteban Gutierrez 90.935 91.25 90.717 92.407 91.275 90.658 90.725 90.678
Jean-Eric Vergne 90.195 90.524 91.05 90.516 90.363 90.519 92.501 90.445 90.591 90.508 91.472
Daniil Kvyat 93.913 90.822 90.576 91.108 90.718 91.37 90.529 90.137 92.303 90.826 91.236 90.912
Felipe Massa 96.223 87.426 97.795 88.134
Valtteri Bottas 90.446 90.188 90.173 90.397 90.264 90.439 90.765 93.81 90.185 90.172 90.1 90.173 90.675 94.825 91.008
Jules Bianchi 91.913 92.141 93.388 92.003
Max Chilton 92.54 92.167 92.637 94.797 92.141 92.913 92.9
Marcus Ericsson 93.23 94.287 93.734 93.346 93.861 93.589 94.933 94.201 93.002
Kamui Kobayashi 94.711 94.493 94.029 94.705 94.965 97.699 104.897

Sector times and ultimate lap times – second practice

Pos No. Driver Car S1 S2 S3 Ultimate Gap Deficit to best
1 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 29.784 (1) 30.894 (2) 23.729 (1) 1’24.407 0.075
2 6 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 29.876 (2) 30.843 (1) 23.998 (4) 1’24.717 0.310 0.003
3 1 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 30.039 (5) 31.083 (3) 23.989 (3) 1’25.111 0.704 0.000
4 14 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 29.967 (4) 31.320 (4) 24.150 (7) 1’25.437 1.030 0.000
5 20 Kevin Magnussen McLaren-Mercedes 30.053 (6) 31.511 (7) 23.975 (2) 1’25.539 1.132 0.041
6 22 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 29.922 (3) 31.688 (11) 24.089 (6) 1’25.699 1.292 0.535
7 7 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 30.112 (8) 31.580 (9) 24.038 (5) 1’25.730 1.323 0.000
8 77 Valtteri Bottas Williams-Mercedes 30.058 (7) 31.564 (8) 24.258 (8) 1’25.880 1.473 0.119
9 3 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull-Renault 30.271 (10) 31.362 (5) 24.317 (11) 1’25.950 1.543 0.033
10 19 Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes 30.269 (9) 31.505 (6) 24.552 (18) 1’26.326 1.919 0.076
11 8 Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 30.499 (13) 31.609 (10) 24.432 (14) 1’26.540 2.133 0.481
12 25 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Renault 30.555 (15) 31.712 (13) 24.290 (9) 1’26.557 2.150 0.146
13 26 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso-Renault 30.562 (17) 31.710 (12) 24.310 (10) 1’26.582 2.175 0.107
14 27 Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 30.535 (14) 31.866 (14) 24.340 (12) 1’26.741 2.334 0.048
15 99 Adrian Sutil Sauber-Ferrari 30.317 (11) 32.139 (17) 24.463 (15) 1’26.919 2.512 0.000
16 11 Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes 30.402 (12) 32.117 (16) 24.421 (13) 1’26.940 2.533 0.073
17 13 Pastor Maldonado Lotus-Renault 30.605 (18) 31.929 (15) 24.485 (16) 1’27.019 2.612 0.000
18 21 Esteban Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari 30.559 (16) 32.195 (18) 24.490 (17) 1’27.244 2.837 0.236
19 10 Kamui Kobayashi Caterham-Renault 30.716 (19) 32.495 (19) 25.159 (22) 1’28.370 3.963 0.000
20 17 Jules Bianchi Marussia-Ferrari 30.893 (21) 32.587 (20) 24.989 (20) 1’28.469 4.062 0.000
21 4 Max Chilton Marussia-Ferrari 30.822 (20) 32.654 (21) 25.062 (21) 1’28.538 4.131 0.048
22 9 Marcus Ericsson Caterham-Renault 31.045 (22) 33.005 (22) 24.789 (19) 1’28.839 4.432 0.197

Speed trap – second practice

# Driver Car Engine Max speed (kph) Gap
1 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes Mercedes 309.3
2 77 Valtteri Bottas Williams Mercedes 309.1 0.2
3 27 Nico Hulkenberg Force India Mercedes 308.1 1.2
4 19 Felipe Massa Williams Mercedes 307.1 2.2
5 22 Jenson Button McLaren Mercedes 306.7 2.6
6 6 Nico Rosberg Mercedes Mercedes 306.6 2.7
7 11 Sergio Perez Force India Mercedes 306.5 2.8
8 99 Adrian Sutil Sauber Ferrari 305.4 3.9
9 20 Kevin Magnussen McLaren Mercedes 304.4 4.9
10 4 Max Chilton Marussia Ferrari 304.3 5
11 21 Esteban Gutierrez Sauber Ferrari 303.9 5.4
12 7 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari Ferrari 303.2 6.1
13 14 Fernando Alonso Ferrari Ferrari 302.7 6.6
14 26 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso Renault 302.7 6.6
15 9 Marcus Ericsson Caterham Renault 302.7 6.6
16 25 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso Renault 302.2 7.1
17 10 Kamui Kobayashi Caterham Renault 302.2 7.1
18 1 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Renault 300.8 8.5
19 17 Jules Bianchi Marussia Ferrari 300 9.3
20 13 Pastor Maldonado Lotus Renault 300 9.3
21 3 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Renault 297.6 11.7
22 8 Romain Grosjean Lotus Renault 297.1 12.2

Complete practice times

Pos Driver Car FP1 FP2 Total laps
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1’25.814 1’24.482 65
2 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1’25.997 1’24.720 69
3 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1’27.220 1’25.111 61
4 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1’26.872 1’25.437 49
5 Kevin Magnussen McLaren-Mercedes 1’27.357 1’25.580 62
6 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1’26.421 1’25.730 59
7 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull-Renault 1’27.782 1’25.983 45
8 Valtteri Bottas Williams-Mercedes 1’28.330 1’25.999 58
9 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1’27.804 1’26.234 60
10 Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes 1’27.960 1’26.402 42
11 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso-Renault 1’28.208 1’26.689 74
12 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Renault 1’27.683 1’26.703 67
13 Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1’28.101 1’26.789 67
14 Adrian Sutil Sauber-Ferrari 1’29.025 1’26.919 64
15 Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes 1’28.376 1’27.013 63
16 Pastor Maldonado Lotus-Renault 1’28.266 1’27.019 68
17 Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1’28.593 1’27.021 38
18 Esteban Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari 1’27.480 32
19 Kamui Kobayashi Caterham-Renault 1’30.363 1’28.370 65
20 Jules Bianchi Marussia-Ferrari 1’31.248 1’28.469 46
21 Max Chilton Marussia-Ferrari 1’31.004 1’28.586 40
22 Marcus Ericsson Caterham-Renault 1’30.892 1’29.036 58

2014 Hungarian Grand Prix

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Keith Collantine
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8 comments on “Low grip a concern before crucial qualifying”

  1. Dan
    25th July 2014, 19:41

    Ros gets bad rap because when he went vs Webber. Fact is they all peak diff times, Ros shown great drives in past be it his first ever win or be it Singapore in Williams. He is a great driver he must be as we know Ham is great. Im loving the fight, would rather it be a tiny bit easier for my guy Hamilton. But Ham is on it and Nico is their still so their both great for me. It is a fact Ham has edged Nico this year it takes nothing away from Ros but take all the driving into consideration with no bad luck, Ham deserves to be top.

    1. Dan
      25th July 2014, 19:43

      Too add to that statement look at kimi, isit a stretch to say that Ferrari was an awesome car in 07 when he won, i think it was i just think Ham and Alo were best pairing. Look at Kimi in 05 and 03 that was his peak for me everyone is diff, but id take 05 over 07 Kimi anyday. Kimi in 05 and 03 had unbeatable speed was more impressive than Alo

      1. Profile Photo

        Rahim.RG (@rahim-rg)
        25th July 2014, 21:10

        He will be back…i believe in the iceman :)

        1. Profile Photo

          greg-c (@greg-c)
          26th July 2014, 0:16

          Unbeatable speed ?
          Agreed ,
          Unbreakable car ?
          Sigh !

  2. Profile Photo

    Paul A (@paul-a)
    25th July 2014, 23:24

    From the look of that graph, Vettel is sitting pretty. Fastest after 12 laps, and only losing half a second after five more…

  3. Profile Photo

    US_Peter (@us_peter)
    25th July 2014, 23:37

    Vettel, Alonso,and Hülkenberg look like the best of the rest. Could make for an interesting race if it stays like that for Sunday.

  4. Profile Photo

    JohnBt (@johnbt)
    26th July 2014, 7:31

    No grip and still top the time sheets? Nah it’s alright Lewis.

  5. Profile Photo

    Rooney (@rojov123)
    26th July 2014, 8:50

    Williams seems to be showing poor race pace. This should open the doors wide for Ferrari and Force India for the 3rd place.

Comments are closed.