jameshans92: Few chinks in Red Bull’s armour in India | 2012 Indian Grand Prix Friday practice analysis

Few chinks in Red Bull’s armour in India is an original article from F1 Fanatic. If this article has been published anywhere other than F1 Fanatic it is an infringement of copyright.

The first day of practice for the Indian Grand Prix offered few crumbs of comfort for Red Bull’s rivals.

Here’s all the data from practice.

Longest stint comparison

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

http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/charts/2012drivercolours.csv

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21
Sebastian Vettel	93.071	92.873	93.083	98.318	92.721	92.776	92.34	92.34	99.095	91.607	101.19	91.212
Mark Webber	93.91	93.444	93.388	93.744	93.704	92.522	92.575	92.565	92.786	92.505	92.411	92.04	91.587
Jenson Button	94.73	89.595	96.445	88.548
Lewis Hamilton	93.382	92.92	96.268	92.351	92.692	92.671	98.568	91.911	92.028	99.161	91.914	92.264
Fernando Alonso	92.644	92.829	92.09	92.288	92.331	92.349	91.997	95.313	91.954	91.559
Felipe Massa	88.964	94.417	92.288	95.395	92.221	88.296
Michael Schumacher	94.191	94.07	93.936	94.675	93.835	93.705	99.958	93.837	93.363	93.365	100.97	93.312	93.221	93.343
Nico Rosberg	94.296	93.762	102.852	94.385	94.387	94.038	94.239	94.118	98.763	93.426	94.136	93.266	93.54	93.335	95.062	92.377	92.775	92.258
Kimi Raikkonen	93.969	94.26	92.567	93.473	93.372	92.919	93.009	93.623	93.17	93.085	92.763	92.608	93	92.543	92.435	92.483	92.143	92.135	91.731	91.817	96.067
Romain Grosjean	94.584	93.698	93.289	93.597	92.917	94.07	93.054	93.107	103.079	92.673	92.577	92.63	93.314	92.804	92.653	93.828	92.5	92.023	92.506
Paul di Resta	95.96	94.624	94.106	99.376	93.877	93.751	93.664
Nico Hulkenberg	94.25	94.025	93.697	93.777	93.56	93.021	92.974	92.636	92.958	96.767	92.733	92.479	92.127	92.095
Kamui Kobayashi	95.266	94.375	93.909	94.309	94.147	93.565	93.051	92.953	93.058	92.718	92.837	92.487	93.588	92.216	93.681	91.875	92.106
Sergio Perez	93.502	93.28	93.61	94.119	92.815	93.17	92.735	92.95	92.906	92.906	92.519
Daniel Ricciardo	95.104	95.094	94.094	94.262	94.513	94.343	93.746	94.045	96.062	93.437	94.263	93.864	93.599	94.012	93.221
Jean-Eric Vergne	95.424	95.056	94.668	94.52	94.638	94.761	94.569	94.413	94.921	95.086	93.728	93.829	93.809	93.634
Pastor Maldonado	95.166	93.88	93.732	93.853	100.005	93.414	93.234	93.3	93.051	93.427	99.278	92.88	92.268	92.151	91.904
Bruno Senna	95.682	94.683	93.532	94.023	93.528	94.422	93.18	93.429	93.206	93.658	92.961	92.88
Heikki Kovalainen	95.395	94.722	94.518	96.269	94.757	94.16	94.62	98.623	93.971	94.015
Vitaly Petrov	90.36	98.37	89.795	95.217	89.606	89.865
Pedro de la Rosa	95.014	101.573	94.738	94.953	95.181	94.625	94.48	94.372
Narain Karthikeyan	94.042	96.518	93.087	92.053	97.697	92.732	98.427
Timo Glock	95.624	95.682	96.494	95.441	94.861	96.325	95.027	98.936	94.859	94.811
Charles Pic	97.264	102.8	96.542	96.423	97.127

Sunday’s race is for 60 laps and some drivers were able to run 20-lap stints with little difficulty during the second practice session.

That raises the prospect of drivers being able to make one fewer stop than they did in 2011. “Last year the winning strategy consisted of two stops,” said Pirelli motorsport director Paul Hembery, “but this year one pit stop might even be possible for some drivers from what we can see so far.”

Curiously, Kamui Kobayashi chose to do his race simulation run at the beginning of the session. He did 17 timed laps and set his quickest time on the 16th.

Jenson Button’s progress was halted by yet more technical problems for McLaren: “I had a gearshift problem during my long run in the afternoon. The team is currently looking into it – hopefully, we’ll have it sorted by tomorrow.”

Sector times and ultimate lap times

	Car	Driver	Car	Sector 1	Sector 2	Sector 3	Ultimate lap	Gap	Deficit to best
1	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull-Renault	41.893 (2)	22.881 (1)	21.447 (1)	1’26.221		0.000
2	2	Mark Webber	Red Bull-Renault	41.915 (3)	22.936 (2)	21.474 (3)	1’26.325	0.104	0.014
3	5	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	41.973 (4)	23.098 (4)	21.724 (9)	1’26.795	0.574	0.025
4	8	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	42.061 (5)	23.363 (7)	21.598 (5)	1’27.022	0.801	0.000
5	9	Kimi Raikkonen	Lotus-Renault	42.379 (9)	23.067 (3)	21.584 (4)	1’27.030	0.809	0.000
6	4	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	42.169 (7)	23.300 (5)	21.662 (7)	1’27.131	0.910	0.000
7	3	Jenson Button	McLaren-Mercedes	42.156 (6)	23.323 (6)	21.703 (8)	1’27.182	0.961	0.000
8	12	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India-Mercedes	41.875 (1)	23.566 (14)	21.792 (11)	1’27.233	1.012	0.000
9	10	Romain Grosjean	Lotus-Renault	42.461 (12)	23.429 (8)	21.470 (2)	1’27.360	1.139	0.037
10	19	Bruno Senna	Williams-Renault	42.436 (10)	23.435 (9)	21.661 (6)	1’27.532	1.311	0.206
11	7	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	42.297 (8)	23.599 (16)	21.960 (14)	1’27.856	1.635	0.366
12	11	Paul di Resta	Force India-Mercedes	42.486 (14)	23.665 (17)	21.791 (10)	1’27.942	1.721	0.062
13	6	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	42.455 (11)	23.566 (14)	22.008 (15)	1’28.029	1.808	0.267
14	15	Sergio Perez	Sauber-Ferrari	42.476 (13)	23.564 (13)	22.046 (16)	1’28.086	1.865	0.092
15	14	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber-Ferrari	42.809 (16)	23.546 (12)	21.850 (13)	1’28.205	1.984	0.250
16	16	Daniel Ricciardo	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	42.739 (15)	23.446 (10)	22.054 (17)	1’28.239	2.018	0.000
17	18	Pastor Maldonado	Williams-Renault	43.133 (20)	23.538 (11)	21.802 (12)	1’28.473	2.252	0.123
18	17	Jean-Eric Vergne	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	42.901 (17)	23.933 (18)	22.181 (19)	1’29.015	2.794	0.152
19	20	Heikki Kovalainen	Caterham-Renault	42.939 (18)	24.156 (20)	22.171 (18)	1’29.266	3.045	0.054
20	21	Vitaly Petrov	Caterham-Renault	43.115 (19)	24.065 (19)	22.221 (20)	1’29.401	3.180	0.205
21	24	Timo Glock	Marussia-Cosworth	43.742 (22)	24.597 (21)	22.537 (21)	1’30.876	4.655	0.237
22	22	Pedro de la Rosa	HRT-Cosworth	43.575 (21)	24.606 (22)	22.740 (22)	1’30.921	4.700	0.029
23	23	Narain Karthikeyan	HRT-Cosworth	43.743 (23)	24.663 (24)	22.777 (24)	1’31.183	4.962	0.189
24	25	Charles Pic	Marussia-Cosworth	43.880 (24)	24.627 (23)	22.756 (23)	1’31.263	5.042	0.230

McLaren were only the fifth-quickest team but Lewis Hamilton is confident they’ll perform better on Saturday: “I think we’re probably quick enough to qualify third or fourth fastest at the moment, but, to go for pole, we’re going to really need to push hard in our development work tonight”

Their real one-lap speed deficit to Red Bull is probably closer to the four-tenths we saw in first practice than the nine-tenths gap in the second session.

But in race trim the car looked like a match for anything, as Hamilton was told during the session.

Complete practice times

Pos	Driver	Car	FP1	FP2	Total laps
1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull-Renault	1’27.619	1’26.221	57
2	Mark Webber	Red Bull-Renault	1’28.175	1’26.339	55
3	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	1’28.044	1’26.820	58
4	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	1’28.447	1’27.022	63
5	Kimi Raikkonen	Lotus-Renault	1’29.291	1’27.030	64
6	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	1’28.046	1’27.131	63
7	Jenson Button	McLaren-Mercedes	1’27.929	1’27.182	46
8	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India-Mercedes	1’29.850	1’27.233	56
9	Romain Grosjean	Lotus-Renault	1’29.895	1’27.397	55
10	Bruno Senna	Williams-Renault		1’27.738	36
11	Paul di Resta	Force India-Mercedes	1’29.760	1’28.004	55
12	Sergio Perez	Sauber-Ferrari		1’28.178	39
13	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	1’28.993	1’28.222	60
14	Daniel Ricciardo	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	1’29.204	1’28.239	61
15	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	1’28.542	1’28.296	47
16	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber-Ferrari	1’29.802	1’28.455	58
17	Pastor Maldonado	Williams-Renault	1’30.041	1’28.596	64
18	Jean-Eric Vergne	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	1’30.401	1’29.167	58
19	Heikki Kovalainen	Caterham-Renault		1’29.320	43
20	Vitaly Petrov	Caterham-Renault	1’30.630	1’29.606	46
21	Valtteri Bottas	Williams-Renault	1’29.691		26
22	Giedo van der Garde	Caterham-Renault	1’30.896		20
23	Pedro de la Rosa	HRT-Cosworth	1’32.859	1’30.950	50
24	Timo Glock	Marussia-Cosworth	1’32.369	1’31.113	54
25	Narain Karthikeyan	HRT-Cosworth	1’32.125	1’31.372	44
26	Charles Pic	Marussia-Cosworth	1’31.903	1’31.493	53

Despite topping both practice sessions on Friday Vettel was characteristically cautious about Red Bull’s potential. “We’ve had worse Fridays, so I am happy,” he said.

But with no obvious weakness in their race pace he will be eyeing a shot a pole position which should set him up for a crack at victory. A fourth consecutive victory is a distinct possibility.

Ferrari technical director Pat Fry explained Felipe Massa’s troubles in second practice:

“One of the settings on his car was incorrect and that compromised the balance of the car and prevented him from getting the most out of the set of softs and also led to him spinning, which damaged one of the tyres, pretty much ending his session.”

First practice saw the debut appearance of Esteban Gutierrez in an official F1 session. Journalists expressed scepticism over Sauber’s reasons for outgoing driver Sergio Perez’s absence from the first session.

After having his first run Gutierrez said: “It is obviously different to testing and it is challenging to stay focused. I think the circuit here is amazing, especially with the chain of fast corners. However, my target was to progress during that session and make sure I brought the car home in one piece.”

Speed trap

	#	Driver	Car	Engine	Max speed (kph)	Gap
1	17	Jean-Eric Vergne	Toro Rosso	Ferrari	320
2	15	Sergio Perez	Sauber	Ferrari	319.9	0.1
3	16	Daniel Ricciardo	Toro Rosso	Ferrari	319.8	0.2
4	11	Paul di Resta	Force India	Mercedes	318.5	1.5
5	12	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India	Mercedes	318.4	1.6
6	14	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber	Ferrari	317.8	2.2
7	7	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	Mercedes	317.3	2.7
8	8	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	Mercedes	317.1	2.9
9	5	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	Ferrari	316.3	3.7
10	25	Charles Pic	Marussia	Cosworth	316.1	3.9
11	6	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	Ferrari	315.9	4.1
12	24	Timo Glock	Marussia	Cosworth	315.4	4.6
13	9	Kimi Raikkonen	Lotus	Renault	315.1	4.9
14	18	Pastor Maldonado	Williams	Renault	315.1	4.9
15	10	Romain Grosjean	Lotus	Renault	315	5
16	19	Bruno Senna	Williams	Renault	314.7	5.3
17	23	Narain Karthikeyan	HRT	Cosworth	314.4	5.6
18	3	Jenson Button	McLaren	Mercedes	314.2	5.8
19	4	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren	Mercedes	314.1	5.9
20	22	Pedro de la Rosa	HRT	Cosworth	314.1	5.9
21	20	Heikki Kovalainen	Caterham	Renault	312.3	7.7
22	21	Vitaly Petrov	Caterham	Renault	312.1	7.9
23	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull	Renault	312	8
24	2	Mark Webber	Red Bull	Renault	311.9	8.1

The Red Bull pair had been quicker in a straight line after the team introduced their Double DRS upgrade, but were at the foot of the speeds in India. Could this prove their only weakness?

2012 Indian Grand Prix

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Few chinks in Red Bull’s armour in India is an original article from F1 Fanatic. If this article has been published anywhere other than F1 Fanatic it is an infringement of copyright.