Driver/lap average speed ( km/h ) time ( s )
Alonso 2006 pole 2.56
Webber 2010 pole 2.56
Räikkönen 2017 testing 1.18.634 2.59
Bottas 2017 testing 1.19.310 2.6
Räikkönen 2005 Q1 "pole" 2.62
Alonso 2013 Q3 248 2.62
M.Schumacher 2004 pole 2.65
Massa 2004 Q1 2.65
M.Schumacher 2004 Q1 2.67
Button 2009 pole 2.67
Sato 2004 Q2 2.68
Rosberg 2013 pole 242 2.68
Montoya 2006 FP3 2.69
M.Schumacher 2002 pole 2.7
M.Schumacher 2003 Friday QLF 2.71
Heidfeld 2004 Q1 2.71
Massa 2007 pole 2.71
Pantano 2004 Q1 2.72
Alonso 2004 Q1 2.72
Trulli 2004 Q2 2.72
Liuzzi 2005 Q1 2.72
R.Schumacher 2005 Q1 2.72
Webber 2011 pole 240 2.72
Alonso 2011 Q3 239 2.72
Panis 2004 Q1 2.76
Alonso 2004 Q2 2.76
Hamilton 2012 deleted pole 2.77
Räikkönen 2008 pole 2.78
Räikkönen 2012 Q3 232 2.8
Maldonado 2012 Q3 2.81
Frentzen 1997 FP2 (0.9s slower than his best QLF) 2.82
Alonso 2003 Saturday QLF 2.82
Häkkinen 2001 QLF (0.7s slower than his best) 2.84
Button 2002 fastest QLF lap 2.84
Hamilton 2016 pole 230 2.85
Villeneuve 2003 QLF 2.87
Hamilton 2014 pole 224 2.94
Pantano 2004 Q2 3.02
Rosberg 2015 pole 218 3.02
Bruni 2004 Q1 3.04
Bruni 2004 Q2 3.04
Baumgartner 2004 Q2 3.12
Baumgartner 2004 Q1 3.13
The extrapolated average speed of the 2006 and 2010 poles is 253-254 km/h. However, that is calculated based on the actual speedometer's average of laps in which the drivers went over the apex kerb unlike Alonso and Webber who both missed the apex. That means that their actual average speeds were even slightly higher.
But, overall, this backs up the speedometer information on Webber's lap, which stays on this mark for almost the entire time through the corner:
The speed can be verified with other onboards in which the dashboard information is readable and can be correlated with FOM's graphic. I used a video of Hamilton, from 2010's Abu Dhabi's Qualifying, and it was possible to find out which speed this graphic actually corresponds to. Throughout the lap, FOM's speedometer varies between being 5 to 7 frames behind the gear change on Hamilton's dashboard, and taking that into consideration, the minimum and average speeds ( and on this particular case of Webber's 2010 pole lap, they are very similar ) are on the 255 - 257 km/h region, according to the speedometer ( as stated on the previous page, these devices, in general, aren't 100% accurate either )
It might appear that the 2017 cars' high speed cornering capability is close to that of the 2006 Renault (and the Ferrari from the same year ) and the 2010 Red Bull but it's not quite that. Webber was definitely flat-out, as shown on the video's telemetry, and Alonso almost certainly was too, going by the sound of of his video, as well as considering that Montoya, on an FP3 lap of the same year, was almost flat-out despite going significantly slower. This means that both were power-limited and still had grip to go faster. The driving lines also leaves quite some margin for improvement for the 2006 and 2010 poles, unlike the 2017 testing laps in which the drivers used practically all of the track. The 2017 cars can also go slower on the upcoming qualifying session because the air temperature will be around 10 - 15ºC higher and that leads to a decrease of the downforce in the order of 3.5 - 5%.
Pushing 100% on a 2006 Q2 lap, the drivers could have gone even faster as they wouldn't be carrying race fuel onboard and all of this just shows the outstanding performance of the 2006 tyre war compounds and those are already a decade old technology. A tyre war between Michelin and Bridgestone, the largest tyre manufacturers in the world, nowadays would make the 2017 cars have pronouncedly more cornering speed as shown on my Bahrain qualifying analysis in which the narrower and grooved 2006 tyre would often provide more grip to Schumacher, on his 2006 pole, than the wide slick ones of this year did to Bottas and others.
The performance of the 1997 Williams on a FP lap is also quite impressive and, as explained on the previous page, the 1993 and 1994 cars could have been cornering quite closely to the top cars of this list.
After the 2017 Spanish GP Qualifying, I'll measure the fastest qualifying laps and find out where they stands on this, stay tuned for that.
No comments:
Post a Comment