F1 Forensics: Spanish Grand Prix: Friday Practice Analysis

Brought to you in partnership with Dr James Beck of IntelligentF1. So the European season starts, everyone brings their big upgrades and hopes that they did better than anyone else. History tends to dictate that the improvements are generally fairly even and that the impact on competitiveness here does not really tell the whole story. Indeed, last year’s … Read more

F1 Forensics: Chinese GP Race Pace Analysis

Brought to you in partnership with Dr James Beck of IntelligentF1.

We have been privileged this weekend to enjoy the work of Dr. James Beck and his mathematical analysis of the teams underlying pace and 1 lap performance. I am though aware from 1 or 2 comments that his model is not fully understood. Click the above link to his site and you will find the background to the analysis he has been bringing to us.

The shortish version to help the more impatient among us is that when you see James’ graphs, the pace of each car is determined by the gradient of the line, the faster the car, the steeper the gradient. The intelligentF1 model matches the gradient of the line in a stint where the car is in clear air (not always available) and can then predict the pace of the cars at other stages of the race. (I do recommend you follow the link for a much more complete explanation).

Anyway, James has analysed the data from the race lap times and here are his notes on the Chinese GP 2013.

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2013 Formula 1 UBS Chinese Grand Prix Race Analysis: Alonso Launches A Shanghai Surprise

Contributor: James Parker, TJ13 on track correspondent Fernando Alonso claimed his first victory of the 2013 Formula 1 season, and a first for Ferrari since Germany 2012 under glorious Sunshine in China. Commanding from the front, it was a race dominated by many on track incidents – some still raging on into the evening post … Read more

On Track Review: UBS China Grand Prix 2013

Brought to you by TheJudge13 ‘on track correspondent’: James Parker A Tale of Tyres….. Well, well well, back after a 3 week hiatus and plenty of off-track controversy to keep the fans happy. A competitive qualifying session was exactly what the doctor ordered to get the emphasis back on the racing – Did we get … Read more

F1 Forensics: 2013 UBS Chinese Grand Prix: Friday Practice

Brought to you in partnership with Dr James Beck of IntelligentF1. And so to China, where the headline times from practice show Mercedes looking good in FP1 and Ferrari in FP2. But the real story is that the soft tyres are fragile. We talking about more than 0.5s per lap degradation – it’s like it … Read more

Being Number One

Being Number One is brought to you by TJ13 Courtroom Reporter & Crime Analyst: Adam Macdonald People in F1 land have been focussing on the now “undisputed” no.1 at Red Bull and what this means for F1 as a whole. However, it is forgotten that this is the case in many of the other teams as well, … Read more

On Track Review : Malaysia Qualifying 2013

Brought to you by TheJudge13 ‘on track correspondent’: James Parker Heat, humidity and tyre degradation are the three things that look set to dominate tomorrow’s proceedings for the Malaysia Grand Prix. In what was a hugely intriguing Qualifying session today, which saw RedBull struggle, the unpredictable nature of the famous Malaysian weather once again struck … Read more

Race Review – Albert Park, Melbourne, Australia

Race Reviews are brought to you by our on track reporter James Parker Kimi Put’s Out Red Bull’s Barbeque The start of the 2013 Formula 1 season began in scintillating style. Lotus driver Kimi Raikkonen, took the chequered flag for his 20th victory in the sport ahead of the chasing Fernando Alonso and a “struggling” … Read more

F1 Melbourne 2013 Review: FP1 and FP2 most reminiscent of Mr. Noah

Top times of the day Pos   Driver Team Tine Diff   Laps 1 Vettel Red Bull 1’25.908 33 2 Webber Red Bull 1’26.172 0.264 31 3 Rosberg Mercedes 1’26.322 0.414 26 4 Raikkonen Lotus 1’26.361 0.453 38 5 Grosjean Lotus 1’26.680 0.772 32 6 Alonso Ferrari 1’26.748 0.840 35 7 Hamilton Mercedes 1’26.772 0.864 … Read more

Pre Season Testing – What Have We Learnt?

Barcelona was the last time Formula 1 cars are driven in anger until Albert Park in around 10 days time, and whilst the past week or so was a case of smoke and mirrors (to be expected) there was quite a lot to be learnt once you dug up under the surface. Some teams struggled, whilst others prospered, and it creates a very interesting picture ahead of the first race of the season. So without further ado, let’s grab a spade and see what we can uncover.

Mercedes W04

The stand out performers from the second test had to be Mercedes. Yes I will be the first to admit, I was one of the big detractors over the winter period, criticising their management structure and how they were so drastically reorganising the team so close to the start of the season. But if the past few weeks are to go by, the W04 does seem to be a very competent car indeed. Whether showing front running pace for the majority of testing has shown the team’s hand far too soon is another matter, but when Rosberg went 1.6 seconds faster than his Qualifying time last year in Barcelona, it shows progress has been very good over the winter at Brackley.

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