© McLaren
Friday at the inaugural race in Sochi provided a challenge to the drivers with several mistakes throughout the two respective practice sessions. Lewis Hamilton topped the second practice session by a mammoth eight tenths of a second ahead of McLaren’s Kevin Magnussen. The race runs showed us Mercedes may not have it all their own way with Williams and Toro Rosso showing they had some decent pace on heavier fuel. It remains to be seen however whether Mercedes have shown their true potential. This article will analyse the times in detail, in particular the race runs completed by Mercedes, Red Bull, McLaren, Ferrari, Williams, Toro Rosso and Force India.
Qualifying Pace
The second practice session provided us with a clearer picture of who is looking strong in terms of one lap speed. Lewis Hamilton set the quickest time of the session thus far in second practice (1:39.630) ahead of Kevin Magnussen. From second practice, we can conclude the tyres are very durable allowing drivers to complete several flying laps on one set of tyres – for example, all drivers improved on their third or fourth flying lap rather than their first (which is usually the case). McLaren were much stronger on the medium (prime) tyres nevertheless look rest of the best.
Ferrari are renowned for running less fuel in their car, in addition, Fernando Alonso completed his qualifying simulation much later in the session compared to everyone else which meant he had an advantage in terms of circuit conditions. Williams will be hoping for a slight improvement as both drivers struggled in the final sector, losing approximately half a second to the Mercedes of Hamilton. Red Bull struggled on low fuel pace and will be fortunate to make it into Q3 come qualifying tomorrow afternoon.
In terms of the lap time delta between the soft and medium tyres, it varied amongst the teams. For example, Sauber found over a second when they switched onto the soft tyres whilst McLaren only found three-quarters of a second. Overnight I am sure the teams will be trying to find a solution on how to make the option tyres work immediately and find the optimum grip available.
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Car | Best lap | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1’39.630 | 27 | |
| 2 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | McLaren-Mercedes | 1’40.494 | 0.864 | 32 |
| 3 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1’40.504 | 0.874 | 32 |
| 4 | 6 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1’40.542 | 0.912 | 30 |
| 5 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams-Mercedes | 1’40.573 | 0.943 | 33 |
| 6 | 22 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 1’40.718 | 1.088 | 32 |
| 7 | 19 | Felipe Massa | Williams-Mercedes | 1’40.731 | 1.101 | 30 |
| 8 | 26 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso-Renault | 1’41.108 | 1.478 | 32 |
| 9 | 1 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull-Renault | 1’41.396 | 1.766 | 30 |
| 10 | 25 | Jean-Eric Vergne | Toro Rosso-Renault | 1’41.531 | 1.901 | 33 |
Race Pace
In terms of the teams long-runs and race simulations, Bottas was the quickest with the fastest average lap time but also best lap time (as shown in the data below). Another astonishing conclusion we can make from the data below is that Hamilton was on average, seven tenths quicker than Rosberg however Bottas was quicker than both albeit on a slightly shorter run. The other Williams of Massa completed five laps on the medium tyres and inevitably was one second slower than Bottas who was on the faster rubber. Both McLaren’s showed strong pace and completed the most laps (eleven and nine respectively).
Arguably the surprise of the session was Toro Rosso’s strong pace on heavy fuel. Both Danill Kvyat and Jean-Eric Vergne were in the consistent 1:44 range, quicker than Force India, Red Bull and matching the McLaren’s albeit the latter did a few more laps. Fernando Alonso did not complete a long run hence why his lap times were not included in the data below.
In terms of race strategy, both the soft and medium tyres seem very durable which points to a one-stop race. Due to limited overtaking opportunities, track position and timing of pit-stops will be crucial come race day.
| Driver | Tyre | Average Lap Time | Best Lap Time | Stint Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lewis Hamilton | Soft | 1:44.413 | 1:43.894 | 7 laps |
| Nico Rosberg | Soft | 1:45.102 | 1:44.545 | 8 laps |
| Valtteri Bottas | Soft | 1:44.130 | 1:43.688 | 5 laps |
| Felipe Massa | Medium | 1:45.411 | 1:44.701 | 5 laps |
| Sebastian Vettel | Soft | 1:45.371 | 1:44.651 | 5 laps |
| Daniel Ricciardo | Soft | 1:45.591 | 1:44.845 | 10 laps |
| Jenson Button | Soft | 1:45.074 | 1:44.245 | 9 laps |
| Kevin Magnussen | Soft | 1:45.193 | 1:44.444 | 11 laps |
| Sergio Perez | Soft | 1:45.307 | 1:44.522 | 11 laps |
| Nico Hulkenberg | Soft | 1:45.472 | 1:44.786 | 12 laps |
| Kimi Raikkonen | Soft | 1:45.422 | 1:44.829 | 6 laps |
| Danill Kvyat | Soft | 1:44.888 | 1:44.319 | 5 laps |
| Jean-Eric Vergne | Soft | 1:44.897 | 1:44.319 | 6 laps |
Note: All calculations are my own. Averages have been calculated using the official FIA documentation released after the practice session earlier today. The stint length is the number of laps completed on high fuel rather than a collective total for the session as a whole.
As we saw in previous races, Friday practice times mean nothing as all the teams run different fuel loads and engine maps. FP3 will answer all our questions in terms of qualifying pace however will have to wait until race day to see who has the best car to tackle the Sochi Autodrom.
