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  • Spain 2009: Post-Qualifying Car Weights

    The top ten finishers have had their cars weighed and the rest of the pack have declared their fuel levels for tomorrow’s Spanish Grand Prix. From the weights of the cars we can work out how much fuel each car is carrying simply by deducting the minimum car-and-driver weight (605kg) from the total figure, and from this we can work out how many laps of gas they are each holding in their tanks. From this, we can allow one laps worth of fuel for grid forming and one more as a margin, and we can predict when the drivers will stop.

    According to Williams (via F1Minute), fuel consumption around Circuit de Catalunya is about 2.27164 kilograms/lap.

    Spain 2009
    Post-Qualifying Car Weights

    Car Weight
    Kilograms

    Fuel Weight
    Kilograms

    First Stop
    Lap

    1. British FlagJenson Button Brawn 646 41 16
    2. German FlagSebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing 651.5 46.5 19
    3. Brazilian FlagRubens Barrichello Brawn 649.5 44.5 18
    4. Brazil FlagFelipe Massa Ferrari 655 50 20
    5. Australian FlagMark Webber Red Bull Racing 651.5 46.5 19
    6. German FlagTimo Glock Toyota 646.5 41.5 16
    7. Italian FlagJarno Trulli Toyota 655.5 50.5 20
    8. Spanish FlagFernando Alonso Renault 645 40 16
    9. German FlagNico Rosberg Williams 668 63 22
    10. Polish FlagRobert Kubica BMW 660 55 22
    11. Japanese FlagKazuki Nakajima Williams 676.6 71.6 30
    12. Brazilian FlagNelson Piquet Jr. Renault 677.4 72.4 30
    13. German FlagNick Heidfeld BMW 676.3 71.3 29
    14. British FlagLewis Hamilton McLaren 683 78 32
    15. Swiss FlagSebastien Buemi Scuderia Toro Rosso 678 73 30
    16. Finnish FlagKimi Raikkonen Ferrari 673 68 28
    17. French FlagSebastien Bourdais Scuderia Toro Rosso 669 64 26
    18. Finnish FlagHeikki Kovalainen McLaren 657 52 21
    19. German FlagAdrian Sutil Force India 675 70 29
    20. Italian FlagGiancarlo Fisichella Force India 656 51 20

    From the table we can see that Jenson Button was relatively light on his final run, indicating that the other teams have indeed started to close the gap up to the Brackley squad. Sebastian Vettel and Felipe Massa did quite well with slightly heavier cars than those immediately around them, and both Red Bulls are on the same fuel level, although unless one driver falls particularly far behind the other in the opening laps, it is unlikely they will pit on the same lap.

    Also worthy of a mention is Fernando Alonso, who is running light and will hope to make up some places at the start. Although it highlights how much his Renault is under-performing at the moment. Nico Rosberg is particularly heavy and will run a long first stint, as will many of those behind him. Lewis Hamilton is the heaviest driver while team mate Heikki Kovalainen is obviously looking to make up some places at the start as he is comparatively light.

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    1. May 9th, 2009 - 7:06pm

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    2. May 9th, 2009 - 7:08pm

      [...] The post-qualifying car weights can be viewed here: Spain 2009: Post-Qualifying Car Weights. [...]

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