Straight line speed

[Nando]

Wasn't RBR gave away top speed in exchange of more DF in order to be faster in slow corner and that helped them win big time last year?

Correct yes.
RBR had a setup that was solely built for the purpose of leading the race and getting out of the DRS gap.

Had he not gotten past Alonso there i think we would have seen a similar incident like we saw with Hamilton and Schumacher. Minus the blocking and even more extreme.

[radosav]

i saw that RBR could go through some corners 10-15 km/h faster than other teams.
so going through corner 135 km/h,when everybody is going 120 km/h,is bigger gain than going 300 km/h last 150 meters of straight when everybody is going 285 km/h.

[GrizzleBoy]

Anyway is better to gain 5km/h on a slow corner that on a straight [...]

I disagree. It's generally better to be fast on faster parts of a circuit than it is to be fast on slower parts, simply because a car covers more ground on the faster parts of a circuit. That's why the F2012's lack of top-speed is (was?) such a problem.

Not really.

Red Bulls whole philosophy last year was to be as fast in the corners as possible and their straight line speed was nothing to be proud of.

If the F2012 had less than average speed as a result of being better in the corners, then there would be a compromise.

As it stands, they have poor top speed and also struggle with downforce/traction while cornering.

Ferraris top speed is only a problem because it is a compound of their overall problems, not a compromise to gain or excel in other areas.

[bhall]

it's exactly the opposite.
it'rather easy to understand it by reasoning but if you want an authoritative confirm you can read this

http://www.blogf1.it/2012/05/07/gp-barc ... catalunya/

My Italian is a bit rusty, so I have no idea what that article is about.

Do tell.

That's ridiculous, its exactly the other way around.

I said it's generally better. There's no room for a blanket statement one way or the other due to the widely variable characteristics of cars and circuits. A circuit with long straights will tend to favor top-speed, whereas a circuit with short straights will tend to favor downforce.

Sometimes, depending on the car and the track, lap times are similar either way (the McLarens at Monza, 2010).

But, generally speaking, a car that's fast on the faster parts of a circuit, i.e., straights and wide-radius turns, is a lot less likely to be overtaken than a car that heavily favors downforce over speed. The Japanese GPs at Fuji are an excellent example.

The exception, and there's always an exception, is when a car is light years beyond its competition in terms of aerodynamic downforce/efficiency. As has been pointed out already, the RB7 could afford to sacrifice top-speed for downforce, because its aerodynamic efficiency was so good that it gained more through corners than it lost on straights.

EDIT: Right or wrong, it's a viewpoint for which there's no need to label it ridiculous.

[.poz]

But, generally speaking, a car that's fast on the faster parts of a circuit, i.e., straights and wide-radius turns, is a lot less likely to be overtaken than a car that heavily favors downforce over speed. The Japanese GPs at Fuji are an excellent example.

Where does F1 cars overtake ? (consider only similar performing car)
On straight with DRS
while breaking before a corner

You never overtake on fast wide-radius corners(like Barcellona ones)

in the first case you normal (no drs) top speed is irrelevant except you have a very draggy car like Ferrari (was i hope)
in the second case a car with more aerodynamic load can brake later and have more traction on corner exit.

[bhall]

Where does F1 cars overtake ? (consider only similar performing car)
On straight with DRS
while breaking before a corner

You never overtake on fast wide-radius corners(like Barcellona ones)

[...]

A car could have all the downforce in the world, but it would be for naught if rivals could just breeze by on the straights. I mentioned Fuji as an example, because teams there were forced to sacrifice downforce - and lap time - for straight-line speed due to that loooooong front straight.

Otherwise, they ran the risk of being overtaken and then being unable to recover, because, like you said, cars don't (regularly) pass other cars through corners.

Like everything else, it's all a compromise one way or the other.