fuel consumption/performance detriment

[raymondu999]

Hey all. Just asking here. Let's take for example two extremes of Monza, and Monaco. Monaco will probably have a gearbox selection that is geared for high acceleration and not very high top speed, while Monza will place more emphasis on top speed. Monza will probably just see the driver accelerating constantly to about 340-350km/hr, while Monaco will see the driver constantly accelerating very rapidly to about 290-300 km/hr.

Which one is actually more consuming of fuel? Would it be the constant acceleration of Monaco, or the slow steady buildups of Monza?

Another thing, is, say we have the same engines/setups/aerodynamics, and drivers. In a case of a slow twisty Monaco, and the long fast Monza, and something fast and sweeping such as Suzuka or Silverstone, where would more fuel slow the car down more?

Thanks.

[Scotracer]

Well there's an easy way to do it. Compare the fuel data released by the teams (in this case, Williams):

For 2009...

Monza: 2.18kg/5km
Monaco: 2.58kg/5km
Silverstone: Can't find it
Suzuka: 2.5kg/5km

It makes sense that a circuit that requires more acceleration would also require more fuel.

In terms of which track has the biggest fuel cost, it would likely be the one with the most heavy braking and fast corners. I'd say a sweeping circuit like Suzuka or Silverstone would be most affected.

[raymondu999]

I guess the 2nd part of my question wasn't really clearly stated. What I meant was, would a fast sweeping circuit, a closed tight Monaco, or a large Monza circuit be most affected (in terms of laptime) by fuel, say doing a lap on 100kg vs doing a lap on fumes...

[Jersey Tom]

I'd guess a Monaco track would be more affected by fuel load.. emphasis on flat-out acceleration whereas at Monza perhaps drag-limited top speed is more critical.

[marcush.]

I don´t think this is an easy one ,as it is influenced by many factors.
Just think off a peaky power curve that is not easily controlled by the driver during acceleration...adding fuel and weight might just do the trick and make
it possible to control wheelsspin better due to increased vertical load and instead of a net loss you got a net gain.
I never drove in Montecarlo,at least not in a Racecar but I think that you will ,with reference to engine power have most of the time a lot more available then
you should release.. so the weight actually will more likely hurt your braking
and of course the cars nimbleness and precision in pointing it where you want or need it.
On a track with long sweeping corners,the bigger fuelload will raise the CG height
but has no positive effects such as longitudinal weight transfer to help traction..so it will the lateral weight transfer increase coming with the higher CG
will eat away on the tyres dramatically.

[riff_raff]

The Monza race is 40km longer than Monaco (300km vs. 260km). So I'd say the Italian GP uses more fuel per car. =D>

riff_raff