Underfueling in 2010

[Giblet]

The teams are now putting less fuel in the car than it needs to finish the race at full tilt.

How much weight are they saving and what could be gained from having enough to drive every lap balls out?

It seems a shame that they need to slow down for a kilo or two (random guess) of fuel.

[tc9604]

Is it any more of a shame than drivers pacing themselves so they don't destroy their tyres too soon?

It's just another part of racing and i think it adds interest

[Giblet]

I'm asking more for what are the numbers behind it?

[Paul]

As far as I can see it all numbers fly out of the window as soon as the car is stuck behind another one. Cars are being short-fuelled to allow some flexibility to the tactics. That is, push when you need to create a gap, conserve fuel when you are stuck behind someone or you are cruising to the finish with no real chance of improving position.

[roost89]

I asked Ant Davidson a very similar question, today, over twitter:

is it more detrimental to a car to be fuelled for whole race and run 100% than to underfuel and save fuel for some of the race?

sometimes,but like always it depends on how your race unfolds. Sometimes it actually boils down to the tank not being big enough.

Sorry I can't give any figures. I can't remember the figures but each kilo is worth a 1/10s or so. It's not that much of a reply but then Twitter doesn't lend itself to proper answers.

[Edis]

F1 cars are underfueled so they can be lighter and hence faster in the first part of the race. In the latter part of the race there is usually room to slow down the pace a bit, and even if your car isn't the fastest, overtaking is difficult once the pit stops have been done.

[segedunum]

It's an interesting question and it would be nice if figures could be attached to it. I suspect that most teams fuel to a similar level, even those teams whose engines have more horespower and consume more per lap, because they can always turn the engine down.

[alelanza]

It's also very circuit dependent, ie in Hungary a kilogram of fuel is a lot more detrimental than it is in Monza, the more acceleration you require the more prone you'll be to underfuel, especially for quali and start of the race purposes.

[Belatti]

Another thing to take into account is pace.

No human mind can focus 100% for more than 20 or 40 minutes (times may vary according to different studies). No matter the figures, it is a fact that racing drivers are humans that cant drive all the race at qualy peace.

Hence, filling the tank for a 100% full pace race distance is a waste.