2013 United States Grand Prix

[theformula]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlvueVJBcgM
this video shows it at 0:27 onwards. This is the best example i can find, but it still shows what i'm explaining

[henra]

Well i have to disagree. The only people that might enjoy domination are vettel fans.

Even though it is probably a small group in this particular instance I would like to add admirers of genious technology/engineering (that would be the group I would count myself in - I'm not so much into the drivers). Just watch that car driving - as you mentioned: Like a slot car. Perfection. At least in Vettels hands (I have to give that to the guy - he makes that piece of Art work perfectly in contrast to his Team mate)

[Jonnycraig]

I don't know how many other people noticed this, and i'm surprised people haven't brought it up, but through the last part of the maggots and beckets type section of the track (turn 6), Lewis visibly took a different line to everyone else on track (and i mean EVERYONE). He took a much tighter line, whereas all the others kind of drifted out like Vettel did, which was the traditional racing line (as seen on the onboard). He did this in both qualifying and the race. And if i recall correctly, he was mighty in that first sector and i think was the fastest through it as well.
So my question is, has Lewis found a line that is actually better than the line all the other drivers were taking (the traditional line)?
It certainly seems like it as he was super quick through that section.
Also, did anyone else spot that he was doing this?
It will be interesting to see if he does indeed take that very same line when we go to austin. I'll be keeping a close eye that's for sure.

Both Button & Hamilton were in their own world in S1. Vettel was the same in S3.

[theformula]

I don't know how many other people noticed this, and i'm surprised people haven't brought it up, but through the last part of the maggots and beckets type section of the track (turn 6), Lewis visibly took a different line to everyone else on track (and i mean EVERYONE). He took a much tighter line, whereas all the others kind of drifted out like Vettel did, which was the traditional racing line (as seen on the onboard). He did this in both qualifying and the race. And if i recall correctly, he was mighty in that first sector and i think was the fastest through it as well.
So my question is, has Lewis found a line that is actually better than the line all the other drivers were taking (the traditional line)?
It certainly seems like it as he was super quick through that section.
Also, did anyone else spot that he was doing this?
It will be interesting to see if he does indeed take that very same line when we go to austin. I'll be keeping a close eye that's for sure.

Both Button & Hamilton were in their own world in S1. Vettel was the same in S3.

Actually, Lewis was consistently quicker than Jenson in Sector One, in all the free practice sessions and qualifying. And it's not as if Jenson was second to Lewis in that sector, he was usually a few places down on where lewis was.

[SectorOne]

I don't know how many other people noticed this, and i'm surprised people haven't brought it up, but through the last part of the maggots and beckets type section of the track (turn 6), Lewis visibly took a different line to everyone else on track (and i mean EVERYONE). He took a much tighter line, whereas all the others kind of drifted out like Vettel did, which was the traditional racing line (as seen on the onboard). He did this in both qualifying and the race. And if i recall correctly, he was mighty in that first sector and i think was the fastest through it as well.
So my question is, has Lewis found a line that is actually better than the line all the other drivers were taking (the traditional line)?
It certainly seems like it as he was super quick through that section.
Also, did anyone else spot that he was doing this?
It will be interesting to see if he does indeed take that very same line when we go to austin. I'll be keeping a close eye that's for sure.

To answer your question, nope. Yes he was very good in S1 but,
Lewis merely chooses a line which puts him out of the bad wake of the car running in front.
In longer corners he takes a tighter line to get fresh air, good downforce, but at the expense of tire wear.

In Korea vs Hulkenberg you can see this quite clearly. Fast sweepers equals much tighter corners for Hamilton when he´s behind.
In some cases with a very long corner he can sneak up on the inside of people with this technique and pretty much nullify the "optimal" line through the corner by stealing in the inside.

[theformula]

I don't know how many other people noticed this, and i'm surprised people haven't brought it up, but through the last part of the maggots and beckets type section of the track (turn 6), Lewis visibly took a different line to everyone else on track (and i mean EVERYONE). He took a much tighter line, whereas all the others kind of drifted out like Vettel did, which was the traditional racing line (as seen on the onboard). He did this in both qualifying and the race. And if i recall correctly, he was mighty in that first sector and i think was the fastest through it as well.
So my question is, has Lewis found a line that is actually better than the line all the other drivers were taking (the traditional line)?
It certainly seems like it as he was super quick through that section.
Also, did anyone else spot that he was doing this?
It will be interesting to see if he does indeed take that very same line when we go to austin. I'll be keeping a close eye that's for sure.

To answer your question, nope. Yes he was very good in S1 but,
Lewis merely chooses a line which puts him out of the bad wake of the car running in front.
In longer corners he takes a tighter line to get fresh air, good downforce, but at the expense of tire wear.

In Korea vs Hulkenberg you can see this quite clearly. Fast sweepers equals much tighter corners for Hamilton when he´s behind.
In some cases with a very long corner he can sneak up on the inside of people with this technique and pretty much nullify the "optimal" line through the corner by stealing in the inside.

i understand, but he did this in qualy as well where he had no car in front to get out of the dirty air, so there is something more to it

[SectorOne]

that´s an interesting point, i have not picked up on that actually. I´ve just studied him through the years and noticed he takes vastly different lines to get out of the dirty air in races.
Or for example him adapting to the tires/new car where he turns in quite early into the corner with late downshifts.

[Just_a_fan]

Or for example him adapting to the tires/new car where he turns in quite early into the corner with late downshifts.

Hamilton has always been late braking in to the corners. He tends to turn in slightly quite early ("warning" the tyres as I think it's called by some driving tutors) and then run the brakes from there in towards the apex. Keeps it all fairly straight under braking. He then tries to turn the car around the front wheel as he comes off the brakes. The rear end is mobile at the apex which might indicate where his tyre wear issue stem from. It's a Schumacher style as one might expect thinking about who was winning when he was a lad in karts.

He is usually fairly middle order when it comes to speed traps but yet still gets top spots on the grid - that's because he understands that apex speed is the key to a fast lap, not top speed.

[rssh]

Doesn't Lewis always drive like that? He love a strong front end and pivots on the front wheel with power drift which screws the rear tyre easily. Just look at Q3 lap in Korea 2011 he wanted the pole at any cost and destroyed the rears and was easy-meat at turn3 to Vettel due to poor traction.

Last year the Macca was the faster than RB in USGP ,just look at hamilton sticking in turbulent air of the RB and still setting faster time and tyres that were lasting. We will never get that kind of race ever again thanks to Pirelli's.

[SectorOne]

Last year the Macca was the faster than RB in USGP ,just look at hamilton sticking in turbulent air of the RB and still setting faster time and tyres that were lasting. We will never get that kind of race ever again thanks to Pirelli's.

Actually i would give the edge to the Red Bull. It topped every session, took pole and would have won it except for a certain incident.
Vettel had better tire wear as well as Hamilton dropped of quite a lot before the pit stop.
Possibly Hamilton was faster on the harder compound.

Hamilton has always been late braking in to the corners. He tends to turn in slightly quite early ("warning" the tyres as I think it's called by some driving tutors) and then run the brakes from there in towards the apex. Keeps it all fairly straight under braking. He then tries to turn the car around the front wheel as he comes off the brakes. The rear end is mobile at the apex which might indicate where his tyre wear issue stem from. It's a Schumacher style as one might expect thinking about who was winning when he was a lad in karts.

He is usually fairly middle order when it comes to speed traps but yet still gets top spots on the grid - that's because he understands that apex speed is the key to a fast lap, not top speed.

Yea but it´s different with the Mercedes. The late braking is always there but his turn-in has changed a bit.
So much so that he sometimes does not even use the full width of the track and alot of times this is what has caught him out because he compromises the exit by tightening the entry.

Could be a function of getting the most out of the Mercedes or perhaps the tires.
I think it might be a bit of both, the Mercedes looks quite bizarre in how it goes about it´s business if you compare some poles from this year to last year.

[Jonnycraig]

Actually, Lewis was consistently quicker than Jenson in Sector One, in all the free practice sessions and qualifying. And it's not as if Jenson was second to Lewis in that sector, he was usually a few places down on where lewis was.

The fact that Button was up there in S1 then losing a second in the next two sectors answers your question.

Actually i would give the edge to the Red Bull. It topped every session, took pole and would have won it except for a certain incident.
Vettel had better tire wear as well as Hamilton dropped of quite a lot before the pit stop.
Possibly Hamilton was faster on the harder compound.

RB were slower in S1 than the McLaren, S2 is just a DRS zone & Vettel was just in a world of his own in S3 which gave him enough breathing space to stay ahead. It was one of the few races where there are two equally matched cars and but for as you say Karthikeyan and our old friend DRS, Vettel would've won despite race long pressure.

[theformula]

That RedBull was definitely faster than the McLaren and looked after the tyres tyres better as well, but it was Lewis who made the difference. The Redbull was faster in S2 and S3, but Lewis was absolutely on it in sector 1. People think that the McLaren was a little bit faster than the redbull or equal just because lewis got so close to vettel in qualifying.

Lewis was the one making all the difference, giving people the illusion that the McLaren was more closely matched than it actually was.

[Juzh]

That RedBull was definitely faster than the McLaren and looked after the tyres tyres better as well, but it was Lewis who made the difference. The Redbull was faster in S2 and S3, but Lewis was absolutely on it in sector 1. People think that the McLaren was a little bit faster than the redbull or equal just because lewis got so close to vettel in qualifying.

Lewis was the one making all the difference, giving people the illusion that the McLaren was more closely matched than it actually was.

This goes both ways. Vettel made red bull look faster than it actually was, just look at webber's pace. That mclaren had visually much better front end than red bull and that allowed ham to stay close trough high-speed 1st sector despite being in dirty air. Why do you think hamilton could hug that inside line in the first place? Mclaren was overall faster car than RB in the last 3 races. And RB wasn't kinder on tires than macca. Ham had run in dirty air all the time and naturally destroyed his tires quicker. In the end it made little difference as the race was comfortably a 1 stopper. The way I see it, hamilton botched his qualifying and started out of position.

[theformula]

That RedBull was definitely faster than the McLaren and looked after the tyres tyres better as well, but it was Lewis who made the difference. The Redbull was faster in S2 and S3, but Lewis was absolutely on it in sector 1. People think that the McLaren was a little bit faster than the redbull or equal just because lewis got so close to vettel in qualifying.

Lewis was the one making all the difference, giving people the illusion that the McLaren was more closely matched than it actually was.

This goes both ways. Vettel made red bull look faster than it actually was, just look at webber's pace. That mclaren had visually much better front end than red bull and that allowed ham to stay close trough high-speed 1st sector despite being in dirty air. Why do you think hamilton could hug that inside line in the first place? Mclaren was overall faster car than RB in the last 3 races. And RB wasn't kinder on tires than macca. Ham had run in dirty air all the time and naturally destroyed his tires quicker. In the end it made little difference as the race was comfortably a 1 stopper. The way I see it, hamilton botched his qualifying and started out of position.

The Red Bull was faster, no shying away from that, and as soon as another car was within a couple of tenths of the Bull's pace, Vettel was outraced...

[SectorOne]

Why do you think hamilton could hug that inside line in the first place?

Clean air. Not dirty.
There´s no car on the grid that´s immune to dirty air so if you want to keep up you stay out of the dirty air.