Japanese GP 2011 - Suzuka

[Tim.Wright]

Depends if 130R is grip limited or not.

Tim

[kalinka]

It may become grip limited for a following car because of the dirty air => less downforce.

[PlatinumZealot]

130R is only 3.9 g's... Not as impressive as my mind wants it to be. .

http://www.formula1.com/video/onboard/

Michael is flat out through it. The grip is there. Didn't rosberg overtake there last year or as it one of the torro rossos?

[raymondu999]

He tried to take Buemi around the outside of 130R; but either his car understeered too much; or he didn't have the confidence to commit into that outside line; he went off at the exit onto the tarmac runoff. Basically he tried to do what Alonso did to Schumi in... 05? 06? The round-the-outside-of-130 move.

Crucially though n_smikle; Rosberg had clean air and Alonso did too; we're just surmising how easy it would be to follow another car; in it's dirty wake; in the same line; through 130.

[Shrieker]

Taking into account the 130R corner will be taken around 290-300 km/h, the 1 second window would be ~80-83 metres long. How much downforce will the following car lose then, or will it be a significant factor in trying to get into the 1 second window; what do you guys think ?

[Richard]

To exaggerate this for a moment, which of these scenarios is best for DRS...

- V slow corner at 40kph with 10m gap. Car behind has DRS so has faster acceleration to pull alongside then maintains higher top speed on straight to get in front.

- V fast corner at 300kph with 80m gap. Car behind has DRS so has faster acceleration to pull within 10m, then maintains higher top speed on straight to get alongside.

It all comes down to the gearing. If the car's top speed is gear limited then DRS will have little benefit in improving top speed. Hence the more effective benefit of DRS is in quicker acceleration, and that is of greatest benefit out of slow corners.

Personally, I like to see these things mixed up a bit. A sub-optimal DRS zone challenges the teams to reconsider their gearing, just as we saw in Spa and Monza.

[marekk]

Looking at MS lap last year, his car had enough downforce to brake at 5G after R130, with only 3,9G needed to make the corner itself, so i think there is still some "spare" downforce to lose when following another car closer then 1s.

Don't think they lose more downforce in this situation then they did with F-duct, and as far as i remeber, all front runners used in 2010 their F-ducts even at the beginning of the race, with heavy fuel loads.

Doesn't really matter if its 85m or 50m - what really counts is time gap between the cars IMO.

[Richard]

OK lets take an extreme case. Two cars enter a DRS zone already on the rev limiter, one then opens up DRS, he's not really going to gain much is he?

[volarchico]

But the DRS activation zone is on the pit straight after 130R and AFTER the final chicane, right? So it will still be DRS activated after a slow corner...

[raymondu999]

As i remeber, all front runners used in 2010 their F-ducts even at the beginning of the race, with heavy fuel loads.

They couldn't take it flat at lap 6 last year (after a 5-lap SC period; I could be a lap or 2 wrong; but that 1st real racing lap) they were lifting through 130R. Let alone with the f-duct

[mnmracer]

While everyone expects Sebastian Vettel to wrap up the championship in Japan this weekend, Red Bull can actually also take home the constructors' championship from the land of the ricing sun. These are the scenario's in which both championships can be decided:

Sebastian Vettel and the world drivers' championship
In order for Vettel not to become the youngest two-time world champion of Formula One in history in Japan, there is only one scenario: Vettel needs to finish 11th or lower, AND Jenson Button needs to win the race. 1 point for Vettel, and/or less than 25 points for Button, means the championship is officially decided.

If Sebastian Vettel clinches the title in Japan, he will be the 6th driver in history to become world champion Formula One in Suzuka, after Nelso Piquet (1987), Ayrton Senna (1988, 1990, 1991), Alain Prost (1989), Damon Hill (1996), Hakkinen (1998, 1999) and Michael Schumacher (2000, 2003).


Red Bull and the world constructors' championship
Red Bull (491 points) currently has a 138 point advantage over McLaren (353) in the constructors' championship. With four races to go after the Japanese Grand Prix, there are no more than 172 points left to score for a team. For Red Bull to win the constructors' championship in Japan, they need to score 34 points more than McLaren.

For that to happen, there are only six possible scenario's:
* If Red Bull finish 1st and 2nd (43 points),
...McLaren must not finish higher than 6th and 10th, or 7th and 9th.
* If Red Bull finish 1st and 3rd (40 points),
...McLaren must not finish higher than 8th and 9th, or 9th and 10th.
* If Red Bull finish 1st and 4th (37 points),
...McLaren must not finish higher than 9th and 10th.
* If Red Bull finish 1st and 5th (35 points),
...no McLaren must not finish higher than 10th.

If Red Bull clinches the constructors' title in Japan, they will be the 5th team in history to become Formula One world constructors' champion in Suzuka, after McLaren (1990, 1998), Benetton (1995), Williams (1997) and Ferrari (1999, 2003).

[Richard]

Thanks mnmracer, good post

[godlameroso]

McLaren's team attitude might just net them the constructors.

[Richard]

McLaren will need to recover a 138 point deficit (plus 1 point to win) in 5 races. That's 27.6 points per race. Say McL get a 1&2 in every race, that gives them 43 points. RB only need 16 points per race to win the WCC.

The odds of McL locking out 5 races in succession AND RB getting less than 16 points per race looks rather unlikely?

[volarchico]

Math/numbers always seems to mess up people's fantasy dreams!