Vettel wary of threat from Lotus drivers

2013 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Friday practice analysis

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The first day of practice for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix brought an encouraging sign that Red Bull might not have things entirely their own way.

Romain Grosjean was quickest in the first session but never got to show what he was capable of in the second due to a brake disc failing on his first run on soft tyres.

Meanwhile Kimi Raikkonen logged an impressively long and quick stint in his race simulation run which caught Sebastian Vettel’s attention.

“It’s difficult to say today how we compare to the others,” said Vettel, “we know the Lotus is quick here, but we also had decent pace today”.

Ahead of the start of the competitive action tomorrow the Red Bull, Ferrari, Lotus, Sauber, Williams and Toro Rosso drivers will all switch to their final new engines, as will Charles Pic.

Here’s all the data from the first two practice sessions for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Longest stint comparison

This chart shows all the drivers’ lap times (in seconds) during their longest unbroken stint:

https://www.racefans.net/charts/2013drivercolours.csv

12345678910111213141516171819202122
Sebastian Vettel106.272106.3106.41106.173106.704106.496106.176106.103107.557131.165
Mark Webber107.31107.231107.276107.292107.813107.812108.016108.325119.691108.654108.509
Fernando Alonso108.538108.278109.114111.447107.849108.496108.129108.029108.541108.228108.008116.178107.59137.971
Felipe Massa107.664107.919108.155108.077108.153108.368118.138111.617109.434
Jenson Button109.172108.747108.259108.01109.583107.882108.174109.343
Sergio Perez107.652107.929108.958107.658107.698107.299107.409107.382107.444107.615109.53107.398150.981
Kimi Raikkonen111.287109.127109.54108.097110.675116.497107.825107.761107.86107.933107.688107.367107.396107.623107.799107.79107.392107.187108.038108.607107.455107.26
Romain Grosjean103.107114.674108.347102.607
Nico Rosberg108.368107.54108.011107.483107.918109.302107.288107.193110.712107.302107.062106.711106.724114.537139.464
Lewis Hamilton108.39113.422107.861110.12107.382109.658107.09107.379107.242107.511110.804108.057117.21113.014
Nico Hulkenberg108.604108.221108.897108.31107.961110.334108.141108.563108.57114.851107.96107.97107.59108.008107.927108.387108.257107.91
Esteban Gutierrez109.395108.036108.069108.958109.716109.02109.887109.702109.791
Paul di Resta108.684108.303108.132108.394113.079108.124108.381132.341
Adrian Sutil109.409109.244111.856108.947109.858143.381
Pastor Maldonado109.577108.716108.559108.629109.215116.971117.037109.166110.029108.835
Valtteri Bottas110.328111.239108.838109.993109.033109.328109.32109.016
Jean-Eric Vergne109.596108.328107.938108.19109.293108.409108.524109.299108.56110.732109.002
Daniel Ricciardo112.443112.138110.172109.654109.126111.359109.112
Charles Pic110.081110.281109.851109.867109.826111.238110.853112.579112.166110.817145.387
Giedo van der Garde110.835109.88109.595109.567109.719109.594110.013110.267110.577110.422110.43110.157138.466
Jules Bianchi110.714109.8109.92109.416109.601109.249109.087109.013109.794109.053140.453
Max Chilton110.262110.465113.005113.111113.447113.865114.079142.224

Sector times and ultimate lap times

PosNo.DriverCarS1S2S3UltimateGapDeficit to best
11Sebastian VettelRed Bull-Renault17.999 (2)42.912 (3)40.408 (1)1’41.319-101.319
22Mark WebberRed Bull-Renault18.013 (3)42.846 (1)40.557 (4)1’41.4160.097-101.416
310Lewis HamiltonMercedes18.085 (5)43.079 (9)40.446 (2)1’41.6100.291-101.610
47Kimi RaikkonenLotus-Renault18.166 (8)43.012 (5)40.548 (3)1’41.7260.407-101.726
59Nico RosbergMercedes18.124 (7)43.012 (5)40.622 (5)1’41.7580.439-101.758
66Sergio PerezMcLaren-Mercedes17.971 (1)42.965 (4)40.998 (10)1’41.9340.615-101.934
75Jenson ButtonMcLaren-Mercedes18.059 (4)42.882 (2)41.069 (11)1’42.0100.691-102.010
83Fernando AlonsoFerrari18.106 (6)43.222 (12)40.840 (7)1’42.1680.849-102.168
911Nico HulkenbergSauber-Ferrari18.246 (14)43.089 (10)40.902 (9)1’42.2370.918-102.237
104Felipe MassaFerrari18.172 (9)43.337 (16)40.874 (8)1’42.3831.064-102.383
118Romain GrosjeanLotus-Renault18.180 (10)43.580 (18)40.719 (6)1’42.4791.160-102.479
1212Esteban GutierrezSauber-Ferrari18.225 (13)43.052 (8)41.232 (13)1’42.5091.190-102.509
1314Paul di RestaForce India-Mercedes18.183 (11)43.251 (13)41.372 (15)1’42.8061.487-102.806
1416Pastor MaldonadoWilliams-Renault18.310 (15)43.461 (17)41.111 (12)1’42.8821.563-102.882
1515Adrian SutilForce India-Mercedes18.208 (12)43.188 (11)41.513 (17)1’42.9091.590-102.909
1619Daniel RicciardoToro Rosso-Ferrari18.419 (20)43.277 (14)41.353 (14)1’43.0491.730-103.049
1718Jean-Eric VergneToro Rosso-Ferrari18.388 (18)43.326 (15)41.443 (16)1’43.1571.838-103.157
1817Valtteri BottasWilliams-Renault18.340 (16)43.635 (19)41.575 (18)1’43.5502.231-103.550
1921Giedo van der GardeCaterham-Renault18.443 (21)43.854 (22)41.757 (19)1’44.0542.735-104.054
2020Charles PicCaterham-Renault18.369 (17)43.823 (20)42.075 (21)1’44.2672.948-104.267
2122Jules BianchiMarussia-Cosworth18.417 (19)43.844 (21)42.007 (20)1’44.2682.949-104.268
2223Max ChiltonMarussia-Cosworth18.487 (22)43.051 (7)42.814 (22)1’44.3523.033-104.352

Complete practice times

PosDriverCarFP1FP2Total laps
1Sebastian VettelRed Bull-Renault1’44.4991’41.33553
2Mark WebberRed Bull-Renault1’44.7121’41.49052
3Lewis HamiltonMercedes1’44.4331’41.69060
4Kimi RaikkonenLotus-Renault1’44.9291’41.72665
5Nico RosbergMercedes1’44.7411’41.75865
6Sergio PerezMcLaren1’45.3311’42.00656
7Jenson ButtonMcLaren1’45.0991’42.01051
8Fernando AlonsoFerrari1’45.4401’42.17149
9Nico HulkenbergSauber-Ferrari1’45.3781’42.32464
10Felipe MassaFerrari1’46.1241’42.44054
11Esteban GutierrezSauber-Ferrari1’46.0681’42.50957
12Romain GrosjeanLotus-Renault1’44.2411’42.60739
13Paul di RestaForce India-Mercedes1’45.0401’42.80647
14Pastor MaldonadoWilliams-Renault1’45.1501’42.95260
15Adrian SutilForce India-Mercedes1’42.99827
16Daniel RicciardoToro Rosso-Ferrari1’46.1261’43.15250
17Jean-Eric VergneToro Rosso-Ferrari1’46.1141’43.27158
18Valtteri BottasWilliams-Renault1’45.8231’43.56558
19Giedo van der GardeCaterham-Renault1’44.13835
20Jules BianchiMarussia-Cosworth1’47.7231’44.45958
21Charles PicCaterham-Renault1’47.6001’44.52560
22Max ChiltonMarussia-Cosworth1’45.56527
23James CaladoForce India-Mercedes1’45.92420
24Heikki KovalainenCaterham-Renault1’47.67022
25Rodolfo GonzalezMarussia-Cosworth1’49.56522

Speed trap

#DriverCarEngineMax speed (kph)Gap
15Jenson ButtonMcLarenMercedes318.9
219Daniel RicciardoToro RossoFerrari318.50.4
36Sergio PerezMcLarenMercedes318.30.6
412Esteban GutierrezSauberFerrari318.20.7
518Jean-Eric VergneToro RossoFerrari317.91
617Valtteri BottasWilliamsRenault317.91
73Fernando AlonsoFerrariFerrari317.81.1
816Pastor MaldonadoWilliamsRenault317.61.3
911Nico HulkenbergSauberFerrari317.61.3
1014Paul di RestaForce IndiaMercedes316.62.3
1110Lewis HamiltonMercedesMercedes316.52.4
1215Adrian SutilForce IndiaMercedes316.52.4
139Nico RosbergMercedesMercedes316.42.5
1422Jules BianchiMarussiaCosworth315.33.6
1523Max ChiltonMarussiaCosworth315.13.8
164Felipe MassaFerrariFerrari314.74.2
1720Charles PicCaterhamRenault312.26.7
181Sebastian VettelRed BullRenault3126.9
1921Giedo van der GardeCaterhamRenault311.87.1
202Mark WebberRed BullRenault311.77.2
218Romain GrosjeanLotusRenault309.99
227Kimi RaikkonenLotusRenault309.99

2013 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

Browse all 2013 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix articles

Image © Red Bull/Getty

Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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9 comments on “Vettel wary of threat from Lotus drivers”

  1. Kimi has really a huge chance of winning as his long-stint times were impressive and did not drop, so he will be on one-stop strategy. Though I am a fan of Seb, I will be happy to see Kimi winning this race :)
    Even Romain is a very nice guy and I hope he will get his first win soon :)

  2. Even though it’s boring, I want to see Seb break the record for most consecutive wins (or equal it, however you look at it). At least then we’ll have something to remember 2013 by!

    1. Meh, we already have enough to remember 2013 by as far as Vettel is concerned. I’d personally like to see Romain win a race if he can. Would be a good way to show his detractors that he means business for his future F1 career!

      1. 100% agree with every word there.

        1. Nothing is better as compared to someone being able to emulate a 9 consecutive wins after 60+ years.

  3. @keithcollantine

    The chart with the longest stints is not showing; furthermore, the “deficit to best” column seems to be incorrect as well.

    Cheers!

  4. Once again, the slower you iz the faster you go, or vice-versa.

  5. Chilton 7th in S2, yet not fast in the speed traps. Must be a corner cut or something

    1. VDG: “It’s Chilton again.”

Comments are closed.