The Japan Grand Prix is the race that many times hosted the event in which the drivers' championship was settle down. This weekend is very likely to see Sebastian Vettel reach his second consecutive world title.
Susuka circuit occupies a special place in the hearts of drivers because its a huge challenge with its high-speed corners where there is only one fast path.
From the point of view of the strategies, the use of tires is crucial, and is a circuit where overtaking is complicated even with the zones and cornes in which you can pass; as the famous "130R". This year, with the DRS, should be easier to pass and strategists must take this into account in their plans.
With 9 victories in 14 races, Vettel is fit and also has a good repertoire at Susuka: having won the last two times in Japanese ground. The circuit is totally in favor of RedBull because the car generates high downforce through the many high speed corners of Susuka.
Amazingly, 100% of pole position so far this year were hold by Red Bull, with only 5 races remaining is likely that they will all the poles of this year.
Looking at the statistics and drivers, Michael Schumacher won the event 6 times, Fernando Alonso 2 (1 of them at the Fuji Speedway) and Rubens Barrichello won in Japan in the 2003 season.
Climate Prediction:
After the stifling humidity with which Singapore hosted the class, drivers and team personnel, will be delighted to return to normal conditions of temperature. On the other hand, Susuka always gives the possibility of sudden and heavy rainfall. Despite this, climate predictions show that on Friday through Sunday, temperatures will be optimal, with sunny days with and little chance of rain.
Consumption of tires:
Pirelli decided to bring to Susuka the following tires: softs (yellow mark) and mediums (white label). This combination was used in Valencia, Germany, Belgium and Italy.
Susuka is a challenge for the tires considering the loads on them wich exceeds 800 kg in some corners. To get an idea of how the tires will be affected we can take a look at what happened in Spa, a similar “downforce charge” circuit with high speed corners, although temperatures will be slightly higher than in Spa.
There will be a degradation due to the angle of the camber of the wheels, this could change during the weekend, and the difference between the compounds is probably 1.5 seconds per lap.
In Germany, teams tried to maximize the use of soft compound, making them last the most laps as possible. The medium compound was used briefly on the end of the race, the extreme examples are Vettel and Massa, who pitted on the last lap of the race.
Some teams had it difficult getting warm to the medium compound, but taking into account the first sector of plenty corners at Susuka: this may not be cause for concern.
Surely the soft compound tire is the main option for qualifying and race, preserving a new set of these tires for the race is estimated that it will save about 5 seconds in race distance. For teams like Mercedes, Renault or Force India, who will score qualyfing at positions 7 to 10, would be beneficial not to run in Q3: sacrificing a place or two on the starting grid to save a new set of tires.
All information in the last few races where we saw this tire combination suggests that leaders will use an strategy to make 3 pit stops. Red Bull never bothered to save tires, they prefer to classify on the top and lead from the start, while McLaren and Ferrari will surely be tempted to try something different at least in one of their cars. To stop twice, is required to make a very long first "stint", if they make a stop to early then they cant change strategy during the race, as happened to Rosberg in Singapore.
The presence of the Safety Car is always a help to those drivers willing to make one stop less than the others. With a high probability of safety car presence, it's always good to make a flexible strategy.
For midfield teams, especially those with a car that consumes tires in an evenly way (Sauber, Toro Rosso and Force India possibly) this might be a good opportunity to make two stops and get score good points
Car Safety Ability:
The chances of safety car in Susuka are 60%, since the rate of accidents in Susuka tends to be high and the crashes happen at high speeds so there are always big crashes spreading pieces that must be cleaned from the track. At least one SC has been in three of the last four races in Susuka,
The GP numbers:
Length: 5807 km
Race distance: 53 laps = 307,471 km.
18 curves
Aerodynamics: High downforce
Maximum speed: 324km / h (with DRS enabled) - 312km / h without DRS
Maximum acceleration applied in 70% of the lap.
Amount of fuel to meet the race distance: 148 kg
Estimated consumer autonomy: 2.73 kg per lap
Brake usage percentage: 10% of the lap (very low)
Number of braking zones: 9
Brake Pressure: Light
Average time pitstop (includes input and output): 20 seconds
Effect of fuel weight: 0.385 seconds (cost in one turn every 10 kg of fuel)
If you want to read more about strategy at Susuka please read this article: Strategy Predictions for Japanese GP
No comments:
Post a Comment