VETTEL'S ASTONISHING SPEED IN SINGAPORE

This article was written by James Allen with the input of JA on F1 technical adviser Mark Gillan, former Williams F1 team chief operations engineer in order to analyse and understand what made Vettel so untouchable in Singapore and whether we should just pack up and go fishing instead for the rest of the season. This issue was blown up recently when former team owner Giancarlo Minardi who was at the race questioned Vettel's engine sounds as he was going round.

"From my suite, I chose some mainstays as a reference point in order to monitor and compare the drivers' way of driving. I was impressed by Vettel's neat way of driving on that stretch of the track. He was able to drive all that stretch without making any corrections, unlike all his rivals (also his team-mate). On the same stretch, Sebastian was able to [accelerate] 50 metres before any other driver, Webber included. The thing that surprised me the most was the engine's output sound. Besides speeding up 50m before any other driver, the Renault engine of the German's car grinded like no other French engines on track, neither like Mark's. That sound was similar to the sound made by the engine when the traction control system got into action in the past seasons."

The original article can be found HERE.

One of the most commented aspects of the Singapore Grand Prix was the astonishing speed of Sebastian Vettel, particularly in the opening laps and the initial laps after the safety car. There have been many questions about how this was achieved and some interesting observations, such as Giancarlo Minardi’s comments about a strange sound coming from Vettel’s exhaust in these phases.

Here with the input of JA on F1 technical adviser Mark Gillan, former Williams F1 team chief operations engineer, is our analysis of Vettel’s speed and a consideration of why it was so noticeable in Singapore and whether it is here to stay for the rest of the 2013 season.

The key to this is that Red Bull has done a lot of work on traction out of low speed corners. On average, across all the tracks in the F1 championship, 25% of the lap time is spent below 130km/h on corner exits. It is the most significant single area to focus on. So if you can make a significant gain in that area, you can get effectively a 25% improvement, which will show in your lap time.

The original article can be found HERE.

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