Silverstone GP

[blacktulip]

Car weights including fuel (in kg, by grid order)


1. VETTEL Red Bull 666.5
2. BARRICHELLO Brawn 657.5
3. WEBBER Red Bull 659.5
4. TRULLI Toyota 658
5. NAKAJIMA Williams 652.5
6. BUTTON Brawn 657.5
7. ROSBERG Williams 661.5
8. GLOCK Toyota 660
9. RAIKKONEN Ferrari 654
10. ALONSO Renault 654
11. MASSA Ferrari 675
12. KUBICA BMW 689.5
13. KOVALAINEN McLaren 695.5
14. PIQUET Renault 682.5
15. HEIDFELD BMW 665.5
16. FISICHELLA Force India 668
17. BOURDAIS Toro Rosso 687.5
18. SUTIL Force India 692
19. HAMILTON McLaren 666
20. BUEMI Toro Rosso 672.5

[blacktulip]

The car weights underline just what a superb job Sebastian Vettel did in qualifying, since he took pole by 0.35s despite carrying 9kg more fuel than his nearest rival Rubens Barrichello.

When you take those extra nine kilos – four laps’ worth – into account, Vettel’s advantage almost doubles to 0.6s, one of the largest of the season so far.

So how did he do it? Well, clearly Red Bull has made a big step forward with the new front wing it has brought here; the RB5 already excelled in fast corners, which Silverstone abounds in; and for good measure, the chilly weather suits it far better than the Brawn, which is slower to generate the necessary tyre temperature for an on-the-limit qualifying lap.

[raikkofan]

Question: How many more laps will 9kg of fuel give Vettel before needing to pit the first time? And can this make all the difference between 1 or 2 stops or maybe 2 stops instead of 3 during a race?