planetf1.com

So I just looked through en.mclarenf-1.com for a head to head comparison between Kimi and Grosjean and during the races over the course of the season Kimi leads in terms of fastest laps 9-7 when compared with Grosjean.

Now, one observation that I have is that out of the 7 times that Grosjean has set a faster lap than Kimi, 6 of those faster laps were in the first 6 races of the season. From then on, Kimi has simply destroyed Romain.

So, basically all I'm trying to say here is that after a two year hiatus, it is only fair to give Kimi the benefit of the doubt for the initial 6 races of the season based on the time needed to adjust to the Pirelli's and to various other variables that have changed since Kimi has been out rallying.

P.S. I did the head-to-head check very quickly so there is a slight chance of errors, so basically +/- 1 to all the facts I have stated.

you dont look at fastest lap, because its very difficult to judge given how fresh the rubber was. You compare the lap time of each lap of each race, thats the way to do comparison.

But that sounds stupid because drivers may be on different tire compounds, or maybe one might be stuck in traffic.

Basically by looking at a driver's fastest lap during the race I am banking on the fact that during a race at least there is one point in time when a driver is in clean air and can set a lap time that is a true and honest indication of how quick he can be in the car that he is driving.

nt stupid at all. normally teammate will be on similar strategy.

your assumption might be wrong. some driver finally got some clean air but the tyre already worn out and cant set the competitive lap time.

Fastest Laps do not carry has much significance as they used to do in the refueling era, if you want to gauge sheer pace now quali is the best seeing as there is no more refueling, so where you qualify is more indicative of your pace than what it used to be.

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Support: Kimi Raikkonen, Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button, Heikki Kovalainen
Respect: Alonso, Schumacher, Newey
Not so keen on: Vettel, Di Resta, whoever decides to red flag when it rains in F1

That is just not true,

quali has become a balance between setting the car up for the race, and how much raw performance can be achieved to get up the starting grid, by manipulating the drs for extra time that cannot be accessed at any other time in the race.
(the banning of unlimited drs in quali for 2013 is a step forward).

It is incredibly complicated to see where the cars are on pace, because even during the race there are so many options in tyre saving that can give an advantage over a full run. And this swaps with some cars more competitive on high fuel and some better on low.
The tyre balance needs to be so that it is marginal between driving balls out and stopping an extra time, (shouls always be the fastest way) or conserving tyres and saving 20 odd seconds for the extra stop.

No contest.

Kimi will score double the points