Pre race weights and analysis – Chinese Grand Prix
The FIA publish the race starting weights for all car’s on the grid. For the 2009 Chinese Grand Prix the weights are.
1. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull, 644kg
2. Fernando Alonso, Renault, 637
3. Mark Webber, Red Bull, 646.5
4. Rubens Barrichello, Brawn GP, 661
5. Jenson Button, Brawn GP, 659
6. Jarno Trulli, Toyota, 664.5
7. Nico Rosberg, Williams, 650.5
8. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 673.5
9. Lewis Hamilton, McLaren, 679
10. Sebastien Buemi, Toro Rosso, 673
11. Nick Heidfeld, BMW Sauber, 679
12. Heikki Kovalainen, McLaren, 697
13. Felipe Massa, Ferrari, 690
14. Kazuki Nakajima, Williams, 682.7
15. Sebastien Bourdais, Toro Rosso, 690
16. Nelson Piquet, Renault, 697.9
17. Robert Kubica, BMW Sauber, 659
18. Adrian Sutil, Force India, 648
19. Timo Glock, Toyota, 652
20. Giancarlo Fisichella, Force India, 679.5
The first three car’s are significantly lighter than the rest of the field. The FIA minimum car weight is 605kg including the driver. Fernando Alonso is therefore only carrying 32 kg of fuel. Williams F1 state that a lap of the Shanghai circuit will use 2.55kg of fuel. Therefore Alonso has approximately 12 laps of fuel on board (a little less by the time the car gets to the grid and takes the parade lap.
It looks like it will be an exciting race with regular changes at the front. If the Brawn’s can get a good start and not be held up and therefore stay fairly close to the Red Bull’s they have the potential to take the lead after the first round of pit stops. The Ferrari’s and Hamilton’s McLaren both have significant amount of fuel on board so they could have more speed than they showed in qualifying.
In the UK the race starts tomorrow at 8am (BBC coverage starts at 7am)
