Shanghai 2009: Post-Qualifying Car Weights

Detailed below are the weights of all the cars post-qualifying. With this information now available from the FIA, we can assess the competitiveness of each of the drivers in qualifying and also have a few guesses at their strategies for tomorrow’s race. Safety car periods negate any prediction though, as the pilots can conserve fuel when following the Mercedes, although in previous Chinese Grands Prix, Bernd Mylander was rarely pressed into action. The results are listed in order of qualifying lap times, and it should also be noted that although Timo Glock set the fourteenth fastest time in Q2, the German has been demoted to nineteenth due to a penalty.

Shanghai 2009 Post-Qualifying Car Weights		Car Weight Kilograms
1.	Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing	644
2.	Fernando Alonso Renault	637
3.	Mark Webber Red Bull Racing	646.5
4.	Rubens Barrichello Brawn	661
5.	Jenson Button Brawn	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 Scuderia Toro Rosso	673
11.	Nick Heidfeld BMW	679
12.	Heikki Kovalainen McLaren	697
13.	Felipe Massa Ferrari	690
14.	Timo Glock Toyota	652
15.	Kazuki Nakajima Williams	682.7
16.	Sebastien Bourdais Scuderia Toro Rosso	690
17.	Nelson Piquet Jr. Renault	697.9
18.	Robert Kubica BMW	659
19.	Adrian Sutil Force India	648
20.	Giancarlo Fisichella Force India	679.5

From the table above, we can see that both Red Bulls are much lighter than the Brawns and that Sebastian Vettel will likely pit ahead of team mate Mark Webber. Although the first of the stops will be most likely be made by Renault, with Fernando Alonso being the lightest on the grid by some margin. The next heaviest car to the Spaniard is Vettel’s Red Bull, but even then the difference is a substantial 7kg.

Lewis Hamilton, Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastien Buemi are all heavy and thus qualified in the final three positions of the top ten, although this is perhaps the best they could achieve in reality. Having said that though, this trio is not the heaviest of all, not by a long-shot. Heikki Kovalainen and Nelson Piquet Jr have 697kg and 697.9kg of fuel onboard respectively. My initial reaction to this was a daring one-stopper, but there is no way the tyres would be able to withstand that kind of pressure on the abrasive Shanghai surface – they would be worn down to the canvas and beyond. Instead, it is likely that both Kovalainen and Piquet will just run deep into the first stint.