Australia 2009: Post-Qualifying Car Weights
2009 Season

Australia 2009: Post-Qualifying Car Weights

Oliver White
28th March, 2009
15 comments
3 min read

Listed below are the weights of each car that qualified for the 2009 Australian Grand Prix. Listing the weights publicly is a new twist for this season, and will allow fans to see who was running heavy in qualifying, and who was running light. Obviously, a light car should mean a good grid position but an early stop in the race tomorrow for fuel. A heavy car full of fuel may impede the grid position, but will enable the driver to go longer into the first stint before having to pit for fuel.

Australia 2009
Post-Qualifying Car Weights

Car & Driver Weight
Kilograms
1. British FlagJenson Button Brawn 664.5
2. Brazilian FlagRubens Barrichello Brawn 666.5
3. German FlagSebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing 657
4. Polish FlagRobert Kubica BMW 650
5. German FlagNico Rosberg Williams 657
6. German FlagTimo Glock Toyota* 670
7. Brazilian FlagFelipe Massa Ferrari 654
8. Italian FlagJarno Trulli Toyota* 660
9. Finnish FlagKimi Raikkonen Ferrari 655.5
10. Australian FlagMark Webber Red Bull Racing 662
11. German FlagNick Heidfeld BMW 691.5
12. Spanish FlagFernando Alonso Renault 680.7
13. Japanese FlagKazuki Nakajima Williams 685.3
14. Finnish FlagHeikki Kovalainen McLaren 690.6
15. British FlagLewis Hamilton McLaren* 655
16. Swiss FlagSebastien Buemi Scuderia Toro Rosso 675.5
17. Brazilian FlagNelson Piquet Jr. Renault 694.1
18. Italian FlagGiancarlo Fisichella Force India 689
19. German FlagAdrian Sutil Force India 684.5
20. French FlagSebastien Bourdais Scuderia Toro Rosso 662.5

* Toyota sent to the back of the grid, along with Lewis Hamilton.

So we can see that the Brawn cars were about average in terms of fuel load, and therefore their pace really is genuine; Button and Barrichello are mighty fast. Of the oddities, we can see that Nick Heidfeld, Heikki Kovalainen and Nelson Piquet Jr. are among the heaviest. Last year, Kovalainen often ran the heavier strategy, and this looks set to continue.

Mark Webber was heavier than Sebastian Vettel, which explains the difference in positions for them. Interestingly, Timo Glock managed to qualify two places and two tenths ahead of his team mate Jarno Trulli, despite carrying an extra 10kg of fuel. Considering Glock is often said to be very good over one lap, although less so over a race distance, Timo must been on fire this afternoon.

Those drivers who qualified outside the top-ten may adjust their fuel loads prior to the start of the race tomorrow, but those inside the top-ten will start on the fuel the finished qualifying with.

Edit: Lots of differing figures around the Internet at the moment regarding the weights. I’m off to find some kind of accuracy from somewhere…

15 comments

  • I think those on formula1.com are the most correct ones.

    Amazing how fast BrawnGP are thinking about their fuelload. I just hope their drivers don’t crash into each other as back in the Honda days…

    I’m so sad for Glock… he really looked disapointed after the qualy and if you think about his fuel load, he would really have been a podium/racewin contender.

  • Clearly Button put in a blinder.

    Considering Rubens Barrichello had the legs on him in Q1 and Q2, Button’s lap was pretty good. Although the Briton is carrying slightly less fuel. I’m expecting a pitstop around the 20 lap mark for the Brawns, Button just before Barrichello.

    I think those on formula1.com are the most correct ones.

    Not for Kazuki Nakajima they’re not. According F1.com, they have the Williams driver down as holding 612.5kg of fuel. Considering the minimum weight is 605kg including the driver, Nakajima would be getting about as far as lap 2 before having to pit! šŸ™‚

    Iā€™m so sad for Glockā€¦

    Me too. Having seen the weights the Toyotas actually looked a little better than I first thought. Still not awesome pace, but Glock especially looked prime for a decent result. Oh well. šŸ™

  • The place to look is on the FIA’s site. It’s the imaginatively-named “Document 43” in the Saturday section of “On-Event Information” in the “Media Centre” for the Australian Grand Prix. The latter can be seen from the front page of the site, but this link will take you straight to the On-Event Information, from where Document 43 should be visible.

    The FIA will have taken the weights straight from scrutineering reports. I’ve done a blog entry estimating the lap range each driver can do based upon their declared weight and a broad estimate of fuel load.

  • And yes, the typo for Kazuki Nakajima originates from the FIA document. It is not a formula1.com introduction. It looks worse when you try calculating it from the estimated length of Rosberg’s fuel – then he has between minus 11 and minus 6 laps of fuel.

  • You will also see a “Document 45” when you look at the “On-Event Information” section. This is the steward’s letter confirming Toyota’s disqualification and the reasons for it.

  • The place to look is on the FIAā€™s site. Itā€™s the imaginatively-named ā€œDocument 43? in the Saturday section of ā€œOn-Event Informationā€ in the ā€œMedia Centreā€ for the Australian Grand Prix.

    Thanks for all the info, Alia. šŸ™‚

  • Forwarning: I may be overcomplicating things here.

    This is great for comparisons in terms of overall weight and resultant qualifying pace, but should i be investigating further to unearth driver weights so that i can estimate how much fuel each top 10 car has on board? If drivers are 5-10kg heavier/lighter than others, would this not have some bearing on strategy and race distance from the green light?

    :S

    Apologies

  • Forwarning: I may be overcomplicating things here.

    This is great for comparisons in terms of overall weight and resultant qualifying pace, but should i be investigating further for information not featured on the table above? If i unearth driver weights, i can estimate how much fuel each top 10 car has on board. If drivers are 5-10kg heavier/lighter than others, would this not have some bearing on strategy and race distance from the green light?

    :S

    Apologies.

  • Shoot. Sorry for the double (now treble) post and grammatical error (*forewarning). My internet crashed šŸ™

  • If i unearth driver weights, i can estimate how much fuel each top 10 car has on board. If drivers are 5-10kg heavier/lighter than others, would this not have some bearing on strategy and race distance from the green light?

    That’s the point of the FIA announcing this information. Looking at the table above, I can say that Kubica will among the first of the stoppers and Piquet Jr in among the last. Of course, it isn’t an exact science because if a safety car goes out then fuel is saved and there may be some strategy switching.

  • the Safety Car made nearly all predictions beyond lap 20 moot.

    Yep, the safety car will do that. šŸ™‚ I was surprised by a few of the pitstops today and the few drivers who started on Super-Softs, but ultimately it made for a great race.

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