Hungary 2009: Post-Qualifying Car Weights

The FIA have published the weights of the top ten qualifiers and the declared weights of the remaining ten cars following the qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix. Using Williams’s reckoning of the Hungaroring using 2.48kg of fuel over a normalised distance of 5km, we can figure out that over the course of a 4.381km lap, the cars will use 2.17298kg of fuel. Taking the minimum weight of 605kg off, and allowing for a couple of laps for grid formation and margin, we can estimate when the cars will make their first pitstop tomorrow, and therefore their strategies. Assuming of course it doesn’t rain and that the safety car remains in the pitlane.

Hungary 2009 Post-Qualifying Car Weights		Car Weight Kilograms	Fuel Weight Kilograms	First Stop Estimated Lap
1.	Fernando Alonso Renault	637.5	28.2	13
2.	Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing	655	45.7	21
3.	Mark Webber Red Bull Racing	652	42.7	20
4.	Lewis Hamilton McLaren	650.5	41.2	19
5.	Nico Rosberg Williams	654	44.7	21
6.	Heikki Kovalainen McLaren	655.5	46.2	21
7.	Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari	651.5	42.2	19
8.	Jenson Button Brawn	664.5	55.2	25
9.	Kazuki Nakajima Williams	658	48.7	22
10.	Sebastien Buemi Scuderia Toro Rosso	671.5	62.2	29
11.	Jarno Trulli Toyota	671.3	62	29
12.	Rubens Barrichello Brawn	689	79.7	37
13.	Timo Glock Ferrari	679.2	69.9	32
14.	Nelson Piquet Jr. Renault	667.7	58.4	27
15.	Nick Heidfeld BMW	658	48.7	22
16.	Giancarlo Fisichella Force India	680.5	71.2	33
17.	Adrian Sutil Force India	683.5	74.2	34
18.	Robert Kubica BMW	666	56.7	26
19.	Jaime Alguersuari Scuderia Toro Rosso	675.5	66.2	30

From the table, we can see that Fernando Alonso was quite light in qualifying. In fact, he is the lightest car on the grid, by some margin. The Red Bulls have hit the fuel load somewhere around the same as most others, although Jenson Button is the heaviest of the top ten.

Felipe Massa isn’t included in the table because his car weight was not mentioned, the F60 in question being substantially damaged following the Brazilian’s qualifying-ending accident.

Outside of the top ten, we can see that most are opting for a three-stop race, although Sebastien Buemi, Jarno Trulli, Rubens Barrichello, Timo Glock, Nelson Piquet Jr., Giancarlo Fisichella, Adrian Sutil and Jaime Alguersuari are going to attempt a two stop race. Robert Kubica and Jenson Button remain fairly flexible and could go either way, depending on how their races unfold.

The heaviest driver on the grid is Rubens Barrichello, who with his fuel load can get all the way to lap 37 in theory. The lightest driver is pole-sitter Fernando Alonso, who will be visiting his garage for a glug of fuel shortly after the lights go out tomorrow afternoon (around lap 13).

• The qualifying results can be viewed here: Hungary 2009: Qualifying Result.
• The live notes can be viewed here: Hungary 2009: Live Qualifying Notes
• The qualifying report can be viewed here: Hungary 2009: Fernando Alonso Takes A Well Timed Pole Position
• The grid can be viewed here: Hungary 2009: The Grid