Malaysia 2009: Post-Qualifying Car Weights

Malaysia 2009: Post-Qualifying Car Weights

Listed below are the weights of all the cars post-qualifying. The information is now made available by the FIA after qualifying is complete and it allows us to see who did well and who didn’t during Saturday’s running. From this we can work out who might be stopping first and we can have a guess at strategies for each driver. However, some factors will come in to play during tomorrow’s race, the safety car having the biggest impact on fuel consumption, and therefore pitstop times.

Malaysia 2009
Post-Qualifying Car Weights

Car Weight
Kilograms

1. British FlagJenson Button Brawn 660
2. Italian FlagJarno Trulli Toyota 656.5
3. German FlagSebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing 647
4. Brazilian FlagRubens Barrichello Brawn 664.5
5. German FlagTimo Glock Toyota 656.5
6. German FlagNico Rosberg Williams 656
7. Australian FlagMark Webber Red Bull Racing 656
8. Polish FlagRobert Kubica BMW 663
9. Finnish FlagKimi Raikkonen Ferrari 662.5
10. Spanish FlagFernando Alonso Renault 680.5
11. German FlagNick Heidfeld BMW 692
12. Japanese FlagKazuki Nakajima Williams 683.5
13. British FlagLewis Hamilton McLaren 688
14. Finnish FlagHeikki Kovalainen McLaren 688.9
15. French FlagSebastien Bourdais Scuderia Toro Rosso 670.5
16. Brazilian FlagFelipe Massa Ferrari 689.5
17. Brazilian FlagNelson Piquet Jr. Renault 681.9
18. Italian FlagGiancarlo Fisichella Force India 680.5
19. German FlagAdrian Sutil Force India 655.5
20. Swiss FlagSebastien Buemi Scuderia Toro Rosso 686.5

What grabs my attention immediately from looking at the weights of the cars is that Jenson Button, the driver who took pole position, was on 660kg, whereas directly behind him, Jarno Trulli and Sebastian Vettel were actually lighter. This only emphasises the dominance of the Brawn car at the moment, as Button was able to go faster with a heavier car.

We can also see that both Brawns are on a similar strategy, although Button will pit first. The same can be said of the Toyotas, and it should also be noted that with the same amount of fuel, Jarno Trulli was able to go quicker than his team mate; the Italian really is pretty handy at qualifying.

Sebastian Vettel qualified with very low fuel, the German clearly hoping to get as high up the grid as possible before the FIA demote him ten places for the penalty he incurred in Melbourne. Team mate Mark Webber is on a similar strategy to others around him, so he will be hoping to get among the front runners and score some decent points.

The heaviest driver on the grid is Nick Heidfeld, and once again McLaren will likely pit Lewis Hamilton before Heikki Kovalainen. Force India look to have split their strategy, with Giancarlo Fisichella going longer into the first stint as opposed to team mate Adrian Sutil, who will pit around the same time as the front runners.

6 comments

  • It’s really interesting to see the weights this year and just goes to show what a brilliant qualifying session Jesson Button had this morning. Given the weight of the other cars at the top of the grid, Rubens didn’t do too bad either!

    I think David Coulthard’s comment was spot one – “Jessons smiling so much he could be advertising teeth whitener” – think it just about sums up Jessons start to the 2009 season. It is great to see Jesson back at the right end of the grid after the last couple of seasons.

  • Given the weight of the other cars at the top of the grid, Rubens didn’t do too bad either!

    Good point. The nearest driver to Rubens in terms of weight and position was Kubica, who is 1.5kg lighter, yet Barrichello went P4 and Kubica P8. The difference in lap time was 0.5s, but in favour of the heavier car. That Brawn is pretty darn quick.

  • Ollie, just like to say what a brilliant job you are doing this year! When I read your plans for this season, I have to admit I thought you were over promising on what you could achieve.

    Keep up the good work and hope you enjoy tomorrows race – it’s going to be a cracker 🙂

  • Keep up the good work and hope you enjoy tomorrows race – it’s going to be a cracker 🙂

    Thanks Charlie. And it’s good to have you around here, I’m enjoying your thoughts and insights a lot. 🙂

    Like Vettel, I’m hoping for rain at some point during the race. It would be awesome to see if the Toyotas can keep up with Button, and if Barrichello can work his way back into play. And if it does rain, I cannot rule out a crazy-great drive from Vettel and some slippy-slidey moves from Raikkonen.

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