12kph spike in wind velocity behind Stroll’s fifteenth defeat in a row: Qualifying knowledge

12kph spike in wind velocity behind Stroll’s fifteenth defeat in a row: Qualifying knowledge | Formulation 1

April 5, 2025

in Racing

Reading Time: 3 mins read

Lance Stroll was crushed by his crew mate in qualifying for the fifteenth grand prix in a row in Shanghai. Right here’s the important thing knowledge from Saturday’s session at Suzuka.

Lap time change from observe to qualifying

The shift in wind course between Friday and Saturday appeared to trigger issues for some groups greater than others. Aston Martin was one among 4 groups whose drivers didn’t enhance on their Friday lap instances in ultimate observe.

Nonetheless a few of these had been seemingly prioritising lengthy runs on larger gasoline after the disruption to the second session on Friday, or had been unable to finish deliberate efficiency runs attributable to one other pink flag on the finish of Saturday observe.

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Gaps between crew mates

Liam Lawson was a second slower than Max Verstappen of their first qualifying session collectively and 7 tenths down of their second. How he may need fared in his third – the primary on a monitor he’d pushed at earlier than – we’ll by no means know.

Yuki Tsunoda acquired nearer than Lawson however was nonetheless nearly half a second down. Tsunoda ran a noticeably steeper rear wing than Verstappen, a trait we’ve seen earlier than. Nonetheless he appeared extra relaxed with the RB21 than Lawson did.

For the primary time this yr the largest hole between crew mates was not at Pink Bull. Jack Doohan was solely a tenth of a second off Pierre Gasly at one stage in Q1, however made a mistake in Spoon on his ultimate run which accounted for the distinction between them.

Staff mate battle sequences

The most important hole between a pair of crew mates this week occured at Aston Martin. There, for the fifteenth grand prix qualifying session in a row, Fernando Alonso beat Lance Stroll. The crew’s youthful driver has achieved higher in dash race qualifying periods, beating Alonso in a single two weeks in the past, however within the common qualifying format he continues to lag behind.

The hole between the 2 was wider than standard attributable to Stroll’s off-track second in Q1. “He ran huge at flip six attributable to some robust tailwinds,” crew principal Andy Cowell defined. “There was a gust of wind 12kph stronger than his earlier run and that pushed him huge and thru the gravel. We knew the wind was going to be a problem at present, however he was simply unfortunate.”

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