Quick F1 quali question

[OzzyR1]

Probably been covered here a multitude of times but the search function isn't working for me for some strange reason.

Could someone tell me what the score is for stage 3 quali this coming year - obviously they had to use race fuel levels which were dependant on strategy in 09. With re-fuelling banned, will they have to qualify with full tanks in 2010 or are there other rules/conditions governing the Saturday session?

Cheers.

[FourWheelDrift]

I think they are just running Q3 on whatever low fuel they want to, it's the tyres they don't want to hurt too bad as they have to start the race on the same tyres they use. So that would mean only one set allowed in Q3.

[OzzyR1]

Ah, thanks for that.

So I assume everyone will be carrying one or two laps worth of fuel for qualifying purposes and then have to fill up for the race in parc ferme or pre-start?

[Scuffers]

OzzyR1 said:

Ah, thanks for that.

So I assume everyone will be carrying one or two laps worth of fuel for qualifying purposes and then have to fill up for the race in parc ferme or pre-start?

Yup.

Not sure I can see the point in the top 10 starting with their qualifying tyres, but who knows?

More interestingly, the weekend tyre allocation has been cut, I suspect this will have more of an impact.

[mdm123]

one thing I never liked about the past few years of quali was that pole was never really a given to the faster driver due to different fuel loads.

[stephen300o]

Sorry to hijack, but are we getting the warm up back? now that the cars arn't parc ferme'd anymore.

[groomi]

Scuffers said:

OzzyR1 said:

Ah, thanks for that.

So I assume everyone will be carrying one or two laps worth of fuel for qualifying purposes and then have to fill up for the race in parc ferme or pre-start?

Yup.

Not sure I can see the point in the top 10 starting with their qualifying tyres, but who knows?

More interestingly, the weekend tyre allocation has been cut, I suspect this will have more of an impact.

I'm guessing here, but possibly the quickest way to complete a given race is to do the majority of it on hard tyres while the fuel load is heavy and then change to soft tyres for the last say 1/3rd of the race when the fuel load is lighter.

However, in qualifying you'll want the soft tyre for the quickest lap - so that is the big strategic decision to made right there.

[Jungles]

I think the teams will most probably have to make at least two tyre changes during a race, particularly in the hotter races. Even hard tyres will struggle to last for 2/3rds of a race at reasonable levels of grip. And keep in mind that the narrow front tyres will be subjected to more punishment this year than in the recent past.

If my guess is correct, some of the really fast teams may well choose to run softs for a sprint at the start of the race, hoping to pull a large gap before the first pit stops, then knuckle down for a long middle stint on hards before switching to softs for a short home run.

[Scuffers]

Jungles said:

I think the teams will most probably have to make at least two tyre changes during a race, particularly in the hotter races. Even hard tyres will struggle to last for 2/3rds of a race at reasonable levels of grip. And keep in mind that the narrow front tyres will be subjected to more punishment this year than in the recent past.

If my guess is correct, some of the really fast teams may well choose to run softs for a sprint at the start of the race, hoping to pull a large gap before the first pit stops, then knuckle down for a long middle stint on hards before switching to softs for a short home run.

not forgetting that the cars will be some 100+Kg's more at race start than last year...

realistically, I reckon 2 stops will be normal