The Red Bull's unbeatable first two laps.

[MrKipling43]

Have you guys seen this story?

http://www.planetf1.com/driver/18227/7518314/-Rena...

Seems that the Renault motors required 18 litres (18kg) less fuel than the Merc and Fezza motors - no wonder Vettel was so fast on the first couple of laps. The combo of the exhaust-warmed tyres and a full 18kgs less weight on board - what an advantage.

Either that, or they had an extra 18kgs of fuel to blow over the diffuser!

[superkartracer]

So would that also mean Kimi will be even more rapid?

[kambites]

That would certainly explain why the Red Bulls seem to be so much faster at the start of the race and in qualifying but can't maintain the gap in lap times for the whole race.

[fomb]

Doesn't explain why every other Renault engined car wasn't at the front too. 15 kilos of fuel is a lot in an F1 car.

[revrange]

It something that has been known about for a while that the Renault engine uses less fuel than the others, I think the gap has come down as Mercedes and Ferrari use different maps and fuel as best they can to help that.

Its a big advantage off the line and would explain why Mclaren or Ferrari rarely jumped Vettel on the start

[JxT]

Leaving the EBD on "max" for the first two laps isnt an option for this year....

[MrKipling43]

Doesn't make any difference in qually, they're all on empty. That's the car and Seb, but made him unstoppable in the first couple of laps of the race. I wonder how many places other Renault engine cars were able to make up in the first few laps of the race?

[EDLT]

18 litres of fuel doesn't weigh 18kg.

[kambites]

MrKipling43 said:

Doesn't make any difference in qually, they're all on empty. That's the car and Seb, but made him unstoppable in the first couple of laps of the race. I wonder how many places other Renault engine cars were able to make up in the first few laps of the race?

Oh, I thought the last phase of qualifying had to be run on race fuel levels? Can they refuel in park ferme then?

[EDLT]

They started doing Q3 on fumes when the refuelling ban came in.

[kambites]

EDLT said:

They started doing Q3 on fumes when the refuelling ban came in.

Ah, I hadn't realised that.

[C2996]

so how did mark webber end up losing the most places at the start of the grand prix than anybody else, maybe vettel was just too good this year at the starts, rather than some huge car advantage

[kambites]

C2996 said:

so how did mark webber end up losing the most places at the start of the grand prix than anybody elsee

Wasn't that because his KERS had usually blown up on the formation lap?

[MrKipling43]

C2996 said:

so how did mark webber end up losing the most places at the start of the grand prix than anybody else, maybe vettel was just too good this year at the starts, rather than some huge car advantage

Well, to maximise an advantage like that you need to be in clear air. Webber rarely was.

[CBR JGWRR]

kambites said:

C2996 said:

so how did mark webber end up losing the most places at the start of the grand prix than anybody elsee

Wasn't that because his KERS had usually blown up on the formation lap?

Did his KERS ever actually work?

[7 Sevens]

EDLT said:

18 litres of fuel doesn't weigh 18kg.

True. 15/18litres weighs about 10.7/12.8kg's.

[MrKipling43]

What a huge difference that is, completely negates the point of the article and my post, doesn't it.

[Richjam]

Would they not have to run more ballast to keep the overall weight correct?

[DrTre]

Must admit I was always under the impression they ran broadly the same weight/volume of fuel but the efficiency of the engine meant they could afford to be more aggressive on the mapping, more of the time.

[crofty1984]

DrTre said:

Must admit I was always under the impression they ran broadly the same weight/volume of fuel but the efficiency of the engine meant they could afford to be more aggressive on the mapping, more of the time.

This seems likely IMO.
All cars are as close to the minimum weight limit anyway so I can't see the weight being the issue.

Assuming the min weight is "wet" of course, otherwise I'm just being stupid.