Alonso laps teammate. Why?

[Zaius]

I have been following F1 for quite a few years, but have always been perplexed by just how and in what magnitude teammates' cars differ from each other. I have always been unsure whether it's a matter of money allocation, and a team might decide to put most of it in one car. Maybe a question of driver preference, where one driver usually makes the right choice on his car, and another makes a weaker one. Or maybe even it has to do with driver ability, where one driver simply gets more out of a car than his teammate.

In any case, I simply cannot comprehend how any of these factors would result in one driver lapping his teammate, and when doing so, doing it with ease. Alonso simply ran away from Tulli after he lapped him, and I know Trulli has an aggresive driving style. Anyone know what are the biggest factors contributing to this phenomenon?

I also considered Webber's holding up the field during the first 16 laps, but even after that Alonso seemed to just continually get away from Trulli/Schumi.

[KC]

I think that the current breed of F1 cars have such a small window of setup that it can mean the difference. I think the difference between a car that is setup perfect and a car that is okay, is a lap in a race. Just alittle off can mean enough time that it costs more than a minute in two hours.

[Knowlesy]

Well, it was just Trolley demonstrating his usual race "form". He can't race. At all. Well, bar Hockenheim '03 and Europe '99. And A1-Ring '97. That's it. Pathetic.

[Mr V]

I think that knowlesy is right, his usual race form. It's something that Martin Brundle and James Allen mention alot.

It seems to me that the only time he comes alive is when someone is behind him trying to get by for position, but then that will always slow him down because he is fighting for that position.

Imo, Flavour flav has made a mistake by re-signing Trulli. Alonso is going to need someone who will push him as a team mate and as a consequense push the team along more. If Flav still owns Webbers contract he ought to try getting him out of the Jaguar and into the Renault. That would be a good partnership.

[esorniloc]

I agree, that race proved that Trulli can't race (he can qualify) and why Renualt re-siged Trulli, I have no idea.

He simply isn't good enough for such a top line seat.

[Inigo Montoya]

I'm not a big fan of Trulli either, though I wouldn't go as far as knowlesy. The big mistake Flabio made was turfing Fisi. He'd have been the perfect teammate for Fernando...

But you all knew I was going to say that.

[paulzinho]

I think keeping Trulli was a way of keeping stability within the team and he's got the experience too.

Still doesn't explain his race pace though.

[LindaC]

Originally posted by esorniloc
I agree, that race proved that Trulli can't race (he can qualify) and why Renualt re-siged Trulli, I have no idea.

He simply isn't good enough for such a top line seat.

The team obviously think he is.....and they haven't done too much wrong this season.

Are you saying that Renault F1, with all their data on their drivers and knowledge of technical problems their drivers have suffered, don't have a clue?

Insulting to Renault, I reckon.

[Logrence]

Alonso was bloody quick, simple as.

[Mr V]

Trulli wasn't, simple as.

[Logrence]

Harsh...but true!

[Stuart Malaske]

I really thought he shouldve been on the front row with Alonso. He had the car and proved he could qualify well on Friday. But Alonso lapped just about the entire field. Including Schumacher!

Either he didnt have the car setup properly or chose the wrong tyre compound.

Trulli: "I lost grip almost immediately: the car was sliding all over the place."

[ralf fan]

Trulli has benefitted from single lap qualifying as his performances have been great but he always seems to stryggle on race day as he is not consistent in his lap times.

[climb]

Maybe someone has short memory problems!
In the previous GP Trulli outperformed Alonso in each day of the GP, remember?
Way faster in free sessions, way faster in quals, way faster even in race!
Rightly, nobody said that Alonso forgot how to drive: simply twas a better day for one and worse for another.
We all agree that Alonso has certainly better numbers than Trulli, but sayng that he simply can't drive is an odd exageration, IMO

[jetsetter]

I think that Trulli can't cut it against Alonso, while it is easy to blame Webber for holding the queue up whilst in second you must remember that later in the race Webber was leaving Trulli behind whilst he was in turn holding Schumacher up, all this while his teammate was running away with the race. I personally think Trulli was lucky to retain his drive.

[Peter Mallett]

Intresting question and I think it is only partially answered by Trulli's race abilities.

I think the two things that Fernando had going for him was a nimble chassis and no reason to defend his postion. That meant he could concentrate on the perfect lap time after time. Not having seen the lap times I would suggest his times were consistently within a tenth of each other until he started lapping slower cars. (Perhaps somebody could provide the stats?).

Yes Trulli is a better qualifier than racer (a deserved criticism IMO) but he was defending his position all through the race and as has been pointed out, that means he compromises his performance.

[Dino IV]

It's not so shocking, Alonso had a clear race, a perfect car and thus an optimal result. Behind him were cars which could lap faster and should have won the race (notably Kimi, JPM and Ralf) if it wasn't for all the things that make races harder even if you are faster or as fast. Like i.e. less perfect starts, slower contenders on a tight circuit or the threat of attack from behind. Williams complained about traction control systems not working too well i.e. Trulli's set-up wasn't ideal either as his car already showed in Saturday qualifying, perhaps he had a different tyre choice as well and he commented about a lack of grip throughout the race.

[Dino IV]

Peter: In the official data sheets of www.tag-heuer.com/f1 there used to be a "complete results" of 150+ pages which noted every timed lap, every sector of the race. But since Australia 2003 they don't do that anymore for some mysterious reason. If anyone knows of a new publication site of this information, please let us know.

[twig]

What Paulzinho touched on is exactly right.

Renault needs stability, and at the moment, they are beginning to look like a force, with Alonso being their lead driver.

Sure, having another really fast driver alongside Alonso would be nice, but at the moment, the personality of the two drivers works very well, and why would you bring in another hot-head, to ruin all the good work.

Alonso needs to feel comfortable, sure, he might be pushed to go faster, but he might also be pushed into mistakes.

[Peter Mallett]

Originally posted by twig
What Paulzinho touched on is exactly right.

Renault needs stability, and at the moment, they are beginning to look like a force, with Alonso being their lead driver.

Sure, having another really fast driver alongside Alonso would be nice, but at the moment, the personality of the two drivers works very well, and why would you bring in another hot-head, to ruin all the good work.

Alonso needs to feel comfortable, sure, he might be pushed to go faster, but he might also be pushed into mistakes.

But back on topic. Why do you think Trulli was lapped by his team mate?

[Rossi # 46]

Originally posted by Zaius
I have been following F1 for quite a few years, but have always been perplexed by just how and in what magnitude teammates' cars differ from each other. I have always been unsure whether it's a matter of money allocation, and a team might decide to put most of it in one car. Maybe a question of driver preference, where one driver usually makes the right choice on his car, and another makes a weaker one. Or maybe even it has to do with driver ability, where one driver simply gets more out of a car than his teammate.

In any case, I simply cannot comprehend how any of these factors would result in one driver lapping his teammate, and when doing so, doing it with ease. Alonso simply ran away from Tulli after he lapped him, and I know Trulli has an aggresive driving style. Anyone know what are the biggest factors contributing to this phenomenon?

I also considered Webber's holding up the field during the first 16 laps, but even after that Alonso seemed to just continually get away from Trulli/Schumi.

Why can a footballer be man of the match one week, yet have an ordinary game the next?

Because they are all human and have off days. It just so happens that while Trulli was having an off day, Alonso was having the best race of his career.

[BootsOntheSide]

Trulli doesn't have many on-days though. Even Hcokenheim wasn't that impressive on raceday.

Trulli doesn't belong in a top car. jetsetter's point about Webber being faster than Trulli later on was very true. Consistantly Jarno has wasted opportunities and deserves no more. I doubt he can teach Alonso anything more.

[Valve Bounce]

Different setting, simple as that

[Mr V]

Originally posted by Peter Mallett
Not having seen the lap times I would suggest his times were consistently within a tenth of each other until he started lapping slower cars. (Perhaps somebody could provide the stats?).

On an ITV graphic, Alonso's 3 previous laps (at that time) were 1.23.8, 1.23.6, 1.23.7.

Exactly as you were referring to.

[JR Ewing]

Originally posted by Rossi # 46
Why can a footballer be man of the match one week, yet have an ordinary game the next?

Because they are all human and have off days. It just so happens that while Trulli was having an off day, Alonso was having the best race of his career.

Trulli's off days seem to include every Sunday though...