So What Are The Lads Up To? P1 and P2 Peformance Of Ferrari and McLaren

I am looking at the performance levels of the McLaren and Ferrari teams after P1 and P2. I know riveting stuff! It is quite interesting thought to look at how similar the sector speeds and speed trap times are for both teams because you really get a glimpse at how closely matched the Ferrari's of Massa and Raikkonen and the McLaren's of Hamilton and Kovalainen really are.

P1

	S1	S2	S3		trap
Hamilton	287	281	266		Rai	316
Kov	287	280	264		Massa	315
Massa	286	279	264		Kov	312
Rai	285	278	264		Hamilton	312

P2

	S1	S2	S3		trap
Hamilton	285	280	265		Rai	314
Kov	284	278	264		Massa	313
Massa	285	277	262		Kov	313
Rai	283	276	na		Hamilton	312

The air temp,pressure and wind direction were all really consistent as well with the humidity % being 7 % higher in P2.

So now lets look at the thrilling sector times!

P1

	S1	S2	S3
Hamilton	25.1	28.3	42.1
Kov	25.1	28.4	42.4
Massa	25.2	28.4	42.2
Rai	25.3	28.4	42.2

P2

	S1	S2	S3
Hamilton	25.1	28.2	42.2
Kov	25.3	28.6	42.8
Massa	25.2	28.5	42.4
Rai	25.3	28.5	42.5

Hamilton was the only driver to pick up time; in sector two he picked up a whopping 1/10th, but he lost time on sector three by a one-tenth.

Massa found some balance and was able to take two-tenths off of his sector 3 time while losing a 1/10 in sector two.

It is also interestingto note that the Ferrari's lost 2KPH at the trap in P2 while Hamilton stayed the same and Heikki picked up a little.

As you can see in this thrilling comparison the times are really tight ;showing Ron Dennis may actually know what he is talking about when he said the Ferrari's and McLarens are both equal in performance and it's anybody's race.

I cannot wait for P3 and qualifying to take place. My guess is Lewis is going for pole and hoping to get some help from Heikki so he can distance himself from the field and pit early.

Ferrari seem to be working on race pace and I have a feeling they have some confidence in that all they have to do is lighten their fuel load for qualifying to match Hamiltons pace.

The Ferrari of Massa seemed to like the option tyre better than Kimi's and if Massa can take care of his tyres on a heavier race fuel load; he might be able to force the McLaren to pit for tyres first and at that point put on a screamer of lap while Hamilton is in the pits for fresh rubber.

This is where Alonso might come into the picture and the Kimster factor could also play out especially if Kimi is on the harder tyre compound and heavy on the fuel. I think the race is going to be decided by who has to come in first for tyres and fuel.