Bahrain Qualifying By The Numbers

Just as we did in Australia lets see how 2019 qualifying for the 10 teams stacks up against their performances this time last year

First the 2018 fastest times:

Team Best 2018 time
Ferrari 01:27.958
Mercedes 01:28.124
RedBull 01:28.398
Renault 01:29.187
Toro Rosso 01:29.329
Haas 01:29.358
Force India/Racing Point 01:29.874
McLaren 01:30.212
Sauber/Alfa 01:31.063
Williams 01:31.414

Differences and percentages:

Team Time difference to leader % of leader’s time 2018
Ferrari   100.000%
Mercedes 0.166 100.189%
RedBull 0.440 100.500%
Renault 1.229 101.397%
Toro Rosso 1.371 101.559%
Haas 1.400 101.592%
Force India/Racing Point 1.916 102.178%
McLaren 2.254 102.563%
Sauber/Alfa 3.105 103.530%
Williams 3.456 103.929%

And here are the 2019 best times:

Team 2019 Best time
Ferrari 01:27.866
Mercedes 01:28.190
RedBull 01:28.752
Haas 01:28.757
McLaren 01:28.813
Sauber/Alfa 01:29.022
Toro Rosso 01:29.513
Force India/Racing Point 01:29.756
Renault 01:29.488
Williams 01:31.759

There are a few winners and losers this time round. The top 3 are still the same, but Renault have gone from best of the rest in 4th to 9th in 2019 with Toro Rosso dropping from 5th fastest to 7th. Positive improvements for Haas, McLaren and Alfa Romeo have given them the chance to close up on the leading teams and Williams are stuck down in last place.

When you look at the gaps and percentages from this year it works out like this

Team Time difference to leader % of leader’s time 2019
Ferrari 0.000 100.000%
Mercedes 0.324 100.369%
RedBull 0.886 101.008%
Haas 0.891 101.014%
McLaren 0.947 101.078%
Sauber/Alfa 1.156 101.316%
Toro Rosso 1.647 101.874%
Force India/Racing Point 1.890 102.151%
Renault 1.622 101.846%
Williams 3.893 104.431%

And here is how times compare with 2018 and we see that half the field are actually slower than last year, while Alfa & McLaren have made the biggest strides this time round with smaller improvements from Haas, Racing Point and Ferrari

Team Difference from 2018 % of 2018 time
Sauber/Alfa -2.041 97.76%
McLaren -1.399 98.45%
Haas -0.601 99.33%
Force India/Racing Point -0.118 99.87%
Ferrari -0.092 99.90%
Mercedes 0.066 100.07%
Toro Rosso 0.184 100.21%
Renault 0.301 100.34%
Williams 0.345 100.38%
RedBull 0.354 100.40%

Now if we look at the relative times to the leader we can see where the gaps have closed this time round and once again it’s Sauber that have made the biggest advance with McLaren also closing the gap to the front, with Haas & Racing Point also bringing the gaps down and in Relative terms RedBull have actually gone further back than Williams!

Team% of leader's time 2018% of leader's time 2019% difference from 2018
Sauber/Alfa103.530%101.316%-2.214%
McLaren102.563%101.078%-1.485%
Haas101.592%101.014%-0.578%
Force India/Racing Point102.178%102.151%-0.027%
Ferrari100.000%100.000%0.00%
Mercedes100.189%100.369%0.180%
Toro Rosso101.559%101.874%0.316%
Renault101.397%101.846%0.449%
Williams103.929%104.431%0.501%
RedBull100.500%101.008%0.508%

So Alfa Romeo are continuing their progress toward the sharp end and there’s positive signs for McLaren again this time round

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