The weight of the single-seaters for the Abu Dhabi GP

Since the 2009 season, the FIA has made the weight of the cars public, with the fuel load that can be easily calculated following the Saturday qualifying session.

Here is the weight of each qualifying car for the Japanese Grand Prix, sorted in ascending order. Additionally, the exact amount of fuel and the driver’s position on the starting grid for the race have been added. This is to observe the different strategies.

The weight difference of the single-seaters between the top ten drivers (Q3) and the other drivers is striking. It’s Robert Kubica who has the least fuel in his car, with less than 50 kilos. Following are the two Brawn drivers even though they start only from 4th and 5th positions. Lewis Hamilton is the fourth most loaded with fuel but starts on pole. He is truly the fastest as he outclassed everyone in qualifying despite not being the lightest. If nothing changes, victory is promised to him.

Conversely, the other drivers were eliminated in Q1 and Q2 with nearly 90 kilos of fuel. The Renault drivers are the heaviest with weights never reached this year: Their cars weigh 708.3 and 710.8 kilos, which means more than 103 and 105 kilos of fuel. It’s a substantial load intended for a single pit stop like many other drivers.