Sebastian Vettel vs Lewis Hamilton

Comparison of the drivers Sebastian Vettel VS Lewis Hamilton - BelgianGP 2017

Final Position Sebastian Vettel - P2 Lewis Hamilton - P1

So, as requested by my anon, here’s the first comparison of the Belgian grand prix. The question is whether or not Seb had the pace to actually overtake Lewis during the race.

Truth is, the data shows that they were very close.

Both cars had a similar strategy, with a two-stop race, and had a similar choice in tyre compounds, although Ferrari opted for Seb to use a set of ULTRA to attempt a comeback.

Stint #1 Both Lewis and Seb started on a set used Ultra Softs - leftovers from qualifying the previous day. Lewis got 15 laps out of them, whereas Seb got 17 laps.

Sebastian’s average lap time in the first stint was 1:50.731

Lewis’ average lap time in the first stint was 1:50.722

meaning that the difference between the two was a mere

+0.009

which proves that the Merc and the Ferrari were extremely close timing-wise while running the same compound.

Stint #2 Going for the same compound once again, both went for a set of new Softs, which makes me wonder if they were going to finish the race with them or attempt a tyre change at the very end for Ferrari, which was jump-started by the Safety Car caused by the two Force India.

Sebastian’s average lap time for the second stint, which was 16 laps for him, was 1:52.002 

Lewis’ average lap time, on his 18 lap stint, was 1:51.842

despite being on the same compound, the difference this time was bigger at

+0.160

Stint #3 - pit stop caused by safety car After the messy accident between the two Force Indias, the Safety Car came out and prompted a general rush to the pitlane to change tyres. Seb went for new Ultras, and Lewis for another set of Softs

Sebastian’s average lap time was 2:04.494

Lewis’ average lap time was 2:04.358

obviously the lap time is longer due to the yellow flags laps and the SC car laps. The difference in the last sting was

+0.136

Overall Taking in consideration the lap times, overall

Sebastian’s average lap time for the race was 1:55.572

Lewis’ average lap time for the race 1:55.519

Which means that the difference between the two was

+0.054

I don't know if you've already calculated this, but according to RB Dan suffered a gearbox problem during the race which made it impossible for them to show the speed they had on Friday + saturday

I did consider that, but I can’t tell in the times when the problem starting showing up so I can’t put that in the average. At the same time though, while RB and Merc were on Ultras, RBR was still slightly faster than Lewis.