Why Q3 is faster than Q2?

[CHT]

Sorry to ask this question.

Is there any reason why the lap time in Q3 is always faster than Q2?

Is it due to the track rubber in effect?
Sandbagging?
Adrenaline?

[turbof1]

Probably to safe tyres. A bit too also due track rubbering in.

[Jersey Tom]

Lighter on fuel? (Guess, granted I haven't followed a single race all year and don't know what current regs are w.r.t fueling in quali).

[JimClarkFan]

I was under impression the top teams turned up their engine settings for Q3, I also think the top drivers hold something back

[SectorOne]

Driver going all out balls to the wall.
Engine setting (highest power)
Track still evolving a bit.
Absolutely on the limit in terms of fuel.

The first one depends on your car, if you know you have a car good for Q3 you leave something in the bag.
Not worth taking unnecessary risks.
But for teams fighting to get into Q3 or Q2 that session will effectively be the same as Q3 for front runners.

[Sevach]

2010 and 2011 i think RBR had a superspecial blowing mode that they only used for Q3.

Other than that, the top drivers keep their cards in their pockets.

[LionKing]

I think they stress engines utmost during Q3 as well as the affect of track being rubbered a bit more.

[JimClarkFan]

2010 and 2011 i think RBR had a superspecial blowing mode that they only used for Q3.

Other than that, the top drivers keep their cards in their pockets.

That was the rumour, partially confirmed by the fact that teams were banned from using their own engine maps the next season.

[rjsa]

You can sum it up to overall trying harder. From everyone in the team.

Anyone who runs (I mean by foot) keeps something saved for the last Km, I guess it is instinct: make the predator tink you are done and in the last minute you have soething to pull from the hat.

[WhiteBlue]

Its the other way round. They do not go as fast as they can in Q2 because they don't have to. In Q3 you have to take out all the stops to get pole. In Q2 you only need to beat six out of sixteen other guys, which in comparison is easy.

[marcush.]

session two is longer than session three so you need to accomodate a few more laps of running potential - the figures are out what an extra 10kg of fuel does cost in performance.
The difference in Track rubbering in should dimish over a weekend but sure the track will not gain in Q3 so if any the track improves towards end of Q2 .
Ambient and Track temps ...one would assume these are usually rising which would mean a loss in track performance but also a loss in engine performance ?
Would you deliberately run less aggressive maps? i don´t thinks so .You might choose to not rev her up quite as high in case you fel safe to make the cut anyways or decide to not stress the engine in case you are sure you will not make the cut as well ...but ...who knows.
Taking chances- i think no matter how easy a track is ,you will always have room for improvement ..Having made the cut there is not much to lose in trying to maximise what you think is in yourself and in the car-a major point.

Tyre sets -no 2 tyres are the same -one can assume a potential pole setter would make the cut with a soso set of tyres still but with the ultimate he might even drag a few more hundredths ..maybe solely on a psychological basis as you have invested so much effort to select the best of the allocation- obviously it is up to the driver and his technical staff to decide which parameters to look for to combine the available tyres ,be it shore hardness ,batchnumbers,dimensional correlation to your needs or other voodoo ..
Isn´t it required to carry some used rubber over to Qualy from Freepratice as well? so you might want to use those ?

[CHT]

Its the other way round. They do not go as fast as they can in Q2 because they don't have to. In Q3 you have to take out all the stops to get pole. In Q2 you only need to beat six out of sixteen other guys, which in comparison is easy.

I was actually looking at some of the past qualifying result. I think the approach for the top 5 and bottom 5 qualifiers can be very different.

For the bottom 5, I believe they must have given all their 100% in Q2 just to make sure they get into Q3, hence that might explain why some of their Q3 timing are slower than Q2. For sure some might be due to a mix of tyre saving strategy and not getting a perfect lap.

For those in the TOP 5, the result is very different. I think almost 100% of the time, they are always quicker in Q3. Perhaps these are the drivers who have some speed advantage on hand to save the best for last.

I am not sure how much is due to car setting and how much is due driver factor. But what is really amazing is how these drivers can always deliver their fastest lap on their final attempt

[marcush.]

Its the other way round. They do not go as fast as they can in Q2 because they don't have to. In Q3 you have to take out all the stops to get pole. In Q2 you only need to beat six out of sixteen other guys, which in comparison is easy.

I was actually looking at some of the past qualifying result. I think the approach for the top 5 and bottom 5 qualifiers can be very different.

For the bottom 5, I believe they must have given all their 100% in Q2 just to make sure they get into Q3, hence that might explain why some of their Q3 timing are slower than Q2. For sure some might be due to a mix of tyre saving strategy and not getting a perfect lap.

For those in the TOP 5, the result is very different. I think almost 100% of the time, they are always quicker in Q3. Perhaps these are the drivers who have some speed advantage on hand to save the best for last.

I am not sure how much is due to car setting and how much is due driver factor. But what is really amazing is how these drivers can always deliver their fastest lap on their final attempt

right..you might not even have a good set of tyres left over when trying everything to make it into Q3..