The Belgian Grand Prix - Practice 3 Formula 1

things, great racing, iconic corners, changeable weather and we

have had a lot of that, starting with torrential rain, a bit of

sunshine but we are expecting heavy showers today which should create

some fantastic sessions and even a topsy-turvy grid as we head into the

Grand Prix tomorrow. A lot of news over the last 24 hours. Sebastien

Vettel's date yesterday was like to buy technical problems, Alex Rossi

is out of the Marussia, Max Chilton is back in it but we do have a new

driver on the grid, Andre Lotterer, taking the place to be -- the place

of Kamui Kobayashi at Caterham. Mercedes dominated yesterday. That

is why there are just 11 points between their drivers in the

championship. Daniel Ricciardo is in third, Fernando Alonso jumps up to

fourth place after that podium place in Hungary. Three world champions

are outside the top five, Sebastian Vettel, Jenson Button and Kimi

Raikkonen does not even make the top ten. No prizes for guessing who is

leading in the Constructors' Championship.

In the pit lane to date we have Tom Clarkson and Jennie Gow. What is the

weather going to do, no pressure, just get it right! I have looked at

the radar and it says there is a 50% just get it right! I have looked at

chance of rain in this session but if you talk to the teams, Mercedes

say that no rain it expected in the session but it will range in

qualifying. I think we will see the cars coming out on wet or

intermediate tyres at the start and then with slick tyres, a dry run at

the end of the session. It is 12 degrees at the moment. 11 laps, that

is all Sebastian Vettel managed to do yesterday so he will be hoping to

get a good run under his belt in his Red Bull. And no change in the

Marussia line-up over like, Max Chilton is back in it! -- overnight.

Always fantastic crowds here and it is such a stunning circuit to look

at. If you are at home, you can get involved in the session through the

BBC sport Facebook page or tweet us with hashtag #bbcf1. We might even

read them out. Ben Edwards and Alec minute -- Allan McNish

read them out. Ben Edwards and Alec commentary. COMMENTATOR: Good

morning. Great to see commentary. COMMENTATOR: Good

helicopter looking down from the commentary. COMMENTATOR: Good

of the hill with the dissent through the right-hander at Rivage. It is a

beautiful circuit. It has a natural feel, a characteristic that is not

usual and that is why feel, a characteristic that is not

enjoyed it, the drivers and the teams and the fans because you get

some spectacular views up through Eau Rouge, one Shimon, Pouhon,

some spectacular views up through legendary corners -- Blanchimont.

some spectacular views up through have loved the track ever since I

first came here. And to watch have loved the track ever since I

Formula One car here is spectacular. The nice part is there is only one

cornerback has changed which is the Bus Stop chicane. The whole

characteristic is still exactly the same. When you go down the hill from

La Source and through Eau Rouge it is a daunting sight through the

visor and in the cockpit. In a Formula One car in these damp and

greasy conditions still extremely fast, take a deep breath before you

attack that. It will be tricky for the first few laps. Marco Mattiacci

off Ferrari heading towards their Garros for the start of the session.

Fernando Alonso had a pretty good day yesterday -- towards their

garage. He is looking pretty relaxed, third fastest in both

sessions yesterday behind the all conquering Mercedes. I think this

could be a good weekend for them, their car has a bit of understated,

and in these long corners that can work to your advantage --

understeer. They did three runs of four laps yesterday. But he has been

looking very competent all the way through Friday. Intermediate tyres

on the McLaren are probably the right solution on this occasion

unlike in Hungary. That was one they will want to forget. But

intermediate tyres are the order of the day, there is no standing water

but it will be slippery. It is already driving a little bit, you

can see light patches as we come through Pouhon with Bottas. It will

be pretty quick before somebody goes on to slicks. The question is

whether enough cars run on the track to actually try it up properly.

Temperature is already up to 16 degrees on the track as well. A

little bit of variation in choice of tyres as they go out for the first

part of the session. Teams are trying to look after their

intermediate tyres. It is worth mentioning that just before this

session there was a support race qualifying session and at the end of

that, they were trying slick tyres. As Allan was saying, I think we will

see them on slicks soon. Sebastian Vettel as them on his car at the

moment, he is in the car and dying to get going after his problems

yesterday. Valtteri Bottas has come straight back in. The teams will be

looking at sector times, trying to establish which tyre is best at the

moment. No movement yet from Hamilton. He took pole position here

last year but was beaten on the opening lap by Sebastian Vettel who

took the race victory. You would think that the battle will be

between the Mercedes drivers this time. We will see if anybody else

can join in, perhaps Williams can put pressure on but looking at the

times from yesterday, you would think Mercedes will take it. They

have got a car that will work in every sector.

have got a car that will work in different parts, the long drag up

through Eau Rouge and into Les Combes which is all about

straight-line Street. RADIO: We will take it easy so we don't

straight-line Street. RADIO: We will damage. That is the right thing to

do. They are talking about the intermediate tyre. If it is going to

be wet for qualifying, you need to save those tyres as much as

possible, enter button thinking clearly about the future as opposed

to the here and now -- Jenson Button. You have this last part,

sector three, coming back through the flat out Blanchimont left-hander

and into the Bus Stop chicane. The middle sector is all high-speed

corners. You need some downforce but you don't want a real balance. It is

interesting comparing some of the speeds with last year, the previous

generation car, now we speeds with last year, the previous

hybrid cars. Less downforce but faster in a straight line and top

speeds are up by about ten mph. They are a full 1.3 seconds slower in the

middle sector and that is all about downforce. They have the increased

hybrid boost coming out of La Source down the hill towards Eau Rouge and

also out of Stavelot on the long drag back. They have less drag and

downforce in the 2014 cars. That has the negative effect of being a bit

more tricky to drive and also slightly harder tyres than in 2013.

They lose out in the middle sector but gain in the first and third.

Sebastian Vettel has gone out. Rosberg coming back into the pits,

Hamilton has also gone out. Rosberg looks like he will do a

drive-through and straight back out again, obviously checking speeds

through the pit lane. He will do a practice start. It is quite tricky

because there is a split in the track conditions.

A little bit of oversteer as he put the power down, some wheel spin. But

virtually no revs at all. He was doing a preparation for the clutch

white point. -- bite point. Was that why the revs were dipping? Exactly.

They are using the time when the circuit is not optimum to just do

these system checks. We have seen Mercedes do this quite a lot. It

suggests they are a bit better prepared than everybody else still.

Funnily enough, Lewis Hamilton went out on the full wet tyres because he

is saving his intermediates for this afternoon. Daniel Ricciardo was

ninth fastest in first practice and eighth fastest in second practice

and Adrian Newey has said they have taken off some downforce to make

sure they are not too far down on straight-line speeds. They were a

little better than they have been a battle compromise them in qualifying

in particular. They are trying to not be in a situation where they are

sitting there being passed by those around them on the straights but it

could cost them in qualifying pace. I would expect them to be able to

maintain that with lower downforce levels but they were quick through

Eau Rouge, which will be flat out through qualifying but not in the

race. Ricciardo was the quickest overall yesterday at that point but

by the time he got to the top of the hill at Les Combes, he was six miles

per hour slower than Nico Rosberg -- Nico Hulkenberg. I suppose it shows

that they have changed their setup a little bit. We have Nico Rosberg out

at the moment, taking it steady on the intermediate tyres. Most cars

are in the pits at the moment. the intermediate tyres. Most cars

the Mercedes cars on the track at the moment.

the Mercedes cars on the track at wet tyres whereas Rosberg is on the

intermediates. Conditions were changeable in qualifying last year

and it all came down to correct choice of tyres with the slick tyres

the correct ones. A practice start for Lewis Hamilton.

Higher revs for Hamilton, around 6000 as opposed to 2000, 3000 from

Rosberg but he did get the power down well. He is on the full wet

tyre which has eight different setup. But a good start. They are

using this time to be able to practice these things and get more

data and information. He is moving off the conventional line to keep

those wet tyres cool. You can see the dry line opening up, Alonso

using the wet line initially and then moving onto the dry line and

everybody is just protecting their tyres. He is on intermediates as

well, yet to win here at Spa but he has had some strong results in the

past. Maybe one of the reasons he has not won here, in 2006, one of

his best years on his way to winning the championship, there was no

comprehension that year. That maybe affects it. -- there was no Belgian

Grand Prix that year. affects it. -- there was no Belgian

a victory for awhile but he did have that very strong second place last

time out in Hungary and he will be going into his 227th from

pre-tomorrow with Ferrari still, and they are very anxious to keep him

pre-tomorrow with Ferrari still, and happy and keep him on

pre-tomorrow with Ferrari still, and staying with the team for the next

yesterday. Romain Grosjean managed to have a good setup. Pastor

Maldonado had eight pig shunt pulled back off the kerb and seemed

to drive onto the grass again. I thought he was looking back into the

cockpit, but he got dragged back onto the grass. There was a lot of

damage. There was the end of his session. The car not showing us any

temperatures at all, it is All Black and white, because we're not getting

any kind of temperature range that the thermal camera can operate at.

Pastor Maldonado yesterday how the accident, and Esteban Gutierrez had

a problem with the Sauber. They had a problem with the engine recovery

system. He went off with a big crash and Blanchimont. They got it sorted.

These power systems are incredibly complex. Adrian Newey said they are

still not on top of the power units, they still get some surprises. That

is all sorted for Pastor Maldonado. A view because of damage to the car

but it wasn't as bad as we first thought. No curfews were broken in

the process of Vic -- of fixing those cars. I saw a

tweet from the technical boss congratulating the composite part of

cater for the hard work they have been doing this week. They have the

new nose on the Caterham, so their work has been brought to fruition.

Jenson Button chatting away to his race engineer, the new race

engineer. No rush to get him back out on the circuit. There is the

Caterham of Andre Lotterer, the man going into his first ever Grand Prix

weekend. Former team-mate of yours, Alan, you are a reigning WC world

champion, but he was world champion a couple of years ago and now

getting his first glimpse of Formula One. He did a good job yesterday?

getting his first glimpse of Formula think you did a very good job. He

came in without having any running in a Formula One car for maybe 12

years. But he was one of the drivers hoping to get his chance back then

in 2002, however it didn't quite come to him and Jaguar fell apart.

Ultimately they then became Red Bull funnily enough, but he didn't get

his chance and went to Japan and sports cars. Now he has a one-off

here in Spa. He is German but he was brought up around the corner. He is

the first one who has rented out onto slicks. I think these are the

conditions he would relish. It is difficult because he does not know

the car very well. But he has got a very good feel. Sorry, he is on the

intermediate tyres. He has got that style that will work with these

hybrid cars. He raced for Audi at Spa earlier this year. He did not

win on that occasion but he has won Spa earlier this year. He did not

here in the past. He was telling you yesterday that he has two break a

fraction earlier at La Source than in sports cars? On most corners,

because sports cars have a significant higher downforce, so he

had to break earlier, 30 of 40 metres earlier, going into the first

corner. He had a big smile on his face yesterday. He was equal to his

team-mate Marcus Ericsson, so I think he has acquitted himself very

well. There is Max Chilton in the Marussia, after all the confusion of

yesterday. He's definitely in the car for the rest of the weekend. The

track is beginning to dry up a bit now and he is on the intermediate

tyres. No one has decided to go out on the slicks yet. Does Chilton make

the corner? Yes he does. Some of your comments coming in. "Williams

have been good on fast tracks, so how come they are not challenging

the Mercedes? " I think it is a bit early to say yet because we have not

seen qualifying. I think when it comes to it, Massa and Bottas could

be the next behind the two Mercedes cars. It is not nice. Not entirely

happy with the way the car is feeling at the moment. While we have

a chance, let's get down to the pits because we can speak to Jonathan

Beale from McLaren. Not a lot going on behind us? I wish! Although it

looks quiet on the service end a lot of work going on behind the scenes

to prepare for a challenging day. What are we waiting for? We're

waiting for the track to dry out a bit. There is no point in going out

and using these tyres unnecessarily. We have a lot

and using these tyres unnecessarily. to set the car up, getting the

braking system, the traction system, and mapping our energy recovery

system. There are some longer straights, so we want to optimise

where we are using the longer straights. If you want to -- if you

optimise everything, what can you achieve this weekend? Since the

British Grand Prix, the car has had more performance. I think we

probably underperformed in the last two races. Here we need an operation

blue -- and operationally clean weekend.

We need to be alert and on our toes and we aim to move ourselves further

up the Constructors' Championship board. There are two things going

on. The primary focus is aerodynamics, aerodynamics and

aerodynamics! Behind that, getting the underlying architecture of the

car right next year, with the shift from Mercedes Honda engines. How is

the Honda programme coming on? Our primary focus is still on getting

the most out of this car and working with Mercedes. To bring a new power

unit to be ready requires a lot of work in all areas. And yes, it is

very in courage in. -- very encouraging. Do you expect a

development year, 2015? I think it is still a development year for

everybody. If you look at Mercedes during the course of this year, they

have continued to improve, as have Ferrari and Renault. I don't think

we will see majority for two or three years with these engines. It

is a big ask for Honda, yes it is. But I believe they are up for it.

They are a huge organisation and racing as part of their blood and

we're looking forward to working with them. It raises the question of

experience in the cockpit. Where are we at with Jenson Button's

contractual situation next year? He is asking where I am at with your

contract! Jensen is a fabulous guy, a world champion, it is great to

have him in the line-up. As you expect, we're not going to tell you

about our contracts. When can we tell you -- when can we expect some

news? We're not in a rush, we will not be announcing anything until the

end of the season. He is the most experienced man on the grid and one

of the big talking points this weekend is the arrival of Max

Verstappen next year, who will be just 17, what are your thoughts? I

don't know Max personally so it is hard for me to comment from a

distance. But in general terms the young guys are very talented and

very quick. What we have to recognise, as we've seen with Kevin

Magnussen coming in this year, and Roman stepping up to the pace is one

thing but stepping up to the white heat of expectation and the pressure

is something quite different. It is exciting to see young guys coming

through. For old guys like me, it is tempting to say they don't have

enough experience, but they do and they are quick, and they deserve an

opportunity. We need to make sure they have a support system around

them to protect them from the likes of you guys who want to trip them up

when they make a mistake. What does it say, does it mean the cars are

too easy to drive? I don't it say, does it mean the cars are

If you look at what Daniel Ricciardo has done this year, he has come

straight in and done a fantastic job this year. Bottas is doing a

fantastic job. Kevin is doing a fantastic job. I think it is the old

guys we need to worry about, which is great. Thanks very much.

Interesting picking up on that, he was talking about some of the other

drivers and the only one who was relevant there was Kevin Magnussen,

because he is their driver. Even he has done a lot of racing at Renault

level, which Formula One. Max Verstappen is

currently racing in Formula Formula One. Max Verstappen is

in his first ever season in cars. He came out of karts before that. He is

very young and beaks periods of life is the bigger factor rather than

racing a car to be honest. -- the experience of life. He is quick, no

question about it. In Formula Three, that was the championship that

Daniil Kvyat did last year alongside JP three. The results at this time

for Verstappen are actually slightly better than Daniil Kvyat. Kvyat has

been a bit of a star in the Toro Rosso. Therefore I think the driving

side of things is the lesser question, it is the question of

everything else in the pit lane, the media activity, the meetings, just

the simple fact that it is looking like a 21 Grand Prix season next

year, which is going to be a heck of an amount of travelling. For a young

person, that is quite tough. That is another element of Formula One that

perhaps isn't always thought about. It is quiet in the pit lane but I

believe you are at Ferrari? Yes, they are just having a look at

Fernando Alonso's car. Seeing as he is and Kimi Raikkonen's car are in

the garage, we can look at the different setups. Fernando Alonso's

car, the front wings are completely different. They are setting his up

for a low downforce, low drag, racing optimum setup. There are a

couple of slots in the side and played at the moment, a very

slimline rear wing, let's optimise everything on the car. At the front

you can just see the two upright fins leading back to the seven

element front wing. That is Fernando Alonso's number 14 car. If I get

Pete to traverse quickly to Kimi Raikkonen's car, seamlessly, you

will be able to spot the difference. If you look at this car, they have

not got the two upright pillars, they have got the cross up straight

is coming out in three elements over the top of the seven element front

wing. That is a bit difference at the front. If you look at the back,

hopefully you can spot the difference before I pointed out.

That is the normal rear wing. It has got seven different slots in the air

plate and it is a bigger wing. If you look, it is slightly concave.

That is the difference between the two cars. Hopefully we will be able

to see a difference in the performance we get out of it. We

will be able to tell, when they get out on track eventually. Thanks very

much, a good bit of spot the difference going on. It is

interesting that even in the same team they will keep experimenting

even at this relatively late stage of the weekend. This is the final

practice and they have two decide on the ultimate setup of the car after

this, going into qualifying, and then they are not allowed to change

it. They are still trying different things on those two cars to find

exactly what they want to run. They were looking at that yesterday and

Raikkonen ran the rear wing as opposed to the front wing. They were

back and forward and Alonso was predominantly staying on the higher

downforce package. They are looking at it for today, first practice

three. The brake ducts are a big factor. We

know Ferrari is not one of the quickest on the straights. Red Bull

are in a similar situation, they are trying to thin it out. Everyone is

trying to find a balance. A nice bit of blue sky above us. Hopefully we

will see a bit more action on track. Only three drivers have actually set

some lap time but all of them have been out for installation laps.

Bianchi currently fastest than his team-mate. Thanks for some of your

comments coming in. Peter asks the good old question, if all the cars

were equal, who do you think would be quickest? That is always the big

question, because the cars are not all equal and that is part of the

fun of Formula One, seeing which combination comes out on top. I

think probably most people would consider, for pure speed and

performance over a Grands Prix, you have got several drivers up there

that are fairly similar sort of performance level, the likes of

Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso, Sebastian Vettel, and you have to

start including Daniel Ricciardo in that group with the performance he

has put in this year so far. But we never quite know because they are

not in the same equipment. Lotus have got to look ahead now, it

has been a horrible season for them. I think they were looking at 2015

after Melbourne. They had dreadful reliability at the beginning of the

year, one of the worst teams in terms of reliability so far. And

performance, Malaysia was one of their highlights when Grosjean got

into the points and he had a big smile on his face but that was a

long time ago. And he was regularly on the podium last year and was a

main challenger to Sebastian Vettel towards the end of the season. He

has kept his head very well in a difficult circumstance. Maldonado

went from Williams to Lotus thinking it was the right move for his

career. But Williams have gone towards the front of the grid and

Lotus towards the back. Sergio Perez getting ready to come out for Force

India. Still 33 minutes to go. Qualifying coming up later, we will

see more action then because there is a time limit in terms of when

they have to set a lap time in each of those qualifying sessions. That

is on BBC1 at 12:10pm. We had a long interview with Felipe Massa and we

will be speaking to Max Verstappen who will be joining Formula One next

year but is already on the scene. He will be doing some Friday morning

test sessions this year and so even as a 16-year-old, he will get his

hands on a Formula One car. We hope you can join us later for that as we

are waiting for the track conditions to improve a little bit more. You

can see the dry line beginning to develop. It just needs a few cars

out there now and it will be in good shape. But who will be first to go

out and dry it out for the rest? It is usually a Marussia or a Caterham

or a Lotus who need the track mileage and diet less concerned with

the negative impact towards qualifying -- and are less

concerned. It is still pretty wet going into La Source but that will

not be too much of an issue and most people will be going out in the next

five, seven minutes. Down at Red Bull, Jenny, it was a tough day for

Sebastian Vettel. Track conditions are not helping because he cannot

get many laps in. This must be even more frustrating for the four-time

world champion. This time last year he started a run of nine wins in a

row. I spoke to him yesterday evening, ask him how he was, he said

he was fine, but actually not that great. With the problem yesterday,

he used a fifth power unit. He has had to go back to one of the fourth

units today. Adrian Newey said they would have to take a penalty not in

this race but either at the next race or one of the following ones. A

very difficult start to the second half of the season for Sebastian

Vettel with just 11 laps under his belt yesterday. The team are trying

to dry out the pit box, getting rid of the puddles and standing water.

Daniel Ricciardo had a better day yesterday, he is having a look at

the images coming in, talking to the engineers about what he can expect.

He lost a bit of time yesterday, I had a problem with the front right

break. They were trying something out, to try to reduce some of the

weight. They had to put in a different brake disc. A bit of work

to do on that element of the car but he looks pretty relaxed and focused

and is trying to soak up all the information from the other cars that

are starting to head out onto the circuit. Heading out now is Esteban

Gutierrez and here we are, on board with the Mexican. Let's have a look

at track conditions as he comes up to Les Combes. A few little damp

patches online. The problem is that you don't have a lot of heat

build-up into them so you have to get load into them to generate

temperature otherwise they are very slippery. When you go onto the damp

patches, it is quite a narrow line and you can easily lose temperature.

Remember that thermal imaging camera we sought from Alonso when his tyres

had no temperature in them whatsoever -- we saw. He is on the

harder of the two compounds. We have a soft tyre available this weekend.

He had a pretty nasty incident yesterday and was a bit spooked by

He had a pretty nasty incident the car swapping ends on him at 195

mph. The rear wheels seemed to the car swapping ends on him at 195

up on him. It was like a handbrake coming on

up on him. It was like a handbrake bit spooked. It was a very fast

corner and he was bit spooked. It was a very fast

huge run-off area. It will take a couple of laps to get the competence

back but you dismiss these things -- confidence. If it is a driver error,

you analyse it, otherwise you just make sure it does not happen again.

He gets onto the wet and goes into deep, ends up on the damp part but

he will hopefully complete a flying lap which should give us a time

comparison. Down towards Eau Rouge and read along. -- radial on --

radial on. Still kicking up some spray. There

is still some spray but with 27 minutes to go, they will have to try

and get out there pretty soon. The circuit will evolve very quickly

now. He is getting all the cameras pointing at him because he is the

only car on track. For those of you asking whether Eddie Jordan is

around today, he will be joining us for qualifying later. Ryan Walsh

said he was missed with his mad choice of clothes and what he said!

He will be around later. A couple more comics coming in, Ali Carpenter

asks if we can expect strategy to decide the race. The gap yesterday

was about 1.8 seconds on a single lap between the medium tyre and the

option tyre but it is a longer lap. It is the longest in Formula One

option tyre but it is a longer lap. the moment which explains a bit of

the difference but it is a big difference between the tyres. Both

tyres seems to hold up reasonably well. Despite the soft tyre being

quicker, it looks like they could do ten laps on it. I think so, if it

does not rain and it gets some residual grip into the track, it is

not necessarily a very soft tyre, it is actually quite hard, it can take

a lot of the durability. This circuit has long corners so the left

front usually takes a hit. After that it is the rear and traction.

But yes, the long runs suggested it would be a two-stop race. There is

Andre Lotterer at the wheel of the Caterham. Kamui Kobayashi is still

part of the team, we are told, and there is a chance we will see him

later in the year. We don't know for later in the year. We don't know for

sure yet. Caterham seem to be doing it race by race but there is every

possibility he will be back. RADIO: It is quite reasonable, this is a

level at which we would start pushing. The evolution

Gutierrez showing a bit of performance to everybody

Gutierrez showing a bit of fastest overall. They were doing lap

times around one minute 50, one minute 49 in practice using the

softer tyre so only ten seconds away from a full dry time. He is quicker

on this lap. He has just got to find the level of grip on the fast

corners. If you have less grip, there can be an almighty accident.

Each lap will get quicker. But it is seven kilometres, the longest lap of

the season. Gutierrez goes fastest. We are about five seconds away from

a proper dry lap. We are seeing a bit more action with 24 minutes left

in this final practice session heading in to qualifying. A question

from Andy, what is the point of drying the pit box during practice?

We have seemed team doing it in practice, why do they do that? It is

consistency, and routine, but if they do a practice start later, you

put some rubber down. Also, if you come in for a pit stop and you on a

slick fire and it is wet, it is very easy to lock-up and hit your

mechanics. And the last thing we want to see is any kind of pit lane

incident. Eriksson and Chilton are out, and you'll Kvyat going out, we

are beginning to see a lot more action -- Marcus Ericsson. One more

question, which circuit do we think would be most exciting if driven in

the opposite direction? Have you done that before? The only one I

know it is possible is knock Hill in Scotland which has a license to

drive in both directions. Most circuit are

drive in both directions. Most I have only ever done it in karting

and it was a great way to learn the circuit. Spa would be one, I can't

imagine what it would be like going down Eau Rouge! I have done it at

Brands Hatch, it used to be a test as part of the racing School and

going up Paddock was very weird. It has been done but not in Formula

One! I don't think so. This circuit used to be part public road and part

racing track, all of this section where we are watching Yankee, was

public. -- watching Bianchi. Now it is all a purpose built circuit so

the tarmac consistency is exactly the same. The drying up is

reasonably similar. That was an issue a few years ago you had

different surfaces for public roads as opposed to racing track. The

times are beginning to come down, we are looking at sector times, it is a

long lap so it takes them almost two minutes to get round. Keeping an eye

on Jules Bianchi who was pretty effective yesterday. He was 19th

quickest in first practice, 16th quickest and faster than both the

Caterham cars and also faster than Gutierrez in the Sauber. I think

Morrissey feel that Sauber have made a step forward -- Marussia. Sauber

have made a bit of progress. Yes, they feel is that team, it is not

just due to the and ink of the system, but it is clear that since

then, especially Adrian Sutil has been able to jump up in Q2. Before

that, they were both struggling to get out of the first part of

qualifying. Around here, I am sure Marussia aren't praying for rain

because that is when they are very good -- they are praying. Last year

both drivers got into the second part of qualifying here and we have

seen that this year as well. They were very smart at Silverstone as

well. They have done a fantastic job of choosing tyres. Romain

well. They have done a fantastic job sector. Still about a second away

from what we saw yesterday in the dry. Riding on

from what we saw yesterday in the Massa, a former winner here who has

had a very consistent run of results here in the past.

of results here. He has always been a solid points finisher. Sixth gear

through there and changing up into seventh before the exit. This is a

building lap, finding out what the grip level is as he comes into the

left and the right and then towards Stavelot, this right-hander. It is

easy to go too wide and lock-up the brakes. We have seen a lot of people

doing that. He is up on time by 1.2 seconds on the current fastest,

which was set by Esteban Gutierrez. Behind him, Kvyat is going even

faster in the middle sector, as the track continues to dry up. We are

going to see improvements in every lap now. If this were qualifying,

you would want to time your fastest lap to be

got fastest. Matter is slightly slower than Kvyat, another

impressive performance from the Russian in the Toro Rosso. Now 20

years old but again showing that you Russian in the Toro Rosso. Now 20

can make the step up from Formula Three

can make the step up from Formula some impressive results. Nice slow

can make the step up from Formula Force India, coming through the Bus

Stop, which used to be Force India, coming through the Bus

and is now a different set of corners. Quite a lot of

and is now a different set of track now, in fact all 22 are on the

circuit, nobody currently in the pit lane. Some beautiful shots of the

vortices coming off the cars, the wing, and that is what these cool

and damp conditions, the air temperature still only 12 Celsius

and the track is only 16, so you get that heavy atmosphere, very good for

the downforce. Erickson and Lotterer have gone out on the soft tyre, we

can see if there is any advantage. They can afford to use a couple of

sets extra because the chances are they are not going to get into the

second part of qualifying. Therefore they have got that. Repairing for

qualifying with 20 minutes to go is extremely important, especially for

Lotterer, because the first time he ever used a soft tyre was yesterday

afternoon and he said he did not feel like you got anywhere

afternoon and he said he did not maximum potential out of it because

he just did not know what the grip level would be. We have been take

talking about whether they have been taking Raidillon and Eau Rouge flat

out. Nico Rosberg was saying on a heavy fuel load towards the end of

the stint when the tyres heavy fuel load towards the end of

he could not do it flat out. Andre Lotterer was saying he could not do

it flat out yesterday but probably good in qualifying? He said he

wanted to build up to that, he wasn't willing to risk its too early

on in his Formula One career. I think in qualifying it will be

pretty much flat out in the race. The car will bottom out too much and

you will hit the planks. There is that. The consistency of it. I would

expect that some of the main themes at the front will be able to take it

flat towards the end of the race. We are riding with Nico Hulkenberg.

That looks clean. That is about power delivery. The revs drop really

low, and the torque from this, they can drop the revs pretty low.

Raikkonen currently second fastest, Nico Hulkenberg is third. Matter is

a couple of seconds down -- a couple of tenths of a second down. He is

fourth fastest, a second down in fact, he lost a bit more on that

final sector perhaps, or it was the middle sector where he lost most of

it. Bottas has basically equalled the first practice session yesterday

morning, so the track is in pretty good condition even though it has

still got the damp patches. Riding on board with Rosberg and he is

going well at the moment, fastest of anyone in the middle sector. He is

up on the time that the Williams of Bottas has set by just a view

thousands of a second. Let's watch as he comes through Blanchimont flat

out. Heading hard into the brakes here for the right-hander, dropping

into second gear. That is pretty nice. He got over the kerb. There is

a bit of a drop-off of camber as he goes second. Bottas's time has been

pretty good, getting a nice clean lap, as he comes round to finish off

the next following lap, see if this one is any quicker. It is quicker,

1.51.5. He is impressive in these changeable conditions. We have seen

this from Valtteri Bottas, like last year in Canada. On board with

Alonso, he is going well at this point as well, up on the general

times and fastest through the first sector. Alonso has a good feel for

where he needs to be in these conditions. The thing about this

part is that it is bumpy there. You have to be careful with how you

apply the brake pressure so that you do not instantly lock-up the front

wheels. Then the important part is getting out quickly over the line.

The Ferrari on top now by three tenths of a second over Valtteri

Bottas. Ferrari are looking in reasonable shape here, particularly

if we get some slightly changeable conditions. Kevin Magnussen slides

his way through the left-hander. It was the straight after that where

Pastor Maldonado went off yesterday. The kerb will dry up but behind the

kerb you have got green Astroturf which holds the water, and that is

what caught Sebastian Vettel out in Hungary before the break. He managed

to escape injury. Magnussen uses Hungary before the break. He managed

quite a lot of curb their as well. Now a -- the run back towards the

pit area. In the meantime Alonso has got even quicker in the first sector

of the lap. A bit of air flow off the front wing due moisture of the

air here this morning. 16 degrees at temperature. It is still pretty

chilly. Behind him, Sergio Perez just crossing the line as well, he

is 12 fastest in the Force India. Daniel Ricciardo currently in sixth

place. Vettel three tenths quicker sector one. You are quicker than

him, sector to. Vettel two tenths of a second quicker in sector three. It

was a bit more downforce related than anything else, because sector

one and sector three are predominantly straight based, and

sector two is predominantly corners. He picked up some of that in that

first sector, he was definitely quickest. He found some time in

those areas where he had been told that Vettel was faster. Let's look

at the replay. He used a lot of road. He did that a lot yesterday.

He had all four wheels over there yesterday only few occasions. Maybe

it is a planned line from him. This was him coming through Raidillon. It

is not just a natural sideways load. A wisp of hair off the rear

the oil suffers vertical G-loadings wing flap. -- a lateral

the oil suffers vertical G-loadings here at Spa. It is not just being

thrown around sideways, it is being thrown up and down as well. We are

on board with Lewis, as he gives it an harmful of opposite lock there.

You can bet that Lewis will be attacking for an even quicker lap.

You can tell he is absolutely on it, looking really confident this

weekend. He is, he has got the bit between his teeth. Was Berg was

basically one second off the fastest yesterday, as Lewis goes in a bit

deep and gets a good line. He beat him by 1000th of a second! And he

had quite a bit of wheel spin coming out of that last corner. Impressive

lap. It was a neat lap. Nicky Lauder -- Niki Lauda obviously like the

fact that he can go into the debrief room and say that. Tell us about the

tyre selection at the moment. Most have been running the medium the

soft tyre is a higher working range tyre.

It is much more stable to be out on the medium tyre. I see that Kimi

Raikkonen has just gone out on the soft tyres, so it will be

interesting to see what lap times he does. Having spoken to Pirelli just

a moment ago, they were saying between the tyres on the front

running cars. That is massive, we don't see that anywhere else on

running cars. That is massive, we calendar. That will bring us down to

the 1.48s, if they bolt on a set of the soft tyres, which we are

expecting them to do. We normally see a qualifying simulation at this

point with eight minutes to go. A problem means he cannot get out,

Nico Rosberg. That orange. Is there on one side but on the other it has

been sucked into the brake duct. They are trying to find a way of

getting it out. One of the mechanics has put his hand in there to try to

grab it. They have had a problem trying to get it out. That is

covering a blanking plate to build extra temperature into the brakes,

and therefore they have different sizes of those depending on what

they require. They need to get that out, clearly. The dot is so that the

mechanics and engineers can actually visually spot extremely quickly

which one is on the car, so there can be no questions or no mistakes.

which one is on the car, so there We have got our first frontrunning

which one is on the car, so there car on the soft tyre now and it is

Kimi Raikkonen. 31.1 is the best front sector we have seen so far.

Raikkonen, 31.3. So not gaining much, but the gain off a soft tyre

is not going to come in sector one around Spa, it will come here,

sector two. You are right, sector two, keeping the front grip to allow

you to carry the momentum two, keeping the front grip to allow

them at the second part of it is one of the important ones. And here,

into the right and left of the chicane. A quick reaction and then

you can get back onto the throttle. He now comes through the last two

right-handers, and he is up by two tenths of a second. You would expect

more than that as he is on the super soft tyres. He has the fastest time

in the middle sector. He is fastest but we have to remember that Ferrari

were nearly one second off Mercedes yesterday. From that point of view,

you have to take that as an offset as well. That is a good point, the

pace being set here by Mercedes as well. 1.49.8, but we would expect

Mercedes with a set of soft tyres to do a low 1.48. Yesterday Fernando

Alonso did a 1.49.9. These are a touch quicker than Alonso's times

yesterday. The track is not ideal now but it is fully dry. Raikkonen

from Hamilton and Rosberg. Who else is going out on the soft tyres? Well

in fact all of the teams have switched to the soft tyres, so

everyone is now putting in a qualifying simulation. A team I

would expect to have done a bit better around here, they are having

a big push towards the end of the season, that is McLaren. At the

moment Magnussen is 11th, 2.87 seconds behind Raikkonen and 2.6

behind Lewis Hamilton on the same tyres. That is a much bigger deficit

than we saw yesterday. I would have said a disappointing time from Massa

yesterday. He is on the soft tyre. Riding herewith Jenson Button.

Through that very fast double left-hander, and he has traffic

ahead of him as well which is not ideal.

He is coming up towards the end of the second sector.

Slightly down on the overall fastest at the moment, not as quick as

Raikkonen. Flat out in eight gear, the speed building up before he gets

on his brakes. But this is not going to be a lap that will see him in the

48s. 1.50.2. He is quicker than Massa which is a bit of a surprise

because we thought Williams would be in good shape to be best of the rest

after the Mercedes. What about Pastor Maldonado? Middle of

Raidillon, top of Eau Rouge, a bit of a correction. Not quite as

dramatic as some, lovely slow motion! That blew smoke is the skid

block underneath touching the ground, he caught it. Another one of

the moment he has had over this weekend but I think he will have a

few ochres the Lotus is clearly not good around here. Bottas is on a lap

and so is Hamilton. He is second fastest with that time, 1.49.8 so he

has not gained as much on the soft tyre, his first sector was not so

good so maybe he made a mistake. Let's see what Bottas does, he is

fastest with that, four tenths quicker. Alonso has gone quickest in

first sector and Rosberg quickest in second sector. Force India may be

struggling for qualifying pace. We have seen that a few times this

year, they are stronger in race pace. Hulkenberg a touch slower than

his team-mate. I spoke to Bob Fearnley last night and they said

they can hope to be somewhere near in qualifying. They looked very good

yesterday afternoon. They have got to be in it to win it and they have

been so far behind in qualifying, dropping off in performance terms

relative to the opposition. Vettel went across the line in ninth place

and we saw Rosberg come through but no quicker than Bottas. Alonso is

fifth fastest. Fastest in the first and third sectors, the areas where

you want straight line speed. Let's remember that the Rory have been

going between a medium downforce and remember that the Rory have been

a higher armed force level. We don't see exactly which one they are on

with Alonso. Slightly slower than Raikkonen by a fraction. This is a

track that Kimi has always gone brilliantly at and it has not always

been that great for Alonso. But let's wait and see, we are not into

qualifying yet, this is practice and they will save up their best for Q3.

Giedo van der Garde, the development driver for Sauber them. Quite a big

gap between Massa in seventh and Grosjean in 14th place, a whole

second between them. The two Lotus cars are evenly matched at the

moment. This suggests, with the cars are evenly matched at the

between Jenson Button in six down to Hulkenberg in 12th, that battle to

get into the last part of qualifying will be pretty tightly contested. It

always is. Bianchi is the fastest of the Caterham and Marussia teams.

Daniil Kvyat has not quite completed a lap on the soft tyre, Marcus

Ericsson and Lotterer ringing up the rear. -- bringing up. They are now

on another lap so we will see if that changes. Jenson Button was on

pole here in 2012 and went on to take an accomplished victory. No

change in position. Lotterer is quicker than Marcus Ericsson in the

first sector interestingly so that will be fascinating to see how he

does. Ricciardo goes second, he pops up, that is impressive from Daniel

Ricciardo. Kvyat goes seventh, Vergne is tenths at the moment and

coming across the line now. Vergne is tenths at the moment and

have got held up but a good lap by Daniel Ricciardo, 1.49.7, splitting

the Mercedes powered cars of Tass and Rosberg. -- Bottas. Raikkonen

has been sent to the end of the pits but it is too late. It looks like

they miscalculated on when the chequered flag was coming out. I

have to say, the time from Daniel Ricciardo is pretty impressive. I

agree that I don't think we have seen everything from quite a few of

the runners but especially from the Mercedes, they have quite a bit of

fuel on board and they know they have an advantage around here and

they will pull it out in qualifying. Ricciardo was extremely good

yesterday. If they have a balance on the Red Bull and they can qualify

like this, they could be looking good. Vettel has had a tough time,

he has done very few laps and not helped by the weather, ending this

session in 13th position. Alonso is sixth quickest on his best

session in 13th position. Alonso is bringing the car back

session in 13th position. Alonso is Reasonably encouraging from Ferrari,

especially with Raikkonen in the mix. As we have seen in recent

races, it is Mercedes likely mix. As we have seen in recent

upfront even though they are not on this occasion but then Williams, Red

upfront even though they are not on themselves to be best of the rest.

At the tail end, it ended up with Marcus Ericsson quicker than

Lotterer, they did not improve their times. Bianchi was the fastest of

those in 152 -- one. Any other

expecting? We saw a person if of it yesterday but Daniil Kvyat was

seventh yesterday and again today -- we saw a sniff of it.

It puts pressure on McLaren. Jenson Button is on that bubble of not

making it into the final part of qualifying. He has been bouncing in

and out of Q3 this year, it is not easy to get the McLaren cars into

the top ten, they are always on the verge of it so we will see how they

cope. Magnusson was 12 and Otte was eight. -- Button. Bottas continues

to impress me, he gets more strength and confidence every time he gets in

the car. He ends up fastest ahead of Ricciardo. Raikkonen in force for

Ferrari and Hamilton fifth but we did not see his best. Kvyat was

impressive. John Erickson showing that the Toro Rosso cars could be a

threat -- Jean-Eric Vergne. Lotus do not seem to have made a

great deal of progress. Andre Lotterer will go into his

first ever Formula One qualifying session coming up here on a track he

knows well and loves, he has raced here a couple of times already this

year but still a wonderful opportunity for him. But Valtteri

Bottas, he has impressed so much of this year, finishing on the podium

on three occasions. He has set the pace this morning, beating the

mighty Mercedes and indeed Daniel Ricciardo of Red Bull, the winner of

the last race in Hungary. Will we see an upsetting of the order? I

doubt it but we will see an exciting qualifying session.

That is it, the final 16 minutes for the teams and drivers to get their

cars in perfect condition. We did not see much running at the start as

everybody waited for the track to dry out that we are expecting rain

this afternoon so why don't they do get on with it? You need to save the

tyres, you don't have enough tyres to risk burning them off and to be

the one to find the standing water, sending you into the barriers. It

has been a tough weekend for Sebastian Vettel who has had some

technical problems. Daniel Ricciardo finished second. Tom Clarkson is

with Christian Horner. You did not expect to go so well here, can you

continue this performance this afternoon? It is only Saturday

morning. It was a good lap at the end but the track was getting

better, still a great lap by Daniel, and we are just trying a few

different setup things. We will see what the weather does. Where were

the differences between your drivers in that session? Just trying a few

different things between the cars, Sebastien missed most of yesterday.

No doubt they will converge a bit in qualifying. And your thoughts on the

others around you, Bottas fastest, the position of the Mercedes?

Anybody with a Mercedes engine will be quick here. The Williams is very

fast on the straights, Mercedes will be competitive, it looks like Alonso

and Raikkonen are quick as well. And the strategy for qualifying will be

as much looking up as down? You have got to be on the track at the right

time, it can be raining at the top of the hill a mile and a half away

and be Bright here. You have got to be out there at the right time --

and can be dry here. This is actually the first time in 15

practice sessions that Mercedes have not been first and second. Have they

show their hand or are they keeping secrets? It is more about their

fuel, they can drain the fuel and the drivers can then commence their

battle. It is closer than I was expecting but changeable conditions,

others giving their drivers a chance to run low fuel, that is the

strategy I would have gone for. You know that the track is not at peak

performance because of the rain this morning. Williams think this is

their best chance this season and Ferrari look good. Yes, Kimi has

gone exceptionally well here in the past but this is

gone exceptionally well here in the trouble-free session they have had.

He is looking like the Kimi of old, so that will be interesting. Can

anybody challenge Mercedes? I agree with Kristian, it will be somebody

with Mercedes power -- with Christian Horner. But I would be

surprised if Mercedes are not on pole. Ricciardo looked good. Yes,

that strategy in free practice, they got some time in the middle sector

but I believe they will lose too much in the first and last to do it

but I could be wrong, that is what makes it exciting! We have come back

after the summer and some things may have changed. Some things have not

changed, you can see qualifying live on BBC1 at 12:10pm. And I will be

back tonight on the BBC News Channel at 6:45pm. Thank you, David. 22

drivers on the grid. Will it come down to just two of them,