The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Qualifying

:01:40. > :01:50.second. What?! You are in serious trouble! I don't really want to do

:01:50. > :02:23.

:02:23. > :02:27.Dhabi. Expect even more speed but lot less fear for the rest of the

:02:27. > :02:31.weekend. Catapulting you mortals around at Formula One speed is one

:02:31. > :02:37.of the attractions of this place, an example of what can be achieved

:02:37. > :02:41.with the dream. And a limitless supply of money. Two kilometres in

:02:41. > :02:49.90 seconds. With a great smile on your face, it must have brought

:02:49. > :02:54.back memories? It replicates the take-off. It was a real rush. I did

:02:54. > :03:04.not see your face until now. You should open a rise and enjoy.

:03:04. > :03:07.

:03:07. > :03:12.was all acting! There should be an embargo on over 60. 15 years over!

:03:12. > :03:19.We had a chance to see Abu Dhabi and have fun because we came here

:03:19. > :03:23.12 months ago and there was a huge title up for grabs. It is a

:03:23. > :03:26.completely different occasion this year. Last year, we did know who

:03:26. > :03:31.was going to win the championship and the teams and drivers did not

:03:31. > :03:36.know. It was a massive surprise to see Sebastian Vettel coming out.

:03:36. > :03:39.Ferrari thought they had it. Sebastien just pinched it from

:03:39. > :03:45.everybody and he has become the major start and anyone who thinks

:03:45. > :03:50.he has turned off the gas, forget it. He is the man to beat. Every

:03:50. > :03:56.one of these drivers will try to make sure they be 10. He knows what

:03:56. > :04:03.it takes to win. And what a circus! Korea and India have struggled with

:04:03. > :04:09.the infrastructure. You cannot say that about this? It has been

:04:09. > :04:14.impressive. Yes. I was a little bit De Beers when we first came as to

:04:14. > :04:20.whether it would be about the surroundings but seeing this track

:04:20. > :04:25.settling in, it is challenging. A lot of corners, it is like the

:04:25. > :04:32.third slowest on the calendar so third and second gears. But what

:04:32. > :04:37.the DRS back, the Kers, all of the non-racing, Fernando stuck in

:04:37. > :04:42.behind Petrov and Mark Webber, we will see a lot more overtaking.

:04:42. > :04:46.just because it isn't fast does not mean it isn't difficult. It has

:04:46. > :04:50.been quite a test for three relative rookies. One we have seen

:04:50. > :04:56.before but two of them have never sat in a Formula One car on the

:04:56. > :05:04.circuit. Formula One is always looking to the future later on.

:05:04. > :05:11.Racing drivers have sell-by dates, they're like light bulbs. But we

:05:11. > :05:20.have the opportunity. Grosjean was out for notice. The these guys have

:05:20. > :05:27.been running in the lower formulas. He is the most likely, he had a

:05:27. > :05:30.very quick debut, that he will get everyone's attention. People

:05:31. > :05:36.wanting to impress the teams but in reality it is the more established

:05:36. > :05:41.stars that have taken the headlines. For the wrong reasons? Some really

:05:41. > :05:46.surprising moments on the track. That is the first. Fernando Alonso,

:05:46. > :05:51.sliding backwards, hitting the rear wing, and I don't know what kind of

:05:51. > :05:56.damage that was. This was a surprise. Look how clever he was.

:05:56. > :06:04.He absolutely got his head together to make sure the impact with the

:06:04. > :06:08.Wall was minimised. He needed to save that front wing. Sebastian

:06:08. > :06:14.Vettel put that into the first barrier and his radio message from

:06:14. > :06:19.the manager told him to get himself back to the pits. He pushed the car

:06:19. > :06:27.back, dusted down and he finished that session. That is a great

:06:27. > :06:31.example of communication. That's what it takes. And to put that into

:06:31. > :06:34.perspective, he had three crashes on Friday, three times he went on

:06:34. > :06:40.to take pole position but winning has given him the championship. The

:06:40. > :06:47.important thing to point out is it is just one when separating two, 3

:06:47. > :06:51.and 4. And Schumacher five points behind his team mates. And the

:06:51. > :06:56.constructors championship. McLaren are runners up. Now there is the

:06:56. > :07:02.midfield battle with 10 points the difference and million surprise --

:07:02. > :07:10.millions of pounds the prize. Jarno Trulli knows a lot about Formula

:07:10. > :07:16.One. He said this man, Paul di Resta, has been rookie of the year.

:07:16. > :07:22.He came men and most people were sitting out last year, we know what

:07:23. > :07:27.we think and we have said it before. He has turned out. Fingers crossed,

:07:27. > :07:31.he will be rookie of the year. That is a great accolade. Something that

:07:31. > :07:37.all young drivers want to be because they want to keep up

:07:37. > :07:44.momentum going. He wants to know about the next team. I'm sure he is

:07:44. > :07:51.standing here and enjoying looking at this. Let's look at the car.

:07:51. > :07:57.Let's talk about the car. Nice to see you. How much pressure is there

:07:57. > :08:02.on the drivers from the teams to keep hold of this place? It is a

:08:02. > :08:06.large amount. Given what the team lost last year by one point. To get

:08:06. > :08:12.No. 6 in the constructors championship. We are in a stronger

:08:12. > :08:19.position than the boys chasing us. So far, the car has been working

:08:19. > :08:24.well and we hope we can continue that form. Really, going to Brazil

:08:24. > :08:29.with that comfortable margin. India, all the drivers were raving

:08:29. > :08:35.about what a great new venue it was. Here in Abu Dhabi, give us some

:08:35. > :08:42.feel about what this is like? It is below average speed? It does not

:08:42. > :08:47.really have a great flow. It all seems to be have happening,

:08:48. > :08:53.bouncing over kerbs and losing traction. If you lose the wheel

:08:53. > :08:59.almost one corner, there would be a lot of loss. But as a spectator, it

:08:59. > :09:05.is great. Great facilities and hotels. I'm going into the night,

:09:05. > :09:09.it has everything. Jarno Trulli talks about you. We had Eddie

:09:09. > :09:17.Jordan praising it. One more race to go. How would you summarise your

:09:17. > :09:21.season? From the outside, quite positive. Some good results but

:09:21. > :09:26.definitely there have been ups and downs and I would be critical. I

:09:26. > :09:31.have lost some great results but equally, some mishaps with the team.

:09:31. > :09:37.But you win and lose as a team and as long as we can get our ambition

:09:37. > :09:40.as 6th place in the constructors to a picture, job done. I am not

:09:40. > :09:49.asking the you this question because of your team-mate, that

:09:49. > :09:55.isn't for me to decide, but... contract is until the end of this

:09:55. > :10:00.year and the team bus will announce this whenever he wants. Thank you.

:10:00. > :10:05.You can jump into the car. And both Adrian Sutil and Paul di Resta were

:10:05. > :10:09.right on the bubble for the final part. I liked that answer. Not for

:10:09. > :10:13.one moment did he give us any clue that he would be the one that was

:10:13. > :10:18.not going to be in the frame. He clearly knows that he is one of the

:10:18. > :10:23.drivers next year. Interesting. would be mad not to want to keep

:10:23. > :10:28.this considering his performance. They're just about going to make it

:10:28. > :10:36.into the final part what we will wait and see. The engines are being

:10:36. > :10:42.turned off. 31 minutes to go until qualifying. He was Ted Kravitz... -

:10:42. > :10:45.- here is. Lewis Hamilton rejects claims from his team bus that he

:10:45. > :10:55.has been put under pressure recently by Jenson Button's success.

:10:55. > :10:57.

:10:57. > :11:02.Rubbish. I do not know if he was misquoted, but for me, my issues

:11:02. > :11:08.have been much bigger than that. More personal. The fact that he is

:11:08. > :11:12.doing great is great for the team. He has stayed out of trouble, more

:11:12. > :11:19.than me, and has kept his head straight and has good people around

:11:19. > :11:21.him. He is in a much stronger position than me. Her Martin says

:11:21. > :11:26.he wants that similar support structure that Jensen Button has

:11:26. > :11:30.and he was happier and quicker when he was in his recent relationship.

:11:30. > :11:35.I do not plan on being single for long. Nothing to do with being

:11:35. > :11:41.single or not, when I was in my relationship, she was the most

:11:41. > :11:46.positive thing in my life. That maybe needs to be back. Jensen

:11:46. > :11:51.Button, he has joined a popular charity moustache growing up and

:11:51. > :11:57.what this attempt. How many days is that? I started at the start of the

:11:57. > :12:02.month, one day before. It just grow as fast. I am just a hairy monster!

:12:02. > :12:10.It is blonde so you cannot see it. Back to racing, he says the strike

:12:10. > :12:15.is unlikely to produce much overtaking, even with the DRS zones.

:12:15. > :12:19.I have played around on the long run, trying to overtake. In the DRS

:12:19. > :12:23.zone. It is very difficult. Probably the most difficult place

:12:23. > :12:28.for overtaking, considering there are two of them. Because the core

:12:28. > :12:38.of before both in first gear, to get in front and go on the throttle,

:12:38. > :12:41.

:12:41. > :12:44.the boy is gone. Really tricky. I qualifying a, Ferrari just need to

:12:44. > :12:48.understand why their front wing is flapping around. It was doing the

:12:49. > :12:52.same in India and they don't know why. It was a problem with that and

:12:52. > :12:56.we tried to fix it at home but apparently we haven't fixed it

:12:56. > :13:00.properly. It is the same specifications as the other wings.

:13:00. > :13:04.At their meeting of the F1 Commission, three teams have been

:13:04. > :13:10.allowed to change their name. Renault will be named Team Lotus.

:13:10. > :13:14.Are the owners about to buy North a's Lotus cars? All we are happy

:13:14. > :13:17.about is the name change. It integrates better with the car

:13:17. > :13:23.company in terms of moving forward but everything else is pure

:13:23. > :13:27.speculation. The current team Lotus will be called the Caterham F1 team

:13:27. > :13:32.and Virgin will be named after their Russian car company investors.

:13:32. > :13:36.So what about Sir Richard Branson? Sir Richard is going to stay

:13:36. > :13:41.involved in the team, he will be an important presence. I think it is

:13:41. > :13:45.important to make a statement for the major shareholders. The issue

:13:45. > :13:49.with the Bahrain Grand Prix was also discussed but the race stays

:13:49. > :13:54.on next year's Khan that, barring any further disruption in the

:13:54. > :13:57.kingdom -- Callander. Nico Rosberg has committed to Mercedes for the

:13:57. > :14:01.next three years, but Rubens Barrichello admits that the next

:14:01. > :14:05.race in Brazil may be his last in Formula One. He is in the same

:14:05. > :14:10.position as three years ago, going into the final race without a

:14:10. > :14:14.driver for the following season, but he remains hopeful. I will be

:14:14. > :14:18.doing my very best, and I will go to the Brazilian GP with the

:14:18. > :14:24.thinking that I had in 2008, to do my best and hopefully I will be

:14:24. > :14:30.back. At few fans already soaking up the evening sun here. -- a few

:14:30. > :14:34.fans. Just two more races, they will be cheering for Rubens

:14:34. > :14:39.Barrichello. We will talk about him soon, because he has even more is

:14:39. > :14:43.this weekend but before that, Nico Rosberg, only five points ahead of

:14:43. > :14:47.Michael Schumacher, what will it do to his standing to be beaten by

:14:47. > :14:52.Michael this season? He has got himself a long contract with

:14:52. > :14:55.Mercedes. He has been extracting the maximum in qualifying. But

:14:55. > :15:00.Michael has raised his game in a race performance, and we saw in

:15:00. > :15:05.India he was able to use a different strategy to go past of

:15:05. > :15:09.Nico Rosberg in the pit stop phase. It is a close thing, but you want

:15:09. > :15:15.to merge the two performances, at Rosberg's qualifying with Michael

:15:15. > :15:19.race. He would probably just love to win. He hasn't won a race this

:15:19. > :15:25.season, it must be alien to their work -- a driver who was strong in

:15:25. > :15:28.the Julian -- junior category. father was the manager at the time,

:15:28. > :15:32.he took him to Williams and many people thought that was a question

:15:32. > :15:37.of trying to grow and build its value in Formula One without any

:15:37. > :15:41.pressure. But the strategy hasn't really worked, at no victories.

:15:42. > :15:48.Rubens Barrichello, you can see him the team working hard -- you can

:15:48. > :15:52.see that he working hard. It has been a season to forget. He hasn't

:15:52. > :15:56.even made it through to the final part of qualifying all year.

:15:56. > :16:00.must be tremendously frustrating. This is the most experienced driver

:16:00. > :16:05.in the history of the sport. He has One Grand Prix is, he has a passion

:16:05. > :16:09.for driving and I just hope that he does not going to the winter

:16:09. > :16:13.knowing whether he is in Formula One or not, it might not give him

:16:13. > :16:17.the send-off he deserves. He has been a good ambassador for the

:16:17. > :16:21.sport. Tough times for the most experienced man in Formula One. If

:16:21. > :16:26.we look over there, you can see Eddie Jordan is with a man who is

:16:26. > :16:31.also having a tough time. He has to change the team name for next year,

:16:31. > :16:37.make decisions on his drivers and he is wondering why the form of the

:16:37. > :16:43.team has fallen away. No chance for Eric to enjoy the sun in Abu Dhabi.

:16:43. > :16:50.I am sure he can contend with all of this. Derek, at 163. Escort last

:16:50. > :16:58.year -- Eric. You scored 60 points in your first racist this year, but

:16:58. > :17:01.a paltry 12 since then -- in your first six races this year. We went

:17:01. > :17:06.for any desire Nishi and it has cost us quite a lot. Unfortunately,

:17:06. > :17:10.this is the price to pay on the sporting side -- we went for a new

:17:10. > :17:17.design that this year. And we lost Alan leading driver. All in all,

:17:17. > :17:20.very frustrating. Opposite, Robert Kubica you are referring to. We

:17:20. > :17:26.hadn't heard you refer to him much, is he coming back are you holding

:17:26. > :17:32.the seat for him? -- and are you? am holding the opportunity for him

:17:32. > :17:37.to come back. By would be kidding myself -- I would be kidding myself

:17:37. > :17:42.if we weren't trying to get an opportunity for him to get back. We

:17:42. > :17:46.are waiting to get some news. He is very quiet himself, he is putting

:17:46. > :17:50.himself in a difficult position. We have worked on the different

:17:50. > :17:53.scenarios as well during the course of the season and now it is pretty

:17:53. > :17:59.clear where we want to go and we are just waiting for him to

:17:59. > :18:03.communicate clearly if he can commit or not and then to decide

:18:03. > :18:08.about the communication plan, because I don't want to be the one

:18:08. > :18:13.who is not putting him in the car. Of course, we all want to know

:18:13. > :18:16.about Robert Kubica, but they keep coming back, six years ago, you

:18:16. > :18:21.were back to back world champions with Alonso and now we see what is

:18:21. > :18:24.going on at the moment. What surprises me and a lot of other

:18:24. > :18:31.people, not one of your senior staff from that time are not with

:18:31. > :18:37.you. Why is that? A senior staff? The engineers, the designers, they

:18:37. > :18:43.have gone. You have had a real exodus of people leaving. What is

:18:43. > :18:48.the reason? There is not so many people leaving as you said, just a

:18:48. > :18:55.couple of names who have left. Some of it was planned for them to leave.

:18:55. > :19:02.We have also been very quiet on allow recruitment. -- our. We have

:19:03. > :19:08.a couple of top engineers coming but we don't want to communicate.

:19:08. > :19:14.In 2005 and 2006, the team was the world champions, but we were very

:19:14. > :19:18.down in 2009. Since we took over, we have recruited 20 people, so

:19:18. > :19:25.that is 20 people more compared to 2009. We have more people now and

:19:25. > :19:31.we are still within the limits. Obviously, we have some people

:19:31. > :19:35.leaving because they don't feel secure a. We still have the name

:19:35. > :19:39.rule and we have to finance the team, we need to secure the future

:19:39. > :19:42.of the team and it is now all done and should be announced in the

:19:42. > :19:46.coming weeks and it is very important that people know they

:19:46. > :19:51.have a strong future. I can promise you this table last very long in

:19:51. > :19:58.Formula One. Eric, thank you very much for explaining that, it is

:19:58. > :20:03.very important. Indeed it was. We have just come around to the garage.

:20:03. > :20:07.42% of Renault's points came in the first two races. We have talked

:20:07. > :20:11.about the exhaust, how is it holding the team back? The way they

:20:11. > :20:17.are blowing the defuse there is out there sidebars, something we

:20:17. > :20:25.haven't seen before. There may be when you are energising the FO that

:20:25. > :20:28.far forward, maybe it loses some of the energy. Those people exploiting

:20:28. > :20:35.the double diffuser technology are doing it right at the diffuser

:20:35. > :20:40.itself. They stole a march early doors and then they have lost it

:20:40. > :20:44.later on. In final practice today, Bruno Senna was quicker than Petrov,

:20:45. > :20:51.we will see how it plays out in qualifying. Something else to keep

:20:51. > :21:01.your eyes then, Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa, six times they have

:21:01. > :21:01.

:21:01. > :22:00.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 59 seconds

:22:00. > :22:05.come together on track this season. was quite a lot quicker than Felipe

:22:05. > :22:09.Massa. He was already turning in and I realised too late. I went

:22:09. > :22:16.inside and he turned so early. I tried to work with the kerb to

:22:16. > :22:26.avoid him and I was stuck there. try and do it up on the kerb, that

:22:26. > :22:27.

:22:27. > :22:36.is an error of judgment. He is ridiculous, it is stupid. Lewis had

:22:36. > :22:42.the best lap. I was stopping as fast as I could. Double top Lewis,

:22:42. > :22:52.no question. It was the last corner of the last lap. I was not giving

:22:52. > :22:55.

:22:55. > :23:04.him that position. That was a great racing manoeuvre. Lewis's fault,

:23:04. > :23:14.completely. He cannot use his mind, you know? How many times with me

:23:14. > :23:20.this year? Too many times. Lewis completely misjudged it. I didn't

:23:20. > :23:25.move. I was on the outside. Again, I don't think Lewis realised Felipe

:23:25. > :23:30.Massa was out there. I can't see anything through my rear mirrors.

:23:30. > :23:36.That something we can fix. I have no problem with him. There is not

:23:36. > :23:42.really much to say, is there? is nothing Lewis can do any more.

:23:42. > :23:48.tried to overtake. He tried to avoid it, but Felipe Massa didn't

:23:48. > :23:57.take care. Lewis had to drive into the corner. He didn't look like he

:23:57. > :24:04.was going to give me any space. came up straight across. Lewis had

:24:04. > :24:10.the right to be there. That is why Felipe Massa, to me, was to blame.

:24:10. > :24:13.And that debate went on long into the night. Good to see plenty of

:24:14. > :24:17.other Formula One drivers around here in Abu Dhabi, enjoying the

:24:17. > :24:21.little winter break. Let's talk, not about the clash, because we

:24:21. > :24:25.have discussed that until we are blue in their face. Lewis has said

:24:25. > :24:29.he is not driving as well as he could be, and the same applies to a

:24:29. > :24:33.Felipe Massa, not to the top four all season. You couldn't believe

:24:33. > :24:38.that when I told you. I thought you were lying as usual. It is a

:24:38. > :24:41.startling fact. It shows that Formula One today, there is

:24:42. > :24:46.incredible reliability and how strong the each of the drivers have

:24:46. > :24:49.been. You can say Felipe Massa has not been able to get higher up. His

:24:49. > :24:53.qualifying has improved over the last few races and he needed that,

:24:53. > :24:57.because a lot of questions were being asked. He needs a race result

:24:57. > :25:01.to build confidence. For we saw some words coming out of the

:25:01. > :25:05.Ferrari camp this week, saying Formula One needs to think about

:25:05. > :25:11.the way it operates if Ferrari are to remain happy, and then I saw a

:25:11. > :25:17.cartoon in a magazine saying "can't win, a wide by", but the Ferrari

:25:17. > :25:22.boss throwing his tools away. -- can't win wordplay. Has that

:25:23. > :25:27.distracted from this week? Ferrari are the master chess players. They

:25:27. > :25:31.know each little pawn being played at each moment. I won't say they

:25:31. > :25:34.had an inside track but they do have special privileges, financial

:25:34. > :25:38.and otherwise. They know what is happening and they are being

:25:38. > :25:42.trounced. They don't like it but they are being trounced by two very

:25:42. > :25:46.good teams and I think it is disappointing. We saw the win in

:25:46. > :25:49.Silverstone, it hasn't been replicated and it is disappointing,

:25:49. > :25:53.because they are refined team and I think they will be back. I don't

:25:53. > :25:58.think they need to put things out like they did, it is negative and

:25:58. > :26:03.doesn't help. Another thing the Ferrari boss said that -- is that

:26:03. > :26:06.Felipe Massa will be faster in 2012, that is a message to the driver. We

:26:06. > :26:11.think we can shed some light on the whole Lewis Hamilton and Felipe

:26:11. > :26:16.Massa situation. This is what Lewis told us. These are the worst

:26:16. > :26:20.mirrors that we have. We are trying to stop them flexing but they flex

:26:20. > :26:26.a lot. Imagine down the straight, that thing is doing that a pole

:26:26. > :26:30.time, at 200 mph, it is flapping like crazy. -- all the time.

:26:30. > :26:35.can't see the other cars, that is the problem. It is a nice feature,

:26:35. > :26:38.but who is going to feel sorry for a Grand Prix team that can't stand

:26:38. > :26:42.there -- stop their mirrors flapping there? I am sure they

:26:42. > :26:45.could do it if they wanted to. sure they could spend a few million

:26:45. > :26:51.on it. You can see more on the exclusive interview with Lewis

:26:51. > :26:55.Hamilton tomorrow at 12:15pm. But what about Toro Rosso? When you are

:26:55. > :26:59.owned by the same person who owns Red Bull, it is difficult to see

:26:59. > :27:09.him impressive. But after a few ups and downs, 2011 has been just that,

:27:09. > :27:19.

:27:19. > :27:26.decided to buy the team, it was a completely different philosophy. It

:27:26. > :27:31.was the strategy to get all the cars from Red Bull, the technology,

:27:32. > :27:40.and to run them in Italy. We had two or three very successful years.

:27:40. > :27:45.Sebastian Vettel winning the Grand Prix! Here at Monza! Afterwards,

:27:45. > :27:54.our opponents were not so happy and it meant a change in regulations

:27:54. > :28:00.and then step number two. 2010 was the first year we had to build the

:28:00. > :28:07.teams, the wind tunnel, the office. Toro Rosso have got it horribly

:28:07. > :28:13.wrong. This year, progression has been very positive. He is coming

:28:13. > :28:18.from a very long way back. The team is growing up. Be made good

:28:18. > :28:26.progress from all sides, the tactical side, from the marketing

:28:26. > :28:31.side and also the drivers. remember speaking to after Valencia

:28:31. > :28:35.and you had a great race, that was a turning point. Does it feel like

:28:35. > :28:41.that? I absolutely, I knew at the beginning I had lots of problems

:28:41. > :28:46.with the tyres and adjusted some time to work. So we, the results

:28:46. > :28:50.came. A Alguersuari doing a great job. And a well earned its place.

:28:50. > :28:58.This year, the performance increased, especially in the last

:28:58. > :29:03.race. We have improved DRS. And we improved the aerodynamics. That is

:29:03. > :29:11.why we are so competitive. It is definitely good when you find

:29:11. > :29:16.yourself going into Q 3, like we both did, in India. We were in

:29:16. > :29:22.front of the most serious cars, Renault. The car is going good and

:29:22. > :29:27.you want to keep pushing. He had 26 points, last to finish with just

:29:27. > :29:32.five of them. What is the difference? As a driver, I am

:29:32. > :29:38.better because I was 20 years old last year, my first year, and now

:29:38. > :29:42.the car is much better. Toro Rosso has been mighty. We find our place

:29:42. > :29:49.in front of Renault and Force India and Sauber. Which we did not

:29:49. > :29:53.believe. Last year he won 9th, how important is it to come forward?

:29:54. > :29:58.The area. We're talking about serious money and that is the most

:29:58. > :30:02.important thing in Formula One. The more money you have, the more you

:30:02. > :30:06.can test and drive and the more successful you can be because it

:30:06. > :30:12.can bring in more people and I expect we will improve and I want

:30:12. > :30:16.Toro Rosso to do that. It is a permanent team. We are now it place

:30:16. > :30:21.with the same amount of points as Sauber, 10 points behind Force

:30:21. > :30:25.India so it will be difficult to get 10 more points. But in Korea,

:30:25. > :30:31.if everything goes well, we have seen that we can do it. The main

:30:31. > :30:35.objective is to finish in 7th place but we can still dream. He will be

:30:35. > :30:38.dreaming this weekend because the car does not look too bad. We are

:30:38. > :30:43.in the panic and the architecture is great, you know you are in the

:30:43. > :30:47.Middle East. India was mainly glass and steel. Toro Rosso, it seems to

:30:47. > :30:52.be working for them? Putting the pressure on young drivers. De

:30:52. > :30:56.Adrian Sutil has upped his game. No doubt that those guys at Toro Rosso

:30:56. > :31:02.are driving the season of their lives? It is curious because these

:31:02. > :31:07.guys have come all the way from karting, racing is in their blood.

:31:07. > :31:12.Go why were they any pressure to be motivated to want to perform? It is

:31:12. > :31:16.a gift to drive and the Formula One car. I am curious whether it is

:31:16. > :31:19.just the fact that they're under pressure or is it the fact that the

:31:19. > :31:24.team appears to have found some performance, which has allowed the

:31:24. > :31:28.drivers to show what they can do. You must imagine, going down the

:31:28. > :31:35.grid, performance gets worse, those cars are more difficult to drive.

:31:35. > :31:40.It is really busy here. The parting of the waves. Toro Rosso, you made

:31:40. > :31:45.the point that Red Bull have been helping them and that isn't allowed.

:31:45. > :31:50.Other teams think that they have had information on how to get that

:31:50. > :31:58.diffuser working well because that is the real strength of Red Bull.

:31:58. > :32:02.The bus is a very responsible man and I believe 10. He confirms that

:32:02. > :32:07.there is no collaboration at all. And on occasions like this, I do

:32:07. > :32:11.believe 10 and this team have found something, they're quicker. The us

:32:11. > :32:17.boys at Toro Rosso are in their 20s and another man making us feel very

:32:17. > :32:24.old is Sergio Perez, in his rookie season. Thank you for giving us

:32:24. > :32:28.your time. Here we are at the scene of the big race last year. We will

:32:28. > :32:34.go out and you will tell us what makes you special on this track.

:32:34. > :32:40.Shall we walk? Some fans are here. I make a priority of saying hello

:32:40. > :32:48.to the ladies first. That is what you do? Yes. Shall we get our leg

:32:48. > :32:57.over and get onto the track? Chubby Czech the tyres. What do you feel

:32:57. > :33:00.about the height of racing drivers? He is a driver? Yeah s! Take a good

:33:00. > :33:07.look at his face because you will see a lot of them in the future.

:33:07. > :33:12.Really sorry about the English really not recognising it. --

:33:12. > :33:19.English lady not recognising you. Right, leg over. What team do you

:33:19. > :33:24.drive for? You have a good feeling, you want to do the race here and

:33:24. > :33:30.the rest is history? You're a veteran of 17 Grand Prix is. Where

:33:30. > :33:34.does this it? In terms of the memories? Today's data I had my

:33:34. > :33:41.first day in Formula One and I really enjoyed that, it is a very

:33:41. > :33:46.nice circuit. Hopefully we can score a good points. -- two days

:33:47. > :33:54.later. Turn Number 10, very wide. Entering the longest straight on

:33:54. > :34:01.the track. Long apex. Fantastic, the setting in this track. Be it is

:34:01. > :34:06.definitely a nice place. Here there can be good action. I did some

:34:06. > :34:11.overtaking here. But a start of the Grand Prix, you can actually go to

:34:11. > :34:16.the inside to avoid the incident. Very low. You can afford to be

:34:16. > :34:25.quite aggressive. Det the DoE, you want to cut here, not all the way

:34:25. > :34:30.out. -- definitely. Here we have the barriers, now, you are a living

:34:30. > :34:40.example that those barriers to work. You had a huge crash in Monaco at

:34:40. > :34:41.

:34:41. > :34:46.the corner I crashed on in my last year. It was quite a lot to me. It

:34:46. > :34:50.took a long while to get my head back into place. One thing that the

:34:50. > :34:54.public are not aware of perhaps his racing is in your family, your

:34:54. > :35:01.father was managing young drivers in the early days of the Grand Prix.

:35:01. > :35:07.Your brother is racing in at last car. We get on well. Do we live

:35:07. > :35:13.similar lines. We give advice to which other because he can see

:35:13. > :35:19.things from the outside and I can see things in his career so it is

:35:19. > :35:24.very good. Very good support. was a little incident last year

:35:24. > :35:28.weather was a television show called Top Gear, is that no-one

:35:28. > :35:38.Mexico? A very well known. Especially when they criticise the

:35:38. > :35:41.country. Is Jeremy Clarkson safe to go to Mexico on a holiday?

:35:41. > :35:48.country to do very seriously. I think you should wait before going

:35:48. > :35:52.to Mexico! -- took it very seriously. All the best. Thank you.

:35:52. > :35:57.Germany is said to have a holiday here. Plenty of people are doing

:35:57. > :36:01.that. Not only busy in the paddock but also around the harbour. David

:36:01. > :36:05.is enjoying educating the younger drivers about the perks. Sergio

:36:05. > :36:10.Perez showed us last time what you can achieve, even if you have a

:36:10. > :36:15.tough qualifying session? Cast your mind back to Australia, he has

:36:15. > :36:20.something, he knows how to look after his tyres and his car and I

:36:20. > :36:25.think he is a really cool talent. He has a very balanced head. We

:36:25. > :36:30.will see a lot of him. The less than one minute until the handover.

:36:30. > :36:34.Jensen Button said that overtaking will be difficult. The double DRS

:36:34. > :36:41.zone, that has not meant a lot so qualifying is just as important as

:36:41. > :36:46.last year. He is right. Qualifying is king. Sebastian Vettel last year

:36:46. > :36:49.had the advantage for him. Nevertheless, Jensen Button likes

:36:49. > :36:57.to talk down his qualifying performance because it isn't Israel

:36:57. > :37:01.star quality, his is racing. They are certainly ready behind us.

:37:01. > :37:05.Ready in the paddock. Abu Dhabi is ready. Jensen Button has described

:37:05. > :37:08.the current crop of drivers as the best he has ever faced. All of them

:37:09. > :37:18.are about to take to the track and the fight for pole position starts

:37:19. > :37:29.

:37:29. > :37:34.the ultimate lap for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Round 18 of this year's

:37:34. > :37:39.World Championship. The Yas Marina Circuit. The third race at this

:37:39. > :37:43.spectacular venue. Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton have been on

:37:43. > :37:49.pole position before and they very much look favourites after the

:37:49. > :37:56.practising this morning. David Coulthard is in my commentary box.

:37:56. > :38:03.Three parts of the track over three seconds. The middle sector, lots of

:38:03. > :38:08.corners. Those too long back streets. The third sector is around

:38:08. > :38:14.39 seconds. The temperature is dropping. 5 o'clock in the evening,

:38:14. > :38:18.here. And we saw the free practice, well over 40 degrees on the track.

:38:18. > :38:22.That is a factor, as the temperature goes down through the

:38:22. > :38:27.qualifying hour. It did look seriously close between Red Bull

:38:27. > :38:33.and McLaren and Ferrari also looking on, as always. We expect an

:38:33. > :38:36.exciting session. Not just at the front. We have a tremendous

:38:36. > :38:45.championship battle going on between Force India, Sauber and

:38:45. > :38:49.Toro Rosso. They look close. Force India looking particularly strong.

:38:49. > :38:55.This is where the empty out all their fuel, they put these engines

:38:55. > :39:02.up to maximum power and the drivers thrash their car as within one inch

:39:02. > :39:06.of their lives to get that position. It is an amazing facility. Is it a

:39:06. > :39:09.great race track? It was very telling when we spoke with Paul di

:39:09. > :39:15.Resta and asked about this in comparison to India and he talked

:39:15. > :39:21.about the facilities! How amazing everything is. No question, they

:39:21. > :39:26.have created an incredible sight. Everything from multiple hotels to

:39:26. > :39:29.the ease of access has been first class. The racetrack, I do not see

:39:29. > :39:36.anyone putting this into their favourite tracks to drive on.

:39:36. > :39:39.That's it, it has interesting quirks. Underneath the hotel. The

:39:39. > :39:45.falling temperature all the way into qualifying, which poses a

:39:45. > :39:49.challenge. In Singapore, straight away under the lights. Here, they

:39:49. > :39:55.have a temperature that was at 40 degrees when down to one hour in

:39:55. > :40:00.practice session earlier today and it has dropped to 32 degrees.

:40:00. > :40:10.Roberto Mancini, there. We're taking him around the track on

:40:10. > :40:15.Monday. I thought he always wore his scarf?! Back to the business of

:40:15. > :40:20.qualifying. 32 degrees. As the temperature drops, the chemical

:40:20. > :40:24.reactions in the tyres changed. You get more life and for longer,

:40:24. > :40:28.bigger bang for your back within a stroke of the piston as the air

:40:28. > :40:33.temperature drop-zone more downforce. The cars will feel

:40:33. > :40:38.better and better. Interesting point as we look at the

:40:38. > :40:43.constructors championship. Red Bull have already won this. Williams

:40:43. > :40:48.down in 9th place. Just five points, which hurts them. Let's hope they

:40:48. > :40:53.have something better in store next year. Kimi Raikkonen Joining that

:40:53. > :41:00.team. That would give us six World Championship is on the grid. Quite

:41:00. > :41:05.something. Rubens Barrichello and some others might not agree with

:41:05. > :41:15.that enthusiasm. We saw the fastest ever lap this morning of the

:41:15. > :41:18.

:41:18. > :41:28.circuit. By Lewis Hamilton. Bennett 38.976. We seem to have some pace

:41:28. > :41:29.

:41:29. > :41:34.out there. It should not be surprising. Entering the paddock.

:41:34. > :41:38.Not surprised by the impressive lap times we have seen through practice.

:41:38. > :41:44.The kinetic energy recovery system is back on for this season, giving

:41:44. > :41:49.them an extra 80 horses. For 6.7 seconds. We have DRS, the drag

:41:49. > :41:56.reduction system, which they can use on every single street. Getting

:41:56. > :42:01.ready for the start. 20 seconds to run. 15 seconds to go. That is

:42:01. > :42:11.interesting. So many cars are dead keen to get out there and get a lap

:42:11. > :42:13.

:42:13. > :42:21.under their belt. Five seconds to go. And... Qualifying is underway!

:42:21. > :42:27.Five cars taking to the track. All lined up. Kovaleinen is going out

:42:27. > :42:36.also for notice. Jarno Trulli, the second at Lotus. And they are

:42:36. > :42:42.fanning out of the pits. Renault, so many name changes. The pit entry,

:42:42. > :42:47.the exit onto the track entry. We briefly saw that. Fernando Alonso,

:42:47. > :42:57.waiting in the pits. Blowing cool air on him. That's looks like a

:42:57. > :43:01.

:43:01. > :43:08.a wonderful feeling that, you lazily putt out a finger and say

:43:08. > :43:14.start might engine -- the power of that finger. Sebastian Vettel, you

:43:14. > :43:18.can see his trainer holding the bag, that is full of dry ice. He prefers

:43:18. > :43:28.to have the air through the dry ice and it calls the cockpit before the

:43:28. > :43:32.

:43:32. > :43:38.qualifying session. They have Let's hear from Ted Kravitz.

:43:38. > :43:48.KRAVITZ: There very busy pit lane as people go out on the hard-up of

:43:48. > :43:51.the two tiers, the medium compound, -- tyres. Rubens Barrichello, you

:43:51. > :43:55.will have seen his car with about eight mechanics around it, they are

:43:55. > :43:59.close to getting it finished. They were worried they would have to use

:44:00. > :44:04.a new engine and get a penalty for that but that hasn't been a case.

:44:04. > :44:09.The oil was leaking out of it in practice three, so they are just

:44:09. > :44:15.putting the car back together and he will be out shortly. His team-

:44:15. > :44:19.mate Pastor Maldonado does have a penalty for this one. We don't

:44:19. > :44:24.expect him to use up many soft tyres, because that would

:44:24. > :44:28.ultimately be pointless, because he has dropped 10 places. He drops 10

:44:28. > :44:32.places because he is on his ninth engine of the season, you can only

:44:32. > :44:42.use 80 before a penalty, and there are gearbox penalties as well --

:44:42. > :44:46.

:44:47. > :44:52.eighth. We are on board with Bruno Senna. In the Renault, this car

:44:52. > :44:57.will become a Lotus next year. I understand it will retain its

:44:57. > :45:03.colour scheme. The Lotus saga is finally over. That is the second

:45:03. > :45:08.apex he has not looked up with. enlisted by a country mile. That

:45:08. > :45:15.certainly won't help his exit -- he missed it. Past the support pit on

:45:16. > :45:20.the right hand side and hard on the brakes Macro. That breaks. He has

:45:20. > :45:27.not been eliminated in the first part of qualifying since he joined

:45:27. > :45:33.the team, he has been pretty salad. Bass solid. The car has slipped

:45:33. > :45:38.since the opening race in Melbourne but it is a very solid made-top 10

:45:38. > :45:43.car, so I think he has done a good job coming in halfway through the

:45:43. > :45:47.season, certainly enough to keep Petrov honest. His star has waned

:45:47. > :45:50.slightly since Bruno Senna came in. The difficult decision going

:45:50. > :45:58.forward as to which drivers they put in place. We talked about it

:45:58. > :46:03.before the show, we are waiting to hear about Robert Kubica. They have

:46:03. > :46:07.Grosjean, at Reading in Friday practice, and he was quicker than

:46:07. > :46:12.Petrov -- running in Friday practice. You would expect of the

:46:12. > :46:15.most experienced guide to be setting the pace. It must be a

:46:15. > :46:19.likely that Robert Kubica is coming back for the start of the season.

:46:19. > :46:24.That would be something. Mark Webber for Red Bull, he has been

:46:24. > :46:30.very closely matched with Sebastian Vettel. It looks as close as we

:46:31. > :46:35.have seen him to his young team- mate all year, I would say. This is

:46:35. > :46:39.a track that mark was very strong around, he slipped in qualifying

:46:39. > :46:43.last year, which was the crucial four-way battle for the

:46:43. > :46:47.championship which his team mate went on to win and he has backed it

:46:47. > :46:52.up with his performance this year. Mark has a contract in place for

:46:52. > :46:56.next year, he has had a reputation of being a great qualifier, so he

:46:56. > :47:00.needs to relax into this weekend. Fernando Alonso checking his

:47:00. > :47:05.mirrors, it is all about track position. Lewis Hamilton coming

:47:05. > :47:11.behind him, he will have to back out of it. Coming into the last

:47:11. > :47:15.corner, it is an anti-clockwise track. 12 left and nine are right.

:47:15. > :47:21.One of five anti-clockwise circuit, the last one in Brazil is anti-

:47:21. > :47:31.clockwise as well. They were both on their out-lap there. If you are

:47:31. > :47:31.

:47:31. > :47:35.thinking, he will take a penalty, Lewis Hamilton won't. Felipe Massa

:47:36. > :47:42.is the fastest man in the first set at the moment. Make that Vettel now,

:47:42. > :47:49.he has just done a 1: 17.8. Still four-tenths of what we saw in

:47:49. > :47:53.practice, but they are still on a hard and tyre. We saw them having

:47:53. > :48:00.two or three laps to get the best time in practice, that might be the

:48:00. > :48:04.case again. And quite suddenly, the way the -- the way the tyres are

:48:04. > :48:08.performing, some of the top teams won't be putting on the yellow tyre

:48:08. > :48:11.until the last part of qualifying. But there hasn't been a great deal

:48:11. > :48:15.of difference between them and it is taking two or three laps to

:48:15. > :48:20.activate the tyres. What we saw in the morning practice was one of

:48:20. > :48:27.fast lap, and then another lap that was delivering the time. I am

:48:28. > :48:32.worried about Pirelli getting there act together. They are becoming so

:48:32. > :48:36.good and durable, I want the bubblegum tyres back, lots of

:48:36. > :48:40.shocks and surprises. But they don't want that for their product.

:48:40. > :48:46.It surprises me, because they took so much negative criticism at the

:48:46. > :48:49.beginning of the year, they took it on the chin and they said we want

:48:49. > :48:56.more exciting racing, we have brought in more pit stops, so why

:48:56. > :49:04.would you want to back away from that? Hamilton said the fastest lap.

:49:04. > :49:08.-- sex. Make that Vettel. We would expect all of these top teams to be

:49:08. > :49:14.able to get through this part of qualifying using the hard tyres and

:49:14. > :49:19.with one run. Fernando our using plenty of kerb, the front wing

:49:19. > :49:23.touching the ground. Michael Schumacher, who has taken quite a

:49:23. > :49:30.shine to the run-off areas through free practice, let's see if he will

:49:30. > :49:34.do the same again. I have to say, I really was concerned we were close

:49:34. > :49:40.to seeing a serious injury to Michael Schumacher last year, when

:49:40. > :49:47.and Tonio Liuzzi's Force India climbed up the front of his car --

:49:47. > :49:57.and Tonio Liuzzi's. Michael Schumacher was bouncing across at

:49:57. > :49:57.

:49:57. > :50:00.kerb. He went very wide in tents 17, we saw he had been held up by

:50:00. > :50:10.Michael Schumacher -- turn 17. Could Michael Schumacher get a

:50:10. > :50:12.

:50:12. > :50:19.penalty for that? That is a timed lap four menthe -- for Di Resta. He

:50:19. > :50:25.ran off the circuit in 18 and 19, which take you under the hotel.

:50:26. > :50:30.Webber has gone fastest from Vettel. Hamilton is on another flying lap,

:50:30. > :50:38.as we see Nico Rosberg, he has just extended his contract with

:50:38. > :50:43.Mercedes-Benz, he will be there till at least the end of 2013. They

:50:43. > :50:48.really cut across the inside. More than I have never noticed before,

:50:48. > :50:56.across turn 19. I am not aware of any changes to the kerb, but what

:50:56. > :51:02.is significant is that these defuses, -- diffuser ofs, it is

:51:02. > :51:09.giving them so much more downforce, they could use it by cutting over

:51:09. > :51:13.the kerbs. They will all be in a different situation next year and I

:51:13. > :51:20.suspect they will keep off the kerbs a little bit, because it

:51:20. > :51:27.excites the car. Hamilton is still on the slower at medium compound

:51:27. > :51:32.tyre, with the lighter colour markings. Vettel is quick as well,

:51:32. > :51:38.just about matched Hamilton in the first sector. Not a lot going on,

:51:38. > :51:48.very evenly matched. We watch Hamilton at the end of the back

:51:48. > :51:52.

:51:52. > :51:56.straight. Another very fast middle sector. 10 minutes remaining of Q1.

:51:56. > :52:06.As ever, this is all about the drop zone. Rubens Barrichello still

:52:06. > :52:08.

:52:08. > :52:11.hasn't made it out of the pits. 80 car the line and has got himself in

:52:11. > :52:21.in the Lotus at the moment -- Heikki Kovalainen has got himself

:52:21. > :52:22.

:52:22. > :52:25.in there. He is just been. Michael Schumacher has just done a personal

:52:25. > :52:33.best in the first sector. Jenson Button is coming alive as well, he

:52:33. > :52:41.is in sixth at the moment. We waited to see, as we look at Ron

:52:41. > :52:51.Dennis of the McLaren team, if Jenson Button can beat a bit back

:52:51. > :53:02.

:53:02. > :53:08.line and does indeed go faster. 1: 40.2, that is a very quick lap

:53:08. > :53:16.indeed for Jenson Button. It looks like he has enjoyed it so much he

:53:16. > :53:19.will take another one. Now, Michael Schumacher, a personal best in the

:53:19. > :53:24.first and second sector, he has decided he likes the racetrack in

:53:25. > :53:30.his lap rather than the run-off areas. Two corners to go, a

:53:30. > :53:40.sweeping right and then a tricky one into the pit straight. Over the

:53:40. > :53:41.

:53:41. > :53:45.line he goes and Michael Schumacher goes straight into the top 10.

:53:45. > :53:51.Lewis Hamilton is on another flying lap. Jenson Button is out there as

:53:51. > :53:56.well. These tyres are going to last forever tomorrow. They will be

:53:56. > :54:00.using them in Brazil in two weeks' time, they have so much durability.

:54:00. > :54:05.I guess Pirelli can't get it right every time, this is their first

:54:06. > :54:10.time coming to Abu Dhabi. Lewis Hamilton setting the fastest time.

:54:10. > :54:15.He was quickest in the morning practice session, and despite all

:54:15. > :54:24.the talk of there not been settled off track, he looks incredibly sure

:54:24. > :54:28.footed on the track -- all the talk of him. Lewis Hamilton was half a

:54:28. > :54:32.second quicker than everybody else this morning. He has a three-tenths

:54:32. > :54:40.advantage over Webber and half a second on his team-mate, Jenson

:54:40. > :54:46.Button. Hamilton surely looking favourite for pole position. Here

:54:46. > :54:52.is Michael Schumacher. Does he miss the chicane, by any chance? He

:54:52. > :54:57.doesn't. We have seen that several times in free practice way you go

:54:57. > :55:01.straight across the corner. One of the DRS detection zones is there

:55:01. > :55:04.for the race tomorrow. If you go through there and you gain an

:55:04. > :55:09.advantage, if you are further ahead of the car then when you went into

:55:09. > :55:13.the corner, you will hear from the stewards. Or if it gets you into

:55:13. > :55:17.the DRS zone by cheating across there, and you use the DRS there,

:55:17. > :55:21.you will take a penalty as well. That is the trouble with the

:55:21. > :55:26.supermarket car-park run-offs, it is too easy to make a mistake. Have

:55:26. > :55:32.I mentioned that before? You have, it is one of your bugbears of

:55:32. > :55:36.modern racetracks. There are acres and acres of run-off around this

:55:36. > :55:40.track. I agree with you, you shouldn't be able to just

:55:40. > :55:45.systematically use them. What they are really looking out for his car

:55:45. > :55:48.getting away with using it once, like when you are starting to lose

:55:49. > :55:52.a better performance from the tyres, you could easily miss that chicane,

:55:52. > :55:56.game park the second from your previous best lap, not go faster

:55:56. > :56:02.than your previous best sector and gain time when you come into a pit

:56:02. > :56:06.stop. It is like going down to Eau Rouge, we would fake the break

:56:06. > :56:12.going into the hairpin, and then had a better run into the next lap.

:56:12. > :56:16.Everybody did it. TED KRAVITZ: Rubens Barrichello is waiting for

:56:16. > :56:21.one run at the end but I understand he will do three laps on that run

:56:21. > :56:27.to get the best out of his soft tyres. Renault have also had to

:56:27. > :56:31.take the soft tyres, and I am looking to see if the Mercedes... I

:56:31. > :56:35.think Michael Schumacher considers himself safe enough in ninth

:56:35. > :56:41.position, even though the times has started to get quite close.

:56:41. > :56:47.Maldonado has gone out on a set of soft tyres. Any news on Rubens

:56:47. > :56:55.Barrichello? Still in the pits? I did say, he is going to do one

:56:55. > :56:59.run of three laps. That is the plan. Has he got enough time? Maybe it

:56:59. > :57:05.will be two laps. The team insists the car is ready to go and I can't

:57:05. > :57:11.see from where I am to look into the garage, but I will make double

:57:11. > :57:16.short and let you know. Thank you very much for that. Rubens

:57:16. > :57:21.Barrichello still waiting to see what he can do. Heikki Kovalainen,

:57:21. > :57:31.a Ricky ardour, Timo Glock, d'Ambrosio, Liuzzi and Jarno Trulli

:57:31. > :57:33.

:57:33. > :57:43.in the drop zone. -- Daniel Ricciardo. Jarno Trulli missed a

:57:43. > :57:48.race... Heikki Kovalainen well ahead of Jarno Trulli at the moment.

:57:48. > :57:51.A huge performance from Daniel Ricciardo in the High HRT. Only

:57:51. > :57:56.one-tenth slower than Heikki Kovalainen, who has shown himself

:57:56. > :58:00.to be the qualifying the king of that group of cars. So I wonder

:58:00. > :58:04.where Daniel Ricciardo got that from. He was quickest as the young

:58:04. > :58:14.driver here last year so he has experience of the track. Maybe it's

:58:14. > :58:20.

:58:20. > :58:27.is his driving. Ted is now at quite sure if he is going out are

:58:27. > :58:33.not. The team spokesperson isn't sure. He has time to do one fast-

:58:33. > :58:43.run. Well, the car is fixed. They sent them out, if they did, he

:58:43. > :58:44.

:58:44. > :58:53.might get to flying laps. Looking pretty grim for Rubens Barrichello.

:58:53. > :58:58.And his team-mate, Maldonado, his 17th on and -- and on the cusp. The

:58:58. > :59:04.Williams form is really working. Paul di Resta, presumably what

:59:04. > :59:09.those yellow tyres, has gone up into 5th place. We can see Petrov

:59:09. > :59:18.on those tyres as well. Schumacher is down to 11th place. Will he feel

:59:18. > :59:25.the need to go back out or will be he under serious pressure? Petrov

:59:25. > :59:31.goes up in two P8. He needs to leave the pits and the last of --

:59:31. > :59:36.at the next half of a minute if he is going to go out and defend that.

:59:36. > :59:43.Kobayashi, Maldonado, Kovaleinen. Timo Glock. Jarno Trulli is also

:59:43. > :59:46.out. Plenty of runners. Schumacher down to 14th place. Only 17. He is

:59:47. > :59:53.probably OK with Barrichello still in the pits. Michael Schumacher

:59:53. > :00:03.stays in the pits. He feels comfortable that he already has to

:00:03. > :00:03.

:00:03. > :00:08.join in your teens. Kovaleinen up into 16th place. Maldonado. One we

:00:08. > :00:18.locked up. They do not turn well when they're not rotating. Not at

:00:18. > :00:26.all, sometimes. Bruno Senna. And Schumacher, we think, is going out.

:00:26. > :00:34.He has gone out on the soft tyres. He had to respond. He is 17, now.

:00:34. > :00:41.Schumacher it needs to push. They seem to be waiting. Felipe Massa

:00:41. > :00:44.has to commit to the softer tyres. Down to 13th place. The drivers

:00:44. > :00:50.putting their tyres born to put the pressure on the expected front-

:00:50. > :00:56.runners. We predicted it would be just over one second faster, and

:00:56. > :01:05.Barrichello confirms he will not run. Is that the second last

:01:05. > :01:10.qualifying session of his career? We do not know. Anyway, the Walker

:01:10. > :01:15.Shane a cross to the pit wall. Paul di Resta find a massive 1.9 seconds

:01:15. > :01:20.between the hard, Prime tyres, and the option. That is why we have

:01:20. > :01:29.seen Felipe Massa having to respond. Schumacher currently 17th and on

:01:29. > :01:37.the cusp. Will he be under any threat? I doubt it. Builders, he

:01:37. > :01:43.churchy and Virgin only. Sir Paul McCartney comes into the paddock.

:01:43. > :01:48.Barrichello took the pressure off Schumacher and Felipe Massa. They

:01:48. > :01:52.could not rely on that happening and they had to go out. Schumacher

:01:52. > :01:58.had to go out in 17th place. Three- tenths of a second over Kovaleinen.

:01:58. > :02:04.And Kovaleinen has run out 1 lap. If d'Ambrosio is out there. They

:02:05. > :02:12.might pull Schumacher's straight in. Why do the wrong on this tyres? All

:02:12. > :02:16.that matters is he isn't 18. They can use those times in qualifying.

:02:16. > :02:23.The chequered flag has dropped at the end of the first part of

:02:23. > :02:33.qualifying. Just 20 minutes. It has gone so quickly. Petrov is on a

:02:33. > :02:43.better lap. Schumacher has gone for the laps. He does not feel

:02:43. > :02:45.

:02:45. > :02:52.comfortable. They should not be able to get in front of him.

:02:52. > :02:58.will probably complete the second sector and then take the view on

:02:58. > :03:04.the first sector. I would expect him to put after this. He should

:03:04. > :03:10.not be getting beaten by Lotus, Virgin and he charges. None of

:03:10. > :03:18.their first sectors are within three-tenths of this current one.

:03:18. > :03:23.Jerome d'Ambrosio, currently in 23rd. Just to confuse us. We should

:03:23. > :03:33.just qualified that that middle sector is pretty much to Street

:03:33. > :03:33.

:03:33. > :03:41.runs. Down into seven - it and then it - 11, wide, open alliance. --

:03:41. > :03:50.open lines. Jarno Trulli, 19th. He is on to personal bests. He has

:03:50. > :03:54.surprised Kovaleinen. He does not, he stays behind him. Michael

:03:54. > :03:58.Schumacher, coming towards the end of the lap and Pits. As he

:03:58. > :04:02.predicted. As soon as he knew he was not under pressure. It has

:04:02. > :04:08.taken the life out of those tyres. And the same with Felipe Massa. By

:04:08. > :04:15.having to do the out lap on those tyres. And that is only because of

:04:15. > :04:19.the changeover you're not allowed to go out on intermediate or wet

:04:19. > :04:26.tyres on a dry track. They will be getting those tyres into the black

:04:26. > :04:32.it's as quickly as possible. Indeed. Willow's Heikki Kovalainen, Jarno

:04:32. > :04:39.Trulli, Timo Glock, Ricardo, d'Ambrosio, Liuzzi and Rubens

:04:39. > :04:46.Barrichello, starting in 24th and last. Maldonado must take the grid

:04:46. > :04:48.drop from 16th because he had an extra engine. Dibble it to see if

:04:48. > :04:52.that is Pastor Maldonado steps behind Rubens Barrichello at the

:04:52. > :04:56.end of qualifying but let's not talk about that penalty, what about

:04:56. > :05:02.your difficult weekend? Explain the problems because we saw you sitting

:05:02. > :05:07.in the car with your helmet on. You were keen to get out? This morning

:05:07. > :05:13.we had a brand new engine which was looking very good because I saved

:05:13. > :05:18.the new engine to a later stage of the season and we went out and we

:05:18. > :05:21.had some difficulty after two laps. And we came back and try to review

:05:21. > :05:25.the situation and just before qualifying they told me there was

:05:25. > :05:30.no way. That was even more frustrating just before qualifying,

:05:30. > :05:35.you are so eager to go and you have the mentality to put in a very nice

:05:35. > :05:40.lap and the engine was not working. We know that the circuit is more

:05:40. > :05:45.difficult to pass on in others. This qualifying is particularly

:05:45. > :05:50.hard because of the possibility of a good points return? It has been a

:05:50. > :05:59.hard weekend in a way. I cannot remember myself doing so many

:05:59. > :06:04.little things. P2. That was it. I hope that the set-up is OK and I

:06:04. > :06:10.enjoy myself. I am on such a positive mood, I try to enjoy

:06:10. > :06:16.myself, but today is disappointing. We were there to celebrate you

:06:16. > :06:19.getting 300 races. Still a smile on her face. Apart from the period

:06:19. > :06:25.when you drove for Eddie Jordan! Is this the toughest season of your

:06:25. > :06:29.career? Death In Italy, we had a very tough season. Last year was

:06:29. > :06:34.tough but the team got together well and we sort the problems and

:06:34. > :06:38.this year, with all the News of departures and people coming I'm

:06:38. > :06:42.going, it was tough to keep the team organised. It is suffering. If

:06:42. > :06:48.they keep this going with the good mentality, they will sort

:06:48. > :06:54.themselves out. A with his top of different drivers coming I'm going,

:06:54. > :07:01.do you feel under any pressure or do you just want to keep going on?

:07:01. > :07:06.How do you cope? In the first or second year, this would have been

:07:06. > :07:13.tough. But after 19 seasons, you have to enjoy life. I am enjoying

:07:13. > :07:19.my life. I just put in 20 laps and tomorrow, I will go to race and

:07:19. > :07:28.that is it. You have to enjoy it as much as you can. I would love to be

:07:28. > :07:35.sitting in a car next year, just to pass on. It will be 48 years of age

:07:35. > :07:40.with 20 years of racing. I think it is a very... It is almost a must to

:07:40. > :07:43.be there next year. I am only doing this because I enjoy it. To Morrow

:07:43. > :07:49.will be difficult. Going to Brazil hoping to impress but once the

:07:49. > :07:55.season is over, what can you do until March to make sure you were

:07:55. > :07:58.still in the game? Every thing I can. I'm looking for all the things,

:07:58. > :08:02.such as sponsors, if that is what we need. Looking for everything to

:08:02. > :08:08.show that my passion is behind the steering wheel and I want to be

:08:08. > :08:12.there. I will be in charge of being in England as much as I can and

:08:12. > :08:18.trying to do my job. Thank you for joining us and you have the world's

:08:18. > :08:22.media to speak to. Thank you. Let's join David and Martin. What is

:08:23. > :08:28.interesting is that he said if he needs to find money, he will. He is

:08:28. > :08:32.a man driven to be in Formula One next season. I can relate. It

:08:32. > :08:36.really hurt when people were telling me I was not going to be a

:08:36. > :08:41.driver any more. Sometimes people outside can see this more easily.

:08:41. > :08:48.You desperately want to carry on racing. I cannot help but think,

:08:48. > :08:53.for Rubens Barrichello, it is time to move on. I would just like the

:08:53. > :08:57.opportunity to celebrate his 19 years. This is the 19th and final

:08:57. > :09:02.season of his career. We are in Brazil and what a fitting place? He

:09:02. > :09:06.grew up very close to the racetrack in Sao Paulo. He is the most

:09:06. > :09:15.experienced driver in Formula One. I don't want a winter of

:09:15. > :09:19.uncertainty. Back to qualifying. Underway, 15 minutes. Very eager to

:09:19. > :09:24.get out. What did we learn from the first part? We have learned that

:09:24. > :09:28.there is a bigger gap between the prime and the option tyres and the

:09:28. > :09:31.suspected going into this. The track temperature has dropped a

:09:31. > :09:37.further two degrees. If they do nothing different and just tried

:09:37. > :09:44.the same, they were naturally go quicker. More downforce and the

:09:44. > :09:47.tyres will hold on better. They are all keen to get out and line

:09:47. > :09:53.themselves up for the lap times. Because the tyres are not so

:09:53. > :09:57.critical, it is about trying to relay be perfect on every corner.

:09:57. > :10:03.It might seem an obvious thing to say, but when the tyres on the last

:10:03. > :10:07.for one lap, you might take more out of them on a certain corner

:10:08. > :10:11.than be more careful in the longer corner. You don't want to use up

:10:11. > :10:19.too much performance. It is about trying to get the maximum return

:10:19. > :10:25.for your investment. Ferrari World. In the background. In the

:10:25. > :10:32.foreground, seven cars on the track. Webber, Senna, Petrov, Kobayashi,

:10:32. > :10:37.Perez, Alguersuari and Sebastian Vettel has just joined. Paul

:10:37. > :10:45.McCartney, he has some ear protection on. With the Ferrari

:10:45. > :10:55.team. Spreading the love. I don't think I have ever seen him in 4 min

:10:55. > :10:59.

:10:59. > :11:05.01. Ted has news. -- Formula One. Red Bull and McLaren are on the

:11:05. > :11:09.softer tyres. Red Bull were complaining that McLaren have the

:11:09. > :11:15.edge on the middle sector because of their strong Mercedes engine but

:11:15. > :11:18.in secretary, the slow corners in that qualifying, the McLaren gained

:11:18. > :11:26.even more up over Red Bull. Baby because they are running more with

:11:26. > :11:32.the wings. Red Bull are running with four of the skinny wings.

:11:32. > :11:40.Bull are full -- a full 10 kilometres an hour slower in this

:11:40. > :11:45.car. Once again, Red Bull, slow down the straight but into the

:11:45. > :11:49.corners they make it up. That is the game you always play. They will

:11:49. > :11:53.have some elation tools available and they will understand at this

:11:53. > :12:03.stage the relationship between the scimitar and the performance on the

:12:03. > :12:04.

:12:04. > :12:09.track. It isn't all about top speed. This isn't the salt flats, this is

:12:09. > :12:15.about chasing lap times. It is about the potential for a driver

:12:15. > :12:25.and your car, that package. corners, 3.5 miles. The stopwatch

:12:25. > :12:34.

:12:34. > :12:42.there? The new fastest qualifying through the first sector poor Mark

:12:42. > :12:52.Webber, but has just been out done by Vettel. TEAM RADIO: Michael, we

:12:52. > :12:53.

:12:53. > :12:58.expect of the cut-off to be 40.5. Your time is 40.96. Could clear

:12:58. > :13:08.information. The delta time, the middle lap delta we refer to. You

:13:08. > :13:13.can see him on the right-hand side of the Scream. -- a screen. Mark

:13:13. > :13:21.Webber has picked up through this sequence, he is up to two-tenths as

:13:21. > :13:27.he comes through turn 19. He will be looking at best and thinking, I

:13:27. > :13:35.am going faster. One final turn and he is three-tenths up. Liz is a bit

:13:35. > :13:39.on the acceleration down to the start/finish line -- Liz is a bed.

:13:39. > :13:43.If -- and loses a bit. Michael Schumacher has been told what he

:13:43. > :13:51.has to aim for. The Wall fell slightly under pressure in this

:13:51. > :14:00.session. -- he will feel. Sebastian Vettel comes to register his first

:14:00. > :14:05.lap of the session. 38.5. Seven- tenths quicker than the Mark Webber.

:14:05. > :14:10.38.4 from Lewis Hamilton. Game on. They are close again. It is going

:14:10. > :14:14.to be something else in Q3. Hamilton is on supreme form. He

:14:14. > :14:22.looks like he has got Red Bull beating the pace. He looks like he

:14:23. > :14:30.has had it all through the event so far. Vettel some a six-tenths a shy

:14:30. > :14:34.of Hamilton's time. Somebody has had a go at the bollards. That

:14:34. > :14:42.second reaction from Felipe Massa has put another piece of debris on

:14:42. > :14:50.the racetrack. Petrov at the moment his ninth, so what do a Mercedes

:14:50. > :14:54.think? 40.5 will be ninth or tenth place. Michael Schumacher has done

:14:54. > :15:01.a 40.5, that is exactly what they asked him to do. Vettel is on an

:15:01. > :15:07.even faster lap, he is absolutely flying, he is than at turn 14. At a

:15:07. > :15:14.red flag, they have to pick the debris up, so they had interrupted

:15:14. > :15:23.Vettel's Flyer. That is the problem, the sort of speed they are doing,

:15:23. > :15:27.that: could do a lot of damage to a front wing or cut a tyre. You can't

:15:27. > :15:37.have debris like that on the track. It has been picked up by a couple

:15:37. > :15:38.

:15:38. > :15:46.of cars, that is at the turn 11. Sorry, it is that turn poor 8 and 9.

:15:46. > :15:55.Will we see the flower wiry -- we see the Ferrari flicking it. If he

:15:55. > :15:59.hit it? Just kissed it. Who has that cost a set of tyres in that

:15:59. > :16:06.session? We know that Vettel was on a faster lap, so he has had to

:16:06. > :16:13.aborted. TED KRAVITZ: Just to fill you in on some of the midfield guys.

:16:13. > :16:17.The Renault, having been through their second set of softer tyres,

:16:17. > :16:23.and particularly Force India, we are looking at them as the team who

:16:23. > :16:29.are going to make up ninth and tenth and progress into Q3. They

:16:29. > :16:33.did have to take a set of soft tyres in Q1. But Adrian Sutil and

:16:33. > :16:43.Di Resta were on a run that have had to come in and that will cost

:16:43. > :16:50.

:16:50. > :16:53.them. Not in team gear there, just observing this weekend. That makes

:16:53. > :16:58.such a difference to his input to the weekend. If you don't have your

:16:58. > :17:02.Superman outfit on, you can't be Superman. That is ridiculous, he is

:17:02. > :17:08.clearly working for the team, why not let him wear their gear?

:17:08. > :17:13.does seem churlish, but there you go. We are looking at Vettel, who

:17:13. > :17:20.was on a flying lap, and his front wing pass back oscillating nicely

:17:20. > :17:25.there, which we have seen on the Ferrari. Id Felipe Massa's Ferrari

:17:25. > :17:32.seems to do that, but at least the Red Bull once did seem to touch the

:17:32. > :17:36.ground and spark. We were going to speak to Stefano Domenicali in the

:17:36. > :17:40.pre-show, and he didn't turn up, he had another thing it going on, and

:17:40. > :17:46.he chased us down the pit lane as weak or walking down to Force India,

:17:46. > :17:50.saying that, sorry I was held up. - - as we were walking. How often do

:17:50. > :17:55.you have a team principal chasing you and apologising? Hopefully we

:17:56. > :18:03.will hear from him tomorrow in the race show. The session restarts at

:18:03. > :18:10.36 minutes past the hour. Wherever you might be in the world, of

:18:10. > :18:16.welcome to qualifying for this third Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The

:18:16. > :18:21.debris is out of the way and the moment has arrived. The man of that

:18:22. > :18:31.moment is Felipe Massa, and he is out there. Back row number at the

:18:32. > :18:32.

:18:32. > :18:36.moment on a 40.2. -- sixth at the moment. 40.5, will that still be

:18:36. > :18:41.the cut-off point? We are yet to see what Adrian Sutil and Paul di

:18:41. > :18:45.Resta can do for Force India. They were serious contenders in free

:18:45. > :18:50.practice. It seems Force India are the team most likely to get in

:18:50. > :18:54.amongst the big ones this weekend. That red-flagged does appear to

:18:54. > :18:58.have cost Nico Rosberg a run on that first set of tyres, but he

:18:58. > :19:06.does seem to have shown better pace than Michael this weekend. He is

:19:06. > :19:11.going out as we speak. Anything quicker than 40.5 will satisfy him.

:19:11. > :19:15.In the absence of winning Grand Prixs, being in front of your team

:19:15. > :19:25.mate will do. But the two cars on track at the moment. The Felipe

:19:25. > :19:26.

:19:26. > :19:30.Massa and Nico Rosberg. -- Felipe Massa. This is the time to get the

:19:30. > :19:39.tyres up to full temperature, and leaving your left foot on the brake

:19:39. > :19:42.pedal helps, getting some heat into the brakes. That is a pretty tricky

:19:42. > :19:51.section there, you take that sweeping right and you have got it

:19:51. > :19:58.sorted out, and then there is an even tighter one. You said it was

:19:58. > :20:08.the second scariest thing you had ever done. I don't remember what

:20:08. > :20:09.

:20:09. > :20:12.the first was of a. -- was. Felipe Massa starts the lap. TEAM RADIO: a

:20:12. > :20:22.couple of mistakes compared to what you could do, you'd lost about six-

:20:22. > :20:27.tenths on that lap, so if you could do a 39, that would be sufficient.

:20:27. > :20:31.So all of your mistakes cost you on the previous lap. That message

:20:31. > :20:37.would have been relayed to him on the out-lap, not on this hot lap at

:20:37. > :20:43.the moment. Still only three cars on track. Nico Rosberg has done a

:20:43. > :20:48.couple of personal bests. There is lower in the middle sector, though,

:20:48. > :20:56.so he has obviously made a mistake somewhere on the lap -- a very slow

:20:56. > :21:02.in the middle sector. 39 was the request, we will find out what the

:21:02. > :21:11.delivery is. This is the second zone for the DRS of tomorrow, into

:21:11. > :21:17.their heavy braking zone. Look at that, he just... Almost four wheels

:21:17. > :21:20.off the racetrack. No wonder the bollard is missing. Which one of

:21:20. > :21:30.them is going to knock it down and then the rest of them can go across

:21:30. > :21:31.

:21:31. > :21:41.the kerb after that? For Eau Rouge has to go, underneath a hotel. -- a

:21:41. > :21:51.

:21:51. > :21:56.four chord hours to go. -- corn he got from Rob Smedley. Nico

:21:56. > :22:03.Rosberg is the fastest man now in the middle sector. We are about to

:22:03. > :22:08.see Felipe Massa completely launching the car. I think that is

:22:08. > :22:13.all of the wheels off the racetrack. You are supposed to keep two wheels

:22:13. > :22:19.the other side of the race live. That is playing it a little bit

:22:19. > :22:24.close to the edge -- of the white line. Some people get sensitive

:22:24. > :22:31.when they mention the rules but you have to follow them. 39.44 Nico

:22:31. > :22:34.Rosberg puts him into sixth place.,. TED KRAVITZ: Two people have gone

:22:34. > :22:41.out on you said. Michael Schumacher has gone out on a new set of soft

:22:41. > :22:51.tyres, so he doesn't feel safe -- on new sets. But where there is on

:22:51. > :22:58.

:22:58. > :23:08.first. There are six corners on this racetrack that TAS lower than

:23:08. > :23:17.

:23:17. > :23:22.60 mph. -- that TAS lower. -- are the unknown, what I like to call it,

:23:22. > :23:26.the fastest lap you will do on the Grand Prix weekend. Low fuel, new

:23:26. > :23:30.tyres, about a tenth better than his previous best. I love this

:23:30. > :23:36.moment when the floodlights just imperceptibly take over from the

:23:36. > :23:41.daylight. It reminds me of that magical feeling in the atmosphere,

:23:41. > :23:46.when it seems to double at that moment, and your reference points

:23:46. > :23:50.changed slightly as you use the artificial light. I thought you

:23:50. > :24:00.came in your Blackshirt looking like the Milk Tray man, you like

:24:00. > :24:02.

:24:02. > :24:07.the dim lights. Paul di Resta, how is he looking? Sounds good. Lots of

:24:07. > :24:12.oversteer there, he had to get out of the throttle and it has cost him

:24:12. > :24:21.some time. As soon as you lift off the loud pedal, you are not putting

:24:22. > :24:26.750 horsepower through those rear tyres, it goes. That is 40.5, but I

:24:26. > :24:32.think he hasn't got time for another set of tyres, so let's see

:24:32. > :24:38.if he has enough fuel. Adrian Sutil beats it, so both Force Indias in

:24:39. > :24:44.the top 10 at the moment. Sebastian Buemi just ahead of his team-mate

:24:44. > :24:52.Alguersuari. Here is Paul di Resta, where he just had to back off the

:24:52. > :24:57.throttle on the outside edge of that kerb, I am telling you. I have

:24:57. > :25:01.not seen a car get back wide. We know now what happens if you get

:25:01. > :25:10.out wide, it really jumps as the car runs over the outside of the

:25:10. > :25:17.kerb. Pastor Maldonado, 17 that the moment, he has still got to take a

:25:18. > :25:23.10 place drop -- 17th at the moment. You might see him on the back row

:25:24. > :25:28.of the grid. Let's see what Maldonado can do in the Williams.

:25:28. > :25:37.It is so disheartening when you are out there... He knows he has got a

:25:37. > :25:47.penalty, so it is almost like... He has done his first best sector.

:25:47. > :25:51.wasn't full throttle. You will see the ship. For the driver and it

:25:52. > :26:01.won't quite tie-up with the audio - - shift of point. We are getting

:26:01. > :26:03.different audio played in. This is the longest straight on the track.

:26:03. > :26:06.Down into the breaking point for turn eight, a short flick through,

:26:06. > :26:16.struggle for traction as he comes through nine. Then passed the

:26:16. > :26:16.

:26:16. > :26:22.support pits. Maldonado struggling in the tail end of this. If it was

:26:22. > :26:26.stopping right now, and we are just a minute away, we would lose Perez,

:26:26. > :26:32.Sebastian Buemi, Alguersuari, Petrov, Kobayashi, Bruno Senna and

:26:33. > :26:37.Maldonado. No great surprises there. Michael Schumacher was told 40.5

:26:37. > :26:44.was the cut-off point and right now, that looks absolutely right. He is

:26:44. > :26:53.in tenth place on 40.554. Paul di Resta tried to confirm his top 10

:26:53. > :27:00.shoot-out place. -- trying to. Maldonado cautiously through the

:27:00. > :27:03.penultimate corners. He is not on it at all. He could have just been

:27:03. > :27:12.bringing the tyres Inn. You would think he would go for it a little.

:27:12. > :27:16.He really was coasting through some of those corners. We just saw Frank

:27:16. > :27:26.Williams, very much one of the founders of the Williams team.

:27:26. > :27:29.

:27:29. > :27:33.Struggling to turn it around at the go up to 13th place but that and

:27:34. > :27:39.the head of Petrov. The flag has dropped. Adrian Sutil and Paul di

:27:39. > :27:45.Resta, still out. Sebastien Buemi in the middle. This is Paul di

:27:45. > :27:53.Resta. Quite a long way to go, yet. Three tenths quicker than his

:27:53. > :28:01.previous best lap. Off the last turn. He moves ahead of Adrian

:28:01. > :28:10.Sutil. This isn't the grid position. Adrian Sutil is still to finish.

:28:10. > :28:17.40.2. What has Vitaly Petrov been up to? He can complete a lap,

:28:17. > :28:26.despite the chequered flag. Schumacher just hangs on to 10th

:28:26. > :28:31.place. 11th and Twelfth. Schumacher breathes again. Squeezing through

:28:31. > :28:40.on that. Pastor Maldonado has gone on to win it. It does not look

:28:40. > :28:45.particularly fast. One corner to go. It will be the last man on the line.

:28:45. > :28:51.Michael Schumacher could complete another lap, yet. Maldonado stays

:28:51. > :28:56.in 17th place. He will start in 24 up with that great penalty.

:28:56. > :29:06.Schumacher can complete this lap it does not need to. He can go into

:29:06. > :29:07.

:29:07. > :29:13.the pits. Bruno Senna, 14th place. And not on a particularly quick lap.

:29:13. > :29:18.Michael Schumacher's saves another lap on those tyres. We lose Sergio

:29:18. > :29:24.Perez, Vitaly Petrov. Sebastien Buemi, Bruno Senna. Alguersuari,

:29:24. > :29:30.Kobayashi. And Pastor Maldonado. They do not have any practice pit

:29:30. > :29:36.stop. Mercedes, in the second best cricket this year after Red Bull,

:29:36. > :29:43.on average in pit stops. Very close, it is. Lewis Hamilton, remaining

:29:43. > :29:52.demand at the moment, the fastest yet again. Sebastien Buemi... Down

:29:52. > :29:59.in to turn number one. Here is how he decided to make that. There he

:30:00. > :30:09.is again. From another angle. Turn No. 2, the pit lane exit is just on

:30:09. > :30:16.the top. So, no Toro Rosso in the top 10. But we do have two cars

:30:16. > :30:22.from Force India, then McLaren, Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes Benz.

:30:22. > :30:29.And an apology. What was wrong? Toro Rosso had both cars in the

:30:29. > :30:35.final part of qualifying in India. Berlin mind that this is in Titley

:30:35. > :30:43.different set of circumstances. Her in mind. Force India were quicker

:30:43. > :30:47.in Singapore. And Toro Rosso are locked in the battle for 6th place

:30:47. > :30:52.in the championship and neither driver has been confirmed for next

:30:52. > :30:56.season. Vitaly Petrov starts and 12 players, he says he is in the car

:30:56. > :31:01.next year. He is what quite lot of money to this team and he thinks he

:31:01. > :31:06.is secure but he struggled to pick up points. 42% of the point This

:31:06. > :31:10.team have won this season came in the first two races. The sun is

:31:10. > :31:16.setting behind us, the floodlights are on other drivers are struggling

:31:16. > :31:19.to see what they should be going. Felipe Massa smashed his wheels

:31:19. > :31:27.twice in India but he is still not scared driving straight into the

:31:27. > :31:33.Kers? I do not know what is going on. Between Hamilton and himself.

:31:33. > :31:37.That was a shocking mess. He climbed all over. You cannot

:31:37. > :31:42.imagine the disturbance that creates. Felipe Massa, clearly not

:31:42. > :31:48.in the flow, he does not have the confidence to let the car do the

:31:48. > :31:52.work and steered it to what was to be. This is a big battle. Bob's

:31:52. > :31:57.Smedley was coaching him, telling him the Times that he needed.

:31:57. > :32:02.Almost four wheels off the ground. They were. And for Wales outside

:32:03. > :32:07.the racing line. Outside the limits of the track. There has been a

:32:07. > :32:10.directive to the support Racers to say that on this corner, you cannot

:32:10. > :32:17.have all four wheels outside the limits but Formula One drivers are

:32:17. > :32:24.doing that. You might say there is one rule for one and another for

:32:24. > :32:33.the rest. They can do what they like? The stewards will clamp down

:32:33. > :32:39.immediately but they have to be clear. If they had the junior for

:32:39. > :32:43.Miller having it clear, that should apply to from a low one. -- formula.

:32:43. > :32:47.Force India are very close to making it through to the final part.

:32:47. > :32:52.We will talk about Paul di Resta in a moment. What happened at the

:32:52. > :32:59.back? An impressive performance by a record of. At no time has his

:32:59. > :33:05.team mate ever been in front of him. -- down your recorder. And he

:33:05. > :33:14.qualified have a second faster. Another strong qualifier. Did you

:33:14. > :33:22.enjoy it? I did. Good fun. With the sun coming down, it was a nice

:33:22. > :33:28.feeling. We made some progress from practice what I was concerned going

:33:28. > :33:38.into qualifying and we took Gambles and it has worked out. We had a

:33:38. > :33:42.good margin. In between Virgin. That is pretty strong. Yes, it was

:33:42. > :33:50.OK. The last and a manager do my best time. I had a strong first

:33:50. > :33:56.sector. - Maggot the last time I managed to do. I think I made a

:33:56. > :34:00.mistake in turn six And Turn seven and did his best. That could have

:34:00. > :34:05.cost me that extra time to get in front. Anyway, pretty happy with

:34:05. > :34:12.that. Good performers, he would love to be with Toro Rosso next

:34:12. > :34:16.season. The air conditioning does not mix well with me. Really grim.

:34:16. > :34:23.They have a lot of money out here but they're not air-conditioned.

:34:23. > :34:29.The might as well do. Pole position. Lewis Hamilton took first pole

:34:29. > :34:35.position in 2009, Jensen Button has not had pole position since Monaco.

:34:35. > :34:39.Will McLaren do it? There is a decent chance. One thing is the

:34:39. > :34:43.excitement, somebody other than Red Bull. I want to see somebody else.

:34:43. > :34:47.And it looks more likely to be Lewis Hamilton at this stage. We

:34:47. > :34:51.heard so many different stories about the management and people

:34:51. > :34:56.guiding him. This would be a welcome relief. Not just for him

:34:56. > :35:02.but all of his fans up and down the globe. Look at Mark Webber. He has

:35:02. > :35:05.been in the mix, he could surprise us. He needs something. Yes, this

:35:05. > :35:10.has been a pretty poor season by his standards. He came here this

:35:10. > :35:14.time last year and he had a chance for the championship and I do not

:35:14. > :35:19.see what has happened. He needs to raise his game if he is going to be

:35:19. > :35:24.a real contender. The sun has gone down in the desert but who will

:35:24. > :35:27.light up qualifying? Back to David Coulthard and Martin Brundle and

:35:27. > :35:34.let's hope the cars are going quicker than that one when

:35:34. > :35:38.qualifying gets going. It is a showdown time. Sebastian Vettel,

:35:38. > :35:43.Lewis Hamilton, will we see something other than Sebastian

:35:43. > :35:48.Vettel on pole position? Please. Sebastian Vettel would then match

:35:48. > :35:55.the all-time record of pole position in one season, Nigel

:35:55. > :36:00.Mansell, 1992, with 14. There are more races these days. Only 16 back

:36:00. > :36:06.then. Nonetheless, that shows you the kind of dominance that

:36:06. > :36:16.Sebastien Vettel has. Just a few seconds away. From qualifier number

:36:16. > :36:16.

:36:16. > :36:23.three. The top 10 shoot-out is underway. Jensen Button, Lewis

:36:23. > :36:29.Hamilton, Nico Rosberg, on one so, Felipe Massa. Nico Rosberg has gone

:36:29. > :36:33.out on the median tyre. We will see what he chooses to do. Probably

:36:33. > :36:37.saved that set of tyres. Or maybe he will do six laps in this run.

:36:37. > :36:42.McLaren going out early because they wanted a those laps with three

:36:42. > :36:49.runs each. Does that suggest that Rosberg is going to try to set

:36:49. > :36:53.sector times and be satisfied with somebody at the back end. What is a

:36:53. > :37:00.point I'm going out on a tyre that is over one second slower in

:37:00. > :37:06.qualifying? He has another nine minutes to get back in and change.

:37:06. > :37:12.It could be a host of things. They might have a problem with Kers. He

:37:12. > :37:16.was fight -- we will find out. I would not be comfortable and aiming

:37:16. > :37:20.for 10th place by just setting a few sectors. They may be think

:37:20. > :37:26.Force India will not run as well. We have seen them saving tyres for

:37:26. > :37:30.the race. I would be more comfortable with 6, 7. Which is

:37:30. > :37:35.more often than not where he has found himself. Less trouble in that

:37:35. > :37:39.run to the first corner and workers strategy from there. Vettel and

:37:39. > :37:49.Hamilton have locked out the front row in the previous two races. That

:37:49. > :37:51.

:37:51. > :37:57.is how it is looking today. Ferrari, they're just... The car has around

:37:57. > :38:07.two or on the option. So just be aware of that. You are the only car

:38:07. > :38:10.

:38:10. > :38:16.on prime terms. He is coming straight back. Let us see if Ted

:38:16. > :38:21.Kravitz can get some information on way they need two laps and I'm

:38:21. > :38:27.going back into the pits. Or the other cars will try to qualify

:38:27. > :38:36.properly. All soft tyres. That will give us some pleasure in this

:38:36. > :38:43.qualifying session. They have to do something about that. That is

:38:43. > :38:52.Jensen Button. The first sector. Fernando Alonso is the fastest man

:38:52. > :38:56.at the moment in that sector. 17.49. That isn't what counts. The middle

:38:56. > :39:04.part is 41.5 seconds. That is where we can really see those floodlights

:39:04. > :39:10.beginning to dominate. Down in to turn Number 11. Let us see how

:39:10. > :39:15.Jensen takes this. He does not like the cars leaping about. He lacks a

:39:16. > :39:21.to B, and smooth. Jensen Button. It is almost as if they're not there.

:39:21. > :39:30.He picks the wheels up and gently goes across. As he sweeps through

:39:30. > :39:37.the apex. Four of them left. Lots of exhaust. Generating that extra

:39:37. > :39:43.downforce. And one corner to go. Hamilton even faster on the middle

:39:43. > :39:50.sector and just a little bit out of shape on the last one. Button, 39.0.

:39:50. > :39:58.That will be beaten. Lewis Hamilton dos 38.7. What can Fernando Alonso

:39:58. > :40:08.do? 39.5. It is down to Mark Webber. He has not really matched McLaren

:40:08. > :40:13.at the moment. Loads of wheelspin. He needs a spectacular run. If he

:40:13. > :40:19.is to get ahead of both McLaren cars. Sebastian Vettel is also out

:40:19. > :40:25.there, absolutely flying. Really pushing this Red Bull hard as he

:40:25. > :40:31.crosses the line. He goes second. 38.8. It is now down to the first

:40:31. > :40:37.part of qualifying. Sebastian Vettel, absolutely flying. No

:40:37. > :40:41.traffic around whatsoever. Two corners to go. The new world

:40:42. > :40:48.champion trying to get his 14th pole position of the season. Does

:40:48. > :40:54.he do it? He does not. Four hundredths of a second shy. How

:40:54. > :41:04.close do you want the top three? Covered by over one 10th of a

:41:04. > :41:05.

:41:05. > :41:13.second. He has backed out of the slab. Cool or one more hot? Four

:41:13. > :41:18.hundredths of a second between them. So much roll on these tyres. Sorry,

:41:18. > :41:28.on the cars. The front wing, he opens his DRS at the end of that

:41:28. > :41:29.

:41:29. > :41:38.oversteer. That cost 101 tent? It might have put him into third. Who

:41:38. > :41:48.will go for the second run? Jensen and Button are in the pits. If they

:41:48. > :41:49.

:41:49. > :41:54.can get another run. 100 seconds. You need to get it right. Red Bull,

:41:54. > :42:00.the only cars out there at the moment. Ferrari in the pits. No

:42:00. > :42:06.sign that Mercedes or Force India are going to attempt any serious

:42:06. > :42:11.qualifying effort. They still have time to go out for just one run or

:42:11. > :42:19.are they saying tyres? Schumacher, circle and to rest dead have to use

:42:19. > :42:29.soft tyres to get to this position. -- Adrian Sutil and Paul di Resta.

:42:29. > :42:35.

:42:35. > :42:43.remaining. This is going to be some kind of spectacle. The finest

:42:43. > :42:49.drivers in the world, and wonderful bit of wheelspin, or breaking three

:42:49. > :42:53.metres early, is going to be the end of it. It is going to be a

:42:53. > :42:59.great qualifying battle. How close would you like it? Two different

:42:59. > :43:04.cars, two different drivers, for hundredths of a second, the battle

:43:04. > :43:07.between Hamilton and Vettel. wouldn't discount Jenson Button.

:43:07. > :43:12.TED KRAVITZ: Sebastian Vettel is back in the pits, it looks as

:43:12. > :43:15.though he will be the last one to run as he tries to challenge

:43:15. > :43:20.McLaren for pole position. Jenson Button is out first and Fernando

:43:20. > :43:27.Alonso snuck ahead of June -- Lewis Hamilton in the pit. That was quite

:43:27. > :43:35.snaky bike Fernando back row. Force India just going out now that that

:43:35. > :43:40.was a bit sneaky by Fernando Alonso. Maybe a three-stop but tomorrow for

:43:40. > :43:47.Mercedes. Adrian Sutil is out. We have six cars on the track at the

:43:47. > :43:52.moment. What I find incredible that this situation is you have six cars

:43:52. > :43:56.on track, Jenson Button just leaving turn seven, closely

:43:56. > :44:01.followed by Alonso, Ben Hamilton, then Felipe Massa, they are all

:44:01. > :44:05.closely bunched up, why wouldn't they do what Vettel is doing it,

:44:05. > :44:10.put themselves with a nice bit of clear track to play with? There is

:44:10. > :44:13.plenty of time, isn't there? They all have the same ideas that the

:44:13. > :44:23.same time and they are book-ended on the amount of time available,

:44:23. > :44:25.but I agree, it is all a bit silly. A lot and an Felipe Massa or --

:44:25. > :44:32.Hamilton and Felipe Massa at line astern down the back straight,

:44:32. > :44:38.which usually means fireworks. Adrian Sutil is in front of Mark

:44:38. > :44:45.Webber. We now have all 10 cars on track. Paul di Resta or, Schumacher

:44:45. > :44:49.is out. I don't care what tyres they are on. Vettel is in front of

:44:49. > :44:58.that particular pack. We think everybody is on the yellow marks

:44:58. > :45:04.off tyre. -- yellow marked soft tyre. There some reason the graphic

:45:04. > :45:09.is only showing four cars out on the track. There are definitely 10

:45:09. > :45:19.out there. Jenson Button starts his lap, and man who has been under

:45:19. > :45:23.tremendous form in 2011. -- A man. Hamilton, they must win one of

:45:24. > :45:32.these final races, to go out with some satisfaction from a very

:45:32. > :45:38.difficult season. 17.429 first sector for Jenson Button. Hamilton,

:45:38. > :45:42.17 Port -- 17.5. But as we said, that is not necessarily the one

:45:42. > :45:47.that really matters. There is a long way to go toward the end of

:45:47. > :45:52.the lap. Jenson Button is the fastest through there. Faster

:45:52. > :46:00.fractionally than Webber. We haven't seen Vettel's first sector

:46:00. > :46:05.at the Tyacke. They are reasonably nicely spread out now. -- first

:46:05. > :46:10.sector a yet. We will be getting Vettel's First Sec the time any

:46:10. > :46:16.moment now. Another quick middle sector. Jenson Button is flying in

:46:16. > :46:21.the middle sector. He is on it. He has still got a chance to spoil the

:46:21. > :46:26.party between Vettel and Hamilton. Hamilton, not a great middle sector,

:46:26. > :46:31.it is good enough to keep him in the action. There is Jenson Button

:46:31. > :46:35.towards the end of the lap. He has been driving beautifully. The

:46:35. > :46:39.fastest man in the first sector, the fastest man in the middle

:46:39. > :46:45.sector, two corners to go. Could he be on pole position for the first

:46:45. > :46:50.time ever for McLaren? Neat and tidy through the last corner. 38.6,

:46:50. > :46:56.it is good enough at the moment. Will it stay that way? Fernando

:46:56. > :46:59.Alonso stays there. Hamilton has done it, he has pipped him. McLaren

:47:00. > :47:04.are one and two. Vettel was the quickest man in the middle sector.

:47:04. > :47:12.Still lots of action to go. Here comes Mark Webber, he stays in the

:47:12. > :47:17.fourth. It is all about Vettel now. He is in turn 18 of 21, he could

:47:17. > :47:25.still spoilt by McLaren party. He has got every chance of doing that

:47:25. > :47:32.-- spoil the McLaren parted. Sebastian Vettel, one corner to go.

:47:32. > :47:37.He has done it! 38.4. A 14th pole position of the year. They tell him

:47:37. > :47:43.immediately. Sebastian Vettel gatecrashers the McLaren party. Red

:47:43. > :47:51.Bull, McLaren, McLaren, Red Bull, Ferrari, Ferrari. Nico Rosberg has

:47:51. > :47:57.done a 37.7. Then Michael Schumacher. Then Adrian Sutil and

:47:57. > :48:07.Paul di Resta. Yet again, Sebastian Vettel, gets the job done. TEAM

:48:07. > :48:08.

:48:08. > :48:13.RADIO: Good evening, Mr Mansell! Good evening! Good evening! That is

:48:14. > :48:20.the reference to matching Nigel Mansell's record of matching -- of

:48:20. > :48:26.a 14 pole positions in one year. Red Bull really public out when it

:48:26. > :48:30.matters in India three. There are a number of tools at their disposal.

:48:30. > :48:37.We don't know what you're level they are running it, we doubt now

:48:37. > :48:46.if they are deploying KERS, -- We don't know if they are deploying

:48:46. > :48:52.KERS. TEAM RADIO: Or cars have completed, at Vettel just pipped us,

:48:52. > :48:55.you are second on the grid, a great job. The last vital piece of

:48:55. > :48:58.information we will never get is how much a driver is holding in

:48:58. > :49:03.reserve and we have seen time and again, Vettel delivering something

:49:03. > :49:08.on that final lap of qualifying. Ayrton Senna had that ability. You

:49:09. > :49:13.can rattle of the drivers who have been able to have a very special

:49:13. > :49:17.talent on the final qualifying lap -- rattle off. That was a great so

:49:17. > :49:22.should be Abu Dhabi. Nobody would have said McLaren didn't deserve

:49:22. > :49:27.that of pole position if Hamilton had delivered it. Great racing by

:49:27. > :49:37.Jenson Button, when it came down to it in qualifying, there is $100

:49:37. > :49:40.

:49:40. > :49:47.second between him and Hamilton. -- one hundredth of a second. We think

:49:47. > :49:50.they used Mal KERS in Q3, probably more engine power. Ashmore. We

:49:51. > :49:54.think that Vettel hold something back, so that Mark Webber can't see

:49:54. > :49:59.where he is finding the time. only compare with my career, which

:49:59. > :50:03.is a distant memory, but Mika Hkkinen, he would find something in

:50:03. > :50:09.quali that you hadn't seen all weekend. When you say that

:50:09. > :50:12.repeatedly, you go, hold on, there is a trend here. I have been a on

:50:12. > :50:17.the receiving end of that misery as Mika Hakkinen's team-mate. To

:50:17. > :50:23.remind you of the top 10, Sebastian Vettel on ball, from Lewis Hamilton,

:50:23. > :50:31.Jenson Button third, Mark Webber for, Fernando and Danso Fifth,

:50:31. > :50:36.Felipe Massa or six -- Fernando Alonso in fifth. Nico Rosberg in

:50:37. > :50:41.seventh. Then Adrian Sutil. The fastest of the Force India in ninth.

:50:41. > :50:46.Paul di Resta did not complete a flying lap in Q3 and starts in

:50:46. > :50:56.tenth. He is just ahead of Perez, who was the fastest to drop out at

:50:56. > :50:56.

:50:56. > :51:06.the end of Q2. So Sebastian Vettel, it is his 29th pole position from

:51:06. > :51:08.

:51:08. > :51:11.80 starts. There is confirmation. Vettel and Hamilton are still the

:51:11. > :51:21.only two men ever to start the Grand Prix on the front row of the

:51:21. > :51:32.

:51:32. > :51:42.they want, from 11th place on words, will start with Sergio Perez, for

:51:42. > :51:49.Sauber. He has got a car that is very fast in a straight line.

:51:49. > :51:59.Maldonado will drop 10 places. He starts at the back of the grid with

:51:59. > :52:11.

:52:11. > :52:15.Williams team, but this man, as ever, is all smiles. There the

:52:15. > :52:19.maestro, Michael Schumacher, his young protege is on pole position

:52:19. > :52:24.yet again. Jake back row and he knows how it

:52:24. > :52:29.feels to be there. I imagine Nigel Mansell is getting out the pen and

:52:29. > :52:34.paper -- JAKE HUMPHREY:. He wrote to Sebastian Vettel after

:52:34. > :52:37.the last race and now he picks up the 14th pole position. Nigel will

:52:38. > :52:41.be writing to him to say congratulations, and what a driver.

:52:41. > :52:46.EDDIE JORDAN: He just got better and better and there are no words

:52:46. > :52:51.left to say how much we admire this man. Absolutely magic. From that

:52:51. > :52:55.point of view, he is walking on water. It was a dramatic qualifying

:52:55. > :53:00.session and joining us now is Sir Paul McCartney. You were watching

:53:00. > :53:06.that on the garage -- in the garage, how was it for you? It was really

:53:06. > :53:11.exciting. I have only been to one before, but now I see what George

:53:11. > :53:15.was so passionate about. It is just adrenalin, it is fantastic. The

:53:15. > :53:19.guys were giving me the information and I am booked. George Harrison

:53:19. > :53:23.loved Formula One, didn't he? used to dress up in all sort of

:53:23. > :53:29.gear, hide at the back of the Jordan pits, and he was a huge

:53:29. > :53:35.Damon Hill fan. He loved it. He did, and I feel emotional today, it is

:53:35. > :53:38.like he is here with me. It is beautiful, I love it. The most

:53:38. > :53:43.important question, are we interrupting our honeymoon or you

:53:43. > :53:47.interrupting it to come and watch this? This is part of it. You are

:53:47. > :53:55.lucky man. Exactly. The British boys are going to win, hopefully,

:53:55. > :53:59.tomorrow, because we are in town. Think about motor racing for a

:53:59. > :54:02.moment, 50 years ago, I remember walking through the streets of

:54:02. > :54:06.Dublin getting through this massive crowd for the Beatles. Does it ever

:54:06. > :54:11.worry you 50 years later how big an influence the Beatles were on all

:54:11. > :54:14.of our lives? I am very proud of it. We could have put out a message

:54:14. > :54:19.that was a bad message and I think we put out a pretty good message

:54:19. > :54:25.and we are very proud of it. I am a lucky man. We know that as well but

:54:25. > :54:28.so are we, we are all very lucky. We know why you are here, there is

:54:28. > :54:31.Hamilton has invited you into their garage. He is a fan of music

:54:31. > :54:36.legends at the moment, Bob Marley was on his helmet a few weeks ago

:54:36. > :54:41.and now you are here. How did it come about? Somebody invited me, I

:54:41. > :54:44.didn't there it was Lewis. I'm very pleased to be here in Abu Dhabi

:54:44. > :54:49.anyway, doing the concert tomorrow and it is great to see this first

:54:49. > :54:54.and, right there at hearing that noise, seeing the cards. How does

:54:54. > :54:59.it compare to being on stage in front of a few -- a few 1,000

:54:59. > :55:04.people? There are similarities. I'll get the feedback from the

:55:04. > :55:09.audience that you don't get here, but it is pretty great. I am not

:55:09. > :55:15.sure why Eddie is doing this? Children In Need, we have started

:55:15. > :55:19.this, I wore this Dadaab art I saw you on the telly watching that.

:55:19. > :55:25.-- I saw you on the telly watching it. I am going to ask it decided.

:55:25. > :55:29.Every driver is doing it and if we add Paul McCartney,... I am going

:55:29. > :55:33.to ask you to sign it. We think we will add significantly to Children

:55:33. > :55:38.In Need. We will do this on live television so there is no doubt

:55:38. > :55:41.about the authenticity. This will have my father paying over the odds

:55:41. > :55:46.for this shirt. Sir Paul McCartney at the Grand Prix, performing here

:55:46. > :55:51.this weekend and signing a shared for Children In Need. Abu Dhabi!

:55:52. > :55:59.All right, man. We are even more impressed that he will -- that he

:55:59. > :56:03.would watch the BBC no less. Thank you very much. Good luck with that.

:56:03. > :56:07.So there you go, the shirt has been signed by Sir Paul McCartney, and

:56:07. > :56:11.if you are thinking, how do you get your hands on that or the script

:56:11. > :56:16.that we have donated or any of the other wonderful for me no one

:56:16. > :56:21.things, including the white jeans of David Coulthard, head to the BBC

:56:21. > :56:25.website and you can get bidding. Paul McCartney enjoyed himself, he

:56:25. > :56:29.likened this to be not stage and he knows what it takes to be on stage

:56:29. > :56:36.and impressed the crowd. -- on stage. How did the drivers find it?

:56:36. > :56:40.Let's hear from them. Sebastian, you equal Nigel Mansell's record,

:56:40. > :56:44.congratulations, but you had to dig pretty deep. Yes, especially at the

:56:44. > :56:48.yesterday. I wasn't happy with the car, and we weren't happy in

:56:48. > :56:54.general -- at the yesterday. We thought there was more in the car

:56:54. > :56:59.but we couldn't really get to it. Yet today, this afternoon, it was

:56:59. > :57:06.already quite a bit better. But to be honest, this place is tricky in

:57:06. > :57:09.many ways. We had the practice in day conditions, the sun is out, the

:57:09. > :57:13.track is a little bit harder, and then in the evening, you qualify

:57:13. > :57:17.and you race and the circuit is quite a bit different. The car

:57:17. > :57:21.behaves differently and the tyres come in different there. It is not

:57:21. > :57:26.easy to get it right all the time and in qualifying in particular, I

:57:26. > :57:33.had a much better feeling, especially moving on to the softer

:57:33. > :57:36.tyres, and in Q2, we looked much better than before. Yes, then the

:57:36. > :57:41.other difficulty around here is to get everything into one lap. It is

:57:41. > :57:44.a long lap that there is a lot of corners in the last sector. When

:57:44. > :57:49.she start to go into turn 11 after the second straight, it is

:57:49. > :57:54.basically left, right, left, right. Plenty of opportunity to gain time,

:57:54. > :58:00.but also if you take a lot of risks, it is easy to make the mistake. It

:58:00. > :58:05.is very easy to lose straight away a lot of time. We are talking about

:58:06. > :58:09.small amount, it is a tenth. So I was not so happy with my first run

:58:10. > :58:13.in Q3 but the second when I was much happier. I especially the

:58:13. > :58:17.first two sectors. I was buying myself a little bit of a cushion in

:58:17. > :58:23.the last sector, which was a bit tricky towards the end of the

:58:23. > :58:31.evening. But all in all, enough to jump ahead of Lewis, who looked

:58:31. > :58:41.very strong all weekend. It is good in that session, where it matters

:58:41. > :58:44.

:58:44. > :58:50.on Saturday, we were able to be weekend. Did you think you had done

:58:50. > :58:56.enough? It was a good session and a good couple of days. Quite a big

:58:56. > :59:01.improvement for me. I feel from the last race at least. The car has

:59:01. > :59:06.been good but at the end, that was as fast as I was really able to get

:59:06. > :59:14.out of my lap. It was not a particularly great lap but the one

:59:14. > :59:21.in a Tutu was much better. That is the way it is. -- in the QE2. The

:59:21. > :59:26.race is tomorrow. Jensen, you pitted together on the final run.

:59:26. > :59:32.Is this result a surprise? Not a surprise but we know that the pace

:59:32. > :59:36.is in the car and it was finding the right balance. I have not felt

:59:36. > :59:39.100% comfortable this weekend with the balance but we have improved,

:59:39. > :59:43.we have tried a few different things and we're getting there

:59:43. > :59:51.through qualifying but Q 3 was very strange because there was less

:59:51. > :59:54.group because it was cooler. But the brake. The car was acting

:59:54. > :59:58.differently which was a good thing because they did not get enough

:59:58. > :00:03.front end into the car and I have been struggling with that nervous

:00:03. > :00:08.rear and into qualifying, I have an enormous amount of understeer. In

:00:08. > :00:14.the direction I like but towards the end of the lap you need a

:00:14. > :00:22.reasonably appointed car and I did not have that. As Lewis said, the

:00:22. > :00:28.car is working well around you. It isn't perfect. We will have to

:00:28. > :00:31.challenge from behind tomorrow. This weekend is all about making

:00:31. > :00:35.sure that you remember and we will remember for a while that pretty

:00:35. > :00:39.impressive fight for pole position here in Abu Dhabi added once again

:00:39. > :00:44.belongs to Sebastian Vettel, his 14th of the season. How much would

:00:44. > :00:48.Lewis Hamilton have loved to hold on to that? Jensen Button fighting

:00:48. > :00:55.on the way and Mark Webber in the next but behind his team-mate.

:00:55. > :01:05.Further back, Ferrari, to buy two, and behind them, both Mercedes

:01:05. > :01:10.fighting it out. -- 2 x 2. And behind them, Force India. They are

:01:10. > :01:16.not running on their spare tyres, which is very frustrating. Well

:01:16. > :01:23.done to Sergio Perez, at 20 at last time, he starts in 11th place and

:01:23. > :01:27.Vitaly Petrov out qualifies his team mate. Sebastien Buemi starts

:01:27. > :01:32.and 13th for Toro Rosso, they have scored points at every single Abu

:01:32. > :01:36.Dhabi Grand Prix, just behind his team-mate, Alguersuari, alongside

:01:36. > :01:40.Kobayashi and then backwards towards Pastor Maldonado. The 10th

:01:41. > :01:45.place penalty means he will start from the back, the worst qualifying

:01:45. > :01:49.performance in over 30 years for Williams. Timo Glock and Jarno

:01:49. > :01:57.Trulli share the grid towards the back and well done to Danielle, in

:01:57. > :02:02.front of his team-mate by have the second. The incredibly unlucky

:02:02. > :02:07.Rubens Barrichello did not get out at all. As David Coulthard arrives

:02:07. > :02:13.just as Paul McCartney leaves. That was a session befitting a global

:02:13. > :02:20.icon such as Paul McCartney? It was indeed. I think you called in

:02:20. > :02:25.George at the end of that! What a great session. I was watching

:02:25. > :02:30.Jensen Button, we had not seen much of him during this practice session

:02:30. > :02:35.so he looked like he was coming alive. So close to his team-mate

:02:35. > :02:40.but once again, Sebastien finds that pace. We have a very small

:02:40. > :02:44.monitor so I popped into the McLaren hospitality to watch the

:02:44. > :02:47.end and the roar whenever Jensen went past and then Lewis and then a

:02:47. > :02:53.complete despair when Sebastian Vettel stature that position away

:02:53. > :02:59.from both. How McLaren would have loved to have one and two on the

:02:59. > :03:04.grid? Of course. This was a titanic battle, every single person was on

:03:04. > :03:11.the edge of their Seat. We watched this small monitor because half the

:03:11. > :03:15.panic was. We soaked up the atmosphere. It was a great run. I

:03:15. > :03:20.will remember this for a very long time. We were very lucky because

:03:20. > :03:24.Formula One is using the new camera, facing towards Sebastian Vettel and

:03:24. > :03:31.when the sun comes down be clear visor comes out. We can see their

:03:31. > :03:36.eyes. This must bring back some memories? This is great. This

:03:36. > :03:46.street circuit section. Just watch his eyes. Someone said they did not

:03:46. > :03:51.see him blink at all. I don't think he is. That concentration. The

:03:51. > :03:56.shallow breathing. Absolutely focused on everything. His body is

:03:56. > :04:01.thrust down in the braking zone. And rushes towards the line. Looks

:04:01. > :04:08.up at the monitor. And he sees that he is on pole position. Isn't that

:04:08. > :04:11.incredible? That absolute focus until the line. We should note that

:04:12. > :04:14.Lewis Hamilton did a time in cute to to be fast enough to be on pole

:04:15. > :04:20.position but he could not bring it all together on the last part of

:04:20. > :04:24.qualifying. He said he would have been on pole position but how great

:04:24. > :04:31.to have as camera angles that show us not just that Sebastian Vettel

:04:31. > :04:41.is focused but he has the mental spare capacity to look at that big

:04:41. > :04:41.

:04:41. > :04:45.screen the second he crosses the line? It gives you some idea.

:04:45. > :04:52.on top of the tallest summit of the world. That's his Everest. I did

:04:52. > :04:56.not want a say in case I was wrong. Nevertheless, the highest summit.

:04:56. > :05:02.And there is nobody who can take that away. Every time we think

:05:02. > :05:07.someone like McLaren can do it, they just miss out. The good thing

:05:07. > :05:11.for McLaren is it makes them fight harder. And I want to see a really

:05:11. > :05:17.strong McLaren next year. Last year Mark Webber almost managed to tame

:05:17. > :05:23.Everest. Where is he now? Base camp? He has been beaten all season

:05:23. > :05:29.by his team-mates. Pretty close for everyone at the end, 4th place, how

:05:29. > :05:37.do you feel? It's all right but disappointed in my last run.

:05:37. > :05:47.Scrappy. We hope to communicate more. Some things we were trying to

:05:47. > :05:47.

:05:47. > :05:54.manage. That was something of a pain but in the end, yes,

:05:54. > :06:00.disappointment with the last lap. Sometimes you see the lap and you

:06:00. > :06:08.think, wow, but he did a good laugh. I do not feel that I that the most

:06:08. > :06:12.out of it. Or is in store tomorrow? Hopefully, McLaren will stir things

:06:12. > :06:18.up on the first lap and slit streaming and we have done that in

:06:18. > :06:21.the past so obviously, it will be interesting. Then we will get into

:06:21. > :06:26.the race from there. I do not know how exciting the race will be in

:06:26. > :06:31.terms of overtaking. You cannot tell the viewers that, we need them

:06:31. > :06:39.to tune in! I think this track is traditionally very hard to pass on.

:06:39. > :06:43.We will see. We have seen it being tricky in the past. We will see how

:06:43. > :06:47.we go. Jensen Button has said he does not think DRS will give the

:06:47. > :06:51.drivers any advantage and we are all this cheering on Mark Webber.

:06:51. > :06:56.But a very interesting admission, sometimes to look at what Sebastian

:06:56. > :06:59.Vettel does and you think, I cannot do that. I lived through that with

:06:59. > :07:04.Mika Hakkinen. It's very difficult to deal with in the middle of your

:07:04. > :07:09.career. And when he delivers performances through certain parts

:07:09. > :07:13.of the track, he thinks the same thing. On the strength of the

:07:13. > :07:16.season, it is like repeated body blows. This is the first time he

:07:16. > :07:25.has to deal with that. He was feeding the World Championship this

:07:25. > :07:28.time last year and since then, he has lost some of his motor.

:07:28. > :07:32.Qualifying was always one of his greatest strengths. He will go away

:07:32. > :07:39.this winter, another opportunity, he is a previous winner. He just

:07:39. > :07:44.needs to look at this and learn and move forward. The analogy is it is

:07:44. > :07:49.like boxing, too many heads, and he has had a lot from his team-mate,

:07:49. > :07:54.sometimes it just takes too much out of you. Right now, he needs to

:07:54. > :07:57.have a brake because he certainly isn't the man he was last year and

:07:57. > :08:03.we want to see him right up there next year. Maybe last year took

:08:03. > :08:07.more out of him and we thought and not winning the championship and

:08:07. > :08:12.being taken away cruelly on virtually the last lap, it took its

:08:12. > :08:18.toll and he is paying for that. races and he would get outbreak.

:08:18. > :08:25.Paul di Resta starts in 10th place. Tell us about your qualifying.

:08:25. > :08:31.You're very close to those barriers at one point. How did it go? It was

:08:31. > :08:35.quite good in the first sector. Up to the last three corners and I

:08:35. > :08:42.made a mistake, trying to improve on this morning. We made a small

:08:42. > :08:47.correction in the Eire Og balance and we struggled for balance. --

:08:47. > :08:52.aerodynamic balance. It should have been better. The main focus was

:08:52. > :08:56.getting into the third sector and into a strong position for tomorrow

:08:56. > :09:00.and having a good strategy to get ourselves into that position.

:09:00. > :09:04.and your team-mate alongside each other. Quite often used in two spit

:09:04. > :09:09.the strategy. Is that what you will do tomorrow? He will have to wait

:09:09. > :09:13.and see. We are in a better position than Adrian Sutil in terms

:09:13. > :09:17.of the life of the tyres but it has long tomorrow. Hopefully we get the

:09:17. > :09:21.numbers right and we can focus on what we want to achieve and that is

:09:21. > :09:24.what we want but the car set up so there is a compromise. There is a

:09:24. > :09:30.big difference between the tyres tonight. What do you think the

:09:30. > :09:35.strategy will be tomorrow? How many pit-stops? The tyres are not

:09:35. > :09:39.lasting long compared to normal. Also, the median tyres, the harder

:09:39. > :09:43.ones, seemed to have a very good performance. It is whether people

:09:43. > :09:48.choose that at the beginning or the end and I am sure you will see that

:09:48. > :09:51.split to cover the safety cars. In terms of what goes, it is hard to

:09:51. > :09:56.say because if you get that big track improvement you will see

:09:56. > :10:00.limited pit stops. Paul di Resta starts in 10th place tomorrow. It

:10:00. > :10:07.you stick with us on BBC One, it is the British Championships for the

:10:07. > :10:12.boxing, which means there are some spaces at 2012 up for grabs.

:10:12. > :10:16.Tomorrow, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, live at 12:15pm on BBC One. And it

:10:16. > :10:22.has been set up to be rather tasty. Some great pace from McLaren

:10:22. > :10:28.against Red Bull across this grand prix. Especially with the double

:10:28. > :10:32.DRS zone. They have extended the length of that, and all through

:10:32. > :10:36.practice, McLaren have been three and four times quicker. Even though

:10:37. > :10:41.they have not managed pole position, they definitely have the pace.

:10:41. > :10:45.will be hard to rule out Sebastian Vettel. He has that knack, pulling

:10:46. > :10:51.away, not the best of starters but I think it will be a very tough

:10:51. > :10:53.person to beat. I would love to see McLaren up there. Who knows?

:10:53. > :10:57.boys from McLaren fighting each other in the championship and

:10:57. > :11:02.alongside each other on the grid. That will be interesting. Thank you

:11:02. > :11:09.for joining us. Qualifying for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. For all the

:11:09. > :11:14.reaction, head to the sport website. But what an incredible session that

:11:14. > :11:19.was. You must say, it was a hard day's night for Lewis Hamilton,