The Canadian Grand Prix - Qualifying Formula 1

zig-zagged across Asia, made a pit stop in the Europe and here we are

in North America. It's the sport that never sleeps, the story that

never stops. Champions come and go, the years fly by. The circus keeps

couldn't be more different. Actually, they share a great deal.

You know, that constant quest for perfection. This may be the most

unbelievable art form that you could have committed a people who

are fans. They see the design of the cars, the manufacture of the

cars, how the guy drives the car, what gives Acar the ultimate effect

reaching for the stars. Above all else, it's about entertaining

people. It's about being the best of what you do. Elegance,

storytelling. And that's just have helped entertain the crowd

over the years. They've got the cameras out, it must be that shirt.

You've got some fond memories. The crowd are always brilliant in

Canada. I think Jordan had a really strong relationship with North

America. We scored our first points here, it's very important. Of

course, fond memories, absolutely. We realised in the last two and-a-

half years, you and Eddie have very little in common. But he scored his

first points here, the same applies to you. It was my second race in

Formula One. I remember not really being ready for the challenge. I

lost the feeling in my left foot. I was breaking my memory, rather than

feel. We can see this funny building behind us, it's not

particularly pristine. It's quite scruffy, but it doesn't matter

here? What's very important for Canada, we missed out a race.

People felt they could do without Formula One here. This has been the

biggest transformation. The atmosphere is electric, the

atmosphere with the people here is electric. It's a fabulous return

for me and a big success. It seems so much more than even Monaco.

Every street you go down, whether it's the old town, more the French-

speaking part, or the English speaking part. There are street

vendors, everything, I've never seen anything like it.

There's only a few of these races a year, people should get behind it.

Not just the weather, the clouds are looking more and more ominous.

It's going to be a good weekend. Actually, this is a part of the

world that has a good history of entertaining. We are standing on

the man made Ile Notre-Dame, built from 15 million tonnes of rock

moved when the Montreal Metro was dug. It was home to the Olympics

and, 25 years on, the crowd still flock here to seek sporting

excellence. Motorsport heritage, a passion for racing and a circuit

that provides quite a challenge. Only raced on twice here, the grip

level is low, the opportunity for air is high. Make a mistake around

here and you will pay the price, as a number of drivers have discovered.

I'm sure seeing these cars slipping and sliding around brings back some

memories for you. The most high- profile casualty is Sebastian

Vettel, but it's only apt, he turns up as a champion for the first time

and he ends up in the wall of champions? It's the last chicane,

it's nicely painted white at the beginning of the weekend, by the

end of it is black with a brother. Michael Schumacher was the first

one to crash their, driving for Ferrari. Jacques Villeneuve has

been there, Damon Hill, and now our current world champion. As in

Turkey, he seems to make his mistakes on Friday, when I got

plenty of time to recover from it. What do you think happened? Just a

small puff of smoke off the front right. It over in a flash. He get

slightly out of shape. He's a bit wide, he loses the back end. At

this point peas in recovery. There's only one journey he's on, a

one-way ticket to the wall. He lost his way on the front end. He slides

the rear, get up high on those white sausages, whatever they are

called. Let's call them sausages! We don't have them anywhere else. I

don't know what we call them. Eddie could probably come up with a good

name for them? As always, you've got me. I have no idea. They are

horrific. When you go on these, there is no escape. You can see it

steering into the corner, the driver, as a passenger, didn't have

much chance. We said it was slippery, that is how slippery it

is. It's not all bad news, he's still leading the way. Everybody

said that Red Bull are struggling. They have now said that they are

going to struggle in Canada. Is this just other teams clutching at

straws? I think that Straw is getting smaller and smaller, the

dominance of Vettel is getting stronger and stronger. He's a

supreme champion, not just on the track but outside. He's wonderful

to us in the press, always accommodating comedies turning out

to be a superb champion. We arrive with Red Bull leading the way and

the drivers and constructors standings. But they didn't have it

all their own way in Monaco. get up the inside? Once again,

Alonso is left off the line and into first place. Look at the lead

that Vettel has already. Schumacher is coming up the inside. He's

taking Hamilton at the hairpin! Halpin is up the inside, he makes

the move. What is this? These are tyres that are not ready to go on.

Unusually, a mistake from Red Bull. He's losing a huge amount of time!

Out in the pits, the... Up the mechanics weren't ready! What is

going on? A very clumsy pass going on as Hamilton gets frustrated and

drives into Felipe Massa. They are side by side in the tunnel.

Hamilton has passed him in the tunnel. Massa gets out, straight

into the barrier. Now the leaders are going to get mixed up in all of

this lot as well. There's damage, contact! Safety car for sure.

got a red flag, back into a restart surely that is another penalty?

Sebastian Vettel finally wins the Monaco Grand Prix. He is the master

of Monaco. Behind him, two world champions, Fernando Alonso and

You can hear that his team-mate's engine is being revved up. Jenson

has said that if they start to dominate qualifying, they can

dominate the race is as well? think he's absolutely right. If

you've got track position, you got so much more choice over the

opposition. The strategy, when to the challenge to Red Bull, they are

going to have to do it now. This season will not feature a Bahrain

Grand Prix. Eight days ago Formula One was back making headline news.

Organisers say the Bahrain Grand Prix will go ahead later this year,

despite the ongoing unrest and violence in the Gulf state. There

was more shooting on the streets today. The upheavals of the Arab

Spring reached Bahrain in February, shortly before the Formula One

series started. There has been brutal suppression, with the aid of

troops coming over the border. They have arrested a lot of people from

the circuit itself. A lot of the doctors and nurses that treated the

injured have been locked up. 21st February, Bahrain's crown

prince withdrew the race from its slot as season opener. It was

always postponed, rather than cancelled. On 30th May, the FIA

sent their vice-president to see if Bahrain was safe enough to

reinstate the race. The report is quite clear air. His stable, very

quiet situation. I'm afraid the person that he sent, very nice man,

he's been with the Spanish Federation for ages. But he speaks

no English and he speaks no Arabic. He was taken around by

representatives of the Government. He gets the impression that they

want to give him. It's not, in any way, a proper look into the

situation. Publicly, the team's only objected to the reinstatement

on logistical grounds. But their disquiet was enough for Bahrain

itself to withdraw from staging a Grand Prix this season. Basically,

we took the cultivated decision that we didn't want to cause any

more inconvenience to the teams. The schedules that have been said

already towards the end of the season. Being a long-term player,

we decided to withdraw the pursuit of our race for this year. McLaren

is part owned by Bahrain investors. Ferrari, Williams and Toro Rosso

also have links with the region. didn't have any pressure from

anybody. There was no pressure. Nothing to do with money at all.

Nothing in any shape or form. should not be involved with

politics. Sport has been seen to consolidate people working and

fighting for a good cause. The only driver who made any public comment

about racing in Bahrain was Mark Webber. Why do you think you were

the only driver that spoke out? don't know, I wasn't looking for

any praise or response. People were always asking me about what was

going on there. As I say, it didn't end of the day. We are a Formula

One team. It's not down to us to have an agenda or a strong opinion

in one way or the other. We can't cancel forever our presence in

Bahrain. It's not because of some political or ethical big issue

happens that weeny and to simply drop them out of existence. -- that

we need to simply drop them out of existence. Why was F1 so keen?

don't think it was born out of money or greed, it was born out of

an enthusiasm for motor racing, a passion to hold a Grand Prix. That

clouded the decision-making process, I think. That didn't address

whether it was right to go there on principle? Again, we are a sport.

You start taking a discussion about what countries have got what level

of human rights records, then maybe we've got to address all sorts of

things on our Canada. I'm not qualified to do that, I don't think

anyone in sport is. It's not our job. Well, we got there eventually.

The Ferrari team principal is currently stepping out of the

garage to join as, with about half an hour to go until qualifying

starts. A question to everybody to start with, whether it is looking

totally out of step with public opinion or internally fractious and

indecisive, how damaging has the past few weeks been for Formula

must do that orate cannot hear you. We must learn to have a better

communication, to consider the things that are going around the

world but it is fundamental that things are not used for different

agendas for different people. That is something we must not forget.

you think that is the problem, is that what happened? I don't know.

We will learn from that and we need to look ahead because this is a

very important moment for Formula One. How important is the

communication in this? Is there enough Yelling between the partners

involved, is that how you are going to go forward? I think so, better

communication is the key to the success of Formula One. How would

you go about learning the lessons? Is it a case of all sitting around

a table, the FIA, FOM and FOTA and appearing to be unified sport that

can make a decision when the chips are down? We do not have to be too

involved in the macrocosm but we have to give a unified message to

the outside world and that is the lesson we need to take and looking

ahead. Looking ahead, you almost one in Monaco, you have been

looking very strong here in the free practice sessions, where do

think Ferrari is set? I think we have seen a good performance

yesterday and this morning but as you know, in free practice, some of

our competitors are hiding the lot. At least we have seen a car that is

quite competitive. Also yesterday, today will have been important to

do the maximum. We need to set time straight away and then tomorrow,

maybe the race will be a very challenging weekend. Could you have

won Monaco? How close were you and if you did not have to change tyres,

where would you be in the race? That is a good question. With

Monaco we saw Fernando with great pace. Fernando wanted to keep the

tyres but Monaco is always difficult. With what am and if

maybe but we are second so that is the result. It was a special Monaco

Grand Prix. 50 years ago it was equally exciting. On that occasion

it was Stirling Moss holding of the Ferraris. It was the best drive of

his career. Sterling has announced he is hanging up his helmet because

believe it or not, he has been released -- racing competitively

until this weekend. An incredible driver from a different era at a

man that Formula One fans regard as one of the greatest ever.

Absolutely. We cannot take him as a Ferrari driver but it would be

great for our guys to watch what he did. That is part of the history of

Formula One. It is great to see and to hear that. If he only raced

against the Ferraris and not for them because he said he would only

sit in a British Formula One car. Those were different days. Good

luck for your weekend and your horse race. Also talking about

legends of the sport, happy birthday to Jackie steward today.

While Bahrain has hogged the headlines over the last couple of

years, there has been plenty happening in Formula One which

means this weekend could be a pretty special Formula One Grand

Prix. He is Ted. There is plenty going on at Red Bull this weekend.

Mark Webber appears to be edging closer to committing to drive for

the team next season. Mark has made it clear that he wants to stay with

the team. I think he is comfortable with the team and he enjoys driving

for Red Bull. Things are always straightforward when you deal with

Mark. At the appropriate time we will sit down and have a discussion

about 2012. While Red Bull are keen to keep him, it seems Webber has

not made his mind up yet. Keep thinking. On the other side of the

garage, Sebastian Vettel has not confident about extending his

winning run here in Canada. Vettel says this is the worst circuit of

the season. I think it will be a tough weekend here. I think it is

one of the most difficult Grand Prix is to actually finish. There

is always a lot of things happening here. We will see. It will be a

tough weekend. We have also learned that Red Bull's KERS only runs at

two-thirds the power out let -- output. The team admit their 40

kilometre power is sub-optimal compared to the 60. It means Vettel

and Webber are getting less of a beast than that which is available

to the McLarens. Any lap times they lose incurs horsepower, they gain

back in a rare performance and wait. I think we have demonstrated we

have enough out of the KERS system to keep the cars behind us. We know

the Mercedes system is fairly well advanced. They had the benefit of

running it through at 2009. We have gone for a different solution. It

is quite innovative. After securing the future of the British Grand

Prix and overseeing the structure of the new pit building, Damon Hill

is standing down as the new -- standing down as president of the

British Racing Drivers' Club. Derek Warwick is a possible successor.

Virgin have parted company with net worth and his design firm.

Certainly, this year the reliability has improved but we

need raw pace as well. We are behind target on that one and we

need to move forward. If you stand still in Formula One you go

backwards. And finally, a driver change at Toro Rosso looks to be on

the cards. Daniel Ricciardo says he is ready for an F1 seat after a

promising practice. The rumours are he could replace Jaime Alguersuari

towards the end of the season. plan was to do the first free

practice and try and do what I'm doing and progress and give them

something proper to think about at the end of the year. If I can be

there next year in a full-time seat, that is where I want to be. We will

leave it at that. He might but we will not. David, give us your take

at how things are looking down at Toro Rosso. Is there a seat which

is vulnerable and it is he the man to Philip? There are very few

secure seats out side of the top teams. The smaller teams are always

looking to find the next great potential world champion or they

are looking for finance to help fund the development of the car. I

think Buemi is looking pretty secure because he is the guide who

is getting more out of the car right now idea has to be Jaime

Alguersuari who is the one who is under the spotlight. There is no

question but Daniel Ricciardo is well liked in the Red Bull system.

He does a lot of work in the simulator. He won the Monaco's

support race there. A big race for him in his career. I would not be

surprised if we see him driving for one of the teams by the end of the

year. The Toro Rosso is now the team which is the Tyrrell or Jordan

team of years gone by. These are the teams which are creating world

champions and you can win a race in this car which he, Vettel did, in

Monza or a couple of years ago. This is not about car. It is

evolving and has some of the concept of what the Red Bull house.

This is a proper team, a proper car and he has a great chance to do

well. Anybody else feeling a bit like the Pied Piper of Hamlyn right

now? Yes, I did notice a lot of people following! They are either

following the colours or the smell. Let's hope it is the colours.

place yet in Formula One for Daniel Ricciardo but there are four

rookies on the grid and two years ago, for one of them this sport was

particularly cruel. He had just made it through to the final part

of qualifying for Formula One and then suddenly, without warning, the

sport bit back. I lost the rear end of the car. The first impact was

very big. I thought, the second one you'll be much more. Does it feel

like you are watching you? It was a very big shunt. Maybe I was on the

wrong side of the circuit. The bump was that there maximum angle. Maybe

my tyres, the bad thing is the car went to the side wall, to the wall.

It was a big shunt. Jenson has hit their and David Coulthard, do you

think it is too dangerous? I just met a driver who crashed in 1994

and he was in a coma for a few months. I have to say, I was very

lucky. We have to keep working on this. I think Monaco is very

dangerous. A mistake, you will end up in the wall. That is why Monaco

is so special. It is a place where not everybody goes quick. There is

not much we can do to improve or extend the wall, especially the war

in the chicane, it is too close and there is not much we can do. We all

of Monaco. Perez, what a job he is doing for Sauber. Can we believe

it? I thought that was a great move from Perez. Good stuff, very good

driving. I think it has been a very good season apart from the accident.

I have done a good job so far. I have to keep going and keep

improving, of course. I have only done six Grand Prix soap still a

long way to go but I'm very happy and very motivated, especially

after the accident. I was watching the race on TV. I was in bed and

watching the Grand Prix. Now I am very confident and motivated to

race again. I imagine there has been a lot of concern and thoughts

for you from Mexico. We saw the flags for you today. If there is a

lot of support from Mike country. I went to visit the President two

days ago. There is a lot of support back home for me. I have some pain

in my leg but very little pain and in my neck. But it is muscular pain.

It is very important for me to be back. So no excuses for you this

weekend? No excuses. As you can see, Sergio Perez was

expecting to race this weekend and the organisers were expecting him

to race. This was the lovely art work they have commissioned. That

interview was done on Thursday. On Friday, Sergio went on to the track

for the practice session. By that afternoon, he was bidding farewell

to the team for this weekend, saying he did not feel well. What

actually happened? The striver, Perez has gone up in the estimation

of the team. He came here feeling well, he did everything that was

not under full stress but when he was under the stress of driving the

car, he felt uneasy and dizzy. He came back and told the team and

said he would prefer not to raise. 99 % of the drivers I knew would

have fake it and not given it their best. He has gone up in their

estimation as a result. And as a fellow driver, does he go up or

down in your estimation? I hope I am in the 1% of drivers they Eddie

knows he would not have faked that! Here is the only guy behind the

wheel, he is the only one who knows how he feels and it is a brave

decision for him to admit that he does not feel 100 %. That is his

decision and I'm sure we will see him back in the casting. Four

hopefully before Valencia. That means there was a big decision for

the team to deal with. They are here to pick up points in the race.

They reserve driver was not here so suddenly, a familiar face got the

call. Pedro de la Rosa. Pedro, nice to see you back. When

did you first start talking to Sauber about driving for this race?

I knew at 10 minutes to two. This is the reality. However, I had been

told there was a very small chance that it Sergio was not feeling

right I could have a chance but I thought it was impossible. But 10

minutes before the session started, someone came to the McLaren motor

home and then after that it was all very fast, making the changes,

getting in the car, passing the FIA a test and clearing everything up.

I was learning as much as I could from the new steering wheel.

you have overall sorry seat? could use my seat from last year

which was very important and vital. I went out with my McLaren overalls,

boots, helmet, we did a quick fix on the ear piece is to match the

radio system from Sauber and the rest was a compromise. That was

Formula One any more, drivers using the overalls of another team, with

another team has at responses on. That challenge has increased,

because in the final part of free practice, this happened? He got it

widen the second chicane. He loses the rear end and in Monaco there is

no room for error. He can be forgiven, given that he doesn't

know the car. Up until that point, he was slightly quicker than

Kobayashi. But it's very difficult for him to actually achieve a great

deal, with one opportunity. It be crash, not too long before

qualifying. This was just this morning, the car is being worked on

behind us and the team are pretty confident that this car will be

qualifying for the Canadian Grand Prix. It also means we got two men

in their 40s racing in Formula One for the first time in over 30 years.

Let's talk about his slightly younger driver, passionate, direct,

aggressive on the track and, at stewards, out of six races I've

been there five times. It's a joke. Hamilton gets frustrated and drives

into Felipe Massa. I was quite a lot quicker than Massa. I went on

the inside, going so well. Just turned into me. Of course, I get

the penalty. That's usual. I went up the inside of Maldonado. Surely

that's another penalty? He turned in a good car length too early and

crashed into me. It's ridiculous, these drivers are ridiculous.

Stupid. The last time we spoke it was at the end of a frustrating

weekend for you. You've had a few days to clear your mind. Can you

clarify anything you want to now? Yeah, I think for me it was good to

be able to pull away. I think everyone will have bad days in the

office. That was a bad weekend for me. With the passion and pressure I

put on myself to win that weekend, and things didn't go the right way,

I think the difference is that when you have a bad day you don't have

to generally answer questions. do you think you are so magnetic to

the stewards? Maybe it's because I'm black. That's what Ali G says.

I don't know. It wasn't funny, it wasn't a real

reflection of how I really feel. Again, apologies to anyone that was

offended by what I said. Really, I feel I've had some time to redeem...

Well, hopefully this weekend I can redeem myself. I've had some time

to speak to both the drivers', call them and apologise. Hopefully, I

feel that in the past now and I can focus on this weekend, try to get

back on top of things. This is the place where he is often on top of

things, his first win in Formula One here, three pole positions. Are

we of the same opinion that it's nice to see a driver that a bit

outspoken and honest, even if one of his comments was perhaps

misguided? This is what we always ask for, we want to hear

personalities and get used. My view is that if you beat them over the

head when they cease to be controversial, they won't say

anything. You've got to give them their own personality. He used that

word passion, with such feeling. That's why I personally love

watching him drive. He gives me that extra buzz. You know he will

do something electric. We are getting close to qualifying. You

need to be a commentary box quite a long way away. I've got to go out

the panic, over the bridge, and back to the grid. You can leave

your microphone on the tyres and will speak to you in a bit. Eddie,

will make our way this way. He's not even sprinting, he makes out

that he's got a long way to go. He's probably jogging at this

moment. Actually, he is now, I can confirm that David Coulthard is

running. Behind us, Adrian Sutil makes his way into the Force India

garage. A quick word about him, he's driving Force India, a young

Scotsman near him, driving very well? I thought they did a good

race in Monaco. They came away with some points. I think Sutil, despite

the problems he has had, he is now emerging back to nearly at his best.

We talk about this being a temporary facility, you can see why.

It is all tents and things, the rest of the year it is a park. They

say this is the quietest part of Montreal for 364 days of the year.

The other day, it is the loudest place. We talked about Force India,

There are a few opportunities for some teams that are not usually at

the front. They will have high hopes? Well, they had a bit of a

dismal Monaco. They want to forget that. They had the crash with a

Rosberg, initially, the problems going on within the team.

Schumacher didn't have what he considered to be a top race. They

need to get back. Honestly, this is a team that effectively is out of

the ashes of Brawn, world champions, there is no reason why they can't

win races. Why does this raise offer opportunities for teams that

aren't normally at the front? very different. In the past we

always targeted a race like this. You can test on it, you can come

and work out your own settings, see what the balance of the car was

like initially. It's also a very difficult circuit for brakes. In

actual fact, how you set the car that is so important. We've seen

accidents already, people jumping over what we called sausages. I

wouldn't call them that myself. It's a difficult place to set a

carve-up that can go on to win. course, this is the team principal

for McLaren, wondering why we are talking about jumping over sausages.

I won't even get into it. Lewis Hamilton, we've agreed it is nice

to see a driver that his outspoken, honest, passionate about the job he

does. Was that the opinion shared internally at McLaren after his

comments after Monaco? Firstly, he is passionate. You can see that in

the car, when he gets out of the car. Generally, in this modern

world, it's good to keep the passion in the car, and when you

are out of it you need to be more cautious in letting it boil over.

He has been a little bit of trouble this year, four times he had been

penalised or reprimanded, he's been in the stewards took five times. Is

that indications of how much pressure Vettel is applying to the

rest of the pack? If you look back at Ayrton Senna, in his early

career, he often ended up in front of the stewards. You have drivers

that have that passion and conviction, they believe they can

make those over takes. I wouldn't read anything into it. He's trying

to race and overtake. If we had a car that was good enough, he was in

front, he didn't have to challenge in that way, it would be a

different situation. He's there, he wants to win, he's going to

overtake. You have to back a driver's kip will -- you have two

drivers capable of winning a Grand Prix. How close do you think Button

was to winning in Monaco? For a few laps I thought it was very close,

but a red flag put paid to that. With the strategy, we thought he

would have a good chance. If they hadn't been able to change their

tyres at the red flag, which you wouldn't have been able to a few

years ago, we would have been in a good position. It didn't work, a

great race for Jenson Button, a tough weekend for Lewis. I remember

not being able to change the tyres, you weren't allowed to touch the

car. Surely it is a farce, a nonsense? I certainly thought so in

Monaco. You would! I have a slight a vested interest in that one.

Before I shout too much, we were wrestling the rear wing off of

Lewis's car. We got to be a bit careful. We'd been told that rain

is going to be near by, it's going to be in and about the area just

after qualifying today. How do you expect things to pan out on track?

I don't mind if it rains. At the moment, oh we don't have the top-

end speed that we need here. Sadly, it is going to remain dry for the

afternoon, probably. It looks like a 60% probability of rain. One of

the dilemmas you got, maybe it isn't for us, do you set your car

up expecting a wet race or not? We will probably be more in that

direction. In the wet direction? Well, it's simple maths. It is more

than 50% probability that it will be a wet race, that is what they're

telling you, you've got to react to that. Thank you very much. You'd

better get to the pits, qualifying is just about five minutes away.

Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button will hopefully be doing their bit.

We are about to find out, has David Coulthard made his way to the

commentary box for the start of commentating? Should lead --

shortly we will see teams vying for position. Right now, the aim is to

not be in the seven slowest cars. seven of this year's Formula One

world championship. Just a few minutes away now. Who can stop

Sebastian Vettel claiming pole position number six this season?

Team-mate Mark Webber had an absolutely miserable morning, with

no lack swat so where their duties and KERS problems. We await to see

if they have fixed those successfully. The Ferrari is

looking very fast indeed, on the pace in the hands of Fernando

Alonso and Felipe Massa. Nico Rosberg from Mercedes will be

desperately looking for his first ever pole position. He has been

mighty in practice. You can see the track layout. 2.8 miles. The normal

three sectors that we have. Five left hand, five right-hand corners.

Critically, 6 a very heady braking zones. Not particularly warm.

Weather can be quite variable for this race. Extreme weather in

Montreal. We are in the summer period and we are expecting a fully

dry track for this qualifying. Despite their confidence coming

here, McLaren haven't really shown front-running pace yet. David

Coulthard has landed. Obviously you didn't get my text saying to bring

me a sandwich. But he did look like you were legging it away. Not

surprising. How do you see this going? Red Bull, they say, are not

good on that track. Can you buy into that? I don't think you can

speak historic people stop you got to see how this plays out. It's

only the first move in the chess match as to who will be the victor

in the Canadian Grand Prix. Some of the challenges we are going to see,

typically you want to deliver your maximum pace in qualifying. With

its changeable weather, as we look at the commentary box, cloudy

overhead, we heard them say they will not stay in the pits, they

will get out there nice and early. Top teams are going to show their

hand very early. Are they going to do that with a hard tyre, or a soft

option and risk having to use two sets straight away? Just to remind

you that tyres that are here are exactly the same as in Monaco two

weeks ago. Sorry, let's talk about the prime tyre. That is the slower

of the two tyres. Slower, Prime tyres. Then there is the super soft

tyre, which is surprising, really, it seems a faster race track?

top speeds are faster here. Regularly clipping 200 miles an

hour. 130 miles an hour more than you would see in Monaco. Energy,

into the inside shoulder of the tyre when you are going up at speed.

Typically, there will be compromised on cambers. When you

have that, you build up more heat on the inside shoulder. We haven't

had any talk of blisters this weekend, but let's see how it plays

out. The tyres seem to be handling remarkably well. What kind of

challenge is its 4th Pedro de la Rosa? He's been in the wall this

morning, pretty hard. Would you fancy sitting in his fireproof

boots today? I wouldn't want to be sitting in a Sauber, absolutely not.

Wouldn't anyone fancy a chance, driving a Ferrari? We've got to

keep it in perspective. For sure, it is a huge challenge to get into

a car he doesn't know. But let's remind ourselves, we have 19 year-

olds and 20 year-old making their debut in Formula One, having raced

in nothing like a Formula One car. They handle it. Sebastian Vettel

made his debut in an American Grand Prix and scored a point. He has

been testing for McLaren, he has been a simulator. Fernando Alonso,

second place in Monaco, two weeks ago. He's been flying around this

track in free practice. I'm surprised, given that Pires has hit

the wall so hard in Monaco, that Sauber didn't have a plan D and

were dragging McLaren's as their driver down to the paddock. I saw

recently. We didn't get into that before, but I think it's madness

not to have a properly qualified reserve driver here when you have

just had one of your race drivers hospitalised at the Grand Prix

before. The green light is on, the first part of qualifying is under

way. We have 20 minutes and we are looking for the seven slowest

drivers. We are also keeping an eye on who can get within the 107% rule,

they got to be within 7% of the fastest time in qualifying one to

automatically qualify for the race. The stewards do have discretion.

What is interesting is how fast the cars are going. Last year we saw

pole at 1:15.01. We have some sample times that somebody kindly

calculated. They are no when the air, they started at one minute and

15 seconds. The pace has been immense. The Pirelli tyres are very

fast and they are lasting well. They are lasting better than the

Bridgestone tyres last year. The Pirellis, as Jenson Button pointed

out, they are wearing out rather great job. Just on the performance

here, why eight can't it be so quick compared to other circuits?

These cars are a bigger percentage when you drop the overall wing

downforce. We would have seen in Monaco they were running the

maximum drown -- downforce and Benny come hit Montreal where you

need a high speed and the rear wing is trimmed out and did take away

some of that drag. That is using the exhaust gases when drivers are

on and off the throttle to blow hot energised air underneath and a halt

the downforce of the car. Think of a Formula One car has an upside

down aeroplane where the wings push it down into the racetrack. They

triple the way to the car effectively and that is why they

can go round corners pulling 5.5 times the force of gravity. They

can brake from 250 miles an hour down to 40 in little over 100

metres. D'Ambrosio is out on track. We have 11 cars out there at the

moment out of 24 runners. These Virgin cars were both outside the

107 % gap you were talking about in free practice this morning. That

was with the top teams of McLaren and Ferrari out there on super soft

so it is presumed they will not do that. It is busy and they will run

the harder tyre so that will enable the smaller teams to be within 107

%. If Jenson Button said he got within four-tenths of his team-mate

here last the and that is the nearest anyone has ever got.

Hamilton has been on pole position three times out of his three

Canadian Grand Prix and peers normally blisteringly fast around

this track. Ted. Hello, just on the hard and soft tyres, it seems more

teams will be able to do qualify and one are the heart attack

because the difference has not been that much, it is less than a second.

Just a quick run-down on Pedro de la Rosa. His car is pretty much

fixed. Mark Webber's is fixed. It is interesting what Martin

Whitmarsh said about McLaren running wet-weather wings. That was

slow them down in a straight line. I had a word with Ross Brawn and he

was very surprised that they were doing that. Thank you. We are

seeing Vitaly Petrov here for Renault on the LM marked tyres so

Prime, slow, yellow is how we will call those to get an idea of what

we can expect -- the yellow marked tyres. It is approaching a second

lap difference between those and the faster red tyres will see them

using later on. We are looking at times comfortably within the 1:15

seconds. Heidfeld is out there on a good run. What we have also seen

his Petrov glances across the two kerbs. All we can see is they can

run quite a long way, going faster and faster. Petrov just failed to

get into the fifteens. We have all 24 cars out on to the racetrack. Do

you think they are nervous about the weather, David? I think so.

There is a big bump up onto the bridge into the second chicane.

Alguersuari has not got his tyres or breaks up to temperature. There

are only six sets of tyres available for each driver, three

sets to reach tyre compound and the last thing you want to do is to

make them like 50 pence pieces. I know a lot of you are not in the UK

and do not know what one looks like but it is not round, Bath the main

part of the stories. You cannot afford to wreck best set of tyres.

It will be wild tomorrow. Let's see how they line up on the grid today.

Coming back to your question which I did not answer, the reason we

have got all of the cars out on track is because we have the

uncertainty over the weather and we also have uncertainty if someone

puts it in the wall and we get a red flag, you get debris on the

track and you cannot get a clean lap. We can see Mercedes, Red Bull

and a Ferrari, this should be at a formality. This is more of a

question of the bottom cars. Alonso is fast as from Heidfeld. A good

point on the red flags. We saw three of them in free practice.

Basically, the walls are so close to the side of the track that if

you have a major incident, you are guaranteed to bring out the red

flags. Safety cars are not used in qualifying. Vettel is on a flying

lap. He is up against the wall of champions that he went into

yesterday afternoon. He is only a couple of tenths faster than

Fernando Alonso. We watch Rubens Barrichello heading towards the

finish line which has a long way down the pit straight. Later on I

think we will see drivers staying to the right-hand side for the

shortest route. I say that every year and very few of them do! You

often see Lewis doing that. Vettel going even faster on his second lap.

That is something we have seen this weekend, they do not have a problem

getting the tyres in, they have to take a couple of laps to build up

an even pressure and temperature and then the driver builds

confidence. If it is all about having confidence in the braking

area. As you would imagine when you are approaching two had an mph.

is a nice feeling when you can keep creeping up on the braking zones.

Hamilton has got himself a bit of traffic ahead in the form of the

Hispania. He takes too much of a bite of the Coeur about on the way

in. It is not critical for Hamilton yet to have a lap time from

d'Ambrosio in the Virgin, de la Rosa for Sauber and Rosberg for

Mercedes who is a man I am very much looking forward to seeing how

well he does. That is interesting. Jenson was then he was struggling

to slow the car down. This is something we often hear from Jenson

that he is right and at the rear wing and not able to start the next

lap, or we often hear him giving feedback that at that moment in

time there is nothing the engineers can do. I understand and then it in

lap because you are preparing them to look at key data but why would

he be doing battle on a qualifying lap? And why, as we see Alguersuari

going for a grassy trip,, again very wide, he is wild, isn't it?

That is a man under pressure. Is he about to be replaced by Daniel

Ricciardo? He certainly looks like he is not as tidy as he usually is.

He will not go quicker on the grass. Alonso is still chasing down Vettel.

They are about a quarter of a second adrift. We have two cars

outside the 107 % which is d'Ambrosio and Nico Rosberg who is

yet to do a competitive lap time. These cars sounds like a bag of

nails in slow corners with the exhaust billowing business going on

which I think the FIA will stop short leave. It is interesting

because our commentary box is above the last chicane so you can really

hear it. The most obvious Norway's is coming from the Renault engines,

the way they are choosing to blow their exhaust -- the most obvious

nor is. In a Ferrari, you do not hear it at all. Who is in the

knockout zone at the moment? Alguersuari, Trulli, Liuzzi, Sutil,

Glock, Karthikeyan and d'Ambrosio. Alguersuari looks like the first

man under pressure. We have Pedro de la Rosa on the auction red fast

tyres. Let's see what he can do. -- the option red fast tyres. He makes

contact with the wall, twice for good measure. I was going to say he

is not familiar with this car. Accord that curb a sausage earlier.

I'm not sure that was the quickest way round. When I spoke to him on

Thursday he said Nico Rosberg kept that manoeuvre up his sleeve and

Michael could not match it. It looks like he tried to take too

much of it.: So is up to the one minute 13s. -- Alonso. Button is up

in fourth. Rosberg in sixth and seventh for Mercedes Benz. Let's

see how Hamilton text this last chicane. That was sweet. That was

beautiful. No movement at will, no correction. 1:14.1 is his lap time.

It is a few tenths down on what Alonso could deliver. Alonso pets

Karthikeyan and d'Ambrosio outside 10 in every practice session. He

really seems to have settled in very quickly to this race track.

has had good performance in the past. He has got his eye in here

very early. I think in his short career he has gone from strength to

strength. Let's take stock with seven minutes remaining. Kovalainen

is now head of Alguersuari doing a fine job for Lotus. He is a tenth

behind Kobayashi and Maldonado as well. That is a great lap from

Heikki Kovalainen in the Lotus. Alguersuari is down to 19th. The

107 % rule applies only to qualify and one, this 20 minutes. Two of

them are outside this at the moment. Ted has some news. We are hearing

from the team radio is Alguersuari's problem is too much

understeer, particularly in the middle of the corners and his

suffering from braking. Amazingly, I have seen Pedro de la Rosa coming

out again. His steering columns were not affected by him hitting

the wall. He is out again in the Sauber. Good timing, we were just

replaying that as you were talking about it. Is it safe to throw a

driver out made Grand Prix weekend on a track like this? I don't think

there is an exact answer. You have to take a calculated guess as to

where the you think the guy has the experience and is capable of

learning all the systems. There is no question about the amount of

controls the driver has on the steering wheel, there is a lot more

workload and the drivers were complaining about this pre-season

saying they had too many things to do. Maybe this is a perfect example.

There is no question that Pedro nose had to drive a racing car and

if he could just concentrate on braking, steering and getting on

the power, we could Pacini presume getting close to the record, which

was set with three-litre engines? If you go back in time, you had

turbo engines with over 1000 was power. But the cars didn't like

going around corners. What we see in Formula One, despite the

regulations been changed to try to control top speeds, it highlights

how clever the designers and engineers are. They always find new

ways to exploit it... Well, they created new technology. That's

played out on the racetrack. This is a great example of why Formula

One is such a great development and proving ground. It looks like we

could have a mighty fast race, the tide of grip that the tyres are

giving up? The track temperature is 25 degrees. Free practice yesterday

was 40 degrees. It's a be mini to try to explain, the challenge that

means for the engineers and drivers, it significantly changes the way

that the car feels on the track. When the track is warm, it feels

greasy. These are perfect conditions for record times. It's

confusing when the tyres are running at 100 degrees centigrade,

what difference should it make that the track as ten degrees hotter?

But he is the emulsion, the oil on top of the track itself. Three-and-

a-half minutes remaining. No great surprise in the top 10. The left

front, as you turn into the corner, the suspension pushers and your

tyre. He's complained of understeer, but if you are relying on your

outer wheels, you are going to understeer. For a wheel to turn,

into a corner, it's also got to be spinning around to give you the

grip that you need. Let's have a look a little bit further down.

Mark Webber put in a few good laps, but he still only sixth plays. He

did not run this morning, these are seventh place. Kobayashi is in the

dangers and. Behind his team-mate, middle sector, Pedrosa. Overall,

he's improved, he Kobayashi is on a hot clap himself. Aga saga has done

two personal bests. He's fighting back, the young Spaniard, for Toro

qualified by his then team-mate, Pedro de la Rosa. He was on a good

lap, but his drop some time in the middle sectors. He's really under

pressure. Can he get round to do another lap? Let's look at the

Circuit Guide to see where he is. He's just committed the last

chicane. This will be his one and only lap to get him out of that

drop zone. He's a man we speak very highly of, Kamui Kobayashi. He had

a big shunt yesterday and looks a bit out of sorts on its racetrack,

as you reminded us, de la Rosa qualified last year. We have a

spinner. That is the HRT of Vitantonio Liuzzi. If you don't

have all of your wheels on the tarmac, you're not going to get a

good turn. He's the head of Timo Glock, on a better lap. That yellow

flags around that zone, so drivers have to back off. They are not

allowed to do their fastest sectors passing the marshals and passing

We are watching Kobayashi as well. Meanwhile, Jarno Trulli crosses the

line. That is a slower lap. He will start the race in 20th Place. This

is the Sauber of Kobayashi. This needs to be very special. Stays

slightly to the right, for the shortest route to the line. He

doesn't do that. I never understand... And his in. 14th

place for Kobayashi. Kovalainen, personal best in the middle sector,

has his final effort. He stays 19th, he does not go faster. Alguersuari

is out at the moment. He's out in the pits, the first big Forlan of

out. 18.5 is his best lap. Just fractionally behind Timo Glock.

D'Ambrosio is outside the won by 7% rule for Virgin Racing. Trulli is

still going for it. Half a second behind his team-mate, not any

longer, just in front of him. Jarno Trulli is out-qualifying Kovalainen

for the first time this year. Race seven. He will start 19th. We had a

replay of Liuzzi spinning. He starts 21st. He had qualified Timo

he is trying to replace, Jaime Alguersuari. He will take no

further part in today's qualifying. Michael Schumacher was 11th.

Rosberg was 9th. Alonso remained the fastest. Alguersuari is out.

Dock, d'Ambrosio, they all become the cut-and-thrust, it's about

scoring points over your team-mate and having a good place to start at

the back. It looks like that man is not going to be starting at all,

Jerome d'Ambrosio, the of December Central that exists to make sure

that cars that are too slow down take part. D'Ambrosio doesn't take

part. The stewards have the option to put the drive into the race.

What do you expect to happen? rules are the rules. We go out to

race on the rules that we know about. I don't see the stewards

making an exception. I certainly don't see it here. Unless there is

a compelling argument, and I'm not aware of that. As talk about the

stories at the back of the grid, they are just as important are the

teams at the back. Alguersuari, he went out in Monaco, the same

happens to him here, how much longer would you keep him in that

car if he was driving for you? had his chance, he's got talent,

he's a very good talent. He's he quick enough? Could you see him as

a replacement for that four? At the idea of that placement. You'd have

to say that is unlikely. Even given the dire chants, he's taken a good

racing career, -- you have given Pagai a chance, but it's not been

good enough. They need to find someone to replace Mark Webber.

came into Formula One, having never tested an F1 car before. He's a

young guy. But this is not a business where sympathy plays any

role. You've got to deliver. The pressures and the stress are very

evident for everyone to save. It's no different in this particular

case. Alguersuari is not enough in that car at the moment. He's under

pressure. So, he goes out in the first part of qualifying. At the

other end of the age spectrum, we mentioned two drivers in their 40s

taking part in Formula One for the first time in over 30 years. One of

those is Pedro de la Rosa. The last thing he wanted was to slip off the

track again. He was a bit lucky? Well, let's not get me on two

things about drivers over 40. I think that Pedro shouldn't be here.

He's a good guy and everybody loves him, but at 40 years of age, please

tell me what is happening with Sauber? Were they not be better

served putting a young driver in the car that could give them a

better chance or at least look at somebody for the future? This was a

mistake, he shouldn't have glanced off the wall. He knew that the team

needed continuity, it needed to be on the track. It doesn't need to be

preparing wishbones, uprights and wheels. He should have allowed that

to happen. Peter Sauber loves young drivers, he loves giving them a

chance. It got Gutierrez. He sent a tweet yesterday saying he was ready

but he had no idea this was going to happen. Surely, in Formula One,

the number-one motor sport in the world, you come prepared, you have

your reserve driver, particularly two weeks after a rookie has had a

big accident? I went to the team and I spoke at length about how

this can have happened, of all the times, the most opportune position

that Gutierrez should have had, to be here. Why he is not here is

beyond me. If I was his manager, or if I was Peter Sauber, I would have

insisted we had proper ballot -- buck up. We talked about Pedro,

saying it wasn't his seat, it was different pedals. Gutierrez would

have had all of that, with the team. I think it was an oversight. I

think you've seen that it was a mistake. Another one of your former

drivers, Jarno Trulli, out- qualifying Kovalainen, his team-

mate, for the first time this year. Not a big story in the grand scheme

of things, but it's a big deal for him? He needed to. He has a

qualifying lap that's better than anybody else. We've seen it so many

times in the past. In recent years, his lost that. He will be pleased

to make sure he is actually at qualifying his team-mate. But

another one under pressure, I think. The wind is picking up. I suppose

we can have a look at the island. The umbrellas aren't up, but they

may be before long. Pretty over cast at the moment. Look at a huge

grandstand. Let's go back to David Coulthard. There is a big

opportunity for the likes of Renault, Force India, to get

themselves a good spot in qualifying? The midfield is very

competitive. Many of those will fancy being in the top 10 should

out. Can Michael Schumacher hang on? Another driver over 40 years

old, but he's a man who must surely fancy his chances of still being in

qualifying. 15 minutes. Then it starts to get serious. They will

have to really be careful, exactly when they get their laps in, which

tyres they are on. Errors will be heavily punished. It's a relatively

short lap, 74 seconds. Every 10th will count, especially in that very

competitive midfield. Around six, even down to 17, actually,

Schumacher, with a brand new shiny set of the super soft option tyres

that we know to be about one second per lap faster, depending on the

car. BRS, you can use it for well over the lap in qualifying. Derek

two places you can use it in the race. We'll talk about that

tomorrow. They say the Mercedes version is more effective? They do.

They say a lot of things in Formula One. We are going to find out

tomorrow. They do have that double activation point. In qualifying,

you are able to use it everywhere that the driver feels brave enough

to handle that aero balance shift that inevitably happens when you

open the rear wing. You can see it on the Sauber. That is in the

closed position. It is watching accelerating. Here is the white

line, the activation, sorry, the detection point. The second white

line is the activation. Accra during racing conditions.

Qualifying, they can run it everywhere that the driver wants,

to get his finger on that button and get the benefit of the extra

top speed. A good example, Maldonado, in the Williams. Had it

open in the way into that first chicane. He will use all of the

downforce and then he will poppet open at letterbox, as you have been

referring to it, a big slide. In the case of Moll de Niro, he got

out of it daily. -- Maldonado. saw the Tim Mercedes Benz go out

with the option tyre. The faster option. Out there, doing good

sector times at the moment. Ted has got some news. Just on tyres, just

to confirm that you have Maldonado on the softer options. Also,

Barrichello. Williams are doing something different, maybe they are

saving the soft tyres for the raise? Looks at the moment that

it's not helping Maldonado who find his confidence. He is getting

temperature into those tyres. This isn't done to help his confidence.

Inevitably, he will need to put a set of super softs on to secure his

place in the final test. That is slow, even despite the tyres. He

didn't trouble the apex too much around back lap. He does look quite

a often out of control to me, but the stopwatch says defiantly.

That wasn't particularly fast them. Let's see what he is able to

deliver on the next lap. Sutil crosses the line. Petrov his

fastest from Heidfeld. The two Renaults the fastest by a country

mile. 17 cars on the racetrack. The track temperature has dropped down

slightly to 24. Sebastian Vettel is the man on the move, we are on

board with Mark Webber, who has the faster tyres as well. He is about

510ths of a lap slower than better. He's marginally ahead of petrol.

There is Jenson Button on the faster tyre. He's gone fastest on a

14.2. They are still not anywhere near the times that we saw earlier.

Now they are beginning to build some pace. Button, from Webber.

That oar has gone fast, he's on 13.690. That's the fastest lap we

pole position with that. Unfortunately, a trip across the

he does not get a penalty for that. He was trying to stay out of the

way but not hard enough, in my view. It was interesting. Michael back

fired out of it. Michael is very cunning. Mark Webber finishes his

lap. He goes fastest. He did not get the benefit of practice this

morning but he is finding his form now. Hamilton on a better lap. He

goes before about one. He is three- tenths of fastest. Alonso has now

and a top 10 and Kobayashi. Ted. has come backing for the super soft

tyres. Martin, have I got time to realise what Michael realised with

Alonso? He is clever enough to realise that if Massa was given a

penalty for impeding him there, he will lose his fastest time. Michael

as fast -- smart enough to know that might give him a better grid

position. At 200 miles an hour, you think he is thinking about that,

are you sure? The guy won seven world championships, he knows how

to have a clear head in a race car. NASA will still loitering with

intent to do what? This is one of the areas of run-off, the last

chicane. You have the benefit of seeing Jenson slotting it through

there. Not quite as tidy as we saw with Lewis Hamilton but he does

keep well to the right. He has delivered P6. Only three-tenths

away from the fastest man at the moment, Mark Webber. We have three-

tenths of a second covering the top six drivers as Vettel has another

bests. He drops in. We have seven drivers within three-tenths of a

second, Littlemore than a flicker regroup and rethink. Massa is

staying out and going faster than anybody in the first sector. He

wants to have another bite of getting right in there. Heading

down towards the chicane of turn 8 and 9. It is always bumpy on the

braking zone there. This is a circuit which is part road and Park

racetrack. There is a 60 degree variation in the weather in

Montreal so the pavements and roads take quite a pounding and Massa is

flying. He looks more comfortable here than he has for some time. He

says this was the best preparation they have had all season so far,

here in Montreal. He was very happy last night. If he gets this chicane

right, I think he will be very happy at the end of this straight

as well. Massa crosses the line and it does the fastest time sofa,

1:13.4. This is not for the top 10 on the grid, it is to choose the

top 10 who will go forward into the shoot-out. We are now sorting at 11

lap Badsworth talking about just yet. He is struggling that he has

got plenty of time left. I used seeing any surprises, David?

think I was expecting Mercedes to be among the mix for the fastest

time. They did show a little bit more pace through practice as you

rightly say. This is not about delivering the absolutely fastest

lap that you are capable of doing, they hope to get through the next

part of qualifying. A free look at Rubens here, he is coming to the

biggest braking point on the track, he slows the car down and then gets

all the drive he possibly can on but turn. Opens the D ers, uses the

KERS, but of the buttons and then he tries to do the line of least

resistance and picking his braking point into the last chicane. He

looked a bit cautious. It did not look like a man committed. His 16th.

racing in Montreal. He has had a difficult weekend, Peter Sauber. He

has won driver gone home poorly, both cars in the war that some

point. De la Rosa has been in the wall a couple of times. He had to

rehire the guy he fired last year. Peter Sauber is having the weekend

from hell. Did you see di Resta going through turn two? That Force

India has massive low-speed grip. It is it because it has a lot of

role or is it raw grip? To lift the front wheel you have to be

collapsing the rear so there may be soft on the rear spring.

Nonetheless, it looks like he has got good performance. He has

delivered his fastest first sector. He is currently in 12th place. He

has lost a bit of time. This will maybe not be enough to get him

throw-in to the top 10. Allan McNish, the man who was one of the

stewards in Monaco, had to penalise and give Paul a drive through be

you have to give -- you have put those things to one side. 11th

place. Frustrating for Paul di Resta. Ted has more news.

McLaren and their gamble to run more rear wing downforce because

they are expecting wet conditions tomorrow, it is not hurting them

too bad. They are only a couple of feet Kay's of the fastest but that

does have -- they can use the rear wing... The cars Aaron parc ferme

conditions -- the cars are in parc ferme conditions. They have to cope

with low fuel, the wing Wide Open and then tomorrow, he was well out

of shape in the braking zone. That was a bit too brave for kerb by

Ashley. -- Kobayashi. It could be the way they have got their KERS in.

The KERS system, the way it recovers the energy two I am just

watching out of the commentary box. The way it is recovering the energy

is in the braking phase. They have to run a much more forward to brake

balance when they have got the kerbs in its most powerful mode.

Maybe in this case he had on the wrong setting. The way it looks to

me, the top nine are not bothering to go out again. Heidfeld has got

himself into tenth. Di Resta is going again. They all rather. --

they are all out there, desperately fighting. Here is de la Rosa. He

stays 17th. He will start the Grand Prix. He stays slightly right. Di

Resta remains in 11th place. Maldonado is 15 per at the moment.

Two personal best so far. He goes up to 12th. Kobayashi remains in

30th place. Sutil wants to out- qualified di Resta for the second

time this year. Sutil stays in 14th. and getting it all out of shape. I

guess you have got to push that hard, you cannot leave any time on

the table and that means... They beautiful power slide from

Kobayashi. He is sliding towards the wall but he has still got his

foot in. That is why the fans love can Marie Kobayashi, he gives it

his best. It is 13th only on the without a surplus of tyres is Nick

Heidfeld. Both Renaults RN. -- are in. We look forward to when it

really counts, the top 10 shoot-out preparing in the Formula One

Ferrari garage. The grandstands are full as ever. The fans are enjoying

the session. Timo Glock from Virgin Racing is with us. You start 22nd

on the grid for this Grand Prix. The chat you had with Eddie was

about the top speed of their car. Is that the most important factor?

We gambler bit because on Thursday, Friday, it was clear it would be

wet over the weekend. We had nothing to lose. We put the maximum

downforce on the car. When we came in this morning, the weather

changed a bit and it looked like it would be dry. That cost us a lot of

top speed. We are struggling to get the best out of the car. It was

quite close with HRT. I managed to get a good lap out of it and like I

progress you would expect in a second season of racing here in

Virgin does not seem to be there? It's not frustrating. You know, we

are where we are at the moment and we have to get the best out of it.

It doesn't make sense to be disappointed if and whatever,

negative. We just have to make the best out of now. I think we made

some serious changes for the future which should give us a positive

direction. But it's still a long way to go for us. I think we

learned out of our mistakes and we'll do it right in the future.

Timo Glock starts in 22nd. It looks like his team-mate will not start

at all. We'll wait to see what the stewards say, but we don't expect

there to be two Virgins on the grid. These guys love motor racing, a

love coming and watching on the monitors. You enjoyed Kobayashi

keeping his foot on the power, spinning it around, as he got

closer to the wall? It looked like he wanted to get close as he could

to the wall, for sure he didn't do it on purpose. He just wanted to

squeeze everything out of the car. I think everyone was very close

already to the wall. We had a lovely chuckle. Honestly, that is

what people, not just the fans, but those guys here, me included, that

was spectacular. That is why we like Kobayashi. As much a Formula

One fan as you are a driver, you have to love it? Yes, as I said, we

are where we are, but I still love what I am doing and it is the same

for the rest. When you stick around and talk to us about what you

expect to happen in the rest of qualifying in a minute? Have you

got time for that? I think Sebastian will be pulling out a lap

again like he did in the past, the engine on full power and whatever.

Super quick. We'll talk about that in a moment. Let's hear from Jarno

Trulli, who, for the first time this season, has out-qualified his

team-mate. Well done. A good day for yourself

and do manage to out-qualified or to make for the first time. You

must be pleased? -- out-qualify your team-mate. Great, especially

with the steering, it means I can get my best out of the car. I was a

little bit concerned. Yesterday I felt very comfortable in the car,

with the brakes and everything. Since this morning, I was

struggling a lot with the brakes. I had to change them at the very last

minute, all of the spec. It wasn't an easy thing to do on qualifying.

But I'm happy for the team because we are getting closer. Well, he's

got a smile on his face for the first time in qualifying. Time for

the top 10 pole position should out. Explain to us what you need on your

car to fly here. What sort of car thrives around this Canadian track?

For sure, it has to be quick on the straights, good over the kerbs.

Very consistent. It looks like Red Bull and Vettel have a set-up that

they run a pretty much everywhere, and they have the confidence for

him to squeeze that extra out in every run that he is doing. Maybe

that's the reason he's ahead of everyone at the moment. He tips

Sebastian Vettel to be the man on of the boys on Q2. But you could

still be out there? Maybe the tyre choice, we opted to save a set for

tomorrow. Maybe if I had put that together as I was supposed to,

there was a small mistake, being connected to the second chicane.

Certainly there was not much left. Probably on a better position,

starting on a clean set of the track, having an extra set tomorrow.

It's a track which suits a brave car and driver, it seemed to be

seeking you well? So once we started at the weekend, the car has

been working well. The package seems to work, lower downforce. The

track is all about commitment. It seems to have built a pretty

quickly. The long runs looked good, it's quite promising for the race

to go forward. It was tough for Paul. He was so

close to making it into the top 10. This is it, the pole position

should out. It's all about these things. Do you save a set of tyres,

do you go for position on the grid, what are we going to say? It's very

clear, position on the grid. These things might not come into play,

the forecasts are looking like wet. Qualifying is the most important

factor. Give me the man that will be on pole position. It's very hard,

top six are split by a couple of 10ths. Any man could be there, but

you've got to go for that oar. of that talk and you still go for

better. Let's find out he will be on pole for the 2011 Canadian Grand

Prix. Under way already, 10 minutes to

see who is hot, who is not, who has got a lot of speed. A 2.7 mile

circuit. Will we say a lap in this 72 point-something seconds? How do

you see it going? You've got to get as high up the grade as possible.

Even if you've got changeable conditions tomorrow, historically

we've seen a lot of incidents in that first 10. With the way that

tyres are appearing to last, like we saw in Monaco, I don't see why

you would do anything other than run your fastest car in qualifying.

No saving tyres, get as far up the grid as possible. So it's not like

the races we have had in recent times, way you think about how grid

position doesn't happen, even with double DRS tomorrow, you say that

tyres are fine for the race Sub Focus 100% of qualifying? I believe

that is what we are going to see right now. Referring back to what

Ted mentioned, the only thing that is a compromise is that if McLaren

have put on a little bit more wind, expecting it to be wet, then that

might have compromised their pace. But that's a strategy that teams

have got to make. Whatever decision they have made, you have to throw

everything at getting the best grid position possible. They're not too

many incidents, too many Sirte cars to risk it. It's going to be all

about who is bravest into the final chicane. Ted has got some news?

of the top guys, everybody in the session I can see, is out on the

super soft tyre. There was a shot on the feed in the break of three

fans cooling the KERS and the engine of Mark Webber's Red Bull.

That was significant. So, Ted telling us that the drivers have

gone out with the idea of doing four laps in total. The fact that

we've got eight of the 10 on track at the moment, the two who are not,

Mercedes Benz, it looks like they will go on a one runs. Rosberg

leaves the pit. Surely the rest of them are, as you suggested, heading

for a couple of runs? Jenson Button, there, for McLaren. He's looked

like he is just about in touch. But can he threaten the front row of

the grid? Sebastian Vettel has never been higher than third place,

as we are watching Nick Heidfeld underneath us, running wide. A

short cut in the final chicane, actually. Webber, with Heidfeld.

Webber has only done a 15.2. Hamilton does a 13.9, coming down

the right hand side of the track. Normally you only do that on your

final part of the run, but he's anywhere. It is that oar that is

stealing the fastest sectors, there's a surprise. Felipe Massa

crosses the line with a 13.8, going ahead of Hamilton. Hamilton is on a

better lap. It's the second lap that's going to matter. Better goes

around the outside of Nico Rosberg's Mercedes. There we go,

just flicking across those curves. Vettel, a 13.0! Not quite into the

one minute 12s, but presumably they have cranked the engine up? This is

everything they've got, the fastest lap that he's done around this

track this weekend. His best was 13.3. We are on board with Mark

Webber. He's going to be some way short, I would say. Vettel has done

quickest again in his first sector. Hamilton's second lap get some that

two-thirds, a second behind second- placed Webber. Massa 4th, Alonso,

we are on board with him. On the total, in the middle of the chicane.

Keeping it to the right, for the shortest route. Alonso go second on

a 13.4. Massa follows him up with a 13.292 and goes second. Red Bull

from Ferrari, Ferrari, Red Bull, then McLaren, McLaren. Surely,

McLaren have got something better than that to show us this

afternoon? They came here full of confidence, especially in

qualifying. They could have wood the last two races. They are saying,

we are going to be stronger in qualifying. That is what is going

to make the difference. Unfortunately, not the case? They

have looked mighty on the brakes in pre-practice. But something is not

delivering on the performance. It can only be the amount of time they

are spending in the turn. Great performance from Felipe Massa. No

mean feat. Massa need a strong performance. No doubt about it.

Nico Rosberg is a couple of 10ths shy in that second sector. In the

shadow of the bridge. We saw the most terrifying accident there once,

where a manhole cover came up and ripped through a fuel tank, tore

the car in half. Luckily, the F1 S That couldn't go on that side of

the road. He's nearly half a second shy by the time he gets down to the

turn. Very quick down the straights, we think the DRS rear wing is about

four miles an hour more efficient than some of them down there.

Rosberg, a man who shone in the early practice sessions. His 9th at

the moment. He gets himself only as high as sixth. That will be a

surprise. That will be a surprise affecting Mercedes the most.

Michael Schumacher, doing what is presumably going to be his only run

of the session. It will be interesting to see exactly where he

slots in. He's coming down the last sector, maybe we will stay with him.

It would be nice to get an image of him coming through the last chicane.

Here we are, thank you, Mr Director! That looks very steady,

in fact. Didn't look very committed to that last term. Pedestrian was

the word I was going to come up with. Presumably he made a mistake

out there. Just wanted to bring us tyres in a little bit more slowly.

McLaren comes into his field of vision, but not in his way. We not

heard anything about him getting held up by Massa earlier on,

nothing on the computer screen about that. Schumacher is under

pressure. Interestingly, he didn't even use all of the road on the

exit of turn... What was it, turn four. What is he doing? He is

leaving himself only one flying lap. Is currently 10th, he can't get any

more than that. But he is weaving, he wants to bring his tyres in, it

seems. He's going to surprise us in a minute, that is what he's going

to do a. At the moment, he's coasting around. Unless he has a

rabbit in the cockpit, I don't think we are going to be that

surprised. They do get ground hogs trying not to hit somebody in turn

5. They figured out that you need to stay out longer, do as many laps

as you can to get heat into the tyres. That is where the lap time

is coming. Ferrari are the only team to do with a racing pit-stop

and put on soft tyres, everybody else wheeled them back. Ferrari

have a great chance, they have another lap to get their tyres womb.

Michael Schumacher has done a lot of five seconds of the pits.

Presumably we will now see what he's got to offer us. Everybody

else has committed to two runs. Here is Alonso, trying to spot the

turning point format tricky final chicane. Alonso, down the pit

straight. What is this going to yield for him? He stays third.

Felipe Massa does a 13.4 and remain second. Michael Schumacher is now

getting on with some hot laps. Mark Webber, two personal best so far.

wants fourth. He stays forth. Quite a long way to estimate. Michael

Schumacher is now hard on the pace. His about six or 710ths child pole

position. That wasn't pedestrian. Behind him is Lewis Hamilton.

Hamilton goes over the line. He is only 5th with that effort. Michael

Schumacher is down in eighth. Sebastian Vettel is lucky to secure

pole position from Felipe Massa. He's the fastest man through there.

Sebastian Vettel comes up to the line. Has he done it? He has

remained on pole position. He did not go faster. Massa and Alonso are

still out there. Alonso is in the background. So, Alonso goes over

the line, goes second. 13.1. Massa's answer comes immediately.

He remains in third place. Vettel, Alonso, Massa, Red Bull 4th,

Ferrari, Red Bull. Hamilton is still trying hard, so is Button.

Both Renaults come through. They remain ninth and tenth. Jenson

Button is a third of a second down on pole position. A so-so middle

sector, he's down in seventh place at the moment. I think he would be

thoroughly disappointed with that. faster but remains in seventh place.

That is the action all over. Vettel, yet again, who can stop this boy

from taking pole position? His sixth pole position in seventh

races. Pole position forced DUP in the wall. I stuffed it in the

wall, they always learned their English in a Formula One

environment. That is what we are talking about. That is what he

usually says, what we are talking about is another pole position.

What is pleasing for me is that Ferrari seem right there, as they

did through practice. You have to feel for Felipe Massa. He was

certainly setting the pace. In the end, he has been pipped by Fernando

Alonso. What is interesting coming down the grid a bit, we have in

sixth, seventh and eighth, we have Rosberg, Button and Schumacher on a

13.8. We have it all geared up for a very close Grand Prix. Both

Renaults did fetch lead and for called times as well. -- virtually

identical times as well. Paul di Resta is a man I think will end up

in a very front running car sooner rather than later. Hamilton in fig.

I think he will be surprised and all used to dance and programmes on

Saturday night on the BBC and I tell you you will not find a more

beautiful dance than that. Those are the 23 cars which will make up

the grid for the Grand Prix. The Virgin of d'Ambrosio was not fast

enough. The drivers did not let us down. I think Sebastian was worried

at times? He may have been. That was the first time he has been on

pole position here. Didn't he do well. A lot of pressure. Ferrari

seemed to have the game plan. Well done to Ferrari for upping their

game. They will probably leave their very happy. Traditionally,

Red Bull have not been able to dominate in the rest - a race as

they do in the qualifying. This could be a turning point. We will

see the good point of the weekend for Sebastian. The way it started

was not particularly good. To come back from this which happened on

Friday, to the following day taking pole position makes for better luck

for Sebastian. Here is a man who is so full of confidence, his ability

to come back from serious problems and this was a problem. He

understeer it into the corner. He had a mind set to be able to be

sure that he had inside him and a belief in the team that he could

get pole position. It was a remarkable job that he did. Let's

take a look at the pole lap. This man is starting to dominate the

season, isn't it? It is interesting. We spoke to Timo Glock and without

hesitation he said, this guide, Vettel, will be on pole position.

It was never in any other mindset that this was the guy on top of his

game, he would dominate. People said around Monaco Red Bull would

be weak. They have said around Canada Red Bull would be weak. Take

a look that Sebastian going into the chicane and tell me if you

think this car looks weak at all. You have to look at his hands. He

has barely moving the steering wheel. I have a car which is well

balanced and you have a confident that the car will do what you

expect it to do, you can drive it like this. He is the epitome of

that. It looks serene. It looks as if he is playing at home with a

steering wheel but he is doing 200 mph. This is Sebastian Vettel's

very first pole position here in the Canada. Lewis Hamilton has

taken three before. This man goes over the line and he takes another

pole position this season. There you go, he has his finger in the

air. You can see him standing with the Ferrari guys. You can mention

Felipe Massa. He was ahead of his team mate, he has not finished the

last two Grand Prix, big day for fully pay. He has a lot of fans.

Traditionally the Brazilian fans come up here to Montreal to watch

the race. He has responded magnificently. I feel for him. He

had Tim -- he had it in his grasp. Massa would have loved to have

pipped him. Another pole position for Sebastian Vettel, another pole

position for Red Bull. Ted is with Christian Horner. I just teddy say

that McLaren gambled on a wet wing level, have you got some

information that they do not? knows, unless they are better

connected upstairs than we are. We have got a set-up that we hope

covers both eventualities. We did not expect to get the pole here so

it is a phenomenal result on arguably one of our weaker circuits.

A fantastic performance from set and mark without the KERS has done

a superb recovery after missing P3. It failed, did it? He did not have

the use of it during the session. Hopefully we can rectify tonight

within the regulations. A thanks. Delight for Christian Horner. We

had him talking about Mark Webber. He was half a second try of his

team make that he did not have the benefit of KERS. When will the KERS

issue be fixed for Mark Webber? Let's find out if he is frustrated.

He is with Lee McKenzie. After be give warning -- morning, how was

your afternoon? I was happy with how we recovered. I did not have

any KERS for qualifying. It would have been nice to have had that for

this session but in the end the guys did everything they could to

get it ready. That is where we are. Fourth is towards the front. It is

a mixed-race here. The will be an interesting race tomorrow. When you

went into qualifying, did you know that you did not have KERS? Yes, we

were pretty confident we did what we could to get it fixed and then

on the formation lap going out, it pitched so we were trying to

recover it for Keith three for the all-important laps, but in the end

it did not come back into life. Will you have kerb as for tomorrow?

Again, we will try and find out tonight. The guy's idea what they

can out here. We are not in the middle of the factory so they are

doing what they can. Mark Webber, last time he did not have KERS. You

are a sitting duck. They need to get it sorted. It is staggering to

think this team has so many talented people inside that team.

It is in front of the media and the press, not to be able to sort out

KERS when every other team is able to do so, it is disappointing that

Red Bull find themselves in that position. Jenson Button did not

have his greatest qualifying here. How is he feeling? Jenson, how was

that for you today? It is always frustrating when you are not quick.

We did not have the pace that we thought we would. We are surprised

to be where we are, yes. Why last one was looking pretty good but I

over pushed, over drove, started locking up and lost some time. I

was very close to pipping Nico at the end but it did not happen. I'm

starting seventh. Sixth is not much better. A lot can happen here. This

is a circuit you can overtake so we hope our race pace will be better

than qualifying. I used set-up with wet weather conditions for

tomorrow? No, not specifically. Formula One cars these days you do

not set them up differently because we are used to it raining during

the race. We have an optimised set- up which will working pretty much

every condition. Do you think you will have better race pace

tomorrow? I hope so. Our consistency yesterday on the soft

tyre and hard tie looked pretty good. Personally, I do not think we

are as quick as we hoped to be which is disappointing. The Red

Bulls are very quick again as always and the Ferraris are very

close to them. It is a pity we could not get amongst that. We will

do the best job we can tomorrow. We now a race is good. It will be a

fun race. Frustration for Jenson, he could have won in Monaco a

couple of weeks ago. Raindrops are starting to fall now. They will

hope for this kind of weather tomorrow at McLaren. They will have

to pray for it because everybody has thrown idea about strategy. If

I was a team manager there, I would not have gambled to such an extent

on the wet weather. You never know what will happen. If you analyse

statistics, invariably it will be dry. I will probably regret what I

have to say, they will probably run. We will find out what will happen

tomorrow with the weather. There is more motorsport coming your way

this weekend right here on the BBC. Earlier than previously advertised,

it is the final of Queen's. Andy Murray, look at bat. The perfect

preparation for him for Wimbledon. We will be here with the Canadian

Grand Prix tomorrow from 5:00pm on BBC One and BBC One HD with all

Keep your feet down! Would you mind if I get to drive a little bit.

OK. You can co-pilot. I will not argue! Very nice. Michael