The European Grand Prix - Qualifying Formula 1

It is how you go about that. Just when all seems lost,... At perfect

performance by Steve Davis... He has done it! It's not about how

hard you fall but how quickly you get back up and back into the race.

An incredible number of falls. Desperate, now! And a new world

record. Retaining total self-belief. No matter how futile it seems.

must be the best part of 15 lengths. Swooping! Just holding on... It is

about that once-in-a-lifetime performance would you find

something that means even when you are last, you can still cross the

line first... Jenson Button, last is. He sails past! Somehow finding

enough grip. Is he a head? He is! Jensen Button leads the Grand Prix!

Sensational drive. It wasn't a bad finish? If you are one of the lucky

ones who stayed until the end of the night, the car behind us driven

by Jensen Button give us the most incredible finish. One to tell the

grand children. You watch the longest race in Formula One history.

It felt longer even when watching. How long did it feel in the

commentary box? It did feel longer. You were talking about marshals and

the water but in the end, it was fantastic. I have no idea you were

so at that? At bird-watching? not know that is what you called it.

Eddie Jordan, impressive in the commentary box and it was also

impressive in the pit lane. The atmosphere was like nothing else?

If you were looking for the best Seat in the House, we were so

fortunate, we go to many different teams and we had to be with the

McLaren team for this race. It was euphoric. You cannot believe the

excitement. Wonderful, wonderful occasion. As ever, Formula One does

not wait for any man, we can hear the engines roaring. Determined to

make it two wins? Watching these pictures, that big grin on his face,

Jensen Button is popular but it was the fact that one person dominated

so much. And then Jensen Button looks like he was having such a bad

race and still took the win? If you think about his career, with Honda

in changeable positions, his first victory for McLaren in Melbourne.

Changeable conditions. There is nobody like him when it comes to

wet and dry transition. There is no question, next time we have those

conditions, no matter where he is, if the bookmakers are open, we will

have to place bets... After racing around the man-made island two

weeks ago, this place is equally unique. It is very were we travel

to somewhere were the sunbathers have their action interrupted by

the roaring of 4 min one. We are in the industrial heartland of

Valencia. One of the biggest ports and Spain and also an 0 to the less

glamourous past, with the sheds at once reverberated to the sound of

something rather different, fishermen selling their catch. And

this is a live shot of the pit lane, full of fans and that is a

beautiful area. And just above us, these old tiles. Put up many years

ago and they probably had no idea that one day, instead of red

snapper and halibut, these buildings would be filled with the

most expensive racing cars. There are some lovely things about this

place but there was something missing? The most famous moment is

Mark Webber going upside down last year. We need this to deliver?

need this to deliver, the overtaking in the past has been

very poor. And really, that needs to be rectified. But Valencia, it

is right in there... It is no different to Monaco, we talk about

the architecture, it is a wonderful place to visit but that sparkle,

that fire in your tummy, it isn't here yet. We saw one overtake in

2009, 12 months ago, 82 overtakes in Turkey. This is the acid test?

We should not be surprised, there isn't much overtaking, qualifying

sorts out the fastest and the slowest and why should there be any

big transition? But with Pirelli, there has been a lot of drop-off in

the performance of the tyres. That has made the strategy much more

important. And with ers, drag reduction, we see the situation

would drivers cannot defend, you cannot defend against the speed

differential. There is no question we will see more overtaking. Some

people point to the fact that Sebastian Vettel was well aware

that Button could have activated that. And talking of the current

form and a one champion, with all the euphoria about Jensen Button,

nobody has mentioned that it was almost the perfect result for

Sebastian Vettel? He will have been told by his engineer that his

closest rival, Lewis Hamilton, has just gone out. He will be

absolutely crazy in the car with joy. And yes, what I like about

Sebastian Vettel, we saw that glimmer of hope. He does make

mistakes but he had to be pushed into this and full marks to Jensen

Button. I do not think any other driver in any other circumstance

would have been able to. Do not give up on the current form and all

season, there are still 300 points up for grabs. Before we get into

the nitty-gritty, we should we live exactly what happened two weeks ago

and these boys will be very pleased to know that we have managed to

condense four hours, four minutes and 39 seconds into just a couple

will have the race. Whoever is round! Hamilton was getting up the

inside. They touched. Lewis Hamilton, so -- suspension damage,

puncture. He was trying to pass Jensen Button. Look how hard it is

raining, the race is suspended. Ferrari is off? Fernando Alonso. It

was Jensen Button. Puncture? Felipe Massa with Kobayashi. Michael

Schumacher has gone past the pair of them. The front wing. They will

touch. He has broken his front wing. None of these guys were -- know

what the front wing is? Michael Schumacher is a sitting target, can

he get through? Well... And there he goes. He will not let Jensen

Button through at the same time? He can! Mark Webber nearly lost it.

Jensen Button sales pastern. But then goes a long way around. Is

Schumacher ahead? Jensen Button into second place. -- sales past

him. Enter the final lap. Jensen Button at Leeds! Jensen Button,

what a victory! He wins a brilliant race! That was Trulli incredible,

14 overtakes by Jensen Button in the final five laps. And the final

overtake was on the car behind, Sebastian Vettel. The first time we

have seen that chink in the arm or of Sebastian Vettel? What went on

in the team? How much reflection goes on. It will be very

straightforward, he will have looked at the entrance speed into

that corner, it is very clear that he put the wheel on to the damp

part of the track and that tried to much. They will be no more analysis

necessary. It was a mistake by the driver. Why he was so late

responding to the pressure that Jensen Button was putting him under,

only he can answer. Second place is still not bad. Of course he is

disappointed, he does not want to make the stakes in those conditions.

It shows he is human. Sebastian is telling everyone who will listen, I

was not under pressure, it was a natural error? He can say what he

wants, we are looking at this and we have to take over own shoe. He

would never have made that mistake if Jensen Button had not been there

and for him to go on a length with that argument, it does not wash

with me, I think Jensen Button put him under enough pressure to make

him fall into that mistake, at least to look into his nerves, and

the slightest little confusion in the mind suddenly met the cars

around 10 and Jenson Button was passed. When looking at the Gap,

you look at the pit board and you see you have five seconds and on

the next lap, it is one second, that puts you under pressure

because you think, were well I find four seconds? It was the aggression

from Jensen Button and I have spoken to him and if you look at

the calendar, he said the only way anyone will catch Sebastian Vettel

is to be aggressive, or on the track when near him and in the

approach. He probably says exactly what Lewis Hamilton is saying with

the way he is driving, but I think Jensen Button isn't naturally

aggressive, he is smooth and stylish. He loves the changing

conditions. Were he will find that you find aggression is beyond me

because Sebastian Vettel has a significant lead in the

championship so it will take something new. We saw both McLaren

cars bumping into each other, you did that in 1999, how does it work?

Do you just accept that? There would have been a conversation,

Martin mentioned in the broadcast that during that which they had

time to reflect on that and has some responsibility. It is never

good to crash with your team-mate, not with anyone but the pressure

within the happy family of the team is immense on those two guys. The

person you have to beat first is to tame it. And the pressure gets more

when the man sitting in the car behind Duke has a lead that he has

got. Formula One has been on the front and back pages of the past

seven days, which is hardly surprising for a sport that

generates more stories than points. Let's wrap up all the action from

off the track... On the back of his win in Canada, Jensen Button

believes he can challenge Sebastian Vettel for this year's World

Championship. Potter knows the Red Bull driver can make mistakes under

pressure. We are 60 points behind, we have seen a couple of witnesses

in Red Bull and Sebastian Vettel over the last two races. And the

lough isn't always on their side, which is good to see. Sebastian

Vettel insists it was not crapping under pressure, just a rare mistake.

It's was not a mistake, I was feeling so much pressure that I

cracked. I had to push their heat hard. Everything is back to normal.

-- push very hard. I have nothing to be ashamed of or worried about.

On the subject of the championship, Fernando Alonso has admitted for

the first time he does not expect to be able to beat Sebastian Vettel

to this year's title. Instead, he is focusing on second place.

first guy is out of reach for the rest of us because he has a lot of

advantages. We cannot forget, we are on average one second behind

Red Bull. They're very dominant in this championship. Maybe the most

dominant car in years. The silly season is in full swing, Jensen

Button denies he has been talking to Ferrari and instead looks set to

stay at McLaren but Ferrari insist they will keep Felipe Massa and the

German magazines have mocked-up what Lewis Hamilton might look like.

That isn't very good! I don't think that is so good. I'm not saying too

much about that. There is a real change this weekend, could the Red

Bull stranglehold on pole position be affected by the ban on

qualifying only engine maps to generate exhaust gas even when the

driver is off the throttle, using the exhaust for a dynamic game and

makes the cars sound like their misfiring of corners. If it comes

ahead of another clampdown in this area for the British Grand Prix in

a fortnight. All the top teams used qualifying laps and the reason we

did not race in this was because fuel consumption was too high or

the reliability of the engine. It will make a difference. But my

feeling is everybody would just deal with it. Perez is fit to race

after his crash in Monaco four weeks ago. The Mexican says his

sentence meant it was too soon to try to make a comeback for the last

race in Canada. I was feeling dizzy. I was not happy. But my normal life

has improved a lot. This is a big help and the motivation and I am

looking forward to getting back in the car. And Paul di Resta goes

into qualifying today on the back foot after having his car smashed

up by the test driver on Friday. The repairs meant he missed most of

the second practice so he has a lot of ground to make up. It has proven

very difficult to get the car balanced with the temperature on

the track. And making sure everything is working. And you have

It's over 40 degrees on track temperature. The Grandstand is

filling up. Lots of fans taking photos. We haven't necessarily had

this atmosphere in Valencia before. It takes a couple of years,

naturally enough. It's very close in terms of proximity to Barcelona.

So, people with money have to budget tooz where they're going to

go, I would imagine. More and more people are coming here because it's

absolutely in the centre of the city. It's beside the port. There's

a lot of real life going on here. I can see the racing is becoming more

exciting and people will flood to this place. I've bumped into quite

a few British people who are biening racing with a holiday. You

can walk from the track, lie on the beach in the afternoon. You could

pay less for the ticket and get a bit a holiday too. Now just past

the Force India. Give us the mind set of Paul di Resta. He picked up

points in the first couple of races. Everything seemed so easy. Now

maybe the sport doesn't seem as easy as it seemed. It isn't as easy

as it seemed. Can Force India be a front-running team? That remains to

be seen. He needs to be beating his team-mates, scoring points and

getting an opportunity to go somewhere else to score wins.

Rubens Barrichello's engine is roaring up over there. We don't

want to blast your ears for a second time. We heard from Ted

talking about new regulations coming into Formula One. This is

changing engine mapping for qualifying. Fernando Alonso has

described this as the second championship. Is that just

desperation from him, do you think hoping this will create a second

championship? Every year there's always someone complaining about

something. It was the double diffusers, when only three teams

started with it in 2009. Jenson managed to win races early doors

and hell on to win the world championship. Then obviously, we've

had flexible front wing talk. Now we've got the blowing hot gases.

Once this passes, it will be something else. I joked this

morning on Radio 5 Live it will be the colour of some of the driver's

underwear that's the secret thing. They do look for everything in this

sport? I have my own little theory. We've seen Red Bull so dominant

this year. We're in danger of seeing another era of Michael

Schumacher, dare I say it. The car is so good. Vettel is so good. My

guess is they are looking at areas where they think Red Bull has been

advantage and they want to take it away from them. In many respects

that's how Formula One works. If it's going to make closer racing,

I'm all for it. They just look for different things each week until

they ban Red Bull eventually. don't say it as flippant as that.

But the change of the engine here is directed towards Red Bull.

That's my view. It's such a complex sport. The regulations are set

there. Interpreting the rules, of course with technology, you can

explore areas when they were writing the rules they didn't know

existed. It constantly has to be updated. As of today it is national

motor sport week in the United Kingdom. You can walk through the

front doors of a Formula One team and get really cles to motor sport.

We saw it as a great opportunity to make David Coulthard get up very

early in the morning and do this: Attention Class A drivers, you have

15 minutes to qualify. This is all about affordable motor

sport. This is Lewis. This is his road car. And this is what track

days are all about. 25 quid you brought your, what is it? Scirocco.

Still some kit in the back there. Here I am, out on the Brands Hatch

circuit. Wow, it's such a great track, isn't it? Great opportunity.

I wish I'd known this when I was a young driver coming up. Oh, my God,

James Bond. I've seen him in the movies. It's best defined by a map

you're given and it's to get round this course as quickly as possible.

It's a great entry-level motor sport. Per round is �150 maximum to

do. We go to the right of this cone, to the left of the next. You're

going to stop here. Circle these here. Keep the power going, then

you go forward. Come to a halt. Reverse off the line. Turn, come to

a halt, select reverse, looking over your shoulder. The finish line

is on the left. Well... What looks like a very short course, actually

I'm not sure I can memorise it. Grand Prix racing is easy, you do

the same thing time and time again. -- goodness.

APPLAUSE Would that have got me an entry

level or would I have been firmly last? Erm, going the wrong way

would incur a very large penalty. It would be fastest time plus 20

seconds. Official time keeper, what do we have here? Alastair's time

was? 23.31 and yours was 32.12, but two penalties. The two penalties,

what does that add to the time? Another ten seconds. Right. So 19

seconds off the pace in a 23-second wheelspin... It is an uphill ski

slalom and it's he or she who gets furthest. It can be done incredibly

cheaply. Like all motor sports you can spend as much as you like as

well. Well done, yeah. It is purely a

driver's sport. So actually a new comer, spending a lot of money,

will get him no results whatsoever. This is a great sport for partners,

because you need your co-driver there to lean on the wheels when

you're going up a tight corner. Yeah. Lots of husbands and wives,

lots of brothers and brothers. Help! This could definitely test

the relationship if you have a husband and wife in here. Shall we

test my skills and see if I can get up the hill? Little bit of left,

right. Brake off. Off the gas. No. The look on your

face. That's because I know I have on. Power, more power. Burn the

wheels. Absolutely it's going, it's going.

Yay skhrm -- yay! I'm happy with that. I don't want to go any

further. Thank you very much. Right, I think I've had enough adrenaline

for today. You can drive it back down the hill.

His excuse that it was too dissimilar to a car like this, used

to the Formula One cars. Ross Brawn was chuckling away to that. Did you

see any skills that might make you want to bring this man out of

retirement? I would have done a better job more ballast. Apparently

that does help and bouncing. always said you're too thin,

particularly for live television. Have you had an offer of a contract

yet? Fun any enough, I haven't. We actually had a run up the hill

climb as well with Scott Moran, the champion, incredible what they're

doing. Stirling Moss started in that way back. It's worth going to

motor sport.com. It's an affordable way to get into motor sport. Let's

talk about your involvement in this. You're throwing open the doors of

Mercedes Grand Prix and welcoming the F1 in? We have two competitions

running. One for a factory visit, factory tour. The other is to join

us at good wood to join us as part of the team and work on the car.

have one question, it's slightly different, Michael Schumacher,

Mercedes, next year's contract. Whose side is the option on? It's

on Michael's side. He can renew if he wishs? Thank you. What do you

expect his thinking to be? He was second in can da, faster than some

of the guys on the track, the fastest at times. Are those results

going to help to convince him to stay, do you think, or does he not

need any convincing? It reminds him of how much fun it can be. It's

frustrating to be midfield, when he's had such a great career. He's

used to fighting at the front. He had a taste of it again. If we can

convince him that we can be there consistently, he will carry on.

I bring you back to the go motor sport side of things, do you have a

policy to allow a certain amount of university graduates or people to

do work experience within the company? How do you do that?

Presumably the bright young talent is the future of Formula One?

as much as we can. We have a lot of students come through. We work with

former students. I think it's a great initiatives. The universities

get together and design a racing car that they take to Silverstone.

That's a fantastic initiative. F one at schools is a competition,

you know, that will jet propel cars, that they build and race each other.

That's fantastic. We do an awful lot on that side. I must put final

touch to that. I think it's fair to say �6 billion revenue is in the

British economy because of our sport. We mustn't let that be

forgotten. How much of that do you feel is a result of Formula One?

are the centre of Formula One. Eight of the teams are in the UK.

If you want a Formula One team, you come to the UK. �6 billion of

turnover, �4, �4 billion is exported. 40,000 people have a

career with motor sport in the UK. We should celebrate it. It's

fantastic. Let's hope a British engineer can get this car towards

the front. Mike I hope you're more optimistic for this weekend. Thank

you. Lewis Hamilton has had a tough couple of races. The outburst after

Monaco, ended up in the wall in can da. We decided to put a smile on

his face. We sent him to watt kins Glenn, the famous American circuit,

to do what he does best, in a slightly different car.

For many people in America this is mecca for road racing. We used to

come in the 70s and watch back then. That was exciting. Mario Andretti

and Johnny Player, Lotus special black. He was our favourite. Great

British drivers have been here, Jimy Clark. My son and I came up

from pencele vain ya, a four-hour drive. We wanted to see a --

Pennsylvania, a four-hour drive. came to see Lewis Hamilton and Tony

and I think the history and Stewart, it's like driving an old, historic

car. It's completely different for drive this? It is. I can't wait to

get on the road. I have already? Shake and bake! I'm going to have

fun. Expected to be heavy. Go on... I'm going to try and enjoy it, this

does not have downforce, it's much heavier than what I try. But I

watch it on TV. Days of Thunder. Getting a chance to drive his

Formula One car is an honour so I'm really excited to be here. And

waited 40 years of my life to do this! Am a little nervous, I want

to make sure that I bring this car back in the same condition that it

leaves the pit lane. Especially a car that he has won the World

Championship in. Massive excited, I feel like a kid in a candy store.

Getting to drive a different car and feel this engine, it sounds

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 63 seconds

have to swap jobs! Are you ready to race over here? Yes, she never know.

There was nothing in the world that is like driving a Formula One car.

It was cool to have all these fans coming out. And see Lewis Hamilton

and myself to something that is out of our element. Some nice donuts?

did a couple at the end, I had to give it a go. You have to take that

off your box. Shake and bake! If you have no idea what that means,

watch tad bigger nights. We have escaped the loudest acclaim.

Everywhere we went today, some clever engineer decided to ask the

team to roar their engines. We are at the back, it's wonderful to see

the way this operates, the teams have brought specially adapted

exhausts just so they can blow hot air from underneath the old fish

market. Divot, you were out there with Lewis Hamilton, he has come up

with the new nickname? Tony Stewart, he has smoke. And Lewis Hamilton,

he said probably bump or crash? I thought that was very humorous.

Thankfully, we don't actually carry nicknames. One would just be?

Come on! Boring. We cannot say it on! Let's move on. I was thinking

of one for you, Eddie Jordan! Let's talk about Lewis Hamilton, he has

had past couple of races that are quite tough, everyone from Nicky

ladder to Eddie Irvine have had something to say about his current

driving but what about the man himself. He has been speaking to

Ted Kravitz. There was Hamilton, suspension damage, puncture. This

is just incredible. It's hard enough out there without running

into your team-mate. Difficult times for McLaren. Hamilton has

gone up the inside. Surely that is another penalty? You talked about

turning over a new leaf, have you look at yourself and the driving

and when you take it more easy? I have stood back and I have looked

at things. I liked the way I drive. I will continue to drive the way I

drive. If I was not be able to drive the way I can, I would not

enjoy it. Of course, he can always make better judgments. Just

improving on certain judgments and calls. A very clumsy pass going on.

Hamilton drives into Felipe Massa. Felipe Massa is off the road.

of the 100 board races I have done, you are bound to have some that

don't come off so well and when they do, of, they are good. I had a

bit of a bad run. He is looking at the inside. Hamilton takes the lead.

He was Hamilton, brilliantly wins the Chinese Grand Prix. There is a

quote, if you don't go for gaps, you are no longer a racing driver?

Yes, I had that coat when I was fairly young. It stuck with me. --

heard that quote. I don't know if other drivers have that feeling but

I definitely do. Twitcher is awash with potential nicknames former

partners in crime but we cannot broadcast them. Mark Webber came

out with the Great Court, Lewis Hamilton seems to think that the

chequered flag was at the apex of turn three on the first lap. Is

this impatient, passion and driving? Or is there was Hamilton

driving as he always has and he is being unlucky? I must make

reference, he said, I liked the way I drive. And so do we. It's

exciting. Please don't change. You don't automatically lose brilliant

talent. It is born out of frustration, his car was not good

enough when it launched an that has made huge strides but I want Lewis

Hamilton to drive the way he is. That is how he excites me and I

want to see exciting racing, I don't want to see former leader. He

does it for me. I think it is down to the pace of the car.

Unsurprisingly. Sebastian Vettel has not had to overtake many people.

He has started on pole. Michael Schumacher has statistically

overtaken more people at the start of races because he tends to be on

the for throat or just outside the top 10. -- 4th row. If the McLaren

is the fastest car out there, but it has been lacking in qualifying,

it would be different. If Lewis Hamilton does not have to come from

behind, he would not have to make those manoeuvres and it is part of

his instinct to go for the gap and it is so difficult to pull that

pass off. I would not criticise him for having a go. It is just part of

Formula One, trying to pass a faster car on the racetrack and it

will be close at times. Statistically, Lewis Hamilton, his

past three have come from trying to pass the car in front. Can you look

at these... This was Monza. Getting there will inside Felipe Massa.

That was clumsy, bunched up. There was a gap. He was not going for the

past. Singapore, on the outside of for clever and I think that was, on

reflection, Mark Webber touching the rear wheel of Lewis Hamilton.

It was almost like a reverse of what we saw in Canada with Lewis

Hamilton and Mark. And the incident with Jensen Button. Taking the

racing line. You could argue at best that was a racing incident and

at worst, it was the responsibility of Lewis Hamilton because he was

behind. It should not be the car in front's responsibility to weed out

of the way. It was always going to be a closing gap. He had to make

the pass, he did that with Jensen Button in China and he went on to

win. Jensen Button perhaps that, it's not happening now. We will

continue that. Thank you very much. We will hear your beautiful voices

very shortly. Interesting point, would you think Jansen's mind was

there? He said he did not see Lewis Hamilton? That is what he says, the

camera does not say that, it says he made a significant error on the

corner before and he went to take advantage of the inside track

because it was the Hon Nicholas Lewis Hamilton could pass. This

spray would have netted was virtually impossible for Jensen

Button to see Lewis Hamilton and for certainly know that Jensen

Button is very straightforward and clean as a driver so to say that he

caused an accident, no one says that. It was just one of those

things, I do not know where else Lewis Hamilton could have gone, he

had the speed out of the corner and had to have a go. And he does have

a go and the good news is, when he tends to have bad races or gets

caught up in front of the stewards, he puts in an incredible

performance afterwards so watch it. 10 minutes until qualifying starts

in Valencia. Three different winners in the three races and by

far the most popular and most patient was Rubens Barrichello, who

had to wait five years for another win in 4 min one. It came right

here. Lee McKenzie has been with him. -- Formula One. I had my 10th

winner, the 100 for Brazil. It was just phenomenal. For the first time

in five years, Rubens Barrichello is a winner in Formula One.

remember going up the stairs and Lewis saying, what a great race it

was, it was a great one. Some drivers have not been so impressed

with the circuit, you like it? is a place I like, there is a good

buy. At certain points the drivers complain and that is we make a

straight line but the walls come back. So it becomes blind. There

has not been a lot of overtaking the strike but if we had some in

Monaco, we will have plenty. Rubens Barrichello makes a beautiful move

on his old Ferrari team-mate. He will be grinning from ear to ear.

Last year we saw problems with back markers, Mark Webber... 40 thought

that the closing speeds from the Lotus were too extreme, do you

think that might be more of a problem this weekend? We hope not

but that is a problem. The problem is with those walls coming back to

you and coming away. It is almost like the car in front isn't

actually taking the defensive line. There could be decisions as to work

to go. Just watching what Mark Webber went through, that Philip

was just horrible. It is like the spectators are on top of you.

feels good. As long as they are safe. It feels very good. I

remember seeing a lot of people in the pool at the top of the

buildings. And having fun. It was such a long time ago but I remember

that in Spain, before Alonso, you could count how many people we had

on the grandstand. This is a little tricky section. Tell us about this

and coming into the bridge? Just fantastic, the feeling you go

through, it is an narrow part of the circuit and it feels good. It

is something different. Is this track edged into a memory or do you

walk around and say, I remember this... It is in your mind. He

takes five laps for a racing driver to memorise. Five laps. And when

you do that, you never forget. you feel excited? You have done so

many races in Formula One, do you still have the feeling of not

waiting to get back into the car? Every weekend I feel refreshed. The

most difficult moment is when you say goodbye to the family and the

kids. That is the tough part. I have to go for another wicket. As

soon as you are in the car I'm going to the airport, you're in the

racing mode. They were sitting at home and having lunch and they said,

does anybody want me to be more at home? Mummy said, yes and the other

two said, no! Three against one. has been a pleasure to get your

insights. I hope to have a great weekend. Thank you very much.

will let you speak to engineers and maker plans. Thank you. Happy

memories for Rubens Barrichello, yet to make it into the final part

of qualifying. We are walking into position to watch qualifying. You

just so Lewis Hamilton? I asked him how his mind was and he said,

looking good. Good to know. Lewis Hamilton will use all of a skills

just to keep the car on the track because it is still so slippy at

there? For good reason. This is still a road circuit and you have

all the trucks and the cars and everyday traffic and all of the oil

that is deposited, it takes longer, it is significantly slower than

normal circuit so you have those added together and it takes longer

to bed in. Schumacher coming around, going over the bridge and he spins

the car 180 degrees. This is the final part of practice this morning.

By now, it should have more grip. What will happen? We are about to

find out. 20 minutes of action coming your way. The slow was seven

cars will be alone at it. -- slowest seven cars will be

round eight of 19 in this year's Formula One world championship.

This 3.3 mile Valencia Street Circuit, as it's called, it's more

of a regular race track with walls, I would say. It has 25 corners. 24

drivers here, but only one of them can be on pole position. We have

just over an hour to find out who that man will be. David, where

should we look first today? We're going to look at the man who's been

locking out pole position, Sebastien Vettel. There's been talk

about changes made to the software and the ability that the teams have

to change that software between qualifying and the race. This sort

of hot blown cold diffuser that we've been hearing a lot about.

They're not allowed to run different software now than what

they start the session with. People will be interested to see what

effect that has. As the track temperature gets up to 44 degrees,

then the humidity and air temperature increases. You get a

different race track than practice sessions. Quickest in the morning

was Sebastien Vettel. Closely followed by Fernando Alonso. But

this is a different track now. The tyres interact differently with the

Tarmac. You have less downforce available as the air temperature

increases and less horse power as well. The drivers won't expect the

car to be the same as it was following the morning session.

big crowd enjoying the sunshine, very much looking forward to this

qualifying session. It's a chemical reaction between the tyres and the

track. Up at 44 centigrade, we heard Mclaren drivers saying we

can't switch these prime, sorry the new medium tyre they're running

here, they can't switch them on. What does that mean? There's a

chemical interaction between the tyre and the road and for whatever

reason, certain tyres will work better at lower temperatures and

others work better at higher temperatures. This is the first

time we've had Pirelli tyres on this race track. They make the best

guess as to the right separation between the soft option tyre, the

one favoured for qualifying and the harder prime tyre, which will be

used once during the Grand Prix. At the moment, it looks like there's a

bigger spread than normally. There's at least 1.2 seconds to 1.5

seconds between those two tyres. The operating window of the tyres

is bigger than we've seen at other Grand Prixs. As we look at

constructors' championship, Red Bull, Renault way out front from

McLaren-Mercedes, Ferrari, less than half the point. Quite a close

fight between Renault and Mercedes that looks like it could go on

season long. Sebastien Vettel leading the world championship by a

big margin. You know, if Vettel didn't rock up here or Silverstone

in two weeks' time, he would still be leading the world championship

at the next race. He has more than two Grand Prix victories in hand.

He has 60 points advantage with 25 per victory. There's still more

than half the season to go. Remember back to Jenson Button's

world championship year, dominated the first half the season and --

half of the season and then struggled. As people caught up and

leapfrog ahead of where Brawn started the year. There's a long

way to go in this season. I don't think that viewers should be

thinking it's a foregone conclusion that we'll have Sebastien Vettel as

world champion. Mclaren have designed to make either of their

two drivers champions again. And Fernando Alonso on his home track

here has looked pretty motivated to get Ferrari back in the picture.

Indeed, a lot of points available still. I think it's 275 still

available this year. So, a long way to go. Now the drivers must qualify

today and race that ignition map tomorrow, which is going to be a

challenge for some of them. At Silverstone in two weeks, we might

see the reset that everybody's talking about. For now, it's all

eyes on getting the best out of the cars this afternoon. Half a minute

now to go before the green light is on. Jaime Alguersuari painting a

picture of this race track on the back of his eye lids imagining

every time and place that he will touch the brakes, turn the steering

wheel, apply the throttle to get that Toro Rosso out of qualifying

one into the second part of the qualifying hour.

And there it is then, qualifying one begins. We have got 20 minutes

to lose seven drivers. As ever, we expect, I hate to say it, we expect

team Lotus, Virgin racing team and hiss panna to be six of the seven.

Db -- Hispania to be six of the seven. It doesn't always turn out

that way. There can be surprises now. I wonder, David, with this big

step in the tyres, you've explained between 1.2 and 1.5 seconds from

the prime tyre to the option, is that going to put pressure under

some midfielders early on to get a set of those soft tyres on make

sure they get through? It will. It will put pressure on them to get

the tyres on. They have three sets of each of the tyres available,

three sets of the option and three of the prime. They don't have to

use them. Certainly one of the midgrid running teams, whether

that's Toro Rosso, Force India, you know they're going to have to

protect themselves. We see some large amount of smoke out of the

back of Paul di Resta's car. It could be just venting, something

from the engine. They're not allowed to drip oil out of the back

of the cars like they did in the late 90s. They've got to actually

any excess oil blow through or anything from the gearbox going

into the air tray of the engine and gets ingested by the engine. It

seem tolz have cleared now. You may remember a time when people

qualified in Monaco and they overfilled the oil tank, put oil

everywhere to slow down the opposition. What a scandalous idea

!. Fernando Alonso is out on the prime tyre. It's a medium compound

tyre. The first time we've seen it. I did 20 laps on it this week,

doing a feature for BBC, drilling down and looking at why the tyres

have changed the dynamics in Formula One in 2011. I thought it

felt like a very good tyre. The temperature there was 47 degrees

last week. It seemed to hang on pretty well. I think it will work

nicely in these companies. We've seen the GP3s and 2s on Pirelli

tyres putting more and more rubber down on the street circuit, this

temporary facility. So the track should be coming nicely to the

drivers, as this qualifying session unfolds. Now we saw a very quick --

very quick times this morning 1.37.2 by Sebastien Vettel this

morning. That is faster than last year. Pole last year was a 1.37.5

and so I think we can safely say they should be beating that this

afternoon. Indeed. As you are talking about the track rubbering

in, last year there was 3 at 3 -- 3.5 seconds between practice and

qualifying. There's a fuel effect as well. At this moment in

qualifying you run the minimum amount of fuel required to do the

time. They need an out lap, a timed lap and in lap. They probably have

about ten kilos of fuel or board or maybe slightly less. Ten kilos,

imagine going in the gym picking up a 10 kilo weight to accelerate,

turn around the track, it would be a third of a second slower. It

can't be that direct. It is. It is measurable in terms of the weight

of the car. That's the incredible thing about Formula One.

Everything's so precise and exact. In a constantly changing

environment with track temperatures and all those other things, it's

one thing you can guarantee. If it's projected to be three tenths

of a second, you drive a clean lap, it will cost you that. Cost per lap

of fuel and death, also taxes are the three certain things in the

world. We must establish would will go through to the second part of

qualifying, which 17 drivers will continue in this session, as we see

the Ferrari of Fernando Alonso, a local hero. No doubt about that.

You have to say, Ferrari look handy so far. Yeah, they've been

certainly putting in some quick lap times. They know where the glory

comeles is on Sunday with the checkered flag. It looks like

they've been trying to extract the maximum from this car in the

practice session. Alonso was four tenths down on Vettel in the

morning session. The crowd appreciates seeing the local hero.

A bit of traffic ahead of him. Who's that? It's Kovalainen in the

Lotus. He's backed way out. That would have cost him a little bit of

time on the run down to turn one, which I guess you would claim isn't

really a corner. We markably we have 25 designated corners on this

race track, when you drive the circuit you can only count about 12.

I'm fussy on my corners. There are some around here that don't count

as corners to me. Let's invite Mr Kravitz into the commentary.

there I am. Just to give you a little update from practice, so -

am I coming and going? I will move forward into the pit lane. Kamui

Kobayashi stuck into the wall the end of practice. He was late

getting his car ready. He's out there and OK. The top guys are out

there on the harder tyre, getting a baseline and establishing a banker

lap in case somebody hits the wall. Ferrari, Dark Horse, excuse the pun,

for many, for this session. They're going a different way on strategy

with front wings. Fernando Alonso choosing a different front wing to

Felipe Massa, just because they like the feel of that. A triple

element one for Alonso, double element for Massa. Just driver

preference? Drirch -- driver preference. They will have taken

what the driver feels F there was one clearly quicker, they'd both

have it on there. Maybe they only have one servicable unit. So it's

gone to whoever they're designated number one driver, which you have

to presume is Alonso. Fighting the car there in the last corner. That

didn't look at all pretty. That would have cost further time.

Looked like he was hanging wall paper on a windy day with the

window open there. He was fighting that car. His trace afterwards will

look like a hack saw when they see that, as he was really struggling

get the Ferrari into the final hairpin. Sebastien Vettel, white

crested helmet today. He keeps changing his crash helmet colours

each race weekend. I was fascinated to read when he wins a Grand Prixs

those overalways, helmet and gloves get put to one side, which is,

there's going to be a big wardrobe, when it's finished in a few years'

time. There's modern generation have cottoned on the memorabilia

value. They keep their cars ond their contract, keep gloves,

trophies, everything they can, saving up for their retirement.

think it will be on eBay when he's retired? Jenson Button then has not

yet put a competitive lap time in. This is his first flying lap. He's

the fastest man in the middle sector. Kovalainen in seventh place

doing a good job for Lotus, just behind Renault. Jenson really

struggling on these tyres to get the car into the corner. Still a

1.39.6. These are steady times. At the moment we saw 37.2, albeit on

the faster tyre. Maybe the temperature is taking its toll.

Track temperature is higher. That will affect the performance of the

car. The tyre is worse, copy that. We need to halve it from this lap.

That's interesting, need to harvest on this lap. That's referring to

the KERS system. That presumably means he's got underbraking, the

KERS system, they're saying don't use it until it's fully charged up.

I think it was his saying he will have to. I heard that he said he

will have to. Any way, he's definitely saying that the tyres

are not working as well that's was in the morning session. That's

reflected in the lap times. You come out of the morning session

saying right don't touch the car, I'm happy with the balance. You

come to a session a couple of hours later, higher track temperature and

oh, no, the balance has changed. The only thing they have available

is front wing adjustment, tyre pressures, deferential, adjustment

in the cockpit. Other than that you're fixed with the car you have.

There are firm regulations where they can change very little on the

car. As soon as they roll out from the timing baem - Vettel is has a

personal best. He will go fastest I believe. He does indeed on a 1.39.3.

Kovaleinen, Rubens Barrichello. Paul di Resta. Timo Glock in 17th.

We have not yet seen Jimmy Alguersuari. Quite brave of

Alguersuari. He did not to any practice in practice number two

yesterday. Presumably, he does not have a problem with the car and he

is being very brave. It will not be the softer option. We can see Nico

Rosberg getting ready to finish his lap. Hiya has his sector been? He

is in 7th place so far. 1.5 seconds off the pace. Jensen Button, the

winner last time out in Canada with that sensational victory. It may

have been the longest race in Formula One history. 46 mph average,

nearly half of the race was covered behind the safety car and we still

absolutely loved it. Jensen Button attacking the race. The fastest man

through the first sector so far in qualifying. And through that

sweeping section towards the end. There are a couple of wonderful

camera angles on the wall which we occasionally see. Still on the

Prime tyres, this law. -- this law. Jensen Button stays second but

improves his time with just one 10th child of Sebastian Vettel.

Hamilton, we are beginning to see a surprise attack from the McLaren

team. Looking close, David? It is at this stage but this is also on

about dropping those seven cars. Everything from 18 down. Rather

surprising. We have a few of the guys who would have expected to be

in that drop son, they are not out yet. -- drop zone. They should all

get through. We have seen Alguersuari struggle to get through

and clear this first hurdle. Alguersuari playing it very cool

and only just now coming out on the soft tyres. Interesting on Williams,

they have come back with a very major step, they have abandoned

their new exhaust. Both Barrichello and modern Ando have gone back to

the middle of the exit exhaust. think we heard Rubens Barrichello

say the car is definitely worse. Clearly, it is about changing the

car as they have gone into qualifying. He does not like it. If

I heard him correctly. Getting brave and coming out very late.

They have put the quick tyres on straight away but that does buy

them and you set of tyres for tomorrow's race? The strategy has

been different, we have seen such variation in the lap times during

the Grand Prix, cars that have started well out of normal position

have been able to come through and score serious points because of the

right tyres at the right time. This might be one of those strategic

qualifying sessions because of the huge gap between hard and soft

tyres. Not looking particularly strong. Kobayashi lost time with

his throttle. It has not been that smoothest of runs so far. Hodder

Surrey, starting his first flying lap with five and three-quarter

minutes remaining. Still Sebastian Vettel, Hamilton. Flick a mass in

six. -- Felipe Massa. A tin cars on on a soft tyres. The option, as it

is called. Mercedes Benz feeling the need to go out on a softer

rubber. I am surprised by that. Within 1.3 seconds off the pace

this morning. He would not think they were in real danger of being

outside position 17. That will only leave them with two sets of options.

But in Canada, we have seen the only ran once in the first part of

qualifying for the very reason of saving the tyres. Alguersuari. He

made that work. Sebastien Buemi in 4th place for Toro Rosso. Timo

Glock in the drop zone. Alguersuari still to put his time in. If they

do a good time with Kobayashi under pressure, they might be able to get

in and get some tyres on. Paul di Resta had a very slow start after

Hulkenberg crashed his car. He seemed to get on to the pace very

quickly. He drove here for Force India last year. You drove and one

of them, David? We will talk about the track in the early part of

qualifying. We will now focus on the last three. The last three

minutes of this session. Pastor Maldonado, three-tenths of the

Canada the best of those we were teams had to allow him into the

race? Yes, that was on the there for the new teams coming in and

teams that might have a design flaw with their car and there could be a

danger to others. All those teams have shown they are capable of

getting within the pace and racing responsibly. We will see what

Pastor Maldonado does. Felipe Massa, so strong over the weekend on the

soft tyres. We are hearing that he is burning up, he only has three

sets of us. Up into 6th place. This is what we're seeing with those who

chose a different compounds, there is such a big lap time difference

between them and it is Paul di Resta and Kobayashi at the moment

under pressure. Kovaleinen is in for Lotus. We will see some pretty

frantic efforts at the end and Paul di Resta goes over the line now.

Gets himself into p 9. Rubens Barrichello, up to 11. That has put

Kobayashi firmly into the drop zone at the moment. Rosberg is knocking

on the door. He is currently on a very fast lap indeed. Rosberg, 4th

place. Kobayashi, starting up, he is a man under pressure, he has got

traffic ahead of him. Mark Webber is out on track, his Mark Webber in

the drops and? Traffic could be a critical issue for a major shock.

Felipe Massa, still down there as well. Proper traffic jam out there.

20 cars on the racetrack and only four of them in the pit and several

drivers beginning to struggle Kobayashi is well inside the top 17

on the slap. Mark Webber is catching Rubens Barrichello and

Paul di Resta. He needs a clear track at the moment, otherwise we

could be in for an amazing shock, here. He is coming behind Rubens

Barrichello, he will get out of the way, he has done his lap. Mark

Webber, about four tents adrift of the quickest in that sector. That

is a tents down. In that sector. This will be close. It would be

great if we can get a camera angle of 10 to see whether traffickers.

We will see Sauber as well. Mark Webber, he has caught Paul di Resta

quite quickly. He will get another lap if he needs it, which is very

important indeed. Mark Webber crosses the line, 14. He is in for

now. And finally, here is Kobayashi to personal bests so far. He goes

up to only 16th. Felipe Massa under pressure. He is flying out there on

the soft tyres. Kovaleinen, could use for the day of many of the big

runners? He has got to personal best so far. The other front-

runners have not used the soft tyre. Kovaleinen, can he pull off a

shock? No, he goes over the line, goes faster but stays 19th. Felipe

Massa, presumably, will go P1. One set of tyres burned up, it is a bit

of a glory moment. But it isn't going to... As long as you get

through, it is a resit. Jarno Trulli. Well wide through there. At

the moment, he is 20th, just behind... Will, he spins. He got

dirt on to his tyres coming out of what would have been turn number 20.

We have seen a lot of people running out on to the artificial

grass and when you have that dust on your tyres, you're braking into

churn number 25. It will not pick a big difference to his qualifying

position. He went very wide. That was a little bit sloppy. Jarno

Trulli, he says, what if I can't get of a competitive driver? I

quite fancied America. That has all the hallmarks of a driver getting

ready to call time on his Formula One career? If he enjoys the

journey of helping the team developed, he is the right man for

the job but it is unlikely Lotus will go from this position to a

front-runner. Alguersuari. Toro Rosso, the third consecutive race.

He falls at the first hurdle. These are for the grid positions.

Alguersuari, Kovaleinen, Jarno Trulli, Timo Glock, Narain

Karthikeyan is 24th place on the grid. The leaders do not but the

soft tyres on and that helps. -- did not put the Saltires on.

Everybody qualifiers and the back seven will line up in that order.

And on home turf, it is proving to be difficult times for Alguersuari.

He will still be looking in his murders. Their test driver, there.

Just confirming. Timo Glock, 21st on the grid. He holds the lap

record at this race track. Always set in race conditions, lap records.

Only 21st place today. This is the tail-end of the top 10. Fernando

Alonso only in 30. Paul di Resta in 14. Mark Webber, 16th. Look at that.

And last man into qualifying, Kobayashi. They will now line-up in

that grid order. Subject, of course, to any gearbox penalties or engine

changes. Eddie Jordan and myself have decamped to the back of the

Ludus carriage, not much call for those tyres at the moment.

Intermediate and wet tyres. -- Lotus garage. Let's go through that

session. It was a big shock for notice and also for Mark Webber?

Martin Brundle was fighting with himself, lucky or unlucky? Probably

lucky? In that position, you have all those other cars guaranteed to

be much slower. They are in your way, so it was a mistake as far as

the team is concerned to allow Mark Webber to only qualify in 16. It's

not good enough. And how pleased a week to be joined by Heikki

Kovalainen and Jarno Trulli. Feel free to have a chat. It looked for

a moment like he would give us a big shock, how close were you?

think it is still a reasonable gap. In any case, for us the focus is

still to get the maximum out of the car and out of ourselves. Every

time. The performance welcome later on. We are working hard every day.

It might not seem like that but I am pleased. And we will get there

eventually. I have to ask a question, you have recently been

reported as saying, I don't fancy America, and would like to do them

on? I have never said that. -- Le Mans. That is the way it is. For no

one? It's just speculation. At the moment I was complaining about my

power steering rather than anything else! We saw 1.5 seconds into Q 2,

are the team keeping you happy enough? We are making good progress

and if you see from time to time, depending on the track, we are very

close. Definitely, this isn't a track for us, because a lot of the

long straights means we don't have the care system. Can you explain

put a lap in. I was trying everything, then I spun off.

were regarded as the expert pole maker. Your team-mate is out

qualifying you at the moment? not really driving at the moment. I

don't have front power steering, so I'm far off from being able to push

myself. So obviously I never expect to be in front of him this year as

far as the power steering is not working properly for me. As we ask

that question, a great big grin on the face of Heikki Kovalainen.

Thank you for joining us for that quick track. Now let's head back

for the second part of qualifying. Which has just begun. 15 minutes

then of this session to lose another seven drivers. David,

you've qualified and raced in this Grand Prix, put the viewers behind

the steering wheel of a Formula One car. As we said in the first part

of qualifying, there's 25 designated corners. That's defined

by a little sensor within the FIA data recorder in the car. In

reality, of those 25 corners, there's probably only 12 of them

that the driver has to make any sort of braking and turning and

gear selection-type decisions. The rest are just sweeping, drifting

through the walls that they build around this temporary facility.

They're not really challenging at all. But nonetheless, they are

classed as having pulled more than a G, as much as you would pull in a

normal road car. I found out just last week that most passengers are

comfortable with about half a G as a consistent amount of lateral load.

Useful information there? Yeah, thanks for that. Back on track.

big challenge here is a lot of long straights. You have to compromise,

like in Canada, between having not too much downforce that you lose

time on the straights, but enough that you can nail your braking. I

think around this track for DRS, which they can use, the drag

reduction system, they can use that everywhere during qualifying,

everywhere the driver is brave enough to push it, there's 57% of

this lap. So just over three kilometres of this 5.4 kilometre

track where they can have the DRS open. That gives them as least ten

to 15 kilometres an hour, maybe more actually, every team,

depending on the design of the rear wing, will gain more or less than

the competition. That gives them sizeable performance advantage.

It's well over a second in qualifying being able to use DRS.

There's a perfect example, Felipe Massa with his rear wing wide-open.

On the tyres it says there, soft tyre. That's the same soft tyre

that Felipe Massa qualified -- finished qualifying one with. New

soft for Button, Webber, Alonso, Vettel and Hamilton. From the end

of Q one, Hamilton so close on the hard tyre to Vettel. Looks like

Mclaren have found some speed. where you see a new graphic that

said "soft, medium or hard" it's not the driver's attitude. It's the

tyres he set the fastest time on. Massa going for a second run on

those tyres, the one that got him through into this session. They do

appear to be lasting reasonably well it seems. I don't think it's a

question that they're a qualifying tyre that's good for one lap and

one lap only. They appear to go a little bit further than that before

they start to give up on the grid. But as you can see, carers sliding

around here a lot. I think there'll be a lot of discarded rubber, calls

the marbles, on the outside of the crack tomorrow. Green flags are

waving sm. Circuits do that, as you come out of the pits. I think it

mean there's are no yellows. We had a car spin at turn 25. That was six

minutes ago. So some circuits do that in the world and some don't. I

find it disconcerting, you get flags waving at you and you're not

sure why they're out there. drivers would have information.

They have a little sensor in the cockpit which displays if they

enter a blue flag zone or yellow zone, then that comes up on the

dashboard as well. The flags are there as a belt and braces. Felipe

Massa then, the fastest we've seen in qualifying so far. We see Mark

Webber out on a set of those soft tyres. Let's see what Red Bull can

show us then. We're getting down to the serious

business of sorting out the grid. Mark Webber into the last corner.

Great traction, good sling slot down the pit straight, easing it

through turn one. Braking zone then, Fernando Alonso in the background.

Webber has done 38.0. Alonso a 37.9 to go faster still. 37.2 was the

best time this morning from this man, Sebastien Vettel. He's purple

and purple, the fastest man in the first and middle sector, just this

sweeping right hander, heavy braking zone, into the last corner.

Patient on the throttle, keep to the right-hand side. Up the gearbox

and Vettel goes to a 37.3, take that. It's .6 faster. Button is

into second place now on a 37.7. So Vettel from Button, Alonso, Webber,

Massa, Sutil right in there. Paul di Resta too. Sixth and seventh.

Hamilton goes second now. Matching his team-mate Button. But about 010

faster. Heidfeld is in there as well. We're looking for the top ten.

The fastest ten to go into the shoot-off. Nico Rosberg on a 138.3.

You have to say he was outshone by Michael Schumacher in Canada in the

changeable conditions. Schumacher, for me, the first time we've really

seen the old Schumacher at the wheel was two weeks ago in Canada.

He's looked punchy around here as well. What has Michael Schumacher

got in answer to the other front runners? A bit of traffic ahead.

Let's see if that will get out of the way. It's Maldonado. Then just

up the road he's got Kobayashi as well.

Little lift through there. wouldn't have expected that. You

would have expected him to be flat through there, unless he had the

DRS open already. He's expecting to be behind Red Bull. There shouldn't

be big surprise there. Unlike Michael, as he goes eighth at this

moment. He's a reasonable distance from his team-mate, Nico Rosberg.

We've got Maldonado stopped there between those, showing as the last

sector, but that's not the last sector. They might have to red flag

that. That's a tricky position. Blind entry there. You can cover it

with double wave yellows. Marshals on track, slow down and be prepared

to stop. The marshals doing a great job there. Down at 18, isn't it?

It's for the marshals to get the car into neutral. I wonder if they

might have to red flag. This There's no black line, so he hasn't

spun into that position. I think he's had an issue with the car and

tried to drive away. You can see it is stuck in gear, they're rocking

the car there. There's a reservoir of hydraulic energy to open the

clutch that the driver can press and also the marshals can press.

Absolutely. You concur there's no tell-tale black marks to suggest

he's had an incident as a driver. Must be a car failure. I agree with

you. Looks like he's just been parachuted in there for the show.

So, where will the crane come from to lift the car.

The clock stops, eight minutes remaining. The only down side for

those out there on fresh tyres, is that they've used the best of them.

The man doing that was Fernando Alonso, who was on a very hot lap

indeed. Let's see who else was out there at the time? Schumacher had

done his time. Alonso and Webber and Massa were all starting a lap.

Rosberg, Heidfeld, Hamilton and co had finished his. Buemi is

currently 17th of the 17 runners because he's yet to set a time in

the same way that Vitaly Petrov has yet to leave the pits. They're

playing Dan dare with the clock again at the end of the session

hoping their drivers can get a lap in. We've seen tears over that one

as well. But it saves you a set of tyres. So it's a gamble that they

feel, clearly, is worth taking. There's the answer to where is the

crane coming from, David, it's got a diesel engine and four wheels.

Let's hope they're more careful removing this car than in Canada,

last week, when they brought Lewis Hamilton's car back. It was

bouncing off the Tarmac, doing all sorts of additional damage. The

Spanish marshals seem to be giving it loving tender care. The reason

why the car obviously leans back is the weight distribution. A bit more

rearward in this car, at that lifting point. Maldonado out

qualified Barrichello for the last three Grand Prix. A winner here in

GP2, a circuit he quite likes, but unfortunately he's not on it any

more. We heard from the radio feet it's -- feed it's more likely to be

mechanical and fuel pump throttle related rather than the gearbox

seizing. I'm told that he was told to turn his fuel pump on shortly

before the car ground it a halt. I don't imagine that they would have

short fuelled him. They're a professional team. They would have

known what they're doing. They would put enough fuel in for his

run. Maybe it's just a fuel pressure failure. Weal' hear from

the team shortly. That's what it looks like at the moment. The

drivers disadvantaged, Kobayashi who was on a decent run, Perez,

Buemi. We're about to see what you've been explaining. Coasting

around clearly in trouble, being told of traffic approaching

otherwise he'll get a penalty on the grid. He accelerates away. It's

down at the end here, where it all comes to a grinding halt at turn 17.

No, he's waiting for another driver to go through. Quite an adventure

for a non-lap isn't it? That's uncomfortable to be in the middle

of that turn, the middle of 19, where the cars are flat ou. Worst

case scenario for a driver. You have an issue. You can't power away

from the line. At that moment, his eyes would have been firmly on his

mirrors. It's a blind wall there, isn't it. I would think all the pit

lane Charlie Whiting and co in the stewards office would be thinking

why didn't he turn left there and get the car away from the race

track. But he desperately wanted to get back to the pits. Because if

you don't get back to the pits under your own steam, you are out

of qualifying. Sebastien Vettel staying cool, a man who's never

finished lower than second this year. The only man in the field to

have been on the podium in every Grand Prix. Fernando Alonso must

fancy his chances. He's always saying "I can still win this

title." He's beginning to give up on that one a bit this year. But

there's a long way to go yet. Who know what's may happen. Remember

back several stone last year, he announced he could still win the

world championship, he was the same distance behind the leader at that

point. It went down to the finale in Abu Dhabi. I don't think it's

idol chat. I think he firmly believes it. Never gives up does

Fernando Alonso. Mark Webber, what's interesting for me Mark

Webber, who's yet to lead a lap this year, and Vettel's led 80% of

the laps, but Mark's had four fastest laps in the Grand Prix.

He's been fast. It just will not work out for him. He has the pace.

Theres no doubt about it. Sebastien Vettel, how many fastest laps does

he have so far in Grand Prix? Zero. Those are facts. But a bit like

Felipe Massa has been quickest in four of the first seven qualifying

sessions in Q1, but that doesn't count for anything. The only thing

that counts in a race is where your position is at the chequered flag.

The same here. The only thing that stands between Mark and leading a

lap and winning the Grand Prix is qualifying in front of his team-

We have only got four cars on the race track. Sebastien Buemi now

goes on to the track. I'm looking around, Kobayashi, Rubens

Barrichello, petrol. -- Vitaly Petrov. This top 10 shoot-out.

Still lots of strange noises as they go on and off the throttle on

the slow corners. On to the four cylinders. I drove this thing last

week and I just could not believe how much grip and poise and balance

these latest form of a one cars have. They're just Supreme to drive.

But someone else out there will be have the 10th quicker. -- will be

half of a 10th of a second quicker. You're moaning about the quick

corners and the exit, you don't go, perfect, perfect. You are right,

you still on, that is your job. Moan about it until it goes just a

little bit faster and then moan again. Up against that wall, it

always seems quite tight. That turned into four and five. And then

we come to were the DRS might be. It's an unusual feature on this

track. I am surprised, I thought once they were locked in, but that

is actually when it opens up. Kobayashi, through this long

straight. This first section of the DRS in tomorrow's race, it is a

double drag reduction system. And the second will be on this exit.

Enter the exit of this tight section. Again, through what is

effectively the straight. But it has several bends in it! We should

see plenty of action there. Double DRS, that would be more effective

you. In Canada, there was not enough space. You kind of use all

the race track there. Whereas here, it would be less easy to defend and

another lock up for Kobayashi. Right into the wall at the end. And

Kobayashi goes on the 13th, confirming that Sauber are

struggling. And another man with a lot brake. And right at the end,

Rubens Barrichello blows it. And you can see the smoke on the tyre,

that vibration will be horrible. That keeps him in two p 12. And

Therese, then, does 39.6 and he is only 15. He says, and I feel fine.

He had to pull out of Canada. He will not feel good when he sees

that lap time on his dashboard. Vitaly Petrov, finally coming

through. Putting in a competitive lap time. He is 9th at the moment,

matching Michael Schumacher. Sebastien Buemi, what can he do for

Toro Rosso? He stays 17th with that. Plenty of work to do. That is their

right thing, Alguersuari has the embarrassment of dropping out. But

at the moment he will stark white alongside him on the grid. Three

and three-quarter minutes remaining, who is under pressure? At the

minute, the top six are not bothering, Michael Schumacher did

feel the need to get out there and put in a better lap, he is half a

second adrift of the fastest time at the moment. But he has done to

personal bests. And this is all about confirming that he can be in

the top 10. He can be under pressure. They all have to cross

the line before the flag drops. Michael Schumacher, his rear wing

wide open. He moves up into P6. Schumacher, it looks like you have

to get under 1:38.5 to get into the top 10. Felipe Massa is out there.

Nick Heidfeld, he has got to a personal best. -- two personal

bests. Do arrester, doing a personal best. -- Paul di Resta.

Just to confirm the top five. They have ended up in the pits,

satisfied with their work. Schumacher is out there. Nico

Rosberg did stay in the pits, he has not gone out. Nine cars or on

the track, 13 seconds remaining, Paul di Resta gets well out of

shape on that artificial grass. Again, that is a personal best, one

10th down on Adrian Sutil. Struggling to get that horse power

into the race track and he will now be about qualified by Adrian Sutil.

Whatever he achieves, because he is already ahead of him. And Adrian

Sutil cross as a line. Can he get into the top 10? He does! Vitaly

Petrov has backed out. The Adrian Sutil makes it. There is nobody out

there who can make the difference we now know the next seven to drop

out. Vitaly Petrov, Paul di Resta, he will start in 12, Rubens

Barrichello, Kobayashi, Pastor Maldonado, 15th, Sergio Perez,

Sebastien Buemi. Barrichello has completed another lap but it was

not any faster. And that cost Paul di Resta. It would be amazing if

that was on his best lap as well. Too many adventures for Paul di

Resta. That was on his fastest lap. The car scraping down the ground.

Paul di Resta will start the Grand Prix in 12th place. Nevertheless,

that is a very good job... Good job. The reason why he says that his he

did not get any practice. Nico Rosberg, he race for Williams last

year. Paul di Resta, pushing hard. Still four-tenths white. Good job

from Adrian Sutil to get himself into that top 10 shoot-out. Rubens

Barrichello ahead of Pastor Maldonado. Sergio Perez will be

disappointed with 60 of his. Sebastien Buemi does indeed line-up

just ahead of his team-mate, Alguersuari. 17th and 18th.

Congratulations to Adrian Sutil, making it through to the final part

of the qualifying but frustration for Paul di Resta, who has had a

frustrating weekend. You heard the story that his car in the up in the

wall after being driven by the reserve driver and frustrating for

Pastor Maldonado, you have been down to Williams and what do you

know about why the car stopped on the track? I grabbed the driver

myself. The lead through the different scenarios, was it feel?

He said know. Not the gearbox. It was more likely to be a electronics.

There was no tell-tale mark, no spin. We will leave it at that.

will wait and find out but let's talk about the first part.

Alguersuari. The Cocom these boys are, his shirt is off and his

trainers and his shorts are on but that is the Red Bull look. What is

it like competing at home? You have got to Spanish phrases? We have had

a lot of problems this season so we are trying to solve them. Yesterday

I could not run in the afternoons and the mechanics were very tough.

It is my second home town because they live in Barcelona so Barcelona

would be my home town. It is nice to be here because it is still

Spain and because of the weather and the environment and the people,

it is quite cool. What I want to know, sorry, Jake... People still

don't really realise how young you are. And the experience, you came

in as the youngest driver and you still are incredibly young. Were do

you see the next part of your future in this business? At the

moment, as you say, and very young and what I want to focus on is just

enjoying myself and driving fast and doing my best and just to learn.

It is nice experience that Red Bull got me into Formula One at 19 years

old. It is just experience and I am still learning a lot about the

tyres and the set-up. We're still not at 100% with the car but it's

just a matter of timing. We are having fun. This year we had

problems. You just try to enjoy the present. Trying to improve the

present and trying race after race to improve the set-up of your car

and everything. We know you would have wanted more this weekend in

starting in front of the home crowd. What was it like to have your best

Formula One finish and pick up her first points? It was good. I

started Formula One with the zero in my pocket. It was difficult for

me to race, the weekend was testing. This year, we're still trying new

things for qualifying and new things just to check if it improves

and if it's better. It's difficult because Formula One isn't easy,

especially for a small team. At the moment, I think we are doing a good

job because we have been learning a lot and so far I think we have been

improving ourselves during the race, in Monaco, it was a good race for

us. We scored our first points. And we just need to keep focusing on

this and we need to relax and stay calm and the results welcome.

distracting is it for you as a driver to hear stories of you being

replaced? It doesn't because Red Bull has done enough for me, since

I was 15 years old and go-karting in Italy, and they brought me into

Formula One. As I said, I don't think about my future because they

know about my future. At the moment, I just see myself here, with this

team and I just see myself with this family because they brought me

into Formula One and I have developed with them and I think I

can bring much more to the team this year and next year for sure.

It is a matter of time. Good to catch up with the Spanish side. The

immediate future, pick the pole position? Sebastian Vettel. Or Mark

Webber?! Great to chat with you. It might be another Spaniard we're

looking at, Fernando Alonso, Felipe Massa has been under pressure. Lots

of runs, softer tyres? It was on a surprising as to why he did that

and I think it was a mistake because it showed weakness but I

still think that team is being led by Fernando Alonso. The prancing

horse might be the dark horse. You heard it from behind me, they think

Sebastian Vettel on pole position. You might be right, 21 years and

five days old. Alguersuari. The youngest man on the grid. The top-

ten shoot-out, Red Bull, McLaren, Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz, one Renault

car and one force India. Piloted by Adrian Sutil. He just squeezed

through after the chequered flag had dropped. That is the 10 runners

for this final qualifier. 10 minutes to go until the line-up for

the top 10 4th Grand Prix in Valencia and already we have some

action. Ferrari going onto the track. Fernando Alonso, he has

threatened to be the front row contender all the way through

practice and qualifying. And Ferrari have looked as if they have

new set of soft tyres. They were running very low. Felipe Massa only

had one more set of new soft tyres left. Two Mclarens on two new sets

of soft tyres. Vettel, Lens lns and Webber have another set of --

Alonso and Webber have another set of softs left. Previously we would

have seen teams put on their qualifying only engine maps. Vettel

also on new soft tyres. Now we will learn how much they're affected by

not having the maps available to them any more. We've often seen

that Red Bull have been massively fast in qualifying and been under

pressure during the race. It's not conceivable that Mclaren could have

won the last three Grand Prixs. Are you expecting Mclaren to be closer

to Red Bull, David? That remains to be seen. You caught me off guard

there. I was looking at some notes. Yeah, this track is a bit of

compromise. It doesn't play to aerodynamic strength. It's more

about top end speed and braking. Ferrari certainly were in good

shape in Canada. They were within .2 of pole position there. They

have to feel they are in this fight. It would mean a huge amount to them

for the locals. Someone's got to stop this amazing run of I think

seven pole positions for Sebastien Vettel this year. This may be the

man, Fernando Alonso. He rattles through turn one. Not much of a

corner. Then hard on the brakes into what is the first big decision

of the lap, down to second gear, short shift through the exit of

turn three. Then this awkward chicane, rattling over the kerbs at

four and five. Then through the kink on the run down to the bridge.

A lot of people having difficulty with the rear locking into this

corner here. No problem for Fernando. He then powers out across

the Swing Bridge. Does it feel narrow when you get to the bridge?

They're so focused on a point in the distance, I think driving a

race car is a bit like joining the dots. You're not watching or trying

to watch the scenery pass by. At this moment, Fernando Alonso will

look ahead to where his desired braking point should be. Then as

soon as he's hit the brakes, he will look at the apex of the corner.

Maybe Spanish turf but Fernando Alonso has never qualified in the

top three here. There are three drivers on the grid who have won

this Grand Prix - Sebastien Vettel, Felipe Massa and Rubens Barrichello

who is already out. He starts the Grand Prix 13th. That looked fairly

pedestrian from Alonso there. He wasn't really attacking the apex

too much. Let's see what it translates in terms of lap time. A

quick brake adjustment with his left hand. I love that shot against

the wall. I could watch that all day long. Alonso then again

struggling put the power down in the last corner. He does a 37.4.

That will not be quick enough for pole, I'm pretty sure of that. The

crowd seemed to like. It I don't think Fernando will be that pleased

with 37.4. Massa follows up with 1.37.8. We see now what Mclaren and

Red Bull have got to say about that. Hamilton into the final corner.

Sector times are good. Vettel is out there and flying. He's half a

second up on his team-mate. Hamilton goes faster on 37.3.

Webber can only do a 37.5 for third. Mclaren from Ferrari from Red Bull.

It's Sebastien Vettel, this man out there, he's lighting up the race

track again. Two corners to go, one now. He spots the braking, well he

struggled from the apex slightly. Vettel then crosses the line now.

He goes into the 36, 1.36.9 for provisional pole position. They

will have to go again. Vettel then absolutely flying, four tenths

quicker than Lewis Hamilton. There's a man who used to drive for

Mclaren and Ferrari and owned the Toro Rosso team. But the story is

back on track now. Nico Rosberg, at the moment we have seven cars out

on track. Six of those are recovering to the pits for a second

go. We've yet to see Michael Schumacher, Nick Heidfeld or Adrian

Sutil, still trying to save their tyres. Nico Rosberg out on track.

Another brake shift change with his left hand. So much to do in the

cockpit. The work load is immense with the rear wing, KERS,

differential, engine maps, brake bias, so much going on. Plenty of

KERS left. He hits that button now, as he heads down what is

effectively the first of the very long straights. Engine revs,

creeping up there, with the wing open. Just touching 18,000. Seventh

gear, good for Cornwallifying. He's kissing the soft limiter --

qualifying. He's kissing the soft limiter there. His first sector

time is a full six tenths off the ultimate pace. A lot of work to do.

He's used up all of his KERS already in the lap. Lots of

understeer through that corner. He's now three quarters of a second

adrift. Now sweeping in this very high-

speed section. Steering wheel change going on there. How do they

do so much in the cockpit at 190mph? Great traction from the

Mercedes there. Rosberg, at the moment, stays 7th with a 38.2. You

said Michael Schumacher was thinking fourth row of the grid.

Looks like he was right. Interestingly, Nico Rosberg in the

morning session, would have had a bit more fuel but he did 38.5. He

has found a little bit of pace, which isn't the case when we look

at Fernando Alonso. Actually he did. He went a tenth quicker. The warmer

track conditions have stabilised some of the lap times. An amazing

lap from Sebastien Vettel, once again, throwing down the marker and

saying, right guys, you have four tenths to beat me pour pole.

Mercedes have been quickest in the free practices and qualifying. Are

they not carrying enough downforce? I think they have a very effective

DRS system. Earlier in the year, we heard one of the downsides of such

an effective system is they have problemles keeping the flow

attached under normal conditions. You need that fully explained what

the effect of that is. There's no point being quick in a straight

line if you're not quick enough through the corners, except it

might make it easier to defend during the race. If they are going

to be firmly at the back of the top ten, then they shouldn't be under

any pressure from the guys just outside it. Ted has a quick word

before we get down to the final laps. They're all going out again,

including Sebastien Vettel, which you might find surprising, afrrt

from the fact that the track is getting faster and faster. Not even

Vettel thinks he's safe in pole. Michael Schumacher saved himself a

set of fresh tyres tomorrow by doing only one run. That paid

dividends for him in Canada. That's what Schumacher's doing. He's yet

to post a time in this session, a competitive time. Nor has Heidfeld

and Sutil. But the front runners, they can't afford that. Sebastien

Vettel knows just how fast Lewis Hamilton is. He knows how fast the

Ferraris have been. Jenson Button in fifth at the moment has also

shown handy pace around here. So this is a proper shootout. And Red

Bull do not feel comfortable enough to just leave Vettel in the pits

and save a set of tyres. Mark Webber has some work to do in the

second Red Bull. He's only fourth at the moment. About six tenths of

a second to find, which you'd think is pretty easy in 3.3 miles, but

it's not. You've got to question whether he's got all the tools at

his disposal. He has been unfortunate with KERS not working

in previous Grand Prixs. He knows the track. He likes it. He

obviously took us on a high flying session during the Grand Prix.

Let's see what he can deliver during this lap. He's into that lap

then. So 32 seconds remaining. Clearly they've got to get offer

the line before the flag comes out. Who's out there doing that?

Hamilton, Button and Vettel will be the last man over the line to start

a hot lap. He'll pass the finish line with about 12, 13 seconds

remaining. Webber's done a personal best first sector about a tenth of

a second shy. Alonso is a tenth faster. Matching Vettel's first

sector pace, just about, within a few hundredths of a second. So much

of the track remaining. Mark Webber then really needs to get the Red

Bull up onto the front row of the grid. The flag is out. Zero seconds

remaining. These laps can be completed. Seven cars on the track

at the moment. Rosberg has pitted. Michael Schumacher with a

reasonable first sector as well. So has Felipe Massa. Button a 25.8

first sector, not particularly good, even though it's a personal best.

Charging through the apex, absolutely committed to this

qualifying lap, Mark Webber two, corners to go. Can he get this Red

Bull onto the front row and challenge Hamilton and Alonso. On

the power early through the exit. He crosses the line, Mark Webber,

and second it is on a 37.1, two tenths shy. Alonso is in the pit

lane. Alonso's gone in the pit. He's had a problem in the middle of

the lap. Now we're looking out for Vettel, who's been blinding in the

middle part of the lap too. Can he improve on that. He knows he still

has to fend off Hamilton. He's quite a bit quicker. And Hamilton

pits. Vettel has said that's enough. He's been called by the team and

he's coming in. Massa has just done a 37.5 for P5. Button only 37.6 for

sixth. He'll be disappointed for that. All Red Bull front row and

the drivers knew that they'd either made mistakes or they didn't need

to complete the lap, save the tyres. Sebastien Vettel then is on pole

position yet again. Pole position number 22. He's 24 years of age

shortly. But Vettel, then, yet again, has what it takes to beat a

quality field of drivers, including his team-mate Mark Webber. In the

end, Hamilton was four tenths shy of pole, starting third alongside

Fernando Alonso, who had a poor middle sector, presumably either

traffic or an error. Alongside Alonso, his team-mate Massa. Jenson

Button, I think, will be thoroughly disappointed with sixth. Nico

Rosberg seventh ahead of Michael Schumacher. That means it's 8-0 for

Alonso versus mass ma in qual -- Massa in qualifying. For Rosberg

it's 7-1 against Schumacher. We're getting to that point in the year

where you can do a meaningful comparison and the statistics are

very stark. But once again, Vettel is the man with the speed.

That's right. The image that all his rivals hate to see, that finger

denoting he's number one again. An incredible run of pole positions.

Looks as if he's got a comfortable margin over the rest of the field.

He's having a peak within the cockpit of the other cars. They

don't get this opportunity any other cars. Nothing in the

regulations to say you can't stick your head in there. He'll not be

allowed to touch that car. What's he checking out? Checking out the

comfort of his seat, do you think? I think he's looking at the back of

the steering wheel to see how many paddles are there and what they

might do with those. That's a specific request from somebody

within the team of trying to find out what they're doing. Nick

Heidfeld and Adrian Sutil chose not to use any tyres this that session.

They will line up ninth and tenth. Heidfeld presumably because he did

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 63 seconds

choice. But they set the best times Fernando Alonso, would have loved