The Korean Grand Prix - Qualifying Formula 1

1991, Formula One sets foot out of Europe just six times. 20 years

later, that number has doubled. Including new Asian territories.

Malay share in 1999, China into this and an four, and in 2010,

Korea. -- China in 2004. A home of the world's largest shipbuilders,

the most advanced IT infrastructure and the population with the highest

IQ on the planet. Last year, also, IQ on the planet. Last year, also,

the home of chaos. This is the worst conditions in which I have

That champagne from Fernando Alonso was not the only showers here last

year. I'm sure you can understand why be a high Formula One family

open the curtains today and were very relieved that it was not

raining. -- the whole Formula One family. Sebastian Vettel picked up

the drivers' championship yesterday. No need for an early start today,

because you have chosen to join us -- in -- chosen to join us for a

-- in -- chosen to join us for a re-run of qualifying for the Korean

Grand Prix. This is how things finished seven days ago. Jenson

Button can no longer catch Sebastian Vettel. He is now

fighting Fernando Alonso, Mark Webber and Lewis Hamilton for

second. The construction -- Constructors' Championship can also

be seen to be completed. As far as the remaining races are concerned,

we have the South Korean Grand Prix and then it will no longer be the

newest race in a Formula One because we are heading to India in

two weeks' time before wrapping up the season in Abu Dhabi and Brazil.

One man who was buried excited -- One man who was buried excited --

one man who is very excited is with me now. This circuit, this race,

you have been out there in the Lotus. What was it like on the

track? It is really strange, very slippery. Even this morning, you

see drivers sliding and the tyres not digging in. I do not know what

they have used on the asphalt, but it does not offer the same grip.

That could make it very interesting. Time to see who can pick up pole

position for this race. Will it be Red Bull once again? Time to hand

over to David Coulthard and Martin qualifying. Raining on Friday

ensured that around 20 laps in the final practice session was the only

dry track preparation for all of the drivers. Pirelli say they have

made an ambitious choice of softer compound tyres for this race. The

are experimenting for next year. They want to get their compounds

sorted out nice and early. Can Red Bull become the first team since

Ferrari in 1952 to take every pole position in the season? They have

16 in a row so far this year and this would be the 16th. McLaren

should have been Ron Paul last Saturday afternoon in Japan, but

they did not quite do it. David, can they achieve it this afternoon?

This has been the most impressive they have looked through Friday and

Saturday practice. Friday was wet, but McLaren were setting the pace.

Through this one hour session, before going into qualifying,

straight from the first run they were trading times. Lewis Hamilton,

Jenson Button pretty much sharing the top spot. Nine thousandths of a

second they missed out in Suzuka, and they have to be in a prime

position this afternoon. The times were pretty quick this morning,

faster than last year's free practice despite so much little --

so little track time. It shows you how soft and fast the tyres are.

This is the fastest track in the year, in terms of grip. Part of

that might be that it is the second year of the racetrack. When you

have a new track surface, it tends to leak out or oil or whatever is

used that is laid down on the tarmac. With the benefit of a your

sapling, because they have not had a much -- much action, believe they

have had a truck race. Bring your road car down and go for a bit of

fun. They have not embraced racing in this part of South Korea.

Painting a picture of what is going on, we know that Sebastian Vettel

is the World Champion already. 114 points clear. A good fight between

Jenson Button Alonso and Mark Webber for second place. Despite an

saying it means nothing to them, and be one to win races now. The

fight in the middle of the field, Petrov, Sutil, Kobayashi and the

rest of them, and that the tale of the points, Maldonado. 19 drivers

have scored World Championship points this year. 19 finishes off -

- in the Grand Prix last year, the highest ever in the history of

Formula One. Red Bull can take the constructors title tomorrow if they

score or more points than McLaren in the race. McLaren have to

outscore Red Bull to keep that particular championship alive. This

man was fastest in the final free practice. Jenson Button, right at

the end of the session. Despite having a new chassis, because of a

bolt that would not come out, they had to give him a new chassis. That

is the survival cell that he is sitting in. The gearbox and the

rest are bolted on to that. That is the chassis in the foreground that

Michael Schumacher is sitting in. It had to be said, it looked like

McLaren and Red Bull way out front. More of that in a moment.

KRAVITZ: The super-soft tyre will do between 10 and 12 laps. It is

not as marginal as everyone expected. We expect the top teams

and a Mercedes to be able to go through the first field of

qualifying on the soft tyres, and not the super-soft. We will see

what happens when the session get started. Apparently, this track is

the test track for the Korean version of Top Gear. I think the

people who have done -- the guy who has done the most laps around you

will probably be the Chorion stake. Indeed. The temperatures out there,

28 degrees. 22 degrees, air pressure -- air temperature. Not

particularly hot, no particular challenge us out there from the

atmosphere. It is all about finding the perfect lap. 20 minutes of

qualifying for them to deliver something. The first man on the

track, Bruno Senna for the Renault team. The reason the track evolves

as well is that every traction zone, they start putting rubber down,

they start cleaning up the dust and dirt and laying down rubber. The

more grip that you have got, the faster you go, the more rubber you

put on the track. It is a snowball effect. Bruno Senna with a clear

track. Surprising that we have not had more action? Normally, this

part of the qualifying session you get the usual suspects, the six

cars of the slow teams going out there, making full use of the extra

television time. At the end of the day, they do not have the car as

they would like in overall performance but they have to try to

maximise their marketing share, so it is unusual not to see HRTs and

Virgins straight out there on the track. They may as well use up as

many tyres as they are free to do so when this park, because they

will need to use the super-soft, the Red Stripe tyres to get as high

up the position as possible. Bruno Senna had an incident this morning.

He spun in the street section, losing his front wing. Maybe he is

doing a balance check. Possibly Ted can find out. Did they change

suspension? Meanwhile, one of the Renault reserved drivers, the

French driver, if Kubica was to come back on the scene, and we are

expecting news on that soon, you have to be fearful that he is not

ready to return. We have seen and heard nothing of him. He has been

nowhere near a racing car. Renault have potentially got Kubica, Petrov,

Bruno Senna, Roman rush on, they are spoiling for choice. Lots and

lots of pressure. But pressure is what this business is all about.

TED KRAVITZ: The suspension was OK. They did not need to change that

after his brush with the wall. This is race set-up work still going on

in the first part of qualifying because when Bruno Senna took the

front wing off in free practice, he also flat spotted the tyres. He

does not have enough information as to how the yellow striped fireworks.

That is what he is doing. -- yellow stripe tyre works. He scored World

Championship points on three occasions. We have seen him in the

hedge quite a lot. We have seen and damage the car. What does that tell

you about where he is that? There is no question he is having to fast

track his knowledge of this car. By starting so late in the season,

every lap he does on this track is going to be three-quarters of the

season behind his competitors. You could argue that there is no point

going Conservative. He has to show the team that he is an attacking

driver, a driver they can rely on to score points and Court 5 a car.

His team-mates, Vitaly Petrov, ruining his front left tyre there.

Once the wheel is walked, he is blistering the tyre. You have to

get off the brake. -- wheel is locked. I would be amazed if he is

able to set any kind of time at all. There is a rush of cars, with 15

minutes left ago, heading out. car Tomaz will certainly got a B S

brakes. My motorbike as CBS brakes, but Formula One cars do not. We

have had ABSA in 1993 per, but it is too easy. TED KRAVITZ: Both Red

Bulls have gone out straight away on the super-soft tyres. They are

the only top team to do that. I am struggling to think why. Surely

they can get through the session on the prime tyre? Why would they not

think that they would need the super-soft? Are they doing a

conscious strategy? Your thoughts? Normally, they want to keep those

tyres until absolutely the last possible moment, unless they think

they will qualify on prime tyres, the yellow stripe tired that we are

seeing Lewis Hamilton using. There is a smaller gap between the prime

and auction tyres. It was under a second here. Seven-tenths, the

difference between the two compounds. Seven tenths of a second

is a lot of time. Red Bull, using up a set of those straight away.

Let us see if they go past the pits. They could be just conditioning a

set of tyres. Let us watch them. You mean practising the he cycled?

Yes. Mark Webber is coming up to corner 14. Meanwhile, we are on the

Hamilton, this weekend. He has seemed a bit troubled in his

personal life but on the racetrack, he has been flying. Just beaten in

the final lap of the session this morning, not wanting to do an

upshift for such a short little straight. Webber has continued on

track, so has Vettel, so they are not putting the heat cycle through

to prepare them for the race, they are actually using them. We are

leaving Lewis Hamilton. The end of this lap is pretty exciting, it is

a good layout. The drivers are enjoying this track. A huge

challenge in that sector. Lot of corners where, especially with DRS

which gives them a massive error balance shift, it is the effect of

feeling you have a lot of front mode, destabilising the rear. So a

lot of bravery from the drivers. Through 16, a small kink and then

flat through the right hand part of 17 and 18. Then they run for the

line and he opens it up with a 1: 38.2. Slower than he managed in the

morning, but nonetheless. Pole last year was 1: 35, so not a stunningly

fast lap, you would have to save from Lewis Hamilton the first time

out. Hitting the red limit that a lot. Jenson Button is about to show

us what he can do on his first lap and go second, some half a second

slower than Lewis. Webber goes through on the supersoft tyres,

even slower again, at 1: 39.0. That is looking quite difficult to

understand. A Red Bull on the faster tyres are slower, unless he

hit traffic somewhere. He did pass Sebastian Buemi somewhere. This is

Fernando Alonso, that Ferrari have had a huge amount of understeer

this morning. Having the DRS actually benefit them. Fernando

Alonso into second on 1: 38.3. Vettel also matched Webber on the

1: 39.0. That is strange. They put the soft tyres on straight away,

the one they usually wrapped up in cotton wool and try not to use

until the last moment. They have thrown them on and gone slowly,

carrying a off fuel as well? -- carrying fuel. That is 2.5 seconds

slower than you expect. It they could still be doing race

simulation. Slightly risky,... It may leave them exposed later when

they actually have one run. We have seen typically team's only running

-- the team's idea running them in the last part of qualifying. Nico

Rosberg is the fastest for the first sector so far in Q1, the

first part of qualifying. So it is Hamilton, Fernando Alonso, and we

have now had a 17 drivers put in a complete flying lap. No real

surprises in there, no big surprises at the front or the

midfield. Michael having to blend of the throttle, died in between

two cars. -- diving. Two-tenths slower than his team-mate, his

personal best was in the first proper flying lap. Schumacher goes

into fifth with that. Nico Rosberg behind him goes into fourth place.

He has matched Felipe Massa, who is in third. So Webber and Vettel down

to seventh and eighth, they now own pit, both of the Red Bulls. As has

Paul di Resta, currently in the 11th. These times don't matter,

they are just taking... As long that you get through the first 17,

the times are reset to zero. In the drop zone at the moment, d'Ambrosio,

at Liuzzi, Kovalainen, Jarno Trulli, a Ricciardo, Barrichello and

Maldonado hadn't been out yet. Lewis Hamilton coming to the end of

his lap. If this is going to take into their 1: 37.5 -- this is going

to. That is much more like it. It seems as though he needed the tyres

to come to him a little bed. What is Jenson Button doing? -- a little

bit. At the moment, Hamilton looking like he has got the edge.

And McLaren looking like they have got to the edge on a lot of them.

Jenson Button goes second, still four-tenths shy. TED KRAVITZ: You

are right, I am looking into the Red Bull garage and they have the

fuel closely set. I think that was still at if we are expecting them

to three-star, they are going to start on the soft us -- and free

stop. So if they can get through qualifying OK, they will only need

to two sets of the super-soft. I am still asking around some other

engineers. As long as you go to train those tyres, there is no

reason they couldn't use them again in Q2 -- as long as you don't put

drained at those tyres. If they feel the need to. However we try to

explain it, it is an unusual strategy and I'm sure you can

understand, there will be some commonsense coming out at some

point, but right now it looks as though it is against the grain.

There is such a big spread of lap time, we saw in Suzuka last weekend

that it is more spread out on the technical tracks. Red Bull should

be easily making the last part of qualifying on the set of primes.

Not a great about a difference between the prime and the option

tyres. -- amount of difference. drop zone remains the same.

Williams at the back at the moment, having not run. Kovalainen has got

himself in it, and as we have seen before, he could get himself

through the Q3 in that Lotus, but we will have to wait and see what

time the Williams book before low to start celebrating. A Michael

Schumacher now. -- Michael Schumacher now. It since the

further they travel on this soft tyres, the faster they go -- it

seems. He is one second off the pace. Because beyond the first term,

where the pit lane leads into the heart of the first turn, where we

saw Nico Rosberg piled into Alguersuari yesterday, if you could

do a study at university and ask for the worst pit lane out at a

racetrack, this is what they would come up with. It couldn't be worse.

The design group are responsible for most of the new tracks, since

way back in Malaysia, one of the first bespoke circuits. Maybe they

sent out the YTS designers. I think it is a great track, but often you

look at the pit exit and think, that is not going to work.

Everybody says that and eventually they had to change things, but they

haven't changed it here. It is quite difficult, you saw the

reserve pit, the reserve once they have, they have a much better exit,

but it is not the easiest job to get these cars on and off. It can't

be that difficult. Bid cannot be. I'm just trying to give them the

benefit of the doubt. Don't want to rubbish the Place! The drivers love

the circuit, no question. Petrov is right in the heart of this sector

two, through turn nine. Slightly over A crest, drops down into

second gear, early on the power. He starts to open it out into this

never ending apex and then into a 12. Then we are getting into what

feels like the street circuit section of the track. One mistake

on the left and there is a concrete wall. The last section of the track,

a short blast through 15. They have dropped the kerb since last year.

Working the wheel quite a lot, the challenge for the drivers is how

rarely do I open my DRS? Petrov goes third with that on the

supersoft tyres. So a decent lap, at 1: 38.3, still well shy of the

McLaren boys. Vettel and Webber down in a fan night, but it is the

last seven we will look at -- down in eighth and ninth. Everybody from

Serran and Sebastian Buemi, surely they are feeling reasonably

comfortable -- Bruno Senna. Ted Kravitz? A Williams tactic is to

wait until the track has cleaned up a little. It is still very dusty in

the pit lane, and then go out for a freak timed laps. -- a breed are

timed laps. -- three. It is the best part of one minute and three

quarters around here. Especially when you are out lapping as well.

Let's have a look. Barrichello on his first said that, half the

second of the fastest for stopped goes into for -- 14th place.

Immediately backs off. Only just being there, Barrichello. Let's see

what Maldonado can do. I don't think he is as fast. Pastor

Maldonado through turn 18, and the line is here. He goes 16th. Let's

see if he backs straight off. I think he did. So Williams are

thinking they are going to clear Babak with one single flying lap on

the supersoft tyres -- clear the bar. He has got enough time to do

one slow lap and then a quick one, just about. What is going on here?

Perez gets himself into tenth position with that. Again, at the

set of super soft. They get three sets of each of the compound. They

have the last all of qualifying and all of the race tomorrow. -- have

the last. Kobayashi, only 15th with that effort. Under pressure. Adrian

Sutil then in 17th at the moment with Force India, a car that should

be solidly midfield. Paul di Resta got himself up to seventh on a 1:

38.5. That is the ball park for a Well driven Force India at the

moment. Adrian Sutil will only -- show us any time now his best

effort, and it is night, two-tenths ash -- slower than Paul di Resta.

Now we are on board with d'Ambrosio. D'Ambrosio and Timo Glock are

running together. Be to freeze frame going on there. -- be told. I

think it was Petrov getting out of the weight in the background. Bruno

Senna at his 13th and comfortably in at the moment. Ricky Adar is

that the pits and will start 24th, under fastest of the two Lotus cars.

-- Kovalainen. Rubens Barrichello does try again, he has done a

personal best through the first sector. TEAM RADIO: Won the extra.

-- A one extra. Barrichello, Maldonado, they did a slow down and

have picked up the pace. Ted Kravitz was right, they will just

getting, or that they can complete their third flying lap. Looks as

though he has backed out. Barrichello has either seen in his

lap delta a display above his steering wheel... He is vulnerable

from his team-mate Maldonado. Maldonado has backed down. No, that

is Barrichello. He is coming in. We haven't seen the middle sector of

Maldonado. A 43.6, that is his best. Rubens Barrichello is under

pressure. I wonder if it was traffic, we did see Acar recently

passed. Maldonado is about to knock him out of Q2. And here he goes.

Maldonado crosses the line and does indeed get 16th. Kobayashi 17th.

The first man out is the man coasting back to be told you will

take no further part in qualifying. Kovalainen is on a couple of

personal bests. Over the line goes Timo Glock. There is Kovalainen in

the background, stays 19th. A better performance in qualifying

Jarno Trulli, six tenths slower. Staying in 20th. The d'Ambrosio has

pitted. And there is Rubens Barrichello, the most experienced

man in the field, being told, "You are out of qualifying." Barrichello,

the first of the big scalps. McLaren remain the fastest cars on

McLaren remain the fastest cars on this track. It is a pleasure to be

in the Lotus garage watching that session. It was amazing, I expected

it to be so busy in here but nothing happened for the first

eight minutes and then a radio message came in, fire up, I should

go. And then it was a case, are we going to be to Virgin? As soon as

that became crystal clear, it was a case of beating one another. --

beat Virgin. They work at the strategies over the rest of the

afternoon but most people will raise the prime tyres. That is why

the Red Bulls used the super-soft. We did the second run anyway. As

you say, I think the mechanics and engineers, they have done it a lot

before, and they know what to expect. One of Lotus cars is about

to be wheeled in, Kovalainen's car. Fascinating to see Jarno Trulli

comment, realise he was the best part of a second behind his team-

mate and immediately he had been dealt a in front of them and he was

seeing a where he was finding the extra time. I think that happens

with most teams. Christian Horner last year said that a lot of times

they would go out and be swapping data. The Berra tactics involved

because you do know what to show your hand completely on the first

run. That is what happened when you have a team of equal skills.

Kovalainen and Jarno Trulli would have had a look at one another's

information. It benefits everyone to have two drivers with equal

status. Jarno Trulli, Wheeldon behind us. Kovalainen is already in

the garage. -- wheeled in behind us. As Jarno Trulli went out, the first

thing he was told was that Perez was on the straight. How much of an

issue is this pit exit? It is not necessarily because of that. It

happens as a matter of practice. The big thing in qualifying is you

do not want to impede another car. We were looking at the incident

from yesterday. On any circuit, you do not want to impede another car.

It is not totally fair. I always work on the principle that if you

hold up someone else, I eventually someone else will hold you up. The

engineers try to keep you informed of what is going on. It is tricky

here because the pit lane design is odd. But it is the same for a

foodie. And Jarno Trulli is going to join us now. We spoke to you

before qualifying. How would you describe your lap? Interesting to

see you immediate they look at the dealt a from your first run. --

immediately look at the Dell tough. I had some problems with power.

This morning, I looked at the good one, but I could not use it for

tactical reasons. There was very little chance for me. You had a

good look at Jarno Trulli's tyres. You noticed that his front ride was

badly worn. It was not too bad, just a little bit of draining on

both. About what you would expect on the super-soft tyres, for a

track that has had no rubber down. This morning, I looked at Torro

Rosso and I could see a lot of blistering. It has not been to bat.

Just a little bit more running, a little bit more rubber and it will

be better. It is still a tough weekend. The surface is just not

abrasive enough. The tyre does not taking. I can even feel that on the

wet. Clearly Jarno Trulli did not want to stand around. He was keen

to speak to the rest of the media. Time for the second part of

10 shoot-out? Qualifying is underway. 15 minutes remaining. Red

Bull, using a set of super-soft tyres to do one flying lap, got

themselves through in 9th and 10th. Very unusual strategy. Almost as

unusual as that some protection mascot think we have just seen.

Well, it is nice that teams are prepared to do something different.

And we're going to find out who has made the right decision in the

fullness of time. I suspect that Red Bull are focusing on the race

preparation. They know that McLaren have got a good car round the track.

Maybe it is a question of compromise, or when you're using

DRS on all the Straits, and it is only available on a bit straighter

between turn two and three, maybe you have to compromise less on

gearing. -- the big straight. You have to hope you can utilise that

to get the top spot on the podium. And we see a set of super-soft

tyres remaining. What can you tell us, Ted? Because we know there now

running super-soft tyres, we know they're saving. Red Bull will have

three sets of prime tyres, which is surely going to help them, so they

will start the race on super-soft because they will do, as you say,

maybe one run in qualifying, and then they will put new prime on at

the third. Having the benefit of prime tyres will help them in the

race over the McLarens. The McLarens have gone out in front of

me. Lewis Hamilton on the super- soft. I was wondering whether that

is a consequence of Red Bull's higher tyre wear. Potentially, they

could do the second stint on which would negate the tactical plan.

think we probably need to worry about that tomorrow but Red Bull

are clearly going on the counter strategy. Will it straighten up

through qualifying? They achieved what they needed to. Let us see

what they do now. We know that there is a set of super-soft so on

these Red Bulls anyway. A nice bit of space for Paul di Resta. Loads

of space in front of him. Lewis Hamilton, who has been flying this

weekend. Every time he has sat in the car, he has looked good. He has

looked determined, and comfortable on the layout with the McLaren.

They picked up the pace. They run a stiff front end. That is why Suzuka

was vibrating its way through. Good stability in this very fast middle

part of the lap. Mark Webber, always out line. They are taking it

easy, the DEC, not just for positioning, with a clear bit of

flak -- off-track, and the positioning. A very heavy braking

zone into the first turn. Turn two does not exist, just full throttle.

1100 metres, 14.5 seconds of full throttle. Using up his KERS energy,

his DRS wide open. Maximum commitment, braking for turn two.

Connect with the apex as sweet as you like. First year, bring it to

the right Sandside, past the support pits, and he is used all of

his KERS up virtually in the first part of the Lyon. It is Moseley

corners from here or in. Short shift into third do not short on

the screen. That is quite unusual to see first-year be used so much.

I wonder if they have gone for a long for first gear which could

compromise the start but gives them great performance? Slightly wide,

but got away with it. Walked up slightly. You have to have the

confidence to lift your foot off the brake. One corner flows into

the next year. Plenty of rev limiter going on here. -- flows

into the next. Absolutely full throttle across the kerb at a scene.

Lewis Hamilton, 36.5. Still one second slower than last year's pole

position. Jenson Button comes through forward Lyon against

Hamilton's Tyne, eight tenths slower. -- Hamilton's time. We are

about to see Red Bull show their hand. 37.24 Mark Webber. We will

try to find out of those were old tyres. I am pretty sure they will

be. Fernando Alonso goes forth with that. Ferrari do not look good

around here. A wonderful second place from them last weekend but

they do not look like they have great pace. They certainly have a

lot of understeer, which may come into their hands. It is not really

a corner, I said, but it is when you open the DRS that early.

Sebastian Vettel, a few thousandths quicker than Mark Webber. That's

all getting into Q3. Nico Rosberg, all we ate with that. Michael

Schumacher is still in the pits. Only 10 have delivered a map -- a

lap time, about to become 11. Felipe Massa confirms Ferrari's

apace. Oh dear. Bruno Senna, as I said, 28 today. Very keen to get in

to the pits, by the looks of it. That is why the pit is so difficult,

because too much -- I saw two car as fly into the pit in the rain

yesterday but the entries of the high-speed turn 17, were we just

saw Sebastian Vettel try not to spin off 160 -- at one and 60 miles

an hour as he opened this lot in his rear wing. -- 160mph former --.

How many cars on the track? A dozen. Webber crosses the line. Going into

the pits with that. Jenson Button, this is an amazing thing. He has

not been on pole positions and smaller Co to doesn't do nine, 45

races ago. I would never, ever have believed that. He has had in his

formal one Korea Severn bore the sins than none of which are before

McLaren. -- in his time at Formula One, seven pole positions but none

of them with McLaren. A good reminder that points are only

handed out on a Sunday and not a Saturday. Mark Webber has a lot

more race fastest laps than Sebastian Vettel, but you could

argue that it is where your and in what order that counts. Qualifying

today, very important, but it is how you have got your car set-up

during the changing and evolving racetrack that we see here.

Presumably it is dry as the rubber goes down tomorrow, what is balance

today will go out of bars Sauro and vice versa. -- out of balance today

and vice versa. RADIO: Michael, are you able to do a lap on it?

Confirmed, so you have the track has either damaged on the out-lap

or they were and balanced. They go to Pirelli, they put on those

little lead weights, but some take over the top, so it is probably

more likely he has locked up somewhere -- but some tape. We saw

in free practice that he was susceptible to free locking.

some problem with the transmission? It you would be very brave to them

bad match is the fastest sector time, which was Lewis Hamilton. --

just a bad matches. Ted Kravitz is down in the pits. Remarkably, there

is no one else on the grid. Stabbing on the throttle like

Ayrton Senna, through the corner, that distinctive driving style that

their net -- Ayrton Senna had. Michael Schumacher tries to find a

bilateral grip of the car. -- that Lateral a grip. He is ninth. And

that will disappoint him. A clear track, soft tyres, and only night

that position. We are looking at the top 10. -- the ninth position.

Petrov is in their in eight place, not much of a surprise, but he is

in there, and Alguersuari for Toro Rosso is in tenth. Right now, we

would lose Sebastian Buemi, Adrian Sutil, Paul di Resta, Perez, Bruno

Senna. TED KRAVITZ: Felipe Massa doesn't feel secure, he has gone

out for another run, burning up another set of super-soft tyres. It

is worth remembering that when we assess the difference between

Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa that Fernando Alonso is running a

bright new development front wing and Felipe Massa is running the old

one. I am looking at a tweet which asks if it is possible to run two

different sets of tyres combined? No it is not, it has to be

homogenous. TEAM RADIO: Check the brake balance. It is almost like he

is running through a mental checklist. Go right on the right

handers. It check brake balance. Mirror, signal, manoeuvre. He can

pass his driving test all over again. Indeed. Are you sure he has

already? Maldonado, 17th of the 17 runners and three of them haven't

but that time in yet. Maldonado is about to unleash that Williams-

Cosworth on this racetrack. Just under 3.5 miles, including this

impressively, if slightly unnecessarily long straight. That

is where the DRS zone is tomorrow, it could be chaotic down there. The

second half of that long straight is where DRS works and the

detection. Is on the exit of turn one. -- detection point. Felipe

Massa doesn't feel comfortable in seventh on a 1: 38.1, and rightly

so, that is only four-tenths of a second inside the Q3 top 10 zone.

He will have to get on it. Felipe Massa, super-softs, 24.4 on the

first sector, match in Hamilton. Adrian Sutil is making a claim for

a top 10 shoot-out. One minute and 10 seconds remaining. I love that

the tyres that came off best car after final practice and they

looked horrible -- I looked back. Lots of grading as it scraped

across the surface. A bit of traffic there, that will have cost

him some time. He should be clear of Petrov and the Renault in front

but this is a scrappy lap. Felipe Massa goes up to fifth on a 1: 37.3.

That should do it. Now we are looking at Sutil. Maldonado has

done to personal bests. -- two. Short shift through 17, doesn't

look like he has all the grip in the world and he only goes 14th.

Adrian Sutil, here he is, ninth. Michael Schumacher is now on the

bubble in tenth place, he will not get another run. Sebastian Buemi

and Paul di Resta could spoil appeared to tenth at the moment.

Michael Schumacher is out, it is over for him. It is now about

Sebastian Buemi and Paul di Resta. Here comes Paul di Resta, can he

get in the top 10? Yes, just! Just behind his team-mate. Sebastian

Buemi is another who could make a surprise entry into the top 10

shoot-out. No, he stays 13th. Kobayashi is out there as well.

Only up to 14th with that. Then we have Perez and Bruno Senna, that

get Bruno Senna up to 15th. Perez will be the final man to deliver a

lap. He stays 17th. So we will boost Alguersuari, Michael

Schumacher, Sebastian Buemi, Kobayashi, Bruno Senna, Maldonado,

who starts 16, and Sergio Perez will start 17th. Unfortunately,

when the cameras come on you like that straight after a qualifying

sector, it is because you are the surprise exit and that surprise is

Michael Schumacher. Nico Rosberg got in on a 1: 37.8. Michael

Schumacher 1: 38.3. It is hard the second but it is the end of the

world, or the end of qualifying. -- half a second. First and second in

the 100m is much less than that and one is a hero and one is a zero.

JAKE HUMPHREY: With no Eddie Jordan, I am with Karun Chandok. We enjoyed

the first part of the session in the Lotus garage and we enjoyed

that, it was exciting in the last couple of seconds. Very

disappointed for Michael Schumacher and due noticed something

interesting. KARUN CHANDOK: He was back at the

motor home before we even see most of the car's back in the garage, so

he didn't do they run at the end. We heard him saying there was a

vibration but he would do the run anyway and it cost in time, and I

am sure he is massively disappointed when Rosberg is six or

seventh tens ahead of him. -- seven-tenths. Let's look at another

man who has made pole position his so far this year, he knows what to

do on Saturdays, but a little bit of a moment for Vettel. I love

watching him through qualifying, he is so committed. Coming to the

final corner, he is trying to get their DRS, Phillips Idowu but had

little too early and a slight lift -- flips it opened a little to Ali.

-- too early. You are trying to teach your finger to go to the DRS

Button but it is all about bravery and how much your car allows you to

risk pressing it early. If you join us in the pre-show, you will have

seen Daniel Ricciardo telling us he can't wait to start using his DRS

but he didn't get the chance. He had issues in final practice and

didn't take to the track so he starts at the very back tomorrow.

Back row Mackenzie not too much action, was there a problem? -- LEE

MCKENZIE:, not too much accent. There was a problem. We had a

problem with the cooling system, and we hope it is not the same

issue. The boys are pretty sure they got on top of bed, so we will

see what it is. -- top of it. Bow- tie and collapse, so not the

greatest of days. -- no time to Lutz. If you feel a problem when

you went out? Personally, I couldn't feel anything but by

Engineer saw it on the data, so he said try and make it back to the

Brits and we will try and fix it. Asked to the pits. We wanted to see

if they could get it done in time, but it was hoped more than anything

else. JAKE HUMPHREY: Good luck to Daniel

tomorrow but it is time for that fight for pole position.

MARTIN BRUNDLE: At the top 10 shoot-out in Q3, at the second

South Korean group -- Grand Prix, is under way. Let's be to Ted

Kravitz. TED KRAVITZ: Definitely a problem with Michael Schumacher's

tyres, you would expect him to improve more than he did with the

super-soft, and the early word from Mercedes is that it was an

unbalanced tyre rather than a flat spot. They are normally bang on to

the side of the rim and it had come off. He didn't reported, but that

is what they think caused the vibration. -- a report it. TEAM

RADIO: The track is clear, so one timed lap, straight back in and we

will plan for another. If a rear tyre vibrates, it is annoying, if

it is a front one, it is more than that.

DAVID COULTHARD: It depends at what level it is. If you remember, Kimi

Raikkonen flat spotted what was the only set of tyres he was using in

that race and it ripped the front sense -- suspension of the car when

braking. You could visibly see the flat spot them. It didn't look, on

the footage, that he had that level of vibration. If it was a we'll

wait missing, that is a problem. -- a weight on the wheel. They are

only lightly stuck on. They normally put on a silver tape,

something that is metallic. Posh tape. Mark Webber, for Red Bull.

Eight of the 10 cars are out on track. Webber just bringing his

tyres back to speed. As does Sebastian Vettel. Have they chose

an to use a brand new set? Are they going to use their two remaining

sets of the superstar? They have got this far on one sec. -- of the

super-soft, they have got this far on one set. Sebastian Vettel is

coasting around at the back at the moment of the eight that have

chosen to do a lap. We have had that Force India will do no laps or

one flying lap to save those tyres. Let's have a look at the first

sectors, Nico Rosberg is the first through. A 34.24 Lewis Hamilton.

This is the first of what we expect to beat two attempts to qualify,

otherwise we will get very upset. Hamilton has got Nico Rosberg not

that far ahead. Let's see if we can stay the distance. Absolutely flat.

Superbly. Superb to listen to. Commits to the breaking as he goes

through the apex of nine and drops it into 10. It doesn't like like he

will be affected by Nico Rosberg. - - look like. Sometimes it can strip

-- change your focus. That car is a live, it looks like Lewis Hamilton

again. The car looks like it is on a ragged edge. It is superb. He has

got the thing alive and we haven't seen it for a while from Lewis

Hamilton. Through turn 17 and across the kerb at 18. The

finishing line comes very quickly now. Still slower than last year

and slower than I was expecting. Fully-paid master crosses -- Felipe

Massa crosses over. Nico Rosberg added did 1: 37.7. Here comes

Jenson Button. Havel took on a 1: 36.1. -- Hamilton took. What can

Vettel do? He has been the fastest man in the middle sector. Again,

delivering when he needs to but is it enough in Korea? It has been at

every other racetrack so far this year. He gets the DRS Open. No

problems this time and it is only second. Three hundredths of a

second slower than McLaren, we had a major fight on our hands.

Hamilton, Vettel, at Webber, Jenson Button, then Fernando Alonso, they

are well clear. It looks like a straight fight between McLaren and

Red Bull, with McLaren still with the upper hand. Which hand is up?

Which one is the upper hand? Hamilton looked, as you said, like

the Hubble 10 of all. He was checking that carp at the corners -

- but Hamilton of old. I hope they go for another run. This will be a

beautiful she cared for pole position. -- shoot-out. Sounding

like an old tractor. I wouldn't want to go through their with the

set of tyres I wanted for the race. No, with stones and everything.

did he do that, that is unusual? TEAM RADIO: 100% KERS for the in-

lap. Quick in-lap. That is why he did it. He is still that looking as

though he came in that fast. He has to charge the KERS up. I wouldn't

want to go through there. It is like going through the hatchings of

the middle of a dual carriageway. You are guaranteed a puncture.

has dropped another six seconds in the middle sector, so he is 12

time for a turnaround. TED KRAVITZ: Bear in mind that if they do run

the new prime tyres that we think they're going to, they will not

need to run that set of tyres that Sebastian Vettel has done his first

run on. Looking into the Force India garage, no movement. I would

not be surprised if they do not attempt to qualify. They did not

hightail it back to the pits. Since they stopped refuelling, they do

not have the refuelling rig. It is much slower now. This pit stop is

controlled by the image of time it takes to put fuel on board.

Changing the wheels, they can do that in three seconds if they want

to. Degree cabin on the sector times, Hamilton is the fastest. --

rate-capping on. Mainly straight there. Sebastian Vettel, one-tenth

quicker. It is nip and tuck in the last sector. I love when you put

different cars and different drivers on this track, achieving

different lap Tyne separated by a few hundredths. We're going to see

eight Force India out in qualifying. It does not look like a clean set

as it came out of the blankets. We're hearing that they are all on

new tyres. Three cars, trying to maintain temperature and pressure

in their tyres whilst going slowly and building a space. That is when

we get tears and people spitting the dummy. It is remarkable. We're

going to have all of the cars on track within one sector. There are

nine cars out on track. Why would they all put themselves out with

the potential to get traffic. If the guy air front makes a mistake,

he will back out. -- the guy in front. From turn four to turn nine,

that is what the cars are. Webber at the front, followed by Hamilton,

Button and Alonso. Di Resta has got itself some free space. Sebastian

Vettel is ahead of Petrov. Sutil is not going out. Nor is Nico Rosberg.

That is why there are only eight cars on track. Fancy shoes but

they're not doing what they should be doing, pressing pedals. Unusual

for him to walk out of the front of the garage. RADIO: Everyone is

bunched up at the moment. I suggest that we need a five-second gap by

the time we start your lap. So that you will not get the turbulent air

across the bodywork. Hamilton was 5.6 seconds behind as he crossed

the line and then 3.7 behind in his Felipe Massa. Alonso, di Resta 2.1

behind him. Probably did not envision he would be catching the

Ferrari. Adrian Sutil will start 10th, guaranteed. Rosberg's time

has put in in 7th. Sector times, 34.24 Hamilton, 34.1 for Jenson

Button. Could this be his first ever pole position for McLaren? The

fastest man in qualifying through the first sector. 34.24 Sebastian

Vettel. Jenson Button has the upper hand. Sebastian Vettel is catching

it Paul di Resta very quickly indeed. Will he be getting himself

some traffic? Paul di Resta had a slow first sector. He might just

let Sebastian Vettel through. setting sometimes. -- Some times.

Mark Webber had an awful for a sector and has given up on the

middle sector. He has pitted. Lewis Hamilton, fastest at the moment, he

crosses the line with a 35.8, which is good. Felipe Massa a moves into

5th. Jenson Button goes second on a 36.1. Pressure. A McLaren have

walked out the front row. This is the only man who could spoil it.

Sebastian Vettel comes across the line, only seconds. Finally, we

have something other than a Red Bull on pole position. Lewis

Hamilton takes it by over two- tenths of a second. One of will lap.

We saw him back, driving in the style that we had become so

accustomed to. Hamilton takes pole position as he should have done

last weekend. But in third, Webber 4th, Felipe Massa or ahead of

Fernando Alonso by a 10th of the second. Alonso abandoned his lap.

The di Resta, by leaving the pits, got himself a head of Sutil, so he

is 9th. Adrian Sutil is 10. RADIO: Great news, mate, you're Ron Paul.

Your pole position. Great job. you are on pole.

After dramatic qualifying, it is Lewis Hamilton who picks up his

first pole position of the season. Sebastian Vettel starts second.

Paul di Resta made it into the final part of qualifying but did

not set a time. He starts ahead of not set a time. He starts ahead of

his team-mate. Let us hear from the three fastest on the track.

Congratulations, you first pole position in a long time. Sebastian

might have the World Championship but it seems you have got your

but it seems you have got your swagger back. Yes, maybe in

qualifying. My qualifying through the years has not been too bad. I

think I have not got my Q3 run over the last couple of games, but it

was not a surprise that we were As a team, we have been working so

hard. I knew that we would be quick today. We have not had pole

position for a lot -- a long time, but it is a great achievement for

the team. I'm glad I could do that on their 700th Grand Prix. This is

your 19th pole position. Is it an emotional pull position? No, not

really. It has been up roller- coaster year. It is a better

starting position for tomorrow, but tomorrow with the most important

day. I am looking to focus and put my energy into tomorrow. You have

the World Championship but with Jenson winning the last race and

Lewis getting pole position, are MacLaren a faster car at the

moment? It is always hard to say. In the end, it is not just the car,

it takes a little peace between the front axle and the engine, which is

called the driver. No doubt Jenson and Lewis have done a very good job

last weekend in qualifying. Jenson had a very good race last weekend.

This week, they have been very competitive. Yes, if the car allows

them to go fast, they have to do it. I think it would be wrong to give

the credit to the car. I'm sure McLaren is pushing hard. Today,

they deserve to be on pole but it takes the ride drivers. -- Write

drivers. In the end, it is the package. We hope to take the fight

today and tomorrow and we should be in good shape, better in the race

and last week. Third place start for you tomorrow. How do you feel?

All right. I was hoping for a bit more. But congratulations to Lewis

and the whole team. He has been very fast and quick through

qualifying especially. I was not quick enough. Not bad to be in

third position. It is always interesting driving on a new

circuit. We have not started on this circuit in the drive. It will

be interesting to see what happens. We have this long drag between the

second and third terms, almost a kilometre. There will be hit when

tomorrow, so why do not know what will happen. Looking forward to it.

Lots of action. We have to get a feeling for what the car is like on

high fuel. I am looking forward to the race. I think it will be a good

one. Ninth place for you tomorrow. He did not look as if you were

setting a flier out there. Sebastian went past. There was a

better strategy behind it. We have looked reasonably strong throughout

the session. We have been closer than the rest of the year. It is

nice to get into Q3. That puts us into a strong position tomorrow.

The ultimate thing is to go aggressive. I think the Saubers are

back but their performance is strong. Both cars are into Q3 so I

think our options are very good at this moment. We just need to make

that lead. So when the race for pole position, Lewis Hamilton as

the winner but no points up for grabs on Saturday. -- in the race.

What is up for grabs his temperament, motivation and

momentum. Lewis Hamilton -- Lewis Hamilton had all of those things.

It was like he had rediscovered his MOJO. He was attacking from the

moment he hit the track. He delivered a Supreme qualifying lap.

I think you enjoyed it as much as Lewis enjoyed it in the car. He did

not seem to enjoy it. What did you read into his body language as he

climbed out of the car? Lots of a motion goes into that lap. At the

end, it was almost as if he was overcome and -- overcome by emotion.

He did not even open his visor and acknowledge the team. It is further

signs that the troubles we have been seeing him have the season

have really taken their toll. his words, "I will try to redeem

himself". I really do not get that. Lewis is a supreme racing driver.

He is a previous racing World Champion and he has speed in

abundance. He is just having a bad year. Lot of drivers go through

that phase. This is not about what is happening purely on the track.

There are lots more things going on behind the scenes. Jenson Button,

he could not live with him today. Red Bull have made clear that they

think they are set for the race. think they have taken a strategic

decision to save an extra set of harder tyres, prime tyres, in a

hole that that will give them a better race strategy tomorrow. The

early evidence from Pirelli is that the tyres are not going to last in

terms of their initial drop off. The question is, can be reached lap

10 and 11? This will be able to have. Race tomorrow. -- can be

reached. Well worth setting an alarm for tomorrow. Unquestionably.

It will be fantastic. Set your alarms. The build-up to the Korean

Grand Prix starch right here from 6am in the morning. This is not the

only horsepower on the BBC this afternoon. It is the richest day