The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Qualifying

:01:12. > :01:15.odds dictate only two pairs remain. Out of sight of a trailing field.

:01:15. > :01:20.Do you still think you have a chance for the championship?

:01:20. > :01:26.Focused on the road ahead. A road that has turned the tide of

:01:26. > :01:31.expectation once before. This title is drifting from Fernando Alonso.

:01:31. > :01:36.Sebastian Vettel wins in Abu Dhabi to be drivers' champion fo' for

:01:36. > :01:39.2010. Thank you boys. What a remarkable story it has been for

:01:39. > :01:43.Fernando Alonso. Where has Sebastian Vettel found this

:01:43. > :01:48.incredible pace from? Fernando Alonso has driven especially once

:01:48. > :01:54.again. Sebastian Vettel has disappeared. Alonso staying in that

:01:54. > :02:04.Championship hunt. The neon glare of the Championship looms large.

:02:04. > :02:10.

:02:10. > :02:13.But for whom? Welcome to Abu Dhabi. You are getting a sense of deja vu?

:02:13. > :02:18.We are been here before. Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel, vying

:02:18. > :02:22.for the title, round the Tarmac of Abu Dhabi. As the fans learned on

:02:22. > :02:26.that occasion when these two are involved, you have to expect the

:02:26. > :02:29.unexpected. Welcome to live coverage of qualifying for the Abu

:02:29. > :02:33.Dhabi Grand Prix. It will be a special one. It is important, not

:02:33. > :02:37.just because it is difficult to overtake round these streets, but

:02:37. > :02:42.with three races left it is an important sefplgts every time you

:02:42. > :02:48.head out on to the tar Mac, a dumb of our mates, and we have decided

:02:48. > :02:51.to start outside Ferrari to see how exhausted the mechanics are looking.

:02:51. > :02:54.They have done what we call breaking the curfew, explain that.

:02:54. > :03:01.There is an agreement in place mainly to stop mechanics having to

:03:01. > :03:05.work round-the-clock, that you must leave the circuit for six hours in

:03:05. > :03:10.any given period, and their desire to compete for this Championship

:03:10. > :03:14.has seen them work and break that curfew two nights in a row: There

:03:14. > :03:18.is a very strong and strict gentleman's agreement, and I am

:03:19. > :03:23.surprised that the FIA, well they are not taking any action at the

:03:24. > :03:27.moment. But you are not supposed to have them back-to-back. You can

:03:27. > :03:32.have a breach of the curfew rule once and maybe some other time in

:03:32. > :03:35.the future. Two together is unheard of. We will see if there is any

:03:35. > :03:39.ramifications later. It's a good message to the rest of the pit lane

:03:39. > :03:43.these guys are doing everything they can, including possibly

:03:43. > :03:51.bending the rules slightly to take this fight to Red Bull. Do you

:03:51. > :03:55.blame them? They exist to win. Pat Fry the technical director was

:03:55. > :04:00.having a conversation about some part of the body work which shows

:04:00. > :04:04.the details they are looking at as they go into the qualifying session

:04:04. > :04:07.which will start in a 45 minutes. We have had Red Bull coming here

:04:07. > :04:11.with wonderful memories. You have working with -- worked with drivers

:04:11. > :04:15.and understand the psychology, will it make a difference this is the

:04:15. > :04:20.place he won his first title? Absolutely. He is walking on water

:04:20. > :04:27.at the moment and every thing he does turns to gold. The streets are

:04:27. > :04:31.paved with gold for him. He has alluded to. He can do no wrong. He

:04:31. > :04:37.is part of the Hallowe'en party, he is doing everything right. Good

:04:37. > :04:41.luck to him and Fernando Alonso, both of them going today. That is

:04:41. > :04:46.the team with plenty of focus, you can see, once again the fans

:04:46. > :04:49.turning out. They get a good treat here. They tend to be involved in a

:04:49. > :04:53.Championship battle and we are making our way to Red Bull who this

:04:53. > :04:56.weekend hope to wrap up that constructors title. It is difficult

:04:56. > :05:00.to remember there are 24 men out on track in Formula One, because all

:05:00. > :05:09.the talk has been about two, and we will talk to them before qualifying

:05:09. > :05:13.gets going. Two years ago we won the championship here, one of the

:05:13. > :05:19.first things I did was come back to the office, switch the computer on

:05:19. > :05:24.and check whether it really happened P -- happened. I think it

:05:24. > :05:32.is still very open and in this moment we will see the strongest

:05:32. > :05:36.Ferrari and strongest Alonso of the year. And there it is. The car that

:05:36. > :05:40.has won the last four grand pee in Formula One. This weekend it wants

:05:40. > :05:45.to make it five on the spirpbgs after that domination in Delhi. We

:05:45. > :05:50.have taken the Grand Prix, mated it about 90 seconds long, added

:05:50. > :06:00.musicians, it still doesn't look like a classic but it is a bit

:06:00. > :06:03.

:06:03. > :06:07.better. Mind you not that this team Mark Webber is going on the attack.

:06:07. > :06:12.Vettel trying to cover it but Vettel gets into the first corner

:06:12. > :06:18.ahead. Alonso is in the slip stream. The attack comes from McLaren on

:06:18. > :06:25.both side. They both go round Alonso. He is a wily old fox. Is it

:06:25. > :06:30.going to make it? There is Schumacher with the tyre shredded.

:06:30. > :06:38.Onboard with Alonso. Look at the speed difference he has over the

:06:38. > :06:43.McLaren, he sweeps past Button. Here comes Hamilton, he is going to

:06:43. > :06:52.overtake Jensen Button. Perez clipped the front wing. Perez is

:06:52. > :06:58.out of the Grand Prix. Kimi Raikkonen sweeps round the outside.

:06:58. > :07:04.Tries to get the inside line. has handed the advantage back to

:07:04. > :07:09.Massa. Felipe Massa gets in front of the Lotus. Maldonado has the

:07:09. > :07:15.inside line, he touched his front wing. Oh puncture, puncture on

:07:15. > :07:20.Maldonado. Vettel was caught out. Almost piling into the back of him.

:07:20. > :07:27.Here is Hamilton in for his stop. He is in for his hard tyres. That

:07:27. > :07:33.was superslick. Fernando Alonso has taken second place from Mark Webber.

:07:33. > :07:38.Suddenly, where did that come from? Does Webber have a problem?

:07:38. > :07:45.Sebastian Vettel is going to do it. He is going the win all four races

:07:45. > :07:48.in Asia. Not great but I am sure you will agree a bit better, four

:07:48. > :07:53.genuine overtakes all race and these are the headlines after that

:07:53. > :07:58.race. The leader -- lead now extending to 13 points. Kimi

:07:58. > :08:08.Raikkonen can win the title but he must start winning races. Lewis

:08:08. > :08:17.

:08:17. > :08:20.you know, we have had such excitement, all the way through,

:08:20. > :08:23.the season up to then, it was a disappointment. Particularly for

:08:23. > :08:27.India, because they have embraced Formula One and they are making a

:08:27. > :08:30.real effort to make it a very big race in the calendar, so let us

:08:30. > :08:37.hope the future is bright for them, but you are right, it was a bit of

:08:37. > :08:42.a yawn, most of the way through it. Did you manage to stay up for it?.

:08:42. > :08:47.Some I did nod off, but you do that at my age. Of course you do, not

:08:47. > :08:50.the answer we wanted. Bruno Senna is with us. Bruno, we would like to

:08:50. > :08:57.say congratulationss for that drive in India, it was a race long battle

:08:57. > :09:01.with Rosberg, but you won it. it was a good race, the mistake in

:09:01. > :09:06.qualifying cost me a lot, which was upsetting, but the race was very

:09:06. > :09:10.strong, and I got a point for that, so hopefully going to get some

:09:10. > :09:15.points again. So that is eight points compared to your team-mate

:09:15. > :09:19.who got three. Do you think that is enough to keep you in the sport for

:09:19. > :09:24.next year. For sure having strong races gives people in the team a

:09:24. > :09:28.good point of view, but you need to get everything together to be

:09:28. > :09:33.Formula One World Champion, if you are content with less than that

:09:33. > :09:39.there is no point in being here. You must be looking at alternatives

:09:39. > :09:42.and other team, it is very finely poised. You don't have a contact

:09:42. > :09:48.for next year at this time. How much encouragement does that give

:09:48. > :09:52.you to find another team? Think you always have to have option, if you

:09:52. > :09:56.are with one option you are in a difficult position, but, you know,

:09:56. > :10:00.the important thing for a driver, is to focus on the work he has to

:10:00. > :10:05.do, if I start to think about that sort of stuff too much, you start

:10:05. > :10:12.struggling more on the track, so I keep it for my management to be on

:10:12. > :10:17.the options, and I am cool there. Have they started the chat, asked

:10:17. > :10:26.questions of Williams next year? think the question has been asked

:10:26. > :10:31.from the first race. Two This is another Hermann Tilke designed

:10:31. > :10:36.track. Can you talk us a bit about what it feels the drive here. There

:10:36. > :10:40.isn't as many high speed challenges: It is more like

:10:41. > :10:45.Valencia where you have low speed awkward corner, that I don't think

:10:45. > :10:48.any car like, you have to kind of set your car up for them, but, you

:10:48. > :10:51.know, it's the same change for anybody, and you have to develop

:10:51. > :10:58.your kind of direction, try to make the car work as well as possible,

:10:58. > :11:04.for sure, I am much more in favour of the old classics, even India, it

:11:04. > :11:08.is a nice track, I hope we see more of those or street circuits on the

:11:08. > :11:12.calendar. We can't avoid the question, we are heading for Brazil,

:11:13. > :11:17.are you excited? Yes, on the home Grand Prix you have this extra

:11:17. > :11:22.excitement on you, the first time I raced there, it was in 2010. I

:11:22. > :11:25.never raced in Brazil before, and I think that was the first time I

:11:25. > :11:29.felt this real push from the crowd, and last year was the same thing,

:11:29. > :11:34.it was good, a good qualifying effort last year, so there is

:11:34. > :11:38.always the little extra when you go home. Even though Brazilian

:11:38. > :11:43.supporters are very demanding, you always want to deliver the best.

:11:43. > :11:47.And briefly top ten nais the car, we saw in India, do you have it

:11:47. > :11:51.here? I think so, Pastor has been good in the last few practise

:11:51. > :11:55.session, had trouble with brakes and today, we are trying to soirt

:11:55. > :12:00.out, so big time florsz me in terms of practise, but, well, we are

:12:00. > :12:04.going to have to try and make the best we can. Keep asking questions

:12:04. > :12:10.of the car and your management can keep asking questions of the team.

:12:10. > :12:15.That is how it works. So three races left for Bruno in 2012. One

:12:15. > :12:22.is in Brazil and the other is in North America. Austin tex a we are

:12:22. > :12:32.going there next after Abu Dhabi. Despite a busy schedule, David

:12:32. > :12:37.

:12:37. > :12:43.still found time to head to Austin Texas. It is hot here. I'm going to

:12:43. > :12:52.take you on a tour of the circuit of Americas. It doesn't look like

:12:52. > :12:58.we on a round about in Milton Keynes, does it? Howdy partner.

:12:58. > :13:08.Here we go. Circuit of Americas. First drive. Well, we did it once

:13:08. > :13:11.

:13:11. > :13:18.in dust. A new experience, crazy ride, great circuit. Let us do wit

:13:18. > :13:22.a bit of Tarmac. This isn't some comet designed race track, it is

:13:22. > :13:29.deintiend people who have raced round the circuits of the world.

:13:29. > :13:33.You are in Austin Texas. Hold on to to your hat. Up into turn one, a

:13:33. > :13:37.huge amount of elevation change. Dip down into the apex. This will

:13:37. > :13:41.invite people to dive down the inside and create and overtaking

:13:41. > :13:46.opportunity, through too this fast sec shurpbgs which has been built

:13:46. > :13:50.to replicate this section of Silverstone, let us call it the

:13:50. > :13:56.Silverstone connection with Texas, this is the Austin Powers part of

:13:56. > :14:01.the Formula One track. It is groovy baby. Coner after beautiful corner.

:14:02. > :14:05.The smile on the drivers' face, you will see the grin coming out

:14:05. > :14:09.through the crash helmets by the time they get to the end of this

:14:09. > :14:13.section. Up into turn eight, through nine and the flat out kink

:14:13. > :14:18.which will be ten, into turn 11. They have increased the inside of

:14:18. > :14:22.the circuit there, to promote and encourage people to go down the

:14:22. > :14:28.inside. You come out of 11 on this long, almost a kilometre straight

:14:28. > :14:35.into turn 12. You couldn't be in America without dianyland. I will

:14:35. > :14:38.cut the kerb there. That is how I roll. Turn 1314, why even bother

:14:39. > :14:46.laying that Tarmac, turn 15 doesn't exist and then you have another

:14:46. > :14:51.first gear corner. Too tight really for a Grand Prix car but into the

:14:51. > :14:55.long multiple apex. The Turkish delight. Braked too early. I have

:14:55. > :14:59.been overtaken by the entire field, and the safety car, that is

:14:59. > :15:05.worrying! Then it starts to open out into turn 19, just before the

:15:05. > :15:09.pit lane and down into a straightforward 90 left, out on to

:15:09. > :15:16.the start-finish straight. Look at that incredible Grandstand. It will

:15:16. > :15:21.be full of Daisy Dukes and JR Ewing. Past the all you can eat buffet.

:15:21. > :15:26.Very important in America. This is Austin baby. Formula One is so much

:15:26. > :15:31.more difficult than when I used to do it. We used to have time for a

:15:31. > :15:41.sandwich, wave to a crowd. Now they are a handful to drive. Don't panic,

:15:41. > :15:42.

:15:42. > :15:49.and oh, I have spun. Austin, we this been been Bracher some unhappy

:15:49. > :15:53.memories? -- Did the spin bring back some unhappy memories.

:15:53. > :15:58.Absolutely. I don't think you should do to many auditions for a

:15:58. > :16:03.Texan part in a movie. I can't really do an accent. There were so

:16:03. > :16:06.many cliches. But this circuit, you can see the wonderful white tower,

:16:06. > :16:11.this is the flag-bearer for modern Formula One tracks, but it doesn't

:16:11. > :16:16.give us the buzz and excitement be like from the racing. Having driven

:16:16. > :16:21.it on dust and Tarmac, what do you think of it? Will it work? I think

:16:21. > :16:25.it will, it will have all of the flavour that we didn't -- we saw in

:16:25. > :16:28.India, and a lot of people talk excitedly about the Indian track

:16:28. > :16:33.and I think we will see that here, the opening section will put a

:16:33. > :16:36.smile on your face. We love the buzz of Formula One and getting up

:16:36. > :16:41.close and personal with the cast, the Updates and the battles for the

:16:41. > :16:47.titles and it is not something that the Americans have yet been able to

:16:47. > :16:53.grasp. We can't have another bad PR experience, can we? Way back in

:16:53. > :16:57.time, when we decided to go back to Indianapolis, the criteria was that

:16:58. > :17:01.if you want a global player, to be a global player, to be in that

:17:01. > :17:07.exalted position, we need to be in America, and all of the sponsors

:17:07. > :17:13.and tins requested. We are back there again. You are spot on, this

:17:13. > :17:17.has to be 100% brilliant, and I think it will be. I think the new

:17:17. > :17:21.emerging Formula One, people in America are beginning to say this

:17:21. > :17:26.is exciting and this is what they want to see, Bring It On. To add to

:17:26. > :17:30.that, they have got the Governor behind it. In Monza, he was doing

:17:30. > :17:34.the rounds. Indianapolis was a great venue but we didn't really

:17:34. > :17:40.get the local support. It is important to get the fans onside

:17:40. > :17:43.but has also to get the teams. Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull,

:17:43. > :17:48.three of the biggest global brands, they have a habit working for the

:17:48. > :17:52.business side as much as racing? Behind all of these themes are a

:17:52. > :17:55.whole squad of accountants and bean-counters and they want to see

:17:56. > :18:02.value-for-money, and they will not allow budgets to be spent like this

:18:02. > :18:06.and that it is justified, it is simple mathematics. -- unless it is

:18:06. > :18:12.justified. Bernice said that after last race, there might be less

:18:12. > :18:15.races in Europe, chasing the money -- Bernie. There is nobody who can

:18:15. > :18:22.dispute anything like that with him, because in terms of a visionary, he

:18:22. > :18:26.is the apse -- alter that crusader. What about the fans? The teams have

:18:26. > :18:30.to be paid for and they will be watching it on television. You are

:18:30. > :18:34.talking about a very select few who are able to come to Grand Prix like

:18:34. > :18:38.this, most people enjoy it in their living room and those are the

:18:38. > :18:43.people he is trying to look after. It is easier if the races are in

:18:43. > :18:50.Germany, France and Belgium rather than China and ABBA that be. But he

:18:50. > :18:53.is Ben Edwards at the latest news - - and Abu Dhabi, but he is Ben

:18:53. > :19:03.Edwards are the latest news and why it is more expensive than ever to

:19:03. > :19:03.

:19:03. > :19:06.at claiming the constructors' title. The team lit by 91 points and to be

:19:06. > :19:11.absolutely sure, they need to be 87 ahead by the end of the weekend --

:19:11. > :19:14.lead by. Mark Webber thinks it could be the most impressive win.

:19:14. > :19:18.We have put a huge amount of work into it. Because we were rocked a

:19:18. > :19:22.little bit earlier when we had the run of results we had, and that we

:19:22. > :19:26.had the uncharted waters, it was choppy seas for a while and to come

:19:26. > :19:30.back out of that is very good for the team. While the constructors'

:19:30. > :19:35.title is the aim, it could prove expensive. FIA has notified the

:19:35. > :19:45.teams of a hike in entry fees which will be proportional to success. To

:19:45. > :19:52.

:19:52. > :19:57.masters of next season as he has been announced as a Sauber driver,

:19:57. > :20:01.but as yet, no news on his potential team mate. Toro Rosso

:20:01. > :20:04.have resigned Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne, while Kimi

:20:05. > :20:08.Raikkonen has been confirmed at Lotus for another year. Having

:20:08. > :20:12.driven for McLaren and Ferrari in the past, he values the strength of

:20:12. > :20:17.his current team. It is a good solid group of people and they have

:20:17. > :20:22.a big passion about the racing and a little bit less of the politics

:20:22. > :20:27.and the other stuff. It is just a good atmosphere and of course, it

:20:27. > :20:32.helps when you have good results, or better than last year, so it

:20:32. > :20:35.makes it a bit more fun. The Indian Grand Prix saw the

:20:35. > :20:41.fastest lap set at the end of the race by Jenson Button, as the

:20:41. > :20:47.McLaren flew on the harder tyre. Can the team bring that pace to

:20:47. > :20:51.Guizhou ash tree Abu Dhabi? It is different in tents of degradation -

:20:51. > :20:55.- in terms of degradation. Here, it is the rear. When it is a limited

:20:55. > :20:58.circuit, we are a bit stronger, I hope.

:20:58. > :21:01.Finally, Lewis Hamilton looks relaxed as he can stand his final

:21:02. > :21:07.races with McLaren, but is he concerned that Mercedes hadn't

:21:07. > :21:11.scored any point since his contract was announced -- is he concerned?

:21:11. > :21:14.It doesn't bother me. I am really excited to go there. People are

:21:14. > :21:18.always asking different questions about it but I feel fantastic about

:21:19. > :21:23.the decision and I fell massively excited about working with new

:21:23. > :21:27.people -- I feel massively excited. It is a fantastic team, they have

:21:27. > :21:31.lost their way a little bit at the moment but I am going to go and try

:21:31. > :21:35.and help them find their way. There you go, a fantastic team,

:21:35. > :21:41.Lewis Hamilton describes Mercedes as. Ross Brawn is alongside us, why

:21:41. > :21:45.have you not manage to find your way this season? We had a pretty

:21:45. > :21:50.strong start at the beginning and when we took a step back last year

:21:50. > :21:55.and had a look at the team, we felt it just wasn't strong enough. We

:21:55. > :21:58.could always dip in, but we had to be consistent. We had a fade -- Mac

:21:58. > :22:03.fairly major restructuring towards the end of last year and we have

:22:03. > :22:11.everyone in place now. That included revamping some of the

:22:11. > :22:15.facilities and some of the issues that other time -- that other teams

:22:15. > :22:20.have had, like the wind tunnel, that has an impact. We know we have

:22:20. > :22:25.a lot of extra responsibility now with Lewis joining us. Does that

:22:25. > :22:29.the way it -- is that the way it feels when you lose Michael

:22:29. > :22:35.Schumacher for Lewis Hamilton? have extra responsibility to

:22:35. > :22:40.perform as we want to, so we are having a little bit of a quiet

:22:40. > :22:44.smile -- quiet spell at the moment. Well done on getting Lewis, he is

:22:44. > :22:48.excited about coming to the team. What did you say to him to convince

:22:48. > :22:54.him to leave McLaren to come to you? We were very honest with him

:22:54. > :22:58.about where we were and what we were doing and what our plans were.

:22:58. > :23:01.Obviously, I spent some time with him, the senior engineers and

:23:01. > :23:06.technical directors from the engine and chassis group spent time with

:23:06. > :23:14.Lewis, and I think he was excited about the prospect. It is going to

:23:15. > :23:17.be pretty challenging, but as a driver, I think you are... The

:23:17. > :23:26.excitement of trying a different team and seeing how you fit in and

:23:26. > :23:32.watch you could infants and how you can change things is compelling. --

:23:32. > :23:37.and what you can influence?. will be working hard to get that

:23:37. > :23:41.kind to the top 10, we look forward to seeing you in qualifying. Sir

:23:41. > :23:45.Michael Schumacher's swapping places with Lewis Hamilton, Michael

:23:45. > :23:50.Schumacher is looking at his final three races in Formula One and at

:23:50. > :23:56.the same time, looking for a hat- trick of races, hat-trick of titles,

:23:56. > :24:00.the man who was so inspired by him. We are celebrating your 90 Knight

:24:00. > :24:10.Grand Prix, we know that is an important number for Germans. -- 99

:24:10. > :24:18.

:24:18. > :24:27.for. You even have that special anthem.

:24:27. > :24:34.MUSIC: "99 Red Balloons". It is a crazy number, it sounds a

:24:34. > :24:40.lot. 90 nine-times that the lights went off, 99 times a chequered flag.

:24:40. > :24:44.You don't realise how quickly time goes by, if I look back now and

:24:44. > :24:50.think of the year I started going into racing, 2007, it doesn't feel

:24:50. > :24:57.into racing, 2007, it doesn't feel into racing, 2007, it doesn't feel

:24:57. > :25:01.champion. When you got that first

:25:01. > :25:06.championship, it was like a role reversal, you were the one chasing.

:25:06. > :25:10.When you came in today, did you have any memories of that and does

:25:10. > :25:17.that emotion carry on when you revisit a track? It is so different

:25:17. > :25:21.to when I won here. They have been so many races here, so many things

:25:21. > :25:26.happening, that it is quite far away as well. When I wake up in the

:25:26. > :25:35.morning now, all I think of is now, really, not what happened two years

:25:35. > :25:42.ago, so I am not making sure I get the same room, etc. You are not

:25:42. > :25:46.superstitious. From 2010, to that. Now, have you changed as a driver,

:25:46. > :25:50.are you tougher as a person? think that have learned a lot. It

:25:50. > :25:57.is the same for the team, I think it made a sort of fare in a way,

:25:57. > :26:01.but I think we have not changed, the spirit hasn't changed. -- sort

:26:01. > :26:05.of tougher. I have said it many times, when I was a young kid, I

:26:05. > :26:10.was dreaming of Formula One and once I realise I am racing in

:26:10. > :26:17.Formula One, the ultimate dream is to win the championship, and having

:26:17. > :26:20.achieved that two years ago was, again, so far away that one of the

:26:20. > :26:25.first things I actually did after the race, I remember, was come back

:26:25. > :26:32.to the office, switch the computer arm and check whether it really

:26:32. > :26:35.happened -- switch the computer on. For me, it has been the ultimate

:26:35. > :26:45.goal, and probably the most important thing I wanted to achieve

:26:45. > :26:46.

:26:46. > :26:50.in my life. Now, having proven that to mostly myself, I think that this

:26:50. > :26:56.helping this year. Knowing you can do it, but equally knowing that it

:26:56. > :27:00.takes a lot of small steps to achieve that. Success can build up

:27:00. > :27:03.to race wins which builds up to Championships. We showed you a

:27:04. > :27:07.video last year, when you joined the very exclusive club of back-to-

:27:07. > :27:12.back winners and it put it here in your eye, it is fair to say. You

:27:12. > :27:17.could be about to join an even more exclusive club of three that are

:27:17. > :27:21.back with us, which only so far would be Michael Schumacher --

:27:21. > :27:24.three back-to-back winners. How you feel about that? It is the dream,

:27:24. > :27:28.but it is so far away that you don't even dare to dream about

:27:28. > :27:34.those things, it is much healthier to live the moment.

:27:34. > :27:38.I predict a few tears if he makes a hat-trick. You'd still of onto the

:27:38. > :27:43.internet and check those glorious winners of the 90s -- be used to

:27:43. > :27:47.log onto the Internet? I don't think so, it is a distant memory!

:27:47. > :27:50.This is a driver who is showing his emotion. Not many drivers will come

:27:50. > :27:54.out and say that because it might be interpreted as weakness, and the

:27:54. > :27:57.reason I say that is because he should have had the inner

:27:57. > :28:00.confidence that he knew he was going to be the champion and I

:28:00. > :28:05.didn't necessarily like what he said. I think he is fantastically

:28:05. > :28:09.aware of what he is achieving. We will talk to Lewis Hamilton Seun

:28:09. > :28:13.and he -- in that chat, he reveals it does not see himself in that

:28:13. > :28:17.category. You seem to get less plaudits were dominating qualifying

:28:17. > :28:22.and disappearing in the race. He has not been exalted as much as

:28:22. > :28:27.Fernando Alonso this season. hasn't been around as long as

:28:27. > :28:31.Fernando Alonso, so he hasn't got that history and all the various

:28:31. > :28:35.controversies, but also the fact that Lewis has been in the same

:28:35. > :28:39.team as Fernando, he has been able to look at the date and understand

:28:39. > :28:45.his weaknesses and he does not know that about Sebastian, which is why

:28:45. > :28:49.he puts Fernando on a higher stage. And perhaps the match -- mental

:28:49. > :28:52.strength of Fernando Alonso may be important. The man he would has the

:28:52. > :28:57.car behind us may have the advantage, but it has not dented

:28:57. > :29:01.the confidence of Alonso one bit, as he told Lee McKenzie.

:29:01. > :29:10.Fernando Alonso takes the victory in the Malaysian Grand Prix.

:29:10. > :29:16.Fernando Alonso is the first Grand Prix winner of 2012! Fernando

:29:16. > :29:19.Alonso takes his third win of 2012! Fernando, at the bespoken India,

:29:19. > :29:25.you said you were certain you would still win this championship. Is

:29:25. > :29:29.that psychology or a true belief? It is a true belief. I think

:29:29. > :29:36.Sebastian is on a very good run at the four consecutive wins, but we

:29:36. > :29:41.have seen this year, it is open for everybody. He is continuing to go

:29:41. > :29:45.up but I think things will change and we will get some extra speed

:29:45. > :29:50.over these races and hopefully, he will not have such easy weekends in

:29:50. > :29:56.the next races and we will put some pressure on and before too long, we

:29:56. > :30:00.will get the win. You mentioned Adrian Newey last week, saying we

:30:00. > :30:03.were racing against him as well. You feel at this stage of the

:30:03. > :30:10.championship that Red Bull is stronger than Ferrari? It is not

:30:10. > :30:14.that I think that, it is that fact. I am just thinking that, all free

:30:14. > :30:18.practice, qualifying, races, Red Bull dominate, so it is something

:30:18. > :30:23.that is may be similar to last year in a way, but in this year, we are

:30:23. > :30:29.not 100 points behind, we are 13, so I think it is still very open

:30:29. > :30:33.and in this moment, we will see the strongest Ferrara and -- Ferrari

:30:33. > :30:37.and the strongest Alonso of the year. What do you think you have

:30:37. > :30:43.that Vettel doesn't that will be new the Championship? At the moment,

:30:43. > :30:49.the statistics should play in our favour. We had two zeroes in Spa

:30:49. > :30:52.and one in Suzuka, we know the mistakes and we have recovered so

:30:53. > :30:57.many points and before long, they will come back. You are but double

:30:57. > :31:02.world champions, but do you feel you have been in more battles and

:31:02. > :31:08.are a more experienced driver? think last year and this year, in a

:31:08. > :31:13.way for me, have been the best years. It is the first time

:31:13. > :31:17.everyone agrees that my performance as my own work, which I didn't

:31:17. > :31:19.achieve when I was world champion. Everyone agrees on something, so I

:31:19. > :31:26.am very proud of myself and hopefully I can win the

:31:26. > :31:29.championship, but anyway, this year is quite amazing. We are in this

:31:29. > :31:33.crazy fairground of Ferrari World, what would it mean to win a

:31:33. > :31:40.championship for Ferrari? It means a lot when you drive for Ferrari,

:31:40. > :31:44.because there are not many people able to achieve their dream and if

:31:44. > :31:49.you even do a little bit more, like winning should -- the championship,

:31:49. > :31:56.it will remain all of your life with you, so I hope I can achieve

:31:56. > :31:59.this. Will you be world champion, 2012? I think so, but this is a

:31:59. > :32:05.sport, so you never know. Sometimes your first, sometimes you are

:32:05. > :32:10.second, or fifth, this is the duty of sport. But the battle will be

:32:10. > :32:20.until the end and that is amazing for the people and for us. Banks,

:32:20. > :32:20.

:32:20. > :32:25.drives that inspired the team back at base? There is always one that

:32:25. > :32:31.crops up. Who was it for you? think initially, in the early days

:32:31. > :32:37.was Johnny Herbert, then different people, when you came into Formula

:32:37. > :32:43.One there was different people, and I think I would have to give cred

:32:43. > :32:47.it to a driver in our first year. He finished fifth in the

:32:47. > :32:50.Championship. They were heady days, so I would give a lot of credit to

:32:50. > :32:55.the younger one, they believe in themselves, awe of those drives

:32:55. > :33:00.know what they are doing. Saying I believe 100% we can win the title,

:33:00. > :33:05.does that make a difference to the guys working until midnight or do

:33:05. > :33:11.they do the extra half an hour instead of early lunch? It is way

:33:11. > :33:15.he puts it across, he knows he is indirectly saying, guys you have to

:33:15. > :33:20.deliver like I have done. He has been, in my opinion and wow have

:33:20. > :33:25.heard Lewis talk about it, the reason he is revered by other

:33:25. > :33:30.drives is he has made supersuch a good job out of an average car. I

:33:30. > :33:35.think he has don proved, now he is asking even to back him up. He has

:33:35. > :33:38.managed to get four podiums in the last five race, he hasn'tn't won

:33:38. > :33:41.but that doesn't matter. He keeps notching up the points and the

:33:41. > :33:46.points are there. He is still within touch. Who knows what is

:33:46. > :33:50.going to happen. We all thought four races ago he was going to win,

:33:50. > :33:55.but now he is struggling. But he points to the fact that he is going

:33:55. > :33:59.on the average of luck and he is saying, this cannot continue. With

:33:59. > :34:02.Vettel. It has to be my turn to get the up side soon, he is hoping

:34:02. > :34:07.beyond hope it is here. I am sure they will dream of the fact that

:34:07. > :34:12.Red Bull didn't score a point in Monza, but let us focus on Red Bull

:34:12. > :34:16.for a moment. Hopefully Christian Horner will join us in a moment. I

:34:16. > :34:22.can see him as they attack their fifth race win on the spin. But the

:34:22. > :34:25.law of averages say can that he continue? If ever there was the

:34:25. > :34:28.possibility of it to continue, you would say Red Bull are the team do

:34:28. > :34:34.that, because they have made the change, the transformation from

:34:34. > :34:41.where they were, I use the word floundering, they didn't know where

:34:41. > :34:45.they were. I think... I have been spoking so badly about you! If you

:34:45. > :34:51.will indulge us for a moment, we were discussing Fernando Alonso.

:34:51. > :34:55.Within your team, who do you fear more Ferrari as a team or Fernando

:34:55. > :34:58.Alonso as a individual? He is a remarkable bloke. He is a

:34:58. > :35:03.remarkable bloke. But you have to have all the things round you, you

:35:03. > :35:07.have to have a good car, a good engine, you have to have a group of

:35:07. > :35:11.people in the factory doing their bit as well, because, you know, one

:35:11. > :35:17.individual isn't enough, you know, otherwise he could drive a, you

:35:17. > :35:23.know, a Marussia and be at the front. This isn't as easy as that.

:35:23. > :35:28.I am not sure even he could do that! Was India a turning point?

:35:28. > :35:32.You think you have turned a screw on Ferrari, don't you. It was

:35:32. > :35:35.unimaginable to think after the summer break to think we would be

:35:35. > :35:39.13 points ahead. We keep that momentum going and three to Gorkss

:35:39. > :35:43.there is only 13 points between the two of them, but we need to keep

:35:43. > :35:47.that momentum rolling. Has it been an issue free weekend? There was a

:35:47. > :35:53.problem with Mark's car and today Seb went without four-and-a-half

:35:53. > :35:57.minutes of the final practise. Still went third fastest. McLaren

:35:57. > :36:02.looked quick, this lay out and, you know it seems to suit the

:36:02. > :36:06.characteristics of their car, but I think Sebastian had an issue, he

:36:06. > :36:11.had some air in the brake system which gives the driver a long pedal.

:36:11. > :36:16.It is important we had that fixed. He had enough time to get a run on

:36:16. > :36:21.the softer tyre which will be the kicker -- quicker tyre. Can you

:36:21. > :36:25.take pole? It will be difficult. We will need something special.

:36:25. > :36:30.priority is to make sure they are in front of Ferrari. If you are

:36:30. > :36:33.wondering where David Coulthard is, he with another team boss. Less

:36:33. > :36:36.than 15 minutes to qualifying. Looking to see if you have

:36:36. > :36:40.bloodshot eyes because your guys have been working round-the-clock.

:36:40. > :36:44.It sun usual. I don't think you have broken a curfew one, you have

:36:44. > :36:49.done it twice. Is that one big effort for the Championship?

:36:49. > :36:55.second one was a mistakes, one of our guys that came earlier, so

:36:55. > :36:59.nothing, to create a fuss. It was a mistake. He was not able to sleep

:36:59. > :37:03.and he came over earlier, 20 minutes, the other one is the first

:37:03. > :37:08.time we did it as Red Bull did in the past. We tried to maximise the

:37:08. > :37:11.time we have, it is, you know, it is a sporting challenge that we

:37:11. > :37:16.need to take up to the maximum, and it seems that here for example for

:37:16. > :37:22.what we have seen up to now, Red Bull is very strong and McLaren, it

:37:22. > :37:27.was very fast, and, we were, I would say on the average side, so

:37:27. > :37:31.let us hope we can put together a lap in qualifying. As always for us

:37:31. > :37:35.that is the weakest point, and we will try, and that is the approach

:37:35. > :37:38.we will have. It doesn't seem maybe you are really confident going into

:37:38. > :37:41.qualifying. I know you don't like to look back, you have been round a

:37:41. > :37:45.long time. If I can take you back to the beginning of the season,

:37:45. > :37:48.when you were a second-and-a-half way from the pole position, do you

:37:48. > :37:52.stand here going, we are close, we maybe we can still do it, maybe we

:37:52. > :37:56.could have done it but what a relief we took this Championship

:37:56. > :38:00.battle, or do ou just stand here disappointed because Ferrari are

:38:00. > :38:05.all about winning? Yes, I think you summarised the situation, you never

:38:05. > :38:08.look back and if I have to look back I look back in a shorter time

:38:08. > :38:13.when we lost 50 points in two races where we didn't score anything

:38:13. > :38:17.because we were out, but that is part of the game, we need to cons

:38:17. > :38:23.trait on the future, and we are in a situation where our main

:38:23. > :38:26.competitor is in front of us and we try to, you know, to be as smooth

:38:26. > :38:29.as possible, in order to challenge their actual leadership, and this

:38:29. > :38:36.is the thing what we have to do, today, tomorrow and the next races.

:38:36. > :38:40.All the fans want this Championship to go to Brazil, so good luck.

:38:40. > :38:44.too. Back to you. I am not sure that Christian is going to indulge

:38:44. > :38:49.him in that way. I am living the life of a Formula One driver for a

:38:49. > :38:56.couple of seconds. Lewis Hamilton will leave that room behind us,

:38:56. > :38:59.these beautiful buildings. He will make his way down here and into the

:38:59. > :39:03.back of the McLaren garage and into his car. This is as close as I can

:39:03. > :39:09.get. There is a man who looking stronger and tougher than me

:39:09. > :39:13.preventing me, my dream of driving in Formula One end now. Lewis

:39:13. > :39:19.Hamilton will look for success, what are the secrets of this

:39:19. > :39:25.circuit? He shared them with David Coulthard. I would rather do it

:39:25. > :39:30.myself. Shall we take a wee wander. Where is our car? We don't want to

:39:30. > :39:36.go down there. Here we are at first corner. This could be the scene of

:39:36. > :39:40.World Championship deciders. Here comes Lewis Hamilton. You attack it

:39:40. > :39:44.with such great speed, even though you a long straight you want to

:39:44. > :39:47.keep your minimum speed up. This part of the track will be

:39:47. > :39:51.spectacular. Get on DRS, ride as much of the kerb as possible. Try

:39:51. > :39:56.do that section flat out. I aim to destroy the corner, you know, own

:39:56. > :40:03.it. I have to tell you the Sheikh owns this corner, he has a lot more

:40:03. > :40:07.money. Shall we check out the rest of the track. So we stop here in

:40:07. > :40:11.the heart of turn three. Pit lane out, you can't see anything, in

:40:11. > :40:15.terms of the other cars. No come back on the track, you are on the

:40:15. > :40:19.dirty side of the circuit. It is tricky. Look at the head wind you

:40:19. > :40:28.have here, the downforce you will have coming through this corner is

:40:28. > :40:33.like the wind tunnel. I think here we are 280, 290. Can you see how

:40:33. > :40:42.tight it is. It is megatight. are naturally directing the

:40:42. > :40:46.cameraman. Have you ever thought about directing movies? You can see

:40:46. > :40:49.down to turn ten seven, which is this natural am theatre, are you

:40:49. > :40:55.aware of the crowd as you are going round the hairpin? Yes, you can see

:40:55. > :41:02.all the crowd, as you come out of turn sense you see the screen and

:41:02. > :41:05.you catch a glimpse and you can see lonseend where everyone is.

:41:05. > :41:10.Interesting you mention Alonso and Vettel, is that because they are

:41:10. > :41:14.the guys who are going wheel to wheel with you, in ters of how you

:41:15. > :41:21.see natural talent? They are the ones at the top and they are the

:41:21. > :41:25.ones I have to keep my eye on. Do I put interestian as the same

:41:25. > :41:28.category as Alonso? I have been his tame mate. You might have to win

:41:28. > :41:33.the World Championship. You equalled him in points and you

:41:33. > :41:40.managed to scare him out of McLaren. A year early. That was a difficult

:41:40. > :41:44.year. I got in by one point. Sorry, I thought you were all square.

:41:44. > :41:51.Think it was one point. Was it one point? Because I had more wins. I

:41:51. > :41:55.did, yes. Let us check out the rest of the track. This section here,

:41:55. > :41:59.that goes under the hotel, which is a unique feature of this Grand Prix,

:41:59. > :42:03.I guess this is as close as you get to Middle East meets Monaco in

:42:03. > :42:08.terms of street circuit feeling. Yes, I guess it does. Last year you

:42:08. > :42:12.could go on the inside of that kerb, now you can't do nothing. I swear I

:42:12. > :42:17.probably had my car round here, last year. That is not going

:42:17. > :42:21.anywhere. That is a car breaker if you cut your corner. I love driving

:42:21. > :42:24.here. The atmosphere makes it what it is. We appreciate your time. We

:42:24. > :42:29.saw you directing the cameraman, you can wrap it up telling people

:42:29. > :42:33.why it is going to be a great Grand Prix. I am going to go here and

:42:33. > :42:39.here. We are here in Abu Dhabi, have some great races here, lots of

:42:39. > :42:42.Brits so I hope I can do them proud, and, I really hope that you enjoy,

:42:42. > :42:46.keep following, keep supporting an I hope that the people who do

:42:46. > :42:52.support me continue to support me in the future. Well done. You are a

:42:52. > :42:56.natural! Very nice. There you go, said supporters on a boat out here

:42:56. > :43:00.in the harbour. Fists in the air cheering on Lewis Hamilton. Loads

:43:00. > :43:03.of British fans here, but Lewis Hamilton, he is not managed to get

:43:04. > :43:08.a podium since Italy, but he looks like the happiest man in Formula

:43:08. > :43:12.One the last four races: It is like he has been released from something.

:43:13. > :43:16.McLaren. You could say McLaren but I don't want to go down that route.

:43:16. > :43:20.Yes, because he has been there so long, he is probably looking like a

:43:20. > :43:23.young boy growing up and leaving the home for the first time. They

:43:24. > :43:28.are excited bit because they want to do it on their own. He probably

:43:28. > :43:33.feels that Ron had his arm round him for so long and Martin and the

:43:33. > :43:38.team, has been successful, but he wants to be his own man. He wants

:43:38. > :43:41.to put his mark on his own career, just like Alonso when he left,

:43:41. > :43:45.having won two World Championships. He wanted to go to Ferrari. I think

:43:45. > :43:50.there is something like that, that is driving Lewis. I love you. I

:43:50. > :43:54.don't want to go down that route, that is where you then choose to go.

:43:54. > :43:58.Lewis Hamilton has looked fast in free -- practise but lots of people

:43:58. > :44:02.looking at the speed of Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso. What

:44:02. > :44:08.have we learned from free practise in Ben has learned a lot. Ferrari's

:44:08. > :44:12.pace has so far not been impressive, despite new front and rear wins

:44:12. > :44:15.Alonso has been round a second off the pace, but perhaps their

:44:15. > :44:20.experiment taition has disguised their true potential. Red Bull

:44:20. > :44:25.haven't had it all their own way. Brake problems for Vettel limited

:44:25. > :44:29.his running and he was third fastest behind McLaren, he was

:44:30. > :44:35.quickest in practise two, held in similar conditions to qualifying.

:44:35. > :44:39.McLaren is the team that might disturb the contenders. Hamilton

:44:39. > :44:43.has been rapid and Button has been close behind N the battle for pole

:44:43. > :44:51.Vettel has his work cut out but the threat appears to be coming from

:44:51. > :44:59.McLaren, not Ferrari. So what do you reckon? Ferrari, McLaren, Red

:44:59. > :45:03.Bull? McLaren looks strong and Christian Horner puts them up so

:45:03. > :45:08.four me McLaren pole. Now time for the first part of qualifying. 24

:45:08. > :45:18.men on track, who will be the first to fall? It is time for Q1 in Abu

:45:18. > :45:31.

:45:31. > :45:35.drive from Abu Dhabi city centre, goes into its fourth year as a

:45:35. > :45:39.Grand Prix venue. And the track still looks as fresh and dynamic as

:45:39. > :45:43.it did in 2009, when Lewis Hamilton took the first ever pole position

:45:43. > :45:49.here. Formula One has returned to the United Arab Emirates for the

:45:49. > :45:52.crucial leg of this 2012 Callander, and the Ferrari World theme park

:45:52. > :45:57.next to the track that gives encouragement to the Ferrari team

:45:57. > :46:01.that needs to pull something out of the back. The track is 3.4 miles.

:46:01. > :46:07.It begins with fast corners in sector one, leading to a hairpin at

:46:07. > :46:11.turn seven and then down to a tight, twisty section, and a further 11

:46:11. > :46:15.corners in the last part of the lap, weaving past the marina, beneath

:46:15. > :46:20.the hotel and back to the start- finish line. The sun is beginning

:46:20. > :46:23.to set, the temperature is dropping. We had a track temperature of

:46:23. > :46:27.around 40 degrees this morning but as we go through into evening, it

:46:27. > :46:32.is dropping down to around 31 degrees and that affects how they

:46:32. > :46:38.prepare. In terms of the weather, it is quite windy, it is gusting up

:46:38. > :46:42.to 25 kilometres per hour, and it is sitting at around 17, so a

:46:42. > :46:46.strong wind, a tail wind from your right hand side, a similar

:46:46. > :46:56.direction to before but it is gusting, so watch out for that.

:46:56. > :46:59.Sending information to Charles Pic. As we hear, that a -- the track

:46:59. > :47:04.temperature is down nine degrees. Gary is in the pits, how much does

:47:04. > :47:08.that temperature affect teams going into qualifying? It does affect the

:47:08. > :47:12.balance of the tyre and how the tyres come into play. It is always

:47:12. > :47:22.difficult with the front tyre working at the same time as the

:47:22. > :47:28.rear. This sort of slow lap, lap to, that allows the temperature to

:47:28. > :47:32.distribute around the tyres better. Then into turn one, I was watching

:47:32. > :47:37.yesterday, it is getting the tyre to work their that is really

:47:37. > :47:42.difficult and if you lose that corner, that is a problem. Every

:47:42. > :47:47.corner has to count. As we have seen, Lewis Hamilton has been right

:47:47. > :47:53.on the pace. His lap time this morning, 1: 42.1, so three-tenths

:47:53. > :47:58.quicker than Jenson Button, who was second fastest. That is the Ferrari

:47:58. > :48:03.a theme-park, it is such as an impressive facility. -- such an

:48:03. > :48:07.impressive facility. DAVID COULTHARD: Issues to be just

:48:07. > :48:10.an island, people used to come and pitch their tents and have weekend

:48:10. > :48:20.excursions, but they have created this amazing facility, everything

:48:20. > :48:25.around it. The hotels, Ferrari World, my four-year-old really

:48:25. > :48:30.enjoyed it, he passed his driving test! That is the area down to

:48:30. > :48:34.tents seven, the tightest corner. It is Abu Dhabi proudly displaying

:48:34. > :48:38.what it can put on in terms of Formula One and visitors from all

:48:39. > :48:46.over the world to catch up with the action. The point, as we see,

:48:46. > :48:50.Sebastian Vettel leading by 13 from Fernando Alonso. It is a close

:48:50. > :48:54.battle for third place in the championship now. Nico Rosberg has

:48:54. > :49:02.failed to score, as has Michael Schumacher, in the last three Grand

:49:02. > :49:05.Prix. It has been a tough time for Mercedes. Schumacher behind the

:49:05. > :49:09.likes of di Resta and Nico Hulkenberg. Hulkenberg is on a bit

:49:09. > :49:15.of a role this morning and he was quick this morning, the fifth

:49:15. > :49:22.fastest in the morning practice session. In the Constructors'

:49:22. > :49:25.Championship, Red Bull can wrap it up this weekend. They are ahead of

:49:25. > :49:30.Ferrari and McLaren but Red Bull can wrap it up with a couple of

:49:30. > :49:36.reasonable result. There the bottom of the list, the teams that have

:49:36. > :49:40.been scored, Marussia, HRT and Caterham. Everybody is now looking

:49:40. > :49:43.forward to the start of qualifying. Gary, we know there are a lot of

:49:43. > :49:47.the parts of the Ferrari this weekend, just summarise what

:49:47. > :49:54.Ferrari have brought to the track. Starting from the front of the car,

:49:54. > :50:02.a new front wing, there are actually 29 weight then forced

:50:02. > :50:12.reducing elements. Pass then forced reducing elements. The deck user

:50:12. > :50:13.

:50:13. > :50:21.has changed, -- the diffuser has changed. Alonso is using all of

:50:21. > :50:24.that. Massa hasn't got the front wing assembly. He is always playing

:50:24. > :50:27.catch-up, to be honest, but at the end of the day, it is always

:50:28. > :50:32.difficult to get the best out of the car when you keep changing it,

:50:32. > :50:36.so Ferrari may suffer a bit here. One of the unique aspects of this

:50:36. > :50:40.Abu Dhabi circuit in evidence there as they went through the tunnel to

:50:40. > :50:45.join the circuit from the pit lane and the first few cars are out onto

:50:45. > :50:49.the circuit, to give us a first indication of the pace. Gary, let's

:50:49. > :50:57.quickly come to you for that. Obviously, the aim is to be in the

:50:57. > :51:02.top 17 in Q1, what sort of pace should we be looking for? The 16th,

:51:02. > :51:07.17th and 18th over the sessions, around 44.0 would be it, but this

:51:07. > :51:11.track changes so much as it goes on. If I wanted to feel comfortable to

:51:11. > :51:14.get into the top 17, it would have to be a 43.5, to make sure you

:51:14. > :51:20.don't get sniggered at the end of the session with somebody pulling

:51:20. > :51:24.out that lap -- snookered. We have the soft, medium and hard compounds

:51:24. > :51:31.this weekend. In practice this morning, there wasn't a huge game

:51:31. > :51:36.when they went from a harder compliant to the soft. -- compound.

:51:36. > :51:40.When we looked on Friday, it depended on the car and whether the

:51:40. > :51:45.driver got free air to complete his lap, we were looking at half a

:51:45. > :51:50.second or more between the two optioned tyres. I think Lewis

:51:50. > :51:54.Hamilton managed to find less than one-tenth, Jenson Button managed to

:51:54. > :51:57.find a little bit of time but it didn't seem that there was much

:51:57. > :52:00.difference in the tyre performance, but as you mentioned in the build-

:52:01. > :52:05.up, we are down that track temperature of 31 degrees, 10

:52:05. > :52:08.degrees cooler than we saw earlier, and that changes everything. We

:52:08. > :52:13.have talked about the temperature sensitivity of these Pirelli tyres

:52:13. > :52:18.all year. It is about who can switch them not only in this first

:52:18. > :52:21.part of qualifying but into that last 15 minutes of the session,

:52:21. > :52:25.when the sun is completed down behind the horizon, then suddenly

:52:25. > :52:30.the opportunity to perform will increase and who will be best

:52:30. > :52:34.placed? We are watching Kobayashi in the first part of a lap, he is

:52:34. > :52:38.coming through the chicane and towards turn seven, the slowest

:52:38. > :52:42.corner, with these huge grandstands all the way around and he is on to

:52:42. > :52:46.the first of two Straits. This is absolutely straight all the way

:52:46. > :52:51.down to the chicane and then the next section is effectively as

:52:51. > :52:58.straight with a slight curve in it. Two very high-speed sections, 200

:52:58. > :53:02.mph before getting on the brakes. The that is impressive, the

:53:02. > :53:09.underbraking is the most a single impressive thing of the Grand Prix

:53:09. > :53:16.car. That spike of six G when you hit the brakes, it can take your

:53:16. > :53:20.head off your shoulders -- 6 G. You mentioned Kobayashi in the Sauber,

:53:20. > :53:27.some of the other teams, notably Red Bull and McLaren, they have

:53:27. > :53:31.been down on the top speed. Down to around 195 mph, there is a huge

:53:31. > :53:40.amount of black-tied in that different. We saw the difference in

:53:40. > :53:44.the team speak in India -- team speed. A bit of a lock-up for

:53:44. > :53:48.Kobayashi. The Sauber cars have looked reasonably strong but it

:53:48. > :53:52.doesn't look like one of those circuits that we saw in Spa and

:53:52. > :53:57.Suzuka, when they took the cars up near the front. I don't think we

:53:57. > :54:01.will see one of those startling performances. 1: 43.9, which

:54:01. > :54:07.according to what Gary was talking about, should be reasonable. And

:54:07. > :54:15.they could laugh straight away from Pastor Maldonado, 1: 42.5 -- a good

:54:15. > :54:19.lap straight away. Earlier this afternoon, he was seventh quickest.

:54:19. > :54:23.Yes, half a second quicker already than the heat of the afternoon, if

:54:23. > :54:27.we see it like that, so we can see the effects of the increase in

:54:27. > :54:33.performance. They will, of course, be running at the qualifying level

:54:33. > :54:37.of fuel, 10 kilograms of fuel, just over three-tenths of a second per

:54:37. > :54:42.lap. We are on board with Kimi Raikkonen, having to be quite

:54:42. > :54:45.aggressive with the steering through the chicane, then into the

:54:45. > :54:50.second of the number straits. The support pit lane is on the right-

:54:50. > :54:55.hand side and then this messy Mickey Mouse chicane, these big

:54:55. > :55:00.curves that they have to Benesova. That is one of the differences.

:55:00. > :55:06.-- they have to bounce over. It is different to last year, they have

:55:06. > :55:11.slightly short cut these tight corners in the past and they can't

:55:11. > :55:18.do it this year. Not a very quick lap time as a result. Watch him

:55:18. > :55:22.beneath the hotel here. So far, so good. Kimi Raikkonen keeping it all

:55:22. > :55:26.together for the moment. It sounded like he was running slightly into

:55:26. > :55:33.the softer limit of between in the shifts. That will cost him a little

:55:33. > :55:38.bit of time. He go second to Maldonado, Sebastian Grosjean his

:55:38. > :55:42.third at the moment, but he might improve on that. Williams by half a

:55:42. > :55:51.second and then the Lotus cars, di Resta current before, Kobayashi

:55:51. > :55:55.Fifth, then Vergne and Charles Pic. But we are still waiting for the

:55:55. > :56:02.likes of Sebastian Vettel to come out but so vast -- Fernando Alonso

:56:02. > :56:07.is on circuit, or what a crucial qualifying session this is for him.

:56:07. > :56:12.The first aim, of course, like all of them, is to get out of Q1, get

:56:12. > :56:18.into the top 70 and start again in Q2. You don't have to be fastest in

:56:18. > :56:23.this session -- top 17. But it is nice to get the site and what the

:56:23. > :56:29.fuel and car conditions and track conditions can give you. You are

:56:29. > :56:34.not under pressure of not making the top 17, this is the busiest

:56:34. > :56:37.time, 24 cars on track, you want to get a completely clear at lap.

:56:37. > :56:42.has had a good middle sector, the fastest of anybody so far, so this

:56:42. > :56:47.is going to put him right up at the top of the times. He goes faster

:56:47. > :56:52.than Maldonado, 1: 42.5, that should see him safely through to

:56:52. > :56:57.the next stage of qualifying. Let's see what McLaren are doing. They

:56:57. > :57:02.have been setting good pace, but not as quick. Only third for Jenson

:57:02. > :57:06.Button. There is Pastor Maldonado and he has gone quicker again on

:57:07. > :57:11.the first sector. The middle sector, not quite as quick as the best of

:57:11. > :57:16.all, but nonetheless, this is another impressive lap from the

:57:16. > :57:21.Venezuelan, it every now and again does produce a scintillating

:57:21. > :57:27.qualifying performance, like we saw in Singapore. He can pull out those

:57:27. > :57:30.impressive laps from time to time. He has been inconsistent over the

:57:30. > :57:34.year, Bruno Senna has been more consistent in his race results, but

:57:34. > :57:39.it is fair to say that Maldonado has taken more out of the

:57:39. > :57:46.qualifying performance of Rhys Williams. So he goes fastest again,

:57:46. > :57:50.Maldonado. 1: 42.3, another very fast lap and it looks like that car

:57:50. > :57:54.is in good shape. That is the test driver who drove the car of Bruno

:57:54. > :57:58.Senna yesterday in practice watching from the sidelines. As we

:57:58. > :58:03.speak, Kimi Raikkonen is also going quickly, so we will keep an eye on

:58:03. > :58:08.that. Still no action from Hamilton, from Vettel and Webber, they are

:58:08. > :58:16.leaving it late but there is plenty of time to go. Sergio Perez goes a

:58:16. > :58:20.fastest. -- eighth fastest. We know that Nico Hulkenberg will be

:58:20. > :58:23.joining this team next year, let's see what has been going on. Lewis

:58:23. > :58:28.Hamilton and Rosberg will be teammates next year, they are out

:58:28. > :58:32.on track and a bit of a lock-up from Lewis Hamilton. I think that

:58:32. > :58:36.was down to was turn 11, but I didn't recognise the background, so

:58:36. > :58:42.I will defer to the hardcore fans at home who can call which corner

:58:43. > :58:52.that was. I can definitely tell you looking at the shots of the rather

:58:53. > :58:53.

:58:53. > :58:56.impressive hotel, turneds 17, 18 and 19. -- turns. The fans enjoying

:58:56. > :59:00.beside you have here, they have created is harder to give it a

:59:00. > :59:09.Monte Carlo kind of feel. It doesn't work in Valencia but it

:59:09. > :59:14.does work here. Raikkonen just a few hundred it's faster than Alonso.

:59:14. > :59:18.That is the danger that Alonso has, he is not just fighting the Red

:59:18. > :59:25.Bull and McLaren cars, we have some fast performances from Lotus Ann

:59:25. > :59:29.Williams. Lewis Hamilton's first sector time is looking very rapid.

:59:29. > :59:35.The reason he might be buzzing into the limit at in that part of the

:59:35. > :59:40.track, they don't have DRS available in all places... And

:59:40. > :59:48.another huge lock up. That is what you call the novelty line, and it

:59:48. > :59:53.didn't involve any a X's whatsoever. That was right through the outside

:59:53. > :59:57.of turn 12. He has had to back right out of it and will have to

:59:57. > :00:02.try again to set a decent pace. Alonso is going quick again in the

:00:02. > :00:07.middle sector. Another look at this. He has hit the brakes. As you see

:00:07. > :00:12.them approach into turn 11, they have lateral load and it unload

:00:12. > :00:14.that inside wheel. We have mentioned it many times, the

:00:14. > :00:19.McLaren does seem more susceptible to lock up and some of its

:00:19. > :00:22.competitors. A bit of a scrappy start to the practice session, but

:00:22. > :00:32.as Hamilton finishes the lap, he has just over nine minutes and

:00:32. > :00:36.that is quicker than anything we saw this morning. So all the work

:00:36. > :00:40.they have done, all the bits that Gary was telling about they have

:00:40. > :00:48.added to the car this weekend seem to be working, but let us wait and

:00:48. > :00:53.see what trebs can do. Vettel and Welsh are out on circuit. A bit of

:00:53. > :01:03.a mistake but not too bad. He still has a couple of corners to go.

:01:03. > :01:06.

:01:06. > :01:11.Hampton is quick on the opening sector of the lap. -- Hamilton.

:01:11. > :01:16.Massa goes third. Good lap for Massa so Ferrari first and third at

:01:16. > :01:20.this stage. Gary, who are things looking? Do you think Ferrari are

:01:20. > :01:24.making the most of the up dauts? Yes that was four tents quicker

:01:24. > :01:31.than he did before, so it takes time and you get this stuff on car,

:01:31. > :01:36.you have to make sure you dot the is and cross the ts, up to now it

:01:36. > :01:44.has been about testing it and making sure you are the right parts

:01:44. > :01:48.on the car, but you have to make them work together. Hamilton is

:01:48. > :01:51.faster, he has been very good in this final sector. This is where he

:01:51. > :01:56.tend to be faster than Button. They are evenly matched in sectors one

:01:56. > :02:04.and two. This tight and twisty stuff Hamilton seems to revel in.

:02:04. > :02:08.Let us see what the lap time is like. 1,41 .497. It is by seven

:02:08. > :02:13.tenths of a second from Fernando Alonso. That is a big leap forward

:02:13. > :02:17.and it is the Red Bulls that we will have to keep an eye on as we

:02:17. > :02:23.watch Michael Schumacher. Trying to get in the top 17. At the moment

:02:23. > :02:30.neither of the Red Bulls are in there. Schumacher gs eight. He is a

:02:30. > :02:35.fraction ahead of Rosberg who is ninth: Mark Webber has just gone

:02:35. > :02:39.across the line. Vettel has three coners to go in his lap. Looking a

:02:39. > :02:44.bit slower in the middle section, unless he pulls out something

:02:44. > :02:50.amazing we can expect him to be round that kind of position, so, he

:02:50. > :02:53.will have to go again. TEAM RADIO: That is a fantastic lap. I think

:02:53. > :02:58.Lewis will be delighted to hear that, he has been impressive so far

:02:58. > :03:03.this weekend. Let us see whether that continue, and watch the Red

:03:03. > :03:08.Bulls. Grosjean and Mark Webber locking at the timing sheets. He

:03:08. > :03:13.glanced off the wall! Vettel, we haven't seen that happen very much.

:03:13. > :03:16.That is coming out of turn 19. He gets on to the, they are painted on,

:03:17. > :03:22.the green, whatever you want to call it, it is paint on the tarmac

:03:22. > :03:27.to depine the race track. A fairly hefty blow with the right rear.

:03:27. > :03:32.They will leave it to his judgment to see if he can feel anything

:03:32. > :03:37.unusual with the car: He is up to 13th. He is in territory that is

:03:37. > :03:46.safe. Right now Jean-Eric Vergne seems to be the one who will miss

:03:46. > :03:50.out on the top 17 of those we might expect to be challenging in there.

:03:50. > :03:55.The group we formally expect, Alonso really attacking this track

:03:55. > :04:00.again. Not so much a prancing horse, it looks like a bucking Bronco the

:04:00. > :04:07.way it was flicking itself outside ways coming out from under the

:04:07. > :04:13.hotel. He is four tenths slower than Hamilton. 1,49.9. The Red

:04:13. > :04:16.Bulls down in 12th and 139. The top teams are using the harder compound

:04:16. > :04:21.tyre. Very few teams have switched on to the yellow, the soft tyre.

:04:21. > :04:24.Some of the teams at the back of the field have, Bruno Senna has

:04:24. > :04:30.switched on to the soft tyre buzz vet he is on the harder tyre. Let

:04:30. > :04:39.us see where the lap looks like. Pretty good. He goes fourth fastest.

:04:39. > :04:45.1, 4 3.3. He didn't have the best start to going into qualifying. He

:04:45. > :04:51.only managed a few laps. Maybe paying the price for that as Felipe

:04:51. > :04:55.Massa puts in a good lap there. Only, half a tenth slower than his

:04:55. > :05:00.team-mate Alonso who was pushing that car to limit. You have to say

:05:00. > :05:04.Massa's form since he was announced as continuing with Ferrari, he has

:05:04. > :05:10.been a solid number two you wouldn't want him out there as Mark

:05:10. > :05:14.Webber locks up, the same place we saw Hamilton locking up, so Mark in

:05:14. > :05:18.139. He was in a better first sector. Just under five minutes

:05:18. > :05:25.left. He does have time to get round and get another couple of

:05:25. > :05:30.laps. TEAM RADIO: Traffic ahead Sebastian. Traffic ahead. They have

:05:30. > :05:37.to be careful. Interesting that Maldonado has gone on the softer

:05:37. > :05:43.tyre. We are seeing Paul di Resta on the softer tyre. Maldonado has

:05:43. > :05:47.already been sixth quickest. Di Resta, who had some car related

:05:47. > :05:52.problems the last couple of Grand Prix hasn't really felt happy with

:05:52. > :05:55.his car, has he? Force India, they found an issue in Singapore where

:05:55. > :06:01.he was nowhere on the Saturday morning, they changed the floor

:06:01. > :06:07.back to the previous... TEAM RADIO: Intas wran the lap is good enough.

:06:07. > :06:12.It is up to you whether you want to do another one. We think the lap is

:06:12. > :06:19.good enough. A confidence message from his race engineer. It is up to

:06:19. > :06:23.him as to whether he wants to have another lap. They had issues with

:06:23. > :06:27.Aero quality in Singapore, they were able to find the issue and he

:06:27. > :06:33.had a better qualifying on the Saturday. They have changed the

:06:33. > :06:37.chassis, searching for the -- elusive balance. Hulkenberg has

:06:37. > :06:41.found a sweet spot with his car that Paul has been missing. Look at

:06:41. > :06:46.the oversteer when he went into the second last corner. So in these

:06:46. > :06:51.soft option tyres, I wouldn't say that is a perfect balance. It has

:06:51. > :06:54.moved him up to eighth but he has gone for the softer tyre, where

:06:54. > :06:58.Hulkenberg has gone on to the softer tyre. Maldonado, look at

:06:58. > :07:02.that. How snatched under braking and he has to get off the brake,

:07:02. > :07:06.and that lost him any chance to do anything there. So really difficult.

:07:06. > :07:10.Gary, it is a bit like this morning seeing the difference between the

:07:10. > :07:16.harder and soft tyre. This soft tyre seems to be a bit of a

:07:17. > :07:21.challenge to get it to work. In is what you call a traction critical

:07:21. > :07:25.surface you are struggling with the rear end of the car to get off the

:07:25. > :07:30.corners but when you have understeer it makes it worse. The

:07:30. > :07:33.cars which have understeer don't gain anything. The cars that have a

:07:33. > :07:40.nervous rear end will gain something. But Maldonado, there, he

:07:40. > :07:45.doesn't have to be out on those tyres. Wie waste a set of tyres? I

:07:45. > :07:49.don't understand that. It seems ill geological. Welsh coming out of the

:07:49. > :07:54.final turn. Let us see what this does for Webber. Crosss the line.

:07:55. > :08:01.He goes second. Now, there he is within half a second of Hamilton.

:08:01. > :08:06.He has gone ahead of Alonso but six thousandths of a second. Look how

:08:06. > :08:10.hard Vettel is trying. Should we be concern about how much track the

:08:10. > :08:13.guys are using? As long a they keep some part of the car within the

:08:13. > :08:17.white line, so that means the outer tyres can pass over the white line

:08:17. > :08:24.that defines the race track. As long as they keep one part of the

:08:24. > :08:28.tyre, part of the car inside the line it is OK, it is accepted. You

:08:28. > :08:32.couldn't do that in Monte Carlo because you would hit a barrier,

:08:33. > :08:36.one of the cross overs is when you create that people will exploited

:08:36. > :08:41.it. Vergne is battling here, you are riding with the Frenchman. He

:08:41. > :08:46.is battling to get into the top 17. He is currently 18th, along with

:08:46. > :08:50.the Caterhams and the Marussias, he has missed out on the second part

:08:50. > :08:54.of qualifying, some oh he has lost its. Jean-Eric Vergne has lost it

:08:54. > :09:00.and every chance of getting into the top 17 has gone with that spin.

:09:00. > :09:04.He is going to have to settle for being 18th, if not worse. Maybe

:09:04. > :09:08.Kovalainen can improve. If he hasn't flat spotted the tyres. He

:09:09. > :09:15.is station out. So he is going again. He was half a second quicker

:09:15. > :09:19.so he was en route for a 42.5 that would have put him 11th, 12th 13th.

:09:19. > :09:23.He might still make it through, presuming no damage. He has

:09:23. > :09:29.Millennium Stadium it through. We have a few second, but the tirs

:09:29. > :09:34.won't be at their best. Mind you it is not as abrasive this surface as

:09:34. > :09:41.some. Maybe he was caught out by positions. The DRS would have been

:09:41. > :09:48.open, and maybe he closed it too late. Unusual place to spin the car.

:09:48. > :09:52.That is the team principle of Toro Rosso. Vergne knows he's is there

:09:52. > :09:58.next year. He and Ricciardo have been confirmed. TEAM RADIO: I try

:09:58. > :10:06.to push for one more lap. Trying to push for one more lap. They want

:10:06. > :10:11.hem to go for another lap. Kobayashi. He is the one Vergne

:10:11. > :10:15.could display. But it doesn't look as if it is any better this lap.

:10:15. > :10:19.His individual sector teams don't seem to be improving on what he has

:10:19. > :10:22.achieved during qualifying. Chequered flag is now out.

:10:22. > :10:29.Hulkenberg has already seen that chequered flag, most of the front

:10:29. > :10:37.runners are in the pits. Rosberg went second but that is on the

:10:37. > :10:40.softer tyre. That is impressive for him to have gone second. Let us see

:10:40. > :10:44.what Kobayashi? If Vergne can find half a second he could displace

:10:44. > :10:49.Kobayashi. He has backed out of it Vergne. He has thrown in the towel.

:10:49. > :10:52.This is not a better lap, and, well, he hasn't thrown in the towel. He

:10:52. > :10:57.is going to finish. I don't know see how this is going to be quicker.

:10:57. > :11:02.He is not quicker on any of his sectors. He stays 18th so no change,

:11:02. > :11:08.he is in the drop zone, and sadly, for two Grand Prix in a row he

:11:08. > :11:12.hasn't made it.. He should have thrown in the towel! We have a

:11:12. > :11:17.display, we can see it, number seven tells us in seventh gear,

:11:17. > :11:23.very simple. That display at the side it updates every few metres so

:11:24. > :11:27.they know whether they are faster or slower. Pic has gone faster than

:11:27. > :11:37.Kovalainen and Glock. They are are still to finish their laps. Let us

:11:37. > :11:41.see where is going. Pic 19th. Peth is 209. He has seen -- Petrov.

:11:41. > :11:45.Kovalainen has gone faster. Very close times down there, and Pic has

:11:45. > :11:49.split the Caterham, he will be delighted about that. That is a

:11:49. > :11:54.huge achievement for the young Frenchman. Timo Glock was waiting

:11:54. > :11:57.for him to finish the lap, so I wonder if he can find anything on

:11:57. > :12:03.this last bit of the lap. It's a long lap so it takes a while for

:12:03. > :12:07.those, he is back in the pits. There is an incident being

:12:07. > :12:13.investiagted between Perez and Senna. Presumably a blocking

:12:13. > :12:16.incident: But Charles Pic has outqualified his team-mate and a

:12:17. > :12:21.good time for him to do that. He is casting round a bit at the moment

:12:21. > :12:28.for a drive next year, perhaps move up from Marussia to one of the

:12:28. > :12:32.stronger teams. I think, well other teams will have looked at that and

:12:32. > :12:40.been imprevioused. He was only pipped by Kovalainen by a few

:12:41. > :12:47.hundreds of a second. Hamilton sets the pace. Vergne. Kovalainen.

:12:47. > :12:50.Charles Pic, Pedro de la Rosa and Narain Karthikeyan. We will talk

:12:50. > :12:54.Sebastian Vettel in a couple of minutes. William will be pleased to

:12:54. > :12:58.get both cars through the second part of qualifying there is

:12:58. > :13:01.Hamilton. I imagine he is the coolest guy on the serbgt at the

:13:02. > :13:05.moment. That was sheer domination in that session. Well, first of all

:13:05. > :13:09.I thought there was a problem with the car, because he has that

:13:09. > :13:14.problem of the car locking up the front left and front right

:13:14. > :13:18.depending on the corner. So Lewis Hamilton he delivered what we know

:13:18. > :13:22.he can deliver an unbelievable lap. It will take a lot of to work get

:13:22. > :13:27.him away from there. The car belonging to Vergne who is well

:13:27. > :13:36.used to falling out in qualification, on a number of

:13:36. > :13:39.occasion he has gone to being the first big name to the non-

:13:39. > :13:42.qualifier. We were worried ability Sebastian Vettel. This is as bad as

:13:42. > :13:45.a weekend gets for Sebastian Vettel when he has missed the final part

:13:46. > :13:50.of free practise and clumps into the barriers in the first part of

:13:50. > :13:54.qualifying. He was lucky. He tpwhranss it. He just touches it.

:13:54. > :13:58.That just, what it does is knocks the siding off the rim, a because

:13:58. > :14:04.the rim just comes out that bit further than the tyre itself. So he

:14:04. > :14:12.was lucky to get away with that, it was the way he hit the wall. He

:14:12. > :14:16.glanced it. His Big Ben fishery, he would have been lucky there.

:14:16. > :14:19.team will take grfd the fact Mark Webber did show great pace. They

:14:19. > :14:22.had a problem with Christian Horner was talking about long pedal. I

:14:22. > :14:26.don't know, in the modern days, is that a problem when you have a

:14:26. > :14:30.brake pedal with air getting in. But I think there might be

:14:30. > :14:34.something more there and I think we have seen something, a glimmer of

:14:34. > :14:41.hope for Ferrari, there maybe problems ahead for Vettel. Do you

:14:41. > :14:46.want to grab hold of a driver you gave a chance to? Let us run down

:14:46. > :14:51.here and grab hold of... We know you are going to the pen, so sorry

:14:51. > :14:55.to be rude to take you away, we wanted to see you, the car seems to

:14:55. > :15:00.be making good progress. Yes, we are closing the gap to the guys in

:15:00. > :15:04.front, but for us it was a bit strange, and free practise it

:15:04. > :15:07.looked OK but if qualification we had no grip. I couldn't get the lap,

:15:08. > :15:12.the tyres up to temperature and I just lost through the whole lap, in

:15:12. > :15:17.terms of lap time. But Caterham have brought a raft of up grated,

:15:17. > :15:21.they say they this this could be a great step forward. They are on

:15:21. > :15:27.pace: I didn't see the real gap to them, but we are definitely close

:15:27. > :15:34.and we didn't have any updates here so it is not too bad. Is Father

:15:34. > :15:39.Christmas going to bring you anything? It is my biggest dream.

:15:39. > :15:44.We will let you doing what you are supposed to be doing, talking to

:15:44. > :15:48.the world's media. Pic is showing real pace. He has money which is

:15:48. > :15:52.valuable.. How many times have we seen this, when the door seems to

:15:52. > :15:57.be closing on a driver's career, suddenly they find something from

:15:57. > :16:01.nowhere and Pic is like that. Where does he go from here? He has good

:16:01. > :16:05.options because he has budget, he has supporters and that is a huge

:16:05. > :16:12.ingredient when you are at this end of the grid. I do believe Pic will

:16:12. > :16:22.be round for next season, for sure. Is the sun setting on Timo Glock's

:16:22. > :16:23.

:16:23. > :16:28.not that long ago we were in Singapore and he finished second.

:16:28. > :16:33.It is a very distant past. You can see the sun setting, let's go up to

:16:33. > :16:37.the commentary box with Ben Edwards and David. And one of the

:16:37. > :16:41.interesting thing about something that starts in the day and ends at

:16:41. > :16:47.night is the temperature drops and we know nothing about how it will

:16:47. > :16:52.affect the cart in the second session -- the cars.

:16:52. > :16:57.BEN EDWARDS: It shouldn't drop too much more. It yesterday, practice

:16:57. > :17:00.was held at the same time that day and once it got to 30 degrees, it

:17:00. > :17:06.stayed constant. The teams should have a handle on it. Some teams

:17:06. > :17:11.have gone on to the softer tyre, notably Mercedes. They are one of

:17:11. > :17:16.the few teams. The second part of qualifying is

:17:16. > :17:22.under way but nobody is in a hurry. Gary, your figures were pretty good

:17:22. > :17:32.in that session, 1: 44.8 was Jean- Eric Vergne and he didn't quite

:17:32. > :17:36.make it, so what do we expect to get into the top 10? It is one of

:17:36. > :17:41.those difficult things, some cost of running on the softer tyre but I

:17:41. > :17:46.think 42.2, 42.1 will be safe. It will probably be slower than that

:17:46. > :17:51.but if you are a top team going out there, you need to be in the low

:17:51. > :17:59.42s. Let's keep an eye on the sort of lap times they are doing as they

:17:59. > :18:02.cowered. Di Resta has gone out already, as has Sergio Perez. Both

:18:02. > :18:06.of the Sauber cars already on circuit. Bruno Senna sporting a

:18:06. > :18:11.different crash helmet design this weekend. I wonder if he will get

:18:11. > :18:16.into the final part of qualifying? Maldonado has shown good pace from

:18:16. > :18:22.the Williams. He has only got into Q3 once this year, Bruno Senna, in

:18:22. > :18:25.Hungary. Let's see if he can get there this time. The first few cars

:18:25. > :18:29.are on track, building up on this important out-lap where they have

:18:29. > :18:35.got to try and get the temperature in these tyres and get the balance

:18:35. > :18:39.from the front to the rear. That is the key thing, these tyres come out

:18:39. > :18:47.of the blankets at a predetermined temperature, typically anything

:18:47. > :18:52.over 90 degrees, and after, there is a very good cooler as she passed

:18:52. > :18:57.the car through high-speed -- as you pass. You are trying to

:18:57. > :19:02.generate the energy to braking, acceleration, to maintain the

:19:02. > :19:06.pressure and get that compound balanced from front to rear. What

:19:06. > :19:13.we did see in free practice was an imbalance when you went out in the

:19:13. > :19:17.auction tyres, the yellow marked soft tyres -- option tyres. The

:19:17. > :19:21.tyre has more physical grip available but it had less balance.

:19:21. > :19:26.That is exactly what Gary was saying when he was watching the

:19:26. > :19:35.cars out on circuit yesterday. Gary, you were down at turn one when you

:19:36. > :19:39.were watching. Which of the cars in pressure? I have to say, these guys

:19:39. > :19:43.do not have easy cars to drive. The way the Red Bull handles through

:19:43. > :19:47.the corners and the way Sebastian Vettel works the throttle, it for

:19:47. > :19:53.sure looks like the package works together. McLaren look good, a

:19:53. > :19:56.little lazy, but their traction was very good. The Mercedes looked

:19:56. > :20:01.terrible, Michael Schumacher's car especially. I have never seen so

:20:02. > :20:05.much understeer in my life. Getting the steering will more and more and

:20:05. > :20:08.more, everybody else was trying to back out of it but Michael was

:20:08. > :20:14.planning the steering wheel into the understeer, which was horrible

:20:14. > :20:18.to watch. He is an experienced driver in an experienced team, how

:20:18. > :20:23.can that be at this stage of the season? It amazed me, it is the

:20:23. > :20:27.last thing you expect to see. Some of the slower teams were going

:20:27. > :20:35.through pretty badly but so were some of the top teams. The Lotus

:20:35. > :20:39.cars looked neat and tidy, the Red Bull is great, but as I say, the

:20:39. > :20:43.Mercedes, potentially a top team, is looking horrible. Nico Rosberg

:20:43. > :20:48.was a little bit better but he was driving with a lot of work going on,

:20:48. > :20:51.a lot of steering activity and a lot of driver activity. We will

:20:51. > :20:55.keep a close eye on their lap times during this second part of

:20:55. > :21:00.qualifying. The aim is to get into the top 10 and it is a shorter

:21:00. > :21:05.session. Quite a few cars out on circuit, 16 on track with eight

:21:05. > :21:10.still in the pits. We have lost the initial group, but who will make it

:21:10. > :21:13.into that top part? His Sebastian Vettel going to have a real

:21:13. > :21:18.challenge to get pole position, particularly from Lewis Hamilton

:21:18. > :21:23.and Jenson Button? Hamilton and Button have always shared the front

:21:23. > :21:28.row here in the previous three Grand Prix. And because Barking

:21:28. > :21:34.going on from the front wing plates of Nico Rosberg -- a bit of

:21:34. > :21:38.sparking. Coming towards the end of that first sector, I actually think

:21:38. > :21:43.that was quite a good camera angle as the car was nicely set up,

:21:43. > :21:48.rotated and just missed that inside orange kerb and as it bounced down

:21:48. > :21:57.through the apex, the outside of the front wing of the Mercedes just

:21:57. > :22:02.sense a nice little spark. Very pretty in the night! Let's see if

:22:02. > :22:09.Gary identifying a well-balanced car pays off for Sebastian Grosjean.

:22:09. > :22:15.Raikkonen we are watching, he goes fastest. 1: 41.6, a competitive lap

:22:15. > :22:19.time. Grosjean has just done the same. Just two-tenths slower than

:22:19. > :22:24.Lewis Hamilton achieved in the first part of qualifying. Both

:22:24. > :22:30.Lotus cars doing that and doing it on the harder of the two compound

:22:30. > :22:34.tyres... No, it is the softer tyre. Hamilton was on the harder tyre

:22:34. > :22:41.when he did his but he is now on the softer, say you would expect

:22:41. > :22:45.him to find more pace. Let's see what it is. 1: 41.3, so a little

:22:45. > :22:51.quicker than earlier on, but again, like this morning, not a big chunk

:22:51. > :22:59.quicker. That would suggest we might be in two, when we get to

:22:59. > :23:09.tomorrow, a one-stop race. That prime the tyre is looking pretty

:23:09. > :23:19.handy, but that is only just a tenth of a game. -- a tenth game.

:23:19. > :23:25.Just listen to him spike that 6 G into turn one. He gained a little

:23:25. > :23:30.bit of lap time. This is a replay of him doing the kerb jumping. A

:23:30. > :23:34.handful of oversteer, that was his out-lap as he was preparing the

:23:35. > :23:38.tyres. So it is not quite coming together for Red Bull at this stage.

:23:38. > :23:48.Alonso is going it quickly, he has set the fastest first sector of

:23:48. > :23:49.

:23:49. > :23:59.anybody. It is not against Hamilton's fastest time, he sets

:23:59. > :24:04.

:24:04. > :24:09.in his first lap time, still a few corners to go. 21 turns on this

:24:09. > :24:14.circuit, so when you get into this last section, it is constant. This

:24:14. > :24:19.is the last corner, we will get an idea of the Ferrari pace. Can he

:24:19. > :24:26.challenge Hamilton? Can he challenged Webber? He goes ahead of

:24:26. > :24:30.Webber. He is not happy. He was waving to his buddy, Mark, up ahead.

:24:30. > :24:35.He must feel that he must have cost him some time on the lap. It was

:24:35. > :24:39.difficult to see as he came across the line, maybe he wanted to be

:24:39. > :24:42.completely uninterrupted in his view down the race circuit.

:24:42. > :24:49.Sebastian Vettel still pushing on after that earlier mistake that we

:24:49. > :24:52.watch. He has got to keep it clean and tidy. Very little running this

:24:52. > :24:58.morning, which has hurt his preparations, but this is good and

:24:58. > :25:06.he goes second quickest to Hamilton. Fernando Alonso is third, Webber 4.

:25:06. > :25:11.Michael Schumacher, Sergio Perez, Bruno Senna, Kobayashi, Daniel

:25:11. > :25:17.Ricciardo, di Resta and Hulkenberg in the drop zone. Fernando is told

:25:17. > :25:21.to stay calm. Every fraction of a second counts for Vettel and Alonso

:25:21. > :25:27.in particular. Grosjean has raced here in the past, back in 2009,

:25:27. > :25:32.when he was competing for Renault. He finished in 18, but he did win

:25:32. > :25:42.in GT 1 in 2010, which was the relaunch of his career, in a way.

:25:42. > :25:43.

:25:43. > :25:46.He won his first ever GT race -- GP race here. And the start of the

:25:46. > :25:53.revival was in some ways at this circuit. Across the line he goes

:25:53. > :26:00.and he is still fifth fastest, 1: 41.6, just a fraction quicker than

:26:00. > :26:04.Raikkonen. I like this camera angle. Webber has gone fastest. I love

:26:04. > :26:09.that camera angle because it shows how much work the suspension is

:26:09. > :26:16.doing, the tyre, the side wall. is beaten straight away by Lewis

:26:16. > :26:24.Hamilton once again, 1: 40.9, and fastest in the first sector, not in

:26:24. > :26:29.the middle sector, but Hamilton, Vettel and Webber. There is a fight

:26:29. > :26:33.on. It is still about the top 10 and not many people have put a fall

:26:33. > :26:37.that be near. Paul di Resta has been told to work those tyres hard

:26:37. > :26:43.and that is not something we are used to hearing, it is about

:26:43. > :26:46.maintaining the surface temperature of these Pirellis. It is telling us

:26:46. > :26:52.again that the compounds that Pirelli have brought this weekend

:26:52. > :26:56.are going to be quite durable. We saw what he wanted to do with a

:26:56. > :27:02.one-stop in India, said grid position is absolutely key if you

:27:02. > :27:06.are in the same strategy. This is good for Hulkenberg. 10th, we

:27:06. > :27:10.thought it might be more than that. He is in danger territory because

:27:10. > :27:14.there are more people behind it will improve, including his team-

:27:14. > :27:18.mate Paul di Resta. Can he go a little quicker? He is watching the

:27:18. > :27:23.display on the steering wheel. is hard the 10th faster than he

:27:23. > :27:33.managed earlier in the session. It is disappointing when you have done

:27:33. > :27:40.eight towns and you have only managed to find a tenth -- 8 turns.

:27:40. > :27:45.Look at the lap display, minus 0.01. He is only achieving what he did

:27:45. > :27:51.earlier in terms of lap times, 42.5, and he will be outside the top 10

:27:51. > :27:57.if he does not improve in the final sector. Perez, down in furtive, is

:27:57. > :28:04.going reasonably well. -- down in 13. Let's watched di Resta in the

:28:04. > :28:07.latter part of his lap. -- let's watch. The hotel has already

:28:07. > :28:13.lighting up and provides an amazing display with all of the little

:28:13. > :28:19.lights in the roof. A little lock- up in the final turn, gets it

:28:19. > :28:21.turned in OK and he goes across in 11th, that is not safe, so

:28:21. > :28:28.Hulkenberg and di Resta are definitely struggling to get into

:28:28. > :28:32.the top 10. Hamilton looks comfortable. Then Webber, then

:28:32. > :28:38.Vettel and Alonso. Some of them will definitely have to go again.

:28:38. > :28:45.Did he lock-up badly here? As he hit the brakes, it did cost of

:28:45. > :28:52.position and he had to turn on more steering. A couple of tenths slower.

:28:52. > :29:00.We see Sergio Perez, Ralley style, through that white -- rally style,

:29:00. > :29:06.through that twisty section. It was interesting talking to Lewis about

:29:06. > :29:10.the track guide, he uses a dark rip-off on a clear visor, so when

:29:10. > :29:17.the sun is then, he leaves it on and pulls it off and discarded when

:29:17. > :29:20.he needs vision -- when the sun is up. Gary, I used to looking to the

:29:21. > :29:25.times that these guys need to do? - - I used still sticking to the

:29:25. > :29:30.times? This Chris Baird there has not changed the track too much but

:29:30. > :29:35.it does make the engine work better -- this crisper air. It is probably

:29:35. > :29:41.a couple of tenths quicker than I was predicting. This last little

:29:41. > :29:46.room for these guys is going to be vitally important. Kobayashi is not

:29:46. > :29:51.in the 41s, he is dead in 15th, not looking promising for the Japanese

:29:51. > :29:56.driver Ashdown in 15. Again, Sergio Perez is quicker than Kobayashi

:29:56. > :30:02.here. Knocking on the door of that vital top 10 position. We are

:30:02. > :30:12.looking at Maldonado, again a little bit deep that he recovers it.

:30:12. > :30:14.

:30:14. > :30:20.green sector on our timing veen, which means a personal best there.

:30:20. > :30:24.He has gone white in the second sec store which mean he thatn't gone

:30:24. > :30:29.better in the middle sector. A bit of traffic ahead. That is Perez,

:30:29. > :30:36.who is also on a lap. It shouldn't affect him. This is a big

:30:36. > :30:43.opportunity in this final section, all these low speed corners is time

:30:43. > :30:48.over distance you can get lap time by being patient. You want to get a

:30:48. > :30:52.nice early acceleration, it is looking reasonably tidy. Let us soo.

:30:52. > :30:56.Where is this for Maldonado? He is ninth. He would like to be safer

:30:56. > :31:00.than that. I doesn't make any difference. It is slower than his

:31:00. > :31:10.previous lap, but only a few hundredths of of a second. It will

:31:10. > :31:13.

:31:13. > :31:19.be worrying in ninth place. I would be rushing to get back to the pits

:31:19. > :31:23.to see his fiancee there. Senna need to find something. This lap

:31:23. > :31:28.doesn't look particularly quick. Maybe he will just ge get over the

:31:28. > :31:31.line before the flag comes out and get one more lap in. Right now he

:31:31. > :31:36.is down in 16th. I think that should have timed it about right,

:31:36. > :31:41.for him to get across the line and get one more quick lap in. Rosberg,

:31:41. > :31:48.who surprised us in Q1 with a lap that put him second is going fast

:31:48. > :31:56.again. He has gone quicker than anybody in the middle sector. White

:31:56. > :32:00.quite where the Mercedes pass has come from I don't know. Now, here

:32:00. > :32:06.is Rosberg. Fastest in the middle sector, this will promote him up

:32:06. > :32:11.the or order. He is up to seventh. TEAM RADIO: Negative, negative.

:32:11. > :32:17.Shuem is not there at the moment. But, Rosberg is in the top ten. And

:32:17. > :32:22.he is not going to make it round. Many Michael Schumacher, chequered

:32:22. > :32:27.flag. He had failed to get in the top ten. Rosberg is fighting his

:32:27. > :32:32.way back. Michael has been leading it for the last few Grand Prixs but

:32:32. > :32:36.it is nine apiece, in terms of who has been fastest in qualifying.

:32:36. > :32:40.Perez is 12th. He has not done it this time. We have seen already

:32:40. > :32:45.that Hulkenberg now has been pushed down, out of the top ten, he is out,

:32:45. > :32:50.in the pits so Maldonado is the one holding on. Mas sa, I think, is

:32:50. > :32:57.finished. So he is not going to do any more he is in the top ten. It

:32:57. > :33:03.depend on what Senna can do, in terms of whether he can push his

:33:03. > :33:09.team-mate out. Button should be safe. I don't know anyone else is

:33:09. > :33:14.going to threaten Button's position. Bruno Senna. He is only a tenth

:33:14. > :33:17.quicker. This will put him round a 24.4. It isn't going to be good

:33:17. > :33:23.enough unless he pulls out something from his magic kit in the

:33:23. > :33:27.last two corners. Let us watch him. Senna trying to get in the top ten.

:33:27. > :33:34.His team-mate clinging on in there at the moment. I don't think it is

:33:34. > :33:38.going to be enough. No, it isn't. He stays down in 159, so a long way

:33:38. > :33:44.behind Maldonado. I say a long way that, only means about three tenths

:33:44. > :33:49.of a second. It is so competitive. Hulkenberg failed this time, 42.0.

:33:49. > :33:53.He failed by less than a tenth oft a second. That means that neither

:33:53. > :33:58.of the force Indias have made the top ten on this occasion. A replace

:33:58. > :34:02.of Paul di Resta locking up, into the end of the first sector. The

:34:02. > :34:06.chicane turns five and six, so a bit closer to Hulkenberg, so

:34:07. > :34:13.presumably he is happier with the ambulance of the new chassis. A

:34:13. > :34:20.lock up from Kobayashi. That is unusual to see something like that,

:34:20. > :34:26.and that suggests BAA sickly too much pressure. He is six tenths

:34:26. > :34:29.slower than Perez, but Rosberg dragging a time out of that and

:34:29. > :34:37.impressiveer performance from Nico Rosberg. He will have to deliver

:34:37. > :34:43.that every weekend next year. TEAM RADIO: Sorry Michael. P14.

:34:43. > :34:49.wonder. TEAM RADIO: My mistake, I got confused with changing. Both

:34:49. > :34:59.abol jiesing to each other Michael said he got confused about changing

:34:59. > :35:02.

:35:02. > :35:05.harvest, which is the kerb changing mode. It's a shame they are busy

:35:05. > :35:12.apologising rather than congratulating each other, but that

:35:12. > :35:18.points to a very impressive lap there. You can see, Kobayashi, we

:35:18. > :35:22.have lost both Saubers and Force Indias. It is getting tight. Of all

:35:22. > :35:26.the people in that group who wanted a strong performance, it is this

:35:26. > :35:31.boy. Kobayashi, he is in danger of losing his seat. That is word on

:35:31. > :35:35.the grapevine. There is Paul di Resta. Slightly better performance.

:35:35. > :35:40.Yes, a lot better but he will be disappointed at Hulkenberg yet

:35:40. > :35:43.again at qualifying. They have given Paul a new shasy it is

:35:43. > :35:48.difficult when you start falling behind a team-mate you were

:35:48. > :35:54.confident of beating and that team- mate gets a move to a new team and

:35:54. > :35:58.you don't. I think it was a move for no reasons in my prpbgs think

:35:58. > :36:04.Force India have got the tooblt do what Sauber. So you are creating a

:36:04. > :36:09.new sense of agreement for not a lot of gain, I say. Leaving that

:36:09. > :36:15.aside Hulkenberg has been by far the stronger of the two, as the

:36:15. > :36:23.season has gone by. OK. He had given me an eye as if to say don't

:36:23. > :36:27.speak to me, he is either off to be told off or he is about to have a

:36:27. > :36:32.discussion. Do you think you got a bit of a push there. I should send

:36:32. > :36:38.you to do those things. You saw a nice shot of the harbour. The fans

:36:38. > :36:45.are hoping for something special. At the moment Hamilton is the man

:36:45. > :36:49.delivering. I am not sure I have seen so many mistakes from Seb in a

:36:49. > :36:53.qualifier. Is he under pressure. This is the sort of thing you

:36:53. > :36:59.expect. This is ridiculous, he loses the balance on the front and

:36:59. > :37:04.it washes out and makes a mess of the lap. We haven't seen this stuff

:37:04. > :37:08.from Sebastian, this is his favourite circuit, or one of his

:37:08. > :37:13.favourites. And you would expect him to dominate at the front. You

:37:13. > :37:18.wouldn't see him give pole position away to McLaren, despite the fact

:37:18. > :37:22.they are strong. His team-mate has been quicker, so far, two tenths of

:37:22. > :37:26.a second there. Mark was involved in something with flob. We are

:37:27. > :37:31.trying to work out what Fernando Alonso was complaining about.

:37:31. > :37:36.-- Fernando Alonso. I am at a loss, when you can see, all he can see is

:37:36. > :37:41.red, as far as he is concerned, Ferrari, anything, even untoward

:37:41. > :37:46.that is coming to him. Where is the problem here? I don't understand it.

:37:46. > :37:52.Mark is minding his own business. Is he blocking him, I don't know.

:37:52. > :37:57.Does he think Red Bull are being clever and spicking him in places

:37:57. > :38:00.he shouldn't be. He knows Mark Webber is a fair man this is a form

:38:00. > :38:05.of frustration, the upgrade they brought here aren't up to what

:38:05. > :38:10.Fernando Alonso wanted. He wanted something to give him a clear

:38:10. > :38:18.distance and clearly, that is not what happened. Let us head up to

:38:18. > :38:22.the commentary box. Are McLaren on pole f is that what we will see

:38:22. > :38:25.from Lewis? He has been impressive through the prepractise session, I

:38:25. > :38:31.am not going to bet against that happening. It is possible. I think

:38:31. > :38:35.we will see a tight tussle here at the top. Hamilton loves this track.

:38:35. > :38:40.He has an opportunity. Let us not forget counting down the races with

:38:40. > :38:46.McLaren, so it is an important one the take. Is this the most dominant

:38:46. > :38:51.you have seen Lewis for some time. I think so. If you remember back to

:38:51. > :38:58.India or a week ago he seemed in good form. I wonder if that is what

:38:58. > :39:03.is allowing him to not only drive, if you look at the gap it is hoving

:39:03. > :39:07.between eight to nine seconds. That is a huge amount of time difference.

:39:07. > :39:11.Do you think that is because it is the dawn of a new horizon or do you

:39:11. > :39:17.think he is glad to be out of McLarenment I don't want to be hard

:39:17. > :39:20.on them. Why do you think he is that happy. I think you said it is

:39:20. > :39:25.like he is leaving home. He is 26 but he has been in the system since

:39:25. > :39:30.he was a kid. As you say this is a new beginning. I would like to

:39:30. > :39:36.speak to you about what you expect from Sebastian Vettel. I asked

:39:36. > :39:40.Eddie has he ever seen so many mistakes from him? Two mistakes as

:39:40. > :39:44.the cars make their way out of the pit lane is a lot for lot for him.

:39:44. > :39:48.We have seen it before, when it comes to the final part of

:39:48. > :39:53.qualifying he can be imperious. He just gets it right, so many times,

:39:53. > :39:58.and he could easily do it again on this occasion. He did so little

:39:58. > :40:02.running in practise three it is perhaps taking him longer to find

:40:02. > :40:11.his rhythm. So car at the end of the pit lane. It is that of Kimi

:40:11. > :40:14.Raikkonen. Ready for the next part of qualifying. The Lotus leaves

:40:14. > :40:18.this unique pit lane exit. Dips down into the tunnel. It worries me

:40:18. > :40:22.a bit that exit n the race, not so much in qualifying as Michael

:40:22. > :40:26.Schumacher sadly walks back, his day is done because he hadn't made

:40:26. > :40:30.it into the top ten. That pit lane is a white elephant, I think, if we

:40:30. > :40:33.remember back to when we were seeing the designs of this amazing

:40:33. > :40:38.race track, they were saying it is going to be so incredible. We have

:40:38. > :40:42.a pit lane that disappears under the track. I don't think anyone

:40:42. > :40:46.considered that cars out of vision are not interesting to watch. That

:40:46. > :40:52.is what happens when they disappear out and come to the outside or tin

:40:52. > :40:58.side of the track as it is, as the cars come out of turn one. It's a

:40:58. > :41:03.nothing pit lane out. Kimi Raikkonen was keen to get out on

:41:03. > :41:09.circuit. Spun up the tiers as he headed out, so suggesting noot all

:41:09. > :41:13.sensitive about overheating the roar tyres. Here we go. We are into

:41:13. > :41:17.the last couple of stages of qualifying. Gary, what do we expect

:41:17. > :41:23.here, what is your prediction, who do you think is going to end up

:41:23. > :41:26.with pole? It It looks like Hamilton has a good handle. The

:41:26. > :41:31.McLaren is good at a at that. I wouldn't count Sebastian Vettel out.

:41:31. > :41:36.He is good at picking up the last bit, leaving it to the last minute.

:41:36. > :41:40.I think pole won't be much less than a 40.9. Maybe they will

:41:40. > :41:46.scratch a 40.7. It is going to be tough. There isn't much else to

:41:46. > :41:52.come. Lewis is trying hard to make it. Unless there was fuel for that

:41:52. > :41:58.extra lap, I am not sure we will see much difference. Watch that.

:41:58. > :42:03.David, last year the pole position was 1:48.4. We are not seeing times

:42:03. > :42:09.like that. Why is it? There is regulation range on the double

:42:09. > :42:12.diffuser, the hot blowing, and the tires that Pirelli bring, they have

:42:12. > :42:16.made aerodynamic changes to the shoulders of the fires, that maybe

:42:16. > :42:21.that South Africa effecting the performance, this is a bigger gap

:42:21. > :42:27.than we have seen of late. That is unusual. The sparking coming out of

:42:27. > :42:30.the Lotus with the DRS wide-open. That will push the car forward, the

:42:30. > :42:35.centre of pressure will go forward. It must be the leading edge of the

:42:35. > :42:40.tea tray they call it, I don't know why they call it that. I have never

:42:40. > :42:46.seen any mechanic putting a cup of tea, in fact he would get fired if

:42:46. > :42:50.he put a cup of tea on a racing car. That is the point where the car is

:42:50. > :42:55.travelling a maximum speed and is pushed down into the tarmac. It

:42:55. > :42:59.comes up again through the sloer chicane and squeezed down on the

:42:59. > :43:05.tarmac as he comes down the next long straight as he comes to turns

:43:05. > :43:10.ten and 11. We are seeing the sparks coming auto. Kimi Raikkonen

:43:10. > :43:16.comfortable in the balance of the car. Remember, though, in terms of

:43:16. > :43:22.the champion shin, the only chance he has is to outscore Vettel, and

:43:22. > :43:27.that doesn't seem terribly likely. Fernando Alonso was a tenth up in

:43:27. > :43:34.the first straight. He has lost a bit of time with oversteer coming

:43:34. > :43:39.off that turn. He is marginally quicker than his previous best, a

:43:39. > :43:44.41.5. Depending how he does, this is going to be some way short of

:43:44. > :43:51.the 40.9 we saw of Hamilton. Kimi Raikkonen will set the

:43:51. > :43:57.benchmark. 41.7. It won't be enough. We will see faster times as behind

:43:57. > :44:06.imthe likes of Vettel, Alonso are on quick laps. Let us see where

:44:06. > :44:13.Alonso goes here. His derlt showing up on the steering wheel. He goes

:44:13. > :44:19.faster. 1:41.5. Here comes Hamilton. He is fastest. He surely will go

:44:19. > :44:24.quickest. It's a 1:40.6. He is nearly a second faster than Alonso

:44:24. > :44:28.was. Let us see what Jensen Button does, he is in the 41s. Not a

:44:28. > :44:33.particularly quick lap. Webber, he goes second, he is still eight

:44:33. > :44:38.tenths of what Hamilton has done. Six tenths what Hamilton has done

:44:38. > :44:43.and Vettel is on a lap. Let us see whether he request do anything. It

:44:43. > :44:47.is not looking quicker than Hamilton. Will it put him up to the

:44:47. > :44:52.front row. He goes second. Impressive stuff but what it does

:44:52. > :44:56.highlight is what a unique position, he is totally in a class of his own,

:44:56. > :45:01.Hamilton. A second faster. More than a second faster than Jensen

:45:01. > :45:05.Button who was able to shade him by a tenth, round this track last year

:45:05. > :45:09.in qualifying, so, Hamilton, what a performance. Maldonado not doing

:45:09. > :45:13.anything, of course he went out on the soft tyre earlier on, so I

:45:13. > :45:18.guess he has less tees available to him in terms of trying to do two

:45:18. > :45:24.runs on the soft tyre to finish Ofqal fiing. Hamilton, as you say,

:45:24. > :45:32.that is startling pace from Hamilton, of course top qualifier,

:45:32. > :45:38.it is only the last few races where things haven't gone cockrd --

:45:38. > :45:41.cording to plan. Vettel took his sixth pole last time out. They have

:45:41. > :45:46.been together, the to top qualifiers this year, no doubt

:45:46. > :45:49.about it. We still have a bit of time to go and you may see a bit

:45:49. > :45:59.more of a challenge from Red Bull in particular, and Jensen Button,

:45:59. > :46:00.

:46:01. > :46:06.you may think he can deliver a know that Jenson is capable of some

:46:06. > :46:11.very fast driving. Massa straightening for the last corner

:46:11. > :46:14.to get his best acceleration, deploy his KERS and over his DRS.

:46:14. > :46:19.This is his first attempt this afternoon, can he get close to

:46:19. > :46:25.Alonso? Maldonado has come out of the pits, so it looks as though he

:46:25. > :46:29.is going to put a lap in. They are the only truly fast corners on this

:46:29. > :46:34.track. They are blind as well, you come up over the rise and you don't

:46:34. > :46:44.know what is waiting for you, a bit like a fashion Eau Rouge, without

:46:44. > :46:49.the elevation. A slight dog-leg towards the end as you approach

:46:49. > :46:55.turn eight. The director thinking that Perez and a young boy flapping

:46:55. > :46:59.a flag is more interesting a ban on car action! Meanwhile, back for the

:46:59. > :47:03.battle for pole position. Gary, a lot of teams are switching to their

:47:03. > :47:08.final engine of the year. They are allowed eight over the course of a

:47:08. > :47:15.season and a lot of them have gone for top-end horsepower. It is

:47:16. > :47:19.important everywhere I go -- but in Brazil, because of the altitude, it

:47:19. > :47:25.doesn't push the cars, so if you have an engine that is fairly high

:47:25. > :47:27.in mileage, Brazil would be the place. But Sebastian Vettel and

:47:27. > :47:35.Fernando Alonso, fighting for the championship, you wouldn't trust

:47:35. > :47:39.the engine that has high mileage. Here, you need horsepower. Massa

:47:39. > :47:43.sliding as he comes through the final section. He is striving with

:47:44. > :47:48.much Augusto then he was in the early part of the season and this

:47:48. > :47:54.lap will push him into the top 10 - - he is the driving with much more

:47:54. > :47:59.gusto. He is the sixth quickest, not as fast as Alonso but less than

:47:59. > :48:03.a tenth of a second away, so a fine job again. It was good but a bit

:48:03. > :48:09.too messy through turn a 17. You can see in the lock-up, that was

:48:09. > :48:14.then into turn seven. I don't think it cost him too much time but as he

:48:14. > :48:17.came down into this section, look at that, too early on the throttle,

:48:17. > :48:22.you have to lift out of it and that takes away positioning for the next

:48:23. > :48:27.corner. Nico Rosberg walks away from his one attempt, currently in

:48:27. > :48:31.fifth place. That is it for the day for Nico Rosberg. I think that is

:48:31. > :48:35.an outstanding effort, looking at where they were in practice. Nico

:48:36. > :48:44.Rosberg has delivered a good lap time but he may well be pushed down

:48:44. > :48:48.further. The likes of Maldonado could do it. Keep an eye on this,

:48:48. > :48:54.it could push Rosberg them, it might even put in somewhere near

:48:54. > :49:00.the front. Remember, he was sent -- on the front row in Singapore a few

:49:00. > :49:10.races ago. A pretty impressive Middlesex are, 42.7, that is just

:49:10. > :49:13.under one-tenth of -- a pretty impressive middle sector, 42.7,

:49:13. > :49:17.just under one-tenth slower than Lewis Hamilton. Has he kept it

:49:17. > :49:22.together in the last sector? goes third, so he is only behind

:49:22. > :49:29.Hamilton and Vettel, that is a great performance once again. Now

:49:29. > :49:34.he waits to see whether he will be beaten by Webber, who is a couple

:49:34. > :49:39.of 1,000 of a second slower. But for Fernando Alonso, it is a

:49:39. > :49:44.nightmare, another car between himself and the main championship

:49:44. > :49:49.challenger, the leader of the championship, Sebastian Vettel. We

:49:49. > :49:52.will see him trying to move himself up the order, I am sure. Webber out

:49:52. > :49:56.there to do a job for Red Bull. This is building up beautifully,

:49:56. > :50:04.the clock ticking away and they are going on to their final runs any

:50:04. > :50:10.moment. Mark Webber's first sector not a green, he hasn't improved,

:50:10. > :50:16.but getting into the second and their final sector is where all of

:50:16. > :50:22.the technical things happen. Still over one-tenth slower than Hamilton

:50:22. > :50:27.over the first sector, Hamilton has just gone fastest of all, but a

:50:28. > :50:34.tenth quicker than Vettel, so it does like their -- look like there

:50:34. > :50:39.is a battle for pole. Hamilton and Vettel are a lack further back but

:50:39. > :50:45.they are battling out for who will be fastest. On board with Kimi

:50:45. > :50:48.Raikkonen, E improves up to fifth from ninth -- he improves. Mark

:50:48. > :50:53.Webber is in fourth place, can he get the Red Bull on the front row,

:50:53. > :51:02.where they have been for the last few events? They have had such a

:51:02. > :51:07.gun recently. -- good run recently. He is up to second, 1: 40.9. Vettel

:51:07. > :51:11.is going faster, Alonso is not. I am not sure this lap is going to be

:51:11. > :51:15.any improvement at all for the Ferrari driver. It is not looking

:51:15. > :51:22.particularly promising. He can't gain anything from that, Fernando

:51:22. > :51:25.Alonso is going to start in six..., by the looks of things, whereas

:51:25. > :51:30.Vettel has a chance of starting on the front row. He may even take

:51:30. > :51:39.pole position. He is third! He is not quicker than Webber. Here comes

:51:39. > :51:42.Jenson Button, he goes sixth fastest, pursing -- pushing along

:51:42. > :51:52.so that the seventh. Hamilton has got it, he doesn't have to finish

:51:52. > :51:54.

:51:54. > :51:59.his lap. It is his 25th career pole position. A big day in terms of

:51:59. > :52:01.performance and Hamilton is back, David. He is indeed, it has been a

:52:01. > :52:07.class performance, all the way through, from the first practice

:52:07. > :52:13.lap on Friday to this incredible pole position. As you say, Hamilton

:52:13. > :52:18.is back. Lewis Hamilton, then, he loves this Abu Dhabi circuit. In

:52:18. > :52:22.the past, it has always been Hamilton and Vettel on the front

:52:22. > :52:28.row but it has changed, at Vettel is not on the front row, but he is

:52:28. > :52:32.still four places ahead of his championship contender, Fernando

:52:32. > :52:36.Alonso, and a leap of delight by Hamilton, he has looked so relaxed

:52:36. > :52:43.this weekend and he is loving it, just enjoying himself. He was

:52:43. > :52:48.slipping along like a happy lad, fantastic to see. It is wonderful

:52:48. > :52:53.to see. The car is in good shape this weekend, as they thought it

:52:53. > :52:58.might be, and Hamilton has delivered a mighty lap. It is his

:52:58. > :53:02.second pole position in Abu Dhabi, he took it in its first season of

:53:02. > :53:07.2009. Jenson Button not quite so rapid, six-tenths of a second

:53:07. > :53:11.slower than Lewis Hamilton in that final qualifying and he will be

:53:11. > :53:21.six... Behind Raikkonen. Surprisingly, it is Lewis Hamilton

:53:21. > :53:28.

:53:28. > :53:35.to Pastor Maldonado, that could be interesting. Fernando Alonso in

:53:35. > :53:45.seventh, that is not looking good. Hulkenberg is just outside the top

:53:45. > :53:55.

:53:55. > :54:01.10 with Sergio Perez, they have field. Sebastian Vettel has

:54:01. > :54:05.actually stopped out on track, he hasn't made it back into the pit.

:54:05. > :54:13.It looks like he may BMW Sauber Fair Hotel between 18 and 19. There

:54:13. > :54:18.is the walkway, he has pulled over to the left-hand side. The that is

:54:18. > :54:24.a surprise, I wonder what the problem is. But Hamilton has taken

:54:24. > :54:27.pole position, let's look back. There is an investigation going on,

:54:27. > :54:31.Grosjean and Alonso. The it is about whether there was an unsafe

:54:32. > :54:36.release but it looks to be like the Lotus car was coming out of the

:54:36. > :54:40.garage Pentti early enough. You could say that Grosjean did not

:54:40. > :54:45.accelerate up to the speed limit as quickly as possible -- plenty early

:54:45. > :54:50.enough. I doubt there will be action against that. Fernando

:54:50. > :54:56.Alonso has to settle for seventh place. Let's hear from the tee

:54:56. > :55:00.principal, Martin Whitmarsh of McLaren. -- team principal. Pole by

:55:00. > :55:05.three-tenths of a second, that is some domination for Lewis. He has

:55:05. > :55:10.always been strong here and he has been on fire this weekend, he is in

:55:10. > :55:14.a good place, doing a great job. I am thrilled for him and thrilled

:55:14. > :55:19.for the team and it puts him in a good position, where be like to

:55:19. > :55:23.dominate. It is a long race, lots of things are going to happen, no

:55:23. > :55:27.points on the board yet, but a great job by Lewis. Officer, the

:55:27. > :55:31.main competition is between Sebastian and Fernando for the

:55:31. > :55:35.championship -- officer. Is there is just going to try and get the

:55:35. > :55:39.best result he can? We are just going to try and win the race.

:55:39. > :55:44.Lewis likes the circuit, the car is strong here and we will try and get

:55:44. > :55:49.it right and see if we can win the race. And for Jenson, was that

:55:49. > :55:54.problem? He is OK, he struggled a bit in that session and when your

:55:54. > :55:58.team mate is on fire like that, it can be intimidating, and I am sure

:55:58. > :56:02.he is disappointed, but it is a long race and he is a great racer,

:56:02. > :56:05.we will see what he can do. Good luck tomorrow.

:56:06. > :56:09.Lewis Hamilton and Mark Webber discussing things. Vettel was told

:56:09. > :56:13.to stop the car, we have heard that before when they have had

:56:13. > :56:19.alternator problems. We will no doubt find out. He has qualified in

:56:19. > :56:22.third place, but it is Hamilton who maintains a 100% record of always

:56:22. > :56:28.starting on the front row in Abu Dhabi.

:56:28. > :56:32.JAKE HUMPHREY: And a significant pole position, pole 75 for McLaren,

:56:32. > :56:38.congratulations to the whole team. It wasn't even a fight.

:56:38. > :56:43.EDDIE JORDAN: Yes, but as Martin said, he has been in a great place,

:56:43. > :56:48.and the reason why he is in that, we don't vote, but he drove

:56:48. > :56:52.miracles around here today. And as we look at Sebastian Vettel, he

:56:52. > :56:56.will be feeling frustrated. Maybe he knows his car is in more trouble

:56:56. > :56:59.than we know, but the important thing for him is he starts third

:56:59. > :57:03.and Fernando Alonso starts the seventh and you have to look at it

:57:03. > :57:06.with the title in mind. There are six other cars in front of Fernando,

:57:06. > :57:10.and they are all people who can potentially take points from him

:57:10. > :57:15.and when you look at the situation on the board, all of those other

:57:15. > :57:19.drivers are actually fighting with a Vettel against Alonso, if you

:57:19. > :57:23.work it out with permutations like that. So he shouldn't be upset

:57:23. > :57:28.about today. Yes, he probably wanted to be on the front row, as

:57:28. > :57:32.they all did, but this is very good for Red Bull. And a beautiful shot

:57:32. > :57:36.of the fastest car in Formula One at the moment. Everyone enjoying

:57:36. > :57:40.this qualifying session. Let's remember what happened with Lewis

:57:40. > :57:45.the few races ago in Spain, he ran out of fuel in qualifying and got a

:57:45. > :57:50.huge penalty from the FIA. If there is the fuel issue on that Red Bull,

:57:50. > :57:53.we could see things change. I don't think it is a fuel issue, I would

:57:53. > :57:58.guess that Red Bull had a problem with the alternator or something

:57:58. > :58:03.like that, because it looks like, from the body language, Abe

:58:03. > :58:08.occurrence of a problem. Christian Horner said there was a brake

:58:08. > :58:11.problem and very often, team bosses don't tell 100% of the truth and

:58:11. > :58:16.try to deflect things. I think there is a problem with the car and

:58:16. > :58:20.they are concerned. You amaze me, not telling the truth 100% of the

:58:20. > :58:25.time. In the final part of practice, there was an issue with Sebastian's

:58:25. > :58:29.car, he only ran for 4.5 minutes in that session. Let's hear from

:58:30. > :58:33.Christian Horner right now. Christian, second and third on the

:58:33. > :58:39.grid, I am sure he wanted more but you are still a long way ahead of

:58:39. > :58:44.Fernando, your closest championship rival. It was a positive qualifying.

:58:44. > :58:49.We knew McLaren would be fast. It was a good lap from Lewis and we

:58:49. > :58:52.need to just make sure we convert these promising grid position has

:58:52. > :58:57.been to a good performance. idea what the problem is with

:58:57. > :59:02.Sebastian? Not at the moment. There was a request that came from the

:59:02. > :59:09.engine ranks but at the moment, I have no idea why. Well done, cheers.

:59:09. > :59:13.Eddie? Good old Christian. I think he probably has, but he is right

:59:13. > :59:17.not to say. All of his competitors are listening in to the various

:59:17. > :59:21.different interviews and they don't want to second-guess and Christian

:59:21. > :59:24.is playing a good poker game, all of his cards close to his chest and

:59:24. > :59:29.that is how he should do. wouldn't stop a car like that

:59:29. > :59:31.without knowing why, would he? First of all, you don't stop a car

:59:31. > :59:34.and as it is something really critical and because you want the

:59:35. > :59:39.car to come back, apart from the sponsors and everything else, you

:59:39. > :59:42.don't stop a car on the track. I don't believe it is fuel, so there

:59:42. > :59:46.has to be something more difficult in there for him, because they

:59:46. > :59:51.don't look habit. We will send Gary Anderson in with a span and see if

:59:51. > :59:55.he can work it out. Jenson Button blown away by Lewis Hamilton, at

:59:55. > :00:00.one point, there was a second between them. Let's hear from him.

:00:00. > :00:06.Some of pure qualifying, how was it? Not very good. All weekend, the

:00:06. > :00:11.car has been good, the pace has been there, but in qualifying, it

:00:11. > :00:15.didn't have any lap time, or too much. What you put that down to?

:00:15. > :00:21.I knew, we would have sorted it out, so I don't know. We will see when

:00:21. > :00:28.we get back. Obviously, the car is very quick and Lewis is on four by

:00:28. > :00:32.quite a bit. -- pole. It is a good lap time and most of the weekend, I

:00:32. > :00:42.was happy. I don't know where it has gone, but we just about got

:00:42. > :00:45.

:00:45. > :00:49.struggling. A quick mention of a couple of fast drivers. Pastor

:00:49. > :00:53.Maldonado. Maldonado has to do a couple of thing, no point in

:00:53. > :00:58.qualifying unless he converts it into meaningful points. He just,

:00:58. > :01:02.his strike rate is poor, in yes he had that wonderful win in Spain n

:01:02. > :01:07.Barcelona, but what else after that? We need to see, the speed,

:01:07. > :01:11.the talent this boy, he needs to make sure that the, the conversion

:01:11. > :01:15.ratio into points on the Sunday become reality. It's a remarkable

:01:15. > :01:20.stat, one win only three points finishes all season long, another

:01:20. > :01:24.strong performance in qualifying. Pastor Maldonado is talking to

:01:24. > :01:29.Leigh McKenzie. A strong day, you must be happy.. Yes, I think we

:01:29. > :01:34.show all through the weekend, that we were very competitive and

:01:34. > :01:38.consistent. In different conditions, so, I did my best, in qualifying.

:01:38. > :01:43.The car was there, so, very happy for the team, very happy for myself

:01:43. > :01:46.as well. We are back again to be strong and looking forward to

:01:46. > :01:51.tomorrow. How do you think that will translate tomorrow? There is a

:01:51. > :01:54.huge Championship battle going on round you. We need to look

:01:54. > :02:00.ourselves, points will be very important for us, so, I will push

:02:00. > :02:04.at the maximum and then we will see. I think we have a very strong base,

:02:04. > :02:10.very competitive, like the top teams, we are going to be

:02:10. > :02:14.competitive tomorrow. Well t fact his team-mate qualified in 159 puts

:02:14. > :02:16.that in perspective. Lewis Hamilton untouchable. Mark Webber

:02:16. > :02:22.outqualifying Sebastian Vettel and Pastor Maldonado fourth place,

:02:23. > :02:26.Jensen Button we have heard from. He struggled hardly made it into

:02:27. > :02:31.the final part. There is flob. He starts in front of his team-mate

:02:31. > :02:35.Felipe Massa, in seventh place. Hulkenberg is driving for Sauber.

:02:35. > :02:42.Perez is driving for McLaren, so they are enjoying their last few

:02:43. > :02:46.days for their respective teams. Michael Schumacher is 149 and Bruno

:02:46. > :02:54.Senna is strugglinging for pace. The Toro Rosso as we get into a

:02:54. > :03:01.situation where the new teams once again struggling to make it through.

:03:01. > :03:05.Narain Karthikeyan brings up is the very back. Lewis, you have had a

:03:05. > :03:12.fantastic weekend so far, you are a former winner hoo,er, what are your

:03:12. > :03:16.feelings for tomorrow? Very excited. Very excited. It is the first time

:03:16. > :03:20.in a long time to be ahead, and not be able to see the tail of them at

:03:20. > :03:23.the start of the race. I know that is going to be as always tough in

:03:24. > :03:28.the race, because they have great race pace. I hope that we are

:03:28. > :03:32.strong enough to fight then, you know, the team have done a

:03:32. > :03:36.fantastic job. The car has felt beautiful all weekend. I don't know

:03:36. > :03:41.why the car works so well here, we haven't made any improvements to

:03:41. > :03:46.the car since the last race, so I guess it suits the track and the

:03:46. > :03:50.guys are massively focused, so I hope that tomorrow is a good day

:03:50. > :03:56.for us. How have the long runs been looking? Well, we did a couple of

:03:56. > :04:00.long run, they seem to be OK. One of my long runs, I had a lot of

:04:00. > :04:03.traffic but general seven had a accident long run, which shows, a

:04:03. > :04:08.bit like the last race, we should be competitive, but for me it is

:04:08. > :04:15.trying to improve the start of the race, as these guys are so quick at

:04:15. > :04:19.the first couple of laps. Thank you. Mark, well done, second fastest in

:04:19. > :04:23.qualifying. You have outqualified your team-mate. There has been some

:04:23. > :04:32.worrying moments for example last weekend w the loss of curve, you

:04:32. > :04:36.are on the back foot sightly? of all credit to Lewis and McLaren.

:04:36. > :04:40.They bumped us off the front row, the first time in a while. We had a

:04:40. > :04:46.good run, so now, they have done a good job e so credit where it is

:04:46. > :04:51.due, we did the best we could. I think, it was a smooth qualifying

:04:51. > :04:55.session for both Seb and I, we did what we could. Still a long way up

:04:55. > :04:59.the grid. So it went well. We have a bit of friendly fire going on we

:04:59. > :05:04.immediate to tidy up. The quality of the teem is exceptional. We know

:05:04. > :05:09.what we need to improve on, and to help both championships along. Seb

:05:09. > :05:13.is involved in the drivers and the constructors' is pont for us. We

:05:13. > :05:18.will focus on tomorrow's race and the cars are working well on

:05:18. > :05:22.Sundays, but Lewis, and JB did strong long runs as well, so, yeah,

:05:22. > :05:25.they look strong but overall we are positive and looking for a good

:05:25. > :05:29.result tomorrow. Thank you. Sebastian, obviously, the problem

:05:29. > :05:33.with the brakes this morning and we just saw you stop on circuit this

:05:33. > :05:38.afternoorpbgs but you are third on the grifpltd at least you salvaged

:05:38. > :05:42.that, what are your feelings? don't know why I had to stop. I was

:05:43. > :05:47.asked to stop. Probably some problem, but shouldn't be something

:05:47. > :05:51.major, this morning wasn't ideal, not being able to run, so we didn't

:05:51. > :05:56.get probably the answers that we were hoping for, nevertheless we

:05:56. > :06:01.were settling in well and the pace was there, I think as Mark touches

:06:01. > :06:06.on, McLaren and, in particular, Lewis, pretty quick, so they were

:06:06. > :06:09.out of reach today, but not entirely happy with my qualifying

:06:09. > :06:14.the last part of qualifying was tricky for me, so I think I should

:06:14. > :06:19.have been a bit quicker, whether that would have been enough to beat

:06:19. > :06:22.Mark is on a different sheet of Pape e-- paper, but all in all I

:06:22. > :06:26.think we can be quite happy, so race pace should be good tomorrow,

:06:26. > :06:31.and as we know say it long race here, there is a lot of things that

:06:31. > :06:36.can happen, so looking forward to tomorrow. Interesting. A bit of

:06:36. > :06:40.friendly fire, we have to sort out Mark Webber says, translate. Very

:06:40. > :06:45.simple. Mark will move over for Sebastian. Let us hear from

:06:45. > :06:53.Fernando Alonso. He starts seventh. Do you see that as a seventh place

:06:53. > :06:57.start or four places behind Sebastian Vettel? Seventh place.

:06:57. > :07:06.Myself, I am hamy with the performance in qualifying. We got

:07:06. > :07:11.the maximum from the car I think. It was 41.5 in Q2. I think I can

:07:11. > :07:15.repeat 100 times the lap. I think that was the maximum today. But

:07:15. > :07:19.unfortunately it was six cars faster than us today. Normally pace

:07:19. > :07:29.improves for Sunday, so let us hope tomorrow we can recover some place.

:07:29. > :07:29.

:07:29. > :07:35.Let me take you back one week, Vettel on pole, he finishes second.

:07:35. > :07:41.The situation is perfectly poised. Alonso said he wasn't disappointed.

:07:41. > :07:45.He will be. They brought a raft of new bids, they spent two all

:07:45. > :07:50.nighters, it is nod good enough. Whatever you suffer from it is

:07:50. > :07:55.catching. It's a year ago since I called Paul McCartney George, so we