The Belgian Grand Prix - Qualifying

:01:44. > :01:54.obstacles. Dealing with expectation. Seizing an opportunity. Learning to

:01:54. > :01:55.

:01:55. > :01:58.accept defeat. Two weeks in the City, they gave us everything.

:01:58. > :02:04.Everything this sport gives you in just one afternoon here in the

:02:05. > :02:10.country. What a year of sport it has been,

:02:10. > :02:15.and that is before we get down to the season defining final few races

:02:15. > :02:20.of this Formula One season. Welcome to live coverage of qualifying for

:02:20. > :02:27.the 2012 Belgian Grand Prix. I'd you ready? We now have nine races

:02:27. > :02:32.in the next 13 weeks. It will be more bizarre than the Paul King on

:02:32. > :02:37.the wings, it will be an exciting end. We have been dished up an

:02:37. > :02:43.amazing first part of the season. If it comes close in the second

:02:43. > :02:49.part, we are in for a hectic season. The stock was not enough for some

:02:49. > :02:53.fans, my Twitter FT says, I want Formula One back on my TV! What a

:02:53. > :02:59.great place to stop the second half of the season. That is the corner

:02:59. > :03:04.they talk about, a Eau Rouge. Five weeks is such a longer break. We

:03:04. > :03:10.had a washout in free practice, it will make it a great qualifying

:03:10. > :03:16.session. It has been the longest break since 1999. This is what they

:03:16. > :03:20.were treated to yesterday, it was so wet. It is the hardest of the

:03:20. > :03:24.hard core that could turn up yesterday. I locked myself away in

:03:24. > :03:30.a heated room, because it was freezing it, and the weather was

:03:30. > :03:35.shocking. Bring back a few memories? We have had wet races in

:03:35. > :03:41.the past. These cars are not designed for those conditions, lots

:03:41. > :03:48.of people having incidents. Nobody really set a time. We are bathed in

:03:48. > :03:58.sunlight now, but it is freezing. These two know what can happen here

:03:58. > :03:59.

:03:59. > :04:03.when the weather gets angry. Who was that? David Coulthard.

:04:03. > :04:08.David Coulthard into the war. They will have to stop the race. This is

:04:08. > :04:18.the worst start for a Grand Prix that I have ever seen in the hall

:04:18. > :04:24.

:04:24. > :04:34.of my life. Go! Eddie Irvine comes up the left. Damon Hill gets ahead

:04:34. > :04:35.

:04:35. > :04:39.of everybody. Michael Schumacher going around the outside. Oh, God!

:04:39. > :04:45.Michael Schumacher hits David Coulthard, and he is out of the

:04:45. > :04:52.Belgian Grand Prix. He is storming down the pit lane, look at him. He

:04:52. > :05:02.is going to David Coulthard, he will have it out with him. Damon

:05:02. > :05:03.

:05:03. > :05:08.Hill wins in Belgium. Fantastic! What an unbelievable race! Eddie

:05:08. > :05:14.Jordan at last, after all of his efforts, he sees its rig, and he is

:05:14. > :05:18.now one of the top five. All of these years later, he was

:05:18. > :05:26.still jumping up and down with excitement! Have you thanked David

:05:26. > :05:30.for that? I can do so officially now! He keeps asking for money!

:05:30. > :05:37.always tell us the money comes for the constructors! You can never get

:05:37. > :05:42.money out of him! A great way to start this programme. Let's bring

:05:42. > :05:50.you up to date, the next nine races will have to go some to match the

:05:50. > :05:55.first 11. One of the most unpredictable and

:05:55. > :05:59.varied starts to any Formula One season began in Australia, although

:05:59. > :06:04.Jenson Button's victory gave few clues to the dramas that were about

:06:04. > :06:10.to unfold. He became the early leader, but rain in Malaysia turned

:06:10. > :06:14.the tables on McLaren, and took them in favour of Fernando Alonso,

:06:15. > :06:19.who fended off Sergio Perez to become the surprise points leader

:06:19. > :06:24.after two events. Normality did not resume in China, Nico Rosberg took

:06:24. > :06:29.his first ever victory. Tyre performance was crucial, and

:06:29. > :06:34.finding the sweet spot proved to be a major challenge. Kimi Raikkonen

:06:34. > :06:39.dropped from second to 14th. Consistency was elusive, and Lewis

:06:39. > :06:42.Hamilton led the points, despite failing to win a race. Fernando

:06:42. > :06:48.Alonso was slipping back, he was not amused by Nico Rosberg's

:06:48. > :06:52.tactics in Bahrain. He could only finish in seventh place, every step

:06:52. > :06:58.was taken by Sebastian Vettel, despite the attentions of Kimi

:06:59. > :07:02.Raikkonen. The rev Paul Driver now headed the standings. Barcelona

:07:02. > :07:07.proved a turning-point for Ferrari, changes to the car added a new

:07:07. > :07:12.lease of life to Fernando Alonso's hopes. He was beaten to victory by

:07:12. > :07:18.the shock result of the season, Pastor Maldonado na Mark Williams'

:07:18. > :07:24.first victory in nearly eight years, after managing his tyres. He failed

:07:24. > :07:29.to impress in Monaco, a race that belonged to Mark Webber. He had

:07:29. > :07:34.total control, unlike Jenson Button, frustrated in his attempts to pass

:07:34. > :07:39.Heikki Kovalainen, and suffering a mystifying loss of form. Every race

:07:39. > :07:45.had seen a different winner, and the trend continued in Canada,

:07:45. > :07:49.Lewis Hamilton past Fernando Alonso. McLaren went for two stops. Ferrari

:07:49. > :07:54.paid the price, as Fernando Alonso slipped to fifth place. Lewis

:07:54. > :07:58.Hamilton made it seven winners in seven races, and he narrowly held

:07:58. > :08:03.sway in the championship. Sebastian Vettel was likely to be the one to

:08:03. > :08:07.end that trend, as he sprinted away in Valencia, that a then on finish

:08:07. > :08:10.cost him dear, especially as Fernando Alonso fought his way

:08:10. > :08:16.through the pack. For Lewis Hamilton, the race ended in more

:08:17. > :08:21.dramatic fashion. Saw the Stones or Fernando Alonso continue to run at

:08:21. > :08:25.the front, but ultimately, he could not fend off Mark Webber, and his

:08:25. > :08:29.second win of the season pots him firmly in second place in the

:08:29. > :08:33.championship. The British Grand Prix marks a low point for McLaren,

:08:33. > :08:38.only eight place and tenth place, and both drivers were desperate for

:08:38. > :08:44.upgrades. They arrived in time to Germany, but Fernando Alonso Bostel

:08:44. > :08:50.the man to beat, while the tussle for second place was between Mark

:08:50. > :08:55.Webber and Jenson Button. -- Sebastian Vettel and Jenson Button.

:08:55. > :08:59.In Hungary, and Eau Rouge used the upgrades to fend off the Lotus of

:08:59. > :09:03.Kimi Raikkonen. Fernando Alonso lacked a frontline pace, but he

:09:03. > :09:08.maintained his record of scoring at every Grand Prix this year.

:09:08. > :09:13.Fernando Alonso arrives here with a 40 point lead, but no sign of

:09:13. > :09:18.dominating every event. Behind him, only eight points separate second

:09:18. > :09:24.place from fifth place, and there are 225 available. This season

:09:24. > :09:30.shows no signs of settling down. That is good news for every driver

:09:30. > :09:36.chasing Fernando Alonso. 40 points might feel like a nice cushion, but

:09:36. > :09:40.they will not rest on their laurels, because two wins, the gap is gone.

:09:40. > :09:45.We have already understood, Fernando Alonso is perturbed about

:09:45. > :09:51.the state of his car, he does not believe it is as quick as his

:09:51. > :09:54.rivals, so there is the answer, it could be a titanic battle. We have

:09:54. > :10:00.seen some unfamiliar faces at the front this season, but some

:10:00. > :10:07.familiar faces towards the back of the pack. As things stand, HRT,

:10:07. > :10:10.Marussia and Caterham have no points on the board. For people

:10:10. > :10:16.looking at this from the outside, they will see your best finish a

:10:16. > :10:23.couple of years ago, 12 place, then 30th place, it is hard to see the

:10:23. > :10:29.progression. -- 13th place. It is hard to see on a race by race basis.

:10:29. > :10:32.If you take the 2010 and 2011 seasons and it looked at our

:10:33. > :10:40.position relative to the front, it was quite similar. People might

:10:40. > :10:43.think that 2011 was better, but 2012 is better, and consistently so.

:10:43. > :10:48.It does not look as though there is a lot of progress, and it

:10:48. > :10:54.frustrates us, but there is progress, and we have to keep our

:10:54. > :10:59.heads down and keep pushing. Let's suppose I am Heikki Kovalainen, I

:10:59. > :11:05.have the possibility of going to Ferrari next year, what will you

:11:05. > :11:12.say to me to convince me to stay? That is a fantastic question, thank

:11:12. > :11:17.you very much! We have to be realistic. If people get

:11:17. > :11:22.opportunities that represent a magnitude step forward, we have to

:11:22. > :11:27.be realistic. What we have to do, we recognise what we need to do to

:11:27. > :11:34.make progress, whether that is facilities or people, we are

:11:34. > :11:38.investing, and it takes time. There is no magic. He is close enough to

:11:38. > :11:43.us to understand what we are trying to do, and to recognise the

:11:43. > :11:49.positive, but it will take a little time. We hope you make the progress.

:11:49. > :11:53.To this weekend, does the fact that yesterday was a washout, nobody has

:11:53. > :12:03.had any remained, does that help a small team like yourself, or does

:12:03. > :12:07.it handicap here? I suspect it is probably easier -- meter. As was

:12:07. > :12:11.publicised, we put an update on the car at Silverstone, and we have not

:12:11. > :12:16.seen the benefits that we wanted yet. That is because the area we

:12:16. > :12:20.are working on is difficult to model. A lot of the work we do it

:12:20. > :12:24.is evaluating things on the circuit. Most of the Fridays since

:12:24. > :12:28.Silverstone have been a washout, and that is when we try to do our

:12:28. > :12:32.evaluation. Yesterday, we suffered, and some of the things we would

:12:32. > :12:38.have liked to evaluate, once you are down to one session, we do not

:12:38. > :12:45.have the opportunity. Before we leave you, give us an idea of way

:12:45. > :12:48.you expect to be today. I honestly think that they will be no

:12:48. > :12:52.substantial change from what we have seen in the last couple of

:12:52. > :12:59.races. Being realistic, there is no reason to believe that will be the

:12:59. > :13:05.case. Good luck this weekend, we are expecting no rain. Correct.

:13:05. > :13:09.Hallelujah! Let's turn our attention to the guys in the

:13:09. > :13:19.midfield, not fighting for the championship, but it is even more

:13:19. > :13:26.

:13:26. > :13:31.competitive, because one thousandth and lows as far as the Silver

:13:31. > :13:34.Arrows are concerned. Nico Rosberg got his first victory in China, but

:13:34. > :13:39.podiums have been more difficult to come by since then, and winning has

:13:39. > :13:44.not been repeated so far. Michael Schumacher has struggled to the

:13:44. > :13:48.chequered flag after both technical and driver errors. Out of the 11

:13:48. > :13:52.races so far, he has finished less than half. The highlight of his

:13:52. > :13:58.season was his return to the podium in Valencia, and a pole position

:13:58. > :14:06.for Monaco, although a penalty meant he could never line-up at the

:14:06. > :14:10.front of the grid on race day. That sums up Mercedes' season. Sauber

:14:10. > :14:14.have been a revelation this season, and they were quick from the off,

:14:14. > :14:17.getting 12 points on the first race. In Malaysia, Sergio Perez came

:14:17. > :14:22.close to getting his first victory, although pressure meant he had to

:14:22. > :14:26.settle for second place. It was still a stunning result, and their

:14:26. > :14:33.first podium since 2003. Kamui Kobayashi finished it in fifth

:14:33. > :14:39.place in Spain, but a podium in Canada showed they are not one race

:14:39. > :14:43.wonders. After their worst ever season last year, Williams bounced

:14:43. > :14:47.back in race one, Pastor Maldonado was so close to an impressive

:14:47. > :14:51.result in Australia, but he threw it away whilst trying to pass

:14:51. > :14:54.Fernando Alonso. Barcelona was where it came together. He started

:14:54. > :14:59.from pole position after Lewis Hamilton was stripped of his

:14:59. > :15:03.fastest time on Saturday night due to a fuel irregularity. Pastor

:15:04. > :15:08.Maldonado took his first victory in his Formula One career. But he has

:15:08. > :15:13.not scored a single point since then, and he has been in too many

:15:13. > :15:16.confrontations for many drivers' liking. They have relied on a drip-

:15:16. > :15:26.feed of points from Bruno Senna, but they need to prove that they

:15:26. > :15:31.resort in Spain was not just a able to show their talents this

:15:31. > :15:35.year's - this season. They've been struggling to keep up. Paul di

:15:35. > :15:39.Resta has scored 27 points and matched his career-best finish with

:15:39. > :15:44.Essex in Bahrain, but he hasn't scored points in the last three

:15:44. > :15:49.years. The team's best result of the season came from Hulkenberg,

:15:49. > :15:54.who was 5th in Valencia, but that has been the high alert other

:15:54. > :15:59.difficult and disappointing season for Force India. -- highlight.

:15:59. > :16:04.Toro Rosso brought in two new drivers with big reputations. It

:16:04. > :16:09.look like they could deliver. But the last points they scored were in

:16:09. > :16:12.Malaysia. Daniel Riccardo had a great weekend at his home Grand

:16:12. > :16:17.Prix after finishing 9th. It was only one race and two points, but

:16:17. > :16:20.things were looking promising. In Malaysia it was the turn of the

:16:20. > :16:25.Jean-Eric Vergne to bring back the goods. In only his second Formula

:16:25. > :16:28.One race, he scored four points, but since then the scoring has

:16:28. > :16:32.ground to a halt. Inconsistent qualifying and race results have

:16:32. > :16:35.meant that despite mixing it up, nothing more has been achieved.

:16:35. > :16:39.They'll be disappointed with how things have gone after so much

:16:39. > :16:44.early promise. It has been tough for Toro Rosso.

:16:44. > :16:51.We shot out of the pit lane and made our way to the paddock. We

:16:51. > :16:56.will speak to Paul di Resta. Favourite East struggled, Force

:16:56. > :17:00.India, because the main issue is that both Williams and Sauber have

:17:00. > :17:05.taken a huge step forward. The reason Williams have picked up so

:17:05. > :17:11.many. His Maldonado winning a race a few weeks ago. David is with

:17:11. > :17:15.Pastor Maldonado. It is fair to say you have had a roller-coaster

:17:15. > :17:22.season. Start of the year, running close to the points in Australia,

:17:22. > :17:27.dropping the car in the last lap. That amazing victory in Barcelona.

:17:27. > :17:31.Where are you after the five-week break in your head? It has been a

:17:31. > :17:37.very difficult season, especially with ups and downs. Not very

:17:37. > :17:43.consistent. But the important thing is that the car is there, it is

:17:43. > :17:50.consistent. We've been in the top 10 in many of the races. This is

:17:50. > :17:54.quite positive. If we look at last year's car, that is very positive.

:17:54. > :17:58.The team spirit is quite high so we are very optimistic to push hard in

:17:58. > :18:03.the second half of the season. We need to recover some point but we

:18:03. > :18:07.lost in the past and here we are, trying to do our best, trying to

:18:07. > :18:13.push to the maximum. There's no question that you are exciting to

:18:13. > :18:18.watch. Have you got any second plan for the second half of the year to

:18:18. > :18:22.help you get those points? We reflect on some of the races you've

:18:22. > :18:27.had, is there a change of approach that you can do with the team or do

:18:27. > :18:33.you just continue the process? sure, you learn from your mistakes.

:18:33. > :18:41.We've made a couple of mistakes this year. At the same time, I've

:18:41. > :18:47.been involved in so many things, but looking forward always, trying

:18:47. > :18:54.to learn from the mistakes. VAT will be an important second part of

:18:54. > :19:00.the season. We have a good car, we need to recover some points. The

:19:00. > :19:03.approach will be more or less the same, but more on the attack, maybe.

:19:03. > :19:09.Enjoy what is a fantastic race track. Best of luck in qualifying.

:19:09. > :19:13.Thank you. From one driver to another, Paul di Resta is with us.

:19:13. > :19:16.You've matched your entire points total from 2011, how would you

:19:17. > :19:22.assess the first half of the season? I think we should be quite

:19:22. > :19:29.satisfied. But you always want more. Of course! We need a power game

:19:29. > :19:34.because the guys around us have done a bit of a better job. There's

:19:34. > :19:41.a lot of work to do with the up- and- coming races, but it is

:19:41. > :19:46.achievable based on our performances last year. How do you

:19:46. > :19:50.dispel... The three last races were poor for you. You are now coming

:19:50. > :19:53.into the second half of the season. What did you do in the window to

:19:53. > :19:58.get yourself mentally ready for this? It is nice to have a break

:19:58. > :20:03.and stay at home. I trained really hard and enjoyed the time. For the

:20:03. > :20:08.Olympics was on so I had a couple of weeks. That inspires you to do

:20:08. > :20:16.more training. I've come to Spa it a kilo and a half lighter. That

:20:16. > :20:21.gives you energy and it brings you into the second half of the season.

:20:21. > :20:27.Catching up with friends and doing what normal people do. Do you still

:20:27. > :20:31.think you are in the shop window for a potential bidder teen?

:20:31. > :20:37.bigger team. I would like to think so. What you do on the track opened

:20:37. > :20:41.people's eyes and that is what counts. Anything I can do to do

:20:41. > :20:44.that... Right now I have a job to do with Force India and that is to

:20:44. > :20:49.score a lot of point. My relationship with them as very

:20:49. > :20:54.strong and we want to continue our progress. We are furious, we've

:20:54. > :20:58.turned up 15 stone lighter each and you've turned up lighter! Before we

:20:58. > :21:02.let you go, give us your ideas about where you are sitting for

:21:02. > :21:06.qualifying. For people seeing the sunshine, they will think it has

:21:06. > :21:12.been like this all weekend, but it certainly hasn't. It was a very

:21:12. > :21:16.busy morning, yesterday was a washout. I'm not too sure. We have

:21:16. > :21:21.been hovering about tenth place all session. We are relatively content

:21:21. > :21:26.with where we are, but some people are out of position. Lewers is

:21:26. > :21:30.behind us and a McLaren should not be behind us. -- Lewis. It is a

:21:30. > :21:34.long race here. In recent races, you don't get any Friday running

:21:34. > :21:41.empty going to the weekend completely blind. But so far so

:21:41. > :21:47.good. Good luck. You are currently looking for a new manager, Eddie is

:21:47. > :21:54.keen to have a conversation. doesn't need me! His biggest

:21:54. > :21:58.nightmare all-in-one. Never mind. Thank you. Hope to see you in the

:21:58. > :22:02.final part of qualifying. Who knows? Perhaps next season we may

:22:02. > :22:06.be talking to Paul when it comes to the bigger teams. When you discuss

:22:07. > :22:16.the bigger teams in F1, it is about making the right decisions at the

:22:17. > :22:26.

:22:26. > :22:30.the Constructors' Championship at the home at, they are ahead of

:22:30. > :22:34.McLaren, Lotus and Ferrari, but they haven't had it all their own

:22:34. > :22:38.way. Regulation changes over the winter, playing around with a body

:22:38. > :22:45.works. But they have come good as well. They really dominated last

:22:45. > :22:48.year because they make best use of the exhaust diffuser. They tried to

:22:48. > :22:52.replicate what that did for them and never quite got there. At the

:22:53. > :22:55.start of the season they were running both cars on different

:22:55. > :23:01.specifications, trying to get better airflow into the diffuser

:23:01. > :23:11.area. They haven't got on top of it. Some races it is OK, others it is

:23:11. > :23:15.

:23:16. > :23:18.not. But they have good drivers and didn't go for a step nose at the

:23:18. > :23:24.start of the year and you questioned that. They started the

:23:24. > :23:27.season strongly, went through a dip but came back strongly. I still

:23:27. > :23:32.think the concept of their car is not as good as they could have been,

:23:32. > :23:35.but they have executed what they have got really well. They started

:23:35. > :23:39.with a higher knows, but they still don't have a high chassis to allow

:23:39. > :23:46.more air flow through. For side pods and Coke bottle area they had

:23:46. > :23:50.for Germany got more downforce out of the car. They are very, very

:23:50. > :23:55.strong, they definitely have the quickest car in the pit lane.

:23:55. > :24:02.Lotus was a car you like straight away. I remember you commenting on

:24:02. > :24:06.it. It is fast in the races, but not always in qualifying. Yes. It

:24:06. > :24:12.is one of those cars were if you look at it long enough, you can see

:24:12. > :24:17.it is good to drive. Drivers love it. In qualifying, it doesn't just

:24:17. > :24:23.make the best use of the tyres. But in race conditions, it isn't much

:24:23. > :24:28.better and the tyres last longer. The races are still being one --

:24:28. > :24:33.won from the start so they have to get better in qualifying. Ferrari,

:24:33. > :24:37.there seems to have been a huge turnaround. They struggled in the

:24:37. > :24:41.testing, and then suddenly Alonso was leading the championship.

:24:42. > :24:46.the thing about having a bad car at the start is you have to dig deep.

:24:46. > :24:50.You have to research a lot of stuff and you learn more about the car.

:24:50. > :24:55.They learned how to make their car work because they had to dig deep

:24:55. > :24:59.for top of you get the tyres working well. Alonso and delight

:24:59. > :25:04.this challenge. It is a new challenge, winning from fifth or

:25:04. > :25:08.6th on the grid. They are making the best of what they've got. So I

:25:08. > :25:13.don't think they are as quick as the rest yet. But whether they will

:25:13. > :25:18.get better in the latter part of the season, I don't know. Finally,

:25:18. > :25:24.the Pirelli tyres. Has anybody got a handle on what to do with them?

:25:24. > :25:28.It is difficult. Tyres have always been a problem. The four bits of

:25:28. > :25:31.black rubber that Kinnock used to the ground. But the Pirellis have

:25:31. > :25:35.got a smaller working window, they need to be above and below a

:25:35. > :25:40.certain temperature to work well. That depends on the balance of the

:25:40. > :25:43.car. It is still the car that is really important to make the tyres

:25:43. > :25:51.worked. Red Bull lead the Constructors' Championship at the

:25:51. > :25:56.moment. It is so close because Lotus are run 192 and Ferrari on

:25:56. > :26:01.189. A ensure the Constructors'

:26:01. > :26:04.Championship makes happy reading for at Christian Horner. We know we

:26:04. > :26:08.your garages because loud music comes from it. Is this your choice

:26:09. > :26:13.of music as Mike I have nothing to do with it! I don't think it would

:26:13. > :26:18.be on your iPod. I don't think so either. Led to talk about your

:26:19. > :26:22.season so far. A half-term report. You lead the way in the

:26:22. > :26:26.championship for the constructors, but in terms of the last couple of

:26:26. > :26:31.races, you've not been as quick. How do you assess where you are at?

:26:31. > :26:36.It has been a tough year so far. We have a 53 point leader the

:26:36. > :26:40.Constructors' Championship. Both of our drivers are separated by two

:26:40. > :26:46.points. Second and third in the Drivers' Championship. We have to

:26:46. > :26:49.hunt down Fernando. Nine races where we have to keep attacking.

:26:49. > :26:53.Where has your form gone since the British Grand Prix? That was an

:26:53. > :26:59.amazing result for the team and since then you have slipped a bit.

:26:59. > :27:03.We finished second in Hockenheim. Unfortunately that was taken away

:27:03. > :27:08.from set. Hungary was a difficult race, it wasn't our most

:27:08. > :27:10.competitive race in 2011 either. Hopefully after the summer break

:27:11. > :27:17.everybody has come back refreshed and we can have a strong second

:27:17. > :27:25.half of the year. I've got to ask UKIP about the parameters around

:27:25. > :27:28.the money in the constructors. The difference between finishing first

:27:28. > :27:35.and second, does that make a big difference to your budget for next

:27:35. > :27:41.year? Probably about the same as your salary! Non on the BBC!

:27:41. > :27:44.There's a reasonable difference. That is why to the teams, the

:27:44. > :27:48.Constructors' Championship is vitally important. The way the

:27:48. > :27:54.money is distributed is weighted towards for performance --

:27:54. > :27:59.performance. You need to stay where you are. Thank you. Give us an

:27:59. > :28:08.exciting race weekend and turn the music down! A not your choice!

:28:08. > :28:14.done! Nice to see you. If you are wondering where David is, he is a

:28:14. > :28:20.couple of garages away with Martin Whitmarsh. Martin is going to

:28:20. > :28:24.appear in shot. Thank you for your time. Sun shining in Spa. I did a

:28:24. > :28:27.quick interview with Pastor Maldonado and said he's had a

:28:27. > :28:32.roller-coaster season. Your season has a bit -- been a bit roller-

:28:32. > :28:37.coaster, but without the lows he's experienced. Where are you now?

:28:37. > :28:41.Coming here, we felt quite confident. Right now we are less

:28:41. > :28:45.confident after this morning. What we had to do this morning was to a

:28:45. > :28:50.heavy fuel run and a light fuel run, tyre comparison, you can't do that

:28:50. > :28:55.in an hour on a long circuit like this. Now we are having to make

:28:55. > :29:00.decisions about going into qualifying. A bit of spread betting

:29:00. > :29:04.going on this afternoon. We will have to see how it goes. It is

:29:04. > :29:10.quite interesting this morning. I imagine it has got a lot of people

:29:10. > :29:14.thinking about where to go. If you have higher downforce, you can kill

:29:14. > :29:19.people buy a second in the second sector, but you are vulnerable up

:29:19. > :29:23.the hills and down the straight. Can you make up enough time with

:29:23. > :29:27.fat downforce in the middle sector to be up to defend yourself in the

:29:27. > :29:30.straight? We will see a spread of that. It will be interesting in

:29:30. > :29:34.qualifying, but even more interesting in the race for top

:29:35. > :29:42.five weeks ago in Hungary, you were top of the paid him. You are not

:29:42. > :29:49.sounding very confident right now. How can that be? We are making

:29:49. > :29:55.decisions unless data than we would like. We are not desperate, but no

:29:55. > :29:59.one can tell. In this season, it has been a fantastic season for the

:29:59. > :30:03.fans, but for those in thos in the middle, it has been sweaty on

:30:03. > :30:06.occasions. You can pretend to be confident and know what you're

:30:07. > :30:13.doing, but the truth is sometimes with these tyres and challenges,

:30:13. > :30:20.and it being so competitive,... This morning one second was about

:30:21. > :30:26.18 places. It is a scary place to be. You can pretend it is all under

:30:26. > :30:36.control, but actually it is a challenge. Our haven't seen beads

:30:36. > :30:37.

:30:37. > :30:45.of sweat on your forehead yet. Good but it is shaping up nicely for

:30:45. > :30:49.qualifying. You heard him say it is a difficult compromises. The Red

:30:49. > :30:55.Bull is launching itself, they have gone for a fast car down the

:30:55. > :31:05.straight, which is rare for them. In final practice, Fernando Alonso

:31:05. > :31:09.

:31:09. > :31:12.was the quickest of all. Plenty been able to say that he won the

:31:13. > :31:17.last Grand Prix, and his win in Hungary was an important boost,

:31:17. > :31:21.heading into the break. But he was keen to relax and stay away from

:31:21. > :31:27.the pressures of the paddock. have not thought about Formula One

:31:27. > :31:30.for weeks. It has been great. It is the same for all of the team.

:31:30. > :31:36.is the tactic for winning the championship? I have not figured it

:31:36. > :31:42.out yet! I have to take it race by race. Sebastian Vettel has spent

:31:42. > :31:46.some of his break filming a music video with a Canadian R&B star. He

:31:46. > :31:50.has parked his road car and got back in his Red Bull that gave him

:31:50. > :31:55.victory here last season. This year, he thinks the victory will be more

:31:55. > :31:58.difficult. It is hard to know if the cars will be the same. It is

:31:58. > :32:05.impossible to know what the others will come up with, so we will see.

:32:05. > :32:11.I hope we can make a step forward. I hope that we find the car works

:32:11. > :32:16.OK around here. Fernando Alonso is 40 points ahead of his nearest

:32:16. > :32:22.rival, Mark Webber, but despite that, he still feels he is not in

:32:22. > :32:28.the best car. In the guise that we have a different, we are clearly

:32:28. > :32:31.the slowest. We have a points advantage, we have a performance

:32:31. > :32:37.disadvantage. I do not think we are the favourites. Mark Webber has

:32:37. > :32:42.been caught up in the Olympics fever, and will use some of his

:32:42. > :32:46.experiences to spur him on. I was in the stadium for Mo Farah's 5000

:32:47. > :32:53.metres, one of the best experiences of my life, to experience the crowd,

:32:53. > :32:57.the guys running, it was better than I thought. I did not realise

:32:57. > :33:02.it would be that special. This is where it all started for Michael

:33:02. > :33:07.Schumacher, he made his debut here, he got his first victory, and he is

:33:07. > :33:17.celebrating his 300th Grand Prix. He was granted the freedom of the

:33:17. > :33:18.

:33:18. > :33:24.town. It is an honour, an honorary citizen. I am thankful.

:33:24. > :33:28.That is being called Lost for words. Congratulations on 300 races, and

:33:28. > :33:32.Jenson Button is gearing up, he said he would have to have 300

:33:32. > :33:37.races under his belt. Just over a quarter of an hour until he climbs

:33:37. > :33:42.back into the car and takes it out for a qualifying session. He would

:33:42. > :33:45.have to prove he has found some form. I am sure you enjoyed not

:33:45. > :33:49.having Formula One on your TV, because you could take a holiday

:33:49. > :33:59.and not miss much, but it was not much of their holiday for Jenson

:33:59. > :34:03.

:34:04. > :34:09.is to raise as much money as we possibly can, but also to enjoy the

:34:09. > :34:13.day. It is at a very unusual triathlon, because you have

:34:13. > :34:20.qualification heats in the morning, and the final in the afternoon, and

:34:21. > :34:27.there is also a wooden spoon race. 8300 metres swim, 8NK bike and a

:34:27. > :34:34.2.5 km run. These guys find it difficult, because it is flat out,

:34:34. > :34:38.the hauled away. -- whole way. You do not just race, you support

:34:38. > :34:43.everybody else. It is a great sport if you are an amateur, because if

:34:43. > :34:48.you are not great at any discipline, you can still be OK at the

:34:48. > :34:51.triathlon. It has got more competitive, the brothers in the

:34:51. > :34:59.Olympics, Alistair Brownlee crossed his line and did the 10 km run in

:34:59. > :35:04.29.10 sec -- minutes. It is a phenomenal sport, it is getting

:35:04. > :35:09.more competitive. I have been swimming all my life, I love

:35:09. > :35:14.cycling, we like getting into the fresh air, I hope to qualify for

:35:14. > :35:19.the World Championships Ironman one day, but that is in the future.

:35:19. > :35:26.That is after Formula One. My feet did not go very well this morning.

:35:26. > :35:32.The swimming was madness. I got into a bit of a mix, there were

:35:32. > :35:36.five of us fighting for space. But then my chain fell off my bike, so

:35:36. > :35:44.I had to get off and put The Chain back on. My mechanics were know

:35:44. > :35:49.where! Could not get my shoes, I ended up driving into the grass

:35:49. > :35:59.come up the hill. I finished in ninth place. But the final is the

:35:59. > :36:11.

:36:11. > :36:15.important thing, we do not want to retired from. My missus did her

:36:15. > :36:20.race before May, she had her wetsuit on, and she said it was so

:36:20. > :36:26.much better, and I said, I do not have as a wet suit! The race was

:36:26. > :36:33.still going on. I tried to wear her wetsuit. About 100 metres in, I

:36:33. > :36:39.could not break. -- breed. The swimming is normally the best part,

:36:39. > :36:45.but I have to undo the wet seat and stop. I overdid it. I started on

:36:45. > :36:49.the bike, but I damaged my lungs a bid from the swimming. I thought,

:36:49. > :36:54.it is not worth it, I have got more important things to look forward

:36:54. > :36:58.into a couple of weeks. It has been a great day. We wanted to make

:36:58. > :37:04.something that is different from most travelogues, we wanted to have

:37:04. > :37:08.a festival vibe. I am happy with what they have done this weekend.

:37:08. > :37:13.Most importantly, we have raised a lot of money, and next year, we

:37:13. > :37:21.want to make it bigger and raise more money.

:37:21. > :37:27.The have decamped back to the paddock. Following on from us, you

:37:27. > :37:30.can see some World Triathlon action on BBC One, at 2:30pm. No top three

:37:30. > :37:34.start on the grid for Jenson Button since the Malaysian Grand Prix, the

:37:34. > :37:40.second race of the year. He needs to do something today if he is

:37:40. > :37:47.committed get his title charge back on. Yes, most of the winners are

:37:47. > :37:51.coming from different road. -- coming from the front row. Managing

:37:51. > :37:55.the tyres is important, but if you are already four or five seconds

:37:55. > :38:00.behind at the end of the first lap, it is a big effort to win it back

:38:00. > :38:04.later. There was an interesting quote from Martin Whitmarsh, he

:38:04. > :38:09.said, we will think about him supporting Lewis Hamilton if he

:38:09. > :38:16.continues to outperform him, but Jenson Button said, I will only do

:38:16. > :38:23.that if I am mathematically out of the title race. Will it be his

:38:23. > :38:27.choice? He says it is his choice, and bearing in mind the way he has

:38:27. > :38:33.been Broughton, he has been brought in with the approval of Martin

:38:34. > :38:38.Whitmarsh. But more than anything, he understands the word team player.

:38:38. > :38:43.If I had him as a team-mate, I could rely on him more than anybody

:38:43. > :38:48.else. Kimi Raikkonen is another driver making his way to the car.

:38:48. > :38:52.He arrives here having won four of the last five races. He says this

:38:52. > :39:02.is his favourite circuit, you think he would be bubbling over with

:39:02. > :39:11.

:39:11. > :39:17.excitement. But remember, it is have won four of your last five

:39:17. > :39:25.starts here. What does it feel like to return? It is nice to come back.

:39:25. > :39:32.It gives you a good race. I have good memories here, I have had some

:39:32. > :39:37.bad memories also. It is a great place to come. Bo Bruce, people

:39:37. > :39:46.sometimes fail to see how a state it is -- own Eau Rouge. How

:39:46. > :39:56.important is it to exit the corner? You can lose a lot of speed. I have

:39:56. > :40:01.

:40:01. > :40:08.never walked here, it is quite all say this is the circuit that

:40:08. > :40:13.they like the most. Is it your favourite? Yes, this is an old-

:40:13. > :40:23.style circuit. In the middle of the forest. It is definitely one of the

:40:23. > :40:28.

:40:28. > :40:35.nicest ones. Pouhon, degrading is quite severe. It is not as fast as

:40:35. > :40:39.Bo Bruce, but it is more difficult. You can gain -- you have to do what

:40:39. > :40:43.a lot of times to get it right. have the memories of David

:40:43. > :40:48.Coulthard, this incident with Michael Schumacher, resulting in a

:40:48. > :40:57.swimming first and second place. When he is working with us, he is

:40:57. > :41:03.squeaky-clean, but you must have a secret about him! Maybe I have! But

:41:03. > :41:06.if I told you, he would tell a story about me! The final chicane,

:41:06. > :41:14.it is the scene of the only time that you did not win here in the

:41:14. > :41:19.last five years, you crashed. a fight with Lewis Hamilton, it

:41:19. > :41:26.started to rain, and it went wrong and I hit the wall. I'd be feeling

:41:26. > :41:30.very confident for the weekend? Do you think you can win? We will try.

:41:30. > :41:36.We have tried in many races this year, but we have not managed to do

:41:36. > :41:42.read yet. But we will hopefully give ourselves a good chance to win.

:41:42. > :41:51.If we can do read, it is good, if not, we will try again. I wish you

:41:51. > :41:55.the best of luck. Let's hope it is five wins and a six.

:41:55. > :42:04.We find Kimi Raikkonen a fascinating character on the BBC.

:42:04. > :42:11.Give us an insight into what it is like to work with him. Fascinating!

:42:11. > :42:17.He is a character, he knows what he wants. That is his main strength,

:42:17. > :42:27.he basically does what he wants, he does a couple of laps, and that is

:42:27. > :42:28.

:42:28. > :42:32.it. He is getting the speed of the car on the first lap,... A huge

:42:32. > :42:37.amount of people thought it was a massive risk, but you have

:42:37. > :42:47.obviously been justified in your decision. I am happy for the team.

:42:47. > :42:47.

:42:47. > :42:51.Kit is a big help, after last season's that campaign. The team

:42:51. > :42:55.was not bad last year and could this year, but we could not build a

:42:55. > :43:02.good car. It was a surprise that he could recover as fast as a couple

:43:02. > :43:12.of races. We have noticed you have added this to the pit wall. Can you

:43:12. > :43:13.

:43:13. > :43:18.make it number for here? 1995, 2005, so give it enough time, 2015!

:43:18. > :43:22.Sometime in the next three years! That his positivity! Chasing the

:43:22. > :43:32.world championship, argue delighted that the car has got speed, or

:43:32. > :43:36.frustrated that you have not won this year? A lot of changes in the

:43:36. > :43:41.process, and changing both drivers this year. We gambled on Kimi

:43:41. > :43:47.Raikkonen. It takes time. I am happy to have the consistency, to

:43:47. > :43:51.fight for the podiums on different tracks. That means, if we keep up

:43:51. > :43:56.the development rate, we can fight for the victory. You know about the

:43:56. > :44:02.speed of the other cars, you take as much time to look at them as you

:44:02. > :44:08.look at yourselves. Helpers educate our audience, they are at home,

:44:08. > :44:18.what can we expect on the track today? I missed it, with the noise!

:44:18. > :44:22.What can we expect? Based on this morning, we should be able to

:44:22. > :44:27.qualify both cars into the top five, which should put us in a position

:44:27. > :44:37.to fight for the victory. Pole position? Between Fernando Alonso

:44:37. > :44:37.

:44:37. > :44:42.and Kimi Raikkonen. Good luck today. We will allow you to head off. Time

:44:42. > :44:46.for qualifying. You can log on to the BBC Sport website or press the

:44:46. > :44:51.red button to go interactive. A race where David Coulthard and

:44:51. > :45:01.Eddie Jordan have plenty of history. What will happen today? Time for

:45:01. > :45:14.

:45:15. > :45:20.another chapter in the greatness of challenging venues in the motor

:45:20. > :45:24.sport world, Spa-Francorchamps is the perfect venue to restart the F1

:45:24. > :45:28.season. Qualifying allows the driver has to really go for it on

:45:28. > :45:34.one of their favourite circuits, nestling in the Ardennes forest in

:45:34. > :45:39.south-east Belgium. 4.3 miles of sweeping curves, climbs and drops

:45:39. > :45:46.interspersed with the odd hairpin and tight chicane. That roller-

:45:46. > :45:50.coaster of a corner, Eau Rouge, which leads into the DRS zone up

:45:50. > :45:54.towards Les combs. This is a track where a car can be let off the

:45:54. > :46:01.roads, where every element is tested and where racers can enjoy

:46:01. > :46:05.the sheer thrill of driving at the limit. Conditions are good. We have

:46:05. > :46:10.a track temperature of 28 degrees and there should be sufficient to

:46:10. > :46:14.get the tyres up to temperature. has been for talk of the season,

:46:14. > :46:23.getting the tyres into the operating window. Pirelli took the

:46:23. > :46:28.decision to come with a different selection of tyres for this year.

:46:28. > :46:34.What we have is the option tyre, the medium, which will have the

:46:34. > :46:40.white side wall. We expect them to qualify on that. Certainly the

:46:40. > :46:44.small teams. And the harder tyre, which is where if you can hardly

:46:44. > :46:48.see any writing on the side wall, there should be the slow of the

:46:48. > :46:54.tyres. The challenge of Spa, they've had limited running, a

:46:54. > :46:58.washout on Friday, and a hat-trick and then step practised and setting

:46:58. > :47:03.up into the morning. Martin Whitmarsh does not seem confident

:47:03. > :47:07.at all. There was very interesting. Indicating they are not quite on

:47:07. > :47:11.the front foot as they expected to be. There will be a lot of

:47:11. > :47:18.questions going into the session. Great viewing points around the

:47:18. > :47:24.track as well. Plenty of space available for top the Exeter Pouhon

:47:24. > :47:31.is a fabulous place to watch, such a fast corner. -- exit of Pouhon.

:47:31. > :47:35.It is fantastic. It is the hardest of a hardcore that come to Spa to

:47:35. > :47:41.watch. Corporate people do not hang out here, a real race fans come

:47:41. > :47:45.here. A lot of people from the UK have driven over. We met some last

:47:45. > :47:50.night and they were soaking up the atmosphere. A couple of a hardy

:47:50. > :47:56.ones came well prepared, wearing sailing clothing, because that will

:47:56. > :48:03.keep out the water! Our man in the pits needed some water clothing to

:48:03. > :48:09.keep dry. Gary, what are we looking forward to? Sderot two ways to set

:48:09. > :48:14.up the cars. Low downforce, higher downforce. The low-down force

:48:14. > :48:19.should be good for the race, high downforce should be better in

:48:19. > :48:27.qualifying. On McLaren, we were talking about their lack of

:48:27. > :48:37.confidence. They've set Button up with low downforce and Hamilton

:48:37. > :48:37.

:48:37. > :48:41.with high downforce. We will have to wait and see. We have some news

:48:41. > :48:49.concerning two of the potential front-runners. They have a five

:48:49. > :48:53.plays gearbox penalty. Mark Webber, who had a problem at the end of the

:48:53. > :48:57.Hungarian Grand Prix, he's had a change of gearbox when he should

:48:57. > :49:03.not have had so that the five placed penalty. Nico Rosberg had a

:49:03. > :49:11.problem this morning. Where Heather he qualifies, and he can go through

:49:11. > :49:15.the whole sequence, whatever position he ends up with, had five

:49:15. > :49:25.for the actual potatoes start tomorrow. Normal format of

:49:25. > :49:28.

:49:28. > :49:31.10. That has proven to be one of the most difficult things to do

:49:31. > :49:34.this year. Felipe Massa getting ready to come out for Ferrari.

:49:34. > :49:39.Hamilton getting ready to climb aboard the McLaren to see what he

:49:39. > :49:44.can do. The last pole position winner was Lewis Hamilton in

:49:44. > :49:48.Hungary and he went on to take an extremely accomplished victory

:49:48. > :49:58.around the tight circuit. Very different to what we have here at

:49:58. > :50:03.Spa with a fast and flowing track. The green light is on at the end of

:50:03. > :50:07.the pit lane and we get qualifying under way. It looks like we will

:50:07. > :50:14.see Charles Pic straight onto the circuit. Marisha have brought along

:50:14. > :50:18.a few update this weekend, including a revised rear wing.

:50:18. > :50:22.There's been a little chance to test every part. The medium and

:50:22. > :50:28.hard compound tyres of the tie has been brought by Pirelli this

:50:28. > :50:30.weekend instead of the soft and the medium. We saw some problems with a

:50:30. > :50:34.blistering. Gary, last year conditions were very different, it

:50:34. > :50:40.was very cool. We saw problems with a blistering, but presumably that

:50:40. > :50:47.will not be a problem this time. Not really. Last year was for soft

:50:47. > :50:52.tyre. With these long straights, you get a bit more grip on the tyre.

:50:52. > :50:58.But rarely have opted to go for the medium and hard tyre and play safe

:50:58. > :51:03.on that. -- a pair rarely have opted. Everything looks OK so far,

:51:03. > :51:08.but there's not been a lot of running. Michael Schumacher going

:51:08. > :51:15.into his 300th Grand Prix this weekend. I'm smiling although I

:51:15. > :51:19.should not be. I take my hat off to him. Gary said, quite a dangerous

:51:19. > :51:24.think if a tyre explodes. That's an engineer for you! They are not

:51:24. > :51:31.scared by pushing the boundaries. That is what makes people like Gary

:51:31. > :51:36.coming up with sympathy and carbon suspension and other things. --

:51:36. > :51:40.coming up with things like. Do you have a prediction on a lap time

:51:40. > :51:50.from this Q1 session, Gary? It is quite difficult because we haven't

:51:50. > :51:59.

:51:59. > :52:02.had a lot of running. Cabaye I lower part of 49 to feel safe.

:52:03. > :52:07.Maybe a little bit slower, but it depends on the track. The track

:52:07. > :52:10.should get better quickly. That's right. There's not much rubble on

:52:10. > :52:18.the track. Last year's pole position is not so relevant because

:52:18. > :52:28.it was quite damp. Mark Webber was on pole position two years ago.

:52:28. > :52:38.

:52:38. > :52:42.Incredible confidence from the well after the 100 yards. -- brake.

:52:42. > :52:47.Nico Rosberg taking a breath and then going for the roller-coaster

:52:48. > :52:52.ride. Such a fantastic feeling when you go through here. The camera

:52:53. > :52:58.doesn't do the elevation change Justice. In it is incredible. You

:52:58. > :53:04.are presented by a wall of tarmac. Great description, that is exactly

:53:04. > :53:10.what it is. You don't see your exit until you're right in amongst it.

:53:10. > :53:19.Up to 200 mph just before the braking for the section. Starting

:53:19. > :53:23.the descent into Rivage. You're watching Nico Rosberg. He was on

:53:23. > :53:28.pole position in China. One race victory. Mercedes struggling to get

:53:28. > :53:31.back to that form. He was a nose and early this morning. With that

:53:31. > :53:37.gearbox issue, he had done virtually no running this morning.

:53:37. > :53:42.He needs to get out there. I expect he will be fuelled for two to three

:53:42. > :53:46.laps. He should not be the at risk of not making it through the first

:53:46. > :53:51.part of qualifying. But as we saw Mark Webber standing casually, I

:53:51. > :53:55.think I would be in the car. I know it is a 20 minute session but they

:53:55. > :53:59.would expect to get through, but you get localised weather patterns

:53:59. > :54:07.here and I'm not sure I would ever truly trust the weather forecast.

:54:08. > :54:16.Good point. At the moment things are looking OK. Watch him into the

:54:16. > :54:22.chicane, Rosberg. Pretty clean, no lock-ups. A tiny correction. This

:54:22. > :54:28.is the drag strip to the line, the end of the lap. 1:51.1. We think

:54:28. > :54:35.they will need to get a little bit faster than that to be safe. We've

:54:35. > :54:40.seen a few more cars gone out. Paul di Resta has just gone fastest.

:54:40. > :54:47.1:50.0. Quite a bit faster than at Rosberg just achieved. This car was

:54:47. > :54:51.quick this morning, Sergio Perez. Both Saubers seemed competitive.

:54:51. > :54:56.seems the morning session, they were either focusing purely on

:54:56. > :55:06.qualifying, running less fuel... Fuel effect will be on the high

:55:06. > :55:09.

:55:09. > :55:12.side over the three-tenths around here. The biggest effect of the

:55:12. > :55:19.season around here because of the length of this track. It will give

:55:19. > :55:24.them well over a 1.2 seconds of speed advantage on the lap time in

:55:24. > :55:28.qualifying. Let's watch the end of the lap from the young Mexican who

:55:28. > :55:33.has impressed us a number of times this year. His second full season

:55:33. > :55:39.of Formula One. Last year he qualified in ninth place at Spa.

:55:39. > :55:43.Fastest at the moment. Gary, you were talking about 1:49 being the

:55:43. > :55:52.cut-off point and Perez was straight down there. He was fast

:55:52. > :55:57.this morning. He did a 48.8 this morning. It is about 1.2, 1.3,

:55:57. > :56:02.David. It depends on how quickly you are willing to open the arrest

:56:02. > :56:08.on the 8th corner. You can have 10 or 15 metres where the driver

:56:08. > :56:13.doesn't have the confidence to press the button. You need

:56:13. > :56:17.confidence in the back of the car coming out of the corner.

:56:17. > :56:27.Good point. We saw images of Alonso coming up to the end of the first

:56:27. > :56:31.

:56:31. > :56:38.sector. Very happy. Locking to Michael Schumacher. Picking up on

:56:38. > :56:43.what Gary said, we saw Alonso fastest of all. Coming through turn

:56:43. > :56:47.15, we saw him have a massive sideways moment. That would suggest

:56:47. > :56:57.he is brave enough to get the Diarrar soap and, even when he's in

:56:57. > :57:03.

:57:03. > :57:08.it sounds like he has backed off. He saw the traffic ahead and

:57:08. > :57:15.decided it would cost him. Or maybe Mackie had another issue. He has

:57:15. > :57:19.definitely backed out of it. He doesn't want to pick up any

:57:19. > :57:26.penalties for constructing a car, the Caterham. We are with Michael,

:57:26. > :57:30.not happy on this flat. He is cruising through the section.

:57:30. > :57:36.Getting well Offline been the exit of 13, allowing one of the slower

:57:36. > :57:41.cars to pass. He has an amazing record here in terms of victories.

:57:41. > :57:48.Six victories in the past. With Kimi Raikkonen having won four tine

:57:48. > :57:52.said, they have won 10 races between them. Michael calls this

:57:52. > :57:56.his living room. That tells him -- tells us a great deal about the

:57:56. > :58:03.size of his house! One of the biggest racetracks of the season.

:58:03. > :58:08.He loves calling it his living room. He is now an honorary citizen of

:58:08. > :58:14.Spa. Senna had his best qualifying percentage -- performance here last

:58:14. > :58:17.year. Can he now back that up? He got into Q3 for the first time this

:58:17. > :58:23.year at the last Grand Prix in Hungary. A very important weekend

:58:23. > :58:27.for him. He has been lacking been the big result. Then, you have an

:58:27. > :58:32.update on what Schumacher has been told by his team regarding that

:58:32. > :58:40.lock up. On the radio, he's been told it was a throttle brake

:58:40. > :58:43.overlap. It was his error. Managing to catch throttle and brake at the

:58:43. > :58:51.same time. You would not think they would need to adjust the pedals in

:58:51. > :58:55.the middle of qualifying! I think he wears size eight shoes so it

:58:55. > :59:05.should be well in order. Senna has come across for lying 8th fastest.

:59:05. > :59:05.

:59:05. > :59:10.Where is he going? He get back around La Source. A little replay

:59:10. > :59:16.of Romain Grosjean in the Lotus. That is at the top of the hill.

:59:16. > :59:23.Running a little wide. Interestingly, he is back into the

:59:23. > :59:26.pits as well. He's been told to come back. Massa loses the back end

:59:26. > :59:36.at 13. That is the corner where Michael Schumacher in a Benetton

:59:36. > :59:40.

:59:40. > :59:43.is all happening on this very green circuit. No rubber down and

:59:43. > :59:50.virtually no running. Just an hour this morning. They have had five

:59:50. > :59:56.weeks off. Do you lose any sharpness? I don't recall ever

:59:56. > :00:03.having such a big gap. Jake mention 1999 as the last time we had it,

:00:03. > :00:06.but I think I was probably testing in those days. Lewis Hamilton said

:00:06. > :00:11.to Ali Mackenzie he has not thought about Formula One before coming to

:00:11. > :00:15.this weekend, which I find strange. But clearly that Lou Reed -- green

:00:15. > :00:20.track and the fact this is such it challenging circuit is catching out

:00:20. > :00:30.a few drivers. Quite a lot of understeer in the car. More than

:00:30. > :00:33.

:00:33. > :00:39.understeer. He and Lewis Hamilton have gone for different set-ups.

:00:39. > :00:46.Lewis Hamilton is second fastest. That should be around the safety

:00:46. > :00:56.point, 1:49.8. Sergio Perez is still quickest. Fernando Alonso is

:00:56. > :00:56.

:00:56. > :01:01.on a better lap. He has beaten the target. This is a good lap from

:01:01. > :01:06.Fernando Alonso, he could go to the top of the table. Force India in

:01:06. > :01:13.fourth place and fifth place. 0.3 slower than Lewis Hamilton in

:01:13. > :01:19.the middle sector. Lewis Hamilton has gone for the high downforce.

:01:19. > :01:29.That is where you would expect to read that benefits -- reap the

:01:29. > :01:30.

:01:30. > :01:38.benefits, in the middle sector. goes across the line the quickest.

:01:38. > :01:48.Sergio Perez second, Lewis Hamilton third. What has Felipe Massa done.

:01:48. > :01:49.

:01:49. > :01:57.--? He caught the HRT in the middle. It has cost him time. The HRT was

:01:57. > :02:04.recovering from his own incident. He was off-line. Not much he could

:02:04. > :02:13.do in that situation. Unfortunate for Felipe Massa. Lewis Hamilton

:02:13. > :02:23.has gone fastest in the middle sector. Nice and tidy. It looks

:02:23. > :02:25.

:02:25. > :02:30.neat and tidy. 0.2 seconds slower than Fernando Alonso. He has made a

:02:30. > :02:36.mistake in the final sector. Nor 0.5 seconds slower than Fernando

:02:36. > :02:45.Alonso, in the sector which is about a straight line speed. I do

:02:45. > :02:50.not see where he could lose that. What is Jenson Button doing? It is

:02:50. > :03:00.a fantastic corner. Kimi Raikkonen said it was the biggest challenge

:03:00. > :03:06.on the lap. Then, the medium speed corners. Then, finishing the

:03:06. > :03:13.challenging little corner, No. 14, and you have to take a breath,

:03:13. > :03:23.running through it and getting the DRS open as quickly as you can. A

:03:23. > :03:33.personal best so far in this section. 190 mph. Then, hard on the

:03:33. > :03:35.

:03:35. > :03:41.brakes. A nice early apex. It is looking like a good lap. That

:03:41. > :03:45.should see him safely through to Q2. He is on Bahadur tyre. He has not

:03:46. > :03:51.had to go for the medium compound. Perhaps Martin Whitmarsh will be

:03:51. > :03:58.feeling happier now, that Jenson Button is fastest and Lewis

:03:58. > :04:01.Hamilton is the third fastest. Who is not in the top 17? We have not

:04:01. > :04:07.seen a lap yet from Sebastian Vettel or Mark Webber or Kimi

:04:07. > :04:17.Raikkonen. Kimi Raikkonen has just set the fastest middle sector of

:04:17. > :04:17.

:04:17. > :04:21.anybody. He is definitely on the pace. He loves this circuit. The

:04:22. > :04:27.Lotus has been very impressive in the morning session. He is looking

:04:27. > :04:34.like the stronger of the two riders, as he did in Budapest, up until the

:04:34. > :04:40.last part of qualifying, and Romain Grosjean had an incredible lap.

:04:41. > :04:50.Mark Webber should have done enough to see him through. Kimi Raikkonen

:04:50. > :04:54.has conferred, Mark Webber has gone to sixth-placed. Sebastian Vettel

:04:55. > :05:02.is on the hard compound. Some people are going for the softer

:05:02. > :05:07.tyre. Felipe Massa, for example. RADIO: That was a really good lap,

:05:07. > :05:12.you are currently in first place. Romain Grosjean is near you, he has

:05:12. > :05:18.just left the pit lane. It must be nice for him to hear that, he has

:05:18. > :05:23.not heard that much recently. Into the last third of the lap for

:05:23. > :05:29.Sebastian Vettel. He is 0.5 down on Kimi Raikkonen. They should be

:05:29. > :05:39.enough to get him out of the first part of qualifying. The traffic

:05:39. > :05:45.will not cost him any time. That will do for now. There has been an

:05:45. > :05:51.incident involving Pastor Maldonado and Nico Hulkenberg. It is under

:05:51. > :05:56.investigation for impeding. I do not know who is accused, but those

:05:56. > :06:02.are the drivers involved. In the drop zone at the moment, Michael

:06:02. > :06:10.Schumacher, Vitaly Petrov, Timo Glock, Charles Pic, Heikki

:06:10. > :06:16.Kovalainen, Pedro de la Rosa and Narain Karthikeyan. Nico Rosberg is

:06:16. > :06:22.only one place out of the drop zone. The Mercedes seems to be struggling.

:06:22. > :06:28.They might have to go for the softer tyre to enable them to make

:06:28. > :06:34.it through to Q2. The Williams has been very fast and various circuits

:06:34. > :06:40.this year. Why then do if they are quick today. He has got a personal

:06:40. > :06:47.best in the first sector. It is very good indeed. He is going well.

:06:47. > :06:52.He was adamant that he would not change his approach, but he said

:06:52. > :06:56.they need to learn from their mistakes. He has speed. Thinking

:06:56. > :07:04.about Barcelona, he putted on the front row. He inherited pole

:07:04. > :07:12.position. An incredible light to flood victory. Perhaps that is the

:07:12. > :07:18.secret, having clear space. He has gone fastest! He is on the softer

:07:18. > :07:23.tyre. So is Nico Rosberg. He has used it to make sure of going

:07:23. > :07:29.through into Q2. Talking with Jaime Alguersuari earlier, the Pirelli

:07:29. > :07:36.test driver, he believes that could be a two 0.8 seconds faster on the

:07:36. > :07:40.option tyre. This will stop to confirm the gap, because it is only

:07:40. > :07:46.ever relevant to that day in history, what the track temperature

:07:46. > :07:50.is. It is currently 26 degrees. The air temperature is 16 degrees. The

:07:50. > :07:55.engines will be breathing well, they will be getting downforce from

:07:55. > :08:05.the moisture in the air. Quite a few people are going out on the

:08:05. > :08:11.

:08:11. > :08:16.out on the set of tyres as well. Yes, Lewis Hamilton and Fernando

:08:16. > :08:21.Alonso. Fernando Alonso has done 49.4, you would think that would be

:08:21. > :08:29.sure to keep him in the top 17. Perhaps they want to find out the

:08:29. > :08:35.balance for Q2. A bit of danger for Felipe Massa, but he has set a very

:08:35. > :08:41.good first sector, and a personal best in the middle sector. He has

:08:41. > :08:50.also gone for the softer tyre. He has a outqualify Fernando Alonso

:08:50. > :08:57.here in the last couple of years. Romain Grosjean is having a scary

:08:57. > :09:03.moment into one. He committed massive speed. Hard on the power,

:09:03. > :09:07.he gets it out on the kerb. That is the bravery of youth! Somebody more

:09:07. > :09:13.experienced would have lifted it out of their earlier, and realised

:09:13. > :09:18.it was a lost cause, but fair play to him. In the end, instead of

:09:18. > :09:23.losing a fraction of a second, the latter is aborted. He is currently

:09:23. > :09:29.in 16th place, so he needs to get around if he can and get another

:09:29. > :09:34.lap. He has just crossed the line, so Romain Grosjean is all about

:09:34. > :09:39.this lap, to keep him out of the drop zone. Daniel Ricciardo trying

:09:39. > :09:44.to stay out of the drop zone. He needs this lap to be a little

:09:44. > :09:51.better, if he can get into the top 17. He has usually managed to get

:09:51. > :09:56.into Q2, though he missed out in Hungary. That is great. He is using

:09:56. > :10:00.the softer tyre. A good effort by the young Australian. Jean-Eric

:10:00. > :10:05.Vergne, his team-mate, Pete is currently in 12th place, it is his

:10:05. > :10:15.first visit in a Grand Prix car. Nico Rosberg is still not

:10:15. > :10:16.

:10:16. > :10:21.comfortable. He has missed it by the margins of a seconder. He was

:10:21. > :10:28.backed out of it. They have missed the opportunity to run again. He is

:10:28. > :10:33.out. That is remarkable. Whether the team made a mistake or there

:10:33. > :10:38.was a radio communication, but he missed getting over the line. No

:10:38. > :10:41.chance to make it through. He is the surprise scalp of the first

:10:41. > :10:48.part of qualifying. It does not look as though we will see many

:10:48. > :10:57.changes behind her. But it is such a long black, you can get a change

:10:57. > :11:03.long after the chequered flag. Heikki Kovalainen gets ahead of

:11:03. > :11:08.Vitaly Petrov. Romain Grosjean does not need to finish this, he has

:11:08. > :11:15.backed out. He was the one that might have been displaced by Nico

:11:15. > :11:20.Rosberg, but he has just had the message, do not worry. We now know

:11:20. > :11:26.who will not take part any further in qualifying. Such a shame, it is

:11:26. > :11:30.such a great track to drive. It is one of those tracks that you want

:11:30. > :11:34.to do as many laps as possible. They have not had much chance

:11:34. > :11:39.because of the rain on Friday as well. Michael Schumacher has made

:11:39. > :11:49.it through, Nico Rosberg has not. He also has a five place grid

:11:49. > :11:51.

:11:51. > :11:56.penalty. RADIO: Keep pushing. is a replay of what happened

:11:56. > :12:01.earlier. We now know he did not need to worry about it. The HRT do

:12:01. > :12:09.link its own thing. His heart it would have been through the roof,

:12:09. > :12:13.his frustration levels Macs that as well. He has been saved by a Nico

:12:13. > :12:17.Rosberg's problems. That was a better way for Romain Grosjean,

:12:17. > :12:22.because you would have expected Nico Rosberg to get out of the drop

:12:22. > :12:32.zone. The gearbox failure this morning, and now he has failed to

:12:32. > :12:41.

:12:41. > :12:44.the garage. Informal one, it is not just about bringing in a car that

:12:44. > :12:51.will be fast, it is about making the right decisions at the right

:12:51. > :12:54.time. I need to be sure, but it does appear that the team got it

:12:55. > :13:00.wrong on the timing, they did not give the car and the driver enough

:13:00. > :13:06.time to get the lap. There was a sigh of relief for Romain Grosjean,

:13:06. > :13:12.he struggled a bit. If it was not for that mistake by Mercedes, we

:13:12. > :13:17.would have seen Lotus not making it through. We have seen a lot of cars

:13:17. > :13:25.slipping and sliding, and we had a lot of rain on Friday. That impacts

:13:25. > :13:32.on what the circuit is like to drive. When they are on a motorway,

:13:32. > :13:36.the people at home, it does not matter, but in our case, it is all

:13:36. > :13:42.about the rubber that is put down beforehand. When it becomes green,

:13:42. > :13:46.like today, because yesterday the track got washed by the rain, this

:13:46. > :13:53.has a big effect on these cars. It is important that the people at

:13:53. > :14:00.home get to do it -- get to understand that. A green racetrack

:14:00. > :14:04.is really slippery, isn't it? similar to ice, or not so much ice,

:14:05. > :14:14.but you have got a slippery set of conditions, and you are not sure

:14:15. > :14:19.

:14:19. > :14:28.why. Charles Pic has pulled out of the garage. Lovely to see you, give

:14:28. > :14:37.us an idea of how slippery the track was. The track was not easy.

:14:37. > :14:44.The dream -- team brought some evolution, the car was much faster,

:14:44. > :14:48.but I was in traffic on the second run. That was just one lap, with

:14:48. > :14:52.less fuel. It was not possible for me to make my lap. It is a shame,

:14:52. > :14:59.but now we have to focus on the race and see what we can make on

:14:59. > :15:09.Sunday. Formula One is a very steep learning curve. Is it anything like

:15:09. > :15:10.

:15:10. > :15:19.what you thought before? Or is it still have plenty of things to

:15:19. > :15:25.learn. Of course it's much harder in many things than GP2 and

:15:25. > :15:29.previous four Millais. But the first part of the season went well

:15:29. > :15:34.for me say No I have to keep working and continue like that.

:15:34. > :15:42.What was your main emotion knowing you were about to go into the car

:15:42. > :15:52.and race around Spa for the first time? The track is great. It is a

:15:52. > :15:52.

:15:52. > :15:57.shame because I was not able to push and make any lap time. But

:15:57. > :16:05.that's racing. We have to focus on tomorrow. Good luck, nice to speak

:16:05. > :16:11.to you. From Charles, currently driving an F1, to a man who knows

:16:11. > :16:15.what it takes to ride around it in an F1 car. David Coulthard. Every

:16:15. > :16:20.time you stand up and watch the cars making your way to the grid,

:16:20. > :16:25.what are your emotions? The fact that this is one of the best

:16:25. > :16:30.circuits in the world to drive. It is up there with Monte Carlo for a

:16:30. > :16:35.challenge. When I said about Nico Ros boat taking breath, it is easy

:16:35. > :16:40.flat now, but it doesn't mean that you don't have to be incredibly

:16:40. > :16:44.precise with how you position the car. Remarkable track to dry.

:16:44. > :16:51.there was just a taster, it will be so tight to make it into the top 10

:16:51. > :16:55.in quality. It is. Q2, this year, has just been

:16:56. > :17:04.absolutely wonderful. I'm looking forward to it. The green light

:17:04. > :17:09.comes on at the end of the pit lane. We are into the second session of

:17:09. > :17:14.qualifying where 17 have to squeeze into 10. Sergio Perez is one of the

:17:14. > :17:18.first to try to make that happen. He's been fast all weekend. 17 into

:17:18. > :17:23.10 seems more challenging than getting three in a bed! We will

:17:23. > :17:27.have a few disappointed drivers. This is going to be challenging for

:17:27. > :17:32.what we consider to be the top teams. It is all about delivering

:17:32. > :17:38.the clear lap on a track which is changing, a track that has been

:17:38. > :17:42.green. We are going to see big steps in de Laet times. It will be

:17:42. > :17:46.interesting to know what Garrido's projection might be for what they

:17:46. > :17:54.need to achieve. -- Gary's projection. What do you reckon,

:17:54. > :17:58.Gary? Fines for the pressure! The track is changing. Most people in

:17:58. > :18:04.the second section were slower than in the third practice section. It

:18:04. > :18:08.is strange that the track has got slower. I would not be quality --

:18:08. > :18:13.comfortable if I were not in the low 49s. You need to do something

:18:13. > :18:19.like that to make sure you're in the top 10. It depends on making

:18:19. > :18:24.sure you get the best out of these media and tyres. This first part of

:18:24. > :18:29.the lap after La ruche, it is a long straight and it is easy

:18:29. > :18:35.Delooze that tyre temperature. is a tough track on engines as well.

:18:35. > :18:41.They are on full throttle for a long way up the hill. It is a long

:18:42. > :18:49.stretch for the engines to be absolutely at full throttle. Full

:18:49. > :18:54.throttle from Sergio Perez. Usually, they will put new engines in for

:18:54. > :18:59.this meeting. Something like 70% full throttle round here. It is a

:18:59. > :19:03.remarkable challenge for the engines. They will be buzzing into

:19:03. > :19:08.the limiters on the last parts of the straight. When you're in the

:19:08. > :19:18.rest and only have DRS available from the runt from a Eau Rouge, you

:19:18. > :19:26.

:19:26. > :19:34.don't want to be under Geert in the This is a steady climb all the way

:19:34. > :19:40.up to Liz combs. DRS wide-open. -- Les Combes. It is uphill into that

:19:40. > :19:44.braking zone. McLaren furiously working on the rear wing. Whether

:19:44. > :19:51.that is just an adjustment on Button's car or whether it is

:19:51. > :19:55.because they have a DRS issue, we will find out in time. Perez is not

:19:55. > :19:59.worrying about wings, he is worrying about how he can brake

:19:59. > :20:04.later, roll the car into the apex with higher speed and get on the

:20:04. > :20:09.throttle earlier. Making those decisions into that corner, it

:20:09. > :20:15.happens so fast it is breathtaking. Lovely to see how many people have

:20:15. > :20:20.got that view looking down over Pouhon. Anyone who has driven on

:20:21. > :20:27.the road, if you try to focus on something at 70 mph, the scenery is

:20:27. > :20:31.a blur. You can imagine what it is like at 170 mph on the corners. You

:20:32. > :20:36.have to focus 50 metres ahead. Once you have picked up the focal point,

:20:36. > :20:44.you need to look another 50 metres ahead. You can't allow the corner

:20:44. > :20:54.to come to you or you get disorientated at that speed. Let's

:20:54. > :21:02.

:21:02. > :21:12.see what Perez does. 1:48.8. A completed an lap so far. We are

:21:12. > :21:12.

:21:12. > :21:17.looking into the Williams garage. Renault power are looking for their

:21:17. > :21:21.199th pole position. I wonder if it will happen here. They have

:21:21. > :21:31.Williams, Red Bull, the best chances. Right now we are with Paul

:21:31. > :21:33.

:21:33. > :21:38.di Resta. Let's listen to the Blanchmont. A big weekend for him.

:21:38. > :21:43.It has been an interesting battle between him and Hulkenberg, seen as

:21:43. > :21:48.the strongest of the young driver pairings. Both looking for their

:21:48. > :21:55.futures. Appreciative of the opportunity they have. A nice lap

:21:55. > :22:00.from Paul. Kobayashi has gone through. Mark Webber is looking

:22:00. > :22:05.like he might be the man most likely to open the scoring. He has

:22:05. > :22:09.gone quickest in the middle sector. Not much that can go wrong if he

:22:09. > :22:14.gets his braking right into the chicane. Alonso is on a good lap

:22:14. > :22:19.behind him as well. Into the last corner comes Mark Webber. Pole

:22:19. > :22:27.position a couple of years ago here. Key didn't get off the line that

:22:27. > :22:36.well that year. -- he didn't. 1:48.662. That puts him faster than

:22:36. > :22:41.Perez. Hulkenberg has just gone fourth ahead of di Resta. A couple

:22:41. > :22:49.of years ago, Force India had a remarkable pole position we

:22:49. > :22:53.Fisichella. One thing that is interesting is Mark Webber on a

:22:53. > :23:00.48.6. If you look at the fastest time from this morning, Alonso did

:23:00. > :23:06.a 48.5. We can presume from that, as Alonso now does a 48.5, that

:23:06. > :23:10.what we saw from him this morning... Massa does 49.8. We are safe to

:23:10. > :23:15.assume that that time from Alonso this morning was absolutely on

:23:15. > :23:19.qualifying fuel. Their track is a bit warmer right now, but not in

:23:19. > :23:24.the area you would expect to start seeing diminishing returns or

:23:24. > :23:29.negative returns in the overall performance. Hamilton starts to

:23:29. > :23:37.build the speed. It is a good lap. Up by two-tenths on the target of

:23:37. > :23:43.Alonso. Vettel at the moment in eighth place. Kimi Raikkonen is on

:23:43. > :23:46.a good lap as well. The battle is to get into the top 10. Massa is

:23:46. > :23:52.currently 10th. Hamilton outside the top 10 at the moment, but not

:23:52. > :23:55.for long. That was a sideways moment. That is what you call

:23:55. > :24:00.oversteer, when you turn into the corner and then turn away. That

:24:00. > :24:08.will cost you time. Nonetheless, he is fastest. And then Raikkonen goes

:24:08. > :24:13.faster! Raikkonen was the fastest in the middle sector. Lotus are

:24:13. > :24:16.going for maximum performance in the main part of the circuit.

:24:16. > :24:21.Whether that will compromise them in the race remains to be seen, but

:24:21. > :24:25.we've said if Lotus can qualify well, they would be in a position

:24:25. > :24:33.to win a Grand Prix. It looks like they're going for it. Lotus's the

:24:33. > :24:39.other team with a Renault engine. Button on a good lap at the moment.

:24:39. > :24:46.We are watching Maldonado. Button has just gone fastest of anybody in

:24:46. > :24:51.the first sector. Maldonado route was six-tenths slower than Button

:24:51. > :24:55.on the first sector. 15th place. He might be on a used set of tyres at

:24:55. > :25:02.the moment. He could have a new set of the softer tyres ready for him

:25:02. > :25:10.in the pits when he comes back next time. We are with Jenson Button. He

:25:10. > :25:17.heads down towards the tight right. Can then a sweeping right-hander.

:25:17. > :25:23.Joining what used to be the main road. Purple purple on the timing

:25:23. > :25:33.screens. He is the fastest man in the first and second sectors. The

:25:33. > :25:34.

:25:34. > :25:42.track is picking up speed. No sign of any lock-ups in the last chicane.

:25:42. > :25:48.We don't know if he had any oversteer. Look at that! 1:47.6

:25:48. > :25:52.from Jenson Button! Massively faster than anybody else so far.

:25:52. > :25:55.Eight-tenths of a second gained by Jenson Button. Looking back at

:25:56. > :26:01.Bruno Senna. My goodness! He lost the back end of the car and managed

:26:01. > :26:07.to hold it. There was a frightening moment for Bruno Senna. Round of

:26:07. > :26:12.applause, save of the day. At that sort of speed, the driver just

:26:12. > :26:17.relax and hangs in there. The momentum brought him back around.

:26:18. > :26:22.His tyres will be destroyed. He should be able to get back into the

:26:22. > :26:29.pits and get more tyres on. Looking difficult for Bruno to make it

:26:30. > :26:33.through into the top 10. Maldonado it is down in 16th place for top

:26:33. > :26:38.Williams not looking like they have form on this track. Vettel is in

:26:38. > :26:43.tenth place, but this lap isn't going to be any improvement because

:26:43. > :26:48.he has backed off in the middle sector. Gary, your thoughts on that

:26:48. > :26:56.lap time Button has just put in? That moves the bar. Yes, brilliant

:26:56. > :27:03.lap. He did 49.2 on the harder tyre in the first sector of qualifying.

:27:03. > :27:08.47.8 is about right for the medium tyre. Grosjean has been out and on

:27:08. > :27:17.his lap time on the harder tyres. He has a bit of time to come.

:27:17. > :27:21.There's been a mix of old tyres. I think it's still have to unfold.

:27:22. > :27:26.Alonso's tyres were one-lap old and Hamiltons a bit older. More to come

:27:26. > :27:31.in the closing seconds. At the moment in the drop zone you have

:27:31. > :27:36.Michael Schumacher, Paul di Resta, Felipe Massa, Jean-Eric Vergne and

:27:36. > :27:38.Daniel Riccardo. Toro Rosso would not necessarily expect to get

:27:38. > :27:44.through to the final part of qualifying, but they will be doing

:27:44. > :27:49.their utmost. And then Maldonado and Senna. Raikkonen looking very

:27:49. > :27:58.competitive. Button is now off. RADIO: WE are not going to run at

:27:58. > :28:01.the moment. At Spa, it is a long lap. If you make that call not to

:28:01. > :28:07.run, you can't react very quickly because you will not get round in

:28:07. > :28:10.Tom. You have got two minutes on the timer and you have to get out

:28:10. > :28:15.because it takes time to get out of the pit lane and get up to speed.

:28:15. > :28:20.You have to make the decision pretty quickly. If you are not out

:28:20. > :28:23.of the pit lane in two minutes, you're in trouble. Her we saw the

:28:23. > :28:27.mechanic of Sebastian Vettel looking at his watch. They've been

:28:27. > :28:32.given an instruction from the engineer. If you don't hear the

:28:32. > :28:38.radio call, you must send him. At least two minutes to allow for

:28:38. > :28:44.traffic. Vettel is currently lying in tenth place. He could be under

:28:44. > :28:48.pressure from Schumacher, Paul di Resta. I think we will see a little

:28:48. > :28:55.scurry of activity at the end. Daniel Riccardo on his way in the

:28:55. > :29:00.Toro Rosso. He and Jean-Eric Vergne, on at stake, which will be quickest.

:29:00. > :29:06.Jean-Eric Vergne won all three of his Formula Three races here. He

:29:06. > :29:11.was also very fast in the world series. Daniel Ricardo has driven

:29:11. > :29:21.an F1 car here in the past. Can interesting contest between the two

:29:21. > :29:27.of them. I'm sure Jenson Button will be sitting up this part of the

:29:27. > :29:32.session. Hamilton has come out, as has Alonso. Grosjean is on his way,

:29:32. > :29:41.as is Schumacher. What has changed everything is the fact that Jenson

:29:41. > :29:44.Button on a 47.6... Had he not been out of there, there would be a lot

:29:44. > :29:48.more people feeling comfortable as to what the track might deliver in

:29:48. > :29:54.terms of lap time. He has blown that out of the water with that

:29:54. > :29:58.incredible lap. It remains to be seen just how incredible that was.

:29:58. > :30:08.Was that the lack of all that in these conditions? We will find out

:30:08. > :30:17.

:30:17. > :30:23.compressing through Eau Rouge. He is in 13th place. Pay has to

:30:23. > :30:32.deliver the big lap. You could hear the engine and the scraping sounds

:30:32. > :30:36.from the prank -- from the plant. great and will, if you look at the

:30:36. > :30:44.rear tyre, but at the gap between the sidewalk and the carbon brake

:30:44. > :30:49.duct. It shows how much deflection there is in the tyres. A lot of the

:30:49. > :30:56.suspension travel is actually in the tyre side wall itself. It is a

:30:56. > :31:04.tall side wall. I do not know why that is, but I know a man who does.

:31:04. > :31:14.We can ask Gary. He has gone wide. Has he lost a bit in this middle

:31:14. > :31:15.

:31:15. > :31:22.sector? Gary, a quick comment from you. There has been a lot of talk

:31:22. > :31:27.about going for the lower-profile tyre. It is one of those situations,

:31:27. > :31:37.some of the team's fight it because they are under control with what

:31:37. > :31:44.

:31:44. > :31:54.these tyres do. Half of the Felipe Massa, but he can get

:31:54. > :31:59.another lap in. This is what counts, this is the next lap. Fernando

:31:59. > :32:04.Alonso, another fastest first sector. Kimi Raikkonen, an

:32:04. > :32:14.interesting strategy. He is not that much quicker than the likes of

:32:14. > :32:19.Lewis Hamilton and Kamui Kobayashi. It is a bit risky. The chequered

:32:19. > :32:26.flag comes out, so Jean-Eric Vergne does not have any more to give up.

:32:26. > :32:30.Daniel Ricciardo is still on a lap. That is it for Pastor Maldonado.

:32:30. > :32:40.That is definitely danger territory. It depends if anybody behind can go

:32:40. > :32:45.quicker. Nico Hulkenberg is also worrying. Mark Webber is safe. No

:32:45. > :32:52.problem there. Sergio Perez has a good middle sector, the fastest man

:32:52. > :32:59.of war. Just coming out of the chicane, running for the line.

:32:59. > :33:07.brilliant effort from Sergio Perez. That is superb. Now, Sebastian

:33:07. > :33:11.Vettel about to come over the line. Only 11th place! He has not made it

:33:11. > :33:19.through to the only part of qualifying! That is a shock, only

:33:19. > :33:24.once this year has he failed to do that. Michael Schumacher is not in

:33:24. > :33:28.there. Not quite such a surprise, Mercedes were struggling. Felipe

:33:28. > :33:34.Massa will not make it either, he has had a slow middle sector, and

:33:34. > :33:38.he has backed out. We have lost Sebastian Vettel, Felipe Massa and

:33:38. > :33:43.Michael Schumacher. We knew it would be tough, and we have lost

:33:43. > :33:49.the reigning world champion, Sebastian Vettel, from qualifying.

:33:49. > :33:54.The pole position winner last season. He is out of qualifying

:33:54. > :34:00.after Q2. Also out, Nico Hulkenberg. That is an achievement for Paul di

:34:00. > :34:05.Resta. One Force India has made it in, the other one has not. It is

:34:05. > :34:13.only 0.1 seconds between them, but Paul di Resta makes it in and Nico

:34:13. > :34:17.Hulkenberg is out. Michael Schumacher's 300th Grand Prix,

:34:17. > :34:22.still better than previous years. Felipe Massa will not be in the

:34:22. > :34:30.final part of qualifying. Jean-Eric Vergne will be pleased to have

:34:30. > :34:40.beaten Daniel Ricciardo. Bruno Senna or in only 70 the place, at a

:34:40. > :34:40.

:34:40. > :34:45.disappointing qualifying. -- in only 17th place. A big surprise. We

:34:45. > :34:55.will find out what happened to Sebastian Vettel. Each office

:34:55. > :34:55.

:34:55. > :35:05.sectors were green. RADIO: You are in 13th place. The cut-off was 48.7,

:35:05. > :35:06.

:35:06. > :35:13.Sebastian Vettel in 11th place, 48.7. I am sorry, guys. No more in

:35:13. > :35:18.it. It is interesting. I wonder if he has apologised at any other

:35:18. > :35:24.point in the year. I tried to get him to apologise to be a few times

:35:24. > :35:28.and he refused! A different scenario! It is the hardest word! A

:35:28. > :35:35.great effort from Paul the rest there. Pastor Maldonado, it was

:35:35. > :35:45.looking like Williams were struggling. Sebastian Vettel will

:35:45. > :36:00.

:36:00. > :36:03.between them, and knocked out in the second part of qualifying.

:36:03. > :36:12.Felipe Massa and Michael Schumacher also falling out in that session,

:36:12. > :36:16.which is more expected. But Sebastian Vettel, out in Q2! It is

:36:16. > :36:22.a follow on from the early part of the season. We are being treated to

:36:22. > :36:26.more excitement. Most people believe he will be a big contender

:36:26. > :36:30.for the championship this year, and he has started the second half very

:36:30. > :36:35.poorly indeed. We will try to find out what happened, as the fans

:36:35. > :36:40.enjoy the sunshine. It is also worth pointing out Jenson Button's

:36:40. > :36:46.great lap. He was the fastest, and he was well in front of his team-

:36:46. > :36:54.mate. A couple of things, we have heard that Lewis Hamilton has a

:36:54. > :37:00.much more higher downforce. That could help the tries -- tyres.

:37:00. > :37:05.Jenson Button went for the all-out speed. This is a fantastic lap. He

:37:05. > :37:10.is right back on the money, where he was in Australia. Qualifying was

:37:10. > :37:18.damp 12 months ago, but even so, this lap, 0.6 seconds quicker than

:37:18. > :37:23.the pole position Lapper last year. If Jenson Button was standing next

:37:23. > :37:27.to us now, he would remind us that it stands for nothing, it is Q3

:37:28. > :37:31.that is coming your way in a couple of moments that really counts. If

:37:31. > :37:36.he pours out another performance like that, he might be on pole

:37:36. > :37:41.position. Nico Rosberg, or he is thinking about is how to make his

:37:41. > :37:47.way from towards the back of the field to the front, after a nasty

:37:47. > :37:56.knockout in Q1. It has been a desperate day so far,

:37:56. > :38:01.how are you feeling? What happened? It is not good. We had the gearbox

:38:01. > :38:07.this morning, that made it more difficult. Now, communication, it

:38:07. > :38:12.is mostly my fault. I did not get it right. 18th place. But either

:38:12. > :38:19.way, it would not have changed all that much, with the five place grid

:38:19. > :38:24.penalty tomorrow. We need to cook - - McWeeney to do a good strategy

:38:24. > :38:31.tomorrow. It will be difficult. Somebody said on Twitter, give him

:38:31. > :38:37.a herd, he will be disappointed. One man who might need one is Bruno

:38:37. > :38:46.Senna. It was not the result you wanted, but you have impressed the

:38:46. > :38:52.world with the amazing saved. What is going through your mind?

:38:52. > :38:58.turned into the corner, and it was to open. Fortunately, I saved the

:38:58. > :39:04.car. It was at a very high speed. But I did not lose the track

:39:04. > :39:09.completely. I may have picked up some damage, because I was sideways

:39:09. > :39:16.over the kerbs. I really struggled with the car. I had a lot of

:39:16. > :39:20.dancing, so we need to investigate. -- lot of bouncing. How were the

:39:20. > :39:29.tyres? I imagine they were rambling? I did not lock-up, they

:39:29. > :39:33.were dead. They overheated heavily, but there was no flat spot. It was

:39:33. > :39:38.unfortunate. But let's keep our hopes for tomorrow, it is possible

:39:38. > :39:42.to overtake, and we have a good top speed. We are hoping the sun is

:39:42. > :39:49.given to be out, so we look forward to do moving through the traffic

:39:50. > :39:54.tomorrow. That was a remarkable moment. It is so fast, it is hard

:39:54. > :40:02.to comprehend what is going on. It is just a blur. He does not take

:40:02. > :40:06.part, but many do. It is time to Q3. It gets under way. They are not

:40:06. > :40:14.waiting to get out on circuit by any means. Kimi Raikkonen behind

:40:14. > :40:21.Paul di Resta. They only have 10 minutes, and it is a long lap. They

:40:21. > :40:26.have got to get on with it, there is no hanging around. Gary, we saw

:40:26. > :40:30.a great lad from Jenson Button, will we see a time faster than that

:40:30. > :40:35.for the pole position? It would not surprise me, because the track is

:40:35. > :40:43.getting better, but there are still a few laps in there. He had the

:40:43. > :40:47.lower downforce. Sergio Perez as well. Kimi Raikkonen has a higher

:40:47. > :40:54.downforce for the middle section. It is not all over just yet, but it

:40:54. > :41:01.was a good lad from Jenson Button. The set-up they have today, there

:41:01. > :41:04.is nothing they can do to change that for tomorrow. When you start

:41:04. > :41:10.this session, when the car leaves the pit lane, you are stuck with

:41:10. > :41:14.that, other than repairs, or a front wing adjustment. If it rains

:41:14. > :41:18.tomorrow, they can change the calling of the brakes and all the

:41:18. > :41:26.radiators, but you are stuck with what you start this session with

:41:26. > :41:35.her. It may be quite a different story to moderate. On like Hungary,

:41:35. > :41:42.overtaking is definitely in the offing. You can do something about

:41:42. > :41:47.your qualifying position. Who will be on pole position? Kimi Raikkonen

:41:47. > :41:53.has a great record of race victories here, but he only has the

:41:53. > :41:58.one poor position. It is a similar story with Michael Schumacher. He

:41:58. > :42:04.has won more races here, he has only ever had one poor position, so

:42:04. > :42:07.it is not necessarily indicating you will when it. But Kimi

:42:07. > :42:15.Raikkonen would like to have his first pole position since his

:42:15. > :42:21.comeback. The Lotus could be the car. The pace it has in the middle

:42:21. > :42:28.sector, the compromise you make, from this long section, 24 seconds,

:42:28. > :42:33.100% throttle, the DRS wide-open, the car bouncing into the limiter,

:42:34. > :42:40.and when he gets into this section, this is where the Lotus is to the

:42:40. > :42:48.left and -- Lotus is delivering the speed. This is a big drop downhill,

:42:48. > :42:58.and a long hairpin. You drop out, and a fairly straightforward turn,

:42:58. > :43:02.

:43:02. > :43:10.as you head towards 21. Immediately, you are back on the throttle. Again,

:43:10. > :43:17.the medium speed, the apex is nice, the hardly lifts battle. -- he

:43:17. > :43:24.hardly lifts a tall. He uses all of the kerb. He just hangs on for the

:43:24. > :43:28.ride. The DRS is wide open. The director decides he has had enough!

:43:28. > :43:38.It is an exciting ride at Spa- Francorchamps, a beautiful place to

:43:38. > :43:39.

:43:39. > :43:47.watch a former car -- Formula One car in action. It is a good middle

:43:47. > :43:54.sector. This will be a competitive lap. He is not in that 1:47 emir,

:43:54. > :44:01.which is what we saw Jenson Button do,... A massive oversteer from

:44:01. > :44:08.Lewis Hamilton. What goes up must come down, and when you have done

:44:08. > :44:17.declining after Eau Rouge, that will affect his ability to go

:44:17. > :44:23.fastest. That is about the same time as he did in Q2. That is a

:44:23. > :44:29.very good lap again from Jenson Button. Kimi Raikkonen's effort was

:44:29. > :44:36.only 0.2 faster than Q2. Jenson Button has shown that what he did

:44:36. > :44:43.O'Neill was special, he has matched that. -- what he did earlier.

:44:43. > :44:48.Pastor Maldonado has come straight back in, he wants something changed.

:44:48. > :44:53.Mark Webber has got into the top 10, but he has a gearbox penalty for

:44:53. > :44:59.the grid tomorrow, so he will have a five place penalty. It means he

:44:59. > :45:02.could end up behind his team-mate, Sebastian Vettel starting in 11th

:45:02. > :45:12.place, and Mark Webber will have to make sure he does not end up behind

:45:12. > :45:15.

:45:15. > :45:24.pretty impressive lap from Perez. The only other man to get under

:45:24. > :45:29.1:48. He was just over three-tenths slower than Button. They really are

:45:29. > :45:33.flying, Sauber. A car that seems to work so well in the slightly lower

:45:33. > :45:38.downforce configuration. Remember how quick Perez was in the closing

:45:38. > :45:45.stages in Canada. It seems to be aerodynamically efficient, the

:45:45. > :45:49.Sauber. RADIO: Five-tenths faster than

:45:49. > :45:55.Raikkonen, also on new tyres. Great lap. Great words of encouragement

:45:56. > :46:00.for Jenson, who heads back into the pit lane. Jenson Button has never

:46:00. > :46:05.qualified or been on the grid higher than 5th at Spa. This would

:46:05. > :46:12.be a huge achievement. He has not had a pole position since 2009.

:46:12. > :46:17.He's never had one for McLaren. Jenson Button has put down for

:46:17. > :46:24.marker and he is fastest. Never had a pole position for McLaren. It is

:46:24. > :46:31.about time. It is going to be very interesting as we get into the last

:46:31. > :46:38.three-and-a-half minutes of the session. We haven't seen a lap from

:46:38. > :46:41.Hamilton or any of the other guys from three down to 10. It is all

:46:41. > :46:47.going to happen in the last few minutes. A scurry of activity to

:46:47. > :46:53.get clean air. Gary, the track temperature is up to 30 degrees.

:46:53. > :46:56.Will that have any effect? It will. It gets the tyre working earlier.

:46:56. > :47:02.Getting the best lap out of the tyres is about not pushing too hard

:47:02. > :47:07.on the out-lap. The last section is quite a long straight so it is easy

:47:07. > :47:10.to lose tyre temperature and start the lap with the car too cold.

:47:10. > :47:16.Track temperature will help overcome that problem. They have

:47:17. > :47:21.kept Alonso in the pits a long time with the blankets off. It might be

:47:21. > :47:24.partly psychological. The minute the blankets come off your tyres,

:47:24. > :47:30.you start to feel a slight difference on the track in the way

:47:30. > :47:38.they heat up. Was that a slight error from Ferrari? Hamilton has to

:47:38. > :47:48.go around a car in the pit lane. unusual. He was that? I think it

:47:48. > :47:49.

:47:49. > :47:56.was Perez. It was indeed. Was Perez trying to find some space? Jenson

:47:56. > :48:00.Button is doing two runs today. He has been so fast, he has an used up

:48:00. > :48:09.his tyres. It has allowed him to have two runs in the final part of

:48:09. > :48:13.qualifying. He is in front of Hamilton. The same machinery as the

:48:13. > :48:17.man most likely to challenge him for pole position. In an ideal

:48:17. > :48:22.world he would be behind Hamilton and getting feedback on Hamilton's

:48:22. > :48:29.sector. If Hamilton can improve on what Jenson has done, he knows he

:48:29. > :48:34.has to keep Eric -- key going. Now he will do that run blind. He has a

:48:34. > :48:44.few cars in front of him. Spent so is just in front, Alonso is just in

:48:44. > :48:50.

:48:50. > :48:56.get any wheelspin. That is quite a challenge coming out of the last

:48:56. > :49:06.chicane. Suddenly they released KERS and they get an extra 80

:49:06. > :49:09.

:49:09. > :49:17.hat-trick of pole positions at Spa. Mark Webber will not get pole

:49:17. > :49:26.position. That five placed penalty will put him back. Kimi Raikkonen...

:49:26. > :49:31.Currently second to Jenson Button. Flutter through Eau Rouge. No

:49:31. > :49:41.problem at all through the air. -- flat out. The continuing climb up

:49:41. > :49:53.

:49:53. > :49:58.in terms of the first sector. -- 31.4. The best in the sector has

:49:58. > :50:07.been 31.1 by Alonso. Raikkonen already slower than Alonso. Button

:50:07. > :50:14.has now topped that, 31.15. Button is on track to go even faster.

:50:14. > :50:21.are on board with Mark Webber. Look how hard he is trying. He is now

:50:21. > :50:31.enter this fast double apex. So much downforce on the car through

:50:31. > :50:36.

:50:36. > :50:41.just under two-tenths faster than his previous best. This is not

:50:41. > :50:45.going to be enough for the fastest lap of this session. And he has the

:50:45. > :50:54.penalty anyway. Kobayashi has gone second. Another brilliant lap by

:50:54. > :51:01.Sauber. Let's see what Raikkonen can do. He is not up there, he is

:51:01. > :51:08.in fourth place. No pole position for him today. Maldonado is also

:51:08. > :51:17.going well. Let's see what Webber does. Fifth place for him. Jenson

:51:17. > :51:21.Button is fastest at the moment. Can he go even quicker? He does!

:51:21. > :51:29.1:47.573. Will that be as naff -- enough for his first ever McLaren

:51:29. > :51:35.pole position? Hamilton his 7th. Alonso is across the line. Jenson

:51:35. > :51:45.Button has taken pole position! His first pole position for McLaren-

:51:45. > :51:52.

:51:52. > :51:56.Mercedes. His first in 16 events. position and it has been a long

:51:56. > :52:01.time in coming. Maldonado, third place. Kobayashi in second place.

:52:01. > :52:06.What an amazing line-up we are looking at. Fantastic. Jenson

:52:06. > :52:12.Button found his form. He had a different wing set up. It has all

:52:12. > :52:16.come right on the day that matters. No points for today, but the

:52:17. > :52:26.psychological boost... RADIO: We are on full pay -- pole

:52:27. > :52:33.

:52:33. > :52:37.since the Second Grand Prix. -- has not qualified. A brilliant effort

:52:37. > :52:42.by Jenson Button. Let's not forget that Sauber and Williams have

:52:42. > :52:46.beaten the likes of Red Bull and Lotus and the other McLaren.

:52:46. > :52:51.There's Kobayashi, his best-ever qualifying performance. Where did

:52:51. > :52:56.that come from? Incredible. One of the longer slaps on the calendar

:52:56. > :53:01.and they are just under three- tenths slower than the McLaren. --

:53:01. > :53:06.longest laps. We spoke to Maldonado end he said we will learn from our

:53:06. > :53:10.mistakes. This sums up Formula One 2012. We have different teams,

:53:10. > :53:14.different cars, different drivers, all with a real chance of showing

:53:14. > :53:18.how fast they are. I thought it might settle down after the break,

:53:18. > :53:22.I thought the top teams might get their heads around making it work,

:53:22. > :53:27.but it hasn't happened today. They were hindered by the weather

:53:27. > :53:33.conditions on Friday. Maldonado has qualified third, showing the form

:53:33. > :53:39.we saw from him in Spain where he inherited pole position. He has

:53:39. > :53:45.been fast on a couple of other qualifying occasions this season.

:53:45. > :53:50.Lewis Hamilton not quite so lucky. This was coming into La Source.

:53:50. > :53:55.went wide, but that doesn't account for the rest of the time last.

:53:55. > :53:59.Eighth place for Hamilton. One of his worst qualifying performances

:53:59. > :54:04.of the year. But McLaren were trying to work out how to set the

:54:04. > :54:09.cars up. They went to different way with Jenson Button's car. I think

:54:09. > :54:13.Lewis will be thinking he wished he had gone with what Jenson had.

:54:13. > :54:18.Jenson Button, celebrate this moment. What a comeback after such

:54:18. > :54:23.a difficult year. It just started getting better for him before the

:54:23. > :54:28.break with a second-place finish in Germany. Hungary wasn't so good.

:54:28. > :54:38.Here he is at Spa, and he has taken pole position. Let's take a look at

:54:38. > :54:38.

:54:38. > :55:18.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 40 seconds

:55:18. > :55:28.his penalty. Hamilton will go up to which will push Kovalainen up. De

:55:28. > :55:34.la Rosa will be pleased about qualifying. Crilly fantastic

:55:34. > :55:42.qualifying. A completely unpredictable wind up on the grip -

:55:42. > :55:48.- grid. Never thought we would see that top three. It set things up

:55:48. > :55:57.for a stunning Grand Prix tomorrow. Use all the Jenson Button flag

:55:57. > :56:01.flying in the grandstands. -- you saw. So many British fans over here.

:56:01. > :56:05.This is close to the UK and the support tomorrow for Jenson Button,

:56:05. > :56:13.his first pole position since Monaco 2009, he will get a mighty

:56:13. > :56:16.roar at their hairpin. higgledy-piggledy is disease and?

:56:16. > :56:20.Everyone was one drink if Jenson Button would capture some of that

:56:20. > :56:25.glory he has had before. He endorses all of the hope he could

:56:25. > :56:30.ever have dreamt about. This is an amazing day for him. Let's hope he

:56:30. > :56:34.converts it into a win tomorrow. sums up the season. The fans here

:56:34. > :56:41.have been treated to not just a higgledy-piggledy season, but a

:56:41. > :56:45.higgledy-piggledy grid. Cockburn she Seki, it Maldonado third. --

:56:45. > :56:51.Kobayashi second. This is fantastic. This is everything I've dreamt

:56:51. > :56:55.about. You've got great depth of talent in the driving make-up at

:56:55. > :56:59.this championship and that is what is making it so exciting. Great to

:56:59. > :57:04.see Kobayashi up there because they have been questions about his

:57:04. > :57:09.future. He hasn't been that farce this season. He will be going out

:57:09. > :57:16.tomorrow with his eyes on Jenson Button's gearbox. I adore watching

:57:16. > :57:20.Kobayashi. Any moment where there's a slight chance to overtake, he's

:57:20. > :57:25.in there. We know Maldonado has had some criticism from other teams. We

:57:26. > :57:30.want to see if he has learned from that. It measures up into a

:57:30. > :57:33.potentially brilliant race. flags are flying, the cars will be

:57:33. > :57:38.flying this time tomorrow and Jenson Button is going to be the

:57:38. > :57:41.man started on pole position. He's not the only person smiling. Plenty

:57:41. > :57:48.of people excited, but what about of people excited, but what about

:57:48. > :57:57.Martin Whitmarsh? Foe set-up changes seemed to pay off. Jenson

:57:57. > :58:05.did a great lap. He struggled a bit this morning. He just drove with

:58:05. > :58:11.such a surety through qualifying. So pleased for him. It has been

:58:11. > :58:17.difficult here for everyone. Not running yesterday, very long laps,

:58:17. > :58:20.limited time. Jenson has kept calm and done a fantastic job. His first

:58:20. > :58:25.pole position for McLaren as well. I'm a bit surprised at that but

:58:25. > :58:29.that is what he said. I'm sure he knows better than I do. Her the

:58:29. > :58:34.setter with lower downforce should put you in good stead tomorrow.

:58:34. > :58:39.is a good race set-up. You have to look after the tyres here, of

:58:39. > :58:45.course. Provided we can look after the tyres, he will be in good shape.

:58:45. > :58:50.A well done. A smile on his face is because as we approach the end of

:58:50. > :58:57.this season, nine races to go, Ferrari have the points on the

:58:57. > :59:01.board, but it is about form and having a fast car at this stage.

:59:01. > :59:05.Great for McLaren. It is great for McLaren. We must remember that they

:59:05. > :59:14.have to have their eye on the Constructors' Championship. They

:59:14. > :59:18.haven't won it since 1999. They probably believe that they can

:59:18. > :59:21.overhaul this gap between themselves and a Ferrari. Ferrari

:59:21. > :59:25.are looking over their shoulder because they believe they are in a

:59:25. > :59:29.false position, they are too far ahead for the quality of the car.

:59:29. > :59:33.Will McLaren be frustrated that they went up with a set up on the

:59:33. > :59:39.list's father was not working? Lewis is the driver in the box seat

:59:40. > :59:43.for McLaren. Of course. But these things change so quickly.

:59:43. > :59:47.Qualifying set-up is totally different to the race because it is

:59:47. > :59:51.the tyres that have a huge factor in the racing tomorrow. It may be

:59:51. > :59:56.that a high downforce may give Lewis a longevity in terms of how

:59:56. > :00:01.he can go along with the tyres. Maybe take one fewer stop. Don't

:00:01. > :00:11.run up Lewis just yet. This could be a very false qualifying position

:00:11. > :00:12.

:00:12. > :00:17.He qualified in great place today. Sebastian Vettel qualified in 11th

:00:17. > :00:22.place. Perhaps he can explain what happened.

:00:22. > :00:26.Sadly, what a difference a year makes. David Coulthard could not

:00:26. > :00:35.see any mistakes, what do you put it down to? I was pretty happy with

:00:35. > :00:40.my lap. It was just not cricket now. -- just not quick enough. If you

:00:40. > :00:44.miss by such a little amount, it is a shame, but that is racing. It

:00:44. > :00:49.could go the other way. We will see what we can do tomorrow. There are

:00:49. > :00:55.no points today, but the race is tomorrow. Were you surprised when

:00:55. > :01:00.you've heard the news? I was not sure. If I looked at the Times at

:01:01. > :01:04.the front and the time I did, I knew it was not in first place. I

:01:04. > :01:09.was quite surprised, it felt all right this morning, but this

:01:09. > :01:14.afternoon, it did not come together. The latter was clean, there were no

:01:14. > :01:20.mistakes, but just not quick enough. It sounds like it is just a speed

:01:20. > :01:24.problem. Mark Webber did not blighted up in the final part.

:01:24. > :01:28.Everybody is scratching their heads. We talked to Christian Horner, he

:01:28. > :01:33.is focusing not just on the championship for the drivers, but

:01:33. > :01:40.also the constructors. The drivers cannot put their finger on it. When

:01:40. > :01:45.that happens, you have got to tackle a range of different set-ups.

:01:45. > :01:49.It is a problem for them. Coming into this race, they have not had a

:01:49. > :01:53.podium since the British Grand Prix. You would have thought that Adrian

:01:53. > :01:58.Newey could work some magic, but they have almost gone backwards.

:01:58. > :02:06.The other teams have moved forward. McLaren, where they got that time

:02:06. > :02:12.from, you have to assume that it is a class act in terms of performance

:02:12. > :02:16.and speed. Red Bull have gone the other way. They have lost their way.

:02:16. > :02:22.You would have imagined that Adrian Newey would be able to incorporate

:02:22. > :02:28.certain things, but they have not materialised. It is far from

:02:28. > :02:34.perfect for Sebastian Vettel. The pace of the car was 11th place. His

:02:34. > :02:40.team-mate was slightly quicker. You got the grid penalty for

:02:40. > :02:45.tomorrow, but how do you feel? Disappointed. We would have liked

:02:45. > :02:50.to have been further up the grid. It was not quick enough today for a

:02:51. > :02:56.stiff challenge for the front row. That knocks the penalty around even

:02:56. > :03:03.more. Now, I am a bit further back. We have to see what we can do

:03:03. > :03:08.tomorrow. I was pretty happy with my lap. Maximum, fifth-place. But

:03:08. > :03:14.the left itself, I had some good sections, and some other sections

:03:14. > :03:19.where a would have liked to have done better. They got the most out

:03:19. > :03:24.of what we have, which is not enough. Without being disrespectful

:03:24. > :03:33.to the others, we are back in this world where you have a Sauber in

:03:33. > :03:36.second place, a Williams in third place. Yes, it is like Formula Ford,

:03:36. > :03:44.everybody is close together. All of the drivers are driving similar

:03:44. > :03:54.cars. But then you get big discrepancies between cars and

:03:54. > :03:54.

:03:54. > :04:01.team-mates. There is a gap at McLaren, and also some other guys,

:04:01. > :04:06.but overall, we focus on ourselves, we need to keep improving. It is an

:04:06. > :04:11.interesting Grandpuits tomorrow. We are going to be in the hunt.

:04:11. > :04:15.He is always honest. He immediately points to the Grand Prix tomorrow,

:04:15. > :04:20.because if there is anywhere Brady can get through the traffic, it is

:04:20. > :04:25.here. They have an added problem, they do not seem to have straight-

:04:25. > :04:33.line speed. What happened? We saw him make the best passing manoeuvre

:04:33. > :04:40.last year, over Fernando Alonso, it was amazing. You are going into Eau

:04:40. > :04:44.Rouge flat out. You are going to get past left, right and centre.

:04:44. > :04:49.That does not give you a great confidence, when you are always

:04:49. > :04:54.defending. If you are confident, you can attack it. This is a

:04:54. > :05:01.defence mechanism, and I am really concerned about Red Bull. For all

:05:01. > :05:06.of those drivers who qualified out of position, the good news is, you

:05:06. > :05:13.can get through the traffic. One year ago, Michael Schumacher

:05:13. > :05:16.started at the back, and eventually, he made it through to fit place.

:05:16. > :05:24.-- fifth place. It has been a difficult day, how

:05:24. > :05:31.are you feeling? I feel excited, seeing my time. I pulled out more

:05:31. > :05:35.than we had expected. It was a good lap. I was waiting for the message

:05:35. > :05:40.that it would be enough, and I was waiting longer and longer, and my

:05:40. > :05:47.Engineer did not come on the radio. I was hoping that it was good news,

:05:47. > :05:54.but I was disappointed. What I do struggling with? The middle sector,

:05:54. > :06:00.we are losing 1.1 seconds. The other two sectors, we are talking

:06:00. > :06:05.about 0.24 each. We are too slow in the middle. The car is not

:06:05. > :06:10.competitive, that is why you lack the pace.

:06:10. > :06:17.They are really struggling. Nico Rosberg's Obituary feels like so

:06:17. > :06:23.long ago. -- Nico Rosberg's victory. It sounds as if the car is ready

:06:23. > :06:28.for the torch. Is that one of your phrases?! The car is not good

:06:28. > :06:33.enough, one of your drivers has not made it into the final section, and

:06:33. > :06:38.the other is floundering at the back. A lot of effort needs to go

:06:38. > :06:45.in to get the car up to speed. your car at home is slow, do not do

:06:45. > :06:52.that to it! Your 50th race for your team, what

:06:52. > :06:58.a way to market, with your first poor position for them. -- appal

:06:58. > :07:03.position. It has been a long time, it was back in 2009, Monaco, I

:07:03. > :07:09.think. It is pretty emotional. Sundays have been good for the past

:07:09. > :07:15.few years, but Saturdays have not gone perfectly, you could say. A

:07:15. > :07:19.great qualifying session, and it is so important to come back after the

:07:19. > :07:23.break with a good result on Saturday. The race is tomorrow, but

:07:23. > :07:28.this is close to winning a Grand Prix for me, because it has been so

:07:28. > :07:38.wrong. Your first front row in Formula One, and the first front

:07:38. > :07:39.

:07:39. > :07:43.row for a Japanese driver in Formula One, so well done.

:07:43. > :07:48.Yesterday, we struggled a lot. We had no idea what we would do. But

:07:48. > :07:57.this morning, in an hour, we changed settings and we definitely

:07:57. > :08:07.improved. In qualifying, we do not know about the track conditions,

:08:07. > :08:09.

:08:09. > :08:14.but we had good confidence. After the summer holiday, the car had

:08:14. > :08:19.good potential. There will be nine races in three months, but it is

:08:19. > :08:24.important for us. I am happy to have a great result. Your summer

:08:24. > :08:28.holiday included a return to Venezuela. The break might have you

:08:28. > :08:35.-- break might have done you good. Not the most straightforward

:08:35. > :08:42.qualifying, but it came good. we have been quite consistent with

:08:42. > :08:47.qualification all through the season. Now, we are stronger, we

:08:47. > :08:52.have been working so hard, even in the break, we try to understand the

:08:52. > :08:58.problems we had in the past, to sort it out for the second part of

:08:58. > :09:04.the season. That has meant that we are quite competitive. This morning,

:09:04. > :09:12.we were struggling with the separate, -- with the set-up, but

:09:12. > :09:16.we know where to work in the car. The spirit is high in the team, we

:09:16. > :09:22.are working well, and we are looking forward to the second part

:09:22. > :09:25.in the season. The races were up and down a bit in the first part,

:09:25. > :09:31.but we are looking forward to the second part, to recover what we

:09:31. > :09:40.lost at the beginning of the season. He has not managed to pick up.

:09:40. > :09:50.Since he won the race in Spain. That was quite a session, higgledy-

:09:50. > :09:53.

:09:53. > :09:57.piggledy. A great word, fantastic! My son uses the words like that! It

:09:57. > :10:02.was a higgledy-piggledy session, and so much happened, we were so

:10:02. > :10:07.excited by what Jenson Button had delivered. He did three laps that

:10:07. > :10:11.were good enough for pole position. Then, we missed out on the quick

:10:11. > :10:16.laps by Kamui Kobayashi and Pastor Maldonado. That was a genuine

:10:16. > :10:20.shoot-out for the poor position. We saw Lewis Hamilton run wide at La

:10:21. > :10:30.Source, we did not see any mistakes by Mark Webber, but he did not

:10:31. > :10:31.

:10:31. > :10:36.aback by Jenson Button, he dominated every part of qualifying.

:10:36. > :10:43.It is fantastic to see, we have seen this time and time again, when

:10:43. > :10:49.he feels at one with the car. Normally, it comes with changing

:10:49. > :10:52.conditions, but he went for the low downforce. He somehow balanced it

:10:52. > :10:57.and delivered a great performance through the middle sector, but

:10:57. > :11:01.imagine how that set him up for the race tomorrow. If he is being

:11:01. > :11:08.hunted down and he cannot use his DRS, having the extra speed will be

:11:08. > :11:16.fantastic. I think this is what the most amazing corners on this track,

:11:16. > :11:22.the drop to Blanchmont, apologies, 2 p One. Listen to this. He goes

:11:22. > :11:25.down one beer, and immediately he is back on the power. He will have

:11:26. > :11:30.seen that he is on the same matter that he achieved earlier. The

:11:30. > :11:36.conference will be handing in there. He knows he can make it through the

:11:36. > :11:44.last port before he enters the next corner. He is still on for a great

:11:44. > :11:51.lap. It is all about the final run- in, 18 seconds or so, flat-out, 180

:11:51. > :11:58.miles an hour as he goes through plunge want. -- as he goes through

:11:58. > :12:05.Blanchmont. Beautiful on the brakes. He takes it into the corner. One

:12:05. > :12:15.small correction as he exits the chicane. They could not get near

:12:15. > :12:32.

:12:32. > :12:36.Raikkonen. It meant that Fernando Alonso, the leader, he starts this

:12:36. > :12:42.race in sixth place. More heartache for Lewis Hamilton, he might be

:12:42. > :12:46.alongside a man who his second in the championship, Mark Webber, but

:12:46. > :12:50.he will move backwards, because of his gearbox change. Well done to

:12:50. > :12:56.Paul di Resta for making it through. Some big names never made it

:12:56. > :13:01.through to the shoot-out, including Sebastian Vettel. Felipe Massa is

:13:01. > :13:08.in 40 the place. Just in front of Daniel Ricciardo, alongside Bruno

:13:08. > :13:15.Senna. That is the way that the back of the grid looks, Nico

:13:15. > :13:24.Rosberg and Bruno Senna ahead of the Caterham cars, and then, Timo

:13:24. > :13:30.Glock, with the HRT at the back. A man who will be happy with the top

:13:30. > :13:35.10, congratulations. You have not been working very hard, you are

:13:35. > :13:42.wrapped up in jackets, and I am in a teacher at! You are a proper

:13:42. > :13:47.Scotsman! We would have taken that, coming into the weekend. This

:13:47. > :13:50.requires a good track level and balance. I was quite surprised

:13:50. > :13:55.where we were this morning, but when does not getting carried away,

:13:55. > :14:01.there were people out of position. But we have put ourselves in a

:14:01. > :14:07.fighting position for tomorrow. We have struggled in the recent races,

:14:07. > :14:11.with the higher fuel at the beginning, but it can be different.

:14:11. > :14:18.Could you please explain, the people at home are confused why you

:14:19. > :14:26.did not make a proper go at Q3. Could you explain why you sit this

:14:26. > :14:30.out? I did have a go. You were not watching the screen! We just went

:14:30. > :14:37.0.1 slower. We did an Ottoman job in Q2. I thought there was more

:14:37. > :14:46.there. It was so close, we hovered around, there was 0.1 covering four

:14:46. > :14:54.cars. We thought we would have a go. It is incredibly Coast -- Close,

:14:54. > :14:59.but where are you struggling? Where did you leave some time behind?

:14:59. > :15:05.is very clear. We are one second of in the middle sector, but we are

:15:05. > :15:09.good in the final sector. We are struggling in the middle sector to

:15:09. > :15:19.get the balance. It is the choice that we have taken to make the

:15:19. > :15:23.

:15:23. > :15:29.cargo quickly around here. But that behind Lewis Hamilton. He was a

:15:29. > :15:35.long way behind his team-mate. This is his explanation. Nicole is

:15:35. > :15:42.singing on the PA, but you might not be smiling as much today.

:15:42. > :15:47.It has not been a great qualifying session for me. We opted to use an

:15:47. > :15:51.old wing this weekend after P3. The wing we were running was not

:15:51. > :15:57.running so great, so I went to the old wing, which is quite a lot

:15:57. > :16:00.slower. I just had to do what I could with that. Congratulations to

:16:00. > :16:05.Jenson, great to have his first pole position for the team. I

:16:05. > :16:11.thought he had more. A great start to the second part of the season

:16:11. > :16:16.for him. Looking around on the grid, a slightly strange grid, do you get

:16:16. > :16:24.any comfort in seeing people like Vettel behind you? Fernando is not

:16:24. > :16:28.far in front. No, not really. The rear wing was working great on

:16:28. > :16:32.Jenson's car, so it would be great if we were both on the front row.

:16:32. > :16:38.With the rear wing I have, there was not possible. I will do

:16:38. > :16:43.everything I can tomorrow to back him up and score as much as I can.

:16:43. > :16:48.Lewis with sunglasses on, you can read a lot into body language. That

:16:48. > :16:52.goes to show, small changes make big differences in Formula One.

:16:52. > :16:58.Perhaps it was that busy triathlon Jenson Button was doing. You can

:16:58. > :17:08.stick with us and watched the World Series triathlon next on BBC One.

:17:08. > :17:25.

:17:25. > :17:35.What a grid we have shaping up for ultimate race circuit. Today, it is

:17:35. > :17:53.

:17:53. > :17:58.accommodation in one. Your map- the British Grand Prix, we would be

:17:58. > :18:03.forgiven for never trust think Eddie again. Tomorrow will be

:18:03. > :18:07.special, people have to join us. This is a real fans circuit. You

:18:07. > :18:13.don't get so many corporate people, you get hardcore fans and that is

:18:13. > :18:17.why it is so special. Thank you for your company. The latest news is on