The Chinese Grand Prix - Qualifying

:01:01. > :01:04.Good morning, thank you very much for setting you're a liar and

:01:04. > :01:11.welcome to the live coverage of the Chinese Grand Prix weekend from

:01:11. > :01:14.here in Shanghai. The same old car usually sitting on pole position

:01:14. > :01:24.and a familiar figure usually when income the chequered flag from last

:01:24. > :01:30.

:01:30. > :01:40.year. But what a difference a year makes. Tit, torque. So goes the

:01:40. > :01:43.

:01:43. > :01:49.beat of success. A predictable Riddle, near impossible to break.

:01:49. > :01:59.And Jenson Button has got a good start. They are absolutely stuck

:01:59. > :01:59.

:01:59. > :02:07.together. And it is pouring down. Is its Jenson Button? Fernando

:02:07. > :02:11.Alonso takes the victory. The second place is Sergio Perez.

:02:11. > :02:18.a turnaround from last year and in that one particular race. Perhaps

:02:18. > :02:23.the onion Formula One Fan not enjoying the sport at the moment is

:02:23. > :02:27.the world No. 1 himself, Sebastian Vettel. At the moment he is not

:02:27. > :02:32.even the leader Red Bull rider. It might not be great for him, but it

:02:32. > :02:36.is great for everybody else. have had a great start to the

:02:36. > :02:41.season and we have a number of teams looking more competitive than

:02:41. > :02:49.last year. Just because you have had success in the past it does not

:02:49. > :02:53.guarantee future success. It is looking very tight for qualifying.

:02:53. > :03:01.It is enough to make you take out the purple paisley, so you must be

:03:01. > :03:06.loving it. Put that all to one side and let's concentrate on the racing.

:03:06. > :03:13.It has exploded into a new form of racing this season. I can see lots

:03:13. > :03:17.of things emerging that we have not seen in the last couple of years.

:03:17. > :03:23.We assume they only play music when they are dominating, but it is not

:03:23. > :03:28.the case. How will Sebastian Vettel be feeling from going to total

:03:28. > :03:32.domination to struggling, even in his own team. He is still quite

:03:32. > :03:39.young in his own team and it has been a meteoric rise, so this will

:03:39. > :03:42.be testing for him. He is a young man and he is having to develop

:03:42. > :03:48.this ability to handle the disappointment when you are not

:03:48. > :03:52.winning every race. We saw Lewis Hamilton going through that. He won

:03:52. > :03:59.the championship in his second season and has a difficult period.

:03:59. > :04:05.In many ways it will be the making of him. It is not just Sebastien

:04:05. > :04:09.who is unsure, we are unsure about the pecking order in Formula One.

:04:09. > :04:14.We can only look at the first race in Australia to give us the light

:04:14. > :04:19.of the land. When you have the world champions and they decide not

:04:19. > :04:23.to compete for pole position in the last race, then that there is

:04:23. > :04:29.something not quite right. The car does not have the ultimate speed,

:04:29. > :04:35.the penetration it had before. They are trying to find something, but

:04:35. > :04:39.they will be back. This is a hugely experienced, well put together a

:04:39. > :04:47.team and it is in the interests of everyone that they are well behind

:04:47. > :04:52.the team. We will see how it plays out a bit later on. It is lovely to

:04:52. > :04:57.see Eddie Jordan in China and he is not the only fan who has turned up.

:04:57. > :05:07.The grandstand is getting a bit busy. We are in China for Formula

:05:07. > :05:24.

:05:24. > :05:29.It is amazing how many union flags are here. There is a lot of love

:05:29. > :05:33.for Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button. It is getting a little bit

:05:34. > :05:39.busy, but that is a difficult grandstand to fill. We are on the

:05:39. > :05:46.outskirts of a city with 20 million people. They should embrace Formula

:05:46. > :05:50.One. The momentum is gathering, but it is a slow process. They have

:05:50. > :05:55.embraced football and they are beginning to embrace this. This is

:05:55. > :06:00.probably the biggest stadium at we have. I was involved at the

:06:00. > :06:05.beginning and it was a huge task. It still has not reached maximum

:06:06. > :06:12.potential, but I am sure it will. You are not taking credit for the

:06:12. > :06:18.grandstand. No, I was just am Leah observers. If anything will get

:06:18. > :06:23.bumps on seats, it will be last year's Grand Prix. It was voted by

:06:23. > :06:29.fans in the UK as the best of the season. That is because we had so

:06:29. > :06:38.much overtaking. I believe we had 77. We have got a very long back

:06:38. > :06:46.straight here. A day of breast was introduced last season. This is

:06:46. > :06:53.turn 14. This was the most popular plays for passes. Everything came

:06:53. > :06:57.together to create this perfect overtaking storm. We got used to a

:06:57. > :07:02.15 year period where it was really difficult to overtake on track and

:07:02. > :07:08.it happened in the pit stops. But I think BRS has brought an element of

:07:08. > :07:12.attack in defence and the drivers can use is strategically. It is

:07:12. > :07:18.more entertaining. You could argue that the purists or horrified

:07:18. > :07:23.because there were too many passes. There could never be another -- but

:07:24. > :07:29.he many passes for me. I am enjoying this and for the moments

:07:29. > :07:36.the critics will have to take a back seat. I am enjoying curse as

:07:36. > :07:44.well, even though I was a critic. We are going to have an in-depth

:07:44. > :07:49.look later on, but let's have a quick look at the standings. Full-

:07:49. > :07:55.on soap is driving a very difficult Ferrari, but he is leading at the

:07:55. > :07:59.moment. Lewis Hamilton, despite not winning a race, is showing that

:07:59. > :08:07.consistency can pay. Mark Webber is sitting in front of Sebastian

:08:07. > :08:11.Vettel. Force India has picked up seven points this season. It is

:08:11. > :08:17.interesting to focus on the constructors' championship. Only

:08:17. > :08:21.nine have picked up points. It is competitive. It is hugely

:08:21. > :08:27.competitive. On the negative side at the three new teams are still

:08:27. > :08:30.yet to get themselves together. We were hoping somebody out of that

:08:30. > :08:36.group would emerge and sadly they are the three teams who have no

:08:36. > :08:41.points and it seems to continue. They might have no points, Mercedes

:08:41. > :08:46.with one point. How much pressure is there on that team? Undoubtedly

:08:46. > :08:50.there is pressure, there is pressure on everyone. The fact they

:08:50. > :08:56.have a quick car and have been moving ever closer to getting the

:08:56. > :09:01.car in the front row gives them enthusiasm and hope. I would not be

:09:01. > :09:05.surprised if you seek a Mercedes in the front row this afternoon.

:09:05. > :09:11.Hamilton has taken a five plays grid penalty and we will hear why

:09:11. > :09:21.it later on. Mark Webber will show us around the circuit and Eddie

:09:21. > :09:26.

:09:26. > :09:31.will have a look at why Ferrari is There are still concerns about

:09:31. > :09:36.Bahrain. The FIA have said they have seen no reason to call off the

:09:36. > :09:42.race and this was the reaction from Bernie Ecclestone. The big concern

:09:42. > :09:47.for most people is that the issue in Bahrain is with the Crown Prince

:09:47. > :09:52.and the royal family and they are the people who took Formula One to

:09:52. > :09:58.Bahrain. It is almost as if Formula One to the protesters represents

:09:58. > :10:04.the royal family and the rulers of Bahrain. We, like in any sport, we

:10:04. > :10:08.are not political or religious. We enter the country to perform to the

:10:08. > :10:15.contract we have. It is not up for us to decide how people run their

:10:15. > :10:19.country. Maybe it was seen that it was the royal family, it was not.

:10:19. > :10:24.It was the national sporting authority in that country that

:10:24. > :10:31.requested a Formula One event. It has been supported by an awful lot

:10:31. > :10:36.of people in Bahrain. We have seen the posters they had issued and

:10:36. > :10:42.they have highlighted F1. Does that mean in Bahrain they are

:10:42. > :10:47.politicising the sport and hoping to unify the country? I suppose

:10:47. > :10:51.they are hoping that. I do not know what the problems are, because I

:10:51. > :10:57.have not gone into it, but it appears there are problems. Let's

:10:57. > :11:02.assume it is not going to happen, but there was no Formula One race

:11:02. > :11:08.next weekend in Bahrain. Whatever problems that are in Bahrain, would

:11:08. > :11:13.they disappear? You could argue that by going there those problems

:11:13. > :11:19.would be encouraged to escalate. Because? We are inviting the

:11:19. > :11:24.world's media there and if you were a protester... If people complain

:11:24. > :11:27.and say they are not heard when we have got the international press

:11:27. > :11:33.worldwide and the television countries from all over the world,

:11:33. > :11:37.we will be there and the protesters can speak to you. I have spoken to

:11:37. > :11:42.people who represent people who are dissatisfied with the way they

:11:42. > :11:47.think the country is run. I said, let's have a press conference and

:11:47. > :11:54.you can explain to the world. Imagine we said, no way we are

:11:54. > :12:00.going to be in Bahrain. Would whatever their problems in Bahrain,

:12:00. > :12:06.would they stop? On Monday morning everybody is happy. The answer is

:12:06. > :12:10.No, because they are not protesting about Formula One. It is clear as

:12:10. > :12:15.far as Bernie Ecclestone is concerned, of course there are two

:12:15. > :12:19.sides to every story. Is it the right decision to go? Whether I

:12:19. > :12:24.think it is right or wrong is irrelevant. What I think is

:12:24. > :12:28.important is you are never going to keep everyone happy. The decision

:12:28. > :12:33.has been made and on the basis of security and safety and that has

:12:33. > :12:39.been done by the federation, by Bernie Ecclestone and everybody

:12:39. > :12:43.involved. We are going there and who knows? Bernie made the point in

:12:43. > :12:48.a quirky kind of way it may be a mechanism that sport can bring

:12:48. > :12:53.these people together, because it has happened before it. Look at

:12:53. > :12:57.South Africa and sport has played his part in that great nation.

:12:57. > :13:01.Let's give everybody a chance, let's make the most of it and let's

:13:02. > :13:08.make sure we can do the best for that country. Have you spoken to

:13:08. > :13:14.any drivers? Yes, the drivers have discussed it and they are concerned

:13:14. > :13:20.about what exactly is the position? The bottom line is they trust in

:13:20. > :13:24.the teams and the FIA and if it is safe to go, they go. One of the

:13:24. > :13:29.things is out of all business information, what are the facts?

:13:29. > :13:33.That is very difficult when there are two sides to every story.

:13:33. > :13:38.latest news is clashes are continuing and Amnesty

:13:38. > :13:44.International is not happy with the way the country is being run, but

:13:44. > :13:54.Formula One has seen fit to go there. It is far from the only news.

:13:54. > :13:57.

:13:57. > :14:02.Arca two weeks away from the racetrack it was back to business

:14:02. > :14:06.for the drivers, but the teams were busier than ever at the factories.

:14:06. > :14:11.After Malaysia Ferrari might be race winners, but it does not mean

:14:11. > :14:17.they are happy. We are working very hard day and night to improve the

:14:17. > :14:21.performance. We have some small updates and hopefully big updates

:14:22. > :14:27.when we come to Europe. At the moment this is the situation. We

:14:27. > :14:31.know it is going to be a difficult weekend ahead of us, but we need to

:14:31. > :14:35.maximise the potential we have at the moment. Whilst Fernando Alonso

:14:35. > :14:41.was working out how he can run again this season, Jenson Button

:14:41. > :14:45.was working out. He headed straight to Hawaii to compete in a triathlon

:14:46. > :14:52.where he finished 6th. It was nice to have a good performance and I

:14:52. > :14:57.hurt myself, which I said I would. Even before Sergio Perez' stunning

:14:57. > :15:03.second place in Malaysia, many people were saying he could be

:15:03. > :15:13.replacing Felipe Massa or, but the young Mexican, part of the Ferrari

:15:13. > :15:20.

:15:20. > :15:30.driver Academy, says he will not So, I will definitely stick to Saba,

:15:30. > :15:32.

:15:32. > :15:35.they they are fully deserve my 100%. Bus - saga. The double world

:15:35. > :15:40.champion Sebastian Vettel was presented with a cucumber by the

:15:40. > :15:44.German media but British journalists were was one more

:15:44. > :15:46.interested in finding it where he thinks he can grab pesto abroad

:15:46. > :15:52.Championship. A needed some mistakes here and there, but

:15:52. > :15:56.overall, it was not a disaster. have a good result in Australia, we

:15:56. > :16:04.did not finish in Malaysia, so that is it. I think that the car has

:16:04. > :16:10.enormous potential. We just need to understand it a little bit more.

:16:10. > :16:15.seems that the rubber Mercedes's controversial ruling is not over.

:16:15. > :16:18.It combines an overtaking aide with different when, at the FIA has

:16:18. > :16:24.rejected claims that it broke the rules. Rivals must now decide

:16:24. > :16:28.whether to copy the design into their own cars. And finally, before

:16:28. > :16:31.he will has even turned, it was already a tough weekend for Lewis

:16:31. > :16:36.Hamilton who found out he will have to take off by police grid penalty

:16:36. > :16:41.for changing the gearbox. engineers came into my room and

:16:41. > :16:44.they said, what have I done? But I have to face a five police grid

:16:44. > :16:50.penalty before the race starts but I am still doing positive. The team

:16:50. > :16:56.have done a great job. I came from third, last year, to win the race,

:16:56. > :17:01.so anything is possible. I think these stands will be cheering on

:17:01. > :17:05.Lewis Hamilton. There are list that he can start on the grid is sixth

:17:05. > :17:11.place, because of his gearbox penalty but I am sure his fans will

:17:11. > :17:16.be waving their flags anyway. But it is a race penalty, not a

:17:16. > :17:20.qualifying penalty, so Lewis Hamilton goes looking for his first

:17:20. > :17:24.ever three oppositions in a row. It is frustrating for drivers to not

:17:24. > :17:30.even turn a wheel in anger and end up having a penalty. It is

:17:30. > :17:36.frustrating, no question, but the reliability of these modern Grand

:17:36. > :17:39.Prix cars is incredible. When Frank and Eddie had his team he would

:17:39. > :17:44.regularly blow engines and gearboxes and expected not to

:17:45. > :17:50.finish 25% of races in the season. But this is now, and given the

:17:50. > :17:54.reliability, it will be frustrating but we know or that the worst case

:17:54. > :17:58.is that the beings of in pole position, he will be in six place,

:17:58. > :18:04.which gives him a great jazz tomorrow. His body language gave it

:18:04. > :18:08.all away. He is super-confident. He has one year, twice, before, with a

:18:08. > :18:12.view sixth or 7th on the grid, in his mind it does not matter. He

:18:12. > :18:17.still thinks he can win this race. Let's put it in context. It is

:18:17. > :18:20.better to have a fresh, new gearbox starting in six place than having

:18:20. > :18:26.an old gearbox that is going to blow up halfway through. I think he

:18:26. > :18:31.has made the right decision. McLarens were the past as cars and

:18:31. > :18:35.final practice, so if he gets demoted, it is good news for Jenson

:18:35. > :18:40.Button because his fastest rival will be five places further back.

:18:40. > :18:46.It is very interesting having those two drivers in the team, the two

:18:46. > :18:50.Number One drivers, like McLaren has, success for your team-mate is

:18:50. > :18:54.Filia for you, and vice versa, so it is one of the difficult

:18:54. > :18:57.challenges that teams have, keeping both drivers feeling that they have

:18:57. > :19:01.got an equal opportunity, and to give one a leg up when he thinks

:19:01. > :19:05.things are not going his way, but Lewis Hamilton is full of

:19:05. > :19:10.confidence. He has not had the results he would like but he has

:19:10. > :19:14.been good in qualifying so far this year. McLaren, like every other

:19:14. > :19:19.team, has been working hard in practice. They are the strange

:19:19. > :19:25.contraption attached to the back of the car. Can you shed any light on

:19:25. > :19:30.what this is - it is not very pretty. You can run various logging

:19:30. > :19:36.devices on the practice on Friday and what they have is a device to

:19:36. > :19:42.measure airflow and it has to check correlation between wind-tunnel and

:19:42. > :19:48.racetrack. I thought it was a combine harvester, so to speak!

:19:48. > :19:50.This is certainly no combine harvester, it is a fabulous car.

:19:50. > :19:56.They are going to be contenders for the constructors' title and the

:19:56. > :19:59.drivers' title this year. This is an indication that they are

:20:00. > :20:07.prepared to waste time on the track when they could be doing other

:20:07. > :20:10.things, so this is a sign of their confidence, for me. Les walked back

:20:10. > :20:15.to Red Bull. You know why I like walking up and down the pit lane,

:20:15. > :20:19.to get the atmosphere and see what is going on. When it comes to Red

:20:19. > :20:25.Bull, interesting situation regarding the development of their

:20:25. > :20:30.cars. Just give us the latest as far as you understand it. We have

:20:30. > :20:36.two bodywork Configurations on their cars. It is normally the case

:20:36. > :20:43.that you have different exhaust exits on Mark Webber and Sebastian

:20:43. > :20:47.Vettel's cars but to have that sort of difference is unusual. It will

:20:47. > :20:53.be down to driver preference, but the aerodynamic set-up pains to be

:20:53. > :21:00.about what is quickest, what gives you the numbers in terms of load

:21:00. > :21:04.through the push rods. Rose aerodynamic devices are producing

:21:04. > :21:09.the same amount of downforce and it is down to the balance and choice

:21:09. > :21:13.of the driver. Mark, being slightly heavier has different weight

:21:13. > :21:17.distribution, and that gives him some benefit. People need to

:21:17. > :21:22.understand, each driver is different. Some of them like

:21:22. > :21:28.understeer going into corners, and all that kind of thing. It is about

:21:28. > :21:33.setting up the car. No two cars and the spread will be the same.

:21:33. > :21:37.you first see this for the entire season? You cannot have two the

:21:37. > :21:42.front development lines for the entire year. You would have to have

:21:42. > :21:47.filed a budget! But it is not a constructive way to go on about it.

:21:47. > :21:51.You need to have an idea about how you going to project the

:21:51. > :21:58.championship. They us is a race three of the season, Australia,

:21:58. > :22:02.then Malaysia, now China. The yes, it seems like we have been on the

:22:02. > :22:06.road for a long time already. Sometimes you struggle to get the

:22:06. > :22:11.upgrades on the car, but they will have the chance to do it back in

:22:11. > :22:15.Europe, because of the logistics of getting the pass around. At the

:22:15. > :22:20.last race in Malaysia they fail to lead for one lap which has not

:22:20. > :22:30.happened bubble lasts 24 races. But while Red Bull struggled, Fernando

:22:30. > :22:30.

:22:30. > :22:36.Alonso flew. Lights out, away we go, there is not much in it, but

:22:36. > :22:42.Hamilton is have a better. Grosjean getting past Schumacher, brilliant

:22:42. > :22:52.start. Round the outside, that is Webber, tried to make a drone, and

:22:52. > :23:02.

:23:02. > :23:12.Sergio Perez, coming into the pits. That is a shame. He had been

:23:12. > :23:13.

:23:13. > :23:19.running well. The Red Flag has been brought out on this race. All

:23:19. > :23:25.drivers will have to head back on to the grid. They are all waiting

:23:25. > :23:30.for Lewis Hamilton to go for it, and he does. Sergio Perez, then

:23:30. > :23:39.Sebastien Webber under attack from Fernando Alonso. And second place

:23:39. > :23:45.or Sergio Perez, with a modern coming in, he has got to go to

:23:45. > :23:52.intermediate tyres. Surge of Presley's the race. Hamilton had a

:23:52. > :24:00.problem. Fernando Alonso has gained, those Ferrari pit stops are amazing

:24:00. > :24:09.this year. And there is Jenson Button into the pits, he needs a

:24:09. > :24:17.new front wing. This is dropping him well back. Ferrari, leading in

:24:17. > :24:27.Malaysia. So a bastion Vettel has a problem. He has lost drive,

:24:27. > :24:29.

:24:29. > :24:39.puncture, left rare. -- rear. as a problem, he has run White,

:24:39. > :24:40.

:24:40. > :24:46.going into turn 14. -- run wide. All one's a taste of victory,

:24:46. > :24:56.second place goes to the 20-year- old Mexican, Sergio Perez. --

:24:56. > :24:57.

:24:57. > :25:01.What a remarkable result. We will hear from Sergio Perez, and talk

:25:01. > :25:06.about Sabra and Ferrari, but first, here is Bruno Senna who finished in

:25:06. > :25:12.sixth place in that race, his best ever result. And all from a

:25:12. > :25:22.difficult start. I bet you did not expect to the finishing well in the

:25:22. > :25:23.

:25:23. > :25:27.points. You can have a nice race sometimes, and it was one of those

:25:27. > :25:34.races where everything happened and we took advantage of it. The Cadiz

:25:34. > :25:37.competitive. There was my some good race moves with a bit of Watergate.

:25:37. > :25:43.You will want to focus on this part of the race and take this forward,

:25:43. > :25:50.for the rest of the season. sure. The most important thing is

:25:50. > :25:54.to concentrate on qualifying better. That makes you more accessible to

:25:54. > :26:02.crashes and confusion, as are the best way to do it is to get ahead

:26:02. > :26:07.and keep pure nose clean. You are like a seasoned campaigner. You

:26:07. > :26:14.have driven for Renault, and who are now year with one of the great

:26:14. > :26:22.teams, Williams. Is there a great difference? For sure. The structure

:26:22. > :26:26.is very different. Having the all season to learn, it is a huge

:26:26. > :26:30.learning curve, much bigger than I expected after doing last year. I

:26:30. > :26:37.have a lot to learn, a lot to improve and they will take it, step

:26:37. > :26:42.by step. You seem to be very experienced, very cool, so how much

:26:42. > :26:46.does it take the pressure off you, getting that race under your belt?

:26:47. > :26:52.The pressure is always on end Formula One, there is no way round

:26:52. > :26:56.the pressure, you have to deliver. You have the whole year to prove,

:26:56. > :27:03.and to learn, to take the pressure of a little bit, but the important

:27:03. > :27:11.thing is to make sure that you set yourself realistic targets. I think

:27:11. > :27:15.it is going to be a long season ahead. Do you feel like it is like

:27:15. > :27:20.coming home, coming back to Williams, given all the things that

:27:20. > :27:24.have gone on before, is there anything simmering a way that might

:27:24. > :27:34.give you extra pleasure? It is a great privilege to be here, with a

:27:34. > :27:43.team that has seen many champions. It is a special feeling. Overly, we

:27:43. > :27:51.can have a more progressive season. Tell us how it feels when your eyes

:27:51. > :27:55.wander down to the famous Ayrton Senna sticker, given that you're on

:27:55. > :27:59.call pastor when one of their cars. Is very special to have your name,

:27:59. > :28:09.twice, in the car, not everybody can do it. It is a very emotional

:28:09. > :28:15.thing for the family. In motor racing, these things can happen. So,

:28:15. > :28:19.in my family everybody is happy, and I am even happier. And I know

:28:19. > :28:23.that your carp also sounds a very well this morning, it has been

:28:23. > :28:26.drowning us out for most of the interview! You have been sealed 0.5

:28:26. > :28:31.seconds in one of your team-mates and practice, can you sneak into

:28:31. > :28:36.the final part of qualifying? think so. We had a lot of traffic

:28:36. > :28:40.which did not help previously, but it is one of those things, in

:28:40. > :28:45.qualifying, you have to take opportunities, and the car is very

:28:45. > :28:50.competitive. We are capable of being top then. Let's make sure

:28:50. > :28:55.that that happens this time. Good luck ahead of qualifying. Whilst

:28:55. > :29:00.Bruno Senna was fighting through the field, another young man was

:29:00. > :29:10.fighting for an unlikely victory, marched 12, the day that Sergio

:29:10. > :29:20.

:29:20. > :29:24.Perez announced himself to Formula HE SPEAKS SPANISH. Sergio Perez was

:29:24. > :29:31.the first to switch to the full wet tyres, and he is aiming for third

:29:31. > :29:39.place. I was quite happy with the car. I was feeling good, so far.

:29:39. > :29:42.The young Mexican doing a superb job. Then I was in the lead.

:29:42. > :29:52.Sergio Perez, and the Sauber, leads the Malaysian Grand Prix, about

:29:52. > :29:52.

:29:53. > :30:00.that? Now we have Fernando Alonso in front of him. There is Fernando

:30:00. > :30:06.Alonso trying to struggle. Could Perez get onto the back of the

:30:06. > :30:12.Ferrari? I was catching Fernando, and I was the fastest car on the

:30:12. > :30:18.track. He you doing very well. was the fastest car on the track,

:30:18. > :30:23.again and again. Perez is still catching Fernando Alonso. I had a

:30:23. > :30:30.good feeling for the victory, I was just going for the victory and not

:30:30. > :30:38.caring any more for second place. Be careful of his position. Perez

:30:38. > :30:48.has a problem. He has run wide. Fernando Alonso has been given a

:30:48. > :30:51.

:30:51. > :30:56.huge break. For sure, I was having a fight with Fernando. Who knows?

:30:56. > :31:04.Second place goes to the 21 year old Mexican, Sergio Perez, just 2.2

:31:04. > :31:12.seconds behind. Sauber gets its best ever result. How did you feel

:31:12. > :31:19.when you got back to Mexico? fans and the media were so happy.

:31:20. > :31:25.The last time was a long time ago, in the 70s. And they like the sport,

:31:25. > :31:31.they club Formula One, so it was a good present for them. -- they love

:31:31. > :31:40.Formula One. This weekend, I think we have a good potential for the

:31:40. > :31:50.car. We have to rely that we are not going to be so easy to get

:31:50. > :31:52.

:31:52. > :31:57.another podium, but I am sure that Whatever language you speak, that

:31:57. > :32:03.was some drive by Sergio Perez. The Sun has been shining on Sauber for

:32:03. > :32:09.the past few weeks. We are here with the CEO of the Sauber Formula

:32:09. > :32:15.One team. The words out of the blue are written there. How much did

:32:15. > :32:20.that results take you by surprise? It is a campaign we have agreed

:32:20. > :32:27.with a partner and we will be announcing it before it Barcelona.

:32:27. > :32:32.How much of a surprise was that results? Last time I remember I was

:32:32. > :32:37.asking how quick it will get as new partners. Definitely with that kind

:32:37. > :32:44.of positive result it accelerates the process. It is not just about

:32:44. > :32:48.the partners. It is about the team as well. Did you have to say, calm

:32:48. > :32:54.down, let's get some perspective, we are not going to be on the

:32:54. > :33:02.podium at every race. Of course expectations rise internally and

:33:02. > :33:09.externally, so we will try our best to repeat that. My concern is,

:33:09. > :33:16.please tell me why did you tell him so late to hold place, particularly

:33:16. > :33:21.when he was poised to take the wind. We did not tell him to hold a place,

:33:21. > :33:28.and we wanted to make sure because he was a young, inexperienced

:33:28. > :33:32.driver, that he gets the result home. We just maybe brought it the

:33:32. > :33:39.wrong way out, but all we wanted to do was to make sure that he did not

:33:39. > :33:42.make any mistake, which you can do in those conditions. We saw that he

:33:42. > :33:49.went a bit off the line and we wanted to make sure he got the

:33:49. > :33:54.result. You mentioned the team has been around long enough and Sergio

:33:54. > :33:59.is an inexperienced driver, but in terms of the engineers, how much to

:33:59. > :34:04.do they have to change their mind set when they found themselves

:34:04. > :34:11.being able to get to the podium? Did everyone perform in that

:34:11. > :34:15.scenario? We knew that the car was fast and we were a little surprised

:34:15. > :34:22.to see we could keep up that raised in all the different, ambient

:34:22. > :34:27.conditions. You suddenly have a very high expectations, but you

:34:27. > :34:31.have to get people down again and make them focus on it. We know

:34:31. > :34:38.young drivers can make mistakes and we have had a lot of history with

:34:38. > :34:43.young drivers. Perhaps at slip by Sergio Perez is because he is a

:34:43. > :34:48.young and inexperienced driver and the message to keep out of his own.

:34:48. > :34:51.Can you make it clear, if he had kept that pace, if he was faster

:34:51. > :34:58.than Fernando Alonso, you would have allowed him to pass the

:34:58. > :35:03.Ferrari? Certainly, I would like to clarify we had no orders from

:35:03. > :35:08.anywhere, there were no signals. The us that put your mind at rest?

:35:08. > :35:14.Not really, my opinion it was very clear. He would have definitely won

:35:14. > :35:18.the race if it had been any other car other than a Ferrari. There is

:35:18. > :35:22.pressure, and you have made it very clear. I feel the pressure of

:35:22. > :35:28.having a Ferrari in front of him had a major impact on him winning

:35:28. > :35:34.the race. I do not think there was any pressure like that. I think it

:35:34. > :35:37.takes a lot of experience to overtake a driver like Fernando.

:35:37. > :35:44.Fernando knows if he has somebody behind him how he can make them

:35:44. > :35:48.make mistakes. These are also good qualities of the driver. All this

:35:48. > :35:54.has happened less than a year since there was a big crash for a surge

:35:54. > :35:59.up at the Monaco Grand Prix. Absolutely, it is amazing how he

:35:59. > :36:04.suffered such a severe injury, mentally also, because it takes a

:36:04. > :36:10.lot for a driver to accept what happens, and to come back without

:36:10. > :36:16.any fears. He has done a great job and I remember in Monaco he wanted

:36:16. > :36:20.to race on that Sunday again. put it into context, this is what

:36:20. > :36:30.he told me about how long it took him to recover when he hit those

:36:30. > :36:34.barriers. First of all, I lost the race for my team. Then it took me

:36:34. > :36:40.four or five races to fill 100% because I was getting dizzy during

:36:40. > :36:46.the races, so it was not a good time. Then we lost performance from

:36:46. > :36:50.the car. It was not a good time for me. Can you relate to how hard it

:36:50. > :36:56.is to recover mentally and physically? Interesting, I never

:36:56. > :37:02.had any issues after a crash, and I had a few, and maybe it is because

:37:02. > :37:08.he had a concussion. He was very honest to tell us about that is

:37:08. > :37:13.seen as. I do not expect that will travel too far outside the team.

:37:13. > :37:19.think it takes a lot for a driver to even say that. A lot of people

:37:19. > :37:24.would have kept quiet, so it speaks a lot about his maturity. Have you

:37:24. > :37:29.got the speed to be in the top 10 today? We have the speed and style

:37:29. > :37:34.everything else has to work out and we will try our best. Thank you

:37:34. > :37:40.very much for your time. Well she spends a bit of time with the rest

:37:40. > :37:50.of the team, one of the things that helps Sauber maybe there KERS

:37:50. > :38:07.

:38:07. > :38:15.devised. We can go right inside a The electric motor which is mounted

:38:15. > :38:18.onto the front of the engine, that is used to harvest energy. 80

:38:18. > :38:27.horsepower is the rate at which the energy can be harvested and that

:38:27. > :38:32.his bed into a system. It is converted into a direct current,

:38:32. > :38:37.which is fed into the battery pack. It is the battery pack where the

:38:37. > :38:47.energy is stored and it waits until the driver is ready to deploy that

:38:47. > :38:49.

:38:49. > :38:54.pension. When we hear about KERS harvesting, that is the charging

:38:54. > :39:00.and can the driver Derry that? driver can bury the level of that

:39:00. > :39:06.power. It cannot be more than 80 horsepower level, but it can be

:39:06. > :39:12.lower depending on circumstances. We have now got the battery pack to

:39:12. > :39:18.last over 4000 kilometres on a very reliable basis. It is a control

:39:18. > :39:22.unit, a black box, is it the same for all the teams? Yes, that is the

:39:22. > :39:29.standard and that monitors the system to make sure we do not go

:39:29. > :39:35.above the 80 horsepower and also the fixed 0.7 seconds and we do not

:39:35. > :39:41.go above that. This there any way a driver can get more out of it and

:39:41. > :39:44.another driver? Yes, absolutely. The driver can do it in one

:39:44. > :39:48.continuous boost its the straight is long enough, or it can be used

:39:48. > :39:55.in a different way to attack or defend, depending on the

:39:55. > :39:58.circumstances. Just over 20 minutes until those

:39:58. > :40:04.drivers are pressing their KERS buttons and fighting for position

:40:04. > :40:09.in Shanghai. David, you have had the opportunity to drive one of the

:40:09. > :40:14.latest bits of technology, a car with one KERS unit and four

:40:14. > :40:21.separate harvesting areas, I think that is the correct terminology.

:40:21. > :40:27.you do not sound so sure. I am not so hot on that, but is this a good

:40:27. > :40:32.idea of Formula One technology being passed down? Absolutely. Lots

:40:32. > :40:37.of things like this will be in the auto industry in the future. The

:40:37. > :40:43.big challenge is the packaging. Batteries especially, they are huge

:40:43. > :40:49.lumps in the back of the car. You lose a lot of benefit by carrying

:40:49. > :40:54.the extra weight of the batteries. This had four Motors in each of the

:40:54. > :40:58.wheels, with incredible talk. Packaging the batteries is a big

:40:58. > :41:04.challenge and keeping the weight down and that is what Formula One

:41:04. > :41:10.does in terms of development. did it right? With electric motors

:41:10. > :41:14.you get an instant talk. This is not a publicity stunt. The range of

:41:14. > :41:23.those cars now is very impressive and the rate of development with

:41:23. > :41:27.the batteries is having a big effect, certainly from Formula One.

:41:27. > :41:31.Plenty of technology is being passed down into the real world and

:41:31. > :41:35.we have now arrived outside the Ferrari garage has. Is there

:41:35. > :41:45.technology good enough for them to pick up another waste -- race when

:41:45. > :41:52.

:41:52. > :42:02.this season? We left this to Eddie Jordan. Ferrari, Formula One's

:42:02. > :42:05.

:42:05. > :42:11.ensuring team. 60 years, six decades of history. I have a dream.

:42:11. > :42:18.Sometimes dominant, sometimes know where, constantly changing, always

:42:18. > :42:22.Ferraris. But where is the grand old team now? Ferrari has not had a

:42:22. > :42:26.world champion for five years and after the drama of Malaysia Ben

:42:26. > :42:32.Ando Alonso is our championship leader, yet the mood around the

:42:32. > :42:37.place is far from upbeat. You will not find many thinking, this is a

:42:37. > :42:41.winning car. The trophy for that when in Malaysia, has it distracted

:42:41. > :42:47.you in terms of pure gold, what you are trying to achieve with his car,

:42:47. > :42:52.because it is not a great car yet? Unfortunately, absolutely not. I

:42:52. > :42:58.would love to think about it, but our job is very clear and I said to

:42:58. > :43:02.my engineers, let's use that as a boost, because the car is not very

:43:02. > :43:07.great at the moment, but it is better to lead the championship

:43:07. > :43:12.with a bad car instead of being last out with a bad car. But it is

:43:12. > :43:17.very clear what we have to do and we have to recover the performance

:43:17. > :43:23.as quickly as possible. pressure on this team is immense.

:43:23. > :43:26.After last year's failure, the restructured its technical team.

:43:26. > :43:33.Everyone from the junior engineers to the drivers know they have to

:43:33. > :43:41.deliver for 2012, but is it already too late? There is a little song

:43:41. > :43:45.they sing in English football, do not be offended, it is, you will be

:43:45. > :43:51.sacked in the morning. Cook that apply to you if you do not get it

:43:51. > :43:55.right? In the morning, the event, that is part of the game. At the

:43:56. > :44:02.moment I am totally focused on this job and that is the way it has to

:44:02. > :44:06.be. Even after Malaysia it was the second placed Ferrari powered

:44:06. > :44:12.Sauber that impressed. With many privately thinking that Sergio

:44:12. > :44:18.Perez could have taken the wind having been instructed by his team

:44:18. > :44:23.to ease off in the closing stages. We have to keep on working at it.

:44:23. > :44:29.Everyone else has not got out their rose-tinted glasses and saying, we

:44:29. > :44:34.are winning again. Fundamentally we know we have to improve at the last

:44:34. > :44:41.performance. Where does six decades of history start to become a burden

:44:41. > :44:46.for Ferrari? This car has a hint of desperation about it. It has been

:44:46. > :44:53.too long since Behrami ruled the roost in Formula One. The

:44:53. > :44:57.prognosis? Do not hold your breath. Do not hold your breath because you

:44:57. > :45:03.do not think they are going to improve or because you think it is

:45:03. > :45:09.unlikely? I think the car is generally poor. When you have got a

:45:09. > :45:14.poor car, you will always struggle. There is no history in the past

:45:14. > :45:22.four Ferrari that they can bring all those updates. McLaren do it

:45:22. > :45:27.particularly well. They recognise it is not a great car, but they won

:45:27. > :45:31.the Grand Prix fair and square. The weather might play his part in

:45:31. > :45:36.other races. But I do not think they are going to develop that into

:45:36. > :45:41.a consistent and winning car this year. But Pat Fry is talking about

:45:41. > :45:45.procedures being put in place for the long term, and I think they are

:45:45. > :45:55.taking a longer term plan and making a number of changes behind

:45:55. > :46:01.

:46:01. > :46:06.the scenes. How long does it take McLaren used the Toyota Wintle, as

:46:06. > :46:16.did a number of teams, because it is the most modern facilities. --

:46:16. > :46:21.the Toby Otter wind tunnel. -- Toyota or wind tunnel. Let us cast

:46:21. > :46:24.ourselves back to the British Grand Prix. They won it. With the

:46:24. > :46:28.confusion with the exhaust changes, and everyone thought that this

:46:28. > :46:32.would be the year for Ferrari, but the car is nowhere near the class

:46:33. > :46:38.of the McLaren, and when you have got a car like that it is difficult

:46:38. > :46:48.to change. Time marches by so quickly, one race leads to another,

:46:48. > :46:52.where is the time to develop a? Sometimes you don't know why the

:46:52. > :46:58.car is fast when it is fast, sometimes, you might not know when

:46:58. > :47:04.-- why it is slow, when it is slow. This changes the whole performance

:47:04. > :47:11.of the car. Teams will always put their chest out when they a winning

:47:11. > :47:16.races, but if they understood every element of what may be a car fast,

:47:16. > :47:22.they would never produce any back- up. About quarter of an hour until

:47:22. > :47:28.qualifying starts, they are brought five or six upgrades to this race

:47:28. > :47:35.and were 15th and 18th in practice. This is the way that you can absorb

:47:35. > :47:38.all the action. There is the driver tracker available online. You can

:47:38. > :47:44.take a selection of all on board laps from the drivers if you want

:47:44. > :47:48.to ride on board with them. The pit lane feed has team radio on it.

:47:49. > :47:55.There is constantly updated news on the BBC website. And for seven days

:47:55. > :47:59.after the race, everything is available on the BBC iPlayer. You

:48:00. > :48:04.are now going to head up to the commentary box, David. Looking

:48:04. > :48:10.alter this one? Yes, because this is a televised shoot-out for pole

:48:10. > :48:14.position. McLaren should be the most likely. Red Bull, a little bit

:48:14. > :48:20.uncertain with the direction of the car, so it will be interesting to

:48:20. > :48:26.see how that pans out. The drivers, heading to their cockpits, and I

:48:26. > :48:30.wonder how Mark Webber will be showing, he has a two for police

:48:30. > :48:37.finishes, his best ever start, no wonder he was smiling when he took

:48:37. > :48:47.was for a tour of the track. We are going to have a little tour round

:48:47. > :48:47.

:48:47. > :48:53.the track. This was all the bus that we could afford! I think you

:48:53. > :48:59.could start better than me but I am working on it. It was not a great

:48:59. > :49:09.start, with other cars flying past him. Right on the apex of turn two,

:49:09. > :49:11.

:49:11. > :49:17.you must have to be very patient. It is a complex turn. It is all a

:49:17. > :49:22.little bit bumpy. Then a further in you get it becomes very tight,

:49:22. > :49:26.which is the last thing you want. This is where it all happens in

:49:26. > :49:36.terms of getting the car into decision to go on to the apex of

:49:36. > :49:37.

:49:37. > :49:47.turn three, then that sets you up for the All third sector. -- whole

:49:47. > :49:47.

:49:47. > :49:56.third sector. Put it in first, give it a little throttle, you know? Now,

:49:56. > :50:05.clutch out, now, put the clutch out! The clutch! The that drivers

:50:05. > :50:11.not bad. This is flat out, would you say in qualifying? It has been,

:50:11. > :50:16.in years gone by, but it is very flat, this corner. There is no

:50:16. > :50:22.elevation change. You try to get through as quickly as possible, not

:50:22. > :50:32.compromising the trajectory of the turn doubts. That is how good the

:50:32. > :50:34.

:50:34. > :50:39.eyeliner is, that is the hype it is at. -- eyeline, the height it is at.

:50:39. > :50:48.You can get something more of a sensation of speed here, if you

:50:48. > :50:52.look at it going at 250 miles an hour. In my early 30s I was more

:50:52. > :50:56.concerned about it, but now, I am just enjoying it. I have never

:50:56. > :51:02.enjoyed working with the guy is more than I haven't a last four or

:51:02. > :51:09.five months. Could you walk away this year? Another two a three

:51:09. > :51:19.ears? This year, it is too early for me. Let us see how this boy

:51:19. > :51:25.takes the apex. We need to go more, over this way. Welcome aboard the

:51:25. > :51:33.Shanghai bus tour, we do a tour after the race. We can do a tour,

:51:33. > :51:36.after the Grand Prix, but it is extra! Actually, the bus is

:51:36. > :51:42.probably where your car was quite a few times last year, at the back of

:51:42. > :51:47.the field, on 18th. It was a good race. It was a bit frustrating for

:51:47. > :51:52.some of the drivers. But it is tricky to get it right. We have had

:51:52. > :52:01.a full season now, so we will give it to go. On the inside, you have

:52:01. > :52:06.to be quite deep, on the brakes. Am feeling good. There are a lot of

:52:06. > :52:16.positives for me. I feel like I am back to 100%, and challenging for

:52:16. > :52:20.race victories. I feel like I am driving well. I am just happy that

:52:20. > :52:25.we have got plenty more races to come. It has been lovely to spend

:52:25. > :52:34.time with you. Impressive driver. Did you learn much about the racing

:52:34. > :52:42.line? He likes to pull up with that lock on. The last race of the day,

:52:43. > :52:48.off the ramp! It is the start of qualifying here in Shanghai, we can

:52:48. > :52:52.hear from Christian Horner, Mark Webber's team principal. Two

:52:52. > :52:56.essentially different cars for Sebastien and for Mark Webber,

:52:56. > :53:01.although they might look evenly matched. Which car do you think

:53:01. > :53:05.will come out on top? difference is a characteristic with

:53:06. > :53:13.how the cars are beginning which suits both drivers, both drivers

:53:13. > :53:19.seemed settled and happy with their set-up. Probably, if anything,

:53:19. > :53:22.there is not much in it, it is more of a personal taste thing between

:53:22. > :53:31.both drivers. Hopefully, be a building the two most competitive

:53:31. > :53:35.cars that we have got. McLaren, your main rivals? They look good

:53:35. > :53:39.over a single lap. Today it is going to be tough to take that

:53:39. > :53:48.challenge to them but we will do our best. Sunday is a different

:53:48. > :53:54.matter. Our race base looks strong. But Mercedes cannot be ruled out

:53:54. > :53:58.over a single lap. It should make for interesting qualifying. They

:53:58. > :54:03.seemed to have different set-ups going into this race but who will

:54:03. > :54:08.make that decision? Do you give Mark Webber the opportunity or does

:54:08. > :54:18.question on a have the final say? Christian is on the administrative

:54:18. > :54:21.side. Adrian Newey Might be the best designer, but in terms of

:54:21. > :54:26.structuring the team to get the last little fraction out of it, it

:54:26. > :54:33.will be the team technical director, he will bring everybody together,

:54:33. > :54:37.he will look at all the print outs and they will see where one can is

:54:37. > :54:39.marginally quicker and at this moment in time they seemed to be

:54:39. > :54:44.very clear otherwise they would have gone down the route of one

:54:44. > :54:47.faster than the other. Do you take into account the emotions of

:54:47. > :54:53.drivers when one driver wants one thing and the other one something

:54:53. > :55:01.else? Drivers are fragile. They might not give that impression but

:55:01. > :55:11.inside the car, they are fragile. Let's see how the qualifying

:55:11. > :55:21.

:55:21. > :55:25.unfolds in the company of David Qualifying for the Chinese Grand

:55:25. > :55:30.Prix is going to take place on a dry track in bright but misty

:55:30. > :55:35.conditions. It is the 9th time bomb of one has come to the Shanghai

:55:35. > :55:41.International Circuit. It is a tax bill to the highest standards and

:55:41. > :55:45.it looks very impressive with his bridges over the pit straight. Here

:55:45. > :55:49.we are a in China, the first race was in Australia, and still we are

:55:49. > :55:53.getting something of a feel for who will be on top, but in qualifying

:55:53. > :55:56.it has all been about Lewis Hamilton this season and it could

:55:56. > :56:00.be again today the stock he has a gearbox penalty that will be

:56:01. > :56:05.applied for race day so if he gets pole position, he will not get to

:56:05. > :56:11.start their, but he will still target the top spot in qualifying.

:56:11. > :56:15.The lap record was set by Michael Schumacher in 2004. I don't think

:56:15. > :56:20.we will be threatening that particular record today. This is a

:56:20. > :56:30.track where we see speeds over 175 miles an hour, in four separate

:56:30. > :56:31.

:56:31. > :56:35.places, 200 miles an hour, down at the end of the straight. This is

:56:35. > :56:38.when drivers loved driving Grand Prix cars. There are places where

:56:38. > :56:43.you get champagne and trochees if you're lucky enough to win, but

:56:43. > :56:48.qualifying is about showing your bravery and speed and when they

:56:48. > :56:53.were out of a qualifying lap, if they only do one lap they will have

:56:53. > :56:57.seven or eight kilograms of fuel to give them an out lap and then to

:56:57. > :57:02.come back in again. We have seen some issues this weekend. We are

:57:02. > :57:05.not getting the lap out of the new tyres on the first lap and we have

:57:05. > :57:12.that situation again today, then you will see them doing multiple

:57:12. > :57:19.works. The choice of tyres, we have the soft Pirelli, and the medium

:57:19. > :57:29.Pirelli. The softer with the yellow writing on the side wall, and a

:57:29. > :57:37.

:57:37. > :57:41.harder has the white writing. Taking one minute maximum.

:57:41. > :57:47.Prime refers to the harder tyre, the option refers to the softer

:57:47. > :57:54.tyre. Thank-you for explaining that to people at home. I would like to

:57:54. > :58:01.run at system all your, the Prime been the faster tyre, -- softer,

:58:01. > :58:06.and the option being the faster one. It is a bit confusing, with all the

:58:06. > :58:12.options that Pirelli brings you. Jenson Button only one point ahead

:58:12. > :58:15.of Mark Webber. Mark Webber with that different specification on his

:58:15. > :58:22.Red Bull, to Sebastian Vettel, it will be interesting to see how he

:58:22. > :58:26.goes on. There have been some last minute changes to Felipe Massa's

:58:26. > :58:30.car. There had been some changes this morning for Fernando Alonso.

:58:30. > :58:34.Gary Anderson is in the pit lane. You have been watching the

:58:34. > :58:39.technical changes being made to Fernando Alonso's car and these

:58:40. > :58:49.have been taking quite some time. Yes, trying to set up the front

:58:50. > :58:50.

:58:50. > :58:57.suspension and front porch and bars. -- the front torsion bars. These

:58:57. > :59:02.ones going vertically. It took them 15 minutes do make that change, out

:59:02. > :59:07.of a one-hour session, which is not good enough. But probably functions

:59:07. > :59:12.quite well but it takes too much time to change it. Ferrari are

:59:12. > :59:17.other issues besides the fact that the car is just not fast enough.

:59:17. > :59:22.Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher have been near the top of the time

:59:22. > :59:29.sheets all weekend. But right at the top, Lewis Hamilton and Jenson

:59:29. > :59:33.Button. We're looking at those four or pole position. We heard from

:59:33. > :59:40.Christian honour that he expects McLaren to have a slight advantage

:59:40. > :59:44.in qualifying -- Christian Horner. It would only take one small

:59:44. > :59:48.mistake from one of the Red Bull drivers to allow that to happen.

:59:48. > :59:53.Red Bull coming in with a great qualifying record. Sebastian Vettel

:59:53. > :59:56.has been on pole position for the last three years. It would be

:59:56. > :00:01.amazing, four times in a row, but they are struggling for that last

:00:01. > :00:07.little bit of pace. The best that Michael Schumacher has of a

:00:07. > :00:14.qualified here is sixth place, so he will have to do better than that.

:00:14. > :00:19.The green light is on at the end of the pit lane. Of course, all 24

:00:19. > :00:22.cars will be going out onto the track for this, and getting ready

:00:22. > :00:27.to see whether they can make it through to the next part of

:00:27. > :00:32.qualifying, and to do that, they might have to be in the top 17, and

:00:32. > :00:36.that is what we will keep an eye on, throughout the session to stop Kimi

:00:36. > :00:41.Raikkonen in the Lotus, fastest lap last time out, he has never been on

:00:41. > :00:47.pole position, even in is no clarity -- Ferrari years, but he

:00:47. > :00:50.has qualified on the front row three Times, and he won, back in

:00:50. > :00:55.2007. Whether he has a car capable of taking pole position, I am not

:00:55. > :01:03.so sure. There is a feeling in the paddock that we have not seen the

:01:03. > :01:08.best of his Lotus car, so far. He was third on the grid in Melbourne,

:01:08. > :01:11.and Kimi Raikkonen has lost none of his speed in his two years doing

:01:11. > :01:15.rallying. He has had a troubled practice session where he did not

:01:15. > :01:25.do a lot of laps. He is probably a little bit behind in terms of his

:01:25. > :01:29.

:01:29. > :01:33.Paul di Resta is out on track. Gary, I wanted to ask you about the

:01:33. > :01:40.technical challenge poor qualifying here and from an engineer's point

:01:40. > :01:45.of view, what are they trying to get out of the car? To try and get

:01:45. > :01:52.into that top 17. It seems to be quite a big step between the soft

:01:52. > :01:57.tyre and the hard tyre, so if you look at the cars that are going to

:01:57. > :02:03.try and make sure they get into cue to, they will have to put on the

:02:03. > :02:08.soft tyre to get through to that. For it could easily knock out one

:02:08. > :02:17.of the big teams quite quickly if a small team picks up on the soft

:02:17. > :02:26.tired. You have to be alert to make sure you get through. We have seen

:02:26. > :02:35.Felipe Massa or have to go to the soft tyre just to get through to

:02:35. > :02:44.queue two. A new set of the softer tyre really helped Lewis Hamilton

:02:44. > :02:49.last year. It is indeed. As the track wares in during the course of

:02:49. > :02:56.the weekend, the life you get out of a tyre improves. If you have

:02:56. > :03:02.used all your options in qualifying, you miss out on an opportunity to

:03:02. > :03:12.take a pit stop as far as you would like. Strategy is absolutely key,

:03:12. > :03:17.as we have seen this year. Paul di Resta as he goes on to a flying lap.

:03:17. > :03:25.Using more of the curve than I expected. He will be looking down

:03:25. > :03:35.into the cockpit. He would have looked down and he may have allowed

:03:35. > :03:47.

:03:47. > :03:53.is another straight section, quite a crucial section. Second gear and

:03:53. > :03:59.then this is the tricky part, coming out through 13. You can see

:03:59. > :04:03.the car snaking around. Then you see a never ending corner. The

:04:03. > :04:11.difficulty is you are at the limit of the grip of the car, but you

:04:11. > :04:16.want to get your BRS open to get the benefit of the extra length. We

:04:16. > :04:23.have seen a number of cars touching 200 miles an hour just before the

:04:23. > :04:28.braking is on. Paul di Resta not quite at that point in qualifying.

:04:28. > :04:35.The BRS system, the drag reduction system, is being used on all the

:04:35. > :04:40.straits in qualifying. Teams are allowed to do that. When it comes

:04:40. > :04:50.to the race they will only be allowed to use it on a section, not

:04:50. > :04:53.

:04:53. > :05:01.the entire length, but a prescribed section. Let's take a look at what

:05:01. > :05:08.happens to pall on that lap. That is a lock-up in to turn six. Yes,

:05:08. > :05:14.it is. That is an element of carrying too much speed and at the

:05:14. > :05:18.last moment trying to apply a bit more brake pressure. You lose

:05:18. > :05:23.downforce and you are having to get off the brake pedal as you get

:05:23. > :05:32.closer to the corner because you are using downforce. That is when

:05:32. > :05:37.you see locking up. Lewis Hamilton, one of the cars we are expecting to

:05:37. > :05:44.get into pole position. All the cars are worried about qualifying

:05:44. > :05:49.and getting into the top 17. He has been the man on form around this

:05:49. > :05:54.racetrack this weekend, despite the fact he got a sight place penalty

:05:54. > :05:57.for a gearbox change. He has handled that well and is getting on

:05:57. > :06:02.with the business of trying to drive his car as quickly as

:06:02. > :06:06.possible. We are coming to the end of the second sector. He is

:06:06. > :06:11.quickest in that sector of all the cars that have been out on track.

:06:11. > :06:20.He looked as if he went out wide on 13 and that may have cost him a bit

:06:20. > :06:26.of time. Now the D R S is active all the way down that straight.

:06:26. > :06:32.Breaking down to about 44 miles an hour, that is all they are doing at

:06:32. > :06:39.their hairpins. It is like being hit on the back of a helmet with a

:06:39. > :06:47.sledgehammer. The driver will be generating 120 bar operates

:06:47. > :06:57.pressure. Then you are having to take your foot off the brake pedal

:06:57. > :07:03.

:07:04. > :07:09.to allow your car or not to lock up too much. Raikkonen is gone third.

:07:10. > :07:15.Now we are on board with Sebastian Vettel. What is it the three-time

:07:15. > :07:21.poll winner over the last few years going to do on his first run? It

:07:21. > :07:27.does not look as if he is going to do anything spectacular. Watch him

:07:27. > :07:31.into the first corner. A tricky section requiring a lot of patience.

:07:32. > :07:39.It is indeed, you carry a lot of speed into that first part of turn

:07:39. > :07:44.one. Their new role the car down into town two. It does not work for

:07:44. > :07:50.the drivers in terms of the feeling behind the wheel. I believe it is

:07:50. > :07:59.meant to represent a character. He is not doing too bad. He is pretty

:07:59. > :08:05.much at matching what Hamilton was doing. We expect to hear that maybe

:08:05. > :08:10.being flat, a lot of patience through nine and 10. Pretty tidy.

:08:10. > :08:14.They should be a formality for Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull, so

:08:14. > :08:21.you do not need to take too many risks. He goes fastest in the

:08:21. > :08:26.middle sector. Presumably he finishes the end of the lap, it

:08:26. > :08:29.will be 36.6. I would expect him to be a bit slower than the McLaren in

:08:29. > :08:36.the last sector because of the high-speed nature as he goes down

:08:36. > :08:42.that long, back straight. This is encouraging for Red Bull. Very much

:08:42. > :08:46.on the pace of McLaren. A little deeper into turn 14. That might

:08:46. > :08:52.drop him back a little from that top time that Lewis Hamilton has

:08:52. > :08:57.set. The final sector might not be their strongest. Khobar Yash she

:08:57. > :09:07.has gone second in the Sauber. That is a good effort by the Japanese

:09:07. > :09:29.

:09:29. > :09:36.driver. -- Kobayashi. They look as reaction when Kobayashi when second

:09:36. > :09:44.was that he must be on the auction tier. That confirms that Sebastian

:09:44. > :09:48.Vettel lost time running wide down into turn 14. Webber is the fastest

:09:48. > :09:53.and Sebastian Vettel is the 4th fastest. They are running slightly

:09:53. > :10:01.different set-ups, what is different about them? They

:10:01. > :10:08.developed their cars from a Saturday testing. Mark Webber has a

:10:08. > :10:13.different exhaust configuration. Sebastian Vettel feels the car is

:10:13. > :10:17.too hard to drive, so he has gone back to the older speck from

:10:17. > :10:27.Barcelona and he feels more comfortable. He knows he can push

:10:27. > :10:34.it to nearer the limit. Driver confidence is everything. Sebastien

:10:34. > :10:38.feels better with that car. Getting a little bit of team radioed from

:10:39. > :10:46.Sebastian Vettel, but we did not quite catch it. Webber fastest at

:10:46. > :10:50.the moment from Hamilton. Michael Schumacher is currently 5th and at

:10:50. > :10:56.Nico Rosberg his 6th. Perhaps not quite as quick as we thought they

:10:56. > :11:02.would be. It looks as though Red Bull are going to be qualifying and

:11:02. > :11:07.challenging for top times. They are not using the fastest tier, they

:11:07. > :11:13.are using the harder compound tyre at this stage. At better times from

:11:13. > :11:19.Jenson Button. He goes faster than Hamilton. Cobia she is currently

:11:19. > :11:25.4th fastest, but currently a bit of a lock-up on that previous run. But

:11:25. > :11:30.which of the drivers will have to use the softer tyre? Everybody is

:11:30. > :11:38.using the harder tyre at the moment. We are looking at one of them.

:11:38. > :11:44.Jean-Eric Vergne is sitting down in 18th place. Toro Rosso are not

:11:44. > :11:52.showing particularly good form here so far. Let's keep an eye out for

:11:52. > :12:01.Felipe Massa as well. He is right on the cusp of being dropped out of

:12:01. > :12:07.this qualifying. Six-tenths of a difference between him and Alonso.

:12:07. > :12:11.This is the young Frenchman, the youngest driver in the field. A

:12:12. > :12:17.points scorer already after that impressive poorer -- performance he

:12:17. > :12:21.put in Malaysia. He will have to put on a softer tyre to try and get

:12:21. > :12:25.out of the drop zone which is 80 the downwards. If he had finished

:12:26. > :12:29.that lap, he would have gone a little bit quicker. With seven

:12:30. > :12:36.minutes to go, the team have decided to bring him in and get the

:12:36. > :12:40.option tyre on. That was Heikki Kovalainen going about sideways. He

:12:40. > :12:50.is 19th. Gary, what are your thoughts on which teams will have

:12:50. > :12:56.to go for the softer tyre? Felipe Massa should be in one of the top

:12:56. > :13:02.running teams and he will be the first to do that. This morning 37.6

:13:02. > :13:11.was seven tape. If you had a little bit more effort and tidied it up,

:13:11. > :13:17.you have got to make sure you get into part two. I think it is 38.0.

:13:17. > :13:24.I think there is a second to find. Those who are sitting in the pits

:13:24. > :13:29.to have not done a 36, they will be taking a gamble. It is incredibly

:13:29. > :13:34.close looking at the top times. The top six cars are covered by two-

:13:34. > :13:39.tenths of a second. But we are concentrating on those that have to

:13:40. > :13:46.make it into the top 17. That is why Felipe Massa is on the softer

:13:46. > :13:56.tyre. Do not worry about the names that have come up on the screen.

:13:56. > :14:00.

:14:00. > :14:05.They have not changed the names from the other race this weekend.

:14:05. > :14:10.like Gary's expression, a bit more effort from the drivers in

:14:10. > :14:16.qualifying. It reminds me of my schooldays, must try harder.

:14:16. > :14:21.you have that? Constantly. Felipe Massa has set the fastest first

:14:21. > :14:26.sector of any body, and he should to really because he is on the

:14:26. > :14:30.softer tyre. This is the tier that all the top teams will be switching

:14:30. > :14:36.to as we go through to qualifying. Some of the lower teams will be

:14:36. > :14:40.doing it now. This shows Ferrari are struggling with his car. They

:14:40. > :14:47.have got to use every trick in the book to get into the next stage of

:14:47. > :14:51.qualifying. He is coming into the second checkpoint. The tyres are

:14:51. > :14:56.working much better. It goes to show that everybody is going to

:14:56. > :15:02.improve massively once they start using these tyres. But worrying the

:15:02. > :15:07.he is only marginally quicker than our current fast man, Mark Webber.

:15:07. > :15:12.There is a huge amount of time available in this last sector. What

:15:12. > :15:17.can a driver do? The entry on to that long straight through 13 is

:15:17. > :15:23.vitally important for getting those high tops beats and breaking down

:15:23. > :15:27.into 14. This looks like a very simple corner, 16, but it is

:15:27. > :15:34.incredibly tricky, because you are trying to take not too much of the

:15:34. > :15:39.kerb. Unsurprisingly Felipe Massa goes quickest and that will get him

:15:39. > :15:48.into the second part of qualifying, but at the expense of one of his

:15:48. > :15:55.options in the tyres. He got a big again, 1.4 seconds. We were

:15:55. > :15:59.expecting it to be as seconds or maybe under, but that was 1.4.

:15:59. > :16:09.There is no doubt that the Ferrari is not using its tyres as well as

:16:09. > :16:22.

:16:22. > :16:28.some of the Kwik-Fit cars. -- has qualified as high as 7th, this

:16:28. > :16:33.year, in Australia and has already scored a couple of points in that

:16:33. > :16:38.race in Malaysia. Used on those softer tyres, you can see the

:16:38. > :16:43.yellow writing on the side wall. He is not challenging what Felipe

:16:43. > :16:50.Massa did and there. Kimi Raikkonen is out on the softer tyre, and I

:16:50. > :16:54.think, you still on the harder tyre, that is interesting. Kimi Raikkonen,

:16:54. > :17:00.the fastest first section on the harder tyres, were watching

:17:00. > :17:06.Hulkenberg on the latter part of the lap. Paul di Resta in his Force

:17:06. > :17:12.India in second place in this part of the session. It is an indication

:17:12. > :17:22.of speed relative to the Ferrari, because you can directly compare

:17:22. > :17:23.

:17:23. > :17:28.those auction tyres. -- option. Hulkenberg does not seem as settled

:17:28. > :17:32.as Paul di Resta around this racetrack. Grosjean was the first

:17:32. > :17:39.time and was fastest for the moment. That is a great lap from the French

:17:39. > :17:44.driver. Never been to Shanghai before. He is on the softer tyre,

:17:44. > :17:49.he is faster than Felipe Massa or in the Ferrari, so putting that

:17:49. > :17:53.lack of experience behind him to put in a faster lap. Sergio Perez

:17:54. > :17:57.is on the softer tyre but with the pace of the sober, we thought they

:17:57. > :18:02.might be able to get through this part of qualifying without the

:18:02. > :18:09.softer tyre, but it is so competitive in that midfield.

:18:09. > :18:14.got very worried on turn 13, and that will cost him in this section.

:18:14. > :18:24.He shows a lack of confidence in the tyre, Perez, to go on that

:18:24. > :18:31.option. We can see Fernando Alonso getting very wide on the kerb. He

:18:31. > :18:41.has gone with the option Byers, saw a number of teams as Gary mentioned

:18:41. > :18:45.

:18:45. > :18:53.are feeling under pressure to have to gain that extra six or 710 Seb -

:18:53. > :18:59.- Potenza the second. Mark Webber has been proved that it place. And

:18:59. > :19:04.in the drop zone, those are the ones that we have got to watch. We

:19:04. > :19:13.have Heikki Kovalainen and his team-mate Vitaly Petrov. Timo Glock,

:19:13. > :19:19.Charles Pic, the two HRTs, and let's see what this next lap is

:19:19. > :19:24.right past - like. He is honest of papaya, Vitaly Petrov, Bone in 20th

:19:24. > :19:29.place, and for teams like Caterham and Mar Russia, it is a huge

:19:29. > :19:36.achievement to get out of the drop zone into Q2, that is a big target

:19:37. > :19:43.and that is what they are trying to do now. He will not be in this one,

:19:43. > :19:50.only 30 seconds to go. That will be an uncomfortable week that he sits

:19:50. > :20:00.in 13 place. If he looks down to the cut-off point, there are only

:20:00. > :20:02.

:20:02. > :20:10.talking to tens of a second. -- two 10ths of a second. Petrov has been

:20:10. > :20:14.here, couple of times before. The best qualifying for him was 10th,

:20:14. > :20:18.in 2011, his car is moving around quite a lot, an indication of the

:20:18. > :20:25.lack of downforce that the smaller teams suffer from. You could see

:20:25. > :20:30.how much the car was moving around. I think we have got an answer as to

:20:30. > :20:37.who will be the first of the mid- grid teams to drop out, it is going

:20:37. > :20:43.to be Jean-Eric Vergne. Certainly in the middle sector, as well, I

:20:43. > :20:48.think he has pretty much given up, in this lap. Those are the sort of

:20:48. > :20:53.cars that are dropping out. Petrov across the line, 28, behind his

:20:53. > :20:57.team-mate, Heikki Kovalainen, once again go stop winning the

:20:57. > :21:07.qualifying battle with his team- mate, Heikki Kovalainen, 3-0, this

:21:07. > :21:12.year. Timo Glock is ahead of Charles Pic, not surprising because

:21:12. > :21:18.Charles Pic is due to Formula One this year. There is no change there,

:21:18. > :21:24.he is 21st and 22nd. Then it is Pedro de la Rosa or, faster than

:21:24. > :21:27.his team-mate, as well, and Jean- Eric Vergne, of the cars and

:21:27. > :21:33.drivers who would have expected to get through to the second part of

:21:33. > :21:41.qualifying, but he misses out this time, using the drop zone, his

:21:41. > :21:46.team-mate, Daniel Ricciardo, has made it. But no changes there.

:21:46. > :21:52.Pedro de la Rosa crosses the line, guess a little closer, but the

:21:52. > :21:58.session ends, and it is one of the was, both of them, from the last

:21:58. > :22:02.race in Malaysia, Sergio Perez, on top, from Fernando Alonso, but

:22:02. > :22:10.don't ride too much into that because they used this of the tyre,

:22:10. > :22:20.as did Romain Grosjean, whereas the likes of Mark Webber and Sebastian

:22:20. > :22:33.

:22:33. > :22:43.Vettel used the harder tyre. So, it was Sebastian Vettel who was 15

:22:43. > :22:43.

:22:43. > :22:51.bus this. -- 15th fastest. Other drivers are on harder tyres, and

:22:51. > :22:54.there is Pedro de la Rosa or in the HRT, struggling and locking up. Are

:22:55. > :23:01.you surprised that these drivers are still struggling, all three of

:23:01. > :23:08.them, in qualifying? I am a little bit. I have spoken about this. I do

:23:08. > :23:11.not understand how one of the three has not made a move. You look at

:23:11. > :23:18.that car sliding around that you realise that the cat is not good

:23:18. > :23:22.enough. HRT have had a couple of changes of ownership, that is

:23:23. > :23:28.disturbing to the make-up of the team. But if you look at Caterham,

:23:28. > :23:37.Le Cap Timo Glock with Marussia, they just need to find more speed,

:23:37. > :23:45.simple. Jean-Eric Vergne fell in the final part of qualifying. He

:23:45. > :23:48.will take heart from his qualifying in Malaysia. He was one of their

:23:48. > :23:53.stars for me. He almost went unnoticed, but he was there, and he

:23:53. > :23:57.has brought new life to France, where they might have been

:23:57. > :24:01.struggling with drivers for a couple of years, but he is the

:24:01. > :24:07.bright, new future. It does not help when you go out at the early

:24:07. > :24:13.stages, like this. We know that they have got some money and have

:24:13. > :24:18.worked with Red Bull, but they are not quite there. They will be the

:24:18. > :24:24.team or, if you were to take a gamble and say, who is most likely

:24:24. > :24:29.to get out, because they and a second or so quicker than the next

:24:29. > :24:33.rider, and getting some momentum, but Mike Gascoigne said they with a

:24:33. > :24:39.40 points last year. He is the designer, maybe he knows something

:24:39. > :24:47.that we do not know. He was never able to transfer those estimates of

:24:47. > :24:50.40 points into reality. It costs about 1.2 �5 million just to run a

:24:50. > :24:57.team, and for every 10 million on top of that you find performance

:24:57. > :25:01.gains. You score points in your debut season, is it now so

:25:01. > :25:07.expensive that it is impossible to make a mark? We have to be careful

:25:07. > :25:11.about what we blame and it is easy to blame finance. It is still the

:25:11. > :25:17.responsibility of the team to go out and find the necessary finance.

:25:17. > :25:21.It is part of the game. If you are deficient in technology, or finance,

:25:21. > :25:26.you put your attention on to the area that is going to give you the

:25:26. > :25:31.best bang for your but, it is a simple as that. They have to make

:25:31. > :25:41.it clear cause of Mike Gascoigne has to bring his people together to

:25:41. > :25:43.

:25:43. > :25:50.This is designed to look like a traditional Shanghai Yuyan Garden,

:25:50. > :25:55.just outside the paddock. Each of the teams have two of these. It is

:25:55. > :26:03.a nice place to relax, it is more compatible than a commentary box.

:26:03. > :26:11.We would be happy to move up there! This does not look very glamourous.

:26:11. > :26:16.The happy couple, up there in the commentary box, look at that!

:26:16. > :26:22.Ferrari put on the soft tyres, Sauber and Perez once again were

:26:22. > :26:26.faster. In deed. He has been impressive, Sergio Perez, he is a

:26:26. > :26:30.star of the future, and the team is working effectively to get that are

:26:30. > :26:35.working and it is exciting to see a new driver come on the scene like

:26:35. > :26:42.that. One as exciting as the next phase of qualifying. It will be a

:26:42. > :26:50.big boost to get themselves through to the top 10. We have just felt

:26:50. > :26:54.some rain out here. That would make things interesting. We have had a

:26:54. > :27:02.race is affected by rain several times, but qualifying? You have to

:27:02. > :27:12.be fast in each session, you cannot carry times through from earlier on.

:27:12. > :27:15.

:27:15. > :27:19.Jenson Button looking confident. It pit lane as we get ready for the

:27:19. > :27:24.second part of qualifying. There could be some rain in the air, but

:27:24. > :27:29.it is right at the moment. The view from the commentary box, which is

:27:29. > :27:39.spectacular, it is the clearest that I have seen a rise and. There

:27:39. > :27:40.

:27:40. > :27:47.tends to be always some small around Shanghai -- smog. So, if it

:27:47. > :27:52.is spitting with rain, it must be coming from high cloud. The Red

:27:52. > :27:57.Bulls have been showing pretty well. We're looking at the Toro Rosso of

:27:57. > :28:01.Daniel Ricciardo. We have lost his team-mate, Jean-Eric Vergne, but

:28:01. > :28:09.the Red Bulls were fast in that first part of qualifying, using the

:28:09. > :28:13.harder tyre. We had been saying that there might not be a factor in

:28:13. > :28:17.qualifying but they could be the ones to watch. They have not been

:28:17. > :28:25.far away from the Alternate base of the pole position in the first two

:28:25. > :28:30.Grand Prixs. They had the underlying race speed in the first

:28:30. > :28:32.two races, marginally quicker than Red Bull at McLaren, but it is a

:28:32. > :28:38.question of unlocking that performance and a big factor is

:28:38. > :28:46.making the tyres work. We have seen a loss of a variation in track

:28:46. > :28:50.temperature over the last two days, with 21 Celsius air temperature, so

:28:50. > :28:58.this is a better operating window, for these tyres, which might favour

:28:58. > :29:02.one team or another. Kobayashi out on the softer compound tyre. The

:29:02. > :29:07.Japanese driver with the yellow writing on the tyre sidewall. His

:29:07. > :29:10.team-mate making it out onto the circuit. Fernando Alonso also out

:29:10. > :29:16.early onto the track. This qualifying session will be a little

:29:16. > :29:20.bit shorter. We have looked at which tyres they were on, do you

:29:20. > :29:25.have a ballpark figure from what they might have to do, to get into

:29:25. > :29:29.the top 10 and make the final part of qualifying? Everyone has gone

:29:30. > :29:39.out now, including Jenson Button, all on the softer tyres, so the

:29:39. > :29:49.battle is going to be about getting into the top 10. I think 36.7 was

:29:49. > :29:57.fastest in the first session. The faster dies it could get down well

:29:57. > :30:01.into 35 seconds. For me, it will be 35.9, before they feel comfortable.

:30:01. > :30:05.Schumacher the 35.9 on Friday afternoon. Lewis Hamilton the 35.9

:30:05. > :30:10.this morning. Pretty much ideal conditions, brand new tyres, we

:30:10. > :30:16.will see what they can do. Fernando Alonso has been getting some heat

:30:17. > :30:22.into the tyres, been quite aggressive with the steering wheel.

:30:22. > :30:27.Yes, drink two or three laps in these tyres, weaving around, trying

:30:27. > :30:32.to get as much heat into the tyres on the out lap, and another way to

:30:32. > :30:36.do that is a braking, radiating heat from the brake disc out into

:30:36. > :30:40.the wheel and the tyre, which can stabilised tyre pressures. All of

:30:40. > :30:43.that has an effect on the mechanical grip, aerodynamic

:30:44. > :30:49.performance and the driver's confidence when he launches out of

:30:49. > :30:54.that last corner and starts his lap. Watching Kobayashi on the lap, the

:30:54. > :30:57.first one to hit the sector points. Kimi Raikkonen already quicker

:30:57. > :31:03.through the first set to appoint an Kobayashi. The best qualifying so

:31:03. > :31:07.far this year for him is 13, he has not made it into the top 10. That

:31:08. > :31:15.has got to be the challenge for Kobayashi. He will be hopeful that

:31:15. > :31:19.there has -- that there is a chance to do that this morning. As I say,

:31:19. > :31:25.Kimi Raikkonen behind, not as quick through the second checkpoint. We

:31:25. > :31:32.will keep an eye on that. Kobayashi now enter that long straight, 1.1

:31:32. > :31:36.kilometres, flat out all the way down, up to 200, Sergio Perez hit

:31:36. > :31:39.320 kilometres per hour in the first session of qualifying, so

:31:40. > :31:44.Kobayashi is going to be somewhere near that. Before getting onto the

:31:44. > :31:51.brakes and then down to 40 miles an hour, through the hairpin, their

:31:51. > :32:00.exhilarating up towards the left- hander. It is easy to overstep the

:32:00. > :32:07.mark. 1.35 0.9, exactly what Gary said, it should be around there.

:32:07. > :32:11.are during that Sergio Perez is out on a set of used option tyres. That

:32:11. > :32:17.would explain the half a second difference between himself and

:32:17. > :32:27.Kobayashi. Let's see what Alonso does as he comes across the line,

:32:27. > :32:28.

:32:29. > :32:34.he is three 10ths of a second slower than Perez. We can see Nico

:32:34. > :32:39.Rosberg going quickest at the stage at the pit by 0.7. That is the new

:32:39. > :32:48.benchmark. Michael Schumacher is on the track. The first part of the

:32:48. > :32:55.lap completed. He is going to come round on to a lap. He goes second.

:32:55. > :33:05.35.7, the same time as Rosberg. Hamilton also on track. 35.9, third

:33:05. > :33:28.

:33:28. > :33:32.fastest, Jenson Button only six Not so much from Mark Webber. It is

:33:32. > :33:39.now the two Mercedes that are ruling the roost. Let's see what

:33:39. > :33:44.went on with Felipe Massa into 1011. He looks up. I would not have

:33:44. > :33:54.thought that would have cost him too much time. A bit of a replay of

:33:54. > :34:11.

:34:11. > :34:19.struggle to get into the top 10. His team-mate it not make it into

:34:19. > :34:25.the top 17. Romain Grosjean has not set a time in the second part of

:34:25. > :34:32.qualifying, so whether he has had a problem, I am not sure. We are

:34:32. > :34:37.seeing Kobayashi pushed back into the pit box. Gary, looking at these

:34:37. > :34:43.times and some of these teams are using the tired they used earlier

:34:43. > :34:47.on, are we going to see big changes when they put a brand-new set on?

:34:47. > :34:53.We saw earlier in the practice sessions the second lap was OK on

:34:53. > :35:01.the softer tyres. So for most of them who used the softer tyres in

:35:01. > :35:09.qualifying one, they will try and get themselves into the same

:35:09. > :35:13.schedule and that would be an ideal thing to do. You see Jenson Button

:35:14. > :35:19.sitting at 36.1 in seventh place, he is a bit vulnerable. He needs to

:35:19. > :35:27.watch it. Webber is behind him and Alonso can do that sort of time as

:35:27. > :35:34.well. Romain Grosjean is getting that first run in. It sounds that

:35:34. > :35:44.what they have done at Red Bull will be enough. Mark Webber will

:35:44. > :35:54.have to go again on another set of options. They said they did not

:35:54. > :35:55.

:35:55. > :35:58.feel it was enough for them either, that was heard on the radio. There

:35:58. > :36:05.was some oversteer in the middle of 11 and that will have cost him a

:36:05. > :36:09.lot of time. Once again you can see so much oversteer in that car.

:36:09. > :36:19.has gone straight back into the pits and it is not looking good for

:36:19. > :36:24.Romain Grosjean at the moment. He had good qualifying in Australia.

:36:24. > :36:28.This is Sebastian Vettel. He has just set a new, fastest middle

:36:28. > :36:33.sector so it looks as if we will see an improvement from the world

:36:33. > :36:41.doubles champion. Red Bull fighting to be in the game to go for pole

:36:41. > :36:47.position. The finance sector is a personal best, but it keeps him out

:36:47. > :36:53.in sixth. It is incredibly close when you consider the length of the

:36:53. > :36:59.circuit and the range of corners with some meaty ones in the middle

:36:59. > :37:09.of the lap. You have got four corners over 250 kilometres an hour.

:37:09. > :37:14.A lot of high-speed turns. Alonso is sitting in a tenth. Just under

:37:14. > :37:19.five minutes to go. You can expect them all to be clearing out and

:37:19. > :37:25.having one more run. There is one- tenth in each sector at the moment

:37:25. > :37:29.for the best cars out there. last sector was not that great.

:37:29. > :37:37.knows he can improve in the last sector. He will be confident there

:37:37. > :37:43.is more to come. 35.7 is the time to beat. Very evenly matched, Nico

:37:43. > :37:53.Rosberg and Michael Schumacher. They are running out of time. 4.5

:37:53. > :37:58.

:37:58. > :38:04.minutes remaining on the clock. The battle to get into the top 10. It

:38:04. > :38:09.looks as if they are getting ready to send that car again. Not going

:38:09. > :38:17.to plan for Romain Grosjean so far. Felipe Massa has got plenty to do.

:38:17. > :38:21.He is in 16th place at the moment. He has to find a second, really.

:38:21. > :38:27.think he will be struggling to fight a second. One other person

:38:27. > :38:33.who might be struggling, if you believe the circuit Tracker, it

:38:33. > :38:38.showed Jenson Button had been used two sets of the faster tier. If he

:38:38. > :38:43.feels honourable in the top 10 and maintaining his position, that

:38:43. > :38:53.would leave nothing for the last part of qualifying. They at is a

:38:53. > :38:54.

:38:54. > :38:59.worry for Jenson Button. It is frustrating when the director

:38:59. > :39:04.decides to show lots of random people and we want to see the

:39:04. > :39:10.accent and thankfully we are on board with Felipe Massa. There is a

:39:10. > :39:14.bit up or weaving, making sure he has got good track position. His

:39:14. > :39:24.engineer will be telling him where the other cars are. You do not know

:39:24. > :39:24.

:39:24. > :39:30.who is coming out of the pit lane, but if somebody leaves in front of

:39:30. > :39:35.you, and there is Felipe Massa just coming into shot. Both of these are

:39:35. > :39:40.fighting for their place in the top 10. They are on track at the same

:39:40. > :39:47.time and the comparison between Alonso and Felipe Massa will be

:39:47. > :39:52.looked at. There is no hiding in Formula One. They are out on the

:39:52. > :39:57.track at the same time, the team mates. Let's get a comparison at

:39:58. > :40:07.what they can do. That is not bad. That is quite promising from his

:40:07. > :40:11.point of view. Felipe Massa is two- tenths slower than that. But that

:40:11. > :40:16.over a very simple sector, you should not expect that. There

:40:16. > :40:23.should be hardly anything between equal team-mates and at worst may

:40:23. > :40:31.be a tenth or so. Up to the second checkpoint. Alonso virtually on the

:40:32. > :40:36.same pace at the moment as the best that we have seen. Felipe Massa is

:40:37. > :40:42.a little over and down on his team- mate. We are going to see a lot of

:40:42. > :40:46.changes in the top times. Rosberg and Michael Schumacher stayed in

:40:46. > :40:51.the pit lane. They have decided the times they have set will be safe

:40:51. > :40:57.enough to go through into the top 10 and they do not need to use

:40:57. > :41:07.another set of tyres. Some top guys are really using up their

:41:07. > :41:10.

:41:10. > :41:20.allocation of tyres. There are still others out there who might

:41:20. > :41:20.

:41:20. > :41:24.improve. We are on board with Paul di Resta and he is 11 at the moment

:41:24. > :41:30.and that is not enough. He is not going to improve any further on

:41:30. > :41:37.that. He has still got time to finish of the lap if he has got

:41:37. > :41:45.enough fuel on board to do so. Just reflecting on Felipe Massa's lap,

:41:45. > :41:50.he was only three-tenths away. Maldonado does not do it, 11th.

:41:50. > :41:56.Felipe Massa, that was a good effort all things considered.

:41:56. > :42:02.Whether it remains in up to keeping in the top 10 or not. Hoodoo

:42:02. > :42:12.rethink and challenge him behind? Perez is on a good lap now. He is

:42:12. > :42:14.

:42:14. > :42:20.coming up to 14. That could be a key one. Mark Webber has done a

:42:20. > :42:24.personal best and has been pushed down to tenth. Kobayashi and Perez

:42:24. > :42:31.are up in third and fourth place. They have pushed a Felipe Massa

:42:31. > :42:36.down. Ferrari will have noticed that one. Felipe Massa has been

:42:36. > :42:42.pushed out of the top 10. Mark Webber is the man in danger, but he

:42:42. > :42:46.has just set the fastest middle sector of anybody. As long as he

:42:46. > :42:53.completes at the lack, he should be in the top 10. Consistently Red

:42:53. > :43:00.Bull have been quickest in that middle sector. It is mainly the

:43:01. > :43:05.fast corners where absolute downforce is key. Mercedes were

:43:05. > :43:14.incredibly quick in the last sector. That could be as must decision

:43:14. > :43:21.about the amount of downforce they are running as it is the speed of

:43:22. > :43:28.the car. But he would have wanted more than that. He has been pushed

:43:28. > :43:38.down tonight because Romain Grosjean has pushed him. Sebastian

:43:38. > :43:40.

:43:40. > :43:46.Vettel is in trouble. No, he has not done yet. The three-times poll

:43:46. > :43:52.winner, Sebastian Vettel, is out of qualifying. That is really dramatic.

:43:52. > :43:57.We knew Ferrari were struggling. Alonso is in by the skin of his

:43:57. > :44:01.teeth in tenth place, but Sebastian Vettel, no four successive pole

:44:02. > :44:08.positions in Shanghai. Quite the opposite, he has failed to make it

:44:08. > :44:12.through. That is a shock that he is not in the top 10. But incredibly

:44:12. > :44:18.there is less than three-tenths of a second between our current

:44:18. > :44:23.fastest man, Mark Webber, and Fernando Alonso. I do not ever

:44:23. > :44:31.recall that. That is remarkable, but Mark Webber was fastest. That

:44:31. > :44:35.was not quick enough. That hurts. Yes, that hurts and particularly

:44:35. > :44:40.when it is your team-mate that is using a different specification of

:44:40. > :44:45.car who has set the pace in qualifying. There is a lot going on

:44:45. > :44:49.at Red Bull. His Sebastien going the wrong way with what he wants

:44:50. > :44:57.with that car? You would say based on that it has not worked on his

:44:57. > :45:03.favour. It just takes one small mistake and you can lose that end

:45:03. > :45:13.sector it easily. I do not think it is conclusive that the difference

:45:13. > :45:21.is the difference in their set-ups, but a big gap for Red Bull.

:45:21. > :45:27.Maldonado and Bruno Senna are both out as well. So is the Toro Rosso

:45:27. > :45:32.of Danny are Riccardo. Felipe Massa is looking hot and sweaty and I

:45:32. > :45:37.should imagine rather a bore but as well. Out here it is tranquil and

:45:37. > :45:47.beautiful, and I should imagine it is not very calm in the Red Bull

:45:47. > :45:48.

:45:48. > :45:52.garage. Sebastian Vettel falling in We thought that this year would put

:45:52. > :45:56.turn up some variations but nobody thought that Sebastian Vettel would

:45:56. > :46:00.not make final qualifying. It is also the way that things have been

:46:00. > :46:05.going in practice, not much going on between Mark Webber and

:46:05. > :46:11.Sebastian Vettel, Seb had been in front for much of the free practice.

:46:11. > :46:16.So where has this all gone wrong? We have spoken at length about the

:46:16. > :46:20.variations of the two set ups to stop if I was Sebastian Vettel I

:46:20. > :46:25.would be having a serious look at what Mark Webber is doing. You

:46:25. > :46:32.would think, les goal with his set up in the race. This is not the

:46:32. > :46:38.time to be desperate, but at the same time, 11th is unbelievable for

:46:38. > :46:42.a Sebastian Vettel in this moment. He hadn't into the old one of pole

:46:42. > :46:46.positions last year. They keep on saying at Red Bull that this car is

:46:46. > :46:51.quicker in the race, but Sebastian Vettel's bombers was built on

:46:51. > :46:55.getting pole position and getting away at the start of the race.

:46:55. > :47:01.There are no points one for qualifying. And we don't know what

:47:01. > :47:05.is going to happen with the weather. We saw what happened with Ferrari

:47:05. > :47:11.in Malaysia. Red Bull puppet more downforce on the car, quicker in

:47:11. > :47:15.the middle section, so they have a better balance. They are taking

:47:15. > :47:20.risk assessment to a new level and they have got more downforce on the

:47:20. > :47:26.car than the other teams, so that, if it is wet, they will have the

:47:27. > :47:30.advantage. Eddie was talking about two different set-ups on the car,

:47:30. > :47:35.Sebastian has been unhappy with the balance of his Red Bulls is the

:47:35. > :47:39.final test and they have reverted to the exhaust set up they hat at

:47:39. > :47:46.the end of testing but Mark Webber remains on the updated car and at

:47:46. > :47:53.the moment, he is much faster. Two very disappointed gunmen. My God,

:47:53. > :47:57.where is that finger now? That has disappeared in one fell swoop!

:47:57. > :48:03.is no point wagging it out there now unless he has got 11 of them,

:48:03. > :48:12.so it would not work! We can hear from Heikki Kovalainen, there is

:48:12. > :48:14.talk of an investigation or a penalty. We had just been hearing

:48:14. > :48:21.that you are under investigation with Pastor Maldonado but we did

:48:21. > :48:26.not see what for. He is under investigation. I am the good, and

:48:26. > :48:29.he is the bad. What happened? was getting ready for his first

:48:29. > :48:33.time lap and I was just completing my first lap and on the back

:48:33. > :48:43.straight he was weaving and warming up as tyres and I was getting close

:48:43. > :48:44.

:48:44. > :48:50.to him, there was no intention to let me buy, so... We put another

:48:50. > :48:55.lap and later on in the session and again he did the same. We will wait

:48:55. > :49:00.and see how that unfolds. The race stewards will take into account the

:49:00. > :49:06.fact that Heikki Kovalainen did not have started in a higher up the

:49:06. > :49:11.grid than 19th. This is it. No Sebastian Vettel or Felipe Massa,

:49:11. > :49:19.but it is time to begin the fight for poor position. Over to the

:49:19. > :49:29.commentary team of David caught up and then it was. -- David Coulthard

:49:29. > :49:33.

:49:33. > :49:38.Hamilton takes pole position, he has a five place grid penalty for

:49:38. > :49:43.the race tomorrow, because he had to have his gearbox changed

:49:43. > :49:48.overnight. A problem from the previous race which they only

:49:48. > :49:52.discovered when they arrived in my China, a crack in part of the

:49:52. > :49:58.gearbox. The gearbox has to last five events and if it does not, you

:49:58. > :50:01.get a grid penalty. That is what Lewis Hamilton will have to suffer

:50:01. > :50:08.from wherever he qualifies. That will not hold them back. He will

:50:08. > :50:14.definitely be going for it. The final part of qualifying is under

:50:14. > :50:19.way. Immediately two Lotus cars coming out, Kimi Raikkonen, a

:50:19. > :50:24.former race winner, but not a pole position situ. The times are so

:50:24. > :50:28.close, close enough to shift Sebastian Vettel out of the top 10

:50:28. > :50:33.but every few hundredths of a second will count. This is like

:50:33. > :50:43.Formula Ford racing, it is so close! It is going to be an epic

:50:43. > :50:47.battle for pole position. I certainly hope that it is. Louis

:50:47. > :50:57.Hamilton has only one set of auctions are available. He is going

:50:57. > :51:01.

:51:01. > :51:07.out to get a sighter lap on a scrub set of tyres. What a battle. It is

:51:07. > :51:14.incredibly close, this middle part of qualifying. We can listen in to

:51:14. > :51:20.Massa -- to Mercedes. Just think about that on your warm-up lap, 22

:51:20. > :51:26.degrees also, but they're looks like it is getting cooler. What's

:51:26. > :51:36.his two degrees between friends? It is a helluva lot in a racing car.

:51:36. > :51:37.

:51:37. > :51:44.Also getting the breaks up to temperature. -- brakes. They will

:51:44. > :51:48.run the brake at about seven or 800 degrees. By the time they might get

:51:48. > :51:52.to 14 they will have shed about 400 degrees because of the air that is

:51:52. > :51:58.cooling and passing through the brake ducts. Obviously below the

:51:58. > :52:03.optimal temperature for the operating window of the brakes.

:52:03. > :52:07.Those are the sorts of things drivers have to try and build the

:52:07. > :52:11.heat in the tyres for. We can see Michael Schumacher weaving around,

:52:11. > :52:14.that is more psychological than anything when you are going down

:52:14. > :52:21.the back straight, the best way to get heat into the tyres is under

:52:21. > :52:28.high-speed driving and underbraking. On board with Nico Rosberg, trying

:52:28. > :52:32.to deal with this three-quarter circle of turn 1 and 2, before you

:52:32. > :52:38.get back on to the left. Talk us through this next part. He's coming

:52:38. > :52:44.through the kink of turn five, 100 metres then hard on the brakes,

:52:44. > :52:50.down to second year, and distraction as he comes Op. --

:52:50. > :52:56.second gear. You can see the right hand side display of the steering

:52:56. > :53:01.wheel, it sounded very flat through a maximum. I was talking over the

:53:01. > :53:06.beautiful noise of the car, apologies for that. Just keep an

:53:06. > :53:11.eye at the end of OS/2, but the showing a round two-tenths of a

:53:11. > :53:15.second better than his personal best, and if that is the case we

:53:15. > :53:22.can expect a ranter to 5.5, assuming he keeps the rest of his

:53:22. > :53:30.lap tidy, he is showing four-tenths of a second faster. We can revise

:53:30. > :53:37.that now, to 35.3. 313 kilometres per hour, not quite the 320, as

:53:37. > :53:41.there were, but fast nonetheless, and as we come up to the final turn,

:53:41. > :53:50.35.8 has been set by Kimi Raikkonen, but we think this is going to be

:53:50. > :53:56.better. It is a 35.1! That is a very rapid lap from Nico Rosberg.

:53:56. > :54:00.He has never had pole position. Could it be his day today? Could it

:54:00. > :54:05.all up. It is a great feeling when you are looking at the lap Delta in

:54:06. > :54:15.the car, and you just see the lap time coming to you. Let's see what

:54:15. > :54:23.Michael Schumacher can deliver, 35.6. It is quite a big chunks law.

:54:23. > :54:25.-- slower. We think those were used tyres for Michael Schumacher. So

:54:25. > :54:35.that means Lewis Hamilton could have a little bit in reserve, and

:54:35. > :54:40.could close than zero. Five-second gap to Nico Rosberg. I think it is

:54:40. > :54:44.unusual that these older gentlemen of the paddock acknowledge the

:54:44. > :54:49.camera. Ross took a look down the pit lane when he saw himself on the

:54:49. > :54:54.screen, and I wonder if that is a look of quiet satisfaction. It is

:54:54. > :54:57.great to see your Cup at the top of the times, but I wonder if there

:54:57. > :55:02.Simulations are telling them that this will be a difficult time or

:55:02. > :55:07.anyone else to beat this afternoon. It is not going to be easy, there

:55:07. > :55:09.is Mercedes engine power in the back of the McLaren. We have seen

:55:09. > :55:15.that Mark Webber has been fast with the Renault engine power in the

:55:15. > :55:21.back of the Red Bull, and he is on and out lap at the moment. We will

:55:21. > :55:30.wait to see what he can do. He is going to or Brno when in this final

:55:30. > :55:39.part of qualified. -- he's going to have one run. Nico Rosberg has

:55:39. > :55:49.slapped onto it if I 0.1, Michael. Yes, OK. -- Nico Rosberg has lapped

:55:49. > :55:53.

:55:53. > :56:00.furtive by 0.1. -- 35.1. That tells us something about the mindset of

:56:00. > :56:10.Michael Schumacher right now. Where he is, relative to Nico was Burke.

:56:10. > :56:23.

:56:23. > :56:33.They are late in the hunt for pole third place, but the other six of

:56:33. > :56:38.the top then have not done their run yet. That first couple of runs

:56:38. > :56:48.is designed to look like a Chinese symbol. It is never good to design

:56:48. > :56:48.

:56:48. > :56:53.racetracks to look like characters. Twenty-five 0.1. He is just over

:56:53. > :56:58.one-tenth of a second slower. The Mercedes not the fastest, the

:56:58. > :57:05.fastest has been the Lotus of Kimi Raikkonen. It is a long third

:57:05. > :57:10.sector, so it is significant on the Shanghai circuit. One-tenth down on

:57:10. > :57:15.what Rosberg did on that first set up. This is the key sector for Red

:57:16. > :57:19.Bull. He is not showing faster. He is down four-tenths of a second, so

:57:19. > :57:25.Mark Webber is not going to be challenging for pole position on

:57:25. > :57:29.this lap. He might get another lap, he has enough time to do so. But it

:57:29. > :57:36.puts him in the party. We think Hamilton has got some new tyres to

:57:36. > :57:42.use. But it is such a big gap from Rosberg to the others. Indeed. As

:57:42. > :57:46.Hamilton goes out, with a nice, new set of option tyres, it has a great

:57:47. > :57:53.feeling when you CD's shiny new tyres being presented to you. --

:57:53. > :58:03.when you see these. It gives you confidence, attacking the corner.

:58:03. > :58:06.

:58:06. > :58:11.Mark Webber crosses the line, there is 6.2, 5th fastest. -- 36.2.

:58:11. > :58:15.we just witnessed what could be called the perfect lap probably --

:58:15. > :58:21.from Nico Rosberg? We can see him walking down the pit lane, out of

:58:21. > :58:26.his car. I was looking down the commentary box. Just in case I was

:58:26. > :58:32.watching a different camera up to you, but Nico Rosberg not running

:58:32. > :58:38.again. Does he have enough to keep Lewis Hamilton behind? We're

:58:38. > :58:42.watching Sergio Perez at the moment on a reasonably good lap. A random

:58:42. > :58:47.thought, if I was Nico Rosberg, about to have my first pole

:58:47. > :58:53.position, I would hang around the garage if it happens, but he is

:58:53. > :59:00.just a lone, walking down to get weighed. Has anybody told him?

:59:00. > :59:05.could be on for his first over pole position, but let us wait and see.

:59:05. > :59:11.Sergio Perez has not set a time just yet, so where is this going to

:59:11. > :59:19.pick him, amongst the others? not going to be challenging the

:59:19. > :59:24.likes of Rosberg, Hamilton or Schumacher. He is 6 they fastest,

:59:24. > :59:30.behind Mark Webber, three-tenths of a second quicker than Mark Webber

:59:30. > :59:34.in the Red Bull. Jenson Button on- track, the first sector, not good.

:59:34. > :59:38.Four-tenths of a second down on the best. Jenson Button at the moment

:59:38. > :59:42.does not look as if he's going to be challenging Rosberg, who might

:59:42. > :59:46.still get his first a report position. This is not going to be

:59:46. > :59:56.pole position for Jenson Button and he will not get another lap after

:59:56. > :00:05.this. 18 seconds of the session to play for. Hamilton coming to the

:00:05. > :00:14.end of his one, Look East -- let us look at the comparison of their lap.

:00:14. > :00:18.Jenson Button is going to be, is he going to be ahead of Mark Webber?

:00:18. > :00:22.think he probably will be. I think Kimi Raikkonen and Michael

:00:22. > :00:27.Schumacher are going to be his target. Is he going to get on the

:00:27. > :00:34.second row? He is on the third row, and Kobayashi has gone into fourth

:00:34. > :00:38.place. Brilliant lap. Fernando Alonso is 9th, pretty much what we

:00:38. > :00:42.expected for Ferrari, can Lewis Hamilton pull a surprise? He cannot,

:00:42. > :00:46.his middle sector is not quick enough, and Nico Rosberg is going

:00:46. > :00:51.to have his first over pole position, and the first pole

:00:52. > :00:56.position from Mercedes, since 1955, as Mercedes, that is quite

:00:56. > :01:00.something and make a Rosberg is the one who's going to have it. He has

:01:00. > :01:04.backed it off now, he's going to be coming back into the pits, Hamilton

:01:04. > :01:10.has ended up second-fastest, he will have a good penalty of five

:01:10. > :01:17.places, but Mercedes, the team applauding the air, Nico Rosberg

:01:17. > :01:22.has done it. The burst around McLaren powered -- Mercedes powered

:01:22. > :01:32.pole position but for the Mercedes team, their first pole position,

:01:32. > :01:37.

:01:37. > :01:42.since 19 do it five. Bus - 1950 was done by Hugh Laurie a few years

:01:42. > :01:49.ago when the driver was always complaining. It Nico Rosberg starts

:01:49. > :01:53.complaining about his car, I'll be amazed. Surely he must tell us that

:01:53. > :01:58.was the perfect car and the perfect lap around Shanghai this afternoon.

:01:58. > :02:04.It will be an all Mercedes front row because of the penalty that is

:02:04. > :02:10.applied to Hamilton, it will be Michael Schumacher alongside him.

:02:10. > :02:16.It is an achievement for the team. For his father he had his first

:02:16. > :02:23.ever pole position in the 30 years ago. It was at Brands Hatch in July

:02:23. > :02:28.1982. 30 years on, his son has managed his first pole. And look

:02:28. > :02:37.how come he is. It is almost like, I have been doing this for a long

:02:37. > :02:41.time, guys, it is about time I had a pole position. He is in pole

:02:41. > :02:48.position for taking the victory tomorrow now. They have got good

:02:48. > :02:53.speed in his car. Hamilton will have his work cut out in the race.

:02:53. > :02:57.But the Mercedes it uses this double DRS system and the advantage

:02:57. > :03:02.is in qualifying more than in the race. That means it might not have

:03:02. > :03:07.the kind of pace when it comes to race day. Lewis has a car that is

:03:07. > :03:11.not only fast in qualifying, but also over race distance.

:03:11. > :03:19.Mercedes has been using up its tyres a lot harder, so qualifying

:03:19. > :03:23.is a glory days from a media point of view. But 77 overtakes in the

:03:23. > :03:29.race here last year, so this is no guarantee this is what we are going

:03:29. > :03:33.to see at the end of this race. Almost certainly we will see

:03:33. > :03:39.Hamilton on the move. Sebastian Vettel has got a fresh set of tyres

:03:39. > :03:46.starting in 11th place. It will be in a credible racing tomorrow.

:03:46. > :03:52.Jenson Button in six, how has that word? Great effort from Nico

:03:52. > :03:58.Rosberg and Kobayashi. Sauber have both their cars in the top 10.

:03:58. > :04:03.is nice to see. They are old carding buddies. I think that is

:04:03. > :04:07.the right guy to take the first Mercedes pole position. You cannot

:04:07. > :04:14.help but feel he has been in Formula One for a long time without

:04:14. > :04:20.a victory. 110 stars to get his first ever pole position. I think

:04:20. > :04:26.that puts him 4th in the list. Webber took 130 starts. It has

:04:26. > :04:31.taken a long time, but it is very sweet. Michael Sue there will be on

:04:31. > :04:37.the front row with him. Romain Grosjean did not get a timing in

:04:37. > :04:43.that final time, so he will start 10th. Kimi Raikkonen had the 5th

:04:43. > :04:50.fastest time. Kobayashi is the other star for me. To qualify for

:04:50. > :04:58.that with the Sauber. These are the top three from qualifying today. It

:04:58. > :05:05.will not be as they start tomorrow. Nico Rosberg is on top and Hamilton

:05:05. > :05:09.is second and Michael Schumacher is third. We did not expect that to be

:05:09. > :05:14.the top three qualifying, although I didn't mention that we would not

:05:14. > :05:20.be surprised to see a Mercedes in the Frant Road this afternoon. A

:05:20. > :05:25.visionary. Indeed. If only I could pick the winning lottery numbers in

:05:25. > :05:30.the same way. We know the Mercedes is good off the line. I wonder who

:05:30. > :05:36.will get the best start. This is how they have qualified to date in

:05:36. > :05:46.terms of times. Nico Rosberg with his first ever pole position with a

:05:46. > :05:49.massive margin. Jenson Button is only 6th ahead of Mark Webber.

:05:49. > :05:56.Butter and Hamilton will be together on the grid because of the

:05:56. > :06:05.penalty. Sebastian Vettel is outside the top 10. Some star names

:06:05. > :06:14.you would have expected to be up near the front. Then it goes in

:06:14. > :06:20.team formation. The car defines the speed around this track and there

:06:20. > :06:24.is not a lot the driver can do to improve things. It is remarkable

:06:24. > :06:30.today as Nico Rosberg takes his first pole position. This is the

:06:30. > :06:38.end of the lap. Really is stuff from him. We will have a chance to

:06:38. > :06:43.hear what he has to say about that and Mercedes will be delighted.

:06:43. > :06:50.Before long David Watts talked us through this top lap from Nico

:06:50. > :06:56.Rosberg. It was the 1955 Italian Grand Prix when there was first a

:06:56. > :07:01.front row lock-outs with the Mercedes. It will be Nico Rosberg

:07:01. > :07:04.and Michael Schumacher at tomorrow. A big date in the history. There

:07:05. > :07:12.were only a few of us who were alive at that moment to even think

:07:12. > :07:18.about it. I was one of them! It is a huge day. I think Nico Rosberg

:07:18. > :07:23.probably deserved it. He led his team last year and the year before.

:07:23. > :07:28.It is a good team effort, but this is a remarkable position. Two

:07:28. > :07:34.Mercedes cars on the front row of the grid in this race. Nico Rosberg

:07:34. > :07:41.has to take a lot of credit for it. He was so cool and he was sure this

:07:41. > :07:49.was the perfect lap. What does Ross Brawn make of it? Here is what the

:07:49. > :07:56.team principal has to say. First pole position for Mercedes since

:07:56. > :08:00.1955, the Italian Grand Prix. Really? That is very good. It is a

:08:00. > :08:10.fantastic achievement, but at the back of our mind we have to put a

:08:10. > :08:10.

:08:10. > :08:16.It was quite exceptional by Nico Rosberg. Today we saw what he can

:08:16. > :08:22.do. The middle sector he did was incredible. Is Michael happy as

:08:22. > :08:27.well, he is in third position? is very good and we backed off once

:08:27. > :08:31.we saw we were not under any threat because Lewis has a penalty it. We

:08:31. > :08:40.wanted to save our set of tyres. Are you looking forward to

:08:40. > :08:44.tomorrow? Fingers crossed. A wry smile from Ross Brawn. It could be

:08:44. > :08:49.described as underwhelmed. Moving on to the race it is where Mercedes

:08:50. > :08:54.have struggled in the first couple of races. You say that, but they

:08:55. > :09:01.have always had in my opinion the best KERS and a very good starting

:09:01. > :09:06.mechanism. We know how good Michael is to start. I am sure the team

:09:06. > :09:11.boss will sit them down and say, we have got one point on the board, we

:09:11. > :09:16.are 9th in the constructors' championship, let's make the

:09:16. > :09:24.maximum out of this, one and two will be amazing, but do not bring

:09:24. > :09:30.the most poets hope we can. Let's have a clean race, get on and win

:09:30. > :09:35.it. Eight any team needs some points, that is that team. What

:09:35. > :09:40.about the team who are leading, let's hear from Martin Whitmarsh.

:09:40. > :09:46.Lewis Hamilton second-fastest today, but he moves back because of the

:09:46. > :09:52.penalty. That was not the plan, was it?

:09:53. > :09:59.but congratulations to Mercedes. They have an all front row. It was

:09:59. > :10:02.a tough session, very close all the way through. I think in qualifying

:10:02. > :10:07.three the circuit got slower and nearly everyone aborted their

:10:07. > :10:13.second run. With Jenson Button only running once at the end, we would

:10:13. > :10:18.have done better to put him out at the beginning. For Lewis under the

:10:18. > :10:23.circumstances it is a solid job to be second quickest. That will put

:10:23. > :10:30.him back on the grid. We have got a good race base and we will seat. It

:10:30. > :10:36.is a long race and we will see what we can do tomorrow. Whether drivers

:10:36. > :10:41.happy, I was at Beqaa's pays? there were absolutely happy. Jenson

:10:41. > :10:47.felt there was no grip. Everyone who did a second run either went

:10:47. > :10:52.slower or abortive. Obviously it became much more overcast and the

:10:52. > :10:57.conditions changed. They felt a loss of grip as that session went

:10:57. > :11:02.on. Not doing that early run probably cost of Jenson something.

:11:02. > :11:07.Lewis will not be satisfied unless he is the quickest. His second run

:11:08. > :11:12.was slower, which is a shame. We are trying to look after the tyres

:11:12. > :11:17.and we will see what happens tomorrow. Jenson Button starts in

:11:17. > :11:23.front of Lewis Hamilton because of Lewis's penalty. In front there is

:11:23. > :11:28.a Lotus, a Sauber and two Mercedes, three teams that have not been

:11:28. > :11:33.strong so far, so Jenson Button might fancy some fun. Well, the car

:11:33. > :11:38.does not look right for him at the moment. It was slow, there was no

:11:38. > :11:43.energy or any real passion emerging out of that car and that will be a

:11:43. > :11:49.disappointment for Jenson. It was lack lustre, the car did not jump

:11:49. > :11:53.out of its box. One car that was jumping out of its box, and one

:11:53. > :12:00.driver who will be jumping around in the press conference was Nico

:12:00. > :12:05.Rosberg. But how is he feeling? It was a sensational lap, how do you

:12:05. > :12:11.feel about your first F1 poll? Fantastic, thank you, it went

:12:11. > :12:17.really well. It is something special and I am looking forward to

:12:17. > :12:24.the race. Where did you find that time? The track was quick off a

:12:24. > :12:26.little bit and so they rear tyres started to work a bit better. We

:12:26. > :12:33.changed the set up slightly before the last run and it worked out

:12:33. > :12:39.really well. Lewis, you virtually grew up with Nico during the kiting.

:12:39. > :12:43.Tell us how you feel about his achievement? Congratulate us to him,

:12:43. > :12:49.it is fantastic. There is quite a big gap between us. I am very proud

:12:49. > :12:55.of him. We grew up racing together and we always dreamed of being in

:12:55. > :12:58.Formula One. We are in the front row, still I got a penalty, but

:12:58. > :13:04.that is the feeling. Why it are your feelings about starting

:13:04. > :13:09.tomorrow? We are in a good position. The car feels good, particularly

:13:09. > :13:16.for the long runs. It will be tough, for sure, but I will be pushing as

:13:16. > :13:21.hard as I can. Michael, we heard you under radio as a 20 per's lap

:13:21. > :13:28.time and you sounded surprised by what he had achieved. I said, Well

:13:28. > :13:33.done, because that was a phenomenal lap time. For all of us to see the

:13:34. > :13:39.gap that big is a surprise. But he is known as a good qualifier and

:13:39. > :13:46.there is no reason to be unhappy. It is the opposite, I am happy for

:13:46. > :13:51.him up for his first pole. It is going to be, I guess, the first row

:13:51. > :13:57.of a proper Mercedes, the Silver Arrow, that will take place in the

:13:57. > :14:03.Shanghai Grand Prix tomorrow and that is great. What about your race

:14:03. > :14:09.situation? We have seen you go backwards in the race. Do you think

:14:09. > :14:14.you will go easy on the tyres tomorrow? In my two races won I

:14:14. > :14:19.retired and in the other I got put back by being spun around. It is

:14:19. > :14:23.not clear what we would have seen with our car. It is a question

:14:23. > :14:31.whether we can keep up that position, but we will try our best

:14:31. > :14:37.to do so. They will be doing their best, but how will that tyres cope,

:14:37. > :14:47.how will the cars cope? Let's confirm the grid. The last time it

:14:47. > :14:47.

:14:47. > :15:42.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 55 seconds

:15:42. > :15:48.was a front row lock-out or David is down from the commentary

:15:48. > :15:54.box. The most interesting thing is how close it was, from Q1, a right

:15:54. > :15:58.to pole position. So little between then. This, that is what makes pole

:15:58. > :16:03.position for Rosberg all the more remarkable. He has and gap of half

:16:03. > :16:09.a second to Michael Schumacher in second place. It was only three-

:16:09. > :16:14.tenths of a second in the middle part of qualifying, so, as track

:16:14. > :16:21.temperatures changed, as Rosberg mentioned in the press conference,

:16:21. > :16:25.in the end, it was the right for thing for Mercedes to get a poor

:16:25. > :16:31.position. It is interesting that you should say that. You're allowed

:16:31. > :16:34.him to crash into a few times. Will he be happy that his team-mate is

:16:34. > :16:39.the first man to become a poor position for the new-look Mercedes

:16:39. > :16:43.team? Nelson would have another chance of getting his other eye

:16:43. > :16:49.back than happiness breaking out there, but he is it true sport and

:16:49. > :16:52.a true team man, but inside, he will be eaten away, because he is

:16:52. > :16:58.it that -- he is a committed, dedicated sportsmen who wants to

:16:58. > :17:04.beat everyone, on every occasion. We will ask Sebastian Vettel, what

:17:04. > :17:10.went wrong? In the end it was only three-tenths of a second that was

:17:10. > :17:17.the difference. There was a lock up into turn two, that is not unusual,

:17:17. > :17:22.to do that, because you have a change of elevation. This is a

:17:22. > :17:28.first time seeing the full on board lap. I am with the viewers at home,

:17:28. > :17:33.trying to spot what went wrong. This car is set up in a way that he

:17:33. > :17:38.has specifically requested from the team. Drivers always have

:17:38. > :17:43.requirements in terms of the basic set-up of the car. All of those

:17:43. > :17:53.things are down to the individual driver. It is not forced upon them.

:17:53. > :17:53.

:17:53. > :17:58.It is unusual to have major body were changes. -- bodywork. Maybe we

:17:58. > :18:01.are making more of this than what Red Bull are aware of in terms of

:18:01. > :18:05.the straight performance differences between Sebastian

:18:05. > :18:10.Vettel and Mark Webber, but Sebastian is slower than Mark

:18:10. > :18:17.Webber right now. Mark Webber has rediscovered his form of 2010, and

:18:17. > :18:20.that Brits Sebastian under pressure. But his car looks OK. This was only

:18:20. > :18:29.three-tenths of a second away from the quickest time in that session,

:18:29. > :18:39.so we should keep it in perspective. It was not a bad lap. Were cannier

:18:39. > :18:42.

:18:42. > :18:50.from Sebastien now. -- we can hear from Sebastian Vettel. The laps in

:18:50. > :18:54.Q2 were not quick enough. That is a fact. We have to start the race

:18:54. > :19:00.from 11 and see what we can do tomorrow, it makes it harder, but

:19:00. > :19:05.not impossible. You have been going in different directions from Mark

:19:05. > :19:09.Webber, with the car, does that have much to do with it? We have

:19:09. > :19:19.decided to stick with the current settings, we cannot blame it on the

:19:19. > :19:20.

:19:20. > :19:25.car. Three times it was not quick enough to make it 2 Q3. The man

:19:25. > :19:31.alongside the Stars and de place, because Lewis Hamilton Guess not

:19:31. > :19:41.bat, can you go was your reaction to qualifying deja match? It was

:19:41. > :19:45.

:19:45. > :19:49.great, I was very happy through the week. -- we will see tomorrow.

:19:49. > :19:55.is like musical chairs. It is your turn this week, and Sergio Perez

:19:55. > :20:04.last week. What will happen tomorrow? We are on the podium, and

:20:04. > :20:09.we have to catch up. The start is the most dangerous thing, the most

:20:09. > :20:18.dangerous point, so I have to watch out in the start. How hard you

:20:18. > :20:24.starts been, this year? We have had some things broken in qualifying,

:20:24. > :20:28.it is very difficult times, but we try to get everything right.

:20:28. > :20:34.Sometimes after three races, we have had good results, and I am

:20:34. > :20:42.very happy to stop everybody believes, and myself, and were

:20:42. > :20:49.working very hard in qualifiers. I am very happy. Congratulations, you

:20:49. > :20:56.start behind the front two. We will watch the start with interest.

:20:56. > :21:02.Congratulations. He starts in de place, Jenson Button starts first,

:21:03. > :21:09.here he is. Bass that she starts in third place. How are you feeling

:21:09. > :21:12.after that qualifying? In Q2, it was not that quick but I filled

:21:12. > :21:15.with some improvements we could have been very competitive.

:21:15. > :21:22.Everyone was excited to see how it played out, because the times were

:21:22. > :21:28.so close, but I only had one set of tyres in Q3, then I went out again

:21:28. > :21:34.to have a clean circuit, but you could feel the temperature dropping.

:21:34. > :21:41.The best time of the session was in the beginning. We can race well

:21:41. > :21:49.from there. How do you think it is going to translate into a race

:21:49. > :21:55.place? It is completely different. An exciting first few laps. You

:21:55. > :21:58.would say that the Mercedes on the front row, probably not as good as

:21:58. > :22:05.the car's right behind them, so it is going to be an interesting race

:22:05. > :22:10.in terms of strategy. When it is cool, like this, suddenly, you lose

:22:10. > :22:14.all the front grip. I just could not get the tyres working. I tried

:22:14. > :22:23.everything, but it has been difficult. When the temperature is

:22:23. > :22:27.high, the car is great. We just have to hope for hot day tomorrow.

:22:27. > :22:33.This is the first season at McLaren have not had the speed to be on

:22:33. > :22:37.pole position. It might be confusing for people tuning in for

:22:37. > :22:44.the first time to Formula One, but put into one side that penalty for

:22:44. > :22:47.Lewis Hamilton, he was not in the hunt for pole position. Tyres, that

:22:47. > :22:53.is the only thing you can put it down to, the changing weather

:22:53. > :22:57.conditions. You might be confused with my answer and you can tell me

:22:57. > :23:02.why I am wrong and a second but they have not fundamentally changed

:23:02. > :23:07.the packages since the first race in Malaysia, but what has changed

:23:07. > :23:15.is how they are using the tyres. He spoke about it in great detail,

:23:15. > :23:20.about getting into the operating window of the tyres. Rosberg would

:23:20. > :23:26.have been on pole, whatever time during that qualifier, in my

:23:26. > :23:31.opinion. We can hear from Fernando Alonso. Eddie had a lot to say

:23:31. > :23:39.about Ferrari, and they do not start till tomorrow, nineth and

:23:39. > :23:45.12th on the grid. Just some of qualifying for us, please. For Q2,

:23:45. > :23:53.we went into Q3, with Sebastian and the last lap, and then into three,

:23:53. > :23:57.we did the best lap we could, which was nineth and normally we have to

:23:57. > :24:04.say the car normally improves, so tomorrow, we could see some better

:24:04. > :24:11.performance. He had some rain mixing things up in Malaysia, which

:24:11. > :24:15.you will pole that? That was better for us. We started in ninth place,

:24:15. > :24:25.that is one or two points, so it is better to risk. There is not much

:24:25. > :24:30.to lose, starting 9th. It will be a crazy race. The revolting Fernando

:24:30. > :24:34.Alonso, struggling a lot. They a pot five up base to this race and

:24:34. > :24:39.said it would make the car better but the car will not be suited to

:24:39. > :24:45.this. When do you think we can start to see dramatic improvements

:24:45. > :24:50.for this team? You cannot put a timeline on it. It is about

:24:50. > :24:54.understanding where the main issues are. They no the areas where they

:24:54. > :24:58.might have to target. Gary can explain in better technical detail

:24:58. > :25:05.how a team gets itself out of it difficult technical position, but

:25:05. > :25:08.it does not have the downforce to generate grip in the corners. The

:25:08. > :25:14.downpours that it has and the way that it switches on the tyres,

:25:14. > :25:19.those are the issues. How long is a piece of string? I don't know. They

:25:19. > :25:23.could have the same issues for the entire season but they used the

:25:23. > :25:28.same wind tunnel, so the information from it should be

:25:28. > :25:32.accurate as it is with the other teams. They had a huge recruitment

:25:32. > :25:38.drive over the winter so they are not lacking resources. They have

:25:38. > :25:43.never lacked resources, Ferrari, always been very well financed. It

:25:43. > :25:47.has been surprising. We talk about the British Grand Prix last year,

:25:47. > :25:54.ideally suited to them, everyone thought they would emerge this

:25:54. > :25:59.season, but it has been, game over, clearly floundering at the moment.

:25:59. > :26:06.We can join Gary Anderson, the pit lane analyst. He has been keeping

:26:06. > :26:14.an eye on the difference set ups for the two Red Bulls. We knew one

:26:14. > :26:18.cars with different specifications you're not very productive, and the

:26:18. > :26:24.team director can only think in one direction, he can only have one

:26:24. > :26:26.brain. It is his development direction, with Mark Webber, so if

:26:26. > :26:34.I was Sebastian Vettel I would be looking for the same specification

:26:34. > :26:40.of car as Mark Webber. How does that compare with you're days at

:26:40. > :26:46.Jordan when you won various races? I think Eddie used to do that, that

:26:46. > :26:54.is what he told me! If you look at all the four top teams and take the

:26:54. > :26:58.tie of degradation, whether it is a two stop, three stop, four stock,

:26:58. > :27:03.it does not matter much, it depends how you get through the post corner.

:27:03. > :27:09.Last year, at three stocks strategy won the race. I think, tomorrow,

:27:09. > :27:13.you are going to see everything. tomorrow, all eyes will be on the

:27:13. > :27:19.tyres, that will decide what is going to win this Grand Prix.

:27:19. > :27:25.we have seen it in the past two breezes. McLaren will cool

:27:25. > :27:30.reasonably good going into this race. But what can Sauber do?

:27:30. > :27:36.Kobayashi into a place. A quick reminder of what is still to come

:27:36. > :27:40.this weekend. There is a re-run of qualifying at 1 o'clock on BBC Two,

:27:40. > :27:50.and on the BBC it's the Channel. A different sort of horsepower with

:27:50. > :27:53.

:27:53. > :28:01.We are back tomorrow from 7 o'clock in the morning with all the build-

:28:01. > :28:09.up to the Chinese Grand Prix. not want to get six years down the

:28:09. > :28:19.road and find out that I have only got one world championship. It is

:28:19. > :28:28.

:28:28. > :28:33.That will be interesting, and the way that the guidelines up tomorrow