The Chinese Grand Prix - Qualifying Formula 1

Good morning, thank you very much for setting you're a liar and

welcome to the live coverage of the Chinese Grand Prix weekend from

here in Shanghai. The same old car usually sitting on pole position

and a familiar figure usually when income the chequered flag from last

year. But what a difference a year makes. Tit, torque. So goes the

beat of success. A predictable Riddle, near impossible to break.

And Jenson Button has got a good start. They are absolutely stuck

together. And it is pouring down. Is its Jenson Button? Fernando

Alonso takes the victory. The second place is Sergio Perez.

a turnaround from last year and in that one particular race. Perhaps

the onion Formula One Fan not enjoying the sport at the moment is

the world No. 1 himself, Sebastian Vettel. At the moment he is not

even the leader Red Bull rider. It might not be great for him, but it

is great for everybody else. have had a great start to the

season and we have a number of teams looking more competitive than

last year. Just because you have had success in the past it does not

guarantee future success. It is looking very tight for qualifying.

It is enough to make you take out the purple paisley, so you must be

loving it. Put that all to one side and let's concentrate on the racing.

It has exploded into a new form of racing this season. I can see lots

of things emerging that we have not seen in the last couple of years.

We assume they only play music when they are dominating, but it is not

the case. How will Sebastian Vettel be feeling from going to total

domination to struggling, even in his own team. He is still quite

young in his own team and it has been a meteoric rise, so this will

be testing for him. He is a young man and he is having to develop

this ability to handle the disappointment when you are not

winning every race. We saw Lewis Hamilton going through that. He won

the championship in his second season and has a difficult period.

In many ways it will be the making of him. It is not just Sebastien

who is unsure, we are unsure about the pecking order in Formula One.

We can only look at the first race in Australia to give us the light

of the land. When you have the world champions and they decide not

to compete for pole position in the last race, then that there is

something not quite right. The car does not have the ultimate speed,

the penetration it had before. They are trying to find something, but

they will be back. This is a hugely experienced, well put together a

team and it is in the interests of everyone that they are well behind

the team. We will see how it plays out a bit later on. It is lovely to

see Eddie Jordan in China and he is not the only fan who has turned up.

The grandstand is getting a bit busy. We are in China for Formula

It is amazing how many union flags are here. There is a lot of love

for Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button. It is getting a little bit

busy, but that is a difficult grandstand to fill. We are on the

outskirts of a city with 20 million people. They should embrace Formula

One. The momentum is gathering, but it is a slow process. They have

embraced football and they are beginning to embrace this. This is

probably the biggest stadium at we have. I was involved at the

beginning and it was a huge task. It still has not reached maximum

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

grandstand. No, I was just am Leah observers. If anything will get

bumps on seats, it will be last year's Grand Prix. It was voted by

fans in the UK as the best of the season. That is because we had so

much overtaking. I believe we had 77. We have got a very long back

straight here. A day of breast was introduced last season. This is

turn 14. This was the most popular plays for passes. Everything came

together to create this perfect overtaking storm. We got used to a

15 year period where it was really difficult to overtake on track and

it happened in the pit stops. But I think BRS has brought an element of

attack in defence and the drivers can use is strategically. It is

more entertaining. You could argue that the purists or horrified

because there were too many passes. There could never be another -- but

he many passes for me. I am enjoying this and for the moments

the critics will have to take a back seat. I am enjoying curse as

well, even though I was a critic. We are going to have an in-depth

look later on, but let's have a quick look at the standings. Full-

on soap is driving a very difficult Ferrari, but he is leading at the

moment. Lewis Hamilton, despite not winning a race, is showing that

consistency can pay. Mark Webber is sitting in front of Sebastian

Vettel. Force India has picked up seven points this season. It is

interesting to focus on the constructors' championship. Only

nine have picked up points. It is competitive. It is hugely

competitive. On the negative side at the three new teams are still

yet to get themselves together. We were hoping somebody out of that

group would emerge and sadly they are the three teams who have no

points and it seems to continue. They might have no points, Mercedes

with one point. How much pressure is there on that team? Undoubtedly

there is pressure, there is pressure on everyone. The fact they

have a quick car and have been moving ever closer to getting the

car in the front row gives them enthusiasm and hope. I would not be

surprised if you seek a Mercedes in the front row this afternoon.

Hamilton has taken a five plays grid penalty and we will hear why

it later on. Mark Webber will show us around the circuit and Eddie

will have a look at why Ferrari is There are still concerns about

Bahrain. The FIA have said they have seen no reason to call off the

race and this was the reaction from Bernie Ecclestone. The big concern

for most people is that the issue in Bahrain is with the Crown Prince

and the royal family and they are the people who took Formula One to

Bahrain. It is almost as if Formula One to the protesters represents

the royal family and the rulers of Bahrain. We, like in any sport, we

are not political or religious. We enter the country to perform to the

contract we have. It is not up for us to decide how people run their

country. Maybe it was seen that it was the royal family, it was not.

It was the national sporting authority in that country that

requested a Formula One event. It has been supported by an awful lot

of people in Bahrain. We have seen the posters they had issued and

they have highlighted F1. Does that mean in Bahrain they are

politicising the sport and hoping to unify the country? I suppose

they are hoping that. I do not know what the problems are, because I

have not gone into it, but it appears there are problems. Let's

assume it is not going to happen, but there was no Formula One race

next weekend in Bahrain. Whatever problems that are in Bahrain, would

they disappear? You could argue that by going there those problems

would be encouraged to escalate. Because? We are inviting the

world's media there and if you were a protester... If people complain

and say they are not heard when we have got the international press

worldwide and the television countries from all over the world,

we will be there and the protesters can speak to you. I have spoken to

people who represent people who are dissatisfied with the way they

think the country is run. I said, let's have a press conference and

you can explain to the world. Imagine we said, no way we are

going to be in Bahrain. Would whatever their problems in Bahrain,

would they stop? On Monday morning everybody is happy. The answer is

No, because they are not protesting about Formula One. It is clear as

far as Bernie Ecclestone is concerned, of course there are two

sides to every story. Is it the right decision to go? Whether I

think it is right or wrong is irrelevant. What I think is

important is you are never going to keep everyone happy. The decision

has been made and on the basis of security and safety and that has

been done by the federation, by Bernie Ecclestone and everybody

involved. We are going there and who knows? Bernie made the point in

a quirky kind of way it may be a mechanism that sport can bring

these people together, because it has happened before it. Look at

South Africa and sport has played his part in that great nation.

Let's give everybody a chance, let's make the most of it and let's

make sure we can do the best for that country. Have you spoken to

any drivers? Yes, the drivers have discussed it and they are concerned

about what exactly is the position? The bottom line is they trust in

the teams and the FIA and if it is safe to go, they go. One of the

things is out of all business information, what are the facts?

That is very difficult when there are two sides to every story.

latest news is clashes are continuing and Amnesty

International is not happy with the way the country is being run, but

Formula One has seen fit to go there. It is far from the only news.

Arca two weeks away from the racetrack it was back to business

for the drivers, but the teams were busier than ever at the factories.

After Malaysia Ferrari might be race winners, but it does not mean

they are happy. We are working very hard day and night to improve the

performance. We have some small updates and hopefully big updates

when we come to Europe. At the moment this is the situation. We

know it is going to be a difficult weekend ahead of us, but we need to

maximise the potential we have at the moment. Whilst Fernando Alonso

was working out how he can run again this season, Jenson Button

was working out. He headed straight to Hawaii to compete in a triathlon

where he finished 6th. It was nice to have a good performance and I

hurt myself, which I said I would. Even before Sergio Perez' stunning

second place in Malaysia, many people were saying he could be

replacing Felipe Massa or, but the young Mexican, part of the Ferrari

driver Academy, says he will not So, I will definitely stick to Saba,

they they are fully deserve my 100%. Bus - saga. The double world

champion Sebastian Vettel was presented with a cucumber by the

German media but British journalists were was one more

interested in finding it where he thinks he can grab pesto abroad

Championship. A needed some mistakes here and there, but

overall, it was not a disaster. have a good result in Australia, we

did not finish in Malaysia, so that is it. I think that the car has

enormous potential. We just need to understand it a little bit more.

seems that the rubber Mercedes's controversial ruling is not over.

It combines an overtaking aide with different when, at the FIA has

rejected claims that it broke the rules. Rivals must now decide

whether to copy the design into their own cars. And finally, before

he will has even turned, it was already a tough weekend for Lewis

Hamilton who found out he will have to take off by police grid penalty

for changing the gearbox. engineers came into my room and

they said, what have I done? But I have to face a five police grid

penalty before the race starts but I am still doing positive. The team

have done a great job. I came from third, last year, to win the race,

so anything is possible. I think these stands will be cheering on

Lewis Hamilton. There are list that he can start on the grid is sixth

place, because of his gearbox penalty but I am sure his fans will

be waving their flags anyway. But it is a race penalty, not a

qualifying penalty, so Lewis Hamilton goes looking for his first

ever three oppositions in a row. It is frustrating for drivers to not

even turn a wheel in anger and end up having a penalty. It is

frustrating, no question, but the reliability of these modern Grand

Prix cars is incredible. When Frank and Eddie had his team he would

regularly blow engines and gearboxes and expected not to

finish 25% of races in the season. But this is now, and given the

reliability, it will be frustrating but we know or that the worst case

is that the beings of in pole position, he will be in six place,

which gives him a great jazz tomorrow. His body language gave it

all away. He is super-confident. He has one year, twice, before, with a

view sixth or 7th on the grid, in his mind it does not matter. He

still thinks he can win this race. Let's put it in context. It is

better to have a fresh, new gearbox starting in six place than having

an old gearbox that is going to blow up halfway through. I think he

has made the right decision. McLarens were the past as cars and

final practice, so if he gets demoted, it is good news for Jenson

Button because his fastest rival will be five places further back.

It is very interesting having those two drivers in the team, the two

Number One drivers, like McLaren has, success for your team-mate is

Filia for you, and vice versa, so it is one of the difficult

challenges that teams have, keeping both drivers feeling that they have

got an equal opportunity, and to give one a leg up when he thinks

things are not going his way, but Lewis Hamilton is full of

confidence. He has not had the results he would like but he has

been good in qualifying so far this year. McLaren, like every other

team, has been working hard in practice. They are the strange

contraption attached to the back of the car. Can you shed any light on

what this is - it is not very pretty. You can run various logging

devices on the practice on Friday and what they have is a device to

measure airflow and it has to check correlation between wind-tunnel and

racetrack. I thought it was a combine harvester, so to speak!

This is certainly no combine harvester, it is a fabulous car.

They are going to be contenders for the constructors' title and the

drivers' title this year. This is an indication that they are

prepared to waste time on the track when they could be doing other

things, so this is a sign of their confidence, for me. Les walked back

to Red Bull. You know why I like walking up and down the pit lane,

to get the atmosphere and see what is going on. When it comes to Red

Bull, interesting situation regarding the development of their

cars. Just give us the latest as far as you understand it. We have

two bodywork Configurations on their cars. It is normally the case

that you have different exhaust exits on Mark Webber and Sebastian

Vettel's cars but to have that sort of difference is unusual. It will

be down to driver preference, but the aerodynamic set-up pains to be

about what is quickest, what gives you the numbers in terms of load

through the push rods. Rose aerodynamic devices are producing

the same amount of downforce and it is down to the balance and choice

of the driver. Mark, being slightly heavier has different weight

distribution, and that gives him some benefit. People need to

understand, each driver is different. Some of them like

understeer going into corners, and all that kind of thing. It is about

setting up the car. No two cars and the spread will be the same.

you first see this for the entire season? You cannot have two the

front development lines for the entire year. You would have to have

filed a budget! But it is not a constructive way to go on about it.

You need to have an idea about how you going to project the

championship. They us is a race three of the season, Australia,

then Malaysia, now China. The yes, it seems like we have been on the

road for a long time already. Sometimes you struggle to get the

upgrades on the car, but they will have the chance to do it back in

Europe, because of the logistics of getting the pass around. At the

last race in Malaysia they fail to lead for one lap which has not

happened bubble lasts 24 races. But while Red Bull struggled, Fernando

Alonso flew. Lights out, away we go, there is not much in it, but

Hamilton is have a better. Grosjean getting past Schumacher, brilliant

start. Round the outside, that is Webber, tried to make a drone, and

Sergio Perez, coming into the pits. That is a shame. He had been

running well. The Red Flag has been brought out on this race. All

drivers will have to head back on to the grid. They are all waiting

for Lewis Hamilton to go for it, and he does. Sergio Perez, then

Sebastien Webber under attack from Fernando Alonso. And second place

or Sergio Perez, with a modern coming in, he has got to go to

intermediate tyres. Surge of Presley's the race. Hamilton had a

problem. Fernando Alonso has gained, those Ferrari pit stops are amazing

this year. And there is Jenson Button into the pits, he needs a

new front wing. This is dropping him well back. Ferrari, leading in

Malaysia. So a bastion Vettel has a problem. He has lost drive,

puncture, left rare. -- rear. as a problem, he has run White,

going into turn 14. -- run wide. All one's a taste of victory,

second place goes to the 20-year- old Mexican, Sergio Perez. --

What a remarkable result. We will hear from Sergio Perez, and talk

about Sabra and Ferrari, but first, here is Bruno Senna who finished in

sixth place in that race, his best ever result. And all from a

difficult start. I bet you did not expect to the finishing well in the

points. You can have a nice race sometimes, and it was one of those

races where everything happened and we took advantage of it. The Cadiz

competitive. There was my some good race moves with a bit of Watergate.

You will want to focus on this part of the race and take this forward,

for the rest of the season. sure. The most important thing is

to concentrate on qualifying better. That makes you more accessible to

crashes and confusion, as are the best way to do it is to get ahead

and keep pure nose clean. You are like a seasoned campaigner. You

have driven for Renault, and who are now year with one of the great

teams, Williams. Is there a great difference? For sure. The structure

is very different. Having the all season to learn, it is a huge

learning curve, much bigger than I expected after doing last year. I

have a lot to learn, a lot to improve and they will take it, step

by step. You seem to be very experienced, very cool, so how much

does it take the pressure off you, getting that race under your belt?

The pressure is always on end Formula One, there is no way round

the pressure, you have to deliver. You have the whole year to prove,

and to learn, to take the pressure of a little bit, but the important

thing is to make sure that you set yourself realistic targets. I think

it is going to be a long season ahead. Do you feel like it is like

coming home, coming back to Williams, given all the things that

have gone on before, is there anything simmering a way that might

give you extra pleasure? It is a great privilege to be here, with a

team that has seen many champions. It is a special feeling. Overly, we

can have a more progressive season. Tell us how it feels when your eyes

wander down to the famous Ayrton Senna sticker, given that you're on

call pastor when one of their cars. Is very special to have your name,

twice, in the car, not everybody can do it. It is a very emotional

thing for the family. In motor racing, these things can happen. So,

in my family everybody is happy, and I am even happier. And I know

that your carp also sounds a very well this morning, it has been

drowning us out for most of the interview! You have been sealed 0.5

seconds in one of your team-mates and practice, can you sneak into

the final part of qualifying? think so. We had a lot of traffic

which did not help previously, but it is one of those things, in

qualifying, you have to take opportunities, and the car is very

competitive. We are capable of being top then. Let's make sure

that that happens this time. Good luck ahead of qualifying. Whilst

Bruno Senna was fighting through the field, another young man was

fighting for an unlikely victory, marched 12, the day that Sergio

Perez announced himself to Formula HE SPEAKS SPANISH. Sergio Perez was

the first to switch to the full wet tyres, and he is aiming for third

place. I was quite happy with the car. I was feeling good, so far.

The young Mexican doing a superb job. Then I was in the lead.

Sergio Perez, and the Sauber, leads the Malaysian Grand Prix, about

that? Now we have Fernando Alonso in front of him. There is Fernando

Alonso trying to struggle. Could Perez get onto the back of the

Ferrari? I was catching Fernando, and I was the fastest car on the

track. He you doing very well. was the fastest car on the track,

again and again. Perez is still catching Fernando Alonso. I had a

good feeling for the victory, I was just going for the victory and not

caring any more for second place. Be careful of his position. Perez

has a problem. He has run wide. Fernando Alonso has been given a

huge break. For sure, I was having a fight with Fernando. Who knows?

Second place goes to the 21 year old Mexican, Sergio Perez, just 2.2

seconds behind. Sauber gets its best ever result. How did you feel

when you got back to Mexico? fans and the media were so happy.

The last time was a long time ago, in the 70s. And they like the sport,

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

Formula One. This weekend, I think we have a good potential for the

car. We have to rely that we are not going to be so easy to get

another podium, but I am sure that Whatever language you speak, that

was some drive by Sergio Perez. The Sun has been shining on Sauber for

the past few weeks. We are here with the CEO of the Sauber Formula

One team. The words out of the blue are written there. How much did

that results take you by surprise? It is a campaign we have agreed

with a partner and we will be announcing it before it Barcelona.

How much of a surprise was that results? Last time I remember I was

asking how quick it will get as new partners. Definitely with that kind

of positive result it accelerates the process. It is not just about

the partners. It is about the team as well. Did you have to say, calm

down, let's get some perspective, we are not going to be on the

podium at every race. Of course expectations rise internally and

externally, so we will try our best to repeat that. My concern is,

please tell me why did you tell him so late to hold place, particularly

when he was poised to take the wind. We did not tell him to hold a place,

and we wanted to make sure because he was a young, inexperienced

driver, that he gets the result home. We just maybe brought it the

wrong way out, but all we wanted to do was to make sure that he did not

make any mistake, which you can do in those conditions. We saw that he

went a bit off the line and we wanted to make sure he got the

result. You mentioned the team has been around long enough and Sergio

is an inexperienced driver, but in terms of the engineers, how much to

do they have to change their mind set when they found themselves

being able to get to the podium? Did everyone perform in that

scenario? We knew that the car was fast and we were a little surprised

to see we could keep up that raised in all the different, ambient

conditions. You suddenly have a very high expectations, but you

have to get people down again and make them focus on it. We know

young drivers can make mistakes and we have had a lot of history with

young drivers. Perhaps at slip by Sergio Perez is because he is a

young and inexperienced driver and the message to keep out of his own.

Can you make it clear, if he had kept that pace, if he was faster

than Fernando Alonso, you would have allowed him to pass the

Ferrari? Certainly, I would like to clarify we had no orders from

anywhere, there were no signals. The us that put your mind at rest?

Not really, my opinion it was very clear. He would have definitely won

the race if it had been any other car other than a Ferrari. There is

pressure, and you have made it very clear. I feel the pressure of

having a Ferrari in front of him had a major impact on him winning

the race. I do not think there was any pressure like that. I think it

takes a lot of experience to overtake a driver like Fernando.

Fernando knows if he has somebody behind him how he can make them

make mistakes. These are also good qualities of the driver. All this

has happened less than a year since there was a big crash for a surge

up at the Monaco Grand Prix. Absolutely, it is amazing how he

suffered such a severe injury, mentally also, because it takes a

lot for a driver to accept what happens, and to come back without

any fears. He has done a great job and I remember in Monaco he wanted

to race on that Sunday again. put it into context, this is what

he told me about how long it took him to recover when he hit those

barriers. First of all, I lost the race for my team. Then it took me

four or five races to fill 100% because I was getting dizzy during

the races, so it was not a good time. Then we lost performance from

the car. It was not a good time for me. Can you relate to how hard it

is to recover mentally and physically? Interesting, I never

had any issues after a crash, and I had a few, and maybe it is because

he had a concussion. He was very honest to tell us about that is

seen as. I do not expect that will travel too far outside the team.

think it takes a lot for a driver to even say that. A lot of people

would have kept quiet, so it speaks a lot about his maturity. Have you

got the speed to be in the top 10 today? We have the speed and style

everything else has to work out and we will try our best. Thank you

very much for your time. Well she spends a bit of time with the rest

of the team, one of the things that helps Sauber maybe there KERS

devised. We can go right inside a The electric motor which is mounted

onto the front of the engine, that is used to harvest energy. 80

horsepower is the rate at which the energy can be harvested and that

his bed into a system. It is converted into a direct current,

which is fed into the battery pack. It is the battery pack where the

energy is stored and it waits until the driver is ready to deploy that

pension. When we hear about KERS harvesting, that is the charging

and can the driver Derry that? driver can bury the level of that

power. It cannot be more than 80 horsepower level, but it can be

lower depending on circumstances. We have now got the battery pack to

last over 4000 kilometres on a very reliable basis. It is a control

unit, a black box, is it the same for all the teams? Yes, that is the

standard and that monitors the system to make sure we do not go

above the 80 horsepower and also the fixed 0.7 seconds and we do not

go above that. This there any way a driver can get more out of it and

another driver? Yes, absolutely. The driver can do it in one

continuous boost its the straight is long enough, or it can be used

in a different way to attack or defend, depending on the

circumstances. Just over 20 minutes until those

drivers are pressing their KERS buttons and fighting for position

in Shanghai. David, you have had the opportunity to drive one of the

latest bits of technology, a car with one KERS unit and four

separate harvesting areas, I think that is the correct terminology.

you do not sound so sure. I am not so hot on that, but is this a good

idea of Formula One technology being passed down? Absolutely. Lots

of things like this will be in the auto industry in the future. The

big challenge is the packaging. Batteries especially, they are huge

lumps in the back of the car. You lose a lot of benefit by carrying

the extra weight of the batteries. This had four Motors in each of the

wheels, with incredible talk. Packaging the batteries is a big

challenge and keeping the weight down and that is what Formula One

does in terms of development. did it right? With electric motors

you get an instant talk. This is not a publicity stunt. The range of

those cars now is very impressive and the rate of development with

the batteries is having a big effect, certainly from Formula One.

Plenty of technology is being passed down into the real world and

we have now arrived outside the Ferrari garage has. Is there

technology good enough for them to pick up another waste -- race when

this season? We left this to Eddie Jordan. Ferrari, Formula One's

ensuring team. 60 years, six decades of history. I have a dream.

Sometimes dominant, sometimes know where, constantly changing, always

Ferraris. But where is the grand old team now? Ferrari has not had a

world champion for five years and after the drama of Malaysia Ben

Ando Alonso is our championship leader, yet the mood around the

place is far from upbeat. You will not find many thinking, this is a

winning car. The trophy for that when in Malaysia, has it distracted

you in terms of pure gold, what you are trying to achieve with his car,

because it is not a great car yet? Unfortunately, absolutely not. I

would love to think about it, but our job is very clear and I said to

my engineers, let's use that as a boost, because the car is not very

great at the moment, but it is better to lead the championship

with a bad car instead of being last out with a bad car. But it is

very clear what we have to do and we have to recover the performance

as quickly as possible. pressure on this team is immense.

After last year's failure, the restructured its technical team.

Everyone from the junior engineers to the drivers know they have to

deliver for 2012, but is it already too late? There is a little song

they sing in English football, do not be offended, it is, you will be

sacked in the morning. Cook that apply to you if you do not get it

right? In the morning, the event, that is part of the game. At the

moment I am totally focused on this job and that is the way it has to

be. Even after Malaysia it was the second placed Ferrari powered

Sauber that impressed. With many privately thinking that Sergio

Perez could have taken the wind having been instructed by his team

to ease off in the closing stages. We have to keep on working at it.

Everyone else has not got out their rose-tinted glasses and saying, we

are winning again. Fundamentally we know we have to improve at the last

performance. Where does six decades of history start to become a burden

for Ferrari? This car has a hint of desperation about it. It has been

too long since Behrami ruled the roost in Formula One. The

prognosis? Do not hold your breath. Do not hold your breath because you

do not think they are going to improve or because you think it is

unlikely? I think the car is generally poor. When you have got a

poor car, you will always struggle. There is no history in the past

four Ferrari that they can bring all those updates. McLaren do it

particularly well. They recognise it is not a great car, but they won

the Grand Prix fair and square. The weather might play his part in

other races. But I do not think they are going to develop that into

a consistent and winning car this year. But Pat Fry is talking about

procedures being put in place for the long term, and I think they are

taking a longer term plan and making a number of changes behind

the scenes. How long does it take McLaren used the Toyota Wintle, as

did a number of teams, because it is the most modern facilities. --

the Toby Otter wind tunnel. -- Toyota or wind tunnel. Let us cast

ourselves back to the British Grand Prix. They won it. With the

confusion with the exhaust changes, and everyone thought that this

would be the year for Ferrari, but the car is nowhere near the class

of the McLaren, and when you have got a car like that it is difficult

to change. Time marches by so quickly, one race leads to another,

where is the time to develop a? Sometimes you don't know why the

car is fast when it is fast, sometimes, you might not know when

-- why it is slow, when it is slow. This changes the whole performance

of the car. Teams will always put their chest out when they a winning

races, but if they understood every element of what may be a car fast,

they would never produce any back- up. About quarter of an hour until

qualifying starts, they are brought five or six upgrades to this race

and were 15th and 18th in practice. This is the way that you can absorb

all the action. There is the driver tracker available online. You can

take a selection of all on board laps from the drivers if you want

to ride on board with them. The pit lane feed has team radio on it.

There is constantly updated news on the BBC website. And for seven days

after the race, everything is available on the BBC iPlayer. You

are now going to head up to the commentary box, David. Looking

alter this one? Yes, because this is a televised shoot-out for pole

position. McLaren should be the most likely. Red Bull, a little bit

uncertain with the direction of the car, so it will be interesting to

see how that pans out. The drivers, heading to their cockpits, and I

wonder how Mark Webber will be showing, he has a two for police

finishes, his best ever start, no wonder he was smiling when he took

was for a tour of the track. We are going to have a little tour round

the track. This was all the bus that we could afford! I think you

could start better than me but I am working on it. It was not a great

start, with other cars flying past him. Right on the apex of turn two,

you must have to be very patient. It is a complex turn. It is all a

little bit bumpy. Then a further in you get it becomes very tight,

which is the last thing you want. This is where it all happens in

terms of getting the car into decision to go on to the apex of

turn three, then that sets you up for the All third sector. -- whole

third sector. Put it in first, give it a little throttle, you know? Now,

clutch out, now, put the clutch out! The clutch! The that drivers

not bad. This is flat out, would you say in qualifying? It has been,

in years gone by, but it is very flat, this corner. There is no

elevation change. You try to get through as quickly as possible, not

compromising the trajectory of the turn doubts. That is how good the

eyeliner is, that is the hype it is at. -- eyeline, the height it is at.

You can get something more of a sensation of speed here, if you

look at it going at 250 miles an hour. In my early 30s I was more

concerned about it, but now, I am just enjoying it. I have never

enjoyed working with the guy is more than I haven't a last four or

five months. Could you walk away this year? Another two a three

ears? This year, it is too early for me. Let us see how this boy

takes the apex. We need to go more, over this way. Welcome aboard the

Shanghai bus tour, we do a tour after the race. We can do a tour,

after the Grand Prix, but it is extra! Actually, the bus is

probably where your car was quite a few times last year, at the back of

the field, on 18th. It was a good race. It was a bit frustrating for

some of the drivers. But it is tricky to get it right. We have had

a full season now, so we will give it to go. On the inside, you have

to be quite deep, on the brakes. Am feeling good. There are a lot of

positives for me. I feel like I am back to 100%, and challenging for

race victories. I feel like I am driving well. I am just happy that

we have got plenty more races to come. It has been lovely to spend

time with you. Impressive driver. Did you learn much about the racing

line? He likes to pull up with that lock on. The last race of the day,

off the ramp! It is the start of qualifying here in Shanghai, we can

hear from Christian Horner, Mark Webber's team principal. Two

essentially different cars for Sebastien and for Mark Webber,

although they might look evenly matched. Which car do you think

will come out on top? difference is a characteristic with

how the cars are beginning which suits both drivers, both drivers

seemed settled and happy with their set-up. Probably, if anything,

there is not much in it, it is more of a personal taste thing between

both drivers. Hopefully, be a building the two most competitive

cars that we have got. McLaren, your main rivals? They look good

over a single lap. Today it is going to be tough to take that

challenge to them but we will do our best. Sunday is a different

matter. Our race base looks strong. But Mercedes cannot be ruled out

over a single lap. It should make for interesting qualifying. They

seemed to have different set-ups going into this race but who will

make that decision? Do you give Mark Webber the opportunity or does

question on a have the final say? Christian is on the administrative

side. Adrian Newey Might be the best designer, but in terms of

structuring the team to get the last little fraction out of it, it

will be the team technical director, he will bring everybody together,

he will look at all the print outs and they will see where one can is

marginally quicker and at this moment in time they seemed to be

very clear otherwise they would have gone down the route of one

faster than the other. Do you take into account the emotions of

drivers when one driver wants one thing and the other one something

else? Drivers are fragile. They might not give that impression but

inside the car, they are fragile. Let's see how the qualifying

unfolds in the company of David Qualifying for the Chinese Grand

Prix is going to take place on a dry track in bright but misty

conditions. It is the 9th time bomb of one has come to the Shanghai

International Circuit. It is a tax bill to the highest standards and

it looks very impressive with his bridges over the pit straight. Here

we are a in China, the first race was in Australia, and still we are

getting something of a feel for who will be on top, but in qualifying

it has all been about Lewis Hamilton this season and it could

be again today the stock he has a gearbox penalty that will be

applied for race day so if he gets pole position, he will not get to

start their, but he will still target the top spot in qualifying.

The lap record was set by Michael Schumacher in 2004. I don't think

we will be threatening that particular record today. This is a

track where we see speeds over 175 miles an hour, in four separate

places, 200 miles an hour, down at the end of the straight. This is

when drivers loved driving Grand Prix cars. There are places where

you get champagne and trochees if you're lucky enough to win, but

qualifying is about showing your bravery and speed and when they

were out of a qualifying lap, if they only do one lap they will have

seven or eight kilograms of fuel to give them an out lap and then to

come back in again. We have seen some issues this weekend. We are

not getting the lap out of the new tyres on the first lap and we have

that situation again today, then you will see them doing multiple

works. The choice of tyres, we have the soft Pirelli, and the medium

Pirelli. The softer with the yellow writing on the side wall, and a

harder has the white writing. Taking one minute maximum.

Prime refers to the harder tyre, the option refers to the softer

tyre. Thank-you for explaining that to people at home. I would like to

run at system all your, the Prime been the faster tyre, -- softer,

and the option being the faster one. It is a bit confusing, with all the

options that Pirelli brings you. Jenson Button only one point ahead

of Mark Webber. Mark Webber with that different specification on his

Red Bull, to Sebastian Vettel, it will be interesting to see how he

goes on. There have been some last minute changes to Felipe Massa's

car. There had been some changes this morning for Fernando Alonso.

Gary Anderson is in the pit lane. You have been watching the

technical changes being made to Fernando Alonso's car and these

have been taking quite some time. Yes, trying to set up the front

suspension and front porch and bars. -- the front torsion bars. These

ones going vertically. It took them 15 minutes do make that change, out

of a one-hour session, which is not good enough. But probably functions

quite well but it takes too much time to change it. Ferrari are

other issues besides the fact that the car is just not fast enough.

Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher have been near the top of the time

sheets all weekend. But right at the top, Lewis Hamilton and Jenson

Button. We're looking at those four or pole position. We heard from

Christian honour that he expects McLaren to have a slight advantage

in qualifying -- Christian Horner. It would only take one small

mistake from one of the Red Bull drivers to allow that to happen.

Red Bull coming in with a great qualifying record. Sebastian Vettel

has been on pole position for the last three years. It would be

amazing, four times in a row, but they are struggling for that last

little bit of pace. The best that Michael Schumacher has of a

qualified here is sixth place, so he will have to do better than that.

The green light is on at the end of the pit lane. Of course, all 24

cars will be going out onto the track for this, and getting ready

to see whether they can make it through to the next part of

qualifying, and to do that, they might have to be in the top 17, and

that is what we will keep an eye on, throughout the session to stop Kimi

Raikkonen in the Lotus, fastest lap last time out, he has never been on

pole position, even in is no clarity -- Ferrari years, but he

has qualified on the front row three Times, and he won, back in

2007. Whether he has a car capable of taking pole position, I am not

so sure. There is a feeling in the paddock that we have not seen the

best of his Lotus car, so far. He was third on the grid in Melbourne,

and Kimi Raikkonen has lost none of his speed in his two years doing

rallying. He has had a troubled practice session where he did not

do a lot of laps. He is probably a little bit behind in terms of his

Paul di Resta is out on track. Gary, I wanted to ask you about the

technical challenge poor qualifying here and from an engineer's point

of view, what are they trying to get out of the car? To try and get

into that top 17. It seems to be quite a big step between the soft

tyre and the hard tyre, so if you look at the cars that are going to

try and make sure they get into cue to, they will have to put on the

soft tyre to get through to that. For it could easily knock out one

of the big teams quite quickly if a small team picks up on the soft

tired. You have to be alert to make sure you get through. We have seen

Felipe Massa or have to go to the soft tyre just to get through to

queue two. A new set of the softer tyre really helped Lewis Hamilton

last year. It is indeed. As the track wares in during the course of

the weekend, the life you get out of a tyre improves. If you have

used all your options in qualifying, you miss out on an opportunity to

take a pit stop as far as you would like. Strategy is absolutely key,

as we have seen this year. Paul di Resta as he goes on to a flying lap.

Using more of the curve than I expected. He will be looking down

into the cockpit. He would have looked down and he may have allowed

is another straight section, quite a crucial section. Second gear and

then this is the tricky part, coming out through 13. You can see

the car snaking around. Then you see a never ending corner. The

difficulty is you are at the limit of the grip of the car, but you

want to get your BRS open to get the benefit of the extra length. We

have seen a number of cars touching 200 miles an hour just before the

braking is on. Paul di Resta not quite at that point in qualifying.

The BRS system, the drag reduction system, is being used on all the

straits in qualifying. Teams are allowed to do that. When it comes

to the race they will only be allowed to use it on a section, not

the entire length, but a prescribed section. Let's take a look at what

happens to pall on that lap. That is a lock-up in to turn six. Yes,

it is. That is an element of carrying too much speed and at the

last moment trying to apply a bit more brake pressure. You lose

downforce and you are having to get off the brake pedal as you get

closer to the corner because you are using downforce. That is when

you see locking up. Lewis Hamilton, one of the cars we are expecting to

get into pole position. All the cars are worried about qualifying

and getting into the top 17. He has been the man on form around this

racetrack this weekend, despite the fact he got a sight place penalty

for a gearbox change. He has handled that well and is getting on

with the business of trying to drive his car as quickly as

possible. We are coming to the end of the second sector. He is

quickest in that sector of all the cars that have been out on track.

He looked as if he went out wide on 13 and that may have cost him a bit

of time. Now the D R S is active all the way down that straight.

Breaking down to about 44 miles an hour, that is all they are doing at

their hairpins. It is like being hit on the back of a helmet with a

sledgehammer. The driver will be generating 120 bar operates

pressure. Then you are having to take your foot off the brake pedal

to allow your car or not to lock up too much. Raikkonen is gone third.

Now we are on board with Sebastian Vettel. What is it the three-time

poll winner over the last few years going to do on his first run? It

does not look as if he is going to do anything spectacular. Watch him

into the first corner. A tricky section requiring a lot of patience.

It is indeed, you carry a lot of speed into that first part of turn

one. Their new role the car down into town two. It does not work for

the drivers in terms of the feeling behind the wheel. I believe it is

meant to represent a character. He is not doing too bad. He is pretty

much at matching what Hamilton was doing. We expect to hear that maybe

being flat, a lot of patience through nine and 10. Pretty tidy.

They should be a formality for Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull, so

you do not need to take too many risks. He goes fastest in the

middle sector. Presumably he finishes the end of the lap, it

will be 36.6. I would expect him to be a bit slower than the McLaren in

the last sector because of the high-speed nature as he goes down

that long, back straight. This is encouraging for Red Bull. Very much

on the pace of McLaren. A little deeper into turn 14. That might

drop him back a little from that top time that Lewis Hamilton has

set. The final sector might not be their strongest. Khobar Yash she

has gone second in the Sauber. That is a good effort by the Japanese

driver. -- Kobayashi. They look as reaction when Kobayashi when second

was that he must be on the auction tier. That confirms that Sebastian

Vettel lost time running wide down into turn 14. Webber is the fastest

and Sebastian Vettel is the 4th fastest. They are running slightly

different set-ups, what is different about them? They

developed their cars from a Saturday testing. Mark Webber has a

different exhaust configuration. Sebastian Vettel feels the car is

too hard to drive, so he has gone back to the older speck from

Barcelona and he feels more comfortable. He knows he can push

it to nearer the limit. Driver confidence is everything. Sebastien

feels better with that car. Getting a little bit of team radioed from

Sebastian Vettel, but we did not quite catch it. Webber fastest at

the moment from Hamilton. Michael Schumacher is currently 5th and at

Nico Rosberg his 6th. Perhaps not quite as quick as we thought they

would be. It looks as though Red Bull are going to be qualifying and

challenging for top times. They are not using the fastest tier, they

are using the harder compound tyre at this stage. At better times from

Jenson Button. He goes faster than Hamilton. Cobia she is currently

4th fastest, but currently a bit of a lock-up on that previous run. But

which of the drivers will have to use the softer tyre? Everybody is

using the harder tyre at the moment. We are looking at one of them.

Jean-Eric Vergne is sitting down in 18th place. Toro Rosso are not

showing particularly good form here so far. Let's keep an eye out for

Felipe Massa as well. He is right on the cusp of being dropped out of

this qualifying. Six-tenths of a difference between him and Alonso.

This is the young Frenchman, the youngest driver in the field. A

points scorer already after that impressive poorer -- performance he

put in Malaysia. He will have to put on a softer tyre to try and get

out of the drop zone which is 80 the downwards. If he had finished

that lap, he would have gone a little bit quicker. With seven

minutes to go, the team have decided to bring him in and get the

option tyre on. That was Heikki Kovalainen going about sideways. He

is 19th. Gary, what are your thoughts on which teams will have

to go for the softer tyre? Felipe Massa should be in one of the top

running teams and he will be the first to do that. This morning 37.6

was seven tape. If you had a little bit more effort and tidied it up,

you have got to make sure you get into part two. I think it is 38.0.

I think there is a second to find. Those who are sitting in the pits

to have not done a 36, they will be taking a gamble. It is incredibly

close looking at the top times. The top six cars are covered by two-

tenths of a second. But we are concentrating on those that have to

make it into the top 17. That is why Felipe Massa is on the softer

tyre. Do not worry about the names that have come up on the screen.

They have not changed the names from the other race this weekend.

like Gary's expression, a bit more effort from the drivers in

qualifying. It reminds me of my schooldays, must try harder.

you have that? Constantly. Felipe Massa has set the fastest first

sector of any body, and he should to really because he is on the

softer tyre. This is the tier that all the top teams will be switching

to as we go through to qualifying. Some of the lower teams will be

doing it now. This shows Ferrari are struggling with his car. They

have got to use every trick in the book to get into the next stage of

qualifying. He is coming into the second checkpoint. The tyres are

working much better. It goes to show that everybody is going to

improve massively once they start using these tyres. But worrying the

he is only marginally quicker than our current fast man, Mark Webber.

There is a huge amount of time available in this last sector. What

can a driver do? The entry on to that long straight through 13 is

vitally important for getting those high tops beats and breaking down

into 14. This looks like a very simple corner, 16, but it is

incredibly tricky, because you are trying to take not too much of the

kerb. Unsurprisingly Felipe Massa goes quickest and that will get him

into the second part of qualifying, but at the expense of one of his

options in the tyres. He got a big again, 1.4 seconds. We were

expecting it to be as seconds or maybe under, but that was 1.4.

There is no doubt that the Ferrari is not using its tyres as well as

some of the Kwik-Fit cars. -- has qualified as high as 7th, this

year, in Australia and has already scored a couple of points in that

race in Malaysia. Used on those softer tyres, you can see the

yellow writing on the side wall. He is not challenging what Felipe

Massa did and there. Kimi Raikkonen is out on the softer tyre, and I

think, you still on the harder tyre, that is interesting. Kimi Raikkonen,

the fastest first section on the harder tyres, were watching

Hulkenberg on the latter part of the lap. Paul di Resta in his Force

India in second place in this part of the session. It is an indication

of speed relative to the Ferrari, because you can directly compare

those auction tyres. -- option. Hulkenberg does not seem as settled

as Paul di Resta around this racetrack. Grosjean was the first

time and was fastest for the moment. That is a great lap from the French

driver. Never been to Shanghai before. He is on the softer tyre,

he is faster than Felipe Massa or in the Ferrari, so putting that

lack of experience behind him to put in a faster lap. Sergio Perez

is on the softer tyre but with the pace of the sober, we thought they

might be able to get through this part of qualifying without the

softer tyre, but it is so competitive in that midfield.

got very worried on turn 13, and that will cost him in this section.

He shows a lack of confidence in the tyre, Perez, to go on that

option. We can see Fernando Alonso getting very wide on the kerb. He

has gone with the option Byers, saw a number of teams as Gary mentioned

are feeling under pressure to have to gain that extra six or 710 Seb -

- Potenza the second. Mark Webber has been proved that it place. And

in the drop zone, those are the ones that we have got to watch. We

have Heikki Kovalainen and his team-mate Vitaly Petrov. Timo Glock,

Charles Pic, the two HRTs, and let's see what this next lap is

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

place, and for teams like Caterham and Mar Russia, it is a huge

achievement to get out of the drop zone into Q2, that is a big target

and that is what they are trying to do now. He will not be in this one,

only 30 seconds to go. That will be an uncomfortable week that he sits

in 13 place. If he looks down to the cut-off point, there are only

talking to tens of a second. -- two 10ths of a second. Petrov has been

here, couple of times before. The best qualifying for him was 10th,

in 2011, his car is moving around quite a lot, an indication of the

lack of downforce that the smaller teams suffer from. You could see

how much the car was moving around. I think we have got an answer as to

who will be the first of the mid- grid teams to drop out, it is going

to be Jean-Eric Vergne. Certainly in the middle sector, as well, I

think he has pretty much given up, in this lap. Those are the sort of

cars that are dropping out. Petrov across the line, 28, behind his

team-mate, Heikki Kovalainen, once again go stop winning the

qualifying battle with his team- mate, Heikki Kovalainen, 3-0, this

year. Timo Glock is ahead of Charles Pic, not surprising because

Charles Pic is due to Formula One this year. There is no change there,

he is 21st and 22nd. Then it is Pedro de la Rosa or, faster than

his team-mate, as well, and Jean- Eric Vergne, of the cars and

drivers who would have expected to get through to the second part of

qualifying, but he misses out this time, using the drop zone, his

team-mate, Daniel Ricciardo, has made it. But no changes there.

Pedro de la Rosa crosses the line, guess a little closer, but the

session ends, and it is one of the was, both of them, from the last

race in Malaysia, Sergio Perez, on top, from Fernando Alonso, but

don't ride too much into that because they used this of the tyre,

as did Romain Grosjean, whereas the likes of Mark Webber and Sebastian

Vettel used the harder tyre. So, it was Sebastian Vettel who was 15

bus this. -- 15th fastest. Other drivers are on harder tyres, and

there is Pedro de la Rosa or in the HRT, struggling and locking up. Are

you surprised that these drivers are still struggling, all three of

them, in qualifying? I am a little bit. I have spoken about this. I do

not understand how one of the three has not made a move. You look at

that car sliding around that you realise that the cat is not good

enough. HRT have had a couple of changes of ownership, that is

disturbing to the make-up of the team. But if you look at Caterham,

Le Cap Timo Glock with Marussia, they just need to find more speed,

simple. Jean-Eric Vergne fell in the final part of qualifying. He

will take heart from his qualifying in Malaysia. He was one of their

stars for me. He almost went unnoticed, but he was there, and he

has brought new life to France, where they might have been

struggling with drivers for a couple of years, but he is the

bright, new future. It does not help when you go out at the early

stages, like this. We know that they have got some money and have

worked with Red Bull, but they are not quite there. They will be the

team or, if you were to take a gamble and say, who is most likely

to get out, because they and a second or so quicker than the next

rider, and getting some momentum, but Mike Gascoigne said they with a

40 points last year. He is the designer, maybe he knows something

that we do not know. He was never able to transfer those estimates of

40 points into reality. It costs about 1.2 �5 million just to run a

team, and for every 10 million on top of that you find performance

gains. You score points in your debut season, is it now so

expensive that it is impossible to make a mark? We have to be careful

about what we blame and it is easy to blame finance. It is still the

responsibility of the team to go out and find the necessary finance.

It is part of the game. If you are deficient in technology, or finance,

you put your attention on to the area that is going to give you the

best bang for your but, it is a simple as that. They have to make

it clear cause of Mike Gascoigne has to bring his people together to

This is designed to look like a traditional Shanghai Yuyan Garden,

just outside the paddock. Each of the teams have two of these. It is

a nice place to relax, it is more compatible than a commentary box.

We would be happy to move up there! This does not look very glamourous.

The happy couple, up there in the commentary box, look at that!

Ferrari put on the soft tyres, Sauber and Perez once again were

faster. In deed. He has been impressive, Sergio Perez, he is a

star of the future, and the team is working effectively to get that are

working and it is exciting to see a new driver come on the scene like

that. One as exciting as the next phase of qualifying. It will be a

big boost to get themselves through to the top 10. We have just felt

some rain out here. That would make things interesting. We have had a

race is affected by rain several times, but qualifying? You have to

be fast in each session, you cannot carry times through from earlier on.

Jenson Button looking confident. It pit lane as we get ready for the

second part of qualifying. There could be some rain in the air, but

it is right at the moment. The view from the commentary box, which is

spectacular, it is the clearest that I have seen a rise and. There

tends to be always some small around Shanghai -- smog. So, if it

is spitting with rain, it must be coming from high cloud. The Red

Bulls have been showing pretty well. We're looking at the Toro Rosso of

Daniel Ricciardo. We have lost his team-mate, Jean-Eric Vergne, but

the Red Bulls were fast in that first part of qualifying, using the

harder tyre. We had been saying that there might not be a factor in

qualifying but they could be the ones to watch. They have not been

far away from the Alternate base of the pole position in the first two

Grand Prixs. They had the underlying race speed in the first

two races, marginally quicker than Red Bull at McLaren, but it is a

question of unlocking that performance and a big factor is

making the tyres work. We have seen a loss of a variation in track

temperature over the last two days, with 21 Celsius air temperature, so

this is a better operating window, for these tyres, which might favour

one team or another. Kobayashi out on the softer compound tyre. The

Japanese driver with the yellow writing on the tyre sidewall. His

team-mate making it out onto the circuit. Fernando Alonso also out

early onto the track. This qualifying session will be a little

bit shorter. We have looked at which tyres they were on, do you

have a ballpark figure from what they might have to do, to get into

the top 10 and make the final part of qualifying? Everyone has gone

out now, including Jenson Button, all on the softer tyres, so the

battle is going to be about getting into the top 10. I think 36.7 was

fastest in the first session. The faster dies it could get down well

into 35 seconds. For me, it will be 35.9, before they feel comfortable.

Schumacher the 35.9 on Friday afternoon. Lewis Hamilton the 35.9

this morning. Pretty much ideal conditions, brand new tyres, we

will see what they can do. Fernando Alonso has been getting some heat

into the tyres, been quite aggressive with the steering wheel.

Yes, drink two or three laps in these tyres, weaving around, trying

to get as much heat into the tyres on the out lap, and another way to

do that is a braking, radiating heat from the brake disc out into

the wheel and the tyre, which can stabilised tyre pressures. All of

that has an effect on the mechanical grip, aerodynamic

performance and the driver's confidence when he launches out of

that last corner and starts his lap. Watching Kobayashi on the lap, the

first one to hit the sector points. Kimi Raikkonen already quicker

through the first set to appoint an Kobayashi. The best qualifying so

far this year for him is 13, he has not made it into the top 10. That

has got to be the challenge for Kobayashi. He will be hopeful that

there has -- that there is a chance to do that this morning. As I say,

Kimi Raikkonen behind, not as quick through the second checkpoint. We

will keep an eye on that. Kobayashi now enter that long straight, 1.1

kilometres, flat out all the way down, up to 200, Sergio Perez hit

320 kilometres per hour in the first session of qualifying, so

Kobayashi is going to be somewhere near that. Before getting onto the

brakes and then down to 40 miles an hour, through the hairpin, their

exhilarating up towards the left- hander. It is easy to overstep the

mark. 1.35 0.9, exactly what Gary said, it should be around there.

are during that Sergio Perez is out on a set of used option tyres. That

would explain the half a second difference between himself and

Kobayashi. Let's see what Alonso does as he comes across the line,

he is three 10ths of a second slower than Perez. We can see Nico

Rosberg going quickest at the stage at the pit by 0.7. That is the new

benchmark. Michael Schumacher is on the track. The first part of the

lap completed. He is going to come round on to a lap. He goes second.

35.7, the same time as Rosberg. Hamilton also on track. 35.9, third

fastest, Jenson Button only six Not so much from Mark Webber. It is

now the two Mercedes that are ruling the roost. Let's see what

went on with Felipe Massa into 1011. He looks up. I would not have

thought that would have cost him too much time. A bit of a replay of

struggle to get into the top 10. His team-mate it not make it into

the top 17. Romain Grosjean has not set a time in the second part of

qualifying, so whether he has had a problem, I am not sure. We are

seeing Kobayashi pushed back into the pit box. Gary, looking at these

times and some of these teams are using the tired they used earlier

on, are we going to see big changes when they put a brand-new set on?

We saw earlier in the practice sessions the second lap was OK on

the softer tyres. So for most of them who used the softer tyres in

qualifying one, they will try and get themselves into the same

schedule and that would be an ideal thing to do. You see Jenson Button

sitting at 36.1 in seventh place, he is a bit vulnerable. He needs to

watch it. Webber is behind him and Alonso can do that sort of time as

well. Romain Grosjean is getting that first run in. It sounds that

what they have done at Red Bull will be enough. Mark Webber will

have to go again on another set of options. They said they did not

feel it was enough for them either, that was heard on the radio. There

was some oversteer in the middle of 11 and that will have cost him a

lot of time. Once again you can see so much oversteer in that car.

has gone straight back into the pits and it is not looking good for

Romain Grosjean at the moment. He had good qualifying in Australia.

This is Sebastian Vettel. He has just set a new, fastest middle

sector so it looks as if we will see an improvement from the world

doubles champion. Red Bull fighting to be in the game to go for pole

position. The finance sector is a personal best, but it keeps him out

in sixth. It is incredibly close when you consider the length of the

circuit and the range of corners with some meaty ones in the middle

of the lap. You have got four corners over 250 kilometres an hour.

A lot of high-speed turns. Alonso is sitting in a tenth. Just under

five minutes to go. You can expect them all to be clearing out and

having one more run. There is one- tenth in each sector at the moment

for the best cars out there. last sector was not that great.

knows he can improve in the last sector. He will be confident there

is more to come. 35.7 is the time to beat. Very evenly matched, Nico

Rosberg and Michael Schumacher. They are running out of time. 4.5

minutes remaining on the clock. The battle to get into the top 10. It

looks as if they are getting ready to send that car again. Not going

to plan for Romain Grosjean so far. Felipe Massa has got plenty to do.

He is in 16th place at the moment. He has to find a second, really.

think he will be struggling to fight a second. One other person

who might be struggling, if you believe the circuit Tracker, it

showed Jenson Button had been used two sets of the faster tier. If he

feels honourable in the top 10 and maintaining his position, that

would leave nothing for the last part of qualifying. They at is a

worry for Jenson Button. It is frustrating when the director

decides to show lots of random people and we want to see the

accent and thankfully we are on board with Felipe Massa. There is a

bit up or weaving, making sure he has got good track position. His

engineer will be telling him where the other cars are. You do not know

who is coming out of the pit lane, but if somebody leaves in front of

you, and there is Felipe Massa just coming into shot. Both of these are

fighting for their place in the top 10. They are on track at the same

time and the comparison between Alonso and Felipe Massa will be

looked at. There is no hiding in Formula One. They are out on the

track at the same time, the team mates. Let's get a comparison at

what they can do. That is not bad. That is quite promising from his

point of view. Felipe Massa is two- tenths slower than that. But that

over a very simple sector, you should not expect that. There

should be hardly anything between equal team-mates and at worst may

be a tenth or so. Up to the second checkpoint. Alonso virtually on the

same pace at the moment as the best that we have seen. Felipe Massa is

a little over and down on his team- mate. We are going to see a lot of

changes in the top times. Rosberg and Michael Schumacher stayed in

the pit lane. They have decided the times they have set will be safe

enough to go through into the top 10 and they do not need to use

another set of tyres. Some top guys are really using up their

allocation of tyres. There are still others out there who might

improve. We are on board with Paul di Resta and he is 11 at the moment

and that is not enough. He is not going to improve any further on

that. He has still got time to finish of the lap if he has got

enough fuel on board to do so. Just reflecting on Felipe Massa's lap,

he was only three-tenths away. Maldonado does not do it, 11th.

Felipe Massa, that was a good effort all things considered.

Whether it remains in up to keeping in the top 10 or not. Hoodoo

rethink and challenge him behind? Perez is on a good lap now. He is

coming up to 14. That could be a key one. Mark Webber has done a

personal best and has been pushed down to tenth. Kobayashi and Perez

are up in third and fourth place. They have pushed a Felipe Massa

down. Ferrari will have noticed that one. Felipe Massa has been

pushed out of the top 10. Mark Webber is the man in danger, but he

has just set the fastest middle sector of anybody. As long as he

completes at the lack, he should be in the top 10. Consistently Red

Bull have been quickest in that middle sector. It is mainly the

fast corners where absolute downforce is key. Mercedes were

incredibly quick in the last sector. That could be as must decision

about the amount of downforce they are running as it is the speed of

the car. But he would have wanted more than that. He has been pushed

down tonight because Romain Grosjean has pushed him. Sebastian

Vettel is in trouble. No, he has not done yet. The three-times poll

winner, Sebastian Vettel, is out of qualifying. That is really dramatic.

We knew Ferrari were struggling. Alonso is in by the skin of his

teeth in tenth place, but Sebastian Vettel, no four successive pole

positions in Shanghai. Quite the opposite, he has failed to make it

through. That is a shock that he is not in the top 10. But incredibly

there is less than three-tenths of a second between our current

fastest man, Mark Webber, and Fernando Alonso. I do not ever

recall that. That is remarkable, but Mark Webber was fastest. That

was not quick enough. That hurts. Yes, that hurts and particularly

when it is your team-mate that is using a different specification of

car who has set the pace in qualifying. There is a lot going on

at Red Bull. His Sebastien going the wrong way with what he wants

with that car? You would say based on that it has not worked on his

favour. It just takes one small mistake and you can lose that end

sector it easily. I do not think it is conclusive that the difference

is the difference in their set-ups, but a big gap for Red Bull.

Maldonado and Bruno Senna are both out as well. So is the Toro Rosso

of Danny are Riccardo. Felipe Massa is looking hot and sweaty and I

should imagine rather a bore but as well. Out here it is tranquil and

beautiful, and I should imagine it is not very calm in the Red Bull

garage. Sebastian Vettel falling in We thought that this year would put

turn up some variations but nobody thought that Sebastian Vettel would

not make final qualifying. It is also the way that things have been

going in practice, not much going on between Mark Webber and

Sebastian Vettel, Seb had been in front for much of the free practice.

So where has this all gone wrong? We have spoken at length about the

variations of the two set ups to stop if I was Sebastian Vettel I

would be having a serious look at what Mark Webber is doing. You

would think, les goal with his set up in the race. This is not the

time to be desperate, but at the same time, 11th is unbelievable for

a Sebastian Vettel in this moment. He hadn't into the old one of pole

positions last year. They keep on saying at Red Bull that this car is

quicker in the race, but Sebastian Vettel's bombers was built on

getting pole position and getting away at the start of the race.

There are no points one for qualifying. And we don't know what

is going to happen with the weather. We saw what happened with Ferrari

in Malaysia. Red Bull puppet more downforce on the car, quicker in

the middle section, so they have a better balance. They are taking

risk assessment to a new level and they have got more downforce on the

car than the other teams, so that, if it is wet, they will have the

advantage. Eddie was talking about two different set-ups on the car,

Sebastian has been unhappy with the balance of his Red Bulls is the

final test and they have reverted to the exhaust set up they hat at

the end of testing but Mark Webber remains on the updated car and at

the moment, he is much faster. Two very disappointed gunmen. My God,

where is that finger now? That has disappeared in one fell swoop!

is no point wagging it out there now unless he has got 11 of them,

so it would not work! We can hear from Heikki Kovalainen, there is

talk of an investigation or a penalty. We had just been hearing

that you are under investigation with Pastor Maldonado but we did

not see what for. He is under investigation. I am the good, and

he is the bad. What happened? was getting ready for his first

time lap and I was just completing my first lap and on the back

straight he was weaving and warming up as tyres and I was getting close

to him, there was no intention to let me buy, so... We put another

lap and later on in the session and again he did the same. We will wait

and see how that unfolds. The race stewards will take into account the

fact that Heikki Kovalainen did not have started in a higher up the

grid than 19th. This is it. No Sebastian Vettel or Felipe Massa,

but it is time to begin the fight for poor position. Over to the

commentary team of David caught up and then it was. -- David Coulthard

Hamilton takes pole position, he has a five place grid penalty for

the race tomorrow, because he had to have his gearbox changed

overnight. A problem from the previous race which they only

discovered when they arrived in my China, a crack in part of the

gearbox. The gearbox has to last five events and if it does not, you

get a grid penalty. That is what Lewis Hamilton will have to suffer

from wherever he qualifies. That will not hold them back. He will

definitely be going for it. The final part of qualifying is under

way. Immediately two Lotus cars coming out, Kimi Raikkonen, a

former race winner, but not a pole position situ. The times are so

close, close enough to shift Sebastian Vettel out of the top 10

but every few hundredths of a second will count. This is like

Formula Ford racing, it is so close! It is going to be an epic

battle for pole position. I certainly hope that it is. Louis

Hamilton has only one set of auctions are available. He is going

out to get a sighter lap on a scrub set of tyres. What a battle. It is

incredibly close, this middle part of qualifying. We can listen in to

Massa -- to Mercedes. Just think about that on your warm-up lap, 22

degrees also, but they're looks like it is getting cooler. What's

his two degrees between friends? It is a helluva lot in a racing car.

Also getting the breaks up to temperature. -- brakes. They will

run the brake at about seven or 800 degrees. By the time they might get

to 14 they will have shed about 400 degrees because of the air that is

cooling and passing through the brake ducts. Obviously below the

optimal temperature for the operating window of the brakes.

Those are the sorts of things drivers have to try and build the

heat in the tyres for. We can see Michael Schumacher weaving around,

that is more psychological than anything when you are going down

the back straight, the best way to get heat into the tyres is under

high-speed driving and underbraking. On board with Nico Rosberg, trying

to deal with this three-quarter circle of turn 1 and 2, before you

get back on to the left. Talk us through this next part. He's coming

through the kink of turn five, 100 metres then hard on the brakes,

down to second year, and distraction as he comes Op. --

second gear. You can see the right hand side display of the steering

wheel, it sounded very flat through a maximum. I was talking over the

beautiful noise of the car, apologies for that. Just keep an

eye at the end of OS/2, but the showing a round two-tenths of a

second better than his personal best, and if that is the case we

can expect a ranter to 5.5, assuming he keeps the rest of his

lap tidy, he is showing four-tenths of a second faster. We can revise

that now, to 35.3. 313 kilometres per hour, not quite the 320, as

there were, but fast nonetheless, and as we come up to the final turn,

35.8 has been set by Kimi Raikkonen, but we think this is going to be

better. It is a 35.1! That is a very rapid lap from Nico Rosberg.

He has never had pole position. Could it be his day today? Could it

all up. It is a great feeling when you are looking at the lap Delta in

the car, and you just see the lap time coming to you. Let's see what

Michael Schumacher can deliver, 35.6. It is quite a big chunks law.

-- slower. We think those were used tyres for Michael Schumacher. So

that means Lewis Hamilton could have a little bit in reserve, and

could close than zero. Five-second gap to Nico Rosberg. I think it is

unusual that these older gentlemen of the paddock acknowledge the

camera. Ross took a look down the pit lane when he saw himself on the

screen, and I wonder if that is a look of quiet satisfaction. It is

great to see your Cup at the top of the times, but I wonder if there

Simulations are telling them that this will be a difficult time or

anyone else to beat this afternoon. It is not going to be easy, there

is Mercedes engine power in the back of the McLaren. We have seen

that Mark Webber has been fast with the Renault engine power in the

back of the Red Bull, and he is on and out lap at the moment. We will

wait to see what he can do. He is going to or Brno when in this final

part of qualified. -- he's going to have one run. Nico Rosberg has

slapped onto it if I 0.1, Michael. Yes, OK. -- Nico Rosberg has lapped

furtive by 0.1. -- 35.1. That tells us something about the mindset of

Michael Schumacher right now. Where he is, relative to Nico was Burke.

They are late in the hunt for pole third place, but the other six of

the top then have not done their run yet. That first couple of runs

is designed to look like a Chinese symbol. It is never good to design

racetracks to look like characters. Twenty-five 0.1. He is just over

one-tenth of a second slower. The Mercedes not the fastest, the

fastest has been the Lotus of Kimi Raikkonen. It is a long third

sector, so it is significant on the Shanghai circuit. One-tenth down on

what Rosberg did on that first set up. This is the key sector for Red

Bull. He is not showing faster. He is down four-tenths of a second, so

Mark Webber is not going to be challenging for pole position on

this lap. He might get another lap, he has enough time to do so. But it

puts him in the party. We think Hamilton has got some new tyres to

use. But it is such a big gap from Rosberg to the others. Indeed. As

Hamilton goes out, with a nice, new set of option tyres, it has a great

feeling when you CD's shiny new tyres being presented to you. --

when you see these. It gives you confidence, attacking the corner.

Mark Webber crosses the line, there is 6.2, 5th fastest. -- 36.2.

we just witnessed what could be called the perfect lap probably --

from Nico Rosberg? We can see him walking down the pit lane, out of

his car. I was looking down the commentary box. Just in case I was

watching a different camera up to you, but Nico Rosberg not running

again. Does he have enough to keep Lewis Hamilton behind? We're

watching Sergio Perez at the moment on a reasonably good lap. A random

thought, if I was Nico Rosberg, about to have my first pole

position, I would hang around the garage if it happens, but he is

just a lone, walking down to get weighed. Has anybody told him?

could be on for his first over pole position, but let us wait and see.

Sergio Perez has not set a time just yet, so where is this going to

pick him, amongst the others? not going to be challenging the

likes of Rosberg, Hamilton or Schumacher. He is 6 they fastest,

behind Mark Webber, three-tenths of a second quicker than Mark Webber

in the Red Bull. Jenson Button on- track, the first sector, not good.

Four-tenths of a second down on the best. Jenson Button at the moment

does not look as if he's going to be challenging Rosberg, who might

still get his first a report position. This is not going to be

pole position for Jenson Button and he will not get another lap after

this. 18 seconds of the session to play for. Hamilton coming to the

end of his one, Look East -- let us look at the comparison of their lap.

Jenson Button is going to be, is he going to be ahead of Mark Webber?

think he probably will be. I think Kimi Raikkonen and Michael

Schumacher are going to be his target. Is he going to get on the

second row? He is on the third row, and Kobayashi has gone into fourth

place. Brilliant lap. Fernando Alonso is 9th, pretty much what we

expected for Ferrari, can Lewis Hamilton pull a surprise? He cannot,

his middle sector is not quick enough, and Nico Rosberg is going

to have his first over pole position, and the first pole

position from Mercedes, since 1955, as Mercedes, that is quite

something and make a Rosberg is the one who's going to have it. He has

backed it off now, he's going to be coming back into the pits, Hamilton

has ended up second-fastest, he will have a good penalty of five

places, but Mercedes, the team applauding the air, Nico Rosberg

has done it. The burst around McLaren powered -- Mercedes powered

pole position but for the Mercedes team, their first pole position,

since 19 do it five. Bus - 1950 was done by Hugh Laurie a few years

ago when the driver was always complaining. It Nico Rosberg starts

complaining about his car, I'll be amazed. Surely he must tell us that

was the perfect car and the perfect lap around Shanghai this afternoon.

It will be an all Mercedes front row because of the penalty that is

applied to Hamilton, it will be Michael Schumacher alongside him.

It is an achievement for the team. For his father he had his first

ever pole position in the 30 years ago. It was at Brands Hatch in July

1982. 30 years on, his son has managed his first pole. And look

how come he is. It is almost like, I have been doing this for a long

time, guys, it is about time I had a pole position. He is in pole

position for taking the victory tomorrow now. They have got good

speed in his car. Hamilton will have his work cut out in the race.

But the Mercedes it uses this double DRS system and the advantage

is in qualifying more than in the race. That means it might not have

the kind of pace when it comes to race day. Lewis has a car that is

not only fast in qualifying, but also over race distance.

Mercedes has been using up its tyres a lot harder, so qualifying

is a glory days from a media point of view. But 77 overtakes in the

race here last year, so this is no guarantee this is what we are going

to see at the end of this race. Almost certainly we will see

Hamilton on the move. Sebastian Vettel has got a fresh set of tyres

starting in 11th place. It will be in a credible racing tomorrow.

Jenson Button in six, how has that word? Great effort from Nico

Rosberg and Kobayashi. Sauber have both their cars in the top 10.

is nice to see. They are old carding buddies. I think that is

the right guy to take the first Mercedes pole position. You cannot

help but feel he has been in Formula One for a long time without

a victory. 110 stars to get his first ever pole position. I think

that puts him 4th in the list. Webber took 130 starts. It has

taken a long time, but it is very sweet. Michael Sue there will be on

the front row with him. Romain Grosjean did not get a timing in

that final time, so he will start 10th. Kimi Raikkonen had the 5th

fastest time. Kobayashi is the other star for me. To qualify for

that with the Sauber. These are the top three from qualifying today. It

will not be as they start tomorrow. Nico Rosberg is on top and Hamilton

is second and Michael Schumacher is third. We did not expect that to be

the top three qualifying, although I didn't mention that we would not

be surprised to see a Mercedes in the Frant Road this afternoon. A

visionary. Indeed. If only I could pick the winning lottery numbers in

the same way. We know the Mercedes is good off the line. I wonder who

will get the best start. This is how they have qualified to date in

terms of times. Nico Rosberg with his first ever pole position with a

massive margin. Jenson Button is only 6th ahead of Mark Webber.

Butter and Hamilton will be together on the grid because of the

penalty. Sebastian Vettel is outside the top 10. Some star names

you would have expected to be up near the front. Then it goes in

team formation. The car defines the speed around this track and there

is not a lot the driver can do to improve things. It is remarkable

today as Nico Rosberg takes his first pole position. This is the

end of the lap. Really is stuff from him. We will have a chance to

hear what he has to say about that and Mercedes will be delighted.

Before long David Watts talked us through this top lap from Nico

Rosberg. It was the 1955 Italian Grand Prix when there was first a

front row lock-outs with the Mercedes. It will be Nico Rosberg

and Michael Schumacher at tomorrow. A big date in the history. There

were only a few of us who were alive at that moment to even think

about it. I was one of them! It is a huge day. I think Nico Rosberg

probably deserved it. He led his team last year and the year before.

It is a good team effort, but this is a remarkable position. Two

Mercedes cars on the front row of the grid in this race. Nico Rosberg

has to take a lot of credit for it. He was so cool and he was sure this

was the perfect lap. What does Ross Brawn make of it? Here is what the

team principal has to say. First pole position for Mercedes since

1955, the Italian Grand Prix. Really? That is very good. It is a

fantastic achievement, but at the back of our mind we have to put a

It was quite exceptional by Nico Rosberg. Today we saw what he can

do. The middle sector he did was incredible. Is Michael happy as

well, he is in third position? is very good and we backed off once

we saw we were not under any threat because Lewis has a penalty it. We