:01:59. > :02:03.DRUM BEAT 11 times the driver's title has
:02:03. > :02:07.been won around this old circuit. Beware, Suzuka delivers as much
:02:07. > :02:11.pain as it does pleasure. It is an unforgiving track. Welcome to
:02:11. > :02:14.qualifying for the 2012 Japanese Grand Prix. David, despite the
:02:14. > :02:18.dangers that exist around this place, the drivers love it. They
:02:18. > :02:23.talk about a flow and a rhythm. What do they mean? This track is
:02:23. > :02:27.one of the classic Grand Prix tracks. It's been here since the
:02:27. > :02:34.'60s. It's built on the side of a hill. You have this rollercoaster
:02:34. > :02:38.feel that attacks the senses - fast, narrow, Suzuka is up there with the
:02:38. > :02:41.Spas and Monte Carlos. It is the 50th anniversary since this track
:02:41. > :02:46.was built by Honda. We are hoping for a race weekend to remember.
:02:46. > :02:51.This has been a week to remember for Lewis Hamilton. He has been on
:02:51. > :02:55.the front and the back pages. How does a driver that exists to race,
:02:55. > :03:00.how does he turn his attention back to racing? There is nothing quite
:03:00. > :03:04.like travelling at 200mph to focus your mind. That is how he gets his
:03:04. > :03:07.focus on the racetrack. He goes out on the circuit and at that moment,
:03:07. > :03:10.you are alone with your own thoughts and you are battling the
:03:10. > :03:15.circuit and the car and trying to deliver the lap time. It is when he
:03:15. > :03:20.gets out the car that the distractions become an issue.
:03:20. > :03:30.was Lewis. Clearly, his charms have attracted Mercedes. Every single
:03:30. > :03:54.
:03:54. > :03:58.We are going to get up close and personal with the garages in a
:03:58. > :04:02.moment. What are your memories of being here with those fans? They
:04:02. > :04:05.have always loved Formula One in Japan? They are particularly mad
:04:05. > :04:09.here for Formula One! The team hotel is the other side of the
:04:09. > :04:14.circuit and they swarm around there. They line the road from the hotel
:04:14. > :04:20.to the circuit which must be about a kilometre, all waving, trying to
:04:20. > :04:25.get pictures. They have been blessed over the years - they have
:04:25. > :04:29.often had the chance to celebrate a world title with the driver. We
:04:29. > :04:33.turned up here in 2011 and Sebastian Vettel won the title here.
:04:33. > :04:39.The fans aren't going to get a chance to cheer a Championship.
:04:39. > :04:43.This is how it is looking in the battle for the Championship. Kimi
:04:43. > :04:47.Raikkonen is 45 points back. Wouldn't Sebastian Vettel love to
:04:47. > :04:54.repeat what he did a couple of years ago when he took the
:04:54. > :04:59.Championship at the end of the season? In the Constructors' battle,
:04:59. > :05:04.McLaren or Ferrari could take Red Bull's lead by the end of Sunday
:05:04. > :05:08.evening. The big issue for Ferrari is their wind tunnel isn't working?
:05:08. > :05:13.It remains to be seen what happens in the Championship battle. If it
:05:13. > :05:18.is not working properly, they have managed to win three Grand Pries
:05:18. > :05:23.with Fernando Alonso. So not sure I buy into that. It is looking tight
:05:23. > :05:28.this weekend - Ferrari, Mercedes, Red Bull, McLaren. Make sure you
:05:28. > :05:31.stick with us. All the action in a couple of moments. Everybody has
:05:31. > :05:38.had an opinion about Lewis Hamilton. I think it is time that we heard
:05:38. > :05:43.from the only man that really matters.
:05:43. > :05:47.I had two offers on the table. I could take the easy route and stay
:05:47. > :05:51.here and cruise on for the next three years in a great team and a
:05:51. > :05:58.great car, making decent money. That's not what I want to do. I
:05:58. > :06:01.want to go and help a team that is struggling and help them get to the
:06:01. > :06:09.top and start winning. That will be the most satisfying feeling if we
:06:09. > :06:16.do get there. If we don't, I will only be 31 and... You can come back
:06:16. > :06:21.here! LAUGHTER Keep the door open! It's a long-term plan, would you be
:06:21. > :06:25.frustrated if you weren't able to win a race next season? I can't lie
:06:25. > :06:31.- not winning is frustrating, whether or not you are in this team,
:06:31. > :06:37.or another team, it is frustrating. It is more long-term. 2014, the
:06:37. > :06:41.rules change massively. With the new V6 engines and turbos and rules
:06:41. > :06:44.changing with the cars. Everyone starts from scratch again. Next
:06:45. > :06:49.year, I don't know if people realise, the car that I'm driving
:06:49. > :06:54.right now, it will roll into next year. It will look a bit better. It
:06:54. > :06:58.will be, it will handle the same but it will have more downforce. It
:06:58. > :07:03.will have better braking stability. It will have all these things and
:07:03. > :07:07.it will evolve into next year's car. Perhaps where they are, they might
:07:07. > :07:11.build a new car, which is what we did this year. I only spoke to
:07:11. > :07:15.Martin. Me and Ron haven't had a chance to sit down and talk. When I
:07:15. > :07:20.get back to the factory, after Korea, I will go and knock on Ron's
:07:20. > :07:23.door and have a chat with him. I thought it will be better to speak
:07:23. > :07:28.- rather than over the phone - it would be better to speak to him
:07:28. > :07:37.face to face. With Martin, I pulled Martin because I needed to let him
:07:38. > :07:43.know. The day that I called him, they signed Sergio Perez. It was
:07:43. > :07:47.very tough. Did they work hard enough to try and keep you?
:07:47. > :07:52.know, I think so. Like I said, I think the deals were very similar.
:07:52. > :07:58.Martin asked what else we could have done. I said, "To be honest, I
:07:58. > :08:04.wanted a new challenge. I have wanted it for some time." I didn't
:08:04. > :08:08.think he could have done anything else. Before I made my decision,
:08:08. > :08:11.Martin said, "Whatever you do, I want you to know we will be 100%
:08:11. > :08:18.behind you for the rest of the year to win this Championship. We
:08:18. > :08:22.believe in you." That is how great a boss and team manager he is.
:08:22. > :08:26.Championship would be a perfect ending to the Lewis and McLaren
:08:26. > :08:29.relationship? Yeah. I think we have a story that no-one has in the
:08:29. > :08:35.paddock. We have a relationship that no-one has in the paddock.
:08:35. > :08:40.That will never be forgotten. Again, I am so appreciative of the
:08:40. > :08:43.opportunity that they have given me and the success that we have had. I
:08:43. > :08:53.will always carry that in my heart. I am looking forward to the future.
:08:53. > :08:58.I still want to win this for them. A time of reflection for Lewis
:08:58. > :09:01.Hamilton. You won't be seeing this for a lot longer - only six more
:09:01. > :09:05.times will his team prepare his McLaren car to go racing in Formula
:09:05. > :09:10.One. David, it is a big decision. Can you understand why he didn't
:09:10. > :09:14.want to sit in the comfy chair? can. Any relationship is difficult
:09:14. > :09:18.to manage in day-to-day life. You don't always see eye-to-eye with
:09:18. > :09:21.your loved ones, never mind people that you work with. He has been at
:09:21. > :09:26.McLaren a long time. You need to sometimes go and experience what
:09:26. > :09:30.else is out there to really be able to look back and reflect on what is
:09:30. > :09:35.it that works for him. That was a fantastic interview that Lee got
:09:35. > :09:40.out of Lewis. That is the most open we have seen him in quite some time.
:09:40. > :09:44.Do the team still help him win the world title so he can take the
:09:44. > :09:49.number one down to Mercedes next year? Absolutely. They need
:09:49. > :09:52.victories. It doesn't matter if it is because a driver has taken away
:09:52. > :09:57.the number one, they need that World Championship. There are so
:09:57. > :09:59.many bonuses linked to that. OK. In 12 months' time, we will be
:09:59. > :10:03.standing outside the garage of Sergio Perez. Can you understand
:10:03. > :10:07.that decision? Have you seen enough from him to understand why a seat
:10:07. > :10:13.at McLaren has come his way? certainly has done some impressive
:10:13. > :10:17.drives this year. In Monza, we saw that great drive through to the
:10:17. > :10:21.podium. In Malaysia he came close to winning the Grand Prix there.
:10:21. > :10:24.Can he handle the pressure of running in a top team? There is a
:10:24. > :10:30.huge difference between finishing second and third and being in a
:10:30. > :10:34.situation where you are expected to win. We will wait and see what
:10:34. > :10:37.happens. Lewis Hamilton and Sergio Perez are two-thirds of the story.
:10:37. > :10:40.The other third revolves around Michael Schumacher. This weekend,
:10:40. > :10:50.Michael has announced again his retirement from Formula One. Here
:10:50. > :10:53.
:10:53. > :10:57.with that and the rest of the news After being replaced by Lewis
:10:57. > :11:00.Hamilton at Mercedes, and after 20 years and one retirement from
:11:00. > :11:05.Formula One, Michael Schumacher has made an emotional decision to
:11:05. > :11:09.retire once again at the end of the season, this time he says for good.
:11:09. > :11:17.At some point, it is good to say goodbye. That is what I am doing
:11:17. > :11:20.here with by the end of the season and it might be forever this time.
:11:20. > :11:24.Sergio Perez takes Lewis Hamilton's seat at McLaren, a move which he
:11:24. > :11:29.wouldn't have believed if you had asked him at the beginning of the
:11:29. > :11:34.season. I would never have expected I was going to end up at McLaren.
:11:34. > :11:44.It is the best opportunity I can have. I will try to make the most
:11:44. > :11:48.of it. Jenson Button left Mercedes for McLaren, now Lewis Hamilton is
:11:48. > :11:51.heading in the opposite direction. Button is happy driving for his
:11:51. > :11:54.current team. This is the right place for me to be. Some of us need
:11:54. > :12:04.to have different challenges in our life. This is a challenge that
:12:04. > :12:06.
:12:06. > :12:12.Lewis feels he needs. Paul di Resta had been rumoured to be in talks
:12:12. > :12:15.with Mercedes and McLaren. They are two top teams. I didn't hold the
:12:15. > :12:18.key to making this happen. They have the drive. I have a management
:12:18. > :12:23.team in place. They will be working on what they need to work on. This
:12:23. > :12:28.weekend is what I need to look at. There's three hard days ahead of me.
:12:28. > :12:32.That preparation didn't go to plan with di Resta crashing in free
:12:32. > :12:38.practice two. This morning, it was the turn of Nico Hulkenberg. The
:12:38. > :12:47.German has missed out on a drive at Mercedes and McLaren. But he could
:12:47. > :12:52.take Felipe Massa's seat at Ferrari. Once we are here, race weekend, it
:12:52. > :12:56.is all about the driving and the performance and everything else.
:12:56. > :12:59.Everything else gets blended out from your mind. Despite all eyes
:12:59. > :13:02.looking at next season, there is a Championship still to win this year
:13:03. > :13:09.and Sebastian Vettel has his eyes on the prize. This race last year
:13:09. > :13:13.is where he won his second title. Historically, we have been very
:13:13. > :13:18.competitive around here. It should be all right. A little bit of
:13:18. > :13:23.update here and there so hopefully they work and help us to be a bit
:13:23. > :13:27.quicker. Finally, as the only local driver on the grid, Kamui Kobayashi
:13:27. > :13:31.is the busiest man in Japan. Tens of thousands of fans come to
:13:31. > :13:39.support him over the weekend and he doesn't get a moment's peace at any
:13:39. > :13:43.point of the day. This morning, I went to get breakfast, I had so
:13:43. > :13:48.many people around me. Time is over, I couldn't eat and I come back to
:13:48. > :13:52.my room and get shower, which is really sad, I wanted breakfast!
:13:52. > :13:55.can't go racing without some food in your stomach! He is such a
:13:55. > :14:00.character. Let's talk about Michael. That was the announcement of his
:14:00. > :14:04.eighth retirement this season, seven of which have come on track.
:14:04. > :14:09.How would you assess his second Formula One career? He will be
:14:09. > :14:14.disappointed. He came here with high expectations. I think he felt
:14:14. > :14:17.a three-year period at Mercedes, reunited with Ross Brawn, would
:14:17. > :14:20.have brought him more success. It's been a learning experience for
:14:20. > :14:26.Michael as to what it is like to retire from a sport and come back
:14:26. > :14:33.again in your 40s. It has been a wonderful opportunity for us all to
:14:33. > :14:37.validate how good the young talent is winning races. Every generation
:14:37. > :14:40.should be better than the last one. Has he been unlucky that he has
:14:40. > :14:46.returned at a time when it is more competitive than ever and he hasn't
:14:46. > :14:51.been given a car that could help him emulate what he achieved at
:14:51. > :14:56.Ferrari? So many drivers could say they have never had a car capable
:14:56. > :15:00.of winning Grand Pries. The first career, he was mainly at the front
:15:00. > :15:05.of the pack, obviously through some great skills. But what we can see
:15:05. > :15:08.here is that he hasn't been as good at close wheel to wheel racing.
:15:08. > :15:12.There's been too many incidents. That is probably what's prompted
:15:12. > :15:17.the decision to retire again. me, it's been a dream to get the
:15:17. > :15:20.see the great man up close and personal. Many fans are glad that
:15:20. > :15:30.he returned. We shouldn't let the last few seasons overshadow what he
:15:30. > :15:43.
:15:43. > :15:49.I think that is a record that probably will remain unbeaten. He
:15:49. > :15:55.was a machine, all machines have a life. When they reached the end of
:15:55. > :16:02.their working life you have to replace it with something fresher.
:16:02. > :16:06.This allows amount like Sergio Perez to step into a top seed in
:16:06. > :16:12.Formula 1. We look for it to seeing how Michael get sonnet in
:16:12. > :16:22.qualifying. Time for David to head up to the qualifying -- to the
:16:22. > :16:35.
:16:35. > :16:40.up to the qualifying -- to the will this unforgiving circuit
:16:40. > :16:46.reward than in qualifying today? The first session under way. We had
:16:46. > :16:52.some fast times this morning set by an Red Bull. Do expect them to be
:16:52. > :16:59.favourite? Both of the Red Bull, has looked really strong this
:16:59. > :17:04.morning. McLaren also looks strong. They did not get the lapse in this
:17:04. > :17:14.morning. If you get caught in traffic you can use up the tyres
:17:14. > :17:14.
:17:14. > :17:21.too quickly. A lot of these cars will have to use the soft tyres to
:17:21. > :17:26.achieve the times they need. But for the ones at the front, they
:17:26. > :17:33.probably will get a couple of laps on a harder tyres. Rare with Paul
:17:33. > :17:39.di Resta. This part of the circuit is easy. Heading through the long
:17:39. > :17:48.sweep. This is where he went off on Friday. Just giving it another inch
:17:48. > :17:56.or so. Out now on for long and straight section and on to that
:17:56. > :18:01.famous corner which is not quite the Challenge it used to be. But
:18:01. > :18:11.still a pretty big Challenge was that it is indeed. You can lock up
:18:11. > :18:16.slightly. And that is because you just losing heat from your brakes.
:18:16. > :18:26.And the cooling system on the cars is pretty efficient. That affects
:18:26. > :18:28.
:18:28. > :18:35.the Actual stopping power of the car.
:18:35. > :18:39.Paul di Resta coming into the chicane. Another reason is that
:18:39. > :18:49.cities curving all way through the braking area of to the apex of the
:18:49. > :18:50.
:18:50. > :18:58.chicane. It makes it more susceptible to blogging. You can
:18:58. > :19:06.see the sparks coming of the bolts and that is testament to that.
:19:06. > :19:12.Pastor Maldonado doing some last minute adjustments. You normally do
:19:12. > :19:16.not see that much work going on in qualifying. We know that Force
:19:16. > :19:25.India have had to rebuild the left- hand side of that car after the
:19:25. > :19:28.accident involving Nico Hulkenberg this morning. They have bolted on
:19:28. > :19:33.the suspension and they are hoping that the prefer it that has been
:19:33. > :19:37.done to it will make sure that everything is nice and square. It
:19:37. > :19:42.is not ideal but that is the penalty when you make a mistake in
:19:42. > :19:49.free practice. Mark Webber coming up to the second sector and he's
:19:49. > :19:56.still the fastest, but only by a fraction. Hopefully he will get
:19:56. > :20:04.through this section without getting held up. Are we going to
:20:04. > :20:11.see him go ahead? He goes second fastest. Filipe Massa or has the
:20:11. > :20:21.fastest time. All of them using the hard tyres at the moment. Sergio
:20:21. > :20:23.
:20:23. > :20:29.Perez is off! He has done well to get it back. That was an exciting
:20:29. > :20:37.ride. That is not somewhere you want to go of, that is Dunlop
:20:37. > :20:41.corner. It is difficult to position the car. The television does not
:20:41. > :20:51.really showed the elevation change. That is one of the steepest parts
:20:51. > :21:01.of the track and that is a good recovery from Sergio Perez.
:21:01. > :21:15.
:21:15. > :21:22.on those harder tyres. He has got a special crash helmet on in honour
:21:22. > :21:26.of the 50th anniversary of this Suzuka track. It was designed
:21:26. > :21:32.apparently by a couple of Japanese schoolgirls who were very excited
:21:32. > :21:39.to get to reach their year-old. There was a lot of giggling! But I
:21:39. > :21:48.quite like the design. They have done well. Lewis Hamilton in 5th
:21:48. > :21:52.position for the moment. Felipe Massa sets the pace. They're all
:21:52. > :22:02.using the harder compound tyres. They are just trying to get through
:22:02. > :22:03.
:22:03. > :22:13.at this stage to the top 17. Schumacher it was really using the
:22:13. > :22:14.
:22:14. > :22:24.curve a lot this morning. It looks like the Ferrari was a lot more
:22:24. > :22:25.
:22:25. > :22:29.comfortable on the curves than the Mercedes. Gary, Felipe Massa is on
:22:29. > :22:38.the harder tyres. But a lot of the teams will be coming out on the
:22:38. > :22:45.softer tyres. That is a pretty impressive lap. Fernando Alonso was
:22:45. > :22:53.a bit slower this morning, he had a different wing Assembly on the car.
:22:53. > :23:03.He has changed that now. Well Pastor Maldonado has gone out on
:23:03. > :23:06.
:23:06. > :23:12.the softer tyres. So not wanting to take the risk. Feeling the need to
:23:12. > :23:17.use up those softer tyres early in the session. Jensen Button on the
:23:17. > :23:23.harder compound tyres and close to the target time set by Felipe Massa.
:23:23. > :23:33.He was a winner here 12 months ago. That fantastic battle with
:23:33. > :23:41.
:23:41. > :23:47.Sebastian Vettel. And he is in third place as he crosses the line.
:23:47. > :23:54.Nico Hulkenberg's car is dropped to the ground. They have done a good
:23:54. > :24:00.job getting that car or out. Force India Hausding working hard to get
:24:00. > :24:06.him out there. It has been a big job, a lot of bodywork. You just
:24:06. > :24:16.have to be careful. He is driving the car without much of a stand-up
:24:16. > :24:20.
:24:20. > :24:26.on it. They're just sending him out blind to do a lap. Sebastian Vettel
:24:26. > :24:35.has gone faster than anyone else now. And that is on the harder of
:24:36. > :24:45.the compound tyres. Kimi Raikkonen also out there. And Pastor
:24:46. > :24:47.
:24:47. > :24:57.Maldonado also on the softer tyres. Looking for that performance.
:24:57. > :25:00.
:25:00. > :25:10.You can get over a second of difference between the tiers.
:25:10. > :25:12.
:25:12. > :25:18.Coming down into this tricky double apex. Once more using all of the
:25:18. > :25:28.road On The Run down. Well he is faster than anyone in
:25:28. > :25:30.
:25:30. > :25:38.this first sector. Can he do the same in the second? It is still up
:25:38. > :25:44.because of that advantage from the first sector. Pastor Maldonado goes
:25:44. > :25:48.the second in spite of being on the softer tyres. And we think there's
:25:48. > :25:56.almost a second in the difference between the tiers. So it just shows
:25:56. > :26:01.you how fast Sebastian Vettel is going today.
:26:01. > :26:07.Lewis Hamilton does not sound very happy there. Nico Hulkenberg has
:26:07. > :26:17.gone second. Kimi Raikkonen in replay, sparks flying up. Did he go
:26:17. > :26:22.wide? No, he held it in. That is where the maximum downforce is.
:26:22. > :26:28.Here is Kimi Raikkonen. This looks like a very quick lap indeed from
:26:29. > :26:37.him. Remember Sebastian Vettel it is currently quickest having set
:26:37. > :26:43.his time on the harder tyres. Kimi Raikkonen safely up there in
:26:43. > :26:49.the top 17. But we still have Michael Schumacher in the drop zone.
:26:49. > :26:56.He has not set a representative lap as yet.
:26:57. > :27:06.This is where Hulkenberg crashed this morning. On-board here with
:27:07. > :27:10.
:27:10. > :27:17.Sergio Perez. We're just during, Gary has told us that Felipe Massa
:27:17. > :27:23.has gone out on the softer tyres. That is a strange decision? I would
:27:23. > :27:31.think so. You may need the softer tyres in the next session so I do
:27:31. > :27:39.not understand that logic. I would just have had another go on a
:27:39. > :27:48.harder tyres. Sergio Perez, this lack should put
:27:48. > :27:52.him fastest overall. Lewis Hamilton also going out on the softer tyres.
:27:52. > :28:02.They really seem to be struggling for the pace and having to go for
:28:02. > :28:09.
:28:09. > :28:13.the softer tyres. Kobayashi this weekend is on home turf and would
:28:13. > :28:18.love to show Sergio Perez up. He would love to show that he could be
:28:18. > :28:26.faster. The qualifying battle between the pair of them is going
:28:26. > :28:30.to be interesting. A great lap in this early part of the session.
:28:30. > :28:40.They should be no fear of those Sauber are making it through to the
:28:40. > :28:51.
:28:51. > :28:58.next part. The Torro Rosso locks up. I think
:28:58. > :29:05.there is a great effort so far from Pedro de la Rosa who managed to get
:29:05. > :29:11.in 20th place. Michael Schumacher has yet to set a time so the is and
:29:11. > :29:16.the drop zone. Bruno Senna getting a bit angry because Deakin is in
:29:16. > :29:23.danger territory in 16th place. You would expect Michael Schumacher
:29:23. > :29:33.have to move up. He is not going to get a clear run through De Love
:29:33. > :29:45.
:29:45. > :29:55.Michael if he can keep it going. was very slow in the first sector.
:29:55. > :29:55.
:29:55. > :30:00.So Michael of course has a penalty from the last event. Just two tents
:30:00. > :30:10.quicker than his current best lap. That probably is from the morning
:30:10. > :30:21.
:30:21. > :30:28.session, I would suggest. favourite circuits in the world, is
:30:28. > :30:32.he going to make it through? He does! He just makes it. He is 16th
:30:32. > :30:39.and that pushes Senna out. Michael Schumacher had to give his all in
:30:39. > :30:49.the final sector. Those knocked out of Q1: Bruno Senna, Heikki
:30:49. > :30:56.
:30:56. > :31:03.Kovalainen, Timo Glock, Pedro de la Rosa, Charles Pic, Vitaly Petrov
:31:04. > :31:08.and Narain Karthikeyan. Let's look at what happened to Sienna. TEAM
:31:08. > :31:14.RADIO: We have seen it, we have told Charlie. Unbelievable what he
:31:14. > :31:19.did there. Relief for Michael Schumacher and
:31:19. > :31:24.his many fans. As is so often the case, one man's gain is another
:31:24. > :31:32.man's pain. Right at the very end, you were knocked out. Your emotions
:31:32. > :31:37.after that? Very disappointed with the attitude. We tried to give each
:31:37. > :31:43.other space, but we didn't. I'm starting from far back on a very
:31:43. > :31:48.tough track to overtake. There was good potential for us to score
:31:48. > :31:52.points. We will have to wait and see what happens tomorrow.
:31:52. > :31:57.doesn't help if one of your rivals gets a penalty. What will the
:31:57. > :32:01.stewards make of it? It is their decision. He really didn't let me
:32:02. > :32:06.passed and he blocked he completely. Screwed my lap up completely. It is
:32:06. > :32:09.unacceptable to be honest. Unlucky. Go well tomorrow, if you can.
:32:09. > :32:13.Thanks a lot. Very difficult for Bruno. This is the circuit where
:32:13. > :32:17.his uncle won all three of his driver World Championship titles.
:32:17. > :32:22.That is the way it rolls in Formula One. Let's back to the action and
:32:22. > :32:26.time for the second part of qualifying with Ben and David.
:32:26. > :32:30.The second part of qualifying gets under way. Romain Grosjean might
:32:30. > :32:35.have been fastest in the first part of qualifying, but it is all back
:32:35. > :32:39.to zero now. It is a knockout system. If you are in positions 11
:32:39. > :32:45.through to 17th, you are out of the game. That is where you will end up
:32:45. > :32:49.on the grid. Those positions, the top ten, go through to fight for
:32:49. > :32:53.pole. The two McLarens didn't have the pace we expected to see. Fast
:32:53. > :32:56.on Friday, but this morning they weren't looking that quick. It
:32:57. > :33:00.looks as though they may have more of a struggle on their hands to
:33:01. > :33:05.match Red Bull. Sergio Perez, both of the Saubers looking fast, second
:33:06. > :33:11.and third in that session. Kobayashi and Perez. They did use
:33:11. > :33:16.the softer tyre. Maldonado in the top ten in that session, but can he
:33:16. > :33:20.do the same in this one? Q2 is often the most competitive part of
:33:20. > :33:24.the weekend. Gary, what are your thoughts in terms of the cut-off
:33:24. > :33:29.time to get into that top ten? is the most competitive one to get
:33:29. > :33:38.into that top ten. A lot of guys have run the soft tyres, so they
:33:38. > :33:43.have a bit of data. You will have to do a 1:32.40 to get into the top
:33:43. > :33:47.ten. The fans just soaking up the atmosphere at the moment. We have a
:33:47. > :33:51.bit more cloud cover now. Track temperature some 33 degrees as
:33:51. > :33:57.Kamui Kobayashi sets off down the lap. David, talk us around the lap
:33:57. > :34:02.now in the hands of the hometown hero? You have this fantastic entry
:34:02. > :34:06.to turn one. Then as you dive through the apex, you are into two.
:34:06. > :34:13.You can see, he's zoomed his way around into this section here,
:34:13. > :34:20.three, four, getting ready for the climb up into Dunlop Curve. Lewis
:34:20. > :34:26.Hamilton going out on probably a lightly scrub set of the soft tyres.
:34:26. > :34:33.We re-join Kobayashi on the entry to the Degner Curve. Drop into
:34:33. > :34:37.second for the second one. And down into this Hairpin. A bit of a lock-
:34:37. > :34:43.up. Runs wide. It doesn't cost you too much time because of the width
:34:43. > :34:47.you have available on the exit of that corner. Then down through this
:34:47. > :34:55.constantly-curving section, flat out, up to 180mph, flick down two
:34:55. > :35:02.gears in the first part of Spoon, down a another gear for the second
:35:02. > :35:06.part of Spoon. Then prepare yourself for 130R. Passed the Red
:35:06. > :35:13.Bull without any problem. Vast amount of speed through 130R. Now
:35:13. > :35:18.it is how late do I brake? Mmm, he is probably thinking, "I braked too
:35:18. > :35:23.early!" There was no sign of lock- up there. And then a run for the
:35:23. > :35:28.line. It constantly keeps turning. That is the big challenge. The
:35:29. > :35:32.straights aren't straight. Yeah. You are curving all the time.
:35:32. > :35:38.There's hardly a moment to draw breath around this track. Just
:35:38. > :35:42.watching a replay of Perez, his team-mate, did he have a lock-up?
:35:42. > :35:46.little bit wide and you can see he has pick-up on the front right
:35:46. > :35:51.tyres. Kobayashi managed to get into the first part of the apex and
:35:51. > :35:58.then run a bit wider in the middle of the corner. That would have cost
:35:58. > :36:03.Perez some time. Vettel climbing up through the Dunlop Curve. That is
:36:03. > :36:08.exactly what it is like in the race car. The circuit presenting itself
:36:08. > :36:12.to you as you go through that long climb up the hill. Sebastian Vettel
:36:12. > :36:19.looking to try and take four pole positions in four years. What he is
:36:19. > :36:26.focused on is getting into the top ten right now. Just under ten
:36:26. > :36:30.minutes to go. Felipe Massa is on a lap. A fastest first sector from
:36:30. > :36:36.Sebastian Vettel, faster than anybody else so far on the lap.
:36:36. > :36:39.Kobayashi is fastest from di Resta and Hulkenberg in these early
:36:39. > :36:44.stages. Coming up to the second checkpoint and Vettel is faster
:36:44. > :36:48.again. He is fastest in both sectors now and Vettel has been
:36:48. > :36:52.looking mighty here today. Into the final part of the lap, no trace of
:36:52. > :36:57.a lock-up. Looking good and clean. He has been the pole master here on
:36:57. > :37:00.the last three occasions. This is only about making it through to the
:37:00. > :37:06.next part of qualifying. Goes fastest in this session. This
:37:06. > :37:10.really is a track that sorts out the men from the boys. He's
:37:10. > :37:13.delivered a real man's lap there. That is for sure. Massa has
:37:13. > :37:16.performed well around here in the past. Has been in front of Alonso
:37:17. > :37:20.and this will be a timely moment for him to show his speed on a
:37:21. > :37:24.track that is highly regarded. You see the difficulty here, Paul di
:37:24. > :37:27.Resta feeding his way through all the traffic.
:37:28. > :37:33.TEAM RADIO: There's cars all over the place!
:37:33. > :37:37.Yeah. He was right. It was like a slalom.
:37:37. > :37:41.Yes, that's not really what you want to see when you come out of
:37:41. > :37:46.130R. It doesn't appear to have cost him too much time. He drops
:37:46. > :37:51.down into tenth place. Jenson Button goes second. Yeah, Button
:37:51. > :37:57.second, about four-tenths quicker than Hamilton, who just set a lap a
:37:57. > :38:04.moment before that. You have Vettel, Button, Hamilton - Button two-
:38:04. > :38:11.tenths slower than Vettel. What can Webber do? Across the line - he is
:38:11. > :38:18.third. He splits the McLarens, between Button and Hamilton. Massa
:38:18. > :38:24.fifth, Kobayashi sixth. We have Hulkenberg, Maldonado, Rosberg, di
:38:24. > :38:29.Resta, Jean-Eric Vergne outside the top ten. And Michael Schumacher is
:38:29. > :38:32.not coming out to play. Again, he is sitting and waiting. Maldonado
:38:32. > :38:38.runs wide. He had to lift out of the power. That will cost him time
:38:38. > :38:48.all the way on this long final sector. Let's listen to him through
:38:48. > :38:48.
:38:48. > :38:53.130R. Fantastic. The scenery is passing quickly. Then nice and tidy
:38:53. > :38:58.through the chicane. Better control of his traction than we saw in his
:38:58. > :39:04.previous attempt in qualifying. That running wide at the exit to
:39:04. > :39:06.Spoon has cost him a bit of time. Well, out comes the Mercedes of
:39:07. > :39:09.Rosberg, but Michael Schumacher already out. This looks like a
:39:09. > :39:14.single run here, David, from Michael Schumacher, with four
:39:14. > :39:19.minutes to go. He's trying to get a bit of clear air and put that one
:39:19. > :39:22.flying lap in? He must be feeling a little bit down, the fact that he
:39:22. > :39:32.has got this penalty. No matter what effort he is able to do here,
:39:32. > :39:33.
:39:33. > :39:38.he knows he will be starting outside the top ten unless sticks
:39:38. > :39:42.it on pole! He's got to go now and deliver the best lap he possibly
:39:42. > :39:50.can. The other one with a penl that we know about - in fact -- penalty
:39:50. > :39:59.that we know about - in fact the other two, Jenson Button and Nico
:39:59. > :40:03.Hulkenberg. Kobayashi makes his way out in the Sauber. And that fight
:40:03. > :40:08.to be in the top ten is going to be very intense now. Kimi Raikkonen,
:40:08. > :40:14.still very much a factor in the Championship. Third in the points
:40:14. > :40:18.on 142 points. He's had one victory here at Suzuka in the past, but he
:40:18. > :40:22.has never qualified on pole. I wonder whether he will be able to
:40:22. > :40:28.drag that Lotus around. I don't think he will be fast enough for
:40:28. > :40:32.pole. Let's watch Michael Schumacher then. He is the record
:40:32. > :40:38.holder in terms of pole positions here at Suzuka. He is not doing a
:40:38. > :40:41.time. He is scrubbing these tyres. OK. Why would he be doing that?
:40:41. > :40:47.Just getting them ready for the race tomorrow, putting a cure on
:40:48. > :40:51.them. You can do that by heating the tyres in the blankets, so the
:40:51. > :40:56.rubber, the composition of the rubber changes through that heat
:40:56. > :41:03.cycle. Or you can go out and put a scrub on them. He has enough time
:41:03. > :41:07.to do one flying lap if he chooses at the end. It does look like he is
:41:07. > :41:13.putting a light scrub on those. Our man with the engineering knowledge
:41:13. > :41:16.can give us more information on that in the pit-lane. We are
:41:16. > :41:23.watching Fernando Alonso at the moment on the lap. Gary, a quick
:41:23. > :41:28.thought, is this to do with his ten-place penalty? We had a car
:41:28. > :41:32.this morning that put in fourth fastest, four and ten makes 14, so
:41:32. > :41:35.I would rather start at 14th than 24th. Not sure of the logic.
:41:35. > :41:38.Whether they have got a problem with the car and they can't get,
:41:38. > :41:41.there is something wrong, and they can't get the speed out of it and
:41:41. > :41:45.they are just scrubbing some tyres. It is a fairly illogical thing.
:41:46. > :41:50.These tyres work very well from new. You want that confidence in a new
:41:50. > :41:55.tyre off the start line. Very confusing. Well, Alonso is looking
:41:55. > :41:59.confident on this lap, David. He is really attacking, as ever. He's
:41:59. > :42:03.right on the pace of the top times currently. Let's see what the
:42:03. > :42:08.second split tells us. He's two- tenths down on the fastest so far.
:42:09. > :42:12.Well, that was a good effort. Let's see how he finishes the lap. We
:42:12. > :42:16.have seen the difficulties at the chicane. Getting a bit of traffic
:42:16. > :42:22.from Michael. Doesn't look like it will cost him any time. Let's see
:42:22. > :42:25.what it is. Michael, Michael is starting a lap now. Alonso is third.
:42:25. > :42:32.Alonso third behind Vettel and Button. It looks as though Michael
:42:32. > :42:36.is going to do a lap now. Nico Rosberg is only ninth. He will be
:42:36. > :42:42.disappointed with that. Paul di Resta is on a lap here in the Force
:42:42. > :42:47.India. Where will this put him? He's seventh for the moment.
:42:48. > :42:52.1:32.30. It is going to be mighty tight. Massa comes out of that
:42:52. > :42:56.chicane, former pole winner here. Can he get another fast time in?
:42:56. > :43:01.Well, Felipe Massa is sixth currently. And I wouldn't have said
:43:01. > :43:07.he is totally safe as we will see more improvements. He gets pushed
:43:07. > :43:10.down one by Nico Hulkenberg who does a 1:32.20. Now we are watching
:43:10. > :43:14.Kamui Kobayashi as he heads down into the chicane. Keep an eye on
:43:14. > :43:18.this. Fastest in the first sector here, Kobayashi. So it looks like
:43:18. > :43:23.it could be a pretty impressive lap. Let's see him across the line. He
:43:23. > :43:27.goes fourth. You would hope that that might be secure. Good lap
:43:27. > :43:33.there. Local knowledge. He doesn't have that much experience of this
:43:33. > :43:38.racetrack! That's right. He can read the menu easier than we can!
:43:38. > :43:43.LAUGHTER Raikkonen goes third. Good lap from Kimi. He is safe.
:43:43. > :43:47.Maldonado has not made it. He's not made it. He is at the - the
:43:47. > :43:50.chequered flag is out. Pastor Maldonado has not dragged one of
:43:50. > :43:54.those special qualifying performances out. Look at Perez.
:43:54. > :44:01.Perez on tenth is well up. He should get in the top ten. His
:44:01. > :44:06.team-mate is fifth. Let's see him finish the chicane. Bumps it over
:44:06. > :44:11.the curve, the Mexican. Can he just get that bit more speed? Grosjean -
:44:11. > :44:15.he's gone eighth, Perez is eighth and Grosjean has gone down. Di
:44:15. > :44:19.Resta and Grosjean are pushed out of the top ten. Massa is in tenth
:44:19. > :44:24.place and I think it is only Rosberg that's on track. Let's see
:44:24. > :44:27.what Grosjean does. He is seventh and safe. He's in the top ten. Now
:44:27. > :44:34.then, what is Rosberg doing? No, he is not doing anything particular,
:44:34. > :44:39.so that looks like we have our top ten. Massa has been squeezed out in
:44:39. > :44:43.the final stages and Michael Schumacher, well he is out of it,
:44:43. > :44:50.he is down in 13th, which will mean he will be 23rd on the grid. There
:44:50. > :44:53.might be other penaltys that can change that. Vettel has set the
:44:53. > :44:57.pace from Jenson Button, with Kimi Raikkonen up there in third,
:44:57. > :45:01.Fernando Alonso once again putting in the lap that he needed and
:45:02. > :45:07.Felipe Massa failing to do so. So he is out of that top ten. Hamilton
:45:07. > :45:12.dragging himself in there, but not by very much. We are going to see a
:45:12. > :45:22.close-fought encounter for pole here today. Let's look at what
:45:22. > :45:41.
:45:41. > :45:48.happened to di Resta. A classic di Resta old, Pastor Maldonado and
:45:48. > :45:54.the Toro Rosso cars. It is tight at the front. Frustration for Paul I'm
:45:54. > :46:01.sure. You were just half a tent away of making it through to the
:46:01. > :46:06.top 10. Does that frustrate you? course it is frustrating. We had
:46:06. > :46:11.quite a good run recently. Yesterday put us on the back foot
:46:12. > :46:21.and you're always playing catch-up. That could have made the difference
:46:21. > :46:26.today. But I think we managed to gather ourselves together. I think
:46:26. > :46:30.you have to look ahead to the race and the facts point to the fact
:46:30. > :46:39.that you have a top 10 car which gives you hope for some strong
:46:39. > :46:42.points. It will all be done to strategy. This seems to be a big
:46:42. > :46:47.variation in the paddock yesterday as to fool could look after their
:46:48. > :46:53.tyres. I would be relatively confident based on our performance
:46:53. > :46:59.in Singapore. You would do your best to overtake. Good luck
:46:59. > :47:03.tomorrow. So he does not sadly naked through to the top positions.
:47:03. > :47:09.And it is very close at the front. Who will take the Michael pole
:47:09. > :47:16.position? Time to hand you back to Ben Edwards and David Coulthard.
:47:16. > :47:23.The last 10 minutes will decide the top-ten it on the grid. The drivers
:47:23. > :47:29.preparing for at the next lap. Will Kobayashi be able to look out
:47:29. > :47:37.qualifying his celebrated team mate, Sergio Perez? Both of them
:47:37. > :47:45.qualified stunningly well indulge him. -- in Belgium. What can we
:47:45. > :47:55.expect from this final part of qualifying? I do not think we have
:47:55. > :48:00.
:48:00. > :48:10.seen it Lewis Hamilton at his best just yet. They're all taking to the
:48:10. > :48:14.
:48:14. > :48:20.track quickly. Hamilton has gone out.
:48:20. > :48:26.At this stage in qualifying you would ask why they would still need
:48:26. > :48:36.to be getting there are in. But there are few more clouds coming
:48:36. > :48:40.
:48:40. > :48:46.over, different factors affecting how the car feels. Sometimes just
:48:46. > :48:51.small subtleties and differences in pressure as the driver of bills
:48:51. > :49:01.heat in the brakes. A large part of the pressure in the tyres is
:49:01. > :49:13.
:49:13. > :49:17.controlled by the heat radiating here in the past and has an amazing
:49:17. > :49:27.record of getting pole position in the past three years. Michael
:49:27. > :49:30.
:49:30. > :49:35.Schumacher or actually holds the record for the number of Poles. For
:49:35. > :49:45.McLaren, there has never been a Mercedes powered pole position here
:49:45. > :49:47.
:49:47. > :49:57.at Suzuka. So Mercedes has never had an engine powered pole position
:49:57. > :49:57.
:49:57. > :50:04.here. This is unlikely to be his best lap but let us keep an eye on
:50:04. > :50:09.it and see if the card is responding as he wants. Now the
:50:09. > :50:14.last time McLaren were in pole position in Suzuka was 1991.
:50:14. > :50:18.Remarkable when you consider the success that this team has had.
:50:18. > :50:23.Lewis Hamilton has just not shown his form so far in his qualifying
:50:23. > :50:29.session. It looks as if he has been struggling a little bit with the
:50:29. > :50:39.balance of the car. Let us see how this lap unfolds before him.
:50:39. > :50:45.
:50:45. > :50:54.Sebastian Vettel fastest of all in end of the lap, exerting the
:50:54. > :51:00.initial benchmarked that everyone else is going to target. He has
:51:00. > :51:05.done an early run and will be back in the pits and presumably on to a
:51:05. > :51:15.new set of tyres. Lewis Hamilton, it we know that he is on the
:51:15. > :51:36.
:51:36. > :51:46.scrubbed set of tyres. Look at that for Sebastian Vettel. 1:30:08.
:51:46. > :51:47.
:51:47. > :51:51.Mark Webber goes second. He made a little mistake on that lap.
:51:51. > :52:01.dropped a couple of tents in the middle sector relative to his team-
:52:01. > :52:09.mate. He has a small amount of oversteer on the initial turn. And
:52:09. > :52:19.then he locked the front left. board with Kimi Raikkonen on the
:52:19. > :52:23.
:52:23. > :52:30.Lotus. He's one of the first cars to take to the track. He and
:52:30. > :52:40.Grosjean very similar in their first run.
:52:40. > :53:05.
:53:06. > :53:11.The accelerating out and up towards exhaust blown diffuser.
:53:11. > :53:21.Sergio Perez weaving from side to side. So it looks as if everyone is
:53:21. > :53:28.
:53:28. > :53:35.struggling in this first lap. Sergio Perez heading down into the
:53:35. > :53:43.turn. He then starts to climb back up the hill. Best grid position of
:53:43. > :53:51.the year for him has been the 4th. If he can out qualifying his team-
:53:51. > :53:59.mate that will be a feather in his cap. Up through Dunlop Curve. It
:53:59. > :54:09.seems never-ending when you're in the cockpit. Physically very tough.
:54:09. > :54:11.
:54:11. > :54:18.But looking tidy so far. A small block up but it does not cost him
:54:18. > :54:23.any time. Sergio Perez is going to find
:54:23. > :54:27.themselves very much more high- profile now that he has made that
:54:27. > :54:32.arrangement with McLaren for next year. Presumably the pressure
:54:32. > :54:37.starts now because the world is watching this young man even more.
:54:37. > :54:47.Every move of his will not be watched even more closely. Well it
:54:47. > :54:48.
:54:48. > :54:53.is all about the expectations. Anything other than victory at
:54:53. > :55:01.McLaren is a disappointment. So the pressure changes and the commitment
:55:02. > :55:07.in terms of time will be off the scale. Kimi Raikkonen is off. If
:55:07. > :55:11.anyone is on a quick lap that will mess them up, they will have to
:55:11. > :55:20.show that they have slowed down at that sector. That is going to make
:55:20. > :55:26.life very difficult. That is on the exit of Spoon Curve. He loses the
:55:26. > :55:29.back end. A little bit unfortunate. He saved the main part of the
:55:29. > :55:39.incident and then coming back across the artificial grass, lost
:55:39. > :55:45.control. That has certainly hurt Sebastian Vettel. He has now come
:55:45. > :55:52.back into the pits. The chequered flag is out. Will anyone be able to
:55:53. > :56:02.get into a clean lap? Jensen Button could still perhaps Chasetown Mark
:56:03. > :56:12.
:56:12. > :56:22.Webber's second place. -- chase down. Grosjean goes fifth. And
:56:22. > :56:23.
:56:23. > :56:31.another stunning performance from Kobayashi. But Red Bull have
:56:31. > :56:38.achieved their 1-2 of 2012. First and Sebastian Vettel has achieved
:56:38. > :56:43.his run of pull positions at Suzuka. It also means that he goes third in
:56:43. > :56:47.the all-time list of pole position holders behind only Michael
:56:48. > :56:54.Schumacher and Ayrton Senna. When you think what a young man he still
:56:54. > :57:04.is and the potential that he has. Surely he is going to close up that
:57:04. > :57:15.
:57:15. > :57:21.tally in the future. A beautiful qualifying here at Suzuka. Jensen
:57:21. > :57:26.Button it is there it for McLaren. Kobayashi a stunning 4th. And
:57:26. > :57:31.Sergio Perez in his 6th. Fernando Alonso has got some work to do,
:57:31. > :57:39.down in 7th place. And look at Lewis Hamilton all the way down in
:57:39. > :57:46.9th position. Nico Hulkenberg has a gearbox penalty, as does Jensen
:57:46. > :57:56.Button. That moves Kobayashi up to third place. The best ever grid
:57:56. > :58:17.
:58:17. > :58:21.could not be better. You just had could not be better. You just had
:58:21. > :58:28.the fantastic qualifying session. How good did it feel? It is an
:58:28. > :58:33.incredible circuit. It was a Challenge for the drivers. It is a
:58:33. > :58:38.very quick track and you have to be precise. It worked out well for us
:58:38. > :58:44.today. We were optimistic going into qualifying that we could
:58:44. > :58:50.perform well. But you never count your chickens in this category
:58:50. > :58:55.especially. It is very tight. all the way through free practice
:58:55. > :59:00.and qualifying you were very close to Sebastian Vettel. Just talkers
:59:00. > :59:07.around the lapse. Where was the crucial difference? Well the first
:59:07. > :59:17.sector is incredibly quick. The ratios are tricky. You have to make
:59:17. > :59:19.
:59:19. > :59:25.decisions on the fly. Then the Degner Curve is very quick as well.
:59:25. > :59:30.Sebastian Vettel did very well there. And they hairpin, both of us
:59:30. > :59:39.has struggled. Sebastian said himself that that was not very nice.
:59:39. > :59:49.He got a good exit. So along this stretch there's a bit of a chance
:59:49. > :59:55.
:59:55. > :00:02.to relax. It is important to get a good run out of Spoon Curve. And
:00:02. > :00:07.then into 130 R. Now you get the car ready for the last chicane
:00:07. > :00:13.which is very important. Use the inside curve a little bit to get a
:00:13. > :00:19.good exit and then job done. What people did not see at home, you
:00:19. > :00:24.said your running with the DRS Open. That is amazing. That was a scary
:00:24. > :00:32.corner. I cannot imagine how it must feel. You have got a lot of
:00:32. > :00:38.balance shift and the open the DRS. It is very precise with the turn.
:00:38. > :00:43.That is the main problem. But it worked out well. You are clearly
:00:43. > :00:52.dealing punchy. Your team-mate will be the biggest Challenge for the
:00:52. > :00:56.title. We will find out, as always we know with a Formula 1 car or how
:00:56. > :01:00.the first two or three seconds go. We have some pretty good starts
:01:00. > :01:06.this year but some ropy ones. Everyone is in the same position.
:01:06. > :01:12.So we will see how the initial launch goes. The tyres will play a
:01:12. > :01:18.big role. A perfect weekend for your team so far. So Mark Webber
:01:18. > :01:28.starts second on the grid and Sebastian Vettel in pole position.
:01:28. > :01:32.
:01:32. > :01:37.You must have been pleased? Yeah. Good job we did it on the first run.
:01:37. > :01:42.Generally today, I stayed out of trouble, throughout the qualifying
:01:42. > :01:49.sessions. Yeah, we had a phenomenal balance in the car, I had the
:01:49. > :01:52.feeling we could go with the track. I think all in all a very smooth
:01:52. > :01:57.qualifying session. We needed one run in every session which doesn't
:01:57. > :02:02.happen all the time. It is quite unique. Around here, it is very
:02:03. > :02:06.enjoyable if the car works the way you expect it, or you wish for,
:02:06. > :02:13.especially up the hill with the fast corners and the use of tyres,
:02:13. > :02:18.low fuel. That makes it very special for us. You seemed to have
:02:18. > :02:24.a real harmony with this circuit. How much of that comes down to you
:02:24. > :02:29.feeling comfortable in the car? love the track, yes. To be honest,
:02:29. > :02:34.yesterday evening I wasn't too happy because I lost a bit of time
:02:34. > :02:38.in the first sector. I was quite confident this morning that I found
:02:38. > :02:43.my mistake and going out in the practice session it worked
:02:43. > :02:49.straightaway. I was wondering why I didn't do it that way all the years
:02:49. > :02:53.before. You never stop learning and obviously it was good to learn that
:02:53. > :02:58.lesson. I have to keep it in mind for next year. Maybe I have to
:02:58. > :03:03.write it down! Yeah, I think every year is a different challenge. As I
:03:03. > :03:07.said, today was a fantastic day. But tomorrow is most important. No
:03:07. > :03:11.points today. The race could be very interesting to make the tyres
:03:11. > :03:16.work and last around here, as I said a lot of fast corners, quick
:03:16. > :03:26.change of directions which makes it hard on tyres. We have to do our
:03:26. > :03:26.
:03:26. > :03:29.best to stay where we are. Thank you.
:03:30. > :03:33.Jenson, congratulations. It is a shame you have to take that hit
:03:34. > :03:37.with the penalty? Yeah. It was a good qualifying session. We
:03:37. > :03:40.improved the car a lot from yesterday. We tried a lot of things
:03:40. > :03:46.yesterday. We tried very lowdown force to help with overtaking. It
:03:46. > :03:50.wasn't good at all. We went back on it today. Much happier with the car.
:03:50. > :03:55.The guys are quite a bit in front, but the guys behind are a long way
:03:55. > :03:59.behind. It felt like both laps felt very good in Q3. That was it. That
:03:59. > :04:02.was all I could get out of it. does that translate to tomorrow's
:04:02. > :04:08.race? How easy is it to overtake? A lot of people are scratching their
:04:08. > :04:12.head about tyres? Yes, and they have shortened the DRS zone. It has
:04:12. > :04:16.never been easy. Even with DRS last year, it wasn't easy to overtake.
:04:16. > :04:22.Don't know why they have done that. Don't know. The good thing is it is
:04:22. > :04:25.all up in the air in terms of what tyres to run. The blisters that
:04:26. > :04:29.people are getting and the graining. I suppose that is a good thing. So,
:04:30. > :04:34.yeah, starting eighth is not ideal. I'm still looking forward to it. I
:04:34. > :04:38.love racing here. Thank you. He loves being here, generally. He
:04:38. > :04:43.has some happy memories of being in this paddock. He won the race here
:04:43. > :04:48.last year. That will be a real struggle from eighth? This year,
:04:48. > :04:54.especially. Most of the wins have come from the front row. Red Bull
:04:55. > :04:59.are looking pretty strong. It is never say never. Weather may play a
:04:59. > :05:03.factor. Jenson won't give up. feeling like it might rain at some
:05:03. > :05:09.point this evening. A strong performance in qualifying, but he
:05:09. > :05:13.has a penalty. It was all-round misery for Lewis Hamilton. He is
:05:13. > :05:19.with Lee. Things looked so strong all weekend.
:05:19. > :05:23.How puzzled are you today? I'm not puzzled. I made a big mistake with
:05:23. > :05:29.the set-up. A big mistake. When the qualifying starts, you can't do
:05:29. > :05:34.anything to change it so you are stuck with it. So I was driving
:05:34. > :05:38.around with masses of understeer which we had in P2 and we made some
:05:38. > :05:42.changes into P3. Then it went to oversteer. We didn't really know
:05:42. > :05:49.what to do. So we went back to the set-up yesterday and made a couple
:05:49. > :05:53.of small changes to it. It was a disaster. How do you think it will
:05:53. > :05:58.translate out there tomorrow? don't think it will be good. I will
:05:58. > :06:06.do absolutely everything I can with it. We have masses of understeer. I
:06:06. > :06:10.expect my front tyres will be the limitation tomorrow. Which is usual.
:06:10. > :06:14.I will push as much as I can. I hope that maybe perhaps looking
:06:14. > :06:17.after my tyres better than others, maybe I can pinch some points.
:06:17. > :06:20.Three of the last four pole positions have been Lewis's. He
:06:21. > :06:24.will be looking at tyres knowing they can make a big difference
:06:24. > :06:28.during the race tomorrow? There is a big gap between the prime and the
:06:28. > :06:32.option tyre, more than a second. That will reduce going into the
:06:32. > :06:36.race. It was a three-stop race last year. We expect people will try and
:06:37. > :06:46.do a two. It is not over on the basis of qualifying, but it will be
:06:47. > :06:48.
:06:48. > :06:52.difficult from where he is. Ferrari knew it was going to be
:06:53. > :06:59.tough. Did you expect it to be that tough? Yes. I think it is more or
:06:59. > :07:03.less as we expected. We have been extremely unlucky today with yellow
:07:03. > :07:07.flags. The car behind me was green already, so it was my car passing
:07:07. > :07:11.on the yellow flag so I had to lift off and I probably lost fourth
:07:11. > :07:14.position, that was the target in the split times, with Button
:07:14. > :07:18.penalty, maybe starting third tomorrow, we lost an opportunity.
:07:18. > :07:28.Hopefully lucky tomorrow. How will it translate tomorrow? What will be
:07:28. > :07:31.
:07:31. > :07:37.the key? Lots of people are talking about tyres? Yes, tyre degradation
:07:37. > :07:43.will be quite high. McLaren have a strong race pace. It will be a
:07:43. > :07:48.challenge there. Interesting race. Points are on Sunday. He managed a
:07:48. > :07:53.very small smile. It felt difficult behind the wheel, and it would have
:07:53. > :07:56.felt a lot worse when he got out. It is bad for his Championship
:07:56. > :08:00.charge? It is. Sebastian Vettel will have the cover from Mark
:08:00. > :08:04.Webber and then you have three relatively inexperienced drivers
:08:04. > :08:08.between him and Fernando. He will be hoping to make a good start.
:08:08. > :08:13.Ferrari have been sharp at get aways this year. This track is so
:08:13. > :08:16.narrow and tight. He will be nervous about the potential for
:08:16. > :08:21.incident. Let's remind ourselves of the fact that Ferrari did have a
:08:21. > :08:27.slow car earlier in the season. Yet still Fernando Alonso was picking
:08:27. > :08:33.up wins. We heard in Malaysia it was "the most beautiful" according
:08:33. > :08:41.to the race engineer. If anyone can, he can? You're right. They have had
:08:41. > :08:45.great consistency this year. I think even if you couldn't see
:08:45. > :08:53.the man we are standing alongside, you would know who it is because of
:08:53. > :08:59.the number of fans around us! Congratulations for putting this
:08:59. > :09:06.out of your mind? Thank you very much. On the Friday, we struggled a
:09:06. > :09:09.lot with our car. We had a good step today. I think finishing P4,
:09:09. > :09:13.which is great. Especially in front of big crowd in Japan. That is
:09:13. > :09:16.something very special for me. is quite special is you can't say
:09:16. > :09:22.that you have got a home advantage in terms of knowledge of the track.
:09:22. > :09:27.You have done very little here? Exactly. It must be exhausting?
:09:27. > :09:33.this is your home Grand Prix, so you can do pretty good on this
:09:33. > :09:40.track. Yeah, I like this track, but usually I don't know this track,
:09:40. > :09:43.like Michael will know more than me! This is what I have in my
:09:44. > :09:47.situation. It puts a lot of pressure. I'm enjoying quite a lot
:09:47. > :09:51.this time. Did it cross your mind the fact that your team-mate signed
:09:51. > :09:57.to go to McLaren, the fact you are in front of him, is that something
:09:57. > :10:02.you say, "Look, guys, I can get the job done as well"? So far, I have
:10:02. > :10:08.had quite a good a lot of time to stay in front of him in the
:10:08. > :10:17.qualifiers. I'm not surprised. I am pretty much - this is my favourite
:10:18. > :10:21.circuit. I have to say, McLaren are a top team and I'm very happy for
:10:21. > :10:30.him. We have seen plenty of shots of you waving at the fans. They
:10:30. > :10:35.love you here. You qualified in fourth. Because of penalties, you
:10:35. > :10:40.will start in the highest qualifying position for a Japanese
:10:40. > :10:46.driver? Really? Yes. What can you expect from the race? I think
:10:46. > :10:50.starting P3 is something, if we hold them, at least I can stay on
:10:50. > :10:54.the podium. This is the realistic target. Maybe we will have some
:10:54. > :10:58.luck or maybe track conditions give us better effect tomorrow. Maybe I
:10:58. > :11:05.have some chance to lead. I don't think this is realistic at the
:11:05. > :11:09.moment. I think tomorrow is key for me. Usually when I have a good
:11:09. > :11:12.qualifying, I have a problem with starts. I need some luck tomorrow.
:11:12. > :11:17.Good luck. Go chasing that podium. When you have something to fight
:11:17. > :11:23.for, you always give us plenty of entertainment. All of these guys
:11:23. > :11:33.are rather excited, too. Thank you. Well done. A great day for Kamui
:11:33. > :11:36.
:11:36. > :11:39.Fernando Alonso moves up to sixth because of a few penalties. Jenson
:11:39. > :11:43.Button is one of those drivers penalised. He moves back five
:11:43. > :11:46.places because of a change of gearbox. It was the same penalty
:11:46. > :11:50.handed out to the Force India driver, Nico Hulkenberg, which
:11:50. > :11:54.moves him all the way back to 15th place. He starts alongside Bruno
:11:54. > :11:57.Senna, who has had a tough weekend. It was Kovalainen and Glock
:11:57. > :12:03.alongside each other. Jean-Eric Vergne going back three places
:12:03. > :12:06.because of the incident that we talked about earlier.
:12:06. > :12:09.Look at that, Michael Schumacher a ten-place penalty because of what
:12:10. > :12:14.happened in Singapore. He starts 23rd. There could have been another
:12:14. > :12:17.penalty handed out. That is why it is nice and dark here. Wince se
:12:17. > :12:21.chatted to Kamui Kobayashi, the -- since we chatted to Kamui Kobayashi,
:12:21. > :12:27.the sun has gone down. There were question marks over whether
:12:27. > :12:35.Sebastian Vettel impeded Fernando Alonso. He's come out of Spoon
:12:35. > :12:39.Curve. Sebastian Vettel is on an in-lap. The question was, was that
:12:39. > :12:43.worthy of a grid penalty? It was decided a reprimand was all that he
:12:43. > :12:48.was going to get and a lot of relief. I bet. Sebastian Vettel
:12:48. > :12:53.keeps hold of his pole. Gary, what strategy will win this race
:12:53. > :12:56.tomorrow? If you take the tyre data, two stops is the way to go. The top
:12:56. > :13:04.two stops is the way to go. The top nine cars have to start on the soft
:13:04. > :13:09.tyre. I expect the first stop to be lap ten. On to the hard tyre.
:13:09. > :13:15.Second stop lap 30. Again on to the hard tyre. Last year's race was a
:13:15. > :13:18.bit slower. It was because of three laps behind the safety car as well.
:13:18. > :13:21.it will be interesting. Keeping those rear tyres from blistering
:13:21. > :13:25.those rear tyres from blistering will be a problem. Thank you very
:13:25. > :13:30.much. We are back with all the highlights of this race and it is a