The Korean Grand Prix - Qualifying Formula 1

The attention to detail. The precision. The cost. The constant

quest for engineering excellence. Had South Korea seen anything like

this before Formula One turned up? Oh yes and on a much bigger scale

than Formula One. Less than a mile from the Yeongam

Track is this place, three million square meters of supertanker heaven.

Now for about �70 million you could either run a team in Formula One

for just one year or get your hands on this.

150,000 tonnes of container ship. And hilst they don't match up in

terms of real speed, they are defined by ground breaking

engineering and attention to the smallest detail.

And when you have spent months building this, or designing a car,

one thing can make or break your year - the launch.

Lights out and away we go. Sebastian Vettel lights it up. And

somebody is up already. Is that Alonso? And Webber.

Man, Romain Grosjean what are you Two very different places with so

much in common and this is worth looking at. This is how close they

are. A mile over the hill from that shipyard this impressive place, the

Yeongam Circuit as we arrive for our third Korean gran pre. Eddie

Jordan is with me. The cars cars will be travelling faster than that

in a few moments, but South Korea, what do you make of it? It is

growing in terms of the awareness. When we first came here, the people

of South Korea hadn't a clue what was going on. This is their sport.

Technology and Formula One is at the pinnacle of what they do here

in the shipyard is brilliant. I mean it is an amazing place to come

That shipyard was remarkable, but we seem seem to have entertainment,

in 2010 Mark Webber crashed. Last year Sebastian Vettel won and Red

Bull clinched the constructors crown and if we look at the

standings, for the first time there is a real battle with Fernando

Alonso. That happened since Singapore. He put himself back at

the top of the frame alongside Alonso. It is the first time there

has been back-to-back winners this season. Vettel, he is on the money

at the moment and he is always quick no matter what happens. He

won here last year. Red Bull are looking strong and

McLaren trying to push them and the pace suggests that Sebastian Vettel

is the man for pole and the man for the win. But there is a real air of

electricity here because we are getting close to the race that will

decide the championship. championship is all important for

two reasons, not just the drivers, but let's consider the constructors.

When you talk about the drivers, you have five races to go, it is

like the championship, the light has been turned on. Everything will

be fast and furious from here on in. I say to everyone at home, make

sure you watch these races. Make sure you watch the qualifying.

This one is for those of you who weren't out at bed at 5am to see

this first time around! Gary Anderson is in the pit lane

and in the commentary box David The Korean International Circuit in

the south-west. Country provides the stage for the next act in the

drama of the 2012 season. It is the only venue where Red Bull were

beaten to pole throughout the whole of last year by Lewis Hamilton and

McLaren. Qualifying takes place close to the city. This highly

developed country which grew its economy through from the 60s to the

90s managed to avoid recession and it is a Formula One facility that's

on a grand scale with long straights, fast sweepers and tight

twisty sections there is the end of the lap. There is a longer DRS, 80

meters longer for race day, but as ever in qualifying, the DRS in

enabled throughout the laps so they will use it on all the different

straights and for David, it strikes me this place with its three distin

sectors, it has a different rhythm? In free practise yesterday we had

Michael Schumacher being held up by an HRT and and and and gis

particular lating. Chatting to Gary Anderson. It is three sectors as

you mentioned. The first part is about straight line speeds. That is

a Monza section. The second sector is more about sweeping fast corners.

It is about downforce performance and you enter the last section

which is a Monty Carlo-style, Mickey Mouse section.

We have seen the super soft used at different tracks. We saw it in

Singapore and Canada. It is interesting that you have got high-

speed corners on the mid-part of the lap and they can run the super

soft? We heard from Christian Horner the difference between the

two tyres this weekend has not been what we have been getting used to

as a split between the prime and the option and the last Grand Prix

in Japan, it was more than one second performance gain between the

prime and the option. Here we are seeing a smaller gap and crucially,

we are seeing the tyres hold on. It doesn't seem to be that they are

able to do the time every time on the first lap. We saw Sebastian

Vettel go fastest on the third lap. We could see certain teams dropping

out of the operating window of these tyres and others benefiting.

I don't see it as a fait accompli this is a Red Bull and let's have

them ticking the boxes in qualifying. This could be mixed up.

Alonso leads the championship by four four points from Vettel. Kimi

Raikkonen is third place. Massa is ahead of Perez now courtesy of that

podium finish last time, Massa has been behind Perez all season in

terms of points. Mark Webber's problems with his car have been

solved. So Webber will be out to qualify, but he didn't get a run on

the super soft tyre. Fernando Alonso Was sixth fastest in the

practise session this morning. Felipe Massa was eighth quickest in

the constructors championship, Ferrari sit 20 points behind

McLaren. A margin over Lotus, but nothing particularly comfortable.

They are chasing to keep that advantage that they have for Alonso

over Vettel, but they know that qualifying could be a tough one.

There is Sebastian Vettel. The pole position winner last time out in

Japan. He had four pole positions this year and of course, vitally

for him, he went on to win the race with Alonso failing to score and

closed the championship gap and Romain Grosjean might have been

struggling on his first laps, but he has done well in qualifying. He

qualified second in Hungary. You have Romain Grosjean in a car

capable of making the top ten and we saw Sebastian Vettel walking

through the back of the garage and we have only less than ten seconds

to the start of the session. Tim Burton getting -- Timo Glock

getting ready to go as well. The session gets underway.

Heikki Kovalainen is the first on to the track in the Caterham.

Kovalainen had a battle with his team-mate in practise. Petrov was

quickest, some three tenths quickest in morning morning and

Charles Pic was not far behind. Charles Pic was not far behind.

Jenson Button is not not coming out straightaway the track is dusty. It

is cleaning up. But you can see dust off the line and in the pit

lane, David? The only supporting race is a a race of run what you

have brung! I never saw such a weird selection of touring cars in

my life. Not ideal ahead of a qualifying session to be going out

and trying to discover where is the oil and the dirt that wasn't there

in the free practise session. Time to check back in with Gary.

Gary, what can we expect in terms of lap times to make it through to

the top 17 which is what they are trying to do? If you are trying to

predict from practise three, you would say 38.203 is OK, but the

track has been evolving. There is more grip. If I was the top team I

would make sure I was in the 38s before I would park the car in the

garage. We will keep an eye on that. 1.38

the time. Pole position last year was at 1.37.8. Lewis Hamilton did a

1.37.5 last year. So we will keep an eye on the times. Heikki

Kovalainen on the track. And all alone. There should be no issues

providing no one comes out of the pit lane. A difficult pit lane exit.

We were talking about it off air earlier, Ben. This is his opening

section which is all about how fast can your car go in a straight line?

It has this street circuit feel because this area around the track

is meant to be developed into apartments and houses and shopping

malls. It hasn't happened yet. A huge amount of energy going into

the brakes there and another blast along the support pits for whenever

they will have support races. I am sure the culture of motor racing

will build here in Korea. Heikki is wide. Off apex turn five and look

at this, hooking back over into the exit and into this section and this

is one that when we we gets opportunity to see in-car footage

it is a joy to watch the drivers taking a Grand Prix car at 150mph

and letting the reigns lose and allowing it to deliver that

impressive speed. From that, it starts to tighten up

and you have got this really interesting double left-hander at

turn 11 which Nico Hulkenberg mentioned to you. It spits you out,

turn 12, and now you are coming into the really twisty bit? This is

the end of the lap. You see the dust getting brought on to the

circuit. As you run through the slow corners, you don't have the

downforce. You have the long eject out of turn 17 through the short

apex of 18 and the end of the lap. Where does this put him? Oh, pole

position. He was the only man on the track, well done Heikki!

A little bit off what he achieved this morning. Track temperatures

are up three se grease since -- degrees since practise this morning.

The track is cleaning up as we go throughout the course of the

weekend. Sebastian Vettel is looking focused now as they get him

ready to go. The other Caterham of Vitaly Petrov. They had a brake

problem and the team were telling him not to overlap the brake and

the throttle. We are on board now with Kimi Raikkonen. Kimi has this

new exhaust system which they are hoping will provide them with more

grip and more downforce. Let's just watch him as he goes on to his

flying lap and watch the on board tell omtry -- telemetry. DRS and

KERS being used on this long run out of turn two and then you just

basically sit there and spot your braking point. There will be a huge

amount of energy when he hits the the top, popping out of the cockpit.

Again, a large amount of energy, he gets the apex well. Then, an

awkward section, you have to be patient. Releasing the last part of

KERS, after five corners, it shows how fast the opening lap is.

A fairly tidy lap, traffic ahead which will cause an difficulties.

He may end up with penalties for blocking, that was a Mercedes

getting out of the way. He has Nico Rosberg in front of him. Hopefully

that won't cost him too much. This may be a factor in qualifying, this

final sector, it is almost impossible to overtake, you have to

move off line. Has he got enough fuel? Probably not. What we have

seen this morning, looking at the yellow tyres... Dropping into 11,

unquestionably he was held up, that was Romain Grosjean behind the

Mercedes. They were ganging up together.

Romain Grosjean, I believe, was on an out-lap, he was tried to get his

car prepared. That shouldn't result in a penalty for the Mercedes car.

We have seen this throughout the weekend already, the Ferraris are

very fast on the straight line sections, but they lose out in the

mid- part and final part, with the twisting. You get very different

performers on different parts of the circuit. It is interesting to

see the Ferrari philosophy, the engines are restricted to 18,000

rpm, there is a freeze on development, so been quick in that

first sector, as Fernando Alonso shows good pace, Nico Hulkenberg

went past. That first set it is about getting the drag from the car.

He beats the time off maulden macro. They were down to 1.37s on the

super soft tyres. Nico Hulkenberg has done a pretty

good middle sector, not as quick as maulden macro, who has set the pace

currently. -- Maldonado. Nico Hulkenberg completes his lap.

He goes bird on his first proper run. Quite a few cars are on track.

Someone going very slowly, a white flag, and then... Narain

Karthikeyan. The team radio was saying, no pedal. Clearly, there

was some retardation suggesting the brake pedal went soft on him. That

could have been a very uncomfortable situation, thankfully

the other car cleared the apex of turn three. It shows FIA safety

standards today, at a huge amount of run off for them to slide down.

Pastor Maldonado looks as if he can improve on the second fastest.

Plenty of front-runners to come out, and maulden macro stays second

fastest. -- Maldonado. That was a good lap, probably the fastest of

all, yes, it is, Felipe Massa, on the yellow tie, the harder of the

two compounds. -- tyre. The early days in this qualifying

session, but Felipe Massa is driving like a man with good news.

Kimi Raikkonen improving on that time. It is interesting, Ben,

people are choosing to do several laps. With a penalty of carrying

more fuel. But they know they gain more from finding where the tyres

are, gaining confidence. You can see how hard he is working the

wheel. Into turn one. Finally, Mark Webber is heading out. Sebastian

Vettel has gone out as well. Gary, just take a look at Lewis Hamilton

here. In lock up into turn one, we have seen this over the weekend.

have seen Lewis Hamilton in the run-off area, having difficulty

getting the brakes into turn one. It can be a heating issue. They

have plenty of the spot -- at stopping points, so it must be a

fundamental engine issue. In turns of the difference between be two

tyres, how many teams will run the super soft in this qualifying

session? There are only a few tenths difference. But that is

really important. Going back to what David said about the brakes,

and McLaren. You either brake well, or you lock the front tyres. The

last thing you want to do... You can see Hamilton here. Kamui

Kobayashi just crossing the line in 13th. Peter Sauber has handed the

reins over to Monisha Kaltenborn. Celebrating his birthday it out

here in Korea. Schumacher, currently 6th fastest.

You are riding with Lewis Hamilton, as he has to correct a little bit

of a slide. Coming out of 16. He runs it wealth through, going for

the line. -- well through. It does seem as if Lewis Hamilton is

unhappy with the balance of his car through the three practice sessions.

It's the top 17 which count in Q1, and who will not make it through.

At the moment, Mark Webber has yet to set a time, nor has Sebastian

Vettel. Narain Karthikeyan is out of this session. He won't be going

through in the HRT. Another good lap for Felipe Massa. He improves

on his time, but not as quick as Kimi Raikkonen.

Sebastian Vettel has been fastest in the middle sector. Across the

line he went, fastest overall. Suddenly, six-tenths faster than

anyone else. He he has done it on his third lap

completed. Kimi Raikkonen took five laps to set his time. The problem

is when you have to do multiple laps, the tyres have to divide

kilometres total distance on them. The chemical change starts to take

place as soon as you put beat her through energy on the racetrack. --

how early. Remember, Gary told us a low 1.39.

Plenty of people are outside that at the moment. We will see a lot of

track action, no surprises, in the final part of qualifying. Narain

Karthikeyan will not be able to come back out again. The drop zone

at the moment, Heikki Kovalainen and Petrov, Bruno Senna, Timo Glock

and Charles Pic. And Pedro de la Rosa no doubt will get another run

in before the end of this session. But, Narain Karthikeyan it is out.

Red Bull, first and third. The Clarence second and 7th. Felipe

Massa is faster than Fernando Alonso. Then Pedro de la Rosa --

Nico Rosberg. We now look at Pastor Maldonado. He has been pretty

impressive on occasions, the last time he ran the super soft tyres in

Singapore, he qualified in second place. We know he has good

qualifying pace but Williams clearly uncomfortable. His team-

mate sitting in 20th. It looks as if it is a battle between Toro

Rosso and Williams for which one of those at two might drop out of the

session. We're also seeing Paul di Resta choosing to go out on the

super soft. Teams saying they are going for the tyre to give the

marginally more pace. That tells you a lot about how important it is

to make it through into that top 16. Turn one, not too deep. This long

straight, the speed trap is at the end. Jean-Eric Vergne in Toro Rosso,

he has the fastest speed at that speed trip -- track. A low figure

for Pastor Maldonado as he comes down there. A surprise, given he

had his DRS wide open. Could it be a KERS issue? A little bit

surprising. We're presuming that figure is 100% accurate, it may not

be. Whether he lifted off down the main straight and they have decided

to go through on the next lap. Fernando Alonso, still sitting in

the pit lane. Gary, you go bust your forecast earlier, are you

sticky with that? Yes, the track is changing quickly. He did that to

7.6 this morning, he should be able to do 38.2. I think it will still

be in the 39.0 area. Mark Webber crosses the line, in

the second, the fastest final sector of anybody. Lili two-tenths

slower than Sebastian Vettel. Surely he won't have used his red

tyres. Bruno Senna only made it into the final part of, find once

this year. -- part of qualifying. Sir Bert not looking as strong as

in Japan last week when Kamui Kobayashi qualified.

It does look as if they are struggling. Given that the tyres

seem resilient, well that play into their hands tomorrow? We know they

have been good on their ties, it may come into play on race day.

Today is all about battling for who has the fastest car, and the

benefit of not having to be hooked up into the middle of that pack

which can be costly. The concertina effect into turn one and turn three,

you would prefer to be closer to the front.

A replay there, a lock-up, missing his apex. He made an adjustment on

his steering wheel, that could be anything, the engine, a torque

problem. When you lock up, you lose some bite from the front axle. You

get a little bit wide, you have to use more steering angle to get the

car turned, which compounds the time lost. An important lap, to get

something representative. That should be safe, into tenth place.

Bruno Senna has done a 1:29.4. A more promising pace from the

Sauber. Let us see what team-mate Perez does, asked to do another lap

what Sergio Perez is doing and I'm sure they are thinking, "Yes" every

time he shows a bit of form. TEAM RADIO: We need another lap for

sure. We are looking into it. We are looking into it. Yes, one more

time lap. Ricciardo does go sixth. Here is

his team-mate, Jean-Eric Vergne. His qualifying improved in reen

races and he has been much, much closer to Ricciardo. Let's see, he

has outqualified him recently. Let's see if he can keep this up.

He did drive here briefly in the Friday practise sessions. He goes

fifth and that's a a fraction of a second quicker. Michael Schumacher

is way down. He is in 18th place. He is in the drop zone and we're

into the final part because the chequered flag is out now and

Michael Schumacher doing his up most, you he is not -- but he is

not looking particularly - he has got personal best in first and

second sectors. Senna is in danger territory, but he is on track.

Alonso trying to improve. Across goes Schumacher. Alonso needs to

finish this lap off well to ensure he will go through into the next

part of qualifying. He had to go for the super soft tyres, the the

championship leader not in great shape. He is only 16th. He is only

16th. Senna could go quicker, but he is the only one who could do at

the moment. Senna is on a lap. The middle part is not brilliant. Is he

going to get dropped out? Hamilton is 17th. Hamilton in 17th. Senna is

back in the pits. Senna missed out again and that's desperately

disappointing for him. Very disappointing for him and

that's as close as you want to be to not making it throw. You have

Hamilton and Alonso. Hamilton only 17th. And Alonso in

16th place and it is, well, Senna, moving out of the way there. Well,

he was told to abort the lap and that was very fair of Bruno Senna

pulling off the line to allow the cars to go through, but

disappointing. Four more qualifying attempts this this year and no seat

for Bruno Senna as yet. Saturdays seem to be his bogey time.

Those knocked out, Bruno Senna, Vitaly Petrov who went faster than

Heikki Kovalainen, Charles Pic has outqualified Timo Glock, de la Rosa

is out and so is is NARRATOis Karthikeyan. Who would

have shot that a shot of Lewis Hamilton sitting in the garage was

worth getting out of bed for! I wouldn't want to be sitting in

the pits. Interesting. Here is de la Rosa making his way into the pit

lane. We will look at his pit his testimony mate on the track. --

team-mate on the track. He doesn't have a seat guaranteed for next

year. Petrov is in danger of losing that seat. It could be all change.

There has been rumours that Vitaly Petrov is struggling to raise

finance and the way this sport operates, that's a necessity. Has

he done enough for another team to take a look if he doesn't have

money? I thought he did a good job last year. He hasn't, but we know

that Kovalainen is a race winner. He was always going to be a tough

competitor and team-mate. In a word, probably he hasn't done enough.

We spoke to Karthikeyan. He was telling us they are improving the

car and he has a failure of the front right brake disc. Neither of

us have driven in Formula One, but we can imagine how scary that would

be? When the brake disc breaks you are a passenger and he was a

passenger from a long way out there. He was pirouetting down the track.

It is not a nice feeling, he was lucky it was in qualifying and

particularly in this qualifying so there were no cars around him and

he escaped with just being able to make sure that the car runs

tomorrow in the race. Vitaly Petrov quicker than his

team-mate out there today. Let's tear from him.

Tell us about your qualifying. You outqualified your team-mate which

is one positive? It is a big positive moment. If you look back,

it was a good surprise for all of us and we did a good job yesterday.

We finished late. I think we will make a good set-up and that's why I

was quick today. I'm really happy. He does still want a seat for next

year and those performances will help him. Let's bring Ben and David

help him. Let's bring Ben and David into the conversation. I spoke to

Bob Fernly at Force India and he says it is a scrap between Mercedes

and Force India for the final two slots in the final part of

qualifying? It really is, Jake. That mid-field battle, it is all

about constructors points, Mercedes versus Sauber. They are all chasing

as many points as possible. Keep a close eye on the mid-field, but Red

Bull are looking strong at the top. David, were you surprised with

Kovalainen what he said to you? Well, I was surprised by his

openness, but it did seem like his shoulders were down a bit. I wonder

if that reflected his performance. He has been the energy in that team

from a driving point view. I don't want to take anything away from

Vitali, I wonder if it is a reflection of him not being in a

happy place now. There was a rumour of a row between his management and

the owners of that team. I wonder if you have heard anything?

haven't. For me, it is one of the key aspects going forward.

It is time to watch the second part rushing to come out on to the

circuit for this 15 minute session. Each session getting shorter. 10

minutes for the film part. All about -- final part. All about

getting into the top ten. Looking at those who had to use the super

soft tyre, one Ferrari did and one didn't. Massa didn't. Massa's boost

in confidence in getting that podium last week seem to have fired

He was strong in prepractise in za in Suzuka. He was upgraded due to

penalties applied. We see Sergio Perez. He decides to get out there

nice and early on the super soft, the option tyres and building his

lap and around the lapel receive various instructions to remind him

to get the engine in the right mode. Working on building temperature in

the brake and tyres and being followed out by his team-mate. This

is a very questionable pit out. I am sure during the tomorrow, we

will look at this. Gary, we are seeing the two Saubers

out first. They are on the super soft tyre. Looking at the wear

patterns that we have seen, they maybe able to get a reasonable lap

in on a set of super softs they have run? I imagine they will go

out for this run. This slow lap should clean up the right front

where the graining is. It will be a tough session this because I think

38.5 will see it through. When you look at the Q1, Hamilton did a

39.18, ten cars if you blink, you will miss it.

That's just how competitive it is. It is not as if this is a short

track. It is three-and-a-half miles, 5.6 kilometres and the difference

is that tiny. I heard a number of the drivers saying if it wean for

its location and journey time from Europe it would be a perfect test

track because it puts you on the top top edge of your top speed and

you have the mechanical section so it ticks all the boxes as a real

reflection of how you get the car working well and the tyres as we

see Sergio Perez makes a nice A nice nice apex in turn one and gu

for a nice -- you go for a nice 800 meter drive, creeping up to 200mph.

Before hitting the brakes and down into the very, very tight turn

three. A little bit of correction needed. He qualified 17th last year

when he came for the first time driving for Sauber. They attempt ed

a two stop. Last year, they were they were kind to their tyres and

he had to make a late third stop with only a couple of laps to go.

So that dropped them down the order from where they should have been.

It doesn't look like the Sauber has the Suzuka qualifying pace they

enjoyed a week ago. It shows how different this track is to Suzuka.

What separates this circuit from Suzuka, there are a number of

corners that lead into the next corner. In Suzuka and Spa, you get

the impression they were designed by the natural path that people

walked. When you start with a green field site and it is designed on a

computer in Germany, a lot of the corners don't flow. You get a

little bit out of sequence and you clip a kerb and you end up having

to give away time because you haven't got the car on the right

line. Let's see what the benchmark lap

time is? 1.39.9. According to Gary that wouldn't be enough for top ten.

He did a 38.6 earlier, but we think that was on a scrub set of tyres

and if that's the case, it was a good opening gambit.

TEAM RADIO: Jenson is a 12 second gap behind. We need to keep working

the brakes. The teams informing the drivers

about their position and where the traffic maybe and these guys

obviously keeping a very wary eye on the track positioning. They

cannot get done for holding up another car or it is a grid penalty

for tomorrow. Jenson Button's engineer that

passes that information, I think he has got one of the most soothing

voices of the engineers. If I had to have someone reading me a

bedtime story, I would choose that man!

Webb err finishing -- Webber finish the lap. Turn 17, a little bit like

Valencia. It is like a street crack. Webber is fastest for now. 1.38.2

and that's a 1.38.5 for for Kobayashi. Paul di Resta is third.

Jean-Eric Vergne is currently fifth. Let's see what Alonso does? He goes

fastest of all so far. Looking a little bit better for Alonso than

perhaps it did in the first session, but Vettel beating that. 1.37.7 for

the Red Bull. Massa, the first set of the super

soft tyres that we have seen Massa run in this session so far and now

he is down towards the latter part of the lap as well. He comes past a

big big grandstand on the outside of the two left-handers and tucks

it in close to the wall. He missed the kerb on the left or the high

kerb and he goes fourth quickest for now. So it is Vettel, London's

Alonso, Mark Webber, Massa sharing the top spots at the moment.

Exciting stuff as the lap times are tumbling and everyone knows they

have got to get out there and get a feel for how this track is evolving

and Lewis Hamilton we're seeing is and Jenson Button has just finished

his lap, but we have got the information on Lewis Hamilton.

Button down seven tenths of a second to Sebastian Vettel. It is a

good lap. Is it enough? No, it is third fastest. Behind Alonso, just

a fraction of a second so far behind Alonso and yes, another lock

up, that's what we have been seeing a lot from the McLaren so far this

weekend. He took pole position last year, but right now, it looks to be

just a little struggle to get that car nice and neatly into turn one.

Well, I think that was the opening part of his lap and that would have

cost him time getting on the power. You gain time when you don't slow

down enough on the way in and it is that compromise as to whether you

are able to get the car rotated and get it turned and get the throttle

open. Missing an apex by a small margin is a good thing.

TEAM RADIO: Have another go, please. Have another go, please.

They want to be safer than that so they have asked him to go again and

the tyre is allowing them to do that which I find intriguing. 11th

for the moment for Rosberg. He is in the drop zone. Rosberg, Perez,

Nico Hulkenberg, Maldonado and Michael Schumacher all in the drop

zone, but Michael Schumacher is on a lap. Gary, these super soft tyres

are holding up very well in allowing people to go and do

on this second time lap. It depends on the car set up who gains the

bit of attention as the clock ticks away. The second part of qualifying,

Raikkonen, Kamui Kobayashi. Outside the top 10, Paul di Resta, Nico

Rosberg, Perez, Nico Hulkenberg. And looking at the top speeds.

huge gap. A replay of Jenson Button. The McLaren lock up. He seemed to

have a very stiff front end of the kilometres faster, and whether that

remains to be seen, it gives them a useful speed advantage for tomorrow.

Nico Hulkenberg has asked for some more front wing, he has understeer

as well. A couple of drivers reported understeer, is that

something to expect, Gary? softer the tyre, it is pushing at

the front. They will have to live with that in the fast part. That's

OK with Newt tyres which have a lot The drivers who won't make it into

the top 10 but we will see that change as we get ready for the next

part. The psychologically, it makes a difference when you go up your

last run. Sergio Perez, closing his eyes, visualising what he needs to

do. Let's say you are Lewis Hamilton in third place, you'll go

out thinking, it is for the others to beat me. But for Nico Rosberg,

in P12, or Perez, if you don't deliver on this lap, you are

definitely not in the top 10. This is an in a battle, driver against

driver, without actually seeing each other on the race track. It's

about strength of character. When you say you need more front wing,

do you on the next set of tyre. TEAM RADIO: New options, he said

their fronts wasn't ready for the new sector.

Interesting Feedback, both sides of the garage working together. In it

was a case of clarifying. Soaking up information, passing it on to

Michael who is looking at these stronger of the two Mercedes driver.

As I say that, Nico Rosberg will now go out. Michael is looking

pretty handy, pitting his tyres switched on for the first sector

which Nico Rosberg has been struggling with. Michael had a

fourth-place finish, up to 2010, his best finish of his comeback.

Whether he can do something here today. We are going to find out

pretty soon, just two minutes to go in the second part of qualifying,

the battle to get into the top 10. Paul di Resta heads into the first

corner, Felipe Massa keeps up of the way.

TEAM RADIO: Looked after the tyres in the high speed. -- look. You do

that by simply not leaning on to the side of the car through the

turns. You have nothing left for the last sector when you have less

downforce when the car is running at a lower speed. It costs him more

time. A lock up from thought macro but I don't think that will cost

particular, the last one, where the aerodynamics are applying

themselves and pushing the car down on to the ground. You can see how

they are pulling the car and it is responding.

If a tight and a tricky section, lap could be put in him into

contention to put him into the top Resta is only 11, he hasn't done

enough. And his team-mate, Nico Hulkenberg, pushing it out, has he

done enough? 7th. He is definitely up there, is it enough to stay

there? 1:38.4. It put cent in the top 10. The chequered flag is up.

For the second race in succession, A Williams fails to get into the

second part of qualifying. Let us hear the last part of the

lap. The yellow means they have to show a slower sector time. Perez

goes tent. He might be allowed to kick that if he shows his third and

final set that is slower. Only in that section where the yellow flag

it is. Nico Rosberg, up to seventh. Kimi goes Feb. Jenson Button

crosses the line as well. But he is not in, he is 11th, he has not made

it through. Hamilton has. It is about how much they slow down in

the final set tough. In Japan, we saw this, and drivers were allowed

to keep their times. It comes down to tiny amounts and real judgment

by the drivers to finish a lap, and control that final set to speed.

They have it displayed in the centre of their steering wheel.

TEAM RADIO: Week are P11. That is disappointing.

Let us take a look back. Down into turn one, we saw repeatedly the

McLaren locking up. Excuse me, this is not turn one, turn 11 or turn 12.

I will get it right this time, turn four, costing him time. A localised

hot spot on the tyre. Disappointment for Jenson Button

and Daniel Ricciardo. Both Toro Rossos not making it into the top

Pastor Maldonado are not making it through, nor Paul di Resta, he will

with the Sauber, the big pointing - - big talking point is Jenson

Button, 11th. I don't know why this has happened, this is a quick car.

He must have got his positioning wrong. It is a shame. You take your

bike away and suddenly everyone rushes past. It shows how hard it

is. Riding on board here, clearly an issue for Daniel Ricciardo, it

makes it hard for the other of riders to not push through the

yellow flag sector because they are not sure if they will be punished,

Eddie? Your instinct is to go as fast as you can. You try to put the

left flag out of your mind but you dare not because you will lose grid

position and be penalised. TEAM RADIO: Gearbox. Confirmation that

Daniel Ricciardo had the problem. How tight visit to get into the top

10? We have lost both Saubers, we have lost Force India, mild

Barnardo -- Pastor Maldonado. We will have a look at dens and's

efforts out there. We will wonder a long with Paul di Resta, thanks for

talking to us, it was looking like a great lap? For there was a

Ferrari coming out of the pit lane, I over-compensated. That was

already a stumbling block. At the end, I actually went 100 slower

than I did, it is unfortunate. Traffic has cost us getting into Q3.

How important is it to have someone like Nico. Both you are fast, do

you look to see what time he has done when you get out of the car?

And of course you do. The frustrating thing is we did a very

good time at the start of the session. We haven't been able to go

faster purely because of traffic which has been an issue in Suzuka

and here. It is costing people valuable places. It has put us in a

difficult situation tomorrow because our car seemed strong.

is you out on track, what is going through your head at this point?

You can't actually see but the car is very sensitive to what is going

on. As we get further into the corner, you pick up turbulent air,

and unfortunately you need every valuable grip. The I am getting

deja-vu, ensure we have the same conversation in Japan a week ago.

That raised didn't pan out as you wanted but it was a show of what

Force India can do. You must think if things go your way you can still

pick up some points tomorrow? would say even more so based on a

performance yesterday. We need to go into tomorrow and do a better

job. We have a new set of tyres which will be fallible given it is

a super soft compound. -- valuable. Paul, is it more exhausting walking

down the pit lane? Particularly when you have to speak to us!

is a long pit lane. Heading back to get to his garage. A difficult

session for him? He is bitterly disappointed. He knows that time is

in him and in the car, he just didn't put it up together. For

whatever reason, he taught about fighting for every little corner,

it eluded him at the end. What is more disappointing, he knows

himself and Nico Hulkenberg, everyone is looking at those two,

because one of them in my opinion is going to go. Let us show you a

bit of Jenson Button, Kenya give us some idea how hard it is around the

circuit to set your car up for this little Mickey Mouse section and to

have speed in the first set of which is about minimum drag and low

downforce, David? You want to have high tops bid which means you want

a small wing angle. -- top speed. In this section, you don't have the

load pushing down on the car. It does seem an apparent is struggling

to get enough front load on the underway and Sebastian Vettel

looking to take back-to-back pole positions. Ofs on pole last -- he

was on pole last time out in Japan. Can he do it here? He has been on

pole in the past here, but last year he got beaten by a certain

Lewis Hamilton. A Hamilton looking to try and stay upfront and Alonso

still looking for a top four start which he hasn't had in the last few

races. What is going on? Rosberg sat with the green light and

Michael Schumacher doing the same. So I would be, there is clearly a

strategy and Michael Schumacher is sitting there. So unless he felt,

"Well, look, I need to get clear space so I will let the cars go."

But I will be curious if Gary has a line on this, because Rosberg sat

for 20 20 seconds before he moved and Michael Schumacher did the same

thing. Why would you want to cool your tyres? Gary, have you got any

idea why that might be? You bring the tyres up to the temperature you

want to get out of the pits with and you are sitting there and not

only is the tyres getting cooler, but the engine is getting hotter.

Maybe he has a problem. Vetting has gone out behind the

bunch and Nico Hulkenberg. Those two had a massive fight last year.

It didn't look like Mark was making it easy for Lewis to pass. They

need to find space which given there is a few cars within just

looking here, we have Nico Hulkenberg passing through through

we have got Rosberg coming out of S 2, they are condensed in one area

of the track. One is going to come unstuck with traffic because you

can't guarantee that everyone will drive a clear lap.

Gary, do you have a prediction for a pole time? I think this year, we

will be looking at 37.2, 37.3. The track keeps on on improving and you

are never sure if you will lose two or three tenths.

Alonso and just four points separate him in and Sebastian

Vettel in the drivers championship. This has got to be a truly special

lap from the World Championship leader to keep the fight going

knowing the Red Bulls are fast in Korea. No, this first part

straightforward. He managed to get through turns one and two without

any lock ups. Let's see how he does on three? No big issue there. It

looks to me like he is giving Grosjean a bit of extra tow. Let's

keep an eye on what Grosjean does in these early parts of the lap. He

goes wide as he runs through four. Sounds hesitant to me as he builds

this opening lap in the last part of qualifying.

Interestingly, Nico Hulkenberg has come back into the pits. It looks

as though Nico Hulkenberg will not put in a represent I have

representative lap time. We have seen that before. Nico Hulkenberg

has come back into the pits which is interesting. Massa is on track

at the same time as Alonso. Alonso has been doing a fine job boosted

with the podium last time and now. In Monza both cars were quick.

Monza is quicker. Massa throws down the gauntlet. Let's see Alonso.

Alonso and is faster. 37.6. What about Hamilton? Can Hamilton go

ahead of the Ferraris? No, he is only third. Webber goes second. Owe

splits the Ferraris, but Alonso is in front. Sebastian Vettel, well,

he could be the one to watch. Here comes Vettel out of the final

corner. Vettel goes faster by by three tenths of a second. Sebastian

Vettel showing the form he did if practise this morning.

Well, an impressive lap, but an impressive prediction from Gary

Anderson did he not not say a 37.3. We have five minutes to go. We

might see that being improved. I guess, well, there is a surprise, a

lock up in the McLaren. This time we have the one McLaren in the top

ten and it is Lewis Hamilton, but Vettel has the advantage here from

Alonso the two championship contenders one and two. Webber is

third. Massa fourth. Hamilton fifth and the two Lotuses of Kimi

Raikkonen and Grosjean running different specifications on the

cars and Michael Schumacher and Rosberg who have not done a lap

time as yet and you are watching inside the McLaren pit and the

Mercedes pit, sorry. You had the curious leaving of the

pit lane. Are they just registering a time and seeing what else is

going on? Are they going to go and take a shot at it here? They have

been out and come back in. So the order is based on your race number

in fact. So Michael Schumacher has the advantage over Nico Rosberg.

TEAM RADIO: We need a little bit in sector two, but it is a very tidy

lap. They are always pushing for more.

He wants to be purple in all sectors. There is his engineer

there, Rocky as he is known. The Frenchman gives that information to

the young German in the Austrian team based in Britain. A truly

international nature of Formula One. It is a real mix, isn't it? The

engineer for for Fernando Alonso there. They have managed to get

themselves into second place ahead of the other Red Bull. Red Bull

locked out of the front row in Japan. Webber at a a disadvantage

today because he didn't get to run the super soft tyres m morning.

Gary, we could still see improvements on the next run?

wouldn't surprise me. Sebastian Vettel is in an inevitable position.

He has three tenths on Fernando Alonso. He can push the limits.

Will he use the tyres because this race is going to be won by strategy

and these tyres are strange. The super softs grain. You have got to

get through that spell, but they are quicker and they are quicker on

the race run as well. He did a stable race run yesterday. So he

may use strategy and not bother doing the complete run.

Right. Nico Hulkenberg is coming out so maybe he will do a lap, but

a real attempt at a lap and there is a new set of tyres for Romain

Grosjean as well. Not too much difference between the two Lotus

team-mates. They are sixth and seventh currently, but Kimi

Raikkonen having the new exhaust set up on his car. Grosjean has the

older speck. A new set of tyres for Sebastian Vettel. He has the

advantage in qualifying. Just untwo-and-a-half minutes to go.

Fernando Alonso has come out of his pits already and he is on track.

Sebastian Vettel leaves the pit garage and let's look at how busy

it was a moment ago as Hamilton in particular there, getting past the

Mercedes. Well, he is entitled to do so. He

felt that the Mercedes was being cheeky and he thought, "I will have

some of that." As long as you are not enDear dangering anyone --

endangering anyone in the pit pit area. It didn't look like there was

anyone he could run-down. Singapore went well for them and

Japan wasn't so good. They will be pleased particularly when when

McLaren only managed to get one of their cars in the top ten. Jenson

Button qualified in 11th. Everybody finds themselves within a sector

which lasts 40 seconds on this racetrack and the last man who will

cross the line will be Romain Grosjean, second last man will be

Sebastian Vettel. So Vettel in the prime position to be able to back

out and save some of that option tyre should no one be improving on

his time and meanwhile, we are going to see Nico Hulkenberg has

just just crossing the line and Mark Webber. He has gone at 1.37.

They have not given on these tyres on this track track. He is using

experience and he is make making the rest up.

There is a lot of sitting and waiting doing 200mph. He will flap

open as he comes up on to the next straight. Out of turn three,

approaching turn four. Another heavy braking area, but now we get

into the combination stuff. Low speed corners here. Looking tidy.

Doesn't run too deep into the corner. A personal best so far for

Mark Webber. He now gets into the fast flowing section of the middle

part of the lap. How brave can you be with DRS?

Flat out there. Down a gear or two. He is half a second up on his

previous best. We can see that on the right of the display just below

the flashing lights. A good lap from Mark Webber so far if he can

hold this together. He has lost a little bit of time now. He is on

the cusp of challenging Sebastian Vettel for pole position.

The fastest first sector has gone to Rosberg. Keep an eye on Webber.

Looking reasonable, but will it be enough to put him ahead of Vettel?

Not only a front row start, but he has beaten his team-mate. Hamilton

had a good lap. Hamilton is fastest in the middle sector. Hamilton

crosses the line and he is third. He can't match the Red Bulls in the

latter part of the lap and Rosberg goes eighth.

Vettel had a bad first sector. It looks like Vettel is out of it for

pole position. Alonso has been displaced by Lewis Hamilton. The

championship leader is in fourth position. Across the line comes the

Lotus. Here comes Vettel as well. Watch out for Vettel in president

background and Massa in sixth and Vettel crosses the line and he

hasn't been able to displace his team-mate with the final run.

Grosjean goes seventh so he is outqualified by by his team-mate,

but Mark Webber has taken pole. He had pole at Monaco, but it was a

pole he inherited. He has taken pole position in a true battle with

team-mate, Sebastian Vettel and he took it by 74,000 thsz of a second

-- 74,000ths of a second. He has taken Renault's first ever

owl position. -- first ever pole position. How

many times have we seen that from Mark Webber? When he looks under

pressure, he can deliver U That was a brilliant performance by

Mark Webber. I wonder what story Vettel has to tell? You noticed he

lost time on one of the sectors. I wonder if if that was a mistake or

if something went wrong. It is a Red Bulloch out in Korea.

TEAM RADIO: That's it Mark, P1. Pole position, fantastic job.

you. A fairly restrained response from

Mark Webber, but it is Red Bulls upfront.

Alonso in terms of chasing the championship, he will be pleased

that Vettel got beaten to the top spot. But there were no points in

qualifying, it all matters in the race. Nico Hulkenberg has ended up

eighth ahead of the Mercedes so they did all run at the end and

Nico Hulkenberg eighth. Rosberg outqualified Michael Schumacher. An

interesting top ten, Hamilton brings the car in third. Third

place on the grid for Lewis Hamilton. The other one down in

11th place for Jenson Button. Mark Webber can celebrate. It is the

sixth Red Bull of 2012. It is his 11th career pole as well and this

one, very fully deserved considering the problems he had in

morning practise. Mark Webber has not won a Grand Prix when he hasn't

started on the front row. He laid down a positive marker for the week

ahead. Lewis Hamilton takes a good, close look at the tyres on the Red

Bull. That tells its own story. Yeah, the body language, he is

looking at every aspect of the Red Bull, particularly the tyres, but

he is really studying it! I think that Alonso won't be too

disappointed with that qualifying. He is only three tenths slower by

pole man, Mark Webber. And that does show an improvement in overall

performance from the Ferrari. That's a good effort, indeed.

Coming up to the weighbridge, Kimi Raikkonen. Fifth fastest, Kimi

Raikkonen. He is still on the pace, less than a tenth slower than

Alonso. Mark Webber on pole position by a fraction from team-

mate, Sebastian Vettel. Lewis Hamilton third. Alonso fourth. Kimi

Raikkonen fifth and Felipe Massa in sixth.

This is assuming there is no Williams will be disappointed with

time during the session, with the brake problem. Mark Webber has

taken pole position. Renault have now scored 200 pole positions, only

battle for the title, struggling to match the pace of this car. If TEAM

sounding under pressure in the cockpit. A I would like to hear

exactly what he said, he was asking about Felipe Massa? He had pole

position all locked up. You can see by his position, he is bemused. It

is not bad. He has a team-mate. Mark Webber knows the game. He is a

wily old fox as he described himself. He is a team player. It is

a very good decision for Red Bull. As they walk out to get their

photos in the obligatory press call, Lewis is looking pretty happy to be

mixing it with the Red Bulls. How will mark be feeling, beating his

team-mate? Mark has been brushed by Sebastian. This is very good news,

relief for him. He has signed the next season with his team. He wants

to be a big player. This is endorsing what he thinks. He thinks

he can win. Look at the statistics, Mark Webber is tough to beat when

he starts at the front. Let us find out what the team principal thinks.

Another Red Bull front row. Mark in pole position, Sebastian in second.

He a really good lap together, great pole for him. You had longer

runs yesterday on the soft tyres. Both drivers were reasonably happy

with the long runs. We need to make sure we get through the first

couple of corners this weekend. Make sure we convert great

qualifying into a great result. Fernando was three-tenths slower,

was that better than you expected from the Ferrari? He he is still

right there, nothing can be discounted. All the major

contenders are pretty much up there. It will be a fascinating race.

luck tomorrow. Two important points, we have got to get through the

first couple of corners OK, a veiled threat to his drivers not to

run into each other. The team boss, he has become an expert. He knows

what is going on. He will sit down with his drivers and say, listen,

there's a lot of sponsors, people in the factory, keep banking them

and do not undo all of that. -- thanking. He also mentioned race

pace which will be ominous for the other teams. Often they are not as

good in the race as qualifying. They have upped their game.

Traditionally, they do not bring new parts. They feel this

Championship is so finely poised they have to do something. They

have responded brilliantly. A very strong performance by Red Bull.

Lewis Hamilton also impressing today. Mixed for McLaren. Lewis

will start bird. Martin Whitmarsh is with Gary Anderson.

Lewis got into third. An excellent lap, we didn't think he would put

that in. We have had some good long run pace this weekend. Starting on

the second row, you are in with a decent shout in the race. Sebastian,

Lois, Fernando, all queued up behind Mark, will make it quite

exciting I am sure. Jenson is back, gives him an opportunity to try a

different tyre strategy. We tried to look on the positive side.

Unlucky. The yellow flag. That is the pressure in qualifying, you

have to get it right every lap, in case there is a red or yellow flag.

He didn't go through by four 1,000ths of a second. He has a new

option, and a new primes. We all tried to do something different.

Good luck tomorrow. Martin alluded to teams which are

better in the race than qualifying, am I right in thinking they will

secretly be happy to be two-tenths behind the Red Bull? For them, it

is the wrong driver, they are losing Lewis at the end of the air.

He is still in the Championship hunt for them. They are thinking in

the future, drivers and engineers think didn't leave. The owners and

the people who are structuring the team are thinking about the

longevity, the future, which is Jenson Button and Perez. What will

happen, different to what he is saying to us, he is thinking, we

really need to start the team- building from here. I'm so pleased

that was a qualified session were getting up for, for you. A

worthwhile one. It is tight at the top and Ferrari are in the mix as

well, let us hear from the boss. You must be pretty pleased? We are

never pleased because we would like it to be better. It is important,

if you remember, in a Singapore and Suzuka, it is another step in the

right direction. That is the situation. It is important to do

well tomorrow. And on the super soft thyme a Grier today, that was

a consistent run from Fernando. Yesterday, on Friday the race pace

was not bad. Let us hope to have a clean start with no problem. Good

luck. What about the men driving the

cars? Let's hear from the top four. Congratulations, a hard fought pole

position. Her first official pole position of the year. It was a

tight session. Yes. With the session unfolding, people were

having different balance issues, on different compounds, on the same

compound within different qualifying sessions. I was happy to

recover in the first Qthree-run. you look at qualifying, the first

and second was good, Q3, we lost a little bit. I probably started to

do something in sector two which wasn't going in the right direction

and I lost a little bit. Not entirely happy with the final lap.

I feel great, really happy that I finally got a in-lap. Qualifying

wasn't going as smoothly as it has in previous times. The last race

was pretty disappointing for us. We have to make sure we get as high up

as possible. Q1 and Q2, were problems. First in Q1, first in Q2.

A strong car for them. But, we have a team. There is a start, a

strategy, time management, and on that we are the strongest. Looking

to get away from the first corner pretty well. That is important. Two

Let us show you who was on pole position, Mark Webber, head of

Sebastian Vettel. Loads of title pretenders at the front of the grid.

A strong qualifying showing from Nico Hulkenberg. Just behind them,

Jenson Button had a struggle today, and Kamui Kobayashi and Paul di

Resta he did not make it to the The H R Ts are bringing up the rear.

We have been speaking about this being one of the final races of the

year. There is a real electricity in the year, the Cabinet battle is

starting here. They were fighting in the pit lane, this is indicative

how desperate they were to get out on track, that was Hamilton.

talked about it early. Fighting on the pit lane. The Championship has

become so juicy, everything to play for, the front two positions, it is

electric. This is going to be a titanic battle for tomorrow and for

the remainder of the season. titanic effort from Jenson Button

if he can do something special from 11th place.

Was there a problem out there, was it the end of flak? What you put it

down to? The reason my first run wasn't quick in Q2, I locked up,

the front left. I had to go down to first gear, it cost me time. I

wasn't worried because I thought the next run, an easy time to find,

but a yellow flag. Telling us he locked up. One man who nailed the

leper macro, -- lap, Mark Webber. Listen to that high-speed section,

that is when a Grand Prix car feels alive. That middle sector was about

high-speed stuff. He is not short of bravery. He kept it together. No

big fighting there will at this stage. Look at the remaining

corners as they unfold, but how close he was on the left-hand side.

A little lock up in 16, he gets a bit wide, early on the throttle as

he filters through 17. DRS open early, across the line. A rather

tidy lap. A tidy race would suit Red Bull

find tomorrow. Set your alarm for 6am tomorrow morning. If you can't