The Korean Grand Prix Formula 1

Previously on F1. Oh wow, this is fabulous stuff. What entertainment

we got there. That is tight. That is close. Fantastic stuff and oh so

close. That throws this Championship wide-open. Round 16,

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 48 seconds

What do you think of this place then? Very impressive. Should be a

statue there of the great warrior. You're a great F1 warrior. Not many

people would admit to that. It does look like Bernie with a helmet on.

The view isn't bad, but at the top the view is stunning. But it's a

long walk. Are you good for a trek? Yes. Come on EJ. You have been on

my back for the last four years. The title is close, four points in

it. It is hard to think of the season getting any more exciting.

It has been a great season. We have been lucky, five races to go. Who

will win? This is when the pressure builds on the teams and drivers.

This isn't the top of the hill. Come on, we're going up here. How

much did the first ten seconds of that Japanese Grand Prix mean for

the title battle? Everything. a Fernando Alonso? Fernando Alonso

only two races he has not finished involved two first lap crashes.

cease vet as being his only competitor. Lewis Hamilton...

you think his announcement that he is moving to Mercedes will affect

the next five races? No, I think there will be some lesh pressure

lifted, he has -- pressure lifted, he will just jump in the car and

drive. Kimy, could he do it? could be a pawn in the mix, but to

be the king at the end, I'm not sure he can. Sebastian Vettel has

days period. Japan was perfect for Seb and Red Bull. Yes it shows what

great form they have had with developments. That must make the

other teams nervous. That is your first real look at South Korea,

isn't that beautiful? A beautiful view to celebrate the start of a

beautiful run in to the 2012 World Championship. That is lovely. This

is a country with so much to boast about and for three years they have

been able to boast about the Yeongam circuit. This year we have

so much to fight for in the Championship. 12 months ago,

Sebastian Vettel was already the world champion when he got here.

That is not case now. Just four points separating Sebastian Vettel

and Fernando Alonso and in the constructors battle, Red Bull have

led the way in the last few seasons, but McLaren are pushing them hard.

All the action coming your way in a moment with David and Ben. But

first here is Lee McKenzie with what happened in qualifying. Q1 got

off to a flying start. Jenson Button had a disappointing day.

Daniel Ricciardo qualified in 11th. Fernando Alonso said his

performance in qualifying was betteren -- better than he expected

and this season with Ferrari stronger on race days than

Saturdays, he should be happy with fourth. Lewis Hamilton hasn't

looked comfortable in Q1 or 2. But he was desperate to get on the

front row of the grid and even took over Michael Schumacher on the pit

lane. Lewis Hamilton in the end had to settle for third. For the second

week in a row, Red Bull locked out the front row. Mark Webber was at

the front. Sebastian Vettel tried another lap, but it wasn't enough

and for the first time this season, the Aussie was fastest on Saturday.

So Mark Webber is on pole with Mark Webber in second. Lewis Hamilton is

third and Fernando Alonso is fourth. Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa are

on the third row. Romain Grosjean is desperate for a trouble-free

start, as are the drivers around position for Red Bull and it is the

second time that Red Bull have had pole position in the three years

that the Korean Grand Prix has been running. The starter keeping an eye

on the line up of all of the cars. Looking out of our commentary box I

can see Jenson Button and Sergio Perez coming past, lining up.

Christian Horner wondering if this will be a straight forward victory

for Red Bull, as it was in Japan, where Sebastian Vettel dominated

from the start and never seemed to be under trouble, even under safety

car conditions. Or will ther their work cut out this time? 24 cars

lined up to start the Korean Grand Prix and the key stage in the

Championship. Lights out - away we go. Mark Webber versus Sebastian

Vettel, Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso. On the first corner,

Sebastian Vettel has the advantage and Fernando Alonso tried to gain

ground as he goes side by side through turn two. But it is

Sebastian Vettel, here comes Mark Webber. He will try and get him

back. Fernando Alonso side by side with Lewis Hamilton. Kimi Raikkonen

is in there as well. Who will get the run in to the hairpin? Romain

Grosjean is safe and staying out of trouble for the moment. Here is

Lewis Hamilton with a chance to still fight with Kimi Raikkonen as

Fernando Alonso tries to go around the outside of Mark Webber. David,

there is a lot going on Hoo -- here. DAVID COULTHARD: Yes and there has

been some Damage further down the field. Felipe Massa is going wheel

to wheel with the Lotus car. Look at Sebastian Vettel, opening out

the lead, but what an absolute example of wheel to wheel racing.

There this a damage we were talking about. Jenson Button. Been hit by

Kobayashi. What an idiot. Oh dear, it is Kobayashi that took him out

and Jenson Button's race is over. What he said sums up what happened.

Jpbz was on the left hand side going into turn three and Kobayashi

came out of nowhere and hit the front right of the McLaren.

Disappointment for Jenson Button. And remember how they raced so hard

in Japan and Kobayashi took third ahead of Jenson Button and Jenson

Button congratulated him after the race. I don't think the feeling it

quite the same. Sergio Perez has had a good start. He is up to ninth.

Some racing going on back down the line. Heikki Kovalinan ahead of

Daniel Ricciardo, but Daniel Ricciardo is ahead of Petrov.

Daniel Ricciardo had a grid penalty. Two Red Bull up there, both Lotuses

still in the top ten. Michael Schumacher is ahead of Rosberg.

Rest Berg is 14th. But dropped some time at the start of the race.

Button standing beside his car in the run off area. Disappointing.

Not only is he out of race, but Rosberg as well. That is two

retirements in two race. He had gone through the year without any

retirements. Kobayashi in the pits. Delay getting him going, but he

does restart. A double disappointment for Jenson Button,

not only is he out, but he is the furtherest distance from the pits.

Sebastian Vettel from Mark Webber, Fernando Alonso in third. Sergio

Perez has got up into ninth place, he is the lead car on the soft tyre,

that is the hardest of the two compounds. So Sergio Perez will go

deeper into the race before they make their pit stop. Paul di Resta

is 11th, Senna has started well and is into 12th and he is ahead of

Pastor Maldonado. Senna comes from 17th place up into 12th. He needs

some strong results. Bruno is a fast driver, but he has been

getting out of position in qualtiing -- qualifying. But a good

recovery from a bad position. The Mercedes is on the left and it

looks like it is difficult for the marshals to recover the car from

that position and Nico Rosberg is still in the car. Does he have a

negotiation of whether he limps home. It seems Sebastian Vettel

hooked up the start well. Lewis Hamilton was going for the gap and

as the Red Bulls came together, he had to back out. There was contact

between Jenson Button and Nico Rosberg. I think that is probably

what then put Nico Rosberg out of position. And great stuff

approaching 200mph. You can see the toe, the Lotus comes up the inside.

Here is an example with professional drivers managing to

mix it and not run into each other. Now on board with Sebastian Vettel.

A shudder from the tyres as they vibrate against the tarmac and he

is beside Mark Webber and runs the car out to the artificial grass and

then he is in the position to watch his mirrors. Mark came out of slip

stream. Here is Fernando Alonso. Again you hear that shudder as the

tyres vibrate and he backs out early to watch what is going on.

Gets inside of Lewis Hamilton and Lewis Hamilton sensibly leaves the

gap open. And tries to ride it out on the long run down the back

straight. You can see his front plate came into vision. And with

Sergio Perez, where did he gain the places? He is inside of Michael

Schumacher and my goodness, oh he did come in contact with the back

of the Force India. You can see his nose, he clipped the back of Button.

Not only has he had a tap from the Sauber, hopefully we see the

contact as they run into turn three from Kobayashi. He has a sauber

sandwich. He is the paste in there. And Kobayashi clips him with his

front wing and thinks, that is enough -- not enough, I will hit

him again. Contrasting stiels between those with experience and

those with less experience. -- styles. There is Kobayashi, he

bounces off the side of Rosberg and then into the side of Jenson Button.

And he has burst the radiator. That is why they have packed the car. If

you wondered what the inside of a Pirelli tyre looks like, well it

ain't pretty. It is the sort of thing that Romain Grosjean has been

penalised for this year. He got away with it, be he did tag the

back of the McLaren and the Ferraris. That has been frowned

upon at the start of a race. They don't ever practice that off the

grid into the first corner. Whel they may practice it this time last

year. But one time a year to practice that moment on full tanks.

In terms of who has gained what, Sebastian Vettel has gained one

position, Mark Webber down one. Felipe Massa has gained one place.

There has only been a little change among the top once, except for

Sergio Perez, who gained three places. Five places gained by

Felipe Massa. We're on board with Verne Verne. He gained two places

and his -- Jean-Eric Vergne, he has gained two places. Up front it is

the Red Bulls, and the Ferraris. Nico Hulkenberg is in seventh and

then Romain Grosjean. You can see that Mercedes parked up on the left

hand side of the picture. Is that Paul di Resta getting down the

inside of Ayrton Senna? -- Bruno Senna. You can see the cars behind,

and Jean-Eric Vergne coming out of slip stream of Pastor Maldonado and

he has Daniel Ricciardo behind him. This is into the tight turn four

and he has to run wide and allows his team mate, having a snip up the

inside. Doesn't work on this lap. The two Toro Rossos running

together. Daniel Ricciardo has been in the points a couple of times

recently, but lies behind him and Jean-Eric Vergne ran too wide and

Daniel Ricciardo couldn't take advantage. Jean-Eric Vergne got up

high on the kerb and had a puff of tust as he put his right side tyres

on to the grass. -- puff of dust. this race. You are watching the two

Toro Rossos as they come back past the pits. Looking at Bruno Vettel,

he was out of the first part of qualifying, which means he has

plenty of new tyres available. do call that the sausage kerb, we

have debated that before. Get in the message across to the team that

currently. 5 lap macros have been completed. We are on to lap six now.

Vergne fastest in the first sector, Rosberg and Button both walking

back to the pits, just discussing what has been going on so far.

Neither of them too impressed, they've kept their crash helmets on.

I think the danger is over now, moment. It is in that area but you

are not allowed to use it because there are yellow flags in the DRS

Perez, a pretty good start for him. Just watching Maldonado and berne

macro. It could help Perez that he is the lead car on that harder tyre.

It could help him. The one thing hurting him is not been able to use

that DRS. He is close enough to Grosjean. During this little period,

the tyres will be graining a little bit. They won't be as quick as they

with that car. He struggled yesterday in qualifying. Vergne

pulled off a good move there. was nicely done. Maldonado has

another little look at Ricciardo. Up front, we can see it that yellow

flags sewn, Mark Webber is keeping Sebastian Vettel honest. You can

see some debris from that first lap incident lying on the track in that

chased by Philippe Massa. Massa was able to convert good pace into a

passing manoeuvre at the start in Japan, in the first pit stop in

Japan. We've got news that Kobayashi has got a drive-through

penalty. That is what took Jenson Jenson Button and Nico Rosberg.

Rosberg has gone out effectively on the first lap after getting through

the whole year without any non finishers at talk. Mercedes adding

another to their tally. I think they've had more none Finishers,

whether it is mechanical or accident related, than any other

team now, including HRT. It's not been a great season for Mercedes in

terms of finishing races. Raikkonen still holding on to sixth place.

told he's in the safety car window. If the safety car came out now, he

should be prepared to to home for Constantine work that goes on. It's

not just what happens when they come in for the pit stop. I and

they are moving that car, so the yellow flags are staying out there.

Hopefully once they've got that car moved out of the way, then they

should be able to use the DRS in Williams. The Toro Rossos are suing

-- are showing good pace here. is a strategic decision, Ricciardo

takes another little sniff as well. A very different style at the

flag zone. It's about time you move and being able to pass as you come

out of the yellow zone. Not only do they have the flags, but on their

dashboard they have a lighting system. The DRS is now enabled,

which would suggest those yellow Petrova is 17. Timo Glock is an

hero to zero, third place in Japan to being penalised for causing an

accident in the start of the Korean Grand Prix. It all changes once

again. Ricciardo, look at the straight line speed advantage with

DRS as well. There was nothing that Senna could do about that. On board

with Grosjean, and he's catching Hulkenberg. Hulkenberg Singh he's

got a lot of understeer or in that Force India. We know from briefings

that we've had from the teams that it is blistering on the outside,

sorry, the inside of the front right tyre. Grosjean had an

advantage at this stage. Gary, it is not just blistering and where

that is a problem, there are other issues they have to think about.

The graining of the front tyres. He's got to be a bit careful

because it will clear up and won't react too much. Whole Bamberg

mustn't panic, he's just got to try and hold his place. Raikkonen going

and creates its marble, it comes off like a rubber band. If you

imagine a rubber band being split in two, it ends up like that. What

it does is goes out into the slot gap in the wings, which takes away

the efficiency. They get in all sorts of trouble. All of those

Webber has just set the fastest lap. 1.9 seconds behind. Let's hear from

Lewis Hamilton's team-mate, Jenson attacked by Perez. A thing you

might have missed something out there. I got a really good start

and was able to get past both Mercedes. I was on the inside of

Rosberg. We were braking for the corner and then Sergio brakes

really late. He didn't hit me, he hit the car in front of me and

broke something of the back of that car. I had to run wide and Push

Nico Rosberg off the circuit so we didn't collide. We went down the

back straight, it was quite fun. I don't know what happened then, I

braked really late. I saw a car climbing over mind on the right-

hand side, it was a Sauber. I don't know what was going on. It's pretty

disappointing really. This is a long race here and there's so much

opportunity here as well with the way the tyres are working. And with

the drugs Don't here, it's a great race circuit for overtaking. That

is why it is surprising that people are driving like that. Do you still

feel you've got a chance for the championship this season? No oak,

definitely not. I will enjoy myself over the next few races but points

for the team were very important this weekend. It's out of our hands

side by side. Vergne is there as well, he's trying to get past both

of them in the Toro Rosso. Di Resta was eased out over the curve a

moment ago. Look at Vergne. He almost tries to Squeeze through on

one of the faster corners and had to back out of it. He would have

strategically used KERS coming out to be careful with that, remember

what happened to Sebastian Vettel when he did the same sort of thing

on Jenson BOP -- Jenson Button in Hockenheim. Paul di Resta has been

right with him. We can expect to see more action from the Force

India and the Mercedes. Hulkenberg is still in seven. Perez on the

harder tyre. What is interesting is he can maintain the pace of these

cars ahead of him that are on the slightly softer tyre. But it's very

did little difference in lap time this weekend. Quite often we've

seen a big chunk of time difference between the soft of the compounds,

Grosjean having a little look there, but we do gather that Hulkenberg is

going to be coming in at the end of this lap. He will have completed 13

laps. Clearly not happy with the way the balance of the car has

unfolded on this first set of tyres. He may be struggling a bit with the

debris on the front wing as well. This is frustrating for Grosjean.

We see a bit of action down the back of the circuit, that is the

Toro Rosso trying to find its way past Paul di Resta. They are

ganging up a bit because Sene is at the back of the group now as well.

We know that Senna has got this problem of little bits of rubber

blocking the front wing, which he is hoping will get sorted at the

pit stop, which should be coming up soon. We are expecting to see a bit

of pit lane action over the next lap also. Vettel continues to lead

this race. The Red Bulls are running, one and two, he's just

cross the line again and his advantage is four seconds of a Mark

Webber. We are expecting some of these midfield groups to go in.

Lewis Hamilton has just went for the pits. Lap 14, in and away again.

What a rapid stop. They are getting and Nico Hulkenberg only just

getting out in front of him. They have both gone on to the harder of

the two compound tyres. Romain Grosjean will be in the DRS zone.

So it is crucial he gets a good launch out of turn two. Nico

Hulkenberg has done a better job in the pits. What I would have

expected is you go one lap longer and try and run in clean air and

get advantage. Let's see how it looked from the pits. Romain

Grosjean was slow in releasing, the team have finished and you may lift

your hand and wave in a regal fashion, because they're lined up,

there is not an issue of unsafe release as far as I'm concerned.

Nico Hulkenberg has raced here in the past. There is the release.

Force India lopy pop was up before that... That is quite a good move

as Red Bull prepare themselves. Mark Webber is coming in. That

means that Sebastian Vettel now leads from Fernando Alonso as we go

through this first cycle of pit stops. Away goes Mark Webber. That

looked clean. Nico Hulkenberg using his experience, Massa in as well,

pit lane exit is a bit strange here and Romain Grosjean has never raced

here. Nico Hulkenberg seemed to gain an advantage out of pit lane.

Yes, in the strange thing you referred to it is unusual for pit

lane to feed into the outside of the line. That dotted line is there

for reference, rather than to be followed. Felipe Massa did a good

job of maximising his pit out. Sergio Perez is behind Webber. A

bit of debris around. Perez ahead of Lewis Hamilton and he hasn't

been into the pits yet, Sergio Perez. He is on a different

strategy. That will make life interesting. We have got Felipe

Massa and Kimi Raikkonen here. And not far behind them we have got the

Force India of Paul di Resta. Kobayashi is way down, because he

had that problem at the start of the Grand Prix. Sebastian Vettel

still leads here from Fernando Alonso and the two major

Championship contender, neither has come into the pits yet. They are

all in that two-stop window. If anyone, who can make it last to one

stop. Xbox 360 box. Quaul q -- full quant and box. Everything going to

plan for Red Bull? Yes it is about covering your team mate here.

Sebastian Vettel out of pits after Mark Webber. They're all going on

to the harder tyre and they will get nor durability. Fernando Alonso,

where will he come out in record to - o' -- regard to Mark Webber?

Let's see Webber coming past us already. There is Webber and

Fernando Alonso still coming down the pit lane. But Sergio Perez will

be in front of him? This is a battle for position, Fernando

Alonso versus Sergio Perez as he joins. A crucial battle. Perez

hasn't been into the pits, but he wants to get the place. He has got

a slip stream and will try and get past Fernando Alonso down this long

straight. He looks across at the Ferrari. The Ferrari has the edge

and the Ferrari is on the fresh tyres as well. Lewis Hamilton

fancys a bit of this action as well. And Fernando Alonso as has used all

his DRS in defending that position. But it looks like it has worked for

him. That was important from Ferrari's point of view and Perez

makes a mistake and Lewis Hamilton has a chance. Lewis Hamilton goes

around the outside of Sergio Perez on the better tyres of course.

Mixed emotions for McLaren, on one hand they have their man of the

moment one step closer to the podium, but they're seeing

inexperience from Perez. Sergio Perez is running this different

strategy, we won't see him come in for maybe ten laps. And look at

this again. You can can see Fernando Alonso made it stick,

Lewis Hamilton almost come nothing inn contact with the back of Perez.

You can see Lewis Hamilton a long way back, but on the fresher tyres,

turns in, almost makes contact with the back of the Sauber. The reason

I mention the inexperience from Perez, he got past on the exit of

turn four, he had done the difficult thing and then ran wide

on the older tyres. But a bit sloppy to lose the position on the

exit of the turn. Meanwhile, Kobayashi. Kobayashi moving out of

the way. Getting out of way of the blue flags, being very fair. I

think he realises he is out of this one. It is a test session, rather

than a run for points. Mark Webber leads, Sebastian Vettel is in

second. Lewis Hamilton looks good on this second set of tyres and

Felipe Massa looks good, he is trying to get pa past -- past Perez.

Gary, a thought about Sergio Perez, he has to look after these tyres,

he can't afford to engage in too much hard dicing, because the tyres

have got to last longer. Yes he can't afford to lock them up. He

has got to try and run as best he can and try and pick up positions

later in the race. Its all about just driving within the car and

doing the best job possible and wait for later. So patience

required from Sergio Perez. He has Kimi Raikkonen bearing down on him

now. Kimi Raikkonen runs seventh. Pastor Maldonado has not come in to

the pits yet, despite being on the soup soft tyre. So Pastor Maldonado

is running in eighth place, but has not yet been in to the pits and so

far. So we will see in Williams are running a different strategy. We

are on board here with Kimi Raikkonen. That is what it looks

like when you're up a gear box of a car. He is stealing down force from

your front wing. He is quicker at this phase, with a different tyre

strategy. He will try and get as close as can he - o' he can at turn

17. He will be positioned to make a straight forward DRS pass. He is

within the activation zone, he is within a second. He needs to be

tight. Turn two is just a turning feature, they don't need to load

the car much, DRS open and don't expect too much resistance with the

overspeed. It is straight forward for Kimi Raikkonen, who overtakes

Sergio Perez and moves into sixth. Perez doing his best to stay with

these guys, with a decent tyre on the car. He team mate looks like he

may be retiring, Kobayashi's car is being pushed back into the garage.

And deRosa's car as well. That is his 1 ununth race. Look at this,

this Kimi Raikkonen pass is straight forward. Sergio Perez

moved to the right to defend, but he knew the difference in speed and

tyres. Very little you can do and here you either, it is the same

thing a lap later. It happened late in the break zone, but the fresher

tyres. He will lose not one here. Because here comes Massa. That is a

replay of the in car shot. What is interesting, this is where the fans

are mixed. Some fans, as we see a Sauber pit stop for Perez. He has

not made it as long as Gary would have thought from before. So does

that mean we're going to see him not being able to make a one stop.

Gary? Yes I think he will do it now. In reality he was slower than

Michael Schumacher and if he didn't pit now, he would be behind Michael

Schumacher so they're doing the right thing and will have to

convert to a two-stop. He has got to try and push for these laps.

are looking at Pastor Maldonado, he is being passed by Huck for eighth.

What do you reckon on his strategy, he is on the soup soft and going a

long way on them. Yes, but he is well a uf the pace. The guys him

are doing 44s and 45s. So he is losing a lot of time and a pit stop

here is 20 seconds. So you don't have to do o' too many lap before

it pace back. I think Perez has done the right thing. Tyres are not

going to last, says Lewis Hamilton. As we see Pastor Maldonado about to

lose this place to Romain Grosjean I think. This is costing Romain

Grosjean time and difficult to understand what Williams are

thinking, a normal pit stop can take you about 20 seconds of race

time and that will put him out behind Bruno Senna who is in 15th.

He will be well in front of Heikki Kovalinan, but Williams not sure

how they think this strategy is going to play out. Unless some act

of safety car incident or accident which can change the face of the

race. Pastor Maldonado and Romain Grosjean both feisty racers and

Pastor Maldonado doing his utmost, but he is defending fairly. He ran

very wide on to the dirty stuff and managed to hold on to it. So he is

going for another lap.Less obviously, they have got themselves,

we are into a one-stop. But it is costing him time. The last lap time

of 49.0 and Nico Hulkenberg just did a 45. So four seconds a lap

slower. Surely Romain Grosjean will use the DRS to overtake Pastor

Maldonado. Pastor Maldonado holds the middle of the road and Romain

Grosjean gets through. But it has cost Romain Grosjean that four

seconds or so, because that is what it took him to get past, a whole

lap. Now, he can get on wit and go chasing after Nico Hulkenberg again.

You're watching Lewis Hamilton. Down force. What was that a loss of

down force? Do you think he has the same problem with bits of rubber

getting stuck in a wing. I couldn't hear. I did hear down force. But no

point asking for more down force he ain't going to get it. It look like

he is looking down in his cockpit and making adjustment. Burr he is

under pressure now from Felipe Massa and mes dropping back. -- he

is dropping back. Does he have an issue? Clearly he has an issue. He

is not going as quickly as the cars around him. There is something

going on here for Lewis Hamilton. No doubt about it. But is he going

to be able to resolve it in some way or another? Stays in front of

Felipe Massa for the moment as they come across the line. Vet have the

still leads from Mark Webber. -- Sebastian Vettel. Felipe Massa is

having a better end to if season -- end to the season. You will see his

DRS pop 07, Lewis Hamilton isn't doing much to defend. What can you

do when somebody is faster. Lewis Hamilton losing performance from

the McLaren for whatever reason. He is saying he has lost front down

force and he is struggling. Gary what are you Psy seeing? There is

talk of rubber going into the wing. The slot between each of the flap

sections on the wing, the high speed there is high, any bits of

rubber around get sucked in and that gets blocked and then the

airflow can't stay attached and it separates. The wing loses

performance. So it is a critical situation to get rub spwor that

slot gap. That is what they have to clear out during the pit stop.

that is the problem, it is having a big effect. Felipe Massa was able

to blast past him and we have two Ferraris in the top four, two Red

Bulls and two Ferraris. Red Bull one and two, Ferrari three and four

and there was the reaction as Felipe Massa got past Lewis

Hamilton. The smile on Rob Smedley's face, things are getting

better for that half of the Ferrari garage. If we believe the rumours

there will be an announcement confirming that he is continuing at

Ferrari. You wonder whether having had the conversations earlier in

the season, would it release some performance. Good lap, that is a

good pass. Pull away from him down. I'm sure it is his grading.

Smedley saying I'm sure it just graining. He thinks that Lewis

Hamilton's loss of performance is not necessary lay problem with the

car, but his front tyres are graining and losing performance.

But they will come back. Interestingly I would have thought

Lewis Hamilton would know the difference in feel between a

graining tyre when you feel the front washing across the surface

and a loss of down force. My experience is you would know the

difference between the to. You can see the grange. It does look like

his front right in the middle of the tyre. You can see the

on the last lap, but Alonso is place. Running this new exhaust

system on the card to create more at his tyres, they are fairly clean

at this stage. Looking a lot cleaner than what we saw from

Hamilton's tyre. I'm interested in seeing the difference in

performance between Raikkonen... Mechanical balance changed, that

was from the team radio. These cars are none adjustable mechanically.

the outside. He wasn't able to do it. Hamilton will fight where he

can, and he certainly did keep fighting there. He is a racer and

car mechanically, it will be interesting to know from Gary what

that might be. Off the top of my head, they would no if there was an

issue with the death, -- it meant effectively the role balance went

out and it was tricky to drive. Eventually the engine blew up.

I probably think you can think of a million ways a car can go wrong.

off of Kimi Raikkonen. Raikkonen had the DRS and higher top speed,

but when it came to the braking zone the car seemed to be all right.

Raikkonen chose to go to the outside, which was always going to

be the more difficult place to overtake. We saw that in Bahrain,

when he had the opportunity to pass Vettel. Kimi Raikkonen has been

impressive on his return, he's lying third in the championship,

but he doesn't take any chances. Going to the outside again, does he

have the momentum? He does. Raikkonen had the edge into the

corner. He is now up into fifth position, although he's now got the

slipstream coming up to the next corner. Hamilton Reid takes the

place, or does he? Raikkonen is trying to go around the outside.

That was maybe a little bit naughty. That was definitely off the normal

racing line. Aggressive stuff from Lewis Hamilton. He did this with

Mark Webber last year. He managed to fend off Mark Webber for second

place. At the moment he is dancing for fifth. They are both racers,

they will both always go for whatever they can get out of the

situation, and that is what Hamilton is doing. You can see

Hamilton not -- locking up again. They are running two seconds a lap

slower than Massa in front. It looks almost inevitable, as you see

a replay... He gets the inside and then just runs the car wide,

forcing Raikkonen to lift out. Raikkonen goes defensive but not

really enough to stop Lewis Hamilton carrying that momentum.

Raikkonen has been very cautious in wheel-to-wheel combat. He has

played into his hands, he is lying third into the championship at this

stage, but you wonder if he would just unleash a little bit of a in a

Lewis Hamilton, would he have taken the Victory in Bahrain and would he

slightly up front. That gap back to Alonso, 1.3 seconds. Raikkonen that

time wasn't able to close the gap at as much, or is he trying to time

it to overtake at the end of this track on which to overtake here.

Raikkonen is likely to be stuck there for another lap. He will

eventually get past, I would suggest. There's plenty of time

behind Hulkenberg. But all the time the gap to Massa, it's now up to

seven seconds between Hamilton and Massa. Right front, that is that

tyre that takes the worst of the pounding. Mark Webber has lost a

little bit of performance. Webber has put in a good middle sector,

despite that little problem. Vettel is definitely the fastest. He's got

an eight. Three-second advantage. He looks at taking another victory

to add to his little run of wins, to take the championship lead if we

can stay where he is now. Vergne attacking Schumacher. It looks like

he completed the move. That was for tenth place. Used the DRS zone very

effectively. The Frenchman is back wing at the next pit stop. He's

suffering a bit of an dustier. Raikkonen is again forced to the

outside. He will try and do the cutback, which means he will get

the car up straighter, release a bit of the curbs. It doesn't look

like the McLaren is struggling for traction. He is using his strength

very well to defend that position. Another lock-up again in to turn

for. Raikkonen on the better line out of four into five. There isn't

Jenson Button in the early part of Jenson Button said, what an idiot,

when you hit him. Tell us about it from your seat? I had a foreground

straight. We were fighting for positioning. That was pretty

difficult not to hit the brake. I was waiting for someone to brake

but I had to brake really hard. My car some when touched. I hit

everybody. Unfortunately, it was a bit too tight on the straight. For

me, it was very difficult at Bad point. I don't crash, of course,

but we were fighting for foreground straight to get position. That was

lane, so Raikkonen is released at last. He had a problem on the right

front. He has stayed on the heart of the two compounds of tyres. A

straightforward two-stop strategy by McLaren starting on the super

soft and then going on the soft but are now coming together for him.

But Sebastian Vettel has just set the fastest lap of this race. It's

an early stage to make that second stop, Bury. It is. I'm not sure the

tyres will last that amount of time. The where rate is very high on the

right front. I didn't see the pit stop so why not sure if they found

any rubber. It's a long way to go to the end of this race so he might

been through a heat cycle may improve their fortunes. As Gary

mentioned, I didn't see any one clearing out any slot back so

making any front wing adjustment. little front wing adjustment but

is going on now. If they were to finish where they are now, Vettel

would indeed take the lead in that Drivers' Championship. It would be

the first time since Valencia, where Fernando Alonso retook the

championship lead. We will see what happens, there still a bit of a way

to go here. Alonso is in third place. He's just 1.8 seconds behind

Mark Webber. Massa is in fourth place, Raikkonen in fifth. Lewis

Hamilton isn't having a good day. Whatever they are doing, it's not

quite working. He said he is getting very nervous. Hulkenberg is

in 6th, Grosjean is in 7th. Hamilton has now won eighth, having

made his second stop, but it's an Jenson Button and Nico Rosberg on

lap 1. Since then, we've lost Kobayashi and DLA Rosa with

right, he's managed to address that. He could have done it with great

balance adjustment. There is the fastest lap bow macro. Vettel has

an 8.5 second advantage over his team-mate. The two Ferraris running

close behind. It's no doubt that the Red Bull team have found

something to give these cars some extra performance. That complicated

front wing arrangement. You can see how it flexors a bit as it goes

over the kerb. You can also see the daylight and at the front right. At

certain points these cars are effectively three-wheelers. But did

you see the debris on the front wing. It was carrying some shards

of rubber. That might affect his nose clean in the early stages of

this race, but he's got a car that is feeling quite competitive at

-- he's done his second stop. All of those around him will have to

stop a second time. It doesn't sound as though Hamilton is

particularly happy with the way things have been going. It sounds a

bit like they've got a handful of straws in their hand darned are

trying to clutch at something. Telling him he's doing a great job

pulling away from Ricciardo is not really what he's tuned in for. He's

not really expecting to be battling with the Toro Rosso. Clearly an

issue on that car which has meaning there Plan B, they entered this

race believing they could win it, and right now he is 46 seconds

behind the race leader. A new fast zone at the end of this section.

They are into the Detection so much Lotus, but has it got the speed up

against the Force India? No chance to get past. He fails to make the

move. Grosjean, I would have expected he would have saved some

of his KERS for the run-down in to turn four. He felt the need to

throw everything in. He didn't leave himself with anything coming

leaders to come in for their second against Renault power, no extra 80

trying to gap, they're looking at where, when they bring him in for

his second stop whether he will be in traffic or he will be in clean

air. They want to feigned that window, when he loses around 20

seconds on track that, would put him around the shufplt, Sergio

Perez battle. -- Michael Schumacher. So when you get the fresher tyres

it is important to get some claen air to reap the benefits of the lap

time. -- clean air. When the pit stops take place it can change. It

is about track position for Nico Hulkenberg at the moment. Lewis

Hamilton is in eighth, Daniel Ricciardo is in ninth. Michael

Schumacher is 11th and Sergio Perez, Senna and Pastor Maldonado are 13th

and 14th. Paul di Resta is down in 15th. I think Paul di Resta is

dicing with Pastor Maldonado. We will keep an eye on that. There is

a race between Paul di Resta and Pastor Maldonado, but it is way

outside the point. Think is Nico Hulkenberg versus Romain Grosjean

and Paul di Resta has made his second stop now. Just to show the

difficulty the McLaren is having with Lewis Hamilton. He stopped at

lap 26 for his second stop. No other man has done two stops, apart

from Paul di Resta. If we get to the end of this set, you're

fighting for sixth. Look after the fronts. They're going to have to

make another stop interestingly enough. So a real fight on Lewis

Hamilton's hands here. Romain Grosjean into the pits then. They

will hope to make it to the end on these yellow-marked soft tyres as

Romain Grosjean rejoins the fray. Michael Schumacher coming down the

main straight there. Michael Schumacher still to make his second

stop. So this will settle down once everyone has made a second pit stop.

This was Paul di Resta versus Pastor Maldonado a moment ago. Paul

di Resta had been in for his second stop and tried to go around the

outside of the Williams. But they had good speed off the corner.

Again didn't make it work on the way in, but probably had some KERS,

we're not getting the graphic. Paul takes the apex. So Paul di Resta

trying to climb back up once he has had that second pit stop. Sebastian

Vettel lead by 8.3 seconds from Mark Webber. Mark Webber acting as

a useful buffer, but Mark Webber is coming in. Timo Glock was in ahead

of him. Mark Webber stops in his slot and stays on those yellow-

marked soft tyres. Away he goes again. So Red Bull bring Webber in

first, presumably Vettel win come in within the next lap or so. Glock

gets going again. Mark Webber has got some space. He shouldn't lose

too much time. What was a good reminder of the constructor's

Championship, their at the top of the pit lane and the other teams

have to go around the previous team. You see a chunk of oversteer there

from Fernando Alonso. A cection mid corner, I don't think it led to any

problems, his last lap was 1.44.3. That was a tenth quicker than

Sebastian Vettel's time. There is the comparison, Felipe Massa has

been quicker than Fernando Alonso. Felipe Massa has closed the gap.

Here is Nico Hulkenberg and Romain Grosjean, Romain Grosjean is on the

inside and gets the place on this occasion. Well he will be happy,

Nico Hulkenberg had just come out of pits. So they have both made

their second stop. They were the other way around and were dicing

hard before the pit stop. That was a crucial move for Romain Grosjean.

Good stuff. Took him a couple of laps, maybe being on the cautious

side, but understandably. There has not been an issue with his wheel to

whale races when it is one o' on -- one-on-one. It depends on pit stop.

Here is another look. He got to the inside and Nico Hulkenberg tried to

run it on the outsite -- outside. But Nico Hulkenberg able to pull

the pace down into the brake zone, but Romain Grosjean uses the inside

line 5 takes it all the way out to the kerb and forces the Force India

to lift off. A goose good move from Romain Grosjean and that will give

him confidence. He will be looking for a good solid finish. He will be

chase down Jean-Eric Vergne. Ferraris running close to each

other. Fernando Alonso ahead of Felipe Massa. This resurgence in

form from Felipe Massa very welcome for the Ferrari team. This will

mean useful constructors' points. They are third in the Championship,

ahead of Lotus. Lotus have cars behind them. Kimi Raikkonen is in

fourth and Romain Grosjean gaining a place and setting fastest lap.

Romain Grosjean has done 1.4.5. The lap pace between Sebastian Vettel

and Fernando Alonso sees Fernando Alonso being faster over these last

few laps, but there is a ten second gap between Sebastian Vettel and

Fernando Alonso. So Sebastian Vettel has this one. He is just

controlling the pace and we're still waiting for him to make his

second stop. We have a car coming in the pits, I have just seen a car

going on the grass. I can't tell who it was. I think it was Heikki

Kovalinan. I believe they had recovered the situation. But that

is a difficult pit in. We have seen that for Petrov when he is driving

for Reno. -- Rennes no. -- Renault. I don't know where he is going to

rejoin. With Timo Glock I think. He should be able to get past as they

come down the DRS zone. Kimi Raikkonen has stie stayed out there.

Mark Webber is behind Kimi Raikkonen, but we will see Reich

rake back in the pits soon. -- Kimi Raikkonen back in the pits soon. So

things are unchanged up front and we should look at Sebastian Vettel,

Mark Webber and then Fernando Alonso. Sebastian Vettel, I wonder

what this snis a lock up. A massive lock up on that front right. Going

very wide and we have heard. Box, box, box, we're rdy. We heard he

had been told to be careful on that lock up on that front right. It is

the incident you were calling. is a different one I think. That is

Romain Grosjean going across the grass. He goes wide and tries to

avoid the orange sausage kerb. Tpwhau will have picked up a lot of

debris. In comes Sebastian Vettel. That was the area I saw a car go

off was to the left. But it came back in again. So Sebastian Vettel

into his pit box. And again it is the soft tyre going on. Gary, again

it is blockwork stuff from Red Bull? Yes and that is what you have

to do at the top end of this grid. You have to make it happen all of

the time. McLaren go for that tenth of a second faster. We get some

errors. To be consistent they want Pic on. They were close. 3.6 second

stop for Massa. Kimi Raikkonen makes his second stop. That should

be comfortable to go to the end of race. Massa did come out behind

Fernando Alonso. 3.9 second zop for Lotus. -- stop for Lotus. There is

Lewis Hamilton who made his second stop, but he is struggling out

there in term of pace. And interestingly his last lap a 1

hadn't 44.and Jean-Eric Vergne a 1.44.7. So lapping at the same pace

as the Toro Rosso. So Jean-Eric Vergne will have him firmly in his

sights. That is unusual pace from the McLaren this afternoon. As we

see a replay, this is Perez and getting in the slip stream of the

Pastor Maldonado Williams. And huge overspeed and able to effect the

pass and pull back into his braking line. He has done his second stop

as well. We are watching Sebastian Vettel. Perez has set fastest lap.

On his new tyres, he is obviously going very quickly. Sebastian

Vettel now back up to speed. This is Paul di Resta versus Michael

Schumacher. Re rest on the outside for what is the next left hander

into turn four. It look like he had the momentum, but Michael is very

experienced. This is the fifth and fifth of his last Grand Prixs of

course. Four more after this. And Paul di Resta will have to wait

another lap. One thing we have seen on a separate camera shot is

Fernando Alonso getting some traffic through the middle sector

and gesticulating and Paul di Resta locking that front right as he

tries to get himself in the position so when they get to the

end of the lap he will still be within that one second window. This

is eleven and they pop up into 12. All off camera through this section

and then it gets into what we feel more is a classic street circuit,

but the concrete barriers. In the background, Sergio Perez is

catching these two. Because he is going well on these tyres. Michael

Schumacher holding up Paul di Resta and that is allowing Sergio Perez,

there he is, just flashing through in the Sauber, to close them in.

Let's remind you what is happening. Sebastian Vettel leads by 5.3

seconds from Mark Webber. Red Bull are one and two. Ferrari three and

four with Fernando Alonso third and Felipe Massa four. We're expecting

verg -- Jean-Eric Vergne to make another stop. This guy, she veenly

controlling thing out in front. serenery. Don't worry about Mark.

He needs to do longer than you on these tyres. Mark is on older tyres

than you. I can't imagine that will be too many worries there. He has

had control of the race from the start. The gan between them 6.8

seconds. You look in the background and there is the second Red Bull.

And the Ferrari not that far behind, but it is now 4.5 seconds the gap

between Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber. Felipe Massa had a 42.6 the

last lap. So closing the gap. It hasn't been played into the made

broadcast. But Fernando Alonso lost time in traffic with Petrov. We

don't see this often, Massa hounding the back of Fernando

Alonso and I don't expect that Ferrari would allow a pass to

happen unless Fernando has a big issue that we may find out. There

is still a lot of Grand Prix to go and they have got to make the tyres

go to the end. Is something going to have to bail and go on a three-

stop strategy. Not doing any harm for Felipe Massa's prospects of

staying at Ferrari. We think that will happen. Paul di Resta with a

run on Michael Schumacher. And this time Paul di Resta gets past the

Mercedes. Both use Mercedes engines. He has turned in. That means he is

confidence. Sergio Perez is now behind Michael Schumacher. He was

able to catch up over that last lap. I don't think he will be able to do

anything. Ferrari power in the back of the Sauber, tpwhou DRS on that

section. Another man under pressure is Lewis Hamilton. Jean-Eric Vergne

is only 1.7 seconds behind with nine tenths of a second faster. We

see Paul di Resta here gets the DRS open and lack at how the speed

builds when you take the drag off the car and you get the effect of

going into the slip stream of the car in front, which adds more speed

and look at the difference as they get into the braking zone. Sergio

Perez using DRS himself. Massa still chases Fernando Alonso. This

is what Ferrari need. Too close to Fernando. I think you can back off

at least another second and just stay two and half, three seconds

behind. You can understand them giving those instrubgs, but the

Brazilian he has shown what he can do. He said after Japan that podium

finish helped him get his head straight. He has delivered another

fine drive this weekend and you would think that he is doing enough

to hold on to his seat at Ferrari. And Jean-Eric Vergne has just come

in 13th place, chasing Michael Schumacher. He has a chance of

going down the inside. They just managed to give each other enough

space. It looked like there was going to be some front wing flying

in the air there. It looked like Perez was too deep into that pass.

It looks like the start of an inevitable pass at some point

because Michael is struggling at hit by Kobayashi. He is out.

Rosberg got involved in an incident as well. That was down in to turn

one. Perez, at turn one at the start of the Grand Prix, had a bit

of a launch down the inside which Button had to get out of the way of.

Lewis Hamilton, he's been struggling with his car this

afternoon. Not only is Grosjean chasing him, Hulkenberg in the

Force India is in there as well. It's looks to me as though Grosjean

has quite a lot of graining on the front right tyre. You might find

himself under pressure for Hulkenberg. Is it too late in the

braking zone? Out wide goes Grosjean. As you said, we saw

Vettel get a place doing that and got penalised. He hasn't gone past

but it has allowed Hulkenberg to draw alongside... Hulkenberg goes

round the outside. Hamilton squeezes him. Hulkenberg has the

outside line for the right hander. He's done it. Fantastic stuff from

Hulkenberg. A brave boy going round the outside of Hamilton, who is now

TEAM RADIO: We think we are going to have to stop again. Push now,

for McLaren? It consists of three straights. It is not too bad on the

second section. I'm a bit confused about what he is talking about

because it doesn't really show on the section turns. David, this is

where it started but it was the next section where it got fun.

goes around the outside. At this point you are hoping on you've got

a compliant fellow racer. There was close to take his line so that

Force's Grosjean wide. As we know from Hockenheim, he can't carry

that momentum into way past. While that was going on, Hulkenberg

carries on the proper racing line around turn four, uses a bit more

of the curve on the way out and Lewis, with a wounded car at this

outside the white line. That pass will stick. As Gallas said, it's

funny, but car is slow in some areas but on the tide and twisty

sections it seems to be OK. Whatever the issue is with Lewis

Hamilton's car, it is on different areas of the circuit where he is

struggling. But right now he's lost a place. Ricciardo isn't in ninth

place. Vergne, despite his second pit stop, is in 10th. Toro Rosso

could get both cars in the points here. That would be a major

achievement for the small Italian team. Di Resta is currently 11th

out side the points, Schumacher is 12. Maldonado is still out there on

one stop. By the time he does his stop you will be 20 seconds behind

Bruno Senna. It shows that that one stop this afternoon was never on to

get any sort of sensible result. We expect to see McLaren coming in for

found a bit of fight in these tyres. Grosjean is having another go at

lining up Hamilton as they come down the main straight. Vettel

still leads this raised from Webber. not giving himself anything to play

the graining on those front tyres, so it is an issue for many of the

drivers here today. Hamilton a bit come into this lap, Hamilton. Let's

see if that is a bluff or if he is fair so far here today. Vettel is

than nine seconds ahead of whether up front. Alonso is in third. Massa

dutifully following in fourth place. This is a close-up of Vettel macro

- man Vettel's car. TEAM RADIO: You were doing a good

job, but the right fund is still on him there. Here comes Hamilton

now, out of the pit lane. He comes out behind Vergne, which means that

di Resta will be next. It means that he is in tenth place. Will the

car come alive on this final set of tyres? They are super softs he has

put on there. Trying a different tactic now. It isn't working on

these softer tyres so they are going with the super softs. We are

hearing that Massa is asking about the lap times of Marquet and saying,

I can go faster than Fernando. Just sending the message, if you need me

to be out there chasing the guy in front... Alonso currently running

4.5 seconds behind Webber. Maybe it wouldn't be a bad tactic for

Ferrari to release Filipe, let him go and see if he can mix it with

Mark. In the end, he could always sought out the running order of the

Alonso trying to close it down if Hamilton's progress. If he's on

that set of tyres, he may be able to overtake a few cars before the

end of this race. But now we are on sunset in this region, then it

starts to affect the drivers's vision. Yes, visibility not at its

touching the ground on the inside. We are looking for the little bits

of rubber that might be stuck in the gaps there. It looks relatively

taking that championship lead. There is Alonso, but he's holding

in there with his Ferrari team. Back down the order, the two

Williams are having a bit of a dice between Hulkenberg and Grosjean,

but Grosjean is one of the faster cars on track at the moment. He is.

He's got his sights on that the sixth place that Hulkenberg is in

with Force India. TEAM RADIO: That front right is

nine seconds up the road, it gives you that confidence that you can

afford to break in early in certain corners. Where for Mark, if he

makes one mistake you can drop two seconds just like that and you are

suddenly under real pressure. Make no bones about it, this is a

mounting pressure, a constant pressure on Mark Webber trying to

maintain that gap whilst not using too much of the tyre. The front

tyre wear that they are worried about, if it gets too bad then

presumably they get down to the carcass of the tyre question of yes,

that would be the problem. It's better to take it a bit easier now.

He's got a four second lead. Its corners 8, 9 and 11 that eat up the

front tyre. He just needs to make sure he doesn't overload the car

there. He could probably make that back up again on some other corners

when turning to the right. That's a pretty good close-up of that right

front tyre. It looks quite clean. A bit less debris on the inside

shoulder and we saw from the Ferrari earlier. It looks like he's

managing the situation well. On Hamilton on Vergne. Hamilton on the

the Toro Rosso. The Toro Rosso has been the fastest car in a straight

line or weekend. Strategically, it makes it very difficult for Lewis

even with the DRS Open. He was half a second behind at the start-finish

line, how much closer can he be and still roam through the apex of turn

one? You can see some of the artificial grass that was only late

on Thursday night, so very late in the weekend, it hasn't quite had

time for that glued to take hold. NBC Ricciardo having a moment. Very

unusual there. It was almost like he grab the rear axle and lifted

speed around 30 and, as well as 8, as to where he should protect the

moving around in a strange way as he braked down into turn one. Lewis

has only used half of his KERS. He is in the DRS zone, but that was

very strange from the McLaren. Although he is in a difficult place

here this afternoon in terms of overall points, you can see the

race he is in, he sees an opportunity. On the on-board, there

was a lot of steering the action going on. Vergne surely isn't going

to be able to protect much longer from Hamilton. Now they are going

right. He is on the outside. Vergne does just enough to Squeeze him out

of the way. He doesn't go for the lunch up the inside, nothing too

silly. No doubting his racing instincts. This is all fighting

over the last point. I think that Jean-Eric Vergne macro is going to

struggle to hold that over the closing laps. I would feel I needed

to have all my guns in action to keep a charge of Lewis Hamilton

324 kilometres per hour. Hamilton has got much fresher tyres. Yes,

too keep that car in a straight line. We're probably not going to

find Ute until after the race what the issue might be. Jean-Eric

Vergne's only been in the points twice so far this year. But he has

a good opportunity of doing it again. Even if Lewis Hamilton gets

past him. Destiny destiny is further back. But rest rest is --

His basis fairly similar. Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa continuing

in third and fourth places, Felipe Massa has set a new fastest lap.

Fernando Alonso trying to close the gap. Looking after the tyres.

they're still wearing up. At some point he will be a passenger.

when it goes it will have no grip. Gary, they're monitoring the tyres

closely, a lot of data coming back to the team. It is difficult to

monitor wear. Only the lap time monitors the wear. They don't have

to panic. They have a good enough run. It will be difficult if

Ferrari want to pick up the pace and close down on Mark Webber that

is difficult. Sebastian Vettel is OK, just has to back off on those

fast left handers sm We're watching the onboard, what can you see?

here the shot shifting that, purts a lot of loading into the front.

That takes or the, -- that takes Tork out of engine. What he will be

doing is, as Gary mentioned, trying to take load out of the high speed

corners. This is Charles Pic. What has been going on here? Oh dear.

Then hit by Pastor Maldonado and Senna. They are ahead of Pic in

terms of performance. A good interteam battle, Pastor Maldonado

hanging on for team honour. He is doing a one-stop, if he manages to

get to the end. He may have to make a stop with a lap to go. It did

happen last year, sauber tried to get through on less than others. I

wondwhrer the safety car might get -- wonder whether the safety car

might get called out, because of the debris. The safety car is ready.

The sun set here in Cree a look at the right front tyre that the team

are concerned about. Because that is the one that takes the wear off

on this anti-clockwise track. Most of the tracks in the latter part of

the season, these last five or six Grand Prix are anti-clockwise and

sues Suzuka arguably is both, because it has a cross over. So

we're into a series of anti- clockwise tracks and the right

front is taking the pressure. looks like the debris of that

artificial grass is off line. The safety car is on stand by, but I

don't think we will need it for that. Unless somebody rips it off

more. There is where Romain Grosjean ran across the inside of

the apex of the turn as we get into the last five laps. A gap to Mark

Webber and we will see the gap that keeps him under pressure to Lens

lops in the Ferrari. I think -- Fernando Alonso in the Ferrari.

Webber is responding. Look at the difference in lap time over the

last couple. Webber and Fernando Alonso, it is lard to see sometimes

in this situation, you have been talking of the pressure, they're

driving flat out with what they have got. They're giving it their

haul and we are watching two top drivers, it is sometimes hard to

see that. The car tracks beautifully and you can't see the

big sliding moment moments. Here is Lewis Hamilton. A huge lock up on

that front right as he tries to put pressure on Jean-Eric Vergne. We

have seen it all weekend, the McLaren lox up more than any other

car. It is a very fast car and over the season it is the fastest car,

but having difficulties on this type of circuit. Ricardo is not

lapping as quickly so they have reduced a big gap. It did look like

he was having an issue overbraking and he chose to get out of the

brakes. It looks like vergvrg is soon going to find himself losing

eighth place. Did you see? Michael we see the small problem, but

nothing to worry about at the moment. Oh dear another problem for

Michael Schumacher, a gear box he is worried about. But the team

reckon it is going to last the distance, but he is down in 13th.

So it is not a good day for Mercedes. Michael Schumacher really

hasn't shown a great of race pace. He is down in 13th and has not

featured strong Liverpool was we are still watching hafplt as he

chases the two Toro Ross sos. Sebastian from now you can be down

to the core. Anything might happen under braking, be very careful for

braking. A bit nervous aren't they? I think they're trying to cover

themselves. They know they have a nine second lead, but it would be

silly to give it awe Wau. And Lewis Hamilton locks up again. Two stops

have been the order of the day. But with three laps to go it wouldn't

be the first time we have seen people having issues right at the

end of the Grand Prix. But he has that buffer and the man under

pressure is his team mate, Mark Webber, the gap down to 3.7 seconds

to Fernando Alonso. It is more than doable from the Ferrari to find

themselves on the gear box of that road bull. Is it going to happen,

or will Red Bull judge to it perfection? Jean-Eric Vergne on his

team mate. He was not fought hard by Daniel Ricciardo. What Toro

Rosso have to do is get the best out of this and it is best to get

Jean-Eric Vergne ahead and fend Lewis Hamilton off. Oh dear, he

didn't deefed fend and Lewis Hamilton saw an opportunity, but

just bailed nowt time. It is a problem on that Toro Rosso. He is

going defensive to allow Jean-Eric Vergne to get away. Lewis Hamilton

is having the benefit of DRS and he would have got a double slip stream

from the two Toro Rossos in front of him. So expect him to find his

way past Daniel Ricciardo, but will he have enough laughs to get past

Jean-Eric Vergne. Well -- laughs to gets past Jean-Eric Vergne. Here is

the pass. They left the door open. He has had the instruction, what is

the best thing for the team. straight forward move for Jean-Eric

Vergne. Frustrating for Daniel Ricciardo. There will be no warning.

From what we can tell from our data you're in the same state as when

you pitted right now. There is no signs. Lewis Hamilton has an issue

under the car. He has picked up some debris. It is the carpet. He

has gone wide on the exit of the turn where we saw the debris. You

hear about debris in the slot gap. That is more than debris in the

slot gap. That is not nice for Lewis Hamilton and that could do

damage to the body work. He is behind the two Toro Rossos. It

doesn't look like he will be able to attack. You can see, whether he

is weaving to try and get rid of it. Gary, this is not a nice situation.

No, it is affecting the car. It is flapping around. I would expect it

to break up soon. But that stuff has a good structure and so it may

hang on this. I seems it is wide enough around these bargeboards. We

will see replay. He got in the slip stream of the car in front, lost

down force and ran into where we knew there was the debris there. So,

well, he was pushing hard to try and make up the difference. There

is AstroTurf caught on the right side pod. Be careful. It is there

permanently at the moment. Not what you want to see. For Lewis Hamilton,

today doesn't get better. After being in a position to challenge

and score more points, now he is... That car looks like a real handful.

It hasn't looked great through the race and now it lax worse.

Sebastian Vettel has done a personal best in the first sector.

He is take it steadily. The first sector does not involve much load

on the front tyre. It is froopbt line. Listen to it. Nice and steady

there. He is cruising it home. gentle. Sorry to be on your case,

but we are worried here, you will not know when it's too late. He has

allowed the gap to come down a bit between himself and Mark Webber.

But there are some very anxious and nervous faces on the Red Bull pit

wall. But he is still out there, it is still looking good for him. He

is on to the final lap. Senna on Pastor Maldonado. For honour among

the two Williams drivers. That was off track, but I think he may have

dropped back. He ran in the braking area, a huge difference in speed.

Goes way too wide, his right hand wheels are overthe line and he had

to release Pastor Maldonado back into the position. So Sebastian

Vettel, will the tyres last? They are concerned, but Mark Webber has

set fastest lap. Mark Webber feel happy with his car. He has done

1.42.0. And Sebastian Vettel continues on his way. It has just

got to hold together for another couple of kilometres to take

victory here in Korea. What a sequence he is into at the moment.

He won in Singapore and in Japan a week ago. And it looks likely he

will win here. But let's not count on anything yet. We have heard the

kofpb certain -- concern from the team. Mark Webber is second,

Fernando Alonso is in third and will lose the Championship lead to

this man. Felipe Massa is in fourth and Kimi Raikkonen in fifth. But it

looks as though he has controlled this the way he needed. He got the

start and we saw some impeccable driving from all the drivers, avoid

contact and tried to find their natural position and from there on

n he has just controlled this race. Sebastian Vettel has done it. He

has controlled the race in Korea. And Sebastian Vettel takes victory.

It is hi fourth win of 2012 and a hat trick of victories as he has

won in Singapore, Japan and Korea. Mark Webber makes it a one/two

finish for Red Bull. The only second time this year hefr e they

have had both drivers on the podium together. Fernando Alonso is still

picking up points and Ferrari have not given up. Felipe Massa finishes

fourth. We are waiting for Kimi Raikkonen to come through and

finish in fifth. Nico Hulkenberg is in sixth. There is Psy, the Korean

pop star who has become a world- wide phenomenon with something like

4 45 million viewings of his Gangnam-style video on you're tube.

What is going on here? That is pez pe behind Lewis Hamilton at the end

of the lap. -- Perez. Will Sergio Perez have enough to get past Lewis

Hamilton? I think it is too late in the lap. The final point up for

grabs. Sergio Perez will be driving for McLaren next year. Sergio Perez

went off trying to get past Lewis Hamilton in Japan. I don't think he

will get past here. They come out of final turn, Lewis Hamilton is

just going take the final point. Complete with AstroTurf attached to

the car! Perez has to settle for 11th. The two Toro Rossos have

time in Korea. Without that engine failure he suffered here in 2010,

it would have been three victories. There's only something like 12 laps

he's not lead here. It does put him in front in terms of the

championship. Whether in second place. Vettel set a personal best

lap on the final app. Webber was quick to wards the race and has

Enders -- ended the race with fastest lap in the race. He did a

great job on Saturday to take that pole position. Making better use of

the start lights. There is no question that this boy is a bit

special. He is a double world champion after role. Maldonado

fended off Senna in a Vettel between the two Williams cars.

Maldonado the only driver to get through this raised on a one-stop

strategy. He set a personal best lap on the last laugh afro. He did

all those laps and then Maldonado was still quick at the end. Here is

Sebastian Vettel to make the most of the moment. Victory in Korea.

What a great run it has been in Asia for Sebastian Vettel. A series

of victories have put into the top often before but it means a lot. He

is ahead of Alonso in the points. But Alonso and Ferrari, they are

not out of this. Looking at the pace that Alonso had and in

particular Massa, we cannot discount them. No. Ferrari were in

front of McLaren in the Constructors' Championship. It is

very important as well. Sebastian Vettel there. I think they were

nervous, weren't they, but Adrian, what a perfect result for him and

the team. It is the 6th Red Bull win of the season, but it's their

podium for Red Bull Racing since they began and since they started

racking up the victories. Vettel celebrates the moment, a victory

here in Korea for the second year in succession, having nearly won it

in the first year as well. 75 podiums since you took your first

podium for Red Bull. Monaco, 2006. They've done pretty well since then.

They've done a remarkable job in first time he's finished second

this year. It will boost his championship hopes a bit more. But

it is Vettel verses Alonso going into the final few races. Fernando

Alonso, he is always there or thereabouts. He's been quoted this

weekend as saying, Red Bull might have the best car but I've got the

best team, and we are going to keep fighting this all the way to the

end. Time for celebrations. Sebastian Vettel, the smiling

assassin, he has struck again, having slashed the points gap in

Japan. What a good bit of preparation from Adrian! Prepare

for the champagne spray! Metal closed the gap in Japan and now

he's put himself at the top of the standings once more. Surely that

third title in a role is an ever more realistic possibility. He's on

the march and he's going to four more tracks in his attempt to try

and do that. Three wins on the trot. Adrian taking a very well earned a

swig of that champagne. Alonso showing his team there is still

half a bottle of champagne left for them. That's nice, he is such a

team player. Time for the to be done by another Grand Prix

star. It's going to be by Johnny Herbert, a veteran of 160 Grand

Prix and three wins during that well. A very popular member of the

hands! Here we are, Sebastien, bats and nice smile on your face. You've

got to be happy the way it's gone. Don't you dare! Oh, OK. Thank you

very much. Perfect start, perfect race, third straight win - you've

got to be so happy with how things are going. She wants my hat.

think she wants your number! can take yours! I'm very pleased.

Leave the jokes apart. Fantastic, I'm very happy. It was a fantastic

race. The foundation was to have a good start, which I wasn't sure

because I was starting on the dirty side but I had reasonable grip and

a very good launch. I think Mark had a bit of wheel slip, so I was

able to get side-by-side. It wasn't over because it is a long way. When

I was up shifting to second gear, I could hear Mark coming. I then

tried to use my KERS to defend and fortunately had a good exit after

the third corner. After that I tried to push. It was quite close,

Mark was always on my toes. But towards the end I felt I had a bit

more left in the tyres and could go a little bit longer. We had two

brilliant pit stops. The only mistake was once I looked up to the

front right quite badly in to turn three. Quite a mistake from my side

but fortunately by the end we had quite a cushion to the cars behind

and were able to control the gaps. We were a bit worried about the

front tyres because we've seen a lot of people locking up wheels.

Overshooting the apex. Really happy. I have to thank the boys on this

one. The mechanics in the garage, they have been flat out, arriving

here, there's not much break from Japan to here, but flat out every

night and working very hard on the car. I think we have them another

step, that's exactly what we need. Hopefully we can carry that

momentum through to the next races. Mark, second place. Pole position

was obviously a good start for you. Fortunately, on that stop yourself

you didn't quite get off the line. -- unfortunately. What difficulties

did you have defending? The start was and sensational, I have to look

into it. But the initial Getaway wasn't too great. After that,

everyone wants... It's not the best corner to lead off. It was just

neck-and-neck for us along the back straight. Then I tried to hang in

as best I could. Then it was just about tyres, looking after the

front right. At the end of each stint it was difficult to keep the

front right alive. The first two stints were quite tricky but in the

last one I was happy with the balance. It was too late for me

then. The guys did a great job. Of course I'm disappointed but I'm

happy to get a good result in the other side as well. Thanks to all

the fans for coming out today. Fernando, the championship Vettel

is on now. You've led for so long with this championship. I think you

should be happy with today because the car was quite competitive. Do

you feel there's more to come from you and Ferrari? Definitely. We

have to be happy with the performance to date. Third and

fourth macro, just behind Red Bull, who at the moment are difficult to

beat. It was a good day for the team. For Filipe, for me. We

overtook McLaren in the Constructors' Championship, which

is something that we didn't expect two or three races ago. We are

moving in the right direction. We just need the last step to be as

competitive as Red Bull and I think we will be beautiful four races to

the end. Well done. The last thing from you. You are leading the

championship finally. How are these guys, especially Fernando, going to

be able to beat you? It is tough. That is what it is about. I'm

looking forward to the next couple of races. We have had a good last

couple of races but we've seen the championship is apt and down. What

do we do? We have to focus on ourselves. We need to have our best

possible result and then go from there. At the end of the year, if

we have enough points there's a lot of people telling us, so we don't

have to do the mathematics ourselves. You've done a fantastic

job, we've got a cracking championship coming - I think it's

tough day for Lewis. Afterwards, he They said it was safe for me to

drive. Would you rather know that information during the race? I did

ask but I guess you don't want... I wasn't expecting them to tell me.

They said they knew what the problem was. I was just fighting

the whole way with the car. Sometimes it is really sad that we

are pretty much out of the championship today that sometimes

these races show the true spirit within. I feel quite comfortable

with myself that I pushed and gave it everything. Lewis Hamilton not

at all happy, when it falls apart it really falls apart. Especially

off the back of Japan where he had another issue with the car there.

Jenson, taken out there are no fault of his own. There was some

real head-scratching going on at McLaren because mechanical gremlins

have been setting in in the second half of the season. You could say

this is the pattern for Red Bull for the rest of the season, but in

terms of race pace, Ferrari will know they can match Red Bull for

the final races. They were very strong in qualifying. They haven't

seen the same amount of upgrades that Red Bull have been able to

bring. Alonso not saying he is disappointed that this result, he

is happy with it because it keeps him within shouting distance.

is the favourite? Fernando, we spoke for so long that it was going

to happen for him, but now everyone is saying it is Sebastian Vettel.

You never know. Fernando is clever enough to maximise the

opportunities that are there but it is the car. He needs to qualify in

the front row to win the Grand Prix. Thank you for watching. We are back