The Spanish Grand Prix Formula 1

Previously on F1... Fabulous stuff! Good afternoon and welcome to the

Circuit de Catalunya, where once again the world's best pit their

wits against each other on Spanish soil. Barcelona is home to one of

the best football teams in the world, and 20 years ago home to the

most stylish of Olympic Games. shot over 90 metres, and the

Olympic flame bursts. The leader of the competition...

His final dive. If you are going to win gold, that is the way to do it.

Isn't that beautiful? You can see they are clearly proud of it but is

just the surroundings, the beauty as you look back over the city. It

looks like the underneath of an American's Cup boat. Wow. A lot

bigger. What were you doing in 1992? I was a test driver for

Williams. I had a year with the Yamaha engine, I will never forget

it. What were your results? wouldn't dare to tell you, it was

not one of my better years. What a dreadful season this is turning out

to be for the Jordan team. Don't mention that one car qualified and

one car retired. We won't mention it. Will we be friends this week?

Yes, and I am going to take you for a room. -- a run.

What are you doing? I want freedom of movement. This is how

competitive you are, I just wanted Christie comes storming through. It

is Linford Christie! He is the Olympic champion, the greatest

prize in sport. He has prepared himself for years for this.

does it feel to be the Olympic champion? By Anne just so happy to

win something, finally. 14 race wins in David Coulthard's career.

The greatest moment in an athlete's life. Rest assured, that is not the

greatest moment of sporting excellence you will see this

afternoon on BBC One. Thank you for joining us. In 1992 this place was

an Olympic city, now that honour belongs to London and, David, you

have not lost your competitive streak. That is one of the easiest

races I have taken part in but it is nice to get victory here in

Barcelona. Eddie, being serious for a moment, this is such an important

place for Formula One. It has often signified the restart of the season.

Yes, but you talked about the Olympics, you have talked about the

Grand Prix here, let's not forget what Spain has done for golf with

Seve Ballesteros. He created an opportunity for Europeans to take

on the world's best. This country has a great sporting history and we

are delighted to be here. A quick improve their cars, and we are back

here in about six weeks. Right now, the teams and the drivers are not

thinking about the races to come. With less than an hour until light

out, every driver has arrived here we decided that man would be the

last to appear on the driver arriving moment at the start of the

programme, but it was the start of Formula One - happy birthday,

exactly 60 years ago today, may 13, 1950, this was Formula One being

born. The cars are lined up alongside the pits. These are the

starters. It is a good start with the Alfas in the lead. Would you

like to have hopped into one of these cars, David? I have had the

chance to drive some of the old classic cars, and they are

incredible, the power they produced. The crowd at Silverstone was

massive, it somehow captivated the audience. As you look around, we

audience. As you look around, we have the grandstand filling up, the

infrastructure is incredible, the money spent is remarkable, yet it

is Ferrari who appeared in that very first season all of those

years ago. I think if anyone deserves the accolades for being

present, persevering, it in good times and bad, and we are

ridiculing them sometimes when they don't get it right, but when they

win, and they have an unbelievable driver at the moment, they have a

great chance here. It was an amazing season that year.

Eventually just two points separated the winning driver, take

a look at the way the standings are for this year and I wonder what the

drivers from all those years ago in Silverstone was the first time

for reigning monarch had been to a Grand Prix, but who would be king

yesterday for qualifying? It was dramatic, and it was decided off

the track. Though Ms Hamilton described his

first ever Spanish pole position as a dream, but it's soon turned into

a nightmare. We need to stop the car, we have a problem. Please turn

off. Stopping on track meant a trip to the stewards, who discovered

there would not be enough fuel in the car to get back to the pit lane.

They disqualified Hamilton and he will start at the back of the grid.

Jenson Button didn't make it out of Q2. Hamilton's demotion means he

gets his first ever... Felipe Massa could only manage 17th, although

Ferrari have said they are disappointed with his performance.

Mark Webber said Red Bull had been caught with their pants down after

he was told that time he had set was good enough to make it into Q3

but the frenzied end to the session meant he was knocked out. Sebastian

Vettel made it into the top 10 but opted to save his tyres for today.

The grid looks like this... Hamilton's disqualification means

everyone moves forward one plays. Fernando Alonso will start in the

one man's paint is another man's again. Where were you when you were

told you what the man on pole position? We were here behind us

because we were celebrating. We were so happy when we heard the

news, and we did a great step forward. We are looking forward to

this race. I had a chance to look at York on board lap and it was not

perfect in many ways, it looks like you were fighting with oversteer.

It must have been an incredible feeling to drive this track with

this car. I made the best of the tyres, and even if I had a laugh

that was not so clean, I was able to put a flat together. It was a

good lap. In Australia you had a ding-dong battle with Fernando

Alonso and here sitting beside you on the grid. Out a fully beat into

the first corner with him? It will be tough, for sure, the Lotus is

quite quick but I was happy on Friday when we did the runs. I hope

to have the same for today's so I am looking forward to it. You want

to win or you want a strong points finish? At I want to win, naturally.

Congratulate shins and well done. It will be about 8 o'clock in the

morning in Venezuela when the race start. The reason Maldonado is on

the front row is because of problems at McLaren and earlier on

I spoke to them. All of the McLaren fans who went to

bed dreaming of Lewis Hamilton on pole position, it is not to be. Can

you explain what happened? during his last qualifying lap, the

data showed us that if he had completed that lot, on return to

the pits he might not have enough fuel to provide the one litre fuel

sample. It sounds easy to know how much fuel is in a Formula One car

but it is not an empty vessel, it is a complex system trying to

capture the last few grams of fuel being thrown around while it is

moving. Data indicated that, we know it is a clear regulation

requirement that you have to be able to provide that one litre of

fuel sample so we decided to stop the car and make sure we could

provide it, which we did. The sample was taken, in fact 1.3

litres was provided, but our reasons for stopping the car were

not considered and that is why they have penalised us. The reasons for

stopping the car were what? Where did it go wrong? There was an error

in the fuelling process and not enough fuel went into the car prior

to the last run. We know that because of the analysis at the time

we were making these decisions we were just relying on

instrumentation. It could have been that we stopped the car and found

many more litres of fuel in the car but we have to make a call. We knew

we were required to provide a 1 litre fuel sample, it was a black

and white regulation, we wanted to comply with it and we took that

decision but with only 1.3 litres of fuel the FA considered we should

not have stopped the car to preserve fuel to provide the sample.

This follows on from some issues in pit stops. It is no exaggeration to

say that errors like this constantly from the team can cost

the world title. Not constantly - only one of these errors can, that

is how tight it is. There is a lot of pain about this, from Neath

right down through this team but I had a lot of conversations with

Lewis Hamilton last night and inevitably he was shocked when I

told him what had happened. He was very surprised, disappointed, and

all the emotions you would expect from a highly competitive person

like him. By the end of the conversations, he was talking as a

team member. I have a lot of confidence in his ability to race

eradicate the problems. Those are the pit guns there to get the

wheels on and off. The reality is they could have cost themselves the

world title. This season will be tight to, the very wire. They were,

finger problems not just yesterday but in races gone by. We know what

happened in Bahrain, China I think this is a problem that the

management and the engineers, they have to take some of this on the

chin. It is not just the mechanics. If you owned this team would heads

have rolled? Yes there is no room for error. If they want to win they

need to up their game. The stuer wards aren't helping them. Lewis

demoted to the back of the grid for an error at the end. I'm going to

be careful. Ludicrous, the wrong decision, the worst that should

have happened was back to tenth. She should have lost Q36789 I think

that was a wrong, wrong decision. What can he do finally? Hefrpblgts

will be so fired up he will get to the top five. Well, talking to the

top five that is where Sergio Perez would like to finish. He starts far

up the grid. So joining me now is Sergio Perez, for the Sauber team.

How are you? Good. Good qualifying yesterday. You have been upgraded

to fifth. Views going into the race? I am looking forward to the

race, anything can happen. Yesterday, we did not expect, we

had a really good one, so I think today can be another good surprise,

hopefully, it can be a really nice surprise stkpw. You have developed

this reputation in a short period of time of being good with your

tyres. The tyre wear doesn't seem as bad here, they are predicting

two or three stops. Does that takeaway some of the advantage from

your driving style? Here is very difficult for the drivers'

perspective to do anything to save tyres. It will be very difficult,

as you have an zerpbgts which is limited. It is none anish shue. I

think we will go aggressive today we will try to find the people in

front of us, and not try to save any tyres, so we will be quite

aggressive. We like that. Drivers are going agree si. Have a good

race. It is good news to hear that and the grid is looking fantastic.

His nickname is Speedy but the car is as fast as him and they have

built a good car. I the big transmore maition is the Williams

and Sauber. I am overjoyed it is great the see minnow teams coming u.

They have callled themselves the big four but they are not so big.

The wheels are going on Jensen's car. Those retires to get him round

to grid. The cars will make their way to the grid in a couple of

minutes. Let us hear from Jenson Button. When we spoke yesterday,

after Q the you seemed puzzled. Has the riddle been solved you can have

a more successful day? It is easy for do you say, riddle. I think so.

It is, we had a very good run on high fuel on Friday, and we just

have been running through the numbers, and yeah, we slueld good

race, you still never know until the lights go out, but it should be

an exciting race and obviously, there are quick guys tat front but

Red Bull are in the same boat as we are. So beating the Red Bulls is

very important for us today, I think. Also that the stage when we

chatted Lewis was still out there we didn't think you would be the

highest place McLaren. With Mark Webber how important is it to you

to score valuable points in a than is looking so tight? Yes, it is, it

is a very mixed up season so far, so getting points on the board is

important. But no, obviously very disappointing for Lewis, he was

very quick yesterday, and personally feel that you know with

his pace he dereceived to be on pole position. But he is back in

last, and I am sure he will still have a race from there. My aim is

to get my head down and think of myself, and get as many points as

we can. The you look at the pace of the cars, it is very mixed up again.

Unusual to see Maldonado in a Williams. Fair play he did a great

job, and good on, when we are celebrating France Williams' 70

birthday. I think we will have a different result at the end of the

race. Jensen sounding confident. He will hope his car is faster in the

race than in qualifying. As you can hear the pit lane is open. The cars

are making their way to the grid. Less than half an hour till lights

out. Remarkably for cars that travel at 200mph, it is when they

are standing still that the race can be won and lost, right here in

the pit stops. The teams spend million and the drivers dedicate

that life to finding that tenth of a second. Races can be won orless

here. McLaren have a problem. It's the left rear again. Each

individual has his own job to do they are monitored visually and

electronically. Making sure each person gets the job done properly.

The fact is the tyres. You are looking for things. Wheel was off.

Hit as hard as you can. Put your hand up. Amazing pit stop. Sub

three seconds. What can go wrong in three seconds? One of the things is

a cross threaded wheel nut. It gives you the feeling the nut is

tight. It hasn't. If somebody does that what do row do. The gunman

will drop a gun, he will pick another one and start again. Does

it damage the thread on the axle. The axle is solid. The damage

occurs on the nut. 24 hole, three peg, u throw the wheel on and you

can't miss. These are magnet, that is drive system. Bang it into

position, tighten it up, pull the socket off. Job done. Would you

give me a job? Yes, with the AA! Certainly McLaren will be hoping

for less mistakes. These are live shots from the McLaren garage right

now. Lewis Hamilton going tout start the race from 24th position

and Jenson Button alongside him with his engine reving. David, how

nervous will they be during the first pit stop? We though they have

made changes to personnel? It is an experienced team. It is not usual

for finger trouble to happen. They are so technical and they are

trying to get the stops down three second. They have made changes. I

don't think they will be nervous because they have done this a lot

of times before. They need to prove the changes will takeaway the

issues they have had. Nay will rehearse this so many times in

every morning, every afternoon, during the factory, this is not

something they have just discarded. They will want to make sure the

show the world they have got it right. How will Lewis be feeling?

Of course he has put the disappointment of yesterday behind

him. He is an out-and-out racer he is going to reward the team's

disappointment with an attacking drive. With as fans are going to

get rewarded with something special this afternoon. Just about may have

heard there, or seen any way, two World Champions have left their

garages there is another one who has returned to Formula One, Kimi

Raikkonen, until now he has let his driving do the talking. Leigh

caught up with him.. Straight down the outside. Side by side here.

Raikkonen goes for it. Lovely move. It is going to take that second

place away. The last time we spoke was tat end of the Bahrain Grand

Prix and you seemed in two mind as to whether second was the result

you wanted. You seemed to think you could have won that. Can you

reflect on second as being a good result? Yes, of course it is good,

but not, I think we still could have won it, but it didn't happen,

so we had to take the second. It is better than nothing, but it is not

as good as the car that came in first. He is going to have a go. He

can't make it because Vettel just moves there. You have to make quick

decision sometimes it work, sometimes not and this time it was

one that didn't work stkpwh. Are you enjoying your second coming

back, is it giving you what you came back for? I enjoy the racing,

so that is why I came back. I don't really care the other thing, from

the first test, with the old car t car felt good. We knew that the

point we had a good package on our hands. Can you compare this team to

Ferrari or McLaren who it seems to me, much bigger teams, maybe more

pressure. I enjoy here, the people are relaxed but they push us haar

as they can, but they are more happy, you know. It is not so

serious. I mean we do everything together. I would say he is a

character, but he is very nice to work with, he is very professional,

racing orientated, so maybe this is one of the reasons he does well

with his taxpayer? Is your come back going well. Your Sunday

results seem strong? You qualify, some days you get the points and

that is all you want for the team I don't care if I am qualifying show

with my team-mate. If I score, as many points as we can. Some people

have to be up there to feel good. For many it makes no difference as

long as we find ourself in a good position for Sunday. Is fair to say

Lotus aren't employing him for his PR skills. But when you are as good

as Kimi Raikkonen that doesn't matter. Pales into insignificance.

Michael Schumacher is in the end of another contract and he hasn't

achieved anything like what Kimi has done and only in four races, I

think he has don a fabulous job for the team. Come and take a look, you

can see the sticker. This is the spare front nose for Mark Webber.

He will hope he doesn't need to use that. If he does he has knocked off

his original. It was a difficult session for Red Bull. 11th for Mark

Webber. Bitter-sweet. I think it was a mistake by the team. And Mark

has to play his part in that. They underestimated what was going on

and didn't perform. Think Vettel is clever in so far as he knows that

the results and the points are today. He kept his tyres, don't

rule him out to win this race. He could be a dark horse. How did you

feel having three cars not run in that final part, or with so much

emphasis on the race, is that the way is it going now. They have to

look at the regulation, the fans were cheated. Cheated of the teams

that didn't go out. You can't blame the teams because the regular

layings don't stipulate they have to go out. We need to tighten up on

legislation. You know you say about ten times a show they need to look

at the regulations. We saw about Lewis, I mean, it is am big use.

The rules are ambiguous so let us try and... We are going to go here.

The penalty was sever for the crime and that is where I leave it I

think he should have been sixth to takeaway the quickest lap, so sixth

would have been a fair result. Tenth was the obvious one, I think

it is ridiculous. We are getting close to the start of the race. The

sun is fighting to come through and David is where he belong, back on a

grid in Formula 1, the 13 time race winner can guide us round. What do

you see. I am down with the pole man, straight out of the car and

talking to speed TV. I want to hang on and we have his, we got his

feelings earlier, but let us see if he has his game face on. We are

going to hang, I might drop the microphone in here a second. Very

tough to get the high performanceer we are, we did our best and we need

to continue like that.. Is car is going great. Temperatures lore than

we have seen before, you have to be feeling fairly confident. We have a

pretty good car on race, I hope so. So, looking forward for this race I

think it is going not going to be easy, it is going to be a tough

race, the gap is quite close. We are looking forward. A quick one,

how are your starts and you have you had to do any extra simulation.

The track is clean. So we will see. We need to set the clutch and

everything, but we will see. Hopefully we will be the first in

the first corner. Heart rate is OK? Nerves coming in. It is OK, at the

moment. Great stuff. Well, he does seem calm doesn't he. There is a

lot of pressure on these drivers. First pole position and while he

probably wants to do, is go and find a quiet place to hang out. Any

way, let us take a wee wander. I wanted to see if we could get a

word with one of the Lotus drivers because they have the fastest race

pace of any of the cars out there on the Friday simulation. So let me

just see, we have Romain Grosjean coming to the grid. It might take a

moment before he gets out and gets comfortable. Here is Kimi and he is

a man of few words. He has been interviewed on the grid when I was

a driver but you have got to look into their eyes and try to judge if

they are up for it or not. I will try to get myself into the eye line

of Roman. I know you have just stepped from the car, but just a

quick word. This is what I love about this guy, look at his smile.

At the car seems to be working very well. Let's see what we can achieve.

The McLaren engineers think it is nip and tuck in terms of their

raised base and yours. We need the points so let's see what we can get

from the car, but hopefully a good result. The clean side of the grid.

Exciting, more stressed than normal, but nothing major. He is pretty

chilled, isn't he? It is his 13th Grand Prix. I don't think we will

be able to see Kimi Raikkonen. We found out a few years ago it is not

a good idea to interview him at the wrong time. We spoke to Sergio

earlier today, he seems quite happy with his qualifying. It is unusual

to see a Red Bull so far down the grid. We have the Mercedes being

pushed in here, as if anyone would have to be warned to get out of the

way. Not a lot of steering lock, but let's get the next driver who

might be open for a chat. How are you feeling? I think my performance

has been good. I was always fighting with Maldonado in practice

so I am really positive for today. Can you expect to get to the

podium? I think we definitely have good pace, and we have less

degradation of the tyre so we have to be consistent, try to manage the

tyre. I am looking forward to seeing you on the start. I will

expect some action on turn one. are in the middle position, we are

hoping for something very special. Not everyone is taking a risk.

wish you good luck. Mark Webber was a little bit frustrated with the

call not to run up the second part of qualifying. We are hearing he is

not on the grid. Christian Horner is on the grid. Mark was

disappointed with the call not to run yesterday. Fully focused today?

Having looked at where he is with his tyres, his mood improved

dramatically. As we can see in modern Formula One, tyre usage is

critical so hopefully we can have a good run. The others are begging

you about three-tenths, is that something you can overcome? --

pegging year. We think we are all right. This year it is 10 degrees

cooler, less wind, how will that affect things? We ran pretty well

on Friday, the drivers are happy with the car. If we can make the

right strategic calls, hopefully we can make progress. As you said,

less wind, which is always a good thing, so good luck. We are Jenson

Button by is car here. I think he might have gone for a toilet break.

I think I might hand back to Jake if I don't see anyone else. Am my

walking too fast for you? As you saw in the build up, I can be quite

quick out of the blocks! Nico Rosberg around? I think he has gone

to the toilet as well. Jake, I am going to hand back to you.

Thank you. What was interesting was that David had to walk past quite a

lot of cars before he got to the Red Bulls, McLarens. None of those

in the top five. To us the most remarkable qualifying yesterday,

added to by the demise of Lewis Hamilton. Anything can happen in

this race. It is easy to sit back and say there is a fair chance he

will win. No one has a clue what will happen and that is what is

great about the season this year. The part from the odd microphone

technique issue, I thought it was a sterling effort. Paul di Resta is

done there - shall I take we wander down there?

It is unusual to see a racing driver sitting on the pit. What are

you doing here? Just talking to the engineer. I think it was better to

stay out of the way. We seem relatively happy going into the

grid. Are there more upgrades to come through? The have clearly not

been enough because some of our recent competitors like Williams

are on pole position. I don't think we have maximised what we have got.

It will take some analysing after this weekend ahead of Monaco but we

are in a reasonable position. Expectations? At I always say that

any points here would be a big benefit to us. Whether that is in

ninth or sixth position like in Bahrain, that would be fine. He it

is rumoured Paul di Resta is wanted by a Williams.

We have got plenty more build up to come, but take a quick look at how

you can enjoy the action this weekend on the BBC and our Formula

One coverage. This is fascinating, this driver tracker. It shows when

people will be released into the traffic. You can also ride on board

with various drivers. The pit lane feed is remarkable, you can hear

them as they make their way down the track. There is plenty of news

happening on the BBC Sport website and, if you miss anything on the

next seven days, you can check it out with the iPlayer. Tell us about

the Williams team, how will they feel having Maldonado on the front

of the grid? He euphoric from yesterday, but at this moment in

time they wished, I believe, the result didn't change yesterday.

They would feel happier in second place than pole position. The

stress, the pain of having to endure the first corner, and

traditionally people who have had their first pole position seldom

hang on to it during the race. From that point of view, mixed emotions,

but for Frank on his 70th birthday, it is brilliant for him. There is

no greater name in the history of our sport. Not so great for Bruno

Senna because he knows Williams is capable of this kind of performance.

Barcelona 2012, and once again an unpredictable qualifying session,

we are on board with pole position. Down into third gear for turn two,

then flat roof turn 3. Using all of the track as he runs wide. Heavy

the track as he runs wide. Heavy entry speed, then down to third

gear, biting at the wheel. A tricky job down into turn 5. Wide on the

apex but snooze on the power. It is the tricky uphill left-hander into

turn 7. A fifth gear corner taking an apex speed of 160 mph. A brake

balance adjustment as he spots the heaviest part of the track, running

wide, but a great recovery on exit. Oversteer on the entry phase here,

snooze on the acceleration as he runs into the last phase of the

latter. He uses any leftover KERS, oversteer through the last turn,

up in pole position. This is the Circuit de Catalunya. We have

raised here since 1991, and in 10 of the last 11 races the man on

pole position has gone on to win. They are sure Maldonado will feel

the same, that should not be repeated. It will be a daunting day

for him. His mirrors will be full of red things like Lotus cars, but

I was so impressed with him in the early races this year. He could

really come of age and muscle his way through to the front. If he can

make it through the first lap, it will be a major job done. There is

Christiansen, he is on the race Stuart's panel this weekend, maybe

you could tell him you don't agree with his decision. He is a top guy.

In his defence, this would be a technical decision, not the

sporting one so he would have had very little to do with it. He would

have been sitting on the panel but his input would has been less in

that decision. If you can see the big pack lining up on the grid.

Lewis Hamilton is right at the back after an infringement in qualifying.

Here we are at in the paddock, you can see that is busy building up to

the race, but a quick mention of Fernando Alonso who is here in

Spain and he will be looking to use his DRS to get past Maldonado. On

average, he has made three places at each race start so he may not

even need to activated. One thing is for sure - we saw the electric

start he had last year straight into the lead, and I think I

presented him with the best start of the season last year so I'm sure

he will be trying to emulate that. What he has done for Spain is

remarkable because he has gathered the momentum and made Formula One

popular. What about Michael Schumacher - it is his worst ever

season start in Formula One. What does he need to do today? The one

thing he has in his favour is this is a much better car. The people

around him have made it much more drivable. We heard Michael arguing

about the tyres and his disappointment in them, but this is

not just the spot for drivers, it is for the fans and everyone else.

Michael is not bigger than the show. Here is the man looking to do the

business for Ferrari. Who can win this Grand Prix? If I have a

sneaking feeling after the last race in Bahrain that Sebastian

Vettel can tick a lot of the boxes that makes it possible to win a

Grand Prix so I would go for him. Fernando can hang in there?

Lotus will be a big surprise. the Sauber further back, and Lewis

Hamilton looking to fight from the back of the grid. Time for the

Spanish Grand Prix live and in high-definition. So far, four

different teams have taken the first four wins of the Year. The

last time that happened was in 1983, and in raised five the pattern

crosses the line, an absolutely magnificent victory. Sebastian

Vettel, the first Red Bull win of from Barcelona is buzzing. With

anticipation ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix. Fernando Alonso none

starts up front and we have a topsy-turvy grid. This is one

quarter distance and the first European event of 2012, on a

circuit that is so familiar to the team, from painstaking hours of

testing here. A track lent of 2.89 miles or 4.65 kilometres. Some 16

turns blending high speed corners with stop start sections and a

decent straight that is all Mansell and Senna going wheel-to-wheel.

That is where the drag reduction is in for this race and its most

likely overtaking spot. There hasn't been a wet race here since

1996, when Michael Schumacher took his first win for Ferrari, but we

have got cloud cover over the track and that has cooled things down a

bit. It hasn't cooled the passion of the Spanish fans, with their

national hero up front but we could see a change in performance of some

of the cars as they try to get the best out of the tyres, and that is

something to be watching out for. It S the thing we are trying to

understand is who has the handle on the constant change of track

temperature, and the effect that has on the way the tyres are

performing. Just, when I looked attract temperature before I came

up to the box it was 10 degrees cooler than qualifying yesterday,

so we will keep you updated. That has a massive effect on the

performance. If you remember back to China, when Nico Rosberg, the

track conditions changed by two or three degrees, suddenly he was the

man on the move in qualifying and all dominant in the race. Williams

are sitting on pole position, maybe not on lap team merit but on car

speed. Can they convert this? Can they manage their tyres? Lotus are

the team that have the underlying race pace. The air temperature's

You have head wind now and you have... So, yes, wind picking up.

Track temperature 32 degrees. Down on what we saw in qualifying

yesterday. Williams starting on pole position of course, but the

Lotus cars looking very fast. Romain Grosjean starting in third

place on the grid. Second time he started third so far in 2012. In

Australia he Saturdayed in the same place but without out in an

accident with Pastor Maldonado, the guy who starts from pole position.

Alonso first front row since Canada 2011. He has won here before in his

World Championship winning year, that was the second title year,

2006. Alonso will be looking for a quick get away, and a good run down

to the first corner to try and get ahead of Pastor Maldonado., So this

is how the grid lines up. It is Venezuela's Pastor Maldonado who

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 46 seconds

starts on pole position for with his qualifying performance,

now we have to ask the question, how fast will he be? 33 degrees,

but obviously with the cloud cover, that keeps dropping. It is down to

round 29 with the cloud covering the sun. That makes a massive

difference. Engines firing up. For Pastor Maldonado I wonder how he

feels for the first time ever he will lead the cars round on this

formation lap, and looking at that grid, on the left hand side you

have Alonso and Raikkonen, on the right hand side as we look from the

front, you have Maldonado and gross gene. Between Maldonado and gross

gene many starts. Experience whether it counts for anything,

when they launch from the box, of the starting position, it remains

to be seen. The left hand side of the track, which is the right hand

side if you look the screen is worth about one place, it is

reckoned by the engineers. They show know. We should expect to see

everyone on the right hand side outlaunching the cars on the right

hand side. Fernando Alonso went from fourth to leading this Grand

Prix from the right hand side of the track. Just to show the

engineers aren't always right, but it is going to be an electric run

down. It is 700 metres to the first one. The tyres Pirelli have brought

here are the soft and hard, so there is a gap, no medium being

used. It is the yellow wall tire tyre and a silver wall tyre. It is

not as big a gap as last year. Bear in mind that the championship

leader Sebastian Vettel starts down in century place for this race.

Lewis Hamilton, who is second in the point, starting all the way

down at the back. Mark Webber not having a great qualifier, so the

only guy who has won a race who is up front is Fernando Alonso, he

start tons front row of the grid. What we heard Jenson Button doing,

if it sounded like he was short shifting up through the gear, you

are right, he was. That is because they have to synchronise the

gearbox. They have seamless shifts, they engage the next gear while

using the gear they are using. He will get information from his

engineer to set any adjustments that are are needed for the clutch

now they find out how it is reacting off the start. What can

you tell us on the option, what are we looking at in terms of pit stops.

It is the fastest tyre, you get best traction and jump a couple of

place, you have to look at three stops. Whether you use option

option soft or hard. It is down to how the car uses it. Options are

good for 12-15 laps, whereas the hard are good for 18-206789 it

depend how the car is using them. Every car is on option. So there we

are, all the cars on the option t softer of the two tyre, that is to

help them get off the line. We will see how many laps they manage with

their full tank of fuel onboard the car, making the car much heavier

than it was when they last drove it in qualifying there is confirmation,

soft tyre on all the top 12. In fact on all the cars that are

lining up on the grid right now. So, Maldonado taking his first ever

pole position, Alonso alongside him. The two Lotuss up there. Perez, the

Mexican, Rosberg, Vettel in century. Kobayashi ninth. Button 109

helmet of Lewis Hamilton, how far can he get in the early stages,

will he get into the points? Let's Williams versus Ferrari. Alonso has

a good start from the inside. Alonso goes wheel-to-wheel, the

Lotus is behind. Kimi Raikkonen is channelling on outside. Alonso

takes the lead into the first corner. Maldonado is trying to stay

with him. No, he can't. Into second place, Raikkonen is third. Gross

gene is fourth. He has been passed by Perez. Perriz slides. He has a

puncture. He has been hit Perez is in trouble. He has been clipped.

Got a puncture and runs wide. A fantastic start. Rosberg has gone

past gross gene. Lamb in the background making places. Jenson

Button trying to do likewise. Vettel trying to squeeze down the

inside. He does so, we will keep an eye on where Hamilton. He is up to

19th onboard with Mark Webber. Battling away. Listen to the crowd.

As Alonso leads this race T crowd going crazy. Webber trying to go

all the way round the Force India and trying to get past. Could he do

it? I'm not sure. Didn't manage on that one. Massa has made up a lot

of ground. Vettel comes through. There is Button. Kobayashi and look

at Massa, he has made up places. Webber on the outside of the Force

India makes it stick as they come through 11. He worked hard for that

place. But Mark Webber has gone up one place and it is showing, that

will be 13th. Look at this start from Fernando Alonso. Beautiful get

away and a great first lap for the Maestro, who has had a race victory

this year. Now the improvement it is a they have made to Ferrari seem

to be working. Look at him getting away from Maldonado, Raikkonen,

Rosberg in a solid fourth place. Schumacher has a look. The

positions stay the same. He is in sixth.? In the background we have

Sebastian Vettel, he ran very wide on the last corner, going right out

on the artificial grass. You can see how much he dropped back from

the back of Schumacher. He wants to be working to get within that one

second window for the end of lap two that enables the DRS to work.

We have Perez with that left require tyre. We will hope to get a

replay. Some were through turn one and two and what was a great

qualifying position P5 has turned into last place. Lewis Hamilton is

209 but Felipe Massa is 11th. Massa has had a storming lap. You can see

how he goes through ahead of Mark Webber. Watch out for Hamilton. He

is further back. He is behind Senna so he has made another place. I

think he might have gained one on this lap. Mark Webber tucked in

behind Felipe Massa here. Think Hamilton has got himself ahead of

Petrov. That was Charles Pic and he is lucky to be missed there. That

won't have done his tyres any good there. The option tyre when you

have 160 key -- kilos, that was a Force India going through 13 and

rejoining with the leaders, putting a smile on the Spanish faces. And

running down into turn one, he is not getting away from Maldonado. At

this stage it is about managing the tyre. We expect them to be anywhere

in round lap ten and it will be those who can take the last little

bit out of this option tyre when the cars are heavy that will stand

the best advantage. We heard that Perez has gone for the harder tyre,

that makes him the only carton prime tyre. That is valuable

information for the rest of the grid. They will watch his pace

relative to his team-mate Kobayashi. So Maldonado closed the gap to

Alonso there is Senna and it is Senna versus Hamilton. That is for

17th place as Hamilton trying to gain as much ground as possible.

You are onboard with the British driver as he tries to make up as

much ground in the early laps as he can. Senna just ahead who struggled

in qualifying. Had a spin and he is having a look on the inside here,

overtakes there. He is through and he has gained another position, he

is through into 17th place. A was a neat move. That was a fantastic

move. As we get a replay of the start. The down side of course for,

is that one of the slow Toro Rosso getting passed immediately by Nico

Hulkenberg in the force India let us look out for the contact with

Perez. He is on the outside. Where does that clip come? Oh.. It is

with one of the Lotuss? Onboard with Alonso. His initial get away

was better. The start thrav was similar with the Williams car. --

thereafter. They are pegged for straight line speed a as they run

down into the first corner. This is the view that Fernando Alonso had

this time last year. End of the first corner, clear track. He did

it from fourth last year this was the view from onboard Jenson

Button's car. Michael Schumacher was on the right. Another one who

made a good start was Jean-Eric Vergne. He managed to make up a lot

of ground. Where was this contact with the Sauber? Difficult to see.

I think it came with Romain Grosjean in the Lotus. I think it

came at the last part of turn two. He was in among that battle. So it

just seemed to take the, you can see him rejoining in front of

Hamilton. A great evasive action from Hamilton. May be maybe

unsurprisingly we have Sergio Perez who has gone purple. That makes him

the fastest man on the track. One second than the leader. So those

piem tyres working fine, in the heat of Barcelona. -- prime. So the

harder tyre looking good despite it not being as hot as qualifying.

Felipe Massa in 11th place, a very good start. Good get away, Perez

with that 1.29.5. That will make a few teams it is up and take notice.

Seeing that lap team from Perez, does that affect the strat wri for

the others? It normally gives a good indication, how long the tyres

lasted. I think Perez's hard tyre would have been a new set. He is

giving everybody a good warning on what can happen. It will make it

easier for them to make decisions. Fernando Alonso leads this race

from Maldonado, Raikkonen, you have a good battle here. Fastest car --

let's pass this car in front, we are in the points. Massa being

encouraged to pass Jean-Eric Vergne. The Frenchman has had a couple of

good opening laps and he has moved up from 14th to be running in tenth,

but behind Massa is still Mark Webber, a little lock up but Vergne

was a touch too wide through turn four, hasn't really made too much

lock up going down to turn five, you are not only managing the car

when it is heavy with fuel but in the air, the downforce is being

robbed from his car, so it means it will slide more in the corners, but

your engine this leads -- your engine overheats. It is so

difficult for the drivers to judge the weight and approach of the car

when they are running seven seconds slower than they ran in qualifying.

Up front, Alonso and Maldonado are pulling away Abed from Kimi

Raikkonen. -- a bit. Hamilton has gained another place, going past

Kovalainen. And Felipe Massa etc. Chases after Jean Eric Byrne. In --

Felipe Massa chases after John Eric group, then Felipe Massa in the

Ferrari. Mark Webber must be feeling very frustrated. Just

looking at the gap, you have Maldonado just over a second behind

Alonso. He said before the show, he would be going aggressive, he wants

the same time, he said, no surprise there. The car is trying to

maintain a balance on all of the tyres. I think Raikkonen is just

playing a longer game, managing his tyres. He is not pushing up into

the back of Maldonado. We can see how patient they have to be at this

stage, opening the throttle gently. The Pirelli tyres are very

sensitive to any over spin. Jenson Button locking up of. Kobayashi is

in ninth place, Jenson Button ahead of him. A Fernando Alonso with a

1.5 second lead. Mark Webber is in a, a very early stop. Which tyres

are they putting him on to? It looks like it is the harder tyre.

That is a very early stop at the end of lap number six. We thought

lap ten there would be the bulk of when the most of the stops would

happen, so that is about getting Mark [email protected] in to

clean air. The this could be inspired by Red Bull, now he can

manage is tyres whilst getting the maximum downforce. Obviously not at

this point when he is running behind HRT but when he starts

keirin them. That was Karthikeyan being passed by Charles Pic, who

Mark Webber will come up against the next. Further up the road is

Romain Grosjean in the Lotus as they come past the peak packed

grandstand on the slower section of track. -- the big impact. I am

hearing that Perez was clipped by Grosjean. It doesn't look like he

sustained any damage and Vettel is in as well, the drivers getting

some clean air. And getting the hard of the tyres. Perez is still

lapping fast on the hard tyres that he went to straight after that

puncture. Sebastian Vettel in theory should come out of Mark

Webber. -- in front of Mark Webber. He has three sets of those hard

tyres available this afternoon. he could be in good shape. He comes

out ahead of Timo Glock so he won't be held up like Mark Webber was on

that out-lap. That should making -- let him and make the most of those

new tyres immediately. You have got to use the performance of the new

tyres. We can see a replay of Mark Webber being surprised had -- and

just how early the HRT breaks for the corner. -- brakes for the

corner. There could have been costly for Mark Webber. Not only

could he have lost his front wing but he has locked up a long way

into Turn five. I Fernando Alonso continues to lead. -- Fernando

of pace we are seeing it, are you impressed that the race pace?

and the consistency is pretty good, they have only lost three or four-

tenths. That is Kobayashi into the pits. Presumably he is going for

the hard tyres as well. A little bit slow on the front end, they

didn't get the front down as quickly. It is usually the rear

that is the limiting factor but it was a problem on the front. He has

come out ahead of Mark Webber so he has not lost a position relative to

Webber. Eight laps have been completed by the race leader out of

66 here in Barcelona, Alonso leads by 1.5 seconds. Kimi Raikkonen in

the Lotus is still in bed. Lewis Hamilton is trying to make it more

ground. -- Kimi Raikkonen in the Lotus is still in third. A lot of

locking up from Hamilton at this stage. But Force India goes wide

through nine, so this will be an easy pass. Just showing how

difficult it is for the drivers. I won't be surprised to see a Force

India coming in any time soon. A Mercedes are coming out of the pit

lane, McLaren are coming out, we have got Lotus out. Hamilton now a

been to 12th position. He is only two spots of getting in the points.

comes in to put a hard tyres on. Nico Rosberg in the same time. Paul

di Resta in as well. And both of them quite close together there.

Let's see where Nico Rosberg comes out, just in front of the Caterham.

But the McLaren has come out behind the Sebastian Vettel. No real

change there. Kobayashi, he has got Timo Glock, who has not been into

the pits yet been the Marussia. Behind him his Mark Webber --

the Nico Hulkenberg, it was an error by Hulkenberg. It is not

often you see someone running wide at 109. It is a bit bumpy sometimes

but it was like Hulkenberg was scared off the track. That's what

they used to say about Ayrton Senna, the track just opened up. TEAM

RADIO: We are currently P8, you are doing their cracking job. In comes

the race leader. This is a crucial stage. Great pit stop by Ferrari,

they have consistently been one of the fastest teams in the pits this

year. That is a fantastic pit stop from Ferrari. It was under three

seconds for the wheel change. Grosjean also in and back out, so

was Michael Schumacher, so quite a few pit stops taking place.

Grosjean comes back out behind Nico Rosberg. Schumacher is coming out

just in front of Sebastian Vettel. Bruno Senna still going without

having stopped in 12th place. Maldonado now leads the race and a

crucial couple of laps for Pastor Maldonado, to see what kind of pace

he can achieve on the tyres. Will Fernando Alonso gain the edge

having had a pit stop? Bruno Senna was disappointed in qualifying

yesterday but he has put in some strong racing performances this

year. I wonder if he will go for a to stop, whereas the others are

going for a minimum of three. -- two-stop. We had different tyre

compounds in use last year, so different numbers of pit-stops.

think Maldonado is coming in. His last lap was a 30.8, two-tenths

slower than Alonso on the previous lap, so he was getting diminishing

place. So the top three have all stopped. Let's see where they can

out relative to Fernando Alonso. has gone through and I think he has

opened out slightly in that phase of the pit stops. Nico Rosberg

trying to get past Pro-Tech -- Bruno Senna. Grosjean has the luck.

Are they going to touch? Definite contact, something was flying up in

the air. It looked like it might have been coming off the Williams

but aggressive stop from Grosjean and he has got away with it this

time. -- aggressive stuff. It looks as if Bruno Senna is definitely

struggling at this stage and he hasn't stopped so he must be coming

in his lap. Michael Schumacher losing valuable time behind the

Williams but they have the favour of the car that has the best chance

of winning. Schumacher is going to have the word for it, as you say.

Into 109, Schumacher dropping away a fraction due to a loss of

downforce -- into turn the ninth. TEAM RADIO: We are currently P4, we

need a different strategy. Hamilton is definitely climbing up the

leaderboard at the moment. Fernando Alonso is the race leader,

Maldonado is 3.4 seconds behind. Raikkonen another 3.6 seconds back,

so the Ferrari has really worked this pit-stop section of the race

well. Here we have a replay, Grosjean sees the space and Bruno

Senna gets some space and that might be a flick off the front of

the Lotus car. I think that is part of that part of the end plate of

the Lotus. It is Schumacher. He is off. I suspected there was a coming

together between Schumacher and Bruno Senna at 101. That is a shake

of the head and it tells us all -- at turn one. That is an expensive

the steering wheel. He is obviously frustrated at what has happened,

they left Bruno Senna out on those old tyres and he hadn't pitted and

Schumacher had fresh tyres. Schumacher, his worst start to any

Grand Prix season and it just keeps getting worse. A track on which he

has had six victories in the past. But look at the damage to the back

of the Williams, that tells a story. Hopefully, we might get the chance

to find out what has happened. It is race over for Bruno Senna but

there are other car is in a strong second place. Fernando Alonso leads

from Maldonado and Hamilton and Raikkonen. Michael, it looks like

you hit the car in front. Do we think that the Bruno Senna was

moving in that braking area? I don't think so, I think Michael was

just caught out by Ohio -- how early Bruno Senna was having to

brake in to turn one. It is more of a mistake made, it didn't look too

crazy what Bruno Senna was doing. I just want to come back to the point

we had from Lewis Hamilton's Engineer, they might make a new

strategy work. He is in fourth place, so I would suggest he is

going to do their two-stop. Gary, let's get your thought on that, how

much further before he stops? No, we will just to check what is

happening with Bruno Senna first, just climbing out at the corner

where he can make it back. That is such a shame for him. We will

probably get the different stories of the same version of events. We

have seen it before with Schumacher. I would like to see another angle

before we put it on Michael. This is the Grosjean incident where he

goes down the inside of Bruno Senna. TEAM RADIO: Sorry about that,

Michael, we will look into this. Let's just wait and see that a few

more times before we put that banner. Letters rejoin the action.

tried to pull away. So, they have made changes there within McLaren

for the pit stops but if the green light came on which I presume it

did it looks like a wheel gun has been left we need to get another

replay of that. That would have cost him a bit of time. He has gone

back on the hard tyres, so going on to that new set of primes. He has

dropped back behind Nico Hulkenberg, all the stop wasn't slow as it

might have been. Take another look. Is that front wheel that bounced or

the rear wheel? It is difficult. It's the rear. It caught the rear

wheel. They haven't got it out of way. That won't have done any

damage. The cars take a lot of load. So that was a low speed bump.

us get reaction from Eddie. What do you think on that Schumacher-Senna

incident? I think the stewards will be busy today. That was

uncharacteristic, I I know he has done it before but Michael

Schumacher made a mess of that, ill-judged, I think you know Senna

was a passenger, he is blameless, I think there will be a penalty

dished out the Michael. Possibly even for Monaco. We have a battle

here between Romain Grosjean and Nico Rosberg this is over fifth

position. Hamilton is fourth. He mated his pit stop. Let us remind

you Fernando Alonso leads this race. Here comes Romain Grosjean and he

is going down the outsiefpltd used the DRS and that was

straightforward. He takes fourth place from the Mercedes of Nico

Rosberg. They were seeing speed gains of up to sl kilometres in

between running DRS and having the wing in its normal position. So

that run there, the Mercedes is powerful and it looks like Rosberg

being dropped massively. Does he have an issue or is he trying to

manage the tiers as we go onboard with Hamilton. Hamilton is in 14th.

ON RADIO: Everything is OK. We think he hit one of the tievers.

Carry on. I don't think that was as much a question as a statement.

Bruno Senna is passing on regards to his team. That doesn't look the

command he is feeling that guilty by that. Here we go. Is this a

replay of the incident. Michael Schumacher would have been in the

DRS stone. Would have been going up to about 18 kilometres an hour

different. It doesn't look like he is going for the pass at this stage.

I hate to be down on Michael, it appears I ambiter and twisted. What

did Bruno Senna do there? I don't think. I don't know what else he

could have cone. I mean Michael might say he braked too early but

as the guy behind you have to allow for that. Ifrpblt remember an

incident with Fernando Alonso and I had to avoid running into the back

of him. In the data it showed he braked 30 metres earlier. We took

that to the stewards and they said it is the right of the car in front.

What is going on here? Paul di Resta on the option tire. So the

faster of the two tyres but does Mark Webber have an issue. He is

running wide. He has lost another place to the Toro Rosso, and Jean-

Eric Vergne and another place to Felipe Massa. Look who is joining

in on all this. It is Hamilton joining in. He must have a problem.

He is leaving the door wide-open. But it is closing everybody

together this is certainly helping lamb who is up behind Felipe Massa

in the Ferrari. So Hamilton taking advantage of this. In the

excitement did I finish any sentence? The steward told me that

time it's the right of the car in front to pick its braking point.

Provided it is not seen as weaving the car behind has to take care.

Right, so that clarifies things, they are looking at front nose

sections, it is wing damage? can't see anything, but he is

clearly driving a wounded car at this stage. ON RADIO: You are down

on front load Mark. Red Bull are coming out into the pit lane they

have a new nose available so something has gone wrong with that

front wing assembly. Decan't see anything obvious. Front wing out

and Mark Webber coming in. This will put him well out of the points.

Gary, down on, down on front load they were saying, so how does the

team know that? They mention the loaned the suspension, so they can

see when something dramatic has happened. U that is what it is.

Just to make sure the fors are there they are putting a new front

wing on, take the opportunity to change the tyres. As I say points

will be difficult from here. They will be very difficult from Mark

Webber from that pit stop. Very pra -- rapid. 8.7. Alonso leads. We

have completed 17 laps of the Spanish Grand Prix. Raikkonen is

third. Romain Grosjean is fourth in the Lotus. Fifth place for Rosberg,

then it is Vettel in sixth. Button is in century place and Kobayashi

just behind him, that is the group we are looking at here. Kobayashi

at the back of the group in the Sauber. Paul di Resta is in ninth.

Jean-Eric Vergne is tenth. We have lost Webber down theed or ir.

Heikki Kovalainen, Perez who has come back in to the pits after a

second pit stop, so they are not, they had that problem earlier on

and now they have put another set of tievers on the car. -- set of

tyres on the car. We have lost two big names of Michael Schumacher and

Bruno Senna. So you can see the debris. Yes, a lot of tyre

degradation. Interestingly, fastest man on track at the moment is

Maldonado. He is bringing that gap down to Alonso to just over two sex.

Raikkonen being patient this afternoon, he is a further five

seconds behind Maldonado, with a comfortable gap to his team-mate

Grosjean of 12 seconds. Let us just, as the race evolved they will have

turned -- burned off 45 kilograms of fuel now. They like their Plan B

don't they. Well, sometimes Plan B is the better plan. You may as well

start with that being Plan A but Plan B. Whatever it is, Button in

century place. I mean real opportunity for Button score points.

Remember the Championship leader is Sebastian Vettel who is just ahead

of him. Jensen is very much in the Championship points battle. He is

fourth in the points. Of the main Championship contenders, they are

none of them having a great time. Alonso is having the best time. He

is fifth in the point bus he currently lead this race, with that

advantage over Maldonado, and Rosberg of course, he is in fifth.

In this particular group not able to make a huge amount of progress

so far. We believe going into the Grand Prix that McLaren were trying

to target a two stop race. If Plan B happens to be a three spot as we

go onboard with the race leader Fernando Alonso, tremendously

experienced, two time World Champion, but if we are expect them

to do three stops it could be anywhere round lap 30 we could

expect to see Button coming in. The next ten, 11 lap, we will keep an

eye on that. Maldonado continuing to reduce that gap to Alonso, so

still early in the race. A lot of fuel to go to be burned off before

the car comes alive. The Williams showed good pace on Friday and good

pace today. Coming up to the HRT. Alonso slips in on the inside.

Maldonado was four tenths quicker A big slide for Karthikeyan there.

Maldonado going fourth tenth tons last lap but he won't because he

hasn't managed to get past Karthikeyan at a critical point,

now he does sork but he lost a couple of tenths doing that..

you lose a lot of lap time at low speed. We tend to think that Grand

Prix cars are capable of doing 200mph. In terms of down force that

is the case, in terms of lap time your real lap time comes in the low

speed turns. If you can keep your speed up you gain vast amounts of

lap time. Gap is 1.7 seconds on this lap. But a lot of tyre

management required, and I suspect that Ferrari might need to be do

three stops. Maldonado f anyone can get two, it looks like he has

better tiever use, Williams were feeling confident this morning and

he has crucially, breathing space to the Lotuss which have yet to

show the form. -- tyre. We expected the Lotuss to be up there but

perhaps they are biding their time. Raikkonen is in third place.

Ferrari with the great record in the Spanish Grand Prix. If Romain

Grosjean does have a damaged front wing from that earlier contact with

Senna, it is not showing. He is matching his more experienced team-

mate Raikkonen lap for lap, stark contrast to -- qualifying when they

went round in 1 .22. So eight seconds a lap slower at this phase.

Heavy cars and trying to manage the tyres. So Alonso versus Maldonado.

Maldonado has caught up that gap a bit more on the last lap. We will

check the times although the sector times look almost identical. Let us

see them across the line. Fraction faster for Maldonado. Down to 1

into 5 second t gap. The last section was where Maldonado was a

little quicker than Alonso. Reichen has come through in third place o -

- Raikkonen has come through in third place. Grosjean in fourth,

after his extra pit stop for nose cone change, Mark Webber is down in

17th place, Sergio Perez is down in 18th. After that fastest lap, after

that second pit ston stop, Perez has taken fastst lap in the race.

Hamilton is in 12th position, so no change in that particular group. We

think that Hamilton is going for less stops than the others, there

he is, tucked in behind Massa. sound like he is busing into the

limiter there. You have a choice setting off for the race pace,

which means you put a gear which is going to work when you don't have

the benefit of DRS being open. So it looks as if Lewis, who did a

fantastic lap in qualifying, much quicker at this stage of the race

than Massa, running wide on the turn 4 but it sound as if he has

compromised his top speed when the DRS is open. If you plan to qualify

on pole, and run away with the race you would never use DRS during the

Grand Prix. There is a case for saying that Hamilton is driving one

of his best seasons at the moment. The qualifying pace we have seen

from him... ON RADIO: They will be three stoting. That is confirmation

they are going for the two stops on Hamilton's car. He has been first

or second in every qualifying session. It guess gets closer to

Massa, things haven't all gone his way, he hasn't done anything daft

but he hasn't won a race yet. have seen an incident involving

Massa and Vettel W. We have to assume that was him overtaking

Vettel. I think you are right. Lewis last year has to take

responsibility for error tons race track, this year it is like the

lures of his early career, not making mistake, driving especially

and at the moment mechanic harn are taking the rap for the incidents.

That is right. Let us see, Mark Webber was on the attack here,

getting past the Caterham of Petrov. Moving up into 169. That African

National Congress wing change work the team so evenly matched this

year, you are not getting the big gaps. So if you have a slight

problem like that it drops you down the back of the pack Mark Webber

running 61 seconds behind Alonso. That would have added about 25

seconds, that pit stop. Had he not had that we would have been just in

round the tail end of the point, but who is in the points and doing

a great job is the man going through the screen, Paul di Resta.

Jean-Eric Vergne behind him in the points as well. Felipe Massa

struggling a little bit with his balance by the looks of it. That is

giving Hamilton the chance to get up behind him they are all within

the DRS zone. The problem for Hamilton, Massa will give his DRS

activated and then Vergne comes in, but they just cross the act vaition

point, so Massa should get his DRS open on the front straight. I am

not sure. Perhaps he has a good one going. He is going to try and get

past massa. Has to go to the outside. Massa protect, he will try

and go round the outside. He has to back out. That hooks like he was

going, it was going to be the pass of all passes. It looked as if

Hamilton got a huge amount of slip stream then he was running out of

pass, confirming that the running into the limiter on that engine.

That is Daniel Ricciardo. We have seen him. Now having a chance there,

close add gap on Hamilton. Now,, we just have Rosberg. ON RADIO:

Looking after the tyres, he will be under threat from the cars that

have stopped. Let us hear from muem talking to Leigh. Very

disappointing, tell us what happened out there? Well, I just

took a minute to watch the video data and if you look, the shot that

like an overhead shot, you can see that he moves right to defend his

inside position. Right in the braking phase he moves back left in

front of me. I try to avoid to the inside again, but too late, and all

is done, because that is in the braking face, and very frustrating.

It is, I am very much annoyed about that, but we have done, a strange

manoeuvre from him in Brazil last year and I, before I don't know

what happened there, but, yeah, I hope they understand the video

pictures good enough to clarify that. How frustrating it is when

you in a race winning car? Well, I don't think today would have been a

race winning cars but neverst less, we would have got some points. We

were on a good speed, and basically a back marker that he was, I mean,

he wasn't lail in a real contending fight and position, being behind a

Caterham car, but yes, that is second stop. On board but Jenson

Button, he is in sixth place. -- with Jenson Button. That was just a

bit too long. He may be had the flat spot already and he has just

added to it with that lock-up. Maldonado going very quickly having

made his pit-stop. McLaren are out of the pits, so Jenson Button will

Red Bull mechanics are holding back the hoses. It is Marc Pugh to live.

A little bit slow. A -- hits his Webber running behind him.

Kovalainen is in 12 than he has only done one stop. Here we see a

replay of Alonso. Not happy. It was like a stately wave, he is like the

King of Spain, but that would have cost him a bit of time. He knows

that later in the pit stop phase, every tenth of a second counts. The

Ferrari boys getting ready. Karthikeyan's HRT stop then the end

of the pit lane. -- stopped them. Fernando Alonso comes in. The that

is Maldonado there, he is going to take the lead, so Alonso has lost

time in the pit stop and Maldonado comes through. That early stop was

crucial from the Williams team and the fastest lap of the race so far,

27.9 from the Maldonado, it not only puts him in the lead but it

puts him well in the lead. Maldonado now leading this race,

his last lap the fastest of the race for the moment as we see some

more pit-stops been made, but on his way again is Grosjean. -- being

made. Grosjean rejoining just ahead of the Felipe Massa or an Lewis

Hamilton. Grosjean, some new tyres on that car, he should be up to

speed immediately. A long way to go this afternoon but, believe it, the

Williams and Maldonado could win this. The Toro Rosso trying to go

the outside of Paul di Resta and Paul di Resta saying, that his

byline. Jean-Eric Vergne on the outside. That would have taken a

lot of compliance from Paul di Resta to have pulled back pass off.

Hamilton still chasing Felipe Massa. Gary commit your thoughts on

strategies at the moment, we have seen a long Sir and -- along so and

Maldonado coming in at the same time. Raikkonen is just coming in

now. You can see Maldonado had bad really fast lap and it gave him

that edge. The last stop, Alonso gave him extra time. I think he was

personally a lap too late. He has the Williams in front of him now.

think the wave that he gave to the Marussia will have cost him time,

but not the sort of time that we are seeing now. We are seeing

Hamilton now up with Felipe Massa, he has been struggling to get by

the Ferrari. I think they may regret the gear selection this

afternoon. Although he couldn't know he would be put to the back of

the grid. You can see the effect of losing the downforce as he goes

extremely wide in turn the three and then is much tighter at poor.

drive-through penalty for Sebastian Vettel. In the championship leader

is not having a good race in Spain this weekend. -- of the

championship leader. A Felipe Massa has also got bad, which will help

Hamilton. -- Felipe Massa has also got the bat, which will help

Hamilton. It is all change, because this will release Lewis Hamilton.

We have got a change in complexion courtesy of some mistakes on the

yellow flag. They have got to show they have backed off a bit.

Absolutely and the difficulties the drivers will always say they have

is that when you have different phases, you may have just been in

the pits and have fresh tyres, you can easily go one or two seconds

quicker. Felipe Massa goes to serve his time, that give Lewis Hamilton

some clean air. Pedro de la Rosa is the next car up. He is 5.5 seconds

behind Grosjean, that is their next target for Lewis Hamilton. Here is

the replay of what is going on. A bit of debris on the track, that

must have been from the incident between Michael Schumacher and

Bruno Senna. We had an incident area between Bruno Senna and

Michael Schumacher. Let's hear from Bruno Senna.

Bruno, Michael has said it was you in the braking zone and your fault,

what do you say to that? Obviously he will not say it is his own fault,

but he had much newer tyres than me, I was on very old rubber, so hour

breaking points were quite different. I saw crosier and

braking very late -- Grosjean. I didn't want Michael to have to do

the same. He probably just tried to cross and he hit me, what can you

BEN EDWARDS: That is the version of events from Bruno Senna. Another

Williams is still leading the race, Maldonado has a seven second

advantage, that is remarkable. Seven seconds ahead of Alonso,

Raikkonen is still fed, but well 0.3 seconds behind the Ferrari --

still furred. -- third, But 12.3 Rosberg deep, so it could be an

opportunity for Jenson Button. You lose the downforce through the

right hander. I suspect he will be on the radio complaining of

understeer or, running in the slipstream of the Mercedes car. He

we had Vettel running behind Hamilton. -- here we have. A little

bit of time to take stock on where they are in the tyres. But

Maldonado, he has got 19 seconds to the first of the Lotus cars and we

were suspecting the Lotus would be the stronger car here this

afternoon. Difficult to imagine how they will win back 19 seconds

unless something remarkable happens in track temperature. I don't want

to tempt fate, but it does look like it will be a big day for

Williams and Pastor Maldonado. Vettel still to take his drive-

through penalty, so Hamilton doesn't have to worry too much

about this. Here we are, that is the penalty for not slowing

sufficiently under yellow flags and that will have been checked on the

sector time through that part of the track. Yes, the stewards will

just look and see if you did a faster sector when the yellow flag

was waved. Even though you may have lifted in that particular area, if

you were in that sector and were quicker over all, they will give

you the penalty. It is very straightforward. He comes out just

ahead of Hulkenberg and Webber. On board with Jenson Button, still

trying to get past Nico Rosberg. Can he go for a lunch? He is on the

outside. He is looking for the undercut. The Mercedes in front has

got good drive off be corners, it looks like the area they are

struggling is aerodynamically. The difficulty for Jenson Button

running in that turbulent air is it rubs your front wing of any

rear tyres now. Manage their gap. Those are the words to Maldonado

who has that advantage over Fernando Alonso. Caviar she --

Kobayashi chasing down Jenson Button. Jenson Button was slow off

that twisting section which led to Nico Rosberg get away. -- which

lets. They are not struggling with the grip. In a lot of speed down to

turn one. Nico Rosberg is visibly running wider through a two. So

careful as the models build up of line. If you make one mistake and

go one inch wider than you did in the previous lap, the marbles will

suck you in. Lewis Hamilton has made a 19 places from the start but

he is on a different strategy, he has one more stop to make. But he

is running in fifth place at the moment with eight different

strategy to the other frontrunners. drive-through penalty. TEAM RADIO:

You need to go 0.5 seconds faster. That is the engineering way are

saying it get your finger out, just give us half a second! That is if

you demand, can they just suddenly turn it up that much? That will be

interesting to see. Maldonado's gap is still seven seconds after the

last lap. We will keep an eye on Raikkonen and Grosjean, see if they

put in some rapid lap times. Nothing like that at the moment.

Michael Schumacher getting a bit familiar with sitting on the

sidelines. It has happened a few times. Nico Rosberg has done a good

job of managing this race and putting Jenson Button under

pressure from Kobayashi. Kobayashi finds the inside line. Jenson

Button wisely, once he realises that Kobayashi, who has a good

reputation of someone who knows how to pass... I think Jenson Button

was just caught out a little bit with the closing speed of the

Sauber and that will make his afternoon more tricky. In Kobayashi

a throwing it down at the inside. lovely move. And there was nothing

Jenson Button could do about it. But it did take good reaction from

the Jenson, it could have ended up in tears. There was ever so

slightly at touch, a racing it is. -- A Touch, a racing kiss. Pastor

Maldonado, it not familiar to everybody, only in his 24th Grand

Prix. His racing career has mainly been in Europe, he started off in

Formula Renault, he was the champion in 2004. He cut his first

are going off badly now. He is doing more laps than those around

him. He has done one stop this afternoon, 19 laps on this set of

tyres already, so that is expecting a lot. It is an indication that he

is losing the ability to really keep pushing. He has a ten-second a

gap to the car in front, which is Grosjean. We are on board with Mark

Webber. Having a bit of a drawn-out afternoon, currently in 11th place,

so this is four points. A small lock-up, which is a recurring theme

The -- Nico Hulkenberg. The other Force India is in 14th place, so a

real mix round in termles of performance. Heikki Kovalainen is

in 17th just ahead of, well a bit ahead of Petrov. Glock and Pic are

still running. Three cars out of the race, Senna and Schumacher

after the incident earlier. They come down to turn one, but Rosberg

defends to the inside. We saw what Kobayashi did to Button, a little

while ago. Can he do the same to the winner of the Chinese Grand

Prix? It doesn't have the pace that we saw in China, but there are

useful points on off. Rosberg is in sixth. He is able to stay closer to

the Mercedes, he will be able to smell the exhaust fumes. It won't

be lost on Rosberg, having Kobayashi behind him. Will he have

a sniff down into turn 10? Resberg opened the gap slightly so I think

he will be too far back. This is great management from Rosberg. He

has managed to bat away Jenson Button. Will he be able do the same

can Kobayashi. In front of him is Hamilton. They are catching

Hamilton. He struggling. He was a second a lap slower than what

Rosberg is achieving. It is not just the tyres are dropping away,

they are falling away. So can Lewis get away with one more stop? He

won't, the McLaren guys are in the pit lane and Hamilton is in. He

would have to go 30 laps if he was to stop now and go through to the

end of the race. That seems remarkably unlikely. They are

bringing him in. They are putting the harder tyre on Hamilton's car.

They had do that. There was no way as the teams were telling us, have

been telling us throughout the season, once these tyres fall off

the cliff, once they lose their performance, it is gone and it is

gone here this Barcelona, in a big way. Gary, let us get your thoughts

on that with Hamilton, does that force him back into a three stop do

you think? I would think it does. The 30 laps to go is a long way. I

think 20 laps and they start to fall off. He had a good shot at it.

To take it as far as possible. But as David was saying, a second lap

is too much to loose. The pit stop is 20 second seconds. Suddenly you

are too far behind. So he will be doing three. So Maldonado being

encouraged to look after the tyres and he is doing a good job.

Maldonado's gap 6.1 seconds, back to Fernando Alonso none. So

Hamilton is behind Paul di Resta, so that is, that puts him in 149

place, and we have Massa and Perez, I think they are behind, they are

behind them. Massa, you can see in the background. Hamilton is still

in front of Felipe Massa, but Hamilton knows he has a tough

afternoon ahead of him. If he is to score some points. It was always

going to be tough from the back of the grid. Trying to go for the two

stop strategy does not seem to have work. There is Mark Webber. Men

Vergne and Daniel Ricciardo. The two Toro Rosso running in team

formation. Then there is this little battle. ON RADIO: They will

be pitting again. We are not stopping again. They are not

stopping again. He has the fresh tyres and they are going for the

rest of the race. That could be a bit of kiddology, they know we

listen to the race transmission, 30 laps on a set of tyres? That would

be further than what Pirelli are telling us would be usable. If he

doesn't stop again that saves him about 20 second of pit stop time

this is the incident with Alonso and the Marussia of Pic. That would

have cost Alonso a bit of time there I am not sure whether

Maldonado would, whether the Ferrari would have enough pace. He

is managing the gap nicely, it is just under six seconds, the gap

between Maldonado and Alonso arbgsz we see Vettel through the last

phrase of the lap. Right in behind Button. He is on the option tyres,

I believe. Vettel on the prime t harder of the tyre, so the more

durable tyre on the Red Bull. The faster tyre but more sussest

Septemberable to drop off on the McLaren. And definitely Vettel is

close on the back using the DSR -- DRS. They come into turn and he

sweeps past Jenson Button. Sebastian Vettel making it look so

easy, he takes seventh place from Jenson Button. I imagine he will

get a radio message any time soon, complaining about drop off of the

options and he will look for anerly yirier pit stop. A straightforward

pass. He carries the momentum through. Jensen driving wounded at

the moment on these tyres so not able to defend. Now we are back

onboard with Kobayashi, the Japanese driver, still behind Nico

Rosberg, in this tussle, which is going on for fifth place, between

the Mercedes and the Sauber, the Sauber is still showing strongly of

course, Perez has a problem at the start of the race with contact and

that caused a puncture, he has to limp round and dropped him down the

order, he has been back in for another pit stop but he will

struggle to score points whereas Kobayashi has a good opportunity of

adding to the points he scored earlier none the season in

Australia, in particular. That was his best result of the year so far.

Sixth place. I don't think whether he is in sixth place at the moment,

and again that Mercedes very quick off the last couple of corners.

That may prove key for Rosberg to maintain that fifth place. He is 15

seconds behind the fourth man Grosjean then he has a pile of car

behind him. Button has come, put a set of the primes on, the harder

tyre, as soon as he saw Sebastian pass him, there was no more he

could do on those tyres. He will come out behind Massa, 15th place,

so Massa trying to get behind Paul di Resta. We have a tussle.

Hamilton trying to split the two Toro Rosso, he has got past the

first. Vergne getting dephenomenon si. Hamilton with superior tyres

trying to go round the outside. Into the next left-hander but he

has to work for it. Hamilton gets past the two battling team-mates

who might try and swap positions. Vergne manages to fend off Daniel

Ricciardo. It took a lot of compliance from the Toro Rosso who

won't be lost on them as we see a replay of the pit stop. They had an

issue. That is not synchronised diving and the thumbs up. I am all

right. They still couldn't. Shame there.. Did the wheel not go on

correctly. That is Pete Herzog. He has parked the car. What -- Sergio

Perez. That is a shame for him. He was fifth on the the grifpltd it

caused some excitement among the South Americans. They had Maldonado

on pole. Into the pits come Daniel Ricciardo, so that battle being

split apart and Button on the back of that group. Webber in eighth.

Hamilton is in ninth. Nico Hulkenberg has come in so tenth for

Vergne. 11th for Paul di Resta who is chased by Massa and Button.

doesn't get closer than that. As they crossed the line they were

separated by half a second. Paul di Resta to Massa to Button. Butt on

the fresher tyre, he has to use the advantage to clear these cars. We

has seen enough of the back of that Ferrari. So let us keep an eye on

generalen -- jensen. Will he try the use the move Kobayashi pulled

on him. He has a look. Yeah, he looks like, he thought about, he

thought about it and then that sort of scared Massa into a lock off.

Which if Jensen has carried the momentum probably could have

overtaken him. Massa gets sideways there. No chance for Button to take

advantage, but struggling now is Massa. Meanwhile his team-mate

Alonso is closing the gap a bit up front Massa takes a late dive down

the inside and given enough room there by Paul di Resta. Button

follows him through. Paul di Resta lose twos places. You have to say

that was a brave pass, a tidy pass from Felipe Massa and Jenson Button

in the one second window get his DRS. We have seen the McLaren

geared for qualifying is struggling to exploit the DRS, the other Toro

Rosso pits, and that leaves clean air. Jensen is close enough to get

the slip stream. Will he go left. He does indeed. He is going for it.

Can he make the move stick into the first corner, he is late on the

brakes, yes he does! Button gets through relatively easily so he

gets past Felipe Massa. Rosberg has been in to to the pits and Mark

Webber has been into the pits. Maldonado in from the race lead.

Vital stop for William, they have been work on their pit stops. It is

slow. Slow start for Williams. Away goes Maldonado. That has cost him a

couple of seconds at least and Alonso had been catching and he

comes out behind on of the Lotuss but that has to stop yet.

Vingsfpblt So this is real drama, it means when Alonso makes his stop,

there could be a real change here. Now this was the move that Button

made. Yes, he goes to the outside, and exploits the clean track, and

interior grip of the new tyres to go round in the braking zoerpbgs

down into turn one N tend what looked like it was going to be nip

and tuck was a straightforward past. Ozone. I am going to have a look at

the sector times to see if I can work out whether Alonso will be

able to do anything with the gap. Maldonado has done three stops

which should see him to the end of this Grand Prix. So if you keep an

eye on them, on the screen, I will have a look at the timing monitor.

Maldonado has come out behind Raikkonen. Raikkonen is running in

third place now. With the second place now that Maldonado has made

this pit stop. There you can see on the graphic, where the top

contenders are, relative to one another. Maldonado in the middle

sector, which is the first opportunity we get after the pit

stop, to come patience as we go onboard with Alonso was about six

or seven tenths quicker than the Ferrari. He is exploiting that new

tyre performance, Alonso on an old set of tyre as he goes upturn three.

There is a long way to go. Can they make it on only three stops? This

race was won on four. That was occurring to me. Gary, a thought

from you? Do you think Maldonado and Williams have come in early for

this final stint? Yes. He has 25 laps to go. He hasn't got anywhere

near that with the last two sets. It has been 15 laps, so to do 25 is

am by shufplts obviously he could do it but the times will drop away.

You may see a splash and dash of soft tier for the last eight laps

or so It could make for an amazing race. Sebastian Vettel into the

pits. Are they changing the nose on that car? They are. Going for a

change of nose section. It is slow coming off the old one, unlike when

Mark Webber did it. It would be interesting if Gary could get

information, what is going won the noses on the Red Bulls? We are not

seeing obvious signs of damage, is there something else degrading

while they are running out there? If it was blockage with rubber

between the slot gaps of the wing and you get the tyre that comes off

the other car, you would clean that out with a roller, so what is

happening down in Red Bull? Are they accepting, putting the white

flag up saying we can't win this race but we can gain good points,

and vital information. Are they doing a wing come pafr son during a

Grand Prix? That would be a brave move.! You are onboard now with

Pastor Maldonado. He is in third, the guys ahead still have to make

another stop. The big question is can he get to the end of the race

thon set -- set of tyres. It's a 1 second gap to Alonso. He managed to

do an under 20 second pit stop. So the they go on well and the left

rear man has to go back on with the wheel gun that. Cost him time. With

15 second gap, Alonso will come out behind Maldonado. Maldonado was

nine tenths of a second quicker on that last lap so advantages to

swinger further and further to the Williams. I expect the gap to be

anything from 6 seconds plus that. Will give Maldonado breathing space

and put a bigger smile on Frank Williams' face. Will the tyre goes

the distance. His rivals are being more cautious, Lotus have not

brought their cars in. Nor has Ferrari. They believe the Pirelli

will give up before the end of the race if they change. There is a

Ferrari coming out, so expect that will be for Alonso, he is coming

out of the last chicane. Out of camera shot. Let us see if he comes

in. It is indeed. So the race leader is into the pits. You can

see the man with a slot gap clearer, just cleaning out any rubber from

the slot gap of the front wing, that is what I was asking about,

there must be such a bigger problem on the frarri, as you see them

rejoining behind Maldonado. Maldonado still in front of Ferrari.

Now, if the tyres hold up, Maldonado is perfectly placed to

win this Grand Prix. The question is, couple more laps on his tyres,

will that be the determining factor? ON RADIO: We need to make