The Bahrain Grand Prix - Qualifying Highlights Formula 1

of the car or the way he is able to utilise his qualifying position to

show that this is a team that he can then move forward into one of the

bigger teams. Force India are really punching above their weight, all

things considered. They must be looking further down the grid.

Hopefully no more sticky moments for them, a couple of tricky moments in

the final session of free practice. KERS or gone to full power a bit

early, it is a very gentle slide, it is fairly low loaded, that left-hand

corner. Down into first year, it all looks sensible, goes up through the

gears, and he did not touch the curb on the inside. Subject to

confirmation, I think he had the KERS but in a bed early. This was

Lewis Hamilton getting us chatting in the final moments. Just watch the

steering, massive correction in a straight line, that indicates a

failure at the rear of the car. It was a tyre service failure, which

led to a rear suspension failure. The good news is they have had time

to fix his car for Q1. But because they have had to change the gearbox,

he has a five place penalty. With David in the commentary box is

third pole position of the year and is there it in a row in Bahrain, but

as qualifying begins, there are several drivers with grid penalties.

Esteban Gutierrez, five place penalty to deal with. Mark Webber, a

free place penalty. And now Lewis Hamilton, as a result of that

gearbox change, a five place penalty. They will go through

qualifying as normal, and the penalties will be added later on.

Gary Anderson, walking calculator, what kind of lap time you expecting

to see to get into the top 16? a pretty tough one to decide, the

cloud cover keeps coming and going, and a couple of degrees of change

makes a big difference. If you cannot do a good run on the tyres

burst time out, the track changes so quickly, so it could get quite a lot

faster. We have the hard and medium compound, how will they use that

allegation? The last race proved that if you get to the front of the

grid, you can win. At the end of the day, you have got to go out to

qualify. I think we will see the top teams running the harder tyre,

hoping they can do a good enough time on the first run. If they have

to do a second one, it will be on the medium. But from tents

backwards, they will all be running the mediums. Daniel Riccardo

qualified and finished in seventh, and he had his best ever qualifying

here 12 months ago when he put the Toro Rosso sixth on the grid, a

genuine time, he did a good job, but he had a dreadful start. Toro Rosso

definitely finding a bit of pace with their car over the last couple

of events, and it looks like he will be trying to get into that top ten

this morning. He was 14th, so I think top ten is going to be a bit

of a tall order, but who knows? You did a good job here last year. Down

towards turn 11, a little bit of a tail wind blowing into this corner

here. That could make the back end of the car a little less stable than

we have seen. What is interesting about F1 2013, the way the engines

have evolved, the blowing of the rear of the car, not quite the

diffuser in its entirety like we are used to, but a bit of traffic ahead,

that is Hulkenberg getting out of the way, or at least not holding him

up. But you do not want to run off the racing line and pick up dust.

All of the corners, everything that used to be fourth gear is now third

gear. They are doing everything they can to have high energy exhaust gas

coming out of the engine. The downside of that from the driving

point of view is you take of middle corner speed, going down ADA, a

lock-up there from Rosberg as he runs down into turn eight. This is a

better camera angle to show you how it gets down into the little apex, a

bit of traffic ahead from Massa, he is on an out-lap. Nico Rosberg is

one of the front-running teams to make a lap here, but Romain Grosjean

is also won a quick lap, he has gone fastest of anybody in the first

sector so far. Most of the top teams... There is something in front

of me moving! Worrying for Giedo van der Garde, something rattling around

in the cockpit. The top teams are using the medium compound. Williams

and Marussia have gone out on the hard compound, as have catering,

Charles Pic definitely. Grosjean is looking good on his lap, Rosberg

goes fastest, and that is getting to the kind of pace we saw this

morning, and that is on the harder tyre. Let's see how Grosjean

responds in the Lotus. Mercedes have been reasonable over one lap but

struggling over a series of laps, and the Lotus has been looking fast

all day. Last time, in the last sector, he was faster in the first

and second sectors than Rosberg, dropped a bit in the last turn, a

bit late getting on the throttle out of turn 14. There are 15 corners

registered in this circuit, but you can see that 15 is basically a kink

in the straight. Interestingly, as we see a replay of Kimi Raikkonen

down into turn one, he grabs the front wheel under braking and then

get out of it because he does not want to have a flat spot. A little

lock-up, immediately reacting to that. Running wide, but there will

be no damage done to the tyre. two Ferraris are out together.

di Resta is not happy, not hearing anything on the radio. What is he

wanting to hear, David? Paul, P1, fastest of all, come back to the

pits for a cover copy! I do not think he is going to hear that just

yet. Alonso is lighting up the sectors, just the last little bit of

the lap to finish year. Ferrari was fastest in the hands of Alonso this

morning despite a spin at turn one and turn two. He goes fastest, 1:30

2.8, and that is a good margin quicker, four tenths quicker than we

have seen so far this weekend, and he is still on the hard compound, he

will become the lead through to the next stage of qualifying. Paul di

Resta is also on the hard tyre, and he is also trying to get himself

through to the next stage of qualifying, into the top 16. Keep an

eye on his split times, Hamilton is out on truck, quite a lot of

activity with six and a half minutes to go now. Using a bit of the curb,

but as long as you do not get a wheel over to the other side, where

it is sand and dust, tidy out of the last two turns, maybe a bit too much

rumble strips. Anyone who plays computer games, you will know how it

feels when you run onto those strips! It takes away a bit of time,

but not molest that should be enough to see him safe in this first part

of qualifying. -- but not molest. are waiting to see Jenson Button but

in a representative lap, but the McLarens have been looking like they

will be struggling to get into the top ten, and Force India may have

better performance than them. At the moment, still a little bit of work

to do, let's just watch the rest of the lap. So he is coming down into

the final two turns now, he has just got the run to the line to go here

for Jenson Button. Across the line he goes, where does this put him? He

is eighth for the moment, he should be safely through to the next part

of qualifying as we now ride on board with Mark Webber. He is on the

medium compound, he has gone for the softer tyre. Perez was on the medium

compound as well. Jenson was also on the medium compound tyre. It is

interesting... I am surprised that Red Bull have had to go for this

already. Vettel, on his out-lap, he has gone for the medium tyre. We are

getting conflicting... Very wide there, that will have cost him a bit

of acceleration into the last corner. How Billy Hayes E on the

power? Quite progressive. -- how early is he on the power? The time

should be pretty good for Webber, seventh quickest at the moment,

using the medium compound, so perhaps he wants to save the hard

compound for the race tomorrow. A little bit too much understeer for

Jenson Button, he is ninth, 1.1 seconds off the pace, and he went

for the softer of the two compounds. Let's see what Sebastian

Vettel can do, he and Lewis Hamilton are on their flying laps, neither of

them have set a time, we will keep an eye on their splits. Both very

competitive to the first checkpoint, about a 10th off the fastest we have

seen to that point. What we have been seeing, Ben, is not a

consistent time gap between the two tyres. It was the same at the last

Grand Prix as well. Some are seeing quite a gain running on prime or

option, and others are seeing very little gain. At this stage,

Sebastian Vettel there, correction from oversteer as he ran through the

apex at turn 11. He was fastest of all in the last sector during free

practice, Mike Mark Webber, very wide on the exit of turn 13. -- like

Mark Webber. This double right-hander leads onto the start-

finish straight. Hamilton is on a lap as well, he has just come

around, a fairly steady lap. He needs to do another flying lap.

Vettel goes second, he is on a different tyre, remember to the one

that Alonso has used, so a different strategy from Red Bull. We have seen

them go easy on tyres a couple of times, they are really thinking

about strategy at the moment. What did Webber do here? That was a

replay of him running wide up over the rise as 12, absolutely flat out.

And then you drop down into 13, just beyond the curb. You can see the

sand and dust there, impregnated into the tyre. Hulkenberg, the back

straight, a tailwind, as you mentioned, taking away the overall

downforce from the car. The ones in the drop zone, Daniel Ricciardo,

Charles Pic, Jules Bianchi, Max Chilton. And the one we are watching

now, Lewis Hamilton, but he is up on time, and he should not have a

problem making it through to the second part of qualifying. He is

running the hard compound tyre with the orange sidewall, a different

strategy to Red Bull, but this should see the Mercedes comfortably

through, I would say. Rosberg is third fastest, there is good pace

with the Mercedes. But can they keep that during the race? He goes fifth

fastest, safely in, pushing Gutierrez... No, not quite, it

pushes Maldonado down to 17th place, can he improve and get ahead

of the South where? Very close, competitive times once again. -- the

Sauber. Gutierrez does have a time penalty, but you take the time then

get the penalty added when the grid is put together. Let's see whether

Maldonado is doing enough here, he has got a good middle sector, and he

just displaces Gutierrez, enough to go 16th just behind his team-mate.

Exactly the same lap time for both the Williams drivers, but Bottas did

it first, he gets 15th place at this stage as we are in the closing phase

of this session. They did the same time, and so have Romain Grosjean

and Lewis Hamilton, to the thousandss of a second. Two

different kinds of car, which seems even more amazing, that you can be

that close. Charles Pic has the updated parts on his car, he is

currently a couple of tenths of a second faster than Jules Bianchi in

the Marussia, as you can see. Max Chilton, three tenths slower, he

lost valuable track time this morning with a KERS related issue on

the car. Years down at the bottom of the times, Giedo van der Garde, in

the other Caterham. -- he is. Let's see if this is an improvement for

Charles Pic, it is an improvement, 1.35.2, nobody looking particularly

delighted, but that may have kept them ahead of the Marussias. What is

Daniel Ricciardo doing? How is his lap looking? Working the wheel a

bit, he looks to be 0.6 of a second faster against his best lap. If that

is the case, that will comfortably getting through on a 34.1. Vergne is

through, and Ricciardo joins his team-mate, pushing Maldonado down,

and that looks like the way it is going to stay. Giedo van der Garde

has gone ahead of Chilton, one Caterham head of one Marussia, and

then the same again towards the back of the grid. But would you believe

it? For Maldonado, that is cruel, the same lap time as is team-mate,

but his team-mate is in the top 16 there was something loose in the

cockpit, and every time you brake, it goes forward, and then when you

throttle and go sideways, it moves around, it was not ideal, just one

of these. Did it affect your first set of fast laps? You have to switch

your mind off of that and then work with it. You looked pretty

aggressive head of Max Chilton, good qualifying? Yeah, I think I am

pretty happy with today, and I am very happy with the team

performance, because it looks like the updates are working well on the

other car. Unfortunately I did not have it, but we will have it in

Barcelona. Peggy Kovalainen has been with you in free practice, as he

said anything that can help you? is good to have him, he has a lot of

experience, and I think he gave the same feedback as I am, the car is

not easy to drive, but we will work The clock is ticking down. We have

seen an intriguing first session. Now the battle is to get into the

top ten. The fire-extinguisher has gone off again on the Marussia.

This happened this morning. So a lot of fire-extinguishers

being held by the mechanics and the marshal there is. They had a fuel

vapour fire before. Gary, your comments on that and the

use of tyres in the first session. Interesting that Red Bull used the

medium and the others using the har tyre? They do see this as

interesting. Kimi Raikkonen was on the medium tyre and quick and

consistent. Others quick and consistent on the hard tyre. Maybe

Red Bull believe it is better to save the hard tower for the race,

and others to save the medium tyre. Well, Sir Frank Williams watching

there. A little worrying what is going on there with that fire. We

saw something like that this morning? Yes it was put down to a

vapour fire. It maybe, for some reason, there has been a problem.

The fuel tank, as it gets hot, the fuel does expand a little bit.

Maybe a valve or something has blown off. It looks like it has

been put out. Thank you very much. So the first car on track. It is a

front-runner, Mark Webber. Nico Hulkenberg has come out too. There

is Sebastian Vettel. Now they are going out on to the track on the

medium compound tyre that has been used. They are on the scrubbed

tyres from the first segment there, David. So obviously, like Gary was

saying, perhaps they are trying to get two runs out of the tyres, that

means that they save tyres for tomorrow's race.

There are issues over the tyre wear. If they feel they can do the

majority of the race on the hard tyre, it could explain why they are

using the medium tyres, a cautious lap to get through the first phase

of qualifying as discussed. From free practise, we are seeing

that both compounds of tyre have been able to deliver lap time over

the course of a few lap runs. In the case we talked about earlier,

they did a slow lap between, but they are running a bit more fuel in

free practise. Into qualifying, less than ten kilos on board it is

diminishing returns. It is down to the driver, what they can do with

the positions of the car. So, Nico Hulkenberg setting the pace here in

Hulkenberg setting the pace here in the second part of qualifying.

Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber are on decent laps on the tyres.

They have done one run in Q1. They did this in malaisa, using it

gently in Q2 and hard in Q2. It worked well there. Sebastian Vettel,

you are riding with him. Mark Webber has gone fastest. It should

abcompetitive mark. Then we will see what Sebastian Vettel can do

here heading down to the final turn. He is fastest in the first and the

second sectors but that is compared to Nico Hulkenberg and Mark Webber.

Let's watch him across the line. It will be a good lap. Not as quick as

Fernando Alonso earlier. A 1.27.8. Now he has done it on tyres that

have done some six laps. Paul Di Resta on a good lap here.

This looks as though it could beat Sebastian Vettel's pace. Yes, it

does. Paul Di Resta fastest in a 1: 33. He is on the medium compound

tyres. So he did not have to scrub tyres

like the Red Bulls. That gained him an edge. He will thop is enough to

get him into the top ten. Let's watch Kimi Raikkonen. I think that

he scrubbed all of that off. He is hunting for every advantage he can

get. Let's see what Kimi can do. He is

just in the 1: 33. Fourth fastest. Also on a new set of the medium

compound tyre. Now on board with Fernando Alonso. Let's listen and

watch. A little wide there, through the

apex but getting away with it. Let's listen and watch. This is

what low fuel and those tyres look like in the hands of the double

champion. That is what is looks like from the outside! DRS zone on

the back stretch as well as on the start/finish straight. Now, the

tricky turn 11. You can see him straightening the

wheel in the middle of the corner. Massa has been fastest in the

middle sector. Massa has gone third. Fernando

Alonso, looking a little slower on this lap. An aggressive turn into

the last couple of corners. Fernando Alonso is going to be

challenging the top spot. He does go faster. Only just.

He should be safely into the top ten with that lap.

What has Jenson Button done? He is eighth quickest.

I would think he will have to find more. He will have to anybody the

1: 33s to get in the top ten. Button on the scrubbed tyres there.

What is going on? A squabbling over the positioning. Massa must feel he

was held up by Nico Hulkenberg. He cruised down from eight to seven.

That is a less than helpful Massa repaying the compliment from

earlier in the lap. There is tail wind everywhere

around the track. There could abcompromising balance

on the scked attempt there. Lewis Hamilton crosses the line.

Third fastest. So, Fernando Alonso, rest Restivo and Lewis Hamilton.

Tom, what do you have for us? was talking about the temperatures,

how they have fluctuated. It seems a little ridiculous to be giving a

weather report from the desert, yesterday was scorcio but we have

the sun coming out and a head wind down the straight.

Well, the performance has been good by Nico Rosberg. He has gone

fastest. That is a big margin over

everything else. We were looking at how close the

others were, now Nico Rosberg has blown them away.

Now a Lotus of Romain Grosjean has set a pretty good first sector. We

will see if he can try to do anything on the sect sector of the

lap. Interesting, Rosberg has in the last few races in Britain brain

always managed to finish the race where he started. He has been only

outraced by a qualifier. Thank only one when it was a certain Mark

Webber. There that was a mistake. He ran

wide on the kerb. That could cost him a valuable tenth or twofplt

From the split times you can see this is not the a -- not a front-

running pace. I don't think it is enough to

challenge the front ones. At the moment in the drop-zone we have

Perez, and Jenson Button is in 11th place. McLarens are in the drop-

zone with over two-and-a-half minutes to go. This is where it

starts to get serious. This eare putting on the new, softer tyres.

The medium, I should think. There is Perez.

Jenson Button was on a new set of mediums. Nobody using the hard tyre

now. There is more of an advantage on

the medium tyres. Mark Webber challenging for the top spot.

Safely into the top ten but a little off what Rosberg did a

moment ago. The Red Bull is working well in the medium speed corners.

The first sector is pretty much a straight line. So struggling to get

the maximum from the package. The sect sector is combined.

The McLarens are both out on the track. Desperate to get into the

top ten. To do that they have to beat Adrian Sutil. Kimi Raikkonen

is not as far up as he would like to be. Paul Di Resta is safe. He is

iting in the pits. He eis happy on his 1: 33.03.

And Jenson Button goes on to a lop to try to get into the top ten.

I'm sure this will be a better lap with a clean run, but currently

sitting at 1: 4 seconds off the pace. It is a while since we have

seen a McLaren in that situation. He eis racing against qualifying

here. Here is Adrian Sutil, one to watch, but Paul Di Resta has put in

a lap good enough for fourth. Ricardo has pushed him down. So he

has improved. Adrian Sutil has to keep his lap together.

Force India use the gearbox, they have the Mercedes engine, they use

the simulator at McLaren and probably some facilities. It must

hurt. On one hand the money coming in for the team to McLaren on the

other hand, they are doing, the other team are doing a better job.

Let's see how the session finishes Here comes Adrian Sutil. He goes

sixth. 1: 33: 3.

Close to Paul Di Resta's time. It knocks Kimi Raikkonen down out

of the top ten. Sebastian Vettel has don a 1: 32: 7.

Kimi Raikkonen on a lap. Button is going to cross the line.

Is it enough? It is for the moment, but will he stay there? Kimi

Raikkonen crosses the line. Ut button is tenth. What is Perez

going to do? He eis 12th. Is there anyone out there to challenge

Ricardo? Is he on a lap? No, he eis down. That is sorted. Massa does

improve. In eighth place, but no- one there to challenge Button's

tenth. He has just made it into the top ten.

Romain Grosjean did not make it in the second Lotus. Nor has Perez.

The pressure continues. He is only two tenth off Jenson Button but it

makes a world of difference in terms of positioning.

You can lose a Grand Prix by a thousand andth of a second.

Look at the shake of the head from Romain Grosjean. He is going

through a tough time. They changed the chassis for him. They are

trying to give him opportunities but it is not coming together for

him. He has natural speed. Let's hear

from Jenson. Hey! I did what you said, dauv.

Lovely job! No, whatever Dave said to him, his race engineer it

obviously worked. It is a bit sad, that the world

champion, driving for the McLaren team is so excited to make it in to

the top ten, but that is the way it is for McLaren.

Daniel Ricciardo starred in China but he has not made it through.

Nico Hulkenberg, Bottas and Jean- Nico Hulkenberg, Bottas and Jean-

Eric Vergne will also eliminated. You made it through? Yes, by a few

tenths, but I'm not disapoint -- disappointed. Daniel Ricciardo is

looking well. If tomorrow we are able to manage a perfect race, a

perfect strategy we can dream with some points.

So you think that going from 12th place or higher, depending on what

happens in the session is not too bad for you? You can get some

points? Yes. We are happy. The pace of the car. Where Jenson is, we

cannot expect higher than that. I come tomorrow to hope to have a

perfect day. We wish you the best. Thank you

very much. The final part of qualifying is

underway in Bahrain. We are in for the shoot-out for the top spot. For

the pole position. Gary, the players are separated by

tiny margins and Jenson Button is delighted getting into the top ten.

It is turning into a competitive It is turning into a competitive

session? I was to predict a 33: 3, but when I saw the times, I thought

was it a 33: 1 or a 33: 9? So looking at the tyres, the medium

tyre is quicker but come the race day tomorrow. It is not that

critical which tyre you have on the car.

We saw them into the 1: 32: 7 for Sebastian Vettel. Do you think that

there will be better times than that? Last year it was a 32: 4. I

would not be surprised to see a 32: 4. Something similar. The track is

quick. The sun is staying with the cloud cover. So the track

conditions are good. Thank you very much, Gary.

Celebrated his 27th birthday, did Paul Di Resta. Let's watch him now

has he goes on a lap of the Sakhir Circuit. It may abchallenge to go

for pole position. They have a rap rapid car.

-- rapid car. Here we can see a glimpse of the

longer track used here in 2010, but not popular with the drivers. They

reverted to the shorter track last year.

It was a fun circuit to drive, but it did not add anything to the

racing spectacle. No real overtaking opportunities. So it was

back to this circuit. Down into turn nine. Through the apex nicely.

Turn 10, sorry, as it exits from the back straight. A tail wind. You

have to throw the car in at high speed about 108 miles an hour.

Shrugging off about 57 miles an hour, then up over the Yahoo!

Section. Flat out at 126789 it is a drop here.

A bend down into turn 13. A lot of care and into the exit.

Paul Di Resta's best qualifying time this year has been ninth in

Australia. He goes fastest for the moment, but we have to see what

everyone else can do. 1: 33: 3.

Rosberg has proved. He goes 1: 33:5.

Let's see what Fernando Alonso can do. He is fastest in the middle

sector. The Ferrari is flying. It is second fastest.

Just over a tenth of a second slower than from Rosberg. That is a

really good opening gambit from Nico Rosberg. Impressive stuff.

Mark Webber comes on to the circuit for his final charge.

We are looking at nice shiny new tyres on Nico Rosberg's car. He did

a lap earlier, so we can see more dramatic stuff from the Mercedes.

It will be interesting if the Mercedes get up front.

If they get the track position it could be helpful, but Lewis

Hamilton and Mark Webber both have grid penalties. Lewis Hamilton with

a five-place grid penalty, Mark team-mate is on the soft tyre,

conflicting strategy to start this Grand Prix for Ferrari. Jenson

Button has gone out on the medium whites tyres, a split strategy from

Ferrari, let's see if anyone else has done something similar. It looks

like everyone else apart from Massa is on the medium tyre. Very

interesting from Ferrari, playing the strategic game as well, but we

are just seeing the clock ticked away at the top of the screen, and

they are all now on an out-lap, I think. Nobody has stayed in the

pits. I think most of them are going to go for it here and try and get a

lap time in, rather than sit around and just have that tyre choice

tomorrow. It is Mark Webber who will be coming around on to a flying lap,

we will keep an eye on those sector times, Rosberg is quickest from his

earlier lap, Alonzo was fastest in the long middle second sector. The

final sector was Rosberg again. It is a mix between Ferrari and

Mercedes at this stage. Let's keep an eye on Mark Webber first. He has

compromised his line a little bit for turn two, let's see how he

breaks into turn four. Very late downshift and immediately shifting

up again, just messy, unfortunately! That is how they get the best out of

the high exhaust gases. He locks up, runs wide, there goes a 10th, and he

will know it. Sutil has done the first sector time as Webber. Still

hesitant as he works the wheel. So I am not sure this is the ultimate lap

that Mark could have done, certainly in the opening corners. Paul di

Resta is a couple of tenths faster than Sutil and Webber in at first

sector, pretty much confirming he is leaving some lap time behind.

listen. A small correction on the entry. You can really hear it

but meanwhile, down the track, Rosberg is a 10th also faster than

Vettel, that is only good enough for fourth for Webber. Rosberg is still

looking good for pole position, let's see how the middle sector is

an fold. No purple times coming up for anybody. Rosberg has just gone

fastest of all in that middle sector, so he continues to look

good, let's follow... Vettel is slower by two tenths. Paul di Resta,

he goes fifth for the moment. That would be a fantastic starting

position for him if he gets to stay there. Rosberg comes over the line,

even faster, Rosberg is fastest in Bahrain. Sebastian Vettel goes

second fastest, and he doesn't have an answer for the pace of the

Mercedes. Fernando Alonso, a big slide! It is not going to be enough,

he was a 10th also down, and he bails out, it's to the pits, he knew

it. Third, that is where he qualified in Shanghai, he will not

be worried. Jenson Button heads back into the pit lane as well, but Nico

Rosberg, just over one year from his first ever and only pole position to

date, he now takes his second pole position, and in the last five Grand

Prix, in Bahrain, wherever he has started the race, he has finished

it. I wonder whether he will keep that record. Hamilton this time out

qualified by his team-mate. Well done, Nico, pole position, good

effort! Yes, come on, guys, that is how it's done! Well, we have heard

that comment before, but Nico Rosberg has had to wait quite a long

time to earn his second pole position for the Mercedes team, but

Vettel will be on the front row. You would say that the red ball has

better tyre wear and perhaps look after its tyres better. -- the Red

Bull. Unless Mercedes have found something really special overnight.

To throw this into the mix, most of those long-run comparisons are done

in clean air, and the Red Bull will find yourself running in the dirty

air of the Mercedes, so it may be a different story tomorrow. It has

been very overcast, bright by UK standards, but dull by Bahraini

standards. It was Lewis Hamilton last time in Shanghai, and you have

to go back to the first time that Mercedes were in Formula One that

they had back-to-back pole positions. The order from

qualifying, with penalties to be thing as rubbing people's nose in

it, you know. It would be great if we were rubbing it in people's nose,

but we are not quite there yet. As we saw in China, the car is not

quite as quick in the race, and tomorrow will be tough, for sure.

This track is hard on the rear tyres, and that is what it is all

about in the race. The card that works the rear tyres less will be

able to win the race. We have done a lot to improve that this weekend,

tried to progress, but is it enough? I don't know. A blinding lap, shall

to brake very late, and there is always the risk of locking the

inside. If you do, you lose three tenths. Going into turn four here,

always running super wide over the Exeter, just trying to nail it. This

is the two fastest corners of the track, right-left, and it is

difficult because the wind is coming from behind today, and you all of a

sudden have a lot less grip than other corners. So it is really

difficult braking down there, easy to make a mistake. This is a

challenging corner, we cannot see anything anymore! It is a really

long lateral entry, very easy to work the inside front tyre, there is

no load. Then into the fast section around the back, this is a third

gear corner, running wide all the way, and this next part is easily

flat out. Overheating the rear tyre through that corner, so this corner

is always on the oversteer side, you saw the nervous steering wheel, just

because the rear tyres are completely overheating. Going into

the last corner, a difficult corner, you always understeer out

over the curb. It is always a bit risky, you can see the understeer

there, anyway, some people are able to see it! Davis did not see it, so

there you go! Going into the race, what do you expect? For sure,

starting first is going to help a lot, hopefully we will get away and

be first, everybody behind me is going to have to tear, what you

say, turbulence from my car, so more sliding will damage their tyres.

That will help, and from there it is all down to pace and managing the

rear tyres. It is difficult for me to say if we have got what it takes,

it will be a challenge, but with a good strategy it is possible.

thank you. And by, we wish you all had, how would you sum up

qualifying? It has not been the best of days, congratulations to Nico, a

great result for him. We can still do something from there, I guess.

Tell us about what happened in free practice, is it a concern for the

race tomorrow? For me, I don't know exactly what went on. I think they

are still investigating to find out what happened. It was not a very

good situation for us, the team, because we had to change the

gearbox, but those things happen. There is still a long way to go.

their strategy that can help give you a put up there tomorrow? Is that

what it is going to come down to? There is no particular strategy to

give me an advantage, I just hope to gain as many positions at the start

as possible. Understandably flat there, will that

be in the back of his mind tomorrow? He has been around racing long

enough to know that he just needs to get out and make the most of it. In

many ways, it will play to his strengths, he is a natural born

racer, the car is quick, Nico is not graduate where the car sits in terms

of tyres over the weekend, so can he win? That is a big question, but

Lewis can move forward. incredible amount of work done in

the Mercedes garage from Friday. This is a team that are making big

steps in their development, and that is why they are burning so much

late-night oil, not more so than McLaren, who are really trying to

come back from a very difficult start. What Lewis said, they are

ahead of where he expected them to be when he signed for the team last

year. Fernando, it seemed lusty that the magic number on Saturday was

fifth and you can still fight amongst the top guys, so it must be

good to fight further up, a better chance tomorrow. Yeah, definitely,

normally we are weakest on Saturday, qualification, the pace is not

great, and then on Sunday we are together with the best ones. If we

start in front, as we saw in China, very happy with third, it is true

that tomorrow we need to think about the strategy carefully, because

tyres will be, again, the key point, but the signs of the long run pace,

this morning with the league as well, it shows that we'll will be

competitive tomorrow, and I don't see any other possibilities, so it

is looking good. He has given himself the best chance, he is

brilliant around this circuit. Looking good, isn't it? He is, the

start is crucial, Ferrari make great starts, very tricky first corner,

the cars almost stopped at the apex, and he knows that being in the top

three get out of that troubled area of the Middle grade, so is

confident, playing the long game. He wants to win them all, but it is

unlikely he will. Ferrari certainly look good on their usage of tyres,

and it will be interesting to see which one of the two conflicting

strategies between himself and Massa turns out to be quicker. That is

something his boss will be having a interesting race here. Especially

for you? Yes. We have a good race here. The race tomorrow will be

challenging, but to be in front, to try to keep our pace, I think that

the race is very open. Why have you split the strategy? It

is a matter of confidence for the drivers. Of course, we would like

to keep as many hard new tyres for Fernando, if you look at what he

did on Q1. It was an impressive lap. Two strategies for Ferrari. How

difficult do you think it will be. The tyres are close together?

It will come down to the track trfs tomorrow. It has been cloudy today.

We have had rain as well. Bu so a number of factors, that, honestly,

they don't even know they have to use both tyres at some point in the

Grand Prix. It gives both drivers to find out which is working best.

They got the opportunity to see over the first 10, 15 laps, but

then it is a different story to getting into the of the Grand Prix

which is the last 10 or so lapse. It is so different when you are

starting the race with a fuel load. It is a completely different car?

It is. It is like strapping a couple of

extra passengers in the car. It changes the balance, the whole way

you drive. Let's hear from Massa now.

You jumped forward to the second row of the grid alongside Fernando

Alonso. Girch strategies for tomorrow, it looks like? Yes, think

that knowing two cars could be in front. We did a gamble.

We shall see if we are in a good position. To look if the car is

losing position. If this work it is can be a very interesting thing for

the race. So the position I am starting on, the hard is not bad

for the tyres that I have. Confident that maybe tomorrow, it

can be a good race for my strategy. Well, Paul, congratulations. A

great qualifying. You are the top Brit on the grid tomorrow? Yep. I

didn't know that I think it was a great qualifying session for us. Q1

and Q2 were good. That set us to Q3 with more tyres that the grid, but

as the track gripped up, we did not take advantage of it. We were

thrown a dummy in the last set and then lost a bit of performance in

sector three, but where we are starting, we don't deserve to be

higher than that. It puts us in good stead tomorrow. The tyre

strategy will be key at the end of the Grand Prix to score points.

The hopes of the nation resting on your shoulder. Tell bus the tyre

strategy tomorrow. What is different about this Grand Prix in

your predictions than the last race? The strange thing is that the

compounds are working similar. There will be a difference. To ask

me which one to race now, I could not tell you. It is difficult to

choose. It will be who gets the tyre in the right working race, but

a more normal race than in previous years. The degradation is more

dominated by the rear, as we are used to, not in the front like in

China. That is the key. If you want to do a two-stop or a three thv

stop. It will be about making them last. You look like you are flying

and as a team as well. We finished sixth lass year. If we

finish where we start we can build on that. The car is strong. If the

performance was like it was in malaisa, I believe we can do that.

We wish you the best. Thanks Paul. It has been a difficult week.

It is a traction circuit. We will see what happens tomorrow.

We want to know what Dave told you to do to get from Q2 to Q3.

Sorry. On the radio, we heard you. You

were excited to get from Q2 to Q3? It has been a long weekend. We had

been off the pace. So, that was amazing.

Little achievements like that is good for the team.

It sounds like this could be their most difficult weekend so far?

remains to be seen what will happen. The tyres are more persistent than

previously. It is a sign of the sorry state that the McLaren are in.

That they are happy to be in tenth place.

Happy? He was cheering! He was obviously more subdued in the

interview, but you can score points from there.

If there are competitive cars behind he can also lose out, but

they have difficulties. They know that.

It is about damage limitation. He is looking to score points. We

spoke to Perez, he thought he could get points. 12th was not too bad

but getting out of that could be sticky? There are difficult times

ahead. It's a tough one.

I have to admit that Nico was too fast. Congratulations to him. He

had a very, very strong lap.Ish initially I thought I lost the pole

by a little bit. I think that the first run in Q3 was more or less

the same time. On my final run, then I was told on the radio that

the gap was big. So, yeah, it was not in reach.

So, all in all, I'm very happy. Very happy to start from the front

row. I think it is good to start with a leader, with the leaders.

Hopefully we will have a good start off the line and a good start to

the Grand Prix. Then we see what happens with the rest. We managed

to save tyres. Let's see what happens.

David, qualifying is one thing, what about the Red Bull pace

tomorrow? They have acknowledged, Mercedes too, how the car is under

the long run. They feel under pressure from Red Bull and Ferrari.

And with Sebastian Vettel on the front row, you must expect big

things? It will be interesting. Ferrari make great starts. Both

Ferrari and Rosberg are under pressure.

Now, Mark Webber. I felt good in P and P3. Overall, I

would have liked to have extracted more from the car.

It is easy to lose a little lap time. That is how it is for all.

There are a lot of treacherous corners. So, overall, I think it

would have been difficult to be on the front row. I left a little out

there. But overall we have a different tyre strategy. We have a

set of primes on most people. So we see how that will bode for the race.

Seventh with the penalties it is not too bad. It would have been

nice to be a row further up with a penalty, but it is a long Grand

Prix tomorrow. We have bumped into Rubens

Barrichello, it is a welcome return to the paddock. What are you doing

here? I am working for Brazilian TV Global. Working on the set up of

the cars. Talking about the grid. Being with them to talk about the

race, basically. Fun. My question to you, is when

you were watching the malaise yarb Grand Prix and heard Ross Brawn

saying "negative" did it bring back memories for you? It was just like

a movie! I saw that some time ago. It is something that it is so much

nicer for the public. They can see it. They can participate. Actually,

they can say that it is right or wrong. Ten years ago, it was only

the driver who knew some stuff that he either agreed or not. So it is

nice that the public is on it. Two quick questions, how many wins

do you think you lost out, that you could have win but given the team

orders. On the back of that, Fernando Alonso has been pushed

hard. You are a friend of his, have you been having a conversation with

him how to deal with the pressure in Ferrari? Well, the first answer

is a tough one. I could have said maybe ten. I could have said one.

But it, honestly it will not change our past.

It is what it is. I am happy that at least now things

have changed. That past there was strange.

At least this present is changed because of a reason at the back.

With Philippe, he is a bit more estranged. All of a sudden he

became competitive, but it is more like in here than on his hands or

his feet or on driving the car. He is feeling well. He is starting to

enjoy himself again. You know, it makes such a

difference. Whenever we are well settled, when we don't put limits

to ourselves, we just go and drive as fast as we can, we do a lot

better. Rubens can you enjoy what you are

seeing here now in 2012? As an ex- driver? Are you feeling Formula One

still? It would not be fair to tell you that I didn't feel, it was

mixed feelings when I saw the cars going around. Especially yesterday

when I went to the racing track. Watching the cars go by. There are

great racing drivers. There are cars that could have

better race car drivers there. So, sometimes you feel, like I could

jump into that one, but having said that, I am having a wonderful life

in the ways that I am back to Formula One. I turned a page. You

never know. Maybe I could be in a team in the future. You never know.

It is wonderful to talk to you. We will talk to you as the season

unfolds. Good luck with the stock car racing.

Well, Gary is joining us now. Have you done the number crunching? What

do you think about the strategy tomorrow? Really, the strategy is

everything. It will happen tomorrow. From the numbers I have put

together, a two-stop race is the fastest. Starting with the option

tyre going to sets of primes. A three-stop race is five seconds

slower. So you can go into the race pushing harder. You don't have to

worry, you can convert to a three- stop.

Massa starting on the hard, Fernando Alonso on the medium, what

do you think? Well it is good. Ferrari will have a chance to see

how well the hard tyre is lasting. They have a good situation there.

Not long to wait and see. Join us for the highlights tomorrow on BBC

One and BBC One HD at 5pm. So, Mercedes take back-to-back pole