The Chinese Grand Prix

:01:53. > :02:03.since last November. It is topped life, isn't it? I cannot wait to his

:02:03. > :02:09.age. I got the free bus pass, I am okay. We spoke yesterday about team

:02:09. > :02:18.orders because in Malaysia there was also the demise of the relationship

:02:18. > :02:25.between Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel. Are you happy you have one?

:02:25. > :02:30.Know, if I did a mistake I would do it, but I can't. Had I understood

:02:30. > :02:37.the message, I would have thought about it, I probably would have done

:02:37. > :02:40.the same thing because Mark doesn't deserve it. There is quite a bit of

:02:40. > :02:48.history between our drivers. You need to have strong people in the

:02:48. > :02:58.team to give everyone a chance of getting maximum results. Helmet,

:02:58. > :03:11.

:03:11. > :03:19.yes. Next question. Multimap 21. He was told. Multimap 21. The bottom

:03:19. > :03:26.line is that I was racing, I passed him, I won. Sebastian Vettel has run

:03:26. > :03:32.into the back of Mark Webber. Mark Webber crying his eyes out. Mark

:03:32. > :03:42.Webber going out, what was going on there? You get to know people

:03:42. > :03:45.

:03:45. > :03:55.better, clearly they haven't enjoyed a rosy time together. It is always

:03:55. > :03:56.

:03:56. > :04:06.best to be truthful. Sebastian Vettel has run into the back of Mark

:04:06. > :04:19.

:04:19. > :04:25.Webber! What was going on there? What racing this is! Sebastian has

:04:25. > :04:30.gone past, and Sebastian Vettel takes victory. The bottom line is I

:04:30. > :04:37.was racing, I was faster, I want. Red Bull, aren't they are teaming

:04:37. > :04:42.crisis? They are leading both championships so I wouldn't call

:04:42. > :04:46.this a crisis but it is a drama and it needs strong management to keep

:04:47. > :04:54.this team together because you never know how it can escalate or change

:04:54. > :05:01.in your favour. It doesn't matter but it needs strong management.

:05:01. > :05:11.is managing this situation? Christian Horner has clearly been

:05:11. > :05:13.

:05:13. > :05:23.undermined by Sebastian. Sebastian listens to Doctor Marco, and I would

:05:23. > :05:29.

:05:29. > :05:34.urge Dietrich Mateschitz to come and sort this out. What exactly does

:05:34. > :05:38.Multimap 21 mean? Every team has their own instructions. You could

:05:38. > :05:42.simply have one driver's name in front of the other and it would show

:05:42. > :05:51.who has the priority in the race, but it is quite simply car number

:05:51. > :05:59.one, and car number two. I know this is such a hot topic amongst racing

:05:59. > :06:05.fans at home, and team orders are allowed. The teams can pick

:06:05. > :06:15.ultimately all the way through the process, they can give the teams

:06:15. > :06:15.

:06:16. > :06:20.tire choice, pit stop strategy. Multimap 21, this is the code

:06:20. > :06:28.Sebastian Vettel said he didn't understand. This is last year, the

:06:28. > :06:38.team radio with his engineer. Listen to what Sebastian says. Multimap

:06:38. > :06:43.

:06:43. > :06:52.21, Multimap 21. Don't worry, the patient. We are working on this.

:06:52. > :06:58.David, I think that says it all. Moving forward, will this debacle

:06:58. > :07:03.affect their title championships? don't think so, this team has won

:07:03. > :07:07.six championships. The money comes from the constructed championships,

:07:07. > :07:16.the visible glory comes from the drivers championship. Going back in

:07:16. > :07:24.the history of the sport, McLaren's drivers famously wouldn't even

:07:24. > :07:28.debrief in the same engineering office during their success. The

:07:28. > :07:33.manager couldn't manage the situation because of the

:07:33. > :07:38.personalities of the drivers. It is a volatile situation. It is a great

:07:38. > :07:46.problem for any team to have two drivers capable of winning. The

:07:46. > :07:50.worst scenario is a number two who does not deliver wins. If we believe

:07:50. > :07:57.cream rises to the top and it would be a natural pecking order, in any

:07:57. > :08:02.given area some drivers turn out to be dominant. When you get to this

:08:02. > :08:08.situation which is so broken, and we have seen this over the years,

:08:08. > :08:13.normally something gives. What do you think will give here? It is hard

:08:13. > :08:18.to understand because it revolves around what was said. We are being

:08:18. > :08:21.asked by Sebastian to believe him, that is what he said in the press

:08:21. > :08:31.conference. He says he didn't understand it, that is hard to

:08:31. > :08:33.

:08:33. > :08:40.believe when he in his own words said it twice. He comes here six

:08:40. > :08:45.months after saying it and says he doesn't understand it. Some people

:08:45. > :08:50.will say it sounds like Michael Schumacher all over again. Leave

:08:50. > :08:57.Michael Schumacher alone, he is a great champion. Sebastian Vettel has

:08:57. > :09:00.done nothing to enhance his reputation over the last few weeks.

:09:00. > :09:10.Sometimes the pantomime villains end up the heroes will stop let's get

:09:10. > :09:33.

:09:33. > :09:40.we will be in Bahrain. The British grand prix at Silverstone is at the

:09:40. > :09:46.end of June, and Brazil will host the final showdown in November.

:09:46. > :09:52.Sebastian Vettel may not be a leading light in PR right now, but

:09:52. > :10:01.he is leading the standings. Kimi Raikkonen is dividing the two Red

:10:01. > :10:10.Bull team members. In the constructors championship, Red Bull

:10:10. > :10:16.have a 26 point advantage over Lotus. Of course, every single point

:10:16. > :10:21.counts so let's have a look at how they qualified. Mark Webber had been

:10:21. > :10:31.looking strong throughout the weekend, but in Q2 he ran out of

:10:31. > :10:37.

:10:37. > :10:41.luck and fuel, and with not enough to provide a sample to the F FIA, he

:10:41. > :10:46.had to start last. Sebastian Vettel was first out, but didn't set a time

:10:46. > :10:51.and came straight into the pits. When he went out in anger, a problem

:10:51. > :10:57.with his brakes meant he had to settle for ninth place. Jenson

:10:57. > :11:04.Button took to medium tyres, forced into a different strategy. After

:11:04. > :11:14.four races being outqualified by Felipe Massa, Fernando Alonso

:11:14. > :11:15.

:11:15. > :11:21.claimed third. It was Lewis Hamilton who was fine and his lap was good

:11:21. > :11:26.enough to give him his first Mercedes pole position by almost

:11:26. > :11:31.three tenths of a second. It is an incredible feeling, very happy. When

:11:31. > :11:41.I came across the line, that is when I found out I had pole position. It

:11:41. > :11:41.

:11:41. > :11:44.is just a great feeling. Lewis Hamilton is the first Brit to get

:11:44. > :11:54.pole position for Mercedes since Sir Stirling Moss. Kimi Raikkonen

:11:54. > :11:59.

:11:59. > :12:01.behind, with Fernando Alonso and Niko Mossberg, Felipe Massa. Nico

:12:01. > :12:11.Hulkenberg Is still in 10th place and can choose which tyres he starts

:12:11. > :12:21.on. Mark Webber was 14th, but dropped back so everyone else moves

:12:21. > :12:29.

:12:29. > :12:37.forward. Mark Webber will start from the pit lane. There it is, Lewis's

:12:37. > :12:43.car, and a great story is evolving, isn't it, David? It is fantastic,

:12:43. > :12:47.their form petered out and it was the most dominant victory of the

:12:48. > :12:52.2012 season, so a great moment for them for Lewis to be the first Brit

:12:52. > :12:56.since Stirling Moss to be in pole position but we need to see how they

:12:56. > :13:01.maintain this development over the course of the year. Lewis is a

:13:01. > :13:09.natural born winner and in a position where he can control the

:13:09. > :13:13.race from the early laps. strategy they took in qualifying was

:13:13. > :13:18.quite interesting, wasn't it? had to, they have the fastest car.

:13:18. > :13:24.Kimi Raikkonen was the surprise, a bolt out of the blue. What Lewis has

:13:24. > :13:29.done for this team is something spectacular because he has released

:13:29. > :13:34.himself and the team into a new zone and they feel so comfortable. It is

:13:34. > :13:39.a marriage, and engagement, just cruising through life. He has

:13:39. > :13:46.brought a new element to this team and I think he did the right thing.

:13:46. > :13:51.Any doubters when he left McLaren, take a look at him today. He said he

:13:51. > :13:56.wanted to grow as a person and you can see he is more visibly relaxed.

:13:56. > :14:06.Do you think he has brought a ray of sunshine into this team? It reminds

:14:06. > :14:06.

:14:06. > :14:12.me of Lewis from before the expectation that was put on him. He

:14:12. > :14:17.is a natural born winner, but also a nice guy. He has time to talk to the

:14:17. > :14:26.fans and hang out with the media in a way he didn't have when he was

:14:26. > :14:32.with McLaren. And he doesn't wear the baseball cap any more. We have

:14:32. > :14:39.been joined by Russ, congratulations on an excellent pole position for

:14:39. > :14:46.Lewis. We spoke to Nicky louder and he said there would be no more team

:14:46. > :14:56.orders at Mercedes. What is your reaction to that? I am on the pit

:14:56. > :14:57.

:14:57. > :15:07.wall. It was a stunning lap. I'm just wondering how you are going to

:15:07. > :15:11.

:15:11. > :15:17.We will start on a soft tyre. Will you use the soft and wait till the

:15:17. > :15:21.end, do you think? I think the soft will be a very short-life tyre at

:15:21. > :15:25.beginning. The start of a race everyone spreads out initially. As

:15:25. > :15:30.soon as the guys on the soft see the guys on the medium start to

:15:30. > :15:36.close up, that's the time to change. You're looking for holes in the

:15:37. > :15:40.traffic to get back out into and use the tyre you're then on. Then I

:15:40. > :15:44.think for the others, who started on the medium, they have to use the

:15:44. > :15:50.soft at some stage. It's a question whether they risk it till the end

:15:50. > :15:54.and hope they don't do many laps on it or whether they pop it in the

:15:54. > :16:01.middle of the race. I think it's a three-stop race, but some cars will

:16:01. > :16:05.try to do two. I talked before that Lewis seems to have lifted this

:16:05. > :16:08.team to a new level, both for himself and yourself in terms of

:16:08. > :16:12.freedom, excitement and happy. Is that what it all means? It's

:16:13. > :16:18.difficult for me to judge luep wis before because I didn't work with

:16:18. > :16:21.him -- Lewis before because I didn't work with him. I have found

:16:21. > :16:25.him straightforward - enthusiastic and committed and good fun to work

:16:25. > :16:29.with. Certainly he's fitted into the team very well. Lewis has

:16:29. > :16:33.settled into the different systems that are here at McLaren, Mercedes

:16:33. > :16:37.excuse me, we saw at the last race at McLaren he had the issue with

:16:37. > :16:42.the pit box. Have you change aid procedure in the radio just to

:16:42. > :16:45.remember which team you drive for? A little bit. We have our

:16:45. > :16:49.procedures that have been established for quite a long time,

:16:49. > :16:53.but where perhaps either Lewis has suggested something better or it

:16:53. > :16:56.suits him more, we're prepared to consider that. We have changed some

:16:56. > :17:03.things that fit in better with him. I think he was looking forward to a

:17:03. > :17:06.new environment as well. He was looking forward to relishing that

:17:06. > :17:10.change. He's feeling comfortable with you and you're feeling

:17:10. > :17:14.comfortable with him? Yes, it's very early. This is the third race.

:17:14. > :17:19.Lots of things can happen, but yeah, it seems to be working quite well.

:17:19. > :17:23.We wish you luck for the race. Thank you. Let's wonder down to Red

:17:23. > :17:27.Bull and see if we can speak to Christian Horner about what's

:17:27. > :17:33.happening with their strategy. It's interesting really over the winter

:17:33. > :17:40.with Mercedes, there were lots of changes going on with people coming

:17:40. > :17:45.out and in. What due make of all that? --What did you make of all

:17:45. > :17:50.that snfrpbgts David and I believe firmly that In your DNA as a racing

:17:50. > :17:58.person it should come from the very beginning. The really top people in

:17:58. > :18:01.our sport have been there for such a long time. Ross Brawn and Nicky

:18:01. > :18:05.Lauder, you count back the number of times they have won as a driver,

:18:06. > :18:09.engineer or designer. That can't be disregarded. There's a wealth of

:18:09. > :18:14.knowledge and talent. Then they bring in another world champion in

:18:14. > :18:17.Hamilton. You have the makings of a potential World Championship

:18:17. > :18:21.challenge here. It's looking good. Let me ask you about tyres, do you

:18:21. > :18:26.feel, as a driver, that they are dictating too much of the action on

:18:26. > :18:30.track, or are you quite happy that in this situation we are in at the

:18:30. > :18:35.moment? Welcome to walking with Eddie. He's the slowest walking man

:18:35. > :18:39.ever. We're trying to get down to Red Bull here. The Grand Prix won't

:18:39. > :18:43.wait for us. I think tyres have always been a part of Formula One,

:18:43. > :18:46.unquestionably. It's the only thing that touching the road. There's no

:18:46. > :18:49.question that when you have a big spread between the two tyres that

:18:49. > :18:53.are available, if we only had one compound, we wouldn't be talking

:18:53. > :18:56.about it because they would all be in the same boat. What you have are

:18:56. > :19:02.tyres that are very temperature sensitive and of course, it's

:19:02. > :19:06.giving us a situation where one of the tyres will go faster and they

:19:06. > :19:10.don't want to run in the race. They want to use it in qualifying and

:19:10. > :19:16.get it off. Pirelli have responsibility to play a part in

:19:16. > :19:20.good racing. I want to pick that up with you again. More importantly at

:19:20. > :19:24.the moment. Let's speak to Christian Horner. Good morning.

:19:24. > :19:28.how are you? How are you doing? Good. We want to pick up on what

:19:28. > :19:33.happened yesterday with Mark, running out of fuel in a situation,

:19:33. > :19:36.how does that happen? It's a frustrating situation, basically

:19:36. > :19:44.we've had a problem with a bowser that hasn't delivered three kilos

:19:44. > :19:51.from the bowser into the car. It was supposed to have gone through.

:19:51. > :19:55.Unfortunately it didn't. That's the result, having to stop the car.

:19:55. > :19:59.I've just said here on our show that the team now is crying out for

:19:59. > :20:03.strong management, which is you. You can do that, can't you? I think

:20:03. > :20:08.I've demonstrated over the last eight years I've been here that...

:20:08. > :20:11.In this particular case because there is aggravation. Everybody

:20:11. > :20:15.knows there's aggravation with the drivers. A strong hand from you.

:20:15. > :20:19.The drivers know what the situation is. David knows how I manage a team,

:20:19. > :20:22.how I manage drivers. I've got the best out of them for the four years

:20:22. > :20:26.they've been together. I will continue to get the best out of

:20:26. > :20:31.them. They're both highly charged, very competitive animals. Managing

:20:31. > :20:34.two guys like that is a problem other woz dream to have. They know

:20:34. > :20:40.what the objective is. They know what the situation is. I expect the

:20:40. > :20:45.very best from them today. Getting back into this race, you have an

:20:45. > :20:48.unusual situation, Seb in ninth, Mark in the pit lane, you've made a

:20:48. > :20:53.gearbox change, optimising the car. What does your strategy tell you

:20:53. > :20:57.when you run the numbers? What is achievable? With Sebastian starting

:20:57. > :21:02.on the hard tyre, he's running his race in reverse to the cars ahead

:21:02. > :21:06.of him. It will only pan out in the last few laps. He needs to keep,

:21:06. > :21:10.have a clean first couple of laps and settle into his own race. He

:21:10. > :21:15.could be on the podium here with the strategy we have. With Mark,

:21:15. > :21:19.also, with the way that the tyres open up this race, he can make very

:21:20. > :21:26.good headway through the traffic very quickly. He could still

:21:26. > :21:29.hopefully bag a good handful of points today. Certainly, for Mark

:21:29. > :21:32.as well, everything isn't lost. Thank you very much for talking to

:21:32. > :21:36.us. We wish you the best for both of your drivers in this race.

:21:36. > :21:43.Cheers Christian. In Malaysia with all the debacle,

:21:43. > :21:48.it got lost that Red Bull put in the fastest pit stop ever. An

:21:48. > :21:52.incredible, 2.05 seconds. It was a master class, textbook. Not like

:21:52. > :21:57.that for all of the teams though. Jenson felt he got a shot of the

:21:57. > :22:01.podium if this hadn't happened, look at the front right wheel, not

:22:01. > :22:05.on properly. Race ruined and an impromptu workout for the McLaren

:22:05. > :22:10.boys running down the pit lane. Force India had the weekend ruined

:22:10. > :22:14.when their wheel nut system failed for both of their drivers. You'll

:22:14. > :22:22.remember this, if you were watching, Lewis Hamilton briefly just forgot

:22:22. > :22:28.who he was driving for and went into the wrong pit. Tenths of

:22:28. > :22:33.seconds cost millions of pounds on the track. And races can be Ron or

:22:34. > :22:42.lost in a pit stop. How do you make a perfect pit stop? Cue the

:22:42. > :22:48.Williams boys. I'm Valtteri Bottas. I'm Pastor

:22:48. > :22:53.Maldonado, a Formula One driver Dickie Stanford team manager.

:22:53. > :23:01.Johnson rear Jack. Chief race engineer. Steve Lawrence, right

:23:01. > :23:05.rear wheel on. Neil, right rear wheel off. Front Jack man Williams

:23:05. > :23:09.F1 team. Every stop is important. It's one of the most important

:23:09. > :23:13.moment during the race. The only thing we can do to help the

:23:13. > :23:18.stkriefr during the race. You can win or you can lose.

:23:18. > :23:24.The grid is now really tight. Every 100th you can gain in a pit stop.

:23:24. > :23:28.It's a big help. You know in the back of your mind what can go wrong.

:23:28. > :23:33.You'll never win the race solely from the pit stops, but if you were

:23:33. > :23:37.to have a problem you could cost a win. Everything needs to be just no

:23:37. > :23:44.mistakes. If you send the car out without the wheel done up and it's

:23:44. > :23:54.on the side of the track, the weekend is finished. Box now.

:23:54. > :23:54.

:23:55. > :23:59.that boss. One lap before the pit stop, when the engineers will say

:24:00. > :24:02.right we're coming in the next lap, you start getting very excited. You

:24:02. > :24:12.know you're watching 20 people and the whole of the world's watching

:24:12. > :24:14.

:24:14. > :24:17.you. You try different roles, whatever role you seem to scem --

:24:17. > :24:25.excel at, that's the role you will be given. Everyone gets in position

:24:25. > :24:31.and we wait for the car. adrenaline does pump a little bit.

:24:31. > :24:35.First gear, 15,000, easing into box. If you want to do it quickly, it's

:24:35. > :24:41.easy to make a mistake, to brake too late and there's a big time

:24:41. > :24:48.loss in that. In the moment when you stop the car, you must be very

:24:48. > :24:50.precise. If they stop too far forward or backwards or to the side,

:24:50. > :24:56.that can put everybody off. checking he's not going to hit you

:24:56. > :25:01.on the way which, in -- in which can happen. After you stop this,

:25:01. > :25:07.there's nothing else you can really do. Within three seconds, 20 people

:25:07. > :25:11.literally descend on the car. happens so fast. I remember my

:25:11. > :25:16.first few pit stops I couldn't remember doing them a few hours

:25:16. > :25:20.later. My job is to get the socket onto the wheel nut ideally before

:25:20. > :25:25.the car stops moving. Jack as quick as you can to get the car into the

:25:25. > :25:29.air. It's my job to get the wheel on square and in one hit. The guys

:25:29. > :25:34.feel it very competitive. Each corner of the car is racing the

:25:34. > :25:38.other corners. Unofficially I suppose there is a rivalry. You

:25:38. > :25:42.don't want to be the last person to finish. In a good stop we all

:25:42. > :25:46.finish at the same time. Don't do anything silly, keep calm

:25:46. > :25:51.and as soon as the wheels are on, hands above the tyres, let the car

:25:51. > :25:55.down, give the thumbs up to the chief mechanic. You have to watch

:25:55. > :25:58.this and look down the pit lane to make sure you're not going to

:25:58. > :26:08.release in front of another car. a driver you must stay focused on

:26:08. > :26:09.

:26:09. > :26:15.the lollipop. When it lifts up, you go. There's a good feeling when it

:26:15. > :26:20.all happens, all at once and it all works. You walk back into the

:26:20. > :26:25.garage and you're adrenaline is going, your hack lds are up. You've

:26:25. > :26:28.done a good job. If everybody does it how it shuzed be, we don't have

:26:28. > :26:33.any problems. Every time you can do more. Every time you can learn.

:26:33. > :26:38.Every time you can do it quicker and quicker. I enjoyed it, but I

:26:38. > :26:48.hated it. It's really exciting, but there's so much going on within

:26:48. > :26:57.

:26:57. > :27:07.REPORTER: Is it the most stressful part of the job? No, I think

:27:07. > :27:10.interviewing is. Weem' have -- we'll have more on

:27:10. > :27:16.pit stops in a moment. We're hearing there is a drama at Force

:27:16. > :27:21.India. Lee, what's going on? I think it was a drama. It's eased.

:27:21. > :27:24.They had a fuel leak on Paul di Resta's car. A few minutes ago Paul

:27:24. > :27:29.was leaning on the car speaking to the guys who were trying to clean

:27:29. > :27:32.up the mess at moment. He's zipping up his race suit. They don't expect

:27:32. > :27:35.any problems now getting the car to the grid. A couple of minutes ago

:27:35. > :27:41.they weren't sure how problematic the leak was. It's something to

:27:41. > :27:44.keep our eyes on through the race. It's starting to calm down here.

:27:44. > :27:49.Thanks for that. Tense times, tense moments before the race starts.

:27:49. > :27:53.Like it is for the engineers on a pit stop. You request feel the --

:27:53. > :27:56.you can feel the energy at this time. I'm sure it's the same as a

:27:56. > :28:00.driver. It's fantastic as everyone. This is what you live for, the

:28:00. > :28:04.moment of racing. The adrenaline is pumping for the mechanics. Even a

:28:04. > :28:08.problem, they'll know if they can identify the problem, they can know

:28:08. > :28:12.if they can fix that in 20 minutes or whatever the time schedule is.

:28:12. > :28:17.Formula One is the ultimate Risk Management. They don't react to

:28:17. > :28:20.things as a surprise. You have a pre-plan of what do you do if you

:28:20. > :28:25.have a brake failure before the race? What do you do with a fuel

:28:25. > :28:29.leak, all of those things. As a team boss, you cannot believe that

:28:29. > :28:33.none of those mechanics would have spoke ton each other. It would have

:28:33. > :28:37.been instild in a drill system, when they change an engine, do it

:28:37. > :28:41.in 25 minutes, this would be bread and butter to them. It's ironic if

:28:41. > :28:46.you were in there and feel the tension, but none of the mechanics

:28:46. > :28:50.talk to each other. Because they know scabgtd lit job they have to

:28:50. > :28:53.do. Just watching that pit stop piece there, these guys they're

:28:53. > :28:57.encouraged to go and train, go to the gym and be strong. Because let

:28:57. > :29:01.me show you this. This is a wheelgun down here. Honestly, I

:29:01. > :29:05.think I'm reasonably strong, but that is so heavy. And I'm not

:29:05. > :29:09.allowed to fire it up apparently. I must have a bad reputation. You

:29:09. > :29:12.need strong wrists to operate that. You have indeed. It's not a

:29:12. > :29:16.question of them being encouraged to train, they are put through

:29:16. > :29:19.training programmes as a team. Team building is important at that time.

:29:19. > :29:22.Eddie is right saying that they don't need to talk when you're

:29:22. > :29:25.doing the job properly. Of course at a pit stop in under three

:29:25. > :29:29.seconds they have no time to talk. What's interesting, looking at the

:29:29. > :29:33.pit stops, if you look at the pit box here, there's no rubber been

:29:33. > :29:37.laid. Compare that to Force India just behind them or further down to

:29:37. > :29:41.Toro Rosso, who everybody typically does burnouts. I would be curious

:29:41. > :29:46.to know why they have a strategy of not laying rubber. Oh, yeah, you

:29:46. > :29:50.can see the rubber laid down there. That's a benefit. Because the pit

:29:50. > :29:53.lane, where they dot stop is always cement. The race track is Tarmac.

:29:53. > :29:56.That's got something to do with if you spill oil and petrol and things

:29:56. > :30:00.like that. It's a different grip level to what you have on the

:30:00. > :30:09.Tarmac. As a driver, you have to be very, very exact where you position

:30:09. > :30:14.the car. Indeed. You have to be millimetre perfect ideally. A sent

:30:14. > :30:19.yirplt -- centimetre will do. was just as important in your day.

:30:19. > :30:26.I think one thing we mustn't forget about the pit stop, it's hugely

:30:26. > :30:30.adrenaline run. It's absolutely manic. You get it right and it

:30:30. > :30:34.absolutely a huge sense of success in the team and that goes into the

:30:34. > :30:39.driver, it flows into the team. Don't under estimate the value of a

:30:39. > :30:49.good spit stop. The pit lane is open as you can hear behind us. How

:30:49. > :30:58.

:30:58. > :31:08.Lewis gets pole position, and he goes out to interview him on the

:31:08. > :31:12.

:31:12. > :31:19.track. Good to see you, we will just get

:31:19. > :31:24.straight into it, if we may. Pole position, first time for Mercedes.

:31:24. > :31:30.It feels incredible. It is always a special feeling, but moving to a new

:31:30. > :31:40.team, I definitely didn't expect to have it this early in the season.

:31:40. > :31:48.Mind your head, we don't want to damage valuable merchandise. What is

:31:48. > :31:53.impressive, watching from here, you had the DIRS open. It is such a long

:31:53. > :31:57.corner it is important to have just the right balance. You are running

:31:57. > :32:04.the throttle and the brakes at the same time, just trying to be right

:32:04. > :32:10.on the knife edge through here. It is until you get to the apex, the

:32:10. > :32:20.car is loaded the whole time. This is one of my favourite corners.

:32:20. > :32:23.

:32:23. > :32:31.on, I'm going to have a go. I don't have a manual car. We heard from

:32:31. > :32:37.Ross Brawn saying he is delighted you got pole position, it it

:32:37. > :32:41.normally takes a few races to get settled. Naturally I can get in the

:32:41. > :32:51.car and drive the car, but there are so many things the team does

:32:51. > :33:01.

:33:01. > :33:05.differently. Maybe that is our childhood. Down here, turned 11.

:33:05. > :33:11.Sometimes you try to stay left, but it is better to be in the middle of

:33:11. > :33:18.the track. You have got to have a good, responsive car. This is one of

:33:18. > :33:24.the talking points of the weekend. One of these hit me on my hand, turn

:33:24. > :33:29.on number 13. It hurt so much, it nearly broke one of my fingers. Must

:33:29. > :33:34.have been from one of the Ferraris. This has got to be one of the

:33:34. > :33:43.longest corners in Formula one, hasn't it? This is why we are seeing

:33:43. > :33:50.the damage to the tyres. Yes, you are building up, you can feel it.

:33:50. > :33:56.You feel it in the neck? No, I think in your day is the downforce was

:33:56. > :34:05.higher, it was more hard-core. You used to have a huge neck, it has

:34:05. > :34:14.gone down. You have got all of that to look forward to. Can I drive?

:34:14. > :34:21.Professional driver. This is the point to mark. Get some speed here.

:34:21. > :34:27.We are doing just over 100 kilometres per hour. You pulled an

:34:27. > :34:37.amazing six G on the break-in here. I would hold on if I was you, 100

:34:37. > :34:38.

:34:38. > :34:48.metres. Everyone okay? That would be probably less than one G. This

:34:48. > :34:56.

:34:56. > :35:00.pitlane entry sucks. I remember sitting in that. At the time we had

:35:01. > :35:06.traction control, I made it through and the traction control killed the

:35:06. > :35:12.power and wouldn't allow that to move. In hindsight, I think I wish I

:35:12. > :35:16.had switched off traction control because I would have made it out.

:35:16. > :35:25.This gravel may have cost you the championship, but you still have one

:35:25. > :35:30.more, and if nothing else you still have your good looks.

:35:30. > :35:36.He has got more than his looks to think about today. As the cars go

:35:36. > :35:42.out onto the track, this is Paul di Resta and we were hearing about his

:35:42. > :35:48.worms earlier. We talked yesterday to Martin Whitmarsh and he didn't

:35:48. > :35:54.feel as if they had made any great strides. They were waiting for some

:35:54. > :35:59.upgrades before they get to Barcelona, Eddie? If ever there was

:36:00. > :36:05.a team on top of their game, bringing on new developments, this

:36:05. > :36:10.is the team. McLaren are the past masters at that. I am a bit

:36:10. > :36:15.disappointed. He said he brought out some new parts, but Jenson Button

:36:15. > :36:18.couldn't feel any advantage whatsoever. Let's talk about Kimi

:36:18. > :36:26.Raikkonen because he was the surprise yesterday in qualifying,

:36:26. > :36:33.putting it on the front row. Wasn't it fantastic? There is a huge amount

:36:33. > :36:37.of union Jacks here, but equally as many Finnish flags. He has a huge

:36:37. > :36:41.fan club, I don't know why, but he doors and nobody expected him to be

:36:41. > :36:47.on the front row of the grade. I thought it would be a fight between

:36:47. > :36:54.the Ferraris and the Mercedes, possibly Red Bull. Kimi Raikkonen,

:36:54. > :37:04.bang, straight there, and that is why he was a world champion. I think

:37:04. > :37:04.

:37:04. > :37:10.he is liked because whether you think he is rude, he puts a smile on

:37:10. > :37:14.people's faces. I would like to think that we will see a much

:37:14. > :37:24.stronger Felipe Massa in this race and I think we will see a much

:37:24. > :37:24.

:37:24. > :37:31.stronger Kimi Raikkonen. He could easily win this race. This circuit

:37:31. > :37:36.suits him perfectly and that Lotus looks made for here. This track

:37:36. > :37:42.offers good reliability to the cars, most of them make it back and over

:37:42. > :37:47.the years we have seen some terrific races. Same again today? You never

:37:47. > :37:52.know what can happen in the run-up to the first corner. Let's keep our

:37:52. > :37:59.fingers crossed for a good clean race. I would like to see all of the

:37:59. > :38:06.cars coming round the first lap because I want to see how Jenson

:38:06. > :38:12.Button and Sebastian Vettel will go. I am very excited about this race.

:38:12. > :38:16.It is interesting and unpredictable because we have spoken to a lot of

:38:16. > :38:22.engineers and nobody seems to be able to call it. The journalists

:38:22. > :38:26.keep going back to this Felipe Massa, Kimi Raikkonen situation.

:38:26. > :38:32.They are not stupid so maybe they have some knowledge that we don't

:38:33. > :38:38.have so that is where I am going. David is on the grid with Jenson

:38:38. > :38:47.Button. You seem to have a knack for picking

:38:47. > :38:53.the right tyres. We are not quite quick enough to fight it out at the

:38:53. > :39:00.front so you can try different things, and our aim yesterday was to

:39:00. > :39:03.try to be the first guy on the front tyres for the race. We will see how

:39:03. > :39:09.it goes. We don't know if the strategy will work, it depends on

:39:10. > :39:16.what other people do and how quickly the tyres degrade. At what point in

:39:16. > :39:26.the grand prix will we start to see how it is playing out in terms of

:39:26. > :39:33.who will be on the podium? I think you will probably know by lap 25,

:39:33. > :39:40.26. You are looking relaxed. Have a great race. I want to have a word

:39:40. > :39:47.with the man who is talk of the grand prix, it is all about the

:39:47. > :39:53.tyres, but Paul is a man who has two field the praise when the tyres do a

:39:53. > :39:59.good job, and the criticism when people are saying they are not fit

:39:59. > :40:07.for purpose, throwing off too many bits and what have you. Let's see if

:40:07. > :40:12.we can get a word with him. Paul, can I jump in? You are the man who

:40:12. > :40:20.gets the praise when the tyres go well, and the criticism, and there

:40:20. > :40:24.is a lot of that right now so quickly address that. I have had

:40:24. > :40:29.people come to me and complimented me this weekend for what we have

:40:29. > :40:36.done because nobody knows who will win, and that is what we have been

:40:36. > :40:40.asked to deliver. Who will win today? Who knows? The first stint

:40:40. > :40:45.for Lewis in particular is critical because he needs to get at least

:40:45. > :40:51.five laps before he hits. Then we will see what happens at the end of

:40:51. > :41:01.the race when he puts the soft tyres on. Armed with the information you

:41:01. > :41:04.

:41:04. > :41:10.have on tyres, would you be preferring to be on them? Fernando

:41:10. > :41:17.is very good at the start, he has shown he can drop a few places. I

:41:17. > :41:27.think Lewis is in a good position. Congratulations on winning the grand

:41:27. > :41:27.

:41:27. > :41:33.prix, guaranteed to win every time! I am looking for Daniel Ritchie are

:41:33. > :41:43.Dale. If you look at the slot gap on the front wing, bits of rubber or

:41:43. > :41:51.

:41:51. > :41:55.get stuck in their. -- Daniel Ricciardo. While you were talking to

:41:55. > :42:02.your engineer, I thought I would clean your car will stop are you in

:42:02. > :42:07.a good position with tyres going forward? I guess we will see at the

:42:07. > :42:13.end of the race. A few guys have saved the tyres but we had to go for

:42:13. > :42:22.it. It's not often we get in the Q3, and seventh place is definitely

:42:22. > :42:28.better than 10th place for us. The closer to the front, the better.

:42:28. > :42:33.Good luck. Sebastian Vettel in the news, and clearly out of position

:42:33. > :42:43.under normal conditions. He went with his strategy here. We will just

:42:43. > :42:45.

:42:45. > :42:50.move ourselves round. Look at the size of those shoulders, he does

:42:50. > :42:58.boxing in his spare time. Sebastian looking pretty relaxed. Can he

:42:58. > :43:06.expect the guys in front of him to peel in after five laps maybe? Then

:43:06. > :43:11.presumably he will be able to get some clean air and open the gap.

:43:11. > :43:16.Sebastian, whilst you cool yourself off, a quick word. Out of position

:43:16. > :43:22.on the grid, but with the right tyres so how is your mindset is

:43:22. > :43:27.different in comparison to your normal front row position? It is a

:43:27. > :43:32.different approach, whether it works we will see. I had reason to believe

:43:32. > :43:39.in the strategy yesterday and I am confident to start on the right

:43:39. > :43:44.tyres today. When will we expect to see the soft tyres being used?

:43:44. > :43:50.will see. I don't think the soft tyres makes it very far, everything

:43:50. > :43:57.else will be a surprise. Anything else the general public should

:43:57. > :44:04.know? Fears and concerns over a normal grand prix? It is pretty hard

:44:04. > :44:10.on tyres, and unusual, it is mostly the front tyres that start to give

:44:10. > :44:16.up so hopefully we will keep that under control. We will wander

:44:16. > :44:20.further down the grid, and I believe we will be able to find Nico

:44:20. > :44:24.Rosberg. He was super confident going into this weekend. The

:44:24. > :44:29.simulation work told him he would win this grand prix, they certainly

:44:29. > :44:35.managed to get one of their men on pole position. Nico Rosberg will be

:44:35. > :44:39.a threat during the race, he will know the strategy of the man in pole

:44:39. > :44:47.position, that is one of the benefits of being a teammate of

:44:47. > :44:51.course. You just need to try to work that to your advantage. He has been

:44:51. > :45:00.growing in confidence, and certainly showed Michael Schumacher how fast

:45:00. > :45:08.he is. It seems to be a day of following RTL. Can we take a walk

:45:08. > :45:11.with you? He is going to freshen up. Ahead of the grand prix, slightly

:45:11. > :45:17.out of position possibly over what you personally would have expected,

:45:17. > :45:26.but what can you do from fourth place on the grid? Fourth-place is

:45:26. > :45:33.okay. I think maybe we even have the quickest car, so the difficulty is

:45:33. > :45:37.the option of tyres in the beginning. That will be a big

:45:37. > :45:44.challenge for everybody, but from then it should be a normal race on

:45:44. > :45:54.the harder tyres. I'm confident I can move forward. Everyone will be

:45:54. > :45:54.

:45:54. > :46:04.in on those options before lap number five? It depends on the

:46:04. > :46:12.

:46:12. > :46:18.They have two gaps positioned there. There's the team manager of Sauber

:46:18. > :46:22.giving me some direction. Small gap here. Let's look down here. 300

:46:22. > :46:26.metres to the first corner. Very open apex entry to turn one. They

:46:26. > :46:30.go in there flat out in seventh gear. We won't see the concertina

:46:30. > :46:33.effect at turn one, which should mean there is less risk of safety

:46:34. > :46:39.car at that point. Turn two and three, they have to be careful

:46:39. > :46:43.they're not banging into each other. Now our pole man, Lewis Hamilton is

:46:43. > :46:52.not around here at the moment. Ross Brawn is there. We've had a word

:46:52. > :46:57.with Ross already. At this point, I'm not sure if I'm seeing anyone

:46:58. > :47:04.else. Let's keep wondering around here. Works of art aren't they?

:47:04. > :47:07.Just look at the internal brake there. Beautiful works of art.

:47:07. > :47:13.Amazing that come the end of the year this is considered an ugly

:47:13. > :47:19.thing. Racing is all about winning, of course. Here's a man that knows

:47:19. > :47:24.a little bit more intimately the Mercedes team. He's talking to Sky

:47:24. > :47:28.Germany. Let's see if we can get a word with Nicky. Mr Ecclestone

:47:28. > :47:32.taking some dignitaries down the pit lane. There are some

:47:32. > :47:38.representatives there of the title sponsor and representative there

:47:38. > :47:48.from Saudi Arabia I believe. That's the Crown Prince. Back to Nicky

:47:48. > :47:50.

:47:50. > :47:53.who's taking time to answer. Let's get a word from Tott Wilson. --

:47:53. > :47:58.Toto Wilson. They can introduce each other. You're still relatively

:47:58. > :48:02.fresh in this role, so far so good. The restructuring is working.

:48:02. > :48:06.not what I restructured but what the guys did last year. What will

:48:06. > :48:10.be the podium today. You have the pole man, can you get Nico up there

:48:10. > :48:14.or who do you see as the main threat? I hope so, but it's about

:48:14. > :48:18.strategy. We will see the real winner at the end of the race, whu

:48:18. > :48:24.see the last pit stop. We wish you luck with that. At this point I

:48:24. > :48:31.will hand back to Suzy and Eddie. Well, I must say absolutely

:48:31. > :48:34.brilliant stuff from DC there with the big boys on the grid. Let's

:48:34. > :48:37.talk to Paul di Resta who's be chatting with Lee.

:48:37. > :48:41.We'll have a walk. It's been ape stressful start for you. Are the

:48:41. > :48:46.problems sorted? Yeah we had a bit of an issue at beginning, before we

:48:46. > :48:50.went out there. We believe everything's OK. It was a minor bit

:48:50. > :48:54.of discomfort. But everybody has worked hard and solved it. What

:48:54. > :49:00.tyre did you choose to start on? Different ones I went to the grid

:49:00. > :49:03.on. And we'll see. Essentially there's two different strategies

:49:03. > :49:07.and there's three cars in front we already know what they're on and

:49:07. > :49:10.what the cars in front of them on and we're the first is unknown.

:49:10. > :49:14.You're speaking in riddles but good luck today.

:49:14. > :49:20.Paul looking relaxed there despite what was happening before the race.

:49:20. > :49:23.Bernie with Adrian, often called a genius at Red Bull. Beyond doubt.

:49:24. > :49:27.He's won World Championships with Red Bull, of course, McLaren and

:49:27. > :49:33.indeed Williams. There's not a person on the grid who wouldn't

:49:33. > :49:37.absolutely give everything in the box to get him into their team. He

:49:37. > :49:40.is worth breaking the bank for. just saw Felipe Massa and he was

:49:40. > :49:43.talking to Lee a couple of minutes ago.

:49:43. > :49:46.It's all about tyres, are you confident you're on the right

:49:46. > :49:51.strategy today? Yeah, I hope. So we'll see during the race. The race

:49:51. > :49:55.is long and difficult, so let's try to do everything right. At what

:49:55. > :49:59.point do you think we'll work out who finishes where, is this a race

:49:59. > :50:03.to change in the lap few laps? will see at beginning, how many

:50:03. > :50:09.laps we can do on the soft. Maybe after that you can have an idea for

:50:09. > :50:15.the medium. Luck. -- Good luck. Mixed strategies here

:50:15. > :50:19.in China. Eddie Jordan, what do you think? We heard from Paul from

:50:19. > :50:24.Pirelli there, he has done exactly what he's been requested to do by

:50:24. > :50:27.Bernie Ecclestone, throw a big amount of up and down so in other

:50:27. > :50:31.words, different strategies will play and we won't see until the end

:50:31. > :50:34.of the race to keep the excitement up. In other manufacturers just had

:50:34. > :50:37.such brilliant tyres, whereas Pirelli have brilliant tyres but

:50:37. > :50:42.they've put the element of uncertainty into the game and I

:50:42. > :50:48.love them for that. We love a bit of uncertainty. Let's see how to

:50:48. > :50:53.make the perfect lap with the pole sitter, Lewis Hamilton.

:50:53. > :50:58.Shanghai International Circuit, 5.4 kilometres. It's in the shape of

:50:58. > :51:01.the word shang, which means on top of. Lewis Hamilton takes us on his

:51:01. > :51:06.lap, the run down to turn one. lap, the run down to turn one.

:51:06. > :51:10.Entry speed of 190mph. Then it's a case of holding on as this never

:51:10. > :51:16.case of holding on as this never ending corner, one becomes two. He

:51:16. > :51:20.drops down into three, first gear and then short shifting as he

:51:20. > :51:24.releases KERS. Then the run up through turn four. Kink of five and

:51:24. > :51:29.then drops down into the high energy braking at turn six. Early

:51:29. > :51:33.on the power as he then positions the car in the run out into this

:51:33. > :51:40.fast section in the middle of the lap. Turn seven just listen. Flat

:51:40. > :51:43.out through seven. Then he reduces speed all the way through eight,

:51:43. > :51:47.positioning himself for the first of the double left-handers at nine

:51:47. > :51:51.and ten. Constant radius, no mistakes so far on this lap. Brake

:51:51. > :51:56.balance adjustment with hills left hand as he brakes down into 11.

:51:56. > :52:01.Beautiful at the apex, rolls the car through 12. Slight correction

:52:01. > :52:07.of oversteer as he fiets this increasing G, ib creasing -- fights

:52:08. > :52:12.this increasing G, increasing speed. Into the DRS activation zone now,

:52:12. > :52:19.gains an extra 17 kilometres per hour as 200 kilograms of load are

:52:19. > :52:23.shed from the rear wing. A spike of 6G as he brakes into turn 14. Nice

:52:24. > :52:29.and early on the power, coming up to the last corner, it's a 90 left.

:52:29. > :52:33.See how early he's on the power. Immediately as he hits the apex,

:52:33. > :52:38.straightens the car and releases the last of his curves. It's the

:52:38. > :52:42.first pole position for Mercedes since Stirling Moss. It's joy all

:52:42. > :52:43.round even a hug from his old team- mate and we have a stunning line up

:52:43. > :52:48.mate and we have a stunning line up to start this Grand Prix.

:52:48. > :52:51.We've been hearing news from McLaren that Jenson had a throttle

:52:51. > :52:55.sensor issue, but that has been sorted. That should be fine. That

:52:55. > :53:02.lovely shot we saw earlier of Jenson embracing Lewis. It's great

:53:02. > :53:05.really now that they're in separate teams don't you think? It's time

:53:05. > :53:09.limitations. They both were very good team-mates but they needed to

:53:09. > :53:12.split up. Both were world champions and Lewis being the younger one he

:53:12. > :53:17.decided that he wanted to see pastures new. Mercedes have given

:53:17. > :53:21.him that opportunity. To be honest, when you look at the way Mercedes

:53:21. > :53:24.are setting about their job at the moment, he is doing precisely the

:53:24. > :53:29.perfect job for them. He's on pole position here, in only his third

:53:29. > :53:32.race. He talked about being very early to think about a win or to

:53:32. > :53:35.think about championships, never happen this year. But that was a

:53:35. > :53:38.thing pulling himself back down, not building up too much

:53:38. > :53:42.expectation. I think he's in a perfect situation to challenge for

:53:42. > :53:46.the championship this year. would be great to get to Barcelona

:53:46. > :53:50.to see Jenson back on full form. He has so many fapblz. He's been so

:53:51. > :53:55.down in the dumps, expecting so much from the McLaren. So far it's

:53:55. > :54:00.not delivered. He's the ultimate team player. We talk Sebastien

:54:00. > :54:05.Vettel as being a nice world champion. They don't come any nicer

:54:05. > :54:09.than Jenson. He was the epitome of the perfect guy and he still is, to

:54:09. > :54:12.this day. He's the ultimate statesman and every team would be

:54:12. > :54:15.delighted to have him. Jenson Button, fantastic. We just want to

:54:15. > :54:19.see him back on the podium, particularly on the top of it very

:54:19. > :54:22.soon. We might be seing that man on the top of the podium today,

:54:22. > :54:26.Fernando Alonso. You can never write him off. What a driver he is.

:54:26. > :54:30.He is, but I think his driving style is not quite suited to this

:54:30. > :54:35.circuit. It's more suited to Felipe Massa, because Fernando, the way he

:54:35. > :54:40.drives, he slings the car into the corners, so he damages the front

:54:40. > :54:44.tyres. I don't think he can go through the race and win it here.

:54:44. > :54:48.Interesting opinion. It's the tenth year at the Chinese Grand Prix,

:54:48. > :54:52.come along nicely, do you think? was given the job 13 years ago to

:54:52. > :54:58.come out and see the build. I have seen the first stone put on another

:54:58. > :55:01.stone here, from that point of view, yeah I'm overjoyed. It's mag any

:55:01. > :55:07.sent. Terrific atmosphere. Just moments to go now until the race.

:55:07. > :55:11.You can see the grid lining up with the heat haze above it. Tom

:55:11. > :55:14.Clarkson and Lee McKenzie in the pit lane. Of course, David

:55:14. > :55:18.Coulthard and Ben Edwards providing commentary. This is going to be

:55:19. > :55:28.unpredictable, exciting and will it play out to the end the race? We'll

:55:29. > :56:02.

:56:03. > :56:07.Ten years ago Rubens Barrichello gave Ferrari the first Grand Prix.

:56:07. > :56:11.Today the Shanghai International Circuit is set for another cliff

:56:11. > :56:14.hangar with four teams with the potential to win. We've seen Kimi

:56:14. > :56:18.Raikkonen win in Australia, and Sebastien Vettel take honours in

:56:18. > :56:22.Malaysia. Only one driver has ever won here in China on more than one

:56:22. > :56:25.occasion, and that is Lewis Hamilton. He lines up on pole

:56:25. > :56:29.Hamilton. He lines up on pole position. Whatever he does today he

:56:29. > :56:32.will have to overtake cars. Because he starts on the soft tyre, it's

:56:32. > :56:36.imperative that he gets through the pack. Those cars will be starting

:56:36. > :56:44.on a harder tyre will be going round. Overtaking is possible.

:56:44. > :56:47.There are two DRS zones this year. One on the long straight at 1.2

:56:47. > :56:55.kilometres in length. Overtaking should be possible. To do so you'll

:56:55. > :56:59.have to move offline. That could make life very exciting indeed.

:56:59. > :57:02.Cars on the grid then, ready to go. Sebastien Vettel lining up in a

:57:02. > :57:07.very unfamiliar ninth position. Though he was outside the top ten

:57:07. > :57:11.here last year. He didn't make the top ten if qualifying last year.

:57:11. > :57:15.Different strategy this year. He's on the harder compound tyre. Nico

:57:15. > :57:18.Rosberg in fourth place, seventh in the points at moment. He's had one

:57:18. > :57:21.non-finish this year in Australia. He finished in fourth behind Lewis

:57:21. > :57:25.Hamilton last time out in Malaysia. What will he do this time on a

:57:25. > :57:29.track where he won 12 months ago? He's got to be feeling confident,

:57:29. > :57:33.but will it suit him? Track temperature by the way, 35 degrees

:57:33. > :57:37.now. It is good and warm. These soft tyres like that. They like the

:57:37. > :57:47.higher temperatures. So that will suit those guys starting at the

:57:47. > :57:47.

:57:47. > :58:44.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 57 seconds

:58:44. > :58:47.front end of the grid. The grid in Mark Webber, who didn't set a time

:58:47. > :58:51.in qualifying. He lost his times. He didn't have the required fuel

:58:51. > :58:55.sample at end of qualifying. He lost all his times. Fernando Alonso

:58:55. > :58:58.lining up in third place. Same position as he was on the grid in

:58:58. > :59:03.Malaysia. Went it bit wrong for him there. It's the same place that he

:59:03. > :59:06.jumped the start from here in 2010. He picked up a penalty for that of

:59:06. > :59:10.course. We know the Ferrari is quick off the line. Kimi Raikkonen

:59:10. > :59:14.starting from second place then. He's on a real run of race finishes.

:59:14. > :59:19.He didn't score points here last year, but he scored points every

:59:19. > :59:23.single Grand Prix since then. There is Lewis Hamilton. His 27th career

:59:23. > :59:27.pole. The tenth pole position for Mercedes in their history and his

:59:27. > :59:30.third pole position on this track. David, wonderful to see so many

:59:30. > :59:33.fans here to enjoy and soak up the atmosphere before the start of the

:59:34. > :59:39.Grand Prix. I think it's getting healthier and healthier, the fan

:59:39. > :59:45.base in China. They are an educated fan base. 30,000 people or so in

:59:45. > :59:48.that start/finish Grandstand. We're hearing while you were chatting

:59:48. > :59:52.there, that Kimi has been asking if there's a way to reducing

:59:52. > :59:58.understeer in turn three. The engineer says to trim the

:59:58. > :00:03.differential. To which he replied "I know that." Rosberg has reported

:00:03. > :00:07.more understeer than he expected. That's a function of these option

:00:07. > :00:12.tyres. We heard from Nico, they're dead at the end of qualifying,

:00:12. > :00:17.never mind starting a Grand Prix. Mark Webber getting cooled off

:00:17. > :00:20.ahead of going down to the enof the pit lane. Looking at the tyres that

:00:20. > :00:25.everyone is choosing, from Button and Vettel they're on the harder

:00:25. > :00:30.tyre. So is Hulkenberg, Di Resta and Perez. A split strategy from

:00:30. > :00:35.Force India. Sutil is on soft, Maldonado too. Jean-Eric Vergne on

:00:35. > :00:45.the medium. Then Valtteri Bottas as well. Then the guys at the back,

:00:45. > :00:54.

:00:54. > :01:01.are all going to be starting on the a race of strategy so what will

:01:01. > :01:06.happen? I have been trying to work out the best strategy. It is a three

:01:06. > :01:11.out the best strategy. It is a three stop, medium tyres, then a fresh set

:01:11. > :01:18.of soft tyres, then another fresh set of soft tyres. The benefit of

:01:18. > :01:25.the soft tyres for speed, you don't have problems with degradation.

:01:25. > :01:30.everyone has two sets of soft tyres to use, do they? You might have to

:01:30. > :01:35.cut the five laps to four laps, but that will be okay on these soft

:01:35. > :01:42.tyres at specially at the end of the race with low fuel. You reckon that

:01:42. > :01:47.strategy could be the better one? Yes, starting on the medium tyre is

:01:47. > :01:53.the better one. It is about track position as well so we don't know

:01:53. > :02:00.that until it happens. We won't know until we get into the final third of

:02:00. > :02:04.the race and it might be even later because if people go for a late stop

:02:04. > :02:12.onto the soft tyres, that could change things and that has happened

:02:12. > :02:18.in the past. It has always been a very close match to think, this race

:02:18. > :02:23.between three stops and two stops. We are really looking forward to

:02:23. > :02:29.this. Lewis Hamilton leading them around, but Kimi Raikkonen is a real

:02:29. > :02:34.threat. Lotus are feeling very confident going into this race,

:02:34. > :02:44.David. So they should, they certainly have that pace. Kimi

:02:44. > :02:45.

:02:45. > :02:49.Raikkonen finished all of the grand prix last year. He hit the wall with

:02:49. > :02:54.those tyres and backed his way out of the points, but they have learned

:02:54. > :03:01.from that. They have a very consistent car, as we saw in

:03:01. > :03:07.Melbourne. Don't write them off for the victory. We will also keep an

:03:07. > :03:10.eye on Sebastian Vettel, and Jenson Button starting in eighth place. The

:03:10. > :03:15.Red Bull definitely has more pace than the McLaren, but if Jenson

:03:15. > :03:22.Button gets away in front of Sebastian Vettel, it could be tough

:03:22. > :03:27.for him to get past. Mark Webber has started on the soft tyres, a

:03:27. > :03:35.brand-new set, so unlike the guys in the front ten, they have already

:03:35. > :03:42.done one lap and he has a brand-new set to use. This is a smart move

:03:42. > :03:46.because that use of the tyres simply have more life in them than the

:03:46. > :03:56.options. He will be hoping to leapfrog the guys at the back of the

:03:56. > :04:28.

:04:28. > :04:35.grid and get into the race this the pit lane and we are already for

:04:35. > :04:41.what should be an intriguing Chinese grand prix. Lights out, and away we

:04:41. > :04:46.go. A great start from Lewis Hamilton, the Ferraris go in second

:04:46. > :04:50.and third place, Nico Rosberg behind. A little bit wide for Felipe

:04:50. > :05:00.Massa, could have run deep into the corner, but it is Lewis Hamilton

:05:00. > :05:01.

:05:01. > :05:07.leading. A great getaway for the Ferraris. Kimi Raikkonen was slow

:05:07. > :05:17.with the initial response. Nico Rosberg will defend the inside, and

:05:17. > :05:20.

:05:20. > :05:27.the Toro Rosso getting in on the action. Lewis Hamilton and Jenson

:05:27. > :05:32.Button have got away cleanly. have mechanics already out in the

:05:32. > :05:41.pit lane. We haven't even done half of a lap and there are already

:05:41. > :05:51.people ready for pit stops. Everybody fanning out, Sergio Perez

:05:51. > :05:53.

:05:53. > :06:03.under pressure from Maldonado. A real dogfight going on in the middle

:06:03. > :06:05.

:06:05. > :06:15.of the park. Nico Rosberg got past Paul di Resta and no advantage in

:06:15. > :06:17.

:06:17. > :06:23.the slipstream. Mark Webber is coming in early. The Force India

:06:23. > :06:30.cars have hit each other, ending up with Paul di Resta losing out

:06:30. > :06:39.massively. Mark Webber was the only one with soft tyres, he is coming

:06:39. > :06:44.in, getting it out of the way. Webber in to get rid of the soft

:06:44. > :06:49.tyre, going for the harder compound, the medium tyres. Nothing

:06:49. > :06:59.lost in doing that, Red Bull pulling the strategy for the car that

:06:59. > :07:10.

:07:10. > :07:19.Sergio Perez. Sergio Perez gave him less than one cars length, and he

:07:19. > :07:24.will store that for his memory banks he is going wheel to wheel with him.

:07:24. > :07:29.Hopefully no damage done to the Force India cars. There is Felipe

:07:29. > :07:35.Massa, his resurgence in form from the Brazilian is being repeated here

:07:35. > :07:38.once again in China and let's see if he can keep it up. Kimi Raikkonen in

:07:38. > :07:48.fourth place, this group drawing away from Nico Rosberg in fifth

:07:48. > :08:12.

:08:12. > :08:22.Hamilton, leading by just 0.8 of a second. There is a question of how

:08:22. > :08:26.

:08:26. > :08:34.many laps they can get out of these tyres. Jenson Button was very quick

:08:34. > :08:44.on Friday, setting his fastest lap at the end of the run. Let's keep an

:08:44. > :08:55.

:08:55. > :09:05.of turn 13, anyone could get an activation from the GRS and gain on

:09:05. > :09:05.

:09:05. > :09:14.their top speed. In the background, the silver car of Nico Rosberg being

:09:15. > :09:24.chased by Grosjean but it is Lewis Hamilton in control. I think he is

:09:25. > :09:29.

:09:29. > :09:33.in the GRS zone. -- D R S. Of course, Paul Hamilton sitting there,

:09:33. > :09:40.dragging on the extra wing and they will be swarming all over the back

:09:40. > :09:46.of him here. I cannot see if the pit crew is out so it looks like they

:09:46. > :09:52.will stay out a bit longer on these tyres. Kimi Raikkonen's initial

:09:52. > :09:58.getaway was sluggish, he spun on his wheels and he was marked by the

:09:58. > :10:08.Ferraris. We have a challenge from Fernando Alonso on Lewis Hamilton.

:10:08. > :10:31.

:10:31. > :10:36.Again, Hamilton has no Grosjean DRS -- DRS. Grosjean Has got past Nico

:10:36. > :10:45.Rosberg. Nico Rosberg tries to go on the outside, bails out. We saw

:10:45. > :10:51.Felipe Massa get lucky, popping up on the inside so a lot of racing

:10:51. > :10:55.happening at the back. Just listen. It sounded like he spun off the

:10:55. > :11:01.wheels too much and instead of getting a great launch of the

:11:01. > :11:05.start, is spatial awareness told him exactly where Nico Rosberg was. This

:11:05. > :11:12.is Nico Rosberg. You can see the black lines left on the track from

:11:12. > :11:18.Kimi Raikkonen, he makes his choice to the left, and not enough 300

:11:18. > :11:28.metre run from the start of the grid. Here is Fernando Alonso.

:11:28. > :11:30.

:11:30. > :11:40.Sebastian Vettel trying to move on Hulkenburg. Hamilton struggling

:11:40. > :11:40.

:11:40. > :11:44.because they are in another DRS zone. Hamilton can do nothing, the

:11:44. > :11:50.Ferraris are in first and second place and now Hamilton has got to

:11:50. > :11:56.watch out for Kimi Raikkonen. this stage of the grand prix,

:11:56. > :12:01.Hamilton was always going to be a sitting duck not having DRS but he

:12:01. > :12:06.needed to break the one second window, he will not be able to do

:12:06. > :12:16.it. This is an amazing challenge from Kimi Raikkonen, that he cannot

:12:16. > :12:19.

:12:19. > :12:23.go on the outside of Hamilton. We gather that Daniel Ricciardo has a

:12:23. > :12:32.damaged car. It will be interesting to see where the damage occurred

:12:32. > :12:38.because he was in the group with Sebastian Vettel. This was the

:12:38. > :12:48.overtake of Lewis Hamilton by both Ferraris. A sitting duck, he could

:12:48. > :12:50.

:12:50. > :12:56.not break the DRS activation. This is Fernando Alonso's girlfriend,

:12:56. > :13:06.obviously enjoying the fact that he is taking the lead. Nico Rosberg has

:13:06. > :13:13.

:13:13. > :13:18.been passed by Hulkenberg. Sebastian Vettel has now got himself into

:13:18. > :13:23.seventh place. Mercedes are coming in, a damaged rear wing on the Force

:13:23. > :13:29.India and it has lost the top section. That could have been nasty

:13:29. > :13:37.if he had not recognised that. are going to double stack, my

:13:37. > :13:42.goodness. I hope they get their pitstops done quickly. They have no

:13:42. > :13:52.choice because of the tyres. Nico Rosberg rules in gently, and the

:13:52. > :13:53.

:13:53. > :13:58.Force India will get rolled back into the garage. 3.3 second stop, a

:13:58. > :14:04.good time but not at the same place we saw on some of the Red Bull cars

:14:04. > :14:09.we have seen. Now Mark Webber is ahead, that is remarkable, and there

:14:09. > :14:15.is the damage on the back of the Force India. I cannot see that car

:14:15. > :14:23.going much further in this race. There is a fire breaking out as

:14:23. > :14:27.well. They are blowing air on it, you need a fire extinguisher on map.

:14:27. > :14:37.It is bad news once again for Force India. They have never scored points

:14:37. > :14:45.

:14:45. > :14:49.here in China, but Paul di Resta could do that. He was battling with

:14:49. > :14:57.Sergio Perez, the Mexicans going wheel to wheel. Then he looked up

:14:57. > :15:03.and there was a corner. Arriving at its with so much speed, the car is

:15:03. > :15:10.still heavy with fuel. You can see the damage after he was hit, so

:15:10. > :15:15.maybe a little bit of an experience there. Fernando Alonso in. Felipe

:15:15. > :15:25.Massa takes over the lead for Ferrari, so watch the guys go to

:15:25. > :15:27.

:15:27. > :15:36.work. Clean and efficient once more. A bit slow coming off the rear jack,

:15:36. > :15:42.but he gets it going once more. Webber has just gone past. Kimi

:15:42. > :15:52.Raikkonen comes out right next to Mark Webber. Crucial for the Lotus

:15:52. > :16:03.

:16:03. > :16:06.will be coming in. Mark Webber has used the soft tyre. He's in the

:16:06. > :16:10.same situation as these guys. He doesn't have to put the soft on

:16:10. > :16:14.again later. He may have to do more laps on the medium tyres. He will,

:16:14. > :16:20.but they're new. He's doing it from new. Where the others have scrubs

:16:20. > :16:24.going on there. Hamilton a 27.0 first sector. Massa is 28.2.

:16:24. > :16:30.Hamilton a second faster in one sector alone. He's responded to the

:16:30. > :16:34.stop. He knows he has to deliver to get himself back into the mix here

:16:34. > :16:39.with the two Ferrari cars. Now we might see a different performance

:16:39. > :16:44.on this different tyre. We've seen that over practice so far. Jean-

:16:44. > :16:48.Eric Vergne that is trying to make up some ground. He's battling with

:16:48. > :16:54.Valtteri Bottas and Pastor Maldonado. You have the two

:16:54. > :17:00.Williams, Maldonado in front. Vergne will plit the two Williams.

:17:00. > :17:04.-- split. Remember that Sebastien Vettel is still looking very good

:17:05. > :17:09.at the moment. Hulkenberg now leads this race, though. Massa has come

:17:09. > :17:16.into the pits. The second stop. Let's see where he comes out. Will

:17:16. > :17:22.he be ahead of Alonso or behind him? There goes Alonso, he's well

:17:22. > :17:24.behind him. He has stopped rb -- missed out hugely. He's come out

:17:24. > :17:30.Webber. That's how much time Massa has lost. That's the advantage of

:17:30. > :17:34.being in clean air and having the tyre which you can push. Massa

:17:34. > :17:39.struggling find a bit of performance out of the pit lane.

:17:39. > :17:42.Hamilton with the view of Alonso ahead. He's into traffic now.

:17:43. > :17:47.Cutting through this traffic is going to be crucial for the front

:17:47. > :17:51.runners. Blue flags will not be operating at this stage. They're

:17:51. > :17:54.racing these guys. It's not as if they're lapping them yet. They are

:17:54. > :17:59.racing against them. There's no need for them to get out of the way.

:17:59. > :18:08.This is where you'll see hard and insiesive overtaking from the front

:18:08. > :18:11.run irz -- front runners. Hulkenberg, who also started on the

:18:11. > :18:15.harder tyre, didn't set a time in the final part of qualifying, he

:18:15. > :18:18.leads by .7 of a second over Sebastien Vettel. They're the

:18:18. > :18:23.leaders then. It's Nico Hulkenberg, who was such a star in Brazil at

:18:23. > :18:27.the end of last year for Force India. But he's being chased by the

:18:27. > :18:31.reigning world champion, Sebastien Vettel. Jenson Button is in third.

:18:31. > :18:37.Fourth is Perez and behind him Paul di Resta. Massa has now dropped

:18:37. > :18:41.further down the order. Alonso now trying to get past Jean-Eric Vergne.

:18:41. > :18:48.We're seeing there that the damage to Ricciardo, I don't recall

:18:48. > :18:54.mentioning that, looks like he had contact with Rosberg. Whether

:18:54. > :18:59.that's damaged Rosberg's car or not, we'll find out. Will Mark struggle

:18:59. > :19:03.to hold his position? Alonso gets past Vergne. Hamilton will try to

:19:03. > :19:06.dot same. Hamilton the fastest on track. He set the best lap. Now

:19:06. > :19:11.they're picking their way through the traffic of course, it's harder

:19:11. > :19:16.to set a quick lap. All of the front runners who were on the soft

:19:16. > :19:21.tyre have made their pit stop. The race is being led by those that

:19:21. > :19:25.started on the harder compound tyre. Hamilton is past Jean-Eric Vergne.

:19:25. > :19:31.No problems trying to keep in touch with Alonso. Hulkenberg leads the

:19:31. > :19:34.race from Vettel, Button and Perez with Di Resta in fifth, Vergne now

:19:34. > :19:40.having lost that sixth place means Alonso is now back into sixth place

:19:40. > :19:46.already. The difficulty that we're going to have here is that Vettel

:19:46. > :19:51.is only behind the leader, but he's 12 seconds in fropbtd of Alonso. It

:19:51. > :19:56.takes about 19 seconds to do a combined pit stop, three seconds

:19:57. > :20:02.for the stop roughly plus the time in pit lane. When Vettel eventually

:20:02. > :20:05.stops he will slot out behind the leading group. They will all be

:20:06. > :20:14.going quickly themselves. Hulkenberg even with the DRS in

:20:14. > :20:20.operation on Sebastien Vettel's car, he wasn't really closing the gap.

:20:21. > :20:27.That's in the slipstream of the Red Bull. He opens the DRS now. He gets

:20:27. > :20:31.a massive overspeed. Mark Webber into the slipstream. He's run a bit

:20:31. > :20:34.wide in the braking there. Small lock up. They're very susceptible

:20:34. > :20:38.to tyre temperature variation on the back straight. They lose

:20:38. > :20:42.something like 30 degrees in surface temperature from the tyre.

:20:42. > :20:48.They normally run about 100 degrees. They'll be around 70 when he hit

:20:48. > :20:52.the brakes into 14. That's why we're seeing quite a few lock-ups

:20:52. > :20:59.leading to delamb nation of the tyre. Webber might be in DRS range

:21:00. > :21:05.himself. They seem to go for a better downforce and more grip

:21:05. > :21:09.through the fast corners an -- and trade that against straight line

:21:09. > :21:13.speed. Maybe that's hurting Webber and Vettel. Three quarters of a

:21:13. > :21:20.second the gap between the first and second. Button is some three

:21:20. > :21:27.seconds further behind, remember. He's got to get closer. He's got to

:21:27. > :21:30.be within a second to get the DRS. But last lap he couldn't make the

:21:30. > :21:36.pass. Hulkenberg, it's the second time he's led in the last four

:21:36. > :21:41.races. He's making a name for himself. He moved from Force India

:21:41. > :21:44.to Sauber. Keeping that gap, I think he's within the one-second

:21:44. > :21:49.trigger point. But he's too far back. There the DRS is open. He's

:21:49. > :21:52.too far back to gain the advantage into the braking zone. Great stuff

:21:52. > :21:56.from Hulkenberg. Sergio Perez did lead a few laps here last year when

:21:56. > :22:02.he was driving for Sauber. That was more as the strategy worked out.

:22:02. > :22:08.This is partly the same. Here comes Massa. He's getting past Bottas

:22:08. > :22:12.there. He's into tenth position. Hulkenberg continues to lead.

:22:12. > :22:17.Vettel second. You look back and see Jenson Button in third place.

:22:17. > :22:22.Perez who has made up good ground. He's three seconds behind Jenson

:22:22. > :22:28.Button. But Perez didn't go so well in qualifying. More optimistic

:22:28. > :22:34.today. Di Resta in fifth. Buff Alonso is in sixth place and

:22:34. > :22:39.lapping, well a second or so faster than these guys up front. Alonso

:22:39. > :22:43.closing the gap, further cementing the fact that at this pace, when

:22:43. > :22:48.Vettel does his stop, he'll drop out behind him. Unless they're

:22:48. > :22:51.trying to do two stopdz in which case he'll come back into place

:22:51. > :22:56.later in the Grand Prix. We are expecting three stops almost

:22:56. > :23:03.certainly for those on the option tyre. Cars number 17 and 18 you saw

:23:03. > :23:08.on the graphic there, being referred for a yellow flag incident.

:23:08. > :23:13.That's Bottas and Vergne. This was Massa passing Bottas. That was a

:23:13. > :23:16.straightforward overtake for the Brazilian. This was Kimi Raikkonen

:23:17. > :23:23.goating past Jean-Eric Vergne in the Toro Rosso. Yeah, he managed

:23:23. > :23:26.that. Kimi is about three seconds behind Hamilton. Still in the hunt,

:23:26. > :23:30.but just needs to find perhaps a little more pace to catch up to

:23:30. > :23:34.Alonso and Hamilton. Lovely pass around the outside. He may have

:23:34. > :23:38.made it look easy but that's a big decision. Is the guy on the inside

:23:38. > :23:44.going to give me this space? What happens if he runs narrow and goes

:23:44. > :23:48.over the front tyre and runs wide? He can take you with him.

:23:48. > :23:53.Raikkonen's racing, not only does he look the quicker of the Lotus

:23:53. > :23:57.drivers, he looks race fit again. He looks sharp. He looks hungry.

:23:57. > :24:01.Looks like the good old days when he won the championship in 2007 and

:24:01. > :24:04.could have won the title for McLaren in earlier years but had so

:24:04. > :24:08.many reliability problems then. Alonso there and Hamilton still not

:24:08. > :24:10.much to choose between them. They are now sixth and seventh. Eighth

:24:10. > :24:15.for Raikkonen. There's Jean-Eric Vergne who started on the harder

:24:15. > :24:21.tyre. He's running around in ninth. He's now being caught rapidly by

:24:21. > :24:25.Felipe Massa, who is in tenth. Mark Webber in 11th position, then you

:24:26. > :24:31.have Rosberg 12th, Bottas 13, Grosjean 14th, Ricciardo 15th after

:24:31. > :24:36.the change of front wing. Maldonado is 16th and Charles Pic is leading

:24:36. > :24:45.the young team, Caterham ahead of the Marussia of Bianchi, but only

:24:45. > :24:48.just, .3 of a second. Van der Garde is ahead of Chilton. We've lost

:24:48. > :24:54.Sutil and Gutierrez and that's more non-finishes already here today

:24:54. > :24:58.than we've had in each of the last two years. Tom, what have you got

:24:58. > :25:02.in the pit lane? There's been a bit of drama down at Red Bull. First of

:25:02. > :25:06.all, we had Mark's refuelling problem in qualifying. But just now

:25:06. > :25:11.they've been changing the traffic light system, the release system

:25:11. > :25:16.for the drivers, which hangs above them. They've just replaced it.

:25:16. > :25:19.It's all done. Perhaps there was an issue at first stops. Thank you Tom.

:25:19. > :25:22.We're watching Hulkenberg putting in these very consistent laps at

:25:22. > :25:26.the moment. I think Vettel would be pleased to get past him. But he has

:25:26. > :25:30.to play it patiently. In he can look after his tyres, perhaps

:25:30. > :25:34.Vettel will go further than the Sauber. A look from Paul di Resta

:25:34. > :25:41.as he is under pressure from Alonso. This is for fifth position. Paul di

:25:41. > :25:51.Resta on a different strategy, of course. How's the pace? The pace is

:25:51. > :25:56.good. Four people on primes as you. What kind of lap times could you

:25:56. > :26:03.do? Difficult to say with that traffic. Probably half a second.

:26:03. > :26:06.little discussion. Half a second he reckons he could do faster if he

:26:06. > :26:09.wasn't behind Hulkenberg. It's a decision that if you get right into

:26:10. > :26:13.the gearbox of Hulkenberg and try and get yourself in a position to

:26:13. > :26:17.overtake, in doing so, you lose downforce and the car starts to

:26:17. > :26:20.slide. That's the real killer on this track. It's the actual

:26:20. > :26:24.degradation that comes from the tearing of the surface of the tyre.

:26:24. > :26:30.You just run out of rubber that's available to use rather than the

:26:30. > :26:36.peaks of thermal degradation in other Grand Prixs. He is certainly

:26:36. > :26:41.starting to be hauled in, Alonso, only eight seconds behind where

:26:41. > :26:45.Vettel is running at this stage. Let's see how this plays out, but I

:26:45. > :26:52.wonder if Red Bull are looking at just the two stops this afternoon.

:26:52. > :26:56.They have lap 13 here, the life of these tyres, around lap 20, that's

:26:56. > :27:00.all dependent on a number of factors, whether you're running in

:27:00. > :27:04.dirty air, how many fuel you have on board, how many rubber is on the

:27:04. > :27:10.track surface, temperature, all those things have an effect. Track

:27:10. > :27:13.temperature has dropped. It's down to 31 degrees. Here comes Alonso on

:27:14. > :27:17.Perez, cheeky from Perez. There He's got to be careful. The rules

:27:17. > :27:21.are clear, one change of direction to defend your position and that's

:27:21. > :27:25.a safety rule and it applies to everyone. If you faint as if you're

:27:25. > :27:31.going to the right side of the track, I suspect he'll be a sitting

:27:31. > :27:36.duck now for Alonso when the DRS opens. Perez going to the left,

:27:36. > :27:42.then right, well he gets past in the end. That will be brought up in

:27:42. > :27:47.the drivers' meeting with Charlie Whiting, because the one real risk

:27:47. > :27:51.is contact, wheel-to-wheel between racing cars. That rule applies to

:27:51. > :28:00.every single driver. Hamilton now trying to get past these two as

:28:00. > :28:04.well. You're on board with Lewis as he bears down on Paul di Resta.

:28:04. > :28:07.almost hits the back of the Force India off the back of that into

:28:07. > :28:11.turn six. Lewis Hamilton, well, we know exactly what his position is

:28:11. > :28:17.now then. He's feeling that he doesn't have the pace. The Ferrari,

:28:17. > :28:20.look at the front left tyre. The marble grains across the surface.

:28:20. > :28:24.He's in this dirty air, where you're quicker than the car in

:28:24. > :28:29.front but he's taking away the clean air onto the surfaces of your

:28:29. > :28:34.wings. He's used it up and giveles you a whole bunch of sand in your

:28:34. > :28:44.face effectively. It's not pretty. Meanwhile, his team-mate Box, box,

:28:44. > :28:49.box. That's quite interesting. That is quite for them to bring him in

:28:49. > :28:54.on lap 14. Looks like it could be a three-stop race for Vettel. They're

:28:54. > :28:59.bailing out of running in that dirty air of Hulkenberg. The second

:28:59. > :29:03.stint may go longer. That's earlier than we expected. It's to deal with

:29:03. > :29:07.the traffic. Perez has Di Resta behind him. Alonso has got past. In

:29:07. > :29:11.comes Vettel and in comes Hulkenberg, the leader has come in

:29:11. > :29:15.at the same time. This is interesting. Can Sauber get their

:29:15. > :29:21.man out ahead of the probably the fastest pit stop team in the lane,

:29:21. > :29:25.Red Bull. I don't think so.Here comes Sebastien Vettel and you're

:29:25. > :29:29.right and he's still there. Now eventually Nico Hulkenberg comeles

:29:29. > :29:34.out. But the spit stops from Red Bull in Malaysia were awesome. That

:29:34. > :29:39.was another quick one, 2.5 seconds. Cue massive frustration for

:29:39. > :29:42.Hulkenberg. There's nothing worse than you present the car in the

:29:42. > :29:45.lead of the Grand Prix and for whatever reason, your guys are not

:29:45. > :29:50.able to service it. It's not just down to the human element of course.

:29:50. > :29:56.Maybe the resources of Red Bull allow them to finesse every element

:29:56. > :30:01.of procedure of the pit stop. no, contact! He's broke his front

:30:01. > :30:11.wing. Mark Webber damage to the front end of his car on the sister

:30:11. > :30:15.team of Toro Rosso. That's not good news at all. It will be an extra

:30:15. > :30:18.pit stop now for Mark Webber. It looks like he made a late decision

:30:18. > :30:22.to go for the overtake. In fairness to Jean-Eric Vergne, you can

:30:22. > :30:26.imagine his eyes were on the road. Nonetheless, maybe Mark thought

:30:26. > :30:31.there would be more compliance from that sister team, front wing end

:30:31. > :30:34.plate broken. He will undoubtedly have to pit this lap. All the front

:30:34. > :30:40.wing air, instead of directed to the inside of the tyre will be

:30:40. > :30:44.spilling off. How does the car feel? Not too bad, mate. Not too

:30:45. > :30:49.bad. We will box this lap. They're going to use it any way to come in.

:30:49. > :30:59.Remember, he has done 14 laps on these tyres any way. So perhaps, it

:30:59. > :31:28.

:31:28. > :31:37.won't make such a big difference. wing, off you go.

:31:37. > :31:44.Kimi Raikkonen has hit the back of Sergio Perez. Lets wait for the

:31:44. > :31:49.radio message, well spotted. Just the front tip of the knows he has

:31:49. > :31:56.broken. The damage on the wings themselves is difficult to say at

:31:56. > :32:06.this point. Kimi Raikkonen is chasing after Hamilton. He has been

:32:06. > :32:17.

:32:17. > :32:22.weaving in the approach to the doing. The tip of the nose probably

:32:22. > :32:29.doesn't affect overall performance. Mark Webber going slowly, there is

:32:29. > :32:38.something more to the damage on that car. The weekend just got worse for

:32:38. > :32:48.Mark Webber. Sergio Perez passing on the inside. Here's out of dear.Is

:32:48. > :33:01.

:33:01. > :33:11.its stock in dear? RADIO: come back slowly. Here is what happened to

:33:11. > :33:15.

:33:15. > :33:24.Kimi Raikkonen. He was on the grass. Sergio Perez squeezes over, so Kimi

:33:24. > :33:29.Raikkonen, well, let's just see a few more of those. Kimi Raikkonen

:33:29. > :33:39.eventually passing Sergio Perez, clearly still quick enough to get

:33:39. > :33:42.

:33:42. > :33:50.past the McLaren. Nico Hulkenberg's pitstop, can we see where it went

:33:50. > :34:00.wrong? We have now got Jenson Button leading the race because he has not

:34:00. > :34:01.

:34:01. > :34:06.yet had to make a pit stop. Hamilton is currently in third place, you are

:34:06. > :34:11.watching Felipe Massa now under pressure from Sebastian Vettel. Mark

:34:11. > :34:16.Webber trying to stay out of the way, difficult because it is narrow

:34:16. > :34:22.on the apex. You are watching Felipe Massa and Sebastian Vettel heading

:34:22. > :34:29.down to this area. His wheel has come off, right in front of

:34:29. > :34:34.Sebastian Vettel. His wheel was rolling out in the road, but I think

:34:35. > :34:42.everyone has managed to miss it. It has gone inside to a safer position.

:34:42. > :34:50.You could not make that up. Fernando Alonso, what have we got here? He is

:34:50. > :34:57.trying to catch Jenson Button, who is leading the race now. Jenson

:34:57. > :35:03.Button has done 17 laps, deep into the race, and he may be trying to

:35:03. > :35:07.make this a two stop race. We know that McLaren does not have the pace

:35:07. > :35:17.of the Ferrari. He will be a sitting duck by the time they get round to

:35:17. > :35:21.

:35:21. > :35:25.turn number 13. They are coming down to the DRS activation zone. Fernando

:35:25. > :35:32.Alonso, getting himself into position to take the lead in this

:35:32. > :35:41.grand prix, and looking very strong now that Kimi Raikkonen has been

:35:41. > :35:47.hampered by the damage. Jensen was very quick through turn 13, so it

:35:47. > :35:51.looks like Fernando Alonso will not be able to get past him on this lap.

:35:51. > :35:59.Presumably the problem was in the pitstop itself, probably separate to

:35:59. > :36:04.the incident that brought him in, the contact with the Toro Rosso.

:36:05. > :36:09.front axle was fine, so it is clearly an issue with the seating of

:36:09. > :36:18.that wheel. He makes it through the apex, Kimi Raikkonen had to go the

:36:18. > :36:23.long way round, he will not be happy about that. A bit late, if he was

:36:23. > :36:27.trying to roll it in front of his teammate, but a good effort

:36:27. > :36:33.nonetheless. That would have been good revenge, but very nasty as

:36:33. > :36:41.well, so let's bear that in mind. It is a slow corner so the impact is

:36:41. > :36:47.not as bad as it would have been on a fast bend. The tyres are clever

:36:47. > :36:54.things, they found a gap in the traffic. That is his third

:36:54. > :36:59.retirement in the last six races for Mark Webber. Jenson Button has still

:36:59. > :37:04.not made a pitstop, still leading this race in a car that has not been

:37:04. > :37:08.up to the usual high standards of McLaren but it must feel good to be

:37:08. > :37:17.leading. Kimi Raikkonen, despite that incident, look how he has

:37:17. > :37:22.caught Lewis Hamilton here. Mercedes with the harder compound tyre, and

:37:22. > :37:29.the Lotus from Australia looks after its tyres extremely well. A battle

:37:29. > :37:39.for the lead, Jenson Button versus Fernando Alonso. In third place,

:37:39. > :37:48.

:37:48. > :37:52.Hamilton's Mercedes versus Kimi Raikkonen in the Lotus. You will

:37:52. > :38:02.notice the DRS is not being used, they are not allowed to use it in

:38:02. > :38:02.

:38:02. > :38:08.that zone. What are they talking to Felipe Massa about? There he is

:38:08. > :38:13.coming coming into the pitstop. Felipe Massa has first call this

:38:13. > :38:22.time as he comes into the pit lane. Let's see how this one goes for

:38:22. > :38:30.him. Another set of harder tyres. This looks very much like the three

:38:30. > :38:35.stop race for them. Look at this, Sebastian Vettel getting down the

:38:36. > :38:40.inside of Sergio Perez and that was a good clean pass, no problem. That

:38:40. > :38:45.puts Sebastian Vettel into fifth position as he continues to chase

:38:45. > :38:54.after the likes of Kimi Raikkonen and Lewis Hamilton. Sebastian Vettel

:38:54. > :39:01.at some point has two still run the soft tyres. Nico Hulkenberg, in the

:39:02. > :39:11.same boat, but not far behind Sebastian Vettel. If Jenson Button

:39:12. > :39:18.

:39:18. > :39:25.pitted now, he would come out near Grosjean. Here comes Fernando

:39:25. > :39:33.Alonso, DRS was operating that time. He is saving it for the grandstand,

:39:33. > :39:41.with more fans watching. Fernando Alonso got wide, we can see under

:39:41. > :39:46.the wing of McLaren, he will catch him a bit late. Fernando Alonso

:39:46. > :39:54.going for the lead, and he takes it. I'm not sure if Kimi Raikkonen had

:39:54. > :40:00.ago in the background get past Lewis Hamilton. Ever the showman, he

:40:00. > :40:05.didn't want to waste the pass on the hairpin when nobody was watching. He

:40:05. > :40:11.saved it for the main grandstand and I'm sure the Chinese fans went

:40:11. > :40:20.crazy. Can Kimi Raikkonen find a way past Lewis Hamilton? It will be

:40:20. > :40:25.tricky, he is definitely struggling for grip. We have the technical man

:40:25. > :40:30.Gary Anderson, we will have to get him to say if that has any effect on

:40:30. > :40:34.the car but the main blockage comes from the front wheels and tyres as I

:40:34. > :40:41.understand it. Kimi Raikkonen running the risk of burning the

:40:41. > :40:48.tyres, and we keep talking about the dirty air. There must have been a

:40:48. > :40:52.problem for Nico Rosberg, he only stopped a few laps ago. You were

:40:52. > :40:59.saying we will ask Gary about the damage to the front of the Lotus -

:40:59. > :41:05.what is the answer? There are quite a few bits missing so it will affect

:41:05. > :41:15.him, it will use up the front tyres. I was surprised that Mark had less

:41:15. > :41:18.

:41:18. > :41:21.damage on his front wheel but yet he didn't continue. Kimi Raikkonen is

:41:21. > :41:31.coming in. And Lewis Hamilton. What are we thinking in terms of

:41:31. > :41:34.

:41:34. > :41:39.strategy? Nico Rosberg obviously have a problem, him and Felipe Massa

:41:39. > :41:46.are definitely on three stops. I don't think you can get to the end

:41:46. > :41:50.with a two stop strategy. Nothing to choose between them in the pit lane,

:41:50. > :42:00.Jenson Button still going though. He has managed this long on the harder

:42:00. > :42:08.compound tyres. He needs to try to get another five laps out of them.

:42:08. > :42:13.An incident involving car number six and seven, no further action, that

:42:13. > :42:17.was Sergio Perez and Kimi Raikkonen. Clearly they looked at the numbers

:42:17. > :42:25.and decided there is some damage but we will lose more in this battle if

:42:25. > :42:30.we try to make the change now. It looks like they are opening the gap

:42:30. > :42:36.to Kimi Raikkonen. Not looking too bad for Jenson Button, a very silky

:42:36. > :42:45.smooth driver, even though Sergio Perez has been in the war is

:42:45. > :42:54.slightly he is only 17 seconds behind. 22 laps in, I suppose that

:42:54. > :43:00.is quite a lot. Hamilton is coming through there, we have got Sebastian

:43:00. > :43:03.Vettel up into third place now. Lewis Hamilton has made his pitstop

:43:03. > :43:13.so that has brought Sebastian Vettel into third position. We saw an

:43:13. > :43:14.

:43:14. > :43:20.incident. We are going to see Fernando Alonso coming in soon. We

:43:20. > :43:27.saw an incident where Adrian Sutil's car was hit and we are

:43:27. > :43:30.seeing the second retirement of the year for Nico Rosberg. Twice out of

:43:30. > :43:37.three races, and that is not the start of the season he would have

:43:37. > :43:42.wanted, but Adrian Sutil went out earlier and he is talking to leak.

:43:42. > :43:50.Not a nice way to end the grand prix, talk about when you took the

:43:50. > :43:59.hit. I was breaking on the hairpin, and when I turned into the corner I

:43:59. > :44:03.felt a hit on the rear so my rear wing was broken. Then Sergio Perez

:44:03. > :44:13.had a late breaking point or whatever he tried. Talk about the

:44:13. > :44:13.

:44:13. > :44:20.incident with Paul di Resta. Nothing to say, I felt the hit with my rear

:44:20. > :44:27.left tyre, I don't know what he was trying. There was no reason for any

:44:27. > :44:37.silly stuff. A great shame to have lost Adrian Sutil from this race,

:44:37. > :44:44.

:44:44. > :44:51.and Mark Webber is out of the race be coming in, he has just been

:44:51. > :44:58.reporting he wants a front wing change. Daniel Ricciardo trying to

:44:58. > :45:07.come back in. He had to wait a fraction because Jenson Button came

:45:07. > :45:11.in as well. You can see the marking that tells the teams when they are

:45:11. > :45:21.allowed to release the car. You are not allowed to release them into the

:45:21. > :45:23.

:45:23. > :45:27.path of the others. Jenson Button came out just in front of...

:45:27. > :45:37.Fernando Alonso coming back out in third place so Sebastian Vettel is

:45:37. > :45:42.now the race leader, Nico Hulkenberg behind him. Sergio Perez there, with

:45:42. > :45:47.a different strategy to those around him. We would expect to see Sergio

:45:47. > :45:56.Perez coming in soon, he has not stopped yet, going deep into the

:45:56. > :46:02.race on this set of tyres. Over the years in China, the three stop race

:46:02. > :46:11.has set things up beautifully for the last few laps. Nico Hulkenberg,

:46:11. > :46:21.still running well. The use of DRS under investigation for Jenson

:46:21. > :46:22.

:46:22. > :46:30.Button. Did he use DRS?An explanation to Lewis Hamilton,

:46:30. > :46:34.telling him what is going on. is the yellow flag zone, did they

:46:34. > :46:41.use DRS? I would have thought it is a clear-cut thing. If they have used

:46:41. > :46:45.it, there will be some sort of penalty applied. It is difficult to

:46:46. > :46:53.read lap times in this one because they have been dealing with traffic.

:46:53. > :47:00.Kimi Raikkonen coming in, flashing through in the background. It is

:47:00. > :47:06.Sergio Perez. Sergio Perez, thank you. So he has managed 25 laps, that

:47:06. > :47:10.is impressive on the harder compound tyre, definitely making it a two

:47:10. > :47:17.stop race for McLaren but they will still have to run the softer tyres

:47:17. > :47:27.at some point. His last lap time was 1.44, Hamilton the fastest man on

:47:27. > :47:37.

:47:37. > :47:41.eight places from where he started this race. But he still has to run

:47:41. > :47:45.the soft tyre at some stage. Track temperature is still coming down a

:47:45. > :47:49.bit. 30 degrees. The soft tyre doesn't like the cooler conditions.

:47:49. > :47:52.So the longer he leaves it, deep into the race perhaps, the more

:47:52. > :47:58.difficult it will be to run the soft tyre. It will be quick over

:47:58. > :48:02.the first lap or two, then as we know, it degrades, it loses

:48:02. > :48:06.performance rapidly. But he is currently leading the race from

:48:06. > :48:10.Nico Hulkenberg, who's on a similar strategy, Alonso on the alternative

:48:10. > :48:13.strategy has set the fastest first sector of anybody. There he is in

:48:13. > :48:18.the Ferrari. You have to say Alonso is looking very good for this race

:48:18. > :48:24.at the moment. Jenson Button is next in fourth, Hamilton in fifth.

:48:24. > :48:29.Raikkonen in sixth position. Massa is tucked in behind Paul di Resta.

:48:29. > :48:34.Di Resta locks up late in the braking zone into 14. Good drive

:48:34. > :48:41.off that hairpin though. Massa will be in the DRS activation as they

:48:41. > :48:45.roll through the apex at turn 16. He's quite a distance back. Let's

:48:45. > :48:49.see the difference the DRS makes to the closing speed. Maybe too late

:48:49. > :48:54.for a pass into turn one. That was a mistake from Massa not getting on

:48:54. > :48:59.with it and making sure that he got off that last turn as well as he

:48:59. > :49:05.could. Now he's wide through three, going for the cut back to get in

:49:05. > :49:10.some clean air through four. Let's see what we've got here. Daniel

:49:10. > :49:15.Ricciardo on his team-mate, Jean- Eric Vergne. Hopefully they didn't

:49:15. > :49:20.do anything silly. No, that was OK. Ricciardo is currently in 11th

:49:20. > :49:24.place. Vergne is in 12th. That's going to be investigated after the

:49:24. > :49:29.race interesting, the use of the DRS. That always confuelss the

:49:29. > :49:35.issue. Alonso right with Hulkenberg. This is now for second place.

:49:35. > :49:38.Alonso having set the fastest lap in this race last time around. He

:49:38. > :49:42.goes shallow and passes him in the middle of the corner. Now he'll be

:49:43. > :49:48.open to getting passed now by Hulkenberg if he can stay in the

:49:48. > :49:52.slipstream and Alonso will get DRS because he was in the trigger point.

:49:52. > :49:55.Poor Hulkenberg doesn't get DRS because he was behind at the

:49:55. > :50:01.activation stuff. Clever stuff there from Alonso. He understands

:50:01. > :50:05.exactly,000 use the systems at his disposal. That's why -- exactly how

:50:05. > :50:11.to use the systems at his disposal. That's why he's double world

:50:11. > :50:15.champion. Nico Hulkenberg has done a good few laps on those tyres now.

:50:15. > :50:20.Alonso on the charge here to see if he can close the gap to Sebastien

:50:20. > :50:25.Vettel and take the lead of this race. Even with an overtake he was

:50:25. > :50:30.1.5 seconds quicker than Vettel on the last lap. The Ferrari, he's

:50:30. > :50:35.made that extra stop, fresher tyres, but significantly faster. Massa on

:50:35. > :50:38.Di Resta doesn't happen. You have two former team-mates at it up

:50:38. > :50:41.ahead, Jenson Button versus Lewis Hamilton looking very, very close.

:50:41. > :50:46.They are fighting for fourth place. This is the battle for seventh

:50:46. > :50:51.position. Behind Massa, Grosjean still in ninth. Perez is tenth,

:50:51. > :50:55.having made his pit stop. Ricciardo 11th, Vergne 12th, then Bottas.

:50:55. > :50:59.Let's watch them at the hairpin. Great stuff from Paul di Resta, one

:50:59. > :51:04.less stop at this phase of the Grand Prix than Massa in the

:51:04. > :51:08.Ferrari. He's defending using the tools at his disposal.

:51:08. > :51:13.Strategically you can use the KERS, not only for the best lap time, but

:51:13. > :51:20.what gives you the best chance of defending your position. They have

:51:20. > :51:27.80 horse power available on that. How many laps does the Mercedes

:51:27. > :51:32.have? He stopped two laps before us. Five laps old. Do we want to fight?

:51:32. > :51:35.Yes we do, fight. They're racing drivers, surely they're going to

:51:35. > :51:39.fight. They're managing the tyres. It's about making sure they're in

:51:39. > :51:43.the best track position come the last stop. On the long straight,

:51:43. > :51:47.Jenson Button now has removed his racing gloves, slipped on a pair of

:51:47. > :51:50.boxing gloves on the instruction of the team. He's about to engage in

:51:51. > :51:54.battle and keep that Mercedes behind him. I think Paul di Resta

:51:54. > :51:57.has done so as well. He's managing to fend off Felipe Massa quite

:51:57. > :52:01.effectively. It makes a massive difference. Paul will have to

:52:01. > :52:05.switch to a soft tyre later in the race, which has the danger of

:52:05. > :52:12.dropping him down. Alonso going very quickly as Hamilton still

:52:12. > :52:17.can't get past Jenson Button in the McLaren. Sebastian do not lose time

:52:17. > :52:20.defending against Alonso. Lap times are critical. There's the

:52:20. > :52:24.alternative argument, don't fight. That's right because when you fight

:52:24. > :52:28.have you to then defend, run different lines. If you go on a

:52:28. > :52:33.shallow line into a hairpin, the tkhapbss of spinning up the rear

:52:33. > :52:37.tire -- chances of spinning up the rear tyre when you leave the corner

:52:37. > :52:40.is increased. Have you to use the optimal line. The best way to get

:52:40. > :52:45.the maximum points out of the weekend is playing the long game.

:52:45. > :52:49.It's almost like a game of chess. You sacrifice a pawn to gain

:52:49. > :52:53.something else down-the-line. In this case, of course, it's all

:52:53. > :52:57.about averaging your points out across your season. They want to

:52:57. > :53:01.win them all. There's nothing more important than the championship.

:53:01. > :53:08.Hamilton now very much within the DRS activation point. He's within

:53:08. > :53:14.the one second. They made a mistake there. He ran over the inside kerb

:53:14. > :53:17.and that compromised his leaving the curve. He looks far back to get

:53:17. > :53:21.a good activation. He might be all over the back of McLaren by the

:53:21. > :53:27.time they come to the braking zone. Vettel still in front of Alonso.

:53:27. > :53:33.There is Hamilton. It's still not there. No, he was just ran the

:53:33. > :53:42.curve through 12. Then he ran wider bl he could get on the power on

:53:42. > :53:48.that never ending turn 13. DRS will come into effect again. Button

:53:48. > :53:52.middle ground at the moment. It's a straightforward pass. Button can't

:53:52. > :53:56.defend against the superior speed with the DRS in operation. That's

:53:56. > :54:00.equivalent of the bell going and getting knocked out with the first

:54:00. > :54:04.punch. He didn't have a chance to weave. That's right. He didn't even

:54:04. > :54:08.bodger to force him round the outside. He was going to be ahead

:54:08. > :54:13.any way. He would compromise his position into turn one. Had

:54:13. > :54:17.Hamilton tried somewhere else, he would have put up more of a fight.

:54:17. > :54:20.The Ferrari bearing down on the Red Bull. You have to say this

:54:20. > :54:23.weekend's performance from Ferrari, whatever happens in this race, has

:54:23. > :54:27.been massively encouraging. They know they've got a strong car this

:54:27. > :54:31.year. They've talked about it already. He had that great second

:54:31. > :54:35.place in the opener in Australia. He felt he could challenge in

:54:35. > :54:39.Malaysia. That went wrong when he damaged his front wing against the

:54:39. > :54:43.back of Sebastien Vettel's car. Then went off on the very next lap.

:54:43. > :54:47.He just drives around the inside again, no problem at all. As

:54:47. > :54:52.instructed Vettel didn't fight it. No and Alonso will get DRS once

:54:53. > :54:58.again to further compound his lap time. Vettel no DRS because he was

:54:58. > :55:04.behind as he entered the corner. So Alonso strategically using the

:55:04. > :55:07.tools exceptionally well. This is a game of cat-and-mouse but Alonso

:55:07. > :55:14.looks strong at this stage. Hamilton ahead of Button as we saw.

:55:14. > :55:17.Nouch it's Raikkonen's turn to try and get past the McLaren, which is

:55:17. > :55:20.on a different strategy from the front runners in the race. Button

:55:20. > :55:25.driving a sensible race at this stage. It will depend on how good

:55:25. > :55:29.the car is on the soft tyre at the end. We don't expect it to have

:55:29. > :55:36.quite the same perform abs. -- performance. Hulkenberg halls just

:55:36. > :55:41.come in. He did 14 laps on that stint of tyres. A de -- decent

:55:41. > :55:43.stint. He's put the soft tyre on. He's gone for the soft tyre in the

:55:43. > :55:49.middle. This will be good information for the other teams.

:55:49. > :55:53.Because they'll get to see what his lap time degradation is. But

:55:54. > :55:58.Hulkenberg has been looking very consistent. He's going to get a

:55:58. > :56:03.good haul of points this afternoon. Yes, Perez is also doing his stint

:56:03. > :56:08.on the soft tyre at the moment. Let's see, that was Alonso running

:56:08. > :56:13.around the inside of Sebastien Vettel to take the lead at the

:56:13. > :56:18.Grand Prix. This is where Hamilton got past Jenson Button. Superior

:56:18. > :56:23.speed with the DRS in operation. Through he went no trouble at all.

:56:23. > :56:28.Hulkenberg on the softer tyre. It's an interestingly enough, he was on

:56:28. > :56:31.the radio to his team saying, they were asking what they should do,

:56:31. > :56:36.and Hulkenberg went back to the team saying "It's your choice, I

:56:36. > :56:42.can't see what's happening in the race." Which is a fair comment.

:56:42. > :56:45.Nico Rosberg stepped out of his car. Two DNFs in two races. Lee is

:56:45. > :56:49.talking to him. Just what you didn't want. Tell us

:56:49. > :56:54.what the problem was. I had a lot of understeer the whole time

:56:54. > :56:57.feeling very strange. After the pit stop it got worse and suddenly, my

:56:57. > :57:01.front wheel started bouncing on the inside of the corners. I don't know

:57:01. > :57:07.what the reason for that is. It can be something like a rear roll bar

:57:07. > :57:10.breaking or something. Then the front inside just comes up.

:57:10. > :57:15.luck. That's a problem two suspensionish

:57:15. > :57:21.ooze this weekend for Rosberg. He had -- suspension issues this

:57:21. > :57:25.weekend for Rosberg. Something has gone wrong in the race as well.

:57:25. > :57:30.There are reliability concerns at Mercedes. Yeah, it's concerning

:57:30. > :57:34.when we have seen the issues we've had through free practice. These

:57:34. > :57:39.cars are prototypes. They are updated week on week. It's not just

:57:39. > :57:43.a question of proving reliability in winter testing and leaving as is.

:57:43. > :57:47.Raikkonen in position here under the rear wing of Button. He won't

:57:47. > :57:53.be able to do anything through seven and eight. 150mph,

:57:53. > :57:57.considerably slower than what they do in qualifying, when the cars run

:57:57. > :58:02.on vapour. He's trying to line up for the next DRS zone. Meanwhile

:58:02. > :58:08.Perez on his soft tyres has done six laps and his last lap you can

:58:08. > :58:12.see where the tyres are losing performance. He's done a 145.1. It

:58:12. > :58:20.looks like a soft option tyre really only has six laps in it.

:58:20. > :58:23.box, box. So that's Vettel who will be coming in from second place. Now

:58:23. > :58:28.will he choose to run the option yet or will he leave it until the

:58:28. > :58:33.very end of the race? Based on the information you're seeing from

:58:33. > :58:36.Perez it will be purely - Here goes Raikkonen by the way. Down the

:58:36. > :58:41.inside, slipping past Jenson Button no problem at all. The decision

:58:41. > :58:44.will be based purely on how many laps they'll get out of it and

:58:44. > :58:48.where, as a consequence of making the next stop, will they end up

:58:48. > :58:52.being in traffic. This isn't just about where it puts them now, but

:58:52. > :58:58.where they think it will put them when the next round of stops comes.

:58:58. > :59:04.It's the medium compound, the harder tyre. They want to save that

:59:04. > :59:08.option tyre for later in the race. McLaren coming out into the pit

:59:08. > :59:13.lane. Hulkenberg halls just set the fastest lap of the race. Where does

:59:14. > :59:19.he come out? Behind Massa, I think. Yeah, comes out in eighth place.

:59:19. > :59:22.Perez for McLaren. He's just coming into his box. Hulkenberg trying to

:59:22. > :59:27.get past Di Resta in that group. Hulkenberg going quickly on the

:59:27. > :59:31.soft tyre. He has got past Di Resta there. It's put him into sixth

:59:31. > :59:36.place. So seven laps by Perez. Here's Vettel on a move on Massa

:59:36. > :59:39.and he's done it. Whoa that was brave, committed, once again from

:59:39. > :59:43.Sebastien Vettel. That's how you do it. There was no hesitation. It

:59:43. > :59:46.wasn't like unfortunately Mark's move came late on Jean-Eric Vergne.

:59:46. > :59:52.Vettel made it quite clear, I'm coming through and I'm running wide

:59:52. > :59:55.in. That case Massa has no choice but to leave the door open and hope

:59:55. > :59:59.Vettel has misjudged it and run wide on the exit. In that case, on

:59:59. > :00:05.the fresh tyres, made good use of that extra grip. Massa has done 13

:00:05. > :00:09.laps on the tyres he's on. So it's easy for Vettel to cut through at

:00:09. > :00:12.this point. It is. He has to use the extra grip whilst he has the

:00:12. > :00:17.opportunity. Great stuff Forrest Di Resta. Here he's down the inside of

:00:17. > :00:20.Di Resta through 13. Nonetheless, Di Resta has done a great job of

:00:20. > :00:23.pulling away from the Ferrari of Massa. That's right and Di Resta

:00:23. > :00:27.doing his upmost to get some points here for Force India. They've been

:00:27. > :00:31.out of the points here in China in the past. He's finished 11th

:00:31. > :00:35.himself just outside the points. He still has that soft tyre to run.

:00:35. > :00:38.Still keeping an eye on Hulkenberg's performance on the

:00:38. > :00:48.soft tyre. Di Resta might be coming in this lap. I can see action at

:00:48. > :00:58.

:00:58. > :01:03.Hamilton is he? Not far, and this is still one that Kimi Raikkonen wants

:01:04. > :01:07.to do. They started together on the front row of the grid but it looks

:01:07. > :01:14.like the Ferrari of Fernando Alonso has had the more competitive

:01:14. > :01:17.performance. That was good stuff, because he was

:01:17. > :01:22.trying to position his car and Felipe Massa made it clear who was

:01:23. > :01:32.going in that direction. On the outside initially, he has two lift

:01:33. > :01:34.

:01:34. > :01:39.out of it, and it is on the second phase of the brakes he chose to go

:01:39. > :01:48.on the inside, that is a very difficult move to pull off. We will

:01:48. > :01:58.see it from Daniel Ricciardo's point of view. Daniel Ricciardo in ninth

:01:58. > :02:04.

:02:04. > :02:14.place, and now the battle for fifth place. Sebastian Vettel here, on

:02:14. > :02:18.Nico Hulkenberg. How much further can Nico Hulkenberg go on these soft

:02:19. > :02:25.tyres, I wonder. He has an opportunity to go into the pit lane

:02:25. > :02:32.now, but it looks like he is staying out. He has been able to get ahead

:02:32. > :02:40.of the traffic in front of him. Looking at the tyre strategies, you

:02:40. > :02:46.can see how it is playing out. Sebastian Vettel, three sets of

:02:46. > :02:56.medium tyres, and he still has to use the soft tyres. Everybody has to

:02:56. > :03:02.use both, and talking of tyres, here is Paul Henbury. We have seen the

:03:02. > :03:12.soft tyres lasting about six laps, is that what you are expecting?

:03:12. > :03:17.

:03:17. > :03:22.we felt that it is about six so you should expect the two that started

:03:22. > :03:32.on the medium tyres should come into the last bit with six remaining.

:03:32. > :03:35.

:03:35. > :03:45.will make the end exciting. Kimi Raikkonen has just confirmed he

:03:45. > :03:45.

:03:45. > :03:52.wants one more turn of front wing. That was a long conversation between

:03:52. > :03:56.Kimi Raikkonen and his engineer! Kimi Raikkonen might well be able to

:03:56. > :04:05.get past Hamilton by doing this, that's what he will be hoping, but

:04:05. > :04:15.then he will have to do 20 laps on his final set of tyres. I wonder if

:04:15. > :04:17.

:04:17. > :04:21.Mercedes will bring Hamilton in next time around. Mercedes have got to

:04:21. > :04:28.respond with Hamilton now, as Kimi Raikkonen comes back out just ahead

:04:29. > :04:35.of his teammate, Grosjean going through the picture. Kimi Raikkonen

:04:35. > :04:43.now out in eighth place. It is going to be tight. The disadvantage for

:04:43. > :04:53.Kimi Raikkonen are the tyres. If it was a new set, I think Hamilton

:04:53. > :04:53.

:04:53. > :05:03.would be a sitting duck. There is Jean-Eric Vergne ahead of him, he

:05:03. > :05:06.

:05:06. > :05:10.will go on the inside in turn six. Paul di Resta, doing his utmost in

:05:10. > :05:17.the Force India this weekend, no doubt looking forward to Bahrain.

:05:17. > :05:25.Force India briefly led the grand prix there last year, as we watched

:05:25. > :05:28.the others coming down the straight. Fernando Alonso storming away with

:05:28. > :05:34.this one at the moment. Jenson Button in fourth place, Sebastian

:05:34. > :05:44.Vettel in fifth position, now able to really push. Nico Hulkenberg is

:05:44. > :06:04.

:06:04. > :06:09.to watch the stock clock to not go too fast. It is about the energy

:06:09. > :06:13.going into the tyres at this point, the drivers are almost like chemists

:06:13. > :06:23.trying to manage the reaction of the compound. They have to understand

:06:23. > :06:26.

:06:26. > :06:30.the physics, and they have two know what the limit of the car is. RADIO:

:06:30. > :06:35.We are going to have to get the traffic out of the way, he is

:06:35. > :06:45.destroying my tyres. He is talking about losing performance from his

:06:45. > :06:45.

:06:45. > :06:50.tyres. It is Max Chilton who is up ahead of him, running in 18th place.

:06:50. > :06:58.He is trying to close the gap, ten seconds between them at the moment

:06:58. > :07:04.but they are on different strategies currently. RADIO: Sebastian, we need

:07:04. > :07:10.to pass Jenson Button. I think he will do it. He has the

:07:10. > :07:16.speed, the DRS in operation and there is nothing Jenson Button can

:07:17. > :07:22.do about that. Sebastian Vettel moves back into third position now,

:07:22. > :07:28.lap 37 out of 56 and still this race is playing out the strategy. Rocky

:07:28. > :07:33.is pleased with that, that is what he wanted to see. Fernando Alonso is

:07:33. > :07:40.still in control by 12.3 seconds. Max Chilton being told about the

:07:40. > :07:48.blue flag, and I'm sure he will be getting out of the way. Incomes Nico

:07:48. > :07:52.Hulkenberg. Kimi Raikkonen has just set his own personal best lap time.

:07:52. > :07:57.Hamilton is still out there. Felipe Massa gets on his way again. I

:07:57. > :08:01.thought they were going to be close, Nico Hulkenberg and Felipe

:08:01. > :08:11.Massa side-by-side, and it will be a race now, a problem for Nico

:08:11. > :08:18.Hulkenberg. He didn't get off the pit limiter. Normally you have

:08:18. > :08:22.programmed depending on individual driver preference, but something in

:08:22. > :08:27.the distraction... Lets just watch it from inside the cockpit. He knows

:08:27. > :08:37.to leave room, looks in his mirrors, and it looks like the Ferrari is

:08:37. > :08:40.

:08:40. > :08:47.edging up on him. There was no edging, the limiter was still on. It

:08:47. > :08:57.is down to team choice, I would have gone for the minute you up shift it

:08:57. > :09:19.

:09:19. > :09:26.big question because he came in only a few laps ago, but these will be

:09:26. > :09:35.fresher tyres. Now, where is the Lotus? Flushing down the straight,

:09:35. > :09:39.and is that him there? I think it is. Is it the Toro Rosso? He is in

:09:39. > :09:45.turn three already, and it is between Kimi Raikkonen and Lewis

:09:45. > :09:50.Hamilton so he has lost out in that particular round. Kimi Raikkonen

:09:50. > :09:54.delivered a personal best on this phase of the grand prix so he

:09:54. > :10:01.reacted to the need to get a move on and try to clear the traffic he was

:10:01. > :10:08.finding with the Mercedes. It is Daniel Ricciardo he has come out

:10:08. > :10:14.behind. He needs to go chasing after Kimi Raikkonen. What Lewis has to

:10:14. > :10:18.hope for is the fact that maybe the Lotus won't have any kind of tyre

:10:18. > :10:21.performance come the end of the rays, which is what happened to Kimi

:10:21. > :10:27.Raikkonen last year if you remember. He dropped like a stone

:10:27. > :10:32.out of the points. We are looking at Lotus's treatment of the tyres this

:10:32. > :10:39.year, I think they will have judged that more carefully and Kimi

:10:39. > :10:44.Raikkonen could have beaten Hamilton through this series of pit stops.

:10:44. > :10:49.Daniel Ricciardo holds his line for the moment and no problem at all for

:10:49. > :10:55.Lewis Hamilton to get past, so Daniel Ricciardo drops a position.

:10:55. > :11:04.This was as Kimi Raikkonen went past Daniel Ricciardo, the lap before.

:11:04. > :11:09.is a couple of moves today from Kimi Raikkonen, committed to the outside

:11:09. > :11:15.move in turn one. You need a compliant racer on the inside not to

:11:15. > :11:21.drive you wide, but Kimi Raikkonen making good use of the traffic.

:11:21. > :11:25.thirds of the way through this grand prix, Fernando Alonso leading over

:11:26. > :11:30.Sebastian Vettel. Then we have got Jenson Button running in third

:11:30. > :11:40.position, Kimi Raikkonen in fourth place, Lewis Hamilton in fifth

:11:40. > :11:50.place. Daniel Ricciardo has just come into the pits by the way. Both

:11:50. > :11:51.

:11:51. > :11:56.Williams are still running, but down in 13th and 14th place. Max Chilton

:11:56. > :12:06.is now head of Vander guard, and we have lost four cars from this grand

:12:06. > :12:12.

:12:12. > :12:18.prix. Fernando Alonso has spawned on the wheels there. We expect him and

:12:18. > :12:24.Sebastian Vettel both to make one more pit stop this afternoon. Let's

:12:24. > :12:32.look for Sebastian Vettel in the background. It is a long gap. That

:12:32. > :12:39.is what 19 seconds looks like. It may be more. 19 flat, so Sebastian

:12:39. > :12:49.Vettel picked up two tents, but if they both do the remaining 1-stop

:12:49. > :12:53.

:12:53. > :13:01.each, this is running order. Sebastian Vettel has the soft tyres

:13:01. > :13:05.still to come. Yes, he has the ugly ones at the end. Hamilton just set

:13:05. > :13:15.the fastest lap, trying to catch up to Kimi Raikkonen. Kimi Raikkonen

:13:15. > :13:21.

:13:21. > :13:27.trying to pace it, and Lewis going on the attack. Kimi Raikkonen will

:13:27. > :13:32.have a brand-new set of tyres to stick on for the last stint.

:13:32. > :13:42.number of cars will be investigated for the use of DRS in yellow flag

:13:42. > :13:43.

:13:43. > :13:50.zones. Max Chilton and Daniel Ricciardo. That could make a late

:13:50. > :13:55.night tonight. Fernando Alonso's name is not in that list, even

:13:55. > :14:01.further cementing his position, looking like he will win this

:14:01. > :14:06.afternoon. It makes you wonder if something went wrong with the whole

:14:06. > :14:12.system because it is unusual for so many cars to make a mistake in that

:14:12. > :14:15.sense. They will be getting on prescription before they see the

:14:15. > :14:25.stewards. Let's take a look at what's going on here with Fernando

:14:25. > :14:36.

:14:36. > :14:43.Alonso, the front wing moving around himself with some slow motion camera

:14:44. > :14:53.work but I don't think there was an incident there. RADIO: Try to do

:14:54. > :14:54.

:14:54. > :15:02.more saving in turn one. It looks very much like Fernando Alonso so

:15:02. > :15:06.far is looking good for victory. It is about the second and third

:15:06. > :15:16.places. It was this area of the track last year where Kimi Raikkonen

:15:16. > :15:16.

:15:16. > :15:21.had his problem. Here we go, a final stop for Ferrari, perfect three stop

:15:21. > :15:27.territory. A good example of how calm the guys are. No emotion,

:15:27. > :15:32.bringing out a new set of primes. They don't have much time to get

:15:32. > :15:36.into position. They tend to keep the tyres off the cement in the pit area

:15:36. > :15:42.because they lose heat so quickly and you need to keep them at the

:15:42. > :15:45.optimum working temperature. Fernando Alonso coming in. They are

:15:45. > :15:51.looking good for victory at the moment but they still have some way

:15:51. > :15:55.to go in this race. Not the fastest by any means. It looks like the

:15:55. > :16:05.front jack man was out of the way but Fernando Alonso looks for the

:16:05. > :16:13.

:16:13. > :16:16.light to wait to see when it is safe Alonso still looking good. He is

:16:16. > :16:20.looking good. Sebastien Vettel is where he likes to be, leading a

:16:20. > :16:25.Grand Prix. Of course, these guys all know that chasing consistent

:16:25. > :16:31.podiums is how you win the whorld championship. That's how Alonso

:16:31. > :16:36.came so close to beating Vettel last year. Another fastest lap from

:16:36. > :16:40.Lewis Hamilton who is within just over a second of Raikkonen.

:16:40. > :16:50.Raikkonen definitely not secure in his position. They're both racing

:16:50. > :16:51.

:16:51. > :16:56.against Vettel. They have differing strategies. Massa is currently in

:16:56. > :17:00.seventh place in the other Ferrari. He seems to have lost out, that

:17:00. > :17:05.first pit stop cost Massa hugely. He hasn't been able to deliver the

:17:05. > :17:09.kind of performance that Fernando Alonso has done. Gary, just wanted

:17:09. > :17:13.to bring you in here. It looks good for Alonso but it's all about

:17:13. > :17:18.second and third. That's where the real race is going on here. At the

:17:18. > :17:21.minute Vettel is 15 seconds behind Alonso. He's in the lead now.

:17:21. > :17:24.Hamilton was 25 seconds behind. Those two are going to be coming

:17:24. > :17:28.out together after pit stop. It's within of those things where you

:17:29. > :17:33.need to make sure you either have 23 seconds to get that gap or

:17:33. > :17:37.you're not going to make it. wonder how McLaren's strategy is

:17:37. > :17:41.working out as well. They're on the two-stop. Jenson Button running

:17:41. > :17:45.third. Let's watch Alonso. I think it will be a very easy overtake

:17:45. > :17:49.before turn one. Fernando Alonso reclaims the lead at the Chinese

:17:49. > :17:53.Grand Prix once more. He's looking good up front. Vettel has to manage

:17:53. > :17:57.his tyres and he still has one stop to go. What are your thoughts on

:17:57. > :18:00.Button? Button, it was the right thing to do, the right strategy to

:18:00. > :18:06.me is going to be taking the best result out of this weekend that he

:18:06. > :18:10.can. I don't think they came here thinking they could win the race.

:18:10. > :18:13.You're matching Vettel and racing Vettel let's close up to him. (

:18:13. > :18:19.Racing Vettel do you think they've got a chance? They're doing the

:18:19. > :18:24.same sort of lap time. Once the tyres do these four, five laps and

:18:24. > :18:29.then fairly stable for a long time. Jenson did a good run on the medium

:18:29. > :18:34.tyre earlier. What's the longest run you've seen on the soft tyre of

:18:34. > :18:38.any use? Perez we saw it and that was six laps. He was two seconds

:18:38. > :18:46.slower than Jenson Button. You have to look car for ka. Two seconds is

:18:46. > :18:50.too much. We won't expect Sebastian in till lap 51. He must make sure

:18:50. > :18:53.he has a good tyre for the last laps because that's where the

:18:53. > :18:57.racing will be done. We were watching the tyre behaviour on

:18:57. > :19:06.Vettel's car there, David. They're getting up on the laps now, Vettel

:19:06. > :19:10.came in for his stop. My notes here 32, lap 32. He has done 11 laps on

:19:10. > :19:13.the tyres. You get well into the graining phase. Look at how

:19:13. > :19:17.Hamilton is bearing down on Raikkonen. He's getting closer and

:19:17. > :19:21.closer to the back. Both of them are not far behind Jenson Button as

:19:21. > :19:25.well. This is going to be fun. Jenson Button, former winner here

:19:25. > :19:29.in China, so is Kimi Raikkonen and of course, so is Lewis Hamilton, a

:19:29. > :19:33.double winner in the past. He knows you have to race this thing right

:19:33. > :19:39.to the end. He has claimed top spot in the final few laps himself here,

:19:39. > :19:43.just a few years ago over Sebastien Vettel. So, no giving in at this

:19:43. > :19:47.point. It has to be full on, all the way. See what happens in the

:19:47. > :19:53.race with Vettel, who is still running in second place, but he's

:19:53. > :19:58.due another pit stop. Remember Button is also due another pit stop.

:19:58. > :20:02.Button being asked to close on Vettel, who is on much newer tyres.

:20:02. > :20:07.That's asking quite a lot of Jenson Button really in a McLaren that we

:20:07. > :20:11.know is not as competitive as these front running cars at this point.

:20:11. > :20:16.Got to give them some inspiration, back at the factory, it's great to

:20:16. > :20:21.see the McLaren on a different strategy up there with these guys.

:20:21. > :20:24.It's classic Grand Prix racing. You have to play to your strengths. I

:20:24. > :20:28.think McLaren clearly recognise they don't have this new package

:20:28. > :20:32.for this year optimised, but when you have such a big spread in

:20:32. > :20:36.performance with the tyres, they've gone with a different strategy. It

:20:36. > :20:41.fits comfortably with the fact that Jenson Button, more often than not,

:20:41. > :20:45.in changing conditions, we see the medium, damp conditions, others are

:20:45. > :20:49.still on the wet or slicks, he's good at understanding what might

:20:49. > :20:52.be... Here comes Raikkonen, though. Raikkonen going to take that

:20:52. > :20:55.position from Jenson Button. He moves into third place. Lewis

:20:56. > :21:02.Hamilton will try to do similar. Still another stop to come for

:21:02. > :21:07.Jenson Button, remember. Raikkonen, who has done his three stops now is

:21:07. > :21:10.charging to the flag from this stage, as is Lewis Hamilton. A

:21:11. > :21:14.different strategy. What McLaren are trying to do is stay in the top

:21:14. > :21:19.ten and get some points out of this race, bring more modifications to

:21:19. > :21:24.the car to Bahrain. Hamilton here, looking round the outside. That's...

:21:24. > :21:29.He'll did it, will he? Down the inside, that's unusual. He's ended

:21:29. > :21:34.up doing it. Button being generous. There Yeah he was. Jenson left him

:21:34. > :21:38.room. Sensible racing. Once Lewis had positioned himself into the

:21:38. > :21:44.braking zone, on the outer line, so good spatial awareness of these two

:21:44. > :21:48.guys, unless you don't see someone overtaking there every day. Both on

:21:48. > :21:51.the podium here last year. Jenson Button lost the chance to close on

:21:51. > :21:58.Rosberg with a pit stop problem. This was Grosjean getting past

:21:58. > :22:01.Perez a moment ago. That was for tenth place. It is Grosjean, not

:22:01. > :22:06.Perez. This is Raikkonen and that is on Button. That was the replay

:22:06. > :22:13.of the overtake we saw a moment ago. So Raikkonen taking that position

:22:13. > :22:18.and moving up into third. This was how Hamilton got round Button.

:22:18. > :22:23.was nice stuff. Jenson very aware of where the other car was, left

:22:23. > :22:26.him space. That's racing respect. This is impressive, Alonso happens

:22:26. > :22:31.just set the fastest middle soctor of anybody out there. He's in the

:22:31. > :22:37.final stint of the race. He's not, you know, he will be looking after

:22:37. > :22:41.his tyres, yet still going very quickly here. Alonso in great shape.

:22:41. > :22:48.He's nine seconds, ten seconds ahead, a bit less of Raikkonen. Can

:22:48. > :22:54.Raikkonen close that gap at all? We'll keep an eye on that. 1.40.2

:22:54. > :22:57.from Raikkonen, 139.6 from Alonso. Raikkonen has to get on it here if

:22:57. > :23:01.he's going to close the Ferrari down in the closing laps. Of course

:23:01. > :23:08.Alonso on fresher tyres. I don't think that's very likely. But we'll

:23:08. > :23:11.have to wait and see. Laps are tick ago way. We're on lap 46 now.

:23:11. > :23:18.shows you the different strategies here and how you manage the tyres.

:23:18. > :23:22.You have Alonso on 39.6, Vettel in second, two seconds slower on that

:23:22. > :23:27.laflt -- last laugh. The times are all over the place as these drivers

:23:27. > :23:31.try to manage their own Grand Prix. Yes, it's a question, a bit like

:23:31. > :23:35.Kim yip has been saying, you drive very much your own Grand Prix, in a

:23:35. > :23:40.way, rather than setting out to race against the others. You have

:23:40. > :23:47.to drive teetally to plan, whatever you come up with with the team, if

:23:47. > :23:50.that involves overtaking, then great. Now Lewis Hamilton 1.1

:23:50. > :23:53.seconds behind Raikkonen. Their target is both of them to close the

:23:53. > :23:58.gap to Alonso, but more importantly, to get themselves in position to be

:23:58. > :24:03.ahead of Vettel, which they are doing. Vettel will drop behind them

:24:03. > :24:08.when he makes his pit stop. In fact, Vettel will drp behind Button as

:24:08. > :24:12.things stand as well. He should come out in front of roast rest.

:24:12. > :24:18.But Vettel certainly won't be looking at a podium finish, as the

:24:18. > :24:22.way things are going. He might even drop behind Massa, potentially. So

:24:22. > :24:26.Vettel really has to manage this stage of the race. It looks, I mean,

:24:26. > :24:32.we did wonder. Button needs to do another stop, though. I know.So

:24:32. > :24:42.that will be neutralised. Good point. He won't probably be behind

:24:42. > :24:47.

:24:47. > :24:50.Button. I'm not pushing, he said as he sets another fastest lap. In a

:24:50. > :24:55.comfort zone. Well man and machine come together in perfect harmony

:24:55. > :25:01.sometimes. When that happens, at an exceptional level, no-one can match

:25:01. > :25:07.it. Alonso seems to have found that position today. Do remember that

:25:07. > :25:11.Button has to go onto the soft tyre as well as Sebastien Vettel. So

:25:11. > :25:17.they both have that joy to come. Track temperature is now 27 degrees.

:25:17. > :25:23.They have a trarg et of trying to prevent the -- target of trying to

:25:23. > :25:27.prevent the soft tyres graining. How is Raikkonen getting on in his

:25:27. > :25:32.battle with Hamilton? Lapping within a tenth of each other last

:25:32. > :25:39.time around. Gap still 1.2 seconds. Bit of N steer there. This is

:25:39. > :25:42.battle for best of the rest. This is for second. Who has the

:25:42. > :25:46.performance? Lotus versus Mercedes, that seems to be the race for

:25:46. > :25:50.second place. I don't think the Red Bull of Vettel currently in second

:25:50. > :25:56.is going to be in that hunt once he makes the final stop. It looks as

:25:56. > :26:01.though the strategy to use the soft tyre in qualifying looks to be the

:26:01. > :26:06.best strategy. Red Bull's decision not to use the soft tyre doesn't

:26:06. > :26:11.seem to be working out here. That's one of the big challenges the teams

:26:11. > :26:16.have that hindsight being a wonderful thing it is and with this

:26:16. > :26:22.new construction of Pirelli tyre, compounds are a little bit softer.

:26:22. > :26:26.Tyres fundamentally different apart from the name on the side. Lewis,

:26:26. > :26:30.the car ahead of Kimi still has to stop with the option tyre. It will

:26:30. > :26:34.be close at the end of the race. They're staying it will be close.

:26:34. > :26:38.Vettel will have good pace for a few laps on the option tyre. So

:26:38. > :26:43.whenever he comes out, he should be able to make up quite a bit of

:26:43. > :26:48.ground for three, four laps. After four laps is the crossover point

:26:48. > :26:52.where the soft tyre starts to lose performance to a medium tyre. But

:26:52. > :26:58.he will have four laps in which to make some ground. He might get more

:26:58. > :27:05.out of it. It's a brand new set waiting for him. They've not been

:27:05. > :27:09.spoiled by gooing through a heat cycle. -- going through a heat

:27:09. > :27:13.cycle. But he will drop behind these two cars. It will make for an

:27:13. > :27:17.exciting finish. A quick note that Daniel Ricciardo in the Toro Rosso,

:27:17. > :27:23.he's done his pit stops and he's running in eighth place. He's not

:27:23. > :27:26.far from Felipe Massa. Great effort from him. There he is right on cue

:27:26. > :27:29.just passing Nico Hulkenberg. Toro Rosso showing the sort of

:27:29. > :27:34.performance that we have seen glimpses of this year already in a

:27:34. > :27:37.couple of fast lap speeds in the races, but now they're delivering

:27:37. > :27:42.today. It could be just the characteristics of this circuit.

:27:42. > :27:45.This time last year Rosberg won in dominant style and Mercedes never

:27:45. > :27:50.looked like winning again. That's the nature of Formula One as they

:27:50. > :27:55.go through the early stage of the season. More difficult to bring the

:27:55. > :27:58.big upgrades when we're overseas. We tend to reset everything in

:27:58. > :28:03.terms of performance level when we get back to the European season in

:28:03. > :28:09.Barcelona. They're making here, in the points. That's very valuable.

:28:09. > :28:14.We are going once more pass. Let's get everything out of this set.

:28:14. > :28:19.He's done 25 laps I think on this set of tyres. They really have

:28:19. > :28:23.lasted extremely well. Vettel looks like he's beginning to slide around

:28:23. > :28:29.a bit. They've done 18 laps, no actually a good first sector, maybe

:28:29. > :28:33.not. He's also running 1.2 seconds faster than Button's last lap, more

:28:33. > :28:38.than that actually 1.6 seconds faster. Button definitely was in

:28:38. > :28:42.management style there. Vettel able to run slightly faster trying to

:28:42. > :28:46.minimise what the gap will be to Raikkonen/Hamilton when he does the

:28:46. > :28:51.last pit stop, bolts on a new set of boots and goes out there and

:28:51. > :28:54.hits it for a few laps. Still the gap here between Raikkonen and

:28:54. > :28:59.Hamilton, third and fourth. That becomes second and third, once

:28:59. > :29:03.Vettel makes his final stop. Paul di Resta... Lewis, we're expecting

:29:03. > :29:07.Vettel to box in the next three laps. Vettel will stop in the next

:29:07. > :29:14.three laps towards the end of the race. He's going to be very close,

:29:14. > :29:17.about similar pace. So watch out for behind Lewis. Lewis has been in

:29:17. > :29:22.the situation where he's had faster tyres at the end of the race. He

:29:22. > :29:26.will be up for the fight. Di Resta, who is in sixth place, also has to

:29:26. > :29:31.make a pit stop. Here are McLaren then for Jenson Button, who will be

:29:31. > :29:35.coming into the pits. His team-mate Perez is in 11th place currently.

:29:35. > :29:44.He should come out just about three seconds ahead of Daniel Ricciardo.

:29:44. > :29:49.We'll look at that. Let's just make sure the pit stop goes well first

:29:49. > :29:53.of all because it didn't in Malaysia, if you remember.

:29:53. > :29:57.Beautiful. That's more like it. Poetry in motion. Indeed. Now where

:29:57. > :30:03.is he coming out? Massa is coming through the shot now. There's

:30:03. > :30:07.Ricciardo. So yeah, he's coming out ahead of Daniel Ricciardo. That's a

:30:07. > :30:13.good position for him. So he'll be fairly happy with that. Let's see

:30:13. > :30:17.how these tyres work on the McLaren. Whether he will be able to put

:30:17. > :30:21.Massa under pressure? Because he will have quicker tyres than Felipe

:30:21. > :30:25.Massa ahead of him for the next few laps no doubt about it. Will he be

:30:25. > :30:28.able to get past Massa and stay in front of him. Di Resta we're

:30:28. > :30:31.waiting for to come into the pits and then of course, still waiting

:30:31. > :30:35.for Sebastien Vettel. That's the big one. That's the one we really

:30:35. > :30:45.want to see what's going to happen when Sebastian comes in for the

:30:45. > :30:55.

:30:55. > :31:05.in second place, but due pit stop. Kimi Raikkonen and Hamilton, another

:31:05. > :31:06.

:31:06. > :31:12.great effort by Lewis Hamilton of course. Sebastian Vettel really is

:31:12. > :31:17.going deep before they make their final stop. Here comes Jenson Button

:31:17. > :31:24.on Felipe Massa, closing up, on the soft tyres and he will get him down

:31:24. > :31:31.the inside. Will these soft tyres last for him all the way? This is

:31:32. > :31:37.impressive for McLaren to be able to get past the Ferrari. Look at Felipe

:31:37. > :31:42.Massa sliding around. That's right, but Jenson Button has a new set of

:31:42. > :31:47.those tyres on, and he should be able to make it work. At the end of

:31:47. > :31:51.the day, you cannot do much to preserve the life of the option

:31:51. > :31:56.tyre, you have just got to use the grip that is available and if it

:31:56. > :32:05.does fall off in the last lap or so you just hope you have a big enough

:32:05. > :32:15.to hold on. And that you have a wide enough car, not easy in Shanghai on

:32:15. > :32:18.

:32:18. > :32:22.the wide track as it is. Look at the marvels to the side of the track.

:32:22. > :32:30.Sebastian Vettel, currently seven seconds behind Fernando Alonso. This

:32:30. > :32:36.should bring him out ahead of Paul di Resta and behind Lewis Hamilton.

:32:36. > :32:40.The question is will those soft tyres allow him to close the gap to

:32:40. > :32:50.Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen? needs to make up more than ten

:32:50. > :32:51.

:32:51. > :32:56.seconds. The pitstop will cost him about 18 seconds in total time.

:32:56. > :33:00.comes Sebastian Vettel, a little slow getting the front jack away.

:33:00. > :33:06.Not a big disaster but they were a little bit slow and he needs every

:33:06. > :33:11.10th of a second here. We are so used to it being like clockwork, but

:33:11. > :33:21.the way goes Sebastian Vettel, rejoining once again, and let's see

:33:21. > :33:24.

:33:24. > :33:34.how this settles down now. Jenson Button going down into turn one now

:33:34. > :33:34.

:33:34. > :33:43.as we speak. This will be like four qualifying laps until the end of the

:33:43. > :33:49.grand prix. RADIO: Race to the finish, you have a big gap behind.

:33:49. > :33:56.That gives him the comfort zone, just play with it, see what you can

:33:56. > :34:01.deliver. Fast laps, as he runs to the line. This will be fun to

:34:01. > :34:05.watch. The reigning world champion going for it, trying to catch Kimi

:34:05. > :34:13.Raikkonen and Lewis Hamilton, who are now second and third. Have they

:34:13. > :34:19.got enough to stay in front of him and close in on their podium spots?

:34:19. > :34:24.There is the gap, back to the Red Bull, can he really close that gap

:34:24. > :34:29.in the remaining laps? It is a lot to ask but you can bet he will be

:34:29. > :34:37.giving it everything. He was one second quicker alone in that middle

:34:37. > :34:44.sector. What happened here at the pitstop? Was it the front jack?

:34:44. > :34:53.was pulling the front lever. You can see the gap from Sebastian Vettel to

:34:54. > :35:02.Hamilton in front. 11 seconds. 11.5 seconds he has to make up in the

:35:02. > :35:12.relapse, I don't think that is going to be possible. The fastest lap

:35:12. > :35:19.

:35:19. > :35:22.currently in this grand prix has been 1.39.95. Let's see how this

:35:22. > :35:27.next lap goes. Fernando Alonso dealing with this traffic, we

:35:27. > :35:32.haven't watched him much because he has been supreme out in front,

:35:32. > :35:40.dealing with every situation very well and the Ferrari has looked

:35:40. > :35:44.superb as well. They have a race winning car, no doubt about it. What

:35:44. > :35:54.a reply to Malaysia, to come back and basically dominate this race, 11

:35:54. > :35:56.

:35:56. > :36:03.seconds ahead of Kimi Raikkonen with Lewis Hamilton close behind. Let's

:36:03. > :36:12.see what happened here with Hamilton. It locked up in his quest

:36:12. > :36:19.to get into the DRS zone, locking up on the front left. Paul di Resta,

:36:19. > :36:29.pitting now, and it will be close with Nico Hulkenberg so we will be

:36:29. > :36:34.keeping an eye on that one as well. What about Sebastian Vettel's lap?

:36:34. > :36:39.The gap is now down to eight seconds between Sebastian Vettel and Lewis

:36:39. > :36:48.Hamilton. He has certainly unleashed some lap time from those new option

:36:48. > :36:58.tyres. Paul di Resta, in the pits as we speak. Nico Hulkenberg just

:36:58. > :37:07.coming down the start finish straight now, and in fact I think

:37:07. > :37:14.Grosjean has got past Nico Hulkenberg as well. Paul di Resta,

:37:14. > :37:17.out in front, he has just managed to get out in front of Grosjean and

:37:17. > :37:25.Nico Hulkenberg. Maybe Force India can still get some points here

:37:25. > :37:31.today, we will have to wait and see. It will be marginal. Sebastian

:37:31. > :37:35.Vettel is one second up in this sector relative to Hamilton. On

:37:35. > :37:40.schedule to be getting close to the gearbox at the end of the grand

:37:40. > :37:45.prix, but getting diminishing returns now. His tyres are no longer

:37:45. > :37:53.brand-new, and hired degradation, even on the Mercedes in front which

:37:53. > :37:59.is much older prime tyres. We are going to get a grandstand finish but

:37:59. > :38:08.I don't know if it will be enough. Lap time, three seconds quicker, and

:38:08. > :38:15.he is five seconds behind. The last lap is going to be a lot of fun, no

:38:15. > :38:21.doubt about it. There is traffic ahead as well, so Kimi Raikkonen and

:38:21. > :38:24.Hamilton have got to navigate themselves through a group of slower

:38:24. > :38:31.cars who are obviously getting on with their grand prix. They will get

:38:31. > :38:41.the blue flags. Bianchi is still leading in the young guns group.

:38:41. > :38:44.

:38:44. > :38:49.RADIO: 5.2, you have got two laps remaining. They didn't work out how

:38:49. > :38:58.fast Sebastian Vettel is going, I notice. I think he might have worked

:38:58. > :39:04.that out himself! He is still going one second per lap faster. One

:39:04. > :39:14.second per sector faster, excuse me. There are the guys he is racing in

:39:14. > :39:18.front. It is a big gap. You know you have got them inside, and on

:39:18. > :39:26.superior tyres, but will they last? We have seen Hamilton Locke

:39:26. > :39:35.already. A bit wider from Sebastian Vettel, but he didn't lock up.

:39:35. > :39:45.getting scrappy now. Hamilton crossing the line, down to two

:39:45. > :39:46.

:39:46. > :39:53.microseconds. The battle for the final podium slot is definitely on.

:39:53. > :39:59.Hamilton will be compromised as he goes through turns four and five.

:39:59. > :40:04.Kimi Raikkonen should be secure in second but Hamilton has traffic.

:40:04. > :40:11.he is dropping back, he has fallen into a zone where his tyres have

:40:11. > :40:16.gone off. He will be a sitting duck for Sebastian Vettel. I don't think

:40:16. > :40:22.he can hold on. Can he hold on for a second podium finish for Mercedes,

:40:22. > :40:27.or will it be snapped away in the dying moments of this grand prix by

:40:27. > :40:33.Sebastian Vettel? He is calling for this blue flags and he finally gets

:40:33. > :40:39.passed it but Sebastian Vettel is within the DRS zone. He has run wide

:40:39. > :40:45.and made a mistake so Hamilton may be safe. Sebastian Vettel may get

:40:45. > :40:51.DRS but he will be too far back. Red Bull is not as fast in a

:40:51. > :40:55.straight line, where he needs it right now. Heading down towards the

:40:55. > :41:02.hairpin, remember Fernando Alonso will win this race, but who will

:41:02. > :41:05.finish in third? Fernando Alonso wins in China for Ferrari! They

:41:05. > :41:12.celebrate already, but what will happen in the battle for third

:41:13. > :41:20.place? Hamilton, locking up, but still ahead of Sebastian Vettel.

:41:20. > :41:25.What a race to the flag! Brilliant stuff, but Red Bull's strategy did

:41:25. > :41:30.not quite pay off. Jenson Button finishes in fifth place, McLaren

:41:30. > :41:38.will be very happy about that. Delivering a solid result with a car

:41:38. > :41:47.that perhaps was not up to the mark. Celebration in the Ferrari camp, the

:41:47. > :41:54.first Ferrari win of 2013, the second for Fernando Alonso here, and

:41:54. > :41:58.the fourth for Ferrari in China. Ferrari are definite championship

:41:58. > :42:06.contenders. Felipe Massa has finished in sixth, Daniel Ricciardo

:42:06. > :42:16.a fantastic seventh place, Paul di Resta in eighth place as well.

:42:16. > :42:44.

:42:44. > :42:46.Alonso takes his 31st career win, and the 220th Ferrari win in the

:42:46. > :42:53.history of the Formula one championship. Kimi Raikkonen has

:42:53. > :42:57.taken home second place, and this was the final lap. That was the

:42:57. > :43:04.mistake from Sebastian Vettel, and again just sliding the car as he

:43:04. > :43:09.came through turns 11 and 12, desperate in his attempt. By that

:43:09. > :43:13.stage the tyres were perhaps giving him less grip than he had been

:43:13. > :43:18.expecting. They had been giving him massive amounts of grip in the last

:43:18. > :43:22.few laps but they were beginning to give up that grip so he didn't have

:43:22. > :43:32.enough to fight Lewis Hamilton. Lewis Hamilton has hung on to get a

:43:32. > :43:37.second consecutive podium. RADIO: Sorry about the start, otherwise

:43:37. > :43:41.fantastic. That will refer to the setting is the team gave him, and

:43:41. > :43:45.presumably the poor start we saw from Kimi Raikkonen was down to some

:43:45. > :43:49.setup issue on the clutch or whatever and the team apologising to

:43:49. > :43:54.him for that. Look at the bits of rubber that have

:43:54. > :44:00.been flown off the tyres, and the teams just driving onto that to pick

:44:00. > :44:07.up that extra bit of rubber. Lewis Hamilton, two podiums, he has got to

:44:07. > :44:12.be happy with that. RADIO: That was a close one, excellent drive. Very

:44:12. > :44:19.good drive, we are not there yet but not so faraway so let's keep working

:44:19. > :44:24.hard. Very good. He did just enough, but he was

:44:24. > :44:30.hanging on by his fingertips to move away from a charging Sebastian

:44:30. > :44:38.Vettel, but it is Ferrari who have taken the victory and they have

:44:38. > :44:47.broken a three-year Mercedes engined stranglehold. Kimi Raikkonen with

:44:47. > :44:51.Renault power has taken a victory. It is Ferrari this time, but

:44:51. > :44:58.nonetheless three different constructors on the podium once

:44:58. > :45:04.again. Ferrari, Lotus and Mercedes, then Red Bull and McLaren, so five

:45:04. > :45:08.if you look at it that way, five different constructors in the top

:45:08. > :45:12.five and that is extremely healthy for the sport. Fernando Alonso

:45:12. > :45:20.drives into the number one spot, a fully deserved winner of the Chinese

:45:20. > :45:26.grand prix. He had a pretty lonely afternoon of it. The Ferrari,

:45:26. > :45:33.phenomenal off the line as we have seen on a number of occasions. They

:45:33. > :45:40.have had a great start, and after Australia he just drove a brilliant

:45:40. > :45:50.race. They have the durability, they went for the three stop option and

:45:50. > :45:54.

:45:54. > :46:01.Well, Ferrari are the most successful constructor here in

:46:01. > :46:07.China now. Barrichello won the first race in 2004. They won it in

:46:07. > :46:11.2006 as well. And 2007. Michael Schumacher had his last ever win in

:46:11. > :46:17.Formula One here in China. Kimi Raikkonen had a victory for the

:46:17. > :46:27.team as well. But it's been a while since they've had a podium here. So

:46:27. > :47:00.

:47:00. > :47:04.Four non-finishers. There were a couple of incidents there.

:47:04. > :47:08.Gutierrez crashing into the back of Adrian Sutil. That took them both

:47:08. > :47:14.out. We saw contact between Webber and the Toro Rosso of Jean-Eric

:47:14. > :47:18.Vergne. Buff actual thri was a loose wheel -- but actual thri was

:47:18. > :47:21.a loose wheel that took Webber out of the race.

:47:21. > :47:31.In the championship, Vettel now leads by three points from Kimi

:47:31. > :47:52.

:47:52. > :47:57.A well deserved swig of water. Very calm looking, Lewis Hamilton,

:47:57. > :48:02.despite having fended off Vettel at the end. Constructors Championship,

:48:02. > :48:12.look how close to Red Bull now, five points the gap. Lotus have

:48:12. > :48:22.

:48:22. > :48:32.dropped from being tied with It was all over the place. I hit

:48:32. > :48:32.

:48:32. > :48:38.him in the rear. The front wing? Was it losing much? Yeah, losing,

:48:38. > :48:41.just too much understeer. There we are very interesting. Talking about

:48:41. > :48:47.hitting Perez, Lewis saying yeah, he was moving around all over the

:48:47. > :48:56.place. Then it did a bit of damage. He had a lot of understeer as a

:48:56. > :49:06.ruplt. -- result. Take nothing away from Fernando Alonso. A fully

:49:06. > :49:06.

:49:06. > :51:15.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 57 seconds

:51:15. > :51:20.MUSIC: Narm anthem plays. CHEERING AND APPLAUSE So Fernando

:51:20. > :51:24.Alonso takes victory here in China. 31 victories to his name in his

:51:24. > :51:27.career. That matches Nigel Mansell career. That matches Nigel Mansell

:51:27. > :51:36.interestingly enough. They are together now, fourth in the all-

:51:36. > :51:41.time winners list. Ferrari taking victory at such a key stage of the

:51:41. > :51:45.season, to prove that this new car really is as good as they hoped it

:51:45. > :51:50.was in those winter tests. Such a different story to the start of

:51:50. > :51:53.last year, when he Baz struggling to finish inside -- when he was

:51:53. > :51:57.struggling finish inside the top ten. They corrected that going into

:51:57. > :52:00.the European season. They have started so much more strongly. Kimi

:52:00. > :52:04.Raikkonen is a championship contender. A victory to his name

:52:04. > :52:10.already this year. Now a solid second place and what about Lewis

:52:11. > :52:14.Hamilton? Last two races he's had two podium finishes. Ross Brawn

:52:14. > :52:24.said they're not quite there yet, but a huge amount of development

:52:24. > :52:28.

:52:28. > :52:32.work going on at that team. Let's celebrate with the champagne!

:52:32. > :52:38.very special podium for Fernando Alonso. It's been a while since he

:52:38. > :52:42.last took victory here in China. That was back in 2005 in his

:52:42. > :52:47.Renault days. Of course, in 2005, he went on to win the World

:52:47. > :52:52.Championship. It's very early days, but he is surly going to be highly

:52:52. > :52:56.competitive all season long. -- surely going to be highly

:52:56. > :52:59.competitive all season long. The pictures are being taken, a very

:52:59. > :53:05.impressive line up again this year. Vettel missing out this time.

:53:05. > :53:08.Button in fifth, Massa sixth. Ricciardo in that excellent seventh.

:53:08. > :53:12.If you're wondering why David Coulthard has been very quiet over

:53:12. > :53:17.the last few minutes, well you're going to find out in a moment. It

:53:17. > :53:20.is DC himself who is going to be doing the interviews with the

:53:20. > :53:30.drivers. We'll get hopefully a bit more of the story from these top

:53:30. > :53:30.

:53:30. > :53:36.three. David Coulthard. Just to remind you,

:53:36. > :53:46.we are live on TV, do not swear please. Good afternoon race fans.

:53:46. > :53:48.

:53:48. > :53:51.To the fans watching around the world. What a race. Getting on to

:53:51. > :53:56.this great podium ceremony here, I'm stepping in straight away to

:53:56. > :54:01.talk to our winner, Fernando Alonso. Congratulations. A fairly dominant

:54:01. > :54:06.victory in the end, your 31st victory, putting you fifth in the

:54:06. > :54:12.all-time list. What does the win mean to you? Hello everybody, first

:54:12. > :54:16.of all. Thank you for the support all weekend. Amazing fans all

:54:16. > :54:22.weekend. It's very nice to race here and about the race, yes,

:54:22. > :54:28.definitely was a fantastic race for us from the start to the end, with

:54:28. > :54:32.not big problems on the tyre. The tyre degradation was better than

:54:32. > :54:36.expected, so we manage the pace. It feels great after the retirement in

:54:36. > :54:41.Malaysia, you know, some pressure to finish the race. The two races

:54:41. > :54:46.we finished this year, one second place, today the victory, so

:54:46. > :54:49.definitely the start of this 2013 campaign is looking good. We are

:54:49. > :54:53.very optimistic. We heard the team talking to you saying no need to

:54:53. > :54:58.push, they were trying to slow you down in some respects, and you were

:54:58. > :55:02.saying, "I'm not pushing." Well you always push in a Formula One race

:55:02. > :55:06.it's impossible not to pish, but it's true that we had some -- push,

:55:06. > :55:10.but it's true that we had pace in the pocket. It's good to know when

:55:10. > :55:15.to use it depending the state of the tyres, so I think more

:55:15. > :55:18.potentially but hopefully we can show in Bahrain. Great stuff.

:55:18. > :55:23.Congratulations. Kimi Raikkonen... CHEERING

:55:23. > :55:28.. Very popular with the Chinese fans, many Finnish flags there.

:55:28. > :55:32.That's your 20th consecutive finish in Formula One. You're Mr

:55:32. > :55:37.Consistency. You had to work hard for second place. You had damage to

:55:37. > :55:41.the front wing of the car. Tell us about that and how it affected the

:55:41. > :55:47.balance. I think in the end it was pretty OK result. Obviously we want

:55:47. > :55:52.to win, but after a bad start, the car was handling well, but then

:55:52. > :55:57.overtaking Perez, I was next to him and it just push me on the kerb. I

:55:57. > :56:02.tried to avoid him but I went on the grass and I hit him on the rear

:56:02. > :56:06.I think and damaged the front. That didn't help. Luckily it didn't

:56:06. > :56:10.affect so much the handling and it was a bit too much understeer, but

:56:10. > :56:14.we could still fight for second place. And for sure, without the

:56:14. > :56:18.damage, we could have been quite a bit faster. Any how, good points

:56:18. > :56:22.and we try to do better next time. Congratulations. Coming round to

:56:22. > :56:26.Lewis Hamilton, ow pole setter, first man to be on pole for

:56:26. > :56:29.Mercedes since the great Stirling Moss. Didn't quite work out there

:56:29. > :56:33.on race pace. You really dropped away towards the closing stages

:56:33. > :56:36.under a lot of pressure from Vettel. Great racing nonetheless. Yeah I'm

:56:36. > :56:40.happy with today's result. Great result for the team. Very happy

:56:40. > :56:43.with the points. The team did a fantastic job all weekend.

:56:43. > :56:48.Unfortunately we didn't have the pace these two had. Still, very

:56:48. > :56:52.fortunate to get on the podym. a great podium here all world

:56:52. > :56:55.champions. Actually, maybe I can just ask what you guys were

:56:55. > :57:02.discussing, bring your mics up and share. What were you discussing

:57:02. > :57:07.there? We cannot tell.Kimi will. He's very talktive, tell us what

:57:07. > :57:12.you were talking about? Not much, just about the tyres, so that's all.

:57:12. > :57:14.Excellent stuff. Fernando, closing question for you, only one week

:57:14. > :57:18.until Bahrain. What are you expecting in the performance and

:57:18. > :57:23.what's the celebration going to be like tonight with your team?

:57:23. > :57:28.expect a tough race again. I think in Bahrain we will see different

:57:28. > :57:33.conditions and who knows how competitive anyone can be, but

:57:33. > :57:39.definitely as I said before, the race that we finish this year the

:57:39. > :57:45.car seems to be on the podium, so we hope to be on the podium again

:57:45. > :57:50.in Bahrain. Celebration not -- nothing special. I have a flight

:57:50. > :57:55.very early, some dinner I know. I think the guys will celebrate more

:57:55. > :57:58.than me. I can see your girlfriend down there. You will have a private

:57:58. > :58:02.celebration. Congratulations on your victory. For the fans, tune in

:58:02. > :58:06.again in one week's time for the Bahrain Grand Prix.

:58:06. > :58:11.Fernando Alonso and Ferrari, the mix of Spanish bull and prancing

:58:11. > :58:14.horse has delivered a decisive victory near Shanghai.

:58:14. > :58:19.Private celebrations, public celebrations, who cares, what a

:58:19. > :58:24.race. Incident filled, what an intriguing Chinese Grand Prix.

:58:24. > :58:29.it had the hall marks of everything and we got it in abundance. It was

:58:29. > :58:34.absolutely enthralling. I was so on the edge of my seat. Can he do this

:58:34. > :58:38.or that? You nearly fell off at one point! I did. It was helter skelter.

:58:38. > :58:43.It's what we want from a motor race. We have been served up a classic.

:58:43. > :58:47.It was terrific. That mode yum, a lot happier than the last -- that

:58:47. > :58:51.podium, a lot happier than Malaysia. Forget that race for a moment. But

:58:51. > :58:54.this was a first-class sporting occasion. Everything was right.

:58:54. > :58:58.Even the great DC, what a great interview he did up there. Well

:58:58. > :59:02.done to him as well. It was a sublime race by Fernando Alonso.

:59:02. > :59:07.Let's find out what his team boss thinks.

:59:07. > :59:11.What a fantastic response off Malaysia. Yeah I mean, that is what

:59:11. > :59:14.we needed. I'm happy because that's the right thing McAdoo after a

:59:14. > :59:17.difficult race. We just won one race nothing more than that.

:59:17. > :59:24.you surprised by the advantage you had today? No. I mean it was a good

:59:24. > :59:27.race so I'm happy to see that. word on Fernando's performance?

:59:27. > :59:32.Extraordinary, fantastic. Remember yesterday when we were talking

:59:32. > :59:36.about race pace and I said the car seems to have hit the ground

:59:36. > :59:41.running in terms of the actual being able to set it up properly

:59:41. > :59:45.for a race, and he went, "Yeah, let's see." What do you think?

:59:45. > :59:50.will be hugely impressed. When I spoke to him he was concerned about

:59:50. > :59:52.the front tyres here. He didn't think the way Fernando drives would

:59:52. > :59:58.be conducive to the track, particularly the long first corner

:59:58. > :00:02.and they got away with it. You said that you thought this might suit

:00:02. > :00:06.Massa more than Alonso. I thought Raikkonen would do a good job and

:00:06. > :00:10.Massa. You know, Raikkonen, who can say, that was a fantastic

:00:10. > :00:13.opportunity that he had. But let's not take it away from Alonso. He

:00:13. > :00:16.was the cream of the crop here. Another driver that did well here

:00:16. > :00:20.today and had a good strategy for the car he was driving is Jenson

:00:20. > :00:26.Button. We can hear from him now. Certainly an entertaining race from

:00:26. > :00:30.where we were watching, what was it like for you? For me, it's always

:00:30. > :00:33.quite strange because we led quite a bit of the race. When you're

:00:33. > :00:37.doing less stops it looks more exciting and the end of the race is

:00:37. > :00:41.never quite as exciting. I think we did well today and we had to try

:00:41. > :00:45.something different. We're not quick enough to finish fifth on a

:00:45. > :00:51.three-stop strategy or four stops. We had to go long, which was very

:00:51. > :00:54.tricky with so many people jumping all over each other and it meant it

:00:54. > :00:57.was pretty, in a way, a strange race for me because I couldn't

:00:57. > :01:01.block. There's no point fighting people. You had to sit and wait for

:01:01. > :01:04.people to overtake you and not fight back because that the -- that

:01:04. > :01:08.was the quickest way to the end of the race. We got ten points because

:01:08. > :01:12.of that. We should be proud of what we achieved. We know there's a lot

:01:12. > :01:16.of work to do to improve the car. While the car isn't quite good

:01:16. > :01:20.enough, to come away with ten points is good. When we hear on

:01:20. > :01:24.team radio things like you're fighting Sebastien Vettel, that's

:01:24. > :01:27.race specific because of strategy or is the car better from Malaysia

:01:27. > :01:31.and Australia? It's better from Australia, yes. I feel that

:01:31. > :01:36.Malaysia we could have had a better result than we had here. Then again

:01:36. > :01:42.every car was in the race here. We lost Fernando in Malaysia. We lost

:01:42. > :01:52.the Force Indias. This is a pretty good result, fifth place. We beat a

:01:52. > :02:00.

:02:00. > :02:04.Ferrari. We should be pretty happy Martin Whitmore said we are not that

:02:04. > :02:14.far away but this is a very good result for him. Jenson Button is a

:02:14. > :02:22.

:02:22. > :02:29.congratulations, a sublime effort. You are very kind, for sure today

:02:29. > :02:34.was a very good race. The team was strong and performed very well the

:02:34. > :02:39.strategy. We tried to manage the gaps with our main competitors and I

:02:39. > :02:44.would say today was a great result. As always I say it is just one win,

:02:44. > :02:49.if you want to fight for the target it is not enough so let's be happy

:02:49. > :02:54.today but let's focus on the next race on Sunday. Before you do that,

:02:54. > :03:00.can we show you the start of this race because it was a blinder. Here

:03:00. > :03:06.race because it was a blinder. Here is Fernando's blistering start. It

:03:06. > :03:10.was an incredible getaway, and this is something Ferrari are famous

:03:10. > :03:15.for, their starting procedures. really looks as if from this opening

:03:15. > :03:20.lap, Fernando had his sights firmly fixed on the trophy. How confident

:03:20. > :03:25.were you going into the race that you had the pace to deliver that

:03:25. > :03:29.victory? Looking at what we did on Friday, we were thinking we had a

:03:29. > :03:33.good pace for the race. I know there was a lot of discussion last night

:03:34. > :03:38.about why we took the choice of starting with the option tyres but

:03:38. > :03:43.we felt that was the right thing to make sure we were able to have a

:03:43. > :03:49.good jump on the start and then tried to hand the medium tyres which

:03:49. > :03:53.were quite good. That was really good today. Were used sandbagging

:03:53. > :04:01.with me? You told me you didn't think Fernando could make these

:04:01. > :04:06.tyres last. You have got to be straight with me! I am always

:04:06. > :04:12.straight with you, but it is very easy when you are speaking to say

:04:12. > :04:18.something and then things go in the other direction. We must compliment

:04:18. > :04:24.you on being the first team boss who has ever come over here willingly so

:04:24. > :04:34.thank you for that. It is not a problem, always a pleasure. You can

:04:34. > :04:35.

:04:35. > :04:40.go and celebrate. That was terrific, well done. Nerve wracking.Sports

:04:40. > :04:48.casual. Let's talk about Mark Webber, it was full of incidents for

:04:48. > :04:54.him, starting from the pitlane. was unfortunate, a late move from

:04:54. > :05:02.Mark to try to go down the inside so I don't think we can say it was any

:05:02. > :05:08.more than a race incident. He felt Toro Rosso, being a sister team,

:05:08. > :05:12.might have given him a little more space. It was inevitable there was

:05:12. > :05:17.going to be contact, you can see the wheel coming off and the conspiracy

:05:17. > :05:24.theorists would think he was trying to plan that to deliver it in front

:05:24. > :05:30.of his teammate. The tyre is just meandering across the circuit and

:05:30. > :05:37.the drivers managed to miss that. Look at him with his arms up. What

:05:37. > :05:47.can he do? He is not very lucky when it comes to generally finishing

:05:47. > :05:57.grand prix races. Shall we hear from today, let's start with the first

:05:57. > :06:03.

:06:03. > :06:10.one, Jean-Eric Vergne. Yes, we got to Jean-Eric Vergne intern six and

:06:10. > :06:15.it looks like... I was coming from a distance behind but he knew I was

:06:15. > :06:21.there and he was really wide. It looks like he was giving me the line

:06:21. > :06:28.and when it became obvious we were close to the apex, he wanted to hit

:06:28. > :06:32.the apex so disappointing. He is entitled to, but I thought even if

:06:32. > :06:42.he ran round the outside we both would have survived. I couldn't do

:06:42. > :06:47.much once I was committed. It was not far off a couple of laps short

:06:47. > :06:53.of our stop window. As far as I know, the guys thought that I was

:06:54. > :07:00.fixed when I left but the wheels came off on the out-lap. That could

:07:00. > :07:05.have been very dangerous, couldn't it? It could, but there are normally

:07:05. > :07:10.procedures that keep the wheel in place, devices that pop out if the

:07:10. > :07:15.wheel is not properly seated but he has driven for five kilometres, it

:07:15. > :07:21.is not designed to go that far. It is designed to be a safety device is

:07:21. > :07:25.wary of the tyre comes loose he will slow down. Arguably, he should have

:07:25. > :07:31.just parked the car because he was always going to be on the back foot

:07:31. > :07:34.for scoring points but he chose to drive it around. Disappointing, it

:07:34. > :07:41.is unusual. We saw McLaren last week with a problem with their front

:07:41. > :07:45.wheel not, and other teams having issues as well. When you get

:07:45. > :07:55.diminishing returns on how quickly you can do the pitstop, something

:07:55. > :07:56.

:07:56. > :07:58.has to give. I want to ask David, you used to be -- there used to be a

:07:58. > :08:05.time when there were tethers stopping the wheel from coming loose

:08:05. > :08:10.like that, and it seemed to wander off of its own accord. Why was that

:08:10. > :08:20.tethered not in place? suspension has tethers as well, but

:08:20. > :08:25.

:08:25. > :08:33.the way the wheel is mounted with one little nut, and clearly that nut

:08:33. > :08:39.has not been tightened. So the tether was doing its job.

:08:39. > :08:44.Understood. Sebastian Vettel, and what an exciting last lap. We can

:08:45. > :08:51.look at the start first of all. Listening to the rpm, it is always

:08:51. > :08:56.interesting to hear the start phase. He lost a bit of time going

:08:56. > :09:02.onto the first corner, which could have been down to the prime tyre,

:09:02. > :09:08.but Jenson Button got away well. You are trying to judge where the other

:09:08. > :09:13.cars might be. Unfortunately out on that dusty line. He didn't make any

:09:13. > :09:19.progress at the start, but later in grand prix he had this contrary

:09:19. > :09:23.strategy on tyres. Again, having to be defensive in to turn six, Jenson

:09:23. > :09:30.Button having to go wide as they navigate these expensive vehicles at

:09:30. > :09:38.close proximity. In the last lap, he made those mistakes. Without those,

:09:38. > :09:44.do you think he could have taken Hamilton? Unquestionably. He ran

:09:44. > :09:49.through the apex of turn 11, which put him out of position in 12. He is

:09:49. > :09:55.compromising his braking line, correcting the oversteer, getting

:09:55. > :10:00.wide in 11, shallow as he approaches 12, fighting oversteer once again.

:10:00. > :10:05.It went wrong because of having to go off-line. Lewis had to do so as

:10:05. > :10:12.well but he was in a defensive position. It was close but the

:10:12. > :10:17.strategy didn't work. Let's see what he has to say. You were so close,

:10:17. > :10:23.you could get the drivers in front of you in your sights. Explain it

:10:23. > :10:28.from your point of view. I think the team obviously told me that there

:10:28. > :10:33.was quite a big gap but there was also a big gap to the car behind so

:10:33. > :10:37.why not. When I came onto the long straight, Lewis turning the car at

:10:37. > :10:47.the hairpin I thought that was too far away but obviously we had much

:10:47. > :10:52.

:10:52. > :10:55.more speed on the fresh tyres. A little bit disappointing to lose out

:10:55. > :10:57.by that tiny bit, a couple of corners more and we could have tried

:10:57. > :11:00.something but that is how it is. Nonetheless, our strategy seemed to

:11:00. > :11:04.work today. We knew it was crucial in the beginning to get clean laps,

:11:04. > :11:09.which to be fair we did not. I was faster than Nico Rosberg, but if you

:11:09. > :11:15.follow another car, you just lean on your front tyres a little bit too

:11:15. > :11:19.much, and it was difficult to find the right compromise. Late on, you

:11:19. > :11:25.try to make it up in terms of range to make sure you don't run out of

:11:25. > :11:30.tyres at the end of the race, but I think overall we can be happy.

:11:30. > :11:37.Didn't quite make the podium, but there were three world champions on

:11:37. > :11:40.the podium today. I thought it was a cracking race. I would be

:11:40. > :11:49.interesting to know what Eddie thinks because sometimes you cannot

:11:49. > :11:59.see it when you are commentating. You loved it, didn't you? I did, we

:11:59. > :12:06.

:12:06. > :12:11.talked before the race, and he -- Pirelli served up the excitement.

:12:11. > :12:19.The intrigue goes right through the whole programme. The BBC forum is

:12:19. > :12:25.back today, so sweet me, and it will be straight after this show. If you

:12:25. > :12:33.have missed any of the action, you can see the rerun today at 2:40pm on

:12:33. > :12:37.BBC1. The final round of the Masters tonight at 6:30pm on BBC2. And of

:12:37. > :12:47.course we are back next weekend in Bahrain for the highlights and

:12:47. > :12:48.

:12:48. > :12:52.qualifying of the race on BBC1. A couple of words from you as a final

:12:52. > :12:57.wrapup here? I think that was a great performance from Ferrari, you

:12:57. > :13:03.don't need me to tell you that. Fernando Alonso is a cunning old

:13:03. > :13:09.fox, you see the gap between him and Felipe Massa? He is right, a class

:13:09. > :13:14.act, a great driver and a great race. The gloves were off and the