The German Grand Prix - Qualifying Highlights Formula 1

Nurburgring in Germany. It has been less than a week since we witnessed

that drama from Silverstone. There the rear tyres.

And it is Lewis Hamilton! The crowd watching cannot believe it. They

sent him on his way once again. Felipe Massa has gone off! Right in

front of Raikkonen. This is shocking. People have been having

punctures. We do not expect to see this in grand prix racing. Hamilton

goes for it. They will be side. Fantastic from Lewis Hamilton.

is a problem. He is in trouble. And Rosberg takes the lead at the

British Grand Prix! Look at Hamilton. He is going to take

advantage at the same time! The tyre has gone. They are side by side

through the corner. Wonderful. Mark Webber has done it. Hamilton down

the inside of Adrian Sutil. Hamilton takes it. Fernando Alonso sweeps

into third place. Hamilton takes fourth place. Coming from an

exploded tyre. This is tremendous from Lewis Hamilton. Nico Rosberg

has done it. Rosberg wins the British Grand Prix. Well done, mate.

So is strong when from Nico Rosberg, his second of the season. There were

top performances through the field but got overshadowed by that time a

story. Lewis Hamilton was leading when he had that tyre failure. He

made a great recovery. Mark Webber got pushed off. He was able to come

through. Paul di Resta got up into the points. So a lot of great

stories from the British Grand Prix which was overshadowed by those

difficulties with the tyres. But we do not expect that this weekend.

of course Sebastian Vettel, that failure, that has closed up the

championship at the top. There is not one driver or team combination

that is running away with it. So I think we're looking at a battle

between red Bull, Mercedes and Ferrari. Let us take a look at how

they stand going into the ninth round. Sebastian Vettel's lead

reduced by just 21 over Fernando Alonso. And just a couple separating

Lewis Hamilton and Mark Webber in the red Bull. Mercedes made the news

in the battle for the constructors title. Overtaking Ferrari for second

place. Red Bull still at the top of the table. So let us take the walk

up the pit lane. Does that now put Mercedes in contention for the

title? Unquestionably. The drivers have a chance. For the constructors

it may be a long order. Sebastian Vettel had the gearbox issues. But

if the driver is can keep on top of the tyres then they can claw that

back. But for red Bull, with the constructors, they are running away

with it. At the start of the season it was all low-key with Mercedes.

And now the chance of getting the drivers title. They had the fastest

qualifying car. Any team would prefer to have a fast car. And then

work on controlling one element. You do not want a slow car and then

trying to make it fast. When we arrived here everyone was talking

about the tyres. Here is the story. We need to do something. Some day

there could be a really bad accident. It happened to me twice.

If they do not make the tyres savour, it is just unacceptable.

is only when someone gets hurt that someone will do something about it.

How close were we to getting the black flag with Mac I think very

close. It was a difficult decision. Difficult for everyone involved to

know what to do. We spent a lot of time analysing the tyres from

Silverstone. We allowed the teams to invert the rear tyres. When you

switch them around, Bayard directional. And those metallic band

inside them puts the stress on one point. We put another type of belt

in. And then we go back to the 2012 structure which gives you a bigger

margin. The FIA has imposed a ban on tyres swapping for the German Grand

Prix so the front and the rear tyres must be used on the site of the car

for which they were originally designed. Some teams had been

swapping them to gain a performance advantage. Teams have been messing

around with camber and pressure for years so it is nothing new. But

these tyres, they are too on edge. It is nothing to do with

competitiveness but all to do with the safety. Pirelli have a strong

technical department and they need to understand the issues quickly.

Teams will always push the boundaries. Some of the restrictions

are limiting performance so it is important to be there and for the

FAA to make sure everyone respects the limit. The car is where lapping

quicker in previous years. That is all about the tyres being loaded.

And that is a huge step forward. Do not underestimate the impact of

those loadings. Unfortunately, we had underestimated it. It was

controversial but the object of was to give them those loadings and

conditions. The Grand Prix Drivers' Association issued a statement

saying if there was a repeat of the tyre failure is then the drivers

would be willing to boycott the German Grand Prix. The bottom line,

you have new tyres ready for this event. And the circumstances that we

raced onto in Silverstone, they were not what we can accept. And should

they be repeated then we cannot race under those circumstances.

Motorsport is dangerous and we are the first to recognise that. Our job

is to make sure we do not have those issues. It is also the

responsibility of the team. So barely any time between races to

resolve these issues. Gary is at technical expert. Can you explain

the differences between the tyres? The front tyre is the same as at

Silverstone. The rear tyre, the material has changed. There was a

wire carcass beneath the tread to try to keep that flatter to get more

grip. They have now changed that to a different type of material. It is

tougher but not so stiff. It will change the shape of the tyres a

little bit. But it will be tougher. The teams have been operating

outside the preferences given to them by Pirelli. Also with

pressures. In my day we were tightly controlled by the tyre manufacturer.

Have Pirelli been a bit lax or have the teams taken it into their own

hands? The teams are going to push the limits obviously. Softer

pressure will give better traction on those slow corners. More camber,

again same reason. It gives you more bite. So the teams will push it but

Pirelli have always given recommendations. It is up to the

teams to apply that was step outside of it. I checked some tyre pressures

in Silverstone, watching the mechanics check them. One front

running team had different measurements in the front and the

rear tyres. Pirelli are saying that you need a minimum. It is a major

step but it will help. We mentioned running them on opposite sides but

with that wire when they run on the opposite sides it is just like

pushing on a piece of wire. It will just then. But if you push it it is

quite strong. So running on the opposite side contributes to that

problem as well. So this weekend they are not allowed to swap them.

What were the other factors did you feel at Silverstone contributed to

the situation? Well the curb has got a sharp edge at Silverstone.

that plus the tyres running the wrong way, the pressure of being a

bit low, it puts more load on the inside firewalls. And that is what

failed. When we look at the pic true is that with all, the inside

shoulder of Felipe Massa's car, Lewis Hamilton's car, both clear

failure is there. And we can actually see that failure. Doing

about 400 metres before the tyre actually failed. So the thing does

not always blow up. Everyone is contributing towards trying to

improve the problem. 19 of the left rear tyres did have cuts in them and

that is quite an extraordinary amount. It is and at the end of the

day, that could be two inches long, ten inches long. If you do get a cut

it still means that the tyre is flexing a lot and with low pressure

it flexes a lot more. If there is a cut that is where it is going to

fail. Pirelli have made a more durable tyre. Everyone else has to

make sure they abide by the recommendations that Pirelli have

set down. The FIA are going to impose strict controls this

weekend. Up until now Pirelli have given these recommendations to the

teams but have no way of policing that. But now the FIA have stepped

in saying that these are the minimum or maximum requirements. And they

have got the right to walk into the garage and check the pressures. So

it will be implemented throughout the grid. So David, moving forward

to this weekend. Who stood out in the practice sessions? Well red Bull

seemed to have been showing better pace in the practice session before

qualifying. That gives us an indication that it is suiting them

rather than others. Sebastian Vettel will be wanting to prove himself in

front of the fans. Every race is important. He would love to get a

home win. He is very popular in Germany and that would just put him

into the Michael Schumacher league. And a lot of pressure on Mercedes? A

lot of the board members historically come here. They have a

lot of employees and they expect to see the results. And now they're

used to winning. It is now time for The first segment of qualifying has

begun. No one in any rush to get out on track. We have the soft Pirelli

tyres being used and the medium compound tyre this weekend. Gary

Anderson joined us. Looking at what is going to happen in qualifying

today, some fast laps set by Sebastian Vettel. To use the red

Bull taking the edge? And also what the teams are being told in terms of

the tyres. The minimum stabilised running pressure is one of the

things and that is quite a high pressure. The more the pressure, the

more the tyre will slide around. And that will make some of them suffer.

Making sure that they comply with that regulation. The first step is

to get through Q1. What do you reckon you have got to do in terms

of the times? Well I think 31.5. go out for that quickly. Paul di

Resta, very familiar with the Number Theory. -- Nurburgring vment You can

see the elevation change there. is one of the DRS Jones come race

day tomorrow. They can use it in qualifying. Pastor Maldonado on

track now. Big 600 written on the side of course to celebrate 600

Grand Prix for Williams. We were talking earlier in free practice

that it may be a lesson to companies out there, can you read the 600

better than you can read any of the sponsors' logos. Maybe more

companies, well of course, then we get a close-up of the car. There you

go, from there, it stands out easily. It is distinctive. They are

struggling this year. It may be their # 00th Grand Prix - he's on

the -- 600th Grand Prix. He's on the soft tyre. Di Resta halls set the

pace on the medium compound tyre. That car twitching, turning in. He

was complaining on the radios this morning that it was virtually

undrivable. 3 1. 8, Garry reckoned mid-31 is where you need to be.

is a big drop into this corner. Not unusual to lock up the inside tyre

because of the way the irkit -- circuit cambers away from you. Wider

at the apex than he would have liked. Here. How will he compare

with the target time set by Maldonado. Bottas has done virtually

the same time. Sutcliffe is fourth. He's on the harder tyre. 32. 7 on

that tyre. They will have to go to the soft. They're just getting a run

in on the medium compound tyre. Williams one, two at the moment.

Buff they are in danger -- but they are in danger of not making it to

the second part of qualifying. There's no grip at all. Hamilton was

talking about that this morning. This is Rosberg. He's on the medium

compound tyre. Is the Mercedes quick enough to get through to the second

part of qualifying using the harder change here into this very long

hairpin. It's cambered in as well. You get a wonderful feel, not quite

like a carousel but it is nice feeling into the hairpin and into

what I consider to be the nice medium-speed chicane. Then it's

really great through this right-hander. Can you run up onto

the kerb and drop down the hill. the target time. No surprise there.

It might be enough for Mercedes to get through on the harder tyre

rather than having to use a set of the soft. Daniel Ricciardo has gone

quickest. He has used the soft tyre. This is a pretty good lap for

Rosberg on the harder tyre. He's second. 1. 31. 3. It may be Mercedes

can depend on the harder tyre here. That was a lock up from Sutcliffe.

He was talking about oversteer being wheel and probably lock the diff

slightly. That will enable the car to be more stable. Lewis Hamilton

out there now. We're looking at a replay of Rosberg. Hamilton set the

first -- fastest first sector of anybody. He's doing exactly what

Rosberg did, trying to do enough in the first part of the qualifying on

the harder tyre to go through to the second part of qualifying. That

saves tyres for later on. He's second. He's quicker than Rosberg.

That's interesting, because this morning, Rosberg definitely hot edge

between the two of them. -- had the Alonso goes fastest. It sounds as

though he might do a couple more laps. That's what his engineer said.

He's a tenth slower than this morning. Might have had a bit more

fuel on board. Though the tyre is slower, of course, with the track

being warmer. Lotus directly onto the soft tyre and a fastest first

sector of anybody for Kimi Raikkonen. Not running the passive

DRS system that they ran at Silverstone. They put it on

Grosjean's car on Friday morning, then they went for the slim line

bodywork at the back of the car. When you look at the back of the

Lotus, there's a lot of space around the rear wing. They want as much

airflow. This is a pretty good lap. It's a 27. 7 middle sector. -- 37. 7

middle sector. That's not the fastest. Plenty of support for Kimi

Raikkonen. He comes around to complete his first slap. He goes

fastest for the moment. We are in the final five minutes of the first

part of qualifying. You have to get into the top 16. Important laps

coming up here. Just one ran for the likes of Massa and Button trying to

save tyres. Kimi, 30. 7, so we think we're through. I would hope they

were through with that kind of lap time. Felipe Massa on the soft tyre.

Alonso is second quickest. It's about half a second slower than the

fastest at the moment. He's got Bottas just ahead of him. I wonder

if that will hinder him at all. Bottas is pushing fairly hard. Just

saw the Williams briefly flashing should be safely within range of the

next part of qualifying. Bottas has Grosjean in front of him. He was

backing off to try and get some space. We saw him locking up into

turn one. Gutierrez making a brake balance adjustment. Could be a

chance for Gutierrez to get out of Q1 and into Q 2. He hasn't done that

as many times as he would have liked going to be fair fairly marginal.

Five times this year he's failed to get out of Q1. Force India's are out

on track. They have gone for the option tyres. That first run on the

primes was to get them up to speed. Seen both Vettel and Webber do their

runs on the medium compound tyre just like Mercedes. The two fastest

teams from this morning have gone for the same strategy of running the

harder compound tyre. They've done enough to get through. Though

Webber, 31. 4, he's only just done enough. I wonder if they'll have to

send him back out. Di Resta, 31. 4 as well. Jenson Button does -- goes

6th fastest. His team-mate needs to do something. Sutil is in the drop

Sutil crosses the line and he's ninth. That should be enough. He's

safe. Rosberg won't be back out. He's done enough. Valtteri Bottas

improving his lap time, but is it enough? He should move into the top

16 briefly. But whether he can hang on in there when everyone else comes

out to do a lap, we'll have to wait and see. Perez seems to be

struggling here. He's 18th. That's not good enough. He has another lap.

If he can get another lap out of these tyres. Bottas has squeezed

into the top 16. Whether he can hold on. He's pushed his team-mate down,

they're evenly matched those two. This is Sergio Perez. How's this

looking? Short shifted to exit four. Great balance adjust. Again a

cambered corner into another downhill cambered corner. You can

hear the very late shift. That's the way they energise the exhausts and

blow the diffuser not as effective as in previous years, of course, but

it's still used. They rev these engines to get the perform

checkpoint. He's only just on target for 16th. He is on target to push

Bottas out of the top 16 here. It would be enough but he's not on the

same kind of lap pace that we saw from Jenson Button earlier on. We've

got the checkered flag out. This is going to be his last opportunity.

Perez, then, has he done enough to escape the clutches of the drop

zone? He crosses the line and he has. He's gone 14th. That pushes

both of the Williams out of the qualifying in the very first segment

here. Both Valtteri Bottas and Pastor Maldonado. Bottas has crossed

the line. Maldonado is still on a lap, but I'm not sure it's a quick

enough lap. Here comes Maldonado now. No, it's not enough. Bottas

outqualifies his team-mate yet again. Jules Bianchi, no, he hasn't,

Pic has gone ahead of Bianchi there right at the last moment. Great

battle between Charles Pic and Jules Bianchi. Pic just takes it on what

he calls his favourite circuit. Bianchi I think has finished his run

now. He's not going to do it. This is Valtteri Bottas down at the

hairpin. Just a little mistake. don't think that cost him too much

time. He hit the exit apex. Not good for the tyre if you systematically

keep locking up. Sadly, despite the celebrations of 600 Grand Prix for

Williams, has -- it has ended in qualifying early on. Both Williams

are out of qualifying. Let's confirm who's been knocked out. Pic 17,

to put it through to Q 2, what are the problems? No massive car balance

problems. The car was the whole week and it's been not that bad to drive,

just the main problem is lack of overall grip and lack of downforce.

So still the others are too quick for us and we couldn't get out of

Q1. Is there anywhere to make up time in the race tomorrow? I think

it's going to be difficult. Pure pace wise, we don't have the pace to

get it in the top ten. So, the best thing we can do is try to choose the

best strategy possible and keep pushing hard and race -- racing is

very long, you never know what's going to happen. We need to stay in

the race and hope that something special happens. Hope something

special happens too, thank you very much. Let's rejoin Ben and David now

for commentary. Here's Q2. The second part of qualifying gets

under way and there's a bit more hurry to get out there now.

Jean-Eric Vergne is the first to come out on circuit. Fastest time in

that first segment was for Felipe Massa in the Ferrari 1. 30. 5. That

was a second away from what Sebastien Vettel achieved this

morning in free practice. We'll have to see whether that's going to be

repeated because Massa hasn't reached Q3 in the last three races.

Operate qui good only a tenth out, 1. 3 1. 6, you said 1. 3. 1. 5.

Williams are struggling. They're the top teams that have dropped out in

Q1. I'm surprised by how people use the tyres there. We know the soft

tyre is a major step to the medium tyre and yet a lot of guys come out

to the medium tyres. Using two sets in Q1 is not the right thing to do.

Mercedes and Red Bull getting through on the medium tyre.

Silverstone Mercedes ran the soft tyre in the first qualifying and the

same tyre in Q2. They're probably trying to do is the same thing here.

The harder tyre is the most stable race tyre. You want two sets of them

at least. You were close on the first mark, what can we reckon in

the top ten? A tenth of a second out sorry. I think you're looking at 30.

8 to get into the top ten. There are a few guys there that ran are the

harder tyre and they're going to harder tyre and they're going to

harder tyre and they're going to harder tyre and they're going to

step up quite a lot. We were looking at forced and eight teams covered by

zero point ten of a second. So it will be close getting into the top

ten. That is what it is all about now. Daniel McArdle had that great

event at Silverstone, certainly worked for him. Toro Rosso not in

such good shape this time. conditions are a bit more tricky on

this type of circuit. I would be surprised if they can make it

through to the top ten shootout. But Jean-Eric Vergne has been pretty

good so far. He has raised here in the past. It is not as if he has had

to learn the track. We are on board with him now. You get into a hugely

high energy braking zone for the chicane. Then into the last ten.

Getting on the power as early as possible. He is fastest for the

moment. Is that going to be enough as we go through the rest of it? He

did 31.6 earlier on sell a definite improvement. The track temperature

now at 40 degrees. On board with Paul di Resta. No evidence of the

wheels locking. Then up to this final turn. Is he going to be faster

than the Toro Rosso? He looks marginally quicker at the moment.

is faster but it is marginal. wanted to come to you, Tom, in the

pit lane. This morning it was interesting the difference between

Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton. Lewis Hamilton did not seem that

happy with his car. Absolutely. It was a bit of a repeat of

Silverstone. Lewis was not happy in the build-up to qualifying. But this

morning he was not .6 of a second behind his team-mate. I think he

will take confidence from that lap that he did in Q1. He had been

complaining yesterday of understeer. The car looked quite stable during

the Q1 session. So hopefully he is on to a good thing. Well Kimi

Raikkonen now, this is better from him. He took his first ever pole

position right here ten years ago. This was Nico Rosberg a moment ago.

Down into turn one. Locks out. He could have flat spotted that tyre

aiming for the Apec. His team-mate Lewis Hamilton is fastest of all in

the first sector. We will just follow him around the rest of the

lap. He is on the soft tyres, not the medium tyres that are used in

the first part of qualifying. Kimi Raikkonen fastest at the moment in

the Lotus. Hamilton is quicker than that. On target for a better lap.

Not necessarily pushing to the ultimate limit. The main task is to

get into the top ten and that is when they really go for it. Of

course he is trying to get back to back pole positions. He comes across

the line. 1.30.1. It looked like he opened the doctors quite late and

that could have cost him some time. The driver has to call for the

activation. We are seeing the same kind of time differences that we

have seen all day. Just not able to exploit the performance of the

Ferrari so far. The track temperature climbing all the time.

Alonso goes third with that. If fraction of the Lotus. Lotus and

Ferrari, very similar paces from the car this morning. But a little off

what Mercedes and Red Bull can do. We take another look at Nico

Rosberg. Is he faster than Hamilton? He is one tenth down on

Hamilton to that second checkpoint. Can you make that up in the final

sector was Mike you absolutely can. It is all about the change of

direction. On this last corner you are braking all the way in. And

immediately on the power. You have to be very comfortable putting on

the lateral load through the town. He does not quite make up the time.

He is second. These lap times are looking very strong for the moment.

He is safely through. He will not have worry about going back out.

Looking at a replay of Rosberg, Peres only made it into the top 16.

He is now out on track. Getting a little busier out there with just

over seven minutes to go. Kimi Raikkonen currently four tenths down

on Hamilton who is on a new set of tyres. That is interesting to hear

for Lotus. Grojean currently fastest. Both the Lotus cars going

well. There are two doctors zones. Red Bull get ready to send both cars

out. Jensen Button, that time only good enough for tenths. Peres spent

his early racing career in Germany after his initial first laps in

Mexico and the United states. But as he crosses the line he is in 14th.

So his circuit knowledge not helping him at all. Quite some way of what

Jensen Button did. Just a small lock-up into the hairpin. We will

see a lot of that. Both the McLaren cars slower at than they managed in

the first session. Mark Webber, almost the same gap. It is Hamilton

who has the fastest overall lap time. It is who is going to get into

the top ten that we are looking at. We would expect of battle and Webber

to be in there. He was early on the power. The contrast in performance

between the Red Bull and the McLaren, clearly struggling with

understeer. Virtually identical lap times for Mark Webber and Sebastian

Vettel. Very little to choose between them. Are they going to be

the Mercedes times? Vettel goes fastest. But Mark Webber has done

something very similar. It is 1.3 at the moment. His first sector was not

too bad but there is masses of oversteer. So a bit more performance

to come from the Red Bull. But is that that says it is that last

sector that is the problem. In the morning session he lost the time in

the middle. And now seems to be putting a lap together here which

will put Sebastian Vettel's time under threat. Lotus have been

confident all weekend. Grojean goes across the line, second fastest.

Again it is that last sector. not going to see Mark back out.

Hamilton fastest of all in that last sector. Grojean dropped a couple of

tenths. A lot of reaction to the curb through that she came. He

should be getting the car as straight as possible for the exit.

Showing some great pace for the Lotus. We are looking at Fernando

Alonso now as he comes up to that second check point. These higher

temperatures do seem to be switching things the way of Lotus and Ferrari.

And they are now right in the mix. Let us see how the end this lap.

There is not much to it. A slight hesitance there before opening the

power. He is fastest. 1.29.9. The battle is for the top ten at the

moment. At the moment there is is up on his lap to get into the top ten.

But Felipe Massa is fastest of anybody so far in this session to

the second checkpoint. Paul di Resta is in danger. I think he is going to

have to run again. Felipe Massa goes fastest, great lap from him. Ferrari

showing great pace. The chequered flag about to come out. We have

several cars on laps. And in the final stages. Including Daniel

Riccardo who may just get into the top ten. He pushes out his own

team-mate. That is so significant. Here comes Jensen Button. He goes

into a disposition. Kimi Raikkonen now in danger. But he has just gone

fastest of anyone in the first sector. Di Resta being pushed down

and it looks as if he is out of it. Hulkenberg has gone up to eight in

the cyber will stop that has rarely been in the top ten this year. That

is dangerous territory for Rosberg. Let us just see what happens. Adrian

Sutil is out. Rosberg could be out. Rosberg in danger. Raikkonen up to

second. And Rosberg has been squeezed out of the top ten. What

have Mercedes done here? The German driver in the German car, an

opportunity to be the first ever German driver in a German card to

get pole position in a German bomb pre-. The team have known it because

he was not out at the end to defend his own position. Mossberg is out.

The most dramatic knockout, Rosberg is out. So is Paul di Resta. Peres

is out. Gutierrez is out. Adrian Sutil is out and so is Jean-Eric

Vergne. Did you think you had a chance of

going through to Q3 today? Not really. This week I just cannot get

the card dial into how I like it. I have struggled. I think it was more

damage limitation. Why do you think you have problems here in

particular? I do not know. It is just getting the car balanced.

Everything seemed to be a compromise. The baseline seems to be

where we are. We need to work on it because some of our competitors have

got more of an advantage. So there is a lot of work to do tomorrow.

Fingers crossed. It is time for Q3.

Following free pack this this morning we thought it would be a

straight fight between Mercedes and Red Bull. But the increase in

temperature have brought Red Bull and Ferrari into the mix. I think

that is a fair conclusion. Nico Rosberg definitely suffered from the

track improving just that little bit. Some of those lap times, we

have never even seen anything like it over the weekend. He was saying

30.8 but in the end the cut-off was a lot quicker. Up until the last

minute of time I thought 30.8 was going to be it. But guys suddenly

who have never done anywhere near that lap time, the track suddenly

seemed to get better. The wind has changed direction and perhaps that

has made a difference. It makes a major contribution around here.

do not want to get a tailwind in the middle of a long corner.

predictions for pole position? They've used two new sets of tyres,

get the temperatures into the brakes. I'd be look at a 29. 1 for

pole. It's ambitious, but that's the area we're going into. We'll have to

see. He's got lots of supporters has Fernando Alonso. Twice a winner

here. He had that one pole position. In qualifying so far this year he

hasn't had a single fronted-row start. Hills best is a few third --

his best is a few third places. He hasn't been top five on the grid in

the last three Grand Prixes. Sebastien Vettel is on a new set of

tyres, so is Mark Webber. We are looking at Kimi Raikkonen now.

Through ten, uses the KER on exit. DRS wide-open along the back

straight. He'll be up to about 190mph by the time he buzzes into

the limiter before braking for the chicane. He's gone within in

qualifying here in the past. He should have won the race in several

occasions, 2003, 2005, he was in lead position and things -- 2005, he

was in lead position and things went wrong for him. That's 1. 29. 9. Not

as fast as Massa in the second part of qualifying. Quick reminder that

Felipe Massa has topped both qualifying segments so far. The

Brazilian driving really well. But Vettel now quicker with a 1. 29. 6.

Raikkonen pushed back to second. Grosjean is third. It's interesting,

Hamilton fastest of all in the first sector. He's a couple of tenths down

on Vettel's pace in the middle. That neutralises the gain he has over

Vettel in the first sector. Webber going third, but here comes

Hamilton. This could be close. Hamilton's lap is looking good. Yes,

it is! 1. 29. 5 for Lewis Hamilton, on a new set of soft tyres. He's

faster than Sebastien Vettel. Raikkonen's time a bit off that but

on a used set of tyres. Raikkonen may have performance in hand there.

He's in the hunt for pole position today. Mark Webber is fourth. Romain

Grosjean fifth. Which tyre is Jenson Button on? He's on the soft. Tom, I

know you were speaking to a few of the teams after free practice, from

what you were learning, we might not necessarily see everyone use the

soft tyre in this session. Absolutely right. It's going to be

fascinating to see what the Ferraris come back out on. Because the soft

is a much faster tyre if you can qualify in pole position, but you

risk, if you're only starting in the latter part of the top ten, you risk

coming out of the first pitstop in traffic. It will be interesting to

see what Ferrari and Lotus do. China Red Bull tried that. Sebastien

Vettel didn't do a lap on the faster tyre. He chose the medium tyre.

Didn't set a lap at all and did a long first stint. It didn't work for

him on that occasion. It was Fernando Alonso who won the Chinese

Grand Prix starting on the soft tyre. But we damageary Alonso -- we

damage damage -- gather Lanza is on that tyre. -- Alonso. Jenson Button

continues around the lap. We're not expecting him to leap to the top.

Solid top-ten start is what McLaren will be hoping for. They'll be

reasonably satisfied with the way on the medium compound tyre. I think

Jenson has given up on this lap. That's interesting. Is he going

again? No. He's coming back into the pits. Hasn't done a lap. If he came

out on the medium tyres and do a time, then he still would choose to

start on the medium Tour. He's not actually decided yet. Tom? Ben, I'm

just by the McLaren pit now. They're putting a set of medium tyres ready.

We're dropping the rear pressures a bit again. Lots of strategy here.

It's all about the race tomorrow. It's not necessarily about being the

king of qualifying today. There you are, the medium compound tyre on the

Ferrari. That's a good spot, Tom. A few people are following that

strategy, concentrating on where they can get the maximum points

tomorrow. Mark Webber is going with a set of the sosts. It's very

interesting -- softs. It's very interesting Ferrari deciding not to

go for the the ultimate lap time. They are totally focussed on the

race here. We know the medium compound tyre is probably a second a

lap slower than the yellow-walled soft tyre. I wonder if he'll put in

a really attacking lap or just do a gentle lap to set a time. Just put a

heat soak through the tyres. He does appear to be quite gentle. He's

doing exactly that. He's putting the tyres through that heat cycle which

will cure the rubber slightly when they sit in the blankets overnight.

They won't be switched on. They go cold and get switched on again

tomorrow morning, brought up to temperature, ready for the race.

Looks as though it's just the three of them, Alonso, Massa and Button,

using the medium compound tyre. Daniel Ricciardo, Nico Hulkenberg

are on the soft. I'd be surprise today we can beat the Ferraris guys.

The McLaren is unlikely to be quicker than the far oarery on the

medium compound tyre, so is it worth using the tyre? Jenson should know

what he should expect to do on that compound of tyre. He's just done a

very slow sector has Jenson. I wonder if he will just come back in.

He doesn't have to set a time. Sebastien Vettel wide at turn one.

He gets away with it, but it's a short run to two. Runs wide on the

exit to two. He uses more of the kerb at the apex. It's certainly not

been clean. 29. 4 it's two tenths slower than Hamilton in that sector.

No improvement in the first sector with the new tyres over last time

out. It will come down to sectors two and three if he gets pole this

afternoon. Will he outqualify web ebb here -- Webber here, which he

hasn't done in the past. He's yet to win his home Grand Prix. A bit of

pressure on Sebastien Vettel's shoulders. The first tarring set to

beat the ultimate -- target is to beat the ultimate time set by

fraction of a second. It's slightly slower than his best middle sector

slower than his best middle sector crosses the line and he goes

fastest! But we still have other cars. Hamilton is on a quick lap.

He's gone faster than anybody in the first sector. Mark Webber with a

good first sector. Romain Grosjean is one to keep an eye on. He's out

there. Kimi Raikkonen not going quickly at the moment. Webber is up.

Grosjean slow in the first sector, but fast in the middle sectors. I

don't think Grosjean is in it for the pole. Has crossed the line in

third. Grosjean is fourth. The two Lotus have done well. Who will take

pole position - Hamilton is on a great lap. Mark Webber trying to

beat the time set by Sebastien Vettel. He can't. He's third. He's

behind Hamilton. So it's all down to Hamilton now. Can he claim pole

position like he did a week ago at Silverstone? Can he take it back

from Sebastien Vettel? He's done it! Lewis Hamilton takes back-to-back

pole positions. The British Grand Prix and the German Grand Prix. He

has now earned his 29th career pole position. He has matched the great

Fangio with that. For Mercedes they have taken pole position here, first

time since 1954 that Mercedes have taken pole position on home turf.

He's the first British driver, well, let's listen. That's what I'm

talking about, Lewis. P 1, top job! A tenth faster than Vettel. You can

hear the delight in the background. He's the first British drier to do

it here since you did in 2000. used to hearing Lewis saying" That's

what I'm talking about". Not so much rolling off the tongue from his

engineer. But a pat on the back all round. Feeling for Lewis Hamilton.

Absolutely superb. He takes pole position here. After doing it at

Silverstone maybe he can do what Rosberg did to him and steal his

team-mate's home race, that will be his target. Let's look at the line

his target. Let's look at the line Perez didn't hake it into the top

congratulations. What a lap. You seem to have had a few problems this

weekend, but when it mattered you nailed it. Yeah, really so

surprised. It's been a disaster this weekend. P 1 the car felt great.

Then we made changes and it got worse and worse. P2 wasn't so good.

Made changes last night and the car felt even worse today. You know when

you get lost by #36r3 it's -- P3 it's almost impossible to recover

it. I really felt lost. I thought that we would struggle to get into

the top ten. We made the right changes and the car felt great on my

first lap. I was almost up there with Nico. I knew we had a chance to

compete at the front. It was a compete at the front. It was a

wonderful lap. Can you talk us round. It looks like it was first

sector where you really nailed it. Turn one, missed the apex a bit,

tried to avoid the different camber drop off. Got on the power quick

into turn two. Got on the power, touched the kerb a bit. Nice and

deep into turn three. Car started to turn, you get hard on the power, up

shift to third and get a good exit on the KERS all the way down to turn

five. You carry awes much speed as you can through -- as much speed as

you can through turn five. All the way down here you adjust the brake

bias to make sure you're reason for turn seven. Braking heavily trying

not to sacrifice too much on the entry but make sure you get the exit

because it's a long way up the hill. Making sure I'm shifting ought am

time here. This is such a cool part of the track. I can't see the track

in the car. Here I had a big oversteer moment on the exit here. I

had to lift. I lost a tenth there. Back on the power and managed to

recover a keep a part of. It down here with the DRS flat out, moving

the brake bias again into position trying to get back to the right

signed -- side, brake again. Then you nail it and hope you get a good

exit. I put as much speed as I could into the last corner. The car is a

bit nervous but use all the road on the exit and I am really happy. I

could see that I was 0. 14 up. Fortunately that was enough. You

knew you were on line for pole position. How much time when you had

the oversteer moment, how much time due leave on the table? I was. 22

Upstarts to that point. It went back down to a tenth. But I gained it

back. Pole position today, begs the question - tomorrow, race settings,

how are you you feeling? Again, because we changed the car I really

have no idea how the car will behave tomorrow. I hope that it debads like

it did today. The Red Bull has -- behaves like it did today. The Red

Bull has been good today. It will be difficult to beat them. We're in a

position to do that. Fingers crossed. I didn't get the home win

at Silverstone, which would have meant so much to me. This is the

home Grand Prix for the team so I hope that I can do it for them.

hope that I can do it for them. wish you all the best. Mixed

fortunes for the Mercedes boys. fortunes for the Mercedes boys.

Let's hear from Nico now. To go from second to 11th, must be

galling, what happened? I think the team underestimated how much the

other people were going quicker. That's it. A long day out there for

you tomorrow. What do you think is achievable? From 11th, it's really

going to be difficult. I will dot best I can and try to get up the

best I can and try to get up the best I can and try to get up the

grid. Cell and despondent Nico Rosberg quite understandably. How

did that happen? We made our best judgement at the time. We were

trying to conserve the tyre as per the final qualifying. Nicole

achieved the cut-off time. But the track picked up more towards the end

and we anticipated. It was incredibly close out there. How

confident where you that you had a shot for the pole position? The

first set Derek define the lap for Lewis Hamilton. Yet he seems to get

it quite determination one qualifying came. He had not been

happy with the balance of the car before then. But as soon as

qualifying started he seemed to be happy and just made some small

adjustments during qualifying. It will be interesting. When you talk

about small adjustments, the setup of the car is fixed. But what can

driver work with with his engineer? You can change the front wing, of

course. You can do some electronic changes. Though tiny changes but

they can be critical. In terms of the race pace tomorrow, what can

Nico Rosberg do? Well he has the free choice of the tyres. We will

look at a different strategy and see what we can do. We have struggled a

bit to understand the tyres that we have got. The balance yesterday was

not great. So I hope we have got a good balance and that will be the

challenge. Because Red Bull on Friday looked as if they were having

some tremendous race runs and we were struggling. Hopefully we will

were struggling. Hopefully we will find it tomorrow.

Tell us about your qualifying, Sebastian. Is the front row of the

great enough for you? To be honest not the spot I was hoping for. But I

could not get any closer. It was tough. Generally I was pretty happy

with the car. We had a good car this morning and I was feeling confident.

But that first sector did not come together. Despite the fact that the

car felt fine. Just the time did not come. I then tried to make it up and

we could not make up the loss. Lewis Hamilton was pretty quick this

afternoon so well done to him. We will see what happens tomorrow. At

least that keeps us sharp for tomorrow. So he seems like a man

with a plan. I think he wanted to be on pole position. But they were

lacking in the first sector which is quite a technical part of the lap. I

think Red Bull are the ones to watch. Well we can hear now from

Mark Webber who has got a great track record around here. How do you

feel about a third heading into tomorrow with Mac pretty happy.

was a tricky session. The track was the hottest it has been all weekend.

The team did a good job to pull back together. We got the most out of the

car, pretty much. We do have a strategy about how it is going to

work tomorrow and we will see if that is enough. We can push hard

from that position and get the most out of it. So what do you think that

that plan could possibly be? could be two stops, three stops. It

remains to be seen. They have gone for the options tire, contrary to

what we have seen from Ferrari. So the real question tonight is how far

can any of the top drivers and teams go on those options? From Friday

they are expecting it to fall to pieces after about five or six laps.

There was quite a game going on through qualifying. It was always

going to be interesting to see what the strategy would be with the

tyres. Nico Rosberg will almost certainly go off on the prime tyres.

The teams will be watching closely and try to update their strategy. It

has been a good day for Lotus, happy with that?

It was a good surprise. We have seen different performances, making the

tyres working or not. I think we improved through qualifying.

seems that you fastest of all in the middle sector but lost some time in

the first sector. Is there one area where you last time in particular?

think I had some oversteer and then I tried to recover some time in to.

But with the curb on the outside, then you lose something like three

tenths. So knowing you are down, how did you manage to keep it together

and claw-back time in the middle sector? It is hard. It was almost

three tenths. And I thought that was the end of my lap. Then I said no,

you have to finish and give something, get everything you have.

So I adjusted into the different corners. So you just experimented

and did an amazing sector. So the pay is looking good overall for

tomorrow? It is looking good. can think that by the favourite and

it can be a disaster. Sometimes it is the opposite. We do not fully

understand everything. Can I ask you about your season so far? This time

last year you had 61 points. You are sitting on 26. Do you think you can

start addressing that tomorrow? For sure I will try. In a few races we

should have got more points than we did. Sometimes it is bad luck. We

had a suspension in Barcelona when we were looking good. In Monaco we

were blocked in qualifying. And then in Silverstone the front wing just

broke through the race. We know it does happen. We lost a lot of

performance. So it was a difficult time. But as long as you believe you

can do it it is good to show that we are still here. Well we hope to push

a bit of good luck you away. Thank you very much.

Fernando Alonso looking at the long game for tomorrow, I imagine.

Starting on the medium tyres. think there is no clear strategy at

the moment. We did something different in bed to the normal Q3

start. We cannot be sure until tomorrow how the race develops. With

the positions of the grid in fifth and sixth with the soft tyre, six

and seven with the medium tyres, it is not that big a deal. And we have

a new window opening for strategy. We will see the result tomorrow. He

does not sound to convince about the strategy. There is no question he is

out of position from what they would normally expect. The first lap can

be quite messy. A lot of bunching of the cars. He is also behind his

team-mate. And if they applied the normal rules of qualifying position

gets the strategic choice, that gives the advantage to Felipe Massa.

But I think quite simply they do not know today because the tyres are

falling away based on Friday morning. It is expected to be even

hotter again tomorrow. Well we can find out more about their strategy

from the team bus. It looks like your car was quick enough for pole

position this afternoon but you went for a different strategy. We took

the approach of thinking forward to tomorrow. And of course tomorrow we

will see we were right. But I think we considered the elements that we

had and it was the right thing to do. Will you not tempted to split

the strategy? No, we believe by doing that we could could have

screwed up the other one. So I think we did the best we could today.

you explain your thinking? How do you think the decision will help you

tomorrow with Mac while the cost to pit at the end, there will be a lot

of traffic. Very simple. Making that sound quite simple but sometimes

they do go for a dual link strategy. What do you think about going for

exactly the same? I think they believe that that will be a better

strategy for them to get the maximum points. There is a big asset between

the prime tyres and the options. And there is the question of durability.

Durability is not the issue. They are worried about going off on the

same tyres and find themselves getting into a bunch of traffic.

Then they could find themselves in some whinny compromising positions.

There are a couple of doctors zones but the actual length are quite

short. Jenson Button, looking at the long

game for tomorrow? It is tricky for qualifying. It is a tricky balance

between the heart and the head. If we went on the option tyre, P six

would be where we had to get to make it worthwhile. I think we could have

done that but it is the role of the dice going into qualifying. So, not

too bad. Q2 was good, happy with that lap. I do not feel I did

anything wrong. It is just a pity it is to be nine. It has been a bit of

a lottery in this qualifying session. But he looks happier this

weekend. He was within half a second off the fast just time in the middle

part of qualifying. So that does show progress for McLaren. They are

having to play the long game and try to get the maximum result for the

team. So do you think that is the right thing to do? Absolutely.

Realistically they're not looking like a team that can win the Grand

Prix. So it is about damage limitation whilst they try to

develop the car. Well let's take a look at the great now. Lewis

Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel share Hulkenberg the second fastest

German. Perez and Gutierrez share an moment. If timely moment for him to

find his qualifying form. It is looking and shaping up to be a great

race tomorrow. I think so.Strategy always plays a part. They have