The Indian Grand Prix - Practice 1

:01:08. > :01:12.Welcome to India, and what could be the start of an historic weekend in

:01:13. > :01:16.the world of Formula 1. Sebastian Vettel is on the brink of clinching

:01:17. > :01:20.his fourth consecutive world drivers title. Nine wins this year gives him

:01:21. > :01:27.a commanding lead in the Championship. Raikkonen would love

:01:28. > :01:31.to beat Alonso in the Championship, that would be a coup before moving

:01:32. > :01:36.to Ferrari next season for him. A quick look at the Constructors'

:01:37. > :01:40.Championship shows that web all could clinch it this weekend, but it

:01:41. > :01:49.is the battle behind which is keeping the other teams on their

:01:50. > :01:54.toes. -- Red Bull. Kerry Anderson joins me now. This is a relatively

:01:55. > :01:57.new circuit, we have only been here three times, but it is quite a

:01:58. > :02:01.difficult one for the drivers, isn't it? Yes, there are some very, very

:02:02. > :02:08.difficult parts, some very fast chicanes, and also, it is a very

:02:09. > :02:16.long right-hander, around turn 10. You approach it at 200mph, and you

:02:17. > :02:20.have to really be online through that corner, it is one of the more

:02:21. > :02:25.demanding corners on the Formula 1 programme. The car is very important

:02:26. > :02:33.around here, but the driver commitment don't is also important.

:02:34. > :02:37.What about the engineers? Yes, on the long straights, you want low

:02:38. > :02:41.drag, and then you have got the corner sections, where you need the

:02:42. > :02:46.downforce. So it is a compromise circuit. They are all, really, but

:02:47. > :02:57.especially this one. In the last two years, Red Bull have won it. It is a

:02:58. > :03:02.track which engineers love. Paul di Resta will be sitting it out this

:03:03. > :03:07.morning, he sadly has Delhi belly. We thank you for setting your alarms

:03:08. > :03:10.early, but my goodness, Sebastian Vettel is a difficult man to beat

:03:11. > :03:16.around here. He was fastest in all practice sessions last year, and he

:03:17. > :03:24.has won the last two races. Yes, it does look a bit like that. But Red

:03:25. > :03:28.Bull are going into this race in incredibly strong form. It is the

:03:29. > :03:33.momentum which takes you forward, it is not just the fact that the car is

:03:34. > :03:37.good, he knows he can do it. It is going to be a tough weekend for

:03:38. > :03:41.everybody else, but with four races to go, the other guys want to win a

:03:42. > :03:46.race before the end of the season. They want to be able to say, if we

:03:47. > :03:50.had had this car at the start of the season, we could have won the

:03:51. > :03:53.Championship. It would take a very brave man to bet against Sebastian

:03:54. > :04:00.Vettel. Ben Edwards, are you feeling brave? Not that brave! I do think

:04:01. > :04:04.that he is going to wrap it up this weekend. At the end of the day,

:04:05. > :04:11.Alonso would have to outscore him by 16 points this weekend. Just look at

:04:12. > :04:15.Sebastian's record, he is once again out to dominate all of the Asian

:04:16. > :04:20.races. I really do not see him being stopped this weekend. Moving into

:04:21. > :04:22.the pit lane, what can we expect, are the pit lane, what can we

:04:23. > :04:28.expect, other teams looking towards 2014? Yes, although there are still

:04:29. > :04:31.some areas which can be affected for this year. I know that Lotus have

:04:32. > :04:37.got quite a few bits here. We have got to keep watching out, because

:04:38. > :04:40.teams like Lotus are not giving up. Winning one of these last four races

:04:41. > :04:45.would be very important for any team, to take the momentum into the

:04:46. > :04:49.winter. Lets leave you in the capable hands of Ben Edwards.

:04:50. > :04:55.BEN EDWARDS: So, the teams and drivers getting ready for this first

:04:56. > :04:59.90 minute session. Interestingly, a different crash helmet for Fernando

:05:00. > :05:02.Alonso here today. We have got a nice close-up view of that. None of

:05:03. > :05:06.the blue and yellow colours which we are used to seeing. It is a very

:05:07. > :05:12.different design for him this weekend. We will do some research on

:05:13. > :05:16.that. As you can see, there is a bit of a haze around the circuit. It is

:05:17. > :05:21.something we have seen here in India before. Even just looking down the

:05:22. > :05:28.pit lane, it is looking somewhat hazy. But the session is just about

:05:29. > :05:32.to get under way. We will get the first experience of these drivers

:05:33. > :05:36.out on the track, on this, the third occasion that they have come here to

:05:37. > :05:42.the Buddh International Circuit. It is 5.1 kilometres. The race length

:05:43. > :05:46.at the weekend is 60 laps. As we have heard, it is a combination

:05:47. > :05:50.track, of a high-speed section in the first part of the circuit, with

:05:51. > :05:54.its very, very long straight, at just over a kilometre, and we have

:05:55. > :06:00.got a bit of elevation change, specifically in the first few

:06:01. > :06:04.corners. That camera really flattens out this section, because actually,

:06:05. > :06:09.it drops down into turn two before climbing back up into turn three. It

:06:10. > :06:13.is not a steep climb, but it is certainly a climb. And then, on to

:06:14. > :06:19.the long straight, where the driver has plenty of time to have a look at

:06:20. > :06:27.the dials, check the settings and change anything, if the engineers

:06:28. > :06:30.want to do that. And then, finally, getting down to turn four, one of

:06:31. > :06:38.the main overtaking opportunities, because that is a DRS zone. Pirelli

:06:39. > :06:41.have brought the soft and medium tyres this weekend, which is

:06:42. > :06:45.interesting. They have gone a little softer in terms of compound this

:06:46. > :06:49.weekend than they have done in the past in India. We will wait to see

:06:50. > :06:53.how that turns out. I think the soft tyre will have to work quite hard

:06:54. > :06:58.here, and it may be a tyre which will not last quite as long into the

:06:59. > :07:03.race, and it may make the race into a two stop strategy, rather than the

:07:04. > :07:12.single stop which we had last year. Stefano Domenico having a word with

:07:13. > :07:17.Christian Horner fair. He has been having a few comments in the media

:07:18. > :07:21.this week, and at one stage for Rory were looking at getting Robert Pugh

:07:22. > :07:27.bits back into Formula 1, hoping that he would make a full recovery

:07:28. > :07:31.from his rally accident, but it has turned out that it is very unlikely

:07:32. > :07:36.that cubits is ever going to be able to drive a Formula 1 car again. But

:07:37. > :07:43.he is certainly making a name for himself in rallying. -- Kubica. He

:07:44. > :07:48.has been doing a fantastic job on the world rally scene. Jenson

:07:49. > :07:50.Button, just waiting to come out onto the track. Not everybody coming

:07:51. > :07:55.straight out for the installation lap. Normally they come out

:07:56. > :08:01.immediately once the track opens up. Maldonado has done his

:08:02. > :08:06.installation lap and has come back in already. Kimi Raikkonen going out

:08:07. > :08:11.now. We have only had forecast taking to the track so far.

:08:12. > :08:19.Raikkonen got a bit stuck last year here behind Felipe Massa. The DRS

:08:20. > :08:25.zone has been extended a bit this year. That should help Kimi, but

:08:26. > :08:30.generally, his straight-line speed was no match for the Ferraris last

:08:31. > :08:38.year. He ended up qualifying and finishing in seventh place. Roman

:08:39. > :08:44.Grosjean got a podium finish last time out, Kimi Raikkonen in Korea,

:08:45. > :08:49.so things have been looking good for Lotus, and there is no doubt that

:08:50. > :08:52.they are catching up in that battle for second place in the

:08:53. > :08:55.Constructors' Championship. While Vettel may well have got one hand on

:08:56. > :08:59.the Championship Trophy already, as we come into this race, that battle

:09:00. > :09:07.for second place is really hotting up, with Mercedes, for Rory and

:09:08. > :09:15.Lotus all playing their part. -- Ferrari.

:09:16. > :09:24.There is a massive gap back from Lotus to McLaren, in fifth place in

:09:25. > :09:32.the Championship. But those three teams are tussling for second.

:09:33. > :09:35.RADIO: Currently no GPS coverage. That message was to Kimi Raikkonen,

:09:36. > :09:39.to let him know that the team are unable to give him quite as much

:09:40. > :09:45.information about where other cars are on the circuit. Fernando Alonso

:09:46. > :09:49.out on track. He has had two podium finishes on this circuit in the

:09:50. > :09:54.past. One of the most impressive records, but not as impressive as

:09:55. > :09:58.Sebastian Vettel, who has led every single lap that we have had in the

:09:59. > :10:03.Indian Grand Prix over the past two years. We have had a red will be

:10:04. > :10:17.Ricky on the grid in both of those races. -- a Red Bull one-two. It

:10:18. > :10:20.does mean that everybody realises it is going to be as difficult as ever

:10:21. > :10:31.to try to beat Sebastian Vettel this weekend.

:10:32. > :10:37.In 2011, he went on to win the Championship by finishing in third

:10:38. > :10:41.place at Suzuka, and you felt he was a bit frustrated by that. There we

:10:42. > :10:45.are, just looking at Vettel. He always wants to go for the race win,

:10:46. > :10:49.although on that occasion he had to settle for third place, to clinch

:10:50. > :10:54.the Championship. I think this time he will be keen to win it in style.

:10:55. > :10:59.Daniel Ricciardo, always a smile on his face. But I wonder if they had a

:11:00. > :11:03.bit of a drama, they were working on the car quite hard just a few

:11:04. > :11:08.moments ago. I wonder if they might have found a little bit of a glitch.

:11:09. > :11:15.Gary, you are now presumably in the pit lane - any initial observations?

:11:16. > :11:19.I am just having a look at the McLaren. Jenson Button has been

:11:20. > :11:24.speaking about them running a different setup on the card to try

:11:25. > :11:29.to find some performance. This is Jenson in out of the pits, and on

:11:30. > :11:34.his car, he has got something behind the left front wheel. They are

:11:35. > :11:36.changing the nose right now, so obviously, they are trying to

:11:37. > :11:48.monitor the flow coming off the front wing. They are looking at how

:11:49. > :11:58.it affects the side pods. When they come back in again, we will try to

:11:59. > :12:03.show it to you. They are trying to find the direction of the airflow in

:12:04. > :12:07.that part of the car. Thank you very much. So, we are getting to see a

:12:08. > :12:11.bit more action out on circuit now, with quite a few cars taking to the

:12:12. > :12:22.track. Nobody actually setting a lap time as such. We have got Jean-Eric

:12:23. > :12:29.Vergne just driving the Toro Rosso back in here. I think most people

:12:30. > :12:32.have been out onto the circuit. We are just seeing Hamilton going out

:12:33. > :12:38.onto the track at the moment. Waiting for Webber. Paul di Resta is

:12:39. > :12:44.unwell, so they are keeping him out of this morning's session. They

:12:45. > :12:55.think you will be Bedi for P2 later this afternoon. Don't forget, you

:12:56. > :12:59.can get in touch with us on Twitter. Great to know that some of you are

:13:00. > :13:07.up at this early hour in the UK. Great to have you with us. Several

:13:08. > :13:20.of you getting in touch with us, saying you are out of bed already.

:13:21. > :13:24.Zach Smith, from Zimbabwe. Also, a couple of questions for Gary. This

:13:25. > :13:31.one is a topical one, we have spoken about it a couple of times recently

:13:32. > :13:38.- how much do the teams under fuel the cars for the race? How much fuel

:13:39. > :13:43.do they put in such that it is not enough for the car to complete the

:13:44. > :13:48.race? Well, in qualifying, you use the engine to its maximumrpm, which

:13:49. > :13:53.means you need the maximum fuel. Around a circuit like this, that is

:13:54. > :14:00.around 2.5 kilograms of fuel, roughly 3.2 litres. Come the race,

:14:01. > :14:04.the fuel load would be about 140 kilograms, but you want to reduce

:14:05. > :14:17.that because you cannot drive the car absolutely flat out. I would

:14:18. > :14:22.imagine the difference would be something like 10%. So instead of

:14:23. > :14:28.using 2.5 kilograms per lap, you would be using something like 2.3.

:14:29. > :14:32.Then you have to drive the race to suit that. If the race is faster,

:14:33. > :14:37.that is when you get some problems. Just looking at Jenson Button,

:14:38. > :14:42.coming back into the pits again. We are just looking behind the front

:14:43. > :14:53.wheels, you can see this rig, there is one on either side of the car.

:14:54. > :14:58.You can see the aluminium frame. The airflow coming off the front wing

:14:59. > :15:02.goes around the side of the car, and what you are trying to do is to

:15:03. > :15:07.measure the difference in airspeed and the direction of the airflow,

:15:08. > :15:12.and how it is going into the side pod. The more understanding you have

:15:13. > :15:17.of that, the better you can develop the side pod to try to optimise the

:15:18. > :15:21.flow. You cannot make the airflow do something it does not want to do,

:15:22. > :15:31.but you can enhance it and make it work better for you. This is called

:15:32. > :15:32.a test session, so, it is research for next year, as well as research

:15:33. > :15:46.for this year. Generalson saying yesterday they

:15:47. > :15:50.were going to go for a different set-up. Romain Grosjean is one of

:15:51. > :15:55.the stars of the last race at Suzuka. He got in front after a

:15:56. > :16:01.superb launch off the line. The two Red Bulls were tardy off the line

:16:02. > :16:05.which is not something you see often. Grosjean stayed in front of

:16:06. > :16:09.Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel and in the end, of course, Red Bull

:16:10. > :16:13.worked the strategy well. Vettel came through and Mark Webber was

:16:14. > :16:19.able to overtake towards the end of the Grand Prix. Grosjean on a run of

:16:20. > :16:23.descent finishes. Two podiums which could have been three if he had not

:16:24. > :16:26.had the engine problems in Singapore. Romain Grosjean is one to

:16:27. > :16:30.watch. Again, he is in form. He has got the confidence that he has been

:16:31. > :16:35.looking for perhaps since making his debut in Formula One back in 2009

:16:36. > :16:39.and really now the bit between his teeth. Felipe Massa in the Ferrari

:16:40. > :16:43.pit, but not for much longer and there is talk he may end up at

:16:44. > :16:46.Williams. It is rumour at the moment, but Williams is one of the

:16:47. > :16:51.teams he is talking to. He admitted that, but whether there is a deal in

:16:52. > :16:54.place, well nobody is saying anything just yet and that could be

:16:55. > :16:57.an interesting move. The drivers were speaking yesterday. We always

:16:58. > :17:01.try and catch up with the drivers before the start of the Grand Prix

:17:02. > :17:06.weekend. Get a chance to get their views and their thoughts coming into

:17:07. > :17:10.the start of the weekend. Of course, a lot of attention on Sebastian

:17:11. > :17:15.Vettel. Is he going to wrap up the championship? The likelihood is that

:17:16. > :17:19.he will. And, well in the press conference yesterday, Tom asked him

:17:20. > :17:20.would would it be a relief to get the championship out of the way this

:17:21. > :17:37.weekend? Well, it is not really one of the

:17:38. > :17:44.things you want to get out of the way. It should be a very positive

:17:45. > :17:49.thing. For sure, it would be a great relief because it is what we have

:17:50. > :17:55.been working so hard for the whole year. Obviously, we are in a great

:17:56. > :18:01.position in the points table, but yeah, I don't come here thinking I

:18:02. > :18:05.have to do this. I have to do that. I didn't do that the last three

:18:06. > :18:10.years. Sometimes I think it was good just to carry on. Other times it was

:18:11. > :18:13.good not to know the figures and stats because it was probably

:18:14. > :18:18.speaking against us more than it was speaking for us. So yeah, nothing

:18:19. > :18:23.has changed and that's why I'm looking forward to the weekend.

:18:24. > :18:31.Sebastian Vettel speaking yesterday in the press conference leading into

:18:32. > :18:35.this race. Lee did an exclusive interview with Sebastian Vettel

:18:36. > :18:39.which will be going out on Sunday. The live build-up to the Grand Prix

:18:40. > :18:47.and Lee said just how confident he looked. Lee, I know, that it was

:18:48. > :18:51.great access that you managed to have with Sebastian. You felt he was

:18:52. > :18:55.in a good mood for this one? You can tell a lot before the interview

:18:56. > :18:59.starts whether a driver comes up to you and keeps his glasses on and

:19:00. > :19:02.head down, but he came up and had a really nice chat beforehand and

:19:03. > :19:06.seemed so relax. Didn't shy away from the cameras and didn't hide

:19:07. > :19:10.himself away and he asked what we were going to talk about and I went

:19:11. > :19:15.through some strands, but generally I just wanted to know about him and

:19:16. > :19:19.really, everything that has made him the driver he is today from 2008

:19:20. > :19:22.when he won his first Grand Prix and he was more than happy. He didn't

:19:23. > :19:27.shy away from any questions and it was a revealing interview about him

:19:28. > :19:31.as a person and even when I asked him about, you know, being popular

:19:32. > :19:36.and does it bother him, he tackled every answer. He seemed someone who

:19:37. > :19:41.is very, very relaxed at this moment and why shouldn't he be? He is on

:19:42. > :19:46.the brink of a fourth consecutive world title. He didn't look like

:19:47. > :19:51.someone who was being struck down by the fear of greatness. He was a

:19:52. > :19:55.natural version of Sebastian Vettel which was great to see. In the Red

:19:56. > :19:59.Bull camp, if you like, there has been more news this week because we

:20:00. > :20:03.have heard of a new driver announcement with Daniel Ricciardo

:20:04. > :20:07.moving over to be Sebastian Vettel's team-mate next year, it means that

:20:08. > :20:12.Red Bull have taken someone else from their young drivers programme

:20:13. > :20:19.and they have decided to go for the young Russian and he has been racing

:20:20. > :20:22.in Formula Three and been racing in GP Three. He has a chance of winning

:20:23. > :20:27.the championship. The Russian is getting used to signing autographs

:20:28. > :20:30.at the junior levels of motorsport, but he will be signing more when he

:20:31. > :20:35.comes into Formula One at the start of next year. He will be team-mate

:20:36. > :20:39.of Jean-Eric Vergne. He is only 19 years old at the moment and the

:20:40. > :20:45.question many people have asked, is he experienced enough? Has he got

:20:46. > :20:50.the background? Is he in the right place to be coming into Formula One

:20:51. > :20:55.so early in his career? We have seen some perhaps not achieve it so well.

:20:56. > :21:02.Let's get down to the pits first of all and hear from Gary who is at Red

:21:03. > :21:06.Bull. Yeah, Ben, we are at Mark Webber's car which will become

:21:07. > :21:09.Daniel Ricciardo's car next year, but we will talk about installation

:21:10. > :21:14.laps and what the drivers do. The cars have been rebuilt since Japan.

:21:15. > :21:18.Every nut and bolt has been taken apart and the drivers will go out

:21:19. > :21:22.for the installation lap and it will be getting everything warmed. When

:21:23. > :21:26.they come in, the mechanics will look at everything to make sure

:21:27. > :21:32.there is no oil leaks or wires near the exhaust pipes. Silly little

:21:33. > :21:36.mistakes. They will take an oil sample from the engine to make sure

:21:37. > :21:46.the engine is fuptioning properly and there is no problems of any

:21:47. > :21:53.metal in the oil. The men Khannics are changing brake pads and disks.

:21:54. > :21:56.They feel good and everything is correct and for Saturday, for

:21:57. > :22:01.qualifying, you put the good set, that set you know are feeling good

:22:02. > :22:05.for the driver back on the car. You use this installation lap to do lots

:22:06. > :22:09.of stuff on the car to make sure A, it is not going to go out and break

:22:10. > :22:13.down because of a silly mistake and B, to make sure you have got the

:22:14. > :22:18.package of parts together that you want to put o on before qualifying.

:22:19. > :22:21.After qualifying, you are not allowed to change anything on the

:22:22. > :22:25.cars other than the front wing angle and the fuel load. So you have got

:22:26. > :22:32.to do your preparation on the Friday for what you might need on Saturday

:22:33. > :22:41.and Sunday. We have seen his mechanics take the front calibres

:22:42. > :22:45.off. Red Bull are good at the preparation. They do a lot of work

:22:46. > :22:49.and make sure they get everything together for the jigsaw that makes

:22:50. > :22:51.up a racing championship winning car.

:22:52. > :22:55.Thank you very much, Gary. It is always fun to watch the guys at work

:22:56. > :23:03.and taking a these things apart. I have been joined by the Mercedes

:23:04. > :23:09.development driver, Sam. You have come at a good time. I was beginning

:23:10. > :23:14.to talk about Torro Rosso's announcement that they have got a

:23:15. > :23:17.new driver. Before we get reaction from you, because you are trying to

:23:18. > :23:21.make the breakthrough to Formula One. We asked Jenson Button about

:23:22. > :23:25.it. Let's hear what he had to say about young drivers coming into

:23:26. > :23:33.Formula One. We have two Russians on the grid next year. Teenage

:23:34. > :23:37.Russians. For me, when I arrived in 2000 I was nowhere near ready for

:23:38. > :23:40.Formula One. I had to take the opportunity, I had to, because you

:23:41. > :23:44.never know if it will come again. You are in a difficult position when

:23:45. > :23:47.you are that young because you are told you have got to take it and you

:23:48. > :23:51.have to, but if I had the option to race for two more years and know

:23:52. > :23:54.that I would get into a Formula One car after that, I would have taken

:23:55. > :24:00.that option because it almost destroyed my career to go so early

:24:01. > :24:03.into Formula One. As soon as I had a car that wasn't competitive, I found

:24:04. > :24:07.it difficult to set it up and for the young kids coming in, it is

:24:08. > :24:10.tough because we have got a big regulation change. You have got to

:24:11. > :24:14.really understand the KERS system and the talk of the engine is

:24:15. > :24:17.different. You have got to do so much work out of the car before you

:24:18. > :24:26.get in. It is not like any other formula. Every other formula, so it

:24:27. > :24:30.is very different. There are several hundred people that depend on you

:24:31. > :24:36.and will listen to your comments about the car to develop the car.

:24:37. > :24:41.Whereas is in a small team, you have ten guys that might tweak it here

:24:42. > :24:45.and there, but it is different. The best thing for a young driver is to

:24:46. > :24:50.have a good career in lower formulas and spend time at a Formula One team

:24:51. > :24:52.experiencing what a driver will go through every race weekend because

:24:53. > :24:57.he will get a massive shock when he gets to Melbourne. He might do great

:24:58. > :25:01.and none of us will be talking about this again and hopefully he will,

:25:02. > :25:04.for his sake, but it can kill a career.

:25:05. > :25:08.Sam, interesting reflections from Jenson Button and you have done what

:25:09. > :25:13.he said. You have had a successful time. You have been part of the

:25:14. > :25:17.Mercedes team for several seasons and you have absorbed everything

:25:18. > :25:21.there is. What are your comments on what Jenson Button was saying there?

:25:22. > :25:24.You know, it is difficult for me to comment because they have been

:25:25. > :25:30.signed and they will be racing in Formula One which is great for them

:25:31. > :25:34.regardless of whether it is due to financial backing or due to talent,

:25:35. > :25:38.but they are there which is great for them. With regards to myself

:25:39. > :25:42.though Ben, I feel ready now to make the step into Formula One. I have

:25:43. > :25:47.been working with the Mercedes Formula One team for

:25:48. > :25:54.three-and-a-half years now. I have done my years in GP 2 and I won lots

:25:55. > :25:56.of races and I feel fully prepared. Hopefully I'm the latter of what he

:25:57. > :26:00.was explaining. What he was saying, the ideal

:26:01. > :26:06.training ground. Gary, you have worked with plenty of young drivers

:26:07. > :26:13.in your time. But looking at Daniel's background. He has a good

:26:14. > :26:18.CV. He is young, but he has been racing in Formula 3 and he is up for

:26:19. > :26:21.winning the GP 3 championship? It is one of situations as Jenson Button

:26:22. > :26:25.said, when you get the opportunity, it is difficult to turn it down. I

:26:26. > :26:29.think, you know, these drivers today and Sebastian Vettel and Fernando

:26:30. > :26:34.Alonso, they all started racing or driving carts at four years old. So

:26:35. > :26:39.although the kid is only 19, he has got 15 years experience of driving,

:26:40. > :26:42.but he hasn't got the maturity that sometimes you need as a person. I

:26:43. > :26:48.think he has got the experience of driving, so it is balancing the two

:26:49. > :26:52.that's very, very difficult. Whenever Rubens Barrichello joined

:26:53. > :26:56.us, he was 21 and you could say that was young, but he came with a lot of

:26:57. > :27:01.maturity. He knew what he wanted to do. He knew how to understand the

:27:02. > :27:07.car and could work with the engineers. Some of these guys can be

:27:08. > :27:11.a pleasure to work with and I don't think we can judge Daniel before he

:27:12. > :27:16.gets in a Formula One car. If Jenson Button -- as Jenson Button said, if

:27:17. > :27:23.you were guaranteed of getting into a Formula One car, you would be

:27:24. > :27:32.better spending time getting the extra maturity. If we go back to one

:27:33. > :27:35.of Torro Rosso's drivers. He would say it was too young. He ended up

:27:36. > :27:38.out of Formula One and will probably be never be back again. Sometimes it

:27:39. > :27:43.can work for you and sometimes it doesn't.

:27:44. > :27:47.As we know, Sam, it is a tough game, isn't it? To make the final

:27:48. > :27:50.breakthrough. The Red Bull programme has been a successful programme for

:27:51. > :27:54.Sebastian Vettel and they are hoping we are going to see that again with

:27:55. > :27:58.Daniel Ricciardo. He has come through that system. It has given

:27:59. > :28:04.drivers, some drivers, some fantastic opportunities that they

:28:05. > :28:11.would never would have had. It does seem sometimes their decision making

:28:12. > :28:15.process, you wonder about it? They pick the drivers from a very young

:28:16. > :28:18.age and they are thrust into the limelight and treated as if they are

:28:19. > :28:22.Formula One drivers with the pressure that's put on their

:28:23. > :28:25.shoulders. So you find the guys that go up the ranks and make it to

:28:26. > :28:28.Formula One are the guys that coped with that the best and got the

:28:29. > :28:31.results with that pressure on their shoulders.

:28:32. > :28:37.Yes, I think the pressure of having, you know, a team, a factory of 500

:28:38. > :28:44.people all resting on what you do as an individual. Your performance

:28:45. > :28:49.defines their livelihoods? It is a big team in Formula One. At Mercedes

:28:50. > :28:58.we have got 500 plus guys working on the two cars, 365 days a year. It is

:28:59. > :29:02.a huge team sport. People say, "Ah, you are in the car on your own." You

:29:03. > :29:08.are not, you have hundreds of guys at the factory willing you on. This

:29:09. > :29:11.is not just a driver's sport, it is very much a team sport.

:29:12. > :29:15.Well, we have got somebody listening to us and about to talk to Lee who

:29:16. > :29:21.is in a situation similar to you, hoping to break into Formula One and

:29:22. > :29:26.many congratulations to Kevin who wrapped up the formula Renault World

:29:27. > :29:31.Series and he is talking to Lee. Kevin, it must have been a relief to

:29:32. > :29:37.get the championship because it was a hard fought battle, wasn't it? I

:29:38. > :29:42.mean, it was a good year. Everything worked well and we have been

:29:43. > :29:47.consistent. It was really nice to bring it home. You have got your

:29:48. > :29:51.duties here with McLaren and that's been going all season. You have been

:29:52. > :29:58.co signing the World Series and this. What are you doing for McLaren

:29:59. > :30:03.at the moment? I am a reserve driver like everyone else who is not racing

:30:04. > :30:07.here. Yeah, I'm looking to learn about everything and gain some

:30:08. > :30:10.experience because obviously, there is days when you cannot test and it

:30:11. > :30:13.is important to get any experience you can in Formula One. So it is a

:30:14. > :30:18.good experience. We saw you, we have dragged you off

:30:19. > :30:22.the pit wall. What were you learning up there? I am just looking at lap

:30:23. > :30:27.times and following everything they say on the radio: You get more data

:30:28. > :30:28.from the lap times and sector times. It is good.

:30:29. > :30:49.Do you concentrate just on McLaren? when I am here, I follow everything.

:30:50. > :30:50.Of course, my main focus is on what McLaren is doing. But I follow

:30:51. > :30:54.everything. Of course, my main focus is on what

:30:55. > :30:58.McLaren is doing. But I I tried to learn about Formula 1 in general. It

:30:59. > :31:03.is important to follow everyone's strategy. It is important to learn

:31:04. > :31:08.as much as you can when you are here. What are your thoughts on

:31:09. > :31:13.Kvyat joining Toro Rosso from next season? Well, it is going to be a

:31:14. > :31:20.challenge for any rookie to enter Formula 1. But I wish him all the

:31:21. > :31:26.best. I know he is a good driver, he is really quick. So, I think maybe

:31:27. > :31:30.we will see a surprise from him. What about your hopes for next

:31:31. > :31:36.season? Nothing signed at the moment, I cannot say anything for

:31:37. > :31:40.sure. But we are working hard. I have had a really good season this

:31:41. > :31:45.year, so that helps that I have some good results. But we are working

:31:46. > :31:52.hard, that is all I can say. Thank you very much for talking to us.

:31:53. > :32:00.BEN EDWARDS: Kevin Magnussen there, the winner of the Formula Renault

:32:01. > :32:05.3.5 series this year. His father also raced briefly in Formula 1, but

:32:06. > :32:11.never quite delivered the kind of amazing performance... He, in a way,

:32:12. > :32:16.was a case in point. Young Magnuson, when he was coming through

:32:17. > :32:19.the ranks, I remember him dominating in Formula 3, and I thought he was

:32:20. > :32:26.definitely a future world champion, but it did not quite work out.

:32:27. > :32:33.GARY ANDERSON: No, when he got to Formula 1, he just did not seem to

:32:34. > :32:37.thrive on it. It was very strange. But I think there are people, we

:32:38. > :32:42.have seen it through the years, who have not had that good a career in

:32:43. > :32:46.the smaller formulas, they jump into a Formula 1 car, and they are at

:32:47. > :32:51.home, and vice versa. It is an interesting thing, adapting to the

:32:52. > :32:55.glitz and glamour, the preparation and the engineering, all of that

:32:56. > :33:05.stuff which happens in Formula 1 and does not happen anywhere else. So,

:33:06. > :33:10.hopefully, his problems in moving to Formula 1 will not have moved on to

:33:11. > :33:13.his son. Let's not forget that there has been a British team which has

:33:14. > :33:26.been very involved in a lot of these drivers coming through these

:33:27. > :33:30.programmes, which is Carlin, and I think something like 15 drivers have

:33:31. > :33:40.now come from their ranks, up into Formula 1. And yourself, Sam, you

:33:41. > :33:45.know that Carlin team very well. Yes, if you look over the last ten

:33:46. > :33:49.years, it is a British team which has had most if not all of the

:33:50. > :33:57.Formula 1 guys who have come out of Formula 3, they have come through

:33:58. > :34:08.that team. I do not think they ever had Sebastian, though, did they?

:34:09. > :34:12.They did, for half a season. My apologies!

:34:13. > :34:22.RADIO: Please protect the front left tyre. Yes, the front left tyre takes

:34:23. > :34:32.a real pounding here, particularly up at turn 10 and turn chick 11.

:34:33. > :34:46.Absolutely, prolonged GeForce corners. Also, turn 14 and 15, it is

:34:47. > :34:51.very hard on that front left. I know you listening to the briefings

:34:52. > :34:54.coming into the weekend, is it something which has already been

:34:55. > :35:00.talked about at Mercedes, for example? All of these things have

:35:01. > :35:05.already been worked on in the simulator. I have done a lot of work

:35:06. > :35:11.in preparation for this Grand Prix, in setting up the car the best that

:35:12. > :35:16.I can, according to what the engineers think will be the optimum

:35:17. > :35:21.setup with regards to optimising KERS, ride levels, deployment

:35:22. > :35:28.schedules, everything has been looked at. And we have seen what

:35:29. > :35:28.kind of things to expect from this kind of track.

:35:29. > :35:32.kind of things to expect from this kind of We have been here before, we

:35:33. > :35:36.know that it is going to be very dirty at the beginning of free press

:35:37. > :35:45.this, which is why we can only see one car out there at the moment.

:35:46. > :35:52.Just coming in to turn four here, watch the forces here... It is more

:35:53. > :35:58.than 5.5 G, one of the biggest of the entire season.

:35:59. > :36:02.SAM BIRD: Absolutely, and you will see a lot of track evolution here.

:36:03. > :36:06.Abu Dhabi is another one which starts off the recently, very dirty,

:36:07. > :36:10.a little bit like this one, where it is not used an awful lot, so we can

:36:11. > :36:17.expect to see a lot of improvement over the course of the weekend, in

:36:18. > :36:23.terms of lap times. This is coming up through the left-hander, 13 and

:36:24. > :36:30.14, the last part of the track, up over the rise, a blind approach on

:36:31. > :36:39.entry, popping downhill. -- dropping. This track does have some

:36:40. > :36:46.decent elevation change. It is quite easy to lose traction out of that

:36:47. > :36:51.last corner. On the start of the qualifying lap, you will see the

:36:52. > :36:56.drivers going even wider to prepare the lap, so that they can get on to

:36:57. > :37:01.the KERS as soon as possible before the start finish line, to get the

:37:02. > :37:05.best possible start to a lap. The use of KERS is such an important

:37:06. > :37:09.part of getting your lap right, where you use it. Obviously, you

:37:10. > :37:15.analyse that on your simulator, as well as the engineers - how do you

:37:16. > :37:21.relate that information, and is it sometimes slightly anti-in it if, as

:37:22. > :37:26.to where you use KERS? No, after years of using KERS, I have been

:37:27. > :37:30.doing a lot of work on the KERS schedules, and I have got to know

:37:31. > :37:34.where to expect a boost, and how much I expect to boost. We have a

:37:35. > :37:39.programme which will tell us the optimum. It is a case of me saying,

:37:40. > :37:53.I think that is realistic that is not realistic, or maybe, it would be

:37:54. > :37:55.better to use it here... It is a case of using the information we

:37:56. > :38:01.have got on the computer and being able to use it on the track Gary,

:38:02. > :38:05.you wanted to come in on the? GARY ANDERSON: Yes, just to explain

:38:06. > :38:10.KERS, it is the electrical system in these cars, and basically, it gives

:38:11. > :38:16.you extra horsepower available for such .5 seconds each lap. As Sam was

:38:17. > :38:19.explaining, coming out of the last corner, for qualifying, you leave it

:38:20. > :38:26.till the last corner, and press your KERS button. As you come over the

:38:27. > :38:29.start finish line, your car will be going faster than it would normally.

:38:30. > :38:40.Then you have got another 6.5 seconds. In other words, you are

:38:41. > :38:43.nearly using it twice on your lap, but in the race, it is different.

:38:44. > :38:47.You would use it in a different position. You would probably use it

:38:48. > :38:51.on the start of the main straight and the start of the long straight,

:38:52. > :38:55.just to get the car speed up a little bit, especially if you are

:38:56. > :39:03.not going to be using DRS to get past a car. So, every sort of

:39:04. > :39:08.situation is slightly different. Qualifying and racing conditions are

:39:09. > :39:13.fastly different. It is all part and parcel of the art. It will be

:39:14. > :39:18.different again in 2014, it is going to be so intrinsic into the power

:39:19. > :39:22.unit, that as a driver, you will not have so much say over when it comes

:39:23. > :39:27.in, I guess? No, that will be something which is automatically

:39:28. > :39:35.introduced into the car for next year. It is not going to be for

:39:36. > :39:39.example six seconds of usage, like it is at the moment. It is going to

:39:40. > :39:44.be throughout the lap that it will be used. It is going to be a much

:39:45. > :39:49.heavier unit as well, which is why drivers need to be short and light.

:39:50. > :39:53.I can think of a nice British driver who is short and light. Who is

:39:54. > :40:00.sitting right next to me at the moment ! Lewis Hamilton there are,

:40:01. > :40:04.with his brother. Lewis Hamilton very much enjoying being in India.

:40:05. > :40:09.His latest column on the BBC website, if you go to that, he is

:40:10. > :40:13.talking about his love for India, and also a passion he has for trying

:40:14. > :40:17.to support underprivileged children in India and in other parts of the

:40:18. > :40:22.world. He has written it very eloquently. It is worth a look, from

:40:23. > :40:25.Lewis Hamilton, on the website. We are speaking to Sam Bird here in the

:40:26. > :40:29.commentary box, development driver for Mercedes. What are Mercedes

:40:30. > :40:36.thinking about their chances as but first, let's hear what Nico Rosberg

:40:37. > :40:40.said yesterday. I have a good car, which is why I am sure I can do

:40:41. > :40:45.well. How frustrating is it that you have a good car, and yet you have

:40:46. > :40:49.not been on the podium since Silverstone? Annoying, yes. I would

:40:50. > :40:54.like to be up there again. It has just all gone wrong recently in the

:40:55. > :40:57.last couple of races. Front wing falling off in the middle of the

:40:58. > :41:04.straight, how weird is that? It never happens. So, hopefully,

:41:05. > :41:10.another race weekend, even the next couple of races, hopefully we can

:41:11. > :41:16.get a run going. So, there is Nico, looking happy and relaxed this

:41:17. > :41:20.weekend? Yes, both the boys seem in a good steak at the moment. Enjoying

:41:21. > :41:25.their driving, enjoying the atmosphere of the team. We are very

:41:26. > :41:30.much pushing for second place in the Constructors' Championship. Second

:41:31. > :41:34.is within our grasp, which is in our aim is a team, to finish second in

:41:35. > :41:39.the Constructors' Championship. We do have a good car, and we have been

:41:40. > :41:44.very unfortunate recently, like Nico said, front wing falling off halfway

:41:45. > :41:49.down the straight, that was just unbelievable. We do not even need

:41:50. > :41:54.lady luck to turn up, we just need a normal weekend, and there are podium

:41:55. > :42:05.finishes there for us. The gap is only ten points, which is not that

:42:06. > :42:09.much, so it really is achievable. Alonso has not been getting anywhere

:42:10. > :42:14.near the front. Alonso has not had a front row all year. Massa has only

:42:15. > :42:19.had one. Whereas you guys have got a fantastic qualifying record? We have

:42:20. > :42:23.had most of the pole positions, apart from Seb, obviously. But we

:42:24. > :42:28.need to convert those points, you do not get any points for what you do

:42:29. > :42:32.on Saturday. We need clean races, normal races, and we are going to

:42:33. > :42:35.score those points, hopefully to get that second place in the

:42:36. > :42:40.Constructors' Championship. And of course, Lotus are lurking in the

:42:41. > :42:44.background as well. Absolutely. We are riding on board with Valerie

:42:45. > :42:48.Bottas. Just talk us through this next section, Sam. He has hit

:42:49. > :42:53.terminal velocity, coming down into second gear. Does he use a little

:42:54. > :42:58.bit of KERS? Yes, he does. He has only got a little bit left. Up to

:42:59. > :43:04.seventh gear, no, just sixth. Down to third for the next one. This

:43:05. > :43:11.section is actually quite difficult and tricky. I can remember Massa

:43:12. > :43:17.hitting those orange things a couple of years ago and having some huge

:43:18. > :43:22.crashes there. Into the long, twisting right-hander. Fourth gear,

:43:23. > :43:25.hopefully that will be 50 once the grip comes up a bit. The heaviest

:43:26. > :43:32.point on the load in the circuit. A bit of traffic, with the Marussia

:43:33. > :43:35.getting out of the way. Fourth gear there, I would've thought that would

:43:36. > :43:40.have been third. Up towards the end of the lap, another heavy braking

:43:41. > :43:44.zone. Third gear again for the last corner, I would've thought that

:43:45. > :43:48.would be second, once the comes up. Maybe years using the higher gears

:43:49. > :43:53.because he is struggling a bit with traction. So, Valtteri Bottas

:43:54. > :44:03.completing that lap. A couple of questions coming in. One for you,

:44:04. > :44:08.Sam, saying, with the GP to season still going on, and the title

:44:09. > :44:11.undecided, and you are still in with a shout, does it make it difficult

:44:12. > :44:16.for you to work on trying to get a Formula 1 driver for next year? No,

:44:17. > :44:20.it is the perfect time for me to be working on that, with the momentum

:44:21. > :44:24.that I have got so far this year, having five wins under my belt. It

:44:25. > :44:28.is the perfect time to be knocking on people's door. Do you do that

:44:29. > :44:32.personally, do you have a management that does that? I work with a

:44:33. > :44:38.management company, but nothing beats the driver going up to people

:44:39. > :44:40.in person and saying, give me a shot. We are watching

:44:41. > :44:43.in person and saying, give me a shot. We are Jean-Eric Vergne on

:44:44. > :44:49.track at the moment. For those of you in the UK in particular, the

:44:50. > :44:58.Auto Sport Awards are coming up soon. That can make a difference to

:44:59. > :45:04.drivers like yourself. Absolutely, I am currently up for British

:45:05. > :45:08.Competition Driver Of The Year, so please feel free to vote for me if

:45:09. > :45:13.you are a subscriber to Auto sport. I would love to win an award there.

:45:14. > :45:21.We wish you luck . Roman Grosjean looking very relaxed. Gary, just to

:45:22. > :45:25.finish off the. About the new young driver from Russia coming in, one

:45:26. > :45:37.question here, saying, why have Toro Rosso overlooked all of the GP2

:45:38. > :45:54.drivers? It is a better learning curve for

:45:55. > :46:00.Formula One than GP 2 or GP 3. Daniil Kvyat is doing Formula 2 and

:46:01. > :46:06.3. It shows he can jump from one car to another car and do a good job.

:46:07. > :46:10.Why Red Bull picked him at this age, I am not sure. They maybe looking

:46:11. > :46:14.for another Sebastian Vettel. When Sebastian Vettel got in a Formula

:46:15. > :46:17.One car, he wasn't much older. It is one of those situations where they

:46:18. > :46:21.see the success they got out of Sebastian Vettel coming from that

:46:22. > :46:26.early age and breeding and blending them into the Red Bull way. The only

:46:27. > :46:31.way you can do that is to get a driver before he has sorted, got

:46:32. > :46:36.sort of, you know, his ways, the way he wants to drive a car sorted out.

:46:37. > :46:39.It is a big market for Red Bull and that's an area where they are

:46:40. > :46:43.pushing that way and they are probably getting money out of Russia

:46:44. > :46:49.as well. So there is lots of things that make up the bits of the jigsaw

:46:50. > :46:52.that make a driver good. Sebastian Vettel started very early so there

:46:53. > :46:56.is a chance they look at this guy and say this guy could be the next

:46:57. > :47:00.Sebastian Vettel. Gary, we have been watching Jenson Button on track. We

:47:01. > :47:06.are looking into the McLaren pits here. It is Sergio Perez. A question

:47:07. > :47:13.from Chris Alexander, he says we are helping him with his insomnia. What

:47:14. > :47:19.does it take for a team like McLaren to come back? Last year they had a

:47:20. > :47:23.stonking way and they weren't there in terms of reliability? Yes, they

:47:24. > :47:27.weren't quite there because of the reliability and they screwed up a

:47:28. > :47:34.lot in a few pit stops and they lost a lot of potential good race results

:47:35. > :47:39.and what, the confusing thing for me, they did have a good year last

:47:40. > :47:44.year and they are having such a bad year this year. The concept of the

:47:45. > :47:47.car is a good package, they just haven't got the best of it and there

:47:48. > :47:52.are areas of that car that are causing them grief and they have not

:47:53. > :47:57.addressed them. I would put the question mark on next year's car.

:47:58. > :48:01.You learn a lot more when you have a poor car than when you have a good

:48:02. > :48:05.car because you have to research deeply. You want to practise and

:48:06. > :48:09.before the end of the season, you want to fix it. From my point of

:48:10. > :48:14.view, McLaren should have started poorly and by Hungary they should

:48:15. > :48:19.have been up there fighting for front rows and winning races and

:48:20. > :48:22.they have not done that and they have not shown they understand the

:48:23. > :48:24.problem and I think there is a question mark over them for next

:48:25. > :48:29.year. Sergio Perez is the fastest here

:48:30. > :48:33.today, but it is early days. Not many timed laps have been completed.

:48:34. > :48:41.Sergio Perez is fastest and Maldonado, and Button is fourth and

:48:42. > :48:46.Jean-Eric Vergne is fifth. They are the only drivers that established a

:48:47. > :48:49.lap time. It is ten cars that set a lap time, but we are waiting for

:48:50. > :48:54.plenty of others to come out and join in the fun! And it is great to

:48:55. > :49:00.have your comments. Sharky letting us know he is watching. He says it

:49:01. > :49:13.is a perfect way to start the Friday morning. A day off. Enjoying toast

:49:14. > :49:22.and bananas and Formula One! This could be Sebastian Vettel's fourth

:49:23. > :49:26.World Championship title. On the Asian circuit, he always seems to do

:49:27. > :49:32.well on the Asian tracks. If he wins this week like last year, he will

:49:33. > :49:36.have done all four of the Asian tracks at this latter part of the

:49:37. > :49:40.year? He is the only ever pole sitter at this circuit, so you

:49:41. > :49:44.wouldn't put it past him. They are looking strong at the moment. Going

:49:45. > :49:46.back to what you guys were talking about McLaren. They have been

:49:47. > :49:53.through this before having a lull after Lewis Hamilton won the world

:49:54. > :49:58.title in 2008, their 2009 challenger was particularly poor and Lewis was

:49:59. > :50:03.getting knocked out in Q3s. They did recover it that year. I expect them

:50:04. > :50:08.to come back strong next year. I don't see any reason why they can't.

:50:09. > :50:13.They have got the engineering expertise and strength there. I

:50:14. > :50:16.think we will see that British team back.

:50:17. > :50:20.You are optimistic? Well, I'm hoping that Mercedes will be better! But

:50:21. > :50:24.McLaren, are, you know, McLaren will get it right, I'm sure.

:50:25. > :50:30.There will be a lot of people hoping that I wa, Gary. I agree with what

:50:31. > :50:35.Sam is saying. When they had that poor year, they came back before the

:50:36. > :50:40.end of the season and everybody said, "Aren't these guys clever?"

:50:41. > :50:46.The aerodynamic package, although it is changing for next year, it is

:50:47. > :50:51.still relative. There is a narrower front wing and different end plate

:50:52. > :50:55.and there is mechanisms on there to lose downforce, within your group

:50:56. > :50:57.you have to prove you know what is going on. Someone is standing up

:50:58. > :51:00.there making decisions for next year, are the decisions going to

:51:01. > :51:05.make? Because the decisions for this year didn't work and the decisions

:51:06. > :51:09.all through the 16 places, the decisions of development for all 16

:51:10. > :51:14.of the races haven't worked. If you look back in Japan, they were as far

:51:15. > :51:20.away from pole position as they were in Malaysia. Australia was really

:51:21. > :51:27.bad and Malaysia they came up a bit and from then, it has been 1.4%,

:51:28. > :51:33.they were slower. I would be scratching my head as to whether

:51:34. > :51:41.they are going to go forward? They see regs are so different. It is not

:51:42. > :51:44.worth chasing this car and they have said, "Right, let's forget this

:51:45. > :51:47.year. Let's get on with next year." It is going into the winter with

:51:48. > :51:52.confidence and you understand how a Formula One car works. Why is this

:51:53. > :51:57.car slow? You can tell yourself, it is because of this. We won't bother

:51:58. > :52:01.doing this. At the end of the day, you have a big group of people.

:52:02. > :52:05.There is probably 150 to 200 people who are involved in the design of

:52:06. > :52:08.the car and the packaging of the car and somebody is leading that ship

:52:09. > :52:11.and that ship has to be led in the right direction and for this year,

:52:12. > :52:14.up to the 16th race now, it has not been led in the direction to rectify

:52:15. > :52:19.the problems that this car has got. So how is that guy going to lead

:52:20. > :52:22.them to a better car next year? I always found with a team, you need

:52:23. > :52:24.to prove to yourself more than anything else that you can do the

:52:25. > :52:29.job. Fair enough. Well, Jenson Button is

:52:30. > :52:32.fastest now. He is ahead of his team-mate, Sergio Perez. But we are

:52:33. > :52:36.waiting to see some of the real top runners come out on to the track.

:52:37. > :52:40.Nico Rosberg has done a lap, but not a particularly representative lap,

:52:41. > :52:44.but he is on a quicker one now. We might see more pace from the

:52:45. > :52:48.Mercedes and we are going to be seeing the likes of Mark Webber and

:52:49. > :52:52.Alonso and Vettel coming out. James Calado has come back out on track in

:52:53. > :52:57.the Force India. James Calado is standing in for Paul di Resta this

:52:58. > :53:01.morning who is not well. Hopefully, he will be better for the second

:53:02. > :53:06.practise session later on today. We are watching Felipe Massa here.

:53:07. > :53:11.Everybody will be running the medium compound tyre in the first segment

:53:12. > :53:17.or the first part of practise. Running wide there as well. It

:53:18. > :53:20.wasn't part of the plan! The soft tyre coming in later. It is

:53:21. > :53:24.interesting to see the soft tyre has been brought to India. I was talking

:53:25. > :53:29.to one of the Pirelli guys and he said the soft tyre will take a

:53:30. > :53:32.pounding here because the track evolved over the last couple of

:53:33. > :53:37.years. It seems to be showing more grip. It will be interesting to see

:53:38. > :53:45.how that soft tyre perform later. Yes, I expect to see data to 1.4

:53:46. > :53:49.seconds on a quali lap. What will be interesting is how it will be used

:53:50. > :53:57.in a race stint. Who will use it and at what times? If you qualify on it

:53:58. > :54:02.in Q3 you have to qualify on it. How many laps can these guys get out of

:54:03. > :54:06.it? The puncture that Lewis Hamilton suffered on the first corner of the

:54:07. > :54:11.Japanese Grand Prix, it did spoil what could have been a very

:54:12. > :54:16.interesting race because he made a good start, hadn't he? I know it is

:54:17. > :54:21.all ifs because it didn't happen. He had to retire the car early. Looking

:54:22. > :54:26.back with the team, was there a hope there was to be a podium finish to

:54:27. > :54:31.be had out of it? We go into every weekend thinking there is a podium

:54:32. > :54:36.or two in there. It is different to last year. Last year we didn't have

:54:37. > :54:42.the package. This year, we do. So it was very, very disappointing for his

:54:43. > :54:47.race to be spoilt so early on. And we haven't had the greatest amount

:54:48. > :54:50.of fortune recently. Let's hope this Indian Grand Prix is the turning

:54:51. > :54:53.point for us and we can hone in on the second place like we spoke about

:54:54. > :54:56.ten minutes ago. Thank you very much for joining us this morning, Sam. It

:54:57. > :55:00.has been great to have your company. We are going to get a few different

:55:01. > :55:03.guests in this morning. Have a great weekend and let's hope luck does

:55:04. > :55:09.change a little bit for the team Thank you very much, Ben. Take care.

:55:10. > :55:12.Sam Bird there, a development driver for Mercedes and working with Lewis

:55:13. > :55:17.Hamilton and Nico Rosberg as the weekend continues. James Calado, we

:55:18. > :55:20.are just watching him. He has driven a couple of sessions already this

:55:21. > :55:24.year and has done a competent job for the team. He drove in Italy, the

:55:25. > :55:29.first session there and in Korea as well. Korea had the mistake, while

:55:30. > :55:35.he was getting used to the track, but apart from that it was fine. He

:55:36. > :55:40.is out in the session. An unexpected session. He is due to do the final

:55:41. > :55:45.two sessions at the final couple of Grand Prix, but that was a surprise.

:55:46. > :55:49.Nico Rosberg running wide there, but no major problems and Nico Rosberg

:55:50. > :55:53.has gone quickest. He is ahead of Jenson Button. Sergio Perez,

:55:54. > :55:57.Valtteri Bottas and Jean-Eric Vergne and Hamilton. Gary, I guess you are

:55:58. > :56:02.not seeing much in the way of new bits and pieces on the cars here? So

:56:03. > :56:06.much concentration is going on next yoer? Yes, so much concentration for

:56:07. > :56:14.next year. There is flicks and things, but nothing too exciting.

:56:15. > :56:18.There are more developments on their original component. I say as well,

:56:19. > :56:22.sometimes it is better to get the best out of the package you know

:56:23. > :56:27.than keep changing it. As Sam was saying, a lot of work is done in the

:56:28. > :56:32.simulation ring, gear changes, gear change points, ratios, downforce

:56:33. > :56:36.levels, all that stuff will be simulated, but when you get to the

:56:37. > :56:39.racetrack, it is just different. If you don't spend the weekend with a

:56:40. > :56:44.package of a car that you understand and know and you are not doing too

:56:45. > :56:49.many back to backs. You can get more out of it. The last few races of the

:56:50. > :56:52.season, we will see some people moving forward and haven't done

:56:53. > :56:55.anything. They have worked harder on what they have got.

:56:56. > :57:00.Sebastian Vettel crossed the line and he goes ninth fastest. We have

:57:01. > :57:08.17 cars that have established a lap time and Paul di Resta is here. It

:57:09. > :57:11.is good to see Paul is here, but clearly he has been unwell and they

:57:12. > :57:15.are resting him from the session and hoping he will be OK for the second

:57:16. > :57:22.session later on this afternoon. Now, I am delighted to say that I

:57:23. > :57:25.have been joined by the Marussia sporting director. Of course, we

:57:26. > :57:31.have been talking about Vettel's chances of winning the championship,

:57:32. > :57:35.but there is more going on behind Vettel winning the championship. We

:57:36. > :57:40.have got this battle for second in the constructors with Mercedes and

:57:41. > :57:46.Lotus and Ferrari, but there is the battle for tenth place which

:57:47. > :57:55.Marussia hold on to, but caterer ham are desperate to get from you? Yes.

:57:56. > :58:00.I think the guys in the team have rested this car very well. The guys

:58:01. > :58:04.back home have done a great job in difficult circumstances. We are

:58:05. > :58:07.happy with where we are at. From last year, you have to keep pushing

:58:08. > :58:13.until the last lap of the last race. We will see how we go. As you say,

:58:14. > :58:17.Ben, there is battles up and down the grid which is what Formula One

:58:18. > :58:22.should be. We are riding with Fernando Alonso. The new helmet, the

:58:23. > :58:26.1571 refers to the number of points he has scored in Formula One! It is

:58:27. > :58:32.a new record. He has beaten the record that Michael Schumacher had.

:58:33. > :58:36.It is an odd record because the points system changed a few years

:58:37. > :58:42.ago. TEAM RADIO: A bit too much over

:58:43. > :58:46.steer. That was Nico Rosberg. We saw him going off the track, but he has

:58:47. > :58:50.been I can quick. How much notice do we take of the new record, do you

:58:51. > :58:56.think of Fernando Alonso's? The rules have changed. It is, the

:58:57. > :59:08.points allocations changed. It is very difficult to compare from era

:59:09. > :59:14.to era or season to season. But, you know, that's the nature of Formula

:59:15. > :59:19.One, isn't it? It is funny when you look at the points scoring this year

:59:20. > :59:30.because Sebastian Vettel on his own, has the same number of points as

:59:31. > :59:35.both Ferraris had. Yes, I think Vettel has done a really good job,

:59:36. > :59:41.but clearly, the star out there is the car and it is a fantastic head

:59:42. > :59:45.start for any driver to have as you know, you have driven yourself, the

:59:46. > :59:51.key thing is confidence and that car not only gives confidence, but a

:59:52. > :59:54.clear performance advantage as well. It is not just opinion. Of you can

:59:55. > :59:57.just see it on the track. Gary, we have seen all year with

:59:58. > :00:08.Sebastian Vettel's confidence and you caught up with agree Newey

:00:09. > :00:13.yesterday? Yes, he has been back at base working on next year's car. Is

:00:14. > :00:18.the car, why has Mark Webber only scored half the points, actually won

:00:19. > :00:30.less half the points of Sebastian Vettel? Is that just luck? To some

:00:31. > :00:35.extent, Gary, I think it is. Do not get me wrong, I think Sebastian has

:00:36. > :00:39.done a fantastic job, that it is a fantastically consistent job. I do

:00:40. > :00:44.not think he has had to get everything out of that car, by any

:00:45. > :00:48.stretch. If you look at Alonso's performance, it has been

:00:49. > :00:55.spectacular. So, I cannot answer the question, to be honest. That is one

:00:56. > :00:59.for Red Bull to answer. Of course, Mark Webber will be moving on, and

:01:00. > :01:04.Daniel Ricciardo will have the task of going up against Vettel next

:01:05. > :01:08.year. Ferrari have some major input with you next season, you have the

:01:09. > :01:13.new Ferrari power unit, so how are the preparations going? Really well.

:01:14. > :01:24.We did not know what to expect enter into a long-term relationship with

:01:25. > :01:29.Ferrari. -- entering. We were quite unsure how it would work out. I have

:01:30. > :01:36.to say, it has been a fantastic experience so far. How is your

:01:37. > :01:42.Italian? Not great. But the contact at all levels in the factory is

:01:43. > :01:47.very, very regular. There is a lot of communication. Do you have

:01:48. > :02:03.Ferrari guys at your base? They are coming and going...

:02:04. > :02:09.RADIO: Tell me what you felt. I will have to check...

:02:10. > :02:14.BEN EDWARDS: So, things not quite right for Alonso. Not a perfect

:02:15. > :02:25.start to the day. Sorry to interrupt, Graeme... We use a lot of

:02:26. > :02:29.technology now, so, video conferencing and the like. It is all

:02:30. > :02:33.about communication and collaboration, obviously. But I have

:02:34. > :02:38.to say, it could not be going any better. We are very happy with it.

:02:39. > :02:42.About the actual challenge of building a card to these new

:02:43. > :02:46.regulations? Gary was saying, what was the word Adrian knew we had used

:02:47. > :02:54.with you yesterday, talking about next year 's regulations? It was all

:02:55. > :03:02.about turbos and energy, and the word he used was, it is a monster.

:03:03. > :03:12.It is a great expression! It is a massive technical challenge, without

:03:13. > :03:16.question. The power unit itself as effectively got two motor generator

:03:17. > :03:21.units, as opposed to a single KERS. Yes, it is not just a regeneration

:03:22. > :03:25.from the braking, which goes into the battery, and powers the car, but

:03:26. > :03:29.you have got a motor unit on the turbo of the engine which can also

:03:30. > :03:44.store up and release energy back into the system. Yes, so there is a

:03:45. > :03:48.motor generator unit... They have told him to limp back, because of a

:03:49. > :03:56.gearbox problem, I think, there, Fernando Alonso. But yes, the

:03:57. > :04:01.different power units... So, yes, there is a kinetic energy recovery,

:04:02. > :04:07.which is similar to the KERS, but a KERS on steroids, if you like. And

:04:08. > :04:11.then there is the thermal recovery system, recovering energy from the

:04:12. > :04:20.exhaust gases. So, it is a convex piece of kit. The cooling challenges

:04:21. > :04:23.are massive. I can see why Adrian considers it to be a monster. The

:04:24. > :04:28.challenge is the same for the big teams, as well as the small teams.

:04:29. > :04:34.We have to build the car to the same rules. What you have slightly fewer

:04:35. > :04:39.engineers to do it? We have a lot fewer, ours just have to be

:04:40. > :04:45.cleverer, simple as that. Of course, a guy like Adrian, in many ways,

:04:46. > :04:50.loves the new challenge. You throw a new set of regulations at him, that

:04:51. > :04:56.is what he lives for, isn't it? Guess, these regulations have been

:04:57. > :05:07.hurting disgust for a few years now, so everybody should have focused in

:05:08. > :05:19.the same direction. -- have been getting disgust. -- discussed. The

:05:20. > :05:23.chassis has altered at the front, as well as at the back, because of the

:05:24. > :05:27.new engine installation. The drivers have been having their own put with

:05:28. > :05:32.regards to the seating position. There will be quite a few different

:05:33. > :05:36.interpretations, I have been trying to interpret it myself, and there

:05:37. > :05:40.are quite a few areas that you can play with. It will be interesting to

:05:41. > :05:44.see what they come up with. Can you give us any clues about the cars?

:05:45. > :05:50.Visually, they will certainly be different. One or two features will

:05:51. > :05:56.be very prominent in the car. You will certainly be able to tell in a

:05:57. > :06:01.photograph. It is likely to be a more swooping, lower nose? Yes, I

:06:02. > :06:04.think there will be a lot of interpretations of that part of the

:06:05. > :06:13.car, in particular. It will be quite interesting to see. It is

:06:14. > :06:23.interesting looking already at people's interpretation of

:06:24. > :06:26.wheelbase, things like that. The FIA scales have been getting prepared

:06:27. > :06:31.for next year, so you can tell the range of wheelbases. The cars

:06:32. > :06:41.themselves are going to be quite easy to determine, as distinct from

:06:42. > :06:53.this year's. And also, between the teams? Do you think there will be

:06:54. > :06:59.less similarity between the cars? I think so. One of the key points we

:07:00. > :07:04.have been making is the challenge regarding cooling, which is a very

:07:05. > :07:22.big challenge. And so perhaps you might see some differences their

:07:23. > :07:29.Mac. With the VAs, what you seem to see is a Red Bull -Toro Rosso

:07:30. > :07:33.influence, and this kind of thing. -- V8s. This time, everybody will be

:07:34. > :07:40.starting from scratch, with a clean sheet of paper. Just to let you know

:07:41. > :07:46.on the times, Vettel is now the fastest in this session. Rosberg,

:07:47. > :07:53.second fastest, Grosjean, third. Webber is fourth. Massa is quite a

:07:54. > :08:00.long way back. But these times are not giving us a hugely clear picture

:08:01. > :08:09.yet. Alonso has gone out and done a reasonably quick run, but he is only

:08:10. > :08:18.nine at the moment. Your two guys, the Marussias, are currently 21st

:08:19. > :08:23.and 22nd. It looks as though you are going to be fairly close to one

:08:24. > :08:45.another again. Yes, both of them have driven him before. But that is

:08:46. > :08:49.a pretty tight grouping. I think if we are there or thereabouts, we will

:08:50. > :08:58.be giving the other is a good race at the weekend. Max got ahead of

:08:59. > :09:06.both of the Caterhams, which showed that as a team, you have done a good

:09:07. > :09:11.job. Yes, all of the guys back in the factory have been doing a great

:09:12. > :09:15.job. I think we have got a really strong package. Caterham are

:09:16. > :09:23.probably a little bit ahead on aerodynamics. But in terms of the

:09:24. > :09:35.raw car, I think we are looking really quite good. It was good to

:09:36. > :09:52.qualify ahead of the Caterham is, as you say. -- the Caterhams. It was

:09:53. > :10:02.very unfortunate that one of our drivers got taken off at the first

:10:03. > :10:10.corner. There was no action taken, was there? No, and I was quite

:10:11. > :10:16.disappointed about that. Because Jules was clearly ahead of and the

:10:17. > :10:22.other guy went into the back of him. So, Jules was doing his race and he

:10:23. > :10:29.was taken out by a car which was out of control. He was not pushed into

:10:30. > :10:45.it. So, it was a little bit disappointing. But you take the

:10:46. > :10:58.rough and smooth. Just looking inside the Sauber Garrard at the

:10:59. > :11:02.moment. -- Garrard. I have to ask the question, Graeme, it is that

:11:03. > :11:13.time of the year, and things are being sorted in some teams -- garage

:11:14. > :11:16.-- but everybody seems to be waiting for Lotus, in particular, which

:11:17. > :11:21.could have a domino effect. But whereabouts are you? I know you have

:11:22. > :11:27.already confirmed Jules Bianchi, haven't you? Yes, we have confirmed

:11:28. > :11:44.jewels. Normally we tend not to name the driver line-up until after the

:11:45. > :12:04.season. If he had carried on there, he would have had a really good

:12:05. > :12:08.line! So, we announced Jules, and we are very happy with that. It would

:12:09. > :12:12.be nice quite to go into next year with the same driver line-up. It is

:12:13. > :12:16.obviously going to be able big technical challenge next year. This

:12:17. > :12:20.year we have got two guys who had no experience in Formula 1, so if we

:12:21. > :12:24.could take the same driver line-up into next year, that would be really

:12:25. > :12:27.good, but we will see how things develop. That is interesting. There

:12:28. > :12:36.has been quite a lot of talk this year about new drivers. We hear that

:12:37. > :12:40.Daniil Kvyat, who has been announced, is hoping to do a formula

:12:41. > :12:49.in Brazil in the meantime. A youngster coming in, and if he comes

:12:50. > :12:53.in with GP3 experience, what is your take on that kind of experience, do

:12:54. > :12:58.you think he is at the right place in his career to come into F1? One

:12:59. > :13:04.thing is for sure, we will find out. GP3 is a very good training ground.

:13:05. > :13:08.We have our own GP3 team. And your driver actually has been right up at

:13:09. > :13:16.the front of the Championship but has had a lot of bad luck. Yes, my

:13:17. > :13:36.honest opinion is that our guy is a brighter prospects. I honestly

:13:37. > :13:41.believes Teo is much more ready for the challenge. I would say that,

:13:42. > :13:45.because he was one of our drivers, but he was one of our drivers for a

:13:46. > :13:51.reason, we think he is the best driver in the age bracket. So, it is

:13:52. > :13:58.a massive challenge for a 19-year-old to come into Formula 1.

:13:59. > :14:01.Red Bull have certainly backed drivers with a huge amount of money,

:14:02. > :14:08.but I think there is quite a big debate about the success of their

:14:09. > :14:12.programme. So, it will be interesting to see how he gets on. I

:14:13. > :14:18.really wish him the best of luck, as there is no turning back now. No, he

:14:19. > :14:23.is in the crucible, and we will soon discover what happens. Gary, what is

:14:24. > :14:28.going on in the pit lane, I believe you are at Ferrari? Yes, and they

:14:29. > :14:33.are taking Fernando Alonso's car apart at the moment. There is only

:14:34. > :14:37.about 20 minutes left in the session. They believe they have got

:14:38. > :14:41.a mechanical problem in the gearbox. It sounded to me like a broken gear.

:14:42. > :14:52.He was able to drive back to the pits in second gear. They are taking

:14:53. > :14:58.the gearbox off at the moment, so I think that is his session finished.

:14:59. > :15:03.I keep on criticising Ferrari for sitting out these practice sessions.

:15:04. > :15:08.They are the team that have to play catch-up with Red Bull. I know the

:15:09. > :15:15.track is dirty, you cannot learn as much, but you are sat in the garage

:15:16. > :15:19.for half an hour, you go out on the track and have a problem, and now

:15:20. > :15:26.you lose another half an hour. So really, this P1 session has been a

:15:27. > :15:30.waste of time, as such, for them. Felipe Massa is still running. He

:15:31. > :15:32.has done ten laps currently in this session. Sebastian Vettel, fastest,

:15:33. > :15:47.then. Alonso had a lot of good reliability

:15:48. > :15:52.with Ferrari. He has a record of 70 Grand Prix, Alonso, without a

:15:53. > :15:56.mechanical failure with his Ferrari, so that's impressive, but it is

:15:57. > :16:00.still going to hurt them to lose valuable track time. We will see how

:16:01. > :16:04.they bounce back from that or not as the weekend continues. Of course,

:16:05. > :16:08.the second free practise session is coming up later today and we will be

:16:09. > :16:11.bringing you full coverage of that. Another 90 minute session where they

:16:12. > :16:15.will run the other type of tyre and that's when they will be doing the

:16:16. > :16:19.longer runs. So we will not only get an idea of the difference in the two

:16:20. > :16:23.tyre compounds, but a little bit of an idea of the ultimate pace leading

:16:24. > :16:29.up to P3 and qualifying on Saturday and of course, who is in best shape

:16:30. > :16:32.for the race. We have got to say that Red Bull will be in good shape,

:16:33. > :16:36.but it is a question of whether Mercedes and Lotus can give them a

:16:37. > :16:41.run for their money. Lotus gave them a run last time. Let's see Sergio

:16:42. > :16:44.Perez. This was a moment ago. He had to get out of it a little bit.

:16:45. > :16:49.That's the fast left-hander. It turns five and six into the flick

:16:50. > :16:57.right at seven and then he is through eight and nine and then this

:16:58. > :17:01.is and we cut away. So a little minimal off.

:17:02. > :17:07.TEAM RADIO: OK, James, looking at other runners, we can expect a large

:17:08. > :17:12.improvement over one second. BEN EDWARDS: So no pressure there

:17:13. > :17:19.then! James Calado has done a 1.29.8 so

:17:20. > :17:23.far. As opposed to 1.24.4. They will be on different programmes. Let's

:17:24. > :17:27.watch this. This was a moment ago on board with James Calado. He got a

:17:28. > :17:32.little bit out of shape and had to run wide through the second part of

:17:33. > :17:45.nine. It wouldn't have cost him a huge amount of time, but he probably

:17:46. > :17:49.had to lift out of it. TEAM RADIO: The car was very under

:17:50. > :17:52.steery then. We have gone the other way.

:17:53. > :17:57.James Calado finding himself not just a sort of, a Friday driver, he

:17:58. > :18:01.has got to help the team make progress as they go through the

:18:02. > :18:05.weekend. Yes, he has to help the team make progress and he is not

:18:06. > :18:10.going to make a fool of himself. There is a fine line. You can go out

:18:11. > :18:14.there and go through the programme the team want you to do, you still

:18:15. > :18:17.want to be sort of compared to your team-mate and that's the important

:18:18. > :18:27.thing. When you get a Friday morning chance, you really need to be

:18:28. > :18:36.looking at Adrian Sutil and think where am I? It is always for us

:18:37. > :18:40.outside, we just see he is slower than his team-mate and that's never

:18:41. > :18:44.a good place to be. No. That's right. It is always a bit

:18:45. > :18:47.difficult, of course, to are the drivers. There are cars all over the

:18:48. > :18:50.place and Lewis Hamilton was reporting back there. He doesn't

:18:51. > :18:54.sound happy with the way things are going. He is only 14th quickest at

:18:55. > :18:58.this stage is Lewis Hamilton. Looking at Sebastian Vettel who is

:18:59. > :19:01.already fastest and this lap doesn't look as if there is going to be any

:19:02. > :19:08.further improvement. It looks as if the tyres aren't holding out quite

:19:09. > :19:16.as well here. Jean-Eric Vergne has improved. Jean-Eric Vergne has gone

:19:17. > :19:20.tenth fastest in histor tor. -- in hisTorro Rosso. There was ale slight

:19:21. > :19:26.improvement on his previous lap, but not on his fastest lap so far.

:19:27. > :19:30.Sebastian Vettel always comfortable here having had the 100% record of

:19:31. > :19:33.never being led by anyone else other than Sebastian Vettel at this track

:19:34. > :19:39.and we will see if he will be able to convert that or maintain that

:19:40. > :19:43.100% record as we go through the weekend and just looking at Felipe

:19:44. > :19:47.Massa, the only Ferrari in this session after the problems for

:19:48. > :19:55.Fernando Alonso. So they will need to get a few more laps out of Felipe

:19:56. > :20:05.Massa. On to a lap he goes. Let's keep an eye on him as he heads down

:20:06. > :20:10.the start/finish straight. There is a DRS zone. He does run over the

:20:11. > :20:16.kerb a bit. A big, wide approach into the corner. Let's see a little

:20:17. > :20:21.bit of work going on at the steering wheel as Felipe Massa accelerates.

:20:22. > :20:25.He finished here sixth last year and qualified sixth on the grid in both

:20:26. > :20:29.previous years in India. But he did have that accident with Lewis

:20:30. > :20:35.Hamilton in 2011. He had a drive through and hit the kerb through one

:20:36. > :20:40.of the faster sequences and that did enough suspension damage to put him

:20:41. > :20:46.out of the race and he had already done something similar in a practise

:20:47. > :20:52.session. Let's just watch. It is so easy to hit that kerb on the inside.

:20:53. > :20:56.He nearly did there. Now up to this long, looping right-hander. He has

:20:57. > :21:07.backed it off a little bit now though. This isn't a hard pushing

:21:08. > :21:12.lap anymore from Felipe Massa. Vettel doing a ten time lap. It is a

:21:13. > :21:16.long run to be doing at this stage in the session. Gary, Red Bull are

:21:17. > :21:21.doing their homework and like you were saying, Ferrari don't seem to

:21:22. > :21:26.get that homework done and Red Bull are making sure they do? You only

:21:27. > :21:31.get points por Sundays -- for Sunday. Sebastian Vettel is fastest

:21:32. > :21:35.and Lewis had a lock up here. Yeah. That's what he is complaining about.

:21:36. > :21:40.He hasn't got the balance on the brakes and the car he wants. Going

:21:41. > :21:44.back to Red Bull. They have gone out there with the car. They have got a

:21:45. > :21:49.lap time that's very good. They have just put a load of fuel in to see

:21:50. > :21:55.how their tyres last. They are doing their homework early on.

:21:56. > :22:00.We have seen Lewis Hamilton running wide and going through the gravel

:22:01. > :22:05.and Rosberg hopping over the kerbs which can do damage. Lee caught up

:22:06. > :22:09.with a man who should be out there and isn't at the moment, Paul di

:22:10. > :22:12.Resta. I have got an ailing Paul di Resta. You said you are feeling a

:22:13. > :22:18.little bit better? Yes, a lot better. It wasn't only because I was

:22:19. > :22:22.a little bit sick. I was going to lose two Fridays for James to get

:22:23. > :22:26.his run. We felt it was best to do it here when I was under the weather

:22:27. > :22:37.and give me more time to recover. I will be back in the car for Q2.

:22:38. > :22:41.How explain how difficult it is for a driver. It is a hot and humid

:22:42. > :22:46.place. You need your energy. You need to be hydrated. How much does

:22:47. > :22:51.it affect you and you don't feel well when you are inside the car? I

:22:52. > :22:58.wouldn't be z the want -- I wouldn't want be driving a car the way I felt

:22:59. > :23:02.yesterday. It is amazing what the doctors can give you to make you

:23:03. > :23:06.feel better. It is a challenge around a place like this which is

:23:07. > :23:10.humid, are getting the fluid in you. We are careful here because you know

:23:11. > :23:17.the signs, you know how it is, but unfortunately, it caught me out. You

:23:18. > :23:23.were over due some luck. It is your team's home Grand Prix this weekend.

:23:24. > :23:26.I think they are expecting big things? There was a lot of pressure

:23:27. > :23:33.to perform, but we come here to prepare as much as we can and our

:23:34. > :23:36.shareholders will be here and they have got a lot of key people, a lot

:23:37. > :23:41.of partners and it is one thing we want to perform. Suzuka was a good

:23:42. > :23:45.weekend and we came close to scoring points with a car that's not the

:23:46. > :23:52.fastest at the moment, but if we can repeat that, I think we will go away

:23:53. > :23:56.with a smile on our face. Thanks, Paul. I hope you feel better.

:23:57. > :24:00.So Paul di Resta let's hope he will be fit and raring to go when it

:24:01. > :24:05.comes to particularly qualifying and race day, of course. So we have got

:24:06. > :24:09.just over ten minutes to go in this first practise for the Indian Grand

:24:10. > :24:15.Prix. There is the other Force India of Adrian Sutil. There is no

:24:16. > :24:19.confirmation on drivers at that team. Both drivers are hopeful they

:24:20. > :24:26.maybe sticking in there, but let's wait and see how it resolves itself.

:24:27. > :24:29.Hulkenberg was saying he was hoping to know what he would be doing by

:24:30. > :24:35.the end of October, but the end of October is approaching rapidly and

:24:36. > :24:39.things are not yet sorted. So, he still seems confident he will end up

:24:40. > :24:44.with a good drive. Where he is going to be, is a question mark? Adrian

:24:45. > :24:47.Sutil implying that he may have a deal in his pocket, but again,

:24:48. > :24:53.nothing has been confirmed yet. On board with Felipe Massa here. Now,

:24:54. > :25:01.watch him up at turns 10 and 11 here.

:25:02. > :25:08.It is a tricky corner this. Very much two corners rather than just

:25:09. > :25:15.one. And there is that very quick left/right up the hill. Turn 15.

:25:16. > :25:22.Back down the hill once again into the fo final -- into the final turn

:25:23. > :25:27.of the corners. That's 65mph through there. Accelerating up through the

:25:28. > :25:35.gears. That's a good lap for Felipe Massa. That was an improvement in

:25:36. > :25:40.lap time. He has backed it off a little bit. That was a performance

:25:41. > :25:45.run for Felipe Massa. He will bring the car back. We are watching Lewis

:25:46. > :25:50.Hamilton who as we heard earlier on, wean particularly happy with the

:25:51. > :25:54.balance of his car. Mercedes coming in with the sense of optimism that

:25:55. > :25:59.we can put in descent results to finish off the season. They may not

:26:00. > :26:02.quite be able to match Vettel and Red Bull, but they are going to have

:26:03. > :26:06.a go at it and scoring podium finishes and try to make sure that

:26:07. > :26:10.second place in the constructors championship which is held by

:26:11. > :26:14.Ferrari, but with the ten point gap, so Lewis Hamilton eighth fastest.

:26:15. > :26:19.That's a slight improvement in time. The tyres holding up reasonably

:26:20. > :26:24.well. That's 15 laps completed by Lewis Hamilton as well at this

:26:25. > :26:29.point. A little bit wide there for James Calado. He is in Paul di

:26:30. > :26:32.Resta's car and of course, it must be nerve-wracking for Paul di Resta

:26:33. > :26:35.watching that from the sidelines making sure it comes back in one

:26:36. > :26:47.piece. There is more run off here than we saw in Suzuka. Is a Suzuka a

:26:48. > :26:54.track that punishes a slight mistake. That's a better lap from

:26:55. > :26:58.James Calado. 1.29.1. That means he is about six tenths away from what

:26:59. > :27:04.his team-mate has done. But a good improvement that from James Calado

:27:05. > :27:10.as he gets up to speed and he has only done the two prepractise

:27:11. > :27:16.sessions in Italy and Korea. Work goes on on Alonso's car and that car

:27:17. > :27:21.won't be back out until the second session this afternoon. So running

:27:22. > :27:24.on board the Torro Rosso of Daniel Ricciardo here as he comes towards

:27:25. > :27:29.the end of his career with that team and moves on to a much bigger step

:27:30. > :27:32.with Red Bull. He said yesterday that he is beginning to make a few

:27:33. > :27:36.plans for January. He is very much a Torro Rosso driver until the end of

:27:37. > :27:41.the season, but even though they are very connected those two teams, he

:27:42. > :27:44.has the duties to perform for that team until the contract is released

:27:45. > :27:50.and he can go and start seeing what's going on at Red Bull and

:27:51. > :27:59.getting himself ensconced into that team and Torro Rosso had a difficult

:28:00. > :28:06.time in recent races. They have not had the points consistency and

:28:07. > :28:11.Ricciardo paying the price, he had a drive-through penalty in Japan.

:28:12. > :28:17.Something he wasn't happy about. He had to get on with it. The Torro

:28:18. > :28:22.Rosso team sitting 31 points. They have been passed by Sauber. They

:28:23. > :28:28.were tied going into the last Grand Prix in Japan. Sauber a clear

:28:29. > :28:32.seventh and Force India getting nervous about the progress of Sauber

:28:33. > :28:36.in the last few races and Paul di Resta knowing that coming into each

:28:37. > :28:39.of the races, it is a tough call to get into the top ten and they know

:28:40. > :28:42.they have got pressure coming on them from Sauber in the constructors

:28:43. > :28:47.championship. Just watching Daniel Ricciardo. This

:28:48. > :28:50.is looking like a good lap. We have seen Grosjean and Webber going

:28:51. > :28:57.quickly in the first sector. Whether they have the tyres eye valeable to

:28:58. > :29:01.them -- available to them to be quick in the third and fourth

:29:02. > :29:06.sectors. That would improve his position in the overall order. Let's

:29:07. > :29:11.see this. Daniel Ricciardo into the last conner he comes. A nice tight

:29:12. > :29:16.apex and let's the car run wide on the exit and let's just see if it is

:29:17. > :29:20.any improvement for him. He is 13th. It is a slight improvement. He moves

:29:21. > :29:24.up the order. Jean-Eric Vergne is 11th and Daniel Ricciardo 13th and

:29:25. > :29:30.we have seen a better lap from Mark Webber. He has gone second fastest

:29:31. > :29:34.on tyres that have done 16 laps. That's a good lap from Mark Webber

:29:35. > :29:45.and goes to confirm the performance of the Red Bulls. Daniil Kvyat joins

:29:46. > :29:49.the Torro Rosso team next year. James Calado is having a spin. He

:29:50. > :29:53.kept the engine running and rejoins without causing any problems to the

:29:54. > :29:58.cars behind him. Yes, back on his way again. So James Calado just

:29:59. > :30:03.getting himself in a bit of bother. That was through turn 15. He brings

:30:04. > :30:10.the car back into the pits and no dramas for the British driver. He is

:30:11. > :30:18.racing in the GP 2 championship. He is racing against Sam Bird. They

:30:19. > :30:24.have the finale of GP to go and he had good results in GP #2rks but the

:30:25. > :30:28.championship hasn't gone quite... Oh, that was the replay. He got it

:30:29. > :30:32.wrong coming into the corner. Let's have a look at this.

:30:33. > :30:37.He was carrying too much speed and the back end of the car getting away

:30:38. > :30:41.from him, but kept it out of the gravel and that set of tyres is

:30:42. > :30:45.finished anyway. We are at the end of the session virtually so nothing

:30:46. > :30:49.lost there. A shame for James Calado who was no doubt trying to improve

:30:50. > :30:55.his lap time on that run. He has just gone back out again. So he may

:30:56. > :30:58.get another lap in. Lewis Hamilton is fifth fastest.

:30:59. > :31:07.That's a better lap from Lewis Hamilton. He is on a 1.27.2.

:31:08. > :31:11.Not as quick as Rosberg. Rosberg completed 21 laps. He had a

:31:12. > :31:15.productive morning's work. Hamilton now up into fifth place.

:31:16. > :31:22.But the Lotus of Grosjean a little bit quicker than him at this point.

:31:23. > :31:26.Raikkonen is a long way down the order. Only 17th place for Kimi

:31:27. > :31:30.Raikkonen which seems a little bit of a surprise. There is that front

:31:31. > :31:43.wing change going on on Jenson Button's car. Jenson Button going

:31:44. > :31:52.off to get a quick run in before the chequered flag on this session.

:31:53. > :31:57.Lotus clearly have been doing a bit of setup work, testing work, which

:31:58. > :32:05.is no doubt why they have been holding back a little bit. So, let's

:32:06. > :32:09.just keep an eye on Raikkonen, and see whether he is going to put a

:32:10. > :32:14.fast run in towards the end of the session. Again, stressing yesterday

:32:15. > :32:17.that he has got to improve his qualifying performances, which is

:32:18. > :32:23.where he has felt that he has not been able to deliver. And we have

:32:24. > :32:25.seen that, really, as he has explained, it has been since the

:32:26. > :32:31.construction of the tyres has changed. This tyre does not give him

:32:32. > :32:35.the front end bite which Kimi Raikkonen is really looking for. It

:32:36. > :32:39.is something which also affects Alonso to a certain extent, I think.

:32:40. > :32:43.In this latter part of the year, Kimi Raikkonen has found it harder

:32:44. > :32:46.to get that qualifying lap out of the car. Whereas Roman Grosjean has

:32:47. > :32:51.that slightly different driving style, and the change of tyre has

:32:52. > :32:58.probably benefited him more. It is interesting how the change in

:32:59. > :33:02.driving style is related to the change in construction of the tyre.

:33:03. > :33:06.It is something they have to live with. Of course, for Sebastian

:33:07. > :33:11.Vettel, it seems to have worked very well. Ever since that change, he has

:33:12. > :33:15.been pretty much dominant. He lost in Hungary to Lewis Hamilton, but

:33:16. > :33:20.ever since then, Sebastian Vettel has taken victory. And that was very

:33:21. > :33:25.close in Hungary, anyway. It was a great drive by Lewis Hamilton to be

:33:26. > :33:31.able to keep Vettel behind him, perhaps helped by the traffic as

:33:32. > :33:36.well. So, just counting down the minutes. Jenson Button crosses the

:33:37. > :33:41.line, so he will get another lap in. Hamilton has just come out onto the

:33:42. > :33:45.circuit. Rosberg is back in the pits. We have got 18 cars out on the

:33:46. > :33:52.track at the moment. Looking at the speed trap figures, Jenson Button is

:33:53. > :33:59.up towards the top. Adrian Sutil has got the highest straight-line speed

:34:00. > :34:12.figure at the moment. Jenson Button and Sergio prayers are not far

:34:13. > :34:22.behind. I think they are doing a bit of aerodynamics testing on the car

:34:23. > :34:30.of Jenson Button. And the Saubers are looking quick as well in the

:34:31. > :34:34.speed trap. We are not seeing the Red Bulls quite as high on that as

:34:35. > :34:38.we have done in the last couple of Grand Prix, but sometimes, they go

:34:39. > :34:48.for the higher downforce and greater speed in the corners. A little bit

:34:49. > :34:57.of traffic for Jenson Button. Just going past the caterer of Giedo van

:34:58. > :35:01.der Garde. Van der Garde is currently the quickest of the young

:35:02. > :35:05.teen drivers, but only by a 10th, from Jules Bianchi. And then you

:35:06. > :35:13.have got Charles Pic and Max Chilton. They are all pretty close

:35:14. > :35:16.together. The chequered flag is out to bring this first free practice

:35:17. > :35:34.session to an end. Mark Webber already out of his car,

:35:35. > :36:01.at the end of the session. You can see on that list that Red

:36:02. > :36:10.Bull have got slightly slower speed trap figures, but fastest overall on

:36:11. > :36:14.the lap time. Motors towards the lower end of that table, on the

:36:15. > :36:16.speed trap, which is something we have tended to see this year as

:36:17. > :36:41.well. -- Lotus. Going over the orange kerb. So,

:36:42. > :36:46.Sebastian Vettel starting the weekend where he would like to. Last

:36:47. > :36:51.year he was actually fastest in all three practice sessions here. And he

:36:52. > :37:00.has started this weekend in similar style. Just riding with Lewis

:37:01. > :37:14.Hamilton here. On his inlet. Still pushing quite hard. A little bit of

:37:15. > :37:20.marking through the right-hander on the inside tyre. Just a touch wide

:37:21. > :37:25.coming out of turn 14. That was an attacking in lap making the most of

:37:26. > :37:30.every opportunity to get a bit more knowledge about the track. So, it is

:37:31. > :37:36.Sebastian Vettel who has taken the fastest time in first practice, no

:37:37. > :37:47.surprises there. Will they be able to maintain their 100% record for

:37:48. > :37:53.qualifying here in India as the two McLarens who usually show well on

:37:54. > :37:57.Fridays, doing well again. Bottas, a bit more encouraging for the

:37:58. > :38:03.Williams driver, in 10th place. Alonso, of course, but getting his

:38:04. > :38:08.full continent of laps in in this session, he only did six laps in

:38:09. > :38:17.fact. Daniel Ricciardo ended up 13th. A funny session from Kimi

:38:18. > :38:25.Raikkonen. He did 18 laps, but really not showing any kind of pace.

:38:26. > :38:29.James Calado behind, having only had short notice that he would be

:38:30. > :38:37.driving for Paul di Resta in this morning's session. So, an

:38:38. > :38:42.interesting first session, no major dramas. Very different to Suzuka,

:38:43. > :38:52.where we have seen a few mistakes and mishaps. It looks like we have

:38:53. > :38:55.only got that slight mechanical problem for Alonso, being the main

:38:56. > :38:59.news out of this recession. Otherwise, everybody seems to have

:39:00. > :39:05.got a full continent of laps in. Sebastian Vettel to 24 laps, which

:39:06. > :39:11.is as much as anybody did. Charles Pic, the caterer racer, making his

:39:12. > :39:19.way back. Jean-Eric Vergne, 11th fastest for Toro Rosso, a little bit

:39:20. > :39:26.more encouraging. We are just looking back at some of the shots

:39:27. > :39:29.from earlier on in this session. Christian Horner and Stefano

:39:30. > :39:37.Domenico Lee sharing a laugh about something. Jenson Button looking

:39:38. > :39:41.very relaxed. Sebastian Vettel, having won three Championships, you

:39:42. > :39:48.can just see the sense of relaxation. He does not have to

:39:49. > :39:55.finish it this weekend. Daniel Ricciardo of course had to come out

:39:56. > :41:30.late, they were still working on his car.

:41:31. > :41:36.In terms of the grip, how much would that have built up during the

:41:37. > :41:40.session? The grip will always be getting better. It is one of these

:41:41. > :41:44.things where you have to respect the level of the track. If you go out

:41:45. > :41:47.with other people on the track, then you are comparing your lap time in

:41:48. > :41:51.those conditions to other people's lap times in those conditions. You

:41:52. > :41:58.can do a lot of homework and make sure that you do all of this silly

:41:59. > :42:01.little bits and pieces. You can see Calado spinning. At the end of the

:42:02. > :42:04.day, you have to do the work, you cannot always leave it until the

:42:05. > :42:08.last minute, because you might have a problem, Mike Alonso had. How do

:42:09. > :42:14.you think James Calado applied himself, having come in at the last

:42:15. > :42:20.minute? Yes, he did a good job. Only the team will know that. If he has

:42:21. > :42:23.achieved what the team wanted, brought them back the feedback they

:42:24. > :42:28.wanted, that is all you want from this session. Hopefully the car will

:42:29. > :42:32.be in a better condition for Paul di Resta in the second session. But

:42:33. > :42:38.yes, he has done a good job. And not a bad day for McLaren, either? Six

:42:39. > :42:43.tenths I think Jenson was away from Sebastian Vettel. They should be a

:42:44. > :42:47.little bit inspired by that. They are trying a different setup on the

:42:48. > :42:51.cars. They found at the beginning of the year that running the car very

:42:52. > :42:56.stiff and very low was good. They are going to have to look at that as

:42:57. > :43:03.to whether it is using the tyres too hard. That would be a deficit in the

:43:04. > :43:06.race. Yes, McLaren were sixth and seventh this morning. That does not

:43:07. > :43:09.necessarily mean anything as we move towards Practice 2. What is the

:43:10. > :43:14.workload this afternoon? The track will have got better, the teams will

:43:15. > :43:18.have had a look at the setup, but in the second session, they start

:43:19. > :43:23.again, with a new set of the medium tyres and a new set of soft tyres,

:43:24. > :43:26.you can use both. We will see initial running on the medium tyre,

:43:27. > :43:31.then moving to the soft tyre, trying to do a lap time, like qualifying,

:43:32. > :43:35.as such, and then going back to the medium tyres, and doing some race

:43:36. > :43:39.running. For me, this is the interesting session, because it is

:43:40. > :43:43.at the same time of day as qualifying and the race. It is the

:43:44. > :43:49.best time to do your homework. If that does not make you want to watch

:43:50. > :43:54.this, then I do not know what will. He is the perfect salesman. We will

:43:55. > :43:56.be back at 9.25 on BBC Two. We do not mind what you do in the

:43:57. > :44:02.meantime, join us for that!