The Indian Grand Prix - Qualifying Formula 1

I just hope it is not him on Saturday!

I just hope it is not the sleek and the slick come to the

slithering jungle, well as it the sleek and the slick come to the

often more confusing than what prompted it. But ask us who will

complicate the simple truth. It is like a charmed snake, safely

complicate the simple truth. It is enthusiastic mystic will allow the

title to be taken. enthusiastic mystic will allow the

It is Indian Grand Prix time. Hell Hello and welcome to qualifying from

the Buddh International Circuit. We could see a warld champion crowned

for the fourth consecutive time. Right, let's look at the maths.

These are the standings and Sebastian Vettel needs only to

finish in the top five regardless of what Fernando Alonso does to

guarantee his fourth world title. Fernando Alonso is the only

contender would have to win or come second. Red Bull could wra up the

constructors title and they have managed to stretch out a 148 point

gap and they need 24 points to guarantee them the win. So a win on

track would be more than enough for glory. Well, exciting times. Eddie

Jordan, Sebastian Vettel. We were reticent to talk about victory in

Japan, but it seems odds on. It is just delaying the process, but I'm

sure it will be over here tomorrow. His record here is extraordinary.

Tell us about that? Well, his record for the last number of races is

extraordinary, but more so here. He has dominated here since we have

come to India and I expect that to go ahead. Even the qualifying and

free practise, he has dominated that as well. So I think he means to go

on. He wants to win this with glory. He would like to win it on the top

of the podium. He won the last two races here. He

has been in pole position. He led every lap and he won five races on

the bounce. He is asking for Michael Schumacher's wins in a season record

as well? I think he will do. I'm sure Michael is sitting at home and

having a quiet look over his shoulder and saying a sense of

statistics that were impossible to beat, seven times world champion at

26. I wouldn't bet against it because I think Vettel has the

ingredients to make sure he can come out on top. Whether he stays at Red

Bull or goes off to Mercedes or indeed, my guess is possibly

Ferrari, but if he does that, I still think he can win more and more

Grand Prix. Well, he has to qualify first. Let's see how he gets on.

Here is your team. Lee and Tom are in the pit lane and Gary, David and

Ben are your commentators. The Buddh International Circuit, 25

miles from New Delhi. Sebastian Vettel is aiming to maintain a 100%

pole position and race victory record here in India. He is planning

to keep a clean slate of victories, the winner of Singapore, Korea and

Japan. If he wins,ist fourth title is surely a mere formality. The

track has some great corners. Sector two is challenging with the last

double right-hander testing tyre grip and turn three making for

tricky approaches. The start/finish straight is followed by a one

kilometre straight with speeds up to 100mph and a massive hit on the

brakes to 55mph. We saw Red Bull in commanding form. Vettel master than

Mark Webber and then we saw Alonso third and Hulkenberg going well with

Grosjean fifth and Felipe Massa sixth. The worrying thing is the

amount of gap there was between Vettel and Webber and a further two

tenths down to Alonso and Hulkenberg having a good run almost a second

behind so it does look like Red Bull are making best use of the tyres. We

should not be surprised at this point in the season, but it would be

nice to imagine we would see a shoot-out for pole position.

Sebastian Vettel needs to finish in the top five and he is guaranteed of

his fourth title and he has not finished lower than fourth in any of

the races he finished this year throughout the season. So the

betting is strong. But, of course, there will be nervousness. Christian

Horner always aware of how much can go wrong. They had the KERS problems

in Japan. It goes to prove it doesn't always go swimmingly.

Ferrari on the 297 scoreline, the same number of points that Sebastian

Vettel scored on his own. A focussed, Sebastian Vettel. A bit of

music in the head phones and he is getting himself into the position

for qualifying now. DAVID COULTHARD: Yes, he is getting

his own space and the head phones are telling us it all, don't disturb

me. It helps him get in the zone and clearly, he has been the qualifying

king. The statistic, Mercedes had more poles is interesting. I'm

holding some hope they will take the battle this afternoon. A very, very

relaxed looking Fernando Alonso. No music, he is giving us a wave. He

thinks he is in the form of his life and unquestionably he is very strong

in the races, but there have been a few qal -- qualifyings where Massa

kept him honest and kept on top of him. Nobody is rushing to come out

on to the circuit. Gary, let's think about how the teams go into this

qualifier. It will get more complicated because of the tyres.

The yellow walled tyre is very, very soft. It will give you one fast lap,

but it won't be a great race tyre It is a bit fragile. You could classify

it as more of a qualifying tyre. There is a big difference between

both tyres. Do you see some different strategies going on here

today? I can see Sebastian Vettel trying to qualify on the harder tyre

in Q3, if he can get in there, he could end up third or fourth on the

grid. That would be the safest tyre to start on.

Joining us is Christian Horner. Thank you for joining us. A nervy

time, I'm sure. Just quickly explain to us what the contrasting

strategies might be between different teams? What is influencing

the thinking? Well, the influence in thinking is we have got one tyre

that will probably do about ten miles and the other one will do

about 150 miles. So you know, you have got two extremes and that poses

some interesting questions. We have seen at other races at China and

Montreal in the past, but you know, grid position is still hugely

important. Right, well, best of luck in this

session. Hopefully we will hear more from you later on.

DAVID COULTHARD: I see Rosberg clattering the kerbs here and going

beyond the white line which Charlie discussed with the drivers and he is

of the mind that if you go on to the artificial grass then you might have

all four wheels off the track, but you are not gaining an advantage. So

don't expect to see any penalties for that. Coming back to the radio

message Ben, as well, Lewis was told that he has got the magic Button

available. I imagine that is either a full lock or a full release. So if

he has a lot of understeer you can push the Button and take the

understeer out of the car. The cut off the teams and Gary

thinking it is about 1.26.5. So that may not be enough for Rosberg. He is

about a tenth away from what we are thinking. Track does change as we go

through qualifying. It tends to get more grippy. Kimi Raikkonen on a

lap. He is faster than anybody in the first sector so far. All of them

at this stage using the harder tyre with the white writing on the sited

wall -- side wall. He is looking really tidy as he rolls out of the

secretary last corner. There is a bit of traffic ahead, but it won't

affect him. He locks up and goes wide. That will cost him half a

tenth or so as he runs across the line.

It puts him second. Again, it is perhaps not enough. 1.26.8. That was

Hulkenberg going very wide. Just about hanging on to it. It is a good

lap from Hulkenberg. He is putting a good lap together. He is, indeed. It

looks like a bit of oversteer on that Sauber. It does make it

difficult for the driver to position. We went on board with

Perez, but here is Hulkenberg at the end of the lap.

And he goes third fastest. Looking after those tyres and having them

still good for you here in the final two corners is what it could be

about. A bit hesitant at full power as he went through 15. He will have

late down shift then as he runs to the apex. That's him energising the

exhausts and the aerodynamics of the car.

He has done a 1.26.5. That was a good lap by Sergio Perez. He had a

difficult season. I'm just watching Valtteri Bottas. A little lock-up.

More than a little lock-up. He missed the apex and that won't be

his only effort in this session. He is down in 18th.

Only a tenth slower than his team-mate. Rosberg is back out. So

they stayed out. They feel it wasn't enough what he did. Does he go

quicker? Yes, he does. Now that might be enough for him. So he has

done another run on those medium compound tyres. It goes to show what

a good race tyre that is. Yes, through free practise we have seen

the tyres hanging in there and lap times are improving as the fuel

burns off. Every lap, you will burn off two kilos of fuel.

Felipe Massa, we're watching now for Ferrari. He scored one front row

start this either. The only front row start that either of the

Ferraris enjoyed. He did that in Malaysia and that seems a long, long

time ago. He is very wide there. Really over the kerb. Too much. It

is not going to gain him time. Maybe running more speed through the apex.

He is picking up some lap time, but when you get that wide over those

sort of rumble strip kerbs that we have then you just lose traction.

He goes sixth fastest currently. We have not seen any lap times from

Romain Grosjean, and Vettel and Webber and Alonso. They are all in

the pits at the moment. I'm just looking back at Felipe Massa. This

is turn 15. Early on the power and runs wide and out on to the

artificial grass and they are all getting a free pass on that from

Charlie Whiting this weekend. If they are not considered to gain

advantage, there is no need to hand the penalties.

It is marginal. We are back with Esteban Gutierrez. Sauber switching

him on to the soft tyre early in this session and if that 1.26.5

target is on the cards, he will have to find himself over a second. A

good lap from Lewis Hamilton. Well, a reasonable lap from Lewis

Hamilton. That's on the harder compound. But let's just see whether

Gutierrez keeps it between the white lines this time because he failed to

do that on a couple of occasions. Out of the pits I think he is going,

Fernando Alonso. We are about to see the others that haven't set a lap

yet including Vettel and Webber coming on to the track. This is the

long turn 10 and 11. Medium compound tyre for the Red Bull, but Alonso

has gone out on the soft compound tyre. That's an interesting strategy

from Ferrari. Clearly they feel the offset in performance is too big a

gap for them. You wonder, are Ferrari going to take a gamble this

weekend and really try to do something to upset Red Bull?

Gutierrez goes fastest, that is a good lap, on the soft tyre. He has

gained about 1.5 seconds on that lap, with the soft tyre, so it shows

you how different these tyres are. And making full use of the Orange

sausage kerb there. He actually went rattling over it in free practice

this morning. That would have hurt his lower back when he landed. But

judging it to perfection on this occasion. Jenson Button is currently

seventh fastest. He is still on the harder compound tyre. We saw Vettel

going out on the medium compound, but Mark Webber has gone straight

out on the soft. It looks like a difference in strategy between the

two Red Bull team-mates. I wonder if that will lead to an interesting

situation there. It looked like it had some oversteer into the last

corner there. That is probably not quite enough to be comfortable for

Button there. Still time to get back and put some soft tyres on at this

stage. Quite a few cars in the pits will be waiting to decide what to

do. Here we go with Fernando Alonso, on the soft tyre,

do. Here we go with Fernando Alonso, with a bit of traffic ahead. It is

his own team-mate. Who dutifully gets out of the way! This is in the

second of the DRS zones. A long straight, dropping down. Did they

say three times laps? That would be optimistic with these tyres, I would

think. He seemed to get a bit of understated and through turn four.

Coming up to the medium speed corners now... Very late on the down

shift there at the first chicane. This is up into turns 10 and 11,

followed by 12. Massive cartel through here. Massive understeer as

well by the looks of it. -- massive cartel. -- massive G. This is 15,

dropping away on the exit. That was where we saw his team-mate going

very wide. Alonso does go fastest, but not by very much from Gutierrez.

That will see him safely through to the second part of qualifying. He

has backed out, so he is doing a preserving lap, before having

another go. Does he need another go, that should be plenty, shouldn't it?

You would think so, and that can allow him to run on that tyre again

at the beginning of the next session. Mark Webber is also on the

soft tyre. And Vettel has just gone second fastest on the medium

compound tyre! Can you believe it? Alonso has just laid it down as hard

as he could on a soft tyre, which is at least half a second faster, and

Vettel almost matches him. I think that is the definition of soul

destroying. It is just unbelievable, he is just on a different planet to

everybody else but let's keep NI on Mark Webber. I wonder if what they

are doing what they have done before, keeping a pair of soft tyres

for later. He goes third, so he is safe. I

think that was probably quite a measured drive from Mark Webber,

trying not to take too much out of these tyres, and they will hope to

get through Q2 on that same set. We have seen Red Bull do that a couple

of times. There is his engineer, giving they have got data beamed

down to the pit wall, the driver knows his lap time, but there will

be other bits of information they will be trading as they come in

towards the pits. At the moment, in the drop zone, we have Vergne,

Maldonado, Bianchi and Chilton. Hulkenberg is going quickly out on

the circuit at the moment. Adrian Sutil about to cross the line in the

Force India, and he does so - fifth fastest. That should be enough for

him to go through. Romain Grosjean, that should be OK for him as well.

He is seventh at the moment. What's of cars now coming across the line.

Vergne and Maldonado currently in the drop zone. Grosjean currently

10th fastest, and that should be enough for him.

RADIO: We are a little bit on the edge so we will do one more lap.

That is interesting, so maybe the drop zone is changing. Maybe the

track is getting quicker and quicker, which would be suggested by

the fact that Webber is being warned. This is Grosjean. Yes,

oversteer there, great reactions, gets away with it. Eventually, ran

out of the circuit, coming out of ten. Look at the front tyre, you can

see the minimum pressure that they can get away with, it is just

loading and creating that grip as they push through this high-speed

chicane. Let's see what Kimi Raikkonen does. He goes fastest of

all. Vettel still fourth fastest, should be safely through. We are

waiting for the likes of Vergne and Maldonado. Everybody using the soft

tyres, except for Sebastian Vettel and Roman Grosjean. A bit of traffic

to content with as we come to the end of the lap. Vergne has just

started his quick lap. Rosberg goes up to second all of a sudden, on the

soft tyre. But still only a 10th quicker than Vettel managed on the

harder compound tyre. That was a really mammoth lap from Sebastian

Vettel. If you remember previous races here,

we saw Massa's front suspension break a couple of times, hitting

that orange kerb. Meanwhile, Hamilton has just gone slightly

quicker than Raikkonen. But that is beaten by Mark Webber, who had to

use those tyres again to get another lap in, but he has done so. Now,

down at the bottom, let's see who is going to be in the drop zone.

Ricciardo has gone through, second fastest. That was a very quick lap.

What about his team-mate? Jean-Eric Vergne is coming through, as he

crossed the line? No, there he is. In the meantime, Bottas has now been

pushed into the drop zone, because van der Garde has briefly got out of

that bottom group. I do not think he will manage to stay there. Vergne

pushes him out, so he is safely into Q2. Bottas and Maldonado, it looks

as though it could be both Williams again. But let's just wait, because

there is still another lap here. Bottas looks like he could improve,

and he does indeed. Maldonado I think has bailed out of this lap.

And Roman Grosjean has got to be a bit wary here, because he is 16th,

and he has seen Massa is on a lap which could push Roman Grosjean out

of Schonfeld! That is a bit of a startling result, but it could

happen! Grosjean obviously left his run until the last possible moment.

Massa comes across the line, and Grosjean is out! Roman Grosjean, the

star of Suzuka, who raced the Red Bulls rights to the flag and

finished in third place, enough to podium finishes, and he is out in

Schonfeld! Lotus have misled it, surely. He should have been far

further up. EDDIE JORDAN: I just do not get it.

It is a fundamental error. When you are starting this far back, you put

yourself at risk of everything getting held up by slower drivers. I

think this was a really major error on behalf of Lotus. Why do you think

they did not send him out? Anybody who thinks, with how competitive the

cars and the drivers are at this part of the season, that you can go

out and put yourself at a huge disadvantage, by going for the

harder tyre, when everybody else, except Vettel, who is a separate

case... I am sorry, this was a mistake by the team. They should not

have done this. All sorts of people getting caught out by this track,

because they have almost done too good a job on the grip, Pirelli did

not expect it to be so grippy, and so marginal with the soft tyre. Full

marks to Pirelli, they came here knowing that if they had gone with

the tyres they had planned, it would've been a very boring one-stop

race. , what we have now got is a situation where anything can happen,

and I do not think it will be a one-stop race. Jenson Button was

fastest in that previous session, so let's see what he can do in the next

one. It is an gentleman, here is Q2. BEN EDWARDS: Gary, Lotus seemed to

be reading that one wrong, were they trying to save the tyres for later

on, it looks like a bit of a miscalculation? Yes, it was. They

were sitting in that W area, they were going to be vulnerable. They

should have run the other tyre, for sure, but I think he also made a

mistake on his best lap. But you cannot put yourself in that kind of

risk, when you know you are going to be borderline anyway. Let's see what

is going to happen in this second part of qualifying, as the cars are

already beginning to make their way down the pit lane. Alonso and

Raikkonen have gone out already. I have just seen that Cardwell has

been off but continued, that was Gutierrez. So, Alonso goes fastest.

-- car 12. Ferrari are in a bit of a quandary, they have got to decide

whether to go out again. Tom, what have you got? Ben, we know Q3 Q3,

and we know that some teams are still doing some homework for the

race. DAVID COULTHARD: He was able to open

up the throttle very aggressively out of that corner. And he goes

across the line in second. So, the two Ferraris very equally matched,

as we have come to expect. A bit of brotherly support for Felipe Massa.

And Rob Smedley keeping an eye on those lap times. Ricciardo was on a

new set of the soft tyre. He has gone straight out and done a

reasonably quick lap. Rosberg has just fastest in the first sector.

This is the home race for the Indian-owned team, Force India,

although it might be British-based. It is an important weekend for them.

They have never had a great deal of success here, though. I think Adrian

Sutil has done a good job. He is the quiet man of the paddock. Having

spent a year away from Formula 1, he has come back and he just quietly

gets on with driving quickly. He qualified eighth here a couple of

years back. He was not here last year, and he has gone fifth for the

moment, which is reasonably good. Rosberg has gone fastest. Now, we

are seeing some really Hamilton, a little bit slower. It is fascinating

to see the confrontation between Rosberg and Hamilton, and which of

them will be the faster in qualifying. Hamilton has it in terms

of the season so far, 10-5, I believe it is. But of course, Nico

had some pole positions earlier on in the year.

RADIO: I will keep talking, not sure if you can hear me, but I do like it

if you can hear me. Sounds like radio problems at Ferrari. Now, what

about Perez? He has gone out on a used set of the soft tyres, so he

will have an initial run on these tyres and then presumably come back

in and put on a brand-new set. He raced here last year for the Sauber

team, qualifying in eighth place. That was a good performance. But his

best finish actually came in 10th position. He did not finish last

year. Looking pretty good so far. He does not go to wide out of turn 12.

Perez, hopefully on target for getting into Q3. That is really the

target for McLaren at the moment, getting into that top ten.

DAVID COULTHARD: Yes, it is looking like a tidy lap. So, he is showing

some confidence in the car. And he goes fifth fastest, but it is a

marginal time, in terms of whether it will be enough. Button goes a bit

quicker, again on a used set. I think that is good stuff for

McLaren, if you look at what Alonso has done, as well as Mercedes. So,

McLaren looking more competitive. Yes, McLaren did have a car

qualifying second a couple of years ago, although Hamilton had to drop

back to do a penalty. Getting both cars in the top ten has got to be

their target for this weekend. It does rather make you think that

Red Bulls are going for just one quick lap here. Yes, and it is

interesting to see how slow everyone is driving. We saw it with Raikkonen

earlier when his tyres were blue instead of the familiar orange when

they are running at peak temperature and it is like the old days of

qualifying when they used to tiptoe around the start of the lap and then

let it all loose and expect the tyres to run out before the end of

the lap. Yes. Well, both Red Bulls are out on

a new set. They have decided to go for one lap. This is the first lap

for Vettel on a set of new tyres. Down into turn one, it is a short

apex. A little bit of hesitation as he opened the throttles there. It

rises up into three. TEAM RADIO: That's a stunning lap,

but we want to go for another run on a new set of option tyres.

DAVID COULTHARD: McLaren expect the times to topple once everyone starts

to get the new tyres on. We will get an indication from the Red Bulls as

Mark Webber approaches turn four. They geared it nice and long for DRS

in the race. It is interesting his first sector is quicker than Rosberg

has done. He didn't do the extra shift down as he was going through

was that 6 and 7. Oh, he is very wide there. That was all four

wheels. It maybe questionable whether Charlie would consider that

as to having gained advantage. He had to go further! That's the old

racing driver within you arguing the case.

It has gone up on the screen. It has been made aware to the stewards that

he went off track. It might be something he has to answer for. He

goes fastest of all with that and we are into quick territory. We are

under the pole position time of last year for Sebastian Vettel in the

year before though, they were quicker than that. 1.24.1 in the

days where they had more exhaust effect on these cars. Our timing

screen has frozen here so we are not seeing - it has just popped up now.

Is this going to be the real indication, he was half a second up

on Mark Webber in free practise like for like on tyres. Let's see if he

is maintaining the same advantage. He has got the last corner to deal

with and the acceleration and he is in the 1.24s. 1.24.568.

TEAM RADIO: We will go again. Mark Webber is going again.

It is because they think they might lose the lap time so they feel they

have got to do it again. If I heard correctly from Jenson Button's team

radio, that was a scrub set of options. I don't think they will be

too digs appointed with that -- disappointed with that.

No, that was a good lap. Raikkonen. Let's see whether we can get himself

safe. He is on a brand-new set of the soft tyre. He moves up to third

on a 1.25.1. That thud be safely through for Kimi Raikkonen. But in

the drop zone at the moment we have Valtteri Bottas, Jean-Eric Vergne,

Sutil, Ricciardo, Hulkenberg and Gutierrez who hasn't done a lap at

all yet, but he has just come out of the pits on a brand-new set of the

soft tyres. So I think they are all out there now to see what they can

do. Certainly all of the ones that are challenging to get unthere. We

have got a couple maybe who will decide that they have done enough,

of course, Vettel comfortable. We are watching Fernando Alonso at the

moment. He is a second slower, but he has his new tyres on. No is going

to be the one that drops out of this session? It is tight from tenth

place with Paul di Resta down over the next few cars to Sutil in 13th.

They have got to find lap time on this final run of qualifying. Alonso

is into the final part of qualifying. He has a 100% record

this season of getting into the final part of qualifying. The track

will be evolving with every lap the cars do. Putting more rubber down on

the racing line. It is not used outside of Grand Prix weekend.

Oversteer for Hulkenberg. He kept it tidy. It was nice to see he had, the

reaction. Daniel Ricciardo is up on the timing. Ricciardo had an

impressive run in qualifying throughout the seasonle. Just out

matching his team-mate, Jean-Eric Vergne consistently. But let's see

what he can do on this occasion. Hist best qualifying of the year was

in Germany, sixth place. Sauber will be keeping an eye on Gutierrez. It

could be interesting to see which of them get into the top ten. Here we

go then. Let's see what Ricciardo achieved as the chequered flag is

out? That's going to be tight. That's right around the cut off

point so will he survive or not? On board now with Nico Hulkenberg. Can

he get into Q3 he again? He has been in the points on four occasions.

Across the line 1.25.3. Yes, that ofs a tidy lap. -- yes, that was a

tidy lap. Sutil is out. He hasn't made it. He is 11th and he has ran

out of laps. Jean-Eric Vergne is not in the top ten either. Ricciardo is

not safe. Felipe Massa is on a lap. Perez moves up to seventh pushing

Massa down, but Massa puts himself back into eighth place. Let's see

what Paul di Resta is going to do here. Ricciardo has been pushed out.

Hamilton only tenth at the moment as through goes di Resta. Di Resta is a

fraction faster than his team-mate. Gutierrez completed a lap, but he is

out and that means that Hamilton and just improving and Button ending up

tenth fastest. Both McLarens made it through, but we have lost both of

the Torro Rossos, the two Force Indias and we have lost the Williams

of Valtteri Bottas and we have lost Esteban Gutierrez in his Sauber.

There is a big gap between Hulkenberg and Gutierrez? Hulkenberg

had a good run in the second half of the season, Gutierrez, of course,

had a couple of good races, but not really you finding the car to the

liking here this afternoon, but that's a good solid job from his

team-mate. We were talking about Hulkenberg

earlier. He is in a good place right now, isn't he snfrlt -- isn't he? He

is thinking about the race. He is thinking about, OK, the qualifying,

but he made the top ten. Really, he is in a strong position and the team

is relishing it, aren't they? They are happy. It is high fives

everywhere. No high fives for Romain Grosjean. A

lot of doom and glam for him. We saw him walking through the paddock

looking despondent. Let's see if Lee could actually cheer him up. Romain

Grosjean we were surprised to see you, I imagine you were too. Did you

think he had done enough? Well, I think we just missed the cut off

time basically and everyone went quicker than we thought. Yeah, it

wasn't the best thing to do today. It paid off in the last few races,

but today for some reason, maybe we t weren't quick enough. Whose

decision is it to go out on the tyres at that stage? It was a

decision we took together. We were can have the dent we could do

enough, but we got it wrong. It will be tough for him to get through?

Tyres will play an important role and he has a couple of extra sets.

If he decides to go flat out from the beginning, he has an extra set

of tyres if he needs them. It is time for Q3. Here is your

commentators. BEN EDWARDS: So the final part of

qualifying and Sebastian Vettel is trying to maintain the 1 00% record.

Mark Webber hasn't had his pace this weekend and these circuits,

Sebastian Vettel always seems to extract more out of them, doesn't

he? I wouldn't be surprised if he spends time at the design facility!

He seems to go everywhere just quietly influencing things to his

advantage, but I guess that's what great champions do.

Now, the question now, of course, is what tyres is everyone going to go

out on? Webber has gone on out on a new set of tyres. If you were

running a Red Bull and lets say a McLaren?

GARY ANDERSON: If I was Red Bull I would be on the medium tyre because

I think they can qualify pretty well. Again, if I was in a McLaren,

I would do the same. Decision would be who wants to go away with pole

and who thinks they can fend-off tomorrow until that critical point

comes. Somebody will go for the soft tyre,

but I wonder who it would be? Well, McLaren would take glory after the

season they had. Jenson was fastest in Q1.

GARY ANDERSON: David, we see people using track extremities to the

maximum. Do you think it is a bit much? I think the white lines are

there to clearly define the racetrack. Charlie met the drivers

and told them if you go out on to the artificial grass which is beyond

the kerb, doesn't see how you can go any faster, therefore, you are not

gaining an advantage. Christian Horner confirmed that from the

conversation when we saw him running ride in his lap, he said he lost

time. If you are questioning now because you think they should stay

within the white lines. Why have the white lines? From our point of view,

we know the rules because it is easy, isn't it? It is a good point.

It is a good point. Thank you very much, Gary. Well, let's see what's

going to be happening here in the final part of qualifying. Sebastian

Vettel going for a 100% record, if they go for a different strategy, he

might not have that chance, but he has gone out on a soft tyre. Maybe

that tells us the story. Webber has gone out on the medium and Vettel on

the softer tyre. He doesn't have time to do a lap and change tyres.

He might be trying to put some people in the pit lane off the

scent. You have got to get on with your own programme and know what is

the best way to deliver points. Qualifying has a big impact in what

happens in the race. Tom, what can you add? There is indecision as to

what is the best tyre to start the race tomorrow. There is a lot of

split strategies. McLaren put one out on each tyre and Mercedes have

put one out on each tyre. Ditto Red Bull, so it will be fascinating to

see how it plays out in the next few weekends z seconds.

With splits between the individual teams. Alonso is on a quick lap

here. The traffic is getting out of his way so far. He set a good

sector, but he is on the harder of the two tyres. This isn't likely to

be a fastest time overall. Oh, look at that. Very wide on the exit of

12. He will probably get away with it

and a big oversteer. That's total commitment. He gets away with it.

Fantastic to watch Alonso on the limit again. As we have heard, he

won't be penalised for that. Now he comes out of a last corner the car

fidgeting around the lap. It is a 1.25.8 and he is on the harder of

the two tyres. It is not a bad lap actually on that tyre because there

is a second in the softer. On board now with Sebastian Vettel as he has

gone on to his fast lap now and let's watch this one. He has got a

decision to make is he going to commit to finishing this lap or he

is going for it in the first two sectors and keeping an eye on what

the opposition are doing and could bail into the pits and put on a set

of primes, but we will find out in a minute's time. Well, he is certainly

fast in the first sector. Nearly half a secretary up. He is on the

soft tyre. It looks as if he is gunning for glory. He wants pole

position. Whichever tyre you set your fastest lap on, is the tyre you

have to start the race on. So if you were to go out and do a slower lap

on the mediums, he would have to revert to these tyres to start the

race. Well, he is in 15. We will find out shortly if he is going to

complete the lap. He is looking good at the moment. A quick lap, yes. He

is going to complete the lap. How fast is it going to be? It is a

1.24.119. It is the fastest lap ever at the Buddh International Circuit.

Mark Webber is on the different compound tyre. He is not near as

quick, but it will be a crucial lap. 1.25.2. That's the difference then.

Over a second, just over a second between the tyres and Vettel has a

few tenths in him over Mark Webber around this track. Well, if Mark can

keep that position, he will be feeling good going into the race

tomorrow. There is zero degradation on the prime tyre.

What about Mercedes? What can they do? Hamilton and Rosberg are about

tomed could out -- about to come out. Hamilton heading down the pit

lane at the moment. No, he is back into the pits. So we will wait to

see what he does. He had gone out on a used set of tyres? Tom, what are

you seeing? Kimi Raikkonen has just gone out on a new set of soft tyres.

Let's not forget, he has struggled in qualifying for the last few

races. He sees this as an opportunity, I think, to get higher

up the grid. He is certainly going to be out qualifying his team-mate

this time. Grosjean has been doing well very well in qualifying

recently, but not this time, after not managing to get out of Q1. There

is Kimi Raikkonen, as you say, on the soft tyre. He has gone for the

Vettel strategy, if you like, a brand-new set of soft tyres. It

looks like Mercedes are about to go on the option tyre as well. There is

Nico Rosberg. That does not necessarily mean that Lewis Hamilton

will do the same thing. We will wait to see. He is, apparently. Vettel is

back in. Presumably we will not see him out again. I do not think he

will feel threatened. How many laps do you think he will be able to go

on the soft tyres tomorrow? Well, he did a run in free practice this

morning, and put some fuelling, and I think that is what has given him

the confidence to try to make it work. If he could get out close to

ten laps or so tomorrow, and that will get him a healthy to the

midfield. So, Kimi Raikkonen, already three tenths down on

Sebastian Vettel's fastest. Kimi Raikkonen is not going to be such a

big threat, but he's should still be able to get himself somewhere near

the front. He was saying yesterday, he was struggling with the

limitations on tyre pressures and cameras that have been introduced,

preventing him get the exact balance that he wants on the car. There he

goes, only third. So, he does not manage to beat Webber, which is a

huge story, because he is on the soft tyre, and yet Webber is still

faster than Raikkonen. You can see McLaren playing the longer game,

also going out on the prime tyre. Jenson will be hoping that his silky

smooth driving will enable him to stay out longer before the first

stop tomorrow. Vettel HAS gone back out, which is interesting. I cannot

see why he would be any under under threat, and Mercedes suddenly spring

something which we have not seen previously in qualifying. Yes, there

a hidden pace? Looking at the first split from Rosberg, not really. He

is down on Vettel's time. Raikkonen moving out of his way there. No

doubt he would have heard on the radio that there was somebody coming

up behind him. Absolutely, the race but he is a gentleman racer. -- the

race engineers would have told him. Into the final turn, is this enough

to put him on the front row? And he does go second, and here comes

Hamilton... Has he gone quicker than his team-mate? Can he bump him off

front row? No, he can't, Rosberg quicker than Hamilton in their final

run for Mike. Hamilton currently third fastest. -- in their final

runs. Massa could be one to watch, he is on the softer tyre, and

Hulkenberg as well. This is going to be a very mixed upgrade. This has

pushed Webber down. Jenson Button, that is another steady lap from him.

Perez has just gone a fraction faster than Jenson. I think that

shows that Jenson has, either by strategy or buy a mistake around the

lap, given away some performance. Massa has come up to fifth, but has

not been able to challenge the Mercedes. Alonso stays eighth, so he

has been out qualified once again, by his team-mate, but remember, he

is on different tyres, so it does not really count. Alonso on the

harder compound, is coming behind the Sauber of Hulkenberg, who was on

the softer tyre. That might be worrying for Alonso, bearing in mind

that he has spent quite a bit of time behind Hulkenberg in the last

two Grand Prix. He has indeed. He has done it, he has got a 100%

record in India. Every race we have been here, three now, he has taken

pole position. It is the sixth consecutive pole position for Red

Bull. And now they have equalled Assaidi 's on eight for the season.

-- Mercedes. It just keeps on going for Sebastian Vettel, and surely, it

is another major step towards that fourth title. So, let's confirmed

that provisional grid for tomorrow. Let's hear from the main players

from today. I like this track, we have been phenomenal yesterday and

today. We did not have to change the setup too much. I think we worked

pretty well on the simulator before coming here, trying to get

everything right, and the balance was very strong straightaway. That

is only a bonus, if you have a car which does what you want and follows

your steering input the way you like. Yes, you are always able to

squeeze out probably a little bit more. But for tomorrow, it is a long

race, especially if we look at the different strategies. I think it

could be an interesting one. The aim this weekend was to be best of the

rest, even beating Mark today, because he is on a different

strategy, is good. It has been a really demanding weekend, because we

just completely went crazy and wild on setup and things, in search of a

couple of tenths, which other people seem to have found in recent races.

Looking at it, we found it, and it all worked out. And the setup is to

my liking, for now. Those guys on the harder tyre will go much further

than us, apart from problem is a Bastian. But we will do the best we

can. We want to stay ahead of everybody, so as team-mates, we have

got to try to build a road block. Fernando, for a driver who wants to

be as high up the grid as possible, does it hurt a little bit to put on

the harder tyres and try to play the long game for tomorrow? Not really,

we are here to help the team. We are not sure which strategy is the best

one, the soft or the harder tyre, so we decided at least one of the cars

would be in the good strategy tomorrow. The main goal is to score

more points than Mercedes, and this was the best possibility for us. You

went out on the harder tyre, is that a strategy call for tomorrow? It

definitely wasn't the qualifying probably is the right strategy call,

but it hurts, because the option run was really good, quickest in Q1, and

then Q2 on the old tyre, I think I was second or something, so it was

looking quite good. So, it hurts being on the prime tyre, your heart

says, you want to see what you can do, but it is maybe not correct. I

find it really difficult on the prime tyre, because I could not get

any temperature in the tyre. The first sector, I was about half a

second off other people on the primes. Sebastian Vettel, his third

consecutive pole position in India, that guy is in his own championship,

isn't he? He is indeed. We were talking about greatness, and if you

need a firm example of greatness, in India, no one has ever been better

than him. He is absolutely immaculate his record is

sensational, and then he goes out and as a lap record today, it is

extraordinary. And he gets the machine out and cools down the rear

brakes. I am not even sure that is 100% legal, because he was

interfering with the car, although he was not physically touching it.

But leaving that aside for one moment, he has demonstrated beyond

any doubt that he is the master craftsman here, and he has

frightened all of the other drivers and teams into making different

strategies and race plans. Clearly, that is what the others have had to

do, Mark Webber going out on the harder tyre. Fantastic. Mark could

be just the guy. He is going to start the race on hard tyres, and

for sure, Vettel will have to stop very quickly, so how will he get

back into the pack? That is their only hope, where does Vettel get

back in, and will he be stopped in his tracks guess my guess is that he

will have pulled out a bit of a gap at the beginning, but Mark could

have a really good run for this. What about Mercedes? I they just

went for the glory on the Saturday, with the softer tyre. I think Mark

is in a stronger position than them. It certainly will not be Roman

Grosjean, but what about Fernando Alonso, has he got a chance? No, I

do not think so. It is more of the same, lacklustre qualifying, he will

be great in the race, but he has to finish first or second, so can you

see him doing that? From eighth on the grid, I cannot make up my mind,

he is a great racing driver, but I do not think so. We will be live

tomorrow on BBC One. Don't forget, the clocks go back so you get an

extra hour in bed. We will be here with all of the action, and then we

will have it all again for you at two o'clock in the afternoon.

with all of the action, and then we will have it all again for you Thank

you for watching qualifying. See you for the race tomorrow.