The Italian Grand Prix - Practice 1 Formula 1

We're back. Hello, and welcome to the Italian Grand Prix. This is

Monza, the Temple of Speed, as the fans call it, and home to Ferrari,

who are so desperate to get a win. This is round 12 of 19, and the

first of our free practice sessions. We will be live for everything for

you this weekend. In terms of the weather, well, it's a beautiful day,

expecting dry conditions for today and tomorrow, but there's a whisper

there may be a little bit of rain in the air on Sunday. That could shake

things up a bit. Plenty to talk about this weekend: the big news of

course is that Daniel Ricciardo has been announced as the new Red Bull

driver, replacing Mark Webber, who is off to Porsche. We will be

catching up with all that news as the weekend unfolds. Let's have a

look at how the championship looks at the moment.

Lots of news this weekend, and also some technical news, so we're joined

by technical expert, Garry. What are we expecting? We're going into the

last third of the season. Are they looking towards next year, do you

think? Everyone is looking towards next year. Monzaing such an

individual track, with low-down force and wing set-up, we will see a

few bits and pieces here. I think we will see probably the last batch of

updates when we go to Singapore because the rest of the raises are

all very similar. It all depends how the championships go and when teams

give up on this year and focus on next year. Keeping an eye on

physiotherapy physiotherapy - keeping an eye out for Fernando

Alonso in case he comes out - important for them to get a win this

year? Yes, Ferrari was quick at Spa, finished second. They can't afford

that to happen any more. A lot of pressure for them for the

championship, but also from the fan's. The fans are baying. Lee

McKenzie is going to be reporting the session for us. What is the

scene where you are? It's amazing to think we're already at the last

European race of the season. In fact, it's going to be the last time

we see these understated little houses that the team stay in. This

is McLaren's brand centre. They are celebrating the 50th anniversary

this weekend, in fact. We will talk more about that later. In the shade,

though, it's lovely and cool. Out on the circuit, the temperature has

already climbed above 30 degrees. Thanks very much. I think it's going

to be a hot one this weekend. Let's jump up to the commentary box. Ben

and Alan are up there commentating on this session for us. What do you

reckon the chances are of a Ferrari win? We've seen Fernando come out.

It is important to them. Last year, Fernando Alonso had a fast car here,

fastest in Q1, Q2, but and Q3 it all went wrong. I think Ferrari are

always going to be well here at Monza. They always seem to pull

something out the bag. If we think back to Spa a couple of weeks ago,

they were quick there and leap-frock forward. This they can limit the

ground running, it will put them in forward. This they can limit the

a good position for Saturday and Sunday. We will see how everyone

gets on, Su. We have 90 minutes of action for all of the teams, so,

let's see how they do then. Here is your commentary team for this

session. Jenson button ready to come out. The

fiftieth anniversary, the creation of McLaren racing cars was in 1963

fiftieth anniversary, the creation by Bruce McLaren. The team was

created for what was then The team was created for what was then called

the "Tasmama Series", races down under. Those fiftieth celebrations

going on throughout the weekend, and there are various parties taking

place, both before and after this event, Alan? Yes, on Monday it was

the official date when they became 50 years old. It was only organised

one little championship, and what it's done for the history of our

sport, not generally in normal La one, but also outside, then the name

of McLaren is up there. Right now, though,ists it's not been -- I have

to say, it's not been their most mistake season. They're a bit on the

bounceback. I think that he will be looking forward to this weekend as

well. If you think back 12 months ago, they were the dominant here,

they had a 1-two on the bid, Lewis went on to win the race. Jenson

they had a 1-two on the bid, Lewis probably would have been second but

they had problem with the car. They haven't had a podium finish. I am

not sure they're going to get one in 2013. It has been a very difficult

year. I think now the focus research is gone from this year, and to make

sure they don't have the same problems in 2014 with the big

regulation changes, and so for McLaren, there is certainly probably

a little bit bitter sweet parties, but saying that, the history of the

team over the years has been outstanding. There we are. There is

Sergio Perez and the other McLaren. A few cars coming out on circuit.

We've got a few Friday drivers taking place of the regular pilots

this morning, and one of the most notable. Those is British driver

James Carder who will be coming out in Force India. Is he out on track

yet? No, not yet. Also Gonzalez is one of them, Friday driver for the

Maurisha team. Gardo interesting because it's a big opportunity for

him. He's currently raising in the GP2 championship, he lives in

Oxford, born in Worcestershire, 24 years old, his it is second season

of GP2, he won the sprint race out at Spa and over his career he's

raced amongst the very best. He was beaten to the formulathree title by

Jean-Eric Vergne. He has raised against a lot of these guys in his

junior career. Now he's managed by Nicholas Todd. Without question. I

saw James when he first went into car racing. He had the talent and

the feel straightaway. The competition has been high in the

categories he's raced in. He hasn't quite one the championships but

that's mainly because he's gone up in his first year and done very well

so his career has had to continue. He's never stayed in the same

formula, except for GP2 for a couple of years. That hasn't helped in

terms of winning championships but it's helped him win the position

where I think he can take these opportunities with Force India. The

confirmation that Pirelli have brought along are the medium and

hard compound. That's what they brought here last year. This Monza

circuit was one of the first tracks used in world championship Formula

one in 1950, one of seven track, still used today that was on that

original world championship calendar. There's so much atmosphere

through this place, through the calendar. There's so much atmosphere

trees, which, even when the track was created, there were complaints

from conservationists about not knocking trees down, and the track

has remained over the years, and they can't change it. Because it's a

national park. The track winds its way through the trees. It is

beautiful. You have that park atmosphere about it. When you're

driving it, you really do feel it. When you've got the force of the

Italian fans at the side of the circuit and they are jumping up and

down, or even on a test day here, you will get so many fans coming to

the track because they love the smell and the noise of the motor

export. There's a Ferrari. There's nothing better for a Ferrari seeing

it on the front row or winning the race. The lowdownor set-up that is

run here, a different configuration for the cars. That could help

run here, a different configuration Ferrari because, as we saw at Spa,

there was a relatively low-down set-up there for Ferrari as well.

The front isn't very sharp and that gives a confidence round here

because the corners are not necessarily that quick but you do

need a lot of confidence going into them. You need a stable car going

in. Then you need a little bit of precision in the mid-corner of it.

The Ferrari seems to work well. If you look at Spa again, the double

left-hander, the two cars that were outstanding in the corner which were

the Red Bull and the Ferrari. A lot of that characteristic of corner

here in Monza. Ferrari have had 18 wins here in Monza. By far the most

successful team. 2010 was the last time they won here courtesy of

Fernando Alonso, 19 pole positions, and again 2010 when Alonso took

pole. Efficient was close to getting it last year before he had that

mechanical problem with the car, so we will see with interest whether

Ferrari can match that kind of performance. Usual situation here:

an installation lap, and then the cars coming straight back into the

pits and checked over before they can do a series of laps. We will be

hearing from Christian later as he can connected into our commentary.

There's the man where there's so can connected into our commentary.

much chat about, confirmed as a Red Bull driver for next year, still got

to complete the rest of this year as Toro Rosso of course, and Daniel

Ricciardo will be lining up ape long side side Sebastian Vettel. What are

your thoughts? It's someone for the future. They're not looking at 2014

but 2015 and 2016, maybe a replacement for Vettel when he

decides to move on and retire or whatever. I think it will be very

interesting in these next few races, now he's got the seat secure, he

definitely, and Jean-Eric Vergne limited their - I am going to be

watching carefully to see if they can maintain that momentum when the

pressure has dropped off a little bit. Lee asked Ricciardo yesterday

how did the dream call come about? How did he find out as was a Red

Bull driver for next year? I was in Milton Keynes, and I had a brief

meeting with Christian, and he gave me a very strong idea, indication,

what was going to happen on Monday night in Salzburg, so, yes, that was

- that's how it went down. I was smiling of course, I was very happy,

but it is just the next step now. I've still got a lot of work to do.

I don't have any trophies yet, so it is one step closer to what I want.

He is always smiling. There's always is one step closer to what I want.

a big grin on his face. I am sure it was wider when he discovered for

sure he would be a Red Bull driver. He's had a year and a half at Toro

Rosso, experience with HRT before that, a successful junior career. Do

you feel he's in that right position now to take this step? He's one of

the guys that definitely has got the talent, and also shown the maturity

to be able to do it. He doesn't make many mistakes, doesn't get involved

in many accidents. It looks like he's driving within himself but he's

quite forceful as well. I do think he's one of the very good cannot

dates for the future. This is his opportunity. Now we will see how he

gets on next year when he comes under the pressure of requiring to

give results, and at the moment, with Toro Rosso, if he has a result,

fantastic, they clap and everyone gets excited about seventh position.

If he has seventh position, then that is going to be a real bad race

weekend for him at Red Bull. Looking at a replay there of acknowledging

the Tifosi which is good to see. Down at Lotus, though, there's see

what is going on there. Gary, there are rumours that Lotus may be

running a longer wheel base car this weekend? Yes, watching Kimi coming

into the pits here, running with a longer wheel base now. They've moved

the front wheels forward. In my estimation, it is probably about I

don't know four inches, 100 millimetres. You can see just out

the front suspension components here. The way they've swept these

parts forward, the positives of this are that the front wheels end upping

further away from the leading edge. Side pod, so the front wheel causes

a lot of turbulence, so you're trying to get that turbulence under

control - that's what these turning veins in the side pod are all about.

You try to get it under control before the downforce distribution

devices can do their job. Moving the front wheels forward gives more

control over that. It's better for braking. This is about braking late

and having confidence. So all of those are positives. It's a big, big

job for that, for one race, so we will have to see. Maybe they're on

it tomorrow or maybe they won't. It could be insignificant, and ultimate

performance, and what it could do is save the rear tyres under braking.

They've got cars with each specification and will be doing

back-to-back in these practice sessions. Picking up there from what

Gary was saying about what is important to be fast here, from a

driving point of view, what are you hoping to get out the car to set the

quick laps here? You've got big long straits here, half the number of

corners we had in Spa, so from that point of view, you have to maximise

every single one of them. I've always liked to have a stable rear

on the car on entry so you can carry a lot of speed to the apex. The

critical thing was at that apex, you needed to have the front hook up and

turn and then get back on to the power because that next straight is

incredibly long, then going through Curva Grande down to the second

chain, that's a long, long section, then you've got it two more times

before you get back to the starting finishing straight. Entry is

important because you need that front to hook in the exits. These

Chicago contains were -- chianes were introduced in the 1970s. You

said you bypassed them and then flat out into Curva Grande? That's

something the sports cars teams do, you come out of Curva Parabolica,

instead of going through Rettifilo Tribune, you blast through up to

Variante della Roggia, the second chicane. At 200 miles an hour, it's

a corner - you focus your eyes. It's a case of psychologically, you don't

expect to be arriving there at that sort of speed.

In the race, they went for a two-stop strategy whereas most of

the other of their opposition were going on a one-stop. Last year, and

the early part of this year, tyre use was a major issue for the

Mercedes team. They seem to have got over that it, and they've got great

pace at different tracks, lost out a little bit at Spa, though, didn't

they? For some reason they it was said they were scrubbing speed. The

corner, you can scrub speed off but not feel it. When you turn in the

car binds up and takes some speed out. Here, with the long corners,

car binds up and takes some speed like Curva Parabolica, and leading

on to the start and finishing rate, it is important that you maximise

forward acceleration as opposed to scrubbing lateral. That's something

that he will be looking into on to make sure their suspension is stiff

enough to allow that scrub. Lee is now with Paul Di Resta. We've been

filming with your Italian side of the family. You're proud of your

Italian roots. It was fantastic to see, but with no other Italian

drivers here on the grid, they are cheering for you, not Ferrari?

Hopefully. It's obviously back in my roots. It is nice to be back here at

Monza. I think already yesterday, you can see how mad the fans are at

the autograph session. It's the best policed autograph session I've ever

seen, but that's what it is. It is passion, excitement, and I think

they are already which will hopefully be a good race for us and

a good race for the crowd to watch. Let's talk about this weekend

specifically. How do you think the car is going to perform on this very

different circuit to the ones we've been to over the last couple of

races? It is low-down force, how efficient your car has been. Picking

gear ratios way back in January for races you come up in September is

difficult, and our cars suit low-down force and low-drag

circuits. Hopefully we can do something well like we did here last

year, and we qualified P4, but got to have a good penalty for a

gearbox. It would be nice to start to have a good penalty for a

at the front end of the grid. Getting yourself out of that trouble

gets you a lot here. A lot of contract talk going on at the

moment. What is your situation. Will you be with force majeure next

season? I've nothing at the moment. I am trying to build my reputation

in Formula one to secure a drive, but I am relatively happy where I am

but I am looking to get in a car that is going to win races. Daniel

has progressed from a smaller team up to a bigger one but that doesn't

take away the challenge here. There are challenges to go here. Force

majeure are working hard and going up the stairs. Hopefully, the people

are doing the work in the background. Have a great race in

front of some of your home fans. Paul Di Resta waiting to come out on

track. Joining our programme now from the pit wall is team principal

at Red Bull is Christian Warner. Good morning. Lots of comment around

about your signing of Daniel Ricciardo. We have had a few coming

in on our Twitter feed. Let me read you a couple of d you a couple of

those. "Ricciardo looks the happiest guy at Monza today, an amazing

opportunity to get some unity to get some wins" "It was a mistake. They

should have chosen Kimi Raikkonen. It's a no-brainer." Have chosen Kimi

Raikkonen. It's a no-brainer." "Do you think that Ricciardo will

receive an equal car to neck year? Will they get along?" The last one

is the easiest. Yes, of course he will get an identical car to

Sebastian as has always been the case with Mark, we do our best to

produce the best cars we can. Both drivers will get equal opportunity

and it is down to what they do on the circuit. Why did we choose

Daniel? Again, relatively straightforward: we took our time

because we wanted to consider all the options. Daniel we've looked at

very closely, among torpedoed his progress, we have tested him at

Silverstone a few weeks ago, and he absolutely merits this opportunity.

For the medium and longer term, he's an exciting prospect. He's got a

very good head on his shoulders. We will see a new star start to emerge.

Playing devil's advocate for a second, looking through the results

this year that environment environment environment has gained

something like 22 places on his grid positions this year, whereas Daniel

has lost on a total of 11 places. I know he's outqualified Vergne. Is

that a concern that sometimes he's gone backwards in the races? You've

got to look at the circumstances as gone backwards in the races? You've

well. Obviously, we have a good relationship with Toro Rosso so

we're kept closely briefed on what the circumstances are, not all of

which, or far from which have been Daniel's responsibility. We've

looked at all the per mutations, looked at all the data, we have the

opportunity obviously to run him on our simulator. He is the standout

candidate. John Eric is doing a great job, but Daniel just shaded

it. Christian, it's Alan here: I've got a question that, in Formula one,

you've got to perform, what are your expectations for Daniel's

performance in 2014? We expect him to deliver. We put him in the seat

to deliver. We want to have t cars running up the front. It's going to

take him a few races to find his feet and get up to Pete. He has the

benefit of knowing the team. He's been the test and reserve driver. He

knows how we operate in the Red Bull environment. Roughly by mid-season

be challenging for podiums and victories? Yes, obviously, you've

got to give the guy a bit of time. Fundamentally, he's a very quick

driver. Obviously, there's going to be a few areas that he needs to

polish up on, but I think he's going to learn a great deal from Seb, they

get on very well. There is a good respect between the two of them.

He's got a very high benchmark in the car in connection to him.

Finally, Christian, how close were you with Kimi? Obviously, you did

have conversations with him. What are your thoughts now looking at the

paddock? Do you see Kimi staying at Lotus, or do you see him going

elsewhere? Obviously, we had a discussion not just with Kimi, with

quite a lot of drivers. That is what was surprised us was the potential

availability of some drivers, so Kimi will do what he wants to do at

the end of the day. It's for me to speculate what that's going to be. I

am sure he's got something already in his pocket. Did you talk to

Alonso. Was he one of those drivers you mentioned? It's my job to speak

to all the drivers. You want to find out what the situation with all the

drivers are, so you look at the market, and then you can make your

decisions accordingly. Thank you for joining us in this first part of the

session. Looking forward to hearing more from you later on. Just seeing

on the world feed at the moment pictures of the youngster Sirotkin

the Russian driver who is looking forward to become an Formula one

the Russian driver who is looking driver next year, causing a little

bit of discussion because of his youth - he's only 17 at the moment,

18 at the start of next speech, so relatively inexperienced, but may be

a huge opportunity for him on the track at the moment. Gary, what do

you have for us? Red Bull having a look. Monza itself is a very

different circuit, all about straight-line speed. Going into the

first chicane, the cars are going at 200 miles an hour. You have to trim

the car aero dynamically to. This is Mark Webber's car. Rear wing level

you can see very, very small section of rear wing. This Marines also that

when you use the DRS, you don't get such a drag reduction, so the

difference in the car top speed normally to using the DRS is not so

much. If you come forward to the front-wing assembly, I keep harping

on about front wings controlling the performance of these cars, you would

hardly tell the difference in the Red Bull front wing relative to

circuits like Silverstone. Because of this, the air flow coming off

that front wing for the rest of the car is very consistent. If we go

down the pit lane a little bit here and look at the other teams, we will

head for Ferrari. It is interesting to see they've got a couple of

different choices here at the moment. They are trying different

things. Look at Felipe Massa's car. They've taken off the upper

elements. You can see the slot gaps. These are about getting consistency

of air flow, especially to the front tire. There -- tyre. They've taken

off these forward upper rings, higher rear downforce level because

the rear of the Ferrari is the thing that's a little bit nervous. Looking

at Fernando Alonso's car in the garage next door, you can see he's

still running again very similar front wing to what they ran in Spa.

It is lower down. This white flap at the back of the front wing, it has

trimmed the shape of that to get better air flow to the car. It's one

of those sort of things I complain with. When you change the front-wing

assembly as dramatically here, it changes how the rest of the car

works. McLaren are the team in trouble. They're in the next garage.

I can explain something I believe is wrong with the McLaren, or one

things they need to address before they really get the ultimate

performance out of this car. You can see on their front ring they've

taken off these forward elements but they've only got a three-element

wing. The Ferrari has seven elements, as does Red Bull. They've

changed the air flow to the rest of the car, so it is very, very

difficult to get the underflow of the car working consistent limit

it's one of those sort of things how you try to achieve a goalor Monza.

You can see different teams and three different solutions to the

same problem. Who has got it right? I think the one down the first

garage, that blue thing looks pretty good to me! Quick comment from some

of you coming in on our Twitter feed, "Gary Anderson - legend"

That's my mate! A couple of other comments here, one from Mark, "Do

you think Massa will be at Ferrari next season?" We heard Christian

Horner say think think Kimi has got a deal in his pocket. That

conjecture is for him to go back to Ferrari, because Ferrari dropped

Kimi Raikkonen when Fernando Alonso came to the team in 2010. Do we

think that Kimi might end up back there? Going to the first part, I

think Felipe Massa's seat has been under a lot of scrutiny for a long

time now. It's not just been this year but previous years as well.

He's had good races and average races. Ferrari are fighting for

that. There is a lot of money that is at stake for that constructors.

To have a good team for constructors, you need two good

strong drivers every weekend, not just every weekend. So therefore

there is a focus on it. Is there anyone better to replace him? You

there is a focus on it. Is there have to say Kimi Raikkonen is one of

the candidates you would want to put in. He was talked about at Red Bull.

That's clear not the case. Ferrari are a big enough team not to think

too much about what happened a few years ago because the Kimi Raikkonen

of today is a very different personality, character and driver to

what Kimi Raikkonen was when he was at Ferrari previously. It is one to

watch and certainly we will be talking about it more in our

coverage over the course of the weekend, and by the way, those of

you Paul Di Resta fans, you will be able to see the feature that Lee has

made with Paul this week in our qualifying show starting at ten-past

12 on BBC one. Jenson Button on track at the moment, but this is a

significant track for all the drivers, but none more so than the

Ferrari drivers. It is indeed a special race for Fernando Alonso as

he told us yesterday afternoon. It is a special race at Mondaysia --

Monza when you Dryffe for Ferrari. It's an emotional race for us, and

the most important race in terms of repercussion and in terms of

feeling. Also I, I think this year, we arrive in a moment of the

championship that is crucial also to finish in front of Vettel. Every

weekend, we keep losing small points in the championship, the gap is

increasing, and the time is decrease the gap and to close that point.

High hopes for this weekend, and we the gap and to close that point.

hope to deliver well in terms of championship, and in terms of

feelings for the force we can give them something back what they give

us. A motivated Fernando Alonso speaking yesterday afternoon.

From the radio here: Wait until after the line. Interestingly,

Alonso has become the owner of a professional cycling team. That's a

slight diversion team. It is sport, and at the end of the day, he does

like his cycling, there is no question about it. If you remember,

after Budapest it, when there was a bit of a holiday, he with as talking

about how many kilometres he had cycled in a couple of weeks, so,

from that point of view, he definitely loves it. The Spanish

love it at well. They've got fantastic cyclists in the past. It's

a little bit of a departure. It's not going to be his day-to-day job.

He was asked in the press conference yesterday how busy will you be, he

said, well, now it's all set up, I shunt be too busy, but I got through

a batteries on my mobile phone while we were doing the deal. He was

obviously pretty busy with the money side of it. I will be interested to

see who goes there. As I said, there are a lot of spark -- Spanish good

riders that are going on right now. You're going to find out that maybe

some of the big names will join the team in the not so distant future.

Sergio Perez, talk us round on little bit. Coming down to the first

chicane. What is he thinking about or looking for here? First of all,

the braking point because you're coming down there at 200 miles an

hour. Slightly bumpy on entry. You've got to lock up and have to

jump the chicane. After you get there, the important thing is

getting the power down, flat out, to the Curva Grande. It's a light

downforce. The car moves beneath you coming round here. You go completely

over that kerb on the left-hand side. Use the white line. That's

your exit line. Again through the first Lesmo. Carry the speed through

here. The second Lesmo. What you don't see is the Camber holds into

you and at the apex drops away. You will see a lot of people spitting up

stones from the gravel. Now, one of my favourites. This is Variante

Ascari. You're flat out through the next section and down to the - Down

to the winning. Oversteering. Ascari. A little bit of radio

conversation we're not hearing right now, but as you come into

Parabolica. He was talking about car oversteering. You were light on

downforce here, when the car is light, you tend to come in, and the

car hooks up at that point. There are a couple of laps older, then the

rear is unstable, and he will be more concerned about what it is

going to be like in four to five laps' time than what it is on a new

tyre run. Part of the reason John is there is he's an ambassador for the

Racing Steps foundation who have supported James Callardo so much

through his career and now James has got the opportunity to drive in the

Friday session. Graham Sharpe who is the man behind the Racing Steps

foundation has really supported Callardo hugely. It is a big

opportunity, no doubt about it. He's a confident young man as we

discovered yesterday. James, many congratulations. Tell us

how this opportunity came about. I think I can't hide that I did a good

job in the young drivers test. Nicholas told my manager that

they've been in discussion with force majeure and we managed to come

up with a deal to be able to do some free practice running, and I am over

the moon, really, really excited. free practice running, and I am over

You did a great job in that young driver test, fourth quickest if

memory serves me correctly. How much of a step-up did you find an Formula

one car? It's huge. The GP2 is a good ten seconds off the pace, and

it is just the brakes, the down force, not so much the power - it's

incredible. For me to go down Silverstone flat out is just

mind-blowing, but no, fantastic, after five or six laps, I was used

to it and able to set some reasonable lap times and actually

start to work with the new tyres. Physically, how do you find it? It's

easier to turn the steering wheel. I think concentration level is much,

much higher with all the settings on the steering wheel and your neck

because there's so much G force. I was prepared and I've been training

as hard as I can ready for days like this. Can't wait to get out on the

track. James Calado looking forward to relishing his opportunity to come

out and do Friday testing with Force India. Earlier, he we said, he has

got this background, it's a big chance for him to prove himself on

this big stage? Of course, it is, and Force India have had a history

of promoting their drivers through. It's important to get this running

because there's not a lot of testing goes on, so, from that point of

view, a test driver, unless you can get the Friday run-in, you're

basically restricted to a simulator. You need that live feel, and so do

the teams to understand what potential you actually do have.

Maximum Chiltern fee where -- Max Chiltern says he has got to start

delivering. Well, he did a good job qualifying in Spa, Maldonado had

that penalty. They are still seethi about what happened between

Maldonado, the damage it caused to Di Resta's car. On the way back home

I was speaking to someone from Williams who were seething about the

penalty because they said Maldonado didn't want to come into the pits,

got hit by Sutil, and that bounced his car in the direction of Di

Resta. It was an incident that put Maldonado out and Di Resta out,

basically. Yesterday, an announcement of a

provisional calendar for next year, and it is likely now to start in

Australia again. There was talk for a while that maybe next year would

start in Bahrain but they are talking about starting in Australia

start in Bahrain but they are on 16 March. At the moment, there 21

21 races on that calendar but three races that are still questioned as

to whether they're going to get the approval, all the confirmations

going through. Korea is one of those. It is been put early in the

season. New tracks: we've got Austria, Russia, and Mexico. Now,

Mexico would be a return because Formula one did go to Mexico in the

past. A reminder, if you do do a practice start, they must be done

before the end of the pit wall on the left.

Mexico looks as if it is going to be a return. In fact, Tom Clarke son

ask Sergio Perez is it realistic we a return. In fact, Tom Clarke son

could be in Mexico next year? I think it's realistic. I think the

right people are pushing hard for that to happen. I hope for my

country that we have a Grand Prix because it's a beautiful country.

Formula one will be amazed if we go there. Definitely, it will become a

popular grille. I hope for my -- Grand Prix. Do you think the track

can be finished in time for next November? I definitely think it can

really happen. So, it could be another new Venn due effectively,

but last there in 1992, so it is returning to something of its

Formula one heritage. I am not sure it will be in the same type of

situation we remember because that had some real big corners, and it

was a fantastic track. Mexico has got a real strength now. There are a

lot of Mexican drivers racing an indie car, a lot in Formula one, so

it is right there should be a Grand Prix. I don't think there will be 21

Grand Prixes, though. A massive amount of support for that Grand

Prix, and huge numbers of people will turn up. I was there for a GP

race a few years ago, and people were hanging off the railings even

for A1 GP event. Per per is a national hero already, so it would

be quite an event, I think. Romain Grosjean out on track in the Lotus.

be quite an event, I think. Romain Of course, he didn't race here last

we are.rosjean out on track in the Lotus. Of course, he didn't race

we are.rosjean out on track in the here last we are. -- last year. He

was serving a one-race ban because of the accident he was deemed to

have caused at Spa. He had to sit this one out and watch Dambrosio

take over. He didn't get the point but he suffered a curve failure in

the race. He brought the car home, did a it decent enough job, Grosjean

served his penalty and back out. Different Grosjean we're watching.

One or two incidents but basically he's had a clean season this year.

Yes, he has kept his nose out of trouble most of the time. I have to

say, I don't think there's going to be a recurrence of the first-corner,

first-lap dramas that his season was clouded by in 2012. He loose to have

got the confidence within the team again and, from that point of view,

I am impressed with the way the team have handled him, and they've got

more out of him than most people expected. Lewis Hamilton, he is

feeling confident coming into this event talking to the press

feeling confident coming into this yesterday. Looking forward to it.

Winner last year driving for McLaren but feels Mercedes Mercedes Mercedes

Mercedes except toughen. His latest column is on the BBC Formula one

website talking about hip relationship with Nicky Lauder,

paying tribute to Sir David Frost. If you go to th Radio five Live

website, a will the long podcast interview Lewis Hamilton talking to

the guys. Lots of access coming into this event. Feeling reasonably

the guys. Lots of access coming into confident. Still, Gary, I know you

were talking to Lewis yesterday a little bit about whether he is happy

with the braking set-up on his car because, as Alan was telling us

earlier, braking is on crucial here at Monza. Braking is one of the most

important thing. This first chicane you arrive at overtwo hundred and

ten miles an hour, and you stop down to 75 miles an hour. So you brake

pat 130 metres and you don't have time to think about it. It has to be

a responsive action. Unfortunately, for Lewis, he still still doesn't

have the confidence not to be thinking about it. I am sure that

will come with more time. At the moment, he's still just wary of it a

little bit. A quick question for you that's come in on the Twitter feed:

"With McLaren focusing their attention on next year, do you think

that he will be in a stronger position next year than they have

been so far this season?" We have lost Garry. We will come back to

him. I think I will answer it from my point of view that McLaren

definitely have got the ability to make a bad start good. We've seen

that in previous seasons, but this year has been a really difficult

one. The important thing for them to understand is why they haven't had a

good car in 2013, so they don't introduce the same problems in 2014.

But I reckon that there are - they're a big enough team with

enough resources to be able to achieve it. They've also got a very

good guy in Jenson Button to keep things calm when maybe others would

lose their heads in that situation. Jenson has been paying he's looking

forward to signing a new long-term contract with McLaren and wants to

be around when Honda turn up in 2015 - fascinating to see Honda back in

Formula one of course. Hulkenberg - nothing resolved as yet

but attention will turn his way. He had per person stormed through to

finish in second place. Somehow, I doubt they're going to be in quite

that same form here this weekend, but we will keep a close eye on it.

At this session at the moment, per per is not fastest Per he's is

Button is currently fourth, Webber is fifth, Hulkenberg sixth fastest.

Feedback from James, tyre is on the warm side, this suggests three

continuous laps rather than slow laps just to bring the tyres up.

That's the feedback from l the - the - look being at the lap types from

other cars. The reason for that is the straights are so long, the heat

you generate in the corner you lose, and then you've got to try to get

your braking point right to generate the temperatures again for the next

one. You lose it in the following straight afterwards, so you usually

do need a couple of laps around here to get the maximum out of the tyre

for pressure and temperatures. Am talking about Rosberg. He reckons

the chances for them at Mercedes are looking pretty good here. I think I

have a good chance. I am not as quick as we had hoped, but things

can be mixed about a little bit because it's a different car again,

even at Spa Francorchamps, it was a specialing aage we worked on. Every

team could have done a relative or worst job relative to Spa. It is

another opportunity. I am confident I can do a bit better. There's

Rosberg confirming his confidence. Tweeters - you can also go to the

BBC sport website to see the best of your comments, that he will be

included in the live text commentary. Plenty of ways of

getting in touch with us. Roger says, "Red Bull made the right

choice. If Kimi went to Red Bull, he could take wins away from

Sebastian." That's an argument. Did I stutter saying, "I think Paul Di

Resta might go to Ferrari. Kimi Raikkonen might go to McLaren." I

don't think anybody would be expecting that one but good to have

your d be expecting that one but good to have your opinions. "Great

to have you back. Any ideas on what might be the best driver to fill

Ricciardo's vacant seat at Ross Ross might be the best driver to fill

in 2014? -- Toro Rosso." Da Co Costa has a few races in the world spear

Rees to go before that is definitely signed but I think it will be a Red

Bull junior that will go into that car. There's been mention of Carlos

Seinz Junior but he's got work to do before that position. He did a very,

very good job at the young drivers' test at Silverstone. A few people

did over the course of those three days. I think probably right now,

he's one year too early, but he does have the talent. His father was

fantastic in rallying, he was a world champion many times, where

where his speciality was was on tarmac. He had a good feel for it. I

remember Senior racing at brands hatch. He had that tarmac skill in

the early day. His son has gone the single-seater route and he's doing

good things at the moment in GP3. Vettel has gone fastest now, 1.21.9.

We've got Perez and then Webber. We've heard from Rosberg a few

moments ago. Let's Sear what Lewis Hamilton had to say not hoping for

the spa performance they were hoping for. The team gave me an indication

of where we were losing, but generally the aero dynamics package

wasn't the strongest. You look at Red Bull, he had had a tiny rear

wing. It is having that right combination of airo balance and low

drag. I don't think we hit it on the sweet spot. You got the same tyre

compounds. Does that make you nervous? No, the tyres weren't a

problem in Spa. Hopefully, I hope it stays this warm and dry. Although I

heard it's going to rain on Sunday. Hungary wasn't a problem. I hope we

can be strong in that sense. I hope we have the right package this

weekend. There has been a little bit of story that there might be some

rain around on Sunday, a few thunderstorms might be coming into

the area, but of course we thought thunderstorms might be coming into

it was going to rain at Spa on Sunday so it never did. There

haven't been many wet races here at Monza over the years. The most

famous recent one was the 2008 race which was very wet and the

first-ever victory for Sebastian Vettel when driving for Toro Rosso.

A lock-up for Maldonado, through the escape road and no damage done. That

wet event was get in qualifying as escape road and no damage done. That

well in 2008. Since then, it's been dry every year. It's been a lovely

couple of days so far here. 27 degrees air temperature at the

moment. Track temperature has climbed a little bit. We're up to 36

trackure. It is a funny place because, somewhere through the

trees, it stays cool, but in the open sunshine, it is warm.

Maldonado, there is the first point of braking, there is a small bump.

He is 210 miles per hour at that point. The tyres touched the ground,

not up to pressure and temperature. Quickly you have to get off the

brake. If you try to make the corner, you will flat-spot the tyre.

Pot the tyre. (Italian spoken) Translate, Alan? Basically, Fernando

has been told to go to the front of the brake balance for all the

corners of the circuit, so the rear distribution, when he pits the pedal

is too much to the front or rear. That also stablises the rear on

entry as well. It means that the car can become a little bit less twitchy

and you can attack in the corner sometimes more. A critical point is

you don't want to lock the front. Lee, you're at the McLaren garage.

They've got their fiftieth anniversary celebrations this

weekend. I am standing beside Sergio Perez's car: it is, as I said

earlier at the top of the programme, McLaren's fiftieth anniversary. It

was on 2 September. They had a huge party back at the technology centre

in Woking. Over the course of this event, they will be celebrating it,

the team and drivers will be in vintage clothing on Sunday. There

will be champagne to celebrate the fiftieth tomorrow which everyone

will be looking forward to. McLaren's family were in Spa and

they're still so proud to be associated with this team. One

person who has lived through quite a lot of the history of this team is

Gary Anderson. You've been part of the team. What is it like to be

here, albeit in a very different capacity on the fiftieth anniversary

weekend? It's great, really. Actually having a McLaren old boys'

party on Wednesday night. I had four years at McLaren during latter

1970s. Tyler Alexander has been for 50 years, so he can tell us the real

story. 50 years. How is that? Pretty much 50 years. I helped in - in

1964, I was one of the three people that actually helped start Bruce

McLaren motor racing, and through hard work in determination, the

whole thing turned into something quite a bit bigger, as you can see

now, and there are a lot more people than the four or five of us that

were there at the very beginning. It grew. There was a period of time

when I wasn't there, but I came back there, and enjoying back, go it was

something that Mr Denis asked me if I would come back if I was

interested, and I said yes, thank you very d yes, thank you very much.

you veryd yes, thank you very much. d yes, thank you very much. . Did,

and it gave me the opportunity to work over the years with a great

number of drivers that were always very special people. They were

certainly special to me, and I think they were special to a lot of the

people from a guy jailed John Field, who drove Formula three cars, with

old motorbike engines in the States. I got to meet an enormous number of

people then. I came to England and got to know a lot more people, one

of them like yourself when you were at McLaren. So it has been a long

trip, 50 years. Most of it I was at McLaren's, but when I wasn't, I was

doing stuff with also some very good people, so, yes, it is been a fairly

hectic long time, but I've enjoyed all of it. Motor racing has a lot of

good and bad thing, and what you really have to do is learn to deal

with those things so you still focus on what you're supposed to be doing.

It is a very key part of it, which I think knowing you, Gary, that that

is exactly what you did. You did some good things, you did a great

job when you were at Jordan's and things, and it is a matter of

focusing and doing the hard work and getting it done. Over those 50

years, you've seen a lot of drivers. If had you to stick your neck out,

which was the best one. That's a question I've been asked recently.

It's pretty hard, when you think of drivers like Hakinnen, Senna, Frost,

Lauder, you pick the best one out of that lot, it would be pretty hard to

do, really, because they were all very, very good. I'll probably see

you on Wednesday night and we will have a glass of something together

if you're coming to our little party. That sounds like something

that keeps you going in this business. That's a good idea. I will

see you later this afternoon! Thanks a lot. Lovely to hear from Tyler

Alexander, Alan. Yes, when I was a young 20-year-old and had signed the

testing agreement for McLaren and we were sitting in Japan and this guy

was running the test. I said to him trying to make poli conversation,

"So, how long have you been with you been with McLaren?" "I founded the

company." After that, prepare yourself you know who you're working

with. Lewis Hamilton on track at the moment, but during that interview,

Alonso went quickest, interestingly set the pace in the first sector, so

he's now fastest in first and second sectors, but Vettel with the fastest

second sector. Alonso is It's just by tiny little bits at the

moment. Everybody is still scrapping around trying to get the balance of

their car sorted out. As we see a new front wing going for Alonso.

Maybe Gary can give us more information on how that test is

running. Interesting also. Ting also. (Italian spoken)

Just noticing on the screen, on our information screen, there is an

incident involving car five, which information screen, there is an

is Jenson Button under investigation, which is unauthorised

use of DRS. They were playing with the DRS flab on the wing a little

while ago. Presumably, they may have had a problem with that. Hopefully

they can get that sorted in the remaining part of this session.

Still 38 minutes to go. DRS basically can malfunction. Ferrari

had one happen at Budapest. Obviously it is happened here but in

free practice one, I don't think it will be a particular issue. It's

just it's time loss for Jensen. Schumacher was trying to bash it and

sort it out in Canada. So Alonso currently quickest, from Vettel,

Vettel -- Ros Rosberg. Webber is seventh ahead much Massa.

The DRS was in an area it shouldn't have been. That was down towards

Curva Parabolica. It had gone over centre. That was interesting to see.

They've got to get that sorted out. There are two areas of DRS. The

other area is okay. The air using it is to the Variante Ascari. I don't

think it's any benefit whatsoever. It's a big loss. Lewis Hamilton has

to take the escape road. There are some tricky curves out there. Gary

and I walked down the track yesterday. Down at the first

chicane, particularly there is a big lump on the inner part of the kerb

by you worry about if they hit that at the wrong angle. The thing is,

you can get the edge of your tyre on it because it's nice and soft, but

if you take an I do more, it really lifts the whole front of the car and

takes you completely off line which then upsets you for the second one.

I try and line up to touch one kerb or the other, so, in the chicane

you'll touch the left or right. To do both is very, very tricky.

Hamilton, a bit of a lock-up there. It's not going to be threatening the

top time of Alonso just yet. Let's look at the replay. He's coming

through gran gran. The braking point is after the bridge. He doesn't seem

to lock up. He goes straight on. It's not as if he had locked up a

rear or a front tyre which caused him to do it, he seemed to drive

straight on for some reason. I am sure there's a they canal -- there's

a technical reason of it behind it. He said he was going to focus on the

braking. Paul Di Resta: a great qualifying performance from his last

year. Unfortunately, he had a gearbox penalty which put him on the

bridge. More forward brake balancing asked for Fernando Alonso. For all

the chicanes, which means the first and the second, and down towards

Ascari. Everybody experimenting with brake set-up. It is a crucial part

of this part. Watching Hamilton, he's back up to pace once again as

he comes through the third chicane. This is a track where you're at full

throttle for three-quarters of the lap, around 75, 77 per cent full

throttle here. This is a long straight from Ascari down to Curva

Parabolica, then that fraction of a second how you brake and turn in

there. Everything here is on a knife-edge to get it right? Yes, 200

miles an hour, every straight is foreshortened, I can tell you.

Hamilton has got it right. It's on the knife-edge. To make the aero

work, you need to have the suspension on the knife-edge. Your

drivers have got to drive it aggressively but you've also got to

have that gentle velvet touch to carry the speed to the apex of the

have that gentle velvet touch to corner, and then the feel to get on

to the power at the right time. This corner, Curva Parabolica for me, you

have to hold on one second and then go on to the power. The moment you

want to get on to the full throttle is probably just one tenth of a

second too early. The drivers working with the limits of the car

on braking and turning. That was a lock-up for Paul Di Resta. 16th

fastest on that lap whereas Hamilton has gone fastest. He does love this

Monza circuit. Circuit. That pole position and victory he had here was

crucial to him here. He does have a passion for racing in this country.

Kimi Raikkonen not quite as strong a record here at Monza as he has had

at other tracks. He has never won here, finished back in 2006, beaten

by Schumacher. He had one poll position - pole position here, he

had a ten-place penalty for an engine change. That put him back. He

has not had that victory. Interestingly, it's not been a

particularly kind track to Red Bull. They have had the one win for Vettel

in 2011. Of course, Vettel's other victory came when he was driving for

Toro Rosso, the only podium that they had, Mark Webber has had a

grotty record. It will be interesting to see if Red Bull can

correct that this weekend. Their strength is in a lot of high-speed

corners. Here, you don't have that. You've got a long straits with

medium and low-peed corners. It suits the likes of Ferrari and

McLaren historically and hasn't necessarily played to the strength

of Red Bull. Vettel's strategy is get on pole, make the break so the

people are not within the 1-second DRS zone and pull away from there.

That's not what you can do around here. That's not the characteristics

of Monza. Alonso is completing a lap here. He's been fast in both second

and second sectors. Is it this a new fastest? Not quite. 35 thousandths

of a second. Alonso is completing a lap here. He's been fast in both

second and second sectors. Is it this a new fastest? Not quite. 35

thousandths of a second. -- second slower er than Hamilton. . It's

thousandths of a second. -- second probably the difference between a

few hundredths of a second but it's more likely the entry to Curva

Parabolica where he lost out the lap time. We will see fractional

differences. A big weekend for Ferrari. You

wonder if they have a separate aero department that concentrates on a

wonder if they have a separate aero Monza set-up. As you can see, the

replay of Alonso, he is just kissing the dust ther He wouldn't have had

to lift at all but he might have had the dust ther He wouldn't have had

to have a little bit more scrub coming out of it to keep it on line.

There is no kerb on the exit to Curva Parabolica. You here of button

coming through this section. There is a white line and you're straight

into congratulates and gravel. It seems strange there isn't an exit

curve. Yes, if there was an exit kerb, you would use it. It's the old

style of it is gravel, you don't want to go there. You don't see many

people going there at all. Here, it is critical to spot that apex on

yourened hundreds of. Once you get into it, you've got the flow to come

through. Again, nice and smooth on the power as you come down to Curva

Grande. This is where we saw the big battle with Alonso and the dust

kicked up. And the year before. I am wondering if we will vet a third

year and Vettel and Alonso alongside there. Vettel got a penalty for

that. You should give the guy just enough room to make it through, but

right now with themming separated by just over a tenth of a second, I

think the chances of that situation making it three in a row are quite

high. We will be watching out for that on. You've got a fan standing

on the banking, the old banked track which crosses this version of the

track at that point of the circuit. Jenson Button goes under the bridge

and through t fast Ascari chicane. You're trying to maximise your

straight-line speed. As soon as you come out that corner, you straighten

your wheel. You reduce scrub out the car. It is half a mile an hour, but

that makes a lot of lap time around here. Normally, that line defines

the edge of the track, and you're not allowed to take all four wheels

over it, but here at Monza, the drivers are generally allowed to do

that without any penalty, so you will see that maybe happening in the

race, but it won'ting something that they will be penalised with. -- it

won't be something that he will be penalised with: Radio: (Italian

spoken) It's unusual to hear Italian. It is

an Italian team but they normally speak in English on the Toro Rosso

radio. A lot of fluid came out the back. They studied the videos of it

now. It doesn't seem to be a particular problem. You're right,

obviously, he's of Italian origins, but I would have expected it to have

been in English because, like you say, it is been in English most of

the season so far. But it is of course local race for Toro Rosso, so

it is a big race for them as well as for Ferrari. Webber is going to

cross the line. That lap for button not particularly quick. He's only

15th quickest, tucked in behind Ricciardo. At the lower end of the

table, Chiltern is currently fastest of the young teams ahead of Peake.

Kovaline has done a few laps. A couple more you are your comments

and tweets. Has done a few laps.

A couple more you are your comments and tweets.

"Watching James on a replay into the first chicane he bailed out of

that." He's racing GP2, he's got a busy weekend. Doubling duty. That's

a difficult thing to do, to be able to balance your championship

campaign because he's fifth in the GP22 championship but he's only 20

points behind so from that point of view it's a big commitment for him

to be able to do it. Christian horner is back with us. Thanks for

rejoining us. We have had a bit of rub-in, 27 minutes left in this

first session. Tell us the sort of programme that you guys are going

through and your initial feedback from drivers and engineers that you

are getting today? Obviously, the drivers are just settling into the

track again there, working on set-ups, looking at different

things. Downforce levels are totally different to where we run in other

places, so it's a different type of track, but the circuit is obviously

rubbering as well, so it is getting quicker and quicker. One of the

aspects here is gearing, in terms of you've got these four areas where

the cars are travelling over 200 miles an hour but you still need

good gearing for acceleration out of corners. That's a matter of

discussion for the first day? We have to make that choice for the

discussion for the first day? We next session after the rest of the

weekend, you have to find a compromise between qualifying. That

decision will be made a little bit later on. Gary Anderson here.

Normally up to Spa, we saw you were top of the time sheets, but you

weren't very quick in the straits, always down the bottom in the speed

traps. In Spa, we saw a bit of difference of that. Is there a

change because the Mercedes is looking like it is sticking up pole

position for too many cars? We've been trying a few different things.

At the moment, the Mercedes is almost ten kilometres an hour

quicker than us in the speed trap at the end of the straights, but that

can either be ratio or wing level. It is tight. If you look at the

theoretical times, Hamilton then said that Alonso, and there is only

three tenths splitting them at the moment. What is your plan for the

rest of the session. Will you try trimming the car out a bit more? I

think that the drivers are working on balance at the moment. Balance is

the most important thing around here to have. Confidence in the car over

the curbs and the chicanes, so they're fine-tuning the car. You had

the poll and the win in 2011 but last year, neither car finished,

things out of your control pretty much. Is it a bogey trap for Red

Bull? Something you're going to try and overcome this weekend? It is

great to win hear in 2007, Sebastian one his first-ever Grand Prix here

in 2008, but it hasn't been happy hunting ground for us here. It has

exposed some of our weaknesses in straight-line speed, but we're

working hard to try and make sure we get a good result here. If we can be

on podium this weekend, that would be a strong result for us here.

Thanks very much, Christian. We look forward to having more from you

overt weekend. It is interesting that Thanks very much, Christian. We

look forward to having more from you overt weekend. It is interesting

that he said "podium is a good result". This championship is is

more than one Grand Prix, it is more than one Grand Prixes. Their package

is about other style of circuits. than one Grand Prixes. Their package

They will try to take the maximum this weekend if they can. One more

time lap, okay. We must not forget that Vettel dominated the Asian

races last year, and that is what is coming up after this. If their focus

is those kind of tracks, they're going to be a tremendous position.

If you also look at it, the other competition around and about is

probably not Lotus's strength either in this circuit. McLaren are not

doing so well, so, from that point of view, it's the two Ferraris that

that he will be looking towards, and it is the Ferrari of Alonso that

they're looking towards in the championship as well. That

second-place battle in the Constructor's championship, that's

going to be a fight that goes all the way to the end of the season,

with Hamilton and Rosberg's results improving. It's going to be tough

for Ferrari to come back. Alonso making the point yesterday that,

until we get to Singapore, we don't know if Ferrari's updates and work

they've been doing on that car are going to have a benefit for the rest

of the year. This is such an exceptional track in terms of

set-up. Singapore will give us a clearer idea if Ferrari have made a

great deal of progress. In the meantime, with 23-and-a-half minutes

to go, button has moved up, Hamilton is still on top of the times from

Alonso with Vettel. The loading up a little bit each way

as it changes direction. Now he's down the long straight towards Curva

Parabolica. Massa chasing him in the background. Everyone getting a good

number of laps in, everyone using the hard-compound pier pier tyre,

saving the medium-compound tyre for later today. Yes, the medium

compound should be faster around here especially with the fact

they've got medium and slow-speed corners. It is important to drive

this circuit to get a lot of laps. Your brain is used to a lot of

corners coming up at slower speeds and then suddenly you've got all the

corners coming up at 200 miles an hour. You've got to slow it down to

55 miles an how were at the first - That's turning oversteer. He's

locked up the rear a little bit. Just as he has turned into the

corner, and he has very quick reactions to get it back into line.

corner, and he has very quick It has actually locked up the right

front and bounced through. There is no particular dramas there. He's

been able to sort of get that back to the pits. As you can see, a small

mistake makes a big, big difference around here. Bottas did it as well.

I think it is both cars. The same chicane as well. Maybe Williams

struggling for stability under braking. A couple more of yo

comments, "What are Calado's chances of getting a seat for the 2014

season, and if he was to get a seat, which team is he most likely to

join?" I think it might be early thinking about Calado getting a race

feet next year. Maybe want a full season of Friday sessions sessions.

The likelihood of of a race seat in 2014 is reasonably slim. If it is, I

would say it is got to be at force majeure because I can't see many

other spaces opening up in that respect, and he's got a Rich with

them already. The most likely thing as you say is look toing the reserve

driver for all of 2014 season. He's currently 17th fastest, James

Calado. He's slower than res inter alios acta.

Paul is doing a very different programme. You know, James is

obviously trying to impress. He has got his session and he's going to

try and do the best job he can whereas Paul is very much thinking

about the race. Times I don't think are necessarily as relevant. It is a

very good indication for Jamesalal -- James Calado for insure. Riding

on board here with Holkenberg as he comes round. He is not doing serious

running. This will be an aero test, I would guess at a constant speed.

There is a problem exit of set one, the gearbox. Keep gear for now.

Watch taxing behind. There is no shift. Try to come back without

shift. Sadly not an aero test. A gearbox test instead. Yes, stuck in

third gear. It is a long way round. He's got a long way from that point

to get back to the pits now. He said don't change gear because it might

block itself. If it does, and if is running in third gear, they're

obviously n 100 per cent sure of the problem, but now just come back to

the pits, and with 20 minutes to go, hopefully we will see him back out

but we will have to see what the hopefully we will see him back out

problem is. When he was driving for Force India last year he didn't go

get a time and qualifying, started in the back. He had more luck when

driving for Williams a couple of years ago. One thing I would like to

note there, when he came in the pits, he has to be careful because

the pit lane limiter doesn't work when it is out of first or second

gear. That's the easiest time when you can get a pit penalty for going

too fast when you think your brain is getting back to the box. You have

too fast when you think your brain to be really careful in these

situations. Rosberg has done a better lap than he had before.

Almost exactly the same time that Vettel achieved a little while ago.

They've got Hamilton, Alonso, Vettel top three.

We are riding on board here with environment environment environment

who looks confirmed to stay at Toro Rosso. Still a opportunity of course

for him to prove himself and although there might nothing be the

chance at Red Bull, there might be some opportunities next year. Who

will know what happens next season? You've still got to keep delivering.

For sure, there will be a disappointment he didn't get the

move up to the big team but then again he is sitting in a Formula one

car and it is a car that I would say through the course of this year has

been for competitive than maybe expected. Advice coming through to

Toro advice coming through to Toro Rosso about -- to Rosberg about the

differential settings. You have to get over the kerb. Now, that kink

left is easy flat. There is no question about it, but now the focus

is on the braking point and running in 50 metres roughly, spot the apex,

wait for that second and then on to the throttle through Curva

Parabolica, straighten the wheel as much as possible. Curva Parabolica,

it is a corner you have to wait a fraction of a second when you're on

the throttle, but do you have feed it in, or depends on the car?

Depends on the car and the way it transfers its grip from the front to

the rear. Gary Anderson was talking about the longiest wheel base on the

Lotus. That will allow them to be aggressive on the throttle. If

you've got a twitchy car that goes from front grip to oversteer, you

maybe have to feed it in. If you're confident with the car, then you

would straight, wide open throttle. Alonso is on a lap, but Gary, you're

at McLaren. What are you seeing there? Looking at button's car. This

is the front torsion bar coming out the chassis. They're going to a

stiffer or a softer one. Round here, you want a front torsion bar to

support the front of the car. Maybe braking for those corners so the car

isn't so nervous. We heard Jenson talking about the car oversteering

earlier on. A bit of a thrash obviously to get it done in time but

it's better to get it done in this session than think about it during

the brake. There are two torsion bars. They are as such the front

springs, what holds the car up. It is a for the record bar with a

spline on each end of it. When the wheel moves, it twists that bar. It

puts a rotational torque into it. You change that by half a

millimetre, and you can up the stiffness by ten per cent. The team

will have a whole batch of these, and the truck will probably be 40 or

different rates to put on the car. From here, it's different to other

tracks. A question coming in w said, "Who

out of the non-big teams could cause a surprise this weekend, do you

think?" Is there anyone we should maybe keeping an eye on? Yes, I

mean, there is obviously I think Toro Rosso, they have shown that

when they click it correctly, they can be very good, and qualified six

or seven times. Force India have have the quickest car in the

straight. When the tyres change, they seem to lose their way a little

bit. Monza are - those two teams for me, if they just happen to get it

100 per cent right, they could do a good job and upset the apple cart a

little bit. We will be watching for that. When it comes to qualifying

here, it is hard. The times are so, so close. Lewis Hamilton fastest by

a fraction from Alonso. Vettel pushed down to fourth but again by

just a few hundredths. We're watching Vettel on circuit at the

moment. Yet another crash helmet design for Vettel as he continues

his march to what he hopes will be his fourth world championship title.

It is an amazing record that this young man has already in his career.

It doesn't look as though it's going to be easy to stop him, that's for

sure. As we said, this weekend is a different weekend. It could suit

some of the other teams better than it does Red Bull. They know they're

going to be strong at some of the races that are coming up next on the

calendar, but he will want to keep focused and keep driving the team.

Talking to Christian Horner saying yesterday is it difficult to keep

the team motivated? They have had so much s already - three three years

of winning both titles, and he says you've got to manage it a little bit

but there's a huge amount of hunger within that team. They love winning.

There's no question they love winning. It's not that they have had

a great tradition prior to this era of it, it is something that is fresh

and inside them. They've got a young, hungry attitude towards it.

Now, Sebastian Vettel is obviously looking towards the potential of

four world championships on the trot, and that immediately I think

makes them all think think Schumacher schedule's Tammy of seven

up for grabs. We've got a chat with Michael

Schumacher in our programme this weekend talking about Sebastian

Vettel and his thoughts on Formula one at the moment. It will be

interesting to hear his views and comments. Raikkonen has done a

better first sector as he has gone through there than he had done

previously. He's currently fifth quickest overall, Raikkonen. He's

backed it off now I think a little bit? No, maybe he kept it going. It

looks as though he may have lost a fraction of time. He didn't have the

cleanest run, and the car didn't stabilise itself as quickly as

expected so he wasn't on the throttle as early as we saw Vettel

just a little minute or so before. The car looks a little bit twitchy,

a little bit of oversteer in it right now, not something you want

here. That's not as you say what you need. 213 miles an hour town here

before slamming the brakes on. Massive physical force as well. We

talk about the Gs on the neck from sideways force, but here that

braking effort, surely, that must be something you've got to allow for?

Yes, but it is actually the lateral G force that tires you out. Around

here you've got a big long relax and have a cup of tea before you get to

the next on. Physically it's not a difficult circuit at all. Mentally,

it means you've got high concentration for very short focused

periods of time, and then after that you can relax a little bit and then

the next high concentration point. Peaks and level areas. Kovalinan the

21st fastest. It is a second difference between himself and - not

news when we can see him back in a regular seat for next year, but

obviously, he's keeping himself up there in the team's attention. We

ride on board with James Calado. How is he getting on in his first

attempts to show what he can do on a Grand Prix weekend? A little bit of

wheel spin as he came out the first chicane. You can hear the rear

wheels spinning up a little bit. As he brakes down now, he spots a

concern on the left, a double attack into the right, one of the Sauberes

stopped stopped at the lane, and athletic mechanics taking him back.

It would imply it's more of an electronics problem, I suppose.

Maybe it's a mechanical control on the gearbox. They wouldn't have sent

him down if they thought the gearbox was going to lunch itself. Most of

the times these are electronics, they have so many electronic systems

that should interact together. If one is not talking to the other one,

it can create issues. It's not often you have gearbox problems like you

had ten or 20 yearsing a. They have to keep the same gearbox in the car

for the Saturday/Sunday for five events now. If you don't, then

you've got a penalty. If the car fails to finish, you're allowed to

change the gearbox. They're allowed to It's a precaution that you would

definitely take. If you've got the opportunity, and we have seen it in

the past where some of the big runners when receive been outside of

the points have actually stopped and so it allowed them to do that change

without any penalties, and then they go into the next Grand Prixes

knowing the internals of their gear boxes are fresh. We will see them

using a fresh engine for Monza as well. It's such an important engine

circuit, the engines are running at full power for such a long time.

They save a fresh engine for this one event? You see there is a replay

of Lewis Hamilton coming through the second Lesmo. There is a positive

Camber. If you've got a balance problem, whether oversteer or

understeer, it accentuates it. I would suggest there's a balance

shift with Lewis Hamilton. It switches to oversteer a bit too

quickly. Just continuing our theme, actually, we have had a Tweet from

Dan owe corn asking you and Gary, "Do you t F1 has has lost some of

its excitement bying too reliable and not having enough engine

failures?" They're remarkably reliable nowadays? I was watching to

a Grand Prix of 18 or 20 years ago in Spa, and you had one, two, three,

four running in the race, and then there werefour seconds per lap

between fourth and fifth. I don't want to go back to that, I want to

talk about tenths, duking it out in the last race, having reliable cars.

Talking about this, it might be a different story in 2014 because they

are going to have a power unit package and reliability may well be

a factor in the races. Yes yes, we can see next year. The teams have so

many rigs now that test all this stuff, the gearbox put on there, all

the gear changes get sorted out on a rig, it's not done on a circuit the

way it used to be. There's a lot less room for error in mistakes.

Like Alan says, I love to see it the way it is, 22 cars finish every

race. We want to know who is the best, and that is the only way you

will get it. If the cars break down, the result isn't quite where you

want it to be. We have had all all finish here in the past at Monza -

2005, one of four Grand Prixes ever where there were no DNFs. Surprising

when you think how hard the joints are working. It shows how well the

engine manufacturers are producing the goods. The other thing is

because there is basically I would say easier overtaking due to the

straight lengths, then you don't necessarily get that crowding issue

we have on other tracks. The The first corner that always worries me

here, though. Always go into the first corner here with my idea of

here, though. Always go into the what I am going to do but my

alternative strategy if it all just happens to have too much action and

in around you. It is tricky if you're in the mid-grid, if you're

maybe out of position, that's when it is difficult because you need to

make up ground there, but it is very risky, so easy to lose your front

wing. We will see what happens. It was a clean start last year, but the

year before there was an accident. We will see what happens this year.

But we've only got six and three quarter minutes to go. Hamilton is

currently fastest from Alonso. Rosberg is third, then Vettel,

Raikkonen and - whether - Vergne eighth, and Gutierrez tenth. Gary,

you're outside the garage? Talking about the liability of the gearbox

problem. They thought they had to reset the electronics, but it is

something bigger than tha He couldn't get into second gear when

he tried it. The car is going up in the stand as you can see right in

front of you, and they're taking the gearbox off and will try to do a

gearbox rebuild before the next session. Of course, they've got

another 90-minute session to go later on which we will be bringing

you live on BBC2, and our other viewers around the world getting to

watch all the free practice action here from Monza. The conditions now

stay pretty constant for a while. The track temperature is sti 36

degrees. The air temperature is 28 degrees, little breeze blowing

across the circuit addition we are watching Jenson Button. McLaren and

Jenson Button have had an upturn of performance, lately. The car

generally runs quite stiff, and that I think has made them struggle early

on in the season. That's due to the aero concept but that suits around

here. You need a good stiff car to give you that consistency. Also for

the quick change of directions in the chicanes. I think they will be

competitive around here. I don't know if they know if they will be

ultimately competitive enough. I think it will be a better result

this weekend for them. Jenson Button hasn't actually won on this

Mondaysia circuits -- Monza circuit in the past. He did finish second to

Baracello. Of course, the modern version of the Brun team is -- braun

team is Mercedes. They lacked a little bit of spark the last time

out. Mercedes in the old days, the former version of Mercedes in the

1950s, their last ever 1-two finish was here at Monza back in 1955,

whereas Hamilton and Rosberg - -- please repeat your last message,

Lewis? Osberg - -- please repeat your last message, Lewis? (Garbled

radio) It's very difficult to hear you. Pace looks okay.Two tenths to

Vettel but difficult to tell on fuel. Difficult to tell on fuel, and

that always is the story on a Friday. We never know how much fuel

that always is the story on a is in each of these cars. Same for

the teams. They don't know how much fuel is in the opposition's car.

They can take abeducated guess, and they're usually pretty accurate to

assessing whether they are competitive or not and nobody knows

the full picture before we get into qualifying where everybody is

running as little fuel as possible. Grosjean was going to have to lock

running as little fuel as possible. up I think as we are riding on

board, gets to the point down the gears, locks up the right front. No

way to safely make it. The best solution is is to come through

bollards. The second Ascari corner. You do use all the road there. If

you've got the steering wheel straight you can keep wide open

throttle and it is not a big issue. If you lift too early, you have to

get the car back on track. The body language of that car showing that

he's right on the edge. Let's see if this is bi- this is bi- improvement.

I -- this is any improvement. He has done a 1.26.6, implying these tyres

are holding up very well. Obviously, there is not a lot of loss of

performance if he is still able to do that kind of lap time after 24

laps? You have to remember as well that the circuit is gaining grip as

more people are driving around it so it is getting faster as the tyres

are going off. Here, the pit lane is pretty quick, you've got a very fast

are going off. Here, the pit lane is entry, and it is quite sharp, so

your pit Delta, even with a reduced speed limit now isn't too bad.

However, at 200 miles an hour, you travel a lot of distance in30

seconds that you would maybe lose if you're coming in for a tyre stop.

Alonso is getting himself a little bit of space. He finished a lap off,

he let Hamilton go past. Rosberg coming into the first chicane. He

uses the inner curve a little bit and runs it on to the first white

line. Yes, you can sometimes in different cars use the outside

concern but it is quite bumpy there. We heard the car was wheel spinning

over those bumps. Turn eight is the first part of the

Ascari. It is interesting the engineers are telling the driver how

to drive. That's the way of it, with the information they've got, he's

saying slow the car down and bet a better exit. The exit means all the

way down to Curva Parabolica. I think we will hear more of that in

2014 because when they get the new power units, how they use that kurs,

whether it is a practice session, qualifying session or a race, a lot

of it comes down to the data the engineers are getting. I think that

relationship between engineer and driver is going to be even more key

when we get into the new regulations next year. That was before you had

any data, the relationship, the understanding, the communication,

knowing when the driver needs a kick up the backside or an arm round

their shoulder or whatever it may be, that's an absolute must that you

have got that two-way that is instinctive. I think it's one of the

most fascinating parts of top-level motor sport, that relationship

between the driver and his race engineer. It is real teamwork that

goes on. Only a few seconds left on this session. Alonso heading down

the pit lane. I thought is he going to do a proper practice start? He's

doing a few burnouts? Yes, he's going to do one practice start as he

heads out. I hope he's got gone beyond the pit

wall. That's not very clever. That's the two Ferraris nearly crashing

into each other. It's gone red as well. Therefore the red light as

changed to say the end of the session. That's interesting. As a

man who is quite often the driver's steward, Alan, if that gets referred

to you, how would you be be looking at that? The first thing is to stand

where the start box was, and, in my understanding from the radio

communication, it was actually early, because it is like a

bottleneck there, a Coke bottle where you basically - Okay. I brake

and I stop after the line, but I don't know if it was okay or not.

Tell me what I have to do. Stay there, and we will come and get

you. A little bit of confusion there. Not an ideal way to end the

session for Ferrari. Definitely Massa was quite clear it went to red

and he didn't want to go out on to the circuit to get a penalty. The

first question was whether Fernando went too far and stopped at the

wrong point. That's something that would be in the regulations. He

suddenly locks up. would be in the regulations. He

Red light about to come on? Yes, as he got to the line, the red light

came on. It would have been so embarrassing if he ran into the back

of Fernando Alonso. Perhaps his prospects of staying at Ferrari

would have taken a serious downturn. Lewis Hamilton has ended up as the

fastest in practice. 1.it 25.05 not as quick at Michael Schumacher did

last year. He was faster than Alonso, Rosberg, Vettel - Raikkonen,

Bulleton - and environment in the top ten.

Calado, Kovaline and Gone Gonzalez. I think it's a good idea to pick up

on that Massa incident. Confusion for Ferrari at the end? Yes, there

is a white line that goes across the track to the exit of the pit lane

where the light is. Alonso had gone across that. In theory, Alonso was

on the map. He saw the red light, locked up the brakes and stop there,

as he should have done because he could have got down for leaving the

pit lane after the light. So there will be people looking at

it in confusion, but I think it is all okay. It was a tight session,

though, as you often see at this track, but top 15 within a second of

each other? It always is tight because you spend 70 per cent on

full throttle, so for 70 per cent of this lap, the drivers is a

passenger, he's got the throttle pegged, it's down to the car, so it

always gets very, very tight, the driver's influence is the braking

into the corners. Impressed by Mercedes? Yes, last year 25.4 for

Michael Schumacher and carried on today with a 25.5 for Hamilton. The

mix is looking pretty good. So, yes, I think Lewis might have come to

terms with the brakes for this Mercedes for this meeting. More to

come from Ferrari this weekend, do you think? I was watching them doing

back-to-backs in the front wing, they have had this flow vis on the

rear wing, another downforce set-up they're going to try in the second

session so it will be interesting to see what they can find. We can find

out more when we are back at 1 o'clock on BBC2 later on. So far,

Hamilton leading the way with Alonso second, and Rosberg in third. See