The Korean Grand Prix - Qualifying Highlights Formula 1

Welcome to the city of Yeongam where Formula 1 continues its Asian

adventure. In Singapore, Sebastian Vettel took another dominant

victory. At a place that never fails to deliver unforgettable images.

Lights out, away we go, Nico Rosberg going towards Sebastian Vettel. Nico

Rosberg has got in front, he takes the lead.

As ever, it is absolutely beautifully choreographed, the pit

stop. You have to give a place back to Sergio Perez.

That is Ricardo in the wall, but the safety car has been deployed, the

gap is opening up over Nico Rosberg yet again. Mark Webber gets past

Jenson Button, he is up to fourth place.

Lewis Hamilton gets past Jenson Button as well. We believe you have

Mark Webber in the front wing, you Button as well. We believe you have

are losing front downforce at the moment. Paul di Resta is in the

barrier! Sebastian Vettel at about 9.9 seconds, so a good effort from

Kimi Raikkonen, absolutely superb drive. That puts Fernando Alonso

into second. Mark Webber has problems, it always seems to happen

to Mark Webber and he is definitely in trouble here. Get out quickly.

It is Sebastian Vettel to take his seventh when of 2013, his hat trick

in Singapore. -7 win. Sebastian Vettel was the dominant

force in Singapore. Hello and welcome to qualifying from Korea,

going back a couple of weeks, was the margin he won by exaggerated by

the fact Ferrari seem to be off the pace? On a street circuit, that can

play its part but was still a very impressive informants and as the

season has gone on, the car has improved and his wanted and is off

the scale. Everybody will be hoping things are closer here? It will be

back to a more regular circuit. It is the fourth time Formula 1 has

visited Korea so let's take a look at the current state of play. That

seventh victory for Sebastian Vettel will see him edging closer to the

victory, he stands 60 points ahead of Fernando Alonso who says the

fight for the championship is still well and truly on. Force India are

six in the constructors table. At the top, Red Bull theme on stop

bubble -- seem unstoppable. So over the years, Korea has been an

interesting place in turns of the championship, the lead has been won

and lost and sebastian Vettel picked it up last year and Mark lost it in

2010, we will not see that this year. There is an interesting

forecast for tomorrow that could change proceedings. They are

expecting quite heavy rain potentially on Sunday. In 2010, you

mentioned Mark Webber dropped out of the battle for the championship,

crashing here, that was the only time Fernando Alonso had victory

here, Sebastian Vettel has been dominant, he has that everything by

a handful of laps in the time we have been racing circuit. That does

not bode well for the competition but the weather can play a big

part. Is quite a green circuit and it involves very much over the

weekend -- this is. We were looking at a typhoon heading in this

direction but it has tailed off and gone to China but we will end up

with a lot of wind, they are saying. The weather will always play a part.

This is a new venue but they have created a street circuit feel at the

end of the lap and you get the walls and barriers close so that wind can

balance -- can affect the balance. It can help some cars and be

detrimental to others. This will not be a walk in the park for Red Bull.

From Rory have to try to get Fernando Alonso back on top.

Mercedes have been strong and Lotus have been good. A lot of talk about

the rules and regulations next year and the weight restrictions. It has

been increased 690 kilos, is that enough for the heavier drivers like

Nico Hulkenberg? Packaging has always been an issue for the larger

drivers. But more important than getting the driver comfortable if

the mass of that drive up and ten kilograms is around three tenths of

a second of performance. So when they attempt to wrap up new

regulations into this new weight, a driver has to be factored into that.

I think we should go for a minimum weight of around 75, 76 kilos and

all teams should have to include a theoretical weight of a driver

around that level. A round-up of the news.

Mark Webber has been pretty outspoken after he was given a

reprimand for flagging down the world 's most impressive taxi at the

end of the Singapore Grand Prix. Lewis passed me and Nico Hulkenberg

went to the other side. The camera angle is not beneficial in my

favour. We raced each other for two hours at 300 K, it was fine. The

race was over and after a race is the safest time of any weekend to do

that and I will not put myself or anyone holes in danger. The fans

loved it, it it was good for all of us. Fernando Alonso was also

cautioned. In but Mark Webber has reached his third reprimand so he

receives a ten point Bridge drop for today was like Lewis Hamilton

suggested he had not seen such an impressive performance from a car

since they had traction control. Sebastian Vettel made fun of the

accusations when asked how he would get on this weekend. Since traction

control, it will not matter so much. I will probably struggle a little

bit more but I think we should still have a strong package.

Even world champions have bad days and Kimi Raikkonen said he simply

ran out of talent after this uncharacteristic of impact is one.

He walked away on in -- unharmed and the car was back on track for second

practice. Jules Bianchi will stay at Baruch. -- Marussia. The Frenchman

says he is happy where he is now. I think Marussia will be a better team

next year so I will improve a lot and show and in -- and show an

improvement this year but next year will be a big step. Rubens Barry

improvement this year but next year Keller wants to reform -- wants to

return to Formula 1. -- Barry Keller. It would be the first time

since the 1970s that Brazil did not have a driver on the grid. The FIA

has released its calendar for next season featuring 22 races. Austria,

Russia and New Jersey are new additions and India does not

feature. Three provisional dates on the

calendar, New Jersey, Korea and Mexico. That makes 22 races, could

that be too many? It is too many. Not for the fans watching, if you

are a fan of Formula 1, but for the teams, the mechanics, the

personnel. Several weeks at a time away from home. It is a privilege to

work in Formula 1 but you do need some home life. It looks as though

Korea might go and New Jersey might not happen so we could be down to

20. That is a good number. It is a back-to-back races that are a

problem. If you have a bad race, have a fewer accidents, for a team

to recover is really tough. You have to plan it very well. The big teams

can handle it but not the small teams. We are in front of Red Bull

because they are hitting back at allegations they have been using

illegal traction control. I do not believe they have. They have been

exploiting the regulations to the maximum. Red Bull over the last four

years have done that with everything but you have to push the regulations

to the maximum. If you build a Formula 1 car to what you read in

the regulations, you would still be with a Marussia. They pushed the

limits. I went to turn one and I with a Marussia. They pushed the

cannot see anything illegal, the car has good grip and traction and

drivers are driving it well. That is just a quick racing car. David, from

the practice sessions, can Mercedes take it to Red Bull today?

Unquestionably, they have good take it to Red Bull today?

single lap race. This circuit should play to the strengths of Mercedes

but it is about delivering on the day. Who will deliver and take pole

position? You have to say Sebastian Vettel but there are 19 corners and

you can make mistakes, I think the chequered flag will tell. This is

the qualifying from the Korean Grand Prix.

The Korean Grand Prix might not have been one from pole position in three

years but the winner has always started from within the top three.

The first segment of qualifying is underway but nobody is desperate to

get out. We will see 22 cars vying for 16 positions in the qualifying,

and the same compound tyres are in use here as in Singapore with the

super-soft and medium but they seem to be exhibiting different patterns,

not such a big gap in lap times. They are the same tyres but

Singapore itself is all about traction and getting off the corners

so you need the rear grip of the super-soft tyres. There are

high-speed lateral corners here and the softer tyres do not bring much

to those corners. Esteban Gutierrez is first out. What

are you expecting to see is the cut-off to get into the top 16? The

track does keep changing and you will have to get into 38. The

checkpoint seven 38.8. The top cars could probably do that. -38.7. For

most people, it will have to be the super-soft tyre. It will be

interesting to see how that turns out. Tom, what news have you got

from the pit lane? The cloud cover is an issue for the teams. It is

five degrees cooler at the start of Q1 and it was at the end of the

practice this morning. That is not normally a factor in qualifying

except for the teams that really struggle with rear tyres. Looking

back at Mercedes in Bahrain, were nowhere during practice because of

the sunshine and it clouded over during qualifying and they were

lightning quick, so look out for Mercedes and even Ferrari. They have

been struggling during practice. Final thoughts, look at Lotus. They

are quietly confident, particularly in tomorrow 's Grand Prix.

All the cars around you, that is Nico Hulkenberg and Paul di Resta

ahead. A bit of information for Jenson

Button and Esteban Gutierrez crosses the line. He is on the harder tyres.

He used softer tyres this morning. So quite a big difference. That is

Jenson Button out on circuit. A bit more hopeful of a more promising

performance. He fought yesterday after the practice sessions that she

thought yesterday after the practice sessions McLaren could challenge

Lotus. He was 10th fastest this morning. He is using the harder

compound tyres a game and he has had a tough time here in Korea. He has

had one result but he has been taken out on last year 's race. Just down

the straight on the first lap of the race which put him out of the

equation. He goes across the speed trap and is 313 kilometres per hour.

Let's get some news from Tom. Jenson Button's race engineer was

giving him some tips about where the traffic was around him. In practice

this morning on his super-soft tyres, he did not get a clear lap,

he was constantly held up in crowds. So that lap time was not

really a valid lap time. Whether McLaren can get through this section

of qualifying using the harder tyres is yet to be seen. But how is the

hard behaviour looking? -- de car behaviour looking? Di Resta got well

out of the way. Nevertheless, it takes away your concentration a

little bit into the last section. It will be much nicer if we can see a

proper image of where the car is going. I am a bit bored of all these

graphics and the heat sensitive camera showing is that the tyres

are, indeed, hot, confirming what we already know! Jenson Button is the

fastest of anybody who has been out so far, that we have only had about

fastest of anybody who has been out five cars. Peres is going out

second. Let's see what Kimi Raikkonen has just done. He had to

get out of the brake pedal. Everyone looks like they are fuelled for two

or three laps, so they will carry a fuel penalty to enable the drivers

to get and I into the -- to get an eye on things. They will have to

have slightly lower tyre pressures and allow the tyre to evolve as they

do two or three consecutive laps. Gary's target time has not quite

been beaten, but it is an impressive lap time and temperatures are a lot

cooler than in Pratt was this morning. Rose Bowl is top, Hamilton

is second. -- Nico Rosberg is top. They will be hoping to use

is second. -- Nico Rosberg is top. as a slipstream. He is maybe hoping

that he will be able to get past. Hamilton will be getting a radio

message telling him that Alonso is going. He will get well out of the

way, allowing Alonso a clear run up to four. One of the drivers was

asking to be kept warns of cars behind them as well as what is in

front. This is the fastest that we have seen so far in this session. He

is using the harder tyre. Only one or two cars are going out on the

super softs, they are the ones at the lower end of the grid. The top

teams are during it out on the compound tyre. Qualifying is so much

faster than when we see them running around in free practice and in the

race tomorrow, all fat with fuel. This is the moment that the drivers

really live for. It is looking like a smooth flowing lap at the moment.

This is a good-looking lap for Alonso. This was the Corner

yesterday that Kimi Raikkonen crashed at in the practice session.

Alonso goes second, squeezing in between Nico Rosberg and Hamilton in

terms of lap time. Yet to see the Red Bulls out, but the four Rory and

the Mercedes will be happy with that. Nico Hulkenberg in the sober

here. -- in the Sauber. With these very picky tyres, they might

here. -- in the Sauber. With these overheat slightly, the rear tyres.

He was just about flat in qualifying, but the cars are moving

around a lot. That was eight goods lap time. Sergio Perez is going six.

He is going a bit quicker than Jenson Button. Now we watching Lewis

Hamilton. He is on the harder tyre. This is a

lap for him to be safely through to the second part of qualifying

without having to use the super-soft tyres, I think. Across the start

finish line, Lewis Hamilton goes fastest. That is certainly with in

the target figure that Gary Anderson told us about, so Hamilton is in

good shape. Hamilton is fourth. -- Raikkonen is fourth. Esteban

Gutierrez is on the soft tyres. He is a potential top ten runner, he

was in the top ten last time. Alonso has improved his own time in the

first sector. They are going for these slightly longer runs in the

first part of qualifying. Once we get later in the qualifying session

and there is the option time, they will get into more classic collapse.

-- classic laps. It does not appear that the grid is giving up on them.

Gutierrez was quickest of all in the that the grid is giving up on them.

first sector. Will this be enough for Gutierrez to

go through to the next stage of qualifying? His super-soft tyres

have put him second. That is very much around the mark that we think

will be needed. It will hopefully be safely enough for him to make it

through to the next part of qualifying. There has been a change

of approach in Gutierrez this weekend, the boost in confidence by

getting into the top ten last time has given him an edge. This is the

man we are expecting to set the pace, looking at his performances so

far this weekend and over the last few Grands Prix. He will not get it

in this session, this is all about getting through to segment two of

qualifying. Look at how controlled that car is. It turns in so

beautifully and gets the power on early. Nice and tidy at the end of

beautifully and gets the power on the lap. He might well get another

lap. Hamilton's best lap was not his first.

Here is Mark Webber, pole winning here last year. He beat his

team-mate Sebastian Vettel in a straight fight. But this time he

will have to add ten places to revenue qualifies. He is in third

for the moment. OK, Mark, we are staying out. Think

about tyre prep for the next lap. Mark doing a slow lap just to bring

the tyres back. What sort of prep will he be doing? Backing off,

trying to preserve some of the softness of the tyre. He will be

getting information from the pits about how the pressure is looking

and how to maintain the right level of inflation. If you lose tyre

pressure and temperature, the car then runs a bit more and you start

dragging your arts, basically. It creates friction. They rely on the

information from the pit 's and their own fuel, frankly, just

trusting your instincts. -- the information from the pits.

Gary came up with a good number, McLaren just said the same number,

1:38.8. At the moment, Lewis Hamilton and Esteban Gutierrez are

the only one sounds a lot. Everyone else has so far done over 1:38.8.

Gutierrez, I wonder if he will feel safe enough on 1:38.7? Grosjean will

jump up, where is he going? Fourth. Interestingly, that information for

Jenson, McLaren are staying on the prime tyre. Button goes up. Peres

Houston 1:39.0. He goes fastest on the super-soft tyre. Hulkenberg has

used that very effectively, 1:38.4, that is quite a bit quicker than

this morning. It looked to me as if my eyes might be playing tricks,

like Perez had the super-soft tyre on. It is not showing in our

information. Let's see if we get another view so we can clarify what

tyre McLaren are on. It would seem rave of them to have stayed out

there on the prime tyre. -- it would seem brave of them.

You can see what a good lap that was from Hulkenberg, it is not far off

what Nico Rosberg has achieved. The information available to us in the

commentary box is that Raikkonen is definitely on the option. He has

gone fastest of all, he is definitely on to the second part of

qualifying. No back trouble is that we know of from his accident in

qualifying. No back trouble is that practice yesterday. Paul di Resta is

sliding the back-end of the Force India around a bit. There is traffic

ahead of him, which does not help. Paul was quicker in the first and

second sectors, this will cost in time at the end of the lap. The end

she could well find himself with a penalty for that. -- Bianchi could

find himself with a penalty. It arrested and make it through last

time out to the final part... The second part, even, of qualifying.

I don't think Paul will get the chance to do another time to lap. As

he sits there at 14th, we have to hope that is enough and that Alonso,

as you would expect, he will go forward. There are a few people on

laps at the moment. Romain Grosjean has stayed out there. He has not

gone for the super-soft tyre. He is 15th at the moment, Alonso is

fourth. Di Resta is 16th, right on the bubble. Maldonado is currently

not making it through. That radio message would have been a

few moments ago, Grosjean is dealing with a bit of oversteer. Di Resta is

definitely endangered territory where he is. Grosjean is looking to

move up, he does. Webber is a long way down. We are still waiting for

but arson Maldonado. -- we are still waiting for Bottas and Maldonado.

There has been a new front wing on the car, which seem to be working

well. Di Resta gets away with it this time. Di Resta makes it through

into the second part of qualifying this time, but a few nervous moments

for Force India. Mark Webber only just doing it. Whether saved a set

of the super-soft tyres, he did not go onto the super-soft. Sadly, we

have lost both of the Williams from this part of qualifying. Bottas

outqualified his more experienced team-mate, Pastor Maldonado.

Bianchi outqualified his team-mate, Max Chilton, by two tenths of a

second. Both of them are learning the circuit. Pic, Vander guard,

Bianchi, Matt Chilton, but as and Maldonado are all out. -- Bottas and

Maldonado. That was unbelievable.

High, Paul di Resta sounding pretty disgruntled that you slowed his rap.

Did you not realise he was behind you? I saw him, but he was quite

far-away. I don't think he lost anything. You don't feel like he

lost any time? I didn't. You will have to show me on the date, I am

sure it is a flat corner. You might be having a conversation with him

later. You have re-signed, did you not feel there was an opening for

you with one of the biggest teams? I am happy with my team, we keep

working together and improving. Disappointing for Williams, why was

the performance not coming? The tyres were not performing well this

afternoon which is a bit surprising because temperatures are similar to

this morning and we could get the grip this morning, we were there

with Force India. It fell away a bit this afternoon. Is that because of

the track temperature dropping? It has not changed a lot of died

thought we could handle it, but we of history did not.

As the green light indicates the second segment of qualifying,

interesting to hear there is work to be done at Williams, disappointing

to see both caused out in the first part. Now the battle for the top

ten. -- both caused out. We will have to see what happens in this

session. Using the super-soft tyres, some drivers, but others got

through without. Gary, your target time is accurate. McLaren felt it

was accurate on their assessment. Who is looking in good shape in

turns of tyre use? Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull used the medium tyres,

as did Lewis Hamilton. You need the super-soft tyres in the last part of

qualifying. But the other guys will probably, back in this session and

run that set of super-soft tyres for a second run. It was brave of mock

Webber to stay out -- Mark Webber to stay out, because it was tricky. We

are watching Kimi Raikkonen towards turn three as he ills up speed, in

turns of speech trap figures, Ferrari have been out on top for

both Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso. Mark Webber is up there,

faster than Sebastian Vettel. Red Bull have gone for different setups

on Mark Webber 's car because they know he will have two work his way

through the traffic with his ten place penalty, in a car that can

take easily -- to work. They have gone for less downforce and a bit

more on Sebastian Vettel 's, hoping he will have the pace for pole

position. It is interesting because you do not normally see a big

difference between two team-mates. That just shows there is more than

one way to skin a cat of performance.

Everybody is on the dues to super-soft tyres, I think, except

for the Lewis Hamilton who has gone out any new set -- on the used. The

outlet is slow, part of that is positioning to give yourself a clear

run. Hamilton is coming out through five, Adrian Sutil is down in turn

nine already. And part of it is trying to condition the tyre as late

as possible. Kimi Raikkonen, it you get onto these long straights and

not much the driver can do but hold on but you are losing temperature is

the air cools the surface of the tyres. He will hit the brakes and

hope he has made the right judgement call. 309 kilometres an hour at the

speed trap, one of the lowest figures throughout the weekend. You

can put yourself in a position where the car has more downforce and you

perform well on that last sector which can get you to the point you

are in video rest activation zone. -- the DRS activation zone.

Downforce is clearly going to give you performance. He is coming

through the fast sweep and he used a bit of curb on the exit, down a

couple of gears into the tight right-hand turn ten. Very fast entry

and the car has slowed down. The right-hand turn ten. Very fast entry

camera angles on this circuit allow us to visibly see the speed of the

cars in qualifying. Must be a lot of fun for the drivers to hang it all

out. The car is looking responsive, they are running the long wheelbase

of the Lotus, the first time in an qualifying session this year and

Kimi Raikkonen likes the way it feels. One: 39 .2. We will see lap

times faster than that. We have already seen that, so there is more

time to come. David thought he might get a chance to drive this weekend

but sadly for him, Kimi Raikkonen is in great shape. We are on board with

Fernando Alonso. Let me explain that small Kimi Raikkonen figure.

Fernando Alonso comes out the last corner and he is on a used set of

super-soft tyres and so is bit quicker. Nico Hulkenberg has gone

second in between the Ferrari and the Lotus so that is a good run

again but now he gets beaten by Felipe Massa. Lewis Hamilton is on

the new set of super-soft tyres and he is definitely attacking the last

section of the circuit, he has had one poor position here in 2011. --

pole position. That was the only non-Red Bull pole position of the

year. He was in a good mood yesterday and this morning. The car

is clearly talking to him and looking strong. Slow motion of Kimi

is clearly talking to him and Mikan -- of Kimi Raikkonen, the

front wing looking as though it wants to be anywhere but attached to

front wing looking as though it the car. Confirmation that the

Sauber is in good shape is that Gutierrez has gone fourth, Nico

Hulkenberg is six. -- in sixth place. Turn 12 catches everybody

out. The Sauber cars are delivering good speed in that first sector.

Gutierrez is quickest. We have dismissed it as being scoring areas,

drivers have to make decisions in turns of the brakes and more

importantly down into turn three four. -- and four. Jenson Button

goes to sixth place for McLaren. His team-mate Sergio Perez has gone into

ninth place, and Kimi was pushed back into the pit garage and the

Lotus will probably come back out with new super-soft tyres. We will

see what happens as they put that on to the front wing. Mark Webber on

the super-soft tyres, what is the Red Bull capable of? He might have a

penalty applied to his grid position but he goes flat out to see what lap

time he can get. Good so far through but he goes flat out to see what lap

the first corners. Only three other cars on track, he has a road ahead.

And as they close the DRS ahead of the breaking point into turn three,

nice and tidy. He is up on the first split on his own, but not fastest

outright in this session yet. That is Gutierrez who is quickest in that

sector. That is Nico Hulkenberg, it is a Sauber, anyway. This is a great

sector. Through the corner nicely. Into this

long turn 11. He does not want to risk spinning off the rear tyres.

Into this Monte Carlo style section. Mark famously crashed out here in

2007. -2010. Nice KERS being used here. It is a good lap but it is

second quickest for Mark Webber, he is still not as quick as Hamilton,

by two hundredths of a second slower. No time it yet for Sean Eric

Verney, he is yet to come out. -- Jean-Eric Vergne. This is fastest

for Lewis Hamilton. It is three tenths up on the Lewis Hamilton. But

if the track is getting faster, you would expect that, the final sector

is looking good. More downforce on Sebastian Vettel relative to Mark

Webber. Unless he trips up through this session. He would get to start

wherever he qualifies. And to take the chance of a gamble of running

less downforce... Romain Grosjean has been looking stronger out of the

Lotus cars this weekend and has had a good run recently. He was

unfortunate in Singapore with air pressure issues putting him out of

the Grand Prix. He has gone out on the set of super-soft tyres and he

will be at an advantage to his the set of super-soft tyres and he

team-mate going into the final segment of qualifying. So Romain

Grosjean will hope that is enough and I think it well, he is half a

second quicker than Fernando Alonso at the moment so he will have two

come back out. Kimi Raikkonen is in the drops own but he needs her go

onto a lap now -- the drop zone. And some support here for Kimi Raikkonen

as he uses DRS down the long straight. And this lap is important

to him, or 1.75 minutes and this will be his attempts to get into the

top ten. -- only 1.75 minutes. He raced here once, he qualified fifth

and finished fifth. That is quite a good sector to get into the top ten.

That is not compared to the fastest time of Sebastian Vettel so far.

Mark Webber heads for the pits and expect Sebastian Vettel to do the

same. -- I expect. You need to get into the low 38, so plenty of cars

still out on track. They all bunched together in the middle sector to

find clear space. Kimi Raikkonen, next up is Adrian Sutil for him and

Force India. This is going to cost next up is Adrian Sutil for him and

him time, Adrian Sutil gets out of the way. Kimi Raikkonen is well up

on time in turns of getting into the top ten. Jean-Eric Vergne ahead of

him. If you do catch somebody here, difficult for both drivers. Kimi

crashed here yesterday. But he goes difficult for both drivers. Kimi

across the line into sixth place, that should be enough, a fraction

slower than his team-mate but he had to use a second set of super-soft

tyres. Fastest in the first sector was Fernando Alonso and now Nico

Hulkenberg. This is Kimi Raikkonen. That will not cost him any time. A

bit of a drift. Rally style. Nice change of direction. Fernando

Alonso, he was quickest in the first section Nico Hulkenberg has gone

even quicker in the first sector, the Sauber still performing well.

The chequered flag is out so if you changes in the top in the closing

moments of this second section of qualifying -- saw a couple of

changes. In the middle of turn 13, and the steering in the very is to

-- is traditionally quite a slow right so they can make big inputs

with very little change. Alonso, surely in the top ten? He has

managed it every time so far this year and he goes into fourth place

and safely through. So his record of getting into the top ten is held.

And Nico Hulkenberg should be in the top ten, it has not happened much

for Sauber. Daniel Ricciardo, it might not happen, he is in ninth

ways. Toro Rosso, qualifying is not always so happy for them. Jean-Eric

Vergne has crossed the line but he will not make it, he is in 11th

place. Sergio Perez as just made it but Adrian Sutil definitely not in

the top ten, he is in 11th place. And now Daniel Ricciardo gets pushed

out because Gutierrez does it again. Jenson Button has fails to get into

the top ten. Felipe Massa comes across the line and pushes him out.

So he just squeaks into the top ten, Gutierrez for the second race in

succession makes it into the final part of qualifying but neither

McLaren driver is in the top ten. That has happened several times this

year already but neither has got in. They thought they might have a

faster car this weekend but that is not the case.

We got screwed a little bit. I don't know who it was. We have lost the

McLarens of Sergio Perez and Jenson Button, we have lost the two Toro

Rossos and the two Force India heirs.

You have had a good run, you have only missed two in the last. Were

their problems out there today? More yesterday. We made hard work for

ourselves and we slowly got closer and closer to the top ten as this

morning went on, and qualifying, but I think there was only about a 10th

in the end, but tent is nothing and it would have been good to be out

there. How did you make it difficult for yourself? As a team, we were not

happy with our performance. We didn't really come here with the

ideal setup. I think the boys had a pretty late night trying to fix it.

We improved today, but not enough, not as much as we would have liked.

Wii we wish you the best for the race. Here is Q3. The beginning of

Q3, the race for pole position. Hamilton and Vettel have both had

five pole positions this season, who will come out on top or will we see

a challenge from Nico Rosberg? A bumpy pit lane exit, but that should

not affect anybody in qualifying. Maybe that will have more of a

bearing in the race itself. Sebastian Vettel looks like the

favourite to do this, but let's find out what happens.

We are into the final ten minutes of qualifying. This is where it really

counts. A great effort from Sauber to get both cars in the top ten. It

is the first time they have ever had one car in the top ten and they have

both. Hulkenberg in particular was very impressive. Gary? The team

principal was talking about the improvement. They looked pretty

good. Having two in the top ten is pretty good. The two Toro Rosso

you need to get the lap in neat and tidy as not make any mistakes. At

the end of the day, the car just got so much grip, there was so little

action going on. They were working on the card very hard. Button on the

car. Teams like the lap times are not as quick this year? -- it seems

like. It has got a bit brighter, so I just come down to that. We shall

see what happens as Mark whether -- Mark Webber goes on. He has to put

the penalty out of his mind and focus, let's see what he can

achieve. Let's have another go later. It will be a vital lap for

Mark Webber. He will not be any better than 11th, whatever he does.

I don't think he will have any problem focusing. Less focus is

required at the opening sector of this lap, but as he starts

approaching turn four, he will get into the zone. A nice, accurate line

to the apex. They were on board with Lewis Hamilton, who is not far

behind Mark Webber. Let's watch him. A small correction at the apex,

nothing too bad. He will get a good drive of this as he goes over the

rise and into this series of sweeping corners that he referred to

earlier. One down shift as he went through the kink at nine. It is tidy

in a -- enough so far. He is about a 10th down on what Vettel has done in

the first sector. Hamilton is now going quicker, so it will be tight

between the Red Bulls and the Mercedes. Sebastien Webber has set

the benchmark, 1:37.4. Can Hamilton get it more quickly? 1:37.5, second

quickest at the moment. Let's watch a Vettel.

He is not fastest of all in that sector that he is still carrying a

bit of speed from the first. -- but he is still carrying a bit of speed

from the first. This is where he was quickest ball in the first part of

qualifying. Sebastian Vettel goes fastest, 1:37.202. He and Mark

qualifying. Sebastian Vettel goes Webber are running slightly

different set-ups. It seems as though the higher downforce was

helping Vettel. He seems to have that advantage every time this year,

you has outqualified his team-mate. -- he has outqualified.

He got a bit nervous in Singapore when he stepped out of the car,

having taken pole position. I don't think we will see a J big step

forward and performance on this racetrack.

The track is a living thing, we have seen this before. Just because you

know it from Friday or Saturday you cannot just replicate your lap, it

changes due to wind, whether there are any shadows. You have to build

up a level of confidence. Doing that all within the space of a ten minute

section is a lot easier than trying to apply it as an outset from the

morning. It is definitely an advantage to those five drivers who

have gone out and set a lap time. The audit is Vettel, Hamilton,

Grosjean. I should have just said it is definitely an advantage. We like

the detail! Gutierrez didn't set a time, didn't bother, in Singapore. I

wonder whether Sauber will go down a similar route? They might decide to

go for it this time, the tyres seem to be holding up well and they have

go for it this time, the tyres seem a very good performance here.

Sebastian Vettel in the red crash helmet this weekend. You can see

that pretty distinctly on the camera. He is fastest at the

moment, 1:37.2. It would be a big deal for Renault if they got the

pole position, they would match Ferrari in the all-time number of

pole position is powered by one of their engines. A little wing

adjustment being done. The information is being relayed back

adjustment being done. The from the car to the engineer. He is

getting straight into making the adjustment. A brand-new set of tyres

for Lewis Hamilton. Can he just get a little bit closer? He was three

tenths of a second, almost exactly, slower than Vettel. Whether still

has the penalty to content with so, in effect, Hamilton is second at the

moment. -- Webber still has the penalty to content with. Everybody

is now out. It looks like both of the Saubers will put in a

representative effort. It is great to see everybody doing their best.

There was a bumper on the way out of the pit lane. If it was wet, it

could cause problems. Vettel is the last one out of the pits, he has to

get around before the chequered flag. There is one minute 40 to go.

He has the DRS open. There is no benefit in what he will learn and

having that open right now, but it gives some lap time advantage. It is

a faster lap than you might have wanted, given what we have seen from

the performance of these tyres. It is pretty much bunched up everywhere

from turn 13 to turn four. An interesting bit of radio after

the last run. Rocky was considering there may be a 10th to be found in

the middle sector, Vettel wanted the change to the front wing. It puts a

bit more load on the front axle. The difficulty in making any of these

adjustment is based on the tyres that you have on the car. If you put

brand-new tyres on, there is no guarantee they will perform the

same. You are making a best educated guess at where the power is going to

be in the future. We will keep an eye on their split times. Rosberg is

going to be first on to a time-lapse as we are watching. Impressive

turning from Rosberg. You can see the intent in his striving style.

Hamilton has been slightly quicker for the majority of the session.

Apart from a natural desire to want to drive as quickly as you can,

there is the inter-team battle. Gutierrez was quicker in the first

sector than Rosberg, but Alonso is a lot quicker than good first sector

from him. Looking up the circuit, Vettel is not far behind Raikkonen.

The Lotus is not that far ahead. Any mistakes from Raikkonen, it could

have been Vettel's lap. We are currently watching Rosberg.

Gutierrez is up ahead of him on the road. Gutierrez is heading for a

quick lap himself. Hulkenberg has just set the fastest first sector of

anybody out there, proving the pace of the sober. Here comes Rosberg.

There might be a new benchmark. Rosberg stays fifth. Maybe there is

not as much grip on this final run. Hamilton has handsome grip. He has

gone fastest. He is in the last couple of corners. Is this enough of

a lap for Lewis Hamilton? He eats Webber, but it is not fast enough to

beat Vettel. -- he beat 's Mark Webber. Hulkenberg 07. Hamilton was

very good in the middle sector. I think Vettel has backed out. He has

got the message, sorry to come across you, Ben, but we work your

ears to see whether he would go even faster. Raikkonen losing out in the

end, he is 10th fastest. Alonso has outqualified Felipe Massa. Sebastian

Vettel has taken his sixth pole position of the year and his fourth

consecutive, what a run he is on. Renault have matched Ferrari in

terms of powering a car to pole position on 208 occasions since

their first pole in South Africa in 1979. Renault have supplied engines

to their own team and also to the likes of Lotus, Williams and,

significantly, this amazing team, Red Bull Racing. They have taken a

52nd pole position. It is the second for Sebastien in Korea and his 42nd

in his career. He is in dominant form. Hamilton will join him on the

front row, the 20th time they have shared the front row, but the second

row will feature Grosjean and Rosberg, because Mark Webber has a

penalty. Gutierrez is really finding form. The McLarens, Perez and

button, will each move up one place. -- Perez and Button.

Once again, Sebastian Vettel will be starting from pole position.

Congratulations, four poles on the bat, was that a perfect lap?

I was very happy. It is a difficult track to get it right. I possibly

overshot at turn ten, there is a bumper inside which I hit. It

separate a little bit. There is probably five hundredths, or a

tense, but I was happy. It is a nice feeling. You are still keeping it

tight. We are joining at turn four. Talk us through? This is very

tricky, it was very slow. I hit that apex the first time in qualifying, I

tricky, it was very slow. I hit that overshot it in the other maps. I was

gaining time, which is always nice. Right to left is pretty easy.

Preparing the left-hander. Now you can see that it is just on the edge.

We just hit that and got a little bit wide. Quite aggressive? I had to

manage to get it, it was pretty tricky. From here you just keep

going right, left, Right, left. The tyres are going off but I kept it in

line. The final exit, just on the edge. There is some artificial

grass. Apart from that one corner I was pretty happy. Great

grass. Apart from that one corner I commentating! Good luck tomorrow.

Mark, you qualified third, you took the ten place grid penalty, when you

go into qualifying, do you optimise the car for a Sunday? A little bit,

we have to keep an eye on the Sunday performance. We know we will not

qualify on the front row, it was close, a battle between the three of

us. Quite a couple of guys shooting for the front role and pole

position, -- the front row. We take a sniff out of performance from the

car today to help you race craft and your tactics of how you have the car

car today to help you race craft and and what section of the lap will be

better. A real pity he has got that penalty

after qualifying so well, what can he do from 13th place? He can move

forward, he has a quick car, he can have some fun and move through the

field. He has set the car to get good front line speed so it should

be easier in the migratory zones. Can anyone beat Sebastien? Difficult

to beat him unless you can get in front at the start of the Grand Prix

and Mark Webber cannot do that in normal conditions. We have seen

safety cars here because of rain and other issues. Which is a

possibility. There is the possibility of rain here, but under

normal conditions, the interesting statistic I saw was that nobody has

won from pole position so we will see if that plays a part, but

Sebastian Vettel is looking very strong.

Lewis, are you getting fed up of seeing the back of a Red Bull? No,

he is to the right so I am not looking at the back. I came this

weekend and I knew they would have an advantage. I am just grateful I

am this close and to be up there second is a bit like in Spa where

second place was not a bad place to be because you have two Romain

Grosjean Straits. I have to do my best to get into the best position.

-2 Romain Grosjean Straits. Are you happy with tomorrow? We have a good

package and I am -- I am happy with the strategy and we should be able

to fight the Red Bull cars. He sounds positive, were you

to fight the Red Bull cars. surprised they did not hit pole

position? I think they were, they had a good car in qualifying and

they had a good Friday, I have never seen Lewis so happy after a Friday.

A bit disappointing weather conditions did not allow them to

A bit disappointing weather exploit that single lap performance

but they have good hope for a race balance. So a fighting chance?

Absolutely, he has a good car and he knows the race, so it is by no God

-- by no means a foregone conclusion. But he has to get in

front from the start and control it. Let's hear from Nico Rosberg.

I did not find the balance I hoped for this weekend. Qualifying did not

go perfectly and the weekend has not gone perfectly, but fourth place is

a good place to start and it is possible to have a great race. Are

you battling Romain Grosjean tomorrow or can you battle your

team-mate and Sebastian Vettel as well? I will try to battle everybody

had of me. Sebastian Vettel has been quick all weekend but we had quick

race pace and it is possible to stay there.

Congratulations, great qualifying and you are going to move to third

on the grid with the penalty for Mark Webber. That is good news but

the best news is that we have a comfortable car which is quite

the best news is that we have a efficient and we have been working

hard all weekend so it is good to be with the top guys in qualifying. We

said we wanted to fight and that is where we are. We were very quick. We

will do our best in the car. Last time out, on the key in

Singapore. But you have been very strong the second half of the season

-- on lucky in Singapore. That has been played out again. We started

the season in Bahrain for the first week of testing so we started late

and by the time we did everything we needed to do, it is paying off now

and it is looking good and the team needed to do, it is paying off now

is doing a great job to give us everything we need. It is looking

good. Are you ready to lead the team next

year? And will do the best I can to show

them what I am capable of and I think I am ready. I have known them

for two migrant years together and we know the process and how it works

so there is no reason. Thank you very much, good luck

tomorrow. Let's hear from Kimi Raikkonen.

How do you feel after qualifying? I made a mistake in the last

qualifying. It is what it is. And transferring it over tomorrow,

have you got a better race car than in qualifying? From yesterday, yes.

But obviously, we have to see how the weather turns out tomorrow and

what we can do. He has not looked comfortable all

weekend. His qualifying has been off He has not looked comfortable all

target recently, what are your thoughts? That is his best

qualifying since he was in Spa. That suggests he is not in a happy place,

maybe he has switched off and moved onto very. What would confuse that

was how strong he was in Singapore. There is no question those tyres do

not give as much grip, he is in turn in turn 11 here. They were locked up

a bit in turn ten and there is over-steer. 13, hesitant. Easy to

criticise in the comfort here. This is the apex at their team. A

slightly bigger left. But on prescription tyres without the grip

and he did not find the balance. Were they the only set he had left?

He has a new set for the race which will give him an advantage,

presuming he does two pit stops. Some people might try to do one so

he will go from that one set onto his fresh set of prime tyres.

You are busy concentrating on yourself on a Saturday, but do you

look at the timings and see what Sebastian Vettel is doing and is it

frustrating? It is the same for years so it is no more frustrating.

They have an advantage between half a second and one second for four

years we are fighting for the World Championship until the last race.

They do something very good but we also do something very good in turns

of points every Sunday so we need to get the maximum again tomorrow and

this is our strong point. Massive glasses! Such a different story to

this time last year for very. Unquestionably and those big classes

do nothing to hide the disappointment! He is underwhelmed

by the progress of very. He says they have been in the hunt for the

World Championship over a couple of seasons. But it is not enough, they

need to be delivering at a higher level. He keeps his end of the

bargain and he delivers podiums when level. He keeps his end of the

other drivers could not. Looking to tomorrow, they are starting from

fifth and sixth place and you would expect a good start, particularly

from Fernando, but it will be hard to get past Sebastian Vettel.

Anything is possible in the race but the best he could hope for is a

podium under normal conditions, I do the best he could hope for is a

not think they can out race Red Bull and Mercedes.

How do you think the car is set up heading into a race here?

I think it is all right. It is similar to qualifying compared to

the competitors. It will be tricky to move a lot further forward. The

Force India cars behind us, their pace was good yesterday, a touch

better than ours, so there will be a good group of cars.

It seems like a battle now with McLaren and Force India for fifth

place, but Force India have been struggling since the tyre change so

McLaren could win. It shows how far McLaren have fallen in pace around

this track they think they are battling a team no longer developing

their car, they are concentrating on next season. Big issues for McLaren

and I am sure it is not lost on them the team they are battling to use

their simulation and development facilities at the McLaren

headquarters. A great performance by the Sauber

and buy yourself, you must be really pleased. Yes, to be honest, it has

taken a lot of energy and work for qualifying. It was quite critical

before Singapore. From a personal point of view, it was not fun to

qualify in 16th place. We really pushed ourselves and had a lot of

support from the team. I want to thank them for their support because

we were able to put everything thank them for their support because

together in Singapore. Once you feel it, once you feel you are capable of

doing it, everything comes together and you get hungry to do it again.

Nice to see Esteban Gutierrez smiling. It seems like Sauber are

having a purple patch. They are, it is allowing Nico Hulkenberg to show

his great strength behind the wheel. A number of teams would have him as

his great strength behind the wheel. number one. Gutierrez, too little

too late. They are having financial difficulties so is the Mexican money

coming with them? What about in turns of tomorrow, can they finish

coming with them? What about in in top ten? I think so, good

straight-line speed and they have been quickest in the first sector

which is about straight-line speed and maintaining position, so I

expect a strong race. Let's look at the grid tomorrow.

Sebastian Vettel maintains his 100% record of qualifying in the front

row here. But Lewis Hamilton has been in Q2 for the last couple of

years. The two very cars are next and Fernando Alonso has won here

before and Sauber have enjoyed their best qualifying team performance of

the year. Kimi Raikkonen will start in ninth place ahead of Sergio

Perez, Jenson Button is in 11th place. Mark Webber is in 13th. Force

India is next, ahead of Williams. Jules Bianchi was penalised and now

lines up behind his team-mate. That is the grid for tomorrow, if it

lines up behind his team-mate. is stride, Canon Lewis take it to

Sebastian Vettel? -- can Lewis Hamilton. Yes. If it rains, who will

it favour? Good question, I do not have a good answer. It remains to be

seen, we have not had enough wet sessions this year to know who has

the upper hand in those conditions. Sebastien Hank -- Sebastian Vettel

is handy in the wet racing but so is Lewis Hamilton, he won in 2010. And

there could be wind. That always causes big problems for aerodynamics

because the front wing is more affected by the slow velocity wind

relative to the tailwind which affects the car into the corners. It

is a big issues. Joining us tomorrow -- joy as tomorrow on BBC Two. --

joint ours. The Korean Grand Prix, Sebastian Vettel is on pole

position, but will it be stormy? Join us to find out.