The Singapore Grand Prix - Qualifying Highlights Formula 1

It is confirmed, Eddie was right, Kimi Raikonnen will return to

Ferrari next year. Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikonnen will share the

same garage. Two world champions, to level one drivers, how will that

work? -- two number one drivers. The biggest is when the visor comes down

in the wonderful racing. Get him out of the way. For strange thing will

soon start to happen, it has also of fair play and honour, the car then

begins to steer. Fernando is faster than you. As their eyes turn white

and rollover they gradually turning to a shock. There is power flowing

into the bloodstream. As light gets confused with the dark. What is he

doing? As the other leaps out of the car,

thoughts and feelings enraged, his visor has now come up, and a few

begins to be wedged. Remember this one.

Welcome to the darkness and sweltering heat of glorious

Singapore. We have had some fireworks so far this season, not

just between these two. What do you think about this relationship next

year, will there be fireworks? Absolutely. This is a monster tussle

between those two, I cannot wait for it to start. We have got half a

season to go, this will be awesome next year. What is your take,

arguably the strongest pairing? Two world champions, a very strong

line-up. I think because they are older and wiser, I don't think we

will see the fireworks, there could be a natural order at any given

weekend and they are both old enough to realise they cannot win them all.

They have never really had to number one drivers, the mentality, they

both want to win. They do want to win but it is a new

philosophy, we saw from the interview with Luca di Montezemolo

last week, they are very concerned, they want to dominate certain parts

of racing and that includes the construct this championship they

haven't done that for some time. -- constructor's championship. This

is a concerted effort on behalf Ferrari to make sure can fight very

strongly for the championship. Do you think they can change their

mentality? It is difficult because the mindset

research, Alonso was always in his mind he was going to be number one.

Will he throw his toys out of the pram? I would think so. They

produced two cars and it is down to the drivers to race as fast as they

car. You have to resume writing and --

Kimi Raikonnen will drive at the same time come naturally one of the

qualifiers will be higher on any given weekend. It will be a great

pairing. Time will tell, I still believe there will be fireworks and

they should not give into each other. We are awash with rumours

this weekend in the paddock. They need to be sorted out so step

forward, Mystic Ed. The F1 circus has arrived in

Singapore. It is that time of the year when the driver merry-go-round

is in full swing. Step right up. Let's get the big boys out of the

way, at the front of the grid. We know Kimi Raikonnen is joining

Ferrari but the paddock is full of rumours of Fernando going to

McLaren. I believe this is premature, he will battle it out

McLaren. I believe this is next year. Despite some unrest I

don't expect any changes at McLaren. Mercedes are happy with their

pairing. Both race winners this year. The best of buddies. Red Bull

have put Daniel Ricciardo getting his dream move alongside Sebastian

Vettel. That leaves his old seat at Toro Rosso free. This is already

done, Red Bull will continue their policy of bringing drivers through

their Academy so Antonio Felix DaCosta is a certainty for stop for

Marathi, Williams and headroom I don't predict any change will stop

but letters, Force India and sour but will change. We know the Russian

will be in the sour but next year -- Suvber. There are issues about him

not having a super-licence for stop there is at least one seat at Lotus.

Or is there too? Or Jon has matured a lot this year -- Romain Grosjean.

He will stay. In the garage next to him that his tough. There are three

candidates, Paul Di Resta, Nico Hulkenberg and Felipe Massa. F1

without a Brazilian racing driver? I don't think so. This is an ideal

seat for Felipe Massa. A Grand Prix winning team and no longer in

Alonso's shadow. This is a man that came with him a blink of being world

champion. A change of team could give him a new lease of life, let's

not rule him out of Force India, they will be an interesting

proposition. Any engine means they they will be an interesting

should have a competitive car. I believe Adrian Sutil will stay,

where does this leave Paul Di Resta? It is an attractively -- seat for

Felipe Massa, possible return for Nico Hulkenberg. Nico Hulkenberg was

a hugely respected figure and favoured son at Mercedes. This is

the inside track of what I am hearing at the moment. But only time

will tell whether this merry-go-round stops. There are one

too many drivers, who will miss out? merry-go-round stops. There are one

It is too early to say. Everybody is talking about Nico Hulkenberg going

to Lotus, all sorts of things, I don't want to make her choice at

this stage. Who holds the key? It sounds like Eddie. I think Nico

Hulkenberg this will stop there is sounds like Eddie. I think Nico

Paul Di Resta, Felipe Massa, not an easy decision.

We have seen in the past just because somebody may not start the

season doesn't mean doom and gloom, we have seen Reich and then come

back -- Kimi Raikonnen. Maybe sometimes it sets the mind afresh,

re-triggers everything into place, and the second chance is always

better. Let's have a look at how the

championship Kimi Raikonnen is fourth, he was

rather downbeat in Italy. 53 point separate Fernando Alonso and

Sebastian Vettel. The German may have grabbed all the points in

monster that it was Fernando Alonso who stole the show on the podium

which was definitely, as you can see from these is -- pictures, the

preferred place to be. Including a still image which may well go down

as one of the best and most colourful self pictures ever. Second

place finish for Alonso helped Ferrari to leapfrog Mercedes to

second . Red Bull can continue their dominance.

After eight years racing for Felipe Massa will leave to make way

for Kimi Raikonnen. He hasn't won a race since he became world champion

for those few seconds in 2008. Felipe Massa says he is not ready to

leave Formula One just yet. I want to find the best car, in the

best opportunity to fight for victory, the championship, find the

best for me. That is what I am looking for. I hope I can find this

direction. Fernando and Kimi Raikonnen, they are great drivers, I

know them both very well. They are very strong drivers for whatever

team. Working together for sure, Ferrari has top quality drivers.

Fernando Alonso was asked by Ferrari who he would like in place of

matter. They decided it was better to change

Felipe Massa, they asked my opinion, it was that Kimi Raikonnen

was the best in the market, especially for our championship with

many changes for next year, it was important. The team chose him so I

am happy. It wasn't an easy choice but I had to make a decision. You

looking forward to having Fernando as a team mate? I think we will be

fine. We should put the Ferrari in a strong position. Mark Webber knows

his chance to win the first race of the season he needs qualifying

right. It is a track that can catch you out

at any given point, qualifying is crucial, overtaking in the race is

not an option. Drive well, good result as possible. Now that Formula

not an option. Drive well, good One has left Europe Louis Hamilton

is hoping to start a new chapter of his season. I had a dodgy last

European sprint, time to start again. I am here to attack, get us

back up different and I feel positive coming here, it should be

more competitive. Hopefully can have a good race. Jenson Button refused

to discuss his contract for next year or even if McLaren was his

first -- preferred choice. I cannot speak for the team or contractually,

but I have a feeling I will be here next year. You would like to? I have

a good feeling. That seemed like an odd reaction. This has been ongoing

for a couple of races. Back to Singapore, this weekend, it has

captivated fans. Driving under floodlights, it adds a certain

magic. For the hundreds of thousands of people who come here, they can

party all night and not get up too early in the morning. I am sure the

drivers are out and about to. I am sure they are. Some breaking news

about Kimi Raikonnen who is going to try and qualify but he has got a

problem with his back. Don't expect to see him out there for the whole

session. He has got an issue with his lower back, had an injection. We

will see different lap times because they have changed 1010. It was an

ugly solution, you can seek are popping, not only hard on the car,

physically it makes it tough on the drivers, a fairly ugly solution to

the problem. 2013, they have come up with a better solution, a

straightforward left-hand turn, classic apex, accelerate out. Who

will be in pole position? All the sessions have been dominated by

will be in pole position? All the Sebastian Vettel. It could be quite

boring qualifying but he is on top form. He has been on the pace all we

can. What is going on with the Ferrari drivers? Trying to catch up,

a lot of work to do, but some parts here but we can have a look at a new

front wing. They have about half a second to catch up, this is the

normal front wing, you can see the slot gaps. Getting inconsistent

airflow to the rear of the car. This is a new version, long gets top --

longer slot gaps. You lose downforce, more consistent and force

but not quite as much. They also brought a new diffuser, a refitting

infrared camera. You can see them changing temperature as they go

round the corner. The inside is getting hot, that is when the

exhaust gases are blowing out to create downforce. When it is back on

the throttle it blows high energy airflow, and helps the diffusion.

That is an area where Ferrari probably aren't quite as good as

other cars were stopped in which energy lost because it is pointing

towards the tire. They slide around a lot more than the Red Bull. A lot

more work to do. Will they struggle in qualifying? It will be hard to

see them get further than fifth or sixth and it is so difficult to

overtake stop here is your qualifying session.

The first qualifying segment of the second St track of the 2013 calendar

is about to get underway, but with 20 minutes to play with, they are

anxious to get out on circuit. Mark Webber just studying the screens

before going out on circuit. Going well. He was the fourth fastest this

morning. Hamilton was fifth behind him. Alonso was sick. -- Alonso was

number six. And there is the man many people are expecting to take

pole position. I'd think you think that qualifying record is going to

be shattered? I think there's a very good chance. Cars have been 7.3

seconds faster than last year so that is an amount they really have

to concentrate with. It is a big change. Jenson Button getting ready

to come out in the McLaren. What about the first stage of qualifying

now that we are into? Because we are going to lose six cars at the end of

this 20 minutes, though counting down, it is now 19. What would be

the laps of the cut-off? I would be looking at 46.0 as a cut-off point.

Fast, slow, fast, so just explain what they are talking about. He will

hit his first flying lap wherever you can from the tyres and then do a

cooling lap to just read gain and balance the tyre pressure. They will

advise as to whether he needs to heed the rear or the front a bit

more during that last second slow lap, and then another lap to see

whether he has been able to improve his time. Unlike the normal

conditions. Normally with brand-new tyres you get that first bit of

performance on that first lap, but you what one Street Circuit and it

is evolving, it is dirty, it is dusty. -- but you are on a Street

Circuit. They will just be looking for that maximum in performance.

Let's get an update from Tom. Yes. for that maximum in performance.

It is sweltering down here. An ambient temperature. I have just

been speaking to the guys at Mercedes who are quite confident

that they can get one of their cars on the front row of the grid this

afternoon, so they think Vettel is out front and a bit untouchable but

it will be a really good scrap out behind. It will be fascinating to

see who can get through this first second of qualifying on the harder

of the two tyres, and who needs to go out. Jenson Button is on a lap as

well. We are looking at the latter part now. A series of 90 degrees

corners, six of them all one after the other. Williams will remind you

his first car was much better than this. But one soft tyre this

morning. A big difference. Lewis Hamilton also on the harder copout

tire, the medium tyre. He could get through this part of qualifying by

using the harder tyre. The rest is just crossing the line. Quite a good

first lap. Raikkonen today first fairly gentle lap. The track

temperature today, as you mentioned, is about the same, but as the sun

has set long ago, it should just allow their performance to pick up a

bit. So maybe these are just cautious opening laps with a bit of

overstaying here from Hamilton as he comes into the last two turns. Lewis

overstaying here from Hamilton as he Hamilton, pole winner here in the

past, and his time compares with the time on the super soft tyre this

morning, so that gives you an idea. That is the gap between the two

different types of tyre this weekend. Rosberg lighting up the

timing in the first section. So we can see this revolution. Just the

end of the last ten minutes of this session as people build their

confidence. Even though it is a very open racetrack, relatively speaking,

compared with Monte Carlo, which has the slowest speed of the season,

this is the second slowest average speed of the year. So, Kimi

Raikkonen. We know he has had this injection in his back. Currently P1,

coming up to P2. Good feedback there from the engineers. I wonder if the

side-effect of the injection in his back is that he becomes very

talkative and he could be on the end of the line saying, give me

information! Talk to me! Nico Rosberg. He has with been very

competitive on this track with a second-place finish very early in

his career when he was driving here for Williams in Singapore. He goes

fastest with that. Eight tenths of a second. Faster than Hamilton on

these compound tyres. A bit of a lock-up. And he gets way over the

side of the artificial grasses. He goes beyond the white line, Alonzo,

so he would have lost a lot of time anyway had he continued and finished

that as a timed lap. That would have been called as having gone and

exceeding the track limits. Let's see what Maldonado was doing a few

moments ago, and we have seen a few cars doing that over the weekend,

losing a fair time as a result. Now, we have Hulkenberg, with the soft

tyres. He goes fastest in the first sector, though not by very much.

This morning, you within the top ten. He has only been on the top ten

a few times this year. -- this morning, he was in the top ten. He

qualified in Italy, well up on the grid, so we will have to wait to see

qualified in Italy, well up on the what he can do on this grid. He

finished with his best finish of the season as well. Along this little

straight. They are getting up to about 165, , 170 miles an hour, and

then into another tight right-hander, turn number 14 at the

top of that, and, David, then it gets really busy after this. We get

into a series of chicanes but the distance of the apex is so much that

they are ready to be treated as individual corners. And he

disappears beneath the grandstands turning towards turn number 20. You

can see the second apex. They are too far apart. They cannot really be

considered a chicane. This is a challenge for the drivers because

they have to roll between forcing and braking. On the super-soft

tyres, Hulkenberg fastest at this stage. Half a second of improvement,

which you would expect here. Can his team mate match that? No, you can't.

So he is over a second away from his team-mate. I wondered whether that

So he is over a second away from his was because of traffic or a mistake

here, so we need to follow that closer. But he is one second closer.

If there is a problem with that car, that has to be not a good sign

for his future in Formula One. I was walking past the barrage before the

start of the session and his car was up on the jacks, the floor was off.

The team said, no problem. But I would say the evidence in front of

me would suggest otherwise. We will have to see. Further down the order,

by the way, impressive work from Jules Bianchi. Then Max Chilton. We

have seen no times yet from Vettel, Webber and parents. -- Peres. It is

incredibly satisfying when you get a great result here. Not that I've

spent a lot of time studying the drivers' physics, but Sebastien

looks visibly stronger. He looks like he is putting on some muscles.

He started his career very young and is evidently growing into his body

that looks as though he has been working out a bit, so whether that

is with the tough races in Singapore in mind or whether he wants to look

good down the beach, I'm not sure! But it will certainly all help in

his quest to push 100% around this difficult racetrack. What he wants

to do is get into this next phase of race qualifying but we will need to

keep an eye on what sort of lap time he is doing. Alonzo has gone out on

the super-soft tyre for Ferrari. No surprise there. -- Fernando Alonso.

the super-soft tyre for Ferrari. No Interestingly, the fastest car out

there at the moment is Mark Webber. Webber setting the screen is alive

at the moment and he is still on the harder of the two tyres. So he does

a 145.7 and that should be plenty to get through to the next stage. Well,

every time, Mark Webber has been the faster of the two drivers. But

whenever they have gone to the super-soft, Sebastian Vettel has

leapfrogged him. And the lap time is fast on super-soft. If Mark Webber

goes fastest, Hoffer second up on his team-mate... Just giving a view

of the front tyre on Mark Webber's car. We also have some thermal

imaging cameras on the wheels. Hopefully we will show you that. Was

Berg has had three pole positions this year but the last was in

Monaco. -- Nico Rosberg. He went along to win that Grand Prix along

with the British later that season. He has qualified third here in the

past, back in 2009. Let's see what this lap is like. Does it

challenge? It should challenge. But a bit disappointing. Only a fraction

quicker than Webber and Webber is on the harder tyre. McLaren popping a

lap time in. They must be happy. Let's see what Jenson Button can do.

He goes fastest. Maybe Mercedes are doing what we saw earlier this

year. We have seen Red Bull put the soft tyre on but try not to push it

flat out and maybe that is what we are seeing here. A couple of minutes

to go and it remains to be seen are seeing here. A couple of minutes

whether that is enough to keep him in there. But Hamilton overtaking

Nico Rosberg. Back out on track now and all of

these guys have gone for super-soft tyres. Daniel Ricciardo really

throwing things out here. I'd think you will see a big jump on this lap

as he is on the super-soft tyre. -- I think. He goes eighth on a 145.3.

You would certainly think that was safe but it begins to put the red

Bulls in a bit of trouble. Now, Jean-Eric Vergne has dropped down

the order. So Felipe Massa finds himself in the drop zone. Felipe

Massa will get one flying lap by the time he gets around to start this

lap. He just gets through the turn, 18, 19 seconds, through the

Grandstand, so he will get to start his lap but worryingly fame, he has

quite a bit of traffic ahead of him and he will be hoping they will be

piling into the pits. We will have to keep an eye on whether he can

stay out of Nico Rosberg's lap. They have to be wary about the medium

compound tyre, with Romain Grosjean in 12. They certainly won't want to

lose him because he has been very rapid today. Ooh! He hits the wall!

Can he get away with it? I'm not sure how much damage she will have

done there. To As long as he hasn't damaged the rim it will be OK.

The general rules are if you are going to hit a wall, hit it

sideways. D-day van der Garde is the fastest

of the young teams at the moment. Gutierrez desperate to get up there.

The catering team have been very even in terms of qualifying. --

Caterham. Felipe Massa is on a lap that should see him get into the top

16. Maldonado it out of it at the moment. Pot ash is in the pits. They

could be a bit of danger in the group -- boat as.

Final corner. Let's see whether this moves them up. Tenth place, good

effort from Gutierrez. A little bit of his team-mate. Maldonado, Massa,

he has got up to 13th place. That has pushed Paul Di Resta out. He has

been squeezed out in the first part of qualifying, we have seen that

before. Often it has been when he has had a problem. He has been

squeezed out into 17th, that means Sutil has made it through stop

nobody else is on a quiet lap. -- quick lap. Chilton is close to

nobody else is on a quiet lap. -- Bianchi's time. Disappointment for

Paul Di Resta. Extreme disappointment but he did get a

great result here last year so he will be hoping he can turn a

disappointing qualifying into a better race day. Paul Di Resta,

Pastor Maldonado, the young Kirk -- Bianchi and Max Chilton. Shock exit

from Paul Di Resta. He will be livid. This car hasn't been

performing up to expectation for a number of races will stop it hasn't

played well into Paul's hands. This is a problem and the team has to

look at it because both cars are in a poor position. A lot of hairy

moments out there. He was very lucky to save this. Slowly he is creeping

up there, a lot of people talking about him and he is putting his life

on the line that all the time. Quite exciting. He is a cool kid, he will

go places. This from Felipe Massa as well which we didn't see during

qualifying but have a look at this. It doesn't get any closer. It is a

complete 4-wheel slide, he is out of control, something is wrong, the way

he put the car into the corner, he clearly shouldn't have got away with

that, extremely fortunate, great car control for the driver, so full

marks to him by the way he put the car into the corner is questionable.

He has made it three, as has Kimi Raikonnen selflessly his treatment

is working well. We were concerned, we had heard there was a driver

change, perhaps, and the driver was lying on the ground. He had an

injection, it was a spasm which is very uncomfortable, particularly in

the lower back but he seems to be coping very well. Letting -- let's

see how they get on. The clock is ticking away. Nobody

taking to the track just yet. Everybody waits to see who will get

into the top ten. We will see how many of the frontrunners will drop.

We have got one Force India, both Saubers. It is all quiet at the

moment. Gary is back with us once more. Looking at the lap times. Only

three drivers and wished to make it through using the medium compound

towers -- tyres. I think you will need to do 45.2, one of those

situations where a lot of guys have used the super-soft tyres so if I

was a top team and hadn't done that I would go out again.

Watching some of the action, a lot of cars sliding around, just about

keeping off the wall, it gives you an idea of how hard they are having

to push it. The limits are the walls, there is no room to run off.

You have to push it to the limit. One centimetre gap is good, one

centimetre too far, not quite so good. As a former pinnacle director

would you build your cars stronger for the street races?

-- technical. The concrete walls are pretty demanding so it would be too

heavy. We can do to times laps. Kimi Raikonnen has gone out on a script

set of the super-soft tyres. -- scrubbed. Most of the guys have gone

out on the tyres that they set their best time in the previous session of

qualifying. Again, with a being a street circuit, constantly evolving

through qualifying, more rubber gets laid down on the track surface. It

gives them an opportunity to feel where the balance is, and he is

probably wincing every time he goes over a curb, a bump in the track, to

spending on health stronger particular injection he has had in

his back. What have you got for us? I was pondering the number crunching

going on in the pit garages. If you look at the nap time, 45.2, 45.3, on

a medium tyre, a second improvement with the super-soft which would take

them down to 43. Hamilton, quickest and yet needs to find another second

on the super-soft tyres if he will hope to fight for the front row. It

will be a tall order. Talking to Gary earlier, we might

see cars as quick as 42. Watching Kimi Raikonnen on a reasonable run

but he is likely to have to do another one. A script set of tyres

out of the corner where we have seen some action. This is another area to

watch. Through the two left-hand turns, the wall not quite so close

as they go into the start, finish straight. He was 45 last time, an

improvement from Q1. A lot better. He was only three tenths faster than

his team-mate despite having the tyre with a lot more performance was

you can the fact it was groped, he wasn't able to get a clean-up --

scrubbed. Romain Grosjean has been the quick of the two. It might

explain the back issues he has experience, this is all about making

it through to the top ten. Romain Grosjean was good here last year and

gave up a place and played a team game. Let's see what he does,

suddenly now we are beginning to see some really rapid lap times. Lovely

views, the clear visor here is used in the night-time. You can see the

concentration in his eyes, you don't normally get to see their eyes.

Don't see any fear in those, total concentration. No blinking at the

apex. Good record here, let his first ever Grand Prix here in

Singapore. Fernando Alonso has gone 144.5. He found 1.4 seconds between

Q1 and Q2. Mercedes didn't show it beforehand in Q1. There was a

familiarity to their press release after Friday. Everybody is going

quite a bit quicker on the used tyres. Interesting, they clearly

were not expecting that to be the case and under normal conditions and

new set of tyres will give you performance but Rob Smedley letting

him know. It is all about getting in the top ten. Sebastian Vettel on to

a flying lap. We can see how good this Red Bull really is.

Starting to see him disappear behind the trees, goes through the kink,

turn five, tricky corner as you are going with reasonable speed through

the fracture. Trying get your breaking into seven. Look at this BT

rolled through the apex, and then we get into the classic Monaco street

circuit section, there is no room for error, up against the walls.

Hard acceleration as he runs down to this new turn ten, none of that ugly

curb hopping, a case of the apex. Look at the amount of Kirby is able

to use. Shortens the lap, takes out so much resistance against the

spearing leaves you with more life in your tyres. The ghost in the

second sector, half a second. A good lap, no great surprises there. It

seems to ride the bumps smoothly compared to some of the other cars.

It is visible. When you see some slow motion images, it seems to have

more role in its setup. Visible, the amount of movement the chassis has.

Amazing how much curve he is able to run. It makes the truck wider. It is

one -- 42.9. A scintillating. On board with Ricciardo. He is in sixth

gear right now. As the Excel raced down the street continuing to lose a

bit of luck time. It hasn't improved in that sector relative to his best

in qualifying. Let's see what he can do. Keep watching. Toro Rosso and

Red Bull have the -- display attached to the cockpit surrounds as

opposed to all the other teams. That cockpit display is actually attack,

an electronic part, they buy it from McLaren as a standard part and Vidic

who the car, the McLaren provides the electronic boxes which is used

to help govern this board. Quite interesting when you consider some

of the parts that are interchangeable between the teams.

Let's see whether they can get through, trying to get into the top

ten. Kimi Raikonnen is out there on

track. There may be a bit of traffic for him to deal with because he is

following Hulkenberg. . Will this be enough? It is enough, he goes

seventh but what about his team-mate? Is he going to maintain

the edge in qualifying? Yes, he has. He has gone up to ninth. We all

waiting for Button, Peres, Sutil. Maybe less likely the Force India

will go through. Paul Di Resta is already out. Not enough either for

Adrian Sutil. He is 12. Good effort in 13th, Hulkenberg in the top ten,

that pushes Kimi Raikonnen out. He is out of qualifying and you do

wonder whether those back pains have hindered him stop he is out at the

stage for stop Gutierrez has gone into sixth place, great effort from

the Mexican. Alonso pushes him down to seventh. What about the McLarens?

Not enough for Sergio Perez. Jenson Button is behind him, he gets in the

top ten. So, Gutierrez has outqualified the

man everybody has been speaking about over the last few weeks,

Hulkenberg. It is classic. When he needs to find some pace, he does so

just when his career is in doubt. So, the first time Gutierrez has got

into the final part of qualifying, but his team-mate, Hulkenberg, is

out, and so is Vergne and so is Raikkonen.

Some great news for Jenson Button. Not so for Sergio Perez. But the

first time ever for Gutierrez through in the top three. We should

not be surprised. It has carried forward the momentum he had from

last year. He obviously likes these straight circuit runs because it was

last year. He obviously likes these a huge effort to outqualified his

team-mate. A big, big jump. He will be happy this year but perhaps not

such a happy face from Paul di Resta.

What went wrong out there? Nothing. I think you can say... I think we've

optimised a bit too much but we have become vulnerable in the first

quarter because it doesn't leave us with much for tomorrow in turns of

strategy, but hopefully we can fight our way through and if there is

anything up for grabs, we will grab it. There is very little overtaking

and you just have to hope you are on the right tyre when the safety car

comes out. At least some positions will show the speed is better than

today. So, not all doom and gloom. Yes. He feels he has a better race

pace than his team-mate. The problem is, there are so many cars in front

of him to pass and that will be hard for him to hear. Now over to Q3.

The top ten to determine who will be on pole position. And Sebastian

Vettel has certainly shown his pace in parts of qualifying. Will he

retain his clean sheet over his team-mate, Mark Webber? There is

Kimi Raikkonen. Just heading away from the pit garage. He seems to be

moving OK, walking OK having had those painkilling injections for his

painful back, but he didn't make it into this top ten. His team-mate,

Romain Grosjean is there. We really have seen the Times ramp up. I know

you told me a one minute and 42 second lap might be possible but it

is surprising how quickly we got there. Yes. Obviously you get more

rubber down at a pretty good lap. I've thought 42.5 would be pole

position so it has not been reached just yet. Vettel usually has that

extra element but I wouldn't be surprised... It was amazing how

close it was. Everybody went fast down that. A bit of pressure on

Sergio Perez at the moment. Both cars out at the same time at the end

of the lap so maybe they shouldn't have put all their eggs in one

basket. So maybe they should have gone with the youngster. But I think

it was too much pressure for Perez. At the best one we have seen from

Gutierrez. Yes. The speed is in the car. Making progress, great news.

Sebastian Vettel looking for a hat-trick of victories in Singapore.

Let's ride on board with him. He is just marginally up on his best lap

of earlier. He has almost gained two tents in the braking. Losing a bit

as he accelerates out of 14. -- two tenths. And now coming up again, 90

degrees, right, left. He runs down towards the last two corners. It is

going to be a fast lap from Sebastian Vettel. It is so composed,

it is so under control. The fastest of the day so far by less than a

10th from his previous best. Let's of the day so far by less than a

see what Webber does now. Coming out of the final corner and it is not as

quick. Hamilton is also on a lap. Let's just watch the Mercedes

crossed the line. He goes forth. Nico Rosberg has gone second there.

And Grosjean in third. So almost as Nico Rosberg has gone second there.

fast as Hamilton on that lap. But Rosberg is quicker than Hamilton on

that. And we have seen that a few times in Q3 earlier this year. That

has happened in more recent races where Rosberg had the edge earlier

in the season. I just wonder whether the tyres, the balancing of playing

a part here. Do you think you have a good gap again for the second

outing? I think I'd could improve but... A 10th or two. So, a bit more

to come from Sebastian Vettel. The more the streets rubber in, the more

you can extract from it. Unquestionably the track does

improve as you go along, but it is a Unquestionably the track does

straightforward question from his engineer, the engineer of Sebastian

Vettel, but it gives a lot to your opposition as well. It is absolutely

normal that he thinks he can go faster because you always do, and

then once the session is over, you reflect on whether he needed to or

not. I would be surprised. Do they really feel the need to go back out

there? Doesn't look like he is having a large amount of pressure

from the Mercedes guys, who have been the main qualifiers. A string

of pole positions. It would be a lot to think Alonso can push them but it

looks like... No, that was his helmet coming out. He is stepping

out of the car. So, Vettel things he has done enough, the team think he

has done enough. And that is to snatch pole position here. I think

everybody else in that top ten has decided to go out on track in the

last minute and a half. So have they calculated this right? Or could

somebody just match it away from Sebastian Vettel in the dying

moments of this session? It is like one of those crime scene

investigation programmes! You just have to hang on in there! You have

to be confident he has done enough. Not a confident feeling. Not

necessarily. Just wondering if somebody can go quicker. It would be

miraculous and take somebody miraculous to beat it from here.

Felipe Massa, not really looking like a pole winner this weekend.

Nearly out in the first part of qualifying earlier today and an

amazing recovery to bring it back. The rival teams are pretty nervous

about the ability of the Ferrari, mind you, so they get into the

second and third row and they know that the Ferrari can be very quick

into the corner. Ferrari seem to be mastering that art. So, Massa

through the first sector. That is mastering that art. So, Massa

about three tenths off the fastest we have seen so far. But a good

section from Mark Webber. The fastest section of anybody. So he

has gone quicker than Vettel in sector one but can he do the same in

sector to? Vettel is not going to contest it. He thinks he's done

enough, the team thinks he's done enough. What will happen? Another

slide there from Massa. Hamilton has picked up a bit over his team-mate

in the first sector. Rosberg has gone faster in the middle sector.

Rosberg is on a good lap here but he was a few tenths down in the first

sector. Webber is matching Vettel's lap! And there you have Nico

Rosberg. He took pole position in Monaco. Lewis Hamilton will not want

to be beaten on another street circuit by his team-mate. He loves

the street circuits as much as Rosberg. So, some internal rivalry.

Just a 10th slower, Webber, than Sebastian Vettel! And Mark Webber is

going to come across the line. He is safe for the moment and he thinks he

has done it. What about Hamilton? That is the only question now. But

has done it. What about Hamilton? we have to keep an eye on Grosjean.

Yes. Can you produce one of his magical laps, Hamilton? Can he

produce it? No, he can't. So he pushes Hamilton down another,

Grosjean. But it is Sebastian Vettel who has taken his fifth pole

position of the season, and he matches Lewis Hamilton in turns of

pole positions this year. His second here in Singapore, and of course,

that is two in a row. He got pole last time in Italy and now he has it

this time as well. Another stunning performance from Sebastian Vettel

with the Red Bull. Man and machine in perfect harmony once again, but

it was a little bit closer than he would have liked. Yes. The lap time

improved and it was close but the image of them... You know, punching

the air, even before the session was over. It means so much to them. It

was a tremendous stride by Romain Grosjean. He is third on the grid.

And he has out qualified Alonso. Jenson Button ended up eighth.

Interestingly, Button did set a time on the soft tyre but Gutierrez

didn't. They are happy. They don't have Ferrari right up their gearbox!

They have got a bit of space with Rosberg in second. A great lap by

Rosberg. He was, what, three tenths quicker than Hamilton? He adores

this Singapore track and has just been outpaced by his team-mate. That

is both tracks this year that Rosberg has outpaced Hamilton.

So, Vettel takes pole position in Singapore and Rosberg will join him

on the front row. Grosjean and Webber will make up the grid. And

this is what Massa needs as he tries to secure a driver for next year, in

six. Gutierrez in his first octane, and ultimately, he ends just ahead

of his team-mate, Hulkenberg. Good race pace for Raikkonen on the

Lotus. Let's hope that continues. A disappointment of this session from

Paul di Resta. Despite Nico Rosberg's best efforts in the end,

pole position has gone, once again, to Sebastian Vettel.

Now you know what it was like to be a spectator in qualifying. It is

exciting, isn't it? As long as you had your car working perfectly next

to you! It is a feeling when you are standing there and you can't do

anything. I'd prefer not to know the sector times and just try to do it

on the track. It is a decision we took together. We had a big margin.

It was very close in the end. Well, we are joined by your team

principal. Sebastian Vettel said it was a bit hairy towards the end. Was

there ever a session when you said, I might rue this decision? I was

never in doubt! Oh, come on! Well, with the information we had, we said

never in doubt! Oh, come on! Well, if we were half a second clear, we

wouldn't run again. We asked him, could you go quicker? He said, maybe

a 10th. And we thought let's stick to this decision based on the

formation he has given us. Let's be clear about this! You have this in

the bag, don't you? You have won? I hope you are right and I wish you

are right, Eddie! He is so on top of his game and he desperately wants to

win this World Championship. Absolutely. He is driving supremely

well. It is a tough race and physical on the cars as well, so we

are taking nothing for granted. It is a long, tough race tomorrow.

Mercedes matching up alongside you or do you think you can convert that

pole into winning? Hopefully we can get a reasonable getaway and into

the first sequence of corners. The tyres are a bit of an unknown. That

is why strategically we were keen to keep the set of option softer tyres

up our sleeves just in case the race pans out differently tomorrow. That

extra set of tyres gives you an advantage. It gives a strategic

options, it will be a voyage of discovery as we see how the race

unfolds. If the soft tyres are the right ones to have we have got

another new set pupil on. Hopefully some reasonable options for stop

thank you very much and we wish you all the best. Let's hear from the

man who gave Sebastian Vettel run for his money, Mark Webber. It was

tight at the top, how do you feel? A bit disappointed, would like to be

on the front row. A bit more maintenance, not quite as

comfortable. Along race tomorrow. The disappointed. We will see how we

go. In a good decision to try and get something tomorrow. -- good

position. Very well done, so tight out there, did you think you had got

it? I wasn't really sure what was going

on. I thought Sebastian Ross out of reach, I didn't know he got out of

the car for stop I was pleased with my lap, very good. That worked out

really well. Did a good job with the whole team, all of us together,

improving the car Friday was not so nice, especially Friday morning.

Nice juicy olivine close to Sebastian Vettel again for stop

second is great for tomorrow. Is it a coincidence this is another street

circuit and he is ahead of Hamilton? He is more comfortable with this

Mercedes car and the tight confines. It is more open here in Monaco for

stop the second slowest circuit on the calendar so very closely

matched. I think Hamilton will be a bit disappointed. There is this

thing between drivers, only the brave on the street circuits. He

looked relaxed. He just passed us and had a face like thunder. He has

been beating himself up, we know that. Interesting to see what his

mindset is like. I thought Nico Rosberg was outstanding, a very fine

effort. Nobody, even Red Bull have admitted, they thought their man was

so far front. They must have been shocked. Here is Hamilton. Hard work

in the heat, was that the reward you were looking for?

It wasn't a good day for me. That is life. We have got to push

hard tomorrow and see if we can get on the podium.

What you put it down to? Just wasn't fast enough. Will that change

overnight? That is pretty much it for the weekend. Difficult to

overtake here, how do you set yourself up? Turn the negativity

overtake here, how do you set into a positive overnight and

tomorrow pushed as hard as I can and see if we can get on the podium,

that would be amazing. We are joined by Romain Grosjean,

what a terrific lap and it seems like there is more to come tomorrow.

The start of the lap was a bit slow, traffic, I can get the tyre to get

ready for the first few corners but the middle sector the car worked

really well. This is going into turn for, really

fast. The car is very stable, so I just carry on because the wall is

there, straight-line for heavy braking, easy to log the wheels, the

car went quicker, late-breaking, that was surprising, the traction

wasn't too bad, tricky left corner. Close to the wall. We can have got a

new turn ten, Goodspeed, surprised the car could make it, then the

chicane was a bit of this there maybe, maybe lost a little bit. --

oversteer. Important I got good traction at their, dashed out there.

I can see you really enjoyed that there was exhilarating, magic.

Driving an F1 car when you have got good tyres, low fuel, you can feel

all the downforce, the way the car is working, we have got a good

mechanic, the downforce level we are raising, I felt comfortable in the

car. I could play with the wall without kissing them. There are a

lot of people who would have thought you should be sacked by your

inconsistencies last year, you have you should be sacked by your

turned it around, proved everybody wrong, is your seat safe? If they

trusted me last year then they should follow next year. Good luck

for the race. Tellers about the back, how bad is

it? This morning I couldn't drive very

well. Couldn't really do what we wanted. At least we got the car on

the grid and see what we can do. What do you do between now and

the grid and see what we can do. tomorrow to get yourself better?

Hopefully it gets a bit better with time. We will know tomorrow during

the race. Fernando, your team a qualified in

sixth place, how much of an advantage is it to be on the clean

sixth place, how much of an side of the grid?

Obviously we will see some advantage tomorrow but when you go for

qualifying you don't know which result you will get, you will go for

the maximum, I did Maxim, Felipe Massa did maximum as well, we asked

some pace of the pole position, that is the important thing.

some pace of the pole position, that This is last chance saloon in terms

of the championship for Ferrari, Alonso has got to make the most

amazing start, we know you can but has he got any chance of making up

any points, even beating Sebastian Vettel? I think not, where can he

come? If Sebastian Vettel was to win this race it is over for Ferrari,

there is no way. There is still a mathematical chance. It is still all

to be playful but they are not quick enough. Red Bull are getting

stronger. Sebastien has been quick in every single session. He looks a

man on a mission right now, he wants in every single session. He looks a

to nail this championship in as short as possible time. Let's get

thoughts from Felipe Massa. This has been quite a good day for

you. A very good day, good qualifying.

The qualifying in 2008 but the lap I did today was similar. I was

struggling massively yesterday, not able to drive the car yesterday, we

changed completely from yesterday, still not great, I changed even more

to the qualifying managed to get it right, get ready for the fight,

managed to put out a great lap in Q3. That was really good. I think it

was very good. Jenson, how did that go? It was OK.

It is tough when you don't think you are going to get much out of it and

you up 1.5 seconds off the pace. In are going to get much out of it and

terms of what we did in qualifying, we are pretty much right, we might

have gone a little bit too on the nose for Q3 in terms of the front

end of the car but not too bad. Doing a lot of setup work this

weekend that has improved the car so happy about that.

Going from eighth place, fourth row, can he improve? It will be

difficult, they don't have the underlying pace. Maybe there are

some incidents or the Chinese will come during the Grand Prix book your

place, that is where they are. Who else best you? Daniel Riccardo,

another superstar. Gutierrez was a huge surprise. And Sauber have

picked their game up remarkably. Let's hear from him right now.

Congratulations. You must have the biggest smile, a really strong day

of this and we set some goals, it was critical to qualify well. They

didn't make it fun for me. I focus on what to find a solution and

together with the team I feel grateful. When you set the goal from

a difficult position and you reach it earlier than expected. Honestly I

expected to move up a step are probably not that big. Knowing I am

capable of doing this kind of qualifying is really satisfying. It

is the only thing we were missing. This is interesting. There will be a

lot of people also surprised as indeed they were a couple of weeks

ago with Hulkenberg's performance. What is going on with Sauber? How

come they make this big step forward? I am sure lots of people

will say sponsorship time, driver time, who will be the main

protagonist, where will we get our money? I dispel all of those things.

The car has looked better only one in the season -- earlier on in the

season. They are getting that extra sparkle out of it now. Nothing

sinister, they are doing a good job. In terms of race pace, we seek the

Sauber operable oral up there in the top ten? It will be interesting how

he handles that expect patient. Normally it should be a bit clean at

forward you go. Let's have a look at the provisional

grid. Sebastian Vettel will start from his

fifth pole position. Romain Grosjean badges his best position of the

year. Hamilton has the fast start. Jenson Button is an evil place. A

career-best performance for Gutierrez. Nico Hulkenberg on the

sixth row. Kimi Raikkonen is 13th. The track can throw up some

surprising results. That is the grid for tomorrow's.

surprising results. Disqualifying give more relevance to

the merry-go-round? Hulkenberg, Gutierrez, a lot of good

performances. Paul Di Resta will be fighting to get his name back in the

mix. Anything can happen, 2009, the brakes of Mark Webber one, we don't

know what will happen tomorrow? Long-distance lap, historically they

have safety cars here, anything can happen.

We will have all the action on BBC One.

Mercedes said they would put a car on a front row, they did, we will

see you tomorrow.