The Spanish Grand Prix - Practice 2 Formula 1

for the second of our practice sessions. The driver is getting

ready for this one. If you caught the action this morning, it was

difficult for the teams, the track started wet and then it dried. They

have got a lot of updates to test here, so this session will be really

The cars are out on the circuit, Sebastian Vettel, Sergio Perez and

Nico Hulkenberg, the second free already, more are joining them, and

a nicer situation for them this afternoon, with the sun and sing off

the paintwork of the world Champion's Red Bull. Sebastian

Vettel has never been on pole position on this circuit. That is

strange, given his dominance in qualifying generally. This circuit

sorts the men from the boys when it comes to a dynamic efficiency. He

will hope that he can put that right this weekend. The rear wing pops

open. The first flying lap of the weekend. One thing about this

weekend, you talk about the ERS zone, it is in two places. It is on

the ninth corner as well as on the finishing straight. A double

opportunity. But most of the overtaking will be done on the

straight, the difficulty will be to be close enough to utilise the

straight-line speed. Sebastian Vettel coming through the corner

now. Mark Webber is on track as well. Sebastian Vettel opens the

TRS. This is a difficult point, this is where it was wet this morning.

But now, every thing will be back to the status quo. This morning,

Fernando Alonso ahead of Felipe Massa. Jean-Eric Vergne was third,

Romain Grosjean fourth, Adrian Sutil fifth, Lewis Hamilton, Al Tariq. Us,

and Kimi Reich and in. It looks like the headwind down the pit straight.

What are you expecting to see this afternoon? In terms of long runs and

how the teams will play out? teams want to get information on the

changes that they have made, the first time they will have them on

track in reality from the last Grand Prix. They will need to understand

them, how they affect the car balance, how the wind affect it, as

it blows the car over different areas of the circuit. We are looking

at the Professor of this, Alain Prost. After that, once they get a

balance, they will go for long runs, as they missed this morning, so they

need the information in the back. Alain Prost talking to the owner of

Lotus. He is sporting a beard, I do not know if that is a sign of a

midlife crisis! You are sporting one as well! That is definitely a

midlife crisis! He is still fit, he went on one of the climbs of the

Tour de France with Mark Webber and beat him. A lot of work to be done

for Jenson Button. He was complaining that the car was 2.2

this morning. He needs the car balanced as he wants it to be.

also likes a stable rear end. He likes to know what is happening with

it. This morning, he did not do any kind laps, it was explorer tree. We

will have to wait and see what it is like in the dry. The fastest time in

only in the early stages. This is Sebastian Vettel. RADIO: You are

rating the brake pedal. Writing the break had ill, so he is resting his

foot on it. He has got a bit of extra brake pressure on there. You

do not feel it, because you are thinking about the throttle, but he

will be aware of that, the fuel economy, and it does not help you on

the brakes. Most of the runners are Vettel. It is a harder tyre than at

the start of the season, it is more similar to the 2012 harder tyre.

That was preferred here last year. It is an important change in terms

of how this weekend will unfold. There has been a fair bit of

lobbying behind the scenes in terms of Red Bull wanting to see a

change, they wanted the whole range to be changed. Are they satisfied by

the change that has been made? Probably not, but every team will

fight for what works for their car. Pirelli have a difficult job, they

are trying to manage the teams in a balanced capacity. Red Bull are

struggling in a certain area. This is a hard circuit for tyres, long

corners. The third turning is a long corner, high-speed, so it is tough

and the harder compounds are better. Let's check in with Gary Anderson at

Lotus. I am keeping an eye on Kimi Reich and on. But he is back in the

car now. They changed something on the braking, he might not have been

happy with it, but he should be all right very soon. I will keep my eye

on it. Lewis Hamilton the fastest at the moment. Then, Mikko Rosberg. It

is impressive how Valtteri Bottas has fared so far, he has matched his

team-mate in qualifying. They have an equal best result so far of 11th,

I am surprised by that. Pastor Maldonado is one of the quicker

drivers in form and one. Has he done a good job, Valtteri Bottas? Yes, he

was highly acclaimed before he got into Formula 1. Also, the Williams

is struggling, so it is sometimes difficult to extract more than the

basic speed and balance. If the car gets a bit better and faster, you

could maybe see Pastor Maldonado getting more out of it. But both

drivers are first-rate it and struggling a bit now. Williams are

looking for a big improvement in performance. We will hear from Gary

over the course of the next 90 minutes, not only about the updates

on the Williams car, but on all of the cars throughout the field.

Looking at what they have done, how much effort has gone into it. But

generally, it has been ten to 12 weeks in preparation. That is how

much work they put in. Let's catch up with Gary. Just watching Jenson

Button, he has not got a new front wing on, but he has got the side

pods, they are more curvaceous. cling wrap the parts underneath a

bit better. They are tighter to the exhaust system and radiators. That

is to get more airflow over the car, and it helps the back of the car

produce more downforce. McLaren have been struggling this year, that

there is a lot of development which is race to race. They have got to

identify their problem, so I classify this as a race to raise

development, rather than fixing the problem. They have a new front

wing. It has not been on the car yet. One hour and 19 minutes

remaining, Felipe Massa making his way into the pits. He is waiting to

his team. He is doing a pitstop practice, getting the mechanics out

of the way. He does not want to hit them. This is Fernando Alonso doing

the same thing. They do that so they get an accurate idea of how long it

takes to come into the pit lane and rejoin again, because in terms of

the race strategy, that is an important thing. It has not changed

since last year, but they like to make sure they know how much time

they are taking out. It is important to know your pit lane D. But also,

if they stop in the pit box and they cannot accelerate without going out,

they need to go into the garage, so by not stopping, they can continue.

It is the thing about laying rubber down, because the wheelspin is to

get grip to maximise their acceleration after the stops.

look at the pitstops, how they have evolved in this mirror, especially

this year, in Bahrain, the entire field their fastest pitstops were

covered by 1.5 seconds, and the top four teams, 0.25 seconds difference.

It is as competitive in the pit lane as it is for the drivers on the

racetrack. We have got a spinner, one of the Mercedes. Lewis

Hamilton. It is in the final sector. The 12 corner. Normally taken at 140

miles an hour. He is lifting the car over the curb as he goes around, so

hopefully we can take another look at what happened. It is a harmless

spin, he seemed to lose the back of it. When he then rejoined, quite a

bit of wheelspin. Going over the curb is the worst part. Trying to

cool the car, because there is no airflow going through the radiators.

The engines are temperature-sensitive. He comes

through and halfway through he loses the rear. It is harmless. Before he

gets back, he has to get air through the car to call everything, so when

it stops, it is not heat saturated. That was interesting, it does not

look like the kind of thing that would do anything wrong, but it

shows how slippery the track is. back of the car steps out on him.

is just that transient phase, and if the rear is light, it can come back

around. It was reasonably harmless. Nico Rosberg from Lewis Hamilton

from Fernando Alonso from Daniel Ricciardo. One hour and 16 minutes

of the session remaining. This is an outlet for Kimi Reich and on, the

2007 world champion. A lot going on at Lotus, the technical director is

moving on. He has left the team. The man taking over is a highly regarded

engineer, but the outgoing technical director is one of the great

innovators of Formula 1. Which team will he go on to? Ferrari or Red

Bull? You can see a strong case for many teams. It is not McLaren, and

they do not have a desk for him at Mercedes. It seems we have an

engineer Arms race going on. Ferrari and Mercedes building a brains trust

of top engineers. The hot money is on him going to Ferrari, but I could

see him going to Red Bull in the long term. I think a few teams would

like his expertise and knowledge, and he has built a good car at

Lotus, particularly bearing in mind the sponsorship money they have got

coming in. OK, they have got Grosjean and Raikkonen, very strong

drivers, but they have got a very good job in harnessing that and

taking it into dating that is struggling in some areas. I am sure

he will do a good job. Continued speculation as to where he might be

going, let's talk about the impact his departure will have on the Lotus

team, winners in Australia, a double podium in Bahrain, operating on just

over half the budget of Red Bull and Ferrari, and to be doing that is

quite an achievement. How much will they feel his loss? There are a lot

of people in the team, Kimi Raikkonen said he did not know what

the loss would be, and it will take a little bit of time for that to

roll-out. Nick Chester, I actually worked with him in the previous

guise of Lotus, when it was called Renault, and he has developed

through and been promoted up the ladder, but he is very experienced,

he is a good guy and a safe pair of hands. Raikkonen third, faster still

in the first sector of his next lap. All of the front-runners are

still running on the harder compound tyre. We will see some of the faster

tyres later, the medium compound, on which they will do qualifying runs.

Generally speaking, free practice 2 is an opportunity to do a qualifying

simulation run, not normally low fuel, they carry between ten and 20

kilograms depending from team to team, but it gives them an accurate

idea of what their qualifying phase will be. Then they load the car up

with fuel, some go with the same amount of fuel they will start the

race with, 140 kilos worth, others go for a medal race fuel load, 70-85

kg, to get a sense of the balance of the car through the middle of the

Grand Prix. All the teams play it differently, which is why you get

different views on what happens on a Friday, but generally speaking,

although everybody says you cannot read too much into Friday, they know

where they are, they know their patterns and they have got an

accurate picture, the teams, where they stand at the end of Friday.

Yes, and one guy that has got a very accurate picture is Gary Anderson,

down there at Ferrari. Looking at the back of the car, Alonso's car is

up on the standards, and the area of the floor just in front of the rear

tyre, what happens is you want to make it seal as close to the tyre as

possible, put down force. That is especially true under braking, if

they can seal that gap, not letting any airflow through. I saw Red Bull,

they were grinding their flaw in that area as well. Sometimes it gets

to a circuit and have to have a little bit higher rear right height,

and then the floor touches the tyre. If it does that, it will damage the

tyre and damage the floor itself. It is quite interesting, in past years,

we used to have a replaceable panel in five millimetre increments, but

only Lotus have that situation on their car at the moment. It is all

carbon fibre the guys have got the grinder and the vacuum cleaner.

said about rear stability, you need a very stable rear into these fast

corners to get the confidence to be able to lean on the car and get the

right loading on the front - is that your experience as a designer as

well? Yes, any time you give the driver confidence, he will find more

than that aerodynamic peak that was predicted of a 10th of a second. If

the driver knows what the car is doing and that he has got

comfortable cornering... Moving around, I have got my footrest, the

more I push it... Just to finish what I was saying, if you can give

the driver confidence to turn into the corner quicker, as far as the

rear end of the car is concerned, he will give you back more than a 10th

of a second. Thank you very much for that, Gary, one hour and ten minutes

of this second free practice still to go ahead of Sunday's Spanish

Grand Prix from Barcelona, the fifth round of the Formula One world

championship. Max Chilton comes into the Marussia pit, and we will get an

update, of course, through the course of the session on what's new

parts these different teams have brought to their cars. It has been a

very strong start to the 20 13th season for the Marussia team. Let's

catch up with Jennie Gow down at Mercedes. -- the 20 13th season.

saw Lewis Hamilton having a bit of a spin earlier, they have checked out

the car, a lot of attention going to the front right wing, they have

taken some photos lying on their back, taking pictures of the wing to

make sure there is no damage. It doesn't look like there is any

problem, the suspension has checked out fine, hopefully they will send

out very shortly. An interesting spin for Lewis Hamilton, the team

was worried about the temperatures as a result of it, but it looks like

the car is not damaged. It shows you how close the margins are, how hard

they run the temperatures on these cars, and certainly very warm indeed

if it sits around with the engine running for any length of time

without air passing through the radiators. Valtteri Bottas is on a

lap, working his way towards turn nine, 160 mph right-hander at the

top of the hill, a difficult corner at the best of times, very important

because it leads onto the back straight, but particularly difficult

on a day like this with the wind blowing. These Formula One cars do

not like sudden gusts of wind, do they? And also that corner is at the

top of the hill, so it suddenly becomes exposed to the wind, and

when you are turning into the corner, you have a different balance

to what you had at the exit, pushing it out on the exit. You have to be a

touch gavel at the start of this session, because that Astroturf will

still be wet from this morning's rain. -- a touch gavel. We talk

about the gusty wind here, and it drives the engineers man. One paper,

this is the circuit they know best, they have been testing here for

years. If you talk to an experienced Formula One engineer, they know

every inch, all the hotels and restaurants, and they are fed up to

the back teeth with coming here for many years! And yet they feel they

know it and yet they do not know it because it is a strange place - the

balance can change from morning to afternoon, they say that you can

change nothing on the car, and one which is competitive in the morning

can be uncompetitive in the afternoon. Why is that? It is

temperature related a lot of the time, and you get situations, at

9:30am on a test day in December or January, a perfect time to do a lap

time. Then you will go back at 2pm with exactly the same car, brand-new

tyres, and you cannot get within 1.5 seconds because the temperature has

lifted, the car will understeer, you will use the tyre more, you will not

get a fix is perfectly, and the time drags away all the way through the

lap. Mark Webber goes fastest, and coming back on that, what makes it

such a good track for testing, the combination of corners and different

straights, but it must be difficult to get accurate data. Yes, it is,

because it has got these changing circumstances. On the flip side, as

you say, it has got high-speed, low speed, open corners, attraction,

places where you need braking stability, a little bit of

everything. A little pointer for those of you who like to think about

these things, this final sector that Jean-Eric Vergne is in now is one of

the most important on a lap, certainly in terms of lap time,

where you can gain or lose the most time. It is slower and it is

technical, but usually this race comes before Monaco, and it is a

very good indicator of a car that will be quick at Monaco. Over this

weekend, watch out for the sector times in sector three, and it will

give you a read of who will be quick at Monaco in two week's time. Watch

out for Mercedes! Exactly. I have had money on Hamilton or Rosberg to

win Monaco from early in the season, they were quick last day, and I know

that is proof of mopping, but they have a bit of DNA in them, these

cars, even if they change something, the DNA carries over from year to

year, and Hamilton and Rosberg are very quick around Monaco. Both are

quite willing to throw a car around, and that is what you see in this

last sector, as you know - you have the requirement for a positive front

end, a car that will turn, then to be able to get on the power to

accelerate through the long right-hander onto the start-finish

straight, and that will be important in the race because it is a DRS

zone. On board with Sergio Perez, running wide on the exit of turn

nine, getting up on the curves at 160 mph in the McLaren, a lot of

aggression at the wheel from the Mexican, lifting up some of that

artificial grass, leaving a bit of silver bodywork, I'll put is not one

of the more important pieces! A lot of the downforce on a Formula One

car is generated from the floor, so you want to keep that as clean as

you can. Going back to the whole Spain-Monaco comparison, qualifying

has always been critically important here, only once in 22 years has a

car that qualified outside the front row managed to win the race. I was

talking to Alonso about this yesterday, and he said he things

Monaco is the most important in terms of getting us on pole

position, because of DRS, because of these Pirelli tyres, there are

opportunities to win this race, even if you are not necessarily on the

front row of the grid. He seems to think that this year front row will

not be critical in Spain. Does that mean he is not confident of the

front row? I would suggest he is probably right, Monaco is the

hardest, there is no physical straight. Hulkenberg going wide on

the same bit of Astroturf. But in reality, Alonso as got a good chance

of the front row, no question, around the circuit, and it is

possible to overtake. Interesting that we have seen Perez and

Hulkenberg try to take a bit more out of turn nine, such an important

corner, but where is the cut-off point? Where have they gone too far

in that corner? When you lose time or the stewards say you have gone

all four wheels over the white line. At the end of the day, you keep

going until you start to slide and get wheelspin coming out of it, and

that is the cut-off point from the driver's point of view. Sometimes

the stewards have a different opinion. When you are here and you

are able to stand, as I often do, I stand on the outside of the corner,

and the speed as they come through there, appearing from under the

hill, coming into view at enormous speed, 160 mph, you realise that if

you get it wrong, that is a very large accident. It is a very quick

corner, it is blind, you have massive commitment, U-turn in flat

out, and if you get pushed understeer from wind or the car not

reacting well, you have to take a lift and then get on the throttle to

let it run out. You also have to be very good on the curves, so you're

steering has to be straight so that it does not react and kick around

underneath you. It is a tricky, tricky corner. Just over an hour to

go in this free practice session, it is Webber from Vettel from Rosberg

from Hamilton. Alonso is on a lap at the moment, citing past the

Mercedes, this is going to be a quick lap from Alonso, the fastest

of anyone in sector one. We will see to the end of this lap and then

catch up with Gary Anderson, who has some news for us. Alonso has a Toro

Rosso in the way, but how is the Ferrari looking? It looks very

stable, very consistent. The Toro Rosso has moved out of the way,

Alonso has a clean run down into turn ten, and he has -- he is 0.273

ahead. This is the slow final sector, the cookie cutter corner,

13, 14, lots of notchy right angled corners. These into 14 now, left,

then snatching it right through 15, picking the speed up, letting the

car run out wide, a big crowd here to see this mango pastas, and he has

done it for the moment - 0.08 seconds ahead, Alonso is on top.

Let's catch up now with Gary Anderson. Just to explain the tyres

for Barcelona, the normal ties they will be using over the weekend are

the harder tyre, the orange sidewall tyre, and also the soft tyre, the

yellow sidewall tyre. Pirelli have brought a set of experimental hard

tyres here for every team, so each driver has a set of tyres that has

no colours on the sidewall at all, and they have got three sets. In

reality, they have got three sets of new tyres for this one session,

because they never used very many in the first session. We will see these

lap times dropped magically at the end of the session, whenever they

use the softer tyre, but right now some people are putting on the new

had tyre and getting one or two laps in. Maps will be very difficult to

assess until everybody goes out on the same tyre. -- lap times. That is

true, Gary, I hear that the idea of having the extra set of tyres for

Friday was not voted through by the teams on Wednesday night, and I

think there was some disappointment around that that was the case.

Clearly, it makes a lot of sense, why didn't it happen? There is a

provision in the regulations for Pirelli to bring experimental tyres

to the meetings, and that is what they are doing. They want to learn a

little bit more and get the cars to run more in the first session on

Friday. That did not happen today because of the weather, so it was

not that important. Pirelli need to try to get the information on

different tyres at different times, and a good cross-reference to tyres

that they know more about. So they are doing the right thing, I don't

see why the teams don't buy into it and try to help for the future. The

teams are quick at complaining about the tyres, but they need to give

Pirelli some help to make sure they have got the best I going forward.

-- the best tyres going forward. heard there from Rob Smedley. A

really quick middle sector. He is throwing the car around, hustling

get through the last final through corners. With a confident that I

have not seen him driving with for some time. Fernando Alonso from Mark

Webber from Felipe Massa. Just over 81 hundredths of a second ahead of

Mark Webber. All four wheels on the white line, and Esteban Gutierrez

giving us the perfect example. He is under pressure. Tomorrow afternoon

is when we will see the pressure telling on him. On average, he is

between five and six places behind Nico Hulkenberg in qualifying. You

would not expect him to much Nico Hulkenberg, but you would expect him

to not be that far behind. I was talking to his engineer, he was my

engineer in 2002. He said that he is not that far away. When he has a

clean run, he has been pretty much a match for Nico Hulkenberg, so the

speed is there, but he has got to get out of the silly little

incidents. That is part of the first year, finding your way around. We

have seen it with so many drivers coming through. There is nothing

like the pressure of those moments when qualifying. But against the

best drivers in the world, you know you have got to deliver, and it is

such pressure. But that is one of the best part about it, you have got

to do it right here, right now, no excuses. That is where Lewis

Hamilton is one of the best, dealing with that. Esteban Gutierrez will

learn his craft, but later on, it starts to play on the minds of a

huge rises. There is nothing like pressure, and Formula 1 supplies

that. How long before people think about replacing due? You are only as

good as your last race. One of the longest runs from the start down to

the first corner, 700 metres. The start is critical here, it is

important to have a fully functioning car. A small mistake by

Nico Rosberg. He touches the curb and takes the escape road.

particular drama. He got off the brake early enough to stop --. The

tyres are sensitive to the sudden increase in heat. Jules Bianchi out

on track in the Marussia, they have been punching above their weight in

the early part of this Grand Prix season, particularly with Jules

Bianchi. Absolutely flying. He has not converted it into points yet.

None of the so-called new teams have scored a point yet, but they are

looking like they might get there eventually. They definitely look

like the team that is most likely. They have punched above their

weight. Jules Bianchi has done a very good job. He is a good

benchmark for Max Chilton. Two young charges, and you will see Max

Chilton getting more on terms as he gains in experience and confidence.

The lotus of Kimi Raikkonen, such if octave colours, reminiscent of

Ayrton Senna. Nigel Mansell as well, anybody of my generation had a model

of the lotus. Such evocative colours, and it is great to see them

on the lotus. Kimi Raikkonen is down already, giving away a lot to the

Ferrari and Red Bull. Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber the top of

the timesheet at the moment. Separated by eight hundredths of a

second. Not a perfect lap by any means. Kimi Raikkonen has got to

decide, he will presumably have some offers on the table. Two victories,

countless podiums, very competitive. If you were the head of Red Bull,

would you put him in your car? Bull have always been looking

towards consistency. But Kimi Raikkonen is setting his stall out

very well. He said, I will make my decisions on what I will do, not, I

am speaking to... He is in the driving seat right now. We will see

who's driving seat he is in for 2014 is the year goes on, but around

Silverstone is the time when Mark Webber tends to reduce his

contract, he does it with the owner of Red Bull. He bypasses the team

management. Loyalty is a big part of the story. It will be interesting,

after what happened between him and Sebastian Vettel, to see whether

Mark Webber stays. The difficulty is, if he is thinking about moving

on, where would he go that is better than Red Bull? He has got a chance

of fighting for victories and world Championships, but not many other

seats would give him the same opportunities. People in the team

would like him to move on. It is a lot about money, this sport. If you

have got to consistent performers in because, you win the constructors

championship. Red Bull have done that for the last three seasons. But

the competition is getting stiffer, Mercedes will be a force from next

year onwards. Everybody is looking to the future, thinking about what

they can do. Mark Webber running wide. They are trying to grab as

much as they can. He is up. He is hanging onto the car, throwing it

around. All four wheels over the corner at cancer. Sometimes they can

put all four wheels over certain corners, and that might be one of

them here. That could be the quickest lap for Mark Webber.

won here in the past, he knows his way around this track. He goes

struggling a bit, Charles Pic and Max Chilton in particular. We look

at Jules Bianchi, just over three seconds separating from Red Bull.

That is not too far away. 280 metres at 200 mph, in reality, it is a good

starting point. For Mark Webber, there is a period where he goes very

well usually, he has an extra confidence, and he will look to

maximise that. Kimi Raikkonen completes another lap. Sebastian

Vettel, Nico Rosberg, Jean-Eric Vergne and Daniel Ricciardo moving

on the medium tyre. Several other drivers on the medium tyre as well.

The time set by Mark Webber was on extra stability to the car. It means

it does not move around around the long corners. It is not necessarily

that the softer compound is always quicker, but there are odd occasions

where the difference between them is quite small. Let's see what

Sebastian Vettel can do on the same tyre. Mark Webber has come back into

the pits after that run. He had lowish fuel. He will now refuel the

car and go out with a more representative race fuel load.

Pastor Maldonado not the first to make that mistake. A tailwind that

is pushing. Quite a few making that mistake into the 10th corner,

because of a tailwind. Kimi Raikkonen coming into the pit lane.

We talked a lot about exhaust systems. They blow the hot air onto

the brake ducts. Inside the rear tyre, they are mounted on. Ahead of

that, you will see the exit of the exhaust pipe. The gases are coming

out at high speed, underneath those wind sections, creating downforce on

the rear tyre. When the driver goes on to the throttle, those gases

it is productive in terms of lap times and looking after the rear

tyres. It is difficult to drive, because it average eight Sebastian

Vettel from Mark Webber, Sebastian Vettel has got a way of driving

those cars, which Mark Webber has not quite matched. This is the

section where it does work, in the long corners. Now he is going back

onto the throttle, towards the end of the lap. At this point, when he

is just leading off the break, it is still going on. It is getting the

gases flowing. Interesting to hear how long he waited on the throttle

out of the 12th corner. He goes fastest. No real sign of any emotion

about that from Christian Horner, the team principal. Not much to

choose between Red Bull and Rory at this stage. Ferrari are both now

out, we will get a direct comparison between them and Red Bull. Can

Ferrari translate the superior pace on the harder tyre across onto the

medium tyre? Or will that sued Red Bull slightly better? Ferrari are

right there with Red Bull. I do not think there is any question about

it, but the Ferrari is looking tricky, it is bouncing around, but

it is not losing grip. Felipe Massa still throwing it around with

confidence and aggression. That is great to see, Felipe Massa has not

expressed himself behind the wheel like this since 2008 or even the

early part of 2009, for he got hit by the spring. It is a combination

of getting back from the accident, the tyre not suiting his style, but

with this, he seems a man reborn. saw him at dinner the other night,

he looks relaxed in comparison to how he looked 12 months ago, he has

got the inner confidence, he has got the field back. Not a great final

sector, 0.4 seconds slower than the benchmark time, set by Mark Webber,

so Red Bull is looking good in that final sector. Pastor Maldonado

having a spin in the same place as Lewis Hamilton, but he collect the

car. The Williams looks very unstable on the rear end, going into

corners. The game, he comes into the corner on the brakes, he looks to

lose the rear grip quickly. Fernando Alonso has been quicker than anybody

in the first sector. A personal best in the middle sector. But he has not

matched Sebastian Vettel. Just down on Sebastian Vettel, that is not

what the crowd wanted to see, but at least they know he is competitive.

Plenty of them will be turning out this weekend to support him. We will

have to leave the Hotel early on Sunday morning, goes we will have a

traffic jam, getting into this place! Remembering Valencia last

year, that half an hour is well spent, leaving the hotel early!

said yesterday that he feels the support, the emotion that comes from

racing in front of his home crowd. He can channel that into a positive,

it is not something he feels he needs to master, it is just there,

it gives him a boost. So many drivers find it hard to win the home

grand prix. It can be difficult, you have pressure on one shoulder and

support on the other, and if you feel the pressure more than support,

it still is in the wrong direction. Not in all of those cases has it

been down to the driver, but it can get frustrating after a few years if

you are there but do not pick up your home trophy. Halfway stage in

this FP2 session before the Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday in Barcelona.

James Alan, Allan McNish, Gary Anderson with you, and Lewis

Hamilton is on track. We are in the phase of the session where drivers

are setting what will be their fastest times of the day with

relatively low fuel on the faster of the two tyres, which in this case is

the medium compound. Hamilton goes fifth fastest, a little bit of

traffic arguably in the final corner, the final part of that

sector for him. But Hamilton fifth, so not that electric single lap pace

that we have seen this season so far from Mercedes, and I wonder, Allan,

whether we will find out more tomorrow, as we look at a replay of

Gutierrez and Alonso very nearly running into the back of him, I

wonder whether we are seeing signs that Mercedes have knocked back

their qualifying pace a little bat, working on trying to get that car to

look after its rear tyres better in the race, and they have paid a price

in terms of single lap pace as a result. They were certainly very

good on single lap pace, they have a very positive front end on the car,

and the penalty that is that it seems to rear tyres. Have you seen

the best of the tyre? Yes, I think that is it, yes. Adrian Sutil in

discussion about the best of the tyre, the peak of the tyre around

the circuit is only one or two laps because of the corner lengths,

because it is so difficult on them. Once you have lost that peak, you

have to be very careful in your conservation, and that is something

Mercedes struggled with, especially in Bahrain. Jenson Button is out on

circuit. He is on the medium compound, but he has traffic in

front of him. He has a Caterham, Van der Garde, and also Lewis

Hamilton's Mercedes in front of him, so a bit of a messy lap for Jenson

Button. He is waiting for a gap in traffic. Let's get down to Force

India and John Jennie Gow and Gary Anderson. -- join. You can see that

Force India have made some changes, there is an auxiliary wing, a rather

complicated one this weekend. area in the middle of the wing is a

new development, you can see the rear brake ducts. That monkey seat

is a mechanism to mix the top wing and the bottom line, the air flow

influences one from the other. That then helps the diffuser, and the car

is a lot less sensitive on braking into the corner. It is all about

trying to get confidence in the back of the car that the driver really

need when he is on the brake pedal. They have been trying out something

else as well, the suspension system that a lot of people have been

talking about. They have decided it was not working, so they have taken

it away, but maybe we should explain what it is. Yes, it is a tough thing

to get working, but you need to get some miles on it to understand. It

is front and rear interconnected suspension. Lotus and Mercedes both

run a fairly complicated system, I suppose, controlling the height of

the rear of the car under braking, trying to make it more stable,

rather than the forces of the car changing the right side, you can

alter them when the suspension is connected. Again, it is a lot of the

aerodynamic stuff, optimising it to give the driver confidence to push

that little bit faster. For Force India, it is a development direction

for the future, but they need to get some miles on it, scratch their

heads and come up with different solutions, make it work better for

next time. We will see quite a lot of that being tested in the Friday

morning sessions at the next few races. Thank you very much for

that. Lewis Hamilton, meanwhile, on the second lap on the medium tyre

went faster, and that is an interesting point. Kimi Raikkonen

has just set a fast lap, a couple of tenths of a second off the pace of

Vettel. As I say, about two tenths of a second separating the top four

cars with Massa bit, Hamilton improving on its second times lap.

He is now six. Rosberg is seventh, Sutil is eight for Force India.

Vergne has been pretty competitive all day, a difficult team to read at

the moment, Toro Rosso. They had eight to rivet run with Ricciardo in

China, qualified and finished in seventh place. -- to rivet run. That

was a breakthrough for him, but they were terrible in Bahrain. I think it

is depending whether the car suits the track or not, and certainly,

like you say they were strong all the time in China. Here they look

more competitive than they have been, but it is going to be one of

those things with the airflow balance compared to the track.

are not many similarities between here and China on paper, but they

are both front tyre limited circuits. In that sense, it is

logical that Toro Rosso was quite competitive year, having been

competitive in China. When you say front tyre limited, that means the

front tyre does most of the work. Bahrain is rear tyre limited,

because it is low speed and traction trim. This is a bit of both, the

long first section worked the front tyre had, and then the last sector

is more the rear tyre that has to give the grip. I would say it is

more of a balance, but they seem to have issues when it is rear tyre

limited. Here, China, this type of place is where they will probably go

a bit better. Max Chilton improves, goes ahead of the Caterham Charles

Pic. Pic is down in 22nd and last place at the moment, and it is Max

Chilton who has made a small improvement. Pic is in the pits at

the moment. Caterham have a lot of updates on their car, and at the

moment Van der Garde is ahead of Jules Bianchi, albeit only by about

100th of a second, so pretty close between them. At the top, with 38

minutes of FP2 remaining, Sebastian Vettel, the reigning world champion,

three times world champion for Red Bull, is on a 1:22.808. That is

likely to be the fastest time we will say today -- see today, because

they will be putting more fuel on the card to give us an assessment of

their race pace. Remember to look after the tyres in the corners we

talked about. Now, that is interesting - we have gone into race

mode, we have had low fuel, quali simulation mode, Allan, but now we

are talking about race fuel, probably somewhere in excess of 80

kilograms of fuel. In certain corners, you have to look after the

tyres, which are the key corners? The first thing is when you say 80

kilograms of fuel, that is an extra 80 kilograms in the car loading on

the tyres, and every ten kilos is about 0.45 seconds per lap, so it is

a big penalty. It is this sector where you have to be careful, on the

front through turn three, turned four, making sure you do not get on

the throttle too early, being very progressive with throttle

application to make sure you do not get that instant little bit of wheel

slip. If you do that, you overheat the centre of the tyre and it starts

to go off. It is the left front that takes a beating around that long

term three, about eight seconds through there, you are in the

corner, about 4G laterally onto you, your neck and that left front tyre

taking a real hammering. It is taking a huge amount of force, so

from that point of view, the left front, and then in the next corner

the left front, as you can see on the inside, the dark pick-up gets

scrubbed off through the next corner. But then out of turn four,

the left rear takes it, so the right side get an easy time, and it is the

left side that gets a hard time. tyre Webber looking particularly

beaten up, particularly the inside shoulder. And also of the Mercedes,

you can see a bit of graining where it has been overworked,

overstressed, the left front of the tyre. Rosberg at the moment not

showing too bad degradation, five laps into this run, lapping about

one seconds slower than on his second lap. Let's catch up with Gary

Anderson at the Caterham garage. Just having a chat about the

developments, John, in Bahrain you made a good step forward, but a lot

of parts coming year. Yeah, we did some updates on the back of the car

in Bahrain, and here we are more on the front of the car. It was all

intended to be brought here in one lump, but we anticipated some for

Bahrain and now we have got most of them here. So you are seeing the

progress you thought you would make. FAB1 was a bit difficult, for

everyone, a lot of new parts up and down the pitlane. -- FP one. We made

some progress, and so we are doing so more homework now. You did not

get a good run because of the conditions and a little problem, but

is Heikki going to be helping in the future to help you assess these

things. Yes. Basically, both cars, we have done a bit of homework on

both cars, and both drivers have given us feedback. We think we have

taken a step forward, it is all relative. Heikki Kovalainen, the

race driver with Caterham in previous years was not able to

retain that racy for last year, but at the last couple of races he has

been helping them develop this upgrade package, going out to do the

Friday morning running, a great asset to have a driver of that

experience. That is exactly right, because with Charles Pic, they have

got a driver with one year's experience, and Van der Garde has

some testing experience, but they are limited in that area, and they

have dropped behind Marussia in terms of performance, so they have

brought Kovalainen back in, and I would not be surprised if you see

him all the way through the season, swapping with one or other of the

drivers. It has two effects, doing that - not only does it help you get

better data from your track day, it also gives you a real hurry up to

your race drivers, and interesting to see Pic in particular was quicker

in Bahrain. OK, he had the rear element of the upgrade package, as

John was explaining to Gary there, but on top of that, he seems to be

pushing a little bit harder, and that is always the case if you feel

you are under threat, you stretch yourself as a racing driver.

disagree with that, drivers push themselves to the limit all the

time. Sometimes it does have that positive effect, if you have got

someone champing at the bit behind you, wanting to get back in the sea.

The issue at Caterham was they were required to take divers who could

bring sponsorship money, and that is something that Heikki Kovalainen was

not in a position to do. In fact, he was paid for his services, but they

are missing that right now. A few years ago, the days of BMW Sauber,

height felt and veal nerve, Robert Kubica was brought in, if you

remember, he got on the podium, and Peter Sauber was not particularly

pleased that he had managed to find four tenths of a second compared to

what he had been doing before, so they were wondering where that had

been throughout the season so far. It was probably not in the car in

the first place, but it is always good to have a bit of pressure, and

this is an arena for competition - for drivers, four teams, for

engineers, for everybody, and the pressure does bring out the best in

some others. So we are now in the long run phase of this free practice

session, beautiful weather here in Barcelona, 32 degrees of track

temperature, 20 degrees of air temperature. Not quite as warm as we

were imagining, maybe a degree or two less, but critically we are in

the ideal operating temperature for the tyres. It is the first time we

have been able to say that for a bit, they have been extremely too

hard or too cold. But this looks like what they were hoping for in

terms of the harder tyre, and once again, as we saw in Bahrain, Ferrari

are doing a split pattern. Massa is out working on the harder compound

tyre, while team-mate Alonso was getting data on the medium compound.

We have seen Ferrari doing that, working as a team, sharing

information, sharing data, getting twice the work done at the same

time. They do like-for-like comparisons. Two things there -

lusty we could not do that because Felipe was struggling with the car,

so is feedback was not relevant. This year, they are both in tune

with the car, and Ferrari have made a big performance upgrade with that.

The second thing is, it is interesting that Massa has got the

harder tyre and Alonso has the software, because Alonso feels that

is is domain. If he can make it work, it would give him a advantage,

but he has got the back-up situation of knowing where Massa is with a

slightly slower and harder tyre. Massa yesterday, in his little press

gathering, said he had been calling for a change to the harder

compound. We look at the Ferrari doing a practice staff. He had been

calling for the harder tyre to be changed, because he felt it was not

doing what it should be. Now he has come into the pits and gone back out

on the medium compound tyre, as we just saw, that was the graphic as he

left the pits, obviously doing back-to-back comparisons. It will be

interesting to hear from Massa after this session to see whether he

thinks this new tyre they have brought here is a change in the

right direction. He was expecting a harder tyre to last longer, to be

slower than the medium tyre from a strategy point of view, but

particularly to be more durable, to do substantially longer runs than

the other tyres in the range, essentially doing what you would

expect it would say on the tin. So we will see about that, just half an

hour remaining in this practice session. Sebastian Vettel from

and Sergio Perez. They are both in the pits, having some work done on

the car. Valtteri Bottas ahead of Pastor Maldonado by half a second.

It looks like Williams and Sauber are having a good scrap in the

midfield area. Force India Company in front of them, and Toro Rosso

would appear to be in front of the Sauber /Williams scrap as well. And

the new teams at the back. At the moment, Romain Grosjean in that

group as well. We have not seen too much from him so far. RADIO: We keep

going. Yes, correct. Nico Hulkenberg, we keep going. He is

pushing the tyres. Romain Grosjean goes through, and he does not

improve on his time. We have seen that Sauber can extend the stents,

they can run longer on the tyres. A gentle action on the tyres, and it

has got Nico Hulkenberg into interesting decisions. Yes, when

people have tried to understand the tyres, and making mistakes with

their strategy, it has put them in a better position than the pace of the

car suggests. It is their calling card, because they are not quick

enough on your pace, so they need to have something in their pocket, and

that seems to be it. 0.08 seconds can we draw? At the moment, the

upgrades for McLaren are suggesting that they are not quite making the

impact they hoped. This morning was wet, so they did not get a lot of

information, but by the performance I have seen so far and away the car

looks, it is still a work in progress. Lewis Hamilton coming

through to complete a lap. He is on a long run. He is off the pace, he

is carrying fuel. Where are we in terms of McLaren? Eight are both in

the garage. Mark Webber, the inside shoulder of his left front tyre is

looking very beaten up, a lot of wear. The McLaren cars have been in

the garage for a while. They have just sent Jenson Button

out on the medium tyres. Sergio Perez, the nose is off, and two of

the mechanics working hard on the front left. They have taken apart

the brake duct and they are putting it back together. The team are

trying to get an understanding of what is going on, but they do have

the black stickers that they put on when they are covering up what they

are doing. They have got a lot of them. Gary, they are working in an

aerodynamic area. Yes, the bottom of the brake duct. It takes the air

from the front of the tyre, and put it behind the tyre. You are trying

to manage the airflow. They have obviously had the brake duct of the

car. Then they have these round black discs. You want to have an

aerodynamic surface. All of these bits of airflow management, so that

the air is managed well and the downforce will not be disturbed.

looks like Sergio Perez will head back out in a short time. He said

yesterday he has buried the hatchet with Jenson Button. They sat down

after their episode in Bahrain, it was great entertainment for the

neutral. But not exactly what a team wants to have. The front wing

puncturing Jenson Button's rear tyre, or at least that was what

should have happened, but somehow it did not. They will still race, but

they will give each other more room. Sam Michael's heart rate must have

been bouncing off the limiter! they have been read the riot act.

For me, it was Sergio Perez and Jenson Button laid down their

marker. Very interesting. 24 minutes of the session remaining. Let's have

a look at the long runs we are seeing, what patterns can we see?

Who is managing the tyres well? What stories are we picking up? If you

look at the overall ranking, Sebastian Vettel is quickest, but in

his long run, he has been bouncing around, 29.5 come -- 29.5. At the

other end, Romain Grosjean, 18th quickest overall, but his long run

is very quick. The Lotus really seems to be hooked up. But we have

seen that a queue times before, it is in qualifying where they

struggle. They need to have a bit more front end. The flip side,

Mercedes are struggling. The rear tyre degradation seems to be the

issue. Looks like the tyres are working hard but they have dropped

off. That says to me that they will be quick in qualifying but their

woes of tyre wear are not fixed. RADIO: Look after the left-hand side

tyres. Nico Rosberg being told to look after the tyres. Mercedes will

have to work on that, as it will have relevance for next year. You

will have to manage your tyre wear in a different way. Mercedes will

have to work on that to get on top of it. Not just for the rest of this

year, but for next year as well. It is also driving styles. They do not

have traction control any more. The tyres are quick to lose rip and

traction, so do need to have the delicate touch. And a bit on the

steering. That is something that the drivers have to chew their style to

a bit, and it will suit some more than others. We have had the

analysis of the long runs, I do not know if Gary Anderson can hear us?

Give us your view of the picture we have seen so far, with 22 minutes

remaining. You have got Red Bull and Ferrari, Kimi Raikkonen is always

very quick when it comes to putting in the lap and getting a good grid

position. But if anything, Lotus need more performance in qualifying

to get right up at the front. Instead of playing catch up. In the

testing in the winter, the Lotus had the long run pace. RADIO: Fernando

lifted to safety tyres. Yes, looking at the tyres, when the rear tyre

starts to go away, it is a nightmare for the driver, because as it starts

to oversteer, it gets worse and worse. If you can get yourself

through the third corner, it is very quick, it is easy to run out wide,

because you are right on the line. That is one corner that you have got

to look after your tyres and keep them underneath you. But the Lotus

makes very good long runs. RADIO: That is right. I did like your

statement, saying it is a nightmare. When you have lost the rear tyre, it

is a real nightmare, the car is inconsistent, and you have got to go

on and off the throttle. They are taking it back from the limit so

they can conserve the tyre. In terms of the updates everybody has

wrought, Gary, these kits in many places of the product of ten or 12

weeks of research and development work, everybody is looking for

tenths of a second. What looks like it is working well? Again, it is

difficult to know, because ten kilograms of fuel makes a difference

around here. It is difficult. Until push comes to shove in qualifying,

we cannot guess at it. It does not look like the McLaren modifications

are exciting, but they have got the front wing package, so I suspect

somebody will try to run it before the end of the session. When I spoke

to some Michael, he said, we were not sure whether we would race it

yet. But if it enhances performance, if it on the car. I will let you

know if it goes on. A Force India has stopped, it is Paul di Resta.

Will he do a practice start? No, he is on the grass. His left rear tyre

has lost the middle part of the tread, very similar to what we saw

with Lewis Hamilton in Bahrain. It has lost the centre of tread. You

can see the carcass of it. Gary, it has the laminated the central part

of the left rear tyre will stop it is a medium compound tyre, the same

one that Lewis Hamilton was using in Bahrain. A cumulus problem. What do

you think? Yes, I can see it. You can see the weave of the tyre, the

rubber belt has come off it. Through the third corner, that is the last

thing you want to happen. 20 minutes to go, parking it up is the best

thing to do, because it is easy... We can see part of the tyre on the

straight. It is easy to damage the bodywork. Pirelli have to look at

that tonight, because if you have a problem with the bonding agent...

You can see it has completely gone. That has been a problem. We are at

normal temperatures, this is normal European temperature. We saw it

earlier in the season, they will have to look at this, this is once

too often. Do you think this is due to the track temperature or just the

load that goes through it, creating temperature? RADIO: The rear left

Tyler. Should I stop or continue? Stop, please, Paul. GARY: We have

seen the problem at a range of temperatures. It is the cornering

and braking forces that is searing the bonding agent. These tyres, you

make the carcass, you put a sidewall rubber on and you put a round cheap

of rubber on, and it is bonded onto the metal carcass. It is the sheer

load that goes between the rubber and the carcass of the tyre. The

tyres are outperforming the blue. It is interesting, because it is the

tyre that most people are on. Everybody else has been doing long

runs on the medium. It is strange that it has happened to Force India.

Is there any particular reason? could be the look of the draw. It is

definitely the belt that has come. Paul had done only six laps on

that, Grosjean still running competitive after ten. It is not as

if Paul is heavy on the left foot, he was able to conserve his tyres in

Bahrain. So it looks like the tyre has failed. So you think, Gary

Anderson, a manufacturing issue of a particular tyre? Yes, we saw with

Lewis Hamilton and then a little bit of it with Felipe Massa, the reality

of it is I think that it is so random that it is more about quality

control than a complete tyre issue. But obviously, when anything like

that fails, even only one out of a hundred, it is a bit near the mark,

you need a higher safety margin. These cars are designed, the

suspension components, you look at your data get the maximum load of

the wishbone during the working life, and then you multiply by a

factor. If you want to be risky, multiplied by 1.1, you have a 10%

safety cushion. If you want to play at safe, multiply it by 1.5, but you

end up with a heavier components, albeit stronger. Fox's lap, please,

please confirm. -- box this lap. is a bit too close to the mark, but

the lateral performance of these tyres can outdo the glue between the

carcass of the tyre and the tread, the sheer force can brake the glue.

If you put enough weight on it, you will brake the glue. You have to get

a better glue. When you looked at it there, it was looking at the last

corner, quite fortunate that he was straightening the wheel when it

started to go, it was not as if he was at the most loaded point, where

he might have gone off backwards. Very fortunate way did have the

problem. 14 minutes of this practice session remaining as the Lotus comes

into the pits of Romain Grosjean, Kimi Raikkonen also there. A new set

of tyres, going on to the harder compound tyre there and back out

again. A synchronised pit stop for the two Lotus cars. And back out

they go, with Raikkonen first. You can tell his car, the black camera

on top, and Grosjean has the green on board camera over the top of the

airbox. Let's catch up with Gary Anderson again at McLaren. Just

looking at the new front wing, they have not got it on the car yet, but

it is sitting in the pitlane. You can see this part of the endplate is

different, only one intake, the older wing has to. -- two. This is

about getting better airplay to the back of the car to get more

consistent downpours out of the back of the car. It is getting hidden at

the minute, but that is OK. They have got six, seven elements in that

area, carrying a very large main element, and when ever that so is

ever low separation problems, a big percentage of downforce is lost, but

we will see. A reasonable crowd here for a Friday, enjoying the

sunshine, 20 degrees is the air temperature. It has been stable

throughout the course of this 90 minute session, so the teams have

been able to get some useful information. Big black clouds behind

us. Luckily for us, they are in the opposite direction to the way the

wind is blowing, so with a bit of luck, Allan McNish and I will not

get wet on the way back to the paddock after this practice session,

hopefully we will still have dry socks for the rest of the afternoon.

There has been rain in the area, no doubt about it, raining hard just

before the first practice. Lewis, a system to others,

degradation similar. If we can hold 32s, that would be good. Lewis

Hamilton being told what sort of pace they are looking for from him,

laps around the 1:32 range. He is on the medium compound tyre. I have got

to say, the pace may be similar, but the degradation is higher than the

others. He is dropping off by a second or a half. Gone back to

Vettel, he was running similar times to what he started with, so right

now I think it is definitely the interpretation of things, you should

say. It looks like Mercedes are slightly harder on the tyre, still,

particularly the medium compound, which is what they will stop the

Grand Prix on, because it is likely to be the qualifying tyre. The rules

for the top ten are that you have to start the race on the tyre with

which they qualify. When we talk about degradation, we're not talking

about the way the tyre is falling apart or wearing. Degradation is the

degradation in lap times, the loss of performance from lap to lap in

in the Force India. Massa trying to go around the outside, by the looks

of things, he knew he was there, didn't he? He was looking across.

For sure, Sutil has run a bit wide, but he is in front, they are trying

to duke it out as they go through the long turn three. Massa decides

it is probably better in this practice session to lift off and

calm things down again. If you are just joining us, we have had a spin

for Lewis Hamilton early on, but he was able to recover. Tremendous

competition at the front with three cars separated by hundredths of a

second. Vettel, Alonso and Webber, two red Bulls and a Ferrari - that

is the shape of things going into the Spanish Grand Prix weekend. Ten

minutes of this session remaining, Alonso is on another long lap now,

we are in that phase, everyone preparing for Sunday's race getting

as much information as they can. A lot of new parts have been tested

this afternoon. And one of those that is going to be tested out,

apparently, is McLaren are putting on their new nose, so we will get

some information from Gary about the performance of that later. They

is no sign of the tyre going off, then they cut the radio. He did not

tell him what to do, keep pushing harder, that is the final part of

the sentence. Going back to McLaren, they definitely need that

upgrade to work, the front wing, to make the rest of the system work in

better harmony than what it is now. better harmony than what it is now.

You have to say that and Perez, in Force India are concerned, they look

competitive once again. Paul di Resta is no longer taking part in

the session - he had a rear tyre delaminate it, a scary moments that

Pirelli will want to take a look at. We can touch on that, what procedure

will happen from now on in terms of analysis of why that problem

happened? We are too slow at this stage. That is Hulkenberg saying he

is too slow. I think we could have told him that, looking at the

numbers! Rubens Barrichello, the former Formula One driver, back into

the paddock. Pirelli, as they did with the tyres that had the

problems, they will get it back to the factory in Milan, where they can

do in-depth testing very quickly. Then they will make a decision. It

depends if it is the same sort of problem as they had in Bahrain or

something different. The new nose going on the McLaren. Sergio Perez.

Some sort of hold of there, uncertainty at the back, they need

to lift up to get the stand underneath the car, just to get it

out. Perez out on circuit. Slightly messy from McLaren, but not a normal

clockwork operation, but Perez is out on circuit. Once again, running

deep into turn ten, still a strong tail wind. Not as strong as before,

it has trotted off again, but we saw quite a few cars running deep into

turn ten because the wind, a head wind down the pit straight, is a

tailwind for the cars going into turn ten. If we have that tomorrow,

it will be very interesting in qualifying. It is not an easy thing

to master. And there are quite a lot of changes of camber into the apex,

so you need to have a confident rear so that you can be aggressive with

the car, then the front suddenly looks up, use the camber to flick it

off the hill towards Campsa. It is a tricky section, but you need the

rear stability. Into the closing stages of free practice demerit to,

there is still an hour tomorrow morning in which they can fine tune

the cars. -- free practice 2. Then it is quali and the race, the

competitive parts of the Grand Prix weekend, so the pressure begins to

mount more and more. This is a research exercise on a Friday

afternoon to see where you are, get as many laps as you can. We have

seen quite a lot of marbles from the tyres, pieces of rubber that she off

the surface of the tyre and just lie there like marbles, literally, and

they are very slippery when they are combined with bits of oil and dust

on the outside of the circuit. They make it quite difficult to go

offline to overtake, and you can see that the tyres on this first day

here in Barcelona, they are getting chewed up quite a bit, quite a lot

of marbles for a Friday afternoon. And come the race, they are usually

a good indication of how hard the circuit is on the tyre, the length

of the corners, because the tyre work significantly harder in the

corners than on the straights. The trick is keeping off them and

keeping your tyres clean, because once you get those marbles onto the

servers of your tyre, it is like driving on ice. You have to get

loaded again, get the tyre fresh and working by itself on the track.

was a good luck on our monitors at the new front wing on the McLaren in

action. Meanwhile, the inside shoulder of the left front tyre of

Sergio Perez's McLaren looking very warm. And that is the part that gets

all of the work through turns three and nine, and we have already heard

some drivers being told to lift off and be gentle through those corners.

If you do not, you overwork it, and they do not look nice when you see

it like that. Just under five minutes remaining, Romain Grosjean,

as he did in the preseason testing, looking very quick indeed on the

long runs. That was the standout run of the winding testing, the one that

Grosjean did here, is called the attention of all the engineers and

the people who knew what they were looking at from the times, and it

would appear that they have come here with a very good race car. We

are gay continue running. It sounded a bit like Kimi Raikkonen talking to

him! That was Romain Grosjean being told that the tyres are getting worn

but he has okayed to continue running. How many laps has he done?

Still in 18th place you might look at the lap times and say it has not

been a great day for him, but when you look at the work he has been

doing in preparation for the Grand Prix, it has been a great day.

debt he was the standout in pre-season testing, it was the

standout long run today as well. -- you said. The Lotus drivers look

quite comfortable, confident in the car. The key for them is to make

sure that they are on the front row if they can, and then they can use

that advantage. If they are behind, they have to fight through, and that

is much harder. It looks like the top six or seven cars are quicker,

there is quite a gap between them and the Force India and everybody

else. It depends what McLaren can pull out of the bag in qualifying,

but Lotus look like they are capable of getting on the front three rows

of the grid, maybe even getting one car onto the second row. Raikkonen

is fourth fastest, just a couple of tenths slower than the Red Bull and

the Ferrari. It would appear the Lotus is quick enough on single lap

pace, and looking at Grosjean, without doubt, it is the fastest and

most consistent race car. And it will be a decision on Sunday between

two and three stops, how you do this race, whether perhaps you save a set

of new tyres for the Grand Prix on Sunday, and maybe we will see some

interesting strategy coming into play. It looks to me like we have

got three competitive teams going into this Grand Prix in the form of

Red Bull, Ferrari and Lotus, in different ways going about their

business. I have to say the Force Indias are not as far away as it

appears on lap times, ultimate pace. Sutil's long run has been pretty

good as well, and they seem to have been able to continue some of their

upturn in performance that they had in Bahrain. Paul di Resta stopping

after six laps with a tyres you, that is going to get them scratching

their head a little bit, but I do not think it will affect them too

much. -- a tyre issue. Just a minute and a half remaining to grab a few

last-minute laps, and any last-minute data you possibly can.

McLaren are trying to find out more about their new front wing package.

Some drivers are pushing their tyres to the limit to see how long they

will actually lasted over the course of a Grand Prix. Felipe Massa out

through the long term three, eight seconds of 4G laterally on his neck,

straining the muscles down the left-hand side of his neck. He is

closing up on the back of the McLaren of Sergio Perez as he goes

through turn five and then through the curve at six, looking to pass

the Mexican driver through turn seven, 90 mph through that

left-hander going up the hill towards the 160 mph turn nine. He is

learning how the Ferrari de Aves in the slipstream of another car, and

now he is going to use his DRS went to slide up alongside and passed the

McLaren into that 80 mph left-hander, turn ten, through 11

and 12, where they have to wait, wait, wait before putting the

throttle back on, as we found out earlier with Vettel, it felt like an

eternity before he could put the power back down again. Through 13,

40 now into the cookie cutter corners at the end of the lap, added

a few years ago. It used to be straight downhill when you were

racing here in the Toyota, straight down the hill them. Turn 16, the

final corner, 160 BH, down the straight, Massa crosses the line,

not a bad crowd for a Friday, plenty of Spanish support. You could have

bought a ticket of race day for the Spanish Grand Prix when I started

back in 1990, no problems at all. Now, if you had not bought them by

Christmas, you are stuffed! Spanish do like the fact they have

got a man at the front. We saw Felipe Massa going round, he is

quick, and it seems to be suiting him well, with the times that are

consistent and pretty fast. interesting picture emerging. If

Gary is still with us, maybe we can get his thoughts on what we have

seen this afternoon. Sebastian Vettel from Fernando Alonso and Mark

Webber. The top three. Kimi Raikkonen fourth, so good pace from

him. RADIO: Current pace this target. Lewis Hamilton, he was told

earlier on to stick around the one minute 31, 32 range. That is what he

has been doing. We will have to look at the performances, but the

snapshot of what we have seen is pretty competitive. Red Bull,

Ferrari, in terms of your pace. Kimi Raikkonen and Lotus not far away.

The Ferrari looks to be good on both sets of tyres, that is important.

The man we are writing with, Fernando Alonso, he was quick on the

harder of the tyres. He was very consistent. They have got a good car

in every situation. It is the runners and riders at the front, we

will see Mercedes having to take out some performance in qualifying, even

if it sacrifices some of the race, because otherwise they will struggle

with degradation. If everybody knew how to do that, they would have it.

It is always a compromise. You can go for an end of the spectrum or for

top 12. Paul di Resta had to stop with what looks like a laminated

left rear tyre. There will be some questions about that. Sergio Perez

outside the top 12, we will question the effectiveness of their

upgrades, McLaren. Williams and Sauber in their own personal battle

in midfield. Romain Grosjean does not look good in the classification,

but he was good in the long runs. He is a big talking point. The bragging

rights for the new teams at the back, caterer of Marussia, but only

by just over .1 seconds. Charles Pic not finding the speed today, he was

slower than Giedo van der Garde. It is not a problem that kept him in

the garage. Max Chilton rounding out the top 22. One minute 26.9, four

seconds slower than the benchmark time by Sebastian Vettel. You are

going to have a fewer engineers taking the data that they had. They

lost this morning, so they have tried to concertina today's time

into this afternoon. They will be looking at that to make sure they

will make the right decision tomorrow. Some of them will get it

right, some of them will not. This man has got confidence, he is going

to his fans. Listen. They adore him. Will they be able to lift him?

sure, they will try, they will make as much noise as they can. He feeds

off it, he is right there, and he is competitive, in competition with Red

Bull. The reigning world champion ends up at the top of the timesheet,

but it will be a competitive weekend. The third practice coming

up tomorrow, and then qualifying and the race. What we have seen so far

has whetted our appetite for this Spanish Grand Prix. Can Lewis

Hamilton find more performance? It has been a fascinating session, and

we will see you tomorrow. Yes, it is extremely busy. The top

four teams have done enough work? I think so. They have to try the

softer tyre ahead of qualifying. They do that just before three

o'clock and then top up the fuel to see what will happen before the

race. There will be a lot of data tonight to understand. It was good

weather for that session. It was good that the weather held out, as

the temperature dropped. Ten minutes ago, you felt the wind biting, which

makes a difference. Yes, the wind is difficult, because it depends on

what direction it comes from. It always hurts the rear tyre. If the

wind is changing on the third corner, it makes the car difficult

to drive. You have to get on with it and try to find out what the best

set-up is. Let's look at the one incident, Paul di Resta and the tyre

which seems to be a theme so far this year. We saw something similar

with Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa. Is this happening too often?

Yes, but we have only seen it twice, so the quality control is a

bit suspect. They have had two or 300 samples of the running, they

have analysed it at the factory, but they will have to do some work

tonight, because that corner is horrible on the left rear tyre, and

that is the one that failed. The glue is not strong enough. Pirelli

have said they will not comment until they have had a look and

assessed what has happened. They are using the curbs a lot, but they do

everywhere, so this has got to be able to withstand this kind of

performance. Yes, Lewis Hamilton was at high temperatures. But here, it

is not, it is normal European temperatures, even cooler. They can

test it with ultrasound. The tyres have got to go back to Pirelli

tonight. They will see if there is any bee lamination between the

rubber and the carcass, and they will cut them open to see it. It is

internal blistering, the rubber separates in and it builds up heat

and separates even more. They will try to identify where the problem

arrived from. A lot of sleepless nights for the Pirelli staff.

difficult times for them, they are under the spotlight, and we talked

earlier about the fact that the teams did not want the extra tyre.

Would you surprised at that? It is a bit strange. They talk about testing

restrictions, but for Pirelli it is even harder, they have to decide

which tyres to come with, and they want to look outside the box with

developments, but they cannot bring 50, 60 sets of tyres. They want to

bring things with different characteristics to do research for

the future, so the teams were short-sighted. Watching some of the

highlights of the session, the crowd loving Fernando Alonso. He said

something interesting this weekend. He thinks perhaps you do not have to

be on the front row to win, but the statistics sake you do. What does he

know? At the end of the day, the tyres are a problem, you have got to

manage them. If you look after them, you can handle it, but you do not

want to be much further back than fourth place. I am sure the winner

will come from the first two rows. Fernando Alonso wants to be on pole

position and win the race. He is letting the other teams think he

will lie down a bit tomorrow, but he wants the crowd to see him sitting

on pole position. He was livid after Bahrain, he felt he had been let

down by his team, because there have been two incidents that have been

the fault of the team, audibly. He is after the championship. Can he

win tomorrow? Sunday? I think so. The car is good. Those two suspect

phrases, he understands it was not the performance, it was issues that

caused it. He can live with that. Whenever you add the points up at

the end of the season, the person with the most points wins the

championship, so he needs to make sure he gets as many points as

possible now. Ferrari cannot afford any more mistakes, but if Fernando

Alonso has a car that lasts, he can win this race. Having the home

advantage, he still has to be Sebastian Vettel. He was faultless

today. Yes, Red Bull is strong. Sebastian Vettel has never had pole

position here. This is regarded as a Red Bull track. Cars with good

aerodynamics perform well here. For a few years, Red Bull dominated this

track, but Sebastian Vettel did not make it to pole position. So he

would love to be in pole position with Fernando Alonso second.

Tomorrow afternoon will be a fantastic battle. Behind us,

preparations going on, because the GP to session is happening just

after. We need to stay out of the way. Mark Webber, to pole positions

here, the competition between him and Sebastian Vettel continues, no

love lost, they have never really liked each other, but it is

fascinating to watch. The first guy you have got to beat is your

team-mate, they know that. Sebastian Vettel seems to be able to find it,

Mark Webber is always quick here, he likes this track, so if you blink,

you lose a 10th of a second, which could be enough. It will be a great

battle in qualifying, and hopefully the weather stays good and we see

the battle in the last five minutes of qualifying. That split-2nd costs

millions of pounds of research and develop meant and everything.

Tomorrow, we have got the free practice in the morning, and in

qualifying in the afternoon, who do you think for the front row? I think

it will be Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso. They are fighting

so hard for the next championship. Sebastian Vettel will never get the

chance again to win four in a row, and Fernando Alonso is going for his