:00:18. > :01:14.Track temperature still at 51 degrees in the sultry heat and
:01:15. > :01:23.humidity of Malaysian. It's going to be a roasting start, lights out,
:01:24. > :01:29.good start from Hamilton, Vettel squeezes Rosberg against the pit
:01:30. > :01:38.wall. Ferrari has got a problem. Lewis, two tenths faster last lap.
:01:39. > :01:44.This is great stuff! We are going to turn it down a little bit. A shake
:01:45. > :01:51.of the head, what has happened? It goes from bad to worse, Ricciardo
:01:52. > :01:59.limping. OK, he is racing faster than you. Overtake him, you are
:02:00. > :02:04.faster than Massa, overtake him. Massa not interested in listening to
:02:05. > :02:07.that team instruction. Lewis Hamilton wins in Malaysia,
:02:08. > :02:12.congratulations to a team that has come into the team better prepared
:02:13. > :02:18.than any other team out there. Well, that is certainly true, two
:02:19. > :02:22.wins from two races, one for each driver. This week, it is the tenth
:02:23. > :02:27.anniversary of F1 racing in Bahrain, and as the sunsets in the desert, we
:02:28. > :02:32.will be under lights for the first time, 5000 of them. Thanks very much
:02:33. > :02:36.for tuning into our highlights of the Bahrain Formula One Grand Prix.
:02:37. > :02:38.This is round three of 19 events, the paddock will make a return to
:02:39. > :03:03.Austria in June.... David Coulthard, welcome to a balmy
:03:04. > :03:07.evening in the desert as we wait for darkness to fall, how does it change
:03:08. > :03:11.things for the drivers? Actually, it makes things easier, because
:03:12. > :03:17.temperature is the biggest enemy for racing drivers in the car, it is bad
:03:18. > :03:21.for your tyres, your brakes and the efficiency of the engine. For all of
:03:22. > :03:26.those reasons, they enjoy the cooler temperatures. It is great for the
:03:27. > :03:31.fans as well, you have got clear visors, you can see the race face,
:03:32. > :03:37.the concentration. Or not, as the case may be! Long straights,
:03:38. > :03:41.heartbreaking, who will it suit? It is all about Mercedes, they have
:03:42. > :03:45.stolen a march with the new regulations, they have an advantage
:03:46. > :03:50.over the other runners, McLaren, Williams and Force India, but it is
:03:51. > :03:55.all going to be about Mercedes powered cars this weekend. Turn four
:03:56. > :04:01.was changed overnight because of this incident with Pastor Maldonado
:04:02. > :04:06.in free practice 2. You can see the orange curve, and as he ran wide, he
:04:07. > :04:09.was launched up into the air and pulled a wheelie. That has been
:04:10. > :04:13.removed and we will not be seeing any more of it this weekend. We
:04:14. > :04:18.probably will not see any more of the Lotus either. As you know,
:04:19. > :04:24.Michael Schumacher is still fighting for his life in a coma after the
:04:25. > :04:29.skiing accident three months ago, everyone thinking about him here and
:04:30. > :04:34.you can see signs on the track, this is turn one, which has been named
:04:35. > :04:38.after Michael Schumacher. Years a friend of the country, he won the
:04:39. > :04:46.first Grand Prix ten years ago, a fantastic gesture. We offer the
:04:47. > :05:02.first good news from a long time from his manager, Sabine Kehm.
:05:03. > :05:09.It is those moments of consciousness and awakening that we felt was quite
:05:10. > :05:12.exciting. It is fantastic news, they have played their cards very close
:05:13. > :05:17.to their chest in terms of giving information to the public, but it is
:05:18. > :05:22.significant they are starting to see signs of recovery, and we send our
:05:23. > :05:26.best to his family. Let's catch up with Lee and Lewis, she saw him on
:05:27. > :05:34.Thursday to talk about his second year with the silver arrows.
:05:35. > :05:40.I would like to think that, in Bahrain, we will improve a little
:05:41. > :05:43.bit. I could never have trained that it would be such a good thing coming
:05:44. > :05:52.to this team. Everything came together. No-one had an answer for
:05:53. > :05:54.Lewis Hamilton today. Are you surprised at the commanding
:05:55. > :05:58.performance you were able to put in? Yeah, the cool thing about
:05:59. > :06:02.raising is that it is different every weekend and you cannot predict
:06:03. > :06:07.what was going to happen. Nico was a little bit quicker last weekend, but
:06:08. > :06:11.I went away and studied under Saul where I was weaker, and I applied it
:06:12. > :06:16.on the next day, and it worked. And it doesn't always happen that way!
:06:17. > :06:20.You have said you feel this is the best F1 car that you have ever
:06:21. > :06:24.driven, when did you realise that? This year I am a lot more
:06:25. > :06:30.comfortable in the car, it is one I can call my own. Last year, we had
:06:31. > :06:34.trouble all year. But we spent a lot of time in the winter really pushing
:06:35. > :06:40.the guys to change certain things, to make it feel right. It wasn't
:06:41. > :06:44.until the first race that it actually felt right. It took all the
:06:45. > :06:48.test sessions, and I could never have dreams that it would be such a
:06:49. > :06:55.good thing, coming to this team. I could never have hoped or imagined I
:06:56. > :06:59.would be as happy as I am here. 2008 Formula One world champion Lewis
:07:00. > :07:03.Hamilton! How different you think you are to the Lewis who won the
:07:04. > :07:09.championship? I feel like now I am much more
:07:10. > :07:13.comfortable in my own skin. I am 29 now, I am on May eight year of
:07:14. > :07:18.Formula One. It is crazy to think that so many years have gone by. --
:07:19. > :07:22.my eighth year. I would like to think I have met you do a little
:07:23. > :07:29.bit, hopefully it will only get better and I will only mature more.
:07:30. > :07:33.It is a fine line! Hopefully, yeah! I think, generally, the ups and
:07:34. > :07:38.downs I have had, I am hoping I have learned from all of those and I am
:07:39. > :07:42.just generally feeling in a better place this year. Out and out, I am
:07:43. > :07:50.still a racer, and I love the wheel to wheel racing, racing on a single
:07:51. > :07:58.lap, it is so much fun. Did I do enough? That is P1.
:07:59. > :08:02.Were you always focused on 2014? A lot of people said that was when
:08:03. > :08:06.Mercedes would come into their own. That is the exact reason I came
:08:07. > :08:12.here, that belief that I was given. We had such a great year last year,
:08:13. > :08:18.still able to compete and perform, and this year, who would have
:08:19. > :08:24.imagined we would be so competitive? Who do you think, at this date, your
:08:25. > :08:28.main rivals are? Naturally, your team-mate is your biggest rival in
:08:29. > :08:33.the same car, particularly when you have got a good car, he has the same
:08:34. > :08:40.as you have. Does he see your data from Sunday? Is that how it works?
:08:41. > :08:45.It is incredible, they give you some info, and what happens is there is
:08:46. > :08:49.tonnes of data drawn from the car, and you come to the next race, and
:08:50. > :08:53.whatever advantage you may have out in the previous one, your team-mate
:08:54. > :08:57.is able to understand what that is. So every weekend, if you are in the
:08:58. > :09:08.lead, you have got to keep moving forward, which is really hard to do.
:09:09. > :09:12.Or some race, Lewis, awesome race! It is a special feeling when you go
:09:13. > :09:15.to a track like Malaysia where I have never won, to think there are
:09:16. > :09:20.still races where I have not won, so the great thing is that I have still
:09:21. > :09:23.got challenges ahead of me. Interesting that he was excited
:09:24. > :09:28.about the win in Malaysia, he still has five tracks to Congo, two
:09:29. > :09:34.brand-new, but Brazil, Barcelona and here is. -- Congo. He has got the
:09:35. > :09:39.package and the skills, but it is not just about wins, he wants wins,
:09:40. > :09:45.but he wants to take every box, he wants to know that he is the man who
:09:46. > :09:47.can conquer every season challenge. This is how the championship looks
:09:48. > :09:57.after two races. These are subject to the court
:09:58. > :09:59.hearing over Ricciardo's this qualification in Melbourne. -- this
:10:00. > :10:25.qualification. We have grown, two have become
:10:26. > :10:30.three, we welcome Allan McNish, after two rounds, what can we
:10:31. > :10:34.conclude from the championship apart from the fact that Mercedes are very
:10:35. > :10:38.good? They are dominant, but it is not just about the team, it is about
:10:39. > :10:42.the engines, and we have put together a graphic to explain a bit
:10:43. > :10:46.more about it. This is from the Bahrain Grand Prix, free practice
:10:47. > :10:54.this afternoon. It is the maximum speed at the end of the straight.
:10:55. > :11:01.There are a couple of Renault teams up there, Toro Rosso and Caterham,
:11:02. > :11:04.but they do not have the downforce, so they are punching above their
:11:05. > :11:09.weight on the straight line speeds. The majority of Mercedes runners are
:11:10. > :11:13.at the top. This graphic will show a small detail, this is at the
:11:14. > :11:19.start-finish line, the acceleration out of the slow last corner, and it
:11:20. > :11:23.is very clear, Mercedes, Mercedes, Mercedes. The difference is quite
:11:24. > :11:26.dramatic. And that extra speed they carry from the beginning of the
:11:27. > :11:34.straights they will carry all the way down. What does it mean for this
:11:35. > :11:37.particular circuit? We will see the racetrack as red points, braking and
:11:38. > :11:41.cornering. The green is where we are flat out, so it is very much an
:11:42. > :11:47.acceleration and straight-line speed circuit. In my opinion, it is going
:11:48. > :11:50.to be a Mercedes dominated track. However, it is going to be pretty
:11:51. > :11:55.tough for the others to catch up, and they will have to do it one way
:11:56. > :11:58.or the other. A difficult day for Sebastian Vettel, an unusual
:11:59. > :12:05.incident we saw just a couple of hours ago in free practice 3. This
:12:06. > :12:11.is down into turn one, he manages to do the apex no problem, turn 2, he
:12:12. > :12:15.has some oversteer, runs onto the kerb, and with the amount of torque
:12:16. > :12:19.these engines are developing, this is one of their key difficulties
:12:20. > :12:23.with the Renault power plant. It is inconsistent, and it is catching
:12:24. > :12:27.them out. We have never seen Sebastian Vettel spin like that, and
:12:28. > :12:31.I do not recall another racing car in that gravel. Fascinating stuff,
:12:32. > :12:36.hard work for Red Bull in between that session and qualifying. It may
:12:37. > :12:38.have only been a week since the last race, but there is plenty to talk
:12:39. > :12:46.about. There was a sense of deja vu in
:12:47. > :12:51.Malaysia with this radio message over the airwaves. OK, Felipe,
:12:52. > :12:58.Valtteri is faster than you, do not hold him up. We heard something
:12:59. > :13:03.similar before at Hockenheim in 2010. So Fernando is faster than
:13:04. > :13:11.you. Can you confirm you understood that message? That was the voice of
:13:12. > :13:14.Rob Smedley, who finally joined Williams this weekend as their head
:13:15. > :13:17.of vehicle performance. The difference at sea bang was that
:13:18. > :13:25.Felipe refused to play ball. One way gone, he is adamant he did the right
:13:26. > :13:30.thing. Another situation like this, I am always ready to do the best I
:13:31. > :13:36.can for the team, the best I can for myself as well. So for sure, it was
:13:37. > :13:43.not the right call, definitely, but I would say everybody knows 100% now
:13:44. > :13:48.as well, and I do not think it will happen again. Fernando Alonso has
:13:49. > :13:51.won this race three times, more than any other current driver, but a
:13:52. > :13:56.repeat performance is unlikely this weekend as the pressure starts to
:13:57. > :14:02.build at Ferrari. Obviously I worry, you know, even if we have a
:14:03. > :14:06.difficult preseason, we knew that Red Bull was the favourite anyway,
:14:07. > :14:12.because they saw great potential last year. In two weeks, they solve
:14:13. > :14:17.all their problems, so we need to do the same. You have to wonder how
:14:18. > :14:21.many ladders Daniel Ricciardo has walked and in recent weeks. After
:14:22. > :14:25.two impressive drives, he still has no points, and after the pitch rock
:14:26. > :14:30.drummers he has an unusual request for his crew this weekend. -- pit
:14:31. > :14:35.stop dramas. The team have the quickest pit stop in history, so it
:14:36. > :14:41.could be a case of just, instead of being 100%, taper it off to 98%,
:14:42. > :14:48.just keep it going, and the time loss will be minimal compared to
:14:49. > :14:52.what we saw. Has Formula one taken the right road with the 2014 rules?
:14:53. > :14:56.That is a question being asked by the Formula one bosses at a summit
:14:57. > :15:04.this weekend. It is one that the tech boss has some strong views on.
:15:05. > :15:10.We have gone down this route of making the sport road relevant.
:15:11. > :15:18.Efficiency and simplicity am I like that. These revelations have credit
:15:19. > :15:22.cards that are exceptionally, dated. -- complicated. It'd bring
:15:23. > :15:26.something, that is fantastic but I believe that should be debated.
:15:27. > :15:28.There will be those who believe that is just sour grapes but it is Adrian
:15:29. > :15:33.There will be those who believe that is just sour grapes but it Newey,
:15:34. > :15:36.and that is how he feels. Think you are right. He is an original thinker
:15:37. > :15:41.and that is what we have seen in his designs over the years. Think is
:15:42. > :15:45.heartfelt and genuine and to be fair, he said something similar to
:15:46. > :15:49.ask at the Belgian Grand Prix last year when he was expressing doubts
:15:50. > :15:55.about the new revelations. So it is genuine and it raises some good
:15:56. > :16:02.points map but let's celebrate Formula one, which is fantastic this
:16:03. > :16:07.year. Let's wait to see what happens with the Red Bulls story. Moving
:16:08. > :16:14.forward to qualifying, what have you got for us? First of all, Sebastian
:16:15. > :16:17.Vettel, the guys have been taking the gravel out of his car after his
:16:18. > :16:21.shunt this morning, after that spin. This is a huge moment for him
:16:22. > :16:27.because he has not done a light run at all around this racetrack. He is
:16:28. > :16:30.going in blind and he cannot rely on his team-mate because Daniel
:16:31. > :16:38.Ricciardo will get a penalty tomorrow. It is a big session for
:16:39. > :16:40.Sebastian Vettel. Fantastic. David and then in the commentary box. Here
:16:41. > :17:01.is Q1. -- then. And always has light in the darkness
:17:02. > :17:06.of the desert. Qualifying begins on the 3.3 mile, 5.4 colour matter
:17:07. > :17:12.trek. Lewis Hamilton has never won here and he has never been on pole
:17:13. > :17:17.position. -- kilometre. His best position was second place. And in
:17:18. > :17:22.2012, he lined up on the front row. He finished second in the past, but
:17:23. > :17:25.in Malaysia, we know he was able to take his first win on that track,
:17:26. > :17:33.and he is hoping to do the same one week later on another track. So
:17:34. > :17:49.doctors around the lap. -- taught us. Turn to, building speed. It is a
:17:50. > :17:52.short apex but quite a one corner. Five is a kink before entering one
:17:53. > :18:00.of only two high-speed corners on this track. A nice corner, dropping
:18:01. > :18:07.downhill. Heavy on the brakes. A classic here then. The camera does
:18:08. > :18:14.not sure the rise over nine, having to brake as the car commonly locks
:18:15. > :18:22.up. It does not do a lot of damage to the inside tire. That front wheel
:18:23. > :18:28.is relatively unladen. Ten, a fast corner. And the speed grows through
:18:29. > :18:32.11. One of the best corners for the driver is through 12 in terms of a
:18:33. > :18:42.Yahoo moment. There are no theatres or grandstands. 13 is medium speed.
:18:43. > :18:46.And then already we are on the back straight towards the last turn.
:18:47. > :18:51.Linking 14 and 15 together. But really, it is one turn, a very short
:18:52. > :18:59.apex. You will hang out on the exit her. -- exit curb. 102 miles an hour
:19:00. > :19:08.because of the increased torque and reduced driver of the 2014 rules.
:19:09. > :19:17.Let's watch Daniel Ricciardo in turn 12. A fast corner. Turn 13. The
:19:18. > :19:26.right-hand side of the screen, the gear display shows the six. That
:19:27. > :19:38.would suggest he is looking at a one: 37 opening lap. It could be a
:19:39. > :19:44.36.7. 36.6. So he goes fastest for the moment. We can see on board than
:19:45. > :19:52.the engine is changing gear at about 12,000 revs. Popping it into eight
:19:53. > :19:59.dear towards turn 14. He would not necessarily expect that. Eriksson
:20:00. > :20:05.had a big lock-up. Look at that. Let's see what Fernando Alonso has
:20:06. > :20:11.been doing. That is a classic lock-up. What you're looking for,
:20:12. > :20:16.does the driver end up missing the apex if you inches is enough to
:20:17. > :20:26.really affected their ability to get on. As we have been talking earlier
:20:27. > :20:31.in the show, this is all very much a point circuit. The previous Grand
:20:32. > :20:44.Prix was cyst winning the corners. But this is about accelerating mass.
:20:45. > :20:47.If they can get away into the 36 the remark, they can save the soft tyres
:20:48. > :20:56.for later in this is qualifying session. I'm sure it is something
:20:57. > :20:58.that they will wish to do. We expect those drivers, Hamilton and
:20:59. > :21:03.Rosberg, to be fighting for pole position. Hamilton has taken two
:21:04. > :21:08.pole positions so far. However split times looking? Hamilton is slightly
:21:09. > :21:15.quicker. -- how hard the split times. There is no real concern
:21:16. > :21:25.about making it through into the next part of qualifying. 35.44 was
:21:26. > :21:35.broke and 35.34 Hamilton. -- 35.4 four Rosberg. RADIO: I am struggling
:21:36. > :21:41.with the front locking. Kevin Magnussen, he has been quite
:21:42. > :21:46.impressive so far. Ninth fastest this morning in the Toro Rosso.
:21:47. > :21:56.Currently he will have to go again. On board with Sebastian Vettel.
:21:57. > :22:00.Let's see how he gets on. Mentioning about struggling with the front
:22:01. > :22:06.locking, his options are to reduce the balance of the front axle. If
:22:07. > :22:11.you want to be annoying, you could tell him not to push the brake pedal
:22:12. > :22:17.so hard. Interesting listening to him on the radio. There are quite a
:22:18. > :22:23.few moments when he sends he sounds stressed. A lot to think about.
:22:24. > :22:30.Vettel goes the seventh fastest with that. What have you got for us? But
:22:31. > :22:38.notices went out on the soft tyre for this session. Everyone else did
:22:39. > :22:41.a medium run first. -- the notices. Lewis Hamilton, if you assumed he
:22:42. > :22:46.can go a couple of seconds quicker, it shows you how much that team is
:22:47. > :22:52.struggling. Romain Grosjean is currently sitting eighth. Lewis
:22:53. > :23:01.Hamilton, still fastest. Motors have been struggling this weekend. --
:23:02. > :23:03.Lotus. Adrian Sutil has been struggling against his team-mate.
:23:04. > :23:09.Let's see how he gets on the session. Gutierrez is only 17. It
:23:10. > :23:18.could be an interesting drop zone, maybe a chance to drag them out.
:23:19. > :23:22.Bianchi was also very quick. You might see some surprises in this
:23:23. > :23:30.drop zone. Don't expect it to be the standard two Marussias. We know that
:23:31. > :23:36.this card is overweight. Sauber have admitted as much. They are expecting
:23:37. > :23:43.to deliver a lightweight version in Europe. Sutil, he has had more of a
:23:44. > :23:45.disadvantage. That is one thing you can accurately model in Formula one,
:23:46. > :23:53.with so many commented aspects. Wheat is one that you can put an
:23:54. > :23:57.accurate handle on. -- weight. Ten kilograms is over three tenths of a
:23:58. > :24:08.second. It appears that that package is overweight. Gutierrez going
:24:09. > :24:11.quicker. This figure will still be in the ballpark. It will not be
:24:12. > :24:20.comfortable. We gather that Maldonado has had a bit of an off at
:24:21. > :24:24.turn four. Currently second-fastest. Rosberg does not need to do another
:24:25. > :24:32.lap. Maybe this would be useful for the team. A great opportunity to
:24:33. > :24:36.look at the dashboard in the darkness. They really show up very
:24:37. > :24:41.clearly. You have the gear indicator. Some of the dashboard is,
:24:42. > :24:45.on the Saubers, be sure the speed and then you can scroll through to
:24:46. > :24:48.another setting. It is down to the individual team as to whether they
:24:49. > :24:52.have a steering wheel mounted dashboard with that display, or in
:24:53. > :24:58.the case of the red Bull racing car, they still have the original
:24:59. > :25:03.design, a small dashboard that tells them the gear and lap time. They can
:25:04. > :25:08.call confirmation if they make an adjustment. Very little information
:25:09. > :25:14.on the student wheel. It is down to engineering choices. -- steering
:25:15. > :25:17.wheel. The information on the steering column, you have to be able
:25:18. > :25:20.to click that into place and send that message to the dashboard. How
:25:21. > :25:24.much weight do you want to be on there? Different engineering
:25:25. > :25:30.solutions to the same problem. The Williams are coming out. We expect
:25:31. > :25:34.them to be major challengers in this qualifying session. Potentially
:25:35. > :25:39.second row qualifiers. Let's see if they can deliver on that promise. We
:25:40. > :25:43.are currently waiting for a fewer drivers to come back on circuit and
:25:44. > :25:48.use the softer tyre. Mercedes look comfortable on the harder of the two
:25:49. > :25:54.tyres. Most others are likely to put the soft tyre on. Mercedes will have
:25:55. > :25:58.more tyres available to them. It will change for Kevin Magnussen,
:25:59. > :26:05.preparing to send him on his way. It is going to be tight. The Williams,
:26:06. > :26:08.we will expect them to move up out of the drop zone. That will put
:26:09. > :26:18.Perez and Bianchi into danger along with Vergne. Rob Smedley, who has
:26:19. > :26:22.moved to Williams from Ferrari. This is his first event with them. He
:26:23. > :26:30.looks very different in those colours. What have you got, Tom?
:26:31. > :26:34.Mercedes, looking confident. However, Sebastian Vettel has gone
:26:35. > :26:38.past on the soft tyre. That's not forget that in practice he did not
:26:39. > :26:44.get to do a soft tyre run because he had a spin at the second turn.
:26:45. > :26:48.Interesting to see his lap time now. And the fact that he is going on to
:26:49. > :26:52.the soft tyre shows you that Red Bull do not have the confidence that
:26:53. > :26:54.we have seen in the past. They have often managed to get through the
:26:55. > :26:59.first part of qualifying with harder tyres, Red Bull are not in that kind
:27:00. > :27:08.of shape. Bottas, it is good to watch. He has great car control.
:27:09. > :27:18.Working the talk of these hybrid power units. The first clips, pretty
:27:19. > :27:22.impressive. Have they got the speed in the middle part of the lap? It
:27:23. > :27:32.will drop back down. A tricky braking area. That is pretty tidy. A
:27:33. > :27:43.little bit of overseers through the apex but the car is light. --
:27:44. > :27:48.oversteer. No fuel samples needed at this stage in qualifying. Up through
:27:49. > :27:55.the fast right turn. Here comes, anchoring in for the 13th curtain. A
:27:56. > :27:58.bit of movement into the apex. It looks like he drifted into the apex
:27:59. > :28:05.which is nice to see but that will have cost and time. -- cost him
:28:06. > :28:09.time. It is looking good for him. He is fastest in the middle sector. On
:28:10. > :28:16.the soft tyre, compared to the Mercedes. He should be quicker. I
:28:17. > :28:18.think he is going to be. Bottas, fastest at the 234.9. In half an
:28:19. > :28:28.hour. Goodbye. 34.9. Comfortably into Q2. No risks being taken by
:28:29. > :28:30.Williams. It might have been a gamble but they have gone straight
:28:31. > :28:36.out and done one run on the soft tyre. Let's see how Hulkenberg
:28:37. > :28:40.compares. Is that on the pace? Absolutely. And here comes fully
:28:41. > :28:50.paymaster, only recently quick lap. He goes third, behind Hulkenberg. --
:28:51. > :28:56.Felipe Massa. Incredibly close between the Williams and Force
:28:57. > :29:02.Indias. All of the cars, different designs and drivers, but going
:29:03. > :29:07.around within a 10th of a second of each other. Short in terms of
:29:08. > :29:15.distances. Jenson Button, we can see him on his lap. Not as quick as the
:29:16. > :29:22.Williams or the Force Indias. Much was expected of McLaren in testing
:29:23. > :29:31.before the season began. This is his first run on his tyres. He is
:29:32. > :29:35.seventh, straightaway. 35.5, half a second slower than Felipe Massa,
:29:36. > :29:41.Bottas and Perez. And most of that is in the power unit. Given ion the
:29:42. > :29:46.Toro Rossos, because there was a danger that Red Bull could be shown
:29:47. > :29:51.up by their sister team. The Toro Rosso has been going quickly through
:29:52. > :29:57.practice. Vergne, on a lap, in comparison with 16th place... We
:29:58. > :30:01.will keep an eye on him. In the drop zone at the moment, Kimi Raikkonen,
:30:02. > :30:07.Bianchi, Vergne, Maldonado and Ericsson. But Raikkonen is on a lap
:30:08. > :30:20.that should see him improve. Vergne goes ninth. Not quite as quick as
:30:21. > :30:26.that but not far off. -- as Vettel. Leaving it very late with 40 seconds
:30:27. > :30:31.to go. It was as if he was powering back into turn 14, very quiet.
:30:32. > :30:34.Anyway, good enough to secure his place in the next part of
:30:35. > :30:46.qualifying. Kyvat has gone faster than Vettel again, a great lap
:30:47. > :30:53.bidirectional. What about the Lotus? We saw Alonso doing the same on his
:30:54. > :31:00.lap through turn nine? Romain Grosjean has a car and head, which
:31:01. > :31:05.does move out of the way. That could be the lap for him to squeeze into
:31:06. > :31:10.Q2. Difficult times for Lotus, struggling to make it into the
:31:11. > :31:11.second part of qualifying. We were not expecting that, but he has done
:31:12. > :31:28.it, he has pushed his team-mate out. Let's see what happened to Sutil and
:31:29. > :31:32.Grosjean, I wonder if there was some impeding, this will lead to some
:31:33. > :31:42.arguments afterwards, my goodness, look at that! That was into turn
:31:43. > :31:47.13, so they will be visiting Derek Warwick after this session.
:31:48. > :31:52.Maldonado is out, Sutil is outqualified by his team-mate,
:31:53. > :32:02.Gutierrez. We thought Kobe as she might do better. -- Kobayashi.
:32:03. > :32:06.Adrian Sutil not making it through to Q2, and of course there was a
:32:07. > :32:09.very close relationship with Romain Grosjean Ontrack which is now being
:32:10. > :32:14.looked at by the stewards. We can get his thoughts. We know you will
:32:15. > :32:22.be taking a trip to the stewards, tell us about it from your position.
:32:23. > :32:28.There is not too much to say, I was on my warm up lap, I think the same
:32:29. > :32:33.for him, he was warming up the tyres, and he was trying to push me
:32:34. > :32:37.a long, trying to pass on the last straight, where you need to have
:32:38. > :32:44.clear track, otherwise there's no point to open your lap. He managed
:32:45. > :32:49.to get past. I tried to, of course, to defend, and I was inside, but
:32:50. > :32:57.nothing unusual. So we got me and I had to abort my lap, that is it.
:32:58. > :33:00.Nothing so spectacular. Frustrating to be standing here while cars are
:33:01. > :33:07.on track, what about your pace for tomorrow? As that given you anything
:33:08. > :33:12.to smile about? No, not really. The pace is very similar to qualifying,
:33:13. > :33:17.that is where we are. At the moment we would need a miracle. But we are
:33:18. > :33:23.planning more to the future and to the races from Europe on words,
:33:24. > :33:28.step-by-step we will improve our car, but right now there is no
:33:29. > :33:37.upgrade, from the lazy to here is the same car.
:33:38. > :33:41.-- from Malaysia. No points scored by Sauber this
:33:42. > :33:46.year, they will still be struggling this weekend. Jenson Button, looking
:33:47. > :33:51.to see what he can do, a winner for the Brawn team in his championship
:33:52. > :33:55.winning year of 2009. There has never been a British pole-sitter
:33:56. > :33:59.here in Bahrain in the past, a chance to correct that perhaps if
:34:00. > :34:06.Lewis Hamilton gets it all together here today. OK, just a reminder,
:34:07. > :34:12.this has the potential to be your race starts tyre. Yes, that is a new
:34:13. > :34:17.regulation, they get an extra set of tyres for Q3, but you have to stop
:34:18. > :34:21.the race on the tyres on which you set your fastest time. Tom, what
:34:22. > :34:29.sort of cut-off time are we looking at? To get into the top 16, middle
:34:30. > :34:32.1:36, and I think we can shave another second of that to get into
:34:33. > :34:39.the top ten, that is what my engineering friends are telling me,
:34:40. > :34:43.made 1:30 fives. We will keep a close eye on that, the car scraping
:34:44. > :34:50.the ground as Nico Hulkenberg heads down to the end of the straight.
:34:51. > :34:55.This is where Vettel went off earlier. Interesting that you
:34:56. > :35:00.mention the scraping on the ground, we are hearing more of that feedback
:35:01. > :35:05.as they turn up the audio on the feed that we get to try and help
:35:06. > :35:10.compensate for the much quieter power units that we have this year,
:35:11. > :35:15.and it gives us a lot more of the noises, as Hulkenberg gives it two
:35:16. > :35:20.big stabs of oversteer. That will have got his attention. Exciting!
:35:21. > :35:23.You can see the gear change indicator in the middle of the
:35:24. > :35:28.steering wheel, telling us what here he is in. They have a new eight
:35:29. > :35:33.speed gearbox this year. Nicely out of turn ten. It looks as if he is
:35:34. > :35:38.half a second slower than his previous best lap. The quickest in
:35:39. > :35:43.the last session was 34.8, this could well be 35.2 to start off
:35:44. > :35:51.with, depending on how the rest of the lap goes. He is an used tyres. A
:35:52. > :35:55.slight lift through turn 12. Ricciardo got through the first
:35:56. > :35:59.session on medium tyres, but this is a set that Hulkenberg has already
:36:00. > :36:04.used to try to get a bank lap in. Then he will use another set of used
:36:05. > :36:08.tyres for the second part of this session. Lewis Hamilton is on a
:36:09. > :36:15.brown set of soft tyres already, because he did not use them in the
:36:16. > :36:19.first part. -- a brand-new set. Hulkenberg is faster than Bottas,
:36:20. > :36:24.who crossed the line head of him. Interesting, the times are a little
:36:25. > :36:29.bit off what they were doing. The second lap on a set of tyres has
:36:30. > :36:35.cost Hulkenberg about a second. The big between new tyres and used ones
:36:36. > :36:39.is that you lose traction, and this is very much a traction circuit, and
:36:40. > :36:43.that is why the Mercedes cars have such a speed advantage, as Kimi
:36:44. > :36:49.Raikkonen opens his account with a 34.9. Quicker than he managed
:36:50. > :36:55.earlier in the previous session. It would put him up amongst the
:36:56. > :37:00.Mercedes engined cars that will be fighting behind what we think will
:37:01. > :37:04.be the battle for pole, as Lewis Hamilton goes fastest, 1:33.8, very
:37:05. > :37:10.much the fastest time we have seen so far. A little bit of a lock-up,
:37:11. > :37:15.no major drama. Yes, you can see that tyre lifting off the ground, so
:37:16. > :37:21.little load as they drop through the rise there at turn nine down into
:37:22. > :37:24.the apex. Riding on board with the other Mercedes of Nico Rosberg.
:37:25. > :37:31.Different indicators on the dashboard on his car, brake balance
:37:32. > :37:35.figures coming up, I think, that 59.0? That is what I was saying, the
:37:36. > :37:41.numbers tend to be shouting at the drivers, visually assaulting them!
:37:42. > :37:47.We will look at the in-car footage for Kimi, they are all very small.
:37:48. > :37:51.Great opening lap from Rosberg. It has gone his way this time by a
:37:52. > :37:55.tenth of a second, a fraction faster this time than Hamilton. We are in
:37:56. > :38:01.for a great grandstand finish to qualifying between the two of them.
:38:02. > :38:08.No time set by Sebastian Vettel, or by Magnussen, could be at, Button.
:38:09. > :38:17.-- to the art. Vettel is the only one who has not set a time on track.
:38:18. > :38:23.Grosjean scraped into this session, presumably they will give him a run
:38:24. > :38:28.on the new said of tyres. -- set. Jenson Button micro, we will see how
:38:29. > :38:36.he is getting on. Meanwhile, Kevin Magnussen is about to put in his
:38:37. > :38:39.first time, fifth in the session, something for Jenson to aim for,
:38:40. > :38:45.over one second slower than the Mercedes Grand Prix car. Yeah, he
:38:46. > :38:52.has lost out a bit on the opening sectors, about six tenths off in the
:38:53. > :38:55.middle sector to the Mercedes of Rosberg, about four tenths in the
:38:56. > :39:00.first sector, just a little bit everywhere that the McLaren loses to
:39:01. > :39:05.the Mercedes at this stage. We will watch as he comes out on the final
:39:06. > :39:08.turn, flashes across the line. Let's see where this puts him, behind
:39:09. > :39:16.Ricciardo, another good lap by Ricciardo, 1:34.5 by the Australian,
:39:17. > :39:19.still looking for his first points after being disqualified from race
:39:20. > :39:23.one and then suffering problems with the front wing in a pit stop in
:39:24. > :39:27.Malaysia last week. Daniel Ricciardo still looking for his first points,
:39:28. > :39:30.but he will have a ten place penalty, wherever he qualifies, he
:39:31. > :39:36.will be ten places further back on the grid. Felipe Massa prepares to
:39:37. > :39:44.come out for Williams, a former pole winner here for Ferrari back in
:39:45. > :39:48.2007. And Daniel Ricciardo is just in the car at the moment, will we
:39:49. > :39:55.see Vettel out soon? No, he is still in the adjacent pit box. Mercedes
:39:56. > :39:59.working on the car out in the... They are pushing it back, I thought
:40:00. > :40:02.they were going to work on it outside. Normally you will see it
:40:03. > :40:06.worked on the garage in qualifying. Five and a half minutes to go in
:40:07. > :40:11.this second part of qualifying, the battle for the top ten, we are yet
:40:12. > :40:14.to see Vettel or Grosjean said any time at all. Mercedes taking their
:40:15. > :40:19.time to read as a pit stop procedure, not changing the wheels.
:40:20. > :40:24.-- rehearse. They have such a Martin right now, it is difficult to
:40:25. > :40:30.imagine that they need to run again in this session. -- a margin. That
:40:31. > :40:33.is why they told Lewis Hamilton those might be the tyres he would
:40:34. > :40:41.start the race one. Jenson Button moves into fourth place ahead of
:40:42. > :40:46.Alonso, a good lap for the Ferrari, mixing it with the Mercedes powered
:40:47. > :40:51.cars. He is ahead of Magnussen and Hulkenberg, too. Kvyat still in the
:40:52. > :40:56.hunt, ninth fastest. I think we will see the Toro Rosso do more. Finally,
:40:57. > :41:00.Sebastian Vettel, this could well be his one and only run in this
:41:01. > :41:05.session. It looks like it, a different strategy, just going for
:41:06. > :41:11.that one run, as you mentioned. Struggling on this circuit to get
:41:12. > :41:14.the power down. That power unit, for whatever reason, not satisfying the
:41:15. > :41:18.drivers, we heard a radio message from Ricciardo, even though he is
:41:19. > :41:23.sitting reasonably comfortably right now, saying that he just cannot get
:41:24. > :41:27.the power down, especially in that first sector. That is what happened
:41:28. > :41:30.to Sebastian Vettel earlier. Lewis Hamilton out of the car, I think
:41:31. > :41:34.they are very happy with what they have done, exactly as you said, they
:41:35. > :41:38.are not going to run in the second part of this session, with four
:41:39. > :41:42.minutes to go. Of course, he will be getting ready for the final part of
:41:43. > :41:49.qualifying to see who gets pole position. Valtteri Bottas did not
:41:50. > :41:51.score points here last day, but he didn't qualify his team-mate, Pastor
:41:52. > :41:54.Maldonado. 12 months ago, the Williams was a very difficult car to
:41:55. > :41:57.drive, not delivering any downforce that they could do some thing with.
:41:58. > :42:00.This year it looks like they have a very different car, much more
:42:01. > :42:04.competitive. Still waiting for Grosjean to head out in the Lotus,
:42:05. > :42:09.and in the meantime the tyre blankets are removed and away he
:42:10. > :42:14.goes. The engineer listening to your broadcast, on demand they released
:42:15. > :42:18.the car! Good timing, wasn't it? I wonder who was going to come out on
:42:19. > :42:24.top, because it is to be in the top ten that matters. At the moment,
:42:25. > :42:25.errors, Bottas, Vergne, Gutierrez, Vettel and Grosjean are in the drop
:42:26. > :42:39.zone. -- Perez. Onto his lap goes Sebastian Vettel,
:42:40. > :42:46.Tom. This is the calm before the storm, quite quiet, quite chilled
:42:47. > :42:50.out in the pit lane. The Williams, incredibly complicated, what a sea
:42:51. > :42:54.change, both Bottas and Massa went out on the medium tyre, something
:42:55. > :42:58.that was unheard of last year, maybe doing a bit of work for the race.
:42:59. > :43:04.They are going to put the soft tyre one, utterly confident. Better
:43:05. > :43:09.Together that is not misplaced. Vettel getting to the first sector
:43:10. > :43:15.point. -- let's hope that not misplaced. How is Vettel going to
:43:16. > :43:20.get on in the confrontation with his team-mate, Ricciardo, I wonder?
:43:21. > :43:29.Ricciardo did 30.0, two tenths faster. He looked a bit cautious
:43:30. > :43:33.through turn two, using a lot of the kerb on exit, affecting acceleration
:43:34. > :43:37.all the way down to turn four. He has not got a lot of confidence, but
:43:38. > :43:48.marginally quicker than his best lap so far. You can see what the second
:43:49. > :43:52.split is like, down by a second or so. Interestingly, he is reporting
:43:53. > :43:56.that the downshifts are significantly worse than on the
:43:57. > :44:01.previous run, and that is a software issue that they have been trying to
:44:02. > :44:06.sort out earlier today. About half a second up on his best lap through
:44:07. > :44:13.the last turn, a lot of gear use, that unsettles the car. -- a lot of
:44:14. > :44:19.kerb use. Tenth place is not that safe, Ricciardo could be faster,
:44:20. > :44:24.there are quick guys still behind him to put in a second run in this
:44:25. > :44:30.session. Vettel only eight currently, Hulkenberg ninth, Felipe
:44:31. > :44:35.Massa is likely to improve, so is the Williams of Valtteri Bottas, he
:44:36. > :44:41.is crossing the line first, and he goes six, just behind Alonso,
:44:42. > :44:45.pushing Vettel down to ninth now. Massa fighting the wheel, coming out
:44:46. > :44:49.of the last corner, and he still should be on target, I think, to
:44:50. > :44:54.move up into the top ten, yes, seventh, the same time as his
:44:55. > :44:59.team-mate, how about that?! Felipe Massa and about Valtteri Bottas, to
:45:00. > :45:05.the 1000th of a second. What can Ferrari do here? Raikkonen is only
:45:06. > :45:10.ninth, Alonso is fifth, so Raikkonen is in danger. Vettel has been pushed
:45:11. > :45:14.down and out of the top ten as Perez improves to sixth position. What an
:45:15. > :45:19.amazing story, Ricciardo looks relatively safely in the top ten,
:45:20. > :45:24.but Sebastian Vettel has been pushed down to 11th, and Hulkenberg could
:45:25. > :45:28.well improve on this lap. He has crossed the line and is only 12.
:45:29. > :45:37.There is a surprise, I am not sure he will improve on that, Hulkenberg.
:45:38. > :45:46.And manages to displacing Vergne and Gutierrez. -- displaced Vergne. That
:45:47. > :45:50.explains why Sebastian Vettel was not able to run a competitive lap.
:45:51. > :45:56.It looks as though Sebastian Vettel is out of the battle for Q3. After
:45:57. > :46:02.all the dominance of last season, that is a big story. Indeed. It is
:46:03. > :46:08.unlikely to be hardware. The gears are all monitored in terms of the
:46:09. > :46:11.weight and thickness. That will be a software issue, which is not just
:46:12. > :46:20.about the downshift, it is about the recovery phase, through the motor
:46:21. > :46:27.generator unit. Vergne, 13th with that lap. Gutierrez, quicker than
:46:28. > :46:31.his team-mate so far. Can he do anything to surprise? He beat city
:46:32. > :46:35.made but it is not enough to get into the top ten. An outstanding
:46:36. > :46:42.performance from Daniel Ricciardo, really impressive. He qualified
:46:43. > :46:49.sixth in 2012, with genuine pace. In the end, he drops down. Ricciardo
:46:50. > :46:54.has shown that pace before. Vettel, clearly having some problem with his
:46:55. > :47:00.car. On this occasion, Vettel is out. He was out in Australia as well
:47:01. > :47:05.of course in Q1. But there is, more of a surprise. Ricciardo was through
:47:06. > :47:11.and Hulkenberg, is he coming in? He was quickest in the previous
:47:12. > :47:22.session, fastest overall. And he has ended up four tenths slower than his
:47:23. > :47:28.team-mate. TRANSLATION: Became out of it today. -- I think I am out of
:47:29. > :47:34.it today. The race engineer trying to give a positive spin to what has
:47:35. > :47:37.been a bad weekend for Lotus so far. Hulkenberg comedy was three
:47:38. > :47:42.tenths slower than the previous session. Look forward to seeing what
:47:43. > :47:47.the issue was. -- Hulkenberg, was three tenths. This is during
:47:48. > :48:26.Vettel's lap. Looking at the Slo Mo, Daniil Kvyat and Jean Eric Vergne.
:48:27. > :48:28.Gutierrez and Grosjean two. Things are going from bad to worse for Red
:48:29. > :48:34.Bull. Sebastian Vettel does not make it
:48:35. > :48:39.through to Q3, or Nico Hulkenberg. We certainly did not expect to see
:48:40. > :48:46.use bending here at this time in the evening. Our surprised? Yes. But I
:48:47. > :48:51.feel that the work ended in the car was not good enough. I'd made a
:48:52. > :48:57.mistake into turn 11, and hid the execrable. It screwed the lap and
:48:58. > :49:04.lost a couple of tenths. I am a bit disappointed. You have looked good
:49:05. > :49:10.weekend, hopes for tomorrow night? All the chances are still there. At
:49:11. > :49:16.two good new sets of tyres. That makes me optimistic for tomorrow. --
:49:17. > :49:20.I have two new sets of tyres. Sebastian, it was at Saturday for
:49:21. > :49:28.you what was the problem? Not quick enough. As simple as that? Exactly.
:49:29. > :49:34.Was it throughout the entire lap or the entire weekend so far? I was
:49:35. > :49:39.pretty happy yesterday. This morning did not help us, the fact that I've
:49:40. > :49:44.spun off. I think we added some damage to the car. Hard to say a big
:49:45. > :49:48.that impact was. Once you start qualifying, you try to get the
:49:49. > :49:55.best. It was tight, with Kimi Raikkonen. Not a lot missing to get
:49:56. > :50:00.to Q3. But that is how it goes. We get an extra set for tomorrow. I
:50:01. > :50:04.think in the race, things will come down and we will be able to be more
:50:05. > :50:08.consistent. Hopefully we will be able to get some points. The top ten
:50:09. > :50:12.shoot out is underway here in Bahrain. Daniel Ricciardo has been
:50:13. > :50:13.impressive so far. shoot out is underway here in
:50:14. > :50:19.Bahrain. Daniel Ricciardo has He will have a penalty but if he can do
:50:20. > :50:22.what he did in the previous session, he will end up starting only two
:50:23. > :50:26.places behind Sebastian Vettel on the grid. On board with Nico
:50:27. > :50:33.Rosberg, the winner 12 months ago. But in the race, the car was
:50:34. > :50:40.struggling. Rosberg was not able to deliver, but he certainly showed a
:50:41. > :50:45.good qualifying pace. Battery Bottas, plunging towards turn one.
:50:46. > :50:54.Convert has been the fastest so far. -- Valtteri Bottas. -- Rosberg.
:50:55. > :51:00.Climbing up the short straight towards turn four. Jenson Button,
:51:01. > :51:10.making his way down the pit lane. It is starting to get busier out there.
:51:11. > :51:13.Bottas, moving in, from one side to the other. They have the confidence
:51:14. > :51:20.to know they can take everything out of these tyres. They do not need to
:51:21. > :51:25.make it last. As you mentioned earlier, they used to have to start
:51:26. > :51:30.the Grand Prix on their best set of tyres from the previous session. We
:51:31. > :51:39.are coming towards the tricky turn 11. Let's watch him.
:51:40. > :51:53.That looks pretty neat. On the power early. Seventh gear through turn 12.
:51:54. > :51:59.A little bit of oversteer on the back straight. It looks to me as if
:52:00. > :52:05.he was half a second up on his previous best, which was 34.8.
:52:06. > :52:08.Valtteri Bottas, what can he achieve your? An exciting time for the then
:52:09. > :52:18.after such a struggle with the Williams car last year. -- the Finn.
:52:19. > :52:25.That was a good start to the session indeed,1: 37.4. It will not be
:52:26. > :52:29.enough to beat Mercedes, but the best qualifying performance we have
:52:30. > :52:36.seen with those tricky conditions in Canada last year. He has not been
:52:37. > :52:43.anywhere near that recently. Let's see what he can do today. Rosberg,
:52:44. > :52:55.taking to the tracks. He took pole here last year, but can he give it
:52:56. > :53:03.back to back in Bahrain? 14 and 15, those corners are grouped together.
:53:04. > :53:11.Nice and tidy. Clean acceleration. Hamilton is also fast. Rosberg set
:53:12. > :53:19.the pace. One: 33.1. Has he done enough? And do not think he has.
:53:20. > :53:24.One: 33.1 is the time to beat. Canny move underneath that? Not this time.
:53:25. > :53:32.They have another set of tyres to use. Think we will see them coming
:53:33. > :53:35.out for their final attempt. Paddy Lowe looking after things on the
:53:36. > :53:41.technical side at Mercedes. Look at their advantage over Bottas. It is a
:53:42. > :53:48.second between Rosberg, fastest at this stage, and Bottas in third.
:53:49. > :53:50.They have the same power unit which shows you when you get that
:53:51. > :53:59.integrated within the machine, it can be separated. It is a team
:54:00. > :54:07.effort. At the moment, this is dominance, in a way that we have not
:54:08. > :54:13.seen for many years. Ricciardo, Magnussen and Alonso watching Jenson
:54:14. > :54:17.Button here. You wonder if he is going to be doing the one run in
:54:18. > :54:22.this session or if he will go back in and put on another set of tyres.
:54:23. > :54:30.What kind of exit will he get here? Not bad. Using on the exit. That is
:54:31. > :54:38.allowable. -- using the curb on the exit. Seeing that lap from Nico
:54:39. > :54:42.Rosberg, it reminds me of something that Christian Horner said to me
:54:43. > :54:49.last weekend. He said that Mercedes have a greater advantage than Red
:54:50. > :54:54.Bull ever did. On that evidence, had to disagree. They are looking
:54:55. > :54:57.supreme at the moment. David, it looks as though McLaren do not have
:54:58. > :55:01.the pace of Force India and Williams. Look at the gaps.
:55:02. > :55:07.Magnussen and Button have done a lap and there are big gaps. Difficult to
:55:08. > :55:11.understand. The important part of the weekend is what happens in the
:55:12. > :55:14.race, at a team like Force India, with a fraction of the budget, they
:55:15. > :55:21.have been using the facilities at McLaren, the wind tunnel and the
:55:22. > :55:27.simulator. So it does beg the question, what is going on? Let us
:55:28. > :55:37.see what Ricciardo did a moment ago. That was the last corner. Once you
:55:38. > :55:43.go beyond the curb, it gets incredibly dusty. A huge amount of
:55:44. > :55:50.time lost in that last sector. He was one second down on the fastest.
:55:51. > :55:52.And that was a short sector. Sergio Perez is still in the hunt. An
:55:53. > :56:01.impressive qualifying performance so far. Currently fourth. Canny hang
:56:02. > :56:08.onto that? -- canny. It looks like it is a change of plan. Force India
:56:09. > :56:13.are going to sit with that position. They will accept what they have. It
:56:14. > :56:15.is the first time he has been in the top ten shoot out this year. The
:56:16. > :56:19.first time Hulkenberg has failed. He has qualified seventh on both
:56:20. > :56:25.occasions this year. Kimi Raikkonen comes out. Alonso, currently ninth.
:56:26. > :56:31.Kimi Raikkonen has not set a time. Perhaps Alonso is going to be doing
:56:32. > :56:41.two opportunities here to try to set a time. The rows is being released
:56:42. > :56:50.from the garage. -- Perez. There's a lot to look forward to hear.
:56:51. > :56:55.Hamilton loves to save the best for last. Let's see whether he can
:56:56. > :56:59.snatch pole position. For third and fourth, Bottas and Perez are evenly
:57:00. > :57:05.matched. Williams is there as well. It looks as though they have the
:57:06. > :57:08.edge over the McLarens. The parade is struggling. But maybe they can
:57:09. > :57:15.pull something out of the bag with Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso.
:57:16. > :57:21.Two minutes to go. Important to get the wrap right. What they are doing
:57:22. > :57:26.is harvesting electrical energy. They have to try to fill the battery
:57:27. > :57:29.up as much as possible so that they can get a double charge as they come
:57:30. > :57:33.out of the last corner. And then the FIA reset happens when they cross
:57:34. > :57:38.the line. They will have the full amount if they have been able to
:57:39. > :57:52.replenish that, to build during the form delete that first -- during the
:57:53. > :58:01.first lap. Kimi Raikkonen, just building up on that lap. Coming
:58:02. > :58:04.through, setting the pace. The pace that he said earlier on should be
:58:05. > :58:10.enough to get them up to the top ten. But we will have to see. Look
:58:11. > :58:19.at the dashboard, has small Kimi Raikkonen's numbers are. The
:58:20. > :58:25.Mercedes dashboard, it is shouting at you more than speaking. Who will
:58:26. > :58:32.it be that sets the pace? Into turn one, and already he is white. He
:58:33. > :58:37.avoided locking up the front wheel by allowing the car to go straight
:58:38. > :58:45.for longer. Again, that affected his speed as he ran into four. Not bad
:58:46. > :58:54.on the apex. Having to use the curb on the exit. There was a lot of
:58:55. > :58:58.under Speer -- understeer in the first phase. Having to use more road
:58:59. > :59:07.than he would like. This does not look like Kimi Raikkonen is
:59:08. > :59:14.comfortable in this car. Bottas, he has been struggling beer with corner
:59:15. > :59:20.entry. The Ferrari car, my son does not call it a curare, he calls it a
:59:21. > :59:28.curare car. -- struggling bear. -- Ferraris. It is locking up for
:59:29. > :59:31.Rosberg but he gets it into the apex. Waiting to see what Hamilton
:59:32. > :59:36.does in the first sector. The chequered flag is out now. Rosberg
:59:37. > :59:41.has done his first sector, no quicker than he did previously.
:59:42. > :59:48.Ricciardo has done a reasonably good first sector. It is going to be so
:59:49. > :59:51.close between these different cars. Except for the battle between the
:59:52. > :59:59.top two. Which of them is it going to be? Rosberg or Hamilton? Hamilton
:00:00. > :00:04.has done a slow first sector. He has thrown in the towel on this lap. It
:00:05. > :00:10.is enough for Rosberg. Nico Rosberg will take pole unless somebody
:00:11. > :00:19.really does pull out a huge surprise. Let's wait and see. Daniel
:00:20. > :00:23.Ricciardo goes third for the moment, six tenths slower than
:00:24. > :00:32.Hamilton. Can anybody beat that time? Button, 34.3, seven. Fernando
:00:33. > :00:37.Alonso, only ninth, only ninth. There is no real pace in that
:00:38. > :00:43.Ferrari to challenge the Mercedes powered cars. It is pole position,
:00:44. > :00:47.it is a 1-2 for Mercedes, Nico Rosberg takes his first pole
:00:48. > :00:55.position of 2014. Magnussen crosses the line and takes ninth, a place
:00:56. > :00:59.two behind his team-mate. The row, Daniel Ricciardo has put that Red
:01:00. > :01:04.Bull once again, an astonishing effort by him, on the front row in
:01:05. > :01:08.Australia, remember, a good effort in Malaysia, where Vettel bordered
:01:09. > :01:15.on the front row, and you can never discount Red Bull Racing, they have
:01:16. > :01:19.got a car ahead of the Mercedes powered machines. But Mercedes have
:01:20. > :01:23.a 1-2 on the grid, and you know what, that is the first this year
:01:24. > :01:28.they have managed it, the first since the British Grand Prix of last
:01:29. > :01:34.year, and there was the mistake from Lewis Hamilton that saw him back
:01:35. > :01:39.out. Lewis has gone off, your position is safe, well done, pole
:01:40. > :01:44.position. On board with Hamilton in to turn one, the front right locks
:01:45. > :01:50.up. He knows he does not need to worry about starting on these
:01:51. > :01:53.tyres, massively wide. So Rosberg ends Hamilton's chances of a
:01:54. > :01:58.hat-trick to start the season, and it is Rosberg or dates back to back
:01:59. > :02:02.pole positions, and once again this Bahrain circuit is denied a pole
:02:03. > :02:04.position for Lewis Hamilton. We will run through the times, Rosberg
:02:05. > :02:46.fastest from team-mate Hamilton. Pole-sitter Nico Rosberg, his fifth
:02:47. > :02:51.career pole, tricky conditions with the temperatures dropping. Out of
:02:52. > :02:54.was it? Yeah, quite a unique weekend, we do most of our
:02:55. > :02:59.practising in hot lunchtime conditions, which in the desert is
:03:00. > :03:03.very hot, and then into night time for qualifying. You have to guess a
:03:04. > :03:07.little bit what the balance will be like, what the car will do. And it
:03:08. > :03:12.is tough, because it is three completely different set up
:03:13. > :03:16.parameters, mechanical, aerodynamic and electronic, which has a huge
:03:17. > :03:21.impact as well. Which one of the three, to get them all going to get
:03:22. > :03:26.there, it is quite difficult, and today I found my way, so I was able
:03:27. > :03:31.to push in the end, very excited. Shall we have a look at the lap?
:03:32. > :03:35.Talk us through those three elements, which one of them could
:03:36. > :03:37.you have improved on in this lap? This looked like you really worked
:03:38. > :03:47.hard to get pole position today. We have so much torque from the
:03:48. > :03:52.engines now, it is more demanding to put down the power cleanly, and the
:03:53. > :03:56.problem with the tyres is when you get oversteer, the tyres ramp up
:03:57. > :03:59.immediately and you lose out for the next three corners. You have to try
:04:00. > :04:06.to keep it smooth. And I managed more or less, it is always difficult
:04:07. > :04:11.in qualifying to be super-smooth. Which parameter, I think I had a bit
:04:12. > :04:15.too much oversteer from the Electronics, a bit too much
:04:16. > :04:21.handbrake, I call it, in the car. From this point of view, lots of
:04:22. > :04:26.small corrections when you are going towards the apex, is that just your
:04:27. > :04:32.driving style for this circuit? Or because the car was on the nose?
:04:33. > :04:36.That is exactly the thing, it is a compromise, because if I have
:04:37. > :04:39.oversteer going in, I can get around the corner quicker. Understeer is
:04:40. > :04:43.the biggest killer, you have to wait and wait and wait. Understeer is
:04:44. > :04:50.when I turn but the car keeps going straight. If I get that, it is a lap
:04:51. > :04:55.time killer. Always better to have a bit of oversteer going in to
:04:56. > :04:58.overcome that. What is it about this track? It seems to be a special
:04:59. > :05:05.place for you, even going back to your GP two days, the fast lap with
:05:06. > :05:09.Williams. Do you like this circuit? It is a great track, definitely, I
:05:10. > :05:13.like it, it suits my car well, and engine power, it is an engine power
:05:14. > :05:18.track with a lot of long straights, and with the Mercedes power, that is
:05:19. > :05:23.a good thing to have. Don't sell the driver short! Talking about the
:05:24. > :05:28.driver, what can the driver do tomorrow, does he think? He can do a
:05:29. > :05:33.lot, but it is going to be a different world again, yes, because
:05:34. > :05:38.a lot of new challenges, tyre degradation is the main one, tyres
:05:39. > :05:42.dropping away quite a lot. But I am confident, I practised well on
:05:43. > :05:46.Friday, we always practice on Friday with a lot of people to prepare for
:05:47. > :05:50.the race, and that went well. I am looking good for tomorrow. We wish
:05:51. > :05:57.you the best for the race, let's here is from your team-mate.
:05:58. > :06:05.I know what high standard you have, how is second sitting with you? It
:06:06. > :06:09.is OK, I am happy for Nico, he has worked hard all weekend, and he did
:06:10. > :06:13.a better job, he was a little bit more comfortable in the car going
:06:14. > :06:19.through the weekend. Maybe it will be the opposite way for me, but
:06:20. > :06:23.still we are on the front row, and still an interesting race tomorrow.
:06:24. > :06:27.It will be a big battle tomorrow, do you have to get him at the start to
:06:28. > :06:33.win? I don't really know, that would help! He has got great pace, so a
:06:34. > :06:37.little bit different, small differences in our setups, so I
:06:38. > :06:42.don't know. I will do what I can tomorrow, and he has learned a lot
:06:43. > :06:47.from what I did in the last race, so that gap may be a bit smaller. If
:06:48. > :06:53.there is any at all, I will try to find something else tomorrow. I was
:06:54. > :06:57.really happy with qualifying. I think all through the runs, both
:06:58. > :07:02.tyres as well, I was pretty pleased with my performance. We got through
:07:03. > :07:09.to duty with just the crimes, so we may have saved one set compared to
:07:10. > :07:12.the others. -- we got through to Q2 with just the primes. I will needed
:07:13. > :07:17.to come through the pack, I did the best I could, so I am pleased. When
:07:18. > :07:22.I spoke to Sebastian Vettel, he said the ball is not quick enough, but
:07:23. > :07:29.you would doubt that, is there any difference between your cars? -- the
:07:30. > :07:33.Red Bulls. When he is talking, he is probably talking about the silver
:07:34. > :07:36.cars in front of us. He has been in a different position to me in the
:07:37. > :07:41.past, fighting for championships, and obviously Red Bull has been
:07:42. > :07:46.pretty dominant the last few years. It is new territory for him, and I
:07:47. > :07:50.guess we want to catch them, so that is probably what he is talking
:07:51. > :07:55.about. Obviously, I want to close the gap to them, but today I seemed
:07:56. > :07:59.to get it right. Personally, I do not know if he had other issues or
:08:00. > :08:04.not. But with my performance, I was pleased, and I think we are both
:08:05. > :08:07.going to charge had tomorrow. Obviously, he's not pleased with his
:08:08. > :08:12.qualifying, and I am not pleased with my penalty, but we will both
:08:13. > :08:18.put on a good race. Daniel Ricciardo, a superstar in the
:08:19. > :08:23.making, Vettel not ready for this race, but there was an issue with
:08:24. > :08:27.his car. He had a spin in free practice, affecting censors
:08:28. > :08:31.apparently, and these cars are so complex they could not change them
:08:32. > :08:35.before qualifying. All things considered, he is happy to have got
:08:36. > :08:41.to P11. Daniel knew he had the penalty, so a great qualifying lap.
:08:42. > :08:49.We did not see much of it because we were geared up to see the battle
:08:50. > :08:52.between Hamilton and Rosberg. Valtteri Bottas, you qualified
:08:53. > :08:56.fourth and will move up to third on the grid tomorrow, equalling your
:08:57. > :09:04.best qualifying, dry qualifying, that must mean even more. Yeah, we
:09:05. > :09:08.know it is much better, the chances for the race, and in Canada. So it
:09:09. > :09:12.is different, I think this was really the maximum result we could
:09:13. > :09:19.get, and we know that we have good pace in the race as well, so it will
:09:20. > :09:24.be a nice day tomorrow. Not only is it dry, it is under the lights, tell
:09:25. > :09:28.us about Bahrain in the semi-darkness, what with the
:09:29. > :09:32.challenges and benefits? Well, I like it more, mainly because it's
:09:33. > :09:38.just looks cool! As a driver, you know, there is some markers that you
:09:39. > :09:40.are using as a break point or something, they could be some
:09:41. > :09:44.shadows that you have not seen before, but that is just a question
:09:45. > :09:51.of driving one or two laps and finding them. Other than that it is
:09:52. > :09:54.not that different. It looked very cool from Williams, all the
:09:55. > :09:59.sessions, you went out very late in Q1, you seemed to know what you are
:10:00. > :10:04.doing, the team seems to have a very positive vibe, tell us about that.
:10:05. > :10:09.Yes, I mean, obviously, we had a really good test here, two tests, we
:10:10. > :10:13.did a lot of milage, the pace was pretty good, so we were confident it
:10:14. > :10:20.should be better than Malaysia for us. We did not see a big point of
:10:21. > :10:24.running too much milage, we thought it would be better just to do the
:10:25. > :10:29.things that were most important, you know, collecting data, fine tuning
:10:30. > :10:34.the setup. Hopefully we will save the car a bit for the race.
:10:35. > :10:40.Hopefully it is nice and fresh for tomorrow. Congratulations, we wish
:10:41. > :10:45.you the best. Jenson, tougher than expected today?
:10:46. > :10:51.It was fun, actually, pretty close after the two Mercedes. Everyone
:10:52. > :10:56.else was pretty close in the top ten. It was enjoyable. I don't feel
:10:57. > :11:01.like I left anything out there in Q3, disappointed to be where I am,
:11:02. > :11:06.but I feel like I got everything out of it. I think Q2, people did not
:11:07. > :11:10.get the best out of their cars, and we did. We continued to do that in
:11:11. > :11:15.Q3, but other people found their feet. I surprised to have a Force
:11:16. > :11:21.India and a Williams in front of you? No, if you have watched the
:11:22. > :11:26.first two raises! Jenson Button will start sixth, I think he would have
:11:27. > :11:31.been happier with fourth, but he is ahead of his team-mate, which is
:11:32. > :11:35.important. That battle is always very significant, especially when
:11:36. > :11:40.you have such an age gap, you cannot recognise that, Jenson is in his
:11:41. > :11:45.250th Grand Prix. And I think that is why he felt he had to say he got
:11:46. > :11:49.everything out of the car. I am getting disappointment from Jenson
:11:50. > :11:54.that McLaren has not delivered a championship winning car. He wants
:11:55. > :12:00.upgrades. You need a huge chunk of performance gains, they'll almost a
:12:01. > :12:03.second off the pace of Mercedes Grand Prix. Let's have a look at how
:12:04. > :12:11.the grid will line up for the race with Ben Edwards.
:12:12. > :12:19.Mercedes have a 1-2, Perez and Bottas are on the second row, button
:12:20. > :12:24.and Raikkonen on the third. Massa was seventh, Magnussen aids, but
:12:25. > :12:31.Alonso and Vettel find themselves sharing row five. Hulkenberg is
:12:32. > :12:39.11th, Daniil Kvyat is 12. Ricciardo will start 13th head of Jean-Eric
:12:40. > :12:44.Vergne. Grosjean and Gutierrez are ahead of Maldonado and Kobayashi.
:12:45. > :12:49.Ericsson is 20th from Max Chilton, Sutil is last following his five
:12:50. > :12:54.place penalty. That is how the grid lines up for tomorrow's race, I
:12:55. > :12:58.thought would be talking about Nico Hulkenberg, but Sergio Perez was the
:12:59. > :13:03.star for Force India, qualifying fifth, going from the second row,
:13:04. > :13:08.glorious for him. Much-needed, because after two races it was
:13:09. > :13:12.looking like Hulkenberg was going to steal a march on him, and we know
:13:13. > :13:16.how good Hulkenberg is. Perez had his brightest time with McLaren here
:13:17. > :13:20.last year, running wheel to wheel with Jenson Button, then it faded
:13:21. > :13:24.out as the year went on. There is a theme, he goes well on this track,
:13:25. > :13:30.but we will expected team-mates to meet him tomorrow. Clearly Nico had
:13:31. > :13:32.a problem in qualifying, Kimi outqualified Fernando Nava first
:13:33. > :13:37.time since his return to Ferrari, but they are struggling for pace.
:13:38. > :13:43.Neither of the drivers are comfortable with that car, and it is
:13:44. > :13:47.significant that Fernando was so far away from Kimi. He is another one I
:13:48. > :13:52.would expect to be moving forward. Look out for Fernando moving
:13:53. > :13:59.forward, Nico Hulkenberg moving forward, can Perez stay in a good
:14:00. > :14:02.position? What can Red Bull do? Daniel Ricciardo, he will have to
:14:03. > :14:07.take his penalty, but look for them making their way into the top ten.
:14:08. > :14:10.Where they will struggle is on top speed. Back tomorrow with all the
:14:11. > :14:19.highlights on BBC Two at ten o'clock. It is Nico Rosberg who was
:14:20. > :14:21.in the spotlight today, he won the Mercedes deserts jewel, but it is
:14:22. > :14:28.all about the race. Thanks for watching. -- desert duel.