:00:07. > :01:09.And intriguing new era of Formula One, but it has not been to
:01:10. > :01:14.everybody's liking. At times there has been more noise on the track --
:01:15. > :01:33.off the track than on the track. And then, Bahrain. We are taking a big
:01:34. > :01:42.risk. I think for the fans, it is not good. It is an economy fuel race
:01:43. > :01:54.that is not Formula One. Formula One has to be spectacular. It is like
:01:55. > :01:58.Italy without Pastor. We have had meetings today discussing the state
:01:59. > :02:06.of Formula One. Has anything been decided? We have decided we do not
:02:07. > :02:07.know what to do. Who will take glory in the desert night? We are about to
:02:08. > :02:10.find out. know what to do. Who will take glory
:02:11. > :02:18.in the desert night? We are Rosberg is trying to cover, Massa made an
:02:19. > :02:31.excellent start. What a crucial getaway. Absolutely mental! Rosberg
:02:32. > :02:38.trying to come on the outside of Lewis Hamilton. They almost touched.
:02:39. > :02:46.Sergio Perez goes to third place. We have to decide what to do. Rosberg
:02:47. > :02:56.has just gone past. Hamilton takes it. That is the equivalent of a slap
:02:57. > :03:04.in the face. Has he gone in front? Hamilton cannot fend him off.
:03:05. > :03:08.Rosberg takes the lead. Over the terms and the dust. Hamilton will
:03:09. > :03:17.try to get on the outside. This is amazing racing. The two Mercedes
:03:18. > :03:28.team-mates. Hamilton takes the lead. This is brilliant, brilliant. This
:03:29. > :03:39.is racing! That is a Sauber. We have got a shunt.
:03:40. > :03:46.The car is out. There are ten laps left to race. Make sure you bring
:03:47. > :03:50.both cars home. Hamilton is on prime tyres and Rosberg on the option. I
:03:51. > :03:56.do not see how he can keep him behind. Rosberg trying to go around
:03:57. > :04:03.the outside. Hamilton shuts the door. Ricciardo down the inside of
:04:04. > :04:10.Vettel. He passes the four times world champion. Hamilton just able
:04:11. > :04:17.to fend him off. He moves to the outside. You try this several times.
:04:18. > :04:23.Oh, my goodness. They were so close and they were told to bring the car
:04:24. > :04:33.back in one piece. If they carry on like this, that might not happen.
:04:34. > :04:38.How is he keeping Rosberg behind? Lewis Hamilton wins the Bahrain
:04:39. > :04:44.Grand Prix. Sergio Perez, brings Force India a podium finish. The
:04:45. > :04:52.fireworks go off and the fireworks were throughout that Grand Prix.
:04:53. > :04:57.How close do you like it? It seems Formula One is in rude health after
:04:58. > :05:06.all. Was that one of the greatest races we have seen recently? What
:05:07. > :05:11.got everyone so excited is in the era of accepted team orders, they
:05:12. > :05:16.were going at it, we'll to wheels. They said they needed to get the
:05:17. > :05:20.cars to the. That was saying we trust you, try to win this Grand
:05:21. > :05:26.Prix, of course. It gave us fantastic images. That is what the
:05:27. > :05:36.fans want to see. Out and out racing. There was a move that Lewis
:05:37. > :05:42.did that Nico Rosberg did not like. The reason why he was out of shape,
:05:43. > :05:53.he goes down, and Lewis cuts back, coming across the front of Nico
:05:54. > :06:00.before turn to. -- two. There has been commenting that last year, he
:06:01. > :06:05.might have lost his front wing. That upset Nico Rosberg. You would never
:06:06. > :06:10.be happy finishing second, he would have forgotten that if he had been
:06:11. > :06:16.in the middle of the podium. They are here to win races and Nico
:06:17. > :06:26.Rosberg has said he is here to win in China. What do you think? Two to
:06:27. > :06:32.Lewis and 12 Nico. What about this weekend -- one to Nico Rosberg. It
:06:33. > :06:38.was a gutsy victory in Bahrain and that is what we are used to with
:06:39. > :06:44.Lewis. When he came onto the scene he was a street fighter. He really
:06:45. > :06:48.does get stuck in about it. The Nico Rosberg, he was up against Michael
:06:49. > :06:53.within the team when it was in the growing phase, but this is the first
:06:54. > :06:56.time he is running a dominant car in the battle for the world
:06:57. > :07:06.championship. Lewis has been there before and he has the upper hand.
:07:07. > :07:13.After three races it is a couple of second places and one winter Nico
:07:14. > :07:26.Rosberg. And it is a career high if a Force India's Nico Hulkenberg. --
:07:27. > :07:27.for. And Daniel Ricciardo is in 10th with the appeal going against him
:07:28. > :07:45.this week. Force India have the highest
:07:46. > :07:49.position in second place. It is a strong start for them. How vital is
:07:50. > :07:56.that for a team that does not have the budget such as these guys behind
:07:57. > :08:01.us, in terms of development. They have continually delivered with a
:08:02. > :08:07.fraction of the budget of the top teams. They are efficient. They are
:08:08. > :08:11.there on merit will stop the key to the success is they have the
:08:12. > :08:18.Mercedes power unit, which is very good, but if you look at McLaren and
:08:19. > :08:23.Williams, who have that, they have delivered a nice package. With Nico
:08:24. > :08:30.Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez they are well set for the season. Sergio
:08:31. > :08:36.Perez gave them their second ever podium and this is him talking now.
:08:37. > :08:44.It was an incredible race last time, have you watched it back? I watched
:08:45. > :09:00.it a couple of times. I got excited, even though I knew the finish.
:09:01. > :09:09.When I overtook Massa, I thought, this is a piece of cake. Wendy Coe
:09:10. > :09:25.jumped me at the stop, -- when Nico. I had to get to Williams.
:09:26. > :09:34.Side-by-side, and he has done it. Sergio Perez, driving out of his
:09:35. > :09:47.skin. And then the safety car came in. It made things harder. We were
:09:48. > :09:58.on the prime tyres. To keep the Red Bulls behind me was a big challenge.
:09:59. > :10:02.Who will finish third? Sergio Perez, bringing Force India a podium
:10:03. > :10:09.finish. Fantastic for them. The only time they did that was in 2009. He
:10:10. > :10:18.is loving it. And, for Force India, what an achievement. It was
:10:19. > :10:25.emotional. The year I had with McLaren. The frustration. It seemed
:10:26. > :10:33.my effort paid off. How much have you changed as a driver since
:10:34. > :10:50.leaving McLaren? Not a doctor. -- not a lot. I became a better
:10:51. > :10:53.driver, a better sports man. Has this damaged your chances of getting
:10:54. > :11:00.with another big team in Formula One? Of course, big teams will think
:11:01. > :11:11.what happened, why did McLaren get rid of him? My time at McLaren, it
:11:12. > :11:19.was not just about the car, it was an inconsistent car. As long as I
:11:20. > :11:23.proved as I did in 2012 that I am capable of winning world
:11:24. > :11:31.championship, if I get the car, I should be in a good position.
:11:32. > :11:34.Given the right package he thinks he can be world champion. Given the
:11:35. > :11:42.current crop of competitors, what do you think? All of the drivers
:11:43. > :11:47.believe they can win a championship, certainly Grand Prixs. There is a
:11:48. > :11:51.difference from having a winning car and holding it together for the
:11:52. > :11:58.season. When he pulls it together he has the hallmarks of a champion but
:11:59. > :12:04.so far he has been inconsistent. You have to give him credit. McLaren had
:12:05. > :12:08.a bad car last year. Let him see if you can deliver alongside Nico
:12:09. > :12:16.Hulkenberg. Does he have to prove himself again? One race does not
:12:17. > :12:20.make a world champion. He has to be able to deliver that. Nico
:12:21. > :12:24.Hulkenberg is a known quantity in terms of a consistent performance.
:12:25. > :12:29.Bizarrely comic he has been overlooked, mainly because of his
:12:30. > :12:38.size and packaging, which is an issue in this hybrid era. He needs
:12:39. > :12:45.to deliver that all season long, Sergio Perez. Perhaps this is the
:12:46. > :12:49.best environment for him to do that. It is a great team that continue to
:12:50. > :12:53.deliver. They spend money efficiently. They have earned the
:12:54. > :13:00.position where they are in the championship. Only time will tell.
:13:01. > :13:06.It has been busy in the world of Formula One with resignations and
:13:07. > :13:09.court hearings. Tom has the news. There have been significant changes
:13:10. > :13:14.since the last race. Mercedes announced their technical director
:13:15. > :13:23.Bob Bell will leave and there has been a change in Ferrari where
:13:24. > :13:30.Stefano -- Stefano Domenicali has been replaced by Marco Mattiacci. To
:13:31. > :13:37.work very hard, this is what I commit to the team and drivers. I am
:13:38. > :13:47.a person who will listen and will fight 150%. To be a facilitator. To
:13:48. > :13:54.use the best of the talent within Ferrari. There could be an American
:13:55. > :14:09.team on the grid next year following news that entry has been granted to
:14:10. > :14:12.Nascar owner Gene Haas. After the disappointment of that it was nice
:14:13. > :14:17.to see that someone thought an American team could be successful in
:14:18. > :14:21.Formula One. It is exciting. It goes to show how much interest there is
:14:22. > :14:30.the Formula One in America, after the success over the past two years.
:14:31. > :14:41.Bad news the Red Bull. The FIA upheld the decision of the Melbourne
:14:42. > :14:47.Grand Prix. Daniel Ricciardo was excluded for a fuel the regularity.
:14:48. > :14:52.They have moved on. They apologised and wish they could have got it back
:14:53. > :14:57.for me. Let's make it right this week in China. It was no holds
:14:58. > :15:02.barred between Mercedes team-mates in Bahrain and we can expect the
:15:03. > :15:06.battle to be no less intense this weekend. Lewis Hamilton and Nico
:15:07. > :15:12.Rosberg have won the race before. They have been firing warning shots.
:15:13. > :15:17.It is always important to win and to beat my team-mate. Nothing has
:15:18. > :15:22.changed. It will be the same this weekend. All we want to do is win. I
:15:23. > :15:34.guess every year when you come to a race, you want to finish first. You
:15:35. > :15:39.want to finish one higher. another team principal bites the dust, but
:15:40. > :15:46.during the season that is unusual. Yes, it is. Historically team
:15:47. > :15:49.principals have been the fall owner of the team and have never fired
:15:50. > :15:55.themselves and Ferrari have been quite close in the last couple of
:15:56. > :16:01.years, but they felt Stefano Domenicali had taken it as far as he
:16:02. > :16:08.could. What do you see as the role of a team principal? They have to
:16:09. > :16:13.control all, but be a step removed from the personal relationship. As a
:16:14. > :16:16.driver you will be going over issues with the engineers and the
:16:17. > :16:20.designers. You need to maintain a very good relationship in the garage
:16:21. > :16:27.and the team principal has to be the one you can talk open and frankly
:16:28. > :16:34.too. Team facilitating. Is Marco De man for the job? He is aligned very
:16:35. > :16:39.well with the Ferrari board and time will tell, but it is a big
:16:40. > :16:44.opportunity. It seems as though Ferrari may have taken a step
:16:45. > :16:48.forward on track. There have been a number of mapping issues that
:16:49. > :16:53.Ferrari have been going through as they try and close the gap to
:16:54. > :16:58.Mercedes. The more they can get on top of the fuel mapping, which is an
:16:59. > :17:03.issue, that is allowing them to step forward in the circuit and on the
:17:04. > :17:10.track and it should play to their strengths. Daniel Ricciardo has also
:17:11. > :17:16.been going well in the free practice sessions. It is a tale of two
:17:17. > :17:20.stories in Red Bull. Yes, Daniel Ricciardo can do no wrong this
:17:21. > :17:26.weekend. The fastest of everybody this morning.
:17:27. > :17:32.It is not the same with Sebastien Vettel. He has been consistently
:17:33. > :17:38.slower even when the car has been running seamlessly, and his
:17:39. > :17:44.team-mates in sector two. He has got work to do if he is going to add to
:17:45. > :17:49.his three pole positions. Elsewhere in the pit lane Marcus Ericsson was
:17:50. > :17:55.stopped by a power unit failure, but the team have fixed that. When I had
:17:56. > :17:59.a look at the Lotus mechanic 's five minutes ago they were still
:18:00. > :18:03.frantically working on Pastor Maldonado's card. They located an
:18:04. > :18:09.oil leak and it is marginal whether he will be out for the start of Q1.
:18:10. > :18:13.Qualifying from the Chinese Grand Prix. David and Ben are your
:18:14. > :18:35.commentators. Here is Q1. The first wet qualifying session in
:18:36. > :18:39.China in eight years gets underway, but it is the third time this year
:18:40. > :18:43.that the teams have had to choose between the full wet or the
:18:44. > :18:48.intermediate tyres. They come out for the first knockout phase. Tom,
:18:49. > :18:55.give us an update on conditions and what should we be concentrating on?
:18:56. > :19:00.Every car is on the full wet because the track is much whiter than it was
:19:01. > :19:06.in final practice this morning. One driver who is not going to be doing
:19:07. > :19:11.anything is Pastor Maldonado. He has got an oil leak on his car and it
:19:12. > :19:17.has got no rear end, so do not expect to see the Lotus out. Nico
:19:18. > :19:25.Rosberg is exploring the limits of the track and we might see that a
:19:26. > :19:30.few times. He felt he was going to have a lock-up and he did not want
:19:31. > :19:38.to do any damage to his tyres. Difficult conditions for the
:19:39. > :19:44.intermediate. Rosberg goes fastest. 3.5 seconds faster than anybody else
:19:45. > :19:51.has achieved so far. Alonso has gone second fastest, but over two seconds
:19:52. > :19:59.slower than Rosberg. That was Bianchi in the Marussia who took a
:20:00. > :20:05.bit of a wide line. Take a look at what Kimi Raikkonen has been doing.
:20:06. > :20:09.This is early turned to and dropping down into three. He manages to keep
:20:10. > :20:17.it on track, but that will affect the drive all the way through the
:20:18. > :20:25.long Turn 3. Jenson Button and Kevin Magnussen, and will they take
:20:26. > :20:31.advantage of these conditions? Fernando Alonso, a surprising turn
:20:32. > :20:39.of speed from Ferrari left everybody wondering if they could display that
:20:40. > :20:42.over the next bit of the weekend. Six in qualifying, but going faster
:20:43. > :20:47.in that more complex middle sector than Rosberg and Hamilton, so it
:20:48. > :20:52.indicates they have made some improvements, certainly to the
:20:53. > :20:56.balance of the car. The first and last sector in Shanghai are
:20:57. > :21:03.dominated by straights and hairpins pretty much. As we see one of the
:21:04. > :21:11.Saubers getting out onto the artificial grass. Water has soaked
:21:12. > :21:19.into that grass. That was Adrian Sutil. Rosberg is fastest. Fernando
:21:20. > :21:25.Alonso is second fastest. Hamilton is Bird. Sebastien Vettel is on a
:21:26. > :21:32.good laugh and he has gone fastest in the middle sector. He runs wide
:21:33. > :21:36.onto the artificial grass and loses traction out of the final corner and
:21:37. > :21:42.that might have lost him the chance. Yes, it has, because he has dropped
:21:43. > :21:48.to third. Let's get more from the pit lane. Pirelli think the
:21:49. > :21:53.crossover point between the extreme wet and the intermediate is 1.56
:21:54. > :21:58.dead, so we are not far away from that. You could see a lot of the car
:21:59. > :22:03.is switching over to the intermediate where the last man on
:22:04. > :22:09.track might set the quickest time. It could become a real lottery, the
:22:10. > :22:16.Q1. What was the story with Sebastien Vettel? He generated a lot
:22:17. > :22:23.of understeer. In these conditions when you see somebody run wide it is
:22:24. > :22:27.because they have turned in and he was very aggressive on his time in
:22:28. > :22:32.which suggested he was confident on the rest of the track, but the
:22:33. > :22:38.tarmac varies a little bit corner to corner. When he turned in there he
:22:39. > :22:43.did not generate any grip. Bottas qualified extremely well in the wet
:22:44. > :22:48.last year for Williams. But this year Williams has struggled in the
:22:49. > :22:52.rain. It has less downforce than others and they have struggled to
:22:53. > :22:57.generate higher temperature. The tyre is being squished into the
:22:58. > :23:04.tarmac. He has just done a good lap and he has gone fifth. There are
:23:05. > :23:10.some new parts on the Williams this weekend to counter those problems so
:23:11. > :23:15.maybe they can get more out of this. RADIO: The traction is very poor.
:23:16. > :23:22.That is Daniel Ricciardo complaining about traction. Sebastien Vettel has
:23:23. > :23:26.gone fastest in the middle sector. Tom. Attraction has been the
:23:27. > :23:34.Achilles heel of the Renault power unit. It will exacerbate that
:23:35. > :23:39.problem. Williams have got a whole bunch of new aerodynamic parts. Both
:23:40. > :23:43.drivers are reporting better balance this weekend. On board with Jenson
:23:44. > :23:51.Button. He is in seventh year at the moment. It does not look like he is
:23:52. > :23:58.going to use eighth year. In these tough conditions, a drive is
:23:59. > :24:05.generated off the tyre not being smooth. He is running a bit slower
:24:06. > :24:15.in his first and second sectors, slower than his team-mate,
:24:16. > :24:21.Magnussen. Button is ten and Magnussen is eight. Six minutes to
:24:22. > :24:26.go in this session. Magnussen has been reporting it is definitely wet
:24:27. > :24:32.and it is not driving. A little wiggle at the hairpin. He was on an
:24:33. > :24:38.inside line searching for the grip historically where the tyre rubber
:24:39. > :24:44.goes down in the normal racing line. We would refer to it as a karting
:24:45. > :24:50.line. But that we would refer to as a mistake! At the moment Sebastien
:24:51. > :25:01.Vettel is lighting up the screens with fastest first and second
:25:02. > :25:09.sectors. Ricciardo is up there. The other Red Bull is fourth. Bottas is
:25:10. > :25:15.sixth and Magnussen is seven. Niko Hulkenberg has popped up into eight.
:25:16. > :25:20.In the drop zone we have got Cobleigh Ashy, Gutierrez and
:25:21. > :25:24.Ericsson. We are watching Bianchi right now. An opportunity for the
:25:25. > :25:29.younger drivers and the lesser teams to try and impress, but I am not
:25:30. > :25:42.sure they will have the speed they need. He is to tense up on Adrian
:25:43. > :25:56.Sutil's position. There is frustration cropping in for Romain
:25:57. > :26:03.Grosjean. He was asked to break it down on the in lap and he said he
:26:04. > :26:10.would try. Bianchi again showing as that deep lying around the hairpin.
:26:11. > :26:13.He is trying to find a bit more grip on the outside line. David, it is
:26:14. > :26:20.difficult to get off the normal line. Well, maybe not! He didn't
:26:21. > :26:24.look as if he wanted to take the corner at all. I wonder if he has
:26:25. > :26:31.decided to go over the artificial grass to find a bit of grit. He must
:26:32. > :26:44.have lost a good half second. Probably less than if he had done
:26:45. > :26:51.what Vettel had done. Kamui Kobayashi is slightly faster. Maybe
:26:52. > :26:59.he found the secret trick on that last corner. He moves up to 15th
:27:00. > :27:10.position. We are looking here at Force India and Perez. There is a
:27:11. > :27:16.lot more block depth and you do not get the same feeling of vibration as
:27:17. > :27:20.you would on a slick tyre, but it affects the performance. It is only
:27:21. > :27:28.Bottas who has gone on to the intermediates. Moving up a bit for
:27:29. > :27:34.Adrian Sutil. Both Force Indias are on the intermediates. Sue Teal has
:27:35. > :27:38.gone quicker, so that might be assigned to the other teams. But
:27:39. > :27:42.they are probably hoping they are safe. The top teams do not need to
:27:43. > :27:50.do any more. Hamilton has gone faster than Vettel. That was on his
:27:51. > :27:57.wet tyres. He has gone out on the second run in the same set of
:27:58. > :28:05.tyres. The top guys will not feel under any pressure to still be out
:28:06. > :28:11.there. Can Jean-Eric Vergne get himself out of the drop zone? He is
:28:12. > :28:17.no quicker than he was in the second sector, but he might get another
:28:18. > :28:22.lap. Yes, he has got Cobleigh Ashy and Bianchi in front of him. So it
:28:23. > :28:31.should be a clear lap, presuming this is a preparation lap. He is in
:28:32. > :28:35.the drop zone currently, you are writing with him, Jean-Eric Vergne.
:28:36. > :28:40.This is the beginning of his flying lap, but he was pretty smooth with
:28:41. > :28:51.the throttle and he has got himself into 16th. This next lap might be
:28:52. > :28:59.better. Gutierrez is about to come across the line. He is in the drop
:29:00. > :29:06.zone, so one more attempt from the Sauber driver. These will get across
:29:07. > :29:11.the line and get another lap in. Some people will miss out. Magnussen
:29:12. > :29:16.is going into the hairpin and he might not get another lap, but I
:29:17. > :29:19.think he will be safe in eighth place. Most of the front runners
:29:20. > :29:26.have decided not to bother with any more laps. The chequered flag comes
:29:27. > :29:32.out. But in a slight improvement, but he stays in 10th position. Let's
:29:33. > :29:40.see who can get themselves out of the drop zone. Gutierrez, Kamui
:29:41. > :29:49.Kobayashi, Max Chilton, are in the drop zone. The times are pretty
:29:50. > :29:53.consistent. Bianchi has not been able to improve significantly.
:29:54. > :30:00.Gutierrez is desperate to get out of the drop zone. Romain Grosjean is on
:30:01. > :30:07.a lap that might not see him improve. Has he done enough to get
:30:08. > :30:16.through? Gutierrez has failed to make it through into the second part
:30:17. > :30:19.of qualifying. Sutil is always good in these conditions but up to now
:30:20. > :30:26.Gutierrez has always looked comfortable. Can Grosjean improve
:30:27. > :30:33.his time? He improved it fractionally. He still stays down in
:30:34. > :30:39.16. Pastor Maldonado is out. He never got to run at all. We can see
:30:40. > :30:49.what Kimi Raikkonen did. He chucked it in hard. That was into 14. A
:30:50. > :30:56.little bit of a power drift. Just a correction for the oversteer. Some
:30:57. > :31:01.time to be found for him in the second part of qualifying but what
:31:02. > :31:04.we have seen from the session... Into the final corner, that is
:31:05. > :31:09.perhaps what the director was trying to pick up on. I think he got a
:31:10. > :31:15.wheel on the white line as he turned in. Difficult to regenerate the
:31:16. > :31:23.energy in the braking zones in wet conditions. The amount of energy you
:31:24. > :31:33.are putting into the brakes and what you can use into the rear axle is
:31:34. > :31:39.less in the wet. Gutierrez, he is out the second part of qualifying.
:31:40. > :32:02.Kobayashi is the fastest of the Caterham Marussia s. Now we know the
:32:03. > :32:06.16 cars that will be into Q2. This must be a frustrating weekend view?
:32:07. > :32:15.Difficult because of the engine history. Just the fourth race and we
:32:16. > :32:24.lost almost two engines. It is a strange situation. It is difficult
:32:25. > :32:29.to accept. It is what we have. Tomorrow will be another day. It
:32:30. > :32:37.will be a long race and so I'd need to do my best. What about free
:32:38. > :32:43.practice? There seems to have been an issue. There was a crash in the
:32:44. > :32:48.pit wall. The oil. What difficulties are you experiencing with the car in
:32:49. > :32:54.terms of driving? The tests are to try different things. Testing the
:32:55. > :32:59.limits on the entry to the pit and I did a mistake from my side
:33:00. > :33:06.yesterday. We have been able to run with both compound. That was
:33:07. > :33:15.important to get some data. Today, it was an engine problem. Best of
:33:16. > :33:20.luck. Now, Q2. The second part of qualifying starts
:33:21. > :33:24.quietly. Nobody is in a desperate rush to get out on the circuit.
:33:25. > :33:30.There were some interesting performances. Daniil Kvyat,
:33:31. > :33:39.outpacing Jean-Eric Vergne, his team-mate. It is interesting to see.
:33:40. > :33:45.Grosjean is scraping into this part of qualifying, so it will be a tough
:33:46. > :33:52.order to get him into the top ten. First out is the Sauber of Adrian
:33:53. > :33:58.Sutil. We lost the other Sauber of Esteban Gutierrez. What can Adrian
:33:59. > :34:06.Sutil do in this session, can he drive the car into the top ten? He
:34:07. > :34:12.is on intermediates. We could see in the last session, an established dry
:34:13. > :34:17.line, not completely dry tarmac, but less standing water being
:34:18. > :34:25.established. Expect to see everybody going out on intermediates. Tom? I
:34:26. > :34:29.am being passed by front runners on intermediate tyres. They managed to
:34:30. > :34:35.get through into this Q2 session on used wet tyres from this morning.
:34:36. > :34:42.They have been saving the intermediates for the business end
:34:43. > :34:48.of this qualifying. It has stopped raining. The drizzle has gone. The
:34:49. > :34:57.traction will improve by the lap. Watching Fernando Alonso. The poll
:34:58. > :35:02.winner in the only other wet qualifying in Shanghai in 2006. Can
:35:03. > :35:07.he repeat that performance? It has been a long time since Fernando
:35:08. > :35:13.Alonso was on pole position. The German Grand Prix of 2012, when the
:35:14. > :35:20.conditions were changeable. He has not shown that pole winning pace but
:35:21. > :35:25.it is an opportunity for him. Hamilton has gone fastest in the
:35:26. > :35:33.first sector. They are building up the lap. We can ride with Alonso. A
:35:34. > :35:40.couple of tenths down in the first sector, relative to Hamilton.
:35:41. > :35:46.Catlike reactions from the Spaniard. This is where he will try
:35:47. > :35:56.to short shift, stay of the rubber, the seemingly never ending
:35:57. > :35:59.interesting that is Rosberg ahead of him, slightly slower than Alonso,
:36:00. > :36:05.and Hamilton behind him, slightly quicker. It could be the track
:36:06. > :36:12.involving all the way they have prepared the tyres on the out lap.
:36:13. > :36:19.The tyres are sensitive to the surface temperature and every car
:36:20. > :36:20.will work it differently. He has been given feedback all the time on
:36:21. > :36:34.the lap. On board with Lewis Hamilton. This
:36:35. > :36:39.should be faster. Sebastian Vettel is going quick. Hamilton going
:36:40. > :36:44.fastest. Immediately stamping his authority as he tries to go for
:36:45. > :36:51.another pole position in the wet. He has taken the two this year that
:36:52. > :36:59.were held in wet sessions. Sebastian Vettel was fastest in the first
:37:00. > :37:13.sector but gave up sometime. Trying to get that back. Certainly looked
:37:14. > :37:19.good, his first sector performance. The Ferrari of Raikkonen, in sixth
:37:20. > :37:24.at the moment. Massa has blown a chance to do a decent lap with his
:37:25. > :37:30.exit out of the last corner. I do not think he would have been up with
:37:31. > :37:38.the Mercedes, all, the Ferrari of Alonso. Kimi Raikkonen in six, but a
:37:39. > :37:46.long way off the time of Alonso. Daniel Ricciardo showing that pace
:37:47. > :37:56.of Vettel. We did not see a complete lap from Vettel. Ricciardo is
:37:57. > :37:58.showing good pace. On the white line, so inevitable he would get a
:37:59. > :38:27.sideways moment. The car looks very twitchy, you have
:38:28. > :38:33.to say. Both drivers through free practice have been finding a root of
:38:34. > :38:36.the circuit about everywhere. Even at the recent test, we were
:38:37. > :38:48.discussing earlier, 30 laps in total. Sergio Perez. Going for the
:38:49. > :38:54.dirt. The long corner. Alonso getting wide. When you get at onto
:38:55. > :39:02.the outside edge... That was beautifully recovered. World
:39:03. > :39:08.champion potential. Grosjean, this is where he got sideways. You know
:39:09. > :39:19.you are in trouble, on the white line, the best thing is to get off
:39:20. > :39:26.and start to accelerate. A few improvements coming through. Vettel
:39:27. > :39:36.goes second. Alonso has been pushed to fish. Bottas ahead of Raikkonen.
:39:37. > :39:43.Grosjean is currently in the top ten. Outside of the top ten with six
:39:44. > :39:49.and a half minutes to go, Kevin Magnussen, the Sauber. Hulkenberg,
:39:50. > :39:58.Massa, and Perez, in the pits, ready for another attempt to make it into
:39:59. > :40:03.the top ten. We heard Gutierrez had a break by wire in that first
:40:04. > :40:10.session, which will explain that sizeable gap with his team-mate. He
:40:11. > :40:19.bailed out early. Decided if he is taking that speed onto the mud, he
:40:20. > :40:23.might as well spin. Tom. Alonso is the first of the front runners to go
:40:24. > :40:27.back out on new intermediates. I wondered why he was in a hurry to
:40:28. > :40:35.get out. Maybe Ferrari looked at the clouds, and saw that we are getting
:40:36. > :40:38.more drizzle coming down. It is only drizzle. I do not know whether it
:40:39. > :40:43.will affect conditions that much, but if it gets harder, it well.
:40:44. > :40:55.Looking from the commentary box as they go into the back of the track,
:40:56. > :41:01.the driveline is now not visible. It would suggest it could be getting
:41:02. > :41:06.wetter. It will make it life -- makes life difficult for those in
:41:07. > :41:12.the drop zone. Vettel has just gone fastest of anybody in the middle
:41:13. > :41:21.sector. Still in with a chance of improving. On the long back
:41:22. > :41:26.straight, overtaken. Hulkenberg. That might give him a slipstream in
:41:27. > :41:36.the last sector. Williams are trying to get their two cars into the top
:41:37. > :41:42.ten. Bottas is in six, Massa in 15. He has slowed it down. He has felt
:41:43. > :41:46.that are that was an incredibly quick exit by Kimi Raikkonen behind
:41:47. > :41:53.him, because he seemed slow off the corner, and Kimi Raikkonen bearing
:41:54. > :41:59.down on him. Now he has to back off. He wants space for the next lap. The
:42:00. > :42:05.best thing the Raikkonen to do is to back out of it. Kevin Magnussen is
:42:06. > :42:08.behind him. Massa has backed out, which will give Raikkonen some
:42:09. > :42:14.issues and then Raikkonen has thought I am coming through. You can
:42:15. > :42:26.see where they get bunched up. Massa trying to hold track position.
:42:27. > :42:36.Hulkenberg. The sponsor losing opportunity for branding! He has
:42:37. > :42:41.blown it on the second sector. Mercedes and Red Bull at the top,
:42:42. > :42:48.chased by Ferrari, although Hamilton has gone even faster. Grosjean, can
:42:49. > :42:55.he move himself up? Yes. That is a good effort. Everyone up until sixth
:42:56. > :43:01.place house to pay attention. Alonso in fifth has a half second on
:43:02. > :43:07.Grosjean. He could be comfortable. Hulkenberg has had a couple of
:43:08. > :43:13.greens. Nice and tidy, gentle application of power as he comes out
:43:14. > :43:17.of the last corner. He has gone seventh with that and that should
:43:18. > :43:22.put him into safety, you would think. There is still time left and
:43:23. > :43:30.he cannot back off. Hulkenberg is pushed down again. Raikkonen in the
:43:31. > :43:36.danger zone. At a macro 11th and he only has this lap to try and improve
:43:37. > :43:45.it -- Jenson Button at 11. Bottas improving. Daniil Kvyat is not
:43:46. > :43:50.improving enough. Massa finally gets his car into the top ten, still with
:43:51. > :43:55.a chance to improve on that. The clock shows ten seconds. I wonder
:43:56. > :44:03.who else will get a chance. Alonso came back in but he is safe. In
:44:04. > :44:09.fifth. Hamilton, he has chosen to come back in. We can see how Jenson
:44:10. > :44:14.Button is getting on. He is in a slow first sector relative to his
:44:15. > :44:21.best previous sector. Nine tenths down on the fastest of the session.
:44:22. > :44:26.He does like the slippery conditions. He sometimes struggles
:44:27. > :44:33.to get tired temperature and in these cool temperatures, it could be
:44:34. > :44:36.a factor. Alonso is back in the pits and we are watching Hulkenberg as he
:44:37. > :44:41.tries to improve. He got comfortably in the top ten last time but now he
:44:42. > :44:49.is in 10th place with Raikkonen and Jenson Button behind him. He has
:44:50. > :44:55.time working against him. It was an average middle sector. Will he miss
:44:56. > :44:59.out on Q3 for the second race in succession? Sergio Perez has not
:45:00. > :45:07.made it. There is a gap between them in terms of lap time. Hulkenberg. He
:45:08. > :45:12.lost time on the last corner. I am not sure it is enough to improve, he
:45:13. > :45:16.stays at 10th, and will now have to wait to see what Kimi Raikkonen can
:45:17. > :45:27.do. This is Jenson Button. Has he done enough? He improved his time,
:45:28. > :45:35.but it is not by enough. Button fails to make it into Q3. Magnussen
:45:36. > :45:39.is on a lap at the moment to see if there is any change. Can Raikkonen
:45:40. > :45:47.squeeze into the top ten? It could be close. No, he has failed to do
:45:48. > :45:54.it. Conditions seemed to have got a bit worse as we thought in the
:45:55. > :46:01.closing moments of this session. Nobody was able to vastly improve on
:46:02. > :46:07.the last run. Raikkonen is out the top ten. Jenson Button qualified 12.
:46:08. > :46:13.Jean-Eric Vergne has made it through in one of the Toro Rossos, but
:46:14. > :46:20.Adrian Sutil did not make it through. Magnussen will be
:46:21. > :46:28.disappointed. There are two cars between himself and Button and he
:46:29. > :46:34.would have wanted more. The Force India are doing a better job.
:46:35. > :46:39.Raikkonen in 11 has never been outqualified by a team-mate in
:46:40. > :46:53.China, so a sobering start to his 24 Dean campaign. Some big names have
:46:54. > :47:10.gone out in Q2. Dashed 2014 campaign. We missed out by just over
:47:11. > :47:17.110. I was hoping we could get a grip on the front tyres. Jenson
:47:18. > :47:21.Button, it did not sound as if it was the most comfortable of rides
:47:22. > :47:29.from what you are saying on the radio. The first lap of the second
:47:30. > :47:35.was the quickest. We could have got through, but we did not. We struggle
:47:36. > :47:40.in the wet, especially with front temperature. It is not a great day,
:47:41. > :47:46.but we know we can do a better job tomorrow. Perhaps a bit unlucky not
:47:47. > :47:52.to get through to Q3. Did the conditions get worse? We were
:47:53. > :48:00.struggling with the grip since the beginning of qualifying. The race is
:48:01. > :48:06.tomorrow anyway. It looked very greasy. Do you mean grip on track or
:48:07. > :48:13.were you struggling to get hid in the tyres? I do not know exactly
:48:14. > :48:17.what it was, but the car I was sliding. Tomorrow the wet they will
:48:18. > :48:22.be different hopefully. Going from midfield what do you think you can
:48:23. > :48:31.do? The top ten is quite close, so I hope I can get into it. The top ten
:48:32. > :48:35.shoot out, here is Q3. The all-important top ten shoot out
:48:36. > :48:41.and the battle for pole position. Lewis Hamilton unbeaten in wet
:48:42. > :48:46.sessions this year. Sebastien Vettel is showing a good turn of pace,
:48:47. > :48:54.David. It looks as though Red Bull might be able to challenge Mercedes.
:48:55. > :48:58.Despite all the difficulties they had preseason, we saw from Danielle
:48:59. > :49:05.Ricciardo in Melbourne he was able to line up on pole and got second on
:49:06. > :49:11.intermediates. The rain comes down and it seems to be a great leveller.
:49:12. > :49:15.If this is a clean lap for the Mercedes drivers, they have got such
:49:16. > :49:21.a speed advantage in the first and the second sector, it should be a
:49:22. > :49:28.question of who is firing for third. But I do not have a crystal ball, so
:49:29. > :49:33.this session is going to be intense. The rain came down a bit heavier at
:49:34. > :49:40.the end of the last session, so we did not see any improvement, Tom.
:49:41. > :49:43.How are things where you are now? It is intensifying as I speak. The
:49:44. > :49:51.track conditions are going to get worse. This could become a slightly
:49:52. > :49:56.back to front Q3. You could see the pole lap at the start of this
:49:57. > :50:04.instead of at the end. Niko Hulkenberg has gone past on the full
:50:05. > :50:11.wet tyre. Sebastien Vettel comes out of the final turn to be the first to
:50:12. > :50:16.go on to go onto a flying lap. Three times a pole-sitter in Shanghai. But
:50:17. > :50:23.he has only won it once and that was his first win with Red Bull in 2009.
:50:24. > :50:28.It was a one, two with his team-mate Mark Webber. He has had two more
:50:29. > :50:34.pole positions, but they have not been converted into victory. You
:50:35. > :50:38.might think that would be dangerous in these conditions, but he did not
:50:39. > :50:42.get out of shape, so he is just understanding where the grip levels
:50:43. > :50:49.are and are very wide line on purpose. His team will be keeping a
:50:50. > :50:54.close eye on the four cars that have gone out on the full wet tyres
:50:55. > :50:59.straightaway. This is the middle sector where the Red Bull has been
:51:00. > :51:03.able to use its downforce, grip and balanced to close the gap on
:51:04. > :51:10.Mercedes. We have heard from Ferrari and they have apologised to Kimi
:51:11. > :51:14.Raikkonen for an issue with his downshift in the last sector. They
:51:15. > :51:21.can see the issues. Some technical issue that saw him in 11th place.
:51:22. > :51:27.Interesting to hear as Sebastien Vettel continues on this lap. He is
:51:28. > :51:33.faster than anybody in the first sector, but no, he is not, Hamilton
:51:34. > :51:38.has gone through one tenth faster. But he is quicker than Rosberg in
:51:39. > :51:42.the second sector. Rosberg has already gone through that section.
:51:43. > :51:48.Hamilton behind them both is going slightly faster. Crucially, they are
:51:49. > :51:55.all faster than those on wet tyres at the moment. Hamilton has gone
:51:56. > :52:01.through the second sector and he is slower than Vettel. This is a great
:52:02. > :52:08.lap by Vettel on the intermediate tyre. He set the benchmark. Let's
:52:09. > :52:20.see what Rosberg does. He goes second fastest. Third for Alonso, he
:52:21. > :52:28.will be disappointed with that as an opening lap. Bottas, Hulkenberg,
:52:29. > :52:37.Jean-Eric Vergne, they are on the full tyres. Hamilton is the one to
:52:38. > :52:43.watch. Look at the margin, six tenths of a second. Another
:52:44. > :52:48.brilliant lap in these slippery positions. He was on pole in
:52:49. > :53:03.Australia and in Malaysia, and that might be enough to take pole in
:53:04. > :53:15.China. A great lap. A comment from Romain Grosjean. Hamilton is fastest
:53:16. > :53:24.from Vettel, Rosberg and Ricciardo. Whether they were aiming to do a
:53:25. > :53:31.hard lap and a slow lap and come in and take on another set of tyres,
:53:32. > :53:36.remains to be seen. Felipe Massa is on the intermediate tyre. Bottas has
:53:37. > :53:46.come onto the radio saying we need the full intermediate. He went off
:53:47. > :53:54.at Turn 1. He set a reasonable first sector. Let's see what Vettel bid.
:53:55. > :53:59.This was after his quick lap. He gets oversteer on the middle of Turn
:54:00. > :54:09.1. But it shows they have got good front end in that car. A new set of
:54:10. > :54:14.intermediates for Niko Hulkenberg and he is straight on his way. The
:54:15. > :54:26.engine RPM dropped a lot as he pulled away. Is he allowing the
:54:27. > :54:31.Williams and Massa a clear run? You do not want to get any blocking
:54:32. > :54:37.issues and a trip to the stewards at this point in qualifying. Hamilton
:54:38. > :54:44.has to be out there to protect the advantage he has. The conditions
:54:45. > :54:48.could still change. Nico Rosberg is currently third. It is where he has
:54:49. > :54:55.qualified in both of the wet sessions this year, interestingly.
:54:56. > :55:00.Last time out he snatched pole position from his team-mate. But
:55:01. > :55:05.Hamilton looks to be in a world of his own. Rosberg was in pole
:55:06. > :55:10.position here two years ago when he went on to win the race in dry
:55:11. > :55:14.conditions. It looks like he will be pitting and then he will do one
:55:15. > :55:23.timed lap on a new set of intermediates. He will be doing one
:55:24. > :55:30.flying lap, Nico Rosberg. Alonso also going on to a new set of
:55:31. > :55:35.intermediates. The first of the guys who have got a real chance of taking
:55:36. > :55:46.pole will be Vettel. Rosberg will have him in his sights. All the
:55:47. > :55:52.information as to where Lewis Hamilton will gain. Turn seven. We
:55:53. > :55:58.have a great view of it from our commentary box. The line seems to be
:55:59. > :56:04.drying a little bit. It looks like the middle part of the track is at
:56:05. > :56:09.least in as good a condition as we saw in the faster times of the
:56:10. > :56:15.second part of qualifying. Let's keep an eye on Nico Rosberg to see
:56:16. > :56:20.how he gets on. A good first sector. But if the conversation was similar
:56:21. > :56:29.they would have said, you have been losing time, one, two! Unlikely
:56:30. > :56:34.Sebastien Vettel will improve on this particular lap. Danielle
:56:35. > :56:41.Ricciardo has gone fastest of all in the first sector. It is looking like
:56:42. > :56:45.Hamilton is absolutely at the top of his game. Finding grip with that
:56:46. > :56:49.card that his team-mate is struggling to find. Vettel will get
:56:50. > :56:56.one more run at it with a couple of minutes to go. A good middle sector
:56:57. > :57:02.from Rosberg. Fastest so far in this session. But will it remain
:57:03. > :57:08.fastest? Oh, he gathered that together pretty well. Ricciardo is
:57:09. > :57:14.on a very good lap and all of them are looking to beat Hamilton's time.
:57:15. > :57:24.Hamilton has gone through the middle sector not as quick as Rosberg. He
:57:25. > :57:28.has gone to deep! He locked it up and that will have cost him time and
:57:29. > :57:34.frustration as he comes to the last corner. It is almost as if he has
:57:35. > :57:41.aborted this to get his best drive as possible. He has gone from one
:57:42. > :57:47.flying lap and said, I have got it wrong, so one more attempt at it.
:57:48. > :57:56.But has he got the energy recovery he needs? Let's see what Ricciardo
:57:57. > :58:03.does. He is second-fastest. He has displaced his team-mate Sebastien
:58:04. > :58:10.Vettel. Hamilton goes faster again. A stunning lap from Lewis Hamilton.
:58:11. > :58:14.That surely has to be pole position. One second quicker than Danielle
:58:15. > :58:21.Ricciardo, that is incredible. That was Rosberg at turn 13 and he lost
:58:22. > :58:24.sometime anti-lock top into 14. You can see helicopter take on the left
:58:25. > :58:34.side of the bodywork coming detached slightly. This is the lock-up down
:58:35. > :58:41.into 14. This is the mistake. Let's look at it again. He already made a
:58:42. > :58:48.mistake on the exit at 13. But surely nobody can top that time from
:58:49. > :58:56.Hamilton? Bottas has just gone through in fifth, and that is a good
:58:57. > :59:01.effort from Valterri Bottas. Hulkenberg is improving slightly.
:59:02. > :59:07.Ricciardo has improved again, fastest in the middle sector. Vettel
:59:08. > :59:12.is slower than him. It looks like Ricciardo could get closer to
:59:13. > :59:16.Hamilton and Sebastien Vettel is not going to beat his team-mate this
:59:17. > :59:21.afternoon in these wet conditions. Rosberg is not looking good either.
:59:22. > :59:27.Have we seen the formation of the top three? We may have done.
:59:28. > :59:36.Ricciardo might be able to challenge Hamilton, I doubt it. Alonso is
:59:37. > :59:44.currently seven. We have got a red flag. That will end the session.
:59:45. > :59:49.What a shame! We will not be able to get to see the lap time of
:59:50. > :59:58.Ricciardo. He has already backed off. We did not quite get the climax
:59:59. > :00:01.we wanted, although it is still a good qualifier. It is Lewis
:00:02. > :00:09.Hamilton's third pole position of this season. Let's see what happens
:00:10. > :00:13.to Rosberg. That is scrappy driving from Nico Rosberg. I think
:00:14. > :00:18.frustration is setting in. Not only does he get it wrong on the entry,
:00:19. > :00:27.but he spins on the exit. I could not see the yellow flags, but the
:00:28. > :00:31.red light was on. It was the chequered flag and then they put up
:00:32. > :00:37.the red flag. We did get some improvement just at the end. Lewis
:00:38. > :00:38.Hamilton has done it again. The 34th career pole position. He is the
:00:39. > :00:43.British record-holder with that. career pole position. He is the
:00:44. > :00:50.the fourth pole position he has had on this circuit. The most of any
:00:51. > :00:55.driver. He was tied on three pole positions with Sebastian Vettel in
:00:56. > :00:59.the past. It is a hat-trick from Mercedes on this track. Nico Rosberg
:01:00. > :01:04.in 2012, Lewis last year and now he has done it again. It really is a
:01:05. > :01:09.track that Mercedes seem to love. This season, there is no stopping
:01:10. > :01:14.him. Daniel Ricciardo has done what he did in Australia. He qualified on
:01:15. > :01:20.the front row. Sebastian Vettel beaten by his team-mate. Red Bulls,
:01:21. > :01:27.two between Hamilton and Rosberg. That is the big surprise, Red Bull,
:01:28. > :01:36.second and third. Roz -- Rosberg has been pushed to third. RADIO: Nice
:01:37. > :01:48.job, mate. There was not anything left in that. OK, understood. Let's
:01:49. > :01:53.look at the rundown. It will be hard for Rosberg to beat Hamilton from
:01:54. > :01:58.fourth. Good photographer Ross O in ninth. Grosjean knew he was never
:01:59. > :02:03.going to get any further up and 10th, but it is the first time
:02:04. > :02:18.voters have had a car in the top ten this year. In 13th, Daniil Kvyat.
:02:19. > :02:31.Kevin Magnussen disappointingly in 15th place.
:02:32. > :02:36.Pastor Maldonado will start at the back, unable to get out in this
:02:37. > :02:43.qualifying session with a technical problem. Lewis Hamilton again taking
:02:44. > :02:46.pole position. Three wet qualifying sessions this year and three pole
:02:47. > :02:57.positions the Lewis Hamilton, the winner of the last two Grand Prix.
:02:58. > :03:07.Almost six tenths faster than Daniel Ricciardo, where are they coming
:03:08. > :03:12.from? Is it in a confidence? I think this track suits my driving style.
:03:13. > :03:16.It is a great circuit in the wet because you have to go into
:03:17. > :03:24.different lines to find the grip. I seem to be able to do it well here.
:03:25. > :03:29.Conditions are very tricky. It is greasy. We do not have as much
:03:30. > :03:34.downforce on the rear as last year. It is tough. When you say about
:03:35. > :03:49.picking lines, when I watched your qualifying lap, you could see you
:03:50. > :03:58.were using the old karting lines. In turn two there was massive under
:03:59. > :04:02.stairs. -- understeer. When you are trying to get power you are short
:04:03. > :04:10.shifting flat out and then breaking off line, off the rubber. There is a
:04:11. > :04:15.headwind here, you can break deeply. -- brake. And back on the inside to
:04:16. > :04:22.get more grip. Here, I take a normal line. Mid exit there is understeer.
:04:23. > :04:28.You're an engineer said this was a corner where Nico Rosberg was
:04:29. > :04:37.quicker. Only one corner. You were quicker everywhere else. Understeer
:04:38. > :04:44.moment into nine. This one, into 11, it locked up the right front and
:04:45. > :04:50.went deep. I was five tenths up here and then lost it when it came down
:04:51. > :04:59.to two tenths. Short shifting? Yes, and feeding through the throttle.
:05:00. > :05:14.You need drive ability there say well done to Mercedes. There is no
:05:15. > :05:19.DRS, so this takes a while. Again, not going to wide, trying to get
:05:20. > :05:27.traction. And understeer moment. I braked deep and looked like I would
:05:28. > :05:32.go off and suddenly it turned. How relaxed were you on that lap? I
:05:33. > :05:36.wonder if the key was not to make the mistakes. You mention small
:05:37. > :05:42.errors but drivers were making big mistakes. I am generally relaxed. It
:05:43. > :05:46.is intense and you want to be as fast and on the limit everywhere.
:05:47. > :05:52.There is no point driving in the limit. On the limit and beyond the
:05:53. > :05:58.limit. That is what I like about qualifying, it is my favourite part
:05:59. > :06:03.of the weekend. What can we expect from you tomorrow? You have been
:06:04. > :06:09.looking good in the drive. Practice one was disastrous. P2 was even
:06:10. > :06:14.worse. I was struggling with the car. We made changes overnight and I
:06:15. > :06:21.cannot tell from today because it was wet, so I hope they are in the
:06:22. > :06:28.right direction for tomorrow. Thanks, Lewis, congratulations. We
:06:29. > :06:34.can hear from his team-mate now. Difficult conditions. It was a shame
:06:35. > :06:41.towards the end. Yes, but I was slower, anyway. It not -- did not
:06:42. > :06:51.make a difference. It was struggling with breaking today. -- braking. Two
:06:52. > :06:59.braking vents in the last sector. Do you think the car will be better in
:07:00. > :07:06.the dry? Sure. Daniel Ricciardo, front row start, testing conditions
:07:07. > :07:11.today. It was. It was tricky. The start of the session there was a lot
:07:12. > :07:15.of rain and it dried off a little and conditions were constantly
:07:16. > :07:21.changing. It made it challenging. In the end, we got a front row start.
:07:22. > :07:26.Really pleased with the lap in Q3. You are down on power in the
:07:27. > :07:35.Straits, how do you make up for that? When we looked at your lap, it
:07:36. > :07:39.looked tidy. But not spectacular. You are driving within the
:07:40. > :07:43.performance of the chassis. Throughout qualifying we struggled
:07:44. > :07:50.with the rear and trying to hang onto the car on power was not easy.
:07:51. > :07:56.It was a case of getting clean exits and being able to put the power to
:07:57. > :08:01.the ground. How can you do that other than controlling the
:08:02. > :08:05.throttle? We have torque maps and the way the car responds on throttle
:08:06. > :08:11.and playing around with that and I found the best setting possible.
:08:12. > :08:20.Just being very delicate with the right foot. Do you feel it is a step
:08:21. > :08:26.forward, getting it on the turns? The car is definitely strong. If
:08:27. > :08:29.there is a weak point it is the straight-line speed we are lacking
:08:30. > :08:33.and if we matched that with the others we would match it through the
:08:34. > :08:39.corners. I believe we would give Mercedes a harder time. The car is
:08:40. > :08:44.strong, aerodynamically and mechanically it is a good package.
:08:45. > :08:50.What are the chances of putting it on the box this weekend? We got
:08:51. > :08:55.everything in front of us to get up there. We got a good opportunity to
:08:56. > :08:59.fight for that this week. I have been happy with how I have been
:09:00. > :09:05.driving so put it all together tomorrow and I think we can be
:09:06. > :09:10.rewarded. Sebastian Vettel. After the first two qualifying sessions,
:09:11. > :09:15.more in the car. Yes. I thought I could have a go at Lewis but he was
:09:16. > :09:20.quick in the last qualifying. I was struggling a little bit more, did
:09:21. > :09:27.not get as constant and quick laps as I probably got before. In the end
:09:28. > :09:32.I am happy. If it is dry, you have to be realistic. Mercedes, looking
:09:33. > :09:36.at the gaps in Bahrain, you cannot lose, or, game that much to your
:09:37. > :09:47.competitor within two weeks. We would love to. -- gain. This circuit
:09:48. > :09:56.has usually favoured Mercedes and their car so we will see what we can
:09:57. > :10:01.do tomorrow. Fernando, fifth, is that what you expected heading into
:10:02. > :10:04.the session? I did not expect anything in particular. In these
:10:05. > :10:12.conditions, anything can happen. If you choose the wrong moment with the
:10:13. > :10:17.right tyres. Not being fifth is good, it opens a possibility to
:10:18. > :10:22.score strong points tomorrow. On dry conditions yesterday, which is
:10:23. > :10:27.supposed to be tomorrow in the race, the car has new parts that show
:10:28. > :10:35.promise. Hopefully, we can be closed to the top positions. He sounded
:10:36. > :10:42.chipper and looked good in the dry yesterday. He is hoping it will not
:10:43. > :10:45.rain tomorrow. It seems Ferrari made a step forward but it is
:10:46. > :10:49.disappointing with a driver of that quality being happy with fifth. You
:10:50. > :10:56.have to be realistic, but it has been going on for a while, he has
:10:57. > :11:00.been qualifying around that area. Raikkonen had the gearbox problem.
:11:01. > :11:04.We saw him wandering around the paddock. He looks robotic. It is
:11:05. > :11:11.hard to know if he is enjoying himself. He looked grumpy when he
:11:12. > :11:15.walked past earlier. There is a difference between alt performing
:11:16. > :11:20.the car at Lotus and doing a good job and underperforming as the
:11:21. > :11:27.number two effectively at Ferrari. We can check out the rest of the
:11:28. > :11:28.grid now. Lewis Hamilton starting from pole
:11:29. > :12:16.position. That is how they line up tomorrow.
:12:17. > :12:20.Williams in six and seven, good to see in the wet, because they have
:12:21. > :12:23.struggled in those conditions. They were able to make use of the
:12:24. > :12:29.Mercedes power and keep it together for the middle sector. McLaren,
:12:30. > :12:33.neither of them made it through to Q3. Jenson Button struggle to get
:12:34. > :12:38.heat in the tyres and Kevin Magnussen seems to have lost his
:12:39. > :12:43.mojo since Australia. It seems he has lost a bit of confidence.
:12:44. > :12:47.McLaren were better placed in the first race of the season and since
:12:48. > :12:51.then the car does not seem to have developed. Jenson Button talking
:12:52. > :13:00.about not getting heat in the front tyres. What about McLaren tomorrow?
:13:01. > :13:05.It will be difficult for McLaren to do anything. It will be a question
:13:06. > :13:12.of if people in front of them have issues. Mercedes, it looks like
:13:13. > :13:15.competition from Red Bull. Red Bull are strong in the middle sector. I
:13:16. > :13:19.do not think they will have positioned to hold them but it was a
:13:20. > :13:26.great effort in qualifying. We will have highlights tomorrow. It was
:13:27. > :13:32.Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes on a mission today. He has taken pole
:13:33. > :13:40.position, three out of four. Not too bad. Thanks for watching.
:13:41. > :14:12.# I love the rain. # I love, I love, I love the rain.
:14:13. > :14:17.the Teletubbies, the Log Lady and One Man And His Dog?