The Chinese Grand Prix - Qualifying Highlights Formula 1

And intriguing new era of Formula One, but it has not been to

everybody's liking. At times there has been more noise on the track --

off the track than on the track. And then, Bahrain. We are taking a big

risk. I think for the fans, it is not good. It is an economy fuel race

that is not Formula One. Formula One has to be spectacular. It is like

Italy without Pastor. We have had meetings today discussing the state

of Formula One. Has anything been decided? We have decided we do not

know what to do. Who will take glory in the desert night? We are about to

find out. know what to do. Who will take glory

in the desert night? We are Rosberg is trying to cover, Massa made an

excellent start. What a crucial getaway. Absolutely mental! Rosberg

trying to come on the outside of Lewis Hamilton. They almost touched.

Sergio Perez goes to third place. We have to decide what to do. Rosberg

has just gone past. Hamilton takes it. That is the equivalent of a slap

in the face. Has he gone in front? Hamilton cannot fend him off.

Rosberg takes the lead. Over the terms and the dust. Hamilton will

try to get on the outside. This is amazing racing. The two Mercedes

team-mates. Hamilton takes the lead. This is brilliant, brilliant. This

is racing! That is a Sauber. We have got a shunt.

The car is out. There are ten laps left to race. Make sure you bring

both cars home. Hamilton is on prime tyres and Rosberg on the option. I

do not see how he can keep him behind. Rosberg trying to go around

the outside. Hamilton shuts the door. Ricciardo down the inside of

Vettel. He passes the four times world champion. Hamilton just able

to fend him off. He moves to the outside. You try this several times.

Oh, my goodness. They were so close and they were told to bring the car

back in one piece. If they carry on like this, that might not happen.

How is he keeping Rosberg behind? Lewis Hamilton wins the Bahrain

Grand Prix. Sergio Perez, brings Force India a podium finish. The

fireworks go off and the fireworks were throughout that Grand Prix.

How close do you like it? It seems Formula One is in rude health after

all. Was that one of the greatest races we have seen recently? What

got everyone so excited is in the era of accepted team orders, they

were going at it, we'll to wheels. They said they needed to get the

cars to the. That was saying we trust you, try to win this Grand

Prix, of course. It gave us fantastic images. That is what the

fans want to see. Out and out racing. There was a move that Lewis

did that Nico Rosberg did not like. The reason why he was out of shape,

he goes down, and Lewis cuts back, coming across the front of Nico

before turn to. -- two. There has been commenting that last year, he

might have lost his front wing. That upset Nico Rosberg. You would never

be happy finishing second, he would have forgotten that if he had been

in the middle of the podium. They are here to win races and Nico

Rosberg has said he is here to win in China. What do you think? Two to

Lewis and 12 Nico. What about this weekend -- one to Nico Rosberg. It

was a gutsy victory in Bahrain and that is what we are used to with

Lewis. When he came onto the scene he was a street fighter. He really

does get stuck in about it. The Nico Rosberg, he was up against Michael

within the team when it was in the growing phase, but this is the first

time he is running a dominant car in the battle for the world

championship. Lewis has been there before and he has the upper hand.

After three races it is a couple of second places and one winter Nico

Rosberg. And it is a career high if a Force India's Nico Hulkenberg. --

for. And Daniel Ricciardo is in 10th with the appeal going against him

this week. Force India have the highest

position in second place. It is a strong start for them. How vital is

that for a team that does not have the budget such as these guys behind

us, in terms of development. They have continually delivered with a

fraction of the budget of the top teams. They are efficient. They are

there on merit will stop the key to the success is they have the

Mercedes power unit, which is very good, but if you look at McLaren and

Williams, who have that, they have delivered a nice package. With Nico

Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez they are well set for the season. Sergio

Perez gave them their second ever podium and this is him talking now.

It was an incredible race last time, have you watched it back? I watched

it a couple of times. I got excited, even though I knew the finish.

When I overtook Massa, I thought, this is a piece of cake. Wendy Coe

jumped me at the stop, -- when Nico. I had to get to Williams.

Side-by-side, and he has done it. Sergio Perez, driving out of his

skin. And then the safety car came in. It made things harder. We were

on the prime tyres. To keep the Red Bulls behind me was a big challenge.

Who will finish third? Sergio Perez, bringing Force India a podium

finish. Fantastic for them. The only time they did that was in 2009. He

is loving it. And, for Force India, what an achievement. It was

emotional. The year I had with McLaren. The frustration. It seemed

my effort paid off. How much have you changed as a driver since

leaving McLaren? Not a doctor. -- not a lot. I became a better

driver, a better sports man. Has this damaged your chances of getting

with another big team in Formula One? Of course, big teams will think

what happened, why did McLaren get rid of him? My time at McLaren, it

was not just about the car, it was an inconsistent car. As long as I

proved as I did in 2012 that I am capable of winning world

championship, if I get the car, I should be in a good position.

Given the right package he thinks he can be world champion. Given the

current crop of competitors, what do you think? All of the drivers

believe they can win a championship, certainly Grand Prixs. There is a

difference from having a winning car and holding it together for the

season. When he pulls it together he has the hallmarks of a champion but

so far he has been inconsistent. You have to give him credit. McLaren had

a bad car last year. Let him see if you can deliver alongside Nico

Hulkenberg. Does he have to prove himself again? One race does not

make a world champion. He has to be able to deliver that. Nico

Hulkenberg is a known quantity in terms of a consistent performance.

Bizarrely comic he has been overlooked, mainly because of his

size and packaging, which is an issue in this hybrid era. He needs

to deliver that all season long, Sergio Perez. Perhaps this is the

best environment for him to do that. It is a great team that continue to

deliver. They spend money efficiently. They have earned the

position where they are in the championship. Only time will tell.

It has been busy in the world of Formula One with resignations and

court hearings. Tom has the news. There have been significant changes

since the last race. Mercedes announced their technical director

Bob Bell will leave and there has been a change in Ferrari where

Stefano -- Stefano Domenicali has been replaced by Marco Mattiacci. To

work very hard, this is what I commit to the team and drivers. I am

a person who will listen and will fight 150%. To be a facilitator. To

use the best of the talent within Ferrari. There could be an American

team on the grid next year following news that entry has been granted to

Nascar owner Gene Haas. After the disappointment of that it was nice

to see that someone thought an American team could be successful in

Formula One. It is exciting. It goes to show how much interest there is

the Formula One in America, after the success over the past two years.

Bad news the Red Bull. The FIA upheld the decision of the Melbourne

Grand Prix. Daniel Ricciardo was excluded for a fuel the regularity.

They have moved on. They apologised and wish they could have got it back

for me. Let's make it right this week in China. It was no holds

barred between Mercedes team-mates in Bahrain and we can expect the

battle to be no less intense this weekend. Lewis Hamilton and Nico

Rosberg have won the race before. They have been firing warning shots.

It is always important to win and to beat my team-mate. Nothing has

changed. It will be the same this weekend. All we want to do is win. I

guess every year when you come to a race, you want to finish first. You

want to finish one higher. another team principal bites the dust, but

during the season that is unusual. Yes, it is. Historically team

principals have been the fall owner of the team and have never fired

themselves and Ferrari have been quite close in the last couple of

years, but they felt Stefano Domenicali had taken it as far as he

could. What do you see as the role of a team principal? They have to

control all, but be a step removed from the personal relationship. As a

driver you will be going over issues with the engineers and the

designers. You need to maintain a very good relationship in the garage

and the team principal has to be the one you can talk open and frankly

too. Team facilitating. Is Marco De man for the job? He is aligned very

well with the Ferrari board and time will tell, but it is a big

opportunity. It seems as though Ferrari may have taken a step

forward on track. There have been a number of mapping issues that

Ferrari have been going through as they try and close the gap to

Mercedes. The more they can get on top of the fuel mapping, which is an

issue, that is allowing them to step forward in the circuit and on the

track and it should play to their strengths. Daniel Ricciardo has also

been going well in the free practice sessions. It is a tale of two

stories in Red Bull. Yes, Daniel Ricciardo can do no wrong this

weekend. The fastest of everybody this morning.

It is not the same with Sebastien Vettel. He has been consistently

slower even when the car has been running seamlessly, and his

team-mates in sector two. He has got work to do if he is going to add to

his three pole positions. Elsewhere in the pit lane Marcus Ericsson was

stopped by a power unit failure, but the team have fixed that. When I had

a look at the Lotus mechanic 's five minutes ago they were still

frantically working on Pastor Maldonado's card. They located an

oil leak and it is marginal whether he will be out for the start of Q1.

Qualifying from the Chinese Grand Prix. David and Ben are your

commentators. Here is Q1. The first wet qualifying session in

China in eight years gets underway, but it is the third time this year

that the teams have had to choose between the full wet or the

intermediate tyres. They come out for the first knockout phase. Tom,

give us an update on conditions and what should we be concentrating on?

Every car is on the full wet because the track is much whiter than it was

in final practice this morning. One driver who is not going to be doing

anything is Pastor Maldonado. He has got an oil leak on his car and it

has got no rear end, so do not expect to see the Lotus out. Nico

Rosberg is exploring the limits of the track and we might see that a

few times. He felt he was going to have a lock-up and he did not want

to do any damage to his tyres. Difficult conditions for the

intermediate. Rosberg goes fastest. 3.5 seconds faster than anybody else

has achieved so far. Alonso has gone second fastest, but over two seconds

slower than Rosberg. That was Bianchi in the Marussia who took a

bit of a wide line. Take a look at what Kimi Raikkonen has been doing.

This is early turned to and dropping down into three. He manages to keep

it on track, but that will affect the drive all the way through the

long Turn 3. Jenson Button and Kevin Magnussen, and will they take

advantage of these conditions? Fernando Alonso, a surprising turn

of speed from Ferrari left everybody wondering if they could display that

over the next bit of the weekend. Six in qualifying, but going faster

in that more complex middle sector than Rosberg and Hamilton, so it

indicates they have made some improvements, certainly to the

balance of the car. The first and last sector in Shanghai are

dominated by straights and hairpins pretty much. As we see one of the

Saubers getting out onto the artificial grass. Water has soaked

into that grass. That was Adrian Sutil. Rosberg is fastest. Fernando

Alonso is second fastest. Hamilton is Bird. Sebastien Vettel is on a

good laugh and he has gone fastest in the middle sector. He runs wide

onto the artificial grass and loses traction out of the final corner and

that might have lost him the chance. Yes, it has, because he has dropped

to third. Let's get more from the pit lane. Pirelli think the

crossover point between the extreme wet and the intermediate is 1.56

dead, so we are not far away from that. You could see a lot of the car

is switching over to the intermediate where the last man on

track might set the quickest time. It could become a real lottery, the

Q1. What was the story with Sebastien Vettel? He generated a lot

of understeer. In these conditions when you see somebody run wide it is

because they have turned in and he was very aggressive on his time in

which suggested he was confident on the rest of the track, but the

tarmac varies a little bit corner to corner. When he turned in there he

did not generate any grip. Bottas qualified extremely well in the wet

last year for Williams. But this year Williams has struggled in the

rain. It has less downforce than others and they have struggled to

generate higher temperature. The tyre is being squished into the

tarmac. He has just done a good lap and he has gone fifth. There are

some new parts on the Williams this weekend to counter those problems so

maybe they can get more out of this. RADIO: The traction is very poor.

That is Daniel Ricciardo complaining about traction. Sebastien Vettel has

gone fastest in the middle sector. Tom. Attraction has been the

Achilles heel of the Renault power unit. It will exacerbate that

problem. Williams have got a whole bunch of new aerodynamic parts. Both

drivers are reporting better balance this weekend. On board with Jenson

Button. He is in seventh year at the moment. It does not look like he is

going to use eighth year. In these tough conditions, a drive is

generated off the tyre not being smooth. He is running a bit slower

in his first and second sectors, slower than his team-mate,

Magnussen. Button is ten and Magnussen is eight. Six minutes to

go in this session. Magnussen has been reporting it is definitely wet

and it is not driving. A little wiggle at the hairpin. He was on an

inside line searching for the grip historically where the tyre rubber

goes down in the normal racing line. We would refer to it as a karting

line. But that we would refer to as a mistake! At the moment Sebastien

Vettel is lighting up the screens with fastest first and second

sectors. Ricciardo is up there. The other Red Bull is fourth. Bottas is

sixth and Magnussen is seven. Niko Hulkenberg has popped up into eight.

In the drop zone we have got Cobleigh Ashy, Gutierrez and

Ericsson. We are watching Bianchi right now. An opportunity for the

younger drivers and the lesser teams to try and impress, but I am not

sure they will have the speed they need. He is to tense up on Adrian

Sutil's position. There is frustration cropping in for Romain

Grosjean. He was asked to break it down on the in lap and he said he

would try. Bianchi again showing as that deep lying around the hairpin.

He is trying to find a bit more grip on the outside line. David, it is

difficult to get off the normal line. Well, maybe not! He didn't

look as if he wanted to take the corner at all. I wonder if he has

decided to go over the artificial grass to find a bit of grit. He must

have lost a good half second. Probably less than if he had done

what Vettel had done. Kamui Kobayashi is slightly faster. Maybe

he found the secret trick on that last corner. He moves up to 15th

position. We are looking here at Force India and Perez. There is a

lot more block depth and you do not get the same feeling of vibration as

you would on a slick tyre, but it affects the performance. It is only

Bottas who has gone on to the intermediates. Moving up a bit for

Adrian Sutil. Both Force Indias are on the intermediates. Sue Teal has

gone quicker, so that might be assigned to the other teams. But

they are probably hoping they are safe. The top teams do not need to

do any more. Hamilton has gone faster than Vettel. That was on his

wet tyres. He has gone out on the second run in the same set of

tyres. The top guys will not feel under any pressure to still be out

there. Can Jean-Eric Vergne get himself out of the drop zone? He is

no quicker than he was in the second sector, but he might get another

lap. Yes, he has got Cobleigh Ashy and Bianchi in front of him. So it

should be a clear lap, presuming this is a preparation lap. He is in

the drop zone currently, you are writing with him, Jean-Eric Vergne.

This is the beginning of his flying lap, but he was pretty smooth with

the throttle and he has got himself into 16th. This next lap might be

better. Gutierrez is about to come across the line. He is in the drop

zone, so one more attempt from the Sauber driver. These will get across

the line and get another lap in. Some people will miss out. Magnussen

is going into the hairpin and he might not get another lap, but I

think he will be safe in eighth place. Most of the front runners

have decided not to bother with any more laps. The chequered flag comes

out. But in a slight improvement, but he stays in 10th position. Let's

see who can get themselves out of the drop zone. Gutierrez, Kamui

Kobayashi, Max Chilton, are in the drop zone. The times are pretty

consistent. Bianchi has not been able to improve significantly.

Gutierrez is desperate to get out of the drop zone. Romain Grosjean is on

a lap that might not see him improve. Has he done enough to get

through? Gutierrez has failed to make it through into the second part

of qualifying. Sutil is always good in these conditions but up to now

Gutierrez has always looked comfortable. Can Grosjean improve

his time? He improved it fractionally. He still stays down in

16. Pastor Maldonado is out. He never got to run at all. We can see

what Kimi Raikkonen did. He chucked it in hard. That was into 14. A

little bit of a power drift. Just a correction for the oversteer. Some

time to be found for him in the second part of qualifying but what

we have seen from the session... Into the final corner, that is

perhaps what the director was trying to pick up on. I think he got a

wheel on the white line as he turned in. Difficult to regenerate the

energy in the braking zones in wet conditions. The amount of energy you

are putting into the brakes and what you can use into the rear axle is

less in the wet. Gutierrez, he is out the second part of qualifying.

Kobayashi is the fastest of the Caterham Marussia s. Now we know the

16 cars that will be into Q2. This must be a frustrating weekend view?

Difficult because of the engine history. Just the fourth race and we

lost almost two engines. It is a strange situation. It is difficult

to accept. It is what we have. Tomorrow will be another day. It

will be a long race and so I'd need to do my best. What about free

practice? There seems to have been an issue. There was a crash in the

pit wall. The oil. What difficulties are you experiencing with the car in

terms of driving? The tests are to try different things. Testing the

limits on the entry to the pit and I did a mistake from my side

yesterday. We have been able to run with both compound. That was

important to get some data. Today, it was an engine problem. Best of

luck. Now, Q2. The second part of qualifying starts

quietly. Nobody is in a desperate rush to get out on the circuit.

There were some interesting performances. Daniil Kvyat,

outpacing Jean-Eric Vergne, his team-mate. It is interesting to see.

Grosjean is scraping into this part of qualifying, so it will be a tough

order to get him into the top ten. First out is the Sauber of Adrian

Sutil. We lost the other Sauber of Esteban Gutierrez. What can Adrian

Sutil do in this session, can he drive the car into the top ten? He

is on intermediates. We could see in the last session, an established dry

line, not completely dry tarmac, but less standing water being

established. Expect to see everybody going out on intermediates. Tom? I

am being passed by front runners on intermediate tyres. They managed to

get through into this Q2 session on used wet tyres from this morning.

They have been saving the intermediates for the business end

of this qualifying. It has stopped raining. The drizzle has gone. The

traction will improve by the lap. Watching Fernando Alonso. The poll

winner in the only other wet qualifying in Shanghai in 2006. Can

he repeat that performance? It has been a long time since Fernando

Alonso was on pole position. The German Grand Prix of 2012, when the

conditions were changeable. He has not shown that pole winning pace but

it is an opportunity for him. Hamilton has gone fastest in the

first sector. They are building up the lap. We can ride with Alonso. A

couple of tenths down in the first sector, relative to Hamilton.

Catlike reactions from the Spaniard. This is where he will try

to short shift, stay of the rubber, the seemingly never ending

interesting that is Rosberg ahead of him, slightly slower than Alonso,

and Hamilton behind him, slightly quicker. It could be the track

involving all the way they have prepared the tyres on the out lap.

The tyres are sensitive to the surface temperature and every car

will work it differently. He has been given feedback all the time on

the lap. On board with Lewis Hamilton. This

should be faster. Sebastian Vettel is going quick. Hamilton going

fastest. Immediately stamping his authority as he tries to go for

another pole position in the wet. He has taken the two this year that

were held in wet sessions. Sebastian Vettel was fastest in the first

sector but gave up sometime. Trying to get that back. Certainly looked

good, his first sector performance. The Ferrari of Raikkonen, in sixth

at the moment. Massa has blown a chance to do a decent lap with his

exit out of the last corner. I do not think he would have been up with

the Mercedes, all, the Ferrari of Alonso. Kimi Raikkonen in six, but a

long way off the time of Alonso. Daniel Ricciardo showing that pace

of Vettel. We did not see a complete lap from Vettel. Ricciardo is

showing good pace. On the white line, so inevitable he would get a

sideways moment. The car looks very twitchy, you have

to say. Both drivers through free practice have been finding a root of

the circuit about everywhere. Even at the recent test, we were

discussing earlier, 30 laps in total. Sergio Perez. Going for the

dirt. The long corner. Alonso getting wide. When you get at onto

the outside edge... That was beautifully recovered. World

champion potential. Grosjean, this is where he got sideways. You know

you are in trouble, on the white line, the best thing is to get off

and start to accelerate. A few improvements coming through. Vettel

goes second. Alonso has been pushed to fish. Bottas ahead of Raikkonen.

Grosjean is currently in the top ten. Outside of the top ten with six

and a half minutes to go, Kevin Magnussen, the Sauber. Hulkenberg,

Massa, and Perez, in the pits, ready for another attempt to make it into

the top ten. We heard Gutierrez had a break by wire in that first

session, which will explain that sizeable gap with his team-mate. He

bailed out early. Decided if he is taking that speed onto the mud, he

might as well spin. Tom. Alonso is the first of the front runners to go

back out on new intermediates. I wondered why he was in a hurry to

get out. Maybe Ferrari looked at the clouds, and saw that we are getting

more drizzle coming down. It is only drizzle. I do not know whether it

will affect conditions that much, but if it gets harder, it well.

Looking from the commentary box as they go into the back of the track,

the driveline is now not visible. It would suggest it could be getting

wetter. It will make it life -- makes life difficult for those in

the drop zone. Vettel has just gone fastest of anybody in the middle

sector. Still in with a chance of improving. On the long back

straight, overtaken. Hulkenberg. That might give him a slipstream in

the last sector. Williams are trying to get their two cars into the top

ten. Bottas is in six, Massa in 15. He has slowed it down. He has felt

that are that was an incredibly quick exit by Kimi Raikkonen behind

him, because he seemed slow off the corner, and Kimi Raikkonen bearing

down on him. Now he has to back off. He wants space for the next lap. The

best thing the Raikkonen to do is to back out of it. Kevin Magnussen is

behind him. Massa has backed out, which will give Raikkonen some

issues and then Raikkonen has thought I am coming through. You can

see where they get bunched up. Massa trying to hold track position.

Hulkenberg. The sponsor losing opportunity for branding! He has

blown it on the second sector. Mercedes and Red Bull at the top,

chased by Ferrari, although Hamilton has gone even faster. Grosjean, can

he move himself up? Yes. That is a good effort. Everyone up until sixth

place house to pay attention. Alonso in fifth has a half second on

Grosjean. He could be comfortable. Hulkenberg has had a couple of

greens. Nice and tidy, gentle application of power as he comes out

of the last corner. He has gone seventh with that and that should

put him into safety, you would think. There is still time left and

he cannot back off. Hulkenberg is pushed down again. Raikkonen in the

danger zone. At a macro 11th and he only has this lap to try and improve

it -- Jenson Button at 11. Bottas improving. Daniil Kvyat is not

improving enough. Massa finally gets his car into the top ten, still with

a chance to improve on that. The clock shows ten seconds. I wonder

who else will get a chance. Alonso came back in but he is safe. In

fifth. Hamilton, he has chosen to come back in. We can see how Jenson

Button is getting on. He is in a slow first sector relative to his

best previous sector. Nine tenths down on the fastest of the session.

He does like the slippery conditions. He sometimes struggles

to get tired temperature and in these cool temperatures, it could be

a factor. Alonso is back in the pits and we are watching Hulkenberg as he

tries to improve. He got comfortably in the top ten last time but now he

is in 10th place with Raikkonen and Jenson Button behind him. He has

time working against him. It was an average middle sector. Will he miss

out on Q3 for the second race in succession? Sergio Perez has not

made it. There is a gap between them in terms of lap time. Hulkenberg. He

lost time on the last corner. I am not sure it is enough to improve, he

stays at 10th, and will now have to wait to see what Kimi Raikkonen can

do. This is Jenson Button. Has he done enough? He improved his time,

but it is not by enough. Button fails to make it into Q3. Magnussen

is on a lap at the moment to see if there is any change. Can Raikkonen

squeeze into the top ten? It could be close. No, he has failed to do

it. Conditions seemed to have got a bit worse as we thought in the

closing moments of this session. Nobody was able to vastly improve on

the last run. Raikkonen is out the top ten. Jenson Button qualified 12.

Jean-Eric Vergne has made it through in one of the Toro Rossos, but

Adrian Sutil did not make it through. Magnussen will be

disappointed. There are two cars between himself and Button and he

would have wanted more. The Force India are doing a better job.

Raikkonen in 11 has never been outqualified by a team-mate in

China, so a sobering start to his 24 Dean campaign. Some big names have

gone out in Q2. Dashed 2014 campaign. We missed out by just over

110. I was hoping we could get a grip on the front tyres. Jenson

Button, it did not sound as if it was the most comfortable of rides

from what you are saying on the radio. The first lap of the second

was the quickest. We could have got through, but we did not. We struggle

in the wet, especially with front temperature. It is not a great day,

but we know we can do a better job tomorrow. Perhaps a bit unlucky not

to get through to Q3. Did the conditions get worse? We were

struggling with the grip since the beginning of qualifying. The race is

tomorrow anyway. It looked very greasy. Do you mean grip on track or

were you struggling to get hid in the tyres? I do not know exactly

what it was, but the car I was sliding. Tomorrow the wet they will

be different hopefully. Going from midfield what do you think you can

do? The top ten is quite close, so I hope I can get into it. The top ten

shoot out, here is Q3. The all-important top ten shoot out

and the battle for pole position. Lewis Hamilton unbeaten in wet

sessions this year. Sebastien Vettel is showing a good turn of pace,

David. It looks as though Red Bull might be able to challenge Mercedes.

Despite all the difficulties they had preseason, we saw from Danielle

Ricciardo in Melbourne he was able to line up on pole and got second on

intermediates. The rain comes down and it seems to be a great leveller.

If this is a clean lap for the Mercedes drivers, they have got such

a speed advantage in the first and the second sector, it should be a

question of who is firing for third. But I do not have a crystal ball, so

this session is going to be intense. The rain came down a bit heavier at

the end of the last session, so we did not see any improvement, Tom.

How are things where you are now? It is intensifying as I speak. The

track conditions are going to get worse. This could become a slightly

back to front Q3. You could see the pole lap at the start of this

instead of at the end. Niko Hulkenberg has gone past on the full

wet tyre. Sebastien Vettel comes out of the final turn to be the first to

go on to go onto a flying lap. Three times a pole-sitter in Shanghai. But

he has only won it once and that was his first win with Red Bull in 2009.

It was a one, two with his team-mate Mark Webber. He has had two more

pole positions, but they have not been converted into victory. You

might think that would be dangerous in these conditions, but he did not

get out of shape, so he is just understanding where the grip levels

are and are very wide line on purpose. His team will be keeping a

close eye on the four cars that have gone out on the full wet tyres

straightaway. This is the middle sector where the Red Bull has been

able to use its downforce, grip and balanced to close the gap on

Mercedes. We have heard from Ferrari and they have apologised to Kimi

Raikkonen for an issue with his downshift in the last sector. They

can see the issues. Some technical issue that saw him in 11th place.

Interesting to hear as Sebastien Vettel continues on this lap. He is

faster than anybody in the first sector, but no, he is not, Hamilton

has gone through one tenth faster. But he is quicker than Rosberg in

the second sector. Rosberg has already gone through that section.

Hamilton behind them both is going slightly faster. Crucially, they are

all faster than those on wet tyres at the moment. Hamilton has gone

through the second sector and he is slower than Vettel. This is a great

lap by Vettel on the intermediate tyre. He set the benchmark. Let's

see what Rosberg does. He goes second fastest. Third for Alonso, he

will be disappointed with that as an opening lap. Bottas, Hulkenberg,

Jean-Eric Vergne, they are on the full tyres. Hamilton is the one to

watch. Look at the margin, six tenths of a second. Another

brilliant lap in these slippery positions. He was on pole in

Australia and in Malaysia, and that might be enough to take pole in

China. A great lap. A comment from Romain Grosjean. Hamilton is fastest

from Vettel, Rosberg and Ricciardo. Whether they were aiming to do a

hard lap and a slow lap and come in and take on another set of tyres,

remains to be seen. Felipe Massa is on the intermediate tyre. Bottas has

come onto the radio saying we need the full intermediate. He went off

at Turn 1. He set a reasonable first sector. Let's see what Vettel bid.

This was after his quick lap. He gets oversteer on the middle of Turn

1. But it shows they have got good front end in that car. A new set of

intermediates for Niko Hulkenberg and he is straight on his way. The

engine RPM dropped a lot as he pulled away. Is he allowing the

Williams and Massa a clear run? You do not want to get any blocking

issues and a trip to the stewards at this point in qualifying. Hamilton

has to be out there to protect the advantage he has. The conditions

could still change. Nico Rosberg is currently third. It is where he has

qualified in both of the wet sessions this year, interestingly.

Last time out he snatched pole position from his team-mate. But

Hamilton looks to be in a world of his own. Rosberg was in pole

position here two years ago when he went on to win the race in dry

conditions. It looks like he will be pitting and then he will do one

timed lap on a new set of intermediates. He will be doing one

flying lap, Nico Rosberg. Alonso also going on to a new set of

intermediates. The first of the guys who have got a real chance of taking

pole will be Vettel. Rosberg will have him in his sights. All the

information as to where Lewis Hamilton will gain. Turn seven. We

have a great view of it from our commentary box. The line seems to be

drying a little bit. It looks like the middle part of the track is at

least in as good a condition as we saw in the faster times of the

second part of qualifying. Let's keep an eye on Nico Rosberg to see

how he gets on. A good first sector. But if the conversation was similar

they would have said, you have been losing time, one, two! Unlikely

Sebastien Vettel will improve on this particular lap. Danielle

Ricciardo has gone fastest of all in the first sector. It is looking like

Hamilton is absolutely at the top of his game. Finding grip with that

card that his team-mate is struggling to find. Vettel will get

one more run at it with a couple of minutes to go. A good middle sector

from Rosberg. Fastest so far in this session. But will it remain

fastest? Oh, he gathered that together pretty well. Ricciardo is

on a very good lap and all of them are looking to beat Hamilton's time.

Hamilton has gone through the middle sector not as quick as Rosberg. He

has gone to deep! He locked it up and that will have cost him time and

frustration as he comes to the last corner. It is almost as if he has

aborted this to get his best drive as possible. He has gone from one

flying lap and said, I have got it wrong, so one more attempt at it.

But has he got the energy recovery he needs? Let's see what Ricciardo

does. He is second-fastest. He has displaced his team-mate Sebastien

Vettel. Hamilton goes faster again. A stunning lap from Lewis Hamilton.

That surely has to be pole position. One second quicker than Danielle

Ricciardo, that is incredible. That was Rosberg at turn 13 and he lost

sometime anti-lock top into 14. You can see helicopter take on the left

side of the bodywork coming detached slightly. This is the lock-up down

into 14. This is the mistake. Let's look at it again. He already made a

mistake on the exit at 13. But surely nobody can top that time from

Hamilton? Bottas has just gone through in fifth, and that is a good

effort from Valterri Bottas. Hulkenberg is improving slightly.

Ricciardo has improved again, fastest in the middle sector. Vettel

is slower than him. It looks like Ricciardo could get closer to

Hamilton and Sebastien Vettel is not going to beat his team-mate this

afternoon in these wet conditions. Rosberg is not looking good either.

Have we seen the formation of the top three? We may have done.

Ricciardo might be able to challenge Hamilton, I doubt it. Alonso is

currently seven. We have got a red flag. That will end the session.

What a shame! We will not be able to get to see the lap time of

Ricciardo. He has already backed off. We did not quite get the climax

we wanted, although it is still a good qualifier. It is Lewis

Hamilton's third pole position of this season. Let's see what happens

to Rosberg. That is scrappy driving from Nico Rosberg. I think

frustration is setting in. Not only does he get it wrong on the entry,

but he spins on the exit. I could not see the yellow flags, but the

red light was on. It was the chequered flag and then they put up

the red flag. We did get some improvement just at the end. Lewis

Hamilton has done it again. The 34th career pole position. He is the

British record-holder with that. career pole position. He is the

the fourth pole position he has had on this circuit. The most of any

driver. He was tied on three pole positions with Sebastian Vettel in

the past. It is a hat-trick from Mercedes on this track. Nico Rosberg

in 2012, Lewis last year and now he has done it again. It really is a

track that Mercedes seem to love. This season, there is no stopping

him. Daniel Ricciardo has done what he did in Australia. He qualified on

the front row. Sebastian Vettel beaten by his team-mate. Red Bulls,

two between Hamilton and Rosberg. That is the big surprise, Red Bull,

second and third. Roz -- Rosberg has been pushed to third. RADIO: Nice

job, mate. There was not anything left in that. OK, understood. Let's

look at the rundown. It will be hard for Rosberg to beat Hamilton from

fourth. Good photographer Ross O in ninth. Grosjean knew he was never

going to get any further up and 10th, but it is the first time

voters have had a car in the top ten this year. In 13th, Daniil Kvyat.

Kevin Magnussen disappointingly in 15th place.

Pastor Maldonado will start at the back, unable to get out in this

qualifying session with a technical problem. Lewis Hamilton again taking

pole position. Three wet qualifying sessions this year and three pole

positions the Lewis Hamilton, the winner of the last two Grand Prix.

Almost six tenths faster than Daniel Ricciardo, where are they coming

from? Is it in a confidence? I think this track suits my driving style.

It is a great circuit in the wet because you have to go into

different lines to find the grip. I seem to be able to do it well here.

Conditions are very tricky. It is greasy. We do not have as much

downforce on the rear as last year. It is tough. When you say about

picking lines, when I watched your qualifying lap, you could see you

were using the old karting lines. In turn two there was massive under

stairs. -- understeer. When you are trying to get power you are short

shifting flat out and then breaking off line, off the rubber. There is a

headwind here, you can break deeply. -- brake. And back on the inside to

get more grip. Here, I take a normal line. Mid exit there is understeer.

You're an engineer said this was a corner where Nico Rosberg was

quicker. Only one corner. You were quicker everywhere else. Understeer

moment into nine. This one, into 11, it locked up the right front and

went deep. I was five tenths up here and then lost it when it came down

to two tenths. Short shifting? Yes, and feeding through the throttle.

You need drive ability there say well done to Mercedes. There is no

DRS, so this takes a while. Again, not going to wide, trying to get

traction. And understeer moment. I braked deep and looked like I would

go off and suddenly it turned. How relaxed were you on that lap? I

wonder if the key was not to make the mistakes. You mention small

errors but drivers were making big mistakes. I am generally relaxed. It

is intense and you want to be as fast and on the limit everywhere.

There is no point driving in the limit. On the limit and beyond the

limit. That is what I like about qualifying, it is my favourite part

of the weekend. What can we expect from you tomorrow? You have been

looking good in the drive. Practice one was disastrous. P2 was even

worse. I was struggling with the car. We made changes overnight and I

cannot tell from today because it was wet, so I hope they are in the

right direction for tomorrow. Thanks, Lewis, congratulations. We

can hear from his team-mate now. Difficult conditions. It was a shame

towards the end. Yes, but I was slower, anyway. It not -- did not

make a difference. It was struggling with breaking today. -- braking. Two

braking vents in the last sector. Do you think the car will be better in

the dry? Sure. Daniel Ricciardo, front row start, testing conditions

today. It was. It was tricky. The start of the session there was a lot

of rain and it dried off a little and conditions were constantly

changing. It made it challenging. In the end, we got a front row start.

Really pleased with the lap in Q3. You are down on power in the

Straits, how do you make up for that? When we looked at your lap, it

looked tidy. But not spectacular. You are driving within the

performance of the chassis. Throughout qualifying we struggled

with the rear and trying to hang onto the car on power was not easy.

It was a case of getting clean exits and being able to put the power to

the ground. How can you do that other than controlling the

throttle? We have torque maps and the way the car responds on throttle

and playing around with that and I found the best setting possible.

Just being very delicate with the right foot. Do you feel it is a step

forward, getting it on the turns? The car is definitely strong. If

there is a weak point it is the straight-line speed we are lacking

and if we matched that with the others we would match it through the

corners. I believe we would give Mercedes a harder time. The car is

strong, aerodynamically and mechanically it is a good package.

What are the chances of putting it on the box this weekend? We got

everything in front of us to get up there. We got a good opportunity to

fight for that this week. I have been happy with how I have been

driving so put it all together tomorrow and I think we can be

rewarded. Sebastian Vettel. After the first two qualifying sessions,

more in the car. Yes. I thought I could have a go at Lewis but he was

quick in the last qualifying. I was struggling a little bit more, did

not get as constant and quick laps as I probably got before. In the end

I am happy. If it is dry, you have to be realistic. Mercedes, looking

at the gaps in Bahrain, you cannot lose, or, game that much to your

competitor within two weeks. We would love to. -- gain. This circuit

has usually favoured Mercedes and their car so we will see what we can

do tomorrow. Fernando, fifth, is that what you expected heading into

the session? I did not expect anything in particular. In these

conditions, anything can happen. If you choose the wrong moment with the

right tyres. Not being fifth is good, it opens a possibility to

score strong points tomorrow. On dry conditions yesterday, which is

supposed to be tomorrow in the race, the car has new parts that show

promise. Hopefully, we can be closed to the top positions. He sounded

chipper and looked good in the dry yesterday. He is hoping it will not

rain tomorrow. It seems Ferrari made a step forward but it is

disappointing with a driver of that quality being happy with fifth. You

have to be realistic, but it has been going on for a while, he has

been qualifying around that area. Raikkonen had the gearbox problem.

We saw him wandering around the paddock. He looks robotic. It is

hard to know if he is enjoying himself. He looked grumpy when he

walked past earlier. There is a difference between alt performing

the car at Lotus and doing a good job and underperforming as the

number two effectively at Ferrari. We can check out the rest of the

grid now. Lewis Hamilton starting from pole

position. That is how they line up tomorrow.

Williams in six and seven, good to see in the wet, because they have

struggled in those conditions. They were able to make use of the

Mercedes power and keep it together for the middle sector. McLaren,

neither of them made it through to Q3. Jenson Button struggle to get

heat in the tyres and Kevin Magnussen seems to have lost his

mojo since Australia. It seems he has lost a bit of confidence.

McLaren were better placed in the first race of the season and since

then the car does not seem to have developed. Jenson Button talking

about not getting heat in the front tyres. What about McLaren tomorrow?

It will be difficult for McLaren to do anything. It will be a question

of if people in front of them have issues. Mercedes, it looks like

competition from Red Bull. Red Bull are strong in the middle sector. I

do not think they will have positioned to hold them but it was a

great effort in qualifying. We will have highlights tomorrow. It was

Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes on a mission today. He has taken pole

position, three out of four. Not too bad. Thanks for watching.

# I love the rain. # I love, I love, I love the rain.

the Teletubbies, the Log Lady and One Man And His Dog?