Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Practice 2

:00:00. > :01:09.Hello and welcome to Abu Dhabi. Free practice two is getting underway. In

:01:10. > :01:14.practice one this morning, Lewis Hamilton what the second faster than

:01:15. > :01:18.Nico Rosberg and in third, Kimi Raikkonen was the fastest of the

:01:19. > :01:22.Ferrari drivers. If you look around, this is the most representative of

:01:23. > :01:25.the sessions. You can see the sun is starting to set. Temperatures are

:01:26. > :01:29.starting to drop. This is a twilight race and this time tomorrow,

:01:30. > :01:32.qualifying will be happening. This is the session whether drivers need

:01:33. > :01:37.to get things right. In the pit lane, we have Jennie Gow and Tom

:01:38. > :01:44.Clarkson and in commentary, James Allen and Alan McManus.

:01:45. > :01:54.COMMENTATOR: Before you joined us, Sebastian Vettel was singing in

:01:55. > :01:58.Italian, happy birthday to you. We didn't hear who he was singing too,

:01:59. > :02:03.but presumably somebody from the Ferrari team. Alan, that sums up the

:02:04. > :02:07.sense of family, the sense of leadership from Vettel this year. He

:02:08. > :02:10.has really settled straight into Ferrari. He understands the history

:02:11. > :02:15.and what the places about and he has been on the front foot for most of

:02:16. > :02:19.the year, with 13 podiums. Yes, he has. He is probably the

:02:20. > :02:24.the year, with 13 podiums. Yes, he take him longer to get his feet

:02:25. > :02:32.when he went to Ferrari, seemed to be the ideal man to take them back

:02:33. > :02:37.to the top. Vettel is coming from the back of a difficult campaign at

:02:38. > :02:43.Red Bull, when he may be lost bit of confidence and needed a new

:02:44. > :02:48.challenge. This has reinvigorated him and definitely has put a lot of

:02:49. > :02:54.energy back into Ferrari. There so many management changes as well over

:02:55. > :02:58.the last 24 months, but now they seem to be settled. They seem to

:02:59. > :03:02.have a longer view point. Keeping Kimi Raikkonen was part of that.

:03:03. > :03:06.Though the team is smiling right now. Next year, they have to

:03:07. > :03:11.deliver. This is an unusual session. It is one

:03:12. > :03:15.deliver. This is an unusual from twilight into darkness. The

:03:16. > :03:17.artificial lights are coming up. The sparks that kicked up from

:03:18. > :03:21.artificial lights are coming up. The cars become more evident. We can

:03:22. > :03:28.read the displays on the cockpit is more clearly. A bit of an overseer

:03:29. > :03:31.for Sebastian Vettel. The rear tyre still struggling. The track

:03:32. > :03:35.temperature is 29 degrees at the moment and the air temperature is

:03:36. > :03:39.26. What makes this session unique is that over the next 90 minutes, we

:03:40. > :03:42.will see the temperatures dropping and therefore, the tyres perform in

:03:43. > :03:47.a different way. These are the conditions in which the Grand Prix

:03:48. > :03:54.happens on Sunday. And in qualifying on Saturday as well. In the pit lane

:03:55. > :03:58.for us is Tom Clarkson. I am standing in front of Felipe Massa's

:03:59. > :04:03.car, which has been put back together. The team were testing a

:04:04. > :04:07.lot of parts this morning. They said they are now reverting to be 2015

:04:08. > :04:13.Spec. He will be out in the next five minutes. Singh Sebastian Vettel

:04:14. > :04:17.reminded me of a concession I had with tech boss James Alison

:04:18. > :04:20.yesterday. He said as well as being blindingly quick, Sebastian is one

:04:21. > :04:25.of only two drivers James has ever worked with whom puts the emphasis

:04:26. > :04:34.on team. The other is Michael Schumacher. Both of them are

:04:35. > :04:36.obviously from the same country. I was speaking to someone who does a

:04:37. > :04:39.lot of preparation for many of the was speaking to someone who does a

:04:40. > :04:43.drivers in the pit lane, and that is not just the physical, but also the

:04:44. > :04:47.mental preparation. He was saying of the drivers he has worked with that

:04:48. > :04:52.Sebastian Vettel has a ferocious attitude towards a work ethic, of

:04:53. > :04:57.making sure there was not a stone unturned in trying to win. Formula 1

:04:58. > :05:01.championships do not come on their own. They come with talent and a lot

:05:02. > :05:06.of effort off the track as well. It will be interesting to see whether a

:05:07. > :05:12.fifth one will come. I thought that was the Third World championship

:05:13. > :05:17.coming for Fernando Alonso, but there was a small detail missing.

:05:18. > :05:23.Whether Vettel is that the tail or has the ability to find it, we will

:05:24. > :05:28.see. It is also about the competition. What a blog Alonso from

:05:29. > :05:31.getting that Red Bull -- what blocked Alonso from getting

:05:32. > :05:34.getting that Red Bull -- what Bull title was that it was

:05:35. > :05:37.getting that Red Bull -- what formidable package that Ferrari

:05:38. > :05:53.could not get it. That is the problem. Red Bull were

:05:54. > :05:56.just too strong. So now, Vettel has switched across to Ferrari, were at

:05:57. > :06:05.the moment, Mercedes are too strong. But Vettel has managed. Can

:06:06. > :06:09.Ferrari raise themselves to the same level as Mercedes in terms of the

:06:10. > :06:14.power and efficiency of these turbo engines? They are giving away about

:06:15. > :06:21.half a second on a single qualifying lap. If Mercedes can find that extra

:06:22. > :06:28.bit, they are definitely giving something away at the moment. That

:06:29. > :06:33.is the task for James Alison and his crew. We have an hour and 23 minutes

:06:34. > :06:37.remaining in this session. The light is dipping gently as we head towards

:06:38. > :06:48.darkness. Raikkonen from Perez from Hulkenberg.

:06:49. > :06:55.Rosberg has just headed out. So has the Red Bull of Daniil Kvyat. You

:06:56. > :07:03.can get in touch with us throughout this session. If you are watching

:07:04. > :07:13.the rerun, obviously don't bother. But if you are watching live, please

:07:14. > :07:22.send in your messages or questions. I was out on track this morning at

:07:23. > :07:25.the second last corner, and Jenson Button was even working on the

:07:26. > :07:29.wheel. That is Jenson's mother on the right-hand side of that shot. He

:07:30. > :07:33.was really having to fight it. The car looks as though it can be

:07:34. > :07:38.reasonably quick, but it doesn't look easy to drive. That is OK for

:07:39. > :07:41.qualifying, but for the long runs later in the session, the rear tyre

:07:42. > :07:48.will get degraded quickly and you have to protect it, especially when

:07:49. > :07:53.getting towards turn seven, which leads on to the long back straight.

:07:54. > :07:55.If you lose traction out of whack Verstappen just came out, you have

:07:56. > :08:02.to carry that penalty all the way down towards the next corner. You

:08:03. > :08:10.can already see how long that is, reaching 210 mph. We expect him to

:08:11. > :08:14.be up there when they get into olivine. A quick update on how it

:08:15. > :08:23.went this morning in free practice won in much warmer conditions.

:08:24. > :08:31.Raikkonen was third. He is going well here. The infamous, leave me

:08:32. > :08:39.alone, I know what I'm doing, Grand Prix, that was the message she

:08:40. > :08:50.gave. We are in the early stages of this free practice two session in

:08:51. > :08:52.Abu Dhabi. Kvyat was fourth. Daniel Ricciardo are having taken that

:08:53. > :08:57.development Renault engine last time out in Brazil, found it not to be

:08:58. > :09:04.satisfying and has switched back again. There is plenty going on

:09:05. > :09:09.behind the scenes as we still wait for clarification between Renault

:09:10. > :09:14.and Red Bull and Formula 1 and Lotus as to whether Renault will come

:09:15. > :09:19.back. It seems as though a deal has been done for Red Bull to have an

:09:20. > :09:27.engine for next year. That was confirmed this morning, without

:09:28. > :09:34.saying what it was. With this night race, you can see so much of the

:09:35. > :09:39.extra information. That 61 on the steering wheel is the balance

:09:40. > :09:42.distribution. He was moving up beginners as well. Through the

:09:43. > :09:47.course of coverage today and tomorrow night, keep an eye on that.

:09:48. > :09:53.You will see how much, and you will see more with Rosberg, they are

:09:54. > :09:59.changing parameters on their car, corner to corner for the

:10:00. > :10:08.optimisation. Here is Hamilton's radio. I pulled the clutch. It is

:10:09. > :10:12.making a not very nice noise. We will check it out. When Lewis

:10:13. > :10:15.Hamilton says he has pulled the clutch, it is obviously a hand

:10:16. > :10:20.clutch, but he has pulled it, and I presume when he has released the

:10:21. > :10:25.clutch again, it is creating quite a hard knock. We will check on the

:10:26. > :10:29.data, that it is not doing anything untoward. This is Formula 1 on the

:10:30. > :10:34.BBC, the closing round of this 2015 Formula 1 World Championship in Abu

:10:35. > :10:37.Dhabi. Lewis Hamilton, the reigning world champion, who has won

:10:38. > :10:42.back-to-back titles, the first British driver in history to do

:10:43. > :10:45.that. What are the odds on him doing well in the Sports Personality of

:10:46. > :10:52.the Year rewards later in the year? A massive amount of oversteer as he

:10:53. > :10:57.comes through turn 18, under one of the iconic buildings around here.

:10:58. > :11:00.comes through turn 18, under one of the silver bodywork of that car

:11:01. > :11:06.through the double right-hander that leads back onto the pit straight for

:11:07. > :11:15.Lewis Hamilton. He goes Forth could just behind Rosberg Tom Wright and

:11:16. > :11:32.and Ricciardo. -- behind Rosberg, Raikkonen and Ricciardo.

:11:33. > :11:39.Hamilton has noted that that last sector of the track is one that he

:11:40. > :11:43.does enjoy tremendously. But this morning, he did not seem comfortable

:11:44. > :11:47.with the balance of the car. There were a few things, the seat position

:11:48. > :11:50.was not ideal. There were also making changes to the front

:11:51. > :11:56.suspension interns of the third element which is connected -- which

:11:57. > :12:03.connects the wheels together. element which is connected -- which

:12:04. > :12:06.just fine tuning it. But this morning's session, to be honest, is

:12:07. > :12:11.less of an influence in terms of performance than this session,

:12:12. > :12:15.because this is much more like it is for the race itself. Yes, this is

:12:16. > :12:21.much more race relevant. We have been asking on the BBC who your

:12:22. > :12:26.stars of the season are. This fella is definitely one of my stars of the

:12:27. > :12:29.season, Max Verstappen, mainly because of his amazing overtakes.

:12:30. > :12:34.Also because of his lightning fast hand but I saw literally a few

:12:35. > :12:40.metres away from him as he went through the swimming pool complex

:12:41. > :12:45.Monaco. And also the fact that the challenge faced this season was

:12:46. > :12:49.completely unique. No one has ever come into Formula 1 as a 70-year-old

:12:50. > :12:51.and tried to keep their head above water, and he has more than done

:12:52. > :12:58.that -- as water, and he has more than done

:12:59. > :13:04.who your favourites are if you are watching this life. Rosberg, fastest

:13:05. > :13:11.of anybody in sectors one and two. Verstappen just went 10th quickest.

:13:12. > :13:16.We are waiting for Rosberg to complete his lap. Meanwhile, Daniel

:13:17. > :13:20.Ricciardo is out in the Red Bull, ending this season with a slightly

:13:21. > :13:32.subdued atmosphere in the team. Rosberg does improve on 1:42 .899.

:13:33. > :13:36.This Red Bull chassis ends the season probably as good a chassis as

:13:37. > :13:41.there is out there at the moment, certainly a match for the Mercedes.

:13:42. > :13:46.That is a painful reminder for the whole team of the deficiencies in

:13:47. > :13:53.the engine department. Yeah, but you can't just say that it is the

:13:54. > :13:56.chassis and not the engine. It is a complete car. Sometimes, you have to

:13:57. > :14:01.take compromises on the engine to allow the chassis to be developed in

:14:02. > :14:05.the way it has. Renault had done that in the past. I am not saying

:14:06. > :14:11.the Renault is anything like a match for the Mercedes engine. But

:14:12. > :14:15.ultimately, you have to take the whole car as a complete unit. Right

:14:16. > :14:16.now, there has been a big development in the aerodynamics of

:14:17. > :14:21.the Red Bull. development in the aerodynamics of

:14:22. > :14:26.significantly. I would say it is close to Mercedes. But for me, the

:14:27. > :14:30.Mercedes still has the adaptability and the right quality on curves and

:14:31. > :14:33.things that maybe the Red Bull doesn't have. But on a circuit like

:14:34. > :14:37.this, I would expect it to be very good in the corners. Lewis

:14:38. > :14:43.this, I would expect it to be very has been very good in the corners.

:14:44. > :14:48.Yes, just coming through to complete this lap, Lewis Hamilton, who would

:14:49. > :14:52.have won here more if he hadn't woken down in 2012. He won this race

:14:53. > :15:00.last year on the white clinching the second world title. He goes fastest.

:15:01. > :15:03.One factor to remember when you talk about Lewis Hamilton against Nico

:15:04. > :15:18.Rosberg this weekend... Kvyat. I ran the circuit last night,

:15:19. > :15:24.you will be amazed how much camber is on the finish straight, it dips

:15:25. > :15:30.towards the inside, similar to Brazil, from right to left. You will

:15:31. > :15:33.see a lot of break lock-ups, especially at the start of

:15:34. > :15:39.qualifying, because they have to treat the tyres gently. When you are

:15:40. > :15:44.thinking about Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton, you have to factor

:15:45. > :15:49.in that Nico Rosberg had an engine failure in

:15:50. > :15:54.in that Nico Rosberg had an engine has carried forward is the one that

:15:55. > :15:59.he had in Singapore, whereas Hamilton's is from Sochi. The

:16:00. > :16:06.Hamilton engine has done at least 800 kilometres or more fewer

:16:07. > :16:10.Hamilton engine has done at least Nico Rosberg's. That will not affect

:16:11. > :16:19.it in qualifying, but it might in racing. RADIO: There is an engine

:16:20. > :16:24.mode difference. There you go. They are running it in a certain way

:16:25. > :16:31.because everything is minutely planned by the head of the Mercedes

:16:32. > :16:34.engine division. But that is possibly a factor in terms of how

:16:35. > :16:42.hard they can run the engines during the Grand Prix. Rewind a bit, we saw

:16:43. > :16:48.that Felipe Massa was tearing his hair Ross off his visor, he was not

:16:49. > :16:55.happy with the changing light and the reflections. He had about four

:16:56. > :16:57.or five of them on, they can distort slightly,

:16:58. > :17:08.or five of them on, they can distort where you have some coming down into

:17:09. > :17:13.your eyes. They question on Twitter, if you could have any of the current

:17:14. > :17:21.drivers as a team-mate, who would you want and why? Nico Hulkenberg

:17:22. > :17:28.has one Lamont, so I think he has a good feel towards it -- Le Mans. At

:17:29. > :17:35.Nick Tandy was the leading light at Le Mans through the night. Certain

:17:36. > :17:40.drivers would adapt, like Jenson Button, with his style, and also the

:17:41. > :17:46.ability he has to get the best out of a car, when he has

:17:47. > :17:51.ability he has to get the best out for it, he would do very well.

:17:52. > :17:57.Fernando Alonso, because a car changes so much over a long distance

:17:58. > :18:01.race, he would be able to get the speed out of it. I'm not so sure

:18:02. > :18:09.that he would like sharing his car two other drivers! There are some

:18:10. > :18:15.good guys looking at it now. Mark Webber, having won the World

:18:16. > :18:20.Championship at the weekend, he has put another spotlight on with Nico

:18:21. > :18:28.Hulkenberg coming across and winning the 24 hours in June. The world

:18:29. > :18:32.sports car champion Mark Webber will be on the BBC TV show before

:18:33. > :18:37.qualifying tomorrow, so check him out, his autobiography is out, it

:18:38. > :18:43.has some free and frank revelations about life at Red Bull and his

:18:44. > :18:50.relationship with colleagues there. Other books

:18:51. > :18:53.relationship with colleagues there. Christmas! A very significant margin

:18:54. > :18:57.between the Mercedes and the Red Bull in third place, 1.35 seconds,

:18:58. > :19:14.from Hamilton to Daniel Ricardo. The beautiful pink red hue of the

:19:15. > :19:19.light of the sunset in the West. The artificial lights coming up more and

:19:20. > :19:24.more and the turquoise accent colours around the outside of the

:19:25. > :19:28.track become that bit less lurid as the light drops. It is quite a

:19:29. > :19:33.spectacle, this circuit, even without a car running round it, but

:19:34. > :19:39.when you put 20 cars on it, even though it is not the most thrilling

:19:40. > :19:44.layout, it is a visual feast. Those strips coming off Felipe Massa's

:19:45. > :19:54.Pfizer, he is leaving them to litter the racetrack. They are dark, it is

:19:55. > :20:00.smoked. You can see his eyes very clearly. If we could not see them

:20:01. > :20:04.before, he could not see out. It was a bit too dark for him in this

:20:05. > :20:12.changing light. Nico Rosberg still has it. He did not completely detach

:20:13. > :20:20.it, Felipe Massa, the right-hand trailing edge was still attached to

:20:21. > :20:27.the helmet. Forces of the wind, he would have managed to detach it.

:20:28. > :20:36.Down there, Felipe Massa get additional cooling into the top of

:20:37. > :20:40.his crash helmet -- Felipe Nasr. There are vents through the helmet

:20:41. > :20:45.allowing airflow. When you are sitting in the pits, you start to

:20:46. > :20:53.feel the temperature increase, and cooling the head is important. It is

:20:54. > :20:59.not that hot in reality, but it is quite stifling when you have got an

:21:00. > :21:03.engine behind you, a hybrid system which produces a tremendous amount

:21:04. > :21:11.of heat energy, and when you are sitting in the pits, it gets it in

:21:12. > :21:18.and around you. Tom? Looking at the front of Lewis Hamilton's car, he is

:21:19. > :21:25.not happy with the braking on his car, it is worth reminding everybody

:21:26. > :21:30.that this is a very heavy braking circuit, 13 braking events around

:21:31. > :21:34.the track. That is Nico Rosberg laying some rubber. Lewis Hamilton

:21:35. > :21:48.is not happy with the braking. Taking a quick look, no changes as

:21:49. > :21:56.yet, there is a lot of head scratching. The problem is twofold,

:21:57. > :22:01.in the big straight, everything cools down, front tyres and the

:22:02. > :22:06.brakes, and then you have a big stop into the chicane, 210 miles an hour

:22:07. > :22:11.in qualifying, down to 60 miles an hour into the left-hander. Then you

:22:12. > :22:17.have the big long run where everything cools down. In the third

:22:18. > :22:23.part of the circuit, the very quick acceleration and break and

:22:24. > :22:28.acceleration and break, and it is difficult to find the balance. When

:22:29. > :22:31.you take into account the hybrid systems are recuperating energy,

:22:32. > :22:39.that changes the balance. It is tough to get the perfect raking feel

:22:40. > :22:47.and consistency. 3.47 miles, this circuit, 21 corners. 13 different

:22:48. > :22:53.braking events. There are six corners below 100 mph, only Monaco

:22:54. > :23:01.and Singapore have more. Felipe Massa goes off circuit. It is quite

:23:02. > :23:07.low grip, and not a lot of track grip, so not a lot of margin for

:23:08. > :23:11.error. When you have high grip, you can break a bit late, come off and

:23:12. > :23:18.release and still make the corner. With low track grip and high tyre

:23:19. > :23:22.pressures, from a safety point of view, it makes it a bit difficult,

:23:23. > :23:28.but I can imagine that Lewis Hamilton will be trying to get the

:23:29. > :23:31.optimum tonight, because this is a longer run, that is where you need

:23:32. > :23:36.the balance between the ability to stop temperature and the locking.

:23:37. > :23:40.All the times have been set on the soft compound Pirelli tyre, but Kimi

:23:41. > :23:48.Raikkonen in the Ferrari becomes the first to go out on the super soft

:23:49. > :23:52.tyre. This is the phase of the 90 minute session where we see the

:23:53. > :23:56.qualifying simulation, low fuel and a new set of super-soft tyres, and

:23:57. > :24:03.see what the outcry performance looks like. It is a site for

:24:04. > :24:05.qualifying. Then they go and refuel and do long runs to get the sense of

:24:06. > :24:09.how the and do long runs to get the sense of

:24:10. > :24:17.Prix will be. The fastest lap time here last year in this free practice

:24:18. > :24:23.session was Mercedes, 1:42 .113. Hamilton is just 0.4 away from that

:24:24. > :24:31.on a set of soft tyres. Kimi Raikkonen has two corners, he is on

:24:32. > :24:39.a 43.994. That is the first time we will see the delta between the soft

:24:40. > :24:45.tyres and these. It is slow fair. Alternately, the peak of the tyre

:24:46. > :24:47.will come right out. If he was too fast on the

:24:48. > :24:51.will come right out. If he was too the peak of the tyre. Romain

:24:52. > :24:58.Grosjean heads into the pit lane, Jenny? Yes, I just wanted to give

:24:59. > :25:06.you an update on their front wing, it is new. Why bring a new one to

:25:07. > :25:10.this race? I wanted to give you a guided tour so you can see the

:25:11. > :25:16.differences. This is the new one, the old one is underneath it. See if

:25:17. > :25:26.you can spot the difference. On the new one, it is like a pelican neck,

:25:27. > :25:33.the bulge, and underneath, it is very flat and straight. That is the

:25:34. > :25:40.difference. If we come round the front, you can see the difference in

:25:41. > :25:44.the nose. This has a bulging front, and underneath it is a simple

:25:45. > :25:50.rounded front. There are other differences to the wings. If I walk

:25:51. > :25:56.across, right at the back of the garage, this is Romain Grosjean 's

:25:57. > :26:02.Mike garage, and this is his last race for Lotus, he has been there

:26:03. > :26:08.for a long time, the use to have long hair, they have put his start

:26:09. > :26:14.their in an ode to him. His 83rd and final race for the team which is

:26:15. > :26:20.currently called Lotus, but he has been at that team throughout his

:26:21. > :26:23.Formula 1 career so far. Lotus are still trying to develop the

:26:24. > :26:27.Formula 1 career so far. Lotus are they have not been able to throw

:26:28. > :26:30.much cash at it, but as it has been in short supply, as they wait to get

:26:31. > :26:35.confirmation that Renault will take over the team at some point. We were

:26:36. > :26:42.expecting it to be announced this weekend, but the boss of Renault has

:26:43. > :26:44.yet to firm it up. The front wing, everybody is 20 get as

:26:45. > :26:48.yet to firm it up. The front wing, to go underneath the nose of the

:26:49. > :26:54.car. That is where most of the downforce is created. You will see

:26:55. > :27:00.more and more of that now in terms of people looking for the higher

:27:01. > :27:04.cockpits and coming down at a more steep rectangle, to get more airflow

:27:05. > :27:04.cockpits and coming down at a more underneath that section of the car.

:27:05. > :27:10.That is the holy Grail. underneath that section of the car.

:27:11. > :27:16.trying to speed up the airflow underneath that section of the car.

:27:17. > :27:21.as opposed to from the wings. It is a much more efficient way of doing

:27:22. > :27:26.it. This is now an efficiency for Miller in general. Kimi

:27:27. > :27:33.was quite efficient, he was 1.1 seconds faster on the super-soft

:27:34. > :27:39.tyre. We see adult of about one second, which was generally

:27:40. > :27:42.predicted, but not enough to put him up into a fighting position with the

:27:43. > :27:48.Mercedes cars. That'll be an interesting benchmark, if Hamilton

:27:49. > :27:55.could take that off his best time, it would mean he would be seven or

:27:56. > :28:00.eight tenths quicker than the fastest first practice to time from

:28:01. > :28:06.2014. Giving an indication of progress. It will only be in

:28:07. > :28:13.qualifying where we get a sense of how far these cars have come. Jenson

:28:14. > :28:19.Button is how far these cars have come. Jenson

:28:20. > :28:27.McLaren. He is currently running on a set of soft tyres, the yellow

:28:28. > :28:31.sidewall. He had some warm words about his comment he made Fernando

:28:32. > :28:32.Alonso, he said he was more consistent and more of a challenge

:28:33. > :28:40.to deal with as a team-mate in terms consistent and more of a challenge

:28:41. > :28:45.Lewis Hamilton. Jenson Button scored more points than Lewis Hamilton at

:28:46. > :28:48.McLaren, but Hamilton had more victories, but reliability was a

:28:49. > :28:55.factor in that story, Hamilton losing a number of victories in

:28:56. > :29:04.2012. If you are a driver, you talk up your comment team-mate.

:29:05. > :29:10.Certainly. Lewis Hamilton has grown stronger over that period of time.

:29:11. > :29:16.The Lewis Hamilton of now and they few years ago, even of last year,

:29:17. > :29:20.very different. They are certainly more consistent at a high level,

:29:21. > :29:25.that has been the story of Hamilton in 2015. We look forward to seeing

:29:26. > :29:33.what he can do next year. A renewed challenge from Nico Rosberg in the

:29:34. > :29:37.closing stages of this championship. Sebastian Vettel has moved across

:29:38. > :29:43.onto the super-soft tyre. What a fantastic qualifier he has been

:29:44. > :29:47.throughout 2015 in the Ferrari. It has been an Achilles heel for

:29:48. > :29:51.Ferrari for many years. His pole position in Singapore, the first for

:29:52. > :29:57.them in three years, they are working hard. He is sticking with

:29:58. > :30:03.the tinted Pfizer, unlike some drivers. There are plenty of sparks

:30:04. > :30:15.coming from underneath the car. As a guest haka, the circuit is

:30:16. > :30:26.eliminated by the lights around the track. -- as it gets darker.

:30:27. > :30:45.Recommended not need to lift off -- Raikkonen did not have a big time

:30:46. > :30:50.penalty. This is an important point. In the race James, this is a good

:30:51. > :30:56.overtaking point. But we have seen most of it around the outside. So,

:30:57. > :31:05.his team-mate Reichmann managed to find 1.1 seconds in the switch from

:31:06. > :31:10.soft to super-soft. Generally speaking, Vettel has had three or

:31:11. > :31:17.four chance of a in his pocket over Raikonnen throughout this season.

:31:18. > :31:21.Kimi Raikkonen described his performance as average for the year.

:31:22. > :31:27.Plenty to think of other adjectives for as well. We are confused as to

:31:28. > :31:34.why Ferrari returned him for another year. Who is Ericsson's radio.

:31:35. > :31:40.Loving it so much. Copy that, Marcus. Vettel goes across the line.

:31:41. > :31:44.So even on the super-soft tyres, Vettel in the Ferrari cannot match

:31:45. > :31:59.the Mercedes on the soft tyre of Lewis Hamilton. He has just gone to

:32:00. > :32:01.tenths of a second slower. Quite a significant difference between the

:32:02. > :32:06.amount of time that Raikkonen found compared to Vettel. But I don't

:32:07. > :32:12.think that lap of Vettel on the soft tyre was as fast as those. Daniel

:32:13. > :32:27.Ricciardo got through on the second. In general, you would expect that

:32:28. > :32:30.Ferrari will be more competitive again tomorrow. Remember, they

:32:31. > :32:36.stopped showboating in free practice two, quite a few Grand Prix 's ago.

:32:37. > :32:40.Right now, they are not two, quite a few Grand Prix 's ago.

:32:41. > :32:48.position to attack the two Mercedes cars as we had hoped. The young

:32:49. > :32:56.Russian driver had a good season, Kvyat. He goes into the hairpin.

:32:57. > :33:02.Alan was indicating that this lap will not be a good one. With that

:33:03. > :33:06.corner, you don't have to go to the apex. You can try and keep more

:33:07. > :33:10.momentum. A little lock-up as you turn in isn't a big problem. But

:33:11. > :33:14.when you do go that wide, you lose the ability to go on to the total as

:33:15. > :33:18.early and then you carry that problem all the way down the

:33:19. > :33:25.straight. So he did lose a bit of time. Kvyat was not maximising

:33:26. > :33:36.anything in the early part of the season, but since Monaco, he has

:33:37. > :33:40.been terrific. Jenson Button that, feeding back that there is less

:33:41. > :33:46.overall grip. How many times have we heard a message from him this season

:33:47. > :33:50.complaining about lack of grip? Kvyat, meanwhile, continues on his

:33:51. > :33:53.merry way, passing underneath the hotel. He has had a terrific season

:33:54. > :33:57.from Monaco on words and is currently ten points clear of his

:33:58. > :34:01.highly esteemed Australian team-mate Daniel Ricciardo, who certainly

:34:02. > :34:05.outshone Vettel last year when they were together at Red Bull. If he

:34:06. > :34:09.stays in front of Ricciardo at the end of the season, although there

:34:10. > :34:13.have been a heck of a lot of reliability issues with that team

:34:14. > :34:18.for various drivers, it is not a straight comparison. Nevertheless, a

:34:19. > :34:25.good reason for Daniil Kvyat. Sixth fastest overall.

:34:26. > :34:38.Hamilton has gone on to the super-soft tyres. He is out there at

:34:39. > :34:55.the moment, building up to a lap, as junior goes through. -- Carlos Sainz

:34:56. > :34:59.Jr. Max Verstappen is his team-mate. The position of the championship

:35:00. > :35:03.slightly skews the picture. But if he has a clean run through Friday,

:35:04. > :35:08.Saturday and Sunday, he will be able to deliver. Jenson Button, as we

:35:09. > :35:15.were saying, they have a tough time ahead. He how the tough time all

:35:16. > :35:25.year. By far McLaren's worst season in its Formula 1 history. Someone

:35:26. > :35:46.asked, where do you think McLaren will stack up? It is a tough one. In

:35:47. > :36:04.terms of pure performance, we have to wait and see. Rick Astley, pop

:36:05. > :36:08.star from the 1980s, is here. He has been to a few Grand Prix overtime. A

:36:09. > :36:11.member of the cast of Game Of Thrones is also there. Here's an old

:36:12. > :36:21.friend of Eddie Jordan. Rosberg, personal best in sectors

:36:22. > :36:36.one and two, but not the fastest of everybody. Meanwhile, Hamilton has

:36:37. > :36:54.done the fastest middle sector of anybody so far more watched by Niki

:36:55. > :37:03.Lauda and Toto wharf. Hamilton crosses the line and go

:37:04. > :37:13.second-fastest only. Nevertheless, Rosberg is quicker than Hamilton

:37:14. > :37:16.after the qualifying similar issues. That is interesting. Coming back to

:37:17. > :37:19.Toto Wolff being tired after the season they have had, he has got to

:37:20. > :37:32.be happy if he is tired given this season they have had.

:37:33. > :37:39.What we have seen before this morning was them doing one fast lap

:37:40. > :37:42.on the soft tyre, and then able to go again to improve. I am not sure

:37:43. > :37:49.whether that will be possible on the super-soft tyres. Hamilton's lap

:37:50. > :37:53.will be a disappointment to him. We did not really see it, so it is hard

:37:54. > :37:59.to know where it went wrong. He is certainly giving a better way to

:38:00. > :38:12.Rosberg Insecta one, which is the breaking -- in sector one, which is

:38:13. > :38:16.the braking. It is in the braking into the first corner. If you run a

:38:17. > :38:23.bit wide, the tag line is quite narrow. So you tend to get on to the

:38:24. > :38:31.slippery part of the track with your right hand wheels and ran wide.

:38:32. > :38:36.Pastor Maldonado is up there in seventh place at the moment. That is

:38:37. > :38:37.a good effort when you consider that the Lotus mechanics only started

:38:38. > :38:44.unpacking the freight and building the cars and garages yesterday

:38:45. > :38:53.afternoon, when we got here. It was a fast and furious effort from

:38:54. > :39:00.them. They have had issues with payments of freight etc. Talking of

:39:01. > :39:05.the stars of 2015, we always talk about drivers, but I would put the

:39:06. > :39:09.mechanics of Lotus right up at the top, and their engineers. Not only

:39:10. > :39:14.have they put up with all that, but they have also managed to get a

:39:15. > :39:18.podium for Grosjean and get him qualifying regularly in the top ten.

:39:19. > :39:21.The car has had almost no development on it,

:39:22. > :39:22.The car has had almost no of getting the most out of what

:39:23. > :39:28.The car has had almost no frugality and making the most of

:39:29. > :39:29.what you have, the stars of the year are definitely the Lotus mechanics

:39:30. > :39:49.and engineers. Tom? I am with the Ferrari team. What are they saying?

:39:50. > :39:53.It seems reasonable. We could be in a better position, but it is a good

:39:54. > :40:01.starting point. Right now, it is the most important for Daley preparation

:40:02. > :40:05.for the weekend, because it is the most representative session before

:40:06. > :40:07.qualifying. So the team are working very hard. So far, everything is

:40:08. > :40:12.going well. What are very hard. So far, everything is

:40:13. > :40:16.conditions like? It is getting dark and the temperatures are coming

:40:17. > :40:26.down. Yeah, it is unusual to have these temperatures in Abu Dhabi.

:40:27. > :40:31.Usually, it is warmer. There is usually fizzes on how the tyres are

:40:32. > :40:35.up. It will be crucial for the olivine lap. We have just been

:40:36. > :40:42.discussing where we think the Haas team can come in last year. What are

:40:43. > :40:51.you expecting? That is a good question -- next year. Obviously, it

:40:52. > :40:54.is a tricky one. It is a new team. Initially, we have to make sure we

:40:55. > :41:01.are well integrated as a team in order to have a very efficient

:41:02. > :41:10.development as a team. If we have a reasonable car, which we expect to

:41:11. > :41:19.have, I think we can do something very good. It is too early to say. I

:41:20. > :41:23.have had some input into the development of the car. It is a very

:41:24. > :41:32.interesting project. The car looks nice and sharp. Everything is going

:41:33. > :41:35.well. I was at Homestead last weekend, watching the final Nascar

:41:36. > :41:39.race with your future boss. I must say, he runs a very good as

:41:40. > :41:44.race with your future boss. I must of it. Yes, he does. He has an

:41:45. > :41:51.amazing infrastructure as well as a great mentality. That is his

:41:52. > :41:54.background. In every business he has been in, he has been successful. So

:41:55. > :42:02.I am sure this relationship been in, he has been successful. So

:42:03. > :42:09.work. Finally, have you negotiated your salary with him yet? Ha-ha! In

:42:10. > :42:11.which sense? I ask because one person I interviewed said he was

:42:12. > :42:18.richer than God, so if you haven't, go a bit higher? Let's see if I get

:42:19. > :42:26.a bit closer to that! You can see that feature of Tom Clarkson's in

:42:27. > :42:31.tomorrow's qualifying show on BBC One at 12.10. This is free practice

:42:32. > :42:40.two for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on the BBC. As the light levels begin

:42:41. > :42:48.to seriously drop and the artificial lights come up, we were just hearing

:42:49. > :42:51.from Esteban Gutierrez. He is racing for Haas next year alongside Roman

:42:52. > :42:59.Grosjean. It is interesting to hear. He is a good talker. But he

:43:00. > :43:02.will have his work cut out against Roman Grosjean, surely one of the

:43:03. > :43:13.fastest guys in Formula 1. He certainly will. Esteban Gutierrez is

:43:14. > :43:17.a test driver for RE. There will be a lot of Ferrari influence into the

:43:18. > :43:39.Haas programme. Good cheer as -- Esteban Gutierrez

:43:40. > :43:44.has got the seat. He has a lot of backing from Mexico, from Carlos

:43:45. > :43:51.Slim and his telecoms company. So a lot of support for him. We saw the

:43:52. > :43:55.support for Sergio Perez in Mexico. I'm sure next year, they will be

:43:56. > :43:57.more delighted when they see two Mexican drivers out on circuit. Here

:43:58. > :44:09.is Sergio Perez. He Mexican drivers out on circuit. Here

:44:10. > :44:26.towards the Yas Hotel. These are called cookie cutter corners through

:44:27. > :44:29.18, 19 and 20. Sergio Perez got a podium last time he was in the

:44:30. > :44:52.Middle East region in Bahrain. He is up into third place. Pretty much

:44:53. > :44:57.everybody has now done a qualifying simulation, with the exception of

:44:58. > :45:01.Grosjean and Ericsson. I am being picked up on Twitter by James

:45:02. > :45:06.McDonald, who said is Sirius you passed up the opportunity of seeing

:45:07. > :45:10.Rick Astley and saying Button is never gone I give up on Honda. Fair

:45:11. > :45:14.enough! Bebo is to say I looked like him at school, which did not

:45:15. > :45:19.appreciate. But that is enough of Rick Astley.

:45:20. > :45:29.I have never been prepared to him, much to my wife's disappointment, I

:45:30. > :45:36.am sure! Let's talk about the stars of the season. Who have been some of

:45:37. > :45:41.your styles? If you go from the top to the bottom, Lewis Hamilton,

:45:42. > :45:44.because of his ability to turn around the weakness of last year,

:45:45. > :45:51.when he got ruffled in qualifying. Sergio Perez has lifted his game

:45:52. > :45:56.quite a lot, Gus Nico Hulkenberg was in form at the beginning of the

:45:57. > :46:01.season, but Sergio has done the job. I have been impressed by both

:46:02. > :46:06.of the Toro Rosso drivers, Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz Jr.

:46:07. > :46:10.There has been much more to Carlos Sainz Jr than meets the eye, I did a

:46:11. > :46:18.piece for the BBC website last week, looking into both of their

:46:19. > :46:23.seasons, because for me Carlos Sainz Jr's opportunity was very late, and

:46:24. > :46:30.he grabbed it with both hands, and they both have a future. I laughed

:46:31. > :46:41.at one of the people who wrote in about Jenson Button, because both of

:46:42. > :46:46.those guys in the face of adversity has not thrown their toys out of the

:46:47. > :46:54.pram. One person I am interested in and a star of this year and

:46:55. > :47:01.generally is Romain Grosjean we want to see him in a better funded team.

:47:02. > :47:08.He can leave them with ten podiums in his CV. He will be aiming to add

:47:09. > :47:14.plenty more to that in his years to come. He is still pretty young,

:47:15. > :47:20.plenty of time on his side. Adrian has tweeted, nobody except Max

:47:21. > :47:25.Verstappen for me. He makes me do silly sounds when he goes passing

:47:26. > :47:31.others. There have been a few sounds out of my mouth, especially in

:47:32. > :47:38.Belgium, when he tried to overtake Felipe Nasr round the outside. I

:47:39. > :47:42.have thought about it in the past and thought, wait and do it into the

:47:43. > :47:49.chicane. He threw caution to the wind. I thought it would be tight,

:47:50. > :47:52.but he pulled it off, and he has pulled off everyone apart from the

:47:53. > :47:57.incident with Romain Grosjean into the first corner. He has done it

:47:58. > :48:07.without locking brakes or anything else. He has a real feel for that.

:48:08. > :48:13.The overtake with Sergio Perez was sublime as well. We kicked off with

:48:14. > :48:18.our Thursday night show on the radio, we played a game with Max

:48:19. > :48:21.Verstappen and his father, we asked Max some questions about the best

:48:22. > :48:29.piece of advice he has been given and the worst, and then Jos had to

:48:30. > :48:33.guess what they were. They both agreed that the outstanding overtake

:48:34. > :48:37.this season. One around the outside of Felipe Nasr. I would put a shout

:48:38. > :48:43.in for the one inside Marcus of Felipe Nasr. I would put a shout

:48:44. > :48:48.Ericsson in China early on in his Formula 1 debut season, he slowed

:48:49. > :48:49.the car down from well over 200 miles an hour, overtaking him

:48:50. > :48:55.without locking up. RADIO: miles an hour, overtaking him

:48:56. > :49:07.second away from Nico Rosberg. It has been a good lap by Fernando

:49:08. > :49:16.Alonso to get himself up there. Whatever state the car

:49:17. > :49:19.Alonso to get himself up there. pretty good run so far. It is

:49:20. > :49:22.difficult to draw too many conclusions from these Friday

:49:23. > :49:27.sessions, though they tend to read across wheeze to be well. Williams

:49:28. > :49:31.tend to come up a bit from where they are on Friday to qualifying on

:49:32. > :49:38.Saturday, and again to the race on a Sunday. But by and large, it is a

:49:39. > :49:41.reasonable read across, everybody is turning the engine down, as they

:49:42. > :49:49.have to get through the season with four engines. Hearing Fernando

:49:50. > :49:55.Alonso, the FIA put out an awful lot of statements, and one of them is

:49:56. > :50:03.about how many engines everybody has used. Fernando Alonso has already

:50:04. > :50:07.used 12 internal combustion engines out of his allocation of four,

:50:08. > :50:14.used 12 internal combustion engines seasons' worth already. I wonder if

:50:15. > :50:19.the rest of his career will last another three seasons. He said he

:50:20. > :50:21.the rest of his career will last winning another title is with

:50:22. > :50:24.McLaren, he does winning another title is with

:50:25. > :50:32.would have achieved it winning another title is with

:50:33. > :50:38.harsh. I will not comment on that, I would just say frying pan into the

:50:39. > :50:44.fire, but we have to give them the benefit of the doubt, the fact that

:50:45. > :50:51.they are early into this, but they have an uphill climb had of them, as

:50:52. > :50:56.Nico Rosberg is in the pits. They are being very quick to get the

:50:57. > :50:58.blowers onto the brakes, much quicker than normal, even when the

:50:59. > :51:03.cars are standing for a quicker than normal, even when the

:51:04. > :51:07.of time. As Tom said earlier, quicker than normal, even when the

:51:08. > :51:11.quite a tough circuit on quicker than normal, even when the

:51:12. > :51:19.there are 13 braking zones around this 3.47 mile Yas Marina circuit,

:51:20. > :51:29.and 18% of the lab is spent braking. There are three big stops, into Turn

:51:30. > :51:35.1, 90 miles an hour, into Turn 8, from 210 down to 50, and that is

:51:36. > :51:42.five GF braking force that hits the driver square on the chest. It makes

:51:43. > :51:47.your head want to fly forward. Then another long straight building up to

:51:48. > :51:54.just over 200 miles an hour, and again breaking down to 50 or 60. Big

:51:55. > :52:03.stops around this lap. You do not feel the five G very

:52:04. > :52:07.stops around this lap. You do not more. One of the dignitaries is

:52:08. > :52:17.listening in. Is that Abdullah? Note. But coming back to the G

:52:18. > :52:19.force, you do not feel it so much, because you are bracing yourself

:52:20. > :52:25.against the brake pedal and steering wheel. When it is lateral through

:52:26. > :52:31.Turn 3 and Turn 4, you feel it on your rib cage and chest. And a bit

:52:32. > :52:33.on your neck. But you have the big neck support that helps you.

:52:34. > :52:39.on your neck. But you have the big was Ron Dennis with one of the

:52:40. > :52:48.Bahraini royal family. Their sovereign wealth fund in the McLaren

:52:49. > :52:56.team. Ron Dennis has not been seen at a Grand Prix for a few races. He

:52:57. > :53:00.has been very active, though, in the meetings behind the scenes, the

:53:01. > :53:03.commission meeting and the strategy group, both of which took place

:53:04. > :53:09.earlier this week. You were referring to the engine situation,

:53:10. > :53:19.where the governing body, with Bernie Ecclestone, were talking

:53:20. > :53:30.about a Class B engine. But it was quite a big gambling chip to bring

:53:31. > :53:37.everybody to give -- to the table. Maybe work towards simplifying

:53:38. > :53:44.them, either producing, parts -- common parts, like we have a common

:53:45. > :53:50.electronic control unit at the moment, to bring some costs down, or

:53:51. > :53:55.simplifying in certain areas, getting rid of some components. The

:53:56. > :53:59.conversations carry on this weekend. The manufacturers and the FIA and

:54:00. > :54:04.the teams have to get a proposal together by the end of January four,

:54:05. > :54:09.2017, to try and streamline the engine situation, get the cost down

:54:10. > :54:15.to a more sustainable level for the independent teams. That is all

:54:16. > :54:20.ongoing in the background. We are into some long runs. You are looking

:54:21. > :54:31.at Romain Grosjean on his final outing with Lotus. 35 minutes

:54:32. > :54:35.remaining in the session. This is Romain Grosjean Mac first run on the

:54:36. > :54:40.super soft tyre, he is quicker than he has been in the first and second

:54:41. > :54:41.sector, he has had the highest overall speed trap figure into the

:54:42. > :54:45.second sector, but overall speed trap figure into the

:54:46. > :54:52.where you gain most out of the softer tyre compound, as you break

:54:53. > :54:56.into this corner. Then the change of direction. The next two left-handers

:54:57. > :55:00.are an adverse camber, you need to have a good feeling and lateral grip

:55:01. > :55:05.before you flick into the final two corners. Romain Grosjean will be

:55:06. > :55:10.up, we are not quite sure where he will plop himself into. Plenty of

:55:11. > :55:15.you getting in touch using Twitter to tell us who your stars of the

:55:16. > :55:21.season. If you are watching on Saturday morning, don't bother.

:55:22. > :55:26.Chris says, I have to give it to Valtteri Bottas, outperforming his

:55:27. > :55:30.Finnish counterpart and his team-mate. He has had a decent

:55:31. > :55:35.season, though he flat lined when Ferrari were looking at potentially

:55:36. > :55:40.replacing Kimi Raikkonen. He was disappointed at that point. But

:55:41. > :55:54.since then, he has pulled his socks up. Higgins says, the entire Manor

:55:55. > :55:57.team, dignity in the face of the loss of Jules Bianchi, who passed

:55:58. > :56:05.away this season, one of the low points of 2015. Simon, difficult, on

:56:06. > :56:14.paper it is Lewis Hamilton, but also the Manor team, against the odds.

:56:15. > :56:20.The Red Bull looks striking in the artificial lights, with the purple

:56:21. > :56:26.accent colour coming out of the blue and red and yellow of the paintwork.

:56:27. > :56:33.It has not been the fastest car this season, but it is striking. This is

:56:34. > :56:40.only his second season in Grand Prix. Last year at Toro Rosso, he

:56:41. > :56:46.did a good job, then on Friday night, when Sebastian Vettel told

:56:47. > :56:51.the team that he was leaving, on Saturday morning he went from being

:56:52. > :56:57.a Toro Rosso driver in 2015 to being a fully fledged Red Bull driver with

:56:58. > :57:02.Daniel Ricciardo. He has done a very good job. A difficult beginning to

:57:03. > :57:08.the year, but after that, he has managed to be consistent at

:57:09. > :57:12.delivery. He is another driver that has got to be up there. Maybe not

:57:13. > :57:19.for driver of the season, but one that we have to keep a close eye on.

:57:20. > :57:22.Certainly. In the first few races, he would have thought it would be

:57:23. > :57:27.nice if he had stayed at Toro Rosso, but since then, it came together.

:57:28. > :57:37.That is the son of the but since then, it came together.

:57:38. > :57:43.Ferrari. The Ferrari car company is celebrating its anniversary in 2017,

:57:44. > :57:47.that would be a good time for them to win another championship, if they

:57:48. > :57:52.do not do it next year. He recently became a billionaire with the

:57:53. > :57:55.company floating a small percentage of shares on the stock market,

:57:56. > :58:03.valuing the company at such a level that his stake, agreed to him by his

:58:04. > :58:08.father, values him at a billionaire. Nice if you can manage it. There are

:58:09. > :58:17.no cars with my name! It is not too late! It could be! There is

:58:18. > :58:22.McLaren! Yes. Moving swiftly on! Fastest through the speed traps,

:58:23. > :58:30.Pastor Maldonado, not for the first time. It is pretty slippery in a

:58:31. > :58:36.straight line. 207 miles an hour. These speeds are being elevated. A

:58:37. > :58:42.crash, one of the Toro Rosso cars, Carlos Sainz Jr. He is off the

:58:43. > :58:50.track. He is into the wall with the left rear, and we can see smoke. It

:58:51. > :58:58.looks like he has pulled off, he has not hit anything. It is on the

:58:59. > :59:07.inside of the hairpin. The headrest comes off, it is another technical

:59:08. > :59:14.issue. Very frustrating. He has had some rotten luck. Plenty of

:59:15. > :59:20.breakdowns. A few accidents as well, the big one on Saturday in Sochi.

:59:21. > :59:23.Absolutely horrendous. It is interesting, talking to him about

:59:24. > :59:28.how he got back on the horse after that. He was cleared to race by the

:59:29. > :59:31.doctors the next day, and he said the first couple of times in the

:59:32. > :59:33.race that he went through that corner, he backed off a tiny bit

:59:34. > :59:57.will stop here is an explanation. Break the wire off. A huge cut.

:59:58. > :00:09.RADIO: Engine off, stop the car. OK. Something happened. Again.

:00:10. > :00:19.He have to stop the car straightaway. This is the data for

:00:20. > :00:27.tomorrow, it is a blunt. Sorry, for Sunday, and for the race.

:00:28. > :00:40.It was the word again and that was the telling part of that message.

:00:41. > :00:43.Something has gone wrong, again. He had an old-fashioned engine blow-up

:00:44. > :00:49.that locked both rear wheels and his kid to a halt. So it has been a case

:00:50. > :00:55.of again. And there is the young man, who has certainly made his mark

:00:56. > :00:59.in 2015, but not in the way that team-mate Verstappen has done.

:01:00. > :01:01.Reliability and a few accidents have definitely contributed to that. As

:01:02. > :01:05.we were saying before we got that definitely contributed to that. As

:01:06. > :01:17.replay. Very interesting hearing how he got back into driving in Sochi.

:01:18. > :01:21.It was all about building confidence again, having had such an enormous

:01:22. > :01:25.accident. Alan, you know what it is like to get back on the horse after

:01:26. > :01:30.accidents. Thank you for bringing that up, James. It is very much a

:01:31. > :01:36.mental thing. You have to force yourself through it. You have got

:01:37. > :01:39.this natural sort of defence against putting yourself in dangerous

:01:40. > :01:43.positions, but ultimately, you have to push yourself do it. To me, that

:01:44. > :01:49.was one of his best races, because he had a blinding one after that up

:01:50. > :01:59.into the points, and then a brake issue put him out of the race. Well,

:02:00. > :02:01.we know this session is about qualifying simulations, but it is

:02:02. > :02:12.also about long-running performance, as Alan was saying.

:02:13. > :02:18.Let's check in and have a look at what the long one performance is

:02:19. > :02:28.looking like so far. This stint so far is Nico Rosberg is six laps old.

:02:29. > :02:29.He is in the high 1:47s at the moment, almost identical to

:02:30. > :02:33.team-mate Lewis Hamilton. moment, almost identical to

:02:34. > :02:42.both using super-soft tyres. Very early days. Rosberg's tyres have

:02:43. > :02:45.done in 11 in total, so we are looking for signs of degradation

:02:46. > :02:52.now. The super-soft tyre is designed to thermally degrade, in other

:02:53. > :02:57.words, for the temperature to affect the performance of the tyre. Sergio

:02:58. > :03:07.Perez, meanwhile, has switched back on to the soft tyre. He is three

:03:08. > :03:12.laps in with a set of tyres that have done 13 laps. Ricciardo has a

:03:13. > :03:17.similar situation to Rosberg, seven laps into a run on a set of tyres

:03:18. > :03:20.that have done 12 laps. He is only three tenths of a second slower than

:03:21. > :03:24.the pace that the Mercedes three tenths of a second slower than

:03:25. > :03:30.on at the moment. Vettel has just gone back out on a set of soft

:03:31. > :03:34.tyres, so he and Raikkonen are doing a direct comparison at the moment.

:03:35. > :03:40.Raikkonen is super-soft tyre, but he has only

:03:41. > :03:43.just gone out on it, so we cannot give you any Ferrari long-running

:03:44. > :03:49.data at the moment, but that is a picture of where Mercedes, Force

:03:50. > :03:53.India and Red Bull are. Here is Maldonado's long-running.

:03:54. > :03:58.India and Red Bull are. Here is see that the pace is a

:03:59. > :04:06.India and Red Bull are. Here is erratic. For the last couple of

:04:07. > :04:13.laps, you can see the degradation. The lap time is growing. That is a

:04:14. > :04:19.numerical representation of that. It is the first part of the circuit

:04:20. > :04:22.that he is going onto now where you can drive without having to think

:04:23. > :04:28.about it. But in the final part of the circuit, you have just got to

:04:29. > :04:35.have a different feel, making sure you don't just floored the throttle

:04:36. > :04:39.and pick up a bit of wheel spin, because that will also increase your

:04:40. > :04:44.tyre degradation. When we get to laps eight to ten, that is when we

:04:45. > :04:48.will get a feel for who is quick. That is when you would say there is

:04:49. > :04:56.historically a separation on other tracks. You see how competitive the

:04:57. > :05:02.teams are. We will see whether Ferrari can take any sort of fight

:05:03. > :05:07.to Mercedes. We will also see where Williams are littered to Ferrari. We

:05:08. > :05:16.have been asking you who your stars of the season. Ryan has said... BBC

:05:17. > :05:25.London 94.9 they are the grading now. -- RADIO: it is degrading now.

:05:26. > :05:30.That was information about how his tyres are performing. Ryan says all

:05:31. > :05:35.the supporters at Austin are the stars. Amen to that, in the face of

:05:36. > :05:41.the horrendous weather at the weekend. And that Force India

:05:42. > :05:46.mechanic who did the dance moves. He was doing the break dancing. Stars

:05:47. > :05:51.of the year are McLaren Honda mechanics, says Steve. And another

:05:52. > :05:55.viewer agrees. I bet they can change an engine with their eyes closed

:05:56. > :05:59.after this season, he says. Well, they have had plenty of practice at

:06:00. > :06:06.it, no question about that. This is the most improved team, though,

:06:07. > :06:11.Force India, from where they started at the beginning of the year. They

:06:12. > :06:16.had that big upgrade. Since then, they have lifted their performance

:06:17. > :06:19.hugely. This should be a track where they go well, because they tend to

:06:20. > :06:26.be good on the tyres, especially Perez, more than Nico Hulkenberg. We

:06:27. > :06:30.know he will have a decent straight-line speed. So, 23 minutes

:06:31. > :06:36.remaining in the session. The circuit here at Yas Marina is now

:06:37. > :06:41.brilliantly illuminated with artificial lights. It is dark. We

:06:42. > :06:47.are on the third island out from the downtown Abu Dhabi area, an area

:06:48. > :06:50.which is growing so quickly. And its influence internationally has grown

:06:51. > :06:56.as well. Since the introduction of this race in it is hard to overstate

:06:57. > :07:00.how important this race is to Abu Dhabi and the way it presents itself

:07:01. > :07:04.to the world and how important it is as a trading opportunity with the

:07:05. > :07:09.rest of the world as well, like the Manchester City ownership. Those two

:07:10. > :07:13.things have happened in the last seven or eight years and have really

:07:14. > :07:18.put Abu Dhabi on the map, primarily through sport, but behind that,

:07:19. > :07:22.there is a lot of business going on as Abu Dhabi trades with the rest of

:07:23. > :07:31.the world. Look at that slow-mo, the amount of vibration. In the car, you

:07:32. > :07:32.don't feel it, but looking at it, you see it seems to be a huge

:07:33. > :07:37.amount. But in the you see it seems to be a huge

:07:38. > :07:42.the speed you are going over, you don't feel it in the slightest. Max

:07:43. > :07:46.Verstappen pits. He is at the 13th fastest time in the qualifying

:07:47. > :07:52.simulations, just ahead of his team-mate, who was out of the

:07:53. > :07:59.running. His car broke down at a hairpin about ten minutes ago.

:08:00. > :08:11.Verstappen switches over to a set of the super-soft tyres and heads back

:08:12. > :08:16.out on circuit. Pastor Maldonado braked on that curve, and that was

:08:17. > :08:24.immediately struggling to make the apex of the corner. 21 minutes

:08:25. > :08:28.remaining. On circuit, Kimi Raikkonen, still working on the

:08:29. > :08:36.super-soft tyre. Team-mate Vettel is hammering around on the soft tyre

:08:37. > :08:43.and has now done two laps in this stint, nine in total. His last lap

:08:44. > :08:53.was slow, so it is difficult to draw conclusions. Raikkonen is lapping in

:08:54. > :09:04.the low innit 47s. -- 1:47s. Rosberg is lapping in the low 1:49s.

:09:05. > :09:10.Raikkonen has been pretty quick. He is faster than Vettel in this

:09:11. > :09:14.particular long-running. He was quick this morning, Raikkonen. He

:09:15. > :09:20.has done well here in the past. On the face of it, with every team not

:09:21. > :09:25.having done the same number of laps, it suggests that Ferrari could be

:09:26. > :09:32.quite competitive, come race day. We have been in the same situation for

:09:33. > :09:35.some time. RADIO: right-hand magic to offer,

:09:36. > :09:44.please. I don't like it, we discussed that. Copy. Magic is a

:09:45. > :09:47.switch or a wrote on the steering wheel, and it can be whatever you

:09:48. > :09:52.want it to be from weekend to weekend, depending on which

:09:53. > :09:55.parameter you want to change. That is not something we have any

:09:56. > :10:00.understanding of what it is this weekend. But whatever it is, Rosberg

:10:01. > :10:06.is and want to work on it. Those are the stats for Romain Grosjean. He

:10:07. > :10:12.used to be very thin when he first started in Formula 1. He didn't have

:10:13. > :10:16.the strength to drive the cars. He has done a lot of work on his core

:10:17. > :10:21.stamina and strength. Going back to Ferrari, it has been a while since

:10:22. > :10:27.the early summer. If they get the car in front of a Mercedes, they can

:10:28. > :10:32.stay there will stop the problem for them has been getting the car in

:10:33. > :10:37.front in the first place. They either have to come from a brake

:10:38. > :10:41.start, or from out-qualifying, as they did in Singapore. I still think

:10:42. > :10:46.qualifying is the area that Ferrari have to put the most work into. Over

:10:47. > :10:50.the years, if you think back to all the Fernando Alonso years and the

:10:51. > :10:56.amount of pole positions in that period, you could count on one

:10:57. > :11:00.hand, basically. To win the race, you have to be ahead of the

:11:01. > :11:03.opposition. And to do that, you are better doing it off the line and

:11:04. > :11:09.controlling the race. If you are trying to do it from behind, you

:11:10. > :11:14.have to play risky strategies which often do not work out. That is how

:11:15. > :11:21.they won their third race in Malaysia, which was down to very

:11:22. > :11:27.aggressive strategy from the team of James Allison. Mercedes were being

:11:28. > :11:33.cautious with their engine and they were not working well with the

:11:34. > :11:40.tyres. This is a former GP to champion, interviewing Carlos

:11:41. > :11:43.Sainz. He did not get his opportunity in Formula 1. He was a

:11:44. > :11:47.test driver at Lotus for a while. Have a while. Having listened to his

:11:48. > :11:53.commentary in Italy, he's just a -- just as good a commentator as he was

:11:54. > :11:57.a driver. Coming back to one thing on Alonso, it has been confirmed

:11:58. > :12:03.that he had four pole positions at Ferrari in five years, so less than

:12:04. > :12:04.one a year. Absolutely, it has been a weakness of Ferrari for a long

:12:05. > :12:15.time. a weakness of Ferrari for a long

:12:16. > :12:21.RADIO: I lose my brake. A BBW fell for Paris. I have lost the brakes,

:12:22. > :12:30.he said. This is a tough circuit the brakes -- for Perez. He is coasting

:12:31. > :12:33.into the pit lane. There are two brake circuits on a Formula 1 car

:12:34. > :12:40.for safety reasons, so he cannot lose all the brakes. But if you lose

:12:41. > :12:46.anything at 200 miles an hour, it is a shunt. So often,

:12:47. > :12:46.anything at 200 miles an hour, it is automatic cutout if you do have a

:12:47. > :12:52.brake failure. automatic cutout if you do have a

:12:53. > :12:56.safety item. When you are travelling at 90 metres per second, we can see

:12:57. > :13:02.Tom Clarkson having a look around the rear left wheel of the Force

:13:03. > :13:07.India with the temperature problem. Tom? You are on the spot. I am, but

:13:08. > :13:10.I am not getting much closer, because it is a hot. There were

:13:11. > :13:14.flames coming out of the rear left wheel and it is still glowing red as

:13:15. > :13:24.it is pushed back into the garage. They will have to do a bit of work.

:13:25. > :13:28.As a result, Perez has not been able to do a practice start from his pit

:13:29. > :13:33.box. Something that is an anomaly at this race track is that the drivers

:13:34. > :13:43.are not allowed to do practice starts at the exit of the pit lane.

:13:44. > :13:48.It is a very narrow exit. So we are seeing a lot more practice starts in

:13:49. > :13:51.the pit boxes. How accurate the information is that they are getting

:13:52. > :13:54.from that, I don't know, because it is a concrete

:13:55. > :13:56.from that, I don't know, because it slippery, but that is what the teams

:13:57. > :14:02.are having to do because they only get the chance to do two practice

:14:03. > :14:10.starts. We just saw the fire you were talking about, Tom. There are a

:14:11. > :14:21.lot of carbon fragments on the floor. They do

:14:22. > :14:23.lot of carbon fragments on the easily. If there is temperature

:14:24. > :14:28.there, the temperature goes into the calibre, and once it is into the

:14:29. > :14:35.calibre and the Pistons and the rubber seals behind it, they will

:14:36. > :14:40.have to change it. RADIO: the front right is starting

:14:41. > :14:49.to be pretty bad. The grading on the front right. It is a predominantly

:14:50. > :14:58.left cornered circuit, and Bottas has done 13 laps on this set of

:14:59. > :15:06.tyres. That is going to be the performance dictator. Meanwhile,

:15:07. > :15:14.Rosberg has just come into the pits. His last lap was a 1:48 something.

:15:15. > :15:26.That is quite quick for a set of tyres that had an 80 laps. Hamilton

:15:27. > :15:27.did 1:46 .724. I have been looking at the numbers, they are going up

:15:28. > :15:33.and down. They are either having at the numbers, they are going up

:15:34. > :15:37.call down, which they often do in practice... A beautiful power

:15:38. > :15:42.call down, which they often do in I Valtteri Bottas. It looked good

:15:43. > :15:46.for the cameras. They tend to take a couple of laps to try to slow

:15:47. > :15:51.everything down and then go again, something they do not do in the

:15:52. > :15:56.race. Sergio Perez having that work done on the brakes. Coming back to

:15:57. > :16:01.what I said about the calipers, done on the brakes. Coming back to

:16:02. > :16:05.the brake caliper that holds the pads in gets too hot, they have to

:16:06. > :16:13.replace it, because once that gets distorted, it is finished. Right

:16:14. > :16:20.front lock-up. You can see the damage from the graining. A bit like

:16:21. > :16:26.taking in an eraser and rubbing it across the top of the piece of

:16:27. > :16:29.paper, the pieces of rubber that come off, that is what the tyre is

:16:30. > :16:36.doing as it scrubs across the surface of the race track, that is

:16:37. > :16:41.graining. It is like to turn and you do not have the grip, you

:16:42. > :16:47.understeer. You run wide a little bit, like Daniil Kvyat did their,

:16:48. > :16:58.all you have to slow the car down at the apex to keep your line. RADIO:

:16:59. > :17:01.We think it is half a second slower to start but much lower

:17:02. > :17:10.We think it is half a second slower He is on the soft tyre. It is a big

:17:11. > :17:14.difference in qualifying. After that, it is half a second at the

:17:15. > :17:19.beginning, once they have gone through the heat cycle, and it

:17:20. > :17:24.reduces down. The key is where the crossover point happens to be. Last

:17:25. > :17:30.year, most people started on the super-soft tyre and got between ten

:17:31. > :17:36.and 14 laps in before coming into switch onto the soft tyres. In Lewis

:17:37. > :17:48.Hamilton's case, lab 31, Felipe Massa extended the middle stint, Lap

:17:49. > :17:54.43, Lap 45 for Valtteri Bottas. It was the favoured raced higher last

:17:55. > :18:00.year. I would suspect the most common raced higher this season has

:18:01. > :18:06.been the soft across the whole championship, it has been brought to

:18:07. > :18:10.most races, and where it has been the softest option it has been

:18:11. > :18:15.raised, and where it has been the hardest option. It is the one that

:18:16. > :18:19.the drivers know the best and the engineers know the best, across a

:18:20. > :18:29.range of different tracks. Just under 12 minutes remaining. The

:18:30. > :18:38.Sergio Perez lap time is an indication that Ferrari did not

:18:39. > :18:43.quite perform. I do not think that will be the case tomorrow in

:18:44. > :18:48.qualifying. On the other side, it says that Force India will be a

:18:49. > :18:52.force to be reckoned with. How much longer they will be called that has

:18:53. > :18:58.been a talking point, rumours going around about a rebranding, new

:18:59. > :19:03.sponsors coming in, all sorts of things seem to be on the table. But

:19:04. > :19:10.until they get confirmed by the owner and the deputy team principal,

:19:11. > :19:15.it is all just speculation. More of you getting in touch with your stars

:19:16. > :19:20.of the season on Twitter. Jack says, the guy who came up with the places

:19:21. > :19:25.Fernando Alonso would rather be social media hashtag phenomenon,

:19:26. > :19:30.which was special, after he was photographed sitting in a marshal's

:19:31. > :19:36.deckchair after his car let him down, or his engine let him down, in

:19:37. > :19:41.Brazil, he was photo shop into all kinds of situations, sitting

:19:42. > :19:46.alongside Forest Gump, into the cockpit of a Ferrari! Chris said,

:19:47. > :19:51.you have to give it to Valtteri Bottas. We have had that one

:19:52. > :19:59.already. Thank you for your contributions. We are into the

:20:00. > :20:01.closing stages of this second practice, Mercedes have class

:20:02. > :20:08.leading pace when it comes to qualifying. Ferrari have not really

:20:09. > :20:17.shown up today. They are a bit further away than normal.

:20:18. > :20:23.It has not been plain sailing in terms of how the tyres are behaving,

:20:24. > :20:28.as the temperatures come down. The track temperature is 28 degrees, it

:20:29. > :20:32.did not start out like that at the beginning. There has been some

:20:33. > :20:41.graining. Not everybody has been able to get the maximum performance

:20:42. > :20:50.out. He is Hamilton. RADIO: What times and my supposed to be doing

:20:51. > :20:55.now? 47.0. That is an end of term weariness in his voice. He has won

:20:56. > :21:03.the World Championships and Constructors' Championship, closing

:21:04. > :21:07.stages, what am I doing again? The long runs the homework, the due

:21:08. > :21:11.diligence, it is not the most exciting part for a driver, it is

:21:12. > :21:23.what you have to to make sure the car is right. The performance runs

:21:24. > :21:27.are the fun, taking it to the edge. This is not the fastest he can drive

:21:28. > :21:31.two, so there is an element that you just have to deal with it and do it,

:21:32. > :21:38.as opposed to it being the one that makes the heart and faster. He is

:21:39. > :21:43.driving carnauba 44, he is entitled to be the number one plate holder,

:21:44. > :21:50.but he chooses to carry the number 44 on his car. If he wins the Abu

:21:51. > :21:53.Dhabi gone pre-, it will be his 44th career Formula 1 victory, so there

:21:54. > :21:58.is a symmetry at the end of his championship. When he arrived and

:21:59. > :22:03.was driving around the city and coming out to the track, you will

:22:04. > :22:07.have seen on the billboards a massive number 44. You may have been

:22:08. > :22:14.forgiven for thinking that it was in celebration of him, but you know

:22:15. > :22:19.what it is about. It is the 44th anniversary of the founding of the

:22:20. > :22:23.United Arab Emirates. This is a special year for them. He is

:22:24. > :22:27.searching for his 50th pole position, something we expected

:22:28. > :22:34.quite a few races ago, but Nico Rosberg has pinched it from him

:22:35. > :22:38.every time. There are two landmarks therefore Lewis Hamilton, if he can

:22:39. > :22:43.just get his hands onto them, but it is proving more than he expected.

:22:44. > :22:46.Looking at it from your point of view, what has been the difference

:22:47. > :22:53.between them in qualifying in the last five or six races? Why have the

:22:54. > :22:58.pendulum swung? I think a little bit is that Hamilton has won his third

:22:59. > :23:05.world title, so there is a bit of focus gone to other things. At the

:23:06. > :23:10.same time, Nico Rosberg has just pulled together a bit more. It is

:23:11. > :23:13.same time, Nico Rosberg has just the first run, in the last part of

:23:14. > :23:18.qualifying, whoever is quickest there seems to get it at the end.

:23:19. > :23:24.Nico Rosberg has delivered in that area. He has been neat and tidy, he

:23:25. > :23:30.has built up to it in a different way than before. Nico Rosberg

:23:31. > :23:38.getting it right and Lewis Hamilton taking a bit of a breath, I have won

:23:39. > :23:46.a third world title. I am wondering if that is his son that is with him.

:23:47. > :23:52.Working his way through various work experience roles within the Empire.

:23:53. > :24:02.I wonder whether that is him down there as well. I was looking at you

:24:03. > :24:06.as opposed to the monitor! Coming through the tricky section

:24:07. > :24:11.underneath the hotel and into the last couple of corners. You can see

:24:12. > :24:16.how precise he was to spot the apex is just to get to the edge of the

:24:17. > :24:19.kerb. He has been able to get the fine line between pushing just

:24:20. > :24:35.enough and also not pushing too far. He finishes with a run on the soft

:24:36. > :24:38.tyre, we expect this to be the main race tyre tomorrow. Although it is

:24:39. > :24:45.slower on the initial lap, half a second, Mercedes believe, we saw 1.1

:24:46. > :24:55.for some teams, it has better degradation. RADIO: It is not right.

:24:56. > :25:02.We see it. Pretty self-explanatory. You get a crossover. Another lock-up

:25:03. > :25:06.for Felipe Nasr. A crossover between the soft tyre and the super soft

:25:07. > :25:11.tyre, you are better off being on the softer tyre, even though it is

:25:12. > :25:15.slower on paper, because it becomes faster at a certain point. That is

:25:16. > :25:16.what makes it the favoured race tyre. That is what

:25:17. > :25:26.what makes it the favoured race on Sunday. It 11 laps that he has

:25:27. > :25:30.done on the super soft tyre. Starting to get the lock-ups each

:25:31. > :25:33.lap. That will increase the temperature going into the corner,

:25:34. > :25:40.which will mean the degradation gets higher. The person that is making

:25:41. > :25:48.the super soft tyre work pretty well is Ferrari, Kimi Raikkonen, he has

:25:49. > :25:50.done 13 laps, it is dropping off a bit, but generally he has been in a

:25:51. > :26:00.position to maintain a constant pace. His last lap, Lap 14 in the

:26:01. > :26:04.stint, but the tyres have done 19 laps, including the qualifying

:26:05. > :26:10.simulation, that is further than most people or anybody went on the

:26:11. > :26:14.super soft tyres last year, most people pitted between ten and 14

:26:15. > :26:16.laps. The tyres are more robust this year, we are seeing first stint

:26:17. > :26:26.lasting longer. year, we are seeing first stint

:26:27. > :26:31.completely gone. Looking at the average runs between the couple

:26:32. > :26:36.spoke and Kimi Raikkonen, they are within 0.1 seconds. Ferrari has the

:26:37. > :26:42.race pace, if they could win the Grand Prix from the front.

:26:43. > :26:46.They are not quite win the Grand Prix from the front.

:26:47. > :26:50.do it on strategy in terms of a real performance, not in qualifying, and

:26:51. > :26:52.you have to be performance, not in qualifying, and

:26:53. > :26:56.and pull off the famous undercut, performance, not in qualifying, and

:26:57. > :26:59.where you pick the lap before you are racing info to

:27:00. > :27:07.where you pick the lap before you new tyre to outperform them. We will

:27:08. > :27:13.see. Where the tyres are softer, we do see Ferrari closer to Mercedes.

:27:14. > :27:21.It is a huge lock-up there coming into it. He is on the soft

:27:22. > :27:23.It is a huge lock-up there coming bit less general grip. But it is

:27:24. > :27:29.that type of lock-up that will increase the degradation. The

:27:30. > :27:31.the corner as increase the degradation. The

:27:32. > :27:35.the power on out of the corner. increase the degradation. The

:27:36. > :27:38.you overstress the front tyre, it drops away from you. If you are

:27:39. > :27:42.putting a lot of load onto drops away from you. If you are

:27:43. > :27:45.tyre, it does not get out of the corner. You have to

:27:46. > :27:49.tyre, it does not get out of the the way you attack into what the

:27:50. > :27:53.apex is. The brightly illuminated pitfall at Williams,

:27:54. > :27:57.apex is. The brightly illuminated charge of the liaison between

:27:58. > :28:00.research and development in Oxfordshire and the race team. Such

:28:01. > :28:07.an important pivot within Oxfordshire and the race team. Such

:28:08. > :28:10.1 team, carrying the new parts across, making sure the team are

:28:11. > :28:12.asking for the right things operationally and making sure

:28:13. > :28:15.asking for the right things research and development deliver.

:28:16. > :28:22.asking for the right things When you put them on the car, they

:28:23. > :28:32.work. In the couple of years that he has been there, since Felipe Massa

:28:33. > :28:36.made the move, he has done it. For an independent team, they have had a

:28:37. > :28:40.fairly serene run this season, they have thrown a few points away

:28:41. > :28:45.through a few strategy calls and a lack of adventure and confidence,

:28:46. > :28:50.but on the whole, they have had a very solid season, racking up the

:28:51. > :28:54.points, to hedge and 57, guaranteeing them third place in the

:28:55. > :29:01.Constructors' Championship, for the second year in a row. If you had

:29:02. > :29:11.asked them that in 2013, they would have bitten your hand off. No

:29:12. > :29:13.question. Under a minute to go. This will be the last lap for most of the

:29:14. > :29:25.cars. This is where the tyre makes

:29:26. > :29:31.difference, the last sector. The chicane, then it is adverse camber.

:29:32. > :29:36.We go through the flat-out triple right-hander, into at the hotel.

:29:37. > :29:41.We go through the flat-out triple have seen so many lock-ups. Daniel

:29:42. > :29:45.Ricciardo goes onto the break, then turns again into the corner, a nice

:29:46. > :29:51.run through the double left-hander. It is tricky, you need to flood the

:29:52. > :29:56.car into it, throw it in but then floated. Then the final corners,

:29:57. > :29:59.car into it, throw it in but then quick momentum, and try to get the

:30:00. > :30:02.car in and stopped and out to the final corner. This is a corner were

:30:03. > :30:10.Red Bull were very good this morning.

:30:11. > :30:18.He has been five seconds slower in race pace terms. The chequered flag

:30:19. > :30:23.comes out. This is the end of the final free practice two of this 2015

:30:24. > :30:27.championship. As always, we are left to sift through not only the end

:30:28. > :30:31.lines at times, but also the long run performance and try and come to

:30:32. > :30:36.conclusions about what we will see over the next two days in this final

:30:37. > :30:44.round of the 2015 championship. Nico Rosberg finishes with a 1:46.9 on

:30:45. > :30:51.the soft tyres. The tyres have done 18 laps across the whole session. So

:30:52. > :31:02.clearly, that is the tyre that will be the race tyre of choice. Rosberg

:31:03. > :31:09.ends up on top with Hamilton second, Perez third. Ricciardo was fought

:31:10. > :31:15.for Red Bull. -- he was fourth. Alonso was certainly raising

:31:16. > :31:16.eyebrows with his lap, which is only a second slower than the benchmark

:31:17. > :31:37.Mercedes pace. Your conclusions, Alan? Mercedes are

:31:38. > :31:40.looking good, but Ferrari are contenders when it comes to long

:31:41. > :31:45.runs. As you said, qualifying will be key for them. We don't

:31:46. > :31:50.necessarily get the true picture from Williams, but historically,

:31:51. > :31:53.they have always been good here. And watch out for Force India, because

:31:54. > :31:57.Nico Hulkenberg had a particularly good run on the soft tyre. We have

:31:58. > :32:03.had a bit of reliability concern here as well, not least for Carlos

:32:04. > :32:07.Sainz, who stopped out on circuit. We are at the end of the season. The

:32:08. > :32:12.engines are designed to last a certain amount of time. All of the

:32:13. > :32:17.Mercedes teams and some of the Ferraris have managed to get through

:32:18. > :32:21.the season only using the maximum permitted force. They have not had

:32:22. > :32:27.to take any engine penalties. We mentioned earlier that Honda already

:32:28. > :32:31.on 12 on the back of Fernando Alonso's car, but people will be

:32:32. > :32:37.concerned going into Sunday's Grand Prix to make sure they make it. That

:32:38. > :32:41.is the name of the game, because they get the points at the end of

:32:42. > :32:45.the Grand Prix. In raw pace, it looks like Mercedes are to battle

:32:46. > :32:50.out pole position. Will be Rosberg once again, or will Hamilton finally

:32:51. > :32:54.get the upper hand and managed to get his 50th career position? Both

:32:55. > :32:57.get the upper hand and managed to men are highly motivated to finish

:32:58. > :33:00.this season on a high. Ferrari, of course, want to finish their season

:33:01. > :33:05.on a high as well. The challenge from Raikkonen looks particularly

:33:06. > :33:09.strong this weekend, both in qualifying and long run performance.

:33:10. > :33:13.So as they head off and do a few practice starts, that is the final

:33:14. > :33:17.of the -- that is the end of the free practice two session and I will

:33:18. > :33:21.hand you back to leave. They give, guys. The continuous

:33:22. > :33:24.Mercedes battle was summed up in free practice one and two today.

:33:25. > :33:28.Lewis Hamilton was a tenth of a second quicker than Nico Rosberg

:33:29. > :33:32.this morning. And this evening, it was Nico Rosberg who was a tenth of

:33:33. > :33:37.a second faster than Lewis Hamilton. It is as simple and as complicated

:33:38. > :33:41.as that at Mercedes. It was a tough day for Carlos Sainz Jr. He had a

:33:42. > :33:45.strong rookie season but it has been tough when it come to reliability.

:33:46. > :33:47.We will have live coverage for you across the weekend here on the BBC

:33:48. > :33:57.with all F1 coverage. This week, everybody's been loving

:33:58. > :34:11.The Great Pottery Throw Down... a little bit too much.

:34:12. > :34:14.But who isn't potty for clay? You were so nervous,

:34:15. > :34:18.and you've just excelled yourself. This is a good sign, by the way,

:34:19. > :34:25.when he reacts like this.