Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Practice 3 Formula 1


Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Practice 3

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Nine months and 18 races later, we are in Abou Diaby, for the 20 15th

:01:05.:01:11.

season finale. Good morning, yesterday, in free practice one,

:01:12.:01:13.

Lewis Hamilton topped the time sheets, in the twilight here at the

:01:14.:01:19.

circuit it was his team-mate who want one 10th of a second faster,

:01:20.:01:23.

they are battling for honour, as we know, the championship was wrapped

:01:24.:01:28.

up several races ago, in Austin, Texas, Lewis Hamilton clinching his

:01:29.:01:32.

third title. In Brazil, Nico Rosberg secured second, and Sebastian Vettel

:01:33.:01:36.

just missed out, but he is happy with third, in his first year with

:01:37.:01:39.

Ferrari. Impressively, Daniil Kvyat is doing

:01:40.:01:43.

well. The constructors champions,

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Mercedes. It is unlikely McLaren could catch

:01:50.:01:59.

Sauber. Not words we thought we would be saying a year ago, we are

:02:00.:02:05.

joined by Tom and Jenny, what is the latest? It is not that sweltering,

:02:06.:02:10.

that will be music to the ears of the teams, we have some cloud cover,

:02:11.:02:15.

usually, free practice three, it is a write-off, blue skies, bright

:02:16.:02:18.

sunshine, track conditions unlike what you get in qualifying but now

:02:19.:02:23.

track temperature is about 5 degrees up on what we expect this evening,

:02:24.:02:26.

the teams can do some really meaningful work ahead of qualifying.

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They are excited and a lot of laps will be completed. Carlos Sainz

:02:32.:02:35.

Junior will be hoping for more laps today, yesterday only 20 in the

:02:36.:02:38.

final session, he had a problem with a water leak, and then one thing led

:02:39.:02:42.

to another, Renault problems yesterday, in the end, parking his

:02:43.:02:48.

car, very disappointing, he will be hoping for a better session. On the

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other side of the garage, as we have seen so many times, Inghams go away

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from -- things go the way of Max Verstappen, you can see him with his

:02:58.:03:00.

cap on looking very relaxed, he seems to get the luck.

:03:01.:03:04.

Either way, to very strong Rockies who have had a very good season,

:03:05.:03:09.

great to see the new generation coming into Formula 1, probably a

:03:10.:03:12.

little cruel, I know that you are freezing at home, decide that the

:03:13.:03:16.

weather in Abu Dhabi is not as good as we usually have! There is some

:03:17.:03:20.

cloud cover and wind but still in the high 20s, I am sure that you are

:03:21.:03:24.

wrapped up with a hot chocolate or cup of tea, if you would like to get

:03:25.:03:36.

involved, please get in touch. Keeping cool in the commentary box

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today, Ben Edwards and Alan McNish. Looking forward to the final

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practice session, it will give as clues going into qualifying, nice

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atmosphere, fairly relaxed, but as has been pointed out, if you

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important little battles to be resolved, some of that work will be

:03:58.:04:00.

done today. Some of the battles on the circuit, for fourth in the

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Drivers' Championship, between Kimi Raikkonen and Ferrari's Valtteri

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Bottas in the Williams, and Valtteri Bottas's team-mate is an outside

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bet, Lupe Massa. -- between Kimi Raikkonen of Ferrari and Valtteri

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Bottas of Williams. Looking at the performances yesterday, you have got

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to say, it is going to be a tight battle for that particular macro

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point, and last year, Williams finished second and third, behind

:04:28.:04:32.

Lewis Hamilton. Fernando Alonso put in a pretty good performance, he was

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ninth fastest in the second session, but he did mention afterwards that

:04:38.:04:40.

he was out at an ideal time on track on the super-soft tyres. Could be

:04:41.:04:45.

flattening, he was just under one seconds slower than the fastest

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time, only the second time this year. The other time was in

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Singapore, but yes, it is going to be a tough one, especially with a

:04:58.:05:01.

big long straight, and there is two huge long straight from Turn 7 down

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to Turn 8, Turn 9, all the way to Turn 11, as the cars prepares now to

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go out. -- as the cars prepare now to go out. It will be a bit more

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tough than it was yesterday for McLaren. Final practice session of

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the 20 15th season, final unofficial practice, does not lead to a good

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position. -- 2015. The track itself, through the tunnel and out onto the

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circuit. Tricky pit exit, looking bizarre coming down through a

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bridge, you get a little bit of speed up, you release the limiter as

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you are going downhill, and then come your breaks and your tyres are

:05:42.:05:46.

not optimum, you can understeer towards that big wall, on the far

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side. I have not seen anyone hit it yet, but I am very sure that

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somebody is going to tag the wall coming through. Everybody will be

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taking it quite gently. Been waiting for that since 2009 when the circuit

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was first used in Formula 1. To get a Ferrari here this weekend, we saw

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them hanging out in the Ferrari pit, there is the current boss of the

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operation, he would like to see how Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel

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get on. Race pace was quite promising, not that quick in terms

:06:21.:06:24.

of overall, Sebastian Vettel was fifth, Kimi Raikkonen was seventh,

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they got to use the super-soft tire, but the race pace was reasonable.

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Sergio Perez, in the Force India, for fastest overall, that suggest

:06:35.:06:37.

there is more pace that can come from the two Ferraris. -- fourth

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fastest. Talking about Williams in 11 and 12, should not be too

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concerned about that. The long Ryan Pace especially of Kimi Raikkonen

:06:48.:06:51.

was very good, could keep them on the car for a longer period than

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most people before the grip dropped off, probably about a 10th and a

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half, two tenths slower than Nico Rosberg. Daniel Ricciardo is aware

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that the camera is on him, not turning around. Frank Williams,

:07:07.:07:11.

intense as ever, to see what will be happening. Never shining

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particularly on a Friday but we expect to see a bit more of their

:07:15.:07:17.

representative pace today, second and third here last year, bearing in

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mind Nico Rosberg have problems in the race, just to update you, Nico

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Rosberg was fastest yesterday, in second practice, Lewis Hamilton had

:07:28.:07:31.

been fastest in the initial practice session, on both occasions, a gap

:07:32.:07:36.

between them, almost identical, between .13 and .14 of a second,

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evenly matched, even it is interesting to note that Nico

:07:41.:07:44.

Rosberg has an engine that has more mileage on it than usual. On track

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at the moment, Felipe Massa, in the Sauber, as we have heard, Sauber are

:07:52.:07:56.

ahead of McLaren in the constructors points, as long as things go

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reasonably normally, you would expect them to stay ahead of McLaren

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this weekend as well, although Sauber has struggled to score points

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in the last few races, it has been a bit of a tough latter third to the

:08:08.:08:13.

season. Generally is, if we go back through their last few years, they

:08:14.:08:16.

come out with a car at the beginning of the year, very reliable, we must

:08:17.:08:20.

remember, Lupe Massa scored some good points in his first-ever Grand

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in Melbourne, and therefore, on top of the car in its performance right

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from the start, whereas they have not been able to develop it,

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certainly not at the same rate of development as some of the other

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teams. That is one of the financial constraints, the reality is they

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have, they are not able to develop the car through the course of the

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season, they must allocate resources to the 2016 car more than developing

:08:45.:08:49.

this one. They have not had their best couple of years in the last

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couple of years but at least they scored points, 2014 they struggled,

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they did not score any at all during the whole of last year. Let's see,

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Felipe Massa, sliding his way out of the final corner, crossing the line,

:09:02.:09:07.

first flying lap of the session. Yesterday, the fastest times were in

:09:08.:09:11.

the low one minute 41s and with the track temperature being reasonable

:09:12.:09:15.

here, I would think that would be a similar target. Lewis Hamilton,

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three-time world champion, 44 on the his cap, speaking to the CEO of

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Mercedes-Benz, and 44, very relevant number there, in Abu Dhabi, because

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it is the 44th anniversary of the United Arab Emirates. Celebrations

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on December two, in fact, for national day here in the United Arab

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Emirates. Fernando Alonso on track to see if he can back up the

:09:44.:09:47.

promising performance he put in yesterday, they're in mind, he is on

:09:48.:09:50.

the longest spell of failing to score points of anybody out there

:09:51.:09:55.

except for Will Stevens, such a long time since he scored points, back in

:09:56.:10:00.

Hungary, it was, the last time he was in the points, had a reasonable

:10:01.:10:03.

finish that day, one of the most unusual races of the year, along

:10:04.:10:07.

with USA, one of the most unpredictable races, and he scored

:10:08.:10:11.

decent points but has not been able to since then. Bit of a powwow at

:10:12.:10:17.

McLaren, Rob Bennett addressed the whole team this morning, trying to

:10:18.:10:20.

get everybody fired up and motivated going into the winter break and the

:10:21.:10:25.

build-up to 2016, which is going to be so crucial for this team, they

:10:26.:10:29.

need massive improvement to be back to where we would expect them to be

:10:30.:10:33.

with two world champion striving for them, it really has been a horrible

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season all round. -- two world champions driving for them. We hope

:10:40.:10:43.

that they get a clean weekend. Pastor Maldonado Ontrack, reasonably

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well yesterday, -- on track, ten fastest in terms of outright pace,

:10:51.:10:56.

they had a water leak on the track of Sebastien Grosjean, but it out

:10:57.:11:02.

for a few laps, some other troubles with the car of Sebastien Grosjean

:11:03.:11:08.

later on, did not get in any laps -- as many laps as he wanted to.

:11:09.:11:13.

Reasonable race pace, similar to Toro Rosso, Lotus and Toro Rosso

:11:14.:11:18.

still scrapping over six place in the Constructors' Championship

:11:19.:11:22.

although notice have a 9-point advantage so they should be able to

:11:23.:11:28.

wrap it up. -- Lotus. Slightly disappointing Brazilian weekend,

:11:29.:11:32.

experience always to be counted upon. He has put in impressive

:11:33.:11:34.

performances. If you can go past him, Felipe

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Massa, it would be good, he can be a bit of a problem to follow.

:11:45.:11:49.

Interesting! . I think that is because it can be pretty quick, with

:11:50.:11:53.

that Mercedes engine in the Williams, but they are trying to get

:11:54.:11:56.

track position before they begin their runs. He is going to do two of

:11:57.:12:04.

-- one of two things, he has got to drop back to get enough of a gap but

:12:05.:12:08.

also remembering, Williams can we spoke about it earlier, in free

:12:09.:12:12.

practice one and two on Friday, they do not use full power but they do

:12:13.:12:15.

not necessarily do that on Saturday morning either, free practice three,

:12:16.:12:20.

and there is a chance that the Force India, with its competitiveness that

:12:21.:12:24.

it has good catch and it would ruin the run a little bit for Nico

:12:25.:12:28.

Hulkenberg. He has dropped back, no problem, Lupe Massa is on his way.

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His near namesake, Felipe Nasr, doing OK.

:12:38.:12:41.

Talkers around the lap. Through the long right at Turn 3 that Felipe

:12:42.:12:49.

Massa has just gone through, that is difficult, then slowing it down,

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flowing through the chicane, make it to Turn 7, this is a very difficult

:12:54.:13:00.

corner, trying to get all of the torque and power onto the ground,

:13:01.:13:05.

easy to spin the tire. You need to get a good exit, because you have a

:13:06.:13:09.

big huge long straight all the way through to Turn 8. 210 mph, hard on

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the brakes, about 155 metres to slow down the car to 14 mph, before left

:13:16.:13:20.

and right, kissing the kerbs, using the exit curb, and then another big

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long straight down towards Turn 11 and the last section. One of the

:13:26.:13:29.

most difficult sectors, all of the campus of the road fall away from

:13:30.:13:34.

you, everything you do with the car through this left right, and then

:13:35.:13:38.

the next two lefts, very difficult to be precise. Those curbs as well

:13:39.:13:45.

are tricky. You have got to hit them as hard as you can without hitting

:13:46.:13:49.

them too hard, some of the suspension actually has been damaged

:13:50.:13:52.

and broken because of using the kerbs a little bit too much. The

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problem with the camber of the road, if you don't get close, you miss the

:13:57.:14:02.

line, then you can see the tenths of a second drop away. You can see

:14:03.:14:07.

Felipe Massa and bleating the lap, lovely overhead view of this entire

:14:08.:14:11.

lap, you can see what the lap time is like, Sergio Perez has gone

:14:12.:14:16.

quickest for them. Felipe Massa in second, if you hundreds slow. -- if

:14:17.:14:26.

you hundreds slow. Confirmed as part of Mercedes young driver programme,

:14:27.:14:30.

a new driver, he is on his way, although he has got to do the last

:14:31.:14:35.

race, he's on his way to winning the GB three, winning on the road this

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morning but he was penalised, and the GB three title still to be

:14:42.:14:47.

settled but Ocon has himself a very good birth. Coming into the turn,

:14:48.:14:51.

big heavy braking after the big long back straight, locked up the right

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front, just saw the end of it, I don't know if he had it onto the

:14:58.:15:01.

white line, which would give a difference and grip between the left

:15:02.:15:05.

and right. Easy to snatch a break. On his first lap as well. Getting to

:15:06.:15:10.

know what the circuit is like. It is a little bit cooler than it was

:15:11.:15:15.

yesterday. There is a bit of cloud cover, not exactly cloud cover as we

:15:16.:15:19.

know in the UK but a little bit of cloud

:15:20.:15:22.

A little bit of a story breaking this morning concerning a slight

:15:23.:15:28.

argument, discussion, disagreement (!) between Mercedes and Ferrari.

:15:29.:15:35.

Mercedes are seeking verification over Ferrari's relationship with the

:15:36.:15:43.

new team coming in next year. Mercedes believe that Ferrari have

:15:44.:15:48.

gained an unfair advantage using their unlimited wind tunnel time,

:15:49.:15:52.

because they are not yet a fully fledged instructor, which is why

:15:53.:15:56.

they have made huge progress with their programme this year. They have

:15:57.:16:02.

gone to the FIA to ask them to explain what is permissible when you

:16:03.:16:07.

have what is effectively a B team, and the FIA has passed the matter to

:16:08.:16:10.

the stewards, so Mercedes have done that, they have asked, what is

:16:11.:16:16.

permissible? The stewards will make a ruling. When does a team, 18, when

:16:17.:16:25.

do qualify as a team? Ferrari have been benefiting from their wind

:16:26.:16:28.

tunnel time this year. The other teams think it is unfair. It is

:16:29.:16:34.

tricky, because it is a bit late now, when most of the time has been

:16:35.:16:41.

used, and the general concept of the cars has been committed. To say,

:16:42.:16:48.

what is the limit, you should have done this six months ago. There

:16:49.:16:53.

might be a bit of sour grapes, because if you watch the qualifying

:16:54.:16:59.

show this afternoon, you will find out that the new team approached

:17:00.:17:03.

Mercedes about linking up with them, and they were keen, but they are

:17:04.:17:07.

elected to go with Ferrari, so Mercedes could not benefit from

:17:08.:17:13.

this. That will play out a bit. Thank you for your comments and

:17:14.:17:18.

questions, Paul has a comment, with a good foundation in place, where do

:17:19.:17:22.

we think the new team can finish in their debut race? That will be tough

:17:23.:17:28.

to predict. Melbourne next year, where will they finish? It will have

:17:29.:17:34.

a good power unit, gearbox, chassis, the way they are doing it is buying

:17:35.:17:39.

in a lot of external parts from this team, Ferrari. It will be in a 2016

:17:40.:17:47.

specification engine. So they have got a good base, but it is the team

:17:48.:17:53.

aspect. They will lean a lot on the experience of Ferrari. In terms of

:17:54.:17:57.

the championship, they will be around where Toro Rosso. Toro Rosso

:17:58.:18:04.

are repeated to have a Ferrari engine, though not quite the same

:18:05.:18:10.

specification. Maybe try to get into the top ten or finishing just

:18:11.:18:14.

outside of it in the initial races? Reliability will be key. In terms of

:18:15.:18:21.

pace and reliability, it will be too early to say top ten, because there

:18:22.:18:25.

are some good people in the top ten, but ahead of McLaren this year.

:18:26.:18:32.

Jenny? It is going to be fascinating to see which Toro Rosso or new car

:18:33.:18:37.

come out on top, because the new team looks to have the Ferrari

:18:38.:18:41.

engine, and from what I believe, Toro Rosso will have the 2015

:18:42.:18:48.

Ferrari engine. They will have the specification around Austin, but it

:18:49.:18:54.

will not have the race fix, which has seen Ferrari improved so much.

:18:55.:18:58.

They will be down when it comes to the power unit on what they have in

:18:59.:19:04.

the new team, and they will not look to get the 16 engines in until

:19:05.:19:08.

mid-season, so you have to feel for Tara Rosso. They will not be able to

:19:09.:19:13.

compete on fair terms with the new team. One thing they will have a big

:19:14.:19:21.

advantage over is they will have a reliable engine, that has been their

:19:22.:19:25.

Achilles heel. The reliability of the engines, because they cannot get

:19:26.:19:31.

going. We Sainz Jr, if you think back to the Brazilian Grand Prix, he

:19:32.:19:35.

broke down in the bombing of lap, he started the race from the pit lane,

:19:36.:19:39.

the engine did half a lap and blew up. Reliability will be a big

:19:40.:19:44.

improvement, especially for the two drivers, so they can build on their

:19:45.:19:49.

impressive first year. Christian Horner might be nervous that the

:19:50.:19:54.

Toro Rosso cars, even with last year's Ferrari engine, maybe in

:19:55.:19:57.

better shape than Red Bull, their engine package is still not

:19:58.:20:01.

confirmed, although everybody says it will be a Renault engine of some

:20:02.:20:06.

sort. A good lap for Sebastian Vettel, but his team-mate goes even

:20:07.:20:10.

quicker, Kimi Raikkonen. Ferrari looking strong in the early stages

:20:11.:20:16.

of final practice. Just under 45 minutes to go. If you want to know

:20:17.:20:23.

more about the new team coming in, an American team, a hybrid of

:20:24.:20:26.

American and European technology, there will be a feature at 12:10pm

:20:27.:20:34.

on BBC One, Tom went to the final Nascar race last weekend to meet up

:20:35.:20:39.

with the team and ask them about their operation. In this particular

:20:40.:20:48.

session, we have not seen either of the Mercedes on circuit. It is

:20:49.:20:52.

fairly typical to seek them wait a while. RADIO: I struggled a bit

:20:53.:21:02.

if's with the rear. That is where the cars have to work hard. It is

:21:03.:21:07.

where the camber of the roads affect you quite a lot, and you need to

:21:08.:21:11.

have stability, the rear tyre takes a bit of abuse. We saw a Ferrari

:21:12.:21:19.

having a big power oversteer while we were talking about something

:21:20.:21:23.

else. It is that type of corner where do can lose quite a lot of

:21:24.:21:27.

time was not the first section of the circuit is all about the left

:21:28.:21:32.

front tyre, then you have traction out of Turn 7, but in the final part

:21:33.:21:36.

it is all about the rear, getting the stability and power out of it.

:21:37.:21:43.

That is hitting the kerb too high. Look how much the car bounces

:21:44.:21:47.

around, and the tyres moving around. Great shots. Thank you for getting

:21:48.:21:56.

into her chest, -- in touch, James says, Ferrari are looking strong,

:21:57.:21:59.

they will make it harder for Mercedes. RADIO: It is really tricky

:22:00.:22:08.

in the rear, I cannot position the car. Good feedback, another element

:22:09.:22:16.

where he has mature. Some of the radiocommunication 's earlier in the

:22:17.:22:20.

year were frantic and unclear. But the clarity is coming through. It is

:22:21.:22:26.

experience as well. He is going through his second year of car

:22:27.:22:32.

racing. He is going to a lot of circuits that he has never been to

:22:33.:22:36.

before. He has got much more experience, he will be able to build

:22:37.:22:39.

on that next year. But he has mature a lot from the very young lad that

:22:40.:22:49.

came to Belgium in 2014 just to say, I am a Red Bull driver. He has been

:22:50.:22:56.

exciting this year. Thomas asking, will any teams be putting part on in

:22:57.:23:00.

preparation for next season? They have been, but that was yesterday,

:23:01.:23:04.

Williams admitted they were running quite a few parts looking towards

:23:05.:23:10.

2016. Today, you will see most teams revert to the car that they are used

:23:11.:23:16.

to running, one or two tweaks, but they will probably go with what they

:23:17.:23:21.

know. Yes, unless it is something that you think is a definite

:23:22.:23:24.

advantage and not a reliability issue. There will be small tweaks

:23:25.:23:28.

and getting race experience on them. But if you are in a fight for

:23:29.:23:36.

a position or something, you -- the reward of risk to ratio changes.

:23:37.:23:44.

Mercedes can afford to gamble a bit more, but they are not a gambling

:23:45.:23:48.

team in that respect. After the chat we had about Mercedes taking the

:23:49.:23:52.

issue of wind tunnel testing by Ferrari to the stewards, Aaron

:23:53.:23:57.

Wright, Mercedes are running scared about Ferrari next season. I wonder,

:23:58.:24:01.

are they feeling the pressure already? Everybody hoping we will

:24:02.:24:07.

get a battle between them next year. But is that going to be the case?

:24:08.:24:13.

This is Sebastian Vettel into Turn 1, my goodness. The back and went

:24:14.:24:22.

away. He got on the curb. The road slopes away toward the apex, you get

:24:23.:24:26.

up towards the kerb on the right-hand side. It can do that

:24:27.:24:34.

quite easily. On board with Nico Rosberg. We go back to last year and

:24:35.:24:40.

the title battle between Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton, there

:24:41.:24:45.

was a camera of his car, and the battle was spoiled because Nico

:24:46.:24:47.

Rosberg had a mechanical Ms function. Hamilton boss set to win

:24:48.:24:53.

it, he had gone in front, he was doing everything he needed to make

:24:54.:24:58.

sure of the title, but it was a great sadness that Nico Rosberg

:24:59.:25:00.

could not fight with a competitive car to the end. But he has split the

:25:01.:25:05.

Ferrari 's, fastest of all in the final sector. That is a good lap by

:25:06.:25:12.

Nico Rosberg. Neat and tidy, he got a bit of wheel spin when we went to

:25:13.:25:17.

the shot, you could hear the engine red spinning up a bit, but after

:25:18.:25:24.

that, it was a nice lap. RADIO: It is OK. He is referring to the spin,

:25:25.:25:33.

no major problems caused. Watching Romain Grosjean into his final

:25:34.:25:37.

qualifying day with Lotus, based in Oxfordshire, often referred to as

:25:38.:25:44.

the Estyn team, cos it has had various names. It may be called

:25:45.:25:49.

Renault again next year. Still no confirmation, and that is worrying.

:25:50.:25:54.

We were expecting it this weekend. They were talking yesterday of

:25:55.:26:00.

Renault and the Lotus guys, there are still delays and questions as to

:26:01.:26:05.

whether the deal will be done. They have been talking it -- about it for

:26:06.:26:11.

quite a long time, three or four races that we have expected some

:26:12.:26:16.

sort of announcement, and the argument is ultimately over the

:26:17.:26:21.

amount of money that the FIA and Bernie Ecclestone will support them

:26:22.:26:26.

with. That impacts on budgets and the amount of money that Renault

:26:27.:26:29.

would have to put into it. It is big boys' games, this is not just

:26:30.:26:35.

talking about the sport, it is about big business for Renault and for

:26:36.:26:39.

Formula 1. I hope they come together. December the 7th is a key

:26:40.:26:48.

date. The team itself, I was involved with them in the 90s and

:26:49.:26:56.

2003, they are a very good organisation, very structured, good

:26:57.:27:01.

technical capability. Considering that they have been running on the

:27:02.:27:05.

change out of some of the top teams' pockets in terms of the

:27:06.:27:09.

budget they have, they have done a very good job. Lewis Hamilton is not

:27:10.:27:17.

as fast as Sebastian Vettel Insecta one 0 in Iraq and an insect or two.

:27:18.:27:23.

We are still using the harder of the compounds of tyre. The final part of

:27:24.:27:29.

the lab for Hamilton. This is where Nico Rosberg was so rapid if you

:27:30.:27:34.

moments ago. We will watch him through these last couple of

:27:35.:27:38.

corners. Jenny, we will come to you in a second. Will Hamilton be

:27:39.:27:46.

quicker than Kimi Raikkonen? He goes fastest, yes. Again, the final

:27:47.:27:55.

sector worked for him. Jenny? Having a look at the Force India cars,

:27:56.:28:02.

Sergio Perez had a great day yesterday, despite his brake pad

:28:03.:28:08.

catching light. This is the first time in their history, they think,

:28:09.:28:15.

out of 150 races that they have got nothing to lose. They have wrapped

:28:16.:28:19.

up fifth place in the Constructors' Championship, so they can be more

:28:20.:28:22.

risky and aggressive with their strategy and take a gamble. They

:28:23.:28:27.

showed great precis -- great pace yesterday. The long run pace is not

:28:28.:28:33.

looking quite so good, but they hoped both cars can be serious point

:28:34.:28:37.

contenders, both in the top ten, and Sergio Perez could be on a one-stop

:28:38.:28:45.

strategy, long and risky, exciting. Generally, everybody is talking

:28:46.:28:49.

about two stops, perhaps three stops might be one second or two faster,

:28:50.:28:54.

but you lose out in traffic. The majority will go with two. But there

:28:55.:28:59.

could be a difference in which tyre they use, whether they concentrate

:29:00.:29:04.

on super-soft or get rid of it early and concentrate on the soft. That

:29:05.:29:07.

could be the difference between teams and how they use the tyre. It

:29:08.:29:12.

will be interesting to see if Force India do something different. Their

:29:13.:29:17.

tactics in Russia and Sergio Perez the podium finish. Keep an eye on

:29:18.:29:22.

the Red Bull, it has been pretty good this weekend. It is down on

:29:23.:29:27.

power on the long straights, and it has a great chassis, good through

:29:28.:29:32.

this section. They are not able to go flat through the sweepers. Maybe

:29:33.:29:37.

they will in qualifying. They can, but it puts too much heat and

:29:38.:29:40.

temperature into the tyre, which means the degradation gets such a

:29:41.:29:47.

loading. Ultimately, it is of benefit to them longer term not to

:29:48.:29:57.

go flat out. RADIO: It is too long. That is a shameful Daniil Kvyat, we

:29:58.:30:00.

are still waiting for him to get in a flying lap -- a shame for Daniil

:30:01.:30:07.

Kvyat. He knows where the car is after yesterday. He was sixth

:30:08.:30:13.

fastest, he has a good feel. It is time lost, but coming back to that,

:30:14.:30:21.

this section puts a lot of load onto the rear tyre. The right rear, then

:30:22.:30:28.

a huge amount, because of the camber of the road, exhilarating, getting

:30:29.:30:33.

the power down, then the three XL underneath the hotel. The right

:30:34.:30:39.

front takes a pounding. But the left front takes a pounding for the

:30:40.:30:42.

understeer and the graining and the rear tyres take the big hit, the

:30:43.:30:48.

right rear especially. Hamilton has gone fastest in the first sector of

:30:49.:30:54.

anybody. Daniel Ricciardo improving on his previous best, but it will

:30:55.:30:58.

not be up there with the fastest times.

:30:59.:31:12.

The fastest Renault powered car in the field at the moment. RADIO:

:31:13.:31:26.

Charge lap. It is not driveable. A charge lap means charging the hybrid

:31:27.:31:30.

system, hitting the recuperation of the energy. It is trying to store

:31:31.:31:35.

the energy in the battery so that when they come out of the final

:31:36.:31:38.

corner he has got maximum hybrid acceleration. This is into the final

:31:39.:31:44.

corner. He gets close to the inside curb. As he touches the throttle,

:31:45.:31:49.

the rear of the car is unstable. I'm wondering whether Lewis Hamilton

:31:50.:31:58.

made a mistake, he was fastest in the first sector, then he did a slow

:31:59.:32:01.

middle sector, now he has started another quick lap. Interesting, I

:32:02.:32:07.

was going to say that, before we had the radio from Sebastien Grosjean,

:32:08.:32:12.

Hamilton spun, that was a mistake. This is another lap, we think he

:32:13.:32:17.

made a mistake on the previous lap, now he has spun it here as well. He

:32:18.:32:22.

has moved out over the boundaries of the circuit. When straight on with

:32:23.:32:27.

that section, I wonder what he has done wrong this time. Into the

:32:28.:32:32.

corners, chasing the kerbs, trying to get over them as much as you can,

:32:33.:32:37.

and... We have not seen anything yet, just onto the outside, taking a

:32:38.:32:41.

little bit too much of that curb on the right-hand part of the chicane.

:32:42.:32:46.

That has destabilised the car. On board, you will see it much better,

:32:47.:32:51.

floating the car into the left and right, taking a lizard it too much

:32:52.:32:55.

of this, it has destabilised the car. That is Astroturf, that green,

:32:56.:33:01.

between the blue and the kerb, but is Astroturf and there is

:33:02.:33:07.

significantly less grip. He's fastest, Lewis Hamilton, one minute

:33:08.:33:16.

43.0, faster than Kimi Raikkonen and Nico Rosberg, but difficult to go

:33:17.:33:21.

quicker than that. Coming back to Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen, look at

:33:22.:33:24.

the time they did, Lewis Hamilton was half a second slower than Kimi

:33:25.:33:31.

Raikkonen on that middle sector. Basically the chicane where Hamilton

:33:32.:33:35.

spun two huge straights, and then on the final sector, Lewis Hamilton was

:33:36.:33:39.

half a second quicker than Kimi Raikkonen, Kimi Raikkonen was

:33:40.:33:42.

complaining about the rear of the car. There is strength on different

:33:43.:33:46.

sections. Marcus Ericsson, on board the Sauber, thank you for your

:33:47.:33:49.

comments coming in, some good questions being asked, Nigel has

:33:50.:33:55.

asked, how close it looks, how close will it look close to Ferrari in

:33:56.:34:00.

2016. And a more basic question, what colour will it be? Your guess

:34:01.:34:07.

is as good as ours, we will not be able to see them copy Ferrari

:34:08.:34:10.

completely, they will have to do their own work. Do not want to look

:34:11.:34:25.

too much like a Ferrari, Gavin knew it, I apologise for the

:34:26.:34:28.

pronunciation, he has asked, at what age does a Formula 1 driver reach

:34:29.:34:36.

his peak. -- Gavin Newart. Very dependent upon their ringing, if you

:34:37.:34:41.

like, I don't mean at home, I mean through car racing. It is

:34:42.:34:51.

individual. Five, six years. Formula 1, to understand the circuits and

:34:52.:34:59.

the parameters of it. INAUDIBLE Please can you check that...

:35:00.:35:06.

Understood. Synchronisation of the downshifting to be an issue for

:35:07.:35:10.

Sergio Perez. Big braking areas at the end of the two main straight

:35:11.:35:13.

where the car is a little bit light anyway, and then a bit of locking,

:35:14.:35:18.

but Fernando Alonso getting some massage in the thumb area. Coming

:35:19.:35:25.

back to that point, and... Lewis Hamilton is 30 years old, is that a

:35:26.:35:32.

peak age? The time? To be winning championships back-to-back? Clearly

:35:33.:35:35.

for him, other drivers will be different. Nigel Mansell was 40! But

:35:36.:35:51.

those years are definitely gone. It is not just about your experience,

:35:52.:35:59.

it is a whole parameter of things. Sebastien last year was not the

:36:00.:36:03.

Sebastien of this year, he has around his peak as well. We need to

:36:04.:36:09.

see Ferrari at their peak so we can see a battle between Hamilton and

:36:10.:36:14.

Sebastian Vettel. Jenson Button, almost 35 years old, second oldest,

:36:15.:36:18.

Kimi Raikkonen is the only driver actually born in the 1970s! Only a

:36:19.:36:23.

bit older than Jenson Button but they are the two oldest drivers in

:36:24.:36:27.

the field. Does not seem to slow him down too much! A couple of you, Ryan

:36:28.:36:32.

Hoskins has asked, could the 2016 season be the final year of the old

:36:33.:36:37.

F1 guard, with button, Kimi Raikkonen, Felipe Massa and Fernando

:36:38.:36:40.

Alonso leaving the sport, I do not know if I think all of them will but

:36:41.:36:44.

certainly there is the possibility that Jenson Button, maybe, Kimi

:36:45.:36:49.

Raikkonen, quite possibly, Felipe Massa, good question. I'm not sure

:36:50.:36:53.

if he would decide to move on or whether the team would decide to

:36:54.:36:58.

move him on. Depends upon the options out there, if there is new

:36:59.:37:01.

drivers coming in that looked like they have promised, it must be quite

:37:02.:37:07.

appealing for 18, it is the balance between the marketing capability of

:37:08.:37:13.

a driver, is on track performance... And how much you have got to pay

:37:14.:37:17.

him, ultimately, cost and return. Right now, they will have a good

:37:18.:37:21.

group of young drivers, filling those seats at some point in the

:37:22.:37:25.

future, this depends when. Looking at the huge amounts of money that

:37:26.:37:29.

the top drivers earn in Formula 1, over $20 million a year, for the

:37:30.:37:37.

real few select at the very top. At the bottom end, Max Verstappen, will

:37:38.:37:41.

he be earning millions of dollars? No way. He's basically serving an

:37:42.:37:48.

apprenticeship. You have got to be very careful. You see it in football

:37:49.:37:53.

all the time, football players get paid maybe a little bit more than

:37:54.:37:58.

what they are used to, and suddenly, the motivation goes out of it. You

:37:59.:38:02.

need to keep sportspeople motivated, some are motivated by money, some it

:38:03.:38:07.

is the pat on the back, some deserve their reward but ultimately you have

:38:08.:38:11.

got to be winning things before you get the big rewards. Will Stevens

:38:12.:38:16.

watching, other end of the grid, where drivers really have to bring

:38:17.:38:19.

some budget with them to be able to get the opportunity to race in

:38:20.:38:23.

Formula 1, they have to prove themselves in the junior ranks, you

:38:24.:38:27.

cannot buy your way in having not done anything, they will have won

:38:28.:38:31.

races in other categories to earn themselves a super-licence to get

:38:32.:38:35.

into Formula 1. The super-licence rates become more and more

:38:36.:38:39.

difficult, becoming harder for those drivers who might have a pot of

:38:40.:38:43.

money to get into Formula 1, because there is Morkel Weimann 's. Has

:38:44.:38:48.

always been a part of it, a part of the grid in all parts of motorsport,

:38:49.:38:53.

funded to get there. Ultimately, there is a lot of drivers, including

:38:54.:38:57.

the likes of Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher, Fernando Alonso, through

:38:58.:39:02.

sponsorship, paid for their first drives. I don't think we should be

:39:03.:39:08.

knocking it, it is what it is. Ultimately we want to have funded

:39:09.:39:18.

drives. On board with Sebastian Vettel, these men are the cream of

:39:19.:39:27.

the crop. A bit of confusion there, taps a car preparing for a lap

:39:28.:39:33.

getting out of the way. Sebastian Vettel has crossed the line, no

:39:34.:39:36.

change to his lap time, quite close to what he has done before but not

:39:37.:39:40.

quite as quick, over halfway through the session, in a little while we

:39:41.:39:45.

will begin to see drivers switching on to the super-soft tyres,

:39:46.:39:48.

qualifying simulation, 33 degrees, the track temperature at the moment,

:39:49.:39:55.

it is going to give them a reasonable amount of feedback. That

:39:56.:39:58.

was about a second of a lap difference from new tyre to new tyre

:39:59.:40:02.

yesterday, the problem they had on the super-soft tyre was raining,

:40:03.:40:06.

front tyre was taking a bit of abuse, and was not giving the

:40:07.:40:10.

longevity and the grip that ideally they would like. The circuit has

:40:11.:40:16.

more grip on it than yesterday because of the running they have

:40:17.:40:20.

done but also in the qualifying sessions, and the GP three race

:40:21.:40:24.

already, the circuit will be in better nick, that will help the

:40:25.:40:28.

super-soft tyre. The cooler it gets, but track temperature is not

:40:29.:40:34.

dropping much. Even going into darkness, it may not drop massively,

:40:35.:40:39.

we will have to wait and see. Carlos Sainz, years getting a decent run so

:40:40.:40:44.

far, he has done ten laps, about as many as most of the men out there,

:40:45.:40:49.

one or two have done 12 to 13, so far, so good, they definitely kept

:40:50.:40:55.

the same engine in, quite limited in engines that they still have to use,

:40:56.:40:59.

very determined not to go for an engine they have not used because

:41:00.:41:02.

then they get grid penalties, and he was saying that will make life very

:41:03.:41:06.

difficult around this circuit. Having said that, I remember back to

:41:07.:41:11.

last year, both of the Red Bulls, not the Toro Rosso but the Red Bull,

:41:12.:41:15.

they were excluded from qualifying because of Lexi front wings, they

:41:16.:41:18.

were deemed to be widget and not stiff enough, starting from the pit

:41:19.:41:23.

lane. Daniel Riccardo came back to finish in full place. -- flexi. We

:41:24.:41:27.

have seen Sebastian Vettel come from way back to get that kind of finish

:41:28.:41:33.

so it is a possibility to work your way through. If you do not have

:41:34.:41:37.

straight-line speed it is even tougher, it is pretty tough anyway,

:41:38.:41:41.

considering the number of cars that have got decent power units ahead of

:41:42.:41:44.

them, then that is one big factor for them. Man in the middle, James,

:41:45.:41:52.

and Tony is up with us, watching, and pointing them out, because he

:41:53.:41:57.

has delivered a great chassis at Toro Rosso, it has been hidden by

:41:58.:42:03.

the problems Renault have had and the excitement around Max

:42:04.:42:07.

Verstappen, but they could not do that if he did not have a car that

:42:08.:42:10.

they could play with and work on the brakes. At the moment, James Key is

:42:11.:42:15.

one of the stars of the engineering side of Formula 1 who is in the

:42:16.:42:21.

ascendance. Yes, it depends, if you are Mercedes, with the capability

:42:22.:42:25.

Mercedes have to develop, then you can focus on certain things. If you

:42:26.:42:29.

are Toro Rosso, where you do not have the development budget, you

:42:30.:42:32.

need a car that you can maximise more often than not, so it is not

:42:33.:42:37.

necessarily peak performance but you want one that drivers can push, can

:42:38.:42:42.

attack, Canada, Monaco, wherever, the circuit, drivers can always

:42:43.:42:48.

maximise it, that will have a slightly lower ultimate performance

:42:49.:42:51.

level. But over the course of the season it is better for them. For

:42:52.:42:55.

the actual top teams fighting for the championship, they have to go

:42:56.:42:59.

for the absolute peak, that is the only way there will be the

:43:00.:43:03.

opposition. Women grow shone on circuit. -- Romain Grosjean.

:43:04.:43:09.

That is at the end of the first of the two long straights, then they

:43:10.:43:21.

get to 320, Nico Rosberg, two areas, getting up to well over 200 miles an

:43:22.:43:25.

hour, with the Mercedes power unit making the most of it, up in the mix

:43:26.:43:30.

as well, with the Ferrari power, but it is Mercedes and Ferrari up at the

:43:31.:43:35.

top, mostly Mercedes looking at the ranking. If you look at it, not a

:43:36.:43:43.

surprise really. The interesting one for me, where Williams end up. They

:43:44.:43:51.

have their battle, the 1 part of the jigsaw we do not know with the

:43:52.:44:02.

Drivers' Championship. Looking at Romain Grosjean, he has the lock-up,

:44:03.:44:08.

but the apex is OK. Add a little bit avail cup. The car ahead of him. --

:44:09.:44:21.

had a bit available up. -- had a bit of a lock-up. Coming back to Romain

:44:22.:44:27.

and through here, pretty sweet. That looks pretty good as well. For

:44:28.:44:33.

Pastor Maldonado. Jason asking us, will the Lotus team carry on if

:44:34.:44:38.

Renault does not take over? Good question, we really do not know. We

:44:39.:44:42.

are still hoping that this Renault takeover is going to happen, but if

:44:43.:44:47.

they don't take over, I think there is going to be a massive amount of

:44:48.:44:49.

concern about the future existence of that team, it has been run into

:44:50.:44:56.

the ground a little bit. Guy is still there, putting in a massive

:44:57.:45:00.

amount of effort, but it remains a question mark.

:45:01.:45:10.

We have eight cars on the circuit at -- at the moment. 20 minutes to go,

:45:11.:45:19.

they will do a bit of work on race trim. Sebastian Vettel again going

:45:20.:45:25.

through the fast sweepers. This is where Lewis Hamilton spun earlier. A

:45:26.:45:33.

little correction, but neatly through there. This is the corner,

:45:34.:45:39.

trying to get the power down. A bit of wheel spin.

:45:40.:45:48.

Now he is on his way down the back straight. That is what he will have

:45:49.:45:54.

to be careful of, he cannot do too many wheel spins, because it takes

:45:55.:46:00.

the energy out of the tyre. Can he fiddle with that on the differential

:46:01.:46:04.

settings? He can do a lot with it in terms of the way the hybrid system

:46:05.:46:08.

is boosting, how the throttle maps are working, or ultimately on his

:46:09.:46:15.

right foot. Controlling how quickly he gets on the power. And how

:46:16.:46:21.

smoothly. You need to pick up the throttle to make sure you get some

:46:22.:46:25.

acceleration of the corner, but ultimately it is how smooth you can

:46:26.:46:30.

get it. You come through the sweeping right-handers into the

:46:31.:46:35.

hotel complex, this corner now that he is at is quite easy to light up

:46:36.:46:39.

the rear tyre. You always get great images here. Looking down over the

:46:40.:46:47.

track. A fairly unique view as he goes beneath the bridge of the

:46:48.:46:52.

hotel. Sebastian Vettel heading back into the pits, bringing us down to

:46:53.:46:59.

just four cars on circuit. This slightly quieter time proceeds.

:47:00.:47:05.

Lewis Hamilton fastest, Kimi Raikkonen second, Nico Rosberg

:47:06.:47:06.

third. The big black lines put down, that

:47:07.:47:22.

was Kimi Raikkonen yesterday in the first free practice. Sebastian

:47:23.:47:28.

Vettel going through a procedure, to do the same thing, because this is a

:47:29.:47:35.

concrete pit lane with less grip. Try to get some rubber down before

:47:36.:47:39.

the race tomorrow, so when you do the pit stops, they have better

:47:40.:47:45.

traction. Jenson Button was doing some burn outs, he put a picture on

:47:46.:47:51.

his Instagram yesterday. Just to put the rubber down onto the concrete

:47:52.:47:57.

surface. This will be Pastor Maldonado's opportunity for them to

:47:58.:48:05.

fit those red wall tires and he has a go at a qualifying simulation.

:48:06.:48:10.

Daniil Kvyat only did a lap and came straight back in. They fired up,

:48:11.:48:15.

send him on his way, that he still has not done a flying lap. They do

:48:16.:48:20.

not look overly concerned. Maybe they have established the car is

:48:21.:48:25.

basically OK, maybe they are going to wait for the super-soft. I am not

:48:26.:48:31.

sure, but he has got his helmet off, there is no frantic this. Two cars

:48:32.:48:38.

on the circuit, Sebastian Vettel and Carlos Sainz Jr.

:48:39.:48:48.

He is on his in lap, actually. He is still on the soft tyre. The lap

:48:49.:48:57.

times are not as quick yet as we will expect to see on the super-soft

:48:58.:49:05.

tyres. If they take a second of, we could be down to 1:42 or 1:41.

:49:06.:49:16.

They were 0.3 seconds quicker in practice this year, but there is the

:49:17.:49:27.

fuel load effects, as well as what they can do to deliver the

:49:28.:49:31.

performance from the hybrid system. A comment from Richard, maybe he is

:49:32.:49:38.

a Ferrari fan, he says, what are the chances of a Singapore style drop in

:49:39.:49:45.

Mercedes' form, is he just clutching at straws? Yes. The drop of form was

:49:46.:49:53.

a shock to everybody in Singapore. I do not think it will be repeated.

:49:54.:50:00.

Tom? Nico Rosberg has just passed me on the super-soft tyre, I had a

:50:01.:50:04.

quick word with the Pirelli engineers, as Lewis Hamilton is

:50:05.:50:09.

heading out. We will see some benchmark times coming out. He

:50:10.:50:15.

rarely said the average difference between the soft and super-soft

:50:16.:50:18.

tyres yesterday was 1.3 seconds. That is the average from all 20

:50:19.:50:25.

cars, so some cars are getting even more than that. You are not going to

:50:26.:50:31.

get to lapse out of it, so the onus is on the driver to make no mistakes

:50:32.:50:37.

and nail it. You have to look after the rear tyres so they are still

:50:38.:50:42.

alive, that is vital. That comment coming from the tyre engineer, the

:50:43.:50:48.

onus is on the driver! But it is correct, the last sector is the one

:50:49.:50:53.

that Mercedes looks to be strong with. Nico Rosberg and Lewis

:50:54.:50:58.

Hamilton the only cars on the circuit, Ferrari B to be good or

:50:59.:51:01.

better on the last sector if they are going to challenge for a front

:51:02.:51:07.

row position. There is a potential that they are viewing being ahead of

:51:08.:51:11.

Williams, but Williams will also be good. It is going to be a 1 lap

:51:12.:51:19.

tyre, the super-soft, but looking at second practice, some people did a

:51:20.:51:23.

second lap, it was not as quick as their first, but it held up

:51:24.:51:28.

reasonably. I wonder if the revised construction is helping them a bit

:51:29.:51:32.

more, that the tyre is lasting for a whole lap distance. Last year it was

:51:33.:51:38.

a problem. Yes, but you can see how slow they are going, they are trying

:51:39.:51:44.

to protect it as much as possible. The temperature rolled evenly across

:51:45.:51:51.

the whole surface of the tyre, which helped the compound last a bit more,

:51:52.:51:55.

but the first lab is always the best. Especially when you get into

:51:56.:52:00.

softer compounds, there is more focus. It is OK for Nico Rosberg,

:52:01.:52:09.

breaking into that corner is not critical, but into the end of the

:52:10.:52:16.

back straight, that is the key point, because if he locks up there,

:52:17.:52:20.

his lap has gone, or the best part of it. Hamilton is just behind him,

:52:21.:52:25.

so we will get a complete to Paris and straightaway. It is not very

:52:26.:52:34.

good from Hamilton. Maybe he made a mistake somewhere, but you would not

:52:35.:52:38.

have expected him to be that far off. He will not put in the same

:52:39.:52:44.

time as Nico Rosberg. If he has used up the best of the tyre, if he backs

:52:45.:52:49.

off now, he should be able to get a second flying lap, but it is never

:52:50.:52:53.

quite as good. It depends if it is damaged. If there has been a

:52:54.:52:59.

lock-up, it might be tricky. The middle sector from Nico Rosberg is

:53:00.:53:06.

equal to Kimi Raikkonen. It looks a pretty good lap so far. He is into

:53:07.:53:12.

sector three, a tricky right-hander, it is easy to lock-up the right

:53:13.:53:15.

front. Good acceleration. Three corners to go. The last part of the

:53:16.:53:21.

lap, this is where the super-soft hired as the most work. In the

:53:22.:53:26.

middle sector, it is straight, so the super-soft has more drag down

:53:27.:53:31.

the straight. But this section is where it makes a massive difference.

:53:32.:53:41.

It is a big jump up the order. Not as quick as we saw last year, but it

:53:42.:53:46.

is a big improvement. A gap of about one second. Nico Rosberg goes

:53:47.:53:52.

fastest. Lewis Hamilton not responding on this lap, we may see

:53:53.:53:57.

him stay out there and come around. He is about to come past us. He has

:53:58.:54:03.

stayed out and he goes on to a fast lap now. We will see if he can

:54:04.:54:09.

respond. Nico Rosberg laying the benchmark figure, money-macro 42.1.

:54:10.:54:14.

We are waiting for the other teams to come out. I wonder how quickly

:54:15.:54:24.

Fernando Alonso can go. Here we are, Hamilton. He is again slipping and

:54:25.:54:30.

sliding, in the same place we saw him earlier. This has not been a

:54:31.:54:35.

good run, he has not got the feel for it. You try to carry a lot of

:54:36.:54:44.

speed in. It looks like it was a bit too quick into the end of the first

:54:45.:54:49.

sector. He ran a bit wide. The lap has gone. Again, he has backed off.

:54:50.:54:56.

He will not be able to get another go at it. He may try to do that

:54:57.:55:02.

still, but by the time these tyres get to the end of another lap, they

:55:03.:55:04.

will be well past their best. It is similar to before, he went in

:55:05.:55:19.

too deep, a bit too much speed in between the left and right-hander.

:55:20.:55:24.

There was not enough road. Will he be able to set up the car better to

:55:25.:55:28.

give him that kind of stability? Is it all about the line? It is

:55:29.:55:34.

carrying too much speed into the left-hander, he will have to slow

:55:35.:55:37.

the cars down a touch to make sure that he gets it right. The game is

:55:38.:55:44.

probably 0.05 seconds, but the loss is not his lap has gone. It is a

:55:45.:55:52.

psychological situation, he is quickest, but it does not mean

:55:53.:55:56.

anything. If he can make it click and get it right for qualifying,

:55:57.:56:01.

that could be the difference between pole position and second on the

:56:02.:56:07.

grid. He is in a run-off races where he has failed to take pole position.

:56:08.:56:12.

Valtteri Bottas taking it steady, but now getting on the power hard as

:56:13.:56:17.

he comes out of the first corner office flying lap. Macro radio: We

:56:18.:56:29.

are looking for a 1.7 gain. A big oversteer coming out of the first

:56:30.:56:35.

corner, his right we're dash-mac) your wheel. The last time. Tom, you

:56:36.:56:46.

have an update from Red Bull? Daniel Ricciardo has gone out on his

:56:47.:56:51.

super-soft tyre. Bad news for Daniil Kvyat, the team are still trying to

:56:52.:56:56.

locate the problem, they have taken the floor off, they will take the

:56:57.:57:00.

gearbox of. He will not turn a lap at all. Very frustrating for him. It

:57:01.:57:07.

is a great shame, because he has been having a solid end to the

:57:08.:57:11.

season. Nico Rosberg has gone fastest of anybody in the Biddle

:57:12.:57:14.

sector. The tyre is holding up well. It looks like it is stronger

:57:15.:57:23.

than it was here last year. The tap -- tracked Bridger is cooler than

:57:24.:57:31.

last year. He missed the Apex a bit as he came in off the back straight

:57:32.:57:38.

at 1011. Not too much of a loss. This is where he have to try to keep

:57:39.:57:44.

the momentum and the work going. Nico Rosberg goes quicker again in

:57:45.:57:49.

the final sector. That is really interesting, because he has done a

:57:50.:57:55.

second lap that is faster than his first on these tyres, so it is

:57:56.:58:01.

holding up other than we expected. Valtteri Bottas still behind cars

:58:02.:58:08.

that did their laps on the harder tyre, Kimi Raikkonen at least.

:58:09.:58:12.

Williams will not be impressed by that, they would have expected a

:58:13.:58:19.

faster time. He gets onto the kerb and so there is definitely a loss of

:58:20.:58:23.

acceleration, and he missed the apex at 1011. We did not see the section

:58:24.:58:32.

underneath the hotel area, but it was not the tidiest lap that he has

:58:33.:58:37.

done. Felipe Massa is on a reasonable lap, we will see if he is

:58:38.:58:43.

cleaner. Daniel Ricciardo with a reasonable first sector. This might

:58:44.:58:48.

be a better lap than Valtteri Bottas from Felipe Massa. Valtteri Bottas

:58:49.:58:53.

may well back off and do another lap again. Felipe Massa shoots up to

:58:54.:58:59.

third place, but it is not better by a big margin. They will be able to

:59:00.:59:06.

wind a bit more power out of it, but they will do a charge lap. They will

:59:07.:59:12.

gain the hybrid energy back. They will maximise it for the one

:59:13.:59:17.

qualifying lap. Very impressive by Nico Rosberg. What will be final

:59:18.:59:22.

sector be like for Daniel Ricciardo? You would expect the Red

:59:23.:59:30.

Bull to be in good shape here. The lost 0.4 seconds in the middle

:59:31.:59:34.

sector. He might be able to get some of that back in the final sector.

:59:35.:59:40.

41.3 is the fastest we have seen in the final sector so far. His final

:59:41.:59:45.

sector is still down a bit. The problem for Red Bull, you expect

:59:46.:59:53.

they can go quick on the final sector, but they have less power.

:59:54.:59:59.

They have all of that straight, so they cannot run the amount of wind

:00:00.:00:03.

that they would like. To get the straight line speed they lose speed

:00:04.:00:07.

through the final part. It is always the compromise, especially here,

:00:08.:00:12.

between the second and third sectors. It does not matter so much

:00:13.:00:17.

in qualifying, but for the race, trying to keep the tyre and make

:00:18.:00:24.

sure that... And on-board here, Nico Rosberg getting in the way. Hamilton

:00:25.:00:33.

was not too impressed. Rightly so. They are running different strips in

:00:34.:00:39.

front of where the steering wheel is to flick the air over the helmet.

:00:40.:00:45.

Nico Rosberg had a serrated edge, Hamilton's was straight. They are

:00:46.:00:51.

both on a flying lap now, a good first sector for both of them. Nico

:00:52.:00:56.

Rosberg particularly. Sergio Perez is on a flyer. Full is India looking

:00:57.:01:03.

good. Sebastian Vettel is wide, but he goes third, that is encouraging.

:01:04.:01:11.

That is where the straight-line speed counts. Very good sector. Red

:01:12.:01:19.

ball could be in trouble from Force India today, and even Ferrari could

:01:20.:01:21.

be, if they don't get their act together. Lewis Hamilton is on a

:01:22.:01:26.

good lap... No, he has backed off. First sector pretty good, middle

:01:27.:01:32.

sector, three tenths down on the best, tyres definitely past their

:01:33.:01:36.

best. And get any more out of those super-softs, he has not put in a

:01:37.:01:40.

fully representative lap, still within three tenths of his team-mate

:01:41.:01:44.

but I think there is an awful lot more available to him when you get

:01:45.:01:49.

to qualifying. Kimi Raikkonen, Izzy as quick as Sebastian Vettel? Not

:01:50.:01:53.

particularly quick at all, newsfeeds, behind the Force India.

:01:54.:01:57.

Waiting for Holcombe Burkey, to see if he is up there with Sergio

:01:58.:02:02.

Perez. -- waiting for Nico Hulkenberg. Half a second down on

:02:03.:02:05.

his team-mate. A little more to be found. Lewis Hamilton going back

:02:06.:02:12.

out, having done the practice is, they have to go back out, having

:02:13.:02:16.

done the practice start. They can be pulled back to the pit, they have to

:02:17.:02:24.

go out. They have a unique layout through the tunnels, practice start

:02:25.:02:29.

at the end of the session, they can do a practice start from the grid

:02:30.:02:33.

itself. Sebastian Vettel, one lap time has put him up into third,

:02:34.:02:39.

second lap, now building up... Doing two things, to build up the hybrid,

:02:40.:02:44.

but then to pull down the tire, and we expect to see, with a few things

:02:45.:02:51.

to go, one final lap, possibly a little bit over to the left-hand

:02:52.:02:52.

side. A part falling off the back of the

:02:53.:03:10.

car there, it is the shock of falling off the rear wing is jumping

:03:11.:03:19.

as well. INAUDIBLE That was Stevens and Romain

:03:20.:03:24.

Grosjean's, Stevens and Romain Grosjean... Fairly short summary!

:03:25.:03:28.

Usually gets an very well with Romain Grosjean, whether he was

:03:29.:03:31.

referring to Stevens all Romain Grosjean in that comment, I don't

:03:32.:03:36.

know, Fernando Alonso, 15, he has been held up. Jenson Button, 11,

:03:37.:03:44.

reasonably encouraging. Faster than Max Verstappen, faster than Pastor

:03:45.:03:48.

Maldonado, they are in better shape near the May have been at quite a

:03:49.:03:55.

few of the races so far this year. I wonder if there is any chance of

:03:56.:03:58.

getting into the top ten, they have not done it all year in qualifying,

:03:59.:04:02.

highly unlikely but Jenson Button is in 11th place in this final act is

:04:03.:04:09.

session. I agree, a little unlikely, two of the cars behind Jenson

:04:10.:04:13.

Button, the two Lotus is, and this is a circuit which should genuinely

:04:14.:04:17.

suit Pastor Maldonado, he was ninth fastest yesterday. Romain Grosjean

:04:18.:04:23.

did not get out. -- Lotuses. He did not get out in that, he was 15,

:04:24.:04:27.

Pastor Maldonado tent. I think that we can expect when it comes to

:04:28.:04:32.

qualifying itself the Lotuses Lotus is to be that. -- Aster Maldonado

:04:33.:04:44.

was tense. -- the Lotuses to be like that. Nico Hulkenberg looking for a

:04:45.:04:49.

second final lap on the super-soft tyres. Watching Sergio Perez through

:04:50.:04:56.

the rest of the lap, right up to the barrier... That is one area where

:04:57.:05:02.

you can be caught out. Most areas around the circuit, that particular

:05:03.:05:06.

corn is one where we see contact with the barrier. Sergio Perez

:05:07.:05:10.

crosses the line. Not as good as previous but still pretty good.

:05:11.:05:13.

About the same as Nico Hulkenberg has already done. Slightly better

:05:14.:05:18.

lap. We will see whether he improves. That first sector for him,

:05:19.:05:24.

reasonable middle sector, this could be an improvement, if the tyres

:05:25.:05:30.

hold. Through these last difficult corners. As he maintained grip?

:05:31.:05:34.

Ferrari a little easier on the tyres. Trying to get the good exit,

:05:35.:05:39.

Kimi Raikkonen, but it is a slight improvement on time. Does not boost

:05:40.:05:44.

him up the order. It was on the final sector, first and second,

:05:45.:05:51.

three tenths of Nico Rosberg's time, 41 equal to Sebastian Vettel but the

:05:52.:05:55.

tire was not able to take it. Dropped down half a second, in

:05:56.:06:00.

comparison to ultimately what the potential is. If he can connect,

:06:01.:06:05.

that is going to be one of the main things, come qualifying, if you can

:06:06.:06:09.

connect it all together, get the corner apex is right, make sure you

:06:10.:06:15.

is enough of the kerbs, you will be able to do the lap time. If you

:06:16.:06:20.

cannot, then easily half a second to lose on the tire on the second lap.

:06:21.:06:27.

Super-soft tyres to their best advantage. The session has ended

:06:28.:06:33.

with Nico Rosberg on top, as he was in second practice, Hamilton never

:06:34.:06:38.

got a clean running. Nico Rosberg things it has a slight advantage in

:06:39.:06:45.

terms of engine power, his engine has done more mileage than

:06:46.:06:48.

Hamilton, but Hamilton has not been able to put the lap together as he

:06:49.:06:55.

would have liked. Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton, not a huge gap, but

:06:56.:06:59.

Lewis Hamilton's gap was not particularly representative. Could

:07:00.:07:05.

give Ferrari some thinking to do, Kimi Raikkonen ended up slower than

:07:06.:07:08.

Sergio Perez. This is going to be very close for third and fourth

:07:09.:07:16.

races on the grid. Little bit disappointing for Williams, often

:07:17.:07:21.

they find a bit more in qualifying. They definitely need to find three

:07:22.:07:25.

tenths, four tenths, to get into the next group. Carlos Sainz Junior was

:07:26.:07:33.

10th fastest, Maldonado, 12. Alonso was disappointed being held up in

:07:34.:07:43.

the end. Some did not get a run, including Daniil Kvyat. Because of

:07:44.:07:47.

the way the pit lane is, we mentioned at the beginning, they can

:07:48.:07:51.

do one lap to practice, before they then finished the session. Final

:07:52.:07:55.

practice session completed. The sadist look to be dominating

:07:56.:07:59.

proceedings, in qualifying, at least, it may be a bit different.

:08:00.:08:09.

They have their own rivals in among the Red Bulls and the Force India

:08:10.:08:13.

and Williams may be with a bit of work to do, setting things up

:08:14.:08:16.

beautifully for the fine to come up a little bit later on here in Abu

:08:17.:08:21.

Dhabi. -- final qualifying. Lewis Hamilton desperate for pole

:08:22.:08:30.

position, seems hard to believe that he has not had a pole position since

:08:31.:08:35.

the Italian Grand Prix, way back in Munster, in September. Since then,

:08:36.:08:40.

Sebastian Vettel took Singapore, Nico Rosberg has had every pole

:08:41.:08:43.

position since then. -- Monza. We have had everything live for you

:08:44.:08:47.

across the BBC and we continue to do so, qualifying at 12:10pm, that is

:08:48.:08:52.

on BBC One, you can see if he can get the pole position, disrupt the

:08:53.:08:56.

flow, and if you stay with us, we have inside the F1 rewind, thank you

:08:57.:09:01.

very much for joining us, goodbye.

:09:02.:09:06.

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