Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Practice 3 Formula 1

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ferrari. Impressively, Daniil Kvyat is doing

well. The constructors champions,

Mercedes. It is unlikely McLaren could catch

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

evenly matched, even it is interesting to note that Nico

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

still scrapping over six place in the Constructors' Championship

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

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

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

performances. If you can go past him, Felipe

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

His near namesake, Felipe Nasr, doing OK.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

know in the UK but a little bit of cloud

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

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

Mercedes are seeking verification over Ferrari's relationship with the

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

gained an unfair advantage using their unlimited wind tunnel time,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

impressive first year. Christian Horner might be nervous that the

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

having a big power oversteer while we were talking about something

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Williams admitted they were running quite a few parts looking towards

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

are they feeling the pressure already? Everybody hoping we will

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

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

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

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

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

the title battle between Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton, there

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

no major problems caused. Watching Romain Grosjean into his final

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

sort of announcement, and the argument is ultimately over the

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

technical capability. Considering that they have been running on the

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

not be up there with the fastest times.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Raikkonen on that middle sector. Basically the chicane where Hamilton

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

half a second quicker than Kimi Raikkonen, Kimi Raikkonen was

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Understood. Synchronisation of the downshifting to be an issue for

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

the problems Renault have had and the excitement around Max

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

maximise it, that will have a slightly lower ultimate performance

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

amount of effort, but it remains a question mark.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Lewis Hamilton fastest, Kimi Raikkonen second, Nico Rosberg

third. The big black lines put down, that

was Kimi Raikkonen yesterday in the first free practice. Sebastian

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

on the circuit, Sebastian Vettel and Carlos Sainz Jr.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

quick word with the Pirelli engineers, as Lewis Hamilton is

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

side. A part falling off the back of the

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

as well. INAUDIBLE That was Stevens and Romain

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

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

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

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

reasonably encouraging. Faster than Max Verstappen, faster than Pastor

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Lewis Hamilton's gap was not particularly representative. Could

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

practice session completed. The sadist look to be dominating

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sebastian Vettel took Singapore, Nico Rosberg has had every pole

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

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

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

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

very much for joining us, goodbye.