Qualifying - Abu Dhabi Formula 1

MUSIC so here we are then, final race of the season, Abu Dhabi and it

has been an eventful year both on and off the track but what about the

defining moments of the year? I think we have picked up pretty much

where we left off in 2014. Hamilton wins Round 1. Also with Nico Rosberg

but not in a good way. He is nowhere. There was a glimmer.

Straight win in Monte Carlo. I have lost this race. That spark never

ignited. A lack of judgment, Hamilton, is he going for it? Can

inspire decision. Meanwhile the. Of McLaren heralded the arrival. Man

and machine in perfect disharmony. Dear old Kimi Raikkonen, bad

starter, infrequent finisher, serial starter. And he was in good company.

Paul rolled Kimi. Maybe it is time for the next generation. Enter Max

Verstappen. He does not always play by the rules. But boy does he get

the job done. You cannot go around the outside there shortly? There

were other notable performances. Ferrari meaning in Malaysia. Lotus

earning a podium. What a superb achievement for a team that has been

fighting for survival. We have had comedians and villains. And

finally, a three-time world champion. Lewis Hamilton has won his

third World Championship! This is the greatest moment of my life. But

this is not the end of the story, we are not quite done yet. Hello and

welcome to Abu Dhabi, after 18 races, we are now in our final

qualifying session here in the most expensive circuit ever built, the

Yas Marina Circuit, $1.5 billion, and what an event it is. It is

everything you have just said, it is everything, who would not want to be

here? Glorious sunshine, end of November and it is wonder. White

just about three and a half miles, it is very pretty at night. But we

do hear disparaging comments sometimes from drivers, what do you

make of it as a driving track? When you have elevation changes in a

high-speed circuit, it gives movement, this is flat. So three of

the cars are well over 350 kilometres an hour, but the rest of

it is below average, that is where the drivers don't enjoy it. Lower

average speed means low downforce, low grip and that is not a Grand

Prix car. We still get a lot of action, vetoed Rosberg going for his

sixth consecutive pole position. In your mind, you want to have

proposition, it gives you an extra Philip, you feel good about it. Six

in a row, you have beaten the team-mate who was supposedly be one

and only Lewis Hamilton. Of course it is important to Nico. Let us

backtrack to Brazil where this happened.

COMMENTATOR: Lights out, away we go, Rosberg against Hamilton,

Rosberg is in front, Hamilton moves to the outside and he is

wheel-to-wheel for a moment but then decides against it. Lewis is trying

quite hard. This is really putting Rosberg under more pressure than

last year. Here comes Verstappen, he is trying to go around the outside,

almost wheel-to-wheel. And he is through. Absolutely brilliant,

first-class riding. Maldonado on the sabbath of Ericsson. My goodness,

various contact, that is how it can go wrong. -- on the Sauber. He is

having a look down the inside, that was so nearly contact. Massa,

Verstappen, he is going to go around the outside and he did this to Perez

earlier. Yes, Verstappen is going to go for it, on the Turn 1, Maldonado

will try and fight it but he does not have the grip. And Verstappen

moves up to 10th place to claim a point for Toro Rosso, Nico Rosberg

wins in Brazil, it is back-to-back victories at the end to lug circuit,

Hamilton crosses the line in second place. STUDIO: So Lewis Hamilton had

to settle for second place, he could not get past Nico, there has been a

lot of talk about that. What does he mean about the car? If you go into a

corner with a belief as to where you want the car to go, if you give the

input to the steering and you either get the feedback which it is taking

the trajectory that you planned, or it doesn't give you the feedback. We

know that there are changes to tire pressures, and that effectively

stiffens the car. The teams can offset with the springs on the car,

the portion bars, to give a similar wheel rate but if it is not just

giving him the feel, if you preferred the feel of the rubber

moving rather than the torsion bar twisting it can be as subtle as

that. It has been a noticeable difference, Nico has stepped up all

Lewis has stepped down. Can they just race? You had been quite vocal

about letting them undercut each other, any chance? That would only

work in Mexico where they had a pit stop in hand, but if it was in

Brazil, where they were only second seconds behind, that could never

work. We need Ferrari to be there more consistently because right now

Mercedes are doing what they should do, securing a 12, giving priority

to the lead car on the track, but what we want, is to see, the gloves

are off. The championship is secure, Lewis has won it, Nico is second,

give a gift to Formula 1. I don't often agree with David but he is

absolutely right. Look, start interfering, let us have some

enjoyment. Let us see what is happening out there -- stop

interfering. So with Lewis Hamilton has the world champion the first

three positions are secured, just one point is separating the straight

talking Valtteri Bottas to the not so straight talking Kimi Raikkonen.

Force India secured fifth place in Brazil, their best ever, and

achievement considering they have last year 's car. The 2015 season

belongs to Mercedes with 15 wins. We can catch up with Valtteri Bottas

now. For those people who think that the Championships is done and

dusted, you are still in a pretty big battle. One point between you

and your friend Kimi Raikkonen, how much do you want that fourth place?

For me I am racing for every single position. It does not matter, if it

is a battle of The Fins, it is a position and it is nothing personal.

I really wanted because it is Personal. So he will take the place

if he finishes in front. Where do you think you are in the Williams,

such a strong finish last season but Ferrari look strong this season.

They do, to be honest we have been struggling with the pace a little

bit this week, we still have something in the back pocket for the

qualification but we will see if that is enough for a good result.

Thank you very much. What are your thoughts on this, just one point

between the two comedy desperately wants that fourth place? In terms of

the position it does not matter who that person is. There is no love

lost between those two guys. It would give them again bragging

rights as they go into the winter. The bad news for Valtteri Bottas is

that Ferrari look strong, maybe not strong enough beat Mercedes but Kimi

Raikkonen does look more on it than he has done of late. Maybe Kimi has

got his act together, he wants to be in front of Valtteri Bottas more

than he is making out he wants to be in front of him. Valtteri Bottas

will get the position, because I don't see it, the Iceman has cooled

down an awful lot, identity where that performance has come from. I

love the way that he has looked straight down the barrel of the

lens. Let us catch up with the news, it has been dominated by engines

this week. The Renault Formula 1 future is shrouded in mystery, they

have already publicised their intention to buy Lotus but the story

has been ominously quiet. They are believed to have reached an impasse

with Bernie Ecclestone over money and they could pull the plug on

Formula 1 after this race. We have already made it clear and we stand

by that statement that we have no interest in being an engine supplier

in the long term but we appreciate that we are between what we are now,

there might be some form of transition. It might be that we

simply get out of Formula 1 completely. There is a scenario

completely on the table, it is not what I'm working towards but it is a

scenario that is completely possible if we don't manage to convince the

world that Formula 1 is a meaningful investment. The FIA proposal for a

cheaper engine has been rejected by the commission, there will be no

changes in 2017 but there is a requirement for the manufacturers to

make the engine is cheaper and signify the technical specs. We did

not decide in favour of the so-called independent engine because

it is a balance of performance engine, it means somebody has a knob

in his hand and can decide how much power there is in the engine, and in

a squad with so much mistake, so much financial reward, so much

global visibility, you should win on merit. And you should win because

you are doing the best job on your car engine and driving the car. This

is why it was voted down. The future of the US Grand Prix is in danger

following reports of a financial trouble in the circuit of the

Americas, a combination of the small crowd and the cut in government

funding has led to speculation that the race will not be on the calendar

next season. There is a lot of whispers here and there, it is

always about finances, I can't see that it wouldn't happen. If it

doesn't, I will have two pony up myself. Finally Red Bull has an

engine for 2016, the team has stop short that it will use unbranded

Renault has is expected, but team boss Christian Walton has put an end

to the expectation of participation next year. So great news to hear

that you will definitely be racing next year, as you said this weekend.

Is this a short-term solution to a longer term plan? I think it has two

B, we have got a contract without engine supplier, I cannot go into

detail, who that is and what the basis is about. But it is not

difficult to predict which one it is. It is very much an interim year

for us before new regulations come in, I believe that we can make

significant strides next year with that power unit with the

introduction of each unit. In simple terms, what effect does this late

announcement make next year 's plans. We have documented very well

this year that the chassis has performed, the engine has not. What

will the impact be next year? The design team have been installing

almost every engine on the grid into the car for next year. It has

delayed the process a little bit. To be honest with you we have already

recovered that time, it is going to be tied to get to that first test

but I have got every confidence, that the guys and girls back in

Milton Keynes will pull out all of the stop. Can I ask you about the

difference between last year, and next year, how will it be different?

In terms of moving forward. Is it because you have more control over

what is going on with the engine? I cannot go into too much detail but

there will be differences can bet to what we have now. The development

will be significantly different. What we can say, I'm sorry it is

vague. You have been curtailed this year.

Tell us what the problem has been buzzed up it is obvious. Is it just

power? At the beginning of the year we had deficiencies in the chassis

which we worked hard on. A lot has been said during the year and so on.

There has been an awful lot of frustration surrounding the

situation with our power unit. That is because we are all competitive

people and the team wants to compete and it wants to run at a competitive

level and the power unit in today's Formula One is such a crucial

element. It is important we make progress by next year. Toto Wolff

mentioned it was an aerodynamic by Milla and you want four

championships on the run and now it is an engine formula. Do you feel a

little bit behind in these closed doors meetings that you are being

beat up a little bit because of the great revenue had. No one wanted to

give you a PowerPoint. We are paying the penalty for that and there is a

paranoia so any opportunity or excuse not to give us an engine is

the one time they all seem very aligned with each other. That is

life and at the end of the day there are changes coming for the future

that will hopefully make the unit closer in performance. We do not

want to see the difference at the moment between Mercedes and Honda.

It is no good having Fernando Alonso at the back of the group. We want to

see him competing for victories like Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat.

It has got to work for you next year because you have got young drivers.

You don't want them looking for a Ferrari or a Mercedes seat? For

everybody we have to make progress. This year has been frustrating and

there has been far too much action of contract and not on track and we

need to swing that round next year and make progress. We have got great

announcements coming up. We won't have a race after that! You will see

it all unfold on the BBC website. And on that note, good luck this

weekend. We have had a new story regarding Ferrari and Mercedes

complaining about the use of the wind tunnel. Mercedes are seeking

clarification about the relationship between an established Formula One

team and a new entrant and specifically these guys and the new

team coming in next year. Mercedes believes Ferrari have gained an

unfair advantage by using the wintertime in Marinello to their

benefit, exceeding the permitted wind tunnel time per week. Mercedes

are asking what is permissible and the back has been passed down to the

stewards of the meeting here in Abu Dhabi. Written submissions have to

be in by five p.m., which is half an hour away from now and they will

make a decision before the start of tomorrow's race. There is no

precedent for this. If Ferrari are found guilty, how will they be found

punished? In the past when teams have cheated, they have been given

huge fines. In 2007 there was a $100 -- $100 million fine. What do you

think will happen here? Would it be a fine for Ferrari? There are two

sides of the coin. On one side you could have sour grapes coming from

Mercedes and on the other side a young team has to come in and they

have joined up with Ferrari. It would appear there are advantages to

Ferrari in this system. Whatever the judges decide, it is not a clear-cut

situation like the parrot in the old days. This is a different set of

circumstances. The difficulty in the $100 million fine that McLaren had,

is you cannot unlearn what you have learned. Ferrari still have the

benefit if they have indeed this relationship with hazard to gain

extra wind tunnel time. There is talk of whether people have been

employed by them and have come back to Ferrari. They are doing it under

the premise that they might start another team as well. They get the

benefit of the year of extra testing, so this is a real issue and

this will not be pretty behind closed doors. It will be a question

of how much of that comes out into the public domain. The situation is

we are in a championship whereby we are doing our best to control the

costs. If you are circumventing the rules to go behind that and you use

another team to give you information you are not entitled to, of course

there will be a penalty. Cost is nonsense, they keep talking about

controlling costs. People will spend what they have and what they do not

have if they want to be competitive. The reward for getting one place up

in the constructors, Eddie can tell us the financial benefits of that.

It is risk versus reward and those who have or the appetite, the risk

profile, to spend more, they will. Forget cost capping, it is a

nonsense. These guys will always find a way to spend the money even

if it is not seen. Before you fall out, let me ask you a question. What

is going down with McLaren? Having heard all the this season I can tell

you that Ron Dennis has confirmed he is unable to confirm that Fernando

Alonso will drive for the team next year and reason for that is Fernando

wants to see how good or bad the car is before he decides to do yet

another season like this one. He could take a sabbatical? We have

seen all that before and Michael Schumacher has done that. Everybody

has done it at that high level. Are you on a sabbatical? I am

permanently on a sabbatical. If I was Fernando Alonso I would not

agree to raise a car like I had been given this year. The amount of time

they get correlation between the numbers and the racetrack I do not

recall that ever happening despite what teams will tell you. They will

want to see the car in testing. That will tell him everything. He will

know because of experience whether that car is talking to him and he

will know the speed trap and all the other information in testing. That

could give him points. Places where Alonso wants to be. We have been

talking about Ferrari and Haas. Jean Haas has a very decorated motorsport

history. What can the team expect? Tom went stateside to find out.

Haas are going to be the new team on the great and while they are new to

Formula One, they are not new to motorsport. For the last few years

they have been racing and winning in the States and we have come to watch

them in action. How do you think you will get on in Formula One?

Wonderful. It is difficult to break in and he is an America and it is

all in Europe. Does he have a lot of respect? Does everyone love him?

Absolutely. He is a smart fellow and I do not think he will be making a

move unless he thinks he can be successful. When did this Formula

One dream strike a chord with you? It was after 2010. We talk to Bernie

Ecclestone and John Todd and they seemed to encourage people to do

things, but at the same time they were a bit cautious. To some degree

they expect you to fail because so many teams have failed. We have

spent 15 years in this and Formula One seems like the next conquest.

Jean has accomplished everything he has wanted to in the US and he now

wants to go more global. He is shipping teams around the globe and

Formula One and gorgeous boys is a great platform to advertise your

campaign. It has got to be a good thing for Formula One. It can show

somebody can come in and compete with Ferrari and have fun. Talk us

through the technical partnership with Ferrari. What is it and why

Ferrari? Keep in mind we have been negotiating with them for a couple

of years, and we are buying a lot of our parts from Ferrari, but we still

have to build our own chassis and do our own testing, so there is quite a

bit we are doing. We are not going to build our suspension, or our

uprights. We are doing something other teams do in different levels.

We are just taking it to the maximum. Did you talk to Mercedes

about a partnership? Yes, we talked to Niki Lauda. Ferrari was willing

to go beyond just supplying parts. They were also willing to help us

and our team. Jean has developed a championship car. He will use that

experience and he changed this programme to a championship

programme and he wants to start off with that knowledge in Formula One.

Success is nothing new to Haas. He currently has four teams and one of

his drivers is favourite to take the title as the season reaches its

climax. A technical tie-up with another team, such as Ferrari, is

not a new concept for Haas. He has a similar alliance in Nascar. Are you

trying to recreate that technical alliance with Hendrick in Formula

One with Ferrari? It is what we did before. There is always this

question about racing. Are we racing or building the things? In Nascar we

want to race and we concentrate on racing and the people who are good

at making the bits and pieces, we buy from them. That has worked well

for us. They build a good product and we alter them and do things to

make them better. That is how that relationship works. They have

definitely helped us grow a lot quicker. What made you go for Romain

Grosjean? We always said we wanted an experienced Formula One driver.

We started talking to him. I look on YouTube and watched some of his

races and I look at statistics and his history. He is a great driver.

This is a fabulous drive by the Frenchman. Gutierrez was a Formula

One driver all along. We asked if he wanted to be in our car and he

considered that. He is only two car lengths behind. This is for the

championship. He wins the title. Are you in Formula One to win the World

Championship? We started in Nascar in the back and we did that for a

lot of years. You have to pay your dues. It is the same in Formula One.

You have to have the right engine, the right chassis, the right driver

and the team and if you can put all those pieces together, you can

compete for World Championships. Ultimately that would be our goal. I

am not saying we will do that in one year or five years, maybe it will

take ten years. It is that long in Nascar. Kyle Wood, the 20 15th

champion. I am not sure why I pursue a lot of this because it puts the

grind on you. It is a different lifestyle. A lot of people sit at

home and have their friends round for a nice dinners and I sacrifice

all that for Nascar. We have seen a great feature with your team to be.

You have got a job to complete here in Abu Dhabi, but your new team is

Haas and it is an impressive facility. It is really nice and it

is big and I like it. I discovered Banbury and Marinello and it is a

great project and very exciting and I have a lot to look forward to. I

can start again. How much have you looked at what he has been able to

do with his Nascar team and the facilities he has provided light

wind tunnels? How much did you look at that in making the decision? The

good thing about gene is he has been very successful in his life and he

created a very strong partnership with Hendrix and he won the title.

He knows what racing is and that is what I like about him when he

approached me. Everything was straightforward and we agreed and we

moved on. The more I discovered the more happy I am about going to Haas.

But this team have given you your chance, but they have had so many

difficulties. But you have kept smiling throughout it all. You must

be looking forward to going to a situation where you know you will be

paid and everyone is working together to build a team for the

future. It is a new challenge, it will be a lot of work, but it is a

good partnership with Ferrari, so everything looks great and it is to

look forward to. It has been a wonderful time, ten years of iLife

and lot of the guys are family, but they gave me the chance to fly with

my own wings and that is that is what is happening now. We wish you

all the best for the future. It seems realistic,

multi-millionaire, when you came in here you were fifth, with Jordan,

can he do the same? It depends how much information he's getting from

Ferrari. It was vitally different in my day, you build your own car and

built during wind tunnel, clearly he has not done that. As he jumped a

few steps too far? I don't want to say too much, I want to give him the

benefit of the doubt. It is more difficult for a team based in

America, to come to Europe. If we came and did Nascar, they would whip

us, can we whip them? My guess is yes,

but then Ferrari might help them. He's not coming in, shouting we will

win Formula 1. He seems to be quite sensible about the situation? He

cannot win Formula 1 with a customer engine car, clearly Ferrari are

helping them with aerodynamics. He says, "we will soon set up our Rome

wind tunnels". So who is doing their own wind tunnel for them? Is it

Ferrari? Mercedes and others are asking a question, what is the

involvement, between Ferrari and Haas. As any of the advantages gone

on to Ferrari as well? I don't know. They had been fascinating

moments this season, but who has taken our breath away? Who has

impressed? Our esteemed judges can tell us. MUSIC I haven't got a clue

what we are doing actually. It is not question time, it looks a bit

like question Time. We have had some great moments this season. Seeing

your boys dancing around the pit lane was fantastic, seeing Toto,

stroke Lewis's bottom. Did you do that? Yes we do that in Austria.

Know what does it to me, I am quite upset. OK, we have got some awards

to give out to the drivers and as our esteemed panel, we would like

you to pick the winners. At the start of the year, clearly, Toto,

you have one pretty much everything. I would say for me personally, I

thought Austin was a great start because it was wet, there was a lot

of action going on on the first corner, with

Toto's two drivers. Hamilton getting the advantage. And then Williams,

with a start at Silverstone. Williams getting

both cars burst both Mercedes. You must have been going nuts? Your wife

was going mad when she saw the start at Silverstone, it must be difficult

for you, having your wife and then how cars overtaking yours and then

your wife being so enthusiastic? We weren't on speaking terms for a

while but then she invited me for dinner. The crowd went crazy, I know

the engines this year are less noisy but you could hear the crowd is

going mad. I don't think we expected to overtake the Mercedes going into

the first corner but I think we knew that we weren't necessarily gay to

keep those positions because the Mercedes were just so powerful and

all of the rest of it. So you are sitting there waiting for them to

come up behind you but you want to enjoy the moment while you are

living in it. Toto, the opposite for you, when you are seeing your guys?

Actually not, you want to see the underdog do well, especially in

Silverstone, it was a very important race for Williams. You can't call us

the underdogs, I hate people calling us the underdog. You are absolutely

right, finishing third in the championships and not underdogs, but

it is expected that wanted team has a dominant position, Red Bull has a

couple of years to go and that is the race. In that particular

situation, billions overtook us, we were surprised, I remember there

were so many things that went through my mind. Are they having a

different engine mode than house? How was that possible? I was a bit

confidence that we would be able to regain the position. I shouldn't

sound arrogant, it was a good moment, I think they deserved to be

in believe. Is it fair to give Williams it? Please stop

. Slam dunk. What was it like with the team? Wee one again, we are

excited. What are you going to say to Williams? Can we have a piece of

the trophy? That was a good start, we already gave a trophy to the

clutch man absolutely. So you cheated a lot, well done to

Williams, an unbelievable start, fantastic, bravo guys.

Who do you think, Hamilton at Silverstone? What did he do? He won

the race but that is fairly normal. There was a pit stop call. Leaving

Rosberg out there, is for intermediates? My goodness that is a

brave decision. Better start doing a rain dance if you want to see a

British winner. As a result, that was the perfect lap to put

intermediates on. Lewis Hamilton wins the British Grand Prix. He

judged the British pit stop beautifully. Did heat or did he have

two coming anyway? Did he know? Yes, key kind of felt it. He got the

timing right. In racing, sometimes it is a little bit of luck, just

realising where the weather comes from, seeing the drops on your

visor. The crew was ready, he decided to pick just a couple of

hundred metres before the pit actually. I think Sebastian Vettel

drove an incredible race in Singapore, for me that was classic

Vettel. Managing the tyre. What a dominant victory, he has done

exactly what is needed to keep control. I think that Vettel was

exceptional in Singapore, I think that he is very good around there.

Of course, I can vote for a Vettel win in Singapore. What about

something, that was not a win but made the podium, where we did not

expect that to happen. I know that you are a big fan of Romain

Grosjean? And that is how close Vettel is now, with Romain Grosjean

now. It has gone wrong for Ferrari, what a superb achievement for a team

fighting for survival. First of all nobody expected locus to be on the

grid, they had locked up the truck. It was a big story, not Justin Britt

on but throughout the world. I think that with bearing all of that in

mind, for Romain Grosjean to put the car on the podium, for me it was an

amazing race. If you are doing a race you need 100% clarity and

focus, it must have been so difficult for not only the driver

but for his engineer, for the strategy guide, yet still manage to

pull it out of the bag. Driver of the year, Romain Grosjean for an

unbelievable podium. Thank you, I think 2012 you offered me

manufacturing, so it means a lot, thank you, it has been difficult but

we did it. We have just come through to the marina side of the paddock,

nice award there, given, well done. Well deserved. Let us now catch up,

with the track. When it is night time it is party time in Abu Dhabi

and we are here on the third sector of the track, we have got the first

sector, some high-speed sections. And then the middle sector, with two

huge long straights and then the final sector of the track, and this

has got over 50% of the corners. That means for the tyres it is very

difficult. We heard about tyres draining through the second part of

practice and we have also seen quite a lot of people, having moments

sliding wide. There are AQ reasons, one reason is the surface, it is a

closed and compact surface, it does not give the tyre a lot of grip.

Another factor is the camber of the section, especially on tunnel 14,

making it difficult to turn into the corner. You have got to get to this

apex point and then get the power as early as you can but with the

sloping nature of the track it always falls away from you and it

feels like the car will never get to the apex and you had to wait. If

not, you will have some view it slides. Just to prove it, this is

what the camber of the road does. LAUGHTER

I have never seen him run so fast, congratulations, the world champion

Mark Webber. How does that sound? Really great, to take algae on in

our second year, it was a great team effort. Yes, a bit of a fight going

on, being an ambassador for Alli. I'm sure we would like to know the

difference between Formula 1 and current day sports cars -- Audi. How

does it work? It is very minimal, the best person to talk to is Nico

Hulkenberg, he said he has got to push every single lap and I said yes

we do. In the 24 hour races, you have two came the car is much, there

is very little discussion about looking after your tyres. It is a

little bit more purist, I would love it to be like that here. I think

that we can hedge our way back like that, but I really enjoy the cars,

they are quick, sexy and mega lap times. Good for an old dog like me.

We could give you driver of the year, we have got more of those

awards tomorrow. Abu Dhabi, mixed emotions or do you sort of put it

behind you? Yes it is all behind me pretty much, it was never a favour

track but you cannot for the atmosphere. Twilight race, beautiful

atmosphere, so that works really well. So yes, it is not Silverstone,

it is not spark, but it is still a technical track. You need to get it

right in the track temperature. We don't need

to remind people that you should have won the

title here AQ years ago. We heard from Sebastian saying there is

tittle tattle, that the tweenie Coke and Lewis, it is Charles Blake,

compared to you. -- Nico and Lewis it is child's play. Yes, we took

each other rout for the lead of the race, tough moments, no question

about it. I have not been following the whole Nico and Lewis scenarios

super closely, Sebastian and I, deep down and there

was respect, but there were scenarios where it was pretty

intense and it got pretty personal. Then it gets ugly pretty fast, so I

think it was a bit more tasty, probably than what is going on with

Lewis and Nico. He always said there was great respect for you and him? I

think the same, I came here when Sebastian won the championship,

given the year in 2010 which was really hard for me to finally see

the championships flip through my fingers, by July picked a pretty

difficult year, -- mind you I picked it pretty difficult year, with

Lewis, and Nico, and Sebastien, and the emotion of him winning his whole

championships when I saw him and I went and shook his hand will stop I

think the relief between the pair of us, it is over. One of us had to get

it and he led the championships for one race in the end which was here.

That is how it was. An extraordinary year, pole position today? I think

Nico, two tenths is a decent margin, it is interesting, in the last few

races, the first run in Q3, it is who gets that mark a first. It will

be interesting to see the Q3, Howley goes. -- how it goes. We have got

Q3, Abu Dhabi, the Yas Marina Circuit. Here it comes, Q1.

The final Formula One weekend of Lewis Hamilton's triple Crown season

takes place in Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi. After nine months of

globetrotting the F1 circuit takes its final performance on this modern

track, situated 30 Minutes drive E. Of Abu Dhabi city centre. It was the

place for the first day ever night race it in 2009. There are fast

flowing corners leading to sector two, dominated by two long straights

where the hybrid power units are delivering speeds in excess of 200

miles an hour. The final sector is characterised by a right angled

corners, more reminiscent of a street circuit. Pole position has

only led to race victory once in six visits to the track. But top spot on

the grid is very much the target in qualifying. It always looks stunning

coming into twilight, coming up to 5pm local time, and we will be

plunging into darkness as we go into qualifying itself. The track

temperature is 30 degrees. It was 32 degrees in final practice in

daylight, not as hot as we have seen in the past. The teams have some

great data to go on. Nico Rosberg was fastest ahead of Lewis Hamilton

who never seemed to get into his rhythm. He made a couple of

mistakes. Sebastian Vettel was third fastest for Ferrari when Perez was

outstanding. We are wondering whether Force India might spring a

little surprise here today. Daniel Ricciardo completed the top eight.

Valterri Bottas are separated by that solitary Finnish driver. But

they were eighth and ninth fastest, which was a bit disappointing.

Romain Grosjean and Max Verstappen are only three points behind

Hulkenberg. Can Max Verstappen get into the top ten and become the

second ever Toro Rosso driver to finish in the top ten in the

championship. The other one to achieve that was a certain Sebastian

Vettel. There is a whole weekend of qualifying racing to go before we

decide the final outcomes of those positions, but there is no doubt

about Lewis Hamilton. He has not been on pole position for a while.

The last time was the Italian Grand Prix. David, he did not have a

perfect session in final practice. There seems to be a similarity to

some of the past race weekends where he has not got a decent run. He has

not strung laps together at all. You cannot help but feel that Nico

Rosberg having found a bit of momentum, is in a much stronger

place. We can see two X Grand Prix drivers. The meeting of the chairman

of the board on the left with Donati moustache. There is Niki Lauda. But

I think Lewis is making it difficult for himself and Nico Rosberg has a

bit of momentum and it gives you confidence going into qualifying.

The driver gives the input and he does that with confidence about as

to where the car is going to go. If it reacts as expected, you build up

from there. If it does not give you the feedback, you doubt the next

corner you come to because you do not know what the reaction will be.

At this moment in time you feel that Lewis may be... That is party mode.

That is on top of one of the yachts here, a fantastic setting. It is a

stunning place. You are looking at the qualifying battles between

team-mate on the bottom of your screen. Billy Payne as and Marcus

Ericsson. It is the is focus and concentration from Sergio Perez who

performed extremely well this morning. He went fourth fastest and

he was third fastest yesterday. They can manipulate the amount of fuel on

board these cars and ten kilograms means it is very powerful and from a

strategic point of view it may be that the team have decided... That

is Daniel Ricciardo. It is pretty slippy as you leave these painted

surfaces. That means he does not have to use as much spearing. Niko

Hulkenberg seems to be slightly behind Sergio Perez. This is his

opportunity to make good. Yes, in the 10th spot in the championship.

Hoping to hang onto that. The best position this year has been fifth

place on the grid. What about the Red Bulls as Denmark Daniel

Ricciardo was sixth fastest. But Daniil Kvyat had technical problems.

He got out for a lap to try and do something. Tom has got news on that.

How are Red Bull feeling? They have got both their cars on track. Daniil

Kvyat had a very torrid session. He has gone out very early on the soft

tyre to get some mileage and feel his way around the race track. I

think we will see fast lap times in Q1. The track temperature is very

similar to this morning and the wind has died down a bit. Both Mercedes

have gone past week on the super-soft tyres. Everyone what have

to go on to the super soft tyre which is something like 1.5 seconds

faster than the prime tyre. We are looking at a cut off of we will see

how many teams can do that. For McLaren Honda it has been tricky to

get through. Jenson Button was 11th earlier on today. David, Daniel

Ricciardo is onto a lap and we are following his progress. Talk us

around a bit bus stop it is a fantastic section. High speed as you

drop down into the braking zone at the chicane and turned five. It is a

short shoot out into the hairpin. These hybrid Formula One cars

generate a huge amount of torque in that initial phase of acceleration.

That is where the benefit comes. The car is just over 700 kilograms by

regulation. He stops the car down into town eight. This is the other

fast section, another DRS zone and potential overtaking place during

the Grand Prix. All this part of the lap has been straightforward, but

now this is the section where at this stage of dusk we still have a

setting sun which will be into their eyes as they run down towards town

15. The shadow is being cast across the car. They have the sun in their

eye at 16 and they get full site again at 17. This is as close as it

gets to being a Monte Carlo copy. A fantastic end to the lap at 20.

Click down on gear and a short run into the last turn, 21. A new drive

for the line. That was a pretty tidy lap. Expect the times to continue to

drop. He is on the soft tyre. You can see the excitement of all the

engineers' faces! Watch too much data can do for you. Hamilton is on

the lap already and he has gone fastest in the middle sector.

Rosberg is behind. Both Mercedes on track at the same time. They have

decided not to bother with the other tyre and have gone to the

super-soft. That is an indication from the pre-trial temperatures. We

can get into the whole strategy of what they might do tomorrow, but

early indications are it is that one tyre is not enough, two is about

right and three is too long. So, he is fastest. That Nico Rosberg is on

a similar lap. He was a 10th up in the first sector and attend down in

the second sector. Rosberg is coming out of the last corner now. Not

quite as quick as Lewis Hamilton. But that gap of 0.1 something has

been the gap of the weekend so far. Yes, the track is a living thing and

it changes, the temperature, the wind direction and the humidity

being all the factors. It is one thing being good in free practice,

but as the track involves you have to second-guess. At this stage of

the year, the last time these beautiful works of art will be out

in a qualifying section before they get put into a museum somewhere.

There will be no interest in them whatsoever after this weekend

because all the interest is in the potential of the new car. Yes, very

good point, they get pensioned off. I do not think he has ever been

outqualified by a team-mate. He won for Lotus some years ago. Keep an

eye on him. He is pretty much punch-drunk at this time of the

season. He is up against the ropes and Sebastian Vettel. There should

not be too much surprised that Sebastian Vettel arrived with energy

and enthusiasm. No matter how much of a fine you are of Kimi

Raikkonen, this has been a lacklustre season for him. The team

have shown confidence and they have re-signed him for next year, but you

cannot help but feel he might be entering his last season if he

delivers the same results as this year. Let's watch him in this final

section. This next sequence is really demanding because it is fast

in an ever tightening. It is so fantastic that the director has cut

to Sauber going very slowly. It is a great section. A car at high speed

generates high downforce and that allows you to connect with

confidence to the breaks. At the low speed corners you are just ticking

the box and try to keep it tidy. At high speed the driver can be

creative. He has gone a third fastest, but he is on the harder

tyre. He is the best of the rest. This is a replay at the hairpin. At

Turn 7 he locked up and got a bit wide. That is a small correction for

oversteer. That is a good display of what oversteer can look like. He

came off the kerb and he drifted before he did the cup back to the

next turn. In the case of Kimi Raikkonen it was a small

correction, so not a full-blown oversteer. Tim, what do we think of

Ferrari's chances? All we can say at this point is they are getting

closer to Mercedes. The cat yesterday in second practice was 0.7

and they reduced that this morning in final practice down to 0.3. They

are eating away at the gap and they seem pretty bullish. And fourth in

the and that great run of Perez, are we keeping an eye on him for

something like that in qualifying? The team say they are confident in

getting both cars into Q3. They have not got any new parts, it is the

same chi they had in Brazil and they are maximising what they have. They

are getting a lot or performance probe of the super-soft tyres. We

are watching Jenson Button. He was 11th in final practice. A few more

cars behind with more potential. No appearances in the top ten from the

McLaren drivers. They might have ended up in the great, they have

started in the top ten, but neither of them have made it into Q3. Jenson

Button is nine tenths of a second down. It is a huge amount of time to

lose in a short sector. With two fast corners you can see the images

with him sparking his way up on the super-soft tyre. Again in the middle

sector he is a good second down. 1.9 seconds. His team-mate Alonso is 2.2

seconds off the fastest. Jenson Button is on something similar to

that. Inside the top ten. Alonso is eighth, but we are waiting for some

people to put in a representative lap. Jenson Button qualified third

here in 2011 and he finished third in a couple of times and last year

had a reasonable run into fifth place in a Mercedes powered McLaren.

That is not great, he is in the drop zone. Six teeth. I think he will be

disappointed with that. Half a second down and this is a replay of

him coming up into Turn 3. It suggests the car is running very low

to the ground. You can see the height of all of the cars nowadays.

The front is pretty much rooted to and the rear of the car is very high

and it is for aerodynamic purposes. Let us just see what Raikkonen

finishes, he is still on the harder tyre. He is trying pretty hard. He

stays third but it is a better lap. Decent work being done for the

moment and the lap time, is the Tom, the target that we is going to be

1.42. I think you would have to run again rather than go to the pit.

Yesterday, Lewis's entire focus was on 2016, so he only reverted in

final practice today. He has got some work to do, Daniil Kvyat is in

the drop zone as well, he was hampered this morning or early on

today with very few laps, Vettel has gone fifth fastest. So he has done

one minute 42.9 which will not be enough. It is interesting, Kimi

Raikkonen does seem to have a convert zone around this track. --

comfort zone. He has had three victories so he always seems to go

well. Kimi Raikkonen doing a good job. Let us see what Sebastian

Vettel can do comedy is the only man to have won this race in pole

position, that in 2010. There were some odd reliability issues, from

pole position a couple of years ago. Perez is out on track and so is

Daniil Kvyat, after the troubles he had. He is now on the super soft

tyre. Most riders will be on that tyre now, as they aim to make sure

that they get into the top 15. The two salvors are likely to be in

danger. -- Sauber cars. And the Marussia cars are at the bottom of

the heat. Roberto Mehri has been outpaced, he is back in, the

American Alexander Rossi has been in the car recently, he's racing in the

GP to series this weekend. Mehri has been back out, another driver, made

his debut here for Caterham. So just getting an edge over his Spanish

team-mate. Hamilton, I wonder if we will see Mercedes bothered to come

out, they have used the soft tyre, they may sit out. Behind them, the?

. Fourth fastest at this point. He has been going through free practice

as well. Romain Grosjean, he has seemed a little bit of form around

here. Lotus seemed to arrive a little bit late, we just don't

know. Whether there is some other issue there. Grosjean has had to

miss most of the Friday practice session. Jolyon Palmer will make his

debut. Good news for British drivers. As Romain Grosjean heads

off to team Haas. Looking at the speed traffic, about three Bottas

and mass, it is not unusual to see Williams at the top. I wonder if

they have changed the downforce already is it about engine power? It

is a bad fuel level, engine power, when you contrast the speed. 210

miles an hour and you have got Jenson Button at 191 miles an hour,

huge difference in performance between Mercedes and the Honda power

unit. Nico Hulkenberg coming around, to see what this lap is going to be.

In 14th place at the moment so he certainly needs to improve. He is up

to third, the best of everybody bar the Mercedes, he did use the super

soft tyre. What Sadie 's did on the same tyre, backing up performance.

On board right now, with Carlos is, in the Toro Rosso. Daniil Kvyat is

on track as well but we will keep our right on Carlos is. Last corner

clean, it is easy to run too wide. He moves up to fifth, that time, it

is still not going to be easily him. So maybe he still needs a bit more

pace. Ricciardo putting in a good lab, fifth, and Perez goes even

further. He should be safe. Daniil Kvyat puts in a lab, so that might

be enough. I think they would prefer to have a little bit more just to be

fully safe. In the drop zone at the moment, we have got Felipe Massa

random moment, Jenson Button, -- Felipe Massa Mac. And Massa, it is

alluded from the result in the end after a tyre pressure problem. Back

out to racing and that puts him into sixth place for the moment, double

podium finish last year for William 's, they qualified well. Third and

fourth on the grid, I think it will be tough with the pace on Ferrari in

particular and indeed Force India. Yes, they were only half a second

off the pace, just over one second off now. Kept abreast of the Veldman

is, getting well out of the way. Valtteri Bottas, a clean run

through. Who will benefit from a slipstream. A bit of slipstream from

the Saba, pulling away early. Releasing, on his own. You can see

the speed traffic on the graphic, Valtteri Bottas, his speed, and

going down. Even Hamilton and Rosberg not as fast. Just to explain

to those new to Formula 1, the speed on the straight can be a function of

horsepower of course but also overall drag on the car. The drag on

the car is pretty much the same. Negative, we have a problem.

Negative. It looks like Marcus Ericsson will stay in the drop zone.

I will say that the physical drag on the car, is the tyres, which is the

same on all of the cars and then the efficiency which is how slippery,

which gives you the load and allows you to get through the turn. And

then of course the speed of the straight. It is a trade, it is one

that Williams have always gone for higher top speeds. The downside,

Alonso, get a big slide through the chicane. The downside for Williams

of not having the drag, the downforce, it is difficult for the

drivers to carry as much speed. It is backed off, why did he back off?

Well spotted. What would have caused that, it was very unusual? He will

have clipped a curb. As his partner looks on. It could have been the cut

of a curb. It effectively means that he loses that set of tyres. He is in

danger, 15th, and if Nasr, or button improve he will be pushed out. And

button does improve, Alonso is out. 1.5 seconds off the fastest in the

session, impressive but Alonso, pushing out Nasr. Pushing out

Grosjean, he is on a lab, which is OK. Well can nothing go right for

Alonso? The engine held right, Grosjean does make it out of the

drop zone. That pushes Vettel down, Vettel has done a really slow

mid-sector and I don't think he will make it. Yes he has backed out of it

and there is a shocker. That is a huge shock, Raikkonen did not bother

to come out, but he is safely through and it has gone completely

wrong for Vettel who could actually push Mercedes if not in qualifying

at least in the race, he is dropping out in the first part of qualifying.

Both he and Alonso, but the big story is Sebastien Vettel. The

closest pursuit all day long, the winner of three races, key is out.

Pushed out by that great lap from Jenson Button. Who would have

thought that? Maybe they miscalculated. It will remain to be

seen, we will happen to see a replay. His first sector time was

fine. This is Fernando Alonso, are we going to see it? You can see

something either ran over, a function of the tyre, or you can see

that tyre is off the rim. Was it the debris that caused

the puncture. I think it was just debris, as Carlos Sainz Jnr locks it

up to 17. Giving the people watching from the terrace of the hotel a

close and personal view of the Grand Prix car. Stevens made it OK, they

came very close to that barrier. It is a good effort. He has

out-qualified his team-mate. Over one second. But Fernando Alonso is

out, the puncture or whatever has certainly denied him because button

did make it through. If it was debris and it certainly looks like

it. The pure ready tyres do seem very sensitive, much more

sensitive. We know who is out, it is big drama because Sebastian Vettel

is out, Alonso joins him on the sidelines as stars Marcus Ericsson.

Will Stevens and Roberto Mehri. -- as does Marcus Ericsson. Big drama

in Abu Dhabi, a puncture for Alonso but Sebastien Vettel, this is going

to destroy his weekend? Not only that but there was nothing obvious,

we did not see anything there. Can we see anything? Suzie I am not sure

but it looks OK at this stage. He just backs out of it, doesn't he?

And they just go slower. He is not on the throttle. When was the last

time we saw Doswell champions not making it to Q2? Normally it would

be Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso. It was a mighty lab, that

was fantastic. Let us cross over to the paddock, sporting director with

McLaren. And now his race director with manner. It is great to see you

back in the Formula 1 paddock, what is it about the Manor project that

you find so exciting? Everything ready, they are a great little team,

they struggled in the last few years, it is a great opportunity to

help to see if I can contribute in some way and move up the grid. What

is your role as race director? It gives me a free range to look at

different areas, to see what I can do to look out and generally run

things, in the Garrard and make sure that we operate well. Perennial

Taylor Enders, we get the Mercedes engine next year, what you think

that will do? The Mercedes is the current engine, it will be a huge

step performance wise. It is a pretty good package, a lot of

teams, looking at us now and thinking what will we do and I hope

that we surprise them. There is a lot of management changes in the

team, what can you tell us about team principal? You would have to

talk to Steve, nothing really. I know that he's taking a considered

look at options, I think that you will see a measured approach to

that. Which drivers are you taking? Good one. When will we here? You

will hear in good course, most drivers are sorted out. It is about

making the best choices available. Thank you very much. Good to be

back. Will they had to look at drivers with money? -- will they

have to look. This is a team, where they will have quality drivers, who

will have to have sponsorship for driving

on their own, otherwise they can't do it. Moving forward, looking at

Force India, they look strong, it seems to be the bat and exchanging

over the weekend? -- bat on. Yes, there is a great cease all looking

to be going on between those teams. I want to see it extend into the

race, where there is a free flow and the best drivers get to the best

positions. Let us see who makes it through to the next session. This is

due to. So Roberto Mehri was outqualified by Will Stevens, he has

done a good job as he comes back to Abu Dhabi. Sebastien Vettel, a

couple of times he started in the back, when he was driving for Red

Bull. He had to start from the back in 2012, that was an exclusion. They

didn't have enough fuel in the car, last year he ended up starting in

the pit lane, they had flexible front wings, so he has always had a

good record here. He seems to have two were quite hard here.

It will be a long shot for him to get to the podium, but say never.

Ferrari have never won here and it will be pretty hard to do it from

back there on the grid. There was a video that was put out of the

Ferrari team showing the two drivers and Kimi Raikkonen sitting on the

front of the Ferrari roller-coaster, which you can see in

the distance. They were getting into it and smiling, that Kimi Raikkonen

was looking pretty deadpan, sticking to character. Kimi Raikkonen will

get to outqualified Sebastian Vettel here today one way or another. The

other time Sebastian Vettel failed to get through Q1 was in Canada, but

that was a power problem. This time it looks like they miscalculated.

Presumably they thought they were saved and they were not. It was the

miscalculation that got it all wrong. That has affected how the

grid will line up. This is about getting into the top ten and here

comes Nico Rosberg to join the circuit with Hamilton already out.

We have got six cars on track. Mercedes decided to go out quite

early in both sessions. The temperature now is currently 28

degrees. I expect it to drop a bit more before the final end of

qualifying. For Mercedes it is a case of ticking the box. It gets

easier as the qualifying sessions go on with less cars on track. This is

Felipe Massa driving off the final race track before entering the last

corner. It is a straight drive down into Turn 1 as possible. Listen as

he goes through town two. Just straining on the rear axle. It is

flat over the rise. Dashed turn to. That he keep it tidy? A little under

rotation. He will be of two another world record beating top speed. A

beautiful sign of a clear track and fresh tyres. Felipe Massa is coming

to the second sector. On a good speed, but not as high as his

previous. You cannot change the wing during the session, so maybe they

got a bit of a slipstream and the previous top speed. Tom, what we

think in terms of the target time for getting into the top ten? The

engineers are saying the track is performing pretty much as expected.

To get through to Q3 we are looking at 42.3. It will be mighty close

around that area as well. We saw lots of cars on 42.5 in the last

session and the track is getting a bit quicker. I think it will be very

tough. It looks as though Mercedes will have the edge. Nico Rosberg has

a slightly better sector than Hamilton. Felipe Massa is the first

to complete the lap at 1.42.3. That is exactly the target time. Williams

are struggling a bit to make sure of the top ten. They are not looking as

composed and comfortable as we would expect. Felipe Massa is not expected

to make it into the top ten. Hamilton is a fraction quicker than

Nico Rosberg. Let's see what Valterri Bottas does. That will not

be enough. Hamilton to cross the line to go fastest. 1.40.7. He hit

1.40.4 last year. But it is the fastest of the weekend. Waiting for

Rosberg to cross the line. He will be out of the corner any mammon. Yes

commonly goes second. 1.40.9. The same form that we saw in the first

part of qualifying. Hamilton clawed it back in the second. In the final

sector Hamilton got the fastest time. Nico Rosberg will come in and

look at the data and understand where he is losing time. Then he

will see if he can go out and replicate that. Niko Hulkenberg is

third and Perez is fourth. A good lap by Daniel Ricciardo. But it is

only a 10th faster than Niko Hulkenberg. This is where the camera

is set up, so we get great shots of the cars bouncing through the kerb

and the chicane. That curb is pretty brutal and it is a calculated risk

from the drivers. The downside of getting it wrong so early in the lap

means you know it is gone and you have to wait. Jenson Button was

pretty impressive in the first part of qualifying. Can he deliver M

RADIO: You have a deflating front left tyre. Caution on the straights

Jenson Button is ninth at the moment. He is slower than he was

earlier. That is a reasonable effort from the Toro Rosso. With McLaren we

do not know what Honda are able to unleash. There was quite an offset

between his first and his second run. That run was six times slower

than what he achieved in the previous section. Unless it was an

actual mistake, it is a significant amount of time to be slower. The top

ten to build. Let's listen to Romain Grosjean. RADIO: We have a problem.

Now he is being told to put it back slowly. He has still got a few

corners to get back to the line. Daniil Kvyat has gone six. A little

bit of his team-mate on that particular run. There is Romain

Grosjean. It is a shame because this is his final weekend with the team.

It is not all coming together at this point. His team-mate Maldonado

is on track. He is outside the top ten at the moment in 12th position.

Let's see whether they will be able to get Romain Grosjean back out on

the circuit for a final attempt to get into the top ten. It would be a

shame if they could not get the car back out in the closing minutes of

the session. Hulkenberg and Perez are showing well for India. Felipe

Massa is in seventh place. He has done well to outpace Valterri

Bottas. Jenson Button is just outside the top ten. Kimi Raikkonen

is yet to do a flying lap. He is building up at the moment. He has

just come out of the pits and is going for one attempt. With one lap

and the time that is left, he has been delivering, so he has got

confident he can find some speed and get himself into the top ten shoot

out. He is one point behind Valterri Bottas in the drivers' championship.

Valterri Bottas is struggling a bit at the moment, he is ninth fastest.

He should be challenging Daniel Ricciardo and Hulkenberg. There is

only one Ferrari left in qualifying. We lost Sebastian Vettel in the

first part when they miscalculated. We will get the full story at the

end of the session. Daniel Ricciardo has done enough and the team are

happy that he can sit out the rest of the session and they will get the

car ready for the final top ten shoot out. This is Kimi Raikkonen on

his fast lap. More or less flat out. Down to the chicane. This is where

Lewis Hamilton was having problems this morning. A little bit wide as

he came out of Turn 6. You can see the slight awkwardness to the

steering. It does not look like the Ferrari is entirely comfortable at

low speed. He was keeping it all tidy through two and three. It is

like a sledgehammer hitting the back of the helmet. Nice and tidy as he

presented the car out on the run down to ten. Not much of the driver

can do at full power. Just pick the path of least resistance. This is

tricky in to ten. Not much the driver can do at full power. Just

pick the path of least resistance. This is tricky into town 11. Pity

cautious as he turned the car. Good use of the kerb as he goes through

the chicane. So far, so good. His lap time is going to be reasonable.

He is not as quick in the middle sector as the Mercedes, but he is as

quick as pretty much everyone else up there. He is down on the Mercedes

Grand Prix cars, but it is respectable. The tyres are hanging

on in there. Is this enough to beat Daniel Ricciardo? It is. Third place

for Kimi Raikkonen. Eight tenths away from Lewis Hamilton's fastest

lap. That is what we thought Ferrari should be able to deliver. But the

sadness is there is only one of them out there. Some interesting strategy

choices from Ferrari. That is Kimi Raikkonen's fastest lap of the

weekend so far. They used the prime tyre in Q1. When you talk to Pirelli

they say two stops is the way to do the race with two stints on the

super soft and one stint on the prime. Valterri Bottas is trying to

beat him in the championship and he is going on to the lap now. He comes

through turn on and get that oversteer again. He does indeed and

the G forces are pulling up through town to. There was a small

application of break. 17.6 in the first sector. That compares well

with Kimi Raikkonen. A couple of tenths down on Hamilton who is the

fastest. Excuse me, Nico Rosberg is the fastest. Slipstream for Toro

Rosso. As the darkness descends, you can see the dashboard so clearly. It

is fantastic with Formula One now. We have these great opportunities.

Singapore, here, Bahrain, to mix it up a little bit. It is something in

this part of the world where they are used to coming out at night

because they hibernate during the day during the hot temperatures.

They come out at night and lived in a different time to where we are

back in Europe and live a different schedule to the day. This is the

tricky last section where it is all about these 90 degrees corners. He

is the real .3 of a second quicker than his previous best lap. I am not

sure what that is. We will find out. -- 0.3. RADIO: Fast as black as

quick as you can. They have got the Lotus out in time before the

chequered flag comes out. Let's hope he will be able to put in a proper

attempt. Felipe Massa was very wide. They are struggling for rear end

grip, he is only nine. He had an issue with his gearbox. They have

not managed to fix it. RADIO: We have lost everything. Qualifying is

done and dusted for Romain Grosjean. He is in theory 50s, depending on

penalties. It has come to a much earlier conclusion that anybody

would have wanted. He moves to a new team for next year and he has just

got the race to go for tomorrow. Let's hope that things go better for

him then. Carlos Sainz is in 11th place. Jenson Button is in 12th.

Maldonado in the other Lotus is in 13th and leaping us is in there. You

can see just before he made the adjustment he was less than a 10th

faster. -- Felipe Massa. The driver is seeing the feedback.

Can he carry it to the line? He has done it just. Max Verstappen,

remember they are nine all in terms of fine battle. Jenson Button is

across the line and I don't think it is enough. It would have been a

little bit of a fairy tale. What about Max Verstappen? Four

hundredths of a second off his team-mate and that means that Carlos

Sainz Jnr is in, and Verstappen as failed to make it.

Perez goes first. He took him to the last three corners before he

improved his lap and got into the top ten, can you imagine

psychologically where he was? That is a great effort from Carlos is,

over the year in the end, 10-9. Carlos I spy such a tiny margin has

made it into the top ten, Verstappen, so many reliability

problems, it has to knight him opportunities to show how good he

is. It is a redress of balance. Out of qualifying after some superb

attempts. Max Verstappen, Jenson Button. Grip, especially from the

year. Yes he was a bit slow, joining him in the exclusion zone from the

rest of qualifying, Pastor Maldonado, Felipe Massa and of

course Romain Grosjean. Fireworks in the desert in Q2, Sebastian Vettel

is just walking by. He is having a little chat with Mark Webber. I am

sure that Mark will not ask in what has happened, maybe he will,

unfortunately for us. Anything interesting? Qualification didn't

work out basically. That second qualifying session, it looks as

though there are some winners and losers, were Williams struggling?

They were struggling a bit for pace, the car is pretty competitive on

long straights, but in the last sector they might be losing a lot of

time. Let us go back to Q1, Fernando Alarza so with this puncture.

Frustrating when this happens. Yes he has lost a bit of debris in the

left rear. There you go. We have seen it before. Pyrenees looked like

they are very sensitive to side wall damage or cuts, it has not

completely disintegrated at high speed. Low speed failure if you

like. Let us get his thoughts now. Fernando, bad luck, any idea what

caused the puncture? Not really, sometimes you get grip, sometimes

another, we will see what you can do to know. One Dennis has been saying

that he gave a quote, he said he did not know whether you will be racing

at McLaren next year, a sabbatical has been discussed, what can you

tell us, will you be at McLaren on the grid? Yes, I will be, I have

answered all of the questions to your colleagues, when Ron says

something, you have a perfect opportunity to asking to clarify

some of his quotes. I don't know what he means, with some of the

things, but of course, we all want to improve and put the car on winter

testing and see how competitive we are. We are hoping for the best.

Sorry to put you on the spot but you do know Fernando world, what do you

think? I think he is a time bomb, ticking over very frustrating for

him, their relationship in the past, we are seeing some of it. The

tension is building. Fernando, saying that I'll see the testing, if

he could have two or three days in the car. Whatever they are testing.

He could have a year off. Do you think that he is aggravating Honda,

because I think most people realise that Honda are playing Fernando's

bills, we saw in the past, that Ron did not take on button, is that the

same for Alonso? Yes, when things are not going his way he will create

pressure, he will put immense pressure on all of the departments.

He hates losing. The timing unfortunately for him, was really

nasty for him to see that unfold, Ferrari now in the ascendancy. I

think, it is brutal for a racing driver. Sebastian Rode it out there

timewise, what would you do for Fernando? I think for Fernando it is

difficult for him to sit and wait for the progress, for me, Honda need

a bit of a birthday, to see these guys put up in front of the grid.

Forget these fine details, get these world champions back out there. For

them to be punching at the back, they have lost a lot of technical

partners, commercial partners, and for me, Fernando comedy has got

enough zeros in the bank. It is not about that comedy just wants to win

races. The same for button, two world champions in the team, what do

they want to do floundering around at the back of the grid, it is not

acceptable. Especially, that the cars are not that rewarding to

drive, you have seen the lap times. Let us catch up quickly with

Sebastian Vettel. We could not see what happened, we just saw that you

were out, could you shed any light please? Nothing dramatic, it was not

the plan to go out straightaway. We thought that the lap on the soft was

good enough but it turned out not to be. Ferrari are looking strong, you

started from the back if you started from the back your way through, I

guess that is the main target? I guess that Kimi Raikkonen is still

there, hopefully he can get at least PIII, then tomorrow ideally we have

one car up front and another one sitting further back. It is possible

to overtake here, I think that we have the speed to make progress.

Pole position, are you still sticking with Nico? Yes. What do you

think? Force India in the top three. Swapping the power between Nico and

Lewis. That RC, who will take pole position. It is fully floodlit as we

are into darkness, it is coming up for 6pm, who is going to end up in

pole position? Hamilton, I am very glad to say from the Williams side

of things, the chief technical officer Pat Williams is joining us

from the pit wall. It does look as if Williams, are struggling a bit

more than usual. It does not look as if you have quite got that pace this

time? Indeed it doesn't, that half second that is sitting between

fourth and seventh, is the interesting part of the final bit of

qualifying. But yes, we haven't quite got the pace of last year, we

have moved on a little bit. It is quite a tough fight. Just explain to

us, we have been looking at the speed traffic. Valtteri Bottas,

Massa next up, we have got lost long straights, why isn't that being

converted into lap times? That is only part of the equation, and a lot

of it is also down to aerodynamics. Particularly tyres. I don't think

that we have got our tyres worked quite as well as we could have.

Bearing in mind, the lap in Q2 was not a good one. A problem in the

end. All the same, I would like to see us with a bit more in the tyres

in this final session. Thank you for joining us, let us hope that it

comes together for you. The session underway, the cars on track and

Lewis Hamilton is the fastest in the first two parts of qualifying, he

has been on pole position before. Last year it was Nico Rosberg who

snatched it away. And error for Hamilton, in the final part of the

last sector, the fastest ever lap by Sebastian Vettel. So I am afraid he

is not in the hunt comedy has certainly well. This is one to

watch, Sergio Perez has been quick all weekend. He feels at home. He

makes his way through the exit of term three, visibly tidier, not

using much of the road. This Force India is hooked up fantastically

well. He does indeed. This is the first opportunity for the driver to

take stock of how the first sector has gone, what the feedback is, what

is his confidence level as he heads for the biggest opt in the race

track. Certainly based on how he has been going through free practice.

Don't expect any issues. Textbook Apex, a bit of wobble. He has gone

well in the past, he has not been out-qualifying, he has been up

against Jenson Button, against Nico Hulkenberg. It is the 90 degrees

Corners. Qualified eighth with McLaren and don't forget comedy has

never actually qualified top three in his career, fourth on the grid is

his best ever. There is a real chance but to do it he will have two

beat Raikkonen. Is only three tenths slower than the best on the track.

About eight tenths down, in the last part of qualifying. Depending on

this last sector, using it all and more. A bit of oversteer, maybe he

has lost a bit of time through the last corner. It is a good lap. He

did 141.5 last time, that is a really good lap. He really attacked

those last corners. How is Hamilton's lap? Interesting we have

got Hamilton and Rosberg, in the second sector, Rosberg is quicker I

a 10th. Rosberg currently doing a better lap than Hamilton. Perez is

fastest at the moment, Hamilton goes fastest. Not by much though. Peres

within one tenth. What about Rosberg? He is quicker, if he keeps

it tidier, maybe Mark Webber has got his crystal ball working well.

Hulkenberg's lap is a second slower than his team-mate. He really needs

to dig deep. Has he done enough to beat Hamilton? Across the line he

goes, he is fastest. Still not as fast as he was last year. One more

go at it in the final part of qualifying. Mercedes are one and

two, Raikkonen goes across the line and he is not as fast as Perez.

Perez is currently third. It looks like both Eddie Jordan had Mark

Webber's crystal balls are working well because I do believe that Eddie

Jordan said that Force India would be in the top three. One more run

for them all. And Williams, evenly matched, not quite in that hunt,

certainly for a top four position right now. Ricciardo faster than

both Williams, Kvyat is not as quick. The one who hasn't done a lap

yet is Carlos I is and of course Carlos I may decide to save tyres. I

think that he may do at least one run. That is Carlos

. His major achievement is having got there, his team-mate Max

Verstappen is going to be starting 11th, not allowing for any penalties

that might be applied, everyone starting to make their way back to

the pits after that initial flurry of times which has got in the way of

Nico Rosberg. Yes we have seen Perez with better communication on the

radio, asking how is the balance and he is saying, yes I am happy. We

would think that he would be very happy with that. Does he have enough

to fend off Kimi Raikkonen? No pressure in comparison to his

team-mate. What a great job this team have done. Perez was talking

earlier this week and saying that he definitely feels this has been his

best season in former one. McLaren, top team, they were not going

through the best period. The best period. Is driving better now than

he did at that stage. Openly critical of Ron Dennis, he felt it

set him back quite a considerable amount in his career. He was known

to be always missed a consistent, the man that could get away with

one, when others could get to. Certainly can work well, all of the

cars are back in the pits, and I think that Carlos Sainz Jnr will

have a go. He Tom, this is standing for Force

India to be ahead of Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari? Yes, Ferrari

were saying they had fresh engines for both of their cars. A great

effort from Perez and Force India. But he is using an old engine, so it

will be three tenths down on his pole position from last year. There

will be more to come from him. Even other teams are applauding Perez's

efforts because that was quite something. He loved the fact that

Formula One came back to Mexico this year and it was one of the

highlights of this season for so many people to see the level of

support he enjoys. He is delivering quite a performance here. Can he

hang on to a top three star for the first time in his career? He will

have to be Kimi Raikkonen. The track temperature is pretty consistent as

the night settles in. We are building up to the final qualifying

session of the year. Hamilton is on a remarkable run of five consecutive

pole positions, sorry, Nico Rosberg. He had the edge in the final part of

the season were Lewis Hamilton definitely had the edge in

qualifying in the early part of the year. It is interesting to try and

understand. Is it because Niko has upped the pace? Or has Lewis

mentally detuned slightly, having put so much effort into the

championship? Neither of them will either confirm or deny either of

those scenarios. It seems more than coincidence that since blue is the

title he just has not looked as sharp. Maybe mentally for Niko the

release of not being in the battle for the championship has allowed him

to relax a little bit. We know from asking him that he pretty much

denies anything has changed. Interesting one. It is, and as Tom

made reference to, it is interesting that Rosberg's engine in theory is

not quite as strong as Hamilton's. He lost an engine earlier this year

and they have had to spread the milage this season over his other

three engines. They are allowed four. Rosberg is at a slight

disadvantage on engine power, but let's see how this all plays out. It

may be that they can all turn it up for the final part of qualifying.

Rosberg with that slight advantage, but Hamilton faster in the first two

prize of qualifying. Hamilton did 1.47 in Q2, so he has matched

Rosberg's time, so it is all about putting it together when it matters.

We are building up to the climax. Daniel Ricciardo goes on to the lap

now. His team-mates Daniil Kvyat will be following him. A little bit

of team rivalry. Daniil Kvyat has a tidy lap so far. Interesting that

Hamilton has gone out ahead of Rosberg. That allows Rosberg the

mental boost if Hamilton is not delivering the lap time, that he can

call his lap time early and it takes away a bit of the uncertainty. He

manages to get to over 200 powers -- 200 miles an hour. Hamilton is not

quicker than his first sector. It is an indication that the beginning of

the lap has not gone to plan. We saw that display on Carlos Sainz's

dashboard. That feedback is given to Hamilton. You do not throw in the

towel, but it is the reassurance that you are building a faster lap.

Kimi Raikkonen has had a good sector, so Perez's third place is

not secure yet. Kimi Raikkonen is quicker than Hamilton. But Rosberg

as well is not quite as quick as his previous best. It is the second

sector and Hamilton is up slightly by tiniest the of fractions. He is

just ahead of Nico Rosberg's time. Which of the two Mercedes drivers

will take the final pole position of the year? Will it be the three times

World Champion who has had a remarkable season, but who has been

beaten in the last few races to the top spot in qualifying? Or are well

Nico Rosberg take the final one? He is a bit wide, but he might not have

lost any ground? Has he done enough to go faster than Rosberg? Yes, he

has. Nico Rosberg is quicker in the middle sector. Well Kimi Raikkonen

take third? Is this good enough for Harare to be best of the rest? Yes,

he has beaten Perez. Still a few corners to go. Yes, he is under the

hotel with two corners to go. Rosberg on the attack, can he claim

the final pole position of the season? He has done it! He has taken

pole position again. Look at the reaction. He punches the air. He has

done it. Six in a row to finish off the season. Absolutely stunning and

back-to-back pole positions. Perez has missed out on the third place.

Still brilliant by him to qualify for. Kimi Raikkonen stole third in

the closing moments of the session. Ricciardo is in fifth, Bottas is

sixth. RADIO: Pole position, charge the battery. Good job, Niko. Great

job, Niko. Amazing. Bear in mind that is 37 pole positions out of 38

Grand Prix in the last two years. They have only been beaten once by

Ferrari and that was this year in Singapore. Niko Hulkenberg was

seventh, Marceau was eighth and Carlos Sainz was terrible.

Verstappen was 11, but in 12, mild and I don't 13th. -- Carlos Sainz

was 10th. Sergio Perez just missing out on

that third spot, your crystal ball needs a polished. Yes, but what an

amazing job he did to be on the second row for this Grand Prix.

Fantastic. RADIO: Great job. It was a great job for Kimi Raikkonen and

he is looking good for tomorrow. I think Ferrari will be very strong,

but Niko, I got that right, I was lucky. You did get that right. That

was a cracker to go out in a qualifying section. You saw the guys

pushing finally. That is what it should be about. Thank you for your

company and for joining us this weekend and what a session that was.

We have become of air because it is the Davis cup. We will have all the

reaction for you on the website as things unfold and tomorrow we will

be live with you at the same time, the same place. But as the night

fell on the desert track it was Nico Rosberg who grasped pole position,

his sixth in a row. But is pole position the right place to be here?

Join us tomorrow for the last race of the season.