Glock's engineer after his wierd lap: "Timo do you need a new pair of underpants or are you all right?" !
James Allen's back in the commentary box now. In FP1, the BBC covered the slightly askew pit box at McLaren and Sky has just shown it, too. It makes coming in to stop easier but getting out slightly more difficult for the drivers. I missed this but there was apparently a Toro Rosso radio exchange along the lines of:
Yes, although he wasn't consistently slower than Webber during practice sessions for previous races. Hamilton has the soft tyres on now...
So much for Mercedes getting over their tyre problems. Big drop off again on the high fuel runs. Looks close at the top though and I would imagine Alonso will be praying for rain again. The Ferrari looks awful.
My bet on a Vettel win is looking surprisingly good. Considering the Red Bull's top speed is meant to be quite a way below that of the Mclaren and Mercedes, they must be doing very well in the corners. Meanwhile Button appears to have a few set-up issues, the Mercedes drop off is still there, and Hamilton has to take his penalty. I've just cursed it haven't I.
Got a good feeling about Vettel this weekend. Seems to be back on form and the car looks a bit better as well, plus Button's struggling and Hamilton has a penalty. The BBC were saying they thought Mercedes were running light on the quali style runsand that Hamilton was the big favourite, they seem to be completely ignoring how effective Mercedes FDRS is and the fact Hamilton will almost certainly have a penalty. Red Bull look a lot better in a straight line here, faster than the McLaren's. please log in to view this image
With Lewis's penalty I think Schumacher taking his 69th pole is looking possible but Jenson is only struggling to get the tyres working with his understeer set up like in malaysia due to the low temperatures and I suspect they will fix that problem during P3. Red Bull look like they could be on the second row and the Ferrari looks painfull slow still, they will be gutted that Bahrain is not cancelled.
Vettel looking happier which is good for us seb fans at least. A lot of lock ups going about today on the heavy breaking area at the end of the straight.
Haha Whitmarsh: Oh and Lewis, check in at Q-branch before you leave. Q: Now pay attention Lewis Hamilton, I want this equipment back in pristine condition. LH: Q, Have I ever let you down? Q: frequently!
I didn't realise they count the first corner as two turns, when I heard I thought he meant the little kink onto the straight.
It's like watching your old dog hobbling about, barely able to get up and unable to move with ease. Somone should put Felipe out of his (and our) misery.
Interesting that because Kravitz said Vettel's exhaust layout creates less downforce than Webber's layout.
Arghhh! Ive had a horrible week!!! Hopefully now I can kick back and enjoy the F1!! Button looks in prime position for this race (under normal circumstances) doesnt he? The Mclarens are the Pole masters this year but button doesnt have to push and wear his tyres out too much. he can let lewis take it and start in front. Also I have noticed the mclarens are not good when sat behind other cars so sunday will be a struggle for his team mate unless he gets a good start. Will be interesting to see what happens! with rain n' all
Was that in the interview with Buemi? Vettel said his issues were more about balance than simply being down on downforce: "The problem that we have at this stage is that the balance of the car doesn't seem to be as good as it was last year. That's not about downforce level, it's about getting the car to work together as a whole. That's where we are trying to improve." I thought Button was particularly unimpressive this morning (although Lotus and Williams weren't great either). He's struggling with the temperature I think, as he did in Malaysia, which is giving him understeer. Also, to start ahead of the Mercedes and Red Bull drivers is not going to be a walk in the park. I'm sure he'll get closer to making his car work for him overnight and in FP3 but it's uphill all the way from where he was today. It's possible Button and Hamilton will start on the third row. No more (significant) rain expected during sessions, as Silver said.
