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Qualifying for Round 11 of the 2004 F1 season at Silverstone.
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00:00Formula One when the qualifying format was changed for 2003.
00:04I assume you're a massive fan of one lap qualifying, are you?
00:06I am, absolutely.
00:07But last week at Montecourt in France, we saw just how exciting qualifying can be.
00:12Right to the front!
00:14Wow!
00:17Another great third sector, and Yarno truly goes to P1.
00:21Boom!
00:22Exactly, look at that!
00:24And so Button bumps truly, and Alonso goes to P1 by nearly three tenths.
00:29That is impressive.
00:30And here comes the six-time world champion.
00:33No!
00:35Let's see what he can do here.
00:36Schumacher did a 23-8, and he is quicker.
00:39Wow, he's up on that second sector.
00:42Four poles!
00:42Looking good, actually.
00:43Push!
00:43Push!
00:45Oh!
00:45Fernando Alonso picks up his third career pole.
00:50Will today bring us just as much excitement?
00:54It's time to qualify for the British Grand Prix now.
01:24Well, if the theme of the day is surprises and qualifying, we have a great second.
01:29We have a great session in store for you, because right now, one of the fastest tracks in Grand Prix
01:33racing is the slowest.
01:36Hello and welcome to Speed Channel's continuing live coverage of the eleventh round of the 2004 Formula One World Championship.
01:42Before you can race the British Grand Prix, however, you must qualify.
01:47I'm Bob Barsha.
01:48Joining me as always, David Hobbs and Steve Matchett.
01:50After the first round of single-car, single-lap qualifying, to set the running order for the all-important second
01:57round, which will set the grid, we have an absolutely jumbled leaderboard.
02:01There is Giancarlo Fisichella.
02:03He may well be a factor.
02:04Let's check out the highlights of the first session.
02:08The surprises began right off the top.
02:10Michael Schumacher and Ferrari first on track, and he got almost all the way around to the Luffield Complex when
02:16he spun his Ferrari.
02:18And we suspect the reason.
02:20Listen to the crowd in the background, and that lady at the upper right of the screen.
02:23Oh, well done.
02:24The red car went around.
02:25And then Fernando Alonso, second a week ago in France, and he went to the top of the charts.
02:31But a 1.21 is not a representative lap time.
02:34Rubens Bottichello has been fast all weekend.
02:36He was the pole sitter for this race, but he too spun.
02:40He had pole last year.
02:41He will be among the early runners.
02:43Then the British hero, the second British hero after David Coulthard.
02:46Jenson Button in the Honda cracked out a pretty good time that they've been doing all weekend.
02:49The 1.18.8 looked very, very good.
02:52Then David Coulthard suddenly getting all crafty with the McLaren team.
02:57Look at this.
02:58Slows right down because he wants to go out early.
03:03Juan Pablo Montoya set a very fast first sector.
03:06Then he too slowed right up.
03:09And look at the time ticking by.
03:12Then Giancarlo Fisichella in the sound with the C23.
03:15Well, he gets it all wrong.
03:17And then Felipe Massa in the assist to C23.
03:21He goes P2.
03:22But really quite an extraordinary first qualifying session.
03:26And then the Jordan EJ14.
03:28Nick Heidfeld.
03:29Well, it was slow, but that's nothing to do with deliberately trying to slow the car.
03:32It was just handling very, very bad.
03:34It takes no time.
03:35The BAR team hedging their bets had Button P1.
03:39So they let Takuma Sato go out.
03:41And he too nearly came to a stop at start finish.
03:43So they'll have one driver going out early.
03:46One driver going out late.
03:48And Dave Richards and his man Jenson Button conferred afterwards thinking,
03:52OK, we've got this thing pretty well set up.
03:55Now what's the reason for all these theatrics?
03:57The weather.
03:59Local radio is reporting there are hailstones falling not far from the racetrack.
04:04But as far as local geography is concerned, I will defer to our local expert David Hobbs.
04:09How far away is Bichester where it's raining and hailing?
04:11Bichester is only about 10 miles from the track, south of the track.
04:15The wind looks to be coming from the southwest.
04:17We saw some high shots earlier on of some really vicious looking clouds,
04:21which are obviously where it is obviously raining.
04:23The thing is, will it go just to the south of the circuit behind Stowe,
04:27or will it, in fact, come over the circuit?
04:29Of course, it's a pretty long, thin circuit, so it could rain on part of it and not others.
04:33Mm-hmm.
04:33Now this is the running order for the all-important second session.
04:37One hot lap to find your place on the grid for Sunday's Grand Prix.
04:43And Jenson Button is going last as he set the fastest time in that section we've just been watching.
04:49But that may be the wrong time to go if that rain does, in fact, come across here.
04:55If it doesn't, it'll be great.
04:56Well, while we have a moment, let's take a look at our Porsche track map with David Hobbs.
05:02Well, it used to be a simple circuit and very fast,
05:04160-mile-an-hour qualifying from many years ago at Williams with the Swedish driver.
05:10But now, as you can see, it's still very fast.
05:12Nearly 150-mile-an-hour average, but a lot more complex.
05:16Best overtaking spots really now are into Abbey Chicane there.
05:21Bridge, you're not going to be doing much overtaking there.
05:23Well, look, he pulled it off last year.
05:25Brooklyn's and Love Field, the road just keeps moving on.
05:29Cops has speeded up to a very fast corner now.
05:31But it leads to that Maggots-Becketts complex, which is absolutely tremendous to watch.
05:36Hang a straight, longer straight here.
05:37Nearly 199 miles an hour.
05:39Slightly downhill.
05:40Facing into the sun.
05:41Half the moon.
05:43That's our Porsche track map.
05:45I am getting over my cold, thank you.
05:48Are you referring to KK Rosberg as the Swedish driver?
05:51Come on, David.
05:53I was there, standing at Stowe, watching him come out of it,
05:55and it was absolutely mind-blowing.
05:58That was in the days of the turbocharged Honda, and he just, God almighty,
06:01you could hear the thing ground-shaking, 160-mile-an-hour average.
06:05Mm-hmm.
06:06But, of course, they've really slowed it up since then,
06:08and you can see those clouds lurking in the background.
06:11So, our first car about to be presented.
06:14Here comes the yellow Jordan, the local team here at Silverstone.
06:20Eichfeld will be on track shortly.
06:21We'll be back to cover it.
06:24Speed Channel's coverage of the FIA Formula One World Championship
06:28is brought to you by BMW.
06:30BMW, the ultimate driving machine.
06:36Welcome back to Speed Channel coverage of qualifying for the British Grand Prix.
06:40There's Nick Heidfeld in the yellow Jordan on track.
06:43Rain is in the forecast.
06:45You can see the shadows of the clouds overhead,
06:47but right now it is still largely sunny around the track,
06:51and we're suspecting, as you look at the current weather conditions,
06:55we suspect the Bridgestone tires used by, among other teams, the Jordan squad,
06:59are not coming up to temperature quite as quickly.
07:02When you see both Michael Schumacher and Rubens Botticello
07:05take their Ferraris either spinning or off the track,
07:09you know there is a problem.
07:12And Nick Heidfeld, of course, was on Bridgestones,
07:13and he disappeared off the track as well.
07:16But when you watch that car go around, it's a miracle they keep it on the track through any of
07:19these turns.
07:19The car just looks so twitchy, both him and Giorgio Pantano.
07:24And we just saw Heidfeld trying to warm up the tires there just as he came out of the pit
07:29lane
07:29to try and get these things up to temperature.
07:31Could well be that Bridgestone are choosing a very hard compound of this race
07:38to try and stretch the durability of the tires into a two-stop strategy for tomorrow's race.
07:43And could be two things, I think, on the tires.
07:46Guys, either they are difficult coming up to temperature by virtue of what they've done to the construction on them
07:51and the compound, or they are running harder than they would like this weather condition.
07:56Yeah, because the track temperature is certainly not very high, there's no doubt about it.
07:59Now, of course, all bets are off now.
08:00These guys are going to be no slowing down or technicalities going on here.
08:04This is going to be flat out down hanger straight into the sunshine in the afternoon,
08:09slightly downhill into Stowe, very fast right-hander.
08:12I was hoping the World Feed director would give us more of that on-board
08:14because this car was absolutely diabolical on his first lap.
08:19This is the club complex, which has changed completely.
08:21Used to be just a big flat-out right-hander ending up here, the same place as it does now.
08:26But now you've got that left-right complex up to Abbey.
08:28Used to be a very fast sweeper.
08:31Now, as you can see, he's not a fast sweeper.
08:33This is where Michael Schumacher put a wheel.
08:35Oh!
08:36Just like that last year, Michael Schumacher.
08:38You can see this car is such a handful.
08:41And when you say they're local, Bob, we're about where this camera is now.
08:43It's just about where they're building.
08:44It's situated in the industrial complex in Silverstone.
08:50Now, complicating our...
08:51Look at that car moving around.
08:57Heifeld will cross the timing stripe for the first time in either of these sessions.
09:04And he, of course, will set the standard, being the first man on track.
09:06One-twenty-two-six.
09:08Keep in mind, pole position for this race last year was a one-twenty-one-two.
09:14And this morning, we had nine cars in the one-eighteen zone.
09:18Well, now, Pantala definitely must be going for two-stop strategy.
09:21Because this morning, in the practice, not the qualifying run, the earlier practice I had, he did a one-twenty
09:28and change.
09:28So, he's lots of...
09:29You mean Heifeld.
09:30Now, here is Giancarlo Fisichella's Sauber.
09:33Fisichella is one of three drivers who have gone through engine changes this weekend.
09:37So, he's going to take a ten-grid-spot penalty anyway, and it appears the Italian will not go out
09:42at all.
09:46Saving precious revs on that engine.
09:49Well, I guess what they're doing now, you can see the car sat on a little dolly so they can
09:53move it around.
09:53It's much easier to manoeuvre a Formula One car because there's so very little lock on it.
09:58And you're just wheeling the things around the pits.
10:00It's almost impossible to get the thing where you want it to go.
10:02So, they put it on the dolly so they can take it down to the FIA Weybridge, where it'll go
10:07down for scrutineering checks.
10:09All the cars have to go down and just be in park ferme to the regulations.
10:13Then the car will be released later on back to the team's garage.
10:17So, the sponsors can look around the thing and so the teams are not just presenting empty garages to the
10:23sponsors who have paid a lot of money towards these teams.
10:26They want to see the cars.
10:27And later on, they put back in park ferme again.
10:29It'll be interesting to see how many drivers actually go out.
10:32The other drivers who are suffering ten grid-spot penalties are Fernando Alonso from Renault and Schulte Baumgartner from Minardi.
10:42Now, there's Christian Kling, the young Austrian, scheduled to be third out.
10:46So, it appears he will make an attempt.
10:51It's been a very difficult weekend for the Jaguar.
10:54Kling, this morning, did a 120.9.
10:57Keep in mind, faster than last year's bowl, but no better than centeenth in 2004.
11:08Welcome back to qualifying for the British Grand Prix.
11:11Here on Speed Channel, I'm Bob Barsher with Steve Matchett and David Hobbs.
11:14Christian Kling in the Jaguar.
11:16Just coming up to take the clock.
11:18If you were with us yesterday for our coverage of Friday practice,
11:21we mentioned that the sporting director for the Minardi team,
11:25long-time Formula One executive John Walton suffered a very severe heart attack last Tuesday in London.
11:33He was hospitalized, and sadly, last night, John Walton, at 46 years of age, died.
11:41Our thoughts are with the Minardi team, and with his long-time companion,
11:45our television colleague with ITV in Britain, Louise Goodman.
11:58A lot of sunshine on the track now.
12:00Boy, a lot of sunshine on the track, but when he was coming up out of Abbey there,
12:03going down towards Briggs, you can see that cloud lurking behind the woodcut grandstand.
12:07And that's where the weather comes from here.
12:10Down Hanger Strait, sunshine in beauty this afternoon.
12:14At the moment.
12:19There you see one model running over there, which is going to go through,
12:23I think, going to go to the south of the circuit.
12:25This is the club complex there.
12:27Right.
12:31It's going to be very difficult, I think, to try and gauge who's going to be quick in this qualifying
12:36session
12:36and who's going to claim the pole.
12:38A, because of the weather.
12:39There's no doubt about that.
12:40If it starts right, that'll have a huge effect on it.
12:42But whether or not these guys are going to run fuel to go for that two-stop strategy over three,
12:47and that'll make a big difference.
12:49You put enough fuel on these cars to do a two-stop strategy,
12:52and you're going to pay a penalty of around 0.7 seconds a lap for that extra fuel on board.
12:57And, of course, that's a huge amount of time to lose in this qualifying.
13:02Well, I think Nick Heidfeld definitely went that way.
13:04He's two seconds slow than he went this morning, so they obviously must be going for a two-stop strategy.
13:12And clean goes to B1 by 1.1 seconds.
13:16That's slow and he went this morning too, so they've got a bit more fuel on board.
13:24Boy, you can watch those tires working, getting dust kicked up in the air.
13:29They've got the car set relatively soft, and you can see the thing, like you say,
13:34but bouncing around at the back and a lot of plank smoke being thrown up from that FIA legality plank.
13:38In the back as well.
13:43Here comes Mark Webber in the other Jaguar.
13:46Webber understood to have signed a contract with Williams for next year.
13:54Mark Webber is reputed to have done a 1.17 in chains here in some testing earlier on in the
14:00season,
14:00but they haven't come even anywhere close to that this weekend.
14:04In fact, he hasn't broken 1.20.
14:06You heard him hit the rev limiter with that Cosworth engine just before turning into cops.
14:22That's the rain that's going to be coming in.
14:25But they may get this session over and done with before it arrives.
14:30Well, if they do, that'll be a scramble.
14:32Boy, won't they?
14:38But if it arrives just before the ending, Jenson Button going to be peed.
14:50That bridge, I mean, actually not so much as I hesitated as I was flat out the way.
14:55That's where Schumacher spun this morning on his left-handed.
15:02It's a much wider line than you've seen from other cars.
15:12Yeah, by a second and a half, he bumps his teammate.
15:17Now, that's quicker than last year's poll, and quicker than he was this morning.
15:21So that was a good time for Mark Webber.
15:24Yeah, mate, well, she's okay, you know.
15:26Got to get it done before it rains.
15:28Yeah, 120.310 this morning from Webber.
15:33The new contract with Williams may be a little bit premature.
15:36His option to get out of the last year of the Jaguar contract
15:39doesn't come up until the Hungarian round of the championship,
15:42but it seems a fait accompli that the team will not make the top six in the constructors,
15:47which triggers the clause.
15:49Here comes Mark Janais sitting in for the injured Ralph Schumacher at Williams BMW.
15:54Schumacher, of course, this weekend has been officially announced
15:57as a Toyota driver beginning next year under a three-year contract.
16:01Wiggle there from Janais.
16:02Yeah, quite a wiggle.
16:04Well, watching this car earlier on, the back end seemed very unstable.
16:08Something, again, they've been struggling with and trying to cure.
16:12A little season long, but they've still got problems with it.
16:14The track temperature has lifted up a little bit.
16:16We're now up to 93 degrees on track.
16:18And as you were pointing out earlier on, Bob, you can see there's a lot of sunshine around.
16:23Looks like he's got a lot of rear wing in it.
16:26It does look like a lot of rear wing, but it certainly doesn't look like a car with a lot
16:30of rear wing, does it?
16:32It's moving around a lot.
16:33Well, certainly that attempt, you can see, yeah, there is almost like a barn door of a rear wing on
16:37the car.
16:38Well, that's an attempt to try and keep the rear end stable.
16:44Changing up going through the bridge there.
16:50Well, Weber coming to the pit lane.
16:52I'm not sure why that's significant.
16:53Well, we have a car on the clock when they thought he was going to catch him.
17:01Could be good for second.
17:06Yeah, tribute to Weber's lap.
17:09Absolutely.
17:11Now that is significantly slower than he went this morning.
17:13Marc Gennet did an 18.8 this morning.
17:16And there's Mario Tyson, the engine man from BMW, looking on with a little bit of...
17:20Of course, we don't know how much fuel they've got on board either.
17:22But the car looked twitchy, didn't it?
17:24Yeah.
17:24Look at it all the way through there.
17:3030-year-old Spaniard on a week-to-week racing deal with his team.
17:36Oh, this is that...
17:38Brings on staggering G-loads from one way to the other.
17:42And as soon as you lift out, you've blown the complex.
17:45And it's going to cost you dearly in time.
17:48So, the first Williams BMW driver is in the field.
17:54Welcome back.
17:55Look at the skies around the Silverstone circuit in the Midlands of England
17:58as qualifying for the British Grand Prix continues here on Speed Channel.
18:07Live coverage of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.
18:10This week, they're in Kentucky for the built Ford Tough 225.
18:13And that's tonight at 8 p.m. Eastern, live and only here on Speed Channel.
18:21Now on track, this is Juan Pablo Montoya.
18:24A moment ago, you got another look at Mario Thiessen, the BMW engine man, studying the monitor.
18:28Just before we went to break, you peeked into the Williams garage
18:31and you saw the team's long-time technical director, Patrick Head, standing next to Mario Thiessen.
18:37Head turned around on his heel and walked away with the BMW garage right now is at an all-time
18:42high.
18:43Well, I think that was Mark Giné's time, which was two seconds slower than he went this morning.
18:47I don't think, by the way, they looked more fueling for the race, but possibly it was supposed to be
18:52two seconds slower than this morning.
18:54Because the car looked twitchy.
18:56And I tell you what, these early runners could have it made, just to look at that weather creeping ever
18:59closer.
19:00It could be as well that the guys have set the cars up with a lot more wing, believing that
19:06they're going to get rain tomorrow.
19:07And if they get rain tomorrow, of course, you're going to need that extra wing on it.
19:09That may be why the Williams looked a bit soft there, too.
19:12They may have, because we thought we saw the Ferrari people changing springs about half an hour ago.
19:17So I wonder if these guys are running a bit soft on the assumption that it could well rain tomorrow.
19:23See, the technical regulations, or actually the sporting regulations, governing wet weather and climatic changes are somewhat complex.
19:31But basically, if it starts to rain tomorrow, the guys are allowed to change the brake duct cooling to close
19:37the brake ducts down a little bit.
19:39And also the radiator cooling.
19:40You've got to run the wings that are on the car now.
19:43You've got to start the race with.
19:44So if they suspect it's going to be raining at the start of the race, you're going to have to
19:47crank more wing on to keep the car stable.
19:54Try it quick through that first sector.
20:04But only just a bit quicker than the Jaguar, and BMW Williams would be expecting a lot more in that
20:10first sector than that, I would have thought.
20:13Quite a bit faster.
20:14Yeah, set at the second.
20:15Yeah.
20:16This guy is all bravery in the car.
20:22He re-aggravated an injury to his neck and shoulder in that heavy crash in practice last week in France.
20:29But here he is.
20:32And to P1 at six tenths of a second, better than Mark Webber.
20:36And that is a good time, that 19.6.
20:39Sam Michael, the new technical director at Williams, who's been under enormous pressure.
20:44Now it's back.
20:47And here comes Michael, who has spun three times today, twice in this morning's two 45-minute practices, and once
20:54in his first attempt to put up a time in qualifying here at Silverstone.
21:00And David, as you said, we definitely saw the Ferrari mechanics, Michael's crew changing the torsion bars on the front
21:06of the chassis.
21:07And I'm guessing because of that spin this morning, probably going a little bit softer to try and just dial
21:12out the understeer on the car.
21:14Just make the car roll a little more, just give it a little bit more mechanical grip.
21:18And again, that could work out well tomorrow for the team if it starts to rain.
21:23But they're going to have to pay the sacrifice for it now in dry conditions.
21:25I think that's why we're seeing these, particularly the slow times, more than we should expect to see.
21:30A lot quicker through there than one Pablo Montoya or Mark Webber.
21:35Three-tenths of a second quicker through there.
21:37Whoa!
21:37Oh, he locked it up.
21:38He keeps on locking up those fronts when he breaks into these corners.
21:43Up towards Abbey.
21:44This is where Barrichello went off in the pre-qualifying run.
21:48Went straight on.
21:50Michael Schumacher gets around.
21:51That's where Michael Schumacher put a wheel over the edge last year and got himself down on the grid.
21:55And this is where he spun just a few moments ago, right here.
22:10The Hanging is not what they want.
22:14Bingo by six-tenths.
22:16Great third sector for Michael Schumacher.
22:18And 18-7.
22:20Which is quicker than he went this morning.
22:23And that's not a good sign for the field.
22:25Here's Ross Vaughn.
22:38Takuma Sato.
22:39The BAR Honda team hedged their bets in the opening round of single car, single lap qualifying.
22:45By letting Jensen Button go for a time.
22:48And there.
22:49Takuma Sato nearly came to a stop at start finish.
22:52In order to go early in the session.
22:54And give them their best shot at a possible pole for the British Grand Prix.
22:59But he's not there at intermediate one.
23:02Nearly a half second off Schumacher's pace.
23:05As Schumacher's pace, Bob, very quickly say 18-7.
23:08He did an 18-9 in the last free practice session this morning.
23:12So two tenths slower this morning.
23:15That smacks to me of having low fuel on board.
23:17I wonder whether or not these guys BAR are running that extra fuel for a two stopper.
23:21Yeah, yeah, the dude quickly went into that.
23:24Ooh, just look at those clouds coming too.
23:26So this does not bode well for Jensen Button who's going to run live.
23:32Nor for Kimi Raikkonen who a lot of people thought might get the pole.
23:34He's been quick all weekend in the new McLaren.
23:40Has a shot at the first two rows.
23:42He might get third if he has a good third segment here.
23:52Yes, but still nearly a second off of Schumacher.
23:56Well, Takuma Sato this weekend has just not been anywhere in the same league as Jensen Button.
24:01And everywhere else we've been this year, Takuma Sato has either been just about as quick as Jensen,
24:05or in some places quicker.
24:06But this weekend, he hasn't been anywhere near as quick,
24:09which is really unusual because he came out of that British Formula 3 championship.
24:12Well, and we're also hearing rumors that Honda, getting frustrated with Sato's six engine explosions
24:19in ten races thus far this year, may be detuning those engines slightly.
24:24We're not sure if it's both Sato and Button who are getting the treatment.
24:27Button's had no problems with engine failures.
24:30I'm wondering maybe if that's holding the Japanese driver back a little bit.
24:32That's probably the most likely explanation because this is, of all the circuits he's been on this year,
24:37this is the one he knows best.
24:38Here is Rubens Botticello, last year's pole sitter, also a spinner in the first session,
24:42and he is ahead at intermediate one.
24:45And there is the rain.
24:48A British financial newspaper this week published a stat that last year,
24:54working out the Ferrari budget, Ferrari spent over $100,000 per mile
25:00to take Michael Schumacher to his sixth world championship last year.
25:07It's a lot of dough, isn't it?
25:12Wow.
25:1380 to the margin.
25:15This is going to be a really hot time.
25:17He could be very low 18 or even into this first guy this weekend into the 17s.
25:22This may be the only track in Formula One where Barrichello has a better performance than his teammate.
25:27He has taken pole twice for this race to Michael's one.
25:30And he may be about to bump him, yeah, by four tenths.
25:35Wow.
25:36Wow.
25:36That is not edging the world champion.
25:39That is punting him.
25:41And that is the second fastest time of the weekend.
25:44Kimi Räikkönen this morning in the free practice did a 1.18.28.
25:50And that is the second fastest time of the weekend.
25:52So what do you think about fuel load on that one then, Steve?
25:55Boy, it's so...
25:57There are so many parameters to look at.
25:59Track conditions and what compound tire they've got on.
26:02It could be that Barrichello and Schumacher are not using the same compound tire.
26:07They're on Bridgestones, of course, but they're two different choices there.
26:10You'd have to say that Rubens is running less fuel than Michael,
26:13but Rubens is quick round here. Rubens likes the place.
26:16Always.
26:16He does.
26:17Yeah.
26:18Here's David Coulthard in the new McLaren MP4-19B.
26:24They have been very quick this weekend.
26:26His teammate Kimi Räikkönen has topped the timesheets
26:29in three of the four practice sessions.
26:40Half and nearly six tenths of a second off in that first sector where all the fast stuff is.
26:48David Coulthard, not a great lover of single lap qualifying.
26:52But he was third quick through that first sector.
27:11He's running a lot of fuel on board.
27:13He's cool.
27:14He's running a lot of fuel on board.
27:15I expected these guys going into this weekend.
27:17I expected McLaren to be quick and possibly go for pole.
27:20More for the publicity, to get positive publicity.
27:23Remember, this is McLaren's home race, of course, as a British team.
27:27With the problems they've had all season long, I thought they'd go for pole here.
27:32Eight tenths.
27:34Continued to lose time throughout the lap.
27:36But a 1.19.1, that's about two tenths off of what he did in the second practice this morning.
27:42But then again, there's always the factor of fuel.
27:45But he pushes Montoya down to fourth spot as he takes third.
27:51Pushes Sato down as well.
27:53So, Ron Dennis looking fairly, well...
27:58Ron Dennis-like.
27:59Like Ron Dennis, exactly.
28:01Now, the guy I think that would have gone for pole for the publicity is Kimi Räikkönen.
28:05And Kimi Räikkönen is quite a few cars before he runs because he did that real slowing down trick in
28:09his first session.
28:10And it could be that he's going to get caught out by the rain.
28:13There's a replay of one Pablo Montoya.
28:18This is a great shot.
28:20The world champion flying at you before ducking into cops at about 165 miles an hour.
28:39Welcome back.
28:40We've worked our way halfway through the field of 20 cars for Sunday's British Formula One Grand Prix.
28:45You'll see it live here on Speed Channel.
28:48Right now we're taking a bit of a television timeout before the next car on track,
28:52which should be Jolt Baumgartner with Dennis from the McLaren team staring stoically at the monitor as Baumgartner comes out.
29:03There's a new book been published by former ITV or British television pit reporter Beverly Turner.
29:08It's a tell-all book about Formula One.
29:10It's in all the newspapers alleging misogyny and sexism and scandal and profligate lifestyles and so on and so on
29:16and so on.
29:17Simply reaffirming what everybody already knew about Formula One.
29:19But in it she talks about Ron Dennis taking the Mercedes engine boss Norbert Haug to task for getting so
29:28excited last year when Kimi Raikkonen took pole.
29:31I believe it was at the Nurburgring or somewhere.
29:33Remember?
29:33Raikkonen's first pole and Haug started cheering and jumping around and banging his fist on the pit side monitors and
29:38all that sort of thing.
29:39Ron Dennis took him aside, Beverly would like us to believe, to say that's not the way we do things
29:45at McLaren.
29:48Norbert Haug no doubt said to him, that is the way I do things with my car and my driver
29:52have pole position.
29:54I remember it too beating on that desk.
29:56I mean it was very, very emotional to watch it and I mean quite right too.
30:00I mean it was Kimi Raikkonen's first pole, it was a great pole for Mercedes in front of the home
30:04crowd.
30:04Yeah.
30:04In front of the home crowd.
30:08Yeah, road.
30:09Just as good.
30:10I have.
30:12Perhaps that's why Ron Dennis is discussing retirement.
30:14Here's Paul Stoddart, the Minardi team owner.
30:17Australian airline magnet.
30:22And Zolt is having all kinds of problems.
30:26Zolt Baumgartner, the only Hungarian to ever restore the world championship point.
30:38But the very first Grand Prix, which was held in France in 1906, was in fact won by an Austrian.
30:47Not to be confused with a Hungarian.
30:50It was 12 laps.
30:52What did I say?
30:52You said Austrian.
30:53I meant Hungarian.
30:55The French Grand Prix, the very first Grand Prix was held in France.
30:58And it was 12 laps of a 64 mile lap track.
31:03Took 12 hours.
31:04Markable stuff.
31:06And the very first French Grand Prix was also held in France.
31:10Oh, boy.
31:10Oh, boy, isn't it?
31:12Boy, that weather.
31:13I bet everybody's got that old Tenson Button biting the goal in there.
31:16How about the guy on top of that camera stand, that cherry picker way up there in the sky?
31:20He's got to be watching those clouds, thinking, what are the chances of lightning from that puppy?
31:25I would say he's signaling down, OK, Japs, I'm going to come down now, I think.
31:29And they're saying, no, no, we've got all the control down here.
31:32It looks good.
31:32I don't think it's going to be a problem.
31:34You know, I don't want to take anything away from Minardi's engineering, but look at that wing,
31:38the little winglet on the air box, which is very similar to what a lot of teams have started running
31:42out now,
31:42Toyota and Ferrari particularly, and Renault.
31:45But the wing looks to me, it doesn't seem to be having any effect on the rest of the aerodynamics.
31:50It's kind of like, you know, we're going to bolt this on the car and see what happens.
31:55Everyone else has one, so we're going to as well.
31:56I think that's kind of what Minardi's philosophy is for that wing, yeah.
32:02And the team has overcome with exuberance and golf performance.
32:06Andrew Tilly, the engineer, right in the foreground there with a stubbly beard.
32:10He's had that stubbly beard for years.
32:12Seems to be quite a growing trend in form.
32:13One day, Rich has got it now. Stubby's got it as well.
32:17He spent a lot of time grooming that thing to look unkempt.
32:22They buy these special razors now, can't they?
32:24They hold themselves about an eighth of an inch off your face.
32:28Ridiculous.
32:29Jimmy Bruni in the other Minardi.
32:31Should be quicker than Zolt-Bahn-Gartner in the other car.
32:37Cosworth engine in both these cars.
32:39Cosworth, of course, just a bit off to our left in Northampton,
32:42which is obviously the sparkly shire town of Northampton.
32:47Watch this wing vibrate the windlet on the left of the shot there.
32:52Cosworth engine in the other car.
33:00Very difficult.
33:01Difficult part of the car to control because there's no structure to it, really.
33:05Although you've got to cope with the aerodynamic load.
33:07But, you have to be very careful,
33:09because you're not allowed to have any parts of the car that can move
33:13under the influence of aerodynamics.
33:15And although that's unintentional, the F.I.A. could still look at that and say,
33:18You know, guys, it's too much movement. You're out.
33:24Look at that steering input he's putting.
33:26You talk about steering input that Michael Schumacher's putting in about a tenth of this.
33:29These guys are struggling this whole thing all the way around.
33:33It's this buckled complex.
33:36Whoa! A lot of opposite lines.
33:38He keeps it under control.
33:40Coming to Woodcock.
33:41Look at that!
33:42He's not going to see her overseas, a whole lot.
33:44It's like a Silvercrown car without the grip.
33:51Well, in his new book, British driver Perry McCarthy talks about how a driver has to stay ahead of the
33:57car when he's racing at top speed.
33:59Boy, these Minardi guys are lucky just to live in the moment.
34:02We'll be back in a moment.
34:03Welcome back to qualifying for the British Grand Prix.
34:06This is Cristiano DeMotta driving for his job at Toyota now that Ralph Schumacher has been confirmed as a Toyota
34:15driver beginning next year.
34:16I'm Bob Varsha with David Hobbs and Steve Matchett.
34:19Let's see what the former Champ Car Star can do.
34:22Actually led this race last year for 17 laps.
34:26Well, if all things go according to plan for Toyota, this will be the last appearance of the TF104 in
34:31disguise for the German Grand Prix.
34:34They have a new chassis, a new moulded chassis and a new car coming.
34:38Whether or not they call it the TF105 or the TF104B, I'm not sure yet, but they need it.
34:45They need the aerodynamics to work a lot better on the car.
34:48They definitely need a B, a B car, don't they?
34:52Yeah.
34:52They've got one coming, supposedly by the German Grand Prix, now just a few weeks away.
35:07Talk about a team spending cubic dollars per mile.
35:11Perhaps it's more appropriate to measure cubic dollars by point with Toyota.
35:17That's the biggest and richest team in Formula One at the moment.
35:22A top ten for DeMotta for the moment.
35:28Yeah, these guys, Toyota, when you talk about money and budgets and that sort of thing,
35:32I mean, they can out-budget everybody here by a factor of two to one, probably.
35:38Flavio Briatore looking to the skies.
35:40We're getting reports of raindrops in the pits.
35:44There's Ross Braun.
35:47Everything going according to plan?
35:49Everything going very much according to plan at the moment.
35:51We've got an old Ferrari front row.
35:52Yes, indeed.
35:54Here's Fernando Alonso.
35:56He, too, will pay a ten grid spot penalty for an engine change.
36:00Look at that sky.
36:04Apache Sunshine here.
36:06Welcome to Britain in the summertime.
36:07Sight I've seen many times of skies like that.
36:12Alonso, of course, is going to be penalized at ten spots on the grid for changing the engine.
36:16Yesterday, they were reporting that they only had an alternator problem
36:18and therefore could change the ancillary on the engine and wouldn't be penalized.
36:22Later, it was revealed that they had to change the engine in the end.
36:25So, unfortunately for Alonso, despite what could be a great qualifying performance, the rules are going to have him over.
36:32Well, the only thing to be said for that, it's very, very unfortunate for Alonso, but, boy, these Renaults make
36:37great starts.
36:39And even if he is down the grid, he'd probably pick up about four spots before they get to Copse
36:42on the first lap.
36:43Now, seeing that rain come, as you can see, this is a pretty wide track, this is especially after...
36:48But, it's very flat, and it puddles badly.
36:52So, if it does rain, this is a nasty racetrack from that point of view.
36:55It puddles up badly, which could lead to very nasty aquaplanes.
37:01He's looking at P3, and if it were to rain right now, that spot would be occupied by Jenson Button
37:07using his first session time.
37:09If it came to that, well, in fact, it won't.
37:19I agree with what you're thinking, that really they should have an aggregate time with the two sessions
37:23to prevent all this ridiculous slowing down.
37:25It just ruins the spectacle, but I can't blame the teams.
37:28You have to blame the rules.
37:30The teams are out to do the best job they can.
37:33The teams keep saying, you know, you've got to be careful what you're doing with the regulations.
37:37Here's the guy.
37:38He's got the dry Kimi Räikkönen, fastest man of the weekend so far,
37:43in two of the four sessions.
37:45Actually, three of the four.
37:46Three of the four sessions.
37:47Topped by a 1.18.280.
37:51I think going on Steve's logic, they may well sacrifice the race tomorrow,
37:56to a certain extent, to try and make sure that he does get on the pole.
38:01A year ago, he chased Michael Schumacher to the last race of the year
38:06before the championship was decided.
38:08As of this weekend, Kimi Räikkönen has been mathematically eliminated from title contention
38:13and we're just past halfway.
38:14And that is not even good enough for, to edge out Michael or Alonso.
38:20Fourth quick at the first split.
38:24So, maybe they're going to sacrifice grid position for race position.
38:31That would be more like Ron Dennis' way, I would think.
38:34The only thing that matters is Sunday.
38:37Needs a couple of tents.
38:39Boy, Jensen's button must be.
38:41Be front row.
38:41He could split the Ferraris.
38:46Crowd comes alive for one of the home teams.
38:51Worst.
38:52Wow.
38:53What a third segment out of Kimi Räikkönen.
38:55Oh, Ron Dennis is smiling.
38:57Careful, Ron.
38:58Careful.
38:58Good Lord.
38:59That third sector must have been absolute dynamite
39:02because he was half a second off in the first sector.
39:04Well, he had the fastest middle sector we've seen.
39:07The 33.5.
39:09Look at that.
39:10An 18.233.
39:11That's quicker than he went this morning.
39:15What do you make of that?
39:17Is the car genuinely that quick?
39:18I just can't see it.
39:20They haven't done enough development work on the car for it to be that quick.
39:23Well, if it is that quick with the lack of development it's had so far,
39:26it's going to throw down a tremendous gauntlet to everybody else.
39:29Look how slow Kimi Räikkönen is going on this cool-down lap now,
39:33trying to preserve fuel.
39:35Remember, they are not allowed to put any more fuel into these cars
39:37until the race is underway.
39:39That kind of indicates to me they are running very, very light on fuel.
39:44Yeah.
39:44Last week when they introduced the car, Manny Coor,
39:46where they had not tested, as opposed to Silverstone, where they had,
39:49David Coulthard said,
39:51we think we're on a par with everyone else on fuel, but I'm not so sure.
39:55Jensen Button looks on as he gets ready to go out and defend his fast time
39:59from the first session.
40:01Look at one of the Minardis in replay.
40:04Stand by.
40:05We'll be back in a moment.
40:06And Yarno Trulli and the Renault will be up next.
40:10Welcome back.
40:11There is Kimi Räikkönen on a day of slow laps at Silverstone.
40:14None are slower than this, as the provisional pole sitter creeps around to conserve fuel.
40:20And the crowd salutes him.
40:24Into Parc-Fermet he goes with the new McLaren Mercedes.
40:30We're in another FIA hold for the television broadcasters.
40:34Jensen Button, fast man in the first session, knows what he has to do.
40:37Be sure to join us tomorrow for live coverage of the British Grand Prix here on Speed.
40:42We'll begin at 7.30 a.m. Eastern with the Acura Pre-Ratio featuring Peter Windsor.
40:46This week, Peter will give us an update on the silly season,
40:48and he'll also give us his predictions on who will be driving where next year.
40:52Again, that's tomorrow morning, 7.30 Eastern, live on Speed, but subject to blackout.
41:01I reckon it seems a little agitated, but he didn't shove anybody this time.
41:07Here comes Yarno Trulli.
41:09Yarno Trulli's been quicker than Alonso most of the weekend.
41:14And as we've seen in all of the tracks so far this season with the R24 chassis,
41:19it works very well in the twisting, the winding section.
41:22We saw exactly that last week at the French Grand Prix of Magna Corp.
41:25And Alonso's time, very quick, he actually matched Michael Schumacher's time,
41:29both on a 19.9 through the third sector.
41:32Kimi Räikkönen, just a tad quicker, 0.3 quicker through the third sector, 19.6 for Räikkönen.
41:38Which, you know, it's just more, it's more indication of how good the chassis is.
41:44And as we keep saying, once they get that horsepower problem sorted
41:47and they get more reliable horsepower,
41:50these are going to be a real threat to Ferrari.
41:54Poor McLaren.
41:55Yeah, right.
41:56The way Kimi Räikkönen is going.
41:57This could be a pretty good lap from Trulli.
41:59A very good lap.
42:01Paul Ollano Trulli suffering an incredible amount of flack at the moment
42:05for letting in with Barrichello, who on the last corner last week,
42:07in spite of winning the Monte Carlo Grand Prix,
42:10the most prestigious race of all, from pole.
42:13He seems to have forgotten all about that already.
42:15You're only as good as your last race.
42:16That's the thing, yeah.
42:17And his last one was not very good,
42:19despite running third for nearly the entire race
42:22until that next to last corner.
42:24He slots into P4 on the provisional grid
42:27behind Michael Schumacher and ahead of his teammate, Fernando Alonso.
42:30And, okay, Jarno, you're off the hook for the moment.
42:34There's Kimi Räikkönen, provisional pole sitter.
42:38Turned in a terrific lap in the new McLaren Mercedes.
42:41But again, we don't know how much fuel was on board.
42:43And once again, bright sunshine over Silverstone.
42:47The only man that could possibly dislodge Kimi Räikkönen is Jensen Button.
42:50And I don't think Jensen can do it, but he could.
42:54He could just about on the front row,
42:56but he'd have to do a quicker time than he's done all weekend so far.
43:00This is Giorgio Pantano in the Jordan.
43:04There are rumors Eddie Jordan has sold a significant shareholding in his team
43:09to a group of businessmen from the Middle East.
43:13I think we're going to see a lot of that in the future in Formula 1.
43:28We're just going to the start of Jens is going to handle a comparison to the others,
43:32but in fact, on that stage, it wasn't working too bad at all.
43:38It hunts so badly going into corners though somehow.
43:41It's just, what's that?
43:43There it is, yeah.
43:45Heidfeld seemed to be having a much more difficult time than Pantano.
43:49Whoa, until there.
43:50I was going to say Pantano.
43:51It doesn't look like he's having a relaxing lap here.
43:55I think it's when we go on board it needs to work worse.
43:58Take the on board shot off.
44:00Stage fright.
44:01It seems a lot more stable.
44:02Oh, I withdraw my previous comment.
44:05To the line comes Pantano.
44:08Thirteenth.
44:09Quicker than his teammate.
44:11By a pretty narrow margin.
44:14Just about two tenths.
44:17We have another burning up.
44:18Olivier Panis and the Toyota.
44:41We have another burning up here for the independent car that is quoted by Mr.
44:42There didn't either.
44:42There's going to try it again.
44:42It's working with him.
44:46There's going to Morganasil he's giving over it,
44:46but it's uselessly and he fails to get.
44:47He wants to pick it up one moreствие.
44:47In the way around there,
44:51he wants to give hisladical angel.
44:51but as well.
44:55It's just a l政est that are the L §üm through.
45:01There's a
45:03Toyota have managed but eight points and already eliminated from the Constructors
45:08Championship in any chance of winning it whatever would happen mathematically
45:12throughout the remainder of the season. Eight points to 158.
45:20Slightly slower than his teammate Cristiano De Mata losing all kinds of
45:25time. And of course this basically is a shootout as you said for their job if
45:29the rumors are true that Ralph Schumacher really has signed for Toyota which
45:33seems to be that Toyota made some sort of half-hearted announcement about it on
45:36Tuesday then the one remaining spot is going to go to one of these two guys
45:41because there's not talking to taking anybody else on. In the Williams BMW. Boy
45:46that would make old Patrick Head's face even more twisted than normal. He and Mario
45:51Tyson from BMW. I don't think that Jenson Button is going to be able to do an 18-2 I
45:56really don't. Button is two drivers from now. Right now here is Felipe Massa the
46:00Brazilian in the Sauber.
46:05Put in some startlingly quick laps from time to time but overall they don't seem
46:09that quick and of course they do go for the two-stop strategy so he's probably
46:13carrying more fuel than most people. Bad at all.
46:25That's where he disappeared off the road yesterday. Only one man left to run after Felipe Massa and that is
46:30Jenson Button.
46:30Is that a car slowing down in front of him? It is too. Yeah. That's Pennis up ahead.
46:35Ooh. Ooh that made him pinch that line. He won't be happy with that. That screwed his line big time
46:39into the Abbey chicane.
46:41Pennis of course doing your trick of going around slowly to save fuel for the mile.
46:44That's exactly what he's doing. Conserving as much fuel as possible in a very slow in-lap combined with a
46:51very slow
46:51reconnaissance lap to the grid and the formation lap just prior to the start. Remember that's four laps of fuel
46:57you can conserve.
46:57That's good enough for one flat-out racing lap. Now then, Felipe Massa is going to be doing the same
47:02thing.
47:03Will he get in front of Jenson Button? Well, darn poetic justice.
47:09Look at Peter Sauber. Massa comes around and bumps Olivier Panis, the man who held him up on the road.
47:18Peter Sauber giving it a rueful smile. Perhaps they won't protest that lap.
47:27Jel, here we go.
47:28Put some pressure on Jenson Button. He's been waiting and waiting to go out.
47:33The reins look more and more threatening even though his team manager and owner David Richards said it's for Al
47:38Jenson here.
47:39Home crowd. Everybody expecting him.
47:42All the papers, the English papers.
47:45And Al Jenson is just...
47:49Just trying it harder.
47:52He's quicker than the first intermediate.
48:00Oh, these clouds around the truck.
48:02Look at them.
48:14They're...
48:15Topping too a bit.
48:17All those making the air thicker to go through.
48:22Look at that Honda up there.
48:24Nearly 19,000.
48:25There's the second split coming up.
48:27Oh, he lost time.
48:29Only 57,000 still.
48:32But this is where I reckon it was really quick through this last second.
48:36Slight bubble.
48:39You've got to get on it.
48:40You've got to get on it now.
48:43Hands on their feet to the line.
48:45He comes in.
48:47Through that first sector.
48:48There's no doubt about that.
48:49But that's the horsepower part of the track right there.
48:51There's his fiancée, Louise Griffiths.
48:55In fact, griffs and butts apparently have bumped Posh and Beck from the society pages in all the British newspapers.
49:03But there's the man of the hour, Kimi Räikkönen.
49:07What a rollercoaster season he's had.
49:09After all that disappointment in the first half with his new car, he is on pole.
49:14And Ross Braun can only laugh about it.
49:16Well, that's his third pole.
49:18Had one at Indianapolis last year.
49:20And he was also at the Nürburgring last year.
49:22He was on the pole.
49:25There are the standings.
49:27A pole, not only Räikkönen and McLaren, but for Michelin over rivals Bridgestone.
49:32Rubens Bottichello, last year's pole sitter in second.
49:35Then Jensen Button, who gave it a great effort.
49:37And he will start on row two alongside the world champion.
49:41And he'll have the clean side.
49:43And look at those clouds coming.
49:45Oh, wow.
49:45David Richards said it wouldn't rain.
49:47Proved to be absolutely right.
49:50But it will rain.
49:52On a cold, gray summer afternoon in the Midlands with the weight of England on his shoulders.
49:58Our gents fought the good fight and came up just short.
50:04You see the second half of the starting grid.
50:09I guess the Sauber team will take that lap from Felipe Massa.
50:13Of course, Giancarlo Fisichella posted no time.
50:16And he was very quick.
50:18Fisichella is making it a bit of a...
50:21Habit.
50:22But I don't think that realistically he thought he was going to get the pole.
50:26Because Kimi Reikkonen has been so quick all weekend.
50:29But those rumors we heard about Honda, perhaps a few revs out of the engine for longevity,
50:35are true.
50:35And they apply to both drivers, Sato and Button.
50:38And perhaps Jensen...
50:53To the regulations, even if they have to do it a little bit surreptitiously, so to speak.
50:57So I think they could lift the revs up for the qualifying session and drop it back for race durability.
51:30But nevertheless, not a bad performance at all from Jensen.
51:32They have access to the cars to download data and, of course, upload code into the car as well.
51:39Well, that's good news for Kimi Reikkonen.
51:40Also did a great job for the fourth time in five starts with the Ferrari team here at Silverstone.
51:46And Rubens Barrichello has out-qualified the world champion, Michael Schumacher.
51:51Yeah, only the second time this year that Michael Schumacher has not been on the front row.
51:55Congratulations to the fastest three qualifiers for the Fosters British Grand Prix.
51:57Third and fastest for Scuderia, Ferrari Marlborough, Rubens Barrichello.
52:00And on the pole for West McLaren Mercedes, Kimi Reikkonen, his third career pole.
52:05Kimi, it didn't seem to be too long ago that you failed in the MP4 19.
52:09Now we have the 19B.
52:10The car's obviously a quantum leap forward.
52:12Yeah, definitely since we run it first time in here on testing in Silverstone, it felt it straightaway better.
52:18And we hopefully we start to get results now.
52:21I think so last race we had the potential, but after bad qualifying, all went a little bit bad.
52:27But this weekend has been very good.
52:30The car is good to drive and hopefully we can have a strong race also.
52:35Well, you were quickest yesterday afternoon, quickest in the two sessions this morning.
52:38It's looking very, very good for you.
52:39Yeah, the balance has been good all the way through the weekend.
52:43And what can I say, I'm very happy for me and for the team because we had a really hard
52:48start of the season.
52:50So it's good to get some results finally.
52:52And it's just the first few races now with the new car.
52:57And for sure we can improve and make it even quicker.
53:00So I'm looking forward for the rest of the season.
53:03Well, as it happened, of course, it didn't rain in qualifying.
53:06Do you think where you went out for qualifying hurt you in any way?
53:08Do you think you could have gone even quicker if you'd gone out at the end?
53:11I don't think that the last six, seven cars doesn't really make a big difference anymore.
53:16At this circuit, some circuits can make a big difference, but I wouldn't say that it made for me any
53:23difference.
53:25Well done.
53:26Rubens, another good performance at Silverstone.
53:28You're very good here.
53:29Outqualified Michael now four out of the five times you've been driving for Ferrari at Silverstone.
53:34How's your weekend been so far?
53:36It's been quite good.
53:38The car has been working fantastically well.
53:41We were on a very good lap in qualifying.
53:45I think, you know, the sector one was magic.
53:47I really enjoyed that.
53:49And then the car maybe started to slide a little bit more towards the end of the lap,
53:55and I lost time into the sector three.
53:57A little bit more would have been enough.
54:00But even so, it was a good lap, and I'm happy.
54:04Sliding a little bit towards the end of the lap, does that have any meaning for the race tomorrow in
54:07terms of how the handling is going to go?
54:09No, I mean, in terms of race pace, we were quite good this morning.
54:13And it was on the new tire that we had to take a compromise.
54:19But on the used set, it seems that the car is just getting better.
54:23So that's quite promising for tomorrow.
54:27Jensen, a dramatic build-up to your qualifying run.
54:30First of all, talk us through those last few minutes while you're putting on your helmet.
54:34The storm clouds were building up.
54:36Twenty minutes to go, five cars to run in that last batch.
54:39Yeah, it was a bit of a close one to call, really.
54:42But I think strategy-wise, we did very well with the weather, and it's good to be in the top
54:50three here.
54:51Obviously, we all want to be on pole, but it's a good position to start the race tomorrow, and I'm
54:57looking forward to it.
54:58The team seemed to be saying yesterday they weren't incredibly happy with the handling of the car at that point.
55:03Where are you at now with the chassis, and how do you think things are going to go tomorrow?
55:07Well, the balance is a lot better than yesterday.
55:10We're still not exactly where we would like to be, but it's improved over the last two test sessions today.
55:20So, yeah, it puts us in good shape for tomorrow.
55:23And just talk us through that qualifying lap. How did it go from your point of view?
55:27It was okay. I mean, it's very windy out there. It's the same for all of us.
55:32And in Beckett's, I had a very good run through, and the car was very good.
55:36And then when I got to some other high-speed parts of the circuit, I found that the car was
55:40very different there.
55:41I can only put it down to the wind, really.
55:43But it wasn't a bad lap, so I'm reasonably happy with it.
55:47I don't think there was much more left in the car.
55:50Congratulations.
55:51Kimi, how do you see the race going tomorrow, particularly if the weather is changeable?
55:55What are your thoughts on a wet race or perhaps rain at some points of the race?
56:01I don't know. We had a few years ago in here a very difficult race when it was raining and
56:05drying up
56:05and all sorts of different conditions.
56:07So, for sure, it will make it more difficult for everyone.
56:10And I'm not sure where we're standing on the Michelin wet tire right now against Bridgestone
56:17because I don't even remember when I have used them last time.
56:20So, I think they definitely are stronger or better than last year.
56:24But it depends also how much it rains or does it rain at all.
56:29So, we need to see how it goes tomorrow.
56:32And I think we should have a pretty strong car in the race.
56:36And I'm expecting to have good results.
56:39Great. Now, if we could have a few words from you and finish.
56:43Kimi Räikkönen, the classic deer-in-the-headlights interview subject.
56:46But those were actually good comments from him, I thought.
56:48All things considered, we'll be back to Silverstone in a moment.