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Qualifying for Round 18 of the 2004 F1 season at Sao Paulo.
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00:00:12Of all the racetracks in the Formula One World Driving Championship, the one that annually produces the most surprises is
00:00:19the Interlagos circuit in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
00:00:22This year, for the first time, hosting the final round of the Formula One season. Hello, everyone. I'm Bob Varsha,
00:00:28along with Steve Matchett and David Hobbs.
00:00:30We are ready for final qualifying for the final round of the 2004 season.
00:00:36Now, surprises we have had aplenty this morning, starting with spectacular speeds and followed up by, well, let's just go
00:00:44back to the highlights of the first round of single car, single lap qualifying and try to give you some
00:00:49idea.
00:00:50Notice the bottom of your screen. Race control attempts are being made to catch this rogue canine.
00:00:56Actually, there were two dogs that somehow got loose on the racetrack, and things were held up while they were
00:01:01captured.
00:01:01Michael Schumacher thought that was all very funny, but with two minutes to go in the second free practice this
00:01:06morning, he wasn't laughing when his Ferrari did this.
00:01:09Not often you see Michael Schumacher do an overcorrection like that, going through the Ferradura, that uphill.
00:01:14He's okay, as you can see, having a close look at the car, but a close look won't help that
00:01:17one much.
00:01:18It's badly damaged, definitely in the second-hand car lot.
00:01:22Yeah, he won't be using that car in real qualifying.
00:01:24He'll have to go to the back-up, the T-car, which is exactly what the world champion did.
00:01:28Rolling out on the T-car as the first man on track, having won the last round in Japan, and
00:01:33he posted the time they all would shoot for.
00:01:351.10.1, a new lap record to that point.
00:01:38Then his brother came along and just was pipped, as you can see, taking second spot.
00:01:43Then Takuma Sato comes along and turned out a very good lap.
00:01:46He's been quick all weekend.
00:01:47De Biel Hondas have been here.
00:01:49He ended up third.
00:01:50He ended up sixth at the end of the session.
00:01:52Then Juan Pablo Montoya came out much later on and set an absolutely cracking time, being the fastest through most
00:01:59of the session.
00:02:00And then Giancarlo Fittichella out on the C23 Sauber.
00:02:05He would finish ninth in that first session with a 1.10.467.
00:02:10But then Massa, amazingly quick, 201.4 miles an hour through the speed track.
00:02:16Great job for him.
00:02:16He would finish third on the day.
00:02:18Rubens Barrichella, hometown hero in the F2004, would not disappoint his home crowd in the provisional qualifying.
00:02:26109.822.
00:02:27Absolutely stunningly quick lap.
00:02:29And he had this crowd going absolutely bonkers.
00:02:33But that was only half of the job.
00:02:35It doesn't count except to set this order on your screen for the grid-setting second round of single car,
00:02:41single lap.
00:02:42We go in reverse order from slowest to fastest.
00:02:44Jolt Baumgartner in the lowly minority Cosworth was still a tenth of a second quicker than Rubens Barrichella's Ferrari-authored
00:02:52pole position for this race just a year ago.
00:02:55They have been absolutely flying around this track.
00:02:58One of the shortest of the season.
00:03:00Just over 2.6 miles, but it seems longer until you look up at the scoreboard and see the times
00:03:07these teams produce.
00:03:38So there is the final running order.
00:03:38So there is a double apex left-hander, then a climb up to Ferradura, which is where we saw Schumacher
00:03:43come unglued.
00:03:44Still going uphill through 8 and 9, very steeply uphill to 10.
00:03:49There's a tight corners.
00:03:50You need a lot of wing there.
00:03:51You really do.
00:03:52Then you start to go downhill steeply through that Magura, which is a left-hander sweeping downhill.
00:03:56Then you start to climb through Puncao, and then through 13, 14, and 15.
00:04:01It's a flat-out blind from 13 all the way back to the start-finish line, where you could really
00:04:04do with no wing at all.
00:04:05And it's very bumpy everywhere.
00:04:07And, of course, it's counterclockwise, which you guys aren't used to.
00:04:09So the old necks getting stretched a different direction today.
00:04:13There's one Pablo Montoya, for whom this is pretty much a home race.
00:04:16A lot of Colombian flags being waved in the grandstand.
00:04:19And, by the way, I'll try to give you the English translation of those corner names.
00:04:23The murdering of the Portuguese language, which is a very pretty language, but not when spoken by myself.
00:04:30Our thanks to alert listener Daniel Thorstensen Assis out in California, who sent us the Portuguese translation.
00:04:38There is Solt Baumgartner, the Hungarian, in perhaps his last Formula One race.
00:04:43He bought the seat with Minardi Cosworth, as so many drivers before him did.
00:04:48Final round of the season.
00:04:49Final chance to impress.
00:04:50Lots of drivers driving for their careers this weekend.
00:04:54We'll be back to start qualifying in a moment.
00:04:59The Brazilian Grand Prix track map is brought to you by Porsche.
00:05:03Porsche.
00:05:04There is no substitute.
00:05:09Welcome back to the Autorromo Jose Carlos Pache.
00:05:12Pache in Sao Paulo, Brazil, as Solt Baumgartner takes his Minardi Cosworth on track.
00:05:17Pache, a Brazilian driver who won the Brazilian Grand Prix back in 1975, but tragically was killed in a plane
00:05:23crash two years later, and the track was named for him.
00:05:27We've seen some great races here, some amazing accidents.
00:05:32No victory more dramatic than the late Ayrton Senna's first victory after seven years of trying back in 1991.
00:05:40Rubens Botticella will try to make more history for his home crowd this weekend.
00:05:47We'll give you a look at the weather conditions as we begin final qualifying.
00:05:51Warm 82 degrees.
00:05:53Not bad humidity for this time of year.
00:05:55It is fall.
00:05:56This was normally a spring race on the calendar, and the climactic change has led to a lot of adjustments
00:06:02by the teams.
00:06:03That and the 700 meter altitude.
00:06:05I'm afraid you're backwards, Bob.
00:06:06It's spring there.
00:06:07It was fall.
00:06:08Well, it's the other end of the world.
00:06:10It was absolutely.
00:06:10Of course it is.
00:06:11It's upside down.
00:06:12Right.
00:06:12It used to be a fall race for them, spring race for us.
00:06:16Now, we, both of you chaps are absolutely right.
00:06:19The weather is going to play a crucial role, I think, in this qualifying session.
00:06:24It's talking to some of the engineers.
00:06:24Sun coming out now, though.
00:06:25Look at those shadows.
00:06:26Talking to some of the engineers in the pit lane yesterday after the practice session.
00:06:30They say they are expecting rain, possibly about 82% possibility chance of rain coming in the race tomorrow.
00:06:37Now, bear in mind that what you've got to qualify with, the settings on the car, you're going to have
00:06:41to race.
00:06:42So, do these guys want to run considerably more wing on the car?
00:06:47Expecting it to rain tomorrow, which is going to give them a lot of traction and performance around the track.
00:06:52But it will cost them in qualifying.
00:06:54Or, you take the wing off and try and maximize your position on the track and really push the car
00:07:00to try and get up to the front row of the grid.
00:07:02And as you can see from Baumgartner's car, there's a lot of elevation change on this track.
00:07:07And, of course, it does lead to water running across the track, which caught out so many people last year,
00:07:12including, of course, Michael Schumacher.
00:07:15And so, this is not a good place for the rain.
00:07:18It's not.
00:07:19And when it rains in Brazil, it does tend to rain pretty heavily, too.
00:07:22The other thing that this, it may have a big effect in qualifying.
00:07:25We could see some strange results in qualifying today.
00:07:29If it rains tomorrow, of course, and the race director, Charlie Whiting, puts up the changing climatic conditions board.
00:07:36They are allowed to change to dry weather, to wet weather tyres and mess around with the brake duct cooling,
00:07:43the radiator cooling, to get the car to work better as the temperature drops.
00:07:47But, my understanding is that the Michelins, the soft Michelins, have been blistering a little bit around here.
00:07:54Both BAR and Renault have been struggling with it a little bit, and they're going to have to go onto
00:07:58the hard compound tyres.
00:07:59However, if they think it's going to rain tomorrow, they could probably risk that and keep onto the dry tyres.
00:08:04They will give up in the race, but it would get them up to the top of the grid in
00:08:08qualifying.
00:08:0913.5 for Baumgartner.
00:08:11He gives up a half second over the time he's set in the first round of single car.
00:08:15His Minardi now set up for race conditions.
00:08:18There's a look in at Timo Glock.
00:08:23His team owner, Eddie Jordan, says he doesn't think Glock is ready for prime time as a racing driver yet,
00:08:29but I think he's done a terrific job.
00:08:31He started three races, finished all three, and scored points in one at Canada, where he sat in for Giorgio
00:08:37Pantano.
00:08:38And that car has been an absolute pig all season, Bob, as we've all been saying.
00:08:42So, for Glock to be able to actually get the thing to the end of the race, I think in
00:08:45itself is quite an achievement.
00:08:47One of the mechanics here wearing is Lance Armstrong Yellow Band, as is our Bob Pua.
00:08:55Now, Gianmaria Bruni has not come out of the Minardi Garage, as Baumgartner completes his cool-down lap.
00:09:02So, it appears Bruni will not come out.
00:09:04We don't know if that's an engine change.
00:09:06He's asked, he'll have to move to the back of the grid.
00:09:08Which is where he was bound to start anyway, so.
00:09:12Although it raises a serious point.
00:09:14There you see a shot of the garage.
00:09:16His car on the left, no driver in it.
00:09:19We may see more than Minardi options to start toward the back and leave themselves until the very last minute
00:09:26to adjust their car for whatever conditions we have on race day.
00:09:30Well, as you can see, the sun's shining there, but an 82% forecast is pretty sort of stout, isn't
00:09:36it?
00:09:37It is, and the way the rules are structured this year, not being able to change the wing configuration on
00:09:42the car.
00:09:44Now, the reason for that, while we went into this curious regulation of not being able to touch the cars
00:09:49after qualifying and putting them into part firm A,
00:09:52was to prevent the teams from producing qualifying special cars, knowing that they were just going to do one flying
00:09:58lap.
00:09:59If you left the team to their own devices, and those with enough budget, certainly McLaren, Williams, Ferrari,
00:10:04they were quite capable of producing very lightweight chassis, with no engine cooling, very little lubrication into the engine.
00:10:11They would just be really a flat-out one-lap special that would be wrecked, scrap, at the end of
00:10:16the qualifying.
00:10:17So to get around that, Max Motors on this constant drive of reducing cost, reducing cost.
00:10:22They said, you know, you have to qualify the car, and it must stop in that condition.
00:10:27We're going to put in M Park for May.
00:10:28You can touch next to nothing on the car, and that is the car you must race.
00:10:32It was Nick Heidfeld, pondering his future.
00:10:35Of course, the FIA have become totally preoccupied with safety, which is one of the reasons they're going to go
00:10:40to this smaller engine,
00:10:41which is going to cost an absolute fortune for everybody.
00:10:44But they do have these slightly quirky regulations where you can't change the wing angle from dry to pour in
00:10:51with rain.
00:10:51Well, boys, you know, that's what you chose yesterday.
00:10:54That's what you're stuck with.
00:10:56That's why they talk about safety, so somewhat odd.
00:10:59That was the headline this weekend.
00:11:01The FIA will impose new rules in the name of safety, which they can do under the Concord Agreement,
00:11:07the written contract that governs the running of Formula One.
00:11:10Beginning next March, new aerodynamic rules.
00:11:13Two sets of tires per weekend.
00:11:15One for practice, one for qualifying in the race.
00:11:18New aerodynamic rules to raise the front wing, bring the rear wing forward,
00:11:22chop down to the bodywork around the rear wheels and the diffusers
00:11:25to try to reduce downforce by 20% while not adding drag.
00:11:29And then in January of 06, the 2.4-liter V8 engines will replace the 3-liter V10s
00:11:35in all except the privateer teams, such as this one, the Jordan squad,
00:11:40which will be allowed to use the V10s, but they'll be rev-limited to a degree yet to be determined.
00:11:46So a great facelift apparently coming for Formula One next season and in the seasons beyond.
00:11:54The old Jordan, as some of those head-on shots showed, still got that awful switch as it goes into
00:12:02corners.
00:12:02Just can't imagine that, but now to track that down as the years gone on.
00:12:08And Glock takes over provisional pole by 48 thousandths of a second over Jolt Bromgardner.
00:12:13We'll be back in a moment. Christian Kleen and the Jaguar up next.
00:12:22Welcome back to the Interlagos circuit on a beautiful fall day north of the equator,
00:12:27spring day to the south, where Brazil is.
00:12:30This is Christian Kleen now on the clock in the Jaguar.
00:12:39This may be the young Austrian's final race. The future of the team is in limbo.
00:12:45Jaguar is up for sale, as is Ford's Cosworth Racing Engine Division.
00:12:50And Kleen, well ahead of the pace set by Timo Glock, the current provisional pole sitter.
00:12:56Christian Kleen, the man who's almost certainly without a drive next year.
00:13:00Let's watch him on board for a moment.
00:13:02Word from the way.
00:13:13That's where it starts to go downhill.
00:13:15This is a tricky corner, this one here, especially when it's wet.
00:13:18It's water runs across it, and you've got no camera to help you at all.
00:13:21It's Mergulo, the dive.
00:13:24And this is the uphill climb all the way to the pit, all the way to turn one, really.
00:13:30And it's pretty steep.
00:13:31But you'll see from the board marks there for this place, how, yeah, just quite Glock.
00:13:37They talk about safety, too.
00:13:38I mean, I think the pit entry here, and the way that everybody apexes right through the middle of it,
00:13:43is quite extraordinary.
00:13:44It is a very long pit in and pit out here into Lagos.
00:13:50That would usually indicate...
00:13:51You can't see right now.
00:13:52No, you can't.
00:13:52You can't.
00:13:53From last year's huge crash there.
00:13:54No, you come around there at blindingly fast speed, like, what, 264 kph, 170 odd miles an hour.
00:14:03Well, let's see who he is.
00:14:04He comes around, look.
00:14:05This is what...
00:14:06This is the view you've got.
00:14:07Wham!
00:14:08And there it is.
00:14:09Very little.
00:14:10Very glamorous.
00:14:11This is Nick Heidfeld, the German, still muttering over his own fortunes in Formula One.
00:14:17He's considered one of Mercedes' rising stars.
00:14:22And all that's in the dim pass for our next day.
00:14:26He's done, I think.
00:14:26He's going to have to look for other alternative employment.
00:14:30Champ car, IRL, sports cars.
00:14:34He does have one career podium finish and came here back in 2001.
00:14:45He's made a Michael Usset this morning.
00:14:52A little bit of a downhill run here.
00:14:55It's a long, long, long, long left-hander.
00:14:57It is.
00:14:57And these left-handers, of course, the drivers aren't used to so many left-handers.
00:15:01There's a...
00:15:01What is there?
00:15:02There's seven left-handers here.
00:15:05It's tough on the old neck.
00:15:07A lot of understeer on these corners.
00:15:09Well, right there, that's the corner that induces the understeer on the car.
00:15:12There's absolutely no camber to help you.
00:15:13You're going downhill.
00:15:15Now, here, you've got everything going for you because you're going uphill.
00:15:17The car's being planted well and truly into the tracks.
00:15:22The surface.
00:15:24The surface track right there.
00:15:27There's still a lot of rumble just at that transition point.
00:15:31P2 for Heidfeld.
00:15:33But all the teams complaining yesterday, you know, the track, the undulations on the track.
00:15:38You want to keep the ride height low, of course, to try and get a little bit more downforce out
00:15:42of the car.
00:15:43But you keep dropping the car's ride height down, and the bottom of the plank keeps constantly smacking on that
00:15:48tarmac.
00:15:49Unsettles the driver, unsettles the car.
00:15:51It goes here with those bumps.
00:15:53It's another issue with the rain tomorrow, isn't it, on this ride height.
00:15:56Because if you start getting down there when the road's starting to flood up, you know, if you're that low.
00:16:01Yeah, absolutely.
00:16:02The teams want to keep the ride height as low as possible.
00:16:05There is a little bit of help in the regulations with the construction, the diameter of the wet weather tires.
00:16:10They basically give it a 10 mil, yeah, 10 mil taller.
00:16:1310 mil is about three-eighths of an inch.
00:16:14So just by putting on wet weather tires, you will effectively lift the ride height up by three-eighths of
00:16:20an inch, 10 mil,
00:16:21which is fairly considerable, really.
00:16:23But they would like to lift it up a little more, especially with that huge amount of wet weather we
00:16:27got a couple of years ago,
00:16:28that actual torrential downpour.
00:16:30You'd probably like to lift the car up, you know, nigh on half an inch.
00:16:33But, of course, the regulations don't like to do that until the race is underway.
00:16:36There's another of the crowd favorites, native Brazilian Ricardo Zonta,
00:16:40who broke his feet in this race back in the early part of the decade.
00:16:44And has not done well here since.
00:16:46Well, the Jordans go 1.3 and 1.5 seconds slower than their pre-qualifying lap time,
00:16:53suggesting a two-stop strategy.
00:16:54We'll be back in just a moment.
00:16:59Speed Channel's coverage of the FIA Formula One World Championship is brought to you by BMW.
00:17:05BMW, the ultimate driving machine.
00:17:12Welcome back.
00:17:12We'll be back now on track at the Interlagos circuit in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
00:17:16Native Brazilian Ricardo Zonta in the Toyota.
00:17:20Ricardo Zonta's been a bit of a disappointment this weekend.
00:17:22He's sort of been the slowest of the three Toyotas, of course, yesterday when they had their...
00:17:26There's Ryan Briscoe.
00:17:28Ryan Briscoe, the Australian.
00:17:29At one point, was one of the quickest guys out here.
00:17:32Ricardo never quite picked up that pace.
00:17:34That's what he really needs to do.
00:17:34So, Yano truly, of course, his new teammate ran 11th this morning in the pre-qualifying run.
00:17:41Zonta in for his home Grand Prix, replacing Olivier Panis, who raced his final Grand Prix for the team two
00:17:49weeks ago in Japan.
00:17:50They held a big party afterwards at Suzuka.
00:17:53Virtually all of the team principals showed up, including Sir Frank Williams, Ron Dennis, and so forth.
00:18:00And the team said to their man, Olivier, we hope you like the car we brought you this weekend, because
00:18:05it is now yours.
00:18:06That was their parting gift.
00:18:07Well, not really parting, because Panis will continue to test for the team and perform commercial functions.
00:18:13But they gave him his race car to take home from Japan.
00:18:17Now, is Ricardo going to get a test deal next year?
00:18:20And look, with them, was he consigned to the driver want-out list.
00:18:29Well, the legend Panis is going to be the third driver, so in fact, Panis could wind up in a
00:18:34Grand Prix if one of the varsity guys,
00:18:36Ralph Schumacher or Yano truly, are unable to go.
00:18:41Now, that is not a good sign for a Toyota with a budget of however many gazillion.
00:18:46It's 1,300 slower than the old Jag through Section 1.
00:18:54Now, they're a bit of an enigma team, really, aren't they, Toyota?
00:18:57They've got, I mean, effectively, an unlimited budget.
00:19:01I don't think Toyota have really got a budget set for this team.
00:19:04It seems to be whatever it takes, but it's clear indication that it's not all just down to money.
00:19:10When we always think in motor racing, the one with the most money wins, but in reality, it's not the
00:19:15case.
00:19:17You need that engineer and expertise, you need the skill behind the wheel, you need the correct tyres on the
00:19:22car of the day.
00:19:26Michelin and Bridgestone seem to change the superiority from year to year at the moment.
00:19:30It used to be from race to race, but it was Bridgestone for a year.
00:19:34Then Michelin had the advantage, now back to Bridgestone again.
00:19:37Well, you have to get all that right.
00:19:38The whole package has to come right at the start of the season.
00:19:42And it hasn't worked out for these guys.
00:19:44Well, of course, Toyota under strong pressure, we gather from Bridgestone.
00:19:47Of course, two Japanese absolute giants who would like to have Toyota on their side.
00:19:51Obviously, supply a huge amount of original equipment tyres to Toyota worldwide.
00:19:57Here's Mark Webber in his final race for Jaguar.
00:20:00Following this weekend, he has been released from his contract so he can immediately go to work for his new
00:20:05team, Williams BMW.
00:20:10Yes, and who's going to be his teammate next year?
00:20:14After last week's contract recognition board decision, that Jensen Button is indeed contracted to BAR Honda for 2005,
00:20:21is an open seat at Williams.
00:20:23And I imagine Sir Frank has gotten a couple of phone calls.
00:20:27Yeah, Benny's absolutely been inundated, but I would say the most likely one is going to be Pisonja,
00:20:34who really did pretty well in the two or three races he did earlier on as a standing for Ralph
00:20:37Sheemart after his big crash at Indy.
00:20:40And Pisonja really did do pretty well in the Williams, unlike last year when he drove for the Jag.
00:20:45Didn't show much.
00:20:47Maybe it just showed how bad the Jag was last year, too.
00:20:52My guess is Coulthard.
00:20:54I agree with that.
00:20:55I think the team would benefit from having the experience of Coulthard in the team.
00:20:59The team know him well, and Coulthard knows the team.
00:21:02Oh, it's his first team, of course.
00:21:03Yeah.
00:21:03He was promoted to the race seat after Senna was killed in Yamaha.
00:21:08Well, he's been there for a long while.
00:21:12Weber knocks Zonta off a provisional pole.
00:21:15Next up will be Jacques Villeneuve, the 97 world champion.
00:21:22Welcome back to the Interlago Circuit.
00:21:24Final qualifying for the final Formula One race of 2004, the Brazilian Grand Prix.
00:21:29I'm Bob Varsha with Steve Matchett and David Hobbs.
00:21:32Ricardo Zonta has been knocked off provisional pole by Mark Weber and the Jaguar, but we're
00:21:37going from slowest to fastest in first round qualifying.
00:21:40So here is Jacques Villeneuve in the Renault.
00:21:43Well, Mark Weber's time at 1.11.6 is unlikely to stand up, considering Barrichello and Montoya
00:21:48both did in the nines.
00:21:51Jacques Villeneuve was not much slower than his teammate, Alonso, in the first round.
00:21:55Alonso did a 1.10.6, Villeneuve did a 1.10.7, but he was a bit disappointing in both
00:22:02China
00:22:03and Japan.
00:22:05Look at that.
00:22:06To the thousand.
00:22:08Dead even with the provisional pole city.
00:22:17Villeneuve has finished both of his Grand Prix since his return from a year's layoff,
00:22:22but it hasn't been easy.
00:22:23He's finished out of the points and a lap down on both occasions.
00:22:26He has backed up Jano Trulli, who has bounced from this team by saying this car is really,
00:22:32really difficult to drive.
00:22:34Which Jano Trulli and Alonso have been saying all through the year.
00:22:37About halfway through the year, they found some magic which helped the car.
00:22:41They said they had no front-end bike, wouldn't turn in well, was not very good on braking.
00:22:46They seem to have got that fixed.
00:22:50Jano Trulli cannot get to the top of the charts.
00:22:59He goes to P2.
00:23:00There's Flavio Briatore, his playboy team principal.
00:23:06But you raise an interesting point there, David, because there was a lot of discussion
00:23:09in the last two weeks about these amazing starts the Renault team makes.
00:23:13Ross Braun, technical director at Ferrari, says he thinks it's because they have sold
00:23:18their souls to the devil, if you will, by giving that car a lot of rear bias.
00:23:23Which I don't think helps it in the overall run.
00:23:26I mean, from what he was saying, it's got a much, much bigger transmission.
00:23:30They've got beefier drive shafts.
00:23:32They've got a different clutch system.
00:23:35And, of course, they've got a much higher torque engine.
00:23:38They've really concentrated on torque in the engine as opposed to top power.
00:23:41Right, bottom end to get off the corner.
00:23:42Which does help them get off the line, but there's more to race than just making a good start.
00:23:45A 3.22 kph for Alonso through the speed trap is 199.9 miles an hour.
00:23:53200 miles an hour.
00:23:55Here is Fernando Alonso.
00:24:09Still only 23 years old.
00:24:16You get a whole year at each age.
00:24:18I'm still using that signature.
00:24:20I'm still throwing the steering wheel in.
00:24:22Well, there it is again.
00:24:24We had an email from a viewer earlier this year who is well-versed in kart racing, go-kart racing,
00:24:30that is,
00:24:30who says he thinks that's Alonso's stock and trade from his kart racing days
00:24:35where they use very, very sticky tires and you really need to muscle those karts around.
00:24:39You've got to get little karts to rotate.
00:24:41And, you know, you shouldn't really need to do that with a Formula One car, but it seems to work
00:24:45okay in Alonso's case.
00:24:46I wonder if that's one of the reasons why Renault, Renault were one of the teams I was talking to
00:24:50yesterday,
00:24:50was saying they were struggling so much on those dry tires over a long run.
00:24:54They were blistering and giving up very early.
00:24:56Well, that'll give them the blisters, doing that to them.
00:24:59He won for Alonso, so he out-qualifies Villeneuve, which is something he did not do in the last race
00:25:03at Japan.
00:25:04Those two teammates are 10 years apart in age, but that's nowhere close to the all-time gap between teammates.
00:25:11Sterling Moss was 18 years younger than Juan Manuel Fangio back in the 50s.
00:25:17Who beat him in every race except one when they drove together in 55 in the Formula One team.
00:25:23Jensen's button was a bit slower than his teammate Takuma Sato in the first round.
00:25:28Takuma Sato with a 110.37, button did a 110.60.
00:25:34B.A.R. have had a fantastic year overhauling Renault who were in front of them.
00:25:46B.A.R. have been blowing away Williams and McClary.
00:25:50This is that Padura.
00:25:52That's exactly what happened to Schumacher this morning, but it was slightly more dire consequences.
00:25:57A little down here.
00:25:59Long, long, long left-handed and up again.
00:26:03This very tight right-handed.
00:26:05Then it's a steep drop down here.
00:26:14Button desperately trying not to become the second man after Rubens Barrakello to score 10 podiums in a season, but
00:26:20no victories.
00:26:21Barrakello did that in the Ferrari back in 2001.
00:26:32And he takes provisional pole, 111.0, which compares with the 110.6 he did in the first round.
00:26:41His fastest through the first sector of the 17.9 and through the second sector of 36.2, which shows
00:26:47two things to me.
00:26:48A. They've got great horsepower in that Honda engine, we know, pushing on towards 1,000 brake horsepower now.
00:26:53And they're running a lot of wing to be able to help them through that second sector.
00:26:57See, if you could buy those two things, if your engine supplier can give you that horsepower,
00:27:02you can risk running more wing knowing that the engine, the performance of the engine will drive the car along.
00:27:08And you won't suffer any deficit through the drag of running the bigger wing.
00:27:12Trulli is the next man out right there, but he is in no hurry to go out as we take
00:27:16another look.
00:27:21Ricardo Zonta's lap.
00:27:23Well, it's good news for Trulli.
00:27:25We have an FIA-mandated halt to the proceedings here.
00:27:29That will help Trulli because, as you saw, Jenson Button was out there crawling around.
00:27:33Of course, I think Jenson Button knew the mandated gap was coming up, so he went even slower.
00:27:38That's a blessing for him, too, right.
00:27:39It was a blessing for him, because he can really save some fuel by just crawling around.
00:27:44That wing power thing, I remember when I was driving the Can-Am in 1971 when the Porsche Twin Turbo
00:27:50917T came along.
00:27:53And, I mean, it was blindingly fast.
00:27:55And all the press pundits were all saying, why it handles so well.
00:27:58It's so good through the corners compared to the McLarens and the lowlands.
00:28:01It's just fantastic.
00:28:02Well, surprise, surprise.
00:28:04They had about 2,000, 4,000 or 5,000 pounds of downforce.
00:28:07They also had 1,100 horsepower to put it through the air.
00:28:10The look in the Jaguar pits, everybody biding their time, twiddling their thumbs.
00:28:14Do we go back to action?
00:28:15It'll be Trulli, Vizickela, and Raikkonen to come.
00:28:26One corner to go for Jarno Trulli.
00:28:29One corner to his first career Formula 1 victory at 119 starts.
00:28:35Trulli has done it.
00:28:41That was the highlight of the year for Jarno Trulli.
00:28:44And then shortly after that, somehow it all went wrong.
00:28:47He fell out of favor with the team.
00:28:48Could not get the results from the race car.
00:28:50Was released early from his contract at Renault.
00:28:53And immediately signed up with Toyota.
00:28:55And, of course, the absolute kiss of death for him was lying second in the French Grand Prix.
00:29:01And on the last corner of the last lap, he somehow let Rubens Barrett get by him.
00:29:07It sent old Flavio Briatore absolutely ballistic.
00:29:12Because it would not have been the best Renault finish in a French Grand Prix for since Prost in about
00:29:181980 something.
00:29:19It was, it, there was a whole bunch of stats that lined up against him.
00:29:22And from that moment on, I mean, he was dogmate.
00:29:26There you see the current standings.
00:29:27Jenson Button on provisional pole in the BAR Honda.
00:29:29I saw a couple of ducks or geese or something there scrambling off the racetrack as Trulli came wailing through.
00:29:36A couple of ducks.
00:29:38Two fouls.
00:29:40Well, there it is.
00:29:43It's very comfortable.
00:29:46Greg will know what I mean.
00:29:49And only your son, Greg.
00:29:53Trulli is on the clock.
00:30:00Huge budget for this team with very limited success.
00:30:04But next year with Jano, Trulli and Ralph Schumacher behind the wheel, there'll be nowhere to hide.
00:30:11Pole here would be fun for Trulli.
00:30:12He'd become the first man since John Surtees back in 66 to win pole for two different teams in the
00:30:18same season.
00:30:19Surtees did it for Ferrari and Cooper and actually won races for both teams.
00:30:24I have a feeling Trulli is not going to do it.
00:30:28What makes you say that?
00:30:30Call it intuition.
00:30:39Of course, the other key that's significant about that little graphic there, of course, is Toyota and Honda.
00:30:47Two of the world giants manufacturers fighting each other for a top Asian Formula One team.
00:30:59Clank debris coming off on that undulation round there.
00:31:04Third place for Jano Trulli.
00:31:07But, of course, the story is how that car is set up and how much fuel it's carrying.
00:31:12We'll go straight to Park for May.
00:31:15That's the car he will start with in tomorrow's race.
00:31:18Yes, it is.
00:31:19It's intriguing.
00:31:19I keep watching these cars and looking at the rear wing configuration and having then cross-referencing that with the
00:31:26lap tires.
00:31:26And we are seeing some interesting things.
00:31:28Button, of course, as we said, got that extra wing on board, I think, helping through sector two with the
00:31:32horsepower to drive the car along.
00:31:34As you were saying, David, there really is no substitute for...
00:31:37Grunt.
00:31:38Oh, yeah, there isn't, isn't there?
00:31:39You can hide all sorts of problems.
00:31:41You've got all sorts of chassis handling problems.
00:31:42You crank more wing on than everybody else has got.
00:31:45You've got the horsepower to drive it along, you're going to be looking good.
00:31:48You use more fuel, of course, but...
00:31:49Yeah.
00:31:50Which plays its part in Formula One.
00:31:53Old Bruce McLaren put it out very clearly when, you know, small sports cars at some circuits like mid-Ohio
00:31:58would be almost as quick as the big Can-Am cars.
00:32:01And old Bruce put it right, said a good big one will always beat a good little one, mate.
00:32:07Founder of the McLaren team.
00:32:09Boy, I wonder how things would have been different if Bruce McLaren hadn't been killed in that testing accident.
00:32:15Not a lot different, I'm sure.
00:32:17I talk about these sectors, as Steve and David and I have.
00:32:21Sectors one and three basically have two corners apiece.
00:32:25Everywhere else, it's just flat out.
00:32:27The middle sector, sector two, has seven corners, a couple of them quite tight.
00:32:38And Fisichella, fourth.
00:32:42Just under a half second off of provisional pole.
00:32:45We'll take a break and return with more qualifying from Brazil.
00:32:50Next up, Kimi Reikman.
00:32:55Welcome back to the Pache Circuit in Sao Paulo, Brazil, also known as Interlagos, Between the Lakes.
00:33:01This is Kimi Reikman in the McLaren Mercedes.
00:33:09Just past his 25th birthday last Sunday.
00:33:11Excuse me, David.
00:33:13No, I was going to say what a change this team had after the French Grand Prix.
00:33:15They came with that car from last year.
00:33:18Well, the modified car, which was just so bad.
00:33:20And they had a lot of engine problems.
00:33:22They went to the French Grand Prix with their brand new car, which they were saying was going to be
00:33:25good.
00:33:25And boy, boy, there they were, third on the grid.
00:33:27The next race, Reikman was on the pole and came second in Britain.
00:33:31The car's been very good, but still a bit unreliable.
00:33:33And, of course, that fantastic win he had in Spa.
00:33:36Reikman says you need to do a perfect lap around here in qualifying.
00:33:401.5 seconds covered the top 15 cars in the final practice.
00:33:46Now, a lot of our viewers are used to watching NASCAR races where 1.5 sounds a lot.
00:33:50But when you look at what goes on around here, compared to what goes around a 1.5 or 2
00:33:55mile oval,
00:33:56there's an awful lot of action goes on in this 2.6 miles.
00:34:00It looks like he's going to end up second behind Jenson Button.
00:34:03And, of course, the mechanical diversity among the cars is several orders of magnitude above just about any other form
00:34:10of motorsports.
00:34:11P1 for Reikman by two-tenths of a second.
00:34:15So we're back down in the tens as Ron Dennis looks on.
00:34:19That Ron Dennis in the monitor.
00:34:21Reikman left fastened through that middle section.
00:34:23And you watch how that car was handling very well.
00:34:27Even when you can see the car wanted to understeer, here on the right front tire there, you can see
00:34:32the lateral loading building up.
00:34:33But the car, as you're saying, David, it's working so much better than anything at the start of the season.
00:34:40Interesting to see both Coulthard and Reikmanen set almost exactly the same time in their cars in the first round.
00:34:45So Coulthard goes right out after his teammate on the occasion of his 150th Grand Prix for the McLaren team.
00:34:52More than any other driver for one team in history.
00:34:54That's pit out there to the right.
00:34:56You just see the yellow line and the hole in the arco.
00:34:57That's how far around the teams have to go.
00:35:00It's right down.
00:35:01It's through the descente des Soles and right down to the curve des Soles, the sun curve, turn three.
00:35:07It's a long, long in and out here at the pit lane.
00:35:09Which is why we think they're probably going.
00:35:11Ooh, look at that.
00:35:11Great shot.
00:35:13That's up for Durham.
00:35:15Downhill.
00:35:16This is putting some strain on the right front.
00:35:18That's it.
00:35:18I wish we had the on-board shot right there.
00:35:26Actually, I should clarify that as my director.
00:35:29That was on-board.
00:35:29That is on-board.
00:35:31It's not the on-board shot I was looking for.
00:35:33It's the cockpit camera.
00:35:36I was thinking, what's it say?
00:35:38Sorry, Danny.
00:35:40Well, the old television tradition will just let you twist in the wind until...
00:35:43Now, Davey Coulthard's always out-qualified Reikmanen here before.
00:35:46Is that right?
00:35:47Yep.
00:35:48He has never out-qualified DC here.
00:35:50But he has now.
00:35:51David Coulthard, if he doesn't podium in this race,
00:35:54and keep in mind, he won this race in 2001
00:35:56with an absolutely all-time pass in the wet,
00:36:00going three wide to get by Michael Schumacher.
00:36:03But if DC doesn't podium here,
00:36:05he'll become the first man since Andre de Cesaris in 1981
00:36:08to race a full season for McLaren and not reach the podium.
00:36:12I would submit that says more about the McLaren than it does about DC.
00:36:19Takamai Sato.
00:36:21Now, here's a guy who may have problems this weekend.
00:36:25You talked about the neck stretchers that some of these corners are, David.
00:36:28Sato, we saw two weeks ago in his home race in Japan, holding up his helmet in the final laps
00:36:33of the race.
00:36:33Turns out he damaged a trapezius muscle in his neck in Bahrain way back last spring.
00:36:40Or fall, if you're standing in Brazil, Hobbs.
00:36:42And it really hasn't healed, given his heavy schedule of racing and testing and travel and so forth.
00:36:48So we'll see how the Japanese driver holds up.
00:36:51If you get a neck injury early on in the season in Formula One, you're out of luck, mate, I
00:36:55tell you,
00:36:55because there's no chance for it to ever get better because the neck, upper shoulders, upper torso take a tremendous
00:37:01pounding in Formula One.
00:37:03Especially around here, of course, where it's so bumpy as well.
00:37:05Well, Nigel Mansell once told me he had to have two sets of shirts in his closet,
00:37:09the off-season clothing and the in-season clothing, when his neck size would grow by an inch.
00:37:20Yeah, that's the shot I'm looking for, but not the right part of the track.
00:37:25Is he going to get second here?
00:37:28Third.
00:37:29Third.
00:37:3011-1.
00:37:31So just behind his teammate.
00:37:33Yep.
00:37:36Okay, boys, a little more enthusiasm now.
00:37:39I imagine they're pretty much wrecked.
00:37:42Of course, it's round 18.
00:37:43Yeah.
00:37:44Yeah.
00:37:45Long season.
00:37:45Looking at 19 races next year.
00:37:49Adding Turkey to the schedule.
00:37:51Which remains to be seen what's going to happen with Britain.
00:37:54We understand France has done a deal, so Manicour will be back on the schedule.
00:37:59And two races, or two seasons from now, Formula One, it will be announced on Monday,
00:38:04will return to Mexico to a brand-new circuit to be built at a cost of about $100 million in
00:38:10Cancun.
00:38:11Now that will be a good stop.
00:38:14We'll take a break and return for Ralph Schumacher in the Williams.
00:38:21Welcome back to the Interlagos circuit.
00:38:23There's David Coulthard walking back to the McLaren garages.
00:38:27He is currently eighth on the provisional starting grid.
00:38:31His teammate, Kimi Raikkonen, is the provisional pole sitter.
00:38:35But we're going through the fastest drivers in practice and pre-qualifying now.
00:38:39Here comes Ralph Schumacher in the Williams BMW.
00:38:43The Hickle does during one of his long firsts.
00:38:47Seems to be a second slower than his teammate when he was quicker than him in the first run.
00:38:56He had a little smile on his face as he walked down the pit lane there.
00:38:59He obviously knows something we don't.
00:39:02Now be sure to join us tomorrow for live coverage of the Brazilian Grand Prix,
00:39:05kicking off at 12.30 p.m. Eastern with the Acura Pre-Race Show at Peter Windsor.
00:39:10This week, Peter will bring us thoughts up and down the pit lane on 2004,
00:39:13and we'll hand out the first annual Speedy Awards.
00:39:16That's tomorrow afternoon, 12.30 Eastern, live, only on speed, but subject to blackout.
00:39:23We'll look at the bodywork on the back of the FW26.
00:39:26You'll see there's a low slung wing right there in between the rear axle.
00:39:30Does two jobs.
00:39:31Sauber are running the same thing as well.
00:39:33Quite a few of the teams have been looking at it in the wind tunnel.
00:39:35Gives a little bit more downforce, but what it really does
00:39:38is tie those two very thin, flexible plates together around the rear tyres.
00:39:43We've been saying all year how much flex and vibration we see on the back of the car,
00:39:47around these flick-ups around the rear tyres,
00:39:49and they're very important to the aerodynamics of the car
00:39:52to keep the airflow away from the horrendous turbulence around the unshrouded tyres.
00:39:57There's the shot at the rear wing, right there.
00:39:58That span between the two, so it's really a great way of tying that bodywork together.
00:40:09Looking for a 17.9.
00:40:12Nope.
00:40:13A little heavy on fuel.
00:40:19Pretty fast run to Fedora.
00:40:22Now, see how the tyres work.
00:40:31Push it the opposite way.
00:40:32Look at it.
00:40:36As you can see from these turns, the left front takes an awful pounding round here.
00:40:42From here on the right side tyres, take a nice side right ahead.
00:40:48Oh, look at the bounce too.
00:40:51It does, yeah.
00:40:51It wants to go, doesn't it?
00:40:53Chasing the front.
00:41:02How quick is he up here?
00:41:04Because that could be indicated coming up.
00:41:06No, holds about the same gap all the way around.
00:41:08Well, it might be carrying a bit less wing,
00:41:10which might make it look a bit loose down there,
00:41:11but would be quick up that straight.
00:41:13That's where his teammate Montoya was making all his time this weekend,
00:41:16was in that third sector.
00:41:19We'll get to Montoya later on.
00:41:22Right now, it's Michael Schumacher in the Ferrari T-car
00:41:26after destroying his primary car in this morning's second free practice.
00:41:33Which means that wherever he qualifies,
00:41:35he's going to go back ten places on the grid.
00:41:48It's 201.4 miles an hour.
00:41:51That's fastest, I think, so far through the speed track from Ferrari.
00:41:54Now, look, they don't seem to be running as much wing as the other cars, do they?
00:41:58Let's see how the Ferrari stacks up in this second sector.
00:42:02As we keep saying, this is that tight winding section
00:42:05where you need the downforce on the car.
00:42:08to give it every little help you can.
00:42:26Ross Braun saying yesterday,
00:42:28we are very quick in one lap.
00:42:29The tyres are working very well.
00:42:31The Bridgestone soft and the hard compound
00:42:33are in the wrong lap conditions.
00:42:34Right now, for example, in qualifying, working very well.
00:42:37The problem is,
00:42:38how are they going to stack up in race situations
00:42:40where you've got to push the things
00:42:41for ten or fifteen laps?
00:42:43Now, do you think he's going to start off heavy on field here,
00:42:45knowing full well he's going to be back in the middle of the field?
00:42:48Interesting.
00:42:50Fifth goes Michael.
00:42:56And that'll be 15th.
00:42:58And that's with Masa, Montoya, and Barrichello still to take their shots.
00:43:06Interesting.
00:43:07It only...
00:43:09Well, this will be the second time in the last three races
00:43:12that Michael starts outside the top ten.
00:43:15It's only happened twice
00:43:17in the previous 208 Grand Prix of his career.
00:43:21Boy, no stats.
00:43:26Of course, to some extent, it's a function of the rules.
00:43:29Well, even the first part of that stat is pretty impressive.
00:43:32Mm-hmm.
00:43:32That means 16th on the grid so far,
00:43:34if Masa can keep this up.
00:43:36Masa was very quick in the first round this morning.
00:43:39Oh, yeah.
00:43:39But he's going to have to pass Schumacher.
00:43:41Schumacher looked like he was going very slowly to me.
00:43:45Masa is just fractionately slower
00:43:48through the speed trap than he was in provisional qualifying.
00:43:513.24.1 km an hour through the speed trap.
00:43:54Now, when he's 0.4 in the first round.
00:43:58Got a 109.930 in the first round.
00:44:03Keep in mind, pole for this race last year
00:44:05was a 1.13.1 by Barrichello.
00:44:10Masa is still ahead of the pace.
00:44:12Remember, he is Brazilian.
00:44:13Listen for the crowd if he takes provisional pole here.
00:44:17This would be fantastic.
00:44:19Passage.
00:44:20Oh, yeah.
00:44:20Come on.
00:44:22Oh!
00:44:24How did he live?
00:44:26Peter Sauber,
00:44:28bald-headed gent second from the left.
00:44:30Seems pretty darn happy with that.
00:44:32Boy, I thought he'd be very thick in the third second.
00:44:36Well, he was quicker than Räikkönen through sector 1
00:44:38by 0.1 of a second, 17.9.
00:44:41He matches Button's performance through there.
00:44:43So that's fantastic straight line performance from Sauber.
00:44:47That's great for that young Brazilian.
00:44:49And now here comes one, Pablo Montoya,
00:44:51sort of an adopted home favorite here in Brazil.
00:45:04Pliny Road spare coming through that S-curve,
00:45:07which a lot of people will be going on to the hatching there,
00:45:11but not him, so that's showing the car.
00:45:13It's a good sign.
00:45:14Yeah.
00:45:17Yeah.
00:45:26That state of that front wing is in comparison
00:45:28to the old Tusk thing that they started the season with,
00:45:31that wide twin-keel nose that they started off with.
00:45:34The chassis remains a twin-keel chassis,
00:45:36but you think back a few races
00:45:38when they had that much stubbier nose
00:45:39that they called and referred to as the Woolworths Tusk,
00:45:41and the thing was flexing all over the place.
00:45:45That's a little twitch in that first climb
00:45:47through subida doboxes.
00:45:50The pit straight, or the pit's uphill.
00:46:00There he goes.
00:46:02End to P1.
00:46:04Very quick on that last sector again.
00:46:06Mm-hmm.
00:46:08There he has been all weekend.
00:46:14And again, Montoya
00:46:16passes through that second sector, 36-1.
00:46:19He matches Räikkönen's pace through there.
00:46:22Just fractionally slower than buttons through sector one.
00:46:24I mean, the Williams, I'm really surprised
00:46:27and pleased how well that car is working.
00:46:29And again, just like McLaren,
00:46:31they were struggling so much at the start of the season.
00:46:33That leaves one man with a shot at pole.
00:46:36Yes, he is it.
00:46:36The defending pole sitter, Rubens Botticello,
00:46:38who grew up walking distance from this racetrack.
00:46:44But his luck here at him has been miserable.
00:46:48With 11 starts here, he has failed to finish 10 times,
00:46:51including running out of fuel within sight of the finish last year
00:46:54while leading.
00:46:56And he is ahead substantially.
00:47:09Rubens Botticello, of course, has been the press favorite this weekend.
00:47:13He said this week that the one most important thing
00:47:16he's learned from Michael Schumacher
00:47:18and all their years racing together
00:47:19has been to be calm.
00:47:24He admits he has been a very emotional driver over the years.
00:47:28Nearly retired after his idol, the late Ayrton Senna,
00:47:33was killed.
00:47:34Wow, he's well ahead here.
00:47:35The crowd is going to go absolutely man.
00:47:39Looking for his second straight pole on home soil for Ferrari.
00:47:43Barrichello climbs the hill,
00:47:44comes into the view of the grandstands,
00:47:46and takes it by two tenths.
00:48:02Well, they weren't as happy as I thought they'd be.
00:48:08Good job.
00:48:09Good job indeed.
00:48:10Fantastic job.
00:48:13Quickest in all three sectors.
00:48:18Boy, let's hope his luck holds tomorrow.
00:48:24It's kind of like the Boston Red Sox in the World Series.
00:48:27It's great to be the league champion,
00:48:30but your job isn't finished until you win it all.
00:48:33And I'm sure that's about how Rubens Botticello feels right now,
00:48:36if only for this race.
00:48:38Pole is great, but I've had pole here.
00:48:40I need that top step of the podium.
00:48:42And I'll tell you what,
00:48:42a huge amount of pressure has been taken off his back already
00:48:46by the fact that Michael Schumacher
00:48:47is going to have to be qualifying down there
00:48:49in 15th or 16th spot.
00:48:51Because there's going to be no question,
00:48:53I don't think, of team orders.
00:48:54If he can make a good start,
00:48:55get out in the front and stay there,
00:48:57Michael Schumacher is going to have to struggle
00:48:59through the field to get onto the podium,
00:49:00let alone get the win.
00:49:02Could be a bit like Monza this year,
00:49:03where Rubens started from pole.
00:49:05Michael spun at the first corner.
00:49:06Rubens had his own problems.
00:49:09But he put in the fast laps when he needed to
00:49:11and came through to win that race.
00:49:14Boy, oh boy.
00:49:17If crowd emotion comes into it,
00:49:20Rubens Botticello is looking really good.
00:49:23There are the results.
00:49:24Look at the gaps.
00:49:26Perhaps the narrowest we see all year long
00:49:28on this fairly short 2.6 mile loop.
00:49:31And there is Michael Schumacher,
00:49:33who will start 18th
00:49:35when he takes his 10-grid position penalty
00:49:37for using the backup car.
00:49:41Hi.
00:49:43Here's the second 10.
00:49:45Fisher-Keller there being out qualified badly
00:49:47by Massa,
00:49:48who was fourth.
00:49:51Fisher-Keller moving on next year
00:49:52to, of course, Renault.
00:49:54Weber in his last start for Jag.
00:49:56In fact, their last start, too.
00:49:58Down there in 12th.
00:49:59Coulthard, surprisingly slow.
00:50:02Little nerve,
00:50:03a good bit off the pace
00:50:03from his teammate, Alonso.
00:50:06The last race of the year
00:50:07is always bittersweet.
00:50:08Of the 10 teams,
00:50:09only Ferrari is returning
00:50:11both of its 2004 drivers next year.
00:50:16That noise you hear
00:50:17is not alien spacecraft landing.
00:50:19It's the siren at the entry
00:50:21of the pit lane
00:50:22to warn the mechanics
00:50:23and the engineers
00:50:24and the press
00:50:24and the media
00:50:25in the pit lane
00:50:25that a car
00:50:26is coming down the pit lane.
00:50:28There's sound that siren.
00:50:29Listen to the champ.
00:50:33Rubino.
00:50:35Rubino.
00:50:36The car immediately
00:50:37onto the FIA wayscales.
00:50:41The Bridge of Doom,
00:50:42as it's known as,
00:50:43to check all the connections
00:50:44and the weight of the car
00:50:45to make sure it's an angle.
00:50:46There's his wife, Silvana.
00:50:48His young son, Eduard,
00:50:49is here,
00:50:50and he has a special guest
00:50:51this weekend,
00:50:52as Rubens Baracchello,
00:50:53his old friend and rival,
00:50:55Tony Kanaan,
00:50:56the newly crowned
00:50:57IRL IndyCar champion,
00:50:58is in Sao Paulo
00:50:59to cheer his buddy home.
00:51:01We'll be back in a moment.
00:51:19Back at the Interlagos circuit,
00:51:21Rubens Baracchello
00:51:22will start from pole
00:51:24in his home Grand Prix.
00:51:26His wife, Silvana,
00:51:29gave her man a kiss
00:51:30right on the chin bar
00:51:31of his helmet
00:51:32as he finished getting weighed
00:51:33in post-race scrutineering.
00:51:35Not exactly the most
00:51:36romantic moment,
00:51:36I suppose.
00:51:39Oh, you do what you gotta do, Bob.
00:51:41But that was a stunning lap
00:51:43for Rubens Baracchello,
00:51:44a 1-10-6.
00:51:47Very quick,
00:51:47considering they've got
00:51:48race fuel in there.
00:51:50Oh, what a moment it would be,
00:51:51and what smiles it would bring
00:51:53up and down the pit lane
00:51:53if this guy could win
00:51:55this race on Sunday.
00:51:58I mean, one of the best-liked guys
00:51:59in the pit lane.
00:52:00Yeah.
00:52:02And he has labored
00:52:03in the shadows
00:52:03of his seven-time
00:52:04world champion teammate,
00:52:06all the while saying,
00:52:07I am absolutely convinced
00:52:09that I can race
00:52:10wheel-to-wheel
00:52:11with Michael.
00:52:13And he's gone a long way
00:52:14toward proving that
00:52:15this year,
00:52:16picking up victories
00:52:17of his own
00:52:17from pole
00:52:18and commanding the racetrack
00:52:20and commanding the racetrack
00:52:20from start to finish.
00:52:21Look at that crew reaction.
00:52:24Of course, if he does manage
00:52:25to win that race tomorrow,
00:52:26it'll give Ferrari
00:52:2716 wins out of 18,
00:52:30which is a fantastic success
00:52:31in its own right.
00:52:32But think back to
00:52:33the 88 season
00:52:34with McLaren,
00:52:3515 out of 16 for McLaren,
00:52:36so Ferrari will take
00:52:37one more race,
00:52:38but of course,
00:52:39there's two more races
00:52:40in the season.
00:52:40But that car,
00:52:42the F2004,
00:52:43in the hands of both
00:52:44Rubens Barrichello
00:52:45and Michael Schumacher,
00:52:46has just been sublime,
00:52:48hasn't it?
00:52:48Almost every track,
00:52:50in every sector of the track,
00:52:52it's just been working
00:52:53so well.
00:52:54It seems so smooth.
00:52:56There's just no steering input
00:52:57from the drivers,
00:52:58no panic,
00:52:58and as you're saying,
00:52:59everybody looks so calm
00:53:00and controlled about it.
00:53:02Well, both of those onboards,
00:53:03both on Michael's car
00:53:04and on Rubens Barrichello car,
00:53:06the onboards,
00:53:07the one that you wanted,
00:53:07when you see their driver input,
00:53:09they've always been
00:53:10just incredibly
00:53:11lack of input somehow.
00:53:13We're waiting to go
00:53:14to the interview room
00:53:14and Peter Windsor,
00:53:15who will interview
00:53:16the top three drivers.
00:53:19Rubens Barrichello
00:53:20finished fourth
00:53:21in 1994,
00:53:22his second race
00:53:24at this track.
00:53:25And the other 10 starts here,
00:53:27he has never finished.
00:53:29But he'll forget
00:53:30all of that tomorrow
00:53:31when he straps into his Ferrari
00:53:32for his home Grand Prix,
00:53:34the final race of the season.
00:53:36Yeah, he retired
00:53:37in his very first race
00:53:38here in 1993
00:53:39and has retired,
00:53:40came forth,
00:53:41as you said,
00:53:41in 1994
00:53:42and retired
00:53:43in all of them since.
00:53:44Just talk about,
00:53:46but he says
00:53:46he doesn't believe in luck.
00:53:49And it just feels
00:53:50that's, you know,
00:53:51what was meant to be.
00:53:58Pursued by the press.
00:54:04And the ever-present security.
00:54:05Wait a minute.
00:54:06Hey, you can't come in
00:54:07with that camera.
00:54:07No, no, no, no.
00:54:08Where's your pass?
00:54:09Where's your pass?
00:54:09Come on.
00:54:11What do you think this is?
00:54:12We can't have this on TV.
00:54:14Can't allow television
00:54:15to come in here.
00:54:15How ridiculous.
00:54:17You might show somebody something.
00:54:22Oh, you're a film star?
00:54:23Okay, you've got that.
00:54:23That's right.
00:54:25A scantily dressed maiden
00:54:27in inline skates
00:54:28as the president
00:54:29of the FIA,
00:54:30not the current one,
00:54:31brought to the pit lane
00:54:32for this race,
00:54:33as I recall,
00:54:33back in the early 90s.
00:54:35Jean-Marie Ballest.
00:54:36Jean-Marie Ballest.
00:54:37The old French
00:54:39windbag himself.
00:54:40Remembering driving
00:54:41a limousine
00:54:42or being chauffeur-driven
00:54:43a limousine
00:54:43down the Monaco pit lane
00:54:44and just jammed in
00:54:45with all the traffic
00:54:46and couldn't get in,
00:54:48couldn't get out.
00:54:49He was the president
00:54:50and he had every right
00:54:51to do so.
00:54:52That's right.
00:54:52It says so,
00:54:52right on my credential.
00:54:56Are you too cynical
00:54:57by any chance?
00:54:58Oh, we can unload it now.
00:55:00What are they going to do?
00:55:00Prevent us from doing
00:55:01the next race?
00:55:05Well, as we said,
00:55:06that was a terrific lap
00:55:07from Rubens.
00:55:09Two poles in a row here
00:55:10last year.
00:55:11Of course,
00:55:11it was probably the worst
00:55:12retirement he's ever had
00:55:13running out of gas.
00:55:14Let's go to Peter.
00:55:15For the Brazilian Grand Prix,
00:55:17third quickest
00:55:17for West McLaren Mercedes,
00:55:19Kimi Räikkönen,
00:55:20second fastest
00:55:21for BMW Williams,
00:55:22Juan Montoya.
00:55:23And on the pole
00:55:23for his home Grand Prix
00:55:25for Scuderia,
00:55:26Ferrari Marlboro,
00:55:26delighted Rubens Barrichello.
00:55:28Rubens,
00:55:29immense pressure there
00:55:30as he went out
00:55:31last onto the circuit.
00:55:33It's so amazing
00:55:35how life is
00:55:36on this moment
00:55:40because you try to say,
00:55:42OK, I've lived here
00:55:44for 30 years
00:55:45or for 20 years
00:55:46in the past
00:55:47and then it was
00:55:50just like racing
00:55:51the go-kart,
00:55:52just think the same
00:55:52and just go for there
00:55:53and try your best.
00:55:56That's what I did,
00:55:56but it was as I finished,
00:55:58as I went across the line
00:55:59and I saw that
00:56:00I was on pole,
00:56:01my legs were very numb
00:56:04because it was immense
00:56:05pressure, absolutely.
00:56:06I mean, if you make
00:56:07a mistake now,
00:56:08they probably come down
00:56:09out of the grandstand
00:56:10and kill you here,
00:56:11so it's not like that,
00:56:12but it's a good pressure,
00:56:15it's a good energy
00:56:16all around.
00:56:17So we are at the same place
00:56:18as we have been last year,
00:56:20so step by step.
00:56:22I won one now,
00:56:23I think that's very important
00:56:24for the race tomorrow
00:56:25and we have a very,
00:56:26very good car.
00:56:27I'm very serene,
00:56:29I think that it's a good chance
00:56:31of winning the race tomorrow,
00:56:32but that's the biggest step.
00:56:35sensationally impressive accident
00:56:36your teammate Michael Schumacher
00:56:37had this morning.
00:56:39What sort of impact
00:56:40did that have on the team
00:56:40and on your preparation
00:56:41in terms of set-up
00:56:42and maybe what caused
00:56:43his accident?
00:56:45Well, it was,
00:56:46first it was a shame
00:56:47because it was a big impact,
00:56:50so luckily Michael was okay,
00:56:53but he had to take his T car
00:56:57and then he had no run at all
00:56:59and so he had to rethink
00:57:02a little bit.
00:57:02I mean, it was pretty much
00:57:04set the way we were
00:57:06going to go for qualifying.
00:57:08I still think Michael
00:57:09is going to have
00:57:09a really good race tomorrow,
00:57:11but unfortunately
00:57:13the 10 places for him
00:57:15really damaged his chances
00:57:17of being out there
00:57:18fighting for Pope.
00:57:20Thank you, Rubens.
00:57:21Well, Juan Pablo,
00:57:21an all-latin-american front row.
00:57:24Great qualifying lap
00:57:25from you too.
00:57:26Talk us through that.
00:57:26How was sector one,
00:57:27for example?
00:57:28No, I think sector one
00:57:29wasn't brilliant.
00:57:30You know, it's a corner,
00:57:32you know, the first corner
00:57:32is a corner where you can gain
00:57:33a little bit
00:57:33or you can lose a lot
00:57:34and I decided just to
00:57:36take it a bit safer
00:57:37and lost a bit of time
00:57:38from what I could have done,
00:57:39but I'm still,
00:57:40you know, I'm very happy.
00:57:40The rest of the lap
00:57:41was very good
00:57:42and, you know,
00:57:43it would have been close
00:57:43with Rubens,
00:57:44but it would have been hard
00:57:44to beat him anyway.
00:57:45So, you know, I'm happy.
00:57:47You know, it's the last race
00:57:47for Williams
00:57:48and, you know,
00:57:49I really want to thank everybody
00:57:50back at the factory
00:57:51and Williams and BMW,
00:57:53you know,
00:57:53they've done a great job
00:57:54for me in the last four years
00:57:55and, you know,
00:57:56this is the last race
00:57:57for them with me
00:57:58and I'm going to just
00:57:59try to do my best tomorrow,
00:58:00you know, like I always do.
00:58:02I'm sure there are a lot
00:58:02of Colombian fans
00:58:03coming to the race tomorrow.
00:58:05What are your thoughts
00:58:05on the atmosphere
00:58:06and how the race
00:58:06is going to go tomorrow
00:58:07with Rubens alongside you there?
00:58:08Oh, it's going to be exciting.
00:58:10Hopefully I can get a good start
00:58:11and, you know,
00:58:13we can keep up with them.
00:58:14You know,
00:58:14they're normally very quick
00:58:15but, you know,
00:58:16my car feels,
00:58:16it's been feeling really good here
00:58:18and we should be really,
00:58:19really strong here.
00:58:20It'd be nice to finish
00:58:21in a high note here.
00:58:23Thank you, Juan Pablo.
00:58:24Kimi,
00:58:25looked impressive
00:58:26yesterday and today.
00:58:27McLaren looked to be
00:58:28in very good shape.
00:58:29Is that how it seems
00:58:30from your standpoint?
00:58:32Yeah,
00:58:32I've been happy with the car.
00:58:34Okay, yesterday,
00:58:35maybe not start with
00:58:36because I spun off once
00:58:37but ever since that
00:58:39the car has been very good
00:58:40and I was happy
00:58:41with the qualifying
00:58:42a little bit
00:58:43in corner one,
00:58:43the rear end got loose
00:58:44and in corner nine also
00:58:47but otherwise
00:58:48it was pretty good lap
00:58:49and I think
00:58:50so we're in a good shape.
00:58:52Very, very close
00:58:53between you and Juan Pablo
00:58:54and Rubens
00:58:55is only two tenths ahead.
00:58:56Is that indicative
00:58:57of how the race
00:58:57is going to go,
00:58:58do you think?
00:58:59It's difficult to say
00:59:00what they are doing.
00:59:01We only know
00:59:01what we are doing
00:59:03and I think
00:59:04so we have
00:59:05very good tactics
00:59:06so hopefully
00:59:08third place
00:59:09is better to start
00:59:10than second.
00:59:11Maybe it's more clean,
00:59:12I don't know
00:59:12but we see how it goes
00:59:13but we're going to
00:59:14give our best
00:59:15and hopefully we can win.
00:59:17Rubens,
00:59:18final thoughts with you.
00:59:19We all,
00:59:19I think most people
00:59:20in Formula One
00:59:21would love to see you
00:59:21win tomorrow.
00:59:22Can you talk us through
00:59:23the next 12 hours
00:59:24from your point of view
00:59:25the amount of pressure
00:59:25you're going to have
00:59:26and what it means to you
00:59:27to be on the pole
00:59:28for this Brazilian Grand Prix?
00:59:30To be very honest with you,
00:59:32I think the pressure
00:59:34is already gone
00:59:37because I'm going to
00:59:39sleep on my bed
00:59:40which I love so much
00:59:42and the thing
00:59:43that it's going to
00:59:44take care of me
00:59:44is my son.
00:59:46I will get it home
00:59:46and it's just a normal day
00:59:48playing with him
00:59:49and it's going to be nice
00:59:50so it's just a normal day
00:59:52and be here tomorrow
00:59:54I hope we have all
00:59:55tickets sold out
00:59:56and do what we didn't
00:59:59did last year.
01:00:00I think that last year
01:00:01I was very much prepared
01:00:02to win the race
01:00:03and I feel prepared
01:00:04to win it now.
01:00:05If that's what
01:00:07it's reserved for me
01:00:08tomorrow,
01:00:08that's fine.
01:00:09Otherwise we're going to
01:00:10fight to get the best
01:00:11result out there.
01:00:12But I'm going to give
01:00:14my best for that win.
01:00:16We wish all three drivers
01:00:18here of course
01:00:18the very best of luck.
01:00:19Now if we could have
01:00:20some words from you.
01:00:21Now keep in mind
01:00:22Rubens Barrichello
01:00:23is not the only Brazilian
01:00:24up close to the front.
01:00:25and Felipe Masso
01:00:26will start next
01:00:27to Kimi Raikkonen
01:00:28on row two.
01:00:29Should be a very
01:00:30interesting turn one.
01:00:34Don't hit the couch yet.
01:00:36It's a short segment.
01:00:37Join us again tomorrow
01:00:38for live coverage
01:00:39of the Brazilian Grand Prix.
01:00:40We'll begin at 12.30pm
01:00:42Eastern.
01:00:42As always with the
01:00:43Accurate Pre-Race Show
01:00:44in which Peter Windsor
01:00:45will have all the latest
01:00:46buzz from the paddock
01:00:47and of course will be live
01:00:48straight up through
01:00:49the checkered flag.
01:00:51We'll take another break
01:00:52and return with more.
01:00:53Final qualifying
01:00:54is now complete
01:00:55but the stage is set
01:00:57for what should be
01:00:57a very dramatic
01:00:58season finale.
01:01:04electronic four-wheel drive
01:01:08vehicle stability assist
01:01:10with traction control
01:01:15and an available
01:01:16navigation system
01:01:17with off-road tracking.
01:01:24The 265-horsepower
01:01:25Acura MDX
01:01:27gets hearts
01:01:28in the right place
01:01:29even if you are not.
01:01:33I have worked
01:01:34since I was 16.
01:01:35I had all these
01:01:36investments
01:01:37and money
01:01:38in the bank
01:01:39but I felt like
01:01:41I didn't know
01:01:41where I was going.
01:01:42I have...
01:01:49Welcome back to
01:01:50Interlagos
01:01:50where the Saturday crowd
01:01:52has gone home happy
01:01:53because home favorite
01:01:54Rubens Barrichello
01:01:55is on pole
01:01:55for Sunday's
01:01:57final round
01:01:57of the Formula One season.
01:01:59Let's enjoy
01:02:00Barrichello's pole lap
01:02:01in the Ferrari
01:02:02with David Hobbs
01:02:03and Steve Matchett
01:02:04coming up to take
01:02:05the flag there.
01:02:06You can see the car
01:02:07bouncing as it goes
01:02:08into Turn 1
01:02:08but again
01:02:09with that Ferrari
01:02:10smoothness
01:02:11goes over the kerbs
01:02:12thing looking very
01:02:12steady through the
01:02:13Curva d'Ausole there
01:02:16out onto this
01:02:17back straight.
01:02:18Looking fast
01:02:18through the speed trap
01:02:19199.5 miles an hour
01:02:22for that 053 Ferrari
01:02:24lump.
01:02:25It's a lot of grunt.
01:02:27Using the kerbs
01:02:28cars look very stable
01:02:30pretty steep uphill here
01:02:31and also very fast
01:02:33into this fedora
01:02:33which goes on
01:02:34and on and on
01:02:35as you can see
01:02:35and Michael Schumacher
01:02:37lost it this morning.
01:02:42Just doesn't put
01:02:43a foot wrong.
01:02:43Car looks so smooth.
01:02:45He looks smooth.
01:02:46It is a beautifully
01:02:47engineered chassis.
01:02:48It's got tremendous
01:02:49horsepower
01:02:50and they've really
01:02:51got their damping
01:02:52and their springing
01:02:53right on these cars.
01:02:54They just look so good
01:02:55all the time.
01:02:56Swoops through there
01:02:57just clips the kerb
01:02:59too tense quicker
01:03:00than anybody else.
01:03:01Yeah, now the climb.
01:03:02And this is where
01:03:03they want all that
01:03:03horsepower.
01:03:04If you could,
01:03:05this is the time
01:03:06to take the wing off.
01:03:07This is where you want
01:03:08the movable
01:03:09aerodynamic device,
01:03:10isn't it?
01:03:10Right.
01:03:11But as you say,
01:03:12David, just so smooth.
01:03:15That's the trick.
01:03:16Smooth is quick.
01:03:17Smooth will always
01:03:18be quick.
01:03:19And the whole thing.
01:03:21And 2.6-odd miles
01:03:23in 1 minute
01:03:24and 10 seconds.
01:03:25Great reaction
01:03:26to the crowd
01:03:27and his team.
01:03:28As we said earlier,
01:03:30he's been there before
01:03:31on pole position.
01:03:32After the kiss
01:03:33from wife Silvana,
01:03:35now Barrichello
01:03:35must ponder
01:03:36how he's going to
01:03:37seal the deal
01:03:38and win the race.
01:03:43Welcome back
01:03:44to Interlago Circuit
01:03:45in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
01:03:46The racetrack
01:03:46is now quiet,
01:03:47so it's time
01:03:48for everybody's
01:03:49favorite segment.
01:03:50We'll turn to the videotape
01:03:51to bring you
01:03:52the sounds of speed.
01:03:54in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
01:04:24in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
01:04:59In Sao Paulo, Brazil.
01:05:02Valley from Warrior
01:05:02in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
01:05:06In Sao Paulo, Brazil.
01:05:12In Sao Paulo, Brazil.
01:05:17In Sao Paulo, Braziliritual
01:05:20Brazil.igaha
01:05:24I don't know.
01:06:17I don't know.
01:06:24I don't know.
01:06:45As well as his teammate, Mark Webber, the 12th, and his last start for Jag.
01:06:51And that'll do it for qualifying from Interlagos, where we have seen Rubens Botticello, the overwhelming crowd favorite, take pole
01:06:58position for his home Grand Prix.
01:07:00Join us tomorrow beginning at 12.30 p.m. Eastern for live coverage of the Brazilian Grand Prix, starting with
01:07:05the Acura Pre-Race Show and Peter Windsor.
01:07:08Then at 1 o'clock, the cars will roll off, and we will bid farewell to the 2004 season.
01:07:13For David Hobbs and Steve Matchett, I'm Bob Marsha.
01:07:16We'll see you tomorrow for the Brazilian Grand Prix.
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