2008 Japanese GP Practice

OSRN 1

The 2nd Friday Practice session for Round 16 of the 2008 F1 season at Fuji.

Transcript

00:00:00Right now, boys, right now, victory for the first time it is to win.

00:00:27It took four attempts over two weekends a year apart, but we finally got a beautiful

00:00:32view of the ethereally symmetrical Mount Fujiyama, on the flanks of which you'll find a track

00:00:38that plays host to round 16 of the 2008 Formula One season.

00:00:42Welcome to Speed's live coverage of Friday practice for the Japanese Grand Prix.

00:00:46Hello again, everybody.

00:00:48I'm Bob Varsha with David Hobbs and Steve Matchett.

00:00:50Peter Windsor is turning Japanese this weekend, at least I think so.

00:00:54The normal Friday schedule is in order.

00:00:5690 minutes of practice have already taken place.

00:00:58The track is now green.

00:00:59There's Nick Heidfeld, the only man to spin in this morning's activity.

00:01:03Let's check the highlights of Friday morning's opening practice.

00:01:07Of course, Lewis Hamilton comes in with a seven-point lead in the championship.

00:01:10He can finish second the rest of the way and still clinch, while rival Felipe Massa knows

00:01:15he must win for Ferrari.

00:01:21There you see the other big story of the weekend.

00:01:23The tire grooves painted green in honour of a Bridgestone environmental initiative launched

00:01:30earlier this week in Tokyo.

00:01:31There we saw Fernando Alonso and here is Kimi Raikkonen.

00:01:35He would finish fourth in that first practice session.

00:01:38And then Kovalainen with a 19.279 would finish third in the McLaren in P1.

00:01:48And the only driver to break through the 19s, there's Massa.

00:01:53And then Hamilton, the 19.9.

00:02:00The MP4-23, 18.9, look at that.

00:02:03Yeah, the only guy to get below 19.

00:02:05Last year, of course, when it was damp, their fastest qualifying lap was a 1.28, so obviously

00:02:10it's come a long way since that.

00:02:13No sign of rain at the moment.

00:02:15Nick Heidfeld had a couple of offs this morning, saw him scrambling around.

00:02:18In fact, right there, a couple of times going down that asphalt on the inside of the corner.

00:02:22I'll show you the morning practice times across the bottom of your screen.

00:02:25As I mentioned, several drivers off track.

00:02:28Heidfeld the only one to actually spin.

00:02:31But a number of drivers, including Lewis Hamilton, overstepped the bounds of traction,

00:02:36got very wide, ran over the curbs and so on.

00:02:40That hairpin there looks like to me it would be a bit of a chore to spot it

00:02:44because there's no barrier, there's no cones, there's nothing to mark it out.

00:02:48You just suddenly slot off to the right there when the road goes straight on.

00:02:51So pretty tricky one, I would think.

00:02:54I'd be turned 10.

00:02:56I don't know about anybody else, but this track just looks so much different to me

00:03:00when it's not about three inches deep in rainwater as it was last year

00:03:05when we ran this race and Lewis Hamilton won.

00:03:09Of course, Kovalainen, who was driving for Renault, came second.

00:03:11That was his first podium finish.

00:03:13Best finish for Renault for him last year.

00:03:16And it was their first race...

00:03:19That's the kind of thing we're talking about.

00:03:21Yeah, seems to be a lot of that.

00:03:22Very low grip.

00:03:24Well, they've done some repaving work around the track as well this year

00:03:28and modified the curves to a degree.

00:03:30But what we're going to see there, we just saw that on the BMW chassis

00:03:33down into Turn 1 with the back end coming very light.

00:03:36It's one of these classic tracks with a very, very long straight.

00:03:41It's like a click and a half, one and a half kilometer long front straight.

00:03:44And then there's a lot of winding infield sections

00:03:47where you'd need wing on the car.

00:03:49And the only way you can get a good competitive lap time out of the car

00:03:52is to take wing off because you'll sacrifice so much straight line speed.

00:03:56Of course, by so doing, as soon as you put the brakes on

00:03:59and you need the downforce to help you down into Turn 1,

00:04:02you haven't got the wing on the car.

00:04:04And BMW, particularly here, are running some relatively shallow wings.

00:04:08That Turn 1 is very tight, about an 85 mile an hour apex.

00:04:13And it drops away big time.

00:04:15You're coming on that long, long, long straight turning to Turn 1

00:04:18and the road drops away downhill.

00:04:20So you've got all sorts of things to take into account.

00:04:23Here it is. Look how long this straight is.

00:04:25And it goes on and on and on.

00:04:28And then it's a very sharp, a reasonably sharp, tight corner down into the bottom.

00:04:33Look how it falls away. It drops downhill pretty steeply there.

00:04:38As you can see, bright sunshine.

00:04:40Temperatures in the high 60s and low 70s.

00:04:42A beautiful day.

00:04:44One final note on all that rain we had last year.

00:04:47Rain is expected this weekend.

00:04:49But on Saturday, race day, we are told, should be just fine.

00:04:53As Giancarlo Fisichella continues on his way in the Force India Ferrari.

00:04:57A team that we are told is actually chatting with Mercedes-Benz about engines for next year.

00:05:02Let's welcome the fourth member of our Speed Formula 1 team,

00:05:07Peter Windsor.

00:05:09Thanks very much, Bob. Splendid to be here in Japan.

00:05:12I set my watch this morning on the 7.26 departure of the bullet train from Tokyo.

00:05:16And it was spot on.

00:05:18Arrived exactly when it should.

00:05:20There was no confusion.

00:05:22All the guards here at the track are wearing suits and ties.

00:05:25The people are polite.

00:05:27There's no litter. There's no graffiti.

00:05:29We're in utopia here. It's just brilliant.

00:05:31And above it all, of course, Mount Fujiyama.

00:05:33As you say, well, I called it Mount Fujiyama like you this morning.

00:05:36I was corrected by a Japanese and said, oh, yeah, it is Mount Fujiyama.

00:05:39But we pronounce it Fuji-san.

00:05:41And I said, well, that's a bit confusing.

00:05:43Because you say Peter-san or Bob-san.

00:05:45And they sort of giggled and said, yes, but different word.

00:05:47So make of that what you will.

00:05:49But great to be here.

00:05:51And the leaves are turning to fall, too.

00:05:53Lovely colours at the track.

00:05:55It's a great, great event.

00:05:57Great occasion.

00:05:59And a great Friday, too.

00:06:01Lots of school kids here.

00:06:03It's a free day.

00:06:05So that they can get a taste of motorsport.

00:06:08Earlier on, Bob, you were discussing the green stripe around the tyre

00:06:12that Bridgestone have introduced for this race.

00:06:14And here we're seeing the first problem

00:06:16encountered for the commentators

00:06:18trying to cover this sport is

00:06:20it is so difficult with these stripes

00:06:22to figure out which are the hard tyres,

00:06:24which are the soft tyres.

00:06:26They're still marked with that one white stripe around

00:06:29to designate the softer tyres.

00:06:31But because of the green paint in all the stripes,

00:06:34I, for one, am struggling to see the difference.

00:06:37Absolutely.

00:06:39It's not only you, Steve.

00:06:41I did a quick poll in the break between the two sessions.

00:06:43None of the Formula 1 engineers,

00:06:45none of the Formula 1 guys in any of the teams

00:06:47can tell the difference either.

00:06:49It's back to square one.

00:06:51Nobody knows what tyres anybody's on.

00:06:53And maybe that was the intention with Bridgestone here.

00:06:55Because they do have quite a conservative choice of compound.

00:06:57We're going to talk about that later on in the weekend.

00:06:59But they have the soft and the medium here.

00:07:01And that is quite a conservative choice

00:07:03for Suzuki.

00:07:05It's not that hot here.

00:07:07There's only one really long corner.

00:07:09Sorry for Fuji.

00:07:11I'm correcting myself there back at Fuji.

00:07:13Suzuki next year.

00:07:15And I guess Bridgestone's slightly nervous

00:07:17about how the tyres are going to perform here,

00:07:19which is an interesting point.

00:07:21Because the circuit at the moment,

00:07:23no sign of graining,

00:07:25but a few bits of break-up from the tyres.

00:07:27Most of the team saying there's a reasonable grip level,

00:07:29but expecting it to pick up

00:07:31Of course, the air temperature

00:07:33we just saw is about 70.

00:07:35The track temperature is only about 85.

00:07:37So it's not exactly a red-hot track.

00:07:39But of course, obviously no data to go on last year.

00:07:41Because it was wet pretty much the whole weekend.

00:07:43Obviously very, very, very wet in the race.

00:07:45So a bit of a learning curve

00:07:47for everybody, I'm assuming.

00:07:49A lot of significant wear

00:07:51on the left front of the Red Bull chassis there.

00:07:53Those green stripes are showing up.

00:07:55Even if we're not entirely sure

00:07:57if it's a soft or hard compound tyre.

00:07:59Coming back to the point that you just made there, Peter,

00:08:01about Bridgestone's choice of rubber around here.

00:08:03Their concern is,

00:08:05I think,

00:08:07there are a lot of traction events around this corner.

00:08:09You know, you've got that long straight we were talking about.

00:08:11And then when you come off the straight

00:08:13and go back into what we call the infield section,

00:08:15where there's relatively low-speed corners,

00:08:17you really have to hit the throttle

00:08:19to power out of those.

00:08:21And it's the rear tyres

00:08:23that take a lot of the pounding around here.

00:08:25Because the lack of traction control,

00:08:27you know, is having to control the traction,

00:08:29but you need to get on the power as soon as possible.

00:08:31That causes wheel spin,

00:08:33and also the car sliding laterally at the same time.

00:08:35There's a lot going on on the tyres

00:08:37at the back of the car here.

00:08:39Steve,

00:08:41Pascal Vasselin of Toyota,

00:08:43who's always a good guy to talk to about tyres,

00:08:45being an ex-Michelin man.

00:08:47We were talking about this this morning,

00:08:49and he said exactly what you've just been describing there,

00:08:51the traction events.

00:08:53But also he pointed out Turn 5 here.

00:08:55He said, in his opinion, Bridgestone

00:08:57just did not want to risk having any sort of tyre event,

00:08:59if that's the right word,

00:09:01in the middle of that corner.

00:09:03And don't forget, of course,

00:09:05we did see a problem on the Lewis Hamilton tyres

00:09:07through that long, fast corner in Turkey earlier this year.

00:09:09Yeah, Turn 5 here is long.

00:09:11It's long and fast,

00:09:13and basically goes to 180 degrees,

00:09:15but you're really legging it all the way through there.

00:09:17So,

00:09:19that's a pretty good track, really.

00:09:21There's a good variety of turns here,

00:09:23a lot of corners,

00:09:25a lot of hard braking.

00:09:27And as you've already said, Steve,

00:09:29when you have hard braking, it's usually a slow corner,

00:09:31which means you're putting the old pedal to the metal

00:09:33coming out of it,

00:09:35which causes grief on the rear tyres,

00:09:37obviously on the drivetrain as well.

00:09:39Lewis Hamilton staying at the top of the times.

00:09:41He's there 19.6, not quite as quick as he went this morning,

00:09:43but obviously lots of things going on this afternoon

00:09:45in terms of data collection,

00:09:47brake wear, tyre wear,

00:09:49particularly,

00:09:52Yeah, it's not a track which is

00:09:54particularly heavy on brakes.

00:09:56It's not the engineer's primary concern,

00:09:58such as it was, for example,

00:10:00at the previous race in Singapore.

00:10:02But that long straight, this fella right here as well,

00:10:06it's so easy to get the brakes to over-cool,

00:10:08but of course you need them up to temperature

00:10:10to really stamp on them when you need them

00:10:12coming down into that Turn 1.

00:10:14Yeah, see Heikki Kovalainen,

00:10:16currently P2,

00:10:18as he returns to a track that gave him

00:10:20his initial success in Formula 1

00:10:22last year. It's McLaren

00:10:24Mercedes 1-2 over

00:10:26Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel.

00:10:28We'll be back.

00:10:30Speeds coverage of the FIA

00:10:32Formula 1 World Championship is brought to you

00:10:34by Bridgestone. Passion for

00:10:36excellence.

00:10:42Welcome back to Friday's

00:10:44second 90-minute practice

00:10:46at the Mount Fuji Speedway,

00:10:48home of the Japanese

00:10:50Grand Prix, at least for this year.

00:10:52Next year, Mount Fuji

00:10:54Speedway will begin to alternate

00:10:56possession of the Japanese

00:10:58round of the World Championship with the

00:11:00Suzuka Circuit, which is

00:11:02a much preferred circuit here in Japan

00:11:04according to all the drivers.

00:11:06Right now in the session, the order is

00:11:08Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Bourdais

00:11:10has pushed his Scuderia Toto Rosso

00:11:12Ferrari up into second place.

00:11:14Heikki Kovalainen drops to third.

00:11:16Felipe Massa now fourth.

00:11:18Fernando Alonso is fifth, followed by

00:11:20Kimi Raikkonen, Sebastian Vettel, Robert

00:11:22Kubica, Dick Heidfeld

00:11:24and Timo Block. There's Alonso,

00:11:26winner of the Singapore race

00:11:28just two weeks ago.

00:11:30Let's take a look at our BMW

00:11:32track analysis. David, tell us about Fuji.

00:11:34Well, 2.835 miles

00:11:36long, and as you can see, more than half of it

00:11:38is that long, long straight down to turn

00:11:40one. Very sharp right

00:11:42hander about 90 miles an hour at the apex

00:11:44then you start to go downhill through that second

00:11:46corner there, right hand sweep.

00:11:48The Coca-Cola corner is

00:11:50a quick approach, and it's an uphill approach too

00:11:52so it's right on the brow, and there's that turn

00:11:54that Peter was talking about. I mean, look at it.

00:11:56It just goes on and on and on and on, and at the end

00:11:58of that is where Alonso

00:12:00spun and crashed last year heavily in the McLaren.

00:12:02Then there's that tight hairpin

00:12:04again, the

00:12:06at this stage there's no elevation

00:12:08change much, and you rush down to that

00:12:10Dunlop corner, which is a bit confusing because the

00:12:12road actually goes straight on there after

00:12:14that, so I don't know how they pick it up.

00:12:16And you have that, well, the twisty bits there

00:12:18as you get down to the 13th corner, and that

00:12:20long left-hand loop

00:12:22leading, and now we're going uphill again to that

00:12:24Panasonic corner, and obviously you want to get

00:12:26that one right, because every

00:12:28rev that you have on board as you come onto that

00:12:30straight, you maintain all the way

00:12:32down it, so exit to that last

00:12:34corner is very important

00:12:36to overtake people.

00:12:38Ibe Masa goes to P1 in the Ferrari

00:12:40Look at his tyres, if we get another shot.

00:12:42He began with green stripes,

00:12:44yellow stripes, whatever colour stripes,

00:12:46but as you can see, there's very little of any of it left.

00:12:48He must be on the same set of tyres

00:12:50he ran much of this morning's night.

00:12:52Well, there again,

00:12:54going by what Peter and Steve said earlier on,

00:12:56the rear tyres in particular looking very knackered.

00:12:58He's on another

00:13:00hot lap.

00:13:02Well, you know, today is data collection

00:13:04day, and

00:13:06obviously you want to put some runs on the car

00:13:08and see what, and then maybe

00:13:10try some different heat cycles on the tyres,

00:13:12see where they're standing.

00:13:34I was hoping they'd stay on that

00:13:36corner, he was just approaching that corner

00:13:38where you've got to get...

00:13:40Listen to him get on the gas.

00:13:52Wish he'd stayed on that camera

00:13:54to the end.

00:13:56It is a long time, about 18 seconds

00:13:58at full throttle.

00:14:02While Adrian Sutil

00:14:04is coming to life, green in sector

00:14:06one, purple in sector

00:14:08two. Adrian Sutil was

00:14:10very quick this morning, I mean, he'll

00:14:12end up 11th in that 4th India, I mean,

00:14:14you know, you normally see him

00:14:16and Fisichella right behind doors of the rear.

00:14:18Oh, there's

00:14:20Fernando Alonso off and on. Now, he is on

00:14:22the option tyre,

00:14:24so let's see if we can pick up the white stripe

00:14:26that designates that as being

00:14:28different from the primes, which are all

00:14:30green stripes. Boy, Adrian Sutil

00:14:32is at the top of the time sheet.

00:14:3419.344.

00:14:36He's got Ferrari power. Well, in that 4th India

00:14:38chassis, I've said all season along

00:14:40that I think towards the end of the year

00:14:42these fellas will get

00:14:44their act together.

00:14:46From when they're

00:14:48Eddie Jordan's team.

00:14:50Speaking of

00:14:52engine power, engine's very much the

00:14:54subject of discussion this weekend

00:14:56in Japan.

00:14:58FIA President Max Mosley and

00:15:00FOM boss Bernie Ecclestone

00:15:02have made it clear that they love the idea

00:15:04of standardized engines

00:15:06in Formula 1 in the near future

00:15:08in an effort to curb costs.

00:15:10The other big story coming

00:15:12into the weekend, as I'm sure you know,

00:15:14is the release

00:15:16of the 2009 Formula 1

00:15:18schedule that for the first

00:15:20time in a long time

00:15:22includes no Formula 1

00:15:24races whatsoever

00:15:26in North America. The Canadian Grand

00:15:28Prix in Montreal is not

00:15:30a part of the 2009 Formula 1

00:15:32championship and we'll have a lot more

00:15:34on that both on Sunday here in

00:15:36our race coverage and on

00:15:38the Speed Report Sunday night at 7pm

00:15:40Eastern. I wouldn't be surprised if the

00:15:42director picks up Trulia anytime now.

00:15:44He's just gone fastest in sector 1

00:15:46and sector 2 on this lap

00:15:48in the Toyota.

00:15:50Especially as we are

00:15:52in Japan.

00:15:54Quick,

00:15:56last time a Formula 1 season

00:15:58ran without a race in

00:16:00North America.

00:16:021958.

00:16:04Wow. There we go.

00:16:06Trulia, newly

00:16:08crowned, if that's the right word.

00:16:10Fast man of the session, purple

00:16:12in every sector.

00:16:1421.5, sector 1,

00:16:1628.9 and 28.4.

00:16:18Good sectors

00:16:20there all around there for Toyota.

00:16:22It is a complex track

00:16:24in many ways talking about the race in

00:16:26North America or lack of.

00:16:28This track reminds me of

00:16:30the layout of Indianapolis in many

00:16:32ways with that long straight part of the

00:16:34oval track we used to use there in Indy

00:16:36and then turning right onto the infield

00:16:38section. There's a lot of similarities

00:16:40and the teams face a lot of very similar

00:16:42challenges really setting the

00:16:44car up here. And again it's

00:16:46that distinct compromise between the

00:16:48long straight, the lack of downforce

00:16:50needed and then the downforce for the rest of the track.

00:16:52Yeah, the other thing about this

00:16:54track too is it's very wide

00:16:56everywhere. There's just no

00:16:58narrow spots which of course

00:17:00makes it nice for the

00:17:02drivers.

00:17:04There's the white stripe.

00:17:06Clear as day.

00:17:08I said all along you'd be able to see it.

00:17:10Yeah.

00:17:12Well, we'll be coming to you many times.

00:17:14That's right. David Wattara is here.

00:17:16By the way,

00:17:18if you have an opinion about no races

00:17:20in North America in Formula 1 next year,

00:17:22a new survey is now

00:17:24online. Sponsored

00:17:26by the folks from ING

00:17:28who are our corporate partner of our efforts here

00:17:30at Speed at

00:17:32www.ING

00:17:34F1 Racing Magazine

00:17:36fansurvey.com

00:17:38Formula 1 fans are being

00:17:40asked for their opinions on a variety of

00:17:42subjects related to the sport. So

00:17:44if you have strong feelings,

00:17:46go to that online survey

00:17:48and let fly.

00:17:50Well, look at that top

00:17:52of the sheets now. Sebastian

00:17:54Vettel, Johanno Trulli,

00:17:56Kaz Nakajima

00:17:58who has now been pushed down to fourth

00:18:00by Timo Glock. But that's why those

00:18:02mechanics in the Williams guys were smiling

00:18:04so broadly just a moment ago

00:18:06as Nakajima jumped right up

00:18:08there into third spot. Like I say,

00:18:10now down in fourth. And Sue Teal right behind him.

00:18:14Kaz Nakajima says his father,

00:18:16former Formula 1 driver,

00:18:18Satoru Nakajima, will be

00:18:20here to watch his son race

00:18:22on Sunday.

00:18:26A new game comes to

00:18:28Sin City with a new...

00:18:3032 years

00:18:32ago, the Mount Fuji circuit hosted

00:18:34the 1976 Formula 1

00:18:36Japanese Grand Prix.

00:18:38First visit of Formula 1 to the circuit,

00:18:40Niki Lauda came in with a three-point lead in the

00:18:42championship over James Hunt.

00:18:44Hunt started on the front row in his McLaren

00:18:46alongside American Mario Andretti

00:18:48in his Lotus, with Lauda

00:18:50lining up behind him in his

00:18:52Ferrari. The conditions were treacherous

00:18:54as Hunt took the early lead.

00:18:56It was raining so hard that after the first lap

00:18:58Lauda pulled his car into the pits, claiming

00:19:00the conditions were just too dangerous

00:19:02to risk his life for the world championship.

00:19:04This coming, of course, just months

00:19:06after his horrific crash and fire at the

00:19:08Nurburgring. Mario Andretti

00:19:10went on to win the race. Patrick Depay finished

00:19:12second, Hunt finished a lap

00:19:14down in third, but that was enough

00:19:16for him to secure his first and only

00:19:18world championship. There's Mario

00:19:20on the podium.

00:19:22Back to live pictures,

00:19:24Friday practice for Sunday's

00:19:26Japanese Grand Prix.

00:19:28Bob Varsha, David Hobbs

00:19:30and Steve Matchett with you, and

00:19:32here right now

00:19:34is Peter Windsor.

00:19:36Well, Bob, yes, just remembering those wonderful

00:19:38scenes from... Well, I wasn't there

00:19:40much too young, of course, but I wasn't there

00:19:42that year, but remembering James Hunt

00:19:44in 77 I was here

00:19:46and I remember talking to James about

00:19:48jet lag and what it was

00:19:50like for him as a race driver

00:19:52and I remember him saying, oh, the jet lag's

00:19:54not a problem at all. You just go to bed when

00:19:56you want and then you wake up whenever you feel like it

00:19:58and then you read until dawn

00:20:00and then you doze a bit and then you get up,

00:20:02which is all fine, but I was

00:20:04intrigued as to what he was reading because there

00:20:06was no television in his hotel, I recall

00:20:08and I said to him, so what are you reading

00:20:10at the moment, James? And he said,

00:20:12oh, Ulysses, James Joyce,

00:20:14which I thought was quite impressive

00:20:16actually. That just shows the other side of James Hunt.

00:20:18He wasn't all cigarettes

00:20:20and girls and bravado. He was actually

00:20:22a very intelligent, sensitive

00:20:24man as well. Great racing driver too.

00:20:26Well, at least he was smart enough to know

00:20:28that if you try to read Ulysses on jet

00:20:30lag, it will put you to sleep in a heartbeat.

00:20:34Incidentally, the following year, in

00:20:361977, James Hunt won

00:20:38the race and he, in second place, Carlos

00:20:40Reutemann, ran off to

00:20:42catch their flights home. They didn't go to the podium

00:20:44after the race,

00:20:46which was occupied by

00:20:48Patrick Depayet, who finished third

00:20:50and some guy from Magneti Morelli

00:20:52who was there to pick up the trophies for

00:20:54the two absent drivers. Can you imagine

00:20:56a driver pulling that stunt

00:20:58these days? It is ball

00:21:00boatin'.

00:21:02Be hurled from the championship.

00:21:04Be hurled from the roof of the

00:21:06tallest building in the world first.

00:21:12Sebastian Vettel now tops

00:21:14the time charts. About half the field is

00:21:16in the pit lane as they continue to work

00:21:18on their Friday checklists.

00:21:20It's Vettel, Jarno Trulli, and his

00:21:22Toyota. Of course, a big race for Toyota

00:21:24this weekend. His teammate, Timo

00:21:26Glock, is in third. Sebastian

00:21:28Bordet is fourth. Good day thus far

00:21:30for STR Ferrari. Nico Rosberg

00:21:32fifth for Williams Toyota. Kaznak

00:21:34Ajima, Rosberg's teammate, right there

00:21:36in sixth. Then David Kugard,

00:21:38Adrian Sutil, Felipe Massa,

00:21:40and Lewis Hamilton, who led the

00:21:42session not too long ago, is

00:21:44now tenth. Peter?

00:21:46We're watching Sebastian Bordet

00:21:48now, but I don't know what you guys thought

00:21:50in that event-packed Singapore Grand Prix.

00:21:52So much going on, but it was

00:21:54about two days afterwards that

00:21:56I suddenly realized that we'd seen very, very

00:21:58little television of Sebastian

00:22:00Vettel. We're on board now with Lewis Hamilton back

00:22:02on the circuit after a quick

00:22:04break. Not quite sure what he was doing out of the car,

00:22:06but there was no panic going on there. But just to

00:22:08finish the point about Vettel, it's interesting, isn't it? He becomes

00:22:10a Grand Prix winner and then drives a very

00:22:12good race at Singapore, finishes in the points

00:22:14comfortably. No television

00:22:16at all, because we just take it for granted

00:22:18he's going to be quick now, and he didn't really do anything

00:22:20spectacular. How things change so

00:22:22quickly. Well, of course, Sebastian

00:22:24Vettel is now lying eighth in the World

00:22:26Championship, having got off to

00:22:28such a dreadful start when

00:22:30he was knocked out of the first three

00:22:32races on the very first lap,

00:22:34usually by somebody else.

00:22:36Of course, at Silverson, where he was looking pretty good

00:22:38in the rain,

00:22:40David Coulthard took him out on lap one,

00:22:42which didn't go down

00:22:44too well with either Red Bull or

00:22:46Toro Rosso. You won't want to miss

00:22:48this week's edition of Formula 1

00:22:50Debrief, Friday night at midnight,

00:22:52when we look back on the Singapore Grand Prix.

00:22:54Peter, I have a question for you. I understand

00:22:56Sebastian Vettel has an

00:22:58interesting adventure in mind this weekend

00:23:00while he's in Japan. That's

00:23:02right, Bob. Yes, a very good friend of mine, Tom

00:23:04Clarkson, who works with me on Grand Prix

00:23:06tours and writes for F1

00:23:08Racing, very good journalist, is

00:23:10last year he climbed Mount Fuji

00:23:12after the race, and this year he's invited

00:23:14Sebastian Vettel and Alex

00:23:16Wurtz to do it, and they both immediately

00:23:18said yes, but guess what? They're going to

00:23:20do it on Sunday night, starting at

00:23:22midnight, and the goal is to achieve

00:23:24the summit of Mount Fuji,

00:23:26or Fujisan as the Japanese call it

00:23:28apparently, at dawn on

00:23:30Monday, so Sebastian Vettel really

00:23:32looking forward to that. He's totally excited

00:23:34about it, I think more excited about that than he is for

00:23:36the Japanese Grand Prix.

00:23:38He's just the guy to

00:23:40feel that way too.

00:23:42A real free spirit is Sebastian Vettel.

00:23:44Absolutely, 21-year-old, do you want to get

00:23:46these things done in life?

00:23:48You never know.

00:23:50I'll just spend a couple of hours in a race

00:23:52car that's trying to tear my head off, and then

00:23:54for grins that night, I'll just stay up and

00:23:56climb Mount Fuji, no big deal.

00:23:58Yikes.

00:24:00How high is Fuji? It looks pretty high

00:24:02from that picture.

00:24:04The video that we've seen of it.

00:24:06You keep asking these questions

00:24:08and our statistician, Sean, is going to

00:24:10kick you in the back

00:24:12because it is in his notes,

00:24:14David. Boy, I thought you were going to

00:24:16say something else there.

00:24:18Peter, save us.

00:24:20Guess what, guys? I walked into the track one day

00:24:22at Singapore with Ukyo Katayama,

00:24:24who used to race in Formula 1, pretty quick too.

00:24:26Drove for Tyrrell and various other teams.

00:24:28He was telling me that next year

00:24:30he's going to climb

00:24:32Everest. I'm not sure which face

00:24:34of Everest, but one of the Everest faces

00:24:36without oxygen.

00:24:38He's a serious mountain climber.

00:24:40Apparently, he also did a bicycle race

00:24:42recently in a field of something

00:24:44like 1,000 bikes, finished

00:24:46in the top 35.

00:24:48Very impressive young...

00:24:50Well, he's not very young anymore, but still looks incredibly

00:24:52fit. Ukyo Katayama, great mountain climber.

00:24:54Well, he must be very fit.

00:24:56He doesn't just look fit, he's got to be fit

00:24:58to do that sort of trick. David?

00:25:00Good luck to him climbing Everest.

00:25:0212,388 feet

00:25:04is Mount Fuji.

00:25:06Mrs. Hobbs at the moment is actually wandering around

00:25:08the Himalayas, going to the base

00:25:10camp of Everest, which is 17,000

00:25:12feet. Gone to open a clinic

00:25:14with an English mountaineer called Doug

00:25:16Scott, who climbed Everest on a number of occasions.

00:25:18I think was one of the first,

00:25:20if not the first, to climb Everest

00:25:22without oxygen. A long time

00:25:24ago now, but he has opened some clinics

00:25:26and he asked Margaret and a couple of

00:25:28other trekkers to go along with him. So, she's

00:25:30wandering around up there at the moment. Haven't heard from her

00:25:32for two weeks.

00:25:34Out of sight.

00:25:36That's an adventure. Absolutely.

00:25:3829,000 feet, Mount Everest.

00:25:40And did you see the story about a bunch

00:25:42of folks who paid a small

00:25:44fortune to go skydiving

00:25:46over Mount Everest? Don't ask.

00:26:04Just under an hour to go in Friday's

00:26:06second practice in preparation for

00:26:08Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix.

00:26:10Round 16

00:26:12of 18 in the 2008

00:26:14Formula One season. Five men still

00:26:16mathematically alive for the World

00:26:18Championship. Three of them could

00:26:20be eliminated this weekend. Robert

00:26:22Kubica, Nick Heidfeld

00:26:24and Kimi Raikkonen.

00:26:26You see Raikkonen.

00:26:28Had a bitterly disappointing season in defense

00:26:30of his 07 World Championship.

00:26:36If I had to bet, I'm thinking

00:26:38Kubica probably makes

00:26:40it through to China next week.

00:26:42While Lewis Hamilton

00:26:44and Felipe Massa continue their battle

00:26:46up front.

00:26:48Well, Massa's championship has

00:26:50been completely turned on its head by that

00:26:52awful result at Singapore

00:26:54where he had every possibility of

00:26:56stamping his mark of authority

00:26:58when he was leading

00:27:00handily until that debacle in the pit lane

00:27:02with the light system failing.

00:27:04And now, with the way the points stand,

00:27:06he can win the last

00:27:08races outright and still not

00:27:10be World Champion. And providing that

00:27:12Lewis Hamilton finishes second and just

00:27:14brings McLaren home behind him, wherever

00:27:16Massa finishes, then the championship will fall

00:27:18to Lewis. So

00:27:20much depends now on

00:27:22Kimi Raikkonen. What will Raikkonen do to

00:27:24help his teammate? If Raikkonen can get

00:27:26him in between

00:27:28Massa and Hamilton, then of course

00:27:30that will change everything. But

00:27:32how much of a team player is

00:27:34Kimi Raikkonen? He's had such a strange

00:27:36season this year as reigning World

00:27:38Champion. Just really hasn't

00:27:40seemed to me to

00:27:42be in the season

00:27:44really from race on to race.

00:27:46Where are we now? 16?

00:27:48His big weak point this year

00:27:50seems to have been qualifying.

00:27:52He keeps on qualifying in the

00:27:54middle of the pack

00:27:56and has lackluster races. And then

00:27:58right near the end of the race with, I don't know,

00:28:0010, 15, 20 laps to go,

00:28:02suddenly he starts setting the fastest

00:28:04lap of the race. I mean, he's got 10 fastest

00:28:06laps this year.

00:28:08So there's paces there.

00:28:10And not a thing to show for it, really.

00:28:12But of course,

00:28:14Ferrari have vowed to come first and second

00:28:16in the last three races.

00:28:18Which they could do.

00:28:20They could do. Of course, McLaren and

00:28:22these guys here, BMW, will be out to

00:28:24stop them doing that. Make sure they don't, yeah.

00:28:26That's right.

00:28:28You know, it's a

00:28:30really interesting subject, guys, this whole Ferrari

00:28:32team thing, isn't it? I think we could probably talk about it

00:28:34all day because we have Stefano Domenicali

00:28:36saying Kimi knows what

00:28:38he needs to do for the team now. And of course,

00:28:40the reality is Ferrari have two number

00:28:42one drivers. And what is it they're

00:28:44expecting Kimi to do, actually?

00:28:46You know, apart from just drive as quickly

00:28:48as he can at any given moment, which is what

00:28:50Kimi always does. And, you know, I'll tell

00:28:52you what, I would be willing to bet that

00:28:54when he's back home in Switzerland or in

00:28:56Finland or wherever he goes with his buddies and they

00:28:58say to him, what do you think about the championship, Kimi?

00:29:00He probably says very quietly

00:29:02so nobody hears, oh, I hope Lewis wins

00:29:04because the last thing he needs is a teammate

00:29:06who's world champion anyway. So I don't know what Ferrari

00:29:08are expecting from him. Of course, you'd never say

00:29:10that publicly, but, you know, I think, Steve,

00:29:12you're right. I don't think Kimi is the team player

00:29:14in the way that, say, Rubens Barrichello would

00:29:16have been to Michael Schumacher.

00:29:18No, I don't see him in that

00:29:20role. I mean, he's clearly a very

00:29:22brilliant, talented driver

00:29:24when the mood takes him. But, I mean,

00:29:26the mood has got to take

00:29:28you every single time you jump in the car,

00:29:30every lap of every session.

00:29:32Well, that's what being a professional is

00:29:34all about, is it not? Absolutely, and that

00:29:36is what, you know, that's what made seven times

00:29:38world champion Michael Schumacher

00:29:40Michael Schumacher seven times world champion.

00:29:42It was every single lap,

00:29:44whether it was a test, whether it was a race,

00:29:46a practice session, whatever,

00:29:48he was always, always working

00:29:50flat out. And Kimi, to me,

00:29:52just doesn't seem that guy.

00:29:54Well, there was never any doubt when Michael Schumacher,

00:29:56but the year he broke his leg, what,

00:29:581999? I mean, we came

00:30:00down to Malaysia when he reappeared

00:30:02and he did

00:30:04definitely back up his teammate Irvine

00:30:06to try and help Irvine win the

00:30:08championship, but Irvine didn't have

00:30:10the speed to do that either.

00:30:12So, even though he got help from Michael Schumacher,

00:30:14who was obviously

00:30:16not in the running after missing a number

00:30:18of races having broken his leg, but

00:30:20nevertheless, you know, they're always

00:30:22used to having a real solid

00:30:24number one and with two drivers,

00:30:26I think going into this year, I don't know about

00:30:28anybody else, but I absolutely thought that

00:30:30Kimi Räikkönen would just

00:30:32stamp his authority all over Felipe Massa

00:30:34and I'm amazed that Felipe Massa has outqualified

00:30:36him so devastatingly

00:30:38and I don't think

00:30:40Kimi likes it and I'm just wondering if

00:30:42we've got to the situation now where Kimi

00:30:44has basically run out of ideas in

00:30:46terms of how to set the car up, you know,

00:30:48when Michael Schumacher worked so well

00:30:50with the mechanics, the

00:30:52technicians, the office guys, he was

00:30:54in there all the time and

00:30:56I don't know whether Kimi Räikkönen has

00:30:58either got the ability to do that.

00:31:04And David, you make a good point

00:31:06because the reality is Michael

00:31:08Schumacher showed Ferrari how to win

00:31:10drivers' championships and that is

00:31:12you make every point count.

00:31:14If Michael Schumacher was still

00:31:16at Ferrari now this year and his

00:31:18teammate was Rubens Barrichello,

00:31:20Michael would have won the Malaysian

00:31:22Grand Prix instead of crashing out as Massa

00:31:24did trying to stay with Kimi. He would have

00:31:26won Barcelona and he'd be leading the

00:31:28championship by at least 10-15 points

00:31:30over Lewis Hamilton but because Ferrari

00:31:32chose to go with two number ones

00:31:34right from the start, they're in the position where

00:31:36one driver is by definition going to take points

00:31:38from the other until they get to a

00:31:40mathematical situation towards the end of the year.

00:31:42I'm amazed Ferrari, this is my

00:31:44point, did not continue the Michael Schumacher

00:31:46philosophy and put a definite number

00:31:48two alongside Kimi or a definite number two

00:31:50alongside Massa. But those two guys

00:31:52are always going to cancel one another out.

00:31:54Absolutely, and of course the same thing if Alonso goes

00:31:56there, what's going to happen then if they have Alonso

00:31:58and Raikkonen or Alonso and Massa? They're going

00:32:00to be stuck with the same thing again

00:32:02and Alonso is going to be right back where he was

00:32:04with McLaren. But of course Steve's story

00:32:06is the best of all.

00:32:08Michael Schumacher winning the

00:32:10Hungarian Grand Prix when he was with Benetton

00:32:12and while he's out there working

00:32:14out where he can get JJ

00:32:16Leto to finish in the race.

00:32:18It was Jos, but you're right, that race

00:32:20just happened.

00:32:22To finish in the race, to get maximum

00:32:24points for the team. And he thought

00:32:26of it first, right? Well, very

00:32:28briefly, yeah, absolutely. Michael Schumacher

00:32:30leading that race handily

00:32:32and kept asking over the

00:32:34radio, back to Pat Simmons in the Engineering

00:32:36Brain Trust at Benetton, where is Jos?

00:32:38Tell me where Jos' position is. What's his lap

00:32:40speed? Where is he in relation

00:32:42to the opposition? And then advising

00:32:44why don't you ask Jos to

00:32:46unlap himself from me?

00:32:48That will mean he has to do one less

00:32:50lap, you know,

00:32:52to guarantee that position. And it worked

00:32:54out and he finished on the podium. Martin

00:32:56Brundle's McLaren broke down,

00:32:58I think it was Brundle and McLaren broke down

00:33:00and put Jos on the podium. And he's calculated

00:33:02all this just as we're watching Kimi Räikkönen

00:33:04driving now. Right, that was part of the

00:33:06thing was let Jos unlap himself

00:33:08so that he can get that lap in case

00:33:10something happens in front of him and he can

00:33:12get the points. And of course, it did.

00:33:14Because he's, you know, I remember him saying, well, if something

00:33:16happens to Brundle's McLaren, that'll put

00:33:18Jos on the podium. And Brundle's McLaren broke

00:33:20down on the last lap.

00:33:22Wouldn't you just love to know

00:33:24what Michael Schumacher thinks of

00:33:26Ferrari's situation and the way

00:33:28the last few races have unfolded.

00:33:42I want to fight.

00:33:44I want to shine.

00:33:46I want to rise.

00:33:48Break me down.

00:33:58Welcome back to Friday practice

00:34:00of the Singapore Grand Prix

00:34:02proved nothing else. It is that

00:34:04there is lots still to race for

00:34:06in Formula One. Just ask Fernando

00:34:08Alonso who picked up his 20th

00:34:10career victory in

00:34:12Singapore.

00:34:14Sunday night at midnight,

00:34:16be sure to join David, Steve, Peter and me

00:34:18for live coverage of the Japanese Grand Prix

00:34:20kicking off at midnight eastern.

00:34:22That's late Saturday night.

00:34:24If you care to stay up with the Acura

00:34:26pre-race show. And at 12.30, the cars

00:34:28roll off and the race begins.

00:34:30Sunday, make that Saturday night midnight

00:34:32live here on Speed.

00:34:36Here's Lewis Hamilton. Take a cool drink.

00:34:38Felipe Massa

00:34:40looks like he might just jump to the top of the

00:34:42time sheets.

00:34:44Right now, Timo Glock

00:34:46and Toyota sit up there.

00:34:48Followed by Sebastian Vettel.

00:34:50Lewis Hamilton is currently third.

00:34:52Then Jarno Trulli, Robert Kubica and

00:34:54Kimi Raikkonen. Felipe Massa is

00:34:56ninth. Sebastian Bordet

00:34:58tenth.

00:35:00Wow, Felipe Massa lost

00:35:02a lot of time in

00:35:04sectors two and three. And of course,

00:35:06you just have to look at

00:35:08the top of that time sheet. Timo Glock and

00:35:10the Toyota. And who is dead last

00:35:12and last? The two Hondas. They just

00:35:14must be, oh my God,

00:35:16hiding in the pits.

00:35:18Felipe Massa

00:35:20coming into the most interesting part of the circuit

00:35:22now. Coming out of that fast turn five,

00:35:24braking for six. Steve, it's a bit like

00:35:26those last two corners of Valencia. Very

00:35:28fast corner, followed by a heavy

00:35:30braking, tight corner. And it's so

00:35:32easy to make that fast corner go on too

00:35:34and put yourself in a position where

00:35:36you don't really have a flat, stable car

00:35:38to get it right for the next corner.

00:35:40And it was amazing this morning watching the drivers

00:35:42out there. Lewis, Felipe, head

00:35:44and shoulders, in my view, above anybody else.

00:35:46Poor old Fernando Alonso loves

00:35:48that turn five so much. He just can't help

00:35:50himself. And he's right out on the edge.

00:35:52The Renault touching the kerb. I can see

00:35:54how he had his shunt there last year because he just loves

00:35:56that corner so much. And then it's almost as if

00:35:58at the last minute, he remembers he's got a brake for the tight

00:36:00left afterwards. Keeps locking up and going

00:36:02straight on. But just

00:36:04thinking about Felipe Massa, he's

00:36:06a real gentleman. And I think he's really shown

00:36:08his colours this year. He's been

00:36:10polite. He's been a true

00:36:12sportsman in many ways. And I

00:36:14was very impressed after the Singapore Grand Prix

00:36:16when he went back to the Ferrari garage, put

00:36:18his arm around all the boys, said that it was

00:36:20a team. Here we see Fernando Alonso

00:36:22now in the Renault. Very sharp

00:36:24initial turn in, as ever.

00:36:26But then, rather spoilt, two days

00:36:28later, when the president of Ferrari said

00:36:30what a shamble Singapore was, it was a ridiculous

00:36:32race, what a circus.

00:36:34In many ways, the president of Ferrari

00:36:36should learn some manners from Felipe, I think.

00:36:38I couldn't agree more.

00:36:40I have to remember, Michael Schumacher

00:36:42has been teaching

00:36:44Felipe Massa, I think, how to

00:36:46gel with the team. Remember,

00:36:48they've been working very

00:36:50closely together for a number of years now

00:36:52and I think he's rubbing off. Schumacher's

00:36:54teaching to Massa is rubbing off that

00:36:56once you're in a position when

00:36:58you're starting to feel strong within the team,

00:37:00don't forget the team. You've got

00:37:02to work with them. Go around and introduce yourself

00:37:04to them at every race. Make sure everybody's

00:37:06happy and working in the same direction.

00:37:08It will pay off. It will pay dividends

00:37:10because if nothing else, it will

00:37:12destabilise Kimi Räikkönen

00:37:14and make him feel even more

00:37:16irritated than he is right now.

00:37:18I thought in just one minute you talked about

00:37:20a great team-mate. The next minute you said,

00:37:22I'll irritate Kimi Räikkönen.

00:37:24Slip the old shiv right in there.

00:37:26Right between the shoulder blades.

00:37:28I'm explaining

00:37:30to you how Michael Schumacher

00:37:32used to work and he used to understabilise

00:37:34his own team-mates in exactly the

00:37:36same way. That's what made him Michael

00:37:38Schumacher. Too brute.

00:37:40Take a bit of this

00:37:42stainless steel right in your gullet.

00:37:44Let's ride along with Fernando

00:37:46Alonso.

00:37:48Thank you very much. I'm sure we all enjoyed that.

00:37:50Quick ride.

00:37:52There's Massa in the fifth lane.

00:37:54That's true. Luca di Montezemolo, the chairman

00:37:56of Fiat, said that the Singapore race

00:37:58was humiliating to Formula One.

00:38:00It was a circus. At which point

00:38:02Bernie Ecclestone piped up and said,

00:38:04well, if the race was a circus, we could thank Ferrari

00:38:06for providing the clowns.

00:38:08This was the scene

00:38:10in the pit lane as the two Ferraris came in

00:38:12once the pits reopened after the safety car.

00:38:14The light

00:38:16system they were using was set on manual,

00:38:18meaning someone had to deliberately push

00:38:20a button telling Felipe Massa to go.

00:38:22Watch the light. Stop your screen.

00:38:24The light is green. Go.

00:38:26But the fuel hose was not unhooked.

00:38:28Massa dragged the rig,

00:38:30ripping the hose

00:38:32off. And they let him out right in front

00:38:34of that Force India car as well.

00:38:36Knocking that mechanic over.

00:38:38The hose flailed around.

00:38:40Look at it spraying gas everywhere. Nearly

00:38:42clipped those two last mechanics in the line

00:38:44there. They'd have clipped him around the head.

00:38:46They'd have known about that.

00:38:48I dread to think what would have happened if

00:38:50that fuel coming out of the hose would have caught

00:38:52because you would have had a flamethrower.

00:38:54Not for long,

00:38:56but for a couple of seconds, straight past the crew

00:38:58right at the side of Ferrari. They would have got the worst of it.

00:39:00Here's Hamilton coming out,

00:39:02letting other drivers through as he does.

00:39:04Let's go back to Peter Windsor.

00:39:06Just an update on the Ferrari

00:39:08pit system. They've got a brilliant

00:39:10new system now. They've got a guy

00:39:12with a piece of wood with a round thing

00:39:14on the end of it, which he lifts up and lets

00:39:16the car go. It's amazing innovation

00:39:18there. Steve, joking

00:39:20aside, you and I have both been there in the pit lane.

00:39:22The thing about that light system,

00:39:24it's all well and good when everything's perfect,

00:39:26but if there's a mistake, there's no

00:39:28turning back. A green light is a green light

00:39:30and the driver goes. With a lollipop, at least you can

00:39:32put the thing down again and recover.

00:39:34We saw that in Singapore with David

00:39:36Coulthard's pit stop. That could

00:39:38have been a drama, but because

00:39:40it was a lollipop, the guy just whacked it down again.

00:39:42David hit the brakes and it was kind of okay.

00:39:44Maybe you damage a few ligaments,

00:39:46a few shins get knocked around, but you know,

00:39:48it's not as bad as taking half the fuel rig

00:39:50down the pit lane. No,

00:39:52generally considered not to be a good idea.

00:39:54But you're right.

00:39:56To give a little bit of an explanation of why the

00:39:58teams are doing this, it's all because

00:40:00it's just trying to shave tenths of a second

00:40:02in the pit lane, which anything to get

00:40:04your guy out ahead of

00:40:06the opposition. Of course, the safest

00:40:08way to control, or let's just listen to PK's radio.

00:40:10We're going nowhere with these tyres.

00:40:12Understood.

00:40:16Just need one more good lap, Nelson.

00:40:20In now, Nelson, in now.

00:40:24There's PK Junior

00:40:26talking. We're going nowhere

00:40:28with these tyres, he said.

00:40:30They're just trying to get an idea, I think, of fuel load

00:40:32versus tyre degradation, saying, you know, we need

00:40:34to get another lap on them, so we've got some days

00:40:36to work on. But just to finish

00:40:38that thought on pit stops, of course, the safest,

00:40:40without any question, the safest way of

00:40:42organising a pit stop is to leave the rear

00:40:44jack under the car with the rear wheels

00:40:46in the air until the refuelling

00:40:48hose is finished and the tyres are finished.

00:40:50That way, even if the driver wants

00:40:52to drive off, he cannot do that

00:40:54because his wheels are in there, he's not going anywhere.

00:40:56But they don't because it's too slow.

00:40:58You can save probably a couple of tenths,

00:41:00three tenths by having the car on the ground

00:41:02and you can probably save another tenths

00:41:04by having that light system. So,

00:41:06all those tiny fractions of a second add up

00:41:08to more performance, but

00:41:10with the risk of more performance comes the risk

00:41:12of, well, disaster.

00:41:14Having said

00:41:16that though, Steve, when

00:41:18I was team manager at Williams and we lost

00:41:20that rear wheel on Nigel's car in

00:41:22Portugal 91,

00:41:24that's exactly what I was doing. I was

00:41:26the lollipop man and we devised a system

00:41:28whereby I did cue off the front and rear jacks

00:41:30and the jacks did not go down until the car

00:41:32was clear. Problem was,

00:41:34Ricky Stanford on the rear jack lowered

00:41:36the rear jack when he saw Robbie Campbell

00:41:38pulling his hands out of the

00:41:40right rear wheel and just

00:41:42thought, oh yeah, that's out, the

00:41:44gun's out. In fact, what Robbie was doing

00:41:46was getting out so he could go in and do a manual

00:41:48thing and try to get the nut released.

00:41:50Lowered the jack, I cued off the low jack,

00:41:52let Nigel out, the nut wasn't on the right rear.

00:41:54Yes, I remember

00:41:56that well and stopped right in the middle of the pit lane

00:41:58in the fast lane of the pit lane.

00:42:00Yeah, and it was a time when there was

00:42:02no pit lane speed limit

00:42:04and half the teams had most

00:42:06of their crud in the middle of the pit lane

00:42:08anyway, in the fast lane, and we

00:42:10were there, there were no yellow flags, cars were going

00:42:12past me at 120 miles an hour

00:42:14and guess what, we got disqualified for working

00:42:16on the car in the pit lane, even though half the crews

00:42:18were doing the same thing and there was no yellow

00:42:20anyway. Yes.

00:42:22Well, yes.

00:42:24I was just about to say, well, weren't you working in the

00:42:26fast section of the pit lane, which is against

00:42:28the Sporting Reg Speeder, but we're great colleagues

00:42:30I won't bring that up.

00:42:32Well, yeah, as everybody else was.

00:42:34Exactly, yeah.

00:42:36But you know, Peter,

00:42:38everybody else doesn't count, it's all very

00:42:40selective.

00:42:42Now Hamilton

00:42:44was quicker in the first two sectors on the

00:42:46lap before this and lost it

00:42:48on that very last sector, which is that

00:42:50very long, tight left-hander

00:42:52than that sharp right-hander up onto the straight,

00:42:54so

00:42:56I think he's on the softer tyres,

00:42:58I'm not sure, but you can see

00:43:00how they've gone off already in that one lap.

00:43:02Ron Dennis

00:43:04looking on from the McLaren pit wall

00:43:06there's his man, Lewis Hamilton.

00:43:08We'll be back in a moment to Fuji.

00:43:14Speed's coverage of the

00:43:16FIA Formula One World Championship

00:43:18is brought to you by True Value,

00:43:20with the tools, products and advice to start your

00:43:22projects right. True Value, start right,

00:43:24start here.

00:43:28Riding along with Lewis Hamilton

00:43:30in the McLaren Mercedes

00:43:32is Felipe Massa.

00:43:34No doubt thinking about

00:43:36what he has to do to try to overhaul this man

00:43:38in the World Championship standings.

00:43:40And of course,

00:43:42the first thing to do is to out-qualify

00:43:44tomorrow, let's just listen to Lewis.

00:43:58Boy, the way they hang on to that

00:44:0019,000 rpm down the straight there,

00:44:02you just

00:44:04wait for the big bang, don't you?

00:44:06Fastest trap speed we've seen thus far

00:44:08came in this morning's 90-minute session

00:44:10from David Coulthard in the Red Bull Renault

00:44:12at 320 kmph,

00:44:14about 198-199 mph.

00:44:20Yeah, you're talking about that 19,000 rpm

00:44:22down the straight there,

00:44:24you just wait for the big bang, don't you?

00:44:26Talking about that 19,000 rpm,

00:44:28David, it's not a particularly

00:44:30hard track for engines,

00:44:32I mean, it's only like 50% of the

00:44:34throttle, uh, 50% of the lap

00:44:36is on full throttle, but

00:44:3817 seconds of that

00:44:40are down that long straight, so

00:44:42you know, for those 17 seconds

00:44:44it takes a real pounding,

00:44:46and then the rest of the lap is not too bad.

00:44:48This is Kimi Räikkönen's

00:44:50first hot laps

00:44:52on the option tyre, the white stripes.

00:44:56I'll take your word for that.

00:44:58The sun there, getting in the driver's

00:45:00eyes as they come, as they go

00:45:02west here,

00:45:04behind them as they go down the long straight,

00:45:06he was quickest in that first sector, lost a bit

00:45:08of time in the second sector,

00:45:10here's Massa also on the option tyre.

00:45:14I could tell at that time, Steve,

00:45:16those are the options. Thank you, Bob. You're welcome.

00:45:18Half an hour to go,

00:45:20so, gonna see

00:45:22some people wanting to put their name at the top of the sheets.

00:45:26But in terms of what does Felipe Massa

00:45:28have to do, boy,

00:45:30I don't know what he has to do,

00:45:32he really has his work, all he can do

00:45:34really is drive his own race,

00:45:36concentrate on getting the car set up,

00:45:38as you guys were saying, make sure he qualifies

00:45:40well and gets on the front row ahead of

00:45:42Hamilton, and then just bolt off

00:45:44and win. What else can he do? Well, he certainly

00:45:46seems to be able to qualify well, and when he does

00:45:48qualify well, I mean, he's tough to beat.

00:45:50I mean, look at Valencia, I mean, just

00:45:52absolutely walking. Well, he's had

00:45:54a couple of races that he was leading when the car

00:45:56let him down. He had the engine explosion with about

00:45:58three laps to go at Hungary, a race he should

00:46:00have won, and arguably he

00:46:02should have won Singapore. I think he would have won

00:46:04Singapore, exactly, yeah. That's 20

00:46:06points left right on the table.

00:46:08Yeah, I think he would have won Singapore. I mean, he

00:46:10was just off in a race of his own, wasn't he, in those

00:46:12opening laps? Yeah. Incredible.

00:46:16In terms of the battle

00:46:18for the Constructors' Championship now,

00:46:20it's just one point separating them,

00:46:22can you imagine? Now, Ferrari

00:46:24have got

00:46:2615 Constructors' World

00:46:28Championship today.

00:46:30McLaren have got eight, going for their

00:46:32ninth, but in McLaren's position

00:46:34now, just remember that they

00:46:36were kicked out of the Constructors' Championship

00:46:38last year for having that data

00:46:40on the car, and the case against

00:46:42McLaren just seemed to get worse and worse

00:46:44until eventually McLaren was

00:46:46seen to be almost groveling and saying,

00:46:48yes, we're all terribly, terribly

00:46:50we understand this

00:46:52data has been in the team,

00:46:54we shouldn't have used it, but kicked out of the

00:46:56Constructors' Championship, and they have fought

00:46:58back, developed the

00:47:00car absolutely crystal clear,

00:47:02presented it to the FIA to say

00:47:04check it to make sure there's nothing on this car

00:47:06that they shouldn't have. The FIA passed

00:47:08it off as being okay, and they

00:47:10fought back against Ferrari, fought back

00:47:12with just three races to go.

00:47:14One point separates them.

00:47:16You just know Ferrari are thinking,

00:47:18we must beat them, we absolutely

00:47:20must not allow McLaren to

00:47:22overhaul us with three races

00:47:24to go.

00:47:26Steve, I've got a, I was going to say

00:47:28a $64,000 question for you, but

00:47:30in reality it's a $100 million question

00:47:32because I want to know

00:47:34if you think we would

00:47:36have seen the same shambles at Ferrari

00:47:38in the last couple of races if

00:47:40Nigel Stepney was still there running the garage?

00:47:42I would say

00:47:44without any question, no.

00:47:46Because Nigel Stepney,

00:47:48whatever his failings, whatever happened

00:47:50with the loss of that information

00:47:52for Ferrari with

00:47:54Coughlin, Mike Coughlin, the

00:47:56designer at McLaren and that whole

00:47:58debacle, all that aside,

00:48:00Nigel was upset because he

00:48:02seemed to think in his own mind

00:48:04that he'd been overlooked for promotion

00:48:06towards the end of the Michael Schumacher

00:48:08era, but all that to one side.

00:48:10What Nigel Stepney's

00:48:12great strength was, was

00:48:14organisation in the pits, and we saw that

00:48:16from, remember, Nigel Stepney had joined

00:48:18Ferrari in 1993.

00:48:20I mean, before

00:48:22Jean Todt had joined, before Michael Schumacher

00:48:24had joined, before Ross Brawn and before

00:48:26Rory Byrne, he was there because he

00:48:28wanted to be at Ferrari

00:48:30and turn that team around

00:48:32absolutely 100% in terms of performance

00:48:34from the mechanics and the engineers. No.

00:48:36It would have been a different team in Singapore.

00:48:38Less than 30 minutes

00:48:40to go in the second and final Friday

00:48:42practice. We'll be back here on Speed.

00:48:54On the streets of Singapore two weeks ago.

00:48:56Starting from pole in race one

00:48:58was Romanian Doru Secularu

00:49:00of Team Mahara. He led the pack into the

00:49:02first turn, followed by Ross Jamieson

00:49:04from Hong Kong and Englishman Oliver

00:49:06Milroy. Just behind them, Gabriel Chavez

00:49:08and Chris Wooten touched wheels, Chavez spun

00:49:10and dropped to the back.

00:49:12Lap three now.

00:49:14Both Milroy and Wooten get a good draft

00:49:16from Jamieson. Milroy pulls out of the turn

00:49:18and makes the pass to second place. Jamieson

00:49:20dropped to third while Wooten wisely

00:49:22remained in fourth position.

00:49:24Now, how do you make your team

00:49:26out of the most aggravated man in Singapore?

00:49:28Well, you do this.

00:49:30Remember, there's one golden rule. Whether it's

00:49:32Formula BMW or Formula One,

00:49:34you do not take your own

00:49:36teammates out. And that's exactly what

00:49:38Dominic Hang and Melvin Moe

00:49:40from Holset did. You can't

00:49:42do that, boys. You're racing everybody

00:49:44else. Up front, the top four held

00:49:46station. Doru Secularu took

00:49:48the victory in race one.

00:49:50On to race two now. Secularu again starting

00:49:52for pole with Jamieson second, Milroy

00:49:54third and Wooten fourth. All four

00:49:56got away cleanly and led the parade

00:49:58down into turn one.

00:50:00Later on, lap one, Milroy slowed with a

00:50:02mechanical failure that forced him

00:50:04from the race, moving Wooten up to third, but still

00:50:06the first lap. Wooten through a potential podium

00:50:08finish away by crashing into the wall

00:50:10and getting high-sided on

00:50:12the kerb. Look at that wheel spinning,

00:50:14going nowhere.

00:50:16Looks like a different circuit in the daylight, doesn't it?

00:50:18That was it. Secularu takes the checkered

00:50:20flag to complete the weekend sweep.

00:50:22Joined on the podium by Ross Jamieson in second

00:50:24and third place, Gabriel

00:50:26Chavez.

00:50:28Congratulations to one and all.

00:50:30Ross Jamieson, who is a

00:50:32tall bridge of water for a BMW

00:50:34car. Those are little race

00:50:36cars. Looks like Justin

00:50:38Wilson.

00:50:40And Bob,

00:50:42I was chatting to Gabby Chavez

00:50:44after the race. Very unfortunate name for a

00:50:46Colombian, of course, to be called Chavez. But putting that

00:50:48to one side, get this. We talk

00:50:50about young this, young that. Gabby Chavez

00:50:52is 14 years old,

00:50:54going on 23.

00:50:56Unbelievably good guy.

00:50:58Speaks perfect English. Very, very

00:51:00fit. Too young to race in the Formula

00:51:02BMW Championship in Europe. That's why he's

00:51:04doing the Asian Series. A guy to watch.

00:51:06A Camilo Villegas in the making.

00:51:08Absolutely.

00:51:1014.

00:51:12Always a new generation coming, isn't

00:51:14there? What is the world

00:51:16coming to?

00:51:18David Coulthard down in

00:51:2013th spot.

00:51:22I'm sure we're going to see a lot of

00:51:24action in the next 20

00:51:26odd minutes. There's a lot of people

00:51:28down the bottom there that shouldn't be. Alonso,

00:51:30Heidfeldt,

00:51:32Button and Barrichello. My god,

00:51:34Button's done 29 laps, almost as much

00:51:36as anybody else, and he's still

00:51:38two seconds off the pace.

00:51:50Look at the speed trap figures.

00:51:52The top six cars through the

00:51:54speed trap, all Ferrari

00:51:56powered cars

00:51:58right now.

00:52:00I think a lot of that is due to,

00:52:02as you were saying, David, earlier on, it's not

00:52:04running an awful lot of wing, but

00:52:06we've seen, certainly the Ferraris

00:52:08and to an extent the McLarens, using

00:52:10their tyres a lot more, scrubbing their

00:52:12tyres through sector three.

00:52:14That tight winding section before you come

00:52:16back onto the start-finish

00:52:18straight. Yeah, because Massa was just

00:52:20cleaning up big time on that lap

00:52:22we saw just before winter break, and

00:52:24on the third sector, it just went away

00:52:26completely, and Hamilton did the same

00:52:28on his first lap

00:52:30on the softer tyre,

00:52:32but I think it wasn't quite such

00:52:34a big difference as the Ferraris, so maybe the Ferraris

00:52:36unusually using the tyres

00:52:38up more than the McLaren, which has not

00:52:40been the case most of this year.

00:52:42Remember Red Bull's

00:52:44problems in the Singapore

00:52:46Grand Prix, when they were saying that

00:52:48with their transmission

00:52:50seemed to select two gears at the same

00:52:52time, and they put

00:52:54it down to perhaps the electrical

00:52:56frequency affecting

00:52:58the moved valves, the electronic, hydroelectric

00:53:00control on the electronics

00:53:02on the gearbox. It was the tram

00:53:04conductor, well the tram conductor

00:53:06just rang the bell, you know, to open the door

00:53:08and it just happened to set off the frequency

00:53:10to change the gear on the

00:53:12Red Bull. Now, I asked

00:53:14a couple of engineers, I'd better not

00:53:16mention what team they were from, if they'd

00:53:18come across something similar

00:53:20and, you know, I thought, no, this sounds

00:53:22too exaggerated

00:53:24really, but I wonder whether or not that's the case

00:53:26and I asked a couple of engineers

00:53:28and I got a reply, you know what, Steve?

00:53:30Yeah, quite probably

00:53:32these valves are sensitive enough.

00:53:34Peter, what do you know about it? Have you talked

00:53:36to anybody in the pit lane about the moved valve sensitivity

00:53:38at Red Bull? I have indeed, Steve.

00:53:40Most people have their own

00:53:42story. They sort of say, well, it's possible

00:53:44that we didn't find anything, or

00:53:46in the case of Renault, for example, they did

00:53:48notice some sharp peaks as well.

00:53:50They identified those on Friday

00:53:52from their telemetry and on Saturday

00:53:54morning, walking around the circuit,

00:53:56found some high tension leads

00:53:58out somewhere near a building and put it down to that

00:54:00but they went into their normal mode of

00:54:02insulating the electronics

00:54:04on the car a little bit more than they would normally.

00:54:06They set it at about three races a year

00:54:08when you have to do that sort of thing

00:54:10and one has to say that even if Red Bull,

00:54:12even if it is true about Red Bull, why

00:54:14did they not notice it until after the race?

00:54:16You know, if other teams like Renault are on the case

00:54:18on Friday, it is a bit strange.

00:54:20Also bearing in mind, of course, they both have Renault

00:54:22engines, but I think that just shows how much division

00:54:24there is between the two teams.

00:54:26This was a gearbox issue, not

00:54:28an engine issue, so no exchange of

00:54:30information at all. I thought that's

00:54:32quite impressive.

00:54:34Yeah, it is. I must say, you know,

00:54:36one of my short stories is when

00:54:38I was working on the

00:54:40active car back in 1993,

00:54:42all the electronics

00:54:44and the hydraulics to control the

00:54:46suspension, of course, that was all moved

00:54:48by computer and hydraulics on

00:54:50the car, so the suspension could move

00:54:52independently. That was also controlled

00:54:54by move valves. These

00:54:56very, very expensive but very

00:54:58accurate

00:55:00electro-hydraulic control valves

00:55:02and the car just seemed to have a nervous

00:55:04breakdown when we were playing with it

00:55:06on the flat patch trying to get the car set up

00:55:08and it was shuddering and shaking, almost trying to shake

00:55:10itself to pieces in the garage

00:55:12and the cure for that was simply

00:55:14to wave a spanner, to wave a wrench

00:55:16over the top of the move valves and just

00:55:18the iron within the

00:55:20wrench itself calmed the system down.

00:55:22Talk about oversensitive.

00:55:26And that is the same move company

00:55:28that invented the famous move synthesizer

00:55:30used so effectively by bands

00:55:32like Emerson, Lake and Palmer.

00:55:34I guess you have to be of a certain generation to know that.

00:55:44Welcome back.

00:55:4617 minutes and change remaining

00:55:48in the second 90-minute Friday practice

00:55:50live here on Speed in preparation

00:55:52for Sunday's

00:55:54Japanese Grand Prix at the Mount Fuji

00:55:56Speedway. With David Hobbs,

00:55:58Steve Matchett and Peter Windsor, I'm Bob Varsha.

00:56:00Felipe Massa was purple,

00:56:02quickest of all in Sector 1.

00:56:04Not as quick, relatively

00:56:06speaking, in Sector 2. We'll see what kind of lap

00:56:08he gets, but Massa shown

00:56:10third in the session right now behind

00:56:12Lewis Hamilton in second

00:56:14and leading the session as he has for

00:56:16quite some time now, Timo Glock

00:56:18in the Toyota.

00:56:20Well, this is Massa's

00:56:2210th lap. He's just done a 10-lap

00:56:24run on these option tires. You can see

00:56:26there's hardly any strides on the

00:56:28rear of the tires. Again, as we were talking about

00:56:30earlier on,

00:56:32that's the wear to worry

00:56:34about really around Fuji is all

00:56:36those traction events when you're putting the power down

00:56:38and you get that lateral slide. And you can see

00:56:40the front tires are not actually in bad shape,

00:56:42but the rears are pretty sharp. But a 10-lap

00:56:44run on these tires is quite a long stint.

00:56:46We see the ideal

00:56:48lap time. Fastest Sector

00:56:50men, Massa, Bourdais and Glock.

00:56:52Now, if you've got a question or comment for

00:56:54our Speed Formula 1 team, log on to

00:56:56speedtv.com, head to the Formula 1 section,

00:56:58click on the roundtables link,

00:57:00tell us about it. We'll try to answer as many

00:57:02of your questions as possible during our roundtable

00:57:04discussions following Friday

00:57:06practice. And that would be today.

00:57:08And I tell you what, guys,

00:57:10there's a little bit of smoke coming out of the front brake.

00:57:12Don't expect that. But he isn't done yet.

00:57:14He's just come through, I guess, to simulate

00:57:16trying to cool the tires down.

00:57:18What would it be like if you come and did a pit stop?

00:57:20And off he goes again.

00:57:22Didn't go into the pits at all.

00:57:24Just went through the pit lane.

00:57:26Took the opportunity to do a practice start.

00:57:28Now, here's

00:57:30Lewis Hamilton on the options. Let's see

00:57:32how he does on his opening

00:57:34lap. And then

00:57:36the second lap.

00:57:40Also practicing start.

00:57:44This shot here, camera shot, gives an innate

00:57:46great idea of the camber on the front

00:57:48of the tires compared to the rear.

00:57:50See how upright and straight the rear tires

00:57:52and wheels sit relative to the front

00:57:54which lean at the top. And that is,

00:57:56again, for those new to

00:57:58engineering or new to Formula 1, what they call

00:58:00camber, how the geometry

00:58:02works on the car.

00:58:04Negative camber in this

00:58:06situation.

00:58:08Poor old Jenson Button in the Honda there.

00:58:10Hanging around there.

00:58:12Done 34 laps.

00:58:14Two less than Timo Glock.

00:58:16And two

00:58:18seconds off the pace.

00:58:20Down in P19, as you were saying,

00:58:22David, 19 and 20 for

00:58:24Honda. 2.9

00:58:26seconds off the pace. In their home

00:58:28Grand Prix. Oh my, I'm sure they were

00:58:30just hoping for a lot better than this.

00:58:32Everybody says they're on the

00:58:34top of the curve for KERS

00:58:36next year, but

00:58:38you know, a lot can happen between

00:58:40now and the beginning of next year. KERS being

00:58:42KERS, the kinetic energy

00:58:44recovery systems that will be

00:58:46required to be on Formula 1 cars

00:58:48in the new formula

00:58:50for next year, along with much reduced

00:58:52aerodynamic

00:58:54elements, wider

00:58:56track for widening Formula 1

00:58:58cars again, and slick tires.

00:59:03Bob, we've just had an email

00:59:05in from somebody listening to the show.

00:59:07Further information on the great Colombian

00:59:09Gabi Chavez in the Formula

00:59:11BMW race. Apparently

00:59:13he did actually turn 15 in July,

00:59:15but the reason, of course, he's doing Europe is he's only

00:59:1714 when the season started. But

00:59:19his mother Pilar used to race cars

00:59:21and win in Colombia in touring cars,

00:59:23and so did his uncle Andres. So

00:59:25great pedigree there as well. And he's

00:59:27been doing very well in the Barba National Series

00:59:29in the US. So as we were saying,

00:59:31good guy. Let's watch him.

00:59:33Yep. That national series this year

00:59:35won by a familiar name,

00:59:37Conor Daly, oldest son

00:59:39of our occasional colleague here at

00:59:41Speed, Derek Daly, an ex-Formula 1

00:59:43and champ car driver, and a

00:59:45winner of the 12 Hours of Sebring

00:59:47in sports cars on two occasions.

00:59:49And of course, Conor's still only 16.

00:59:51Conor's 16, yep. He's off to the

00:59:53Formula Ford Festival in England,

00:59:55part of the Team USA

00:59:57scholarship program, a great effort

00:59:59by journalist Jeremy Shaw to get

01:00:01young American drivers over into the

01:00:03crucible of European

01:00:05lower formula racing.

01:00:07Well done, Conor. I mean, I can remember chatting

01:00:09to Conor in India a couple of races ago,

01:00:11and, you know, these guys,

01:00:13they seem such young lads, and they

01:00:15go so fast. Oh yeah. All of a sudden

01:00:17they're advancing through these fields at

01:00:19such speed.

01:00:21Good to see.

01:00:23Watch his front straightaway.

01:00:25It's a bit like a football field.

01:00:27You need cameras at the 20-yard line,

01:00:29the 50, the other guy's 20,

01:00:31or drag race.

01:00:33Watch the NHRA.

01:00:35They just pass it

01:00:37from camera to camera, and the driver has yet

01:00:39to turn the wheel. Finally, they get down here

01:00:41to turn one.

01:00:45Yeah, that is incredibly long,

01:00:47isn't it? What do I say? It's a click and a half,

01:00:49nearly a mile, right? I'm surprised they don't

01:00:51do one of those straight-on shots

01:00:53like we see down there at the

01:00:55first corner at Silverstone every year,

01:00:57and the cars just loom off the

01:00:59tarmac, rushing toward the camera.

01:01:01Yeah, it's a great camera shot, that.

01:01:03So, Louis, a little bit off the pace

01:01:05there.

01:01:07That would be his first lap.

01:01:09It's relatively smooth. I haven't seen an awful lot

01:01:11of sparks or smoke coming off the underside

01:01:13of the car. It's smooth and

01:01:15very wide, of course. I mean,

01:01:17they've got plenty of room to play.

01:01:19Play with their toys.

01:01:21Louis comes around to finish

01:01:23the lap. The order is Glock, Hamilton,

01:01:25Massa, Raikkonen, Vettel,

01:01:27Trulli, Kubica, Kovalainen,

01:01:29Nakajima, Sebastian Bordet

01:01:31is 10th, followed by Nico Rosberg,

01:01:33Adrian Sutil, David Coulthard, Nelson

01:01:35Piquet, Fernando Alonso

01:01:37back there in 15th behind his

01:01:39teammate, Mark Webber, Nick

01:01:41Heidfeld, Giancarlo Fisichella, and then

01:01:43as David has mentioned,

01:01:45those mysterious Hondas,

01:01:47Jensen Button and Rubens

01:01:49Barrichello.

01:01:51The mystery being how

01:01:53a proud company like Honda

01:01:55has gotten it so wrong.

01:01:57But there's always next year.

01:01:59We'll be back with more practice.

01:02:05My name's

01:02:07The pictures

01:02:09tell you pretty much everything you need to know

01:02:11about the weather. For only the

01:02:13fourth time in Formula 1 history,

01:02:15the race will start behind the

01:02:17safety car. Here we go.

01:02:19Wow. Understood.

01:02:21Conditions are getting worse.

01:02:23Oh, that's Alonso. That's Alonso.

01:02:25Damaged.

01:02:27He's facing the wrong way.

01:02:29A disconsolate Mark Webber

01:02:31has just climbed out of his car.

01:02:33There is the incident. I think Sebastian Vettel

01:02:35got into Mark Webber

01:02:37and damaged both cars.

01:02:39Oh, Massa off and on

01:02:41battling with Kubica.

01:02:43This is incredible.

01:02:45He paid him back.

01:02:47The Ferrari

01:02:49comes back on and he will take the position.

01:02:51This may be the best we've

01:02:53seen of Lewis Hamilton yet.

01:02:55Winner of the Japanese Grand Prix

01:02:57at Fuji.

01:03:01That was last year's

01:03:03memorable return of Formula 1

01:03:05to the Mount Fuji

01:03:07Speedway after an absence

01:03:09of more than three decades.

01:03:11Lewis Hamilton taking

01:03:13the victory. That's the last thing this

01:03:15man needs. Felipe Massa

01:03:17desperate to close that seven-point

01:03:19gap in the world championship

01:03:21that Hamilton holds.

01:03:23That certainly was

01:03:25an incredible duke out between him

01:03:27and Kubica on those closing laps

01:03:29in all that rain last year.

01:03:31Just side-by-side. Also a terrific race

01:03:33between Kovalainen and Raikkonen.

01:03:35The two Finns there

01:03:37duking it out. Kovalainen

01:03:39came out ahead.

01:03:41It was a great race last year.

01:03:43What always sticks in my mind about that race

01:03:45is actually before the start

01:03:47where Charlie White and the race director

01:03:49gave the

01:03:51order to the teams

01:03:53that everybody must start on full

01:03:55wet tyres. And Ferrari, if you

01:03:57remember, started the race on intermediates

01:03:59because they said, well, we didn't get the

01:04:01notification that we should have done that.

01:04:03But that aside,

01:04:05looking at all that standing water on the

01:04:07track, what were

01:04:09Ferrari thinking putting the intermediate

01:04:11tyres on the car? It was

01:04:13such a disastrous move, irrespective

01:04:15of the director from race

01:04:17control.

01:04:19The

01:04:21ridiculous thing on the grid there for that race

01:04:23was that I was actually going to try and

01:04:25talk to Chris Dyer on the grid and ask him

01:04:27what he thought about everybody having to start on

01:04:29wets. And I was told not to interview

01:04:31him by Ferrari's media

01:04:33guy. They don't want any interviews on the grid,

01:04:35etc., etc. And had I asked him that question,

01:04:37Ferrari would have found out about it.

01:04:39So by being so difficult

01:04:41with the press, they actually

01:04:43cut their own throats on that one.

01:04:45I mean, it is extraordinary. Ferrari,

01:04:47a great team. I mean,

01:04:49perhaps the most famous mark,

01:04:51famous name in automotive

01:04:53history, probably.

01:04:55I have a great deal of respect

01:04:57for them, for their engineering, for their cars.

01:04:59A terrific team. But just recently,

01:05:01I mean, really,

01:05:03it seems to me since Ross Brawn

01:05:05quit, since Michael left, and the restructuring

01:05:07of the team, they have dropped the ball

01:05:09two or three times in the most colossal

01:05:11way. Well, Felipe Massa,

01:05:13I assume, is about

01:05:15to go to the top of the time sheets here.

01:05:17Ferrari has

01:05:19again lost a ton

01:05:21of time on those last

01:05:23two corners. That long, long

01:05:25left-hander followed by that long

01:05:27right-hander turned 16 up onto

01:05:29the straight there. And Ferrari's

01:05:31official preview for this race,

01:05:33they recounted that whole incident

01:05:35in very delicate terms, saying

01:05:37the race started behind the safety car

01:05:39and all the teams were required

01:05:41to be on full wet tires. And I think

01:05:43the phrase they used was

01:05:45that ruling was not made

01:05:47clear to Ferrari before the

01:05:49start of the race. I think Steve's

01:05:51point, though, is the best.

01:05:53I mean, looking at the

01:05:55grid and looking at the rain,

01:05:57why on earth wouldn't

01:05:59you have the full wet tires on?

01:06:01No matter what Charlie Wedding said.

01:06:03All their weather forecasting

01:06:05system was just

01:06:07totally out

01:06:09to lunch.

01:06:11Felipe Massa

01:06:13dodging around here, obviously

01:06:15getting the tires

01:06:17back down again or

01:06:19giving himself room. He doesn't seem to be

01:06:21in front of him.

01:06:23Three and a half minutes

01:06:25to go.

01:06:27Well, Alonso jumped a second in the time sheets

01:06:29there, and Mark Webber

01:06:31too, also dragged himself up from 17th

01:06:33to 5th. So he's

01:06:35put in a good lap. Vettel is still there

01:06:37in 7th. Kovalainen down to 8th now,

01:06:39so he needs to pick up the pace a little bit.

01:06:41Truly is 9th.

01:06:43Timo Glock remains fast in the

01:06:456th. That's it, my boy.

01:06:47Give it some welly. Well, that's what we're

01:06:49talking about, you know, that traction

01:06:51input into the car and the car sliding

01:06:53laterally. That's exactly

01:06:55what we're talking

01:06:57about. I mean, Lewis now is

01:06:59on 8th, coming up for his 9th lap, I believe,

01:07:01on these set of tires. And

01:07:03again, you want to force it on

01:07:05the Friday, because the engineers are going to want to

01:07:07look at those tires and say, once

01:07:09you get into qualifying and into the race,

01:07:11you can get away with doing that, you

01:07:13can't get away with doing that, whatever the case will

01:07:15be. And again, looking at fuel loads

01:07:17with tire degradation as well. As

01:07:19you guys were saying earlier on, it's Friday,

01:07:21they're data collecting. That's exactly what

01:07:23they're doing right now. I believe that gentleman

01:07:25was Hirohide Hamashima from

01:07:27Toyota. Big, big

01:07:29race for them. And right now, Timo Glock

01:07:31remains the quick man in the session.

01:07:33That'll make a nice headline for them.

01:07:35Peter Windsor. Well, Bob,

01:07:37just to add to what Steve was saying there about the long run

01:07:39for Lewis Hamilton. McLaren,

01:07:41I get the impression,

01:07:43are pretty comfortable, more than

01:07:45normal, with the regularity of Lewis'

01:07:47times on those long runs. Normally

01:07:49we see the McLaren quick

01:07:51on one lap, and then the tires do start to

01:07:53overheat after about four to five laps into the stint.

01:07:55Here, there seems to be more of a rhythm to it,

01:07:57more of a pattern. But we see Kimi Raikkonen now

01:07:59going purple in sector one.

01:08:01Not sure if he's on a new set of tires or not.

01:08:03One would assume that he probably is.

01:08:05But Kimi now,

01:08:07in the dying minutes of this

01:08:09session, seeing what a Ferrari can do

01:08:11around the Fuji circuit.

01:08:13And of course, Timo Glock, you know, in the Toyota,

01:08:15on a Toyota-owned track.

01:08:17One suspects that if he hadn't

01:08:19done it on that lap, it would have run

01:08:21out of gas on the next lap.

01:08:23Again, Raikkonen

01:08:25loses time in that second sector.

01:08:29On the option tire.

01:08:33He's lost a couple of tenths there.

01:08:35How much is he going to lose on this third

01:08:37sector? These last two or three

01:08:39corners seem to

01:08:41knock the tar out of these tires.

01:08:45He was fast as a bull through the first sector,

01:08:47wasn't he, on that lap? 21.4,

01:08:4928.9 sector two, and a

01:08:510.5 sector three.

01:08:53He lost another three tenths in that last sector.

01:08:59Very interesting,

01:09:01Dr. Watson.

01:09:05Barrichello, meanwhile,

01:09:07girded his loins and jumped from 20th

01:09:09to 15th,

01:09:11making his teammate button the 20th.

01:09:13Nick Heidfeld, who's in the pits,

01:09:15also having a desperate day.

01:09:17He's done 37 laps, so it's not

01:09:19worth trying. He is down in

01:09:2119th spot, whereas his teammate

01:09:23Kubica, not doing

01:09:25as well as you thought he would do here, is in

01:09:2711th, but still a heck of a lot better than

01:09:2919th. They've all done a reasonable

01:09:31amount of laps. I mean, 42,

01:09:3339, 38. The car that's done

01:09:35the least running is Vettel's

01:09:37car. This is Toro Rosso

01:09:39there, just with 21. But even here,

01:09:41say, 21 laps, 31

01:09:43laps for Kovalainen, and all the rest up around the

01:09:4540s. And Nakajima,

01:09:47the only Japanese driving the race,

01:09:49has got some local knowledge. He's done a lot of laps

01:09:51here. He's in 7th spot, and

01:09:53his Williams Toyota, compared to

01:09:55Rosberg, who's normally quicker than him, is down in 13th.

01:09:57Also done a lot of laps.

01:09:59Rosberg's done 40 laps.

01:10:01Checkered flag has flown. Session is over.

01:10:11Nope. Raikkonen

01:10:13unable to knock Timo Glock off

01:10:15the top of the time charts.

01:10:19And everybody on track at this

01:10:21point except Mark Webber and

01:10:23Nick Heidfeld.

01:10:29Well, that's a great result if he

01:10:31stays like that. Timo Glock

01:10:33top of the time sheets for Toyota at the Japanese

01:10:35Grand Prix. Toyota will be happy with that.

01:10:37Oh boy, the headlines in the Tokyo papers

01:10:39and all the Japanese papers tomorrow

01:10:41morning, so expect

01:10:43a big crowd on hand, I'd imagine, tomorrow.

01:10:45Absolutely. Well, when you look at that, P1

01:10:47Toyota, P20

01:10:49Honda. They've got the 4-liter engine in today.

01:10:55Oh boy. Cynic.

01:10:57Toyota's been on pole at

01:10:59Suzuka, the other home of the Japanese

01:11:01Grand Prix. Remember Ralph Schumacher?

01:11:03Who?

01:11:05Oh, yeah, Michael's brother.

01:11:07Right. Yeah.

01:11:09And a Honda was second on the

01:11:11grid. That's how long ago it was.

01:11:13The DTM expert, Ralph,

01:11:15you mean. Right.

01:11:23Everybody heads

01:11:25for the pit lane.

01:11:27They have a local yellow for something.

01:11:29Has somebody stopped on the circuit?

01:11:31There's no indication on the timing

01:11:33screens.

01:11:37On second thought.

01:11:39Perhaps that was just yellow because of the end of the

01:11:41session. Perhaps so.

01:11:43Waving at cars to

01:11:45head for the weigh bridge, go to technical

01:11:47inspection,

01:11:49take a break, and return.

01:11:55Speed's coverage

01:11:57of the FIA Formula 1 World

01:11:59Championship is brought to you by BMW.

01:12:01BMW. The ultimate

01:12:03driving machine.

01:12:09Welcome back to Mount Fuji Speedway

01:12:11where Friday practice is now complete

01:12:13for Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix.

01:12:15Let's check the results of the last 90

01:12:17minutes. David, Steve.

01:12:19Timo Glock set the pace early on

01:12:21and managed to stay there throughout the whole session.

01:12:23Alonso did that with about four or five minutes to go.

01:12:25Lewis Hamilton's been fast all day.

01:12:27Felipe Massa also and Kimi Raikkonen

01:12:29right behind him. Then Mark Webber did that with also

01:12:31about five minutes to go. Kaz Nakajima's been

01:12:33quick all day in the

01:12:35Williams. And Sebastian Vettel

01:12:37seems to be quick all day, every day these days.

01:12:39So, good old Sebastian Vettel there

01:12:41in eighth spot in the first of the 12 of us.

01:12:45And here's the rest of your runners. 9th through to

01:12:4714th there. Heike Overleinen in the other

01:12:49McLaren. Jarno Trulli, the scrumptious

01:12:51one down there in 10th for Toyota.

01:12:53Kubica, Nelson Piquet

01:12:55Jr. there for Renault. And Sebastian

01:12:57Bordet down there in 14th. 0.657

01:12:59off the pace.

01:13:03And then your runners 15th through to 20th there.

01:13:05Rubens Barrichello for Honda.

01:13:07And right down the bottom there, Jenson

01:13:09Button for Honda. So those two guys

01:13:11have got a lot of work to do. They want to save

01:13:13some face against Toyota's pace.

01:13:15And that's it for Friday practice

01:13:17from Fuji in the Japanese Grand

01:13:19Prix. But join us again tomorrow

01:13:21at midnight as we look back and

01:13:23analyze with the Grand Prix of Singapore

01:13:25on Formula One Debrief.

01:13:27And immediately following debrief at

01:13:291 a.m., coverage of qualifying

01:13:31for the Japanese Grand Prix.

01:13:33And finally Sunday at midnight, Speed

01:13:35will bring you live coverage of the Formula

01:13:37One Japanese Grand Prix.

01:13:39Starting at midnight, straight up with the Acura

01:13:41Pre-Race Show. At 12.30,

01:13:43the race will begin. For David

01:13:45Hobbs, Steve Matchett, and Peter Windsor, I'm

01:13:47Bob Varsha. Thanks for joining us.

01:13:49We'll see you tomorrow for Formula One

01:13:51Debrief and qualifying for

01:13:53Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix.

01:13:55Until then, sayonara,

01:13:57everyone.

01:14:03you

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