2008 Chinese GP

OSRN 1

Round 17 of the 2008 F1 season at Shanghai.

Transcript

00:00:00You're going to win this race.

00:00:03Right now, boys.

00:00:04Right now.

00:00:05Victory for the first time it is to win.

00:00:06Come on, mate.

00:00:07He's ruining our race.

00:00:08Let's get past him.

00:00:09They touch.

00:00:10There's smoke coming off the duct.

00:00:11Pressure, tension, anxiety, all appropriate words linked to the final.

00:00:12It's going to be a tough race.

00:00:13There's a title on the line and it can be decided today as we say welcome to the Acura

00:00:38Pre-Race Show for the Chinese Formula One Grand Prix, round 17, and it's a day where

00:00:44history can be made.

00:00:47Hello, everyone.

00:00:48Lee Diffie with you here, standing in for Bob Varsha, who's been busy in Las Vegas with

00:00:52the Barrett-Jackson auction.

00:00:54Alongside me, David Hobbs, Steve Matchett, and as always, trackside is Peter Windsor.

00:00:58But first up, David, let's get right to the story, and that is what is at stake and who

00:01:04are the players?

00:01:05Let's start with Lewis Hamilton.

00:01:06Well, he is the key player.

00:01:08Lewis Hamilton's on the pole today.

00:01:09He was on the pole here last year, but he must win this race if he wants to win the

00:01:13World Championship.

00:01:14Massa is five points behind him, but Massa is absolutely unbelievable at Brazil.

00:01:19So Lewis Hamilton's got to be thinking here, win, win, win, and that means keeping very

00:01:24cool on the start, making a good start, which he has not been doing a lot of this year,

00:01:28and getting into that turn one cleanly and winning this race to maximize his lead going

00:01:33into Brazil.

00:01:36What's the story for Felipe Massa?

00:01:38Well, it is very, very simple.

00:01:40He should win.

00:01:41He must win.

00:01:42However, if he can't get his sixth victory of the season, he has to keep himself in the

00:01:47game.

00:01:48He must force this situation to Brazil, to his home country.

00:01:53He must make it to Interlagos to force it all the way.

00:01:57Well, for me, the Constructors' Championship, McLaren versus Ferrari.

00:02:04There is the trophy, and without any doubt, one of the most intense rivalries, not just

00:02:09in the history of Formula One or of motorsports generally, but of sports as a whole.

00:02:14Remember last year, it came to a head, and following accusations from Ferrari, McLaren

00:02:17was stripped of all their points and thrown out of the championship, and find a staggering

00:02:22$100 million.

00:02:25But they are back.

00:02:26They have fought back, and they are now just seven points adrift of Ferrari.

00:02:30Ferrari with 15 world titles to their credit, McLaren with eight, but Ferrari could clinch

00:02:36the Constructors' Championship today.

00:02:38Well, we've taken care of the Constructors, the manufacturers.

00:02:41We've spoken about the two key players, but as we say hello to Peter Windsor, of course,

00:02:46there is a third player in the game, Pete, right?

00:02:49There is indeed, Lee, and his name is Robert Kubica.

00:02:51Excuse my voice, a little bit of the old lurgy here, but Robert Kubica from Poland, 12 points

00:02:57behind Lewis Hamilton from Poland, 12 points behind Lewis Hamilton going into today's race.

00:03:01He needs to score big today to stay in the rally.

00:03:05This is not a good qualifying position.

00:03:07This is P11 for Robert Kubica, the only second time in two years he's been outside Q3 in

00:03:14Formula One.

00:03:15His record of consistency is fantastic, but yesterday, no balance, no grip.

00:03:19They made a gamble on setup, and they're stuck with that setup.

00:03:22It didn't work in qualifying, and that's what they're going into the race with, but as Mario

00:03:25Tyson told me just a few minutes ago, it's a long race, and of course, they can choose

00:03:29their fuel strategy from P11 on the grid.

00:03:35Yeah, he was very frustrated with that qualifying position, as you can understand, and even

00:03:40as early as today, he said now he can see his World Championship hopes starting to drift

00:03:46away, but there are still Grand Prix, two Grand Prix remaining in the 2008 season.

00:03:52What will happen here today in China?

00:03:54We've got a whole lot more to tell you about.

00:03:56You're watching the Acura Pre-Race Show.

00:03:58We'll be back.

00:04:01Speed's coverage of the Chinese Grand Prix Pre-Race Show is brought to you by Acura.

00:04:06Acura, advanced.

00:04:11The countdown to the start of the Chinese Grand Prix at the Shanghai International Circuit

00:04:16is on.

00:04:17The majority of cars and drivers have made their way from the pit lane to the grid.

00:04:21Speaking of the grid, Peter Windsor is right there.

00:04:25Thanks, Lee.

00:04:27Yes, another very impressive qualifying performance from Toro Rosso.

00:04:31Sebastian Vettel qualified eighth, and Sebastian Bure, your best ever dry weather qualifying

00:04:35in Formula 1, P10, right behind your teammate.

00:04:37Nice little view into the first corner there.

00:04:39Yeah, I mean, it's been now a few times that we make it to Q3, so it feels quite nice,

00:04:44obviously, and when you start in these positions, you can always hope for points, so it's a

00:04:48nice perspective.

00:04:50Seb, I've got to ask you, a great drive in Japan last week, tarnished by that steward's

00:04:53decision.

00:04:54How long did it take you to get over that?

00:04:56No, I was over it the same day, you know, it just sounded so stupid, you know, in the

00:05:03same time that, you know, it was real, that I just said, look, it's behind us, there's

00:05:07nothing you can do about it, so just, you know, let's think about Japan.

00:05:11You kept the momentum going beautifully here.

00:05:13Very best of luck in the race.

00:05:14Thanks.

00:05:15OK, Jean-Michel, excuse my voice again, guys, I'm really a little bit hoarse, but I'm going

00:05:19to have a chat to Nick Heidfeld, if I can.

00:05:22Well, actually, I think Tania from Austrian television has just grabbed him, so I'll leave

00:05:28him in the gentle hands of Tania.

00:05:30Want to do Jarno?

00:05:31Yeah, yeah, let's get Jarno.

00:05:32Yeah, great.

00:05:33Thomas actually getting me to come and talk to Jarno, now that's good, that makes a change.

00:05:38Normally they're always trying to push you away from the drivers, but Jarno ever, oh,

00:05:41look, now we've got a photo shoot going on, some Toyota top brass here, Patrick Benton.

00:05:47Jarno, congratulations, Jarno, first time qualified top ten in Shanghai.

00:05:54Yeah, well, top ten, not too bad, even I expect a bit more from yesterday, but there is still

00:06:02a long race.

00:06:03I was quite competitive on Friday and Saturday, so I hope to be on the pace today and do a

00:06:09good race.

00:06:10Jarno, we saw the Toyotas very slow Friday morning, they looked very good Friday afternoon

00:06:15and then it sort of fell away as we got towards qualifying.

00:06:17Where are you at with grip and balance?

00:06:18Personally, I prefer to spend most of the time setting up the car on a race trim, so

00:06:23with a lot of fuel, and then only a few times we spend running on low fuel.

00:06:30That's because in qualifying normally we are better than in the race, and the race is longer

00:06:35and it's more important, so it's a kind of a strategy.

00:06:38Jarno, very best of luck, thanks for talking to us.

00:06:40OK, Jarno, let's go and have a look.

00:06:42Now, Chris Dyer is walking towards us, he's the race engineer for Kimi Räikkönen.

00:06:47We might interrupt him actually, just have a quick word to Christopher here.

00:06:55Chris, a very quick word with you, Chris.

00:06:59Good qualifying performance from Kimi, you must be pleased with that.

00:07:02Yeah, no, we've had a difficult year and Fuji went well and he did a really great job yesterday.

00:07:09We struggled a bit with the car, Friday, Saturday morning.

00:07:12We made a few improvements, it wasn't perfect, but he just did an absolutely perfect lap.

00:07:17Let me guess, you guys are really feeling sorry for Lewis at the moment.

00:07:20There he is, surrounded by red cars, Fernando Alonso right behind him.

00:07:23Poor guy, eh?

00:07:25No comment.

00:07:27Chris Dyer, a true Aussie.

00:07:30Lee, back to you for the moment, we'll be plenty lot more going on the grid down here.

00:07:34Back to you.

00:07:35And what a career Chris Dyer's had.

00:07:37Looking after Kimi Räikkönen, of course, he looked after the legendary Michael Schumacher.

00:07:42When we come back, more from the grid in the lead-up to the Chinese Grand Prix.

00:07:46Stick around.

00:07:50It's a day of excitement, it is a day of anticipation.

00:07:53It's a day where some drivers are fighting to keep their ride,

00:07:56others are fighting for a world championship.

00:07:59The build-up continues, let's return to the grid to Peter Windsor.

00:08:04Thank you very much indeed, Lee.

00:08:06Standing by Rubens Barrichello's Honda.

00:08:09Actually made it through to Q2, can you believe that?

00:08:12Q13, good to see.

00:08:13These boys work just as hard as the guys at the front of the grid,

00:08:16but they get no reward at all.

00:08:17Here's Jocky, clear.

00:08:18Jock, congratulations, mate.

00:08:19P13, not too bad?

00:08:21Yeah, I mean, obviously the real struggle to get out of Qualy 1 these days,

00:08:25and it's a little bit of a victory in itself.

00:08:27But yeah, Rubens has been strong all weekend,

00:08:29so hopefully we can race from here.

00:08:31He's just ahead of Jenson now in the qualifying race, I think,

00:08:34and he's just one up on Jenson.

00:08:36Yeah, I mean, there's very little solace to be brought from that sort of statistic.

00:08:40The fact is we're back here week in, week out,

00:08:43and I wouldn't mind losing to Jenson on qualifying

00:08:45if we were right up the front every week.

00:08:47So we'll see what we can do today.

00:08:49Well, have a good race, Jock.

00:08:50Thanks for talking to us, mate.

00:08:52Williams, a team again that didn't do very well, I'm afraid.

00:08:55They said that Fuji didn't suit them.

00:08:57Well, guess what?

00:08:58Shanghai didn't suit them either.

00:09:00Not particularly impressive there.

00:09:02Red Bull, we've got the two Red Bulls together.

00:09:04I'd like to actually try and have a word to David Coulthard if he's around,

00:09:08but I think, like his teammate Mark Webber,

00:09:11here's Patrick Head.

00:09:12He's always good for a laugh.

00:09:13Let's go and talk to Patrick and Adam.

00:09:15We'll go and talk to Patrick.

00:09:19Patrick, can I have a very quick word?

00:09:21We're live on Speed TV in the United States.

00:09:24Sam Michael was saying that Fuji didn't suit the Williams particularly well,

00:09:27so we all assumed from that that Shanghai was going to be a great circuit for you.

00:09:30So what's going on?

00:09:32Well, I don't think Sam said that Shanghai was going to be a good track for us,

00:09:37but basically it's fairly well known that our car goes a lot better on circuits

00:09:43with tight, slow corners than with fast corners,

00:09:46and it's not so much just raw downforce.

00:09:50We've got a characteristic that however hard we've tried,

00:09:53we've not been able to get rid of it.

00:09:55We've improved it slightly, but not been able to get rid of the problem.

00:09:59Well, I'm sure you will, Patrick. Keep working on it.

00:10:01Great to see you here at a Grand Prix as well.

00:10:04Now, let's go back to Red Bull again.

00:10:07It's interesting because both of them had their problems.

00:10:09Webber had his engine thing, and David Coulthard, that drama.

00:10:13Here's Bernie Eccleston. Let's just have a look.

00:10:16Mr. E, can I have a very quick word?

00:10:18Fantastic crowd here today in China.

00:10:20Great, yeah. It's full.

00:10:22Because this race gets quite a lot of criticism.

00:10:24They say nobody comes to it. It's too far from the city.

00:10:26But look at this atmosphere here.

00:10:28I know. It just takes time to build events.

00:10:30You don't build them overnight.

00:10:32We're live on Speed.

00:10:34What's the latest update on a U.S. Grand Prix coming back to the calendar?

00:10:37I don't know at the moment.

00:10:39No late, nothing late. We don't have anything.

00:10:42Tell us you'd love to see one again.

00:10:44Tell us you'd love to see one on the calendar.

00:10:45True, we would. I would.

00:10:47If somebody can come up with a sensible arrangement, we have a race.

00:10:51That's all I want to do here. Thank you very much indeed.

00:10:53Right, we've got Mark Webber over here.

00:10:55Just have a quick word to Mark.

00:10:57He probably won't thank us for this.

00:10:59But talking to Christian Horner here.

00:11:02Can I just throw the mic in, guys?

00:11:04We're just about to go to commercial break.

00:11:06Mark, just to say, shame about the engine problem,

00:11:08but where you are, you can do plenty of things with strategy.

00:11:11Yeah, we're obviously elected to take part in Q3 at a reasonable level.

00:11:16So that means we're probably a little bit out strategy-wise,

00:11:20so we'll just see how it goes.

00:11:21It's a long race. Anything can happen.

00:11:23Lee Diffie, standing in for Bob Varsha, says hello, mate.

00:11:25Oh, great to hear him.

00:11:26I hear him always doing a fantastic job, mate,

00:11:28on the Supercross and all those guys over there.

00:11:30So I love watching that, which disappoints Anne.

00:11:32Middle of the night, I'm watching TV,

00:11:33watching you do the great commentary.

00:11:35So well done, mate. Cheers.

00:11:36And Christian, I've got one point to make to you.

00:11:38Surely the guy that impedes your car should be behind you on the grid.

00:11:42That would be logical, wouldn't it?

00:11:43Rather than just three grid positions.

00:11:44Nick should be behind David Coulthard.

00:11:46You would think so, because it hasn't really helped us a great deal.

00:11:48So, you know, we've got both cars on different strategies here,

00:11:52and, you know, we'll see what happens over the first couple of laps.

00:11:54Very best of luck. Thanks for talking to us.

00:11:58Great stuff, as always, from Peter Windsor.

00:12:01Now, one of the feature points of each Acura pre-race show

00:12:04is taking you behind the scenes in Formula 1.

00:12:07This week, Steve Matchett tells us about a small but vital ingredient

00:12:11in motor racing in this week's Racing per Matchett.

00:12:19Well, one component you very rarely get a chance to see

00:12:22is the clutch in a Formula 1 car,

00:12:24and there are two very good reasons for that.

00:12:26One, well, the teams really don't want you to see it.

00:12:28And two, well, it's usually clamped between the engine and the transmission,

00:12:31well out of sight.

00:12:32But, courtesy of Red Bull Racing,

00:12:34the clutch is exactly the component we're going to have a look at today

00:12:37to help us unravel the mysteries of a modern Formula 1 clutch.

00:12:40I'm joined by Jon Wheatley, team manager of Red Bull Racing.

00:12:43Jon, thank you very much for joining us.

00:12:45I'm joined by Jon Wheatley, team manager of Red Bull Racing.

00:12:48Jon, thanks for sparing the time.

00:12:49What can you tell us about this clutch?

00:12:51It's tiny.

00:12:52There are seven clamping plates in here.

00:12:55We don't actually mount this to the engine

00:12:57like you do in a conventional road car.

00:12:59They're mounted to the gearbox.

00:13:01And we apply an enormous amount of pressure on these plates here

00:13:04in order to transfer the drive.

00:13:06Inertia's the enemy of a Formula 1 car.

00:13:09You want to accelerate with a minimum amount of mass.

00:13:11So, therefore, these engines have to be hugely responsive.

00:13:15My colleague David Hobbs is always so impressed

00:13:17at how fast the engines switch off

00:13:19once the drivers return to the pits.

00:13:21Well, that's almost nothing, Steve,

00:13:23because from 19,000 rpm,

00:13:25our Renault engine will stop to a standstill in 0.2 of a second.

00:13:29Whack! 0.2 of a second from 19,000 rpm.

00:13:33And the physical size of it, it's no bigger than a burger.

00:13:36It's unbelievably compact.

00:13:38So there it is, incredibly light, of course incredibly expensive,

00:13:41and transmitting 850-plus horsepower,

00:13:44the clutch of a modern Formula 1 car,

00:13:46thanks to Red Bull Racing.

00:14:02We are getting ever so close to the start

00:14:05of the Chinese Formula 1 Grand Prix.

00:14:07One of the main title contenders right there on your screen,

00:14:10Brazilian Felipe Massa.

00:14:12Now, if he and fellow title rival Lewis Hamilton had their way,

00:14:16their seasons would be mistake-free.

00:14:18But as we all know in motor racing, that is virtually impossible.

00:14:22Peter Windsor tells us about their missed opportunities.

00:14:27After the Japanese Grand Prix,

00:14:28they're billing this as the championship that nobody wants to win.

00:14:31Lewis Hamilton locked up going to Turn 1 at Fuji,

00:14:33had a big moment at Turn 3,

00:14:35and then it was the turn of Felipe Massa to lose the plot,

00:14:38sloughing Lewis Hamilton to the back of the field

00:14:40and incurring a penalty for the Ferrari driver.

00:14:43As we go into this Chinese Grand Prix,

00:14:45therefore the penultimate round of the 2008 World Championship,

00:14:48let's have a look at what could be called the 2008 comedy of errors,

00:14:51a number of mistakes made by the two championship contenders

00:14:54and by their teams.

00:14:56Felipe Massa began with an early spin in Australia,

00:14:58followed by a large off in Malaysia.

00:15:00Lewis Hamilton responded with some Alonso bashing in Bahrain,

00:15:03and then a quick spin en route to victory at Monaco.

00:15:06Felipe also spun at Monaco,

00:15:08but that was nothing compared with Lewis' pit lane shunt in Canada.

00:15:11In response, Felipe spun not once, not twice,

00:15:14but five times during the wet phase of the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

00:15:18In Belgium, Lewis took to the escape road

00:15:20before regifting the lead to Kimi,

00:15:22even though the stewards saw it differently.

00:15:24And then in Singapore, Felipe spun again

00:15:26after his team's disastrous pit stop.

00:15:28Add the antics in Japan, and you have the following results.

00:15:31Felipe Massa, 10 driver errors.

00:15:33Lewis Hamilton, 5 driver errors.

00:15:35Ferrari, 11 team mistakes.

00:15:37McLaren, 7 team mistakes.

00:15:39And if that's not enough,

00:15:41let's add the all-important penalty factor.

00:15:43Ferrari, 2 penalties.

00:15:45McLaren, 7 penalties.

00:15:47Felipe Massa, 2 penalties.

00:15:49Lewis Hamilton, 5 penalties.

00:15:51And that, in many ways, says it all.

00:15:55Thanks, Pete. And to take your thoughts a step further,

00:15:58we've compiled a list of points

00:16:00that have been squandered by both Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa.

00:16:03Now, assuming each driver would finish in the position

00:16:05they were running at the time of any incident,

00:16:08here's what we've come up with, David.

00:16:10Well, in Australia, as we saw,

00:16:12Massa spun there, lost him 5 points.

00:16:14In Malaysia, he spun out of second place.

00:16:16That cost him 8 points.

00:16:18In Monaco, he drove off, losing the lead 2 points.

00:16:20He hit Hamilton. That's a penalty of 1 point there.

00:16:23And then the Ferrari, Steve.

00:16:25Yeah, absolutely. So, total lost points there.

00:16:28They're hungry with an engine failure there.

00:16:3036 points lost to Ferrari there.

00:16:33And then when we look at McLaren and Hamilton's errors,

00:16:36they're almost the same.

00:16:38The bottom line, look, is 35 points lost to McLaren,

00:16:4236 points lost to Ferrari.

00:16:45And they will have reviewed those points many, many times.

00:16:49It doesn't matter. What matters is this race going forward.

00:16:53The final two races of the year.

00:16:55That's the Acura Pre-Race Show. It's race time next.

00:17:00Speed's coverage of the Chinese Grand Prix Pre-Race Show

00:17:03is brought to you by Acura.

00:17:05Acura. Advance.

00:17:10Looking back at last year's championship,

00:17:12it all came down to 1 point.

00:17:14What is the value of 1 point?

00:17:17Last year, Lewis Hamilton lost the World Championship by 1 point.

00:17:22Last week in Japan, Felipe Massa, in the last moments of the race,

00:17:26made this desperate pass for 8th

00:17:29to claw back a single point of Hamilton's lead,

00:17:32to reduce it from 7 to 6,

00:17:35to stay in contention, to still have hope.

00:17:38And then on a penalty to another driver,

00:17:40one more point came his way,

00:17:42cutting Hamilton's lead from 6 to 5.

00:17:45702 points will be awarded this year.

00:17:48Each will have been fought for.

00:17:50Each will be valued according to the circumstances

00:17:53of the team that scored it.

00:17:55But now, just two races remain,

00:17:58and the points left are scarce.

00:18:00The endgame is ours.

00:18:03Hamilton, Massa.

00:18:05Each knows that you cannot buy a point, or trade for one.

00:18:09Neither knows how many, exactly, it would take to make him champion.

00:18:14They can only be certain of this.

00:18:16There are points out there today,

00:18:18waiting to be won in the Grand Prix of China.

00:18:21Next.

00:18:29For the fifth consecutive year,

00:18:31one of the most impressive racing facilities in the world

00:18:34hosts Formula One.

00:18:36And today, the Shanghai International Circuit

00:18:38is the venue for one of the most crucial races

00:18:41for three young stars of Grand Prix racing.

00:18:44This is Round 17 of the World Championship,

00:18:47the Chinese Grand Prix.

00:18:49For those of you who are with us with the Acura Pre-Race Show,

00:18:52welcome back.

00:18:53For those of you just tuning in, welcome to the Grand Prix.

00:18:56Welcome back. For those of you just tuning in, welcome.

00:18:58Hi, everyone.

00:18:59Lee Diffie standing in for Bob Varsha,

00:19:01who has been busy in Las Vegas.

00:19:03And, as always, David Hobbs, Steve Matchett and Peter Windsor,

00:19:06part of the team.

00:19:08It is time now for the BMW track analysis.

00:19:10Go for it, David.

00:19:11Well, at just under 3.4 miles long, it's got 16 turns.

00:19:15It's very wide, no elevation change,

00:19:17but, nonetheless, it's very difficult.

00:19:19This is long turn one, two and three.

00:19:21Coming at about 190 miles an hour,

00:19:23go down through the gears, losing speed,

00:19:25and it's very tight left-hander four.

00:19:28You've got to come out here with some worry on board

00:19:30because you've now got a lot of high-speed manoeuvring

00:19:33where these cars need a little downforce.

00:19:36Down to another tight right-hander.

00:19:38And you're coming to sector two now,

00:19:40where there's some very fast sweeping corners.

00:19:43Seven.

00:19:45As you can see, it's nice and wide.

00:19:47It's pretty flat, not too bumpy.

00:19:51You need to use all the road,

00:19:53and you need to have a lot of moxie

00:19:55to get through these corners just right

00:19:57because you can lose a couple of tenths here and there

00:19:59very easily coming down now

00:20:01to turn ten, which is this tight left-hander.

00:20:04Opportunity of overtaking here is slight,

00:20:06but I suppose possible.

00:20:08And then a reverse of turn one, two and three

00:20:10as this is turn 11, 12 and 13.

00:20:12A lot of power going on down through here,

00:20:14so you need good traction here,

00:20:16but you need the front end to be biting as well

00:20:18because that's a long corner.

00:20:20As you come out of it, you pick up a lot of speed,

00:20:22which is very important because it leads on

00:20:24to this very, very long straight.

00:20:26311 kilometres an hour through the speed trap

00:20:28at the end here, down to this 40-mile-an-hour

00:20:30super-tight hairpin.

00:20:32Overtaking opportunity down here, obviously,

00:20:34but you've got to be going fast down the straight.

00:20:37And then the last corner, 16, medium speed,

00:20:39fourth gear, left-hand sweep.

00:20:41On to that front straight, again all important

00:20:43because you've got a lot of straight road in front of you.

00:20:45You've got to make a good exit up there

00:20:47to keep up a good lap time.

00:20:50So there you have it, the Shanghai International Circuit,

00:20:52and this is the fifth year that F1 has been here.

00:20:55And as the cars roll, let's turn your attention

00:20:58to the Bridgestone starting grid.

00:21:00And for the seventh time this year,

00:21:03McLaren Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton

00:21:05is on the pole alongside him.

00:21:07Kimi Räikkönen, Kimi started here last year

00:21:09when he won the race, and as a little side note,

00:21:11it is exactly the same front row

00:21:13as China 2007 and Fuji a week ago.

00:21:16Felipe Massa starts in third.

00:21:17He's never won a Grand Prix other than front row,

00:21:19but today he needs to.

00:21:20He's trading Hamilton by five points.

00:21:22Next to him, the really rejuvenated

00:21:24Fernando Alonso-Brenner, winner of the last two GPs

00:21:27and now vowing to help Massa win the championship.

00:21:30Hamilton's teammate Heikki Kovalainen

00:21:32starts from position five.

00:21:34He has a 100% record of making it to Q3 this year.

00:21:38Alongside him, Sebastian Vettel,

00:21:40originally qualified eighth,

00:21:41but benefits from two drivers being penalised.

00:21:44Row four, the Toyota Yano Trulli.

00:21:46He was quick in sector two,

00:21:47but took the honour of being second slowest

00:21:49on the straight.

00:21:50Next to him, the Toyota Rossa of Sebastian Bordet.

00:21:52The fifth time, six races at both of them.

00:21:54Toyota Rossas have been in the top ten.

00:21:56He was quickest on the straightaway.

00:21:58Fifth row, position nine, best of the BMWs

00:22:01is Nick Heidfeld.

00:22:02He was one of the drivers penalised.

00:22:04He copped three grid spots for impeding

00:22:06David Coulthard in Q1.

00:22:09Alongside him, Nelson Piquet, who moves up to tenth.

00:22:12He's got a little bit of momentum going at the moment.

00:22:14Robert Kubits and his BMWs chose a bad race

00:22:17to be off form.

00:22:18If he doesn't finish in the top six,

00:22:19he'll be eliminated from the championship.

00:22:21Alongside him, the Toyota Timo Glock.

00:22:24Looked so good in Japan last week,

00:22:26but he was the slowest car through the speed trap.

00:22:29Back to the seventh row, position 13,

00:22:31Rubens Barrichello, the 2004 winner of this race.

00:22:34And he now has a nine to eight lead

00:22:36in qualifying head-to-heads

00:22:38over his Honda teammate, Jenson Button.

00:22:40Alongside him, Williams Nico Rosberg,

00:22:42who really has not been a factor this weekend.

00:22:44Row eight is all Red Bull again,

00:22:46well and truly out-qualified by their sister team,

00:22:48Tara Rosso.

00:22:49But there were some extenuating circumstances.

00:22:51Coulthard was blocked by Heidfeld in qualifying

00:22:53and Webber would have been sixth,

00:22:55but he had a ten spot penalty for an engine change.

00:22:57Back to the ninth row, and Nakajima,

00:23:01who starts, interestingly enough,

00:23:04directly behind David Coulthard.

00:23:06These two collided in Fuji.

00:23:08And alongside him, Jenson Button,

00:23:10who has scored points in all four years here in China.

00:23:13Final row for the top,

00:23:15but again, the two force India cars,

00:23:17Adrian Sutil just out-qualified.

00:23:19Looked up by nine thousandths of a second

00:23:21quicker than Fischer-Keller.

00:23:23There is your Bridgestone starting grid.

00:23:25Let's move right ahead to the Toyota storylines.

00:23:27David, kick it off.

00:23:28Well, the key one is Lewis Hamilton.

00:23:30He's only won three of the last eight pole positions he's had.

00:23:33He spun on lap one.

00:23:35Japan, bad start.

00:23:36Hungary, same thing.

00:23:37Canada ran into somebody in the pit lane,

00:23:39so Hamilton has to make a good start

00:23:42and maintain it down to turn one.

00:23:44Ferrari team orders.

00:23:45It makes no difference to the Constructors' Championship

00:23:47in which order the two Ferraris finish,

00:23:49but for the Drivers' Championship,

00:23:51they must get Massa ahead of Raikkonen

00:23:53if they're running nose to tail.

00:23:55They're going to have to orchestrate something.

00:23:57And finally, here's the deal.

00:23:59Lewis Hamilton just needs to leave here

00:24:02with six more points than Felipe Massa

00:24:05without Robert Kubica winning,

00:24:07and he will become world champion.

00:24:11Final cars coming into their respective grid slots.

00:24:15And we are moments away.

00:24:17Waiting for the lights.

00:24:18Somebody looking pretty hot on the grid.

00:24:20A lot of smoke coming up, somebody.

00:24:22Kovalainen is smoking.

00:24:25Lights out.

00:24:26Chinese Grand Prix is underway.

00:24:28Has Hamilton got a good start?

00:24:29Yes, he has.

00:24:31He makes amend for last week in Fuji.

00:24:34A clean start.

00:24:35Kovalainen goes round the outside.

00:24:37Outside of Massa.

00:24:39It's one of the Toyotas.

00:24:42It may be Jarno Trulli.

00:24:43He was the higher of the two qualifiers.

00:24:45Kovalainen aggressive from the beginning

00:24:47and gets ahead of Fernando Alonso.

00:24:49He needs to be up there, but Alonso comes back.

00:24:52Kovalainen needs to be right up there with his teammate

00:24:54to help him beat these Ferrari teams

00:24:56if McLaren want to win the championship.

00:24:59Good, good, positive start from Heikki Kovalainen.

00:25:03Alonso, winner of the last two Grand Prix.

00:25:05He's having a ball at the moment.

00:25:07It's frustrating that he's not fighting

00:25:09for the world championship, but he's going for race wins.

00:25:13We hear a report that it was Sebastian Bourdais

00:25:15and Jarno Trulli who got together.

00:25:17We'll follow that up in a moment.

00:25:20Kovalainen's light on fuel, and I'm sure he is.

00:25:22He has to get after Massa.

00:25:24Look at the two Ferraris on the option tyres.

00:25:26They're the tyres they're going to choose.

00:25:28That's the preference.

00:25:29The two McLarens on the hard compound tyre.

00:25:31Good start for Hamilton.

00:25:33He needed to keep in front of Raikkonen and Massa,

00:25:36and he's doing that at the moment.

00:25:37But Kovalainen's got to get in the chase,

00:25:39and here comes Alonso after him.

00:25:42The Renault there of Alonso alongside Kovalainen

00:25:45as they go down this long straight.

00:25:47The McLaren should have the legs on this straight,

00:25:49but no, look at this.

00:25:50The Renault's right there.

00:25:51He's on the inside, going to outbrake him easily

00:25:53as they go into this Turn 14.

00:25:55Kovalainen locks up.

00:25:57Steady, Kimi.

00:25:58Kovalainen, your team need you right now.

00:26:00Keep focused and get after them.

00:26:03Good, solid start from Robert Kubica as well.

00:26:05He's making up several positions.

00:26:08End of lap one.

00:26:09Lewis Hamilton, the pole man and championship leader.

00:26:12Good, solid start.

00:26:14Guys, a little earlier on,

00:26:15while you fellows are reading through the grid,

00:26:17we heard as weather passing block,

00:26:20BMW advising Kubica, expect rain at around lap 14.

00:26:25So if we're going to have rain at round 14,

00:26:28that'll be just about when the pit window opens

00:26:31for that first tyre change.

00:26:35Steve, before the race,

00:26:36McLaren very concerned about the clutch.

00:26:38They had a clutch problem on the car

00:26:39in the Japanese Grand Prix.

00:26:40A new clutch fitted for this race.

00:26:42Lewis said he was comfortable with it yesterday,

00:26:44but nonetheless, it was a sweaty palm moment.

00:26:46But they're through that now.

00:26:47Ferrari having chosen the option,

00:26:49they're going to need to capitalise on that

00:26:51and really keep Lewis in sight.

00:26:52If they don't, this is it.

00:26:54Well, I tell you what,

00:26:55Kovalainen as a teammate for Hamilton,

00:26:58not doing a very good job.

00:26:59He is losing ground to Alonso now.

00:27:01And in fact, Heidfeld is making ground on Kovalainen.

00:27:04There's Alonso about to come up and challenge Felipe Massa.

00:27:08And he won't be challenging him too much

00:27:10because he'd already said he's going to help him.

00:27:12New nose going on to the Toyota,

00:27:14damaged onto the front of the nose.

00:27:16Well, they've got the nose ready.

00:27:17You can see that there to the side.

00:27:18They've put fuel into the car

00:27:20and they're looking around the suspension for any damage.

00:27:25They're sending the car out,

00:27:26but I'm not entirely sure they're happy with that.

00:27:29You saw some damage on the side pod.

00:27:31Several movers in the pack.

00:27:32Robert Kubica has come from 11th up to 8th place.

00:27:36Mark Webber from 16th to 11th.

00:27:38Barrichello has moved up into the top 10.

00:27:40And Hamilton continues to try and race away.

00:27:43Timo Glock puts a move on.

00:27:45Nico Rosberg.

00:27:46Timo Glock getting around Nico Rosberg there, that turn 14.

00:27:49This is Webber on Barrichello.

00:27:51Ruben Barrichello doing a great job.

00:27:53He's in 10th, but Mark Webber's got him well and truly in the crosshairs now.

00:27:56And it shouldn't be long before he gets past the Honda.

00:27:58And while you're watching this, guys,

00:28:00I'll tell you Lewis Hamilton's just set the fastest race lap

00:28:03all three sectors.

00:28:0537.332.

00:28:08Eight tenths faster.

00:28:09Let's have another look at the start, guys.

00:28:12Well, Hamilton made a great start here.

00:28:14Made sure he got over in front of Raikkonen.

00:28:16Felipe Massa made a good start too,

00:28:18getting past Alonso.

00:28:19And there goes Kovalainen around the outside.

00:28:23And you just kind of lost it off the right-hand edge of the screen

00:28:26where Bordet got into the side of Jarno Trulli.

00:28:28You can see Bordet able to continue.

00:28:30And Trulli, we saw, come back in for that stop.

00:28:33This is what it looked like for Robert Kubica.

00:28:36And he was able to gain two positions right there and then.

00:28:39He was very glad about that.

00:28:40They both swept off to the outside.

00:28:42On board with Alonso.

00:28:44This is when he was fighting with Kovalainen.

00:28:46This is on the first lap in the big drag race up to turn 13.

00:28:50Well, of course, he came up at 12 and 13.

00:28:54It's 11, 12 and 13 sort of meld into one corner.

00:28:57And he just did a grand job coming off it,

00:28:59which is so important because it's a long straight.

00:29:02Now, Trulli has been lapped there.

00:29:04That's Lewis Hamilton coming by the Panasonic Toyota driver.

00:29:07Then Raikkonen and then Massa.

00:29:09Alonso seems to have gained a little ground on Massa.

00:29:11And there's dramas here for Trulli.

00:29:13I'll tell you what, Massa is in a great position here.

00:29:16If Hamilton should win this race,

00:29:18Kimi Raikkonen is lying second at the moment.

00:29:20Here's Weber coming up on Rubens Barrichello with that turn 14.

00:29:24This will be for 10th spot.

00:29:26A couple more spots up there to get a point.

00:29:28And I don't think Rubens Barrichello is going to be able to hold him off for long.

00:29:32But we heard from Weber at the beginning

00:29:34that I don't think he's running all that heavy.

00:29:36He thought he might run a bit heavy in Q3.

00:29:38He's going to be, you know, DQ'd down 10 spots.

00:29:41But running a bit light.

00:29:44I don't know, Steve, David,

00:29:45what do you think?

00:29:46It's refreshing to see one of the Hondas up there.

00:29:48It is. It's very refreshing.

00:29:50Meanwhile, Jenson Button still languishing down in 15th spot.

00:29:56Hamilton, Raikkonen, Massa, Alonso, Kovalainen, top five unchanged.

00:30:00Trulli in the garage.

00:30:01More than likely day done.

00:30:03And that's a shame considering how well he's been qualifying

00:30:06and how well he raced at Fuji last week.

00:30:08Yeah, terrible shame for Toyota.

00:30:09They've done a good job this year of getting into grip for the car

00:30:12and making progress.

00:30:13But it is game over for the scrumptious one out of the Chinese Grand Prix.

00:30:18Already, Hamilton's again set in a fast first sector time, 25.6.

00:30:23The pace up the front of the Grand Prix is pretty impressive.

00:30:26Raikkonen and Massa, the two Ferraris,

00:30:28right behind the McLaren of Hamilton in second and third.

00:30:31Well, it's very important for Hamilton to try and stretch this lead.

00:30:35But Ferrari, from a constructor's point of view,

00:30:37are really in the catbird seat.

00:30:38And Massa's looking pretty good

00:30:40because you know that as the race unfolds,

00:30:42miraculously, he will get around Kimi Raikkonen

00:30:44and finish second, all things being equal, that is.

00:30:47So as we go into Brazil,

00:30:49that's points lead that Hamilton's got.

00:30:51We'll only go from five to seven,

00:30:53which isn't going to be nothing like it up here.

00:30:54We see the Red Bull coming up behind Barrichello,

00:30:57moving to an inside there to defend,

00:31:00which works very well.

00:31:02Nelson Piquet is the car immediately ahead of Rubens Barrichello.

00:31:06I think Mark Webber thought he might do an up and under there,

00:31:09but it didn't quite work.

00:31:10Rubens Barrichello had it well and truly worked out.

00:31:13It's a Honda, very quick at that last turn on this race.

00:31:15It is.

00:31:16Good traction, good speed through that corner.

00:31:18As I mentioned at the top of the show,

00:31:20Rubens was the inaugural winner here in 2004.

00:31:24We're looking at Rob Smedley,

00:31:26race engineer for Felipe Massa,

00:31:28this man right here in the F2008.

00:31:31Very much in contention for the Drivers' Championship,

00:31:34but he must absolutely get after Lewis Hamilton,

00:31:38who is leading this race and has just set yet again

00:31:41fastest sector time so far.

00:31:43First sector, 25.5, three tenths up on Raikkonen.

00:31:47Kovalainen there is not doing a good job

00:31:50unless they've got some strategy that we're unaware of here,

00:31:53that he's running heavy.

00:31:54But looking at the qualifying time, sector one, two and three,

00:31:57I'm not sure that they are that heavy.

00:31:59I think he's just running off the pace a little bit.

00:32:02But boy, McLaren could deal with him being up there

00:32:05amongst those two Ferraris at the moment.

00:32:06Ferrari looking very strong in second and third.

00:32:09Talking to the Renault engineers yesterday

00:32:11to try and get an idea of their choice of tyres

00:32:14and how they saw the difference between the soft option

00:32:17and the harder tyre,

00:32:19Alain Pommet, chief race engineer, said,

00:32:21well, we think really that the hard tyre

00:32:23will be the one for the race.

00:32:25But keep in mind, that soft tyre,

00:32:27the one with the designated white stripe around it,

00:32:30is very, very fast in qualifying,

00:32:33but it will start to go off.

00:32:34So Ferrari really need to capitalise

00:32:36on the performance of that tyre

00:32:38right now in the early stages.

00:32:40Hamilton now down into the 36s.

00:32:42The first car to break into 36s.

00:32:45A new fast lap for Lewis Hamilton, 36.940.

00:32:49When you think the pole position was only a 36.3,

00:32:52that's getting on for it in the race.

00:32:54He stretches the lead advantage to 3.1 seconds.

00:32:57He said of his qualifying lap yesterday, Lewis Hamilton,

00:33:00that it was as near to perfect as he could do.

00:33:03And so far, the opening few laps of this race

00:33:06have been as near to perfect as he can do.

00:33:08Let's ride with Lewis for a moment.

00:33:24A reminder that this was the site

00:33:27of Hamilton's very first F1 career,

00:33:30DNF, first retirement here last year

00:33:33in the most extraordinary of circumstances.

00:33:36Very sketchy weather,

00:33:38tough decisions to be made about tyre choice,

00:33:41and he lost it coming into the pit lane

00:33:44in the gravel trap and was stuck,

00:33:46was beached after about the 30-lap mark.

00:33:49I can go as quick as a Ferrari.

00:33:54Well, get after him then.

00:33:56I can go as quick as a Ferrari,

00:33:58but he's now caught hoist by his own baton.

00:34:00He said at a press conference the other day

00:34:02that he vowed to help Massa win the championship,

00:34:05so maybe he's a bit reluctant to go past Felipe Massa.

00:34:08I find it hard to believe.

00:34:12And all of the talk, all of the pressure,

00:34:15all of the rumours, Lewis Hamilton said,

00:34:17I've got the support of my family and friends here

00:34:20to get over it. It's not bothering me.

00:34:22I'm in a good space right now.

00:34:28Speed's coverage of the FIA Formula One World Championship

00:34:31is brought to you by Bridgestone.

00:34:33Passion for excellence.

00:34:38You're watching the Chinese Grand Prix

00:34:40from the Shanghai International Circuit,

00:34:42live here on Speed, and we ride with championship leader,

00:34:44race leader Lewis Hamilton.

00:34:46Appropriately, talk about weather,

00:34:49because it was a big factor here last year, Steve,

00:34:52as we go to the Mercedes weather report.

00:34:54Absolutely, it was, Lee. You're right.

00:34:56Remember, we had that rain, and the guys were running

00:34:58on intermediate tyres, and then we had

00:35:00that great chess-matter strategy

00:35:02of how long you could keep the driver out,

00:35:04whether or not you wanted to come in and run them

00:35:06onto a dry-weather tyre,

00:35:08whether the rain would play a factor.

00:35:10And we're hearing that rain may well play a factor,

00:35:13right at a crucial juncture in this Grand Prix.

00:35:18Anticipated first stops around lap 14 to lap 15,

00:35:22and again, going back to BMW's message

00:35:24from their meteorologist suggesting to Kubica,

00:35:27lap 14, expect a little bit of rain.

00:35:29We don't see that in the sky,

00:35:31but change of weather can happen very, very fast here.

00:35:34It was looking a bit gloomy when we came up on that shot,

00:35:37looking the other direction, what we're looking at now.

00:35:39The sun's sort of shining there.

00:35:41It looks like pale sunshine, but it looks a bit gloomy.

00:35:44But, of course, I'm not sure where the weather's coming from.

00:35:47The percentages, boys, is 40% chance of rain.

00:35:51I checked online a little earlier today,

00:35:53and the report for Pudong Airport,

00:35:55which is quite a distance from the racetrack,

00:35:57was scattered thunderstorms there this afternoon.

00:36:00But when we look here, some eight laps into the race,

00:36:03weather good so far, so good.

00:36:05When you see that shot, the way these cars change direction,

00:36:08they're like slot cars.

00:36:11Lee, you were talking earlier about that incident

00:36:13with Lewis Hamilton last year,

00:36:15when he went off coming into the pit lane.

00:36:17Of course, that was weather-coloured incident.

00:36:19His tyres had gone off, he'd been out too long.

00:36:21But it was interesting to see yesterday,

00:36:23Lewis went up the escape road of the pit lane entry

00:36:26at that tight left-hander,

00:36:28and I asked him afterwards what was going on,

00:36:30and he said, well, after last year,

00:36:32he just wanted to get that pit road absolutely right.

00:36:34So he wanted to see what the limit of the corner was,

00:36:36and he practised it and practised it.

00:36:38So certainly Lewis, hopefully on this occasion,

00:36:40isn't going to make the same mistake.

00:36:43Lewis Hamilton has been the quickest driver on track

00:36:46for every single lap of this race thus far.

00:36:49He's been the quickest here for every session bar one this weekend.

00:36:53It has been a dominating performance

00:36:55by the World Championship leader as we ride with Webber.

00:36:58You can see he has already disposed of Rubens Barrichello.

00:37:01He has come from 16th to 10th,

00:37:03and now he's challenging Piquet for 9th.

00:37:09And this is exactly where he got Rubens Barrichello.

00:37:12The inside move under the brakes.

00:37:14Webber moves ahead of Piquet, and then Piquet switches back.

00:37:18Yeah, that late braking stuff's all very well,

00:37:20but it does lead to this sort of up and under there.

00:37:23Whoa, wow.

00:37:25That's a brave move into that last turn.

00:37:27It's a quick corner.

00:37:29But we think that Piquet's got a lot more fuel on board than Mark Webber.

00:37:33Nevertheless, two Renault engine cars there,

00:37:35the Red Bull and, of course, the Renault itself.

00:37:38Christian Horner was delighted with Webber's qualifying performance

00:37:41and frustrated by the engine change,

00:37:43having to go back some ten positions.

00:37:45Riding with Massa.

00:37:51These option tyres seem to be standing up pretty well.

00:38:01Yeah, they do, David. You're right.

00:38:03And again, looking at the McLaren using those harder compound tyres at the moment.

00:38:06Both the McLaren and the Ferrari have done tremendous development work

00:38:10in terms of reliability and performance increments throughout the season.

00:38:14What you're seeing now is pretty much the final...

00:38:17Well, let's just listen to Piquet's radio.

00:38:20You know he's right, Nelson, so don't worry.

00:38:24Well, there it is. Yeah, that's confirmation, David,

00:38:26what you were just talking about.

00:38:27We expect that Piquet Jr. there running with a lot of fuel on board.

00:38:30But just finishing that point about the McLaren and the Ferrari,

00:38:33they're pretty much finished now in terms of development.

00:38:36Some very small changes coming onto the car now,

00:38:39but neither Ferrari nor McLaren will ever risk

00:38:42at this stage of the championship introducing anything radical, new or untested.

00:38:47These are pretty much the final solutions for this year from these great constructors.

00:38:55David, we've seen on a number of occasions this year

00:38:57when a race apparently appears to be in the bag.

00:39:00Canada was a good example for Lewis.

00:39:02Fuji was perhaps another good example.

00:39:04Here's Lewis now leading the race.

00:39:06There's not a lot going on around him.

00:39:07He seems to have a margin over the Ferraris.

00:39:09Very difficult, however, to keep the concentration going now

00:39:12for the full race distance to make no mistakes and get everything right.

00:39:15As we can see how easily it can all go wrong.

00:39:18Big task still ahead of Lewis.

00:39:20Absolutely. This is an area where the driver has to really, really concentrate

00:39:25and take every lap as a fresh lap, as a fresh start

00:39:28and really keep your mind in gear.

00:39:30If you're cruising away from the field, it's so easy to relax.

00:39:34But it's the absolute last thing he wants to do.

00:39:37And as the race wears on and the groove narrows down

00:39:42as all those marbles start to circulate on the edge of the track,

00:39:45he's going to have to be very careful.

00:39:47Well, you just saw that graphic, David.

00:39:49Raikkonen just set the fastest lap.

00:39:51The first time a driver other than Hamilton has set a fast lap

00:39:55in the opening ten laps of 36.6.

00:39:57And these guys now, Hamilton and Raikkonen, are trading fast sector time.

00:40:02Sector one fastest of all to Hamilton.

00:40:05Sector two, Raikkonen.

00:40:06Well, the Ferraris, I still think the Ferraris look incredibly strong.

00:40:09For him to do the fastest lap, ten laps in,

00:40:12on that option compound, is pretty awesome.

00:40:15They must be very good on their tyres.

00:40:20And talk about a perfect job of a teammate.

00:40:23That's exactly what Ferrari want.

00:40:25They want Kimi Raikkonen starting to put pressure on Lewis Hamilton.

00:40:29Meanwhile, Felipe Massa can sit back in third place,

00:40:32knowing that at least he's going to finish second

00:40:34and let Kimi do the hard work on Lewis

00:40:36and see if he can pressurise Lewis into a mistake.

00:40:38That's what Ferrari are trying to do now.

00:40:40Wow, and this is getting absolutely thrilling now.

00:40:43Peter, while you were just explaining that to us,

00:40:45I'm looking at timing and scoring.

00:40:46Hamilton, Raikkonen and Massa, each setting fastest sector times.

00:40:51Sector one to Hamilton, sector two to Raikkonen

00:40:54and sector three to Massa.

00:40:56All three of these guys now absolutely flying on lap 11 of the Grand Prix.

00:41:01And this is Nico Rosberg applying the pressure to Timo Glock,

00:41:05the sole remaining Panasonic Toyota in this race.

00:41:08The lead margin, just getting back to Hamilton Raikkonen,

00:41:11it's 3.7 seconds.

00:41:13Come on, Nico, we need to get past Glock, we're losing time.

00:41:16He's trying, he is trying.

00:41:18Now, because this is such a critical round in the championship,

00:41:21we're going to show you at various points throughout the race,

00:41:23throughout the broadcast, points as they run.

00:41:26Let's show you how they are right now.

00:41:28Hamilton, 94, plays Massa, 85.

00:41:32The objective here is to leave Shanghai,

00:41:34for Lewis Hamilton to leave Shanghai with six more points

00:41:38than Felipe Massa without Kubica winning the race.

00:41:41And Hamilton, as he gets it sideways, will be your new world champion.

00:41:46Oh, boy, old Hamilton there.

00:41:47Now, he's on the prime tyre.

00:41:48They should not be showing signs of going up,

00:41:51but it looks like they might be.

00:41:58We need to squeeze in a quick commercial break.

00:42:01As the laps count down,

00:42:02we'll leave you with the Mercedes-Benz running order,

00:42:05Hamilton, Raikkonen, Massa.

00:42:12We're back at the Chinese Grand Prix,

00:42:14and as we watch a replay of Nelson Piquet

00:42:19running way wide at turn 16, coming onto the front straight.

00:42:23Lucky escape, plenty of run-off, fortunately, for him.

00:42:27And Lewis Hamilton is putting his stamp on this race

00:42:30in the early stages.

00:42:32Just gone, fast lap, 1.36.3,

00:42:35three tenths faster than he or Kimi Raikkonen has gone in this race.

00:42:39He is flying.

00:42:41That's just two thousandths of a second slower

00:42:43than he was for pole position,

00:42:45so the car obviously has lost a lot more fuel.

00:42:47The grip on the track is getting better all the time.

00:42:51There we go, boys.

00:42:52That's interesting.

00:42:53Ferrari, the first out of the pit lane,

00:42:55but I don't think it's going to be long

00:42:57before McLaren jump too.

00:42:59They're getting nervous there inside the McLaren garage.

00:43:02Hamilton must be light on fuel with you guys.

00:43:04Suggesting he's setting these times

00:43:06equivalent to qualifying times.

00:43:08Hamilton just set fastest sector one with a 25.3.

00:43:11Massa into the pit.

00:43:13Wow, this is why he was so upset after qualifying.

00:43:19Alonso has come in as well.

00:43:23More options on, wow.

00:43:25The chassis seems to like them.

00:43:27So they're leaving the primes to the last run.

00:43:31Now, the interesting thing here is going to be

00:43:34whether Kovalainen, Alonso is in now,

00:43:36whether Kovalainen can stay out for another four or five laps

00:43:39and whether he can really redeem himself

00:43:41and the car has been running heavy

00:43:42because he's a long way behind.

00:43:43Yeah, absolutely.

00:43:44As you were just suggesting there,

00:43:46that's the explanation without any doubt

00:43:48of why Massa was so miserable in qualifying

00:43:51because he couldn't put that down of fuel.

00:43:54The car was light and he just should have done a better job.

00:43:57He was basically out Hamilton and Reich

00:44:00and then just did a better job.

00:44:02He must have made a mistake somewhere

00:44:03on that vital qualifying lap.

00:44:05Here we go, boys.

00:44:07Massa slotted in behind Robert Kubica.

00:44:09Alonso slotted in behind Nelson Piquet.

00:44:12And the McLaren Mercedes team preparing for this man here,

00:44:15race leader Lewis Hamilton.

00:44:17Neither of these teams, Ferrari or McLaren,

00:44:20has been watching a stricken Sutil

00:44:22there in the Force India chassis.

00:44:26That's the exit of turn 16

00:44:29where we just saw Piquet Jr. get it out.

00:44:35Hamilton into the pits.

00:44:37That is in a very precarious position, Steve,

00:44:39where Adrian Sutil is.

00:44:41That is exactly where we saw Piquet run wide and wild.

00:44:45Reichanen.

00:44:49Two of the most experienced, best-drilled teams

00:44:52in international motorsport.

00:44:54A little bit of a wing change.

00:44:56A little bit of wing change.

00:44:57Prime tyres onto the McLaren.

00:45:00Lewis Hamilton released.

00:45:01Good, clean stop.

00:45:02And good, clean stop for Ferrari too.

00:45:05So the McLaren will be the first out of the pit lane,

00:45:08closely followed by Kimi Reichanen.

00:45:10Heidfeld in the BMW goes through.

00:45:13So Hamilton is going to come out in fifth spot

00:45:16behind Heidfeld.

00:45:17Kovalainen now up to third.

00:45:19And that's Reichanen.

00:45:20Kovalainen.

00:45:21Back in behind Vettel.

00:45:22Into the lead.

00:45:29And Lewis Hamilton should have slotted back in

00:45:32around position three.

00:45:35Kovalainen and Heidfeld are now one and two.

00:45:38Heidfeld must be pretty pleased with himself this weekend.

00:45:41He signed that contract with BMW for next year.

00:45:44And had an awful weekend in Japan the week after he signed it.

00:45:48But looking a lot better than his teammates so far.

00:45:50But Robert Kubis has, as usual, come to life in the race.

00:45:54Heidfeld's post-qualifying comments were very interesting

00:45:57to say the least.

00:45:58Days done for Adrian Sutil in the Force India car.

00:46:01Heidfeld, and I'm not sure if he was being sarcastic

00:46:03as we watched the replay of what happened to Sutil,

00:46:05said, I'm just pleased to see that we've kept this

00:46:08good qualifying momentum going.

00:46:10Well, he didn't make it out of Q1 last week, did he, Heidfeld?

00:46:13So I'm not quite sure what he was talking about.

00:46:18I saw some smoke on his car before he braked there.

00:46:21So I wonder if the engine just tightened up on him.

00:46:28Incidentally, we were in a commercial break earlier.

00:46:30The first car to pit in this race was Mark Webber on lap 12.

00:46:34Then followed by Massa and Alonso on lap 14.

00:46:37Then followed, as we've just seen, by Lewis Hamilton

00:46:40and Kimi Räikkönen.

00:46:43Kovalainen is the new race leader.

00:46:47He's just done a 37.3, which is his personal best lap,

00:46:51compared to, as we know, Hamilton's best lap in the first,

00:46:55before he pit-stopped, was 36.3.

00:46:58Kovalainen's just done a 37.3.

00:47:00So a lot slower, a second slower.

00:47:04So this will give an explanation of why Kovalainen

00:47:06seems to be doing such a relatively poor job

00:47:08in comparison to the two Ferraris and Hamilton there

00:47:12with that extra fuel on board.

00:47:13I mean, those have already gone a couple of extra laps.

00:47:15It'll be interesting to see how long Kovalainen stays out for.

00:47:18Remember, that extra fuel on board is weight,

00:47:21and weight is everything to the performance of an F1 car.

00:47:24The more fuel you carry, the slower you go.

00:47:26Weight is the enemy.

00:47:32Quite a lot of fuel on board for Lewis Hamilton.

00:47:35He took quite a lot, which should reduce his stint,

00:47:38his third stint of the race,

00:47:40when he goes on to those softer tyres.

00:47:42Obviously, the tyre that he doesn't want to use.

00:47:44He seems happier on these prime tyres.

00:47:46A little bit more fuel on board.

00:47:48So, again, a shorter third stint for him,

00:47:50if that's the way he runs the race.

00:47:52And, boys, more evidence on how those McLaren Mercedes

00:47:56get up to temperature a lot faster than the Ferraris.

00:47:59On Hamilton's out lap, he put 1.2 seconds on Kimi Raikkonen.

00:48:05And Kimi Raikkonen, meanwhile, behind Sebastian Vettel.

00:48:08Lewis Hamilton, by contrast, has free road in front of him,

00:48:12and I think that makes a difference as well.

00:48:15So, the revised order is Kovalainen, Heidfeld,

00:48:18Hamilton third, Vettel fourth, Raikkonen fifth,

00:48:21Kuvica, Massa, and Nick Heidfeld, as we speak,

00:48:25has just hit pit lane.

00:48:27Then Piquet, Alonso, Farachello in the ten.

00:48:29Now, Sebastian Vettel, who's now moved up to third spot,

00:48:32I will think is going to have a long stint,

00:48:34because he was a lot slower in Q2 and Q3 than Q2,

00:48:38so I think he has got a lot of fuel on board.

00:48:41Another set of the harder tires on the BMW.

00:48:45Brakes were really smoking badly in that left run, weren't they?

00:48:48Yeah.

00:48:51And Heidfeld comes out just in front of Vettel.

00:48:57Another six-tenths of a second for Lewis Hamilton

00:49:00on Kimi Raikkonen.

00:49:02So, those first couple of laps have been amazingly impressive

00:49:06from Hamilton.

00:49:12Again, reminding you of the championship situation.

00:49:15If Hamilton leaves here with six more points than Massa,

00:49:18he will become the youngest ever Formula One world champion.

00:49:22It's a good strategy as well by McLaren and BMW.

00:49:25Those guys that, you know, put in a little bit more fuel

00:49:28than we anticipated,

00:49:30because should rain start to fall in the middle of the race

00:49:34or towards the end of the race,

00:49:36it gives them that little cushion

00:49:38that they can run a little bit longer

00:49:40and then decide on their tire strategy based around that,

00:49:43and not just think, well, we've got to come in now,

00:49:45we're running out of fuel, we have no option,

00:49:47and then find a way out.

00:49:49We're running out of fuel, we have no option,

00:49:51and then find that it starts to rain two laps later

00:49:54and forces another pit stop.

00:49:55Well, which is what happened last year.

00:49:57The rain was lurking, ready,

00:49:59and, of course, Hamilton had the intermediates on,

00:50:01which he'd worn down to the cord,

00:50:03but they were loathe to bring him in

00:50:05because they thought it was going to rain.

00:50:07They wanted to do the tyres and the gas at the same time.

00:50:10Heikki Kovalainen in just his second appearance

00:50:12in the Chinese Grand Prix.

00:50:14Sebastian Vettel has also followed him into the lane,

00:50:17and we're checking the comparison to Fernando Alonso.

00:50:20Can Kovalainen beat out the two-time world champion

00:50:23and the winner of the last two consecutive Grand Prix?

00:50:26He needs to, but we're looking at Vettel now.

00:50:30Wow.

00:50:31Obviously didn't run quite as long as I thought he would.

00:50:33Bit of a scramble.

00:50:34Let's check where Alonso is in comparison to Kovalainen.

00:50:37Did the fin beat him out?

00:50:48We understand the answer is no.

00:50:59Meanwhile, back in the race lead,

00:51:01because Kovalainen has gone into the pits for his pit stop,

00:51:05this is your race leader right now, Lewis Hamilton.

00:51:08And it's looking very hazy, guys, now.

00:51:11The sky has changed a lot...

00:51:13It does look hazy, doesn't it?

00:51:16Going down to that very strong...

00:51:18Look at the sort of smog, too.

00:51:20That looks really hazy, doesn't it?

00:51:24Can I just say I was at Shanghai International Circuit

00:51:27back in 2005 for V8 Supercars,

00:51:29and it looked like that the whole weekend.

00:51:32It just never changed.

00:51:34Well, there's Piquet and Alonso, both in front of Kovalainen.

00:51:39Here is Hamilton.

00:51:4119 laps down,

00:51:44and he is out in front to the tune of 6.8 seconds

00:51:47over Kimi Räikkönen.

00:51:49Two beats are yet to pit.

00:51:51We'll wait for that to happen when we come back.

00:52:07On screen, Felipe Massa,

00:52:09currently second in the World Championship standings,

00:52:12winner of the French Grand Prix.

00:52:14And if you haven't heard the news,

00:52:16there will be no French Grand Prix

00:52:18on the 2009 Formula 1 calendar.

00:52:21And it's one of the big breaking news stories

00:52:24of the week since Fuji.

00:52:26Felipe Massa's dad, that was, looking on.

00:52:29Massa losing a lot of ground to Hamilton,

00:52:31as you can see, 7 tenths of a lap at the moment,

00:52:33which is a lot.

00:52:35Prime options there looking OK

00:52:38around that very long turn, 12.

00:52:41And 13.

00:52:43All weekend long, David, up until qualifying,

00:52:46Ferrari was saying,

00:52:47we're just not happy with the car.

00:52:49It's taken us a long while to dial it in.

00:52:51And then they made some changes

00:52:53after practice three on the Saturday morning

00:52:56in preparation for qualifying.

00:52:58And the car just seemed to come alive all of a sudden.

00:53:00Well, it did on Friday.

00:53:01It didn't look too good,

00:53:02because you can never tell on Friday, really.

00:53:04But you're right.

00:53:05I mean, it really came to good in qualifying.

00:53:12The respective splits.

00:53:13Lewis Hamilton has a 6.7 second lead over Kimi Räikkönen.

00:53:17It's a further 3.6 seconds back to Robert Kubica.

00:53:20But keep in mind, the pole has not hit it yet.

00:53:23And it's a further 3.9 seconds back to Felipe Massa

00:53:26and Nelson Piquet Jr.,

00:53:29who also has not hit it.

00:53:31Killed the line and does seem to be a bit out to lunch.

00:53:33He's down in seventh spot.

00:53:35He's doing 38, 38.1.

00:53:37Hamilton's just under 37.7.

00:53:40Räikkönen, 37.5.

00:53:42Kubica, 37.7.

00:53:44Massa, 37.9.

00:53:46Piquet, 37.8.

00:53:48Good time for Piquet.

00:53:51On board with Alonso.

00:53:54Heike is six laps longer than us.

00:53:56Heike, six laps longer than us.

00:54:00There you go.

00:54:02Here's some indication of the team studying each other.

00:54:04Yeah, so Kovalainen obviously got a lot of fuel on now then.

00:54:07Yeah.

00:54:08Talking about a lot of fuel and the effect it has on the car.

00:54:10We expect Massa to come in on around lap 40.

00:54:14Hamilton on lap 42.

00:54:15Räikkönen on lap 42.

00:54:17They're suggesting Massa is lighter.

00:54:19Massa should not be losing 7 tenths per lap at the moment.

00:54:24He should be.

00:54:25Needs to be faster.

00:54:27He needs to be setting faster, more impressive times

00:54:29than both Hamilton and Räikkönen.

00:54:32Well, one of the things too,

00:54:34if Massa gets too far behind Räikkönen,

00:54:36it's going to be very difficult for the team to shuffle.

00:54:39Exactly.

00:54:40Shuffle in past without it looking too obvious.

00:54:42And of course, as we know, you're not allowed to do that.

00:54:46Of course, it might be a bit different as it's Ferrari,

00:54:49but it is going to make it difficult for them.

00:54:52We'll continually update the points as they run,

00:54:54but nothing has changed with Hamilton one, Massa further back.

00:54:58He's theoretically in third place.

00:55:01Kubica is yet to stop.

00:55:03I want to remind you about the Speed Report

00:55:06coming up a little later tonight, 7pm Eastern.

00:55:08I'm going to have Red Bull injected intravenously.

00:55:13Myself and Chris De Voda will be doing the show.

00:55:16We're going to have a very comprehensive wrap

00:55:18from the world of motorsports.

00:55:19The Speed Report, your weekly check-in to news.

00:55:23What are you worrying about? It's only 4 o'clock in the morning.

00:55:27Well, what must the BMW Sauber team be thinking?

00:55:31It was a delight to have one of their drivers

00:55:33as a championship contender coming into this race,

00:55:36but even Kubica himself said,

00:55:38after that poor qualifying performance,

00:55:40I've seen my hopes, my chances slip away.

00:55:43Well, the radio message, Lee,

00:55:45while you were just giving the promo there for the Speed Report

00:55:48to Kubica from the BMW engineers was,

00:55:51your pace is good, the car's working OK,

00:55:55we will be going for primes,

00:55:57which means they're not going to put him onto the options,

00:56:00so he's on a two-stop strategy.

00:56:01He's on the primes now.

00:56:03So, news good for BMW and Kubica.

00:56:06The car's working well, the pace is fine.

00:56:09You can't help but be impressed

00:56:11with the way the 23-year-old Lewis Hamilton

00:56:14has handled the pressure and the scrutiny of this week,

00:56:18and certainly post-Fuji, where his driving standards,

00:56:22his driving ethics were called into question.

00:56:24There was a lot made earlier this week

00:56:26where the Grand Prix Drivers' Association

00:56:28were going to take it to race director Charlie Whiting

00:56:31and say, we need you to wrap Lewis over the knuckles,

00:56:33and also perhaps Felipe Massa.

00:56:35That kind of diluted a little bit

00:56:37as the racing week and weekend went on,

00:56:39but he's been under intense pressure,

00:56:41with Flavio Briatore saying

00:56:43that he doesn't think Lewis Hamilton

00:56:45should win the World Championship.

00:56:47In his mind, Massa deserves to win.

00:56:49The drivers came out and said

00:56:51that Robert Kubica is the rightful champion.

00:56:53Alonso has come out this week and says

00:56:55he'll do anything that he can do to help Massa win it.

00:56:58Think about the pressure on this young man,

00:57:00and that he's come out, he's been fastest

00:57:02in every session by one,

00:57:04and he is owning this race.

00:57:06Well, it's the green-eyed goddess, I'm afraid.

00:57:08It's pure jealousy from everybody else.

00:57:11Lewis Hamilton, I thought the issue

00:57:14at Turn 1 at Japan, yeah, it was a bit wild,

00:57:17but if you go back in the history of Formula 1,

00:57:19how many first quarters have you seen

00:57:21just exactly like that, with people out

00:57:23breaking each other, bouncing off each other?

00:57:25I mean, he didn't do anything there

00:57:27that was not unduly unsurprising.

00:57:31For him to get a penalty for that,

00:57:33to my mind, is just weak.

00:57:35And also, you know, it's a war of psychology,

00:57:37isn't it, that you guys are suggesting there?

00:57:39Well, Flavio's definitely on a psychological kicker.

00:57:42Absolutely, yeah.

00:57:43But the mark of a champion,

00:57:45you know, I'm thinking of, you know,

00:57:46the Senna's and the Prost's and the Schumacher's.

00:57:48These guys just deal with it.

00:57:50They put it out of their mind.

00:57:51They don't let it bother them.

00:57:53They are aggressive drivers by their nature.

00:57:55They force their way through.

00:57:57They become champions multi-times.

00:58:00I mean, that's how you do it.

00:58:01It's simple as that.

00:58:09And, David, I think you hit the nail on the head there.

00:58:11It is the green-eyed goddess.

00:58:12It is jealousy.

00:58:13And you know what?

00:58:14I kind of feel sorry for Lewis

00:58:16because on the parade lap today,

00:58:18before the race on the flat-top track,

00:58:19as we see some nice camera shots there

00:58:22of the Nelson Piquet fuel stop,

00:58:24a nice bit of work by the ING-Renault team,

00:58:27Lewis on the flat-top track,

00:58:29you know, no driver's going to talk to him.

00:58:31His mate's with Adrian Sutil.

00:58:33He chatted to Sutil most of the time.

00:58:34But for the rest of the trip around the lap,

00:58:36waving to the crowd,

00:58:37he had his BlackBerry out,

00:58:38just taking pictures of the crowd

00:58:39and just taking up the atmosphere.

00:58:42He's just a simple, straightforward guy

00:58:45that's never done anybody any harm,

00:58:46as far as I can see.

00:58:47But, as you say, unbelievable pressure

00:58:49and how he's reacting to it here so far.

00:58:51Just a fabulous performance.

00:58:53Well, of course, a lot of people saying

00:58:54that he was so lucky getting to the McLaren

00:58:56he could have been driving a much lesser car,

00:58:59someone like Kubica, for instance.

00:59:01All of that is true, but that is life.

00:59:03And nobody ever said that life is fair.

00:59:05I mean, life sure as heck is not fair.

00:59:09Ask somebody that lives in Afghanistan

00:59:11or doesn't stand on something,

00:59:13how fair life is.

00:59:14So it's just ridiculous for these people

00:59:16to get so bent out of shape

00:59:18because he just happened to get a good car

00:59:20straight away.

00:59:21And that was all push

00:59:24from a young Lewis Hamilton

00:59:26when he was 10.

00:59:27Here's Kubica.

00:59:28Here comes Kubica.

00:59:30Currently running in P3 into the pits.

00:59:35It's a narrow pit lane there, isn't it?

00:59:37Fair enough so.

00:59:39Robert Kubica again.

00:59:41Certainly one of the top four at the moment

00:59:43in the world.

00:59:44There's no doubt about it.

00:59:45If he was driving a McLaren,

00:59:46he would be right up there.

00:59:54One more stop for Robert Kubica in this race.

00:59:57Just over five seconds, yeah.

00:59:59And again, the prime tyres going on the car.

01:00:01I wish we hadn't cut away to the brain trust

01:00:03there on the BMW pit wall.

01:00:05I'd rather want to see the full fuel delivery time.

01:00:07But Kubica in P9, rejoins in P9

01:00:11behind the Red Bull of David Coulthard.

01:00:14That's going to be difficult.

01:00:15David Coulthard, one of the most difficult people

01:00:17to overtake in Formula 1.

01:00:19Hamilton, Raikkonen, Kubica

01:00:21is now dropped to ninth.

01:00:23Massa has been elevated to third.

01:00:25Alonso and Kovalainen in the top five.

01:00:29We're racing in a country of some pretty impressive figures.

01:00:33A population of 1.3 billion.

01:00:36China has 20% of the world's population.

01:00:40This track, over 300 million US dollars in cost.

01:00:45More than 3,000 workers over 18 months

01:00:49to put this circuit together.

01:00:51And the first race back in September.

01:00:54That man there and his team,

01:00:56Ron Dennis and McLaren Mercedes

01:00:58are yet to win at this racing venue.

01:01:01Now, let's have another look

01:01:03at Robert Kubica's pit stop there for BMW.

01:01:06You can see tyres and wheel guns in action.

01:01:08But look, they don't change the tyres.

01:01:11The wheel guns go in.

01:01:12They check that everything's secure.

01:01:14They don't change the front tyres.

01:01:15I believe rear tyres could have been changed.

01:01:18But still, they don't change the front tyres.

01:01:21I believe rear tyres could have been changed.

01:01:23But certainly not the front.

01:01:25They've not done the front.

01:01:28Short fill as well.

01:01:29About 16 laps worth of fuel

01:01:30going into the BMW chassis on Kubica's car.

01:01:33Now, guys, piece by piece,

01:01:35tenth of a second by tenth of a second.

01:01:38Kimi Räikkönen is eating into Lewis Hamilton's lead.

01:01:41It was as much as 7.1 seconds.

01:01:43It's down now to 6.4.

01:01:45And it's a tenth here.

01:01:46It's two tenths there.

01:01:47But Kimi is slowly eating into it.

01:01:49And he's gone on to the prime tyres,

01:01:51unlike his teammate, Felipe Amassi,

01:01:53who's about to come into the shot there,

01:01:54who's still on the option.

01:01:57But as you say,

01:01:58he's eating very gradually into Hamilton's lead.

01:02:0329 laps remain in the Chinese Grand Prix of 2008.

01:02:07The top eight drivers on that last lap

01:02:09all did between a 37.4 and a 37.7.

01:02:15There you see the gap as it was, 6.57.

01:02:20So he pulled out a little bit there.

01:02:24See the rear brakes are glowing on the McLaren chassis.

01:02:29More, David, I don't know what you think,

01:02:31more than I would expect them to do.

01:02:33And he seems to be carrying a lot of brake

01:02:35through those corners.

01:02:36And he also got a good old slide on there

01:02:39from the rear.

01:02:46We said earlier in the show

01:02:48we would remind you of the points,

01:02:50the championship points scenario,

01:02:52as we work our way closer and closer to the end.

01:02:55It has not changed except for Kubica.

01:02:57He's got one less point.

01:03:00As far as Hamilton v Massa,

01:03:02at this point in time,

01:03:04Hamilton is looking good for the championship.

01:03:06It's still 28 laps to go.

01:03:08And while I mentioned that Kubica had one less point,

01:03:11well now David Coulthard has bid it,

01:03:13so Kubica gets that point back.

01:03:15It's kind of irrelevant in the big scheme of things.

01:03:17We're focusing on those top two,

01:03:19Hamilton and Massa.

01:03:21Half race distance.

01:03:37Nakajima is fighting for 11th.

01:03:40This is his first Grand Prix here, incidentally.

01:03:42He has done Friday driving,

01:03:44but this is his first race

01:03:46at the Shanghai International Circuit.

01:03:48Much the same as Nelson Piquet

01:03:50and Sebastian Bordet,

01:03:52who are on debut here this weekend.

01:03:54Nakajima must have been carrying

01:03:56an almighty fuel load.

01:03:58He has yet to stop.

01:04:00He's in front of his teammate,

01:04:02of course, who has stopped.

01:04:04But only by 20 seconds,

01:04:06so Rosberg will slip by him

01:04:08when Nakajima does stop.

01:04:10But he's doing a good job at the moment

01:04:12on Sebastian Vettel.

01:04:15Raikkonen has just taken half a second

01:04:17out of Lewis Hamilton's lead.

01:04:19It was 6.6 seconds, down to 6.1.

01:04:22Yeah, last time through the speed,

01:04:24through timing and scoring, it was 37.7.

01:04:26Here, this is a great graphic

01:04:28just up on screen now,

01:04:30highlighting exactly what you're suggesting, Lee.

01:04:3237.7 to Hamilton,

01:04:3437.2 to Raikkonen.

01:04:37I'm wondering, guys, whether or not

01:04:39Hamilton may have developed

01:04:41a little braking problem on the car.

01:04:44Well, Raikkonen driving very smoothly.

01:04:46This is just difficult corners,

01:04:48very tough on tyres.

01:04:50Car looking very smooth through there.

01:04:52Here is Hamilton.

01:04:54This will give you a visual cure

01:04:56as to where Raikkonen is

01:04:58as he gets by Giancarlo Fisichella

01:05:00in the Force India car.

01:05:04We will continue to watch

01:05:06as Hamilton and Raikkonen

01:05:08continue to drive

01:05:10in this very difficult corner.

01:05:13We will continue to monitor

01:05:15this gap very closely.

01:05:17Our Mercedes-Benz running order

01:05:19as we go to the break. Stay with us.

01:05:21This is the Chinese Grand Prix on Speed.

01:05:32You're watching Formula 1 on Speed.

01:05:34Lee Diffie along with David Hobbs,

01:05:36Steve Matchett and Peter Windsor.

01:05:38Bob Varsha will be back

01:05:40for the Australian Grand Prix

01:05:42in two weeks' time.

01:05:44He was at Las Vegas this week

01:05:46for the Barrett-Jackson auction.

01:05:48Bob will be back for the final Grand Prix of the year.

01:05:5025 laps remain.

01:05:52Just as we were starting to get very intrigued

01:05:54as to that lead margin

01:05:56between Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen.

01:05:58Raikkonen got held up severely

01:06:00as Nakajima comes in.

01:06:02Raikkonen got held up severely

01:06:04behind Giancarlo Fisichella.

01:06:06Lost 1.3 seconds

01:06:08Let's take you back to that incident.

01:06:10It's got to be frustrating, David.

01:06:12Well, it's horribly frustrating

01:06:14when you get held up by what is essentially

01:06:16a backmarker and

01:06:18Kimi Raikkonen here makes his feelings

01:06:20all too well.

01:06:22That's the old V sign, the English equivalent

01:06:24of the single digit.

01:06:26Was he telling him that he almost lost 2 seconds?

01:06:28Perhaps that's what it was.

01:06:30Yes, that's what it was.

01:06:38Not only was it Nakajima

01:06:40coming into pit, Weber hit it as well

01:06:42for the second time in the

01:06:44Red Bull Renault.

01:06:48So as Weber got onto the

01:06:50options now, does that mean he's going to

01:06:52run the half race

01:06:54on the options again, which is what he complained about

01:06:56last week.

01:07:00You were talking about the brakes and we were wondering

01:07:02whether maybe Lewis is

01:07:04using more rear brake. We see them glowing red

01:07:06than he would normally do

01:07:08as we see Timo Glock coming in for his

01:07:10pit stop on a one-stop strategy

01:07:12one would have to think.

01:07:14Before the race, I was talking to Phil Proulx,

01:07:16Lewis's race engineer, and I said, are you guys

01:07:18getting on top of this business of

01:07:20how easy it is for both Lewis and Heki

01:07:22to lock the inside front? It's a characteristic

01:07:24of the car. And he said, no, we're making

01:07:26no progress. That's going to have to be the 09 car.

01:07:28We've got to live with what we've got.

01:07:30But obviously they are trying to put as much balance

01:07:32on the rear as possible to try

01:07:34to get away from that problem because they've got this

01:07:36inherent trait of locking the inside

01:07:38front and flat spotting the tyre. And that is,

01:07:40if anything, it's a weak spot. It's that flat spot on the McLaren.

01:07:42Lewis, for his part, said

01:07:44he loves the carbon industry brakes and McLaren

01:07:46have a fantastic brake dyno,

01:07:48which he spends a lot of time looking at and working on.

01:07:50So, you know, one would assume

01:07:52they know what they're doing.

01:07:54Yeah, absolutely, Peter. And earlier

01:07:56on when we were looking at Lewis Hamilton

01:07:58in the early stages in the first into the race

01:08:00there was quite a lot of brake dust

01:08:02being thrown out of the rims under the two

01:08:04heavy braking areas, particularly

01:08:06down into Turn 14, the long

01:08:08straight, when they're scrubbing off speed

01:08:10from like 197 miles an hour

01:08:12to 45 miles an hour.

01:08:14And I'm sure that Lewis has

01:08:16dialed the brake bias towards the

01:08:18rear and that's why we're seeing the

01:08:20rears going very wet. That red, the

01:08:22still image that we just had up on

01:08:24screen there when I just highlighted with the

01:08:26telestrator, the

01:08:28brake disc going red there was in Turn

01:08:3016. It's at the exit of Turn

01:08:3216. Well, yes, you would use

01:08:34the brakes. There's no question of that on running down

01:08:36into that turn, the final turn.

01:08:38But that particular image there was taken

01:08:40at corner exit. And David, I don't

01:08:42think the drivers will be carrying that much brake at exit.

01:08:44I wouldn't have thought so unless he's one

01:08:46of these guys that does carry it right through the apex

01:08:48and then they may just not have quite

01:08:50cooled down much,

01:08:52which would indicate they were

01:08:54a heck of a lot runner than before.

01:08:57OK, mate, we're on it. It's getting

01:08:59very, very tight with Heike now. Very

01:09:01tight. We need everything you've got, Fernando.

01:09:06Very tight as to

01:09:08whether he's got enough to fend

01:09:10off Kovalainen in that fight

01:09:12for fourth.

01:09:14Well, they're both lapping at almost identical

01:09:16time, but Kovalainen is

01:09:188.4 seconds behind.

01:09:20Bob Kubitser

01:09:22down in seventh spot. With 23

01:09:24laps remaining, it's Hamilton, Räikkönen,

01:09:26Massa, Alonso, Kovalainen

01:09:28in the five. Heidfeld,

01:09:30Kubitser, Piquet, Vettel and Glock.

01:09:35As interesting, guys, as that race

01:09:37between Fernando Alonso and Heike Kovalainen

01:09:39is, you still have to ask the question,

01:09:41what is he doing? What is Heike doing racing

01:09:43Fernando Alonso? He should be up there racing the Ferraris,

01:09:45playing the team role that McLaren

01:09:47need. He shouldn't be racing Alonso.

01:09:49No, he should be, well,

01:09:51preferably, he should be right where Kubi Räikkönen

01:09:53is for McLaren's point of view,

01:09:55but he should certainly be up here with

01:09:57Felipe Massa. You're right, Peter. He's

01:09:59obviously out to lunch somewhere today.

01:10:01You've got a theory, right? Well, I'm just looking at the fuel

01:10:03loads, David and Peter. Between

01:10:05these two guys, Alonso

01:10:07maybe about six laps

01:10:09less fuel on board than Kovalainen.

01:10:11So, once that second pit stop

01:10:13cycle happens, Kovalainen

01:10:15therefore should be able to run six laps

01:10:17deeper into the race. If Kovalainen

01:10:19can keep this pace up and stay on board

01:10:21with Alonso and keep in touch with him,

01:10:23we expect Alonso to come in on 39

01:10:25and Kovalainen to come in on lap

01:10:2745. Well, there's a big difference

01:10:29in terms of weight. So, in the

01:10:31third stint of the closing stint of the race, Kovalainen

01:10:33will get up there with Massa.

01:10:35Whether or not he should have done that earlier on, of course,

01:10:37is debatable.

01:10:39The McLaren

01:10:41boys are preparing.

01:10:43And we have Hamilton

01:10:45good to go to around

01:10:47lap 42.

01:10:53Only like six and a half

01:10:55seconds of fuel is all he needs, but we're

01:10:57nowhere near lap 42 at the moment.

01:10:59I'm wondering, guys, whether or not McLaren are a little bit

01:11:01worried by that car.

01:11:03If this is a Hamilton pit stop,

01:11:05it will be

01:11:07premature. It could

01:11:09be for Kovalainen, but

01:11:11for McLaren, certainly for Hamilton,

01:11:13Hamilton does not want to be coming into the pits

01:11:15now unless he's got a problem.

01:11:17There it is. Right front,

01:11:19guys. Right front puncture.

01:11:21Last race. That'll explain that.

01:11:23It was a retirement due to an engine failure.

01:11:25The first in two years since

01:11:27Pedro de la Rosa in Monza.

01:11:29Now he's got tyre troubles.

01:11:31Oh, boy. Kovalainen didn't have any good luck

01:11:33at all, did he?

01:11:35Not that far to go,

01:11:37but down to lap 42.

01:11:39Not that far to go, but, you know, down this

01:11:41long straight, it's so difficult to

01:11:43go too fast, that tyre

01:11:45will come unravelled.

01:11:49There it goes.

01:11:53Wow.

01:11:55He was lucky that wasn't

01:11:57a bigger incident than that, quite frankly.

01:11:59Well, and the car's now tearing

01:12:01itself to pieces. Look at all the smoke and

01:12:03the sparks underneath. The plank taken

01:12:05a pounding.

01:12:07If we can get the car back, he's only

01:12:09going to need, like, six and a half seconds of fuel

01:12:11providing that there's no suspension damage

01:12:13or damage to the underside of the car

01:12:15that'll cause retirement.

01:12:17But this is going to be for the constructors.

01:12:19Absolutely. This is acted by.

01:12:21Absolutely.

01:12:23You just can't afford this sort

01:12:25of thing to happen.

01:12:31How much damage has been done?

01:12:33McLaren team will assess that right now.

01:12:37Steve, for this race, Bridgestone

01:12:39did all they could. They've got the hardest

01:12:41and stiffest tyres in their range.

01:12:43They were worried. They've been worried about

01:12:45this race all year because of the long corners

01:12:47and how hard it is on tyres. The right

01:12:49front has gone, which would suggest that possibly

01:12:51it's a deflation thing rather than

01:12:53a load thing, because if anyone's going to go here

01:12:55it would probably be the left front, but

01:12:57the damage on that tyre is going to be very difficult, probably

01:12:59to trace the cause.

01:13:01And the damage has been done, literally,

01:13:03for

01:13:05Ricky Kovalainen, who

01:13:07falls.

01:13:13So with 20 to go, we'll

01:13:15squeeze in a quick break as Fernando Alonso

01:13:17is hitting pit road.

01:13:19We will delay the commercial break. We'll watch

01:13:21this stop from the Renault man.

01:13:27And that pressure of fending off Kovalainen

01:13:29has been erased.

01:13:35So the option tyres on Alonso's car

01:13:37and I think you're absolutely rightly

01:13:39because of the problems encountered

01:13:41by McLaren with Kovalainen's

01:13:43car, all of a sudden the pressure is off on

01:13:45Renault and Alonso and they could change their

01:13:47strategy, come in and get those tyres off

01:13:49thinking, hey, if there's any potential problems

01:13:51with running those tyres too long, let's

01:13:53get them off right now, put the extra fuel in,

01:13:55go on to the tyres. We need to run to the end of the race.

01:13:57We're good to go. He rejoins

01:13:59in sixth place.

01:14:01Lap

01:14:03six. We're expecting the front

01:14:05runners in in the next handful of

01:14:07laps. When we come back, you'll see

01:14:09those final stops here

01:14:11at the Chinese Grand Prix. Stay with us.

01:14:17And you're back

01:14:19right in time as Lewis Hamilton comes

01:14:21in for his final stop at the Chinese Grand

01:14:23Prix in the race lead.

01:14:25We've seen the last few runners

01:14:27come in a little bit earlier than we expected

01:14:29and I'm suggesting that

01:14:31is because of the problems on Kovalainen's

01:14:33tyres. I think the guys are now thinking,

01:14:35hey, if there's a potential problem on the

01:14:37Bridgestone tyre, let's play it cautious,

01:14:39bring them in, change over to those tyres

01:14:41that we need to, send the cars back out,

01:14:43keep it as safe as possible.

01:14:45As we went to the commercial break,

01:14:47Felipe Massa was the first

01:14:49of the front runners to pit. Now Hamilton

01:14:51and

01:14:53Raikkonen have been serviced.

01:14:5518 laps remain here at the Shanghai

01:14:57International Circuit. 50

01:14:59years to the day

01:15:01where Britain crowned

01:15:03its first Formula One world champion

01:15:05Mike Hawthorne.

01:15:09Now we see Piquet coming in, pitting

01:15:11from seventh.

01:15:13But looking at the Ferrari situation,

01:15:15both Raikkonen and Massa have come in

01:15:17and made their stops, but the order remains

01:15:19Raikkonen-Massa.

01:15:21Ferrari need it to be

01:15:23Massa-Raikkonen.

01:15:25How are they going to do that?

01:15:27I don't know, Steve,

01:15:29but they'll probably think of a way.

01:15:31They'll wheedle their way through it somehow.

01:15:37Heidfeld at the moment is splitting

01:15:39Hamilton and Raikkonen. Heidfeld has yet to

01:15:41make that stop.

01:15:43If you're wondering how damaging

01:15:45that was for Heikki Kovalainen,

01:15:47he has dropped all the way to

01:15:4917th. Not a very happy

01:15:5127th birthday for him.

01:15:53Down a lap now.

01:15:58I want to give you a quick reminder

01:16:00that if you can't get enough of the world

01:16:02of Formula One, then check out

01:16:04SpeedTV.com right after every

01:16:06Grand Prix for the Formula One

01:16:08stat wrap. Our ace statistician

01:16:10compiles a statistical analysis

01:16:12of how the race played out along with

01:16:14every obscure fact and figure you could

01:16:16ever dream of. Again, that's

01:16:18Formula One, stat wrap only

01:16:20at SpeedTV.com.

01:16:22Plenty of good stuff there.

01:16:24Heidfeld is in the line up.

01:16:26He pits from second.

01:16:28Here he is.

01:16:34Option tyres on the car.

01:16:36A little bit of fuel. Don't need a lot now.

01:16:38The fuel is going down and down as the

01:16:40laps tick away.

01:16:43Pretty decent weekend for Heidfeld,

01:16:45all told.

01:16:47Even after being penalised

01:16:49three grid positions, he has been

01:16:51outperforming Robert Kubica here in

01:16:53China every step of the way.

01:16:56There's an interesting gap

01:16:58right there. Keep your eyes on that, Aziz.

01:17:00Last 17 laps tick away.

01:17:022.9 seconds.

01:17:04Pretty much three seconds the gap now

01:17:06between Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe

01:17:08Massa.

01:17:10It's funny that Kimi had a very slow out lap

01:17:12for some reason. And of course, you'll see

01:17:14that Kimi has gone back onto the option tyres,

01:17:16which he didn't have to do because he started

01:17:18on them.

01:17:20But he's got a very good start.

01:17:22He's got a good start.

01:17:25Whereas Felipe Massa has gone from option

01:17:27to the prime tyre.

01:17:29So maybe

01:17:31Massa will be miraculously quicker

01:17:33in these last closing laps.

01:17:35That was Rosberg.

01:17:37Nico Rosberg hitting from 12th position.

01:17:44Massa has 17

01:17:46laps to do something

01:17:48about his team-mate

01:17:50and or Lewis Hamilton.

01:17:52Otherwise, the 2008

01:17:54World Championship is gone.

01:18:11The gap between Lewis Hamilton

01:18:13and Kimi Raikkonen is 12.3

01:18:15seconds.

01:18:17And then a further two and a half back.

01:18:19Here's Robert Kubica hitting from 4th.

01:18:23Now, he's going to

01:18:25probably come out in

01:18:277th or 8th.

01:18:31There goes his team-mate.

01:18:33You know there'll be a piece

01:18:35of Robert Kubica that'll be disappointed

01:18:37that his chance for a championship

01:18:39has evaporated here today.

01:18:41But what a remarkable year

01:18:43it's been for the Polish driver.

01:18:45No points at the beginning of the season.

01:18:47And after the 7th race

01:18:49of this championship, he was leading

01:18:51the series. Quite remarkable.

01:18:53First F1 victory.

01:18:55It's been a year

01:18:57to remember.

01:18:59Massa 3 tenths faster

01:19:01than Raikkonen on that previous lap.

01:19:03The gap now

01:19:05down to 2.6

01:19:07seconds.

01:19:11Just to give a little

01:19:13explanation of what we're talking about with this

01:19:15team orders or lack of it, the sporting

01:19:17regulations in Formula 1

01:19:19forbid team orders.

01:19:21You're not allowed to orchestrate the race

01:19:23in a way that will affect which

01:19:25car finishes 1st or 2nd

01:19:27in the same team. Of course, team orders

01:19:29have always, always

01:19:31played a part in Formula 1.

01:19:33To me, it seems a completely ridiculous

01:19:35regulation they've introduced.

01:19:37But there it is. It's in the sporting regulations.

01:19:39So the teams must orchestrate

01:19:41some way of changing car positions.

01:19:43Prior to that change in the sporting regs,

01:19:45of course, the cars would just quite simply

01:19:47move each other past and say thanks very much

01:19:49and be on their merry way. You cannot

01:19:51do that any longer. You have to do it

01:19:53somewhat underhandedly.

01:19:55Keep your eye on Raikkonen making up

01:19:57big ground there on Lewis Hamilton.

01:19:59Lewis Hamilton's got a 12th, just over

01:20:0112th second lead at the moment.

01:20:03But of course, everybody's

01:20:05probably hard in their mouth about

01:20:07punctures.

01:20:13Vettel into the pits.

01:20:15This will be a very fast stop now.

01:20:17We're in the range of refuelling time.

01:20:19It's about the same as the time to change tyres.

01:20:21About three and a half to four

01:20:23seconds is all you need to change four tyres

01:20:25on an F1 car. And that's about the same

01:20:27as the fuel delivery time. It'll be very fast.

01:20:29There it is.

01:20:31Seemed like a bit of a long stop, that.

01:20:33Four.

01:20:39So that'll put

01:20:41Kubica up to sixth.

01:20:43No doubt, Nasty is teething

01:20:45saying, you know, why couldn't we have qualified better yesterday?

01:20:47Because the car set-up must be

01:20:49the same as it was in

01:20:51qualifying.

01:20:53Because as you've said, Steve, they're in Parc Ferme,

01:20:55so you can't change it between

01:20:57yesterday and today. And yet he's going significantly

01:20:59better today than yesterday. Wow.

01:21:01Did you see a lot of

01:21:03brake disc coming out the front rims

01:21:05on the McLaren? And again, that

01:21:07very bright orange disc glow

01:21:09from the rear brakes on the McLaren.

01:21:11We can't see the front brakes because of those shrouds.

01:21:13So if they've got all that dust coming out, they must be

01:21:15getting awfully hot.

01:21:17Because these guys are looking at it as well.

01:21:19Absolutely.

01:21:21Man.

01:21:23Final 14 laps of the Chinese

01:21:25Grand Prix.

01:21:27Crunching the numbers, looking at the

01:21:29points, looking at the positions.

01:21:37Counting them down. Final 13 laps

01:21:39here in China. Welcome back to

01:21:41Speed's coverage of

01:21:43the second-last Grand

01:21:45Prix of the year.

01:21:47There's a championship on the line.

01:21:49Right now, there would be a

01:21:51nine-point gap between

01:21:53Lewis Hamilton and Felipe

01:21:55Massa. That would not be enough

01:21:57for the British driver to clinch

01:21:59the championship. Remember, coming

01:22:01into this round, he needed to, and leaving

01:22:03this round, he needed to gain an additional

01:22:05six points from where they stand

01:22:07on this man right here.

01:22:09That is not the case right now.

01:22:11So for the second consecutive year,

01:22:13the championship would go down to the wire

01:22:15in Brazil in two weeks'

01:22:17time. But we've still got 13 laps

01:22:19left to race. And we know that

01:22:21Felipe Massa is very, very

01:22:23fast in Brazil. He just loves

01:22:25racing in front of his home crowd. The home crowd

01:22:27just love him racing there, and he's very,

01:22:29very quick there.

01:22:33Margin between the teammates last

01:22:35time around was 2.1. It's now

01:22:371.9 seconds. Räikkönen to Massa.

01:22:39Oh, wow. What a race.

01:22:41Felipe Massa's just got himself wound up

01:22:43now, just turning in some super

01:22:45laps there in the 38s.

01:22:47Hamilton's doing the 37s, but he's still

01:22:49catching up. Kimi Räikkönen, the world champion.

01:22:51Still the world champion

01:22:53until he finishes here.

01:23:01There is that

01:23:03driver's championship points prediction.

01:23:05Hey, speaking of Brazil, I mentioned

01:23:07it is two weeks from today. Bob

01:23:09Barsher will be back, along with David

01:23:11Steven Peter as always, for coverage

01:23:13of the final round. And that

01:23:15is coming your way November

01:23:172nd, 11.30am

01:23:19Eastern. Of course, with the Acura

01:23:21pre-race show, and then the cars will roll

01:23:23at noon. Championship

01:23:25decider, will it be? Well, at the

01:23:27moment, it's looking that way.

01:23:30Now, David, it's all

01:23:32very well for you to be sarcastic about this great

01:23:34race between the two Ferrari drivers, but remember

01:23:36that the winds have changed, although they began

01:23:38in 98, when that McLaren

01:23:40swap occurred at the Australian Grand Prix between

01:23:42Micah Hakkinen and David Coulthard. It was actually

01:23:44Ferrari themselves with that ridiculous

01:23:46charade in Austria, which caused

01:23:48this rule to come into the sporting code in the first

01:23:50place. So, Ferrari really

01:23:52have got no one else to blame but themselves for being

01:23:54in the situation they're in, and getting David Hobbs

01:23:56to be a little bit cynical. Not that you

01:23:58ever are, David. I was just

01:24:00saying what an incredible drive

01:24:02Master was putting in to catch up with

01:24:04Kimi Raikkonen as the current world champion.

01:24:06I mean, it's extraordinary. Well, I'll tell you what, guys,

01:24:08I can give you the sporting regulation

01:24:10right now. It is very short and very

01:24:12much to the point. Article 39.1

01:24:15The race team orders

01:24:17which interfere with a race result

01:24:19are prohibited.

01:24:21Simple as that.

01:24:24Lead margin is 13.5

01:24:26seconds. Hamilton over Raikkonen.

01:24:28Raikkonen has responded to his teammates'

01:24:30challenges, and he's just edged it out a

01:24:32little bit to 2.4 seconds.

01:24:34Alonso Heidfeld, that's the top

01:24:36five, who beats Glock

01:24:38Hekay in points-paying positions

01:24:40as we stand with 11 left.

01:24:42Well, Lewis Hamilton here

01:24:44has got to be a bit careful. He's got a big lead,

01:24:46but he's also got the

01:24:48option tyres on there.

01:24:50He's got the

01:24:52option tyres on, which haven't

01:24:54been doing them very well over some of the

01:24:56racers previously, so he needs to really

01:24:58baby those tyres around. And as we can see

01:25:00from some of those low shots, those

01:25:02marbles, all that clag is starting to form

01:25:04offline, so you've got to be

01:25:06careful you don't run into that. I hope Kimi Raikkonen

01:25:08doesn't run wide and get

01:25:10into that clag, which

01:25:12would slow him down a lot.

01:25:14Ah, looking very good through there.

01:25:16Not much steering input. Absolutely.

01:25:18Difficult corner, too. We saw yesterday on board

01:25:20with Robert Kubica going through there

01:25:22in the qualifying, and boy, he was

01:25:24armfuls of lock everywhere. Yeah.

01:25:28Kubica down in 6th now.

01:25:30Doing some good laps, too.

01:25:32But I don't think it's going to be enough

01:25:34to get him up to 5th.

01:25:36I have to say, you know,

01:25:38he's got to be careful.

01:25:40He's got to be careful.

01:25:42I have to say,

01:25:44you know, Raikkonen's last lap

01:25:46was a 37.4.

01:25:48Massa's were a 37.8, so there's

01:25:504 tenths right there

01:25:52in favour of Raikkonen, so that

01:25:54gap between Raikkonen and Massa is stretching

01:25:56out, but Massa needs those points.

01:25:58There's two points at stake, and as we keep

01:26:00saying,

01:26:02Hamilton lost the championship last year

01:26:04by one point. One point can make

01:26:06all the difference. There's two up for grabs

01:26:08right now if Massa can overtake

01:26:10his teammate.

01:26:12And you know what, guys? I think we mentioned this

01:26:14at the last race, but of all the people in the world

01:26:16that Kimi doesn't want to be world champion, it's actually

01:26:18his teammate, Felipe Massa, because you never want

01:26:20your teammate to have that sort of power

01:26:22over you, and if it all worked out

01:26:24that Lewis is champion, I'm not sure that Kimi would be that upset.

01:26:26Having said that, I'm sure

01:26:28Kimi goes along with what everyone's

01:26:30saying. He knows what he has to do for the team,

01:26:32but let's wait and see what he's got to do for the team.

01:26:34Let's give a pat on the back

01:26:36to two young drivers in points,

01:26:38and we're going to have to wait and see

01:26:40what happens.

01:26:42We're going to have to wait and see what happens.

01:26:44We're going to have to wait and see what happens.

01:26:46We're going to have to wait and see what happens.

01:26:48We're going to have to wait and see what happens.

01:26:50We're going to have to wait and see what happens.

01:26:52We're going to have to wait and see what happens.

01:26:54We're going to have to wait and see what happens.

01:26:56We're going to have to wait and see what happens.

01:26:58We're going to have to wait and see what happens.

01:27:00We're going to have to wait and see what happens.

01:27:02We're going to have to wait and see what happens.

01:27:04We're going to have to wait and see what happens.

01:27:06We're going to have to wait and see what happens.

01:27:08We're going to have to wait and see what happens.

01:27:10We're going to have to wait and see what happens.

01:27:12We're going to have to wait and see what happens.

01:27:14We're going to have to wait and see what happens.

01:27:16We're going to have to wait and see what happens.

01:27:18We're going to have to wait and see what happens.

01:27:20We're going to have to wait and see what happens.

01:27:22We're going to have to wait and see what happens.

01:27:24We're going to have to wait and see what happens.

01:27:26We're going to have to wait and see what happens.

01:27:28We're going to have to wait and see what happens.

01:27:30We're going to have to wait and see what happens.

01:27:32We're going to have to wait and see what happens.

01:27:34We're going to have to wait and see what happens.

01:27:36We're going to have to wait and see what happens.

01:27:38We're going to have to wait and see what happens.

01:27:40We're going to have to wait and see what happens.

01:27:42We're going to have to wait and see what happens.

01:27:44We're going to have to wait and see what happens.

01:27:46We're going to have to wait and see what happens.

01:27:48We're going to have to wait and see what happens.

01:27:50We're going to have to wait and see what happens.

01:27:52We're going to have to wait and see what happens.

01:27:54We're going to have to wait and see what happens.

01:27:56We're going to have to wait and see what happens.

01:27:58We're going to have to wait and see what happens.

01:28:00We're going to have to wait and see what happens.

01:28:02we're going to have to wait and see what happens.

01:28:04We're going to have to wait and see what happens.

01:28:23I'm getting a good turn

01:28:25I'm getting a good turn around.

01:28:27around.

01:28:29Can you just read what you read before, Steve?

01:28:32That's sportive regulation?

01:28:34Yeah, would you mind repeating that?

01:28:36I can read it to you, it's right here.

01:28:37Team orders which interfere with a race result are prohibited.

01:28:42Well, I'm not suggesting that was team orders,

01:28:44but the pass seemed very easy.

01:28:49You're being very quiet there, Mr. Hobbs.

01:28:54Well, I guess it's all there on screen.

01:28:58You don't need to say anything about me, really.

01:29:00So, Felipe Massa moves up into second place,

01:29:04and it makes it a little more interesting heading to Brazil, doesn't it?

01:29:07It intensifies the pressure a little more on Lewis Hamilton

01:29:10as we watch the replay of the overtaking move between the two.

01:29:13Brilliant pass there.

01:29:14Pulls out behind, gets a great toe,

01:29:16does a fantastic out-braking manoeuvre into that final hairpin.

01:29:22Räikkönen locking up.

01:29:23Oh, no, he's not.

01:29:23He's trying like heck to stay in front, but it was to no avail.

01:29:28The wheel twitching in his hand, the tyres grabbing for grip,

01:29:32but Massa got by.

01:29:35Great pass.

01:29:38So, that tightens things up a little bit

01:29:41for the top of the championship heading to Interlagos.

01:29:46Kovalainen trying to get past Mark Webber.

01:29:49Mark Webber, who got off to such a great start.

01:29:52Their strategy, I don't think, was that...

01:29:54I think their strategy was a bit faulty.

01:29:55He's down in 14th, down Kovalainen.

01:29:57Oh, my gosh, Kovalainen coming in again.

01:30:03Boy, Kovalainen having a rotten day here.

01:30:05And, of course, as is McLaren,

01:30:07because their chances of winning the World Championship

01:30:10for Constructors are slipping away big time here.

01:30:14Oh, he's parking it, he's parking it.

01:30:17Ah, that's not how he wanted his birthday to be.

01:30:20Of course, what it will allow them to do,

01:30:24they will allow McLaren to change the engine.

01:30:26As he's retired from this race,

01:30:28they will allow Kovalainen to start with a new race engine

01:30:32for that final Grand Prix of the year.

01:30:35For the second race in a row, of course, he started today's race.

01:30:38So did eight drivers today with fresh engines here in China.

01:30:42Here's race leader Lewis Hamilton.

01:30:44Here's race leader Mark Webber.

01:30:46He's got a very healthy margin over Felipe Massa.

01:30:53And the points have changed since we last spoke.

01:30:56There you can see the scenario.

01:30:58Heading to Brazil, the margin would be seven

01:31:04for the final race of the year.

01:31:10For Hamilton, he could not have played this any better.

01:31:13It has been a dominating performance

01:31:15by the young British driver.

01:31:17We'll be back.

01:31:21Taking you to the chequered flag in round 17

01:31:24of the Formula One World Championship,

01:31:25the Chinese Grand Prix.

01:31:26It's coming to a close.

01:31:28Lewis Hamilton, he has failed to convert a pole to a win.

01:31:34The last three times he sat on the top spot.

01:31:37It's looking a whole lot better today here in Shanghai.

01:31:40While we're in the break, there was an interesting

01:31:42radio transmission to Fernando Alonso.

01:31:44I'll let you listen to it right now.

01:31:49Fernando Rákanen is just in a 40.9.

01:31:52He's just in a 40.9.

01:31:53He's 7.3 seconds ahead.

01:31:55Maybe he has a problem.

01:32:04What do you make of that, boys?

01:32:05Well, what I make of it, it seems interesting.

01:32:07It seems interesting.

01:32:08And I'm 99.9% sure that that was the voice of Phil Charles.

01:32:13It was P.K. Jr.'s engineer, not Alonso's engineer.

01:32:17It was Dave Greenwood, the fellow we saw up there

01:32:19accepting the Constructor's Trophy for the last Grand Prix.

01:32:23A little bit unusual why Renner would choose to give

01:32:26that radio announcement to Alonso by P.K. Jr.'s engineer.

01:32:32What do you make of that, David?

01:32:34I say you're stretching there.

01:32:38I don't know.

01:32:39Well, Alonso actually is turning to a pretty good lap.

01:32:41Alonso is the only guy in the 36s.

01:32:43He's just in a 36.8.

01:32:45Rákanen did a 37.8.

01:32:48Massa did a 38.3.

01:32:50And Hamilton did a 38.1.

01:32:51But Hamilton's rear tyres, as are Alonso's,

01:32:54looking a bit on the old soggy side.

01:32:58Their white stripe's gone completely,

01:33:01as it has on Rákanen's.

01:33:02So these options tyres taking a bit of a beating in this class.

01:33:07In this last fuel load.

01:33:12I'll tell you what, Alonso finishes fourth.

01:33:13He qualified fourth.

01:33:15Just the last few races, I mean,

01:33:16the Renault and Alonso have really, really come to life.

01:33:19Yeah, absolutely.

01:33:21There's no question of that.

01:33:24But they've come to life in a very short space of time.

01:33:27I mean, over like six to eight weeks.

01:33:29And the car was really...

01:33:31It started off as an awful car.

01:33:33Then it became sort of a mid-pack car.

01:33:34But in the last couple of months,

01:33:37I mean, they really have come to life.

01:33:39Yeah, Alonso's just done his personal best lap of the race,

01:33:42a 36.6.

01:33:43They have come to life.

01:33:44And the car, I mean, Alonso obviously is a great development driver.

01:33:48Because when they started in Melbourne,

01:33:50the car was absolutely awful.

01:33:51And he has really obviously done wonders with the car.

01:33:54And as you can see by Nelson Piquet,

01:33:56he's going to score another point.

01:33:57Unless something ghastly goes wrong in the last couple of laps.

01:34:00But Piquet too will get some points.

01:34:03Well, looking at the situation with the Constructors' Championship,

01:34:05we said going into the start of this race

01:34:07that Ferrari could clinch the Constructors' Championship in this race.

01:34:11Well, they will not be able to do that as they stand at the moment.

01:34:14As they... If they were to finish as they are now,

01:34:17it would be Ferrari 156, McLaren 145,

01:34:21which would be an 11-point spread.

01:34:23But there are, of course, 18 points on offer.

01:34:25So the Constructors' Championship would go to the final round in Brazil.

01:34:30But looking at the Ferrari situation,

01:34:32you know, we're thinking about how Ferrari have got to make it possible

01:34:37that Massa could overtake Kimi Räikkönen.

01:34:40But of course, as we're saying, they have to do it.

01:34:42You know, team orders have always been a part of the sport,

01:34:45as we were saying earlier on.

01:34:46And it's really, to me, it's the sporting reg

01:34:49and the silliness of the sporting regulations which we just read out,

01:34:54which should, in my mind, not be there.

01:34:57Because again, I just want to emphasize, to me personally,

01:35:00David, I'm sure you would agree on this,

01:35:02overtake, as Kimi, team orders,

01:35:05and therefore overtaking your teammate if it's necessary,

01:35:07it's always been a part of the sport from 1950 to 2008.

01:35:12Well, it is to me.

01:35:13And it's just sad that Ferrari, you know,

01:35:15need to come up with these orchestrated ways,

01:35:18a little bit of theatre, if you like, to make it work to the regulations.

01:35:21Well, I agree.

01:35:22I mean, there's always been a number one,

01:35:24and there should be a number one.

01:35:25There always has been a number one.

01:35:26And when Michael Schumacher drove there,

01:35:28it was absolutely stamped in authority right from the first race.

01:35:31However badly he was doing,

01:35:32he was still the number one champion, the number one driver.

01:35:35And I mean, in the old days,

01:35:36they used to actually, drivers used to get out

01:35:38and give their car to the other driver.

01:35:41Yeah, that's extraordinary.

01:35:42Certainly before my time in the sport.

01:35:44Peter Collins got out of his Ferrari

01:35:47and gave it to Fangio in about 1958,

01:35:51because that was expected of him.

01:35:5556.

01:35:56Final quote, the final laps.

01:35:58Lewis Hamilton on his way to another first.

01:36:01He has never won here in China,

01:36:03and he could not have done it today in a more gratifying way

01:36:07when you reflect on 2007 here at the Shanghai International Circuit,

01:36:12where his day and his run to a championship were massively affected.

01:36:17Well, it lost him the championship.

01:36:19Yeah.

01:36:23Of course, he wouldn't be in his position

01:36:24if he hadn't run into the back of Kimi Raikkonen

01:36:26in the pit lane at Canada.

01:36:27So he's got himself to be,

01:36:29you know, he's got to hold himself responsible

01:36:30for some of this nail-biting stuff.

01:36:33I mean, that was just the absolute dumb move of the...

01:36:36Well, the last time I saw anything quite that dumb

01:36:38was David Coulthard running into the wall of pit lane in Adelaide

01:36:42when he was driving for Williams.

01:36:44Well, it just highlights the fact that

01:36:46those little errors or big errors in that case,

01:36:48but those tiny mistakes that you make in round one

01:36:51will always come back to haunt you at round 17 and round 18.

01:36:54Absolutely, because as we said at the beginning,

01:36:58you know, as Sam was pointing out,

01:37:00one point makes all the difference.

01:37:02I mean, it's just like that.

01:37:04All right, boys, a little bit spooky figures.

01:37:07Last year, Hamilton had a seven-point lead going into Brazil.

01:37:10What does he have going into Brazil this year?

01:37:13Seven-point lead.

01:37:18Now, I don't think he's superstitious.

01:37:23On his way home, he is almost there.

01:37:26Got a huge lead margin of almost 15 seconds.

01:37:30And McLaren Mercedes has never won

01:37:33at the Shanghai International Circuit,

01:37:34so it will be another first

01:37:37for the enormously successful organisation.

01:37:39That right rear tyre looks a bit dodgy to me there, Steve.

01:37:42See that big black mark around the outside shoulder there?

01:37:47Turn 16 and onto the front straight from pole to victory.

01:37:51Lewis Hamilton does it in the most...

01:37:54..impressive way in Shanghai.

01:37:57We said of his failure to convert poles to wins

01:38:00over the last three times he's been there.

01:38:02Massa finishes in second, ahead of team-mate Kimi Räikkönen.

01:38:06But it has been a Mercedes day in China.

01:38:09Ferrari come home 2-3,

01:38:11Alonso very solid in the position he started in, in fourth.

01:38:15And Nick Heidfeld, a drastic improvement from Fuji a week ago

01:38:19to finish in the top five.

01:38:21He is eliminated from the World Championship going to Brazil.

01:38:24It is a two-driver race from now on in.

01:38:27But that was a great drive from Kubica.

01:38:29However, it is Lewis Hamilton's day.

01:38:33Well, it's Lewis Hamilton's day,

01:38:35but certainly Ferrari's day

01:38:37from the World Championship point of view.

01:38:38They still haven't clinched it,

01:38:40but they've got a huge lead going into Brazil.

01:38:44And he feels a whole lot better.

01:38:47He's got a lot of confidence in himself.

01:38:49And he feels a whole lot better than what he does.

01:38:53Tremendous, Lewis. Fantastic race.

01:38:55Lots of discipline.

01:38:56This is what we have to carry into Brazil.

01:38:59Let's keep the discipline going.

01:39:02Absolutely fantastic job, Lewis.

01:39:04Fastest all weekend, pole position, race winner, fastest lap.

01:39:08OK, standard in-lap procedures, yellow G7 and pick up debris.

01:39:14That was cool, guys.

01:39:16Fantastic job all weekend, as always.

01:39:19And as well, it's just a crazy drive.

01:39:22So let's move on and hope for the absolute best in Brazil.

01:39:28Yes, it was a fantastic job

01:39:30by Lewis Hamilton and his McLaren Mercedes.

01:39:33We'll wrap things up when we come back.

01:39:37Speed's coverage of the FIA Formula One World Championship

01:39:40is brought to you by BMW.

01:39:42BMW, the ultimate driving machine.

01:39:50This is going to be a wonderful feeling,

01:39:53to stand on that car and take the adulation

01:39:58from family, friends, fans for Lewis Hamilton.

01:40:02Ninth career win, his fifth this year,

01:40:05McLaren's first in China,

01:40:07and only the second non-Ferrari winner.

01:40:09He started in Shanghai.

01:40:15Yeah, he's had a very, very good weekend,

01:40:18as his man Steve Hallam said there,

01:40:20you know, fastest all weekend in practice on the pole,

01:40:23fastest lap and a win.

01:40:24Can't do better than that, can you really?

01:40:26And we're going to hear from Lewis in the top three

01:40:29when we come back and see the podium celebrations.

01:40:36They say what a difference a week can make.

01:40:39How about a year?

01:40:41Lewis Hamilton is at polar opposites

01:40:44to how he felt at this racetrack 12 months ago.

01:41:18So,

01:41:33well, it certainly was a great win for Lewis Hamilton.

01:41:36He's been very strong all weekend

01:41:38and obviously they're just hoping

01:41:39that he can carry that strength and speed

01:41:41into Brazil in two weeks' time

01:41:43because just such a good race for Ferrari Brazil

01:41:48has been in the past, especially for Felipe Massa.

01:41:51Beautiful trophy there.

01:41:52Yeah, absolutely beautiful.

01:41:54Except the bottom just fell out, but never mind.

01:41:57He won't mind.

01:42:00Davey Ryan, Davey Ryan worked on the car

01:42:02when I won a lot of IMSA races.

01:42:04He was the, he worked for McLaren

01:42:06who were running that BMW for me.

01:42:08Davey was one of the guys on the car.

01:42:11He's been there almost forever.

01:42:14Yeah, him and Tyler Alexander have been there forever.

01:42:16Yeah, he's had a recent promotion.

01:42:19He's now the sporting director at McLaren

01:42:23and well done to this fella too.

01:42:26Yeah, kept himself alive in the championship.

01:42:29Absolutely.

01:42:30Knows he's going to Brazil in two weeks' time

01:42:32where he is absolutely the master.

01:42:34Kimi Räikkönen gritting his teeth there somewhat.

01:42:37Well, Kimi did everything that the team asked of him, frankly.

01:42:43He couldn't have been in a better position

01:42:45if Ferrari couldn't win the race.

01:42:47Kimi had to be third, Massa had to be second

01:42:50and that's exactly what happened.

01:42:55Well, Kimi just didn't live up to it this year.

01:42:57I mean, world champion going in,

01:42:59everybody assumed he was going to be the number one

01:43:01and everybody assumed he'd be a lot quicker than Felipe Massa.

01:43:03Now it's not been the case all year.

01:43:06You can read a lot of the body language

01:43:08between the drivers, can't you?

01:43:10We'll hear what their post-race comments are

01:43:12when we come back.

01:43:14Come on.

01:43:24Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa

01:43:26now tied on five wins each this season.

01:43:29Let's hear from them.

01:43:30Here's Peter Windsor.

01:43:33Congratulations to the three podium finishers

01:43:34of the Sinopec Chinese Grand Prix.

01:43:37Third for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro, Kimi Räikkönen.

01:43:40Second also for the Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro, Felipe Massa.

01:43:43And winning for Vodafone McLaren Mercedes,

01:43:45scoring his second career hat-trick of fastest lap pole

01:43:48and the race win, Lewis Hamilton.

01:43:51Well, Lewis, on a day when Ferrari had a very strong result,

01:43:54you were on the pole,

01:43:55you had to go out there and win the race

01:43:56and it looked as if everything went perfectly for you.

01:44:00Yeah, all weekend we've had God on our side as always

01:44:06and the team have done a phenomenal job, really.

01:44:09Preparing the car, making steps forward.

01:44:12I came here and the car felt fantastic all weekend

01:44:15and I owe so much to the guys,

01:44:19not just at the track but back home.

01:44:22They've done a phenomenal job

01:44:23and the car is really a dream to drive.

01:44:26And for the guys here,

01:44:28they just make sure that the car stays intact

01:44:32so I can bring it home and that's what we did.

01:44:34So it was a fantastic team effort this weekend

01:44:36and so a big thanks to them.

01:44:39Although McLaren led every lap of the race

01:44:40and you led from the start,

01:44:42it would be easy to say it was an easy win for you, Lewis,

01:44:45but there was enormous pressure,

01:44:46particularly at the start, going into the first corner.

01:44:48Let's talk about that

01:44:49and then pulling out that little bit of lead over Kimi.

01:44:52Well, it was quite straightforward, actually.

01:44:54I managed to get everything right on the formation lap,

01:44:59perfectly in my position on the start

01:45:01and a great start.

01:45:03It was really probably one of the best we've had,

01:45:05or it felt one of the best we've had this year,

01:45:08which was needed.

01:45:09So I got into Turn 1 quite clear.

01:45:11I took it easy the first few corners

01:45:14and then I started to bridge the gap

01:45:17and fortunately, we just were very, very consistent.

01:45:20I think every lap was faster

01:45:22and very, very few errors throughout the whole run

01:45:26and therefore I was able to create a gap

01:45:28and from there, it was pretty smooth sailing.

01:45:32It's said that in that situation,

01:45:34sometimes it's difficult to keep the concentration level

01:45:37and to stop the mind wandering.

01:45:38Let's talk about the last few laps of the race

01:45:40when you had something like a 15-second lead

01:45:43and victory was in sight.

01:45:46Yeah, well, after my second pit stop,

01:45:49we were pretty much cruising.

01:45:51We were just looking after the tyres

01:45:53and looking after the engine

01:45:55and just trying to bring the car home.

01:45:58I knew there was an even bigger gap behind me.

01:46:01It was inevitable.

01:46:02Kimi would let Felipe by

01:46:04and so I just had to just keep it under control

01:46:09and to be honest, it wasn't tough at all.

01:46:12I think just when you're out in front

01:46:13and you have that gap

01:46:14and you know you can push a little bit more

01:46:16if you need to, it is quite comforting.

01:46:18So it's just about just keeping your head

01:46:20and keep staying calm.

01:46:22Congratulations to you.

01:46:23We'll come back to you

01:46:23for some further thoughts in a second.

01:46:25And Felipe, well done.

01:46:27Second place.

01:46:28Great race between you and Kimi in the closing stages.

01:46:31Talk about that.

01:46:31Well, first of all, let's talk about the early phase

01:46:33of the race from your point of view.

01:46:36Well, we took the decision to start on the soft tyres

01:46:42and we knew already

01:46:43that most of the people will start on the hard

01:46:46because our car works a little bit in a different way

01:46:50compared to the other cars,

01:46:52especially compared to McLaren's.

01:46:54And for us, the hard was no grip, difficult to drive

01:47:00and the soft was the only option

01:47:02for the first and the second stage.

01:47:05So we decided to start on the soft.

01:47:07I think it was the right decision for us.

01:47:10And on the start, I didn't have a good start.

01:47:15I had a little bit of wheelspin,

01:47:17but even though it was not a very, very high grip

01:47:20on our side

01:47:24and then we just stayed in the same positions.

01:47:27So we saw that Lewis was a bit stronger

01:47:31in the beginning of the race.

01:47:34I mean, he was stronger during the whole race,

01:47:35but in the beginning, he just started to pull away

01:47:38maybe two, three tenths sometimes per lap

01:47:43and then this made for sure his race much more comfortable.

01:47:51And for us, we were completely driving really on the limit,

01:47:54trying to reduce the gap, but it was not possible.

01:47:57I mean, I was trying to push as Kimi was trying to push

01:48:03to get closer to Lewis, but it was not possible.

01:48:06So today, unfortunately, Lewis had a better car

01:48:11for the whole weekend.

01:48:14And the pass of Kimi towards the end and catching Kimi?

01:48:18Well, it was the best time for me on the race.

01:48:23I was quite strong and then I catch him

01:48:25and I pass him.

01:48:29So that was the good part of the race.

01:48:34But anyway, it was not enough

01:48:37because we're fighting with McLarens

01:48:40and today at least one was in front,

01:48:45but we could manage to finish second and third.

01:48:48I think for the Drivers' Championship,

01:48:51it was not fantastic,

01:48:52but for the construction, I think it was very good.

01:48:56It's always very important to fight for the construction.

01:48:59I think today we did a good job

01:49:01thinking on the construction championship.

01:49:03I tried on the Drivers' Championship,

01:49:06but it was not possible today.

01:49:08Thank you, Felipe.

01:49:10Kimi, Lewis just said that it was inevitable

01:49:12that Felipe would eventually finish second.

01:49:15If you can just talk us through the last phase of the race.

01:49:19I mean, we know what we want as a team

01:49:23and that's what we did.

01:49:26It's normal in these situations.

01:49:29I mean, today, I had a very good car all the time.

01:49:33No major issues.

01:49:34The car was handling quite nicely,

01:49:35but unfortunately, it wasn't fast enough

01:49:37on the moments when we needed it.

01:49:39And I mean, on the start, Lewis pulled away a bit

01:49:42and then I started to be able to do the same lap times.

01:49:46A little bit catching,

01:49:47but I mean, every time when I was faster,

01:49:50it was too late and the gap stayed the same.

01:49:53And in the second stop, I was catching him a bit,

01:49:57but then I got traffic three times

01:50:00and it cost me a lot of time.

01:50:01So I mean, even being behind him, right behind him,

01:50:07we were stopping on the same lap.

01:50:08So without any mistakes, there's no way to get past.

01:50:12So unfortunately, we were second and third today.

01:50:16It was the best what we could do.

01:50:18But hopefully, next race, we can challenge them a bit more.

01:50:21And I mean, once we came here on Friday,

01:50:25there was a little issue to be very quick.

01:50:28So it was not easy, but we gave the best,

01:50:31but it didn't work out this time.

01:50:33It is difficult for teams these days.

01:50:35Team orders not being allowed to influence

01:50:37the result of a race.

01:50:38So how did you handle that from your point of view?

01:50:42Like I said, I know what the team expects

01:50:44and what we want the overall results.

01:50:46So I mean, it's racing

01:50:47and I have nothing to lose or win in a way.

01:50:53I'm driving for the team.

01:50:54So I mean, it's a normal situation.

01:50:57And I was pretty happy how things went in the race.

01:51:01Apart from we couldn't challenge McLaren today.

01:51:05But apart from that, the car wasn't too bad.

01:51:07But like I said, just didn't have the little bit

01:51:11more speed what we needed.

01:51:13Thank you, Kumi.

01:51:14And Bruce, returning to you, seven points.

01:51:17Seven points was your lead going into Brazil last year,

01:51:19I think.

01:51:20Seven points is your lead going into Brazil in 2008.

01:51:23I'm sure everyone wants to know what this win means for you

01:51:27and how this now sets up the Brazilian Grand Prix for you.

01:51:31Well, this is another step towards the championship

01:51:34and towards my dream and towards my team's dream.

01:51:39The team deserve it.

01:51:40We've worked very, very hard throughout the season.

01:51:42I think our approach to this race was right.

01:51:45It wasn't to go out and win everything just in this race.

01:51:50It was to look at both races and try to score as many points

01:51:54collectively.

01:51:54And I know going into Brazil will be a much different

01:51:59situation compared to last year.

01:52:01And I know we'll be a lot more, even more competitive

01:52:04than we are here.

01:52:06So that's comforting.

01:52:07And also, we know we've got to do a good job.

01:52:10But it will be tough.

01:52:12These two will for sure be pushing us hard.

01:52:14But I hope as a team, we can pull through.

01:52:17And yeah.

01:52:21Lewis Hamilton, the winner of the Chinese Grand Prix,

01:52:23a step towards the championship.

01:52:25It's a step towards his dream.

01:52:27Will that dream come true?

01:52:35Speeds coverage of the FIA Formula One World Championship

01:52:38is brought to you by Toyota.

01:52:40Moving forward.

01:52:41All we have left for you, folks, from Shanghai is to wrap

01:52:44things up and set up the point scenario heading to Brazil

01:52:48in two weeks' time.

01:52:49But first, let's review the results.

01:52:51Well, Lewis Hamilton had a fantastic weekend.

01:52:53Quick all weekend and win the race.

01:52:55Felipe Maserati had a great one for Ferrari for the World

01:52:58Championship position for the championship.

01:52:59Fernando Alonso, look at that.

01:53:01Fourth again, running well.

01:53:03Nick Heidfeld just beat Robert Kubica.

01:53:05Timo Glock got another couple of points.

01:53:07And Nelson Piquet got a big win.

01:53:09And Nelson Piquet got a point for Renault.

01:53:12These guys all out of the points.

01:53:139th through to 14th.

01:53:14Sebastian Bettelder and David Coulthard for Red Bull.

01:53:18Rubens Balacarro for Honda.

01:53:19And then Mark Webber down there in 14th for Red Bull.

01:53:22Nico Rosberg, Jenson Button.

01:53:24Giancarlo Fisichella, Heiko Kovalainen

01:53:26had the problem with that tyre.

01:53:27Sue Thiel and Jarno Trudy down there in 20th.

01:53:30Well, there are the points keeping it open to the next

01:53:33and last round in Brazil.

01:53:34Hamilton leads with 94 over 87.

01:53:36Robert Kubica has got 75.

01:53:38Kimi Räikkönen out of the championship,

01:53:40but we're both up.

01:53:41Fernando Alonso getting a lot more points today.

01:53:43Kovalainen and Sebastian Bettel

01:53:45not getting any points today for the first time

01:53:47for five races.

01:53:48There you see the rest of the runners.

01:53:49Mark Webber getting no points.

01:53:51Piquet getting one.

01:53:52Nobody else on that board getting any points.

01:53:55And to the Constructors' Championship.

01:53:57Ferrari unable to clinch it here at round 17.

01:54:00It will go to the final round of the year.

01:54:03An 11-point spread between Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes.

01:54:07BMW picked up points as well.

01:54:09Red Bull, Williams and Honda there with 14th.

01:54:11Poor old Force India have yet to score,

01:54:13and Super Aguri are out.

01:54:16Did the day go the way you wanted it to go?

01:54:18I guess that depends on whether you're McLaren or Ferrari.

01:54:21Well, that wraps things up for Shanghai.

01:54:23The teams pack up and go to South America now.

01:54:26They head to Sao Paulo.

01:54:27So join us in two weeks' time for the Brazilian Grand Prix.

01:54:30We kick things off on Friday, October 31st at 12 noon Eastern.

01:54:34Live coverage of the second free practice session.

01:54:37Then on Saturday, November 1st, also at noon,

01:54:39we bring you knockout coverage.

01:54:41And then we will bring you the final round of the season.

01:54:4411.30am Eastern with the Acura Pre-Race Show.

01:54:47Cars roll at noon.

01:54:49For David Hobbs, Steve Matchett and Peter Windsor,

01:54:51I'm Lee Diffie.

01:54:52Thanks so much for joining us.

01:54:53Be back in two weeks for the Championship Decider.

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