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03:27The last 10 races here at the Yas Marina Circuit have been won from pole position.
03:32It highlights just how important tonight could be for the outcome of the championship.
03:38We get underway in 45 minutes.
03:41Good afternoon, everybody. Good evening from here in the paddock in Abu Dhabi.
03:48The sun is setting and things are about to get serious.
03:53These are the days.
03:54Well, the next 24 hours, actually, Martin Rundle and Nico Rosberg.
03:57Why we love doing our job, because there is a championship on the line and three men still in it.
04:02Yeah, this is it. We will have a new world champion, maybe, or another reigning world champion, Max Verstappen, just tomorrow afternoon.
04:11And that's why this qualifying session about to happen is so important.
04:15Yeah, as I mentioned there, the last 10 won from pole and 15 of the 23 so far this year also won from pole.
04:23They called this the qualifying championship.
04:25Just shows you what we're in store for this evening, Nico.
04:27Yeah, totally. We're just standing here in front of McLaren, yeah, and you can just feel the intensity in the air.
04:32It's, like, unbelievable.
04:34And, yes, qualifying, as we know statistically, also is extremely important.
04:39That's why the pressure is on in a big way now on all three of the championship contenders, because now it really counts.
04:45And the pit walls and the pit crew as well.
04:47I mean, it's not just the drivers. We must just point that out.
04:50The pressure is on everybody involved, right?
04:52Yeah, the drivers are just the final link in a very long chain.
04:56They're the ones that get all the glory, usually.
04:58But, yeah, everybody here, pit wall, garage, back at the factory, anybody involved in making a Red Bull or a McLaren will be feeling some pressure.
05:09Have we done everything absolutely to the best of our ability?
05:12Will it keep going?
05:13You know, these cars are at the end of the season, the end of, in fact, these championship regulations.
05:18So everybody's tense.
05:20They want their team to win.
05:22Take us under the visor, right?
05:23We've got 45 minutes to go until the start of qualifying.
05:27When you went through this in 2016, what were you thinking right now?
05:32Scared for life, because it's the childhood dream, you know, that's at stake.
05:38In Lando's case, you can see it.
05:40It's there for the taking.
05:41And you're just so scared to just make a mistake somewhere, which could ruin your whole weekend.
05:47Because look at, if you look at FP3, the times, it's only three tenths and a bit, down to tenth place.
05:54You know, it looks so tight out there.
05:56One little lockup and you lose two tenths and you're down in seventh or what.
06:00And then your whole championship could be gone, you know.
06:03So it's just, it's so scary in this moment.
06:06And you're trying to keep a little bit of focus amongst that intensity.
06:10Lando does have a commanding lead, though.
06:12What does that count for?
06:16I'm not sure commanding is quite the right word.
06:20Twelve points.
06:20It's very handy, you're right, to have in his pocket.
06:24So he's just got to finish in the top three.
06:26What it does mean is that he can control the World Championship by finishing in the top three
06:31in a car that should be at least equal best on the track.
06:34So the others, you know, Verstappen and Piastro have got more work to do in that respect.
06:38But as the last two races have shown us, as this season has shown us, you know,
06:43it only needs a puncture or an errant back marker or a bit of unreliability or a driver error
06:48or too many track limits.
06:50Whatever it might be, it's far from in the can until you cross the line.
06:54So on the other side of things, though, Max is the only one that's done it before.
06:57What does that count for?
06:59Definitely Max, because he's done it before and because he's not the big favourite,
07:03he is the hunter, he can, he's super relaxed.
07:07And of course that helps you perform at your 100%,
07:10whereas Lando has the pressure of the world on him.
07:13And that just, it's just hard to perform well when you're under so much pressure.
07:17I remember in my day, there was no chance for me to get pole position.
07:21I was, I had so much fear, so much pressure.
07:24I was like in survival mode out there, trying to do a half-decent lap.
07:28There wasn't even a question of doing a pole position, like this is impossible for me at the time.
07:32And I think Lando is a similar character to me a little bit in being more sensitive,
07:38more glass half-empty, and so he will have a little bit more of a challenge mentally with that as well.
07:44But, so far, he's been driving brilliantly out there.
07:48No mistakes, really in the flow, great confidence.
07:51So, so far, he's really been impressive.
07:53So, top of the timesheets for the first two sessions and just four milliseconds of George Russell,
07:58who could also be a factor.
08:00Right, these are permutations with one to go.
08:03First is Norris.
08:04You can see the points at the top there, 408, Verstappen 396, Piastri 392.
08:09Just before I do these, there's a QR code at the bottom there.
08:12If you'd like to scan that right now, watch this on screen,
08:16you can get these in much more detail because this is the simplistics.
08:20Lando Norris, to become world champion, finishes on the podium.
08:23That keeps that as simple as we can.
08:25For Max Verstappen to become world champion, he needs to outscore Lando Norris by 13 points
08:30and Oscar Piastri not win the race.
08:33For Oscar Piastri to become world champion, he needs to outscore Lando Norris by 17 points
08:38and Max Verstappen by 5 points.
08:41There we go.
08:42As I said, in far more detail on our website or scan that QR code.
08:47Let's hear from the top three.
08:49This is what they had to say coming into this highly pressurized weekend.
08:53At the minute, I feel good.
08:54I really don't think of it at all until you guys ask it all the time.
08:59So it's trying to avoid you guys as much as possible.
09:02I'm very relaxed.
09:05Nothing to lose, you know, so I'm just enjoying being here.
09:09I think off the back of Qatar, I've got a lot of confidence that I can perform well.
09:15And obviously, I need a fair few things to happen this weekend to come out champion.
09:19But I'll just make sure I'm in the right place in the right time and see what happens.
09:24Well, I just take it.
09:25You know, for me, everything here is just a bonus and sitting here fighting for the title.
09:28So that's also what makes it, yeah, very straightforward for me.
09:33It's everything I've worked towards my whole life.
09:36So, I mean, the world to me would mean the world to everyone that's, you know, supported me and pushed me for the last, what is it, like 16 years of my life in terms of trying to get to this point.
09:48And, yeah, obviously, it would be a very cool achievement.
09:51But, yeah, I'm not getting my hopes up too high.
09:55We'll see what happens.
09:56And, yeah, if I can achieve it, then I'll be a pretty happy guy.
10:02I mean, trophy looks the same.
10:05You know, I have four of those at home, so it's nice to add a fifth.
10:08Yeah, I mean, I know my signature, so it's the same.
10:16But, yeah, I mean, of course, you always try to win it, but at the same time, I've already achieved everything that I wanted to achieve in F1.
10:24And everything is just a bonus, and I just keep doing it because I love it and I enjoy it.
10:28And that's also how I go into this weekend.
10:34Martin Max flexing his muscles there.
10:36If you've got them, flaunt them, as I said earlier, and he has.
10:40I just wonder, though, that's not how they're really feeling, is it?
10:43They're just playing it down.
10:44No, we know how incandescent Max can get.
10:47If things don't, if the car's not working well or somebody's running off the road or something, he cares a lot.
10:53And he would love that world championship.
10:55And, you know, you could easily argue that would be Max's best Formula One world championship so far.
11:01See, the thing is, when you're thinking to Monday's headlines here, front and back pages, it's either going to be the greatest comeback of all time, or on the other side of things, this is if Max wins it, or have McLaren thrown it away.
11:13And that's what's at stake here.
11:15And I just wonder how they're feeling after a poor couple of weekends operationally.
11:19The plan was a little bit unlucky, but they still had to do the calculations, got them wrong, and then the strategy error as well, Nico.
11:25Yeah, absolutely.
11:26It's quite incredible that Max Verstappen is in this championship fight in the last race.
11:31It's really unbelievable.
11:31So it's really because McLaren has kind of given him the opportunity so far, with all the mistakes that they've done.
11:39And that's why also they will be feeling so much pressure, because they have to get it right this weekend.
11:43But to come back, Nico, I mean, when you were racing at Mercedes, you know, there was no defined one and two between yourself and Lewis.
11:51It is a racing ethos.
11:52It's not necessarily the right ethos.
11:55But is it one that you've always bought into?
11:57Yeah, absolutely.
11:59That's the way they have decided to approach racing McLaren.
12:02You can decide to do one or two, number one and number two driver, or two number ones.
12:07Both have their advantages, disadvantages.
12:10And, of course, they've gone for two number ones, so they need to treat them fairly.
12:14But, of course, this weekend there will very likely come a time where they're going to have to treat one driver,
12:21prioritize one over the other to fight for this championship.
12:24I'm not sure on a weekend like this I ever saw you and Lewis walking in together like that, sharing a smile and a laugh.
12:32But that's just the way it's been.
12:33It's been almost the friendliest title rivalry we've ever seen, hasn't it?
12:37Yeah, I mean, the two drivers recently were saying that, actually, out of the car, away from the racetrack,
12:42we're probably getting on better than ever.
12:44And I think that, and they both, and I've spoken to them both individually about this through the year,
12:49they know that McLaren going from last to domination within two and a half years,
12:54total domination this season as a team, is because everybody's worked together.
12:59Everybody's been rowing the boat in the same direction,
13:01and the drivers know that they've benefited from that overall,
13:05and they'll keep benefiting from it going into the future.
13:08Well, we spoke to Toto Wolff, and you asked, have you got any advice for them?
13:12He said, now's the time to be selfish.
13:13But I wonder if, actually, that is the case, or are they thinking, long term, we want to create a dynasty,
13:19we want to be able to do this, and maybe Oscar might be thinking, or the other one will be thinking,
13:23I need the team on my side so we can continue this level of success that they've achieved.
13:28The team will have to prioritize treating them fairly.
13:30I think that's very important to them.
13:32But the drivers themselves, I have a lot of respect for them that they're still able to be on such good terms,
13:37even after all those crashes they've had and all the things that have happened.
13:40It really speaks to them.
13:42But it will still be on the line this weekend.
13:45Let's see if they can keep that relationship intact even throughout this weekend,
13:49which is going to be very, very hard.
13:50OK, let's see indeed.
13:51Let's head into the pit lane.
13:53Bernie Collins is there and with us again alongside Ted.
13:56What have you got for us, Ted?
13:57Thank you very much, Simon.
13:58Yes, busy pit lane, lots going on, repairs to Yuki Tsunoda's Red Bull with an old spec floor, Bernie,
14:04because they don't have enough for new ones, so that will put him at a disadvantage.
14:09A rebuild going on in Lewis Hamilton's car we'll tell you about in a minute.
14:12But let's pick up on the McLaren story.
14:14Look at this, Bernie.
14:15All the broadcasters are here, all the guests are here.
14:17They're making it hard for themselves, McLaren, aren't they?
14:20Arguably, they should have had the drivers, their first, the championship,
14:23their first since Lewis Hamilton in 2008, wrapped up long ago.
14:26But how do you interpret the last couple of races, the disqualification, the strategy mistake in Qatar?
14:31Yeah, exactly, Ted.
14:32I think that the car was dominant at the start of this year.
14:35And they, you know, if you look at the drivers, you would argue there have been various races
14:40where more points could have been scored.
14:42Obviously, the last two have been a focus, the double disqualification in Vegas,
14:46which was, you know, the plank wear issue, which leads me to believe something's wrong
14:50on how they model the car, how they model how that plank's wear and where they're set.
14:54Are they 100% sure this weekend that their setup is going to be okay?
14:58Similarly, last weekend in Qatar, the not boxing under the safety car and the decision that that,
15:06obviously that leads me to believe that within their strategy model,
15:09within their prediction of car pace or overtaking or what others were doing,
15:13that wasn't totally squared away either.
15:15So although they need to park that a little bit, they also need to learn from it
15:20and they need to be sure that this weekend they get all the ducks in a row
15:23to make the most out of the opportunity that lies in front of them.
15:25So if Lando wins, or if Oscar wins against the odds,
15:29will all that be forgotten in a mist of celebration?
15:34I think for the team, the crew that we're seeing in front of us in here,
15:38you know, they're very aligned to the team.
15:39They want one driver to win it.
15:41As long as one driver to win it, then it may be forgotten.
15:43Amongst the drivers, I think it will take a little bit longer for it to be forgotten
15:47because they can individually look at decisions that were taken
15:50on either side of the garbage inside.
15:51I could have had more points if, or in this race if, or whatever.
15:56And they'll look at all that over the year
15:58and they'll know that there was opportunity there to win the championship.
16:01They just didn't put it all together.
16:02OK, that mechanic is not having a little lie down.
16:05He's checking the forward edges of that floor
16:07and those crucial tunnels, those guiding veins going through the back of that.
16:11And they'll be extra special vigilant on that, won't they?
16:14You can't get it wrong this weekend.
16:16Of all the weekends, you can't get it wrong this weekend.
16:19There's big pressure on everyone in here and everyone around the team.
16:22You know, that needs to be perfect.
16:25We're looking for perfection from the drivers.
16:26We're looking for perfection from everyone in this garage.
16:29The car needs to roll out of here in its best possible condition
16:33to get the best qualifying lap out of it.
16:35All season.
16:35It needs to be the best it's been all season.
16:38And, of course, then Piastri and Norris have to be perfect as well.
16:41High stakes down here at McLaren.
16:43And the same can be said down at Red Bull.
16:48That's Andrea Stella looking extremely relaxed.
16:50They've done that.
16:51They've taken the pressure off the drivers.
16:53They've tried to do that.
16:54The way they operate, clearly, he and Zach are, you know, brothers.
16:59They get on very well.
17:01They all believe in the same thing.
17:02They're all pulling in the same direction.
17:04But, yeah, I was just saying, a different attitude in the two different teams,
17:10do you think, about the way they approach things?
17:12Well, Red Bull, I think Max's sheer speed has just made it a number one situation.
17:20But, you know, we have a totally flawed model in Formula 1.
17:22It's been the same all through the decades when his dad was racing,
17:26when I was racing, whenever.
17:28You work for a team.
17:30You're hired by a team.
17:30You're contracted, and it's very clear what you will do as an employee,
17:36if you like, of that team.
17:37But you race as an individual, and you perform as an individual.
17:41And that is why it comes to blows.
17:44And, you know, in the end, you can't be best friends forever, can you?
17:48Something will go wrong.
17:49I even had a contract that I had to sign,
17:50which said that if ever we crash as teammates,
17:53we split the bill 50-50 as drivers.
17:56That was very expensive.
17:58I bet it was.
17:58What, in Barcelona, then, when you two destroyed...
18:01Yeah, yeah, we shared the Barcelona bill.
18:03You had to pay, you had to pay.
18:04Yeah, I mean, it was 360,000.
18:06What?
18:07I remember that.
18:07Yeah, that was painful.
18:08No, no, that was just me.
18:09That was, wow.
18:10Yeah, that was painful.
18:11And who's fault was that?
18:12That's a big bill.
18:12Well, obviously, Lewis' fault.
18:14What kind of question is that?
18:16Like, seriously.
18:16They might not just have it all their own way, though, today and tomorrow, might they?
18:21I mean, George Russell was top of the timesheets in that last practice session.
18:25Yeah, there could be a few others that get amongst it, Martin.
18:27Yeah.
18:28I mean, it's so close.
18:29I mean, Fernando was right in there, wasn't he as well?
18:31Although, though, they tend to flatter a little bit through those free practice sessions to flat the speed of the car.
18:36But Oli Behrman's been ready quick in the house.
18:40It looks to me as if maybe George Russell is the only one who's going to get in amongst the championship contenders and spoil their party.
18:47But who knows?
18:48Temperature's cooling off as well, and that tends to play into Mercedes' hands.
18:53And, you know, he'd just love to get amongst it.
18:55He's been one of the most consistent drives of the year, has George Russell.
19:00And, as Toto's been saying, absolutely ready to challenge for a championship himself next year.
19:07OK, we're going to take a short break.
19:08On the other side of that, we're going to hear from his old teammate.
19:12What's been going wrong at Ferrari?
19:14And with Lewis Hamilton, Ted will explain.
19:18Every single person in Ferrari's end-of-season photo could give you their own reasons for the team's drop
19:24from second to fourth in the Constructors' Championship.
19:28But most of those reasons fall roundly into five key points that have condemned Ferrari to a fruitless year.
19:45Welcome back.
19:46Just over 20 minutes to go until the start of this key qualifying session.
19:51But as I mentioned before the break, what on earth is going on at Ferrari?
19:54A few races ago, they sat in second in the Constructors.
19:56Now they're guaranteed to finish fourth.
19:58And it looks like Lewis Hamilton might go a whole season without a podium for the first time in his career.
20:05Here's Ted to explain the problems.
20:07Nobody, neither Lewis Hamilton nor Ferrari, could have known that 2025 would have worked out like this.
20:26That only made the reality even more frustrating, disappointing and hard to take.
20:31Every single person in Ferrari's end-of-season photo could give you their own reasons for the team's drop from second to fourth in the Constructors' Championship.
20:41But most of those reasons fall roundly into five key points that have condemned Ferrari to a fruitless year.
20:49Firstly, Ferrari's car, the SF25, is not aerodynamically efficient enough.
20:54It doesn't treat its tyres as well as it should.
20:56And its power unit is not as strong as the class-leading Mercedes and Honda.
21:01We have seen that the car was not a winning one.
21:03The car was not competitive in any condition.
21:06There is not a particular condition when you can have the real chance to win a race.
21:10The stuff that was meant to unleash the potential of the SF25 this year, it didn't have as much potential as, obviously, Ferrari had hoped.
21:16Number two, how much were the team compromised in how they set up the car as a result of both Leclerc and Hamilton being thrown out of the second race in China?
21:24Leclerc for being underweight and Hamilton for running too low to the ground.
21:28The double disqualification in China obviously undid some key early momentum for Lewis.
21:34It would be fascinating to know how the season might have played out a little bit differently.
21:38I think it's since then that we can see a significant downward in just everything.
21:43Maybe that made them double-guess everything they're doing.
21:45Third, Hamilton and his engineer, Riccardo Adami, have clearly struggled to build as close a relationship as Lewis used to have at Mercedes.
21:53We swabbed the cars.
21:54Have a tea break while you're at it. Come on.
21:57I think Ferrari is a really unique case in terms of radio communication with drivers.
22:03I don't think it's ever as clear as it needs to be.
22:06You told me that already.
22:08Lewis, we know, can be particularly sensitive to having the right word in his ear at the right moment.
22:14Are you upset with me or something?
22:16Fourth, the one deficiency in Hamilton's on-track game, qualifying pace.
22:21The big shot there is Lewis Hamilton knocked out in Q2.
22:26Every time. Every time.
22:28It's been the worst season ever and no matter how I try, how much I try, it just keeps going worse.
22:37I think his qualifying form will be the thing that Lewis is most disappointed by because what you do on Saturday is set the tone for Sunday way more than ever and Lewis hasn't done a good enough job on Saturdays.
22:46This kind of pressure, which we've seen always with Ferrari, anything Ferrari does is an issue.
22:51That's, I think, one of the reasons why I think he's really struggled.
22:54And finally, fifth, when Ferrari president John Elkan criticised the drivers for talking too much, how much did that affect the team's morale?
23:02I can't imagine Lewis and Charles looked at that or heard that and genuinely thought, yeah, no, this is the way that Ferrari needs to progress going forwards.
23:10It was actually, it was the opposite of what Elkan supposedly wanted it to achieve.
23:14The problem is the car.
23:15So I don't know why he spent, he put the finger on the driver.
23:19For me, it's difficult to understand.
23:21Anything positive you can take into tomorrow.
23:24The weather's nice.
23:26Lewis has seen all this before.
23:27He knows what it takes.
23:29And even if, at the age of 40, about to turn 41, he's not as quick in qualifying as he was when he won his last title five years ago,
23:37Hamilton still has a huge bank of racing experience to draw on.
23:40After the first few races, I did a full document for the team.
23:45Then, during this break, I had another two documents that I sent in.
23:49And so then I come in and want to address those.
23:52Maybe it's too optimistic for Lewis to think that he can turn around Ferrari's ingrained way of working
23:57in the space of just a few months.
24:00He's not naive about the scale of the task.
24:02It's something Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel tried to recreate the Michael Schumacher Ferrari dream team.
24:09And it's something they, too, could not achieve.
24:12But after last week's Qatar Grand Prix, Hamilton gave us the strongest hint that, so far, he's not being listened to.
24:18I mean, I've got so many notes in terms of things that we need to improve on.
24:25And time will tell whether or not we act upon those things.
24:29Lewis has also hinted previously that having tried the 2026 car on the Ferrari simulator,
24:34with its active aerodynamics, boost mode and battery recharge requirements,
24:39it's not the kind of F1 that really lights his fire.
24:43Hamilton's personal future is in his own hands.
24:45He could call time on his F1 career whenever he wanted.
24:49What he does next remains to be seen.
24:53It's not actually a straightforward process.
24:54Every weekend I've written down what went wrong that weekend, the decisions I've taken.
24:58So there's a lot of learnings to do there, and I will make better decisions in future.
25:03Whether people need to move into different positions to work better,
25:06all these different things need to be looked upon so that we can optimise our teamwork.
25:11They have to be made, those changes.
25:13Yeah.
25:13Can't just carry on the way it has been this year.
25:15Definitely not.
25:20So many things to get into, but knowing him as you do, as his old teammate,
25:24did he ever write notes at Mercedes and send them to Toto and everybody?
25:29No, that's new.
25:31There was no notes back in the day, but I think things were also going a lot smoother.
25:35Okay.
25:35But anyway, he's obviously the greatest of all time.
25:38We all, I think, agree on that.
25:40But it's really not a worthy ending to his career here.
25:44You know, at the moment, it's really a horrible situation to be in.
25:47It causes him certainly also a lot of suffering.
25:51And he's just really stuck because retiring now, you can't retire now.
25:57I mean, who are they going to replace him with?
25:58And that's a bit of a loss of face also because, like, taking on this big project and then 12 months in,
26:04just because it's difficult, just retire, that doesn't work.
26:07And keeping on going, I mean, time is also not on his side, you know,
26:10and it's not going to get easier.
26:13And so that's also really not an option, you know?
26:16So it's kind of, yeah, it's very difficult.
26:19Well, changes, what changes, where changes, that's not actually English, but you know what I mean.
26:25I'll form a question out of that and then just give the answer I want to do.
26:28But, like, you know, I've never been in that position before.
26:32But when Sebastian Vettel came to Aston Martin, you know, I was worried about it.
26:37He's always been so critical of the radio of strategy.
26:39So you don't know what the team's going to come with.
26:41But he came, he watched a few races, he looked at how we'd done things,
26:45and then he started, like Lewis did, there to give suggestion, give improvement.
26:49Say, why don't you consider doing it like this?
26:51But at all points, then, we were working together.
26:53Okay, let's take the best from both teams and try and get the best solution we can.
26:57And if Lewis doesn't feel like he's being listened to,
26:59if he doesn't feel like those improvements are coming,
27:02then to Nico's point, how does he see the future progression?
27:05If you can't, if you don't see change happening, then is it going to get any better?
27:10I think the big thing is that the regulations are changing, huh?
27:12And that's his huge hope, because it's a reset.
27:16The car could really be a winning car next year.
27:18He could suddenly feel much more comfortable in the car,
27:21because that's his problem also.
27:22He just really is not feeling comfortable in the car.
27:25For those of you who just watched FP3, you know, he had a massive crash just on his own.
27:30That doesn't, I never in my whole time with Lewis saw him spin like that on his own, you know?
27:35We can look at it here, just oversteer in there, a big crash in the dry, you know,
27:40just on a normal lap.
27:42That doesn't, I never saw that, you know?
27:44So this is new, and it just shows how he's just, doesn't feel the car, is struggling with the car.
27:49On the subject of changes there, you swapped crews, didn't you?
27:52You know, way back when, at Mercedes, you made changes, and didn't you swap it?
27:56No, but the swap crew was just Toto overnight,
27:58who was just so frustrated about the internal war going on.
28:02He's like, okay, that's it.
28:02We're swapping the whole crew over from left to right,
28:06so that we take down that barrier that was getting built up between the two cars.
28:11Yeah, well, they don't have that going on, but obviously, you know,
28:14if it comes down to, they're so important, aren't they?
28:16Performance engineers and race engineers, your guys, your girls,
28:20everybody that you want on your side.
28:23He kind of, he never took Bono with him, so it doesn't really feel like he,
28:27I suppose, in a new environment like this, maybe he wanted to do something like that.
28:31Yeah, and I think he would have known going into it.
28:33He would have known very early in the discussion.
28:35You know, we knew at the beginning of last year that that was,
28:38the move was going to, or beginning of two years ago,
28:40that the move was going to happen at Ferrari.
28:41We knew that very, very early.
28:43Bono's got a family in the UK.
28:44He's never going to move all of those guys to Italy,
28:47so he knew he was going to have this new challenge, this new people,
28:50but you need to feel they are your family.
28:53You spend 24 race weekends all year with them, all the tests,
28:57the simulator running in between,
28:58so you need to feel like those, your team is your team.
29:03They're working to get the best out of you
29:05and that car that they've been given.
29:07You can't over-race again, change the car,
29:10but you can work to improve it race on race on race.
29:13So it doesn't, it's not quite, as Ted said in his piece,
29:16it's not quite gelled together there yet.
29:18They're not quite all aligned, I don't think.
29:20And if they're not gelled and it's not a title-winning car
29:24in the first six races, let's say, next season,
29:26by the time we get to Europe, what do you think might happen?
29:29Well, that's very hypothetical,
29:31but of course it's only going to get worse in terms of pressure,
29:35in terms of suffering there,
29:37or public opinion, you know.
29:39So for now, the whole of Italy is kind of still supportive
29:43and patient, is what I saw in Monza a couple of months ago.
29:47But at some point, that will change as well.
29:49We're just seeing behind you guys is Oscar Piastri
29:53making his way to the car now
29:55with a huge crowd gathering around him,
29:58trying to keep a little bit of a smile on,
30:00but this is the ultimate high-pressure moment.
30:04See that little smile there?
30:05That's a little smile.
30:06That's a bit of Hollywood there, you know.
30:08I mean, honestly, it's a great atmosphere here.
30:10I've never seen Abu Dhabi as busy as it is this weekend,
30:14but everyone has bought into this.
30:16What a championship fight we have on our hands tonight
30:18and hopefully tomorrow, of course, as well.
30:21Right, let's get into the pit lane and into Ferrari
30:24and see how that car build or rebuild is going.
30:27They've had a bit of time.
30:28How damaged was it and how they're getting on, Ted?
30:31Well, thank you, Simon.
30:32I mean, it was quite completely damaged on the front.
30:35They had to replace the front right and the front left.
30:38They've just finished that job.
30:39The rear was okay, but they've actually having to laser scan it.
30:42That's what this tripod is at the front of the car.
30:45They've got these little setup devices on the front corners
30:47just to check that everything is square and away
30:51and that that will be something that Hamilton
30:53actually obviously didn't get a run on the soft tyres
30:56at the end of the session when the track was at its most representative.
30:59So he'll be on his back foot going into qualifying.
31:02Make no mistake about it.
31:03Let's go next door to Red Bull Racing.
31:05So we've already told you that after that crash
31:06between Kimi Antonelli and Yuki Tsunoda in the pit lane,
31:10not Yuki Tsunoda's fault,
31:11but it did take out one of the new floors that Yuki has to use
31:17and that means they have to go to an old spec floor.
31:21So immediately there is Yuki Tsunoda,
31:23his last qualifying for Red Bull Racing
31:25and already is on the back foot,
31:27two tenths, maybe as much as three tenths of a second down
31:29because he has to run the old spec floor
31:33because Max Verstappen needs to have a new one
31:35in case he damages it
31:36and needs to replace like for like in Park Fermé.
31:39Let's check out Max Verstappen's car as well.
31:42It seems that over the course of the weekend
31:44from yesterday to today,
31:46they've thinned out the rear wing a little bit.
31:48But look at the number of mechanics
31:50working to get this car ready
31:52on the rear, on the front,
31:54the front wing comes off again.
31:55So some late little setup tweaks
31:57going on there as well.
31:59And a quick one to Mercedes
32:01because don't count Mercedes out
32:03to be spoiling the Verstappen, Piastri, Norris party
32:07in terms of championship running
32:08in qualifying.
32:09George Russell quickest
32:11with just about to the hundredth
32:13or thousandth of a second.
32:14A quicker time than Lando Norris
32:16in free practice three.
32:17He fancies pole today.
32:19Kimi Antonelli maybe fancies the front row.
32:22But yeah, don't take your eyes off Russell
32:25in this session coming up.
32:27Simon, back to you.
32:28Yeah, thanks very much.
32:29So yeah, I wonder, as we've discussed this, Bernie,
32:32but Mercedes absolutely could be a factor this evening.
32:35Yeah, I think they are.
32:36We've seen the last few weekends
32:37that Mercedes have been right up there.
32:39Russell in particular looking very strong.
32:40And he's going to be interested
32:42in getting involved in this.
32:43He knows he's not in the title fight,
32:45but he's not going to want to let go of pole.
32:48And he's not going to want to try
32:49and push his points at the end of this weekend either.
32:52Kimi Antonelli, again, we've seen vast improvements too.
32:56He obviously had a bit of a difficult third practice session,
32:59but if he gets it right, he could also be up there.
33:01Yeah, Kimi has momentum now.
33:03He's finally turned the corner, I think,
33:05feeling confident again.
33:07And so, yeah, definitely he can still make his way
33:09quite far up to the front.
33:11I don't think he's on George Russell level this weekend,
33:13so probably not challenging for a pole.
33:15But yeah, he can be a factor.
33:17Come on then.
33:18Let's get into this.
33:19What are your predictions?
33:20What are we feeling could happen this evening
33:23between the top three still involved in the fight?
33:26I think it's going to be very, very small margins
33:28by the time we get to qualify him.
33:30But I think given what we've seen all weekend,
33:32it'll be very hard to bet against Lando Norris.
33:34Yeah, it's all eyes on Lando.
33:36If he can keep it together under all that pressure,
33:38then he's going to be on pole
33:39because he's been driving so well.
33:41And if the pressure gets to him a little bit too much
33:43and there's that one or other mistake,
33:45then I believe it's actually going to go to Verstappen.
33:49OK, Verstappen, right, there we go.
33:50You've got to watch out for dawdling traffic here.
33:52We saw so much of that, didn't we,
33:53in the third practice session.
33:55You've got to be careful they do.
33:56Yeah, I think the traffic in the final sector
33:58is always an issue,
33:59and that's going to be one to watch out for qualifying.
34:01Plus, get those tyres in the right window
34:03is always difficult.
34:04Got to do that.
34:04Thanks for the advice, Bernie.
34:06How are you feeling at home?
34:08Those grandstands filling up all the time.
34:11But this is what they've raced all their lives for.
34:15Only one man can win it.
34:16Who will it be?
34:18As we said,
34:18we know just how important pole position is here
34:22because the last ten have been won
34:23from the front of the grid.
34:25Qualifying is next.
34:26We'll be right back.
34:56We'll be right back.
35:26Drivers on the front row have finished 1-2
35:29in their starting order
35:30in seven of the last ten Grand Prix here,
35:33and there are three drivers in contention
35:35for the championship.
35:37This is the most intense
35:39and important qualifying session
35:41of the season.
35:43Welcome along, everyone.
35:44We're at Yasmarina Abu Dhabi
35:46for the season finale.
35:4758 laps to come in tomorrow's race tonight.
35:50We're worried about 3.28 miles,
35:52and who's going to be on pole position
35:54for tomorrow's Grand Prix.
35:5616 corners, 9 to the left and 7 to the right.
36:00Only 177 metres to the first braking zone.
36:04A lap time at full throttle for 65%
36:06and the tyre compound, same as last year,
36:09C5, C4, C3, all of which have been raised
36:12for the front tyre by 1 psi overnight
36:15to try and stop the graining.
36:17Temperature is falling on track.
36:19We're around about 8 degrees cooler
36:21than we were for the final practice session
36:23that saw George Russell take the fastest time.
36:26The lights are illuminating this circuit.
36:30The crowds have poured in.
36:32And Martin Brundle,
36:33if we can paraphrase Roger Kipling tonight,
36:35if you can keep your head
36:36while all around you others are losing theirs,
36:39you'll be on pole, my son.
36:41Very good chance of that.
36:42Some fast cars out there.
36:44It's very close.
36:44But yes, calm heads, calm hands, calm feet.
36:48A Formula 1 car,
36:49you're such an integral part of it.
36:51It knows if you're a little bit tense,
36:53if you hold the wheel a little bit too tightly,
36:55if you're a little bit jumpy on the brake pedal
36:59or the throttle pedal,
37:00you've really got to just let your natural talents flow.
37:03Let the car do its job.
37:05They know this track.
37:06They know their cars.
37:07It's the end of the season.
37:09It's the end of an era for these ground effect cars.
37:12They know exactly what they've got to do.
37:14They've just got to get out and deliver it.
37:16And they cannot afford one scruffy session
37:18and waste a set of tyres.
37:20Although I'm talking about the championship contenders there
37:22or get wrong-footed somewhere
37:25and with a track limit
37:26and end up completely at a position on the grid.
37:29The number one for Max Verstappen,
37:32who has kept that number one on his car
37:35for 1,457 consecutive days as of tomorrow.
37:40But he's got a job to do going into this weekend.
37:43He stands 12 points behind Lando Norris
37:45in the Drivers' Championship.
37:47Oscar Piastri 16 points off the lead
37:49that he has held for 15 rounds
37:52during the course of this 2025 season.
37:54And outside those top three, George Russell,
37:57is he in contention for a pole tonight?
38:00He certainly looked like he had the pace in practice.
38:03Yeah, and obviously they're pumping some cool air
38:05into the cockpit.
38:07It gets very hot inside there.
38:09You share that space with a lot of electrical units.
38:12You've got, you're sitting on the fuel tank.
38:14You've got an engine behind you.
38:15Brakes on each corner over 1,000 C
38:17when they're working hard into a corner.
38:20Radiators alongside you.
38:21They don't really want any air to go through the cockpit
38:23if they can help it.
38:24That creates drag.
38:26The drivers then in three layers of fireproof clothing,
38:29gloves, boots, balaclava, crash helmet.
38:32It gets hot inside there.
38:34And that's why they try to give the drivers
38:36the best chance they can before they head out.
38:38There's a minute to go before the green light.
38:40I dare say each and every one of the top three
38:43in the championship just want to get on with this.
38:45There's been a lot of talking.
38:47There's been a lot of build-up.
38:48They're all trying to say it's just another race.
38:50They're trying to say that we're relaxed and we're calm.
38:53You know Oscar Piastri, Max Verstappen, Lando Norris inside out.
38:57Do you believe for a minute they're relaxed and calm about tonight?
39:01I think Max might be, you know,
39:03he said when he won his first world championship here
39:05in Abu Dhabi 2021,
39:08which I'm sure many people will remember.
39:11He said, that's it.
39:12I've achieved my life goal.
39:13I want to be a Formula One world champion.
39:15Everything else is a bonus.
39:16And that's been his mantra ever since then, actually.
39:19And he said it again this weekend a couple of times.
39:21So he knows what's coming next.
39:24He knows how to handle this better than Lando and Oscar
39:27just because he's got experience at it.
39:29But you know what?
39:31Lando and Oscar, they've been racing drivers
39:33the vast majority of their lives.
39:35This is what they're prepared for.
39:37And they're prepared mentally as well as physically.
39:39And of course, they've got the talent anyway.
39:4126 years old, Lando Norris, 24 years old, Oscar Piastri,
39:4628 years old, Max Verstappen.
39:48He's been here and he's got over the line to become champion.
39:52And often it's that winning line that makes you the champion
39:55that is the hardest one ever to cross.
39:57It's like nailing that final double in the sport of darts.
40:01There's a double tuck up for grabs tonight, Ted Kravitz,
40:04because this pole is going to be important.
40:07Ha, you can say that again.
40:08Yes, welcome from the pit lane where I've got all the sights,
40:12the sounds and the smells, Crofty.
40:14I can smell petrol.
40:15I can smell brakes overheating.
40:18I can smell rubber.
40:19And I can smell fear down here as well
40:21in some of the championship challenging garages.
40:25Actually, with the sights I can see
40:26is Lewis Hamilton needing to shake down his car
40:29on the medium tyre.
40:31You can see it there with the yellow sidewalls on it.
40:34That's just to shake it down after the accident
40:36a little bit earlier for him to get a feel.
40:39So I expect him to complete this lap
40:41or even maybe come in at the end
40:43and get on to his usual routine
40:46of the red stripe soft tyre.
40:49But he has, he'll be going well to get out of Q1
40:51as will Yuki Tsunoda for the reasons we've given you
40:53and the Alpines and actually the racing bulls
40:57that haven't been so quick so far in this weekend.
41:00But, as you say, will it be the smell of fear for the McLarens?
41:05But as for Max Verstappen,
41:06he doesn't even know what fear smells like, does he?
41:09Comfortable ground for him.
41:11The one advantage Lewis has of that crash in pre-practice 3
41:14is he didn't run a set of brand-new tyres
41:16at the end of the session.
41:18So that means he goes out this evening.
41:20He's got five new sets of soft compound tyres.
41:24And Qatar last weekend, they rather wasted them
41:27because he didn't get through Q1
41:29and a lot of brand-new tyres sitting back in the garage
41:33which didn't make a lot of sense.
41:34But the frontrunners, the other frontrunners
41:37have got four new sets, for example.
41:39So Lewis hopefully can use those soft compound tyres
41:44to great effect.
41:45Lewis, the first Ferrari driver since 2009
41:48to have been knocked out in Q1 at consecutive races.
41:51He's not going to dive into the pit then.
41:52He's going for a lap here.
41:54Out in Q1 here last year, he hit a bollard, didn't he?
41:57Collected one in Las Vegas in Q1 too.
42:00So he is going for a lap on the Q1 tyres.
42:02He crashed at Turn 9 in qualifying.
42:05He's got that extra set of soft tyres
42:06should they need to throw more at him
42:09to get him into Q2 or hopefully into Q3 as well.
42:12Let's see him on his way.
42:14First set to 17.2.
42:16On the soft tyres, it was like a 17.0
42:18for the leading runners in that final practice session.
42:23Already Stroll going a tenth faster than Hamilton
42:25throughout that first sector.
42:28And he's the car on the back straight alongside Lewis,
42:32or just behind Lewis at the moment.
42:33Into the chicane we go.
42:34Turn 6 and 7.
42:36It always looks just a little bit clunky,
42:38but that was a nice line coming out of there.
42:40And this, Martin, was the approach to where Lewis crashed.
42:43And he got way, way over onto the right-hand curve.
42:46I dare say he's going to leave a bit more of a margin this time.
42:49And he does.
42:50Yeah.
42:51And the gearbox sounded a bit clunky coming down, didn't it?
42:53But the bottom of the car grounded out as well,
42:57which helped send him off the road.
42:59This is a super-fast part into Turn 12.
43:02Now it's a lot of 90 lefts and 90 rights.
43:06Off Canberra as well,
43:07which is very frustrating in a racing car.
43:09But Turn 15, absolutely flat at 160 miles
43:13on our back end of the car,
43:14scratching along the racetrack.
43:16It's a very short run to the line,
43:18very easy to go wide through the exit.
43:2124 flat on mediums, not too bad.
43:24But you need to be deep into the 123s this evening.
43:27Already Lance Stroll into the 123s with his first run.
43:31Franco Colapinto,
43:32who's the only driver in the field tonight
43:34who hasn't reached Q3 this season,
43:37has had a lap time deleted.
43:38He exceeded track limits at Turn 1,
43:40so he's got to try again as Nico Hülkenberg,
43:42proving what Martin was saying there.
43:44You've got to go deep into the 123s here.
43:46Goes faster.
43:47And his teammate Gabriel Bortoleto
43:49follows him over the line in second place.
43:51It's 12-11 in the qualifying head-to-head at Sauber.
43:55Bortoleto wins out tonight.
43:57A finish off the season at level at 12 each.
44:00Bortoleto playing it very brave
44:01with the track limits in the final corner.
44:04Lewis Hamilton felt like a decent lap
44:06in his medium compound tyres.
44:09So he will be, I think, disappointed to find
44:11he's already 6 tenths off the pace.
44:13Yeah, he'll be back out on the soft tyres
44:15without any doubt.
44:17This is Franco Colapinto
44:18into Turn 1 in the Alpine.
44:22And that's how and why he made his move
44:27over the white line.
44:28We can see it off board.
44:30Great camera angle there.
44:31And a clear slam dunk
44:33for the man who's only spent 32 laps.
44:36Out of the 992 he's raced this season
44:38in the points.
44:39Still to score a point.
44:41That looked fairly wide
44:42coming out of the final turn for Lance Stroll.
44:45Didn't it be surprised if he keeps that one?
44:47But we're looking at the blue line
44:49on the very far side
44:50of what becomes an ever fatter white line
44:53from what I can tell.
44:54You know, the track limits issue
44:56has gone away to an extent.
44:58And indeed, unsurprisingly,
45:00Lance Stroll's 123.772 deleted.
45:05Here's Max Verstappen then,
45:06four-time pole sitter here
45:07from 2020 to 2023,
45:10which he won from pole
45:11on his first flying lap, Martin.
45:13Down.
45:14This is where he overtook Hamilton,
45:16isn't it, in 2021?
45:17With an audacious move.
45:19But it's now all about
45:21corner exit speed.
45:23You almost want to duck your head
45:24going down the straight
45:25to go a little bit faster, it feels.
45:26But you can't,
45:27because you can't move your head, really.
45:28And then pick up your braking point.
45:32And this is a tricky motion game.
45:34Six and seven.
45:36Feels very slow,
45:37but you need a tremendous exit.
45:39You will not lift the throttle now.
45:41For quite some time.
45:43Just ease it down the back.
45:44So you don't want to put
45:45any lateral movement
45:47in the car at all.
45:49But you need a nice wide entry
45:51to carry so much speed
45:52into that corner now.
45:54Early on the throttle,
45:55absolutely no sign
45:57of the car moving around,
45:58just sweeping through here.
46:00And now it's all technical.
46:02These are the next two corners
46:03where the track falls away
46:05from you a little bit.
46:06And you just got nowhere
46:07near as much grip
46:08as you think you should have.
46:10Now it comes together.
46:11But the last corner
46:12nips on the exit.
46:14That's what catches people out.
46:16And Max there
46:17inside the white line
46:19that mattered.
46:20Hello, 23-3.
46:22Again,
46:23I think he'll have
46:24hoped that was a touch faster.
46:26A couple of hundredths
46:27of a second
46:28off the fastest time
46:30in Q1 last year,
46:31which was Charles Leclerc
46:32for Ferrari.
46:34Max's teammate,
46:35Yuki Tsunoda,
46:36fourth fastest,
46:37was third fastest
46:38before his teammate
46:39for next year,
46:40Isaac Hadjar,
46:41went into the top three.
46:42Stelnuka Hülkenberg
46:43with the second fastest time
46:45as Charles Leclerc
46:45also trying the medium tyre
46:48with Ferrari
46:49goes sixth fastest.
46:51I think Ferrari
46:52think they can get
46:53a couple of laps
46:54out of those medium tyres
46:55because Lewis Hamilton
46:56has continued on
46:58and just looking
46:59to where Lewis is
47:01and his tyres.
47:03He's changed to the soft
47:05now according to
47:06our tyre graphic.
47:08But can they get
47:09a couple of laps
47:10out of the mediums,
47:11I wonder.
47:11Alonso goes second fastest
47:13for Aston Martin.
47:15Here comes Lando Norris
47:17round the final corner.
47:19Tenth off,
47:20third fastest.
47:20We're looking
47:21for the top 15
47:22to make their way through
47:23into Q2.
47:25Ten minutes to go
47:26as Liam Lawson
47:27pops his racing balls
47:28up into the top four
47:29and I'm expecting
47:30these lap times
47:31to improve significantly
47:32as this session goes on.
47:34Piastria,
47:35100th off the pace
47:36through the first two sectors.
47:37Here comes Oli Behrman
47:38goes quickest.
47:391.23.2
47:41for Oli Behrman
47:42finding pace there
47:43and leading 14.9
47:45in the intra-team battle
47:47with Esteban Ocon.
47:48We've had a Formula 2 race
47:49since they were last up.
47:51They'll have to
47:51recondition the track
47:52but you know what?
47:53This looks even closer
47:55than we thought it could be.
47:56There is not much
47:57between them.
47:58Less than two tenths
47:59separating the top five.
48:01There's Oscar Piastri
48:02who goes second fastest
48:04to Oli Behrman
48:04by one one thousandth
48:06of a second.
48:07So less than two tenths
48:08separating the top six now
48:09as Kimi Antonelli
48:11only eighth fastest
48:12in his Mercedes
48:14and out in Q1
48:15in Vegas
48:16eventually finished third
48:17in the Grand Prix of course.
48:19Now here's George Russell
48:20his teammate
48:20and he goes fastest.
48:22There is eight
48:23one thousandths of a second
48:25between the top three.
48:27Wow.
48:28And Behrman then
48:29has looked quick
48:29all the way through
48:30hasn't he?
48:30Even on the radio
48:31saying my car
48:32feels amazing
48:33which is
48:34or paraphrasing
48:35anyway what he said
48:36which is not
48:37often you hear that
48:38from a racing driver.
48:39This is not always
48:40sort of hardwired
48:41but Gasly loses
48:42his lap time
48:43sadly for him
48:45and well
48:46this is
48:47oh so close.
48:49And it's oh so close
48:50for Lewis Hamilton
48:51going fifth fastest
48:53and putting himself
48:54into those
48:55one twenty threes
48:56you want to be
48:57towards the
48:58sharp end of that
48:59as Lance Stroll
49:00crosses the line
49:01mid one twenty threes
49:02that might not be enough.
49:04We've got to stop
49:04clock on
49:05Colopinto
49:06who doesn't lift himself
49:08out of the bottom five
49:09so both Alpines
49:09now in the bottom five
49:11with Gasly
49:12having that lap time
49:13deleted
49:13and Charles Leclerc's
49:14experiment on the
49:15medium tyre
49:16I'm a bit surprised
49:17they sent him out
49:18after seeing Lewis
49:19Hamilton's lap time
49:20Martin
49:20because
49:21well it's left him
49:22down in P18
49:23and really
49:24I didn't see the point
49:25because the mediums
49:26weren't fast enough.
49:27They weren't fast enough
49:28but at least he's had
49:29a sighter on the track
49:30and we won't see those
49:31again
49:32this evening
49:33he's got plenty time
49:34they need
49:35if they stay calm
49:36Colopinto
49:37lost his lap time
49:39as well
49:39and that's why
49:41he goes to the bottom
49:42that's two
49:42for Franco Colopinto
49:44that he's had
49:44deleted
49:45both at turn one
49:46Bernie Collins
49:47on the pit wall
49:48for us this evening
49:49hello Bernie
49:50Hello Crofty
49:51I just wanted to
49:52quickly come in
49:52with a bit of a
49:53compare across
49:54some of those drivers
49:54that you've been
49:55talking about
49:55Lando Norris
49:57and I'm going to
49:58see you next time
49:59and I'll see you next time
49:59to see you next time
50:00and see you next time
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