2003 United States GP Friday Qualifying

OSRN 1

The Friday Qualifying session for Round 15 of the 2003 F1 season at Indianapolis.

Transcript

00:00:00Welcome back to 2003 U.S. Grand Prix. First practice session out of the way and we got a

00:00:08little history lesson with Jackie Stewart and David Hobbs. They look back at the 1973 German

00:00:13Grand Prix, which turned out to be Jackie Stewart's 27th victory and his final victory of his career.

00:00:20It also turned into his third world championship. But now we have to switch gear and move into the

00:00:24modern ages, shall we say, where the records have changed significantly since then. We've

00:00:29got Michael Schumacher, Juan Pablo Montoya and Kimi Raikkonen going for the championship this year.

00:00:33The significance, of course, being that if Michael Schumacher wins the championship, it would be

00:00:38his sixth world championship, breaking Juan Manuel Fangio's record. Now it's time to one of our

00:00:43favorite segments here at Indianapolis. And that's time to go down and have lunch at Indy with the

00:00:47two pit reporters, Derek Daly and Peter Windsor. What's going on down there, guys? Thank you, Rick.

00:00:51And of course, we get a chance to maybe relax just a little bit. McLaren invited us in, as you can see

00:00:55here, to their hospitality center. And Peter, lots of people walk by. We're going to try and grab

00:01:00them as they walk by. But a lot of people, Peter, talk this year about particularly, let's say,

00:01:05the tire controversy. Was the protest by Ferrari and Bridgestone merited against Michelin's front

00:01:12tire width? Well, it's a good question. I'm not sure they actually protested. It's very difficult

00:01:19actually to know what happened in those days leading up to Monza. What we do know is that

00:01:23the FIA president and a lot of FIA heavies went to the Ferrari factory, had a big meeting.

00:01:29And as a result of that meeting, they came out and said that we're not changing the rules.

00:01:33We're redefining the rules. And the redefinition of the rules affected all the Michelin teams.

00:01:38Michelin only, not Bridgestone. And so there is a feeling in the pit lane amongst the Michelin

00:01:43teams that something weird happened here. There's not been a rule change. I should be very,

00:01:47very emphatic about that. And the FIA want to make that very clear because they're not allowed

00:01:51to make rule changes in the middle of the year, in theory. In theory, but...

00:01:55Actually, Peter, we hear you at the end of all the Grand Prix's asking the questions

00:01:59for the unilateral feed. You actually were taken to task by Bernie Ecclestone for how you even

00:02:05questioned, how you positioned the question.

00:02:08Well, absolutely. It's a redefinition of the rule that took place before Monza.

00:02:11There was no rule change. And I think that what hangs in the air at the moment is the fact

00:02:17that Ross Braun, who, whether you like it or not, is a Ferrari spokesman. People go to...

00:02:20He's allowed to give interviews to the press. Ross Braun said, and it's on tape, that the

00:02:26Michelin teams, or Michelin in particular, are guilty of fragrant and deliberate bypassing

00:02:32of the regulations. And that still hangs in the air. Michelin are saying still here at Indy,

00:02:37we're reserving judgment on that. We might take legal action against Ross for that comment.

00:02:40And equally, Ferrari is saying, we reserve the right, perhaps, to protest retrospectively

00:02:47results scored by the Michelin teams this year in some future thing, which may or may

00:02:53not involve whether they win the championship, of course.

00:02:56Peter mentioned that Ross Braun is allowed to talk to the press. Believe it or not, we

00:03:00have to go to the individual teams and find out who is allowed to give us interviews about

00:03:05specific areas of the sport. Peter, you mentioned Ferrari and Ross Braun.

00:03:09Am I allowed to talk to you now, Derek?

00:03:11Yeah, you're allowed to talk to me. Michael Schumacher was lapped twice this year, most

00:03:15unusual. Do you think they lost their way a slight bit midway through this season for

00:03:21any reason? Or do you still think they made the type of championship decisions they've

00:03:25always made in the last couple of years?

00:03:26No, I think they did lose their way in the sense that they felt they had the right package

00:03:31and yet things were not happening for them. And looking from the outside, it was pretty

00:03:36clear to me that a lot of the circuits have been resurfaced over the winter, which

00:03:39helped Michelin enormously. The chicane, for example, at Nürburgring was radically modified,

00:03:44which helped Michelin. And then beyond that, Michelin obviously benefited from the regulation

00:03:51change, which allows them to build specific tyres for their teams. Bridgestone couldn't

00:03:55benefit from that because they've only got one team, effectively, and that's Ferrari.

00:03:58So Michelin were able to have a much greater spread of what they were doing. And I think

00:04:02those two factors, Ferrari probably underestimated those. And on a smooth circuit, when you're

00:04:08talking about braking and traction in good weather conditions, there's no question now,

00:04:13the Michelin wider, not illegally wide, but wider tyre with a stiffer sidewall appears

00:04:19to do a better job than the narrower Bridgestone.

00:04:20Good. Thank you, Peter. We do have a lot more time to get into deeper discussions. We will

00:04:26have some guests. Patrick Head from Williams, the technical genius from Williams, has agreed

00:04:30to come and join us here in our seat. So don't go away. We'll be right back from lunch at Indy

00:04:35in just a moment.

00:04:42Welcome back to Speed Channel's live coverage of the U.S. Grand Prix. We are here at lunchtime

00:04:48at Indy and we are now joined by the managing director of the Renault Formula One team, Flavio

00:04:54Briatore. Thank you for taking some time out to join us.

00:04:56Good morning.

00:04:57You not only run the Renault Formula One team, but you have a remarkable eye for young talent.

00:05:03And this Fernando Alonso really is quite a spectacular young man.

00:05:08But you know, we invested a lot of money in young drivers and this is the kind of policy

00:05:13I started maybe 10 years ago. And now you see the result, but it's not so simple to find

00:05:21Fernando Alonso, Michael Schumacher, or Jarno Trulli, or Giancarlo Fisichella. I believe

00:05:27in behind all that is a lot of the work.

00:05:30Of course, he mentions Michael Schumacher. Flavio also ran the Benetton Formula One team.

00:05:35When he plucked Schumacher away from Jordan, put him into the Benetton, of course, had two

00:05:40world championships. That was a great year, Peter.

00:05:42It was indeed. Flavio, I'm interested though, you included Jarno there and Jarno is unbelievably

00:05:47quick. But tell us what you think about Jarno's potential. Because there'd be some guys in

00:05:52the pit lane that would say, yeah, he's great at qualifying, doesn't race very well. What's Jarno's future?

00:05:56I believe Jarno never driving for a top team. He was always in the medium, low team and the pressure

00:06:05is different. The setup of the car is different. I believe Jarno now is in the right track and this

00:06:11year was quite amazing the change is done. Especially in that, you know, because naturally it's very,

00:06:18very quick and sometimes it's a bit fragile, you know, in the mind. You need to support him,

00:06:24you need to explain him, what he's doing, etc, etc. But it's a lot. You need to leave him with the

00:06:31driver and understand the driver. You know, you see these people, everybody has some problem. It is

00:06:36the problem of Jarno sometimes if the car is not super perfect, he's give up. And the other one driver,

00:06:43driving anyway. Jarno has this kind of particularity. But what do you do at that moment? Do you shout at

00:06:48him or do you do you rub his back for him? I think so. You need to make the guy understand the guy working

00:06:53for a team. He's like another one employee. We pay these people a lot of money and he delivered the

00:06:58job. It's simple like that. The win with Alonso this year. I mean, you knew how good he was. Was the

00:07:05win a bit more than you expected this season? I think so Fernando for 21 is put in his way. I never see

00:07:13somebody so determined, so concentrated at 21. He's reading the race. Amazing. But the last race,

00:07:22nobody see the last race of Fernando. He finished eight after the car crash. I have only half car

00:07:29because the front wheel was damaged. The dashboard was not there anymore. I mean, the guy managed to

00:07:36finish in the point. He lose about one lap to fix in the car. I mean, this guy is super.

00:07:41But why didn't you start it from the pit lane? Why didn't he start from the pit lane? Because

00:07:47with the launch control you have, I'm sure in the grid, I take over eight or nine people.

00:07:52But sometimes it go well and sometimes it go wrong. Hey, what I like though, remember,

00:07:56he didn't say the driver crashed the car. He said the car crashed. He doesn't blame his driver. Now,

00:08:01you are the manager of Fernando. Yeah, as well. So you're making a lot of money right now from him? No,

00:08:05I never make money. I do. I do Formula One for sport. But the thing about Fernando is he's actually

00:08:11a very nice guy, isn't he? And he looks like the sort of bloke that will not change. Ah, this is

00:08:16difficult because I see so many nice guys in the beginning. And when the million dollars go in the

00:08:23bank, you're a less nice guy. But you know, you need to manage that. You need to create the monster.

00:08:29The monster is created. You need to manage the monster. Thank you, Flavio, for taking some time

00:08:34to join us. And of course, the person he says that changed when he got one of those million dollars

00:08:39probably was our own David Hobbs. We'll be right back with more from lunch at Indy in just a few

00:08:45moments. Don't go anywhere. Touch that dial. Welcome back to Speed Channel's coverage of the 2003 U.S.

00:08:58Grand Prix at Indianapolis. We're in the lunch break. Indeed, we're at lunch at Indy outside the

00:09:02McLaren, West McLaren Mercedes hospitality unit. And I'm with Jimmy Jock Walter. I know him very well.

00:09:09You should know very well too. He's been with the Williams team now for 22 years. And in the

00:09:13Japanese Grand Prix in two weeks time, you're going to retire from Formula One, Jimmy. That's right,

00:09:16Peter. It's been a colorful 22 years, isn't it? It certainly has. And there's quite a few changes

00:09:21along the way as well. When did you first start working for Frank? What was he doing at that point?

00:09:26The first job I did was actually in 1979, part-time driving the motorhome because in these days,

00:09:31Frank obviously couldn't afford a full-time staff for everything. So we had to get guys in

00:09:36you or go to agencies and get guys to do things for them. So I was one of the lucky guys in 79.

00:09:41I actually went to my first race was in Monza 79. And the cars were really quick then, of course.

00:09:47They were, yes. They were just getting to the 07. The 06 had got predecessor gone and we were

00:09:52running the 07, which was, as you know, quite a very, was a fast car. We know that Frank is very,

00:09:57very good at counting the old pennies. And you're a Scot, no doubt you understand that. How many

00:10:01different jobs has he had you doing over the years? Oh, well, I've done fuel, I've done tyres,

00:10:07I've done tyre spotting, I've done the whole spectrum of, you know, ancillary jobs. And you've

00:10:11been a truckie as well, of course. Yeah, yeah, yeah, for most of the 22 years. There was an incident in the

00:10:17Nigel Mansell Renault days with the Elf fuel, I think, when the fuel was getting very toxic. Tell

00:10:21us about that. Yeah, it used to, some magical mixtures used to make up from Elf and it used

00:10:26to come and sometimes it used to stink pretty horrible. And we were quite afraid that it was

00:10:31going to do us some harm because it was all open. And these days it wasn't from container to

00:10:36container. It was all open drums and you poured it into another drum and of course you're breathing

00:10:40the fumes all the time. And sometimes you did feel a bit nauseous after doing it for an afternoon or so.

00:10:44But the Elf assured us there was nothing wrong with it whatsoever. I'm sure they did. Well,

00:10:48you've been having a farewell tour all year. I think you had your first farewell party at the

00:10:52Brazilian Grand Prix. That's right. We started off, we had a weekend in Rio. And no doubt you'll be

00:10:56having a big one after the Japanese Grand Prix. We certainly will, yes. Everybody at Speed Channel,

00:10:59all our viewers, all the very best and congratulations on a great career. Thank you. Now,

00:11:03I think Derek has got somebody very interesting to talk to. Indeed. Now, moving from one of the biggest

00:11:08teams and the biggest budget in the paddock, we moved to probably one of the smallest, but one of the most

00:11:13popular because I happen to know that the Minardi team, which is led by Paul Stoddard,

00:11:18has a fan club here called the San Francisco Minardi Club. And they actually went to the factory

00:11:25in Minardi and showed the mission statement to you. And they stand up every day, every Grand Prix,

00:11:31and cheer your team, Paul. Welcome to Speed Channel. Thanks, Derek. Yeah, they've been fantastic. And we

00:11:35have a lot of support in North America. It's funny, two of our strongest clubs are both the one here and the

00:11:41one in Canada. So, amazing. Now, you're in the airline business, I know, but you're such a motorsports

00:11:46fan. You bought the Minardi team. Did you have any idea how big a headache you were buying to try and

00:11:53swim in these piranha-infested waters of F1? Well, I'd already been in Formula 1 for five years

00:11:58before that, so I knew exactly what I was getting into. I think team ownership in today's climate is

00:12:03difficult for anybody that's not got a manufacturer supporting them. But having said that, I mean, I also

00:12:07believe passionately in the independent teams and their place in Formula 1. Without them,

00:12:12we wouldn't have the fabric. We don't know what makes 350 million people watch us every two weeks,

00:12:17but they do. So, I think it's important we have everybody at the top and at the bottom. Paul,

00:12:21is it fair to say, if you just look at the Italian Grand Prix, I believe there were eight drivers in

00:12:25that Grand Prix there that have either been with your team or been through your team. So, that's

00:12:30obviously going to make you proud. 40% of the grid that started the Monza Grand Prix either

00:12:35started their careers in Minardi or were a current Formula 1 driver for Minardi and I think that

00:12:40is a record. We've actually been checking and so far we've not found any other team has ever started

00:12:44with that amount of drivers in a Grand Prix and it makes me immensely proud. We've got, you know,

00:12:49drivers in so many teams now that sooner or later I think we'll crack ourselves for a world championship.

00:12:55We still remember Australia, Mark Webber, the championship point, the champagne that flowed

00:13:01afterwards. I mean, that's the type of day that just fuels the passion to bring you back.

00:13:05It is, Derek. You have enough bad days in motor racing so when a good one comes along like that

00:13:09and I think they'll go down in history without a doubt as being the most popular two points ever

00:13:13scored in the history of Formula 1 and I think for sure, without a doubt, the first time there's

00:13:17ever been two podiums in a Formula 1 race. Thank you, Paul. Great to see you. Good look this weekend.

00:13:23Thanks, Derek. Well, you know, Derek, we're just talking about the Minardi club that was here. Well,

00:13:28yesterday, the U.S. chapter, the Minardi fan club that's based in San Francisco, visited the

00:13:33Minardi garage and we took pictures of it to have their annual meet and greet the gathering with

00:13:37Nicholas Chiesa and some of the mechanics present as well. Some members of the fan club were there.

00:13:42Gifts were exchanged by everyone. They got a good chance to take a close,

00:13:45up close look at the car that they've been marveling at all this season. We'll take a quick break.

00:13:51We'll come back with more from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway right after this.

00:13:58Welcome back to Speed Channel's live coverage of the U.S. Grand Prix. This is lunch at Indy. As

00:14:11you can see, we are situated outside the McLaren Hospitality Unit, less than 18 minutes or just over

00:14:1718 minutes before qualifying begins. And we just begin to feel more raindrops, so it really puts the

00:14:24cat among the pigeons, Peter. But so much of Formula One is driven by engineering, driven by engineers.

00:14:30You've got very strong people. I see a lot of hobbled engineers running around here. I know. It could be

00:14:35Mack the Knife going on here. There's some cement going on. I don't know what these engineers have

00:14:39been doing wrong, but Adrian knew he's had his foot in plaster for the last three or four races. He

00:14:43pulled his Achilles tendon playing tennis, poor chap. And Patrick Head's hobbling around now, so who knows what's

00:14:49going on with these guys? A lot of pressure on the engineers, of course. And I guess that when they do

00:14:54get the odd minute or two just to do something slightly relaxing, they give it 100 percent. And

00:14:58they're all not as young as they they perhaps think they are. Adrian and Patrick being two good examples

00:15:03there. Patrick is on the way up here. Patrick's actually hobbling over here. Yeah, good to see him.

00:15:07Before he gets here, the Williams has seemed to have developed dramatically this year. Have they

00:15:11changed something in the car? Have they changed the philosophy? Go ahead, Patrick, sit down right here.

00:15:17To me, the car has been fabulous from Monaco onwards, although they were even leading the Austrian Grand

00:15:21Prix. So yeah, certainly from that point of the season, BMW Williams have really, I don't know, Patrick

00:15:27probably doesn't like the term, but they found a sweet spot in the car. And even when they're perhaps not

00:15:32perfect, the car's still quick. And that's been a difference perhaps from last year when when you lost

00:15:37the balance. You lost a lot of speed with that imbalance. Yeah, certainly before Monaco, we were

00:15:45the car had been improved quite a bit and was quick, but we had a some unreliability problems in Austria

00:15:52and some pit stop problems in Imola. But we certainly made a bit of an improvement in setup at Monaco and

00:16:00it's been strong since then. Patrick, how much of your car improvement, let's say, is down to the

00:16:07tires. Can you measure the engineering difference you are making with bits that you make and develop

00:16:12at the factory? Yes, I mean, the cars had a lot of aerodynamic improvement this year. We've

00:16:19certainly learned to set the car up a bit better in a different way that gets better results.

00:16:26Tires have been good ever since end of last year, much more stable and consistent, but little steps,

00:16:35bit by bit, Michelin are always improving them. Patrick, Williams went into a big slump when

00:16:40Derek Daly left the team, three or four years in the doldrums. It was a bad time for Williams then,

00:16:46wasn't it? 83, 84? You're absolutely right, Peter. It was a great sadness when Derek moved on. Now,

00:16:53listen, what's going on? Adrian Newey, Achilles tendon went playing tennis. He's been in plaster. Now you're in

00:16:58plaster. What have you been doing? Well, I'm not exactly in plaster. I'm in a sort of plastic

00:17:02caliper on my right leg. Can we get a photograph of it? No, no, no. It's got Michelin sponsorship on it,

00:17:07I see. Yeah, yeah. But, no, I have to wear it for another five weeks, apparently. I've broken the,

00:17:13is it the metatarsal, the sort of the long bone on the on the outside of the foot? One of those.

00:17:20One of those. It wasn't in any way, I wish it was doing something sporty or whatever, but I trod on

00:17:26something and it gave way and my foot turned over and whatever. Anyway, I ended up with in plaster.

00:17:34So your whole workout routine now has just gone out the window? It is, yeah. I can't take the exercise

00:17:38that I would have done otherwise, yeah. Actually, I happen to know that he was in the new Williams

00:17:43wind tunnel when he actually did this. Can Montoya win this championship, Patrick? It's possible for

00:17:50Michael or Juan or Kimi to win. And in terms of pure speed, possibly more likely to be Juan or Michael.

00:18:08But all it takes is one accident, one breakdown or something like that and it can turn around. So it'll

00:18:16be interesting right to the end, I think. Here in Indy with this long, long straight,

00:18:21does the long straight favor you? Do you have a horsepower advantage that you think will give you

00:18:27a tiny bit over the likes of Michael Schumacher? It's, it's, I mean, the actual terminal speed of

00:18:34the car is much more dictated by how much wing you have on the car than small differences in horsepower.

00:18:41And I mean, at the sort of speeds here, you have to have 30 horsepower to make

00:18:46a couple of kilometers an hour difference in speed. So it'll be the wing level and wing setting.

00:18:53But the more you take the wing off to be quick on the straight, the less downforce and therefore grip

00:18:58you have in the infield. And that's one of the interesting things about this track is it's got one side

00:19:03of it, which is the use of the Indy oval going the wrong way around, so to speak, which is all high speed.

00:19:10And then the infield, which is all low speed and needs lots of downforce. And it's all about getting

00:19:15the compromise. So what did you say earlier? You went into a lull after I left? Was that what you

00:19:19said earlier? Went into a what? A lull? It's Irish for lull, I think.

00:19:26Anyway, yeah. Patrick Head, thank you for taking the time to come and join us.

00:19:30It's a pleasure. Montoya is obviously has a huge amount of support out here.

00:19:34Yeah, he's got half of Columbia here, I think. Yeah, they have, yeah. And of course, his Indy 500 win here.

00:19:38Yeah, yeah. He's certainly popular, yeah. Thank you for joining us.

00:19:42Okay, it's a pleasure. And good luck for the rest of the weekend.

00:19:44Yeah, good, thanks. Now, I believe we have Zolt

00:19:47Bongardner somewhere. Do we, Peter?

00:19:50Yeah, he's coming over here, Zolt Bongardner.

00:19:52Somewhere right here, right here.

00:19:54Nice to see you. Hey, this is live TV. Hello, how are you?

00:19:57You don't know me, and I don't know you. This is Derek Daly. He used to drive for Williams at some point.

00:20:02I see. He drove, he didn't race. No, I'm going to go.

00:20:05Hey, but you've been in a Formula One car recently. New ground, good stuff?

00:20:11Yeah, it was a great thing to be in front of the home crowd, to get in an F1 drive,

00:20:16and then afterwards I could race in Monza as well, so it was a very good opportunity.

00:20:21Big jump from Formula 3000 straight into Formula One, and massive pressure in Hungary,

00:20:29home Grand Prix, just to get in the car and do that. Talk us through those moments.

00:20:32Yeah, that was very difficult, and the more difficult was, I think, to close these things out

00:20:39and just focus on the job, and I think that was quite good. But it was really a pressure,

00:20:46but I'm lucky that I didn't pay too much pension on it, and I was really lucky that

00:20:55I can be the first Hungarian driver. After 20 years, we have the Grand Prix, so it's a very big luck.

00:21:02Whenever a young driver gets into a Formula One car, the number one thing they say is,

00:21:06the brakes are just so phenomenal. Was that the way it was for you, the most extending part of the car?

00:21:11Yeah, the brakes were one of the most expensive parts, and the electrical systems, and this helps.

00:21:19What you don't have in 3000 and you have in F1, that was the main difference, I think,

00:21:24to get used to traction control, the automatic gear up and down. This was quite an interesting thing.

00:21:31Zilt, all year we've been showing the International Formula 3000 series here on Speed Channel in America.

00:21:37It is a great championship in the sense that so many drivers come out of that, and equally you're

00:21:42sharing the Grand Prix weekend with the Formula One people, and you can just jump from your car

00:21:47up into the Jordan garage. Yeah, but I have to get a test drive for that, so I was a test driver since

00:21:56Silverstone for the team, and you need to be there, and you have to get luck as well. It was an unlucky

00:22:03accident for Ralf, but it's the only way that an other driver can get into the Formula One, so

00:22:09it's a really important thing to be there in the right time. Thank you Zolt for joining us,

00:22:16good luck with the rest of your career. Thanks. And we look forward to seeing you back in a Formula

00:22:20One car, not before too long. Yeah, thank you. Okay, stay with us, because when we come back,

00:22:26actually we're not going to go anywhere, because we're going to actually grab Norbert Hauck,

00:22:30who heads up Mercedes Motorsports. We're going to just pepper him with some questions here,

00:22:35and see if he tells us the truth and tells us some lies.

00:22:39Huh? Norbert never lies, never. It's only lies.

00:22:43Okay. What are you doing lining these up, Norbert? We've got some sponsorship deal going on here,

00:22:46or not? Yeah, no, I don't know, I don't know.

00:22:49Now, Norbert, Kimi, yeah, Kimi Raikkonen has obviously got to be the question. I mean, this young man,

00:22:53you put the pressure on his shoulders. He's 23 years of age. He could potentially win this world

00:22:59championship. Do you feel good, Norbert, going into Indianapolis and then on to Suzuka?

00:23:05Yeah, I think we do. And in fairness to Kimi, he drove a great season, and he should have scored

00:23:09more points than he actually has. Just remember the Nürburgring, he was comfortably leading when

00:23:15we had an engine failure, so that was our problem. But, you know, as we say, we win together,

00:23:20we lose together. But Kimi had a remarkable pace, and he matured a lot, and did a great job so far.

00:23:28And his average point scoring is better than anybody else's, if you look at the race he did,

00:23:38and that just shows that he's ready to go for it. But, Norbert, obviously, you know about sods law

00:23:43in England. We talk about sods law from the outside. It appears as if your reliability has been very good

00:23:49this year. He happened to have an engine failure when he's leading the European Grand Prix like

00:23:53that. It's just amazing, really, because if he'd won that race, he'd be here as a, you know.

00:23:58He'd still be in the lead, yeah. But, you know, you know how it is. We did not win, and that's why

00:24:03we are not in the lead. But we are capable of coming back, that's for sure. And, you know, the focus is

00:24:09clearly on Pablo Montoya and Michael Schumacher and Ferrari Williams BMW. But this was a strange season,

00:24:16and a very surprising season with very surprising results. And maybe that continues, and we have

00:24:23the upper hand at the end. We certainly want to go for it. Big rule changes this year. The one-lap

00:24:28qualifying being somewhat controversial. Some people like it, some people don't. Kimi started on the

00:24:34back of the grid twice because of mistakes in that one-lap qualifying. Do you like the one-lap,

00:24:39Norbert? I mean, it takes away and it adds in certain areas. Are you a fan of the one-lap only?

00:24:44Basically, basically I was. But maybe, you know, it has pluses and minuses, to be absolutely frank

00:24:51about it. I think it's quite good for television spectators. I think, you know, we could do with

00:24:57some more replays and some analyses where a driver lost which amount of time or whatever. And, you

00:25:04know, the old qualifying format has had its pluses, and this one has its pluses. I think it's not a black

00:25:11and white decision. Thank you, Norbert, for taking time to join us. Go back to your normal job now,

00:25:17and good luck this weekend. And hopefully it'll go all the way to Suzuki. Yeah, and hopefully it

00:25:21doesn't rain also. Did you want to lay that microphone down? I know Takuma Sato is right

00:25:26here. He's about to step in. Thank you. Of course, Takuna Sato, remember qualifying as just started,

00:25:32so this will be quick. But a lot of rumors here that maybe you may step into the BAR Honda and maybe

00:25:41as a full-time driver next year. Can you enlighten us a little bit on that? Well, as usual, as a driver,

00:25:47racing driver, always expecting to back on racing, of course. And obviously, having been third driver

00:25:56this year, you know, had lots of discussion, of course. But at the moment, all I can say is I'm

00:26:02here for supporting two drivers and anything happen, you know. And Suzuki is the same things,

00:26:09you know. I'm expecting to go there as a third driver, just, you know, supporting two race drivers.

00:26:14And obviously, for next year at the moment, you know, all I can say is just a wait. So is that yes

00:26:19or no? I mean, that's a no comment, you know. Obviously, I want to, you know, I'd like to.

00:26:25It's been a very good year for these third drivers. We've had Marc Genet, obviously,

00:26:29jumping in at Italy. But you have to call Fernando Alonso a third driver as well. He just came in and

00:26:34look what he's done. So that must give you a lot of hope. Yeah, it's a good sign for everybody, really.

00:26:38And I had a lot of confidence about this and, you know, getting very well with the teams and

00:26:43technical things and everything. So I'm happy with them. I'm here now. How do you join the third driver club?

00:26:49Do you have the same passes as everybody else? Or do you and Alexander Wurtz and Marc have special

00:26:53passes? Well, I don't know. They're basically accessible everywhere. The same as the race driver,

00:26:59I think. Yeah. What's it like at test sessions when you guys get together? Do you find that you're all,

00:27:06you've bonded the Wurtzes and the Genets and you and to some extent, Fernando? You're all very good

00:27:13friends. Well, we haven't had much chance to talk to each other because once you go to the testing,

00:27:19it's like our schedule is really seconds or minutes. And, you know, basically just we run,

00:27:24run, run. And sometimes we are passing through at the circuit, but never the rest, you know,

00:27:29no passing on here. Takumo, thank you for taking some time to come and join us. Best of luck for

00:27:35next season. Thank you very much. When we come back, official qualifying has just started. We will go to

00:27:40the boys upstairs, David Hobbs, et cetera. So lunch at India is temporarily over and the rain is

00:27:48beginning to fall.

00:28:00Yeah.

00:28:02Let us all over now.

00:28:04Let us all over now.

00:28:18Let us all over now.

00:28:20We are going to take no more.

00:28:22This is all over now.

00:28:24We are going to take no more.

00:28:26Almost over now, almost over now

00:28:28Something in your chest, better get it off

00:28:30There'll be no one left when we set it off

00:28:32We ain't gonna take it no more

00:28:33Since it's almost over now, almost over now

00:28:36No, it can't be me, I'm a rock star

00:28:38I'm running on the top of a crotch claw

00:28:40I'm a river, I'm a 4-4 pop star

00:28:42It's almost over now, it's almost over now

00:28:44I guess you only heard that we saw a guy

00:28:46It's too damn late to apologize

00:28:48Will you see the mantle or will you see each other

00:28:49It's almost over now, almost over now

00:28:52You think that you don't have to ever call

00:28:53You think that you can get away with it

00:28:55You think the light won't be ever lit

00:28:57It's almost over now, almost over now

00:28:59Something in your chest, better get it off

00:29:01There'll be no one left when we set it off

00:29:03We ain't gonna take it no more

00:29:05Since it's almost over now, almost over now

00:29:07Almost over now, almost over now

00:29:09Almost over now, almost over now

00:29:11Almost over now, almost over now

00:29:25Hello and thanks for joining us here on Speed Channel

00:29:32For live coverage of provisional qualifying

00:29:34For the 4th Annual United States Grand Prix

00:29:36At the Indianapolis Motor Speedway

00:29:39Michael Schumacher still holds a slim lead

00:29:42In the Drivers' Championship

00:29:43So of course, he is the first man out on the track

00:29:46To qualify today

00:29:47Just heading out on the track right now

00:29:53And there is a little bit of rain

00:29:55We've been talking about on the track

00:29:56But right now, there's not a wet track

00:29:59That Michael Schumacher's heading out to

00:30:01No, in the down period

00:30:03We haven't seen any rain at all

00:30:04Right up about a minute

00:30:06Before the qualifying session

00:30:07Has been flagged on the way

00:30:08Then we just had a few small spots of rain

00:30:11Stop to hit the track again

00:30:12So this could be the ideal time to go out

00:30:15If it's gonna rain later in the session

00:30:17As Michael Schumacher works his way around

00:30:20This Indianapolis road course circuit

00:30:21David, why don't you take us around

00:30:23With the Porsche track

00:30:23Well, obviously there is no elevation change here

00:30:26At the Indianapolis Motor Speedway

00:30:28The front straight there

00:30:30204 miles an hour into turn one

00:30:34Turn one is about a 50 mile an hour corner

00:30:36You've got to get the flow

00:30:37Through turns two, three, four

00:30:39As you go into four

00:30:40It's very wide going in

00:30:41Tightens up on the exit

00:30:42Then five is the other way around

00:30:44It goes in a bit tight

00:30:45Then it opens up

00:30:45Six is 180 degree left hand

00:30:48As you can see

00:30:48But you want to get that car

00:30:49Right on the late apex

00:30:50Get seven right

00:30:51Because it's a good fast run

00:30:53Down the Hultman Boulevard

00:30:54To eight

00:30:55Nine and ten

00:30:56Are really kind of throwaway corners

00:30:57You need really good mechanical grip there

00:30:59And from eight

00:31:00All the way through

00:31:02I mean eleven

00:31:03All the way through twelve, thirteen

00:31:05And down to one

00:31:06Is twenty-two seconds

00:31:07Of absolutely non-stop full throttle

00:31:10The longest

00:31:10Any time in Formula One

00:31:12And here he is

00:31:13Right in the middle of that

00:31:14Twenty-two seconds down

00:31:15My Schumacher

00:31:17Two races to go

00:31:19Leading the world championship

00:31:20He has five world championships

00:31:22To his name

00:31:23This could be a potential

00:31:24Sixth world championship

00:31:26He has the most wins

00:31:28He has sixty-nines

00:31:29He has the most podiums

00:31:30One hundred and twenty-one

00:31:31The most points

00:31:32One thousand twenty-seven

00:31:34The most times on the front row

00:31:36Ninety-one

00:31:37He has actually won

00:31:40Nineteenth race in the last

00:31:42Twenty-six months

00:31:43Nineteenth would put him

00:31:44Like eleventh on the

00:31:46All-time winning list

00:31:47Of all drivers

00:31:48Just in the last

00:31:49Twenty-six months

00:31:50You were just talking

00:31:51About Jackie Stewart

00:31:52You know

00:31:52When he won in 1973

00:31:53He had twenty-seven victories

00:31:55And then held for what

00:31:56Fourteen years

00:31:56He's called for it

00:31:57That record held

00:32:00For another fourteen years

00:32:01Beyond that

00:32:01You see that the

00:32:04Ferrari engineers

00:32:05Trimmed a little bit

00:32:05Of the downforce

00:32:06Back off the car

00:32:08When they were running

00:32:08In that wet session

00:32:10This morning

00:32:11The wind's angled

00:32:13Down a little bit

00:32:14But they will be running

00:32:15More downforce today

00:32:16Guys

00:32:17Than they will do tomorrow

00:32:18By virtue of the fact

00:32:19That the aerodynamic

00:32:19Sessions on the cars

00:32:20For qualifying tomorrow

00:32:21Is what they must

00:32:22Start the race with

00:32:23So

00:32:23You'll have to trim

00:32:25The downforce

00:32:26Off the car

00:32:26A little bit

00:32:27For this section

00:32:28Right here

00:32:28This long

00:32:29Twenty-two second dash

00:32:31There it is

00:32:32Of course

00:32:32Good enough

00:32:33A pole

00:32:33This is the first guy

00:32:34Out so far

00:32:35One-ten

00:32:35Seven-three-six

00:32:36Fastest lap

00:32:37Of the weekend

00:32:38So far

00:32:38The fastest lap

00:32:39This morning

00:32:40Was

00:32:40Jano Trui

00:32:42The one-eleven

00:32:42And change

00:32:43So

00:32:45Now

00:32:46His nemesis

00:32:48One couple of

00:32:49Montoya

00:32:50Is about to take

00:32:50The ability

00:32:51She goes very wide

00:32:52Just keeping out

00:32:54That grass

00:32:55And of course

00:32:55The grass being wet

00:32:56Having rained

00:32:57Quite heavily down there

00:32:58This morning

00:32:59Track looking pretty dry

00:33:01At the moment

00:33:01Sprinting of rain

00:33:04Seems to have stopped

00:33:05It's very grey

00:33:06Very overcast

00:33:07And very cool

00:33:08Here

00:33:08Next up

00:33:10Juan Pablo Montoya

00:33:11The man who is second

00:33:12In the championship

00:33:13By just three points

00:33:14Now don't forget

00:33:17This is just

00:33:17Provisional qualifying

00:33:19A real qualifying

00:33:20Will be coming tomorrow

00:33:21Live on

00:33:22Speed Channel

00:33:23Which is what's

00:33:24Going to set the grid

00:33:24Basically

00:33:26Everybody wants to run

00:33:27Last

00:33:28Tomorrow

00:33:28Yeah

00:33:31So you want to be

00:33:32Fastest today

00:33:33Because whoever's fastest

00:33:34Today

00:33:34Runs last

00:33:35Tomorrow

00:33:35That's ideal

00:33:36Providing the course

00:33:37The weather

00:33:37Doesn't chase

00:33:38Halfway through

00:33:39Yeah

00:33:40All the guy

00:33:42In front of you

00:33:42Didn't blow up

00:33:43The idea being

00:33:45That by the time

00:33:46You come

00:33:46Around for your run

00:33:48They'll be the most

00:33:48The most rubber

00:33:50On the ground

00:33:51So Montoya

00:33:52Already

00:33:52Just a little bit quicker

00:33:53He was six tenths

00:33:56Faster

00:33:56In the first sector

00:33:57Alone

00:34:07Montoya

00:34:11Trying to be

00:34:11The first

00:34:11Colombian

00:34:12World Champion

00:34:14The first

00:34:14South American

00:34:15Champion

00:34:15Since Senate

00:34:16Quarter of a second

00:34:23Faster

00:34:23So far

00:34:24Here he goes

00:34:24Coming on

00:34:25To the front

00:34:25Straight away

00:34:26Now listen

00:34:28To this BMW

00:34:28Engine

00:34:29Right at the end

00:34:30Just before

00:34:30The braking zone

00:34:31You see that

00:34:32Colombian crowd

00:34:33That's out there

00:34:33And he is faster

00:34:35By almost

00:34:36Four tenths

00:34:36Thirty six hundredths

00:34:37Of a second

00:34:38Kind of interesting

00:34:43Wondering what goes

00:34:44On in terms of

00:34:45Trying to come up

00:34:45With the final

00:34:46Settings

00:34:46Between the end

00:34:48Of that last session

00:34:48When it was so

00:34:49Rainy

00:34:50Into this one

00:34:51It is difficult

00:34:52Because you want

00:34:54To run that

00:34:54Little bit more

00:34:55Downforce

00:34:56As Patrick Head

00:34:57Was talking about

00:34:58In the lunchtime

00:34:58Sessions there

00:34:59With Derek and Peter

00:35:00You need to get

00:35:00The car to work

00:35:01Well through that

00:35:02Infield section

00:35:02But of course

00:35:03Any downforce

00:35:04That you crank

00:35:05Onto the wing

00:35:05Is an absolute

00:35:06Pain

00:35:07On that

00:35:08Straight session

00:35:08This is where

00:35:09You want it

00:35:09This is where

00:35:10The wings will

00:35:11Come into play

00:35:11To really nail

00:35:12The back of the car

00:35:13To the track

00:35:13Now our third figure

00:35:16In the world championship

00:35:17Run

00:35:18Kimi Raikkonen

00:35:19If he could win

00:35:20The world championship

00:35:21Would become

00:35:21The youngest world champion

00:35:23Ever

00:35:23Wouldn't that be awesome

00:35:24However

00:35:25He is seven points

00:35:26Behind

00:35:27And he's going to

00:35:27Need some luck

00:35:28This weekend

00:35:29To make it happen

00:35:30To make it happen

00:35:31And he's going to be

00:35:32That way

00:35:32He's going to be

00:35:33He's going to be

00:35:33The end of the car

00:35:34And he's going to be

00:35:35He's going to be

00:35:36right now from 205 miles an hour to 56 miles an hour it's unbelievable the retardation on

00:35:42these cars and now tied into that infield section right there not have much luck at this trapping

00:35:48suspension collapsed the first year here in the sauber last year is ending blue

00:35:53right of course so that means the third time could be lucky when you talk about luck i mean

00:35:58it's been one of those years of mixed luck for them they started off so strong this year but

00:36:01then they've had two separate qualifying sessions he had horrible life first in spain and then in

00:36:07canada where he spun off during the qualifying session as a result started from the back of the pack

00:36:19this is the corner you want to get right from here on flat out for 22 seconds just slightly slower than

00:36:26montoya at this point what can he do coming around this last turn going on to the front straight away

00:36:38the engine winds up he comes across the line and he does not beat either montoya or michael schumacher

00:36:43in fact he lost a significant amount in that last sector steve boy it's close so he was a 110

00:36:497 56 as opposed to the shoe markers 110 7 36 yeah i think the mercedes engine is a little bit down on power

00:37:01in comparison to the bmw engine in the ferrari and that has compromised them

00:37:08oh that's what that's what did that that big wobble he's only i mean he's only two hundredths of a second

00:37:13well and look at the speed traps time kimmy ryken is 10 miles an hour slower than montoya's time

00:37:17through the speed trap and that's significant

00:37:22next up ralph schumacher who missed the italian grand prix as a result of the testing accident

00:37:27mark jennais filled in did a very fine job and now ralph schumacher back in the car although remember

00:37:33ralph schumacher was there for friday and then was pulled after friday although it doesn't doesn't

00:37:38appear to have the same problems this weekend appear to be in the car and the last the entire

00:37:42weekend and he could be a critical player in the world championship even though he is no longer in

00:37:48the running to win it himself one kilometer fast down straight in montoya slightly slower though in

00:37:57the first sector when it was all time yeah patrick head was saying you need about 30 brake force power

00:38:04to make like two or three kilometers an hour different so you need a lot of power the reason

00:38:11is further goes on a little locking up at the right front there big down yeah it's that drag the the

00:38:17drag penalty for one in running the wing these cars although they produce an awful lot of downforce

00:38:22it's by that big lockup quickest of all in that third sector

00:38:27all right he's finished two sectors he's slightly faster than montoya his teammate

00:38:35he comes around and he's going to come across the line can he take it away from the other williams

00:38:40ralph schumacher is the fastest driver right now on friday by fifteen hundredths of a second despite locking up

00:38:47as i mentioned he could be a major player in this world championship yeah ralph schumacher quick is

00:38:57through the second and the third sector on that run

00:39:05so great time there from ralph schumacher in spite of that huge lock up there

00:39:10it's obviously didn't cost him any time at all really ferrari number two rubens barichello

00:39:18the man who is no longer in the running for the championship

00:39:24he in fact is equal on points with fernando alonso the youngest driver out there and the renaud they

00:39:30both have 55 points ralph schumacher has 58. peter i don't know if you can hear it one pablo but as

00:39:39you went through those various sectors the whole grandstand just lit up with the support from the

00:39:43colombians here is just unbelievable yeah it is you know it's how we're looking for is perfect you

00:39:49know it's uh i lost quite a lot of time couple corners just breaking too early because i didn't

00:39:54really get to do knee tires this morning really the first lap on knee tires i went off so i had to

00:39:59board that and the next time i put knee tires in the outlop this time with rain so now it's a bit of

00:40:05wait and see what happens uh i rock just went a little bit quicker than me that i wasn't surprising

00:40:11but you know for what the lap i was aiming for it was perfect looks like rubens is about to go p1

00:40:16now so the track must be getting quicker all the time it is going to get a lot quicker person by

00:40:21person you know we're in the worst conditions michael myself probably michael was a bit worse than me

00:40:25but you know we just put him rubber down for everybody else thank you very much indeed rubens

00:40:31barichello now up by 38 hundredths of a second after the first two sectors well montoya is

00:40:37absolutely right i mean i said right at the beginning this might not be the best time for

00:40:40anybody to go out for michael schumacher because that rain with a little bit of rubber they had put

00:40:45down in the dry this morning would have certainly got washed off then so we start with a dead green

00:40:50track and look at that already barichello significantly up rubens barichello fastest on the day so far and

00:40:56it'll be pretty hard for anybody to come up and beat him from the rest of the teams but anything is

00:41:00possible and don't forget the next man up is fernando alonso but right now for a brief moment

00:41:05at the very least the ferrari mechanics proud of their rumen man he has the pole at least on this

00:41:13provisional qualifying we'll be right back with more in a moment

00:41:24speed channel's coverage of the united states grand prix is brought to you by bmw

00:41:28visit your local bmw center for a test drive bmw the ultimate driving machine

00:41:38welcome back to speed channel's coverage of the us grand prix indianapolis i'm with ralph schumacher

00:41:42making a comeback to formula one ralph tell us about that lap

00:41:46well it wasn't so perfect i had some problems with understeer

00:41:49break a bit later into turn one it's a shame because i really missed the pole by doing that

00:41:53but you know it's very encouraging for tomorrow our car as i said already before this weekend

00:41:58it's definitely the strongest car here so i'm looking forward to it is that understeer a function

00:42:03of the rain this morning didn't it quite enough running uh certainly with the temperature our tire

00:42:07doesn't work hundred percent as we are usually used to but even then you must say we did a pretty

00:42:13good job in developing the tire so that we can use it in these conditions we didn't have any time to do

00:42:19to fine-tune the setup so that's part of why i had this understood starting to rain now yeah it's just

00:42:24about time to yeah thank you very much ralph and right now on the track fernando alonzo who is not far

00:42:31off the pace at all of course this is on the infield section but he's right now he's just three

00:42:36thousandths of a second behind rubens barichella's pace now the next sector here through these

00:42:42corners the renault with that great mechanical grip very slippery little car

00:42:47quickly here should be they were certainly compromised on that straight line speed david

00:42:53because that ended 208 miles an hour with an 8.86 for alonzo through the speed truck montoya's

00:42:59time this morning through the speed track 218 so 10 miles an hour difference and coming on to the long

00:43:08haul here where they're uh compromised the most except for it certainly slippery's shape

00:43:17and alonzo indeed drops down just a little bit he ends up being fourth fastest

00:43:21in the course

00:43:29rubens barichello rubens fantastic job what is it about these conditions

00:43:33i mean it's uh the track was phenomenal it was a really good grip and uh very very um

00:43:41just just cold really i think it's the best as we could have for for a quick lap

00:43:45perfect lap it was a really good lap really really i'm really happy i want to say hi to everyone at

00:43:51home to sylvanade watching great congratulations fantastic job david coltard on the track right

00:43:59now you see his teammate kimmy raikkonen running for the championship back in the garage kimmy raikkonen

00:44:04is sixth fastest right now and we're hearing that around the track we're getting a little more rain

00:44:09rain so it's getting a little wetter although as you can see not completely wet 16 kilometers slower

00:44:18down the straight that also is 10 miles an hour slightly faster than alonso's time 209.8

00:44:28again nothing like the might of that bmw p82 engine that's in the back of montoya but if you know

00:44:34you're going to give it away on that front straightaway you might as well work on the intercourse

00:44:37you're going to give it away you're going to work on where you can gain it yes all right

00:44:43i didn't say that at all field and i think you did but if i did i didn't mean to and it can't use

00:44:57against me a court of law speaking of david coltard after two sectors he is slightly slower let's see

00:45:04what he can do as he goes into this last one this seems to be where everybody could end up loses

00:45:08quite a bit well you could end up third yeah fourth not bad ahead of fernando alonso right

00:45:21behind juan pablo montoya more importantly ahead of his teammate kimmy raikkonen and remember david

00:45:27coltard has been the first to admit he's had a hard time coming to grips with the single car

00:45:31qualifying and cool todd actually quickest in the second sector there and that is through the tight

00:45:36infield section so much less road he used there than michael schumacher who went right to the grass

00:45:41in that particular well i'll tell you why david and rick you hit the nail on the head earlier on

00:45:45they're running more wing and they're trying to optimize the performance of the chassis knowing that

00:45:48they're going to give that speed away to bmw and to ferrari david coltard quickest in p2 in the

00:45:55second sector exactly where they need that wing on the car and get the chassis to work

00:46:00jarno truly fastest this morning in the uh untimed section session before the rain game

00:46:08he did a 1 11 and change

00:46:13during our lunch at indy flavio briatore talking about how fast jarno truly is but uh

00:46:19he's also alluded that when the car isn't there is that lane on the lane yeah there's a little

00:46:24spike in the car drops here but anyway alluded to the fact that when the car isn't there that

00:46:28sometimes jarno isn't yarno isn't trying hard enough what was what he turned what was that sort of weird

00:46:33fragile fragile in the head wow so far he is fastest in the first sector 21.617 15 hundredths of a second faster

00:46:49the last sector because some of the guys have been losing five and six tenths of a second the last

00:46:55sector if he can hang on and make this work he could take the pole position on this provisional

00:47:01qualifying for friday comes down across the line and then he's going to take the pole position on this

00:47:05provisional qualifying for friday comes down across the line and he's going to take the pole position on

00:47:11he's going to truly do it he does yarno truly takes friday full by 26 hundredths of a second wow

00:47:27it'd be nice to see yarno truly get a pole this year it really would be not greeted with universal

00:47:32appreciation the ferrari bit there i think they're shocked i'm with fernando alonso fernando jano just

00:47:39got the pole presumably a little bit more wing than you perhaps i don't know i don't know but uh

00:47:45you know it's good the renault car is quite competitive here and we are quite satisfied

00:47:49with the balance how difficult is this circuit in terms of the power there's a long straight here

00:47:55yeah it's difficult uh you know we run with very low dampfors to to be quick in the long straight

00:48:01and then in the middle part we have a lot of problems for that we see a lot of spins and a lot of

00:48:06people going off so you know for a driver point of view one time love is always very interesting and

00:48:11very difficult and if it's wet it's wet even more because you know the is very sleepy especially the

00:48:17the last corner and uh will be interesting weekend even if it's dry or wet okay thank you very much

00:48:24fernando derek to you peter what's even more remarkable is when david coolthard was out there

00:48:29you could actually see large raindrops on the pit road here and they were also out on this front

00:48:35straight when truly just did that time it was more of a mist it was blowing but it was definitely

00:48:40something you could clearly feel that mist on your face that makes that one even more remarkable as

00:48:44you watch mark weber we're just looking at some of the camera shots and you can see indeed raindrops

00:48:49on the cameras yeah quite quite big one because if it is just a mist that might give the old engine a

00:48:55bit of an advantage now it's mark weber the first of the jaguars out there trying to qualify

00:49:02yeah just a bit of a clarification what david's talking about there with the rain those to the

00:49:08rain that mist actually will lower combustion temperature inside the engine and of course

00:49:13there's a lot of oxygen inside that rain as well so more oxygen means more power lower temperature

00:49:18inside the cylinder head is always good news as well so you're right you don't want too much rain

00:49:23but a slight miss think about that water injection yeah exactly just running down the old air box

00:49:28weber about half a second off so far weber was seventh fastest this morning after the first

00:49:33practice session and after qualifying whoa he jumped up big time in the last sector he did we shocked or

00:49:41what goodness gracious suddenly jumping up the third fastest right now it is yarn a truly rubens

00:49:49barichello and mark weber first second and third fastest in friday's provisional qualifying he using

00:49:57every inch of road there too but he must have picked up an enormous amount of time in that last sector and

00:50:04and those very very very tight corners well we talked about setting up for different parts of the track

00:50:09and obviously they've set it up for that last section

00:50:12yeah jensen button is out on the track right now and i'm with david cool tub great lap there david

00:50:21quicker than kimmy but what are the track conditions like at the moment uh well the the spitting with

00:50:26rain as i started the lap so that always makes you a little bit apprehensive um car had a little bit of

00:50:31overseer in it so i actually started my my lap through the last corner a bit sideways um so there's a little

00:50:37bit room for improvement i think that um yarners time might be difficult for us to to get to with

00:50:42the current setup but which is a surprise given the length of the the main straight here but i think

00:50:47they benefited from the friday morning running and maybe maybe you don't need to be quick on that first

00:50:52sector and mark webb has just gone quick in the jaguar too is that right well it just shows that uh that

00:50:57friday morning session has given them some advantage of track knowledge where do you think the tire balance

00:51:01is now assuming it's dry on race day bridgetown versus michelin it's very difficult one to say you

00:51:07know you see from this morning from this qualifying session so far that it looks quite quite evenly

00:51:12matched but um you know it's uh jano was was quickest on the friday uh practice in budapest uh with the

00:51:19ferrari very close with rubens and it looks like it's going to be the same again here thank you very much

00:51:23indeed good luck jensen button out on the track right now way off the pace yeah and he was

00:51:31very quick in the rain this morning and that may be the problem now you see those raindrops on that

00:51:36camera on the car brings the bar honda across the line and he is 10th fastest slowest of the runners

00:51:48so far but you know what's interesting is jarna truly is fast as rubens barichello is second mark

00:51:54weber is third what's really interesting michael schumacher is eighth fastest today and kimmy raikkonen

00:52:00is ninth fastest very interesting at the front very interesting at the back today we're going

00:52:05to take a brief break we'll come back with more gotten interesting so far don't go away

00:52:10welcome back to indianapolis john carlo fisichella on the track right now don't forget to set the vcrs

00:52:20because on sunday starting at 1 30 eastern time speed channel will be proud to bring you live

00:52:25coverage of the formula one united states grand prix our live coverage will start with the accurate

00:52:30free race show with reports and interviews from both peter windsor and derek daly michael schumacher

00:52:34can clinch his record-setting sixth world championship sunday shaping up to be an event

00:52:39you will not want to miss again that's sunday at 1 30 eastern time only here on speed

00:52:49john carlo fisichella out beginning to start his hot lap

00:52:53had his engine blow up on the french straightaway this morning and when he pulled out of pit lane just

00:52:57a few moments ago we saw more puffs of smoke coming out that looked a little bit ominous didn't it let's

00:53:01hope let's hope it was just oil in the uh in the primaries burning off after starting the lump up

00:53:07well i mean jano truly currently fastest in qualifying jano do you think this is good enough for the pole

00:53:11i think so personally i think i did a nice really good job and uh when i was driving i felt very well

00:53:17i think we did an extremely good job in developing the car but also we have to thank the fact that uh

00:53:45we we did run in uh dry condition compared to our uh rivals like for our winners in the car

00:53:51and this uh gave us a chance to improve the car congratulations okay guys back to you in the booth

00:53:57jano truly is qualified second four times he'd love to finally have a pole and this man had his

00:54:02first victory this year since in quite a drought and he is right now 11 fastest slowest on the day

00:54:09slowest of the day and and slows through the speed trap as well 206.1 and i wonder whether or not

00:54:14uh ford have had to detune that engine a little bit if they think they've got reliability problems

00:54:19or certainly they must something's affecting them but i wonder whether or not they've just dropped a

00:54:23little bit of horsepower off this lump to keep the thing together a long night ahead one would think

00:54:29for cosworth engineers steve steve it's raining raining heavier now than it has for the whole session

00:54:37that absolutely costs he's to care a lot of time as you see cristiano domata run down a domata from

00:54:43his champ car days of course has is used to this one lap qualifying but he's not used to this track

00:54:50no he's not used to this track but interesting but let's get a comment from mark weber first for peter

00:54:54peter p3 and it's starting to rain terrible isn't it yeah i'm very disappointed about that but i'm

00:54:59even more impressed with you running all the way up from here to catch us it's good for your fitness

00:55:02campaign yeah first running i've done all year i've got to get in training for your tasmanian

00:55:07deal yeah well yeah that's uh yeah great day for us you know the qualifying turned out pretty well

00:55:13it's first time we took the fuel out of the car very happy with it so we're just going to focus on

00:55:18sunday now tomorrow's weather who knows so you know we're just going to stay cool we saw the bridge

00:55:22stones looking pretty strong in the semi-wet this morning i guess you guys obviously hoping for a dry

00:55:28race yeah i'd much prefer a dry race i think uh it's better for us to have a dry grand prix but

00:55:35you know it's uh we've had a lot of hot grand prix this year so hopefully you know tomorrow will be

00:55:40a big influence even on the grid for the for the race if it's greasy and misty and like it is right

00:55:45now well very best of luck congratulations on a great job derek i believe you've got christiano

00:55:50de mata don't have him because he's pretty busy right now out on the race you can see the rain on his lens

00:55:56but on friday he's 11th fast did you see that right there on friday at the press conference i asked

00:56:03him alonzo jack villeneuve montoya michael schumacher and kimmy raikon if they liked the rule change

00:56:11and liked the one lap dash to qualifying and believe it to a man they all said sure that they

00:56:17wouldn't change it if they had the choice to change it back to what the format was last year which is

00:56:21multiple laps i i found that quite surprising yeah i was surprised that kimmy raikon said that of all

00:56:27the people who who has not benefit from it he's the one at least in terms of the front runners and he

00:56:32was like no it's okay i like it actually i couldn't understand what he said well that's because you need

00:56:40to be interpreted by by steve magic he's the best uh the best kimmy raikon interpreter going we have these

00:56:46days i tell french and out of the sauber right now once again jarno truly the fastest qualifier

00:56:53rubens barichello is second but the most intriguing thing to me michael schumacher is eighth fastest and

00:56:59kimmy raikon is ninth montoya is fifth fastest so significantly ahead of those guys

00:57:04and uh i don't think he'll be repeating the podium or will jordan this year so um how things have

00:57:22changed for heint child frenton next year i don't know what he's doing next year it's sunning himself i

00:57:29but you know still seeing that railing falling on the camera lens francis manama's work that out to

00:57:33keep his car stable through this infield section well if it keeps rain like this because the guys

00:57:43are running from now on are really basically at lunch i mean these poor guys were all were logically

00:57:50going to be slower anyway throwing a little bit of rain yeah they're looking at their life a little bit more

00:57:54makes life miserable for them and the secret here is simply not to do anything yeah get your car out

00:57:59there get a place and once again this is friday qualifying yes it'll determine your your role

00:58:07tomorrow in terms of what position you're going to qualify in but the main goal is to be there for

00:58:11tomorrow and not make do any damage to either the car or as you look at that as they come onto that front

00:58:17straightaway and you look at that wall right there not to do any damage to yourself as well well of course

00:58:22you know you just gotta hang hang on and just hope that tomorrow is going to be okay

00:58:27now now look we're four seconds off the pace as Heinz-Herald-Frensen is out qualifying

00:58:35hang on grippo going away now

00:58:43oh locking up there so uh but you do get that that's that classic as the weight transfers over the

00:58:48front axle and look at the rain oh even the colombian contingent running at this point we could see

00:58:56that coming looking out of the booth window we could see the city of indianapolis disappearing in

00:59:01front of our lives about 10 minutes ago well it's here now so this is going to be a disaster

00:59:07and now look at the spray coming off olivier vannes this car

00:59:12this of course is what this new qualifying um system was supposed to do just exactly this um

00:59:18throw in the uncertainties of different weather conditions throughout the qualifying and remember

00:59:23in france we had the exact opposite of this when it rained at the beginning and then dried out the

00:59:27end and you asked for stopping then if the provoked provisional full sitter on friday

00:59:32and what we haven't had to happen is this similar situation happened during a saturday qualifying

00:59:39but tomorrow the weather forecast is not great for tomorrow

00:59:41and tonight and tomorrow is supposed to be pretty iffy weather-wise sunday dry but could be showers but cool

00:59:49i tell you listening to the cars as they exit the pits and get up to full speed is like hearing a

01:00:03rocket take off right you can it actually reverberates through the booth up here on top of the grandstand

01:00:10the engines actually reverberating through vibrating through you can feel it inside your body and watch

01:00:15olivia finish his lap we were just noticing that you know jacques villeneuve was going out and hearing

01:00:20him get off the pit lane limiter and throw it into full forward is an amazing sound all right now we're

01:00:28down to eight seconds off the base and as you say rick the idea now really is you just want to keep

01:00:33it together don't do anything stupid and write the chassis off and certainly don't go into the driver

01:00:39remember this is not going to uh put you on pole for the start of the races we'll just determine

01:00:44the order for tomorrow and you know if it was in dry conditions it would be more important but because

01:00:49we don't know what the weather the condition is going to be like tomorrow actually going out first or

01:00:53last could have an advantage or disadvantage anything's possible it doesn't matter whether it's first or

01:00:58last until we know tomorrow jock villeneuve out on the track right now

01:01:09funny when it rained this morning it rained most of all down at the uh the speedway into the track as

01:01:15it were through through the banks over there and we're joking spray going up there you've been down

01:01:22this straightaway a couple hundred miles an hour you have any desire to do it in the rain

01:01:25interesting fellas yesterday again at the same press conference i thought vill have made some

01:01:32remarkable statements he said his life right now is becoming very difficult because he knows honda

01:01:38wants him out of that team i thought that was a remarkable thing to say he said he's never worked

01:01:44so hard as he had in the last two years and never had so little fun we had dinner as you said with

01:01:50david richards last night and uh it was all said and done although he never said what specifically

01:01:56when jock villeneuve's fate was it became pretty clear that jock villeneuve was not going to be driving

01:02:01for this team next year certainly seems that way doesn't look at the car squirming around you can hear

01:02:06the traction control really working overtime yeah but there it is again right there you're trying to

01:02:13put the power down and the car's just saying no jack no no wait i'll tell you when it's raining we're not

01:02:20supposed to do this now she's hardly going at all over that section just right here it starts and then

01:02:28just right here it gets really heavy just swept across that bottom corner of the track now one good

01:02:35thing is because you know you were talking about the little diamond groove that they've made it will

01:02:39actually help out a little bit in the circumstance right when they're going on to that front straight

01:02:42away steve yeah yeah remember we're talking about this at the top of the show this morning the diamond

01:02:48ground the track to try and get rid of some of the high points on it and it's left a series of

01:02:52ridges very small ridge almost like record grooves around the oval part of the track

01:03:00and unfortunately i think we have even more rain than the little

01:03:03record grooves can handle today we're going to take a brief break

01:03:08jock villeneuve qualified 15th out of 15 but jarno truly is still on the pole we'll be right back

01:03:18back at indianapolis where nick heitfeld is out trying to qualify yesterday it was absolutely

01:03:34beautiful today yes the sun was shining about 75 or 70 degrees look at that now big time now

01:03:47rooster teller it's just getting wetter and wetter and wetter out there

01:03:51during the morning practice that rained shortly before the end of it the last 20 minutes or so were

01:03:58done in rain and uh as a result they got some dry running but not a whole lot and now it's gone wet

01:04:05again on us earlier christiana christiana demata qualified he is 11 fastest and he was with peter

01:04:14christiana i guess one of the things about this one lap qualifying is that the weather can change from

01:04:19the beginning to the end of the session yeah i i don't think i got the track 100 dry was uh damp i'm

01:04:28not not as unlucky as the guys that are going out now but uh not the way i need to be uh the point for

01:04:35me the positive thing is that we we ran okay this morning uh the car seems to be running okay in this

01:04:41track this morning so i just wish i can get some track time on the dry uh to get some experience

01:04:49because i'm not 100 in the track yet with this wet dry where you have wet dry i've only done i'm not

01:04:55mistaking six or seven laps on the dry and that's it so hopefully tomorrow i can get some more how does

01:05:01it feel in general to be at indy for a formula one race uh for me it doesn't feel all weird as it should

01:05:08because i have never raced here before uh on any other cars so it's the just the place is amazing

01:05:15i like to be here but uh i still think it's not the indy 500 but it still feels good being here

01:05:22it's great to see you here well done congratulations you know nick heitfeld's not doing bad it's 6.8

01:05:29seconds off the pace because it's wetter everywhere now yeah he's actually holding on quite well

01:05:34let's see what he can do if he can uh he is the 16th qualifier anything other than 16. well he's 15

01:05:45now so for what it's worth he is uh faster than jacques villeneuve and peter's with him right now i am

01:05:51indeed jack you're very quick this morning in the semi-wet what was it like out there then oh it was wet

01:05:57now the only problem is the guys in front didn't have a wet track uh so there's nothing you can do you

01:06:02still drive hard because uh you know you're a race car driver but you know you're going to be at the

01:06:06back uh which is okay when everybody knows why but if you just look at the sheet of paper just looks

01:06:10like we're slow and that's a little bit annoying well if you put those times to one side is it actually

01:06:14a fun car to drive in those conditions yeah the car is the car is quite good in the wet in general

01:06:21so it's enjoyable uh but it's just frustrating when you're sore because everybody else was on a dry

01:06:26track absolutely well let's hope your luck picks up tomorrow thank you think about this jacques villeneuve

01:06:31when he was just out on that track when it was wet turning his lap he went through the trap at 210.2

01:06:37miles an hour which was only a tenth of a second slower than urano truly went through in the rain he was

01:06:44cooking

01:06:45well alfa firman is on wet tires now so it really is a matter of survival i'm not going to get any

01:06:56quick times it it's almost going to the point you know is it worth if you want to risk the chassis by

01:07:00going out now well you don't really have to be so close towards the back but

01:07:15that's why the rooster cells are so much more obvious and there's so much more water spray coming

01:07:24off the wet tires than as opposed to the groove because that's what they're designed to do

01:07:28whereas the grooved dry weather tires and the slicks and race in terms of just slide and aqua

01:07:33plane across the top these guys these big wet weather tires are designed to just pump gallons

01:07:37water away from the track

01:07:47it's very wet now

01:07:56now

01:07:58and now we keep saying it's just a matter of staying off the walls don't do any damage

01:08:15to the car or yourself but the cloud the rain clouds are definitely started to leave the track

01:08:21downtown indianapolis is now back in full vision again great yeah right right these guys are out

01:08:27there right now great that's what verstappen wilson and kies were saying oh great it's going to dry

01:08:33out for us right yeah wrong here it comes although you could argue that you might not have a very much

01:08:38different grid in reality i mean just because the rain hit didn't ultimately probably alter too much

01:08:43a few people might have moved up a little bit or might have moved down a little bit but that first

01:08:48had the up until uh ninth there had been no rain at all it was when jensen button went out and he's

01:08:53tenth that you started to get some rain after that is to mata fisekella frentzen which you know are all

01:08:59pretty much the order that everybody was qualifying and frentzen was slow this morning he might have been

01:09:04further down panice might have moved up a little bit but ultimately it's not that much different yeah

01:09:09first up but it looks like he's going to come in the pit so he's aborting his run which means that he

01:09:18will in fact go out first tomorrow just wilson and kiesa to go what's that the second or third time

01:09:27we've seen a minority this year aboard on their lap a little lost right there heading straight to the

01:09:37guard corner or anything unusual on the engine the lump sounded fine when he came in but

01:09:42i don't know maybe the telemetry showed some problem or he thought why risk the car

01:09:48and obviously a lot different than the old pre-qualifying days remember that when you'd have

01:09:52a pre-qualifying session first on friday morning forgot who was going to be able to actually take part

01:09:57in practice and qualifying now we have 20 20 cars and they're all going to be taking part

01:10:03well justin wilson's run of luck continues after taking the wheel of the jaguar for the first time

01:10:11at we're hockenheim he had done so well in the minority his starts have been so spectacular and

01:10:17he just has not gotten any luck at all once he moved into the jaguar seat

01:10:21and it's tough having mark weber as your teammate weber who's uh had a full year of bernardy and

01:10:30then he's come into jaguar and i think the team has really gelled around mark weber and these guys

01:10:35these 41 cars are very different performance 3000 because when they race in former 3000 together

01:10:41in like 2000 um they were very evenly matched and wilson uh i think beat

01:10:47weber more than the other way around i expected that wilson was thinking when he came to the team

01:10:52with him kings would uh be better but of course big difficulty in these cars and and weber's had

01:10:59a couple of years to get used to them now

01:11:04they saw antonio pezonia wandering around the garage area and pezonia has to be sort of going

01:11:11thinking there's a little bit of redemption and that wilson didn't jump in the car and so

01:11:14would blow him away right off the back but then pedro de la rosa could be saying the same thing

01:11:22the rose who drove for the team last year and was rather unceremoniously dumb so they can go to

01:11:26pezonia it seems to be drying out out there but it does very well it is yeah that cloud has definitely

01:11:32gone and stopped raining but you guys said it's too late in the session for a dry line to start to

01:11:38appear and that's another problem with this single lap qualifying you just don't get the traffic during

01:11:42the hour-long session if it starts to dry you don't get enough traffic to generate a dry line to

01:11:47improve towards the end of the session about that hour session as it used to be everybody out and all

01:11:52running at the same time see how jaguar and wilson do

01:11:59peter's down there with jas for stopping we can find out what went wrong well just we're reasonably

01:12:03used to seeing you abort on a qualifying lap but not on a friday what happened there

01:12:07i don't know i mean we tried to leave i mean we left the pits and as soon i switched the

01:12:13pitlim speed limiter over the engine had no power i think it's a problem with the software

01:12:19what a shame because you love these conditions i know it would have been difficult to have done a

01:12:23time but they are fun conditions for you because i mean everybody likes uh qualifying like me and even

01:12:28last race i couldn't do qualifying because the engine didn't start and now happen this happens again you

01:12:34know it's very well we're very sorry to see it let's hope your luck is better tomorrow thank you

01:12:40second to last qualifier is justin wilson and the jaguar he is number 19 we have one more which will

01:12:46be nicholas chiesa and the other minardi going out there

01:12:53how frustrating for minardi and jos verstappen with that software glitch sounded like he took his finger

01:12:59off the pit lane speed limiter but it didn't actually disengage the uh the software function

01:13:04just remained on the pit limiter speed ah about two seconds to cure once the thing's back in the

01:13:11garage yeah that's irritating isn't it yeah yeah isn't there a reset button you can just hit

01:13:17there will be for next race

01:13:21justin wilson slowest of all the qualifiers that have gone today realizing that jas verstappen who is now 19th

01:13:27hasn't actually turned a qualifying lap and now we have just one man to go and that will be nicholas

01:13:33chiesa a newcomer to formula one he won most of the season in formula 3000

01:13:41and was added to the team late by virtue of justin wilson who was running in the minardi

01:13:46earlier this season and then got the call to go up to join the jaguar team and uh his chance of staying

01:13:53with jaguar next year i think are pretty slim um in fact we even hear rumors that jaguar might be

01:14:00looking for a pain driver next year which seems almost unbelievable that a team of that prestige

01:14:07and that power would be looking for money from the driver was talking with nicholas chiesi yesterday

01:14:12we were talking about how this whole ride came to pass and he was saying that um you know he had about

01:14:17a three-day heads up his manager's buddies with jester wilson's manager so he knew something was up and he

01:14:21went looking for money to try to get the sponsorship to pay it off but he wasn't allowed to tell any of

01:14:27the potential sponsors what the money was for it was like can you give me two hundred thousand dollars

01:14:32i can't tell you what it's for but it's going to be really great and amazingly he was able to pull it

01:14:37together here's his time through the speed trap 197.7 but on wet and truly's time is certainly going to

01:14:46stand on friday and he was as we said quickest in sector one and sector two and that comes out exactly

01:14:53how we're describing the performance of the renault chassis the aerodynamics how they can get the

01:14:58thing to work so well through that infield section they just need to get more power and i tell you what

01:15:04david you've been saying it all year once they do get that more they do get more horsepower they are

01:15:08going to be a real threat to the top three man watch out

01:15:18he holds on and that's what really matters exactly that's what's significant also talking about the

01:15:41fact that they've tested the uh the old arrows chassis as well and very likely they're going to be running

01:15:47some form of that next year whether it be called a minnow or what name they'll come up with it who

01:15:53knows all right all the cards have qualified yarn are truly fastest rubens barichello is second we're

01:15:58going to take a brief break we'll come back with more from indianapolis right after this

01:16:08welcome back to speed channel's live coverage of qualifying for the u.s grand prix at the indianapolis

01:16:13motor speedway bit of a surprise yarn are truly fastest in provisional qualifying on friday and

01:16:19he was fast in a lot of the wrong places even though his top line his straight line speed was low

01:16:24he cracked out a tremendous first sector which includes a good bit of the end of that fast straight

01:16:28barichello was second just well i can see very close behind mark webber had a very surprising run to

01:16:34third ralph schumacher there with montoya i don't forget michael schumacher was first out montoya was

01:16:40second out uh kimmy raikkonen who's not even on that list was third out of course that was after

01:16:45the rain this morning so they had a green track so a bit of a mix up today and it's going to be

01:16:49interesting to see what that does to tomorrow's qualifying which of course is the one that really

01:16:54counts and the weather forecast for tomorrow's a bit iffy as well yeah jensen button was the first

01:16:58of the rain runners then it just got progressively worse as time went on but the good news is everybody

01:17:04made it safely through today and that's what really matters no broken cars no broken drivers

01:17:08no the only broken cars we had this morning was this morning when both jordans uh quit one blew up

01:17:13and the other one just stopped well that does it for our coverage from indy for today but don't

01:17:18forget to join us tomorrow morning starting at nine o'clock eastern time or eight o'clock if you live

01:17:22here in indianapolis for live coverage of both free practice sessions then at 1 30 eastern time we'll

01:17:27have live coverage of the final practice or warm-up session you call it all immediately by final

01:17:32qualifying and then on sunday at 12 30 eastern time speed will bring you live coverage of the fourth

01:17:37annual united states grand prix from the indianapolis motor speedway so for david hobbs steve matchup

01:17:44derek daly and peter winter i'm rich de brule we expect to see you back here tomorrow

01:17:50for final qualifying for the u.s grand prix at the indianapolis motor speedway

01:17:56come to the

01:18:03you

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