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00:02:04This is such an amazing place to come and drive a racing car.
00:02:07I always loved it.
00:02:09The fast flow and nature of this circuit.
00:02:11It is where a Formula One car is at its best.
00:02:14Absolutely.
00:02:15The McLaren fans with their specially designed helmets.
00:02:19I've seen Active Aero for the first time on hats on the Japanese fans.
00:02:24They have flocked here.
00:02:26And some have even got their blow up Pirellis as well.
00:02:28Handy if they want to dive into one of the ponds around here.
00:02:31But I wouldn't suggest that even though it's a glorious day today.
00:02:34The wind has dropped a little bit, which I think helps because it was in the wrong direction of the
00:02:39spoon yesterday.
00:02:40And it will be a headwind going into that first turn, which I can't imagine what it's like, especially in
00:02:45qualifying.
00:02:46Yeah, it's not too bad.
00:02:48Turn one, you know, the car is hitting the ground a little bit.
00:02:50But it's more the S's.
00:02:51You don't want to tailwind up the S's.
00:02:53It just makes the car very difficult to turn.
00:02:56And you don't want that headwind on the back straight either, which is where you get so much drag as
00:03:00you're heading up to 130R.
00:03:01Right.
00:03:01Two minutes to go to the start of the first part of qualifying.
00:03:05Bernie Collins is down on the pit wall for us, ready and eagerly anticipating.
00:03:10Is it going to be soft tyres all the way through?
00:03:13Or are the mediums going to be fast enough for some?
00:03:16Yes, hello, Crafty.
00:03:18Down on the pit wall, love it down here.
00:03:20This is one of the best ways to experience this qualifying session.
00:03:24And yes, like you say, there will be, I think, a mix of tyres.
00:03:28A number of teams have saved an additional set of medium tyres.
00:03:33Now, they might try that medium during the early session of Q1 in particular in order to progress and still
00:03:40have a very good medium for the race.
00:03:42So expect a mix, particularly in Q1.
00:03:45But the soft tyre does look like a big benefit here.
00:03:48So I think we'll see the majority of that in that Q1 session.
00:03:52Thanks, Bernie.
00:03:52Pit wall for our race control.
00:03:54Max Verstappen, we just saw in his Red Bull car, unbeaten in the race and qualifying here since 2019.
00:04:02And if he keeps that record up, well, he will go home a god from Suzuka.
00:04:07He will, because looking at the performance so far this weekend, they haven't really got a chance of fighting for
00:04:13the pole position.
00:04:14But you never know with Max, right?
00:04:16Well, that's true.
00:04:17If there's one driver that can manhandle a car to pole, it's Max Verstappen.
00:04:20He showed it last year.
00:04:21But, Lauren Mechik, the team boss, openly admitting we've not given the drivers the car that they deserve.
00:04:28So what can Red Bull come away with from here?
00:04:31Can they get both cars in the Q3?
00:04:33Yeah, that has to be the aim.
00:04:34You know, they have both drivers doing a really good job.
00:04:38But both frustrated because they want more from this car, especially around a circuit like Suzuka.
00:04:43You know, you come here so excited about the flow of this place.
00:04:46And if your car doesn't work for you, it is very frustrating.
00:04:48But, you know, behind the Mercedes, behind the Ferraris, behind the McLarens, yes, I think they have a chance of
00:04:54getting into Q3.
00:04:55But it's not going to be easy.
00:04:56Three, two, and one.
00:04:58And we've got a green light.
00:05:00And there is car number 11 at the back of the pack waiting to get out.
00:05:03Sergio Perez, and with all due respect to Cadillac and the upgrade that they brought here, which has brought them
00:05:08a bit closer.
00:05:08And in FP3, we're ahead of the both of the Aston Martins.
00:05:12We're expecting them to go out in Q1.
00:05:15We're expecting Aston Martin to go out in Q1 as well.
00:05:19There seems to be no end in sight to the issues that they and Honda are having.
00:05:23Yeah, it's been, again, another difficult weekend.
00:05:26I don't think you're going to see a massive shift in performance or reliability for the next couple of races.
00:05:32You know, this takes time.
00:05:34But it's frustrating for everyone involved.
00:05:36And it's also frustrating for the fans.
00:05:38You know, we want to see them competitive, especially a car that's built by Adrian Newe and it's got our
00:05:42Fernando Alonso in the car.
00:05:43Yeah, I saw the T-Rex last night.
00:05:45Rexy dressed in his Aston Martin green with his Aston Martin banner.
00:05:48And he was angrier than angry can be.
00:05:51Let's head for some calm down into the pit lane to counteract that.
00:05:54Ted Kravitz, good afternoon.
00:05:56How are you?
00:05:57Hello, Crofty.
00:05:57Hello, Jensen.
00:05:58Hello, everyone.
00:05:58Very well.
00:05:59Was it a friendly T-Rex?
00:06:01The name of Rexy?
00:06:02It sounds a very friendly T-Rex.
00:06:04Well, you think so, but he came at me, mate.
00:06:06Did he?
00:06:06Faster than an Aston Martin down the streets.
00:06:08Naughty Rexy.
00:06:09Bad boy.
00:06:09Right.
00:06:10The Aston Martins are indeed going out and they have made a little bit of progress, but the car is
00:06:15slow around here with the limitations they have on their engine.
00:06:19They do intend to do as much of Q1 as possible, but we'll see what happens after that.
00:06:24Do watch out for the Audis, though, everybody.
00:06:26They are quick around here.
00:06:28Nika Hülkenberg, seventh.
00:06:29Gabriel Portoleto, ninth in free practice three.
00:06:32So they're going pretty well.
00:06:34Well, Arvid Lindblad, a little bit short on laps so far today, but he's out ready for qualifying as well.
00:06:41Ferrari ready to go.
00:06:42If you're expecting to see the Macarena wing, the one that does the full 180, you'll be disappointed.
00:06:47There aren't too many straights here, unlike China, so they're not running it this weekend.
00:06:53And otherwise, yeah, Red Bull and I haven't seen the McLarens out, but they look like they're all ready.
00:06:58They're just going to let some of the early runners clean up the track a bit.
00:07:01And one of those early runners is Liam Lawson, New Zealand's finest, and barrelling into Turn 1, he goes on
00:07:08his opening lap.
00:07:09And if he gets into Q3 today, that might not be a surprise.
00:07:12The racing ball's going well.
00:07:13Liam Lawson going well.
00:07:15On the subject of Audi, both drivers going back into the garage after FP3.
00:07:20And we're asked, right, okay, what do we do at the car to make it better?
00:07:22What's wrong with it?
00:07:24It actually feels quite fine, was what both drivers were saying.
00:07:27And that is progress for Audi in just their third Grand Prix.
00:07:29Yeah, I think that's the biggest surprise so far this weekend, is the pace of the Audi.
00:07:33And both drivers have been up there.
00:07:35Very impressive, considering they've all started, obviously, from scratch, building these new power units.
00:07:40But they've actually started from scratch.
00:07:42They've had to get the personal involved with the experience to build it.
00:07:46So really, really impressive.
00:07:48And really nice to see the Audi name in the top ten.
00:07:50It certainly is.
00:07:52Four rings on the side of the garage.
00:07:54And we'll see their drivers out very shortly, I'm sure.
00:07:58Let's follow the progress of Liam Lawson.
00:08:00Round Spoon curve he does.
00:08:01And now there's the slingshot as he gets onto the straight.
00:08:04It was twitchy on the way in there, wasn't it?
00:08:06Through the first part of Spoon.
00:08:07I have to say, the racing ball's car this weekend looks fantastic.
00:08:11The colour scheme.
00:08:12I love it.
00:08:13It looks like it should be drifting around here, though.
00:08:15Looks a bit like a drift car.
00:08:17Yeah, it's got the wheels for it, isn't it?
00:08:19They are probably drifters' wheels on that.
00:08:22One more chicane to go and a final corner.
00:08:24And they looked a bit twitchy going through there.
00:08:26But that's fairly solid there from Liam Lawson, who puts time in of a 1.30.1.7.
00:08:31There's your benchmark time to try and chase his teammate.
00:08:35Arvid Lindblad is next across the line.
00:08:37And he goes a tenth of a second faster.
00:08:40Now, Arvid's had issues.
00:08:41He got one lap in no time at all during FP2.
00:08:46It's his first visit, isn't it, in Formula 1 as a rookie to Suzuka.
00:08:50If he out-qualifies Liam Lawson today for the first time this season, that is a marvellous performance.
00:08:55It would be.
00:08:56I think, looking at the times now, they're quite a way off what they were doing in FP3.
00:09:00They were down into the 29s.
00:09:01But also, they have taken a few laps to get these tyres in the working range.
00:09:07Or maybe it's just them getting their eye in around here.
00:09:09Should we expect times to be half a second a lap slower, given that unlike in the practice sessions,
00:09:16we've now got that limit on the megajoule that can be harvested, which sounds like something you hear on a
00:09:23farming programme.
00:09:24But basically, the batteries will take eight megajoules and that's it for the entirety of a lap.
00:09:30But they can't do it all in one go because the battery would be too heavy.
00:09:33But it's eight and a half megajoules, nine with overtake mode for practice sessions.
00:09:38We've taken half a megajoule off to stop that lifting and coasting at the end of a straight.
00:09:43Yeah, which also makes it difficult.
00:09:45You know, they've jumped into qualifying and they've got eight megajoules and 8.5 megajoules,
00:09:50which is definitely more difficult because you're just unsure of where those braking points are now
00:09:55because there's less lifting and coasting or less recharge.
00:09:58Lifting and coasting has always been part of Formula 1.
00:10:01I'll just ask drivers that have run here in the parts like Jenson Buck.
00:10:05To be honest, 2011 seems like yesterday.
00:10:07You're right, I did a lot of lifting and coasting.
00:10:10I always ran out of fuel.
00:10:11So the last six laps of the race, I was, yeah, maximum 70% throttle.
00:10:15Oh, man, we need to talk about that later tonight over dinner.
00:10:18The anguish of going on to win a race but nearly running out of fuel.
00:10:23Here's Oscar Piastri trying to qualify and get himself on the front row potentially.
00:10:30Pohl would be an absolute dream.
00:10:33Second, third row more likely for McLaren.
00:10:36We've got the stopwatch on him and his teammate Lando Norris who missed a large part of FP3
00:10:41because they had to change the battery again in his McLaren car.
00:10:45And we'll see if Oscar's got the jump on his teammate in the early stages because he's had more track
00:10:49action this weekend.
00:10:51Yeah, he's been on it this weekend, Oscar.
00:10:53It's fun watching the car around here because look at it.
00:10:56It's edgy all the way around.
00:10:57The exit of the second deck, the exit of the hairpin, entry into Spoon.
00:11:01You know, it's definitely on edge.
00:11:03And I think the drivers are really enjoying that.
00:11:04They're having to wrestle the cars around here.
00:11:06Oscar Piastri fastest overall in the middle sector through the first sector.
00:11:11He was about a tenth up on his teammates Lando Norris.
00:11:14Lewis Hamilton was a little bit faster than both.
00:11:16And Charles Leclerc through the first sector has gone two tenths faster than Lewis Hamilton.
00:11:20Managed around the final corner with Oscar Piastri.
00:11:22We've got the visor cam and seeing a great shot from the cockpit.
00:11:26He's a second clear of Esteban Ocon in the hats.
00:11:30Next across the line will be Lando Norris, who was on the front row this time last year.
00:11:35And he goes P2 for the moment.
00:11:36A couple of tenths back on his teammate.
00:11:38Lewis Hamilton has lost a bit of time in the middle part of the lap.
00:11:41Charles Leclerc continues on his way.
00:11:44Currently just coming out of that Spoon curve as Hamilton through the chicane.
00:11:49Four-time pole sitter at the Japanese Grand Prix.
00:11:52Twice here at Suzuka, twice at Fuji.
00:11:54And goes second fastest ahead of Lando Norris behind Oscar Piastri with Charles Leclerc to come.
00:11:59Yeah, Charles Leclerc, first sector purple.
00:12:02He's on a very good lap here.
00:12:03The lap times are falling dramatically very, very quickly on their second lap on this title.
00:12:08First lap for many of them.
00:12:09Charles Leclerc goes quickest by just over three tenths from Oscar Piastri.
00:12:13The two Audis of Bortoletto and Hülkenberg are fifth and sixth, confirming once again their potential.
00:12:20And Cota Zaccora is going to be presenting the Pirelli Pole Position Award at the ends of this qualifying session.
00:12:27Lando the sumo, you see, they're gods here.
00:12:29They are.
00:12:30Love it.
00:12:31All right, Kimi into turn one.
00:12:33Nice wide line there on the entry.
00:12:34And then you bring the car to the Apex for turn two.
00:12:38Look at him.
00:12:39He's using all the kerbs through here.
00:12:41This is such a tricky section.
00:12:42You overdrive.
00:12:43You push it too hard.
00:12:44You put yourself in a bad position from turn five and six.
00:12:47Nicely through turn six.
00:12:48Keep it to the right.
00:12:49And then a great exit and through Dunlop.
00:12:53Very, very good exit there.
00:12:54A little car on the right-hand side, but that's not going to cause him an issue.
00:12:56And then we have Degna one.
00:12:58A little bit different on the entry here now because we haven't got as much clipping.
00:13:01And then Degna two.
00:13:02Really smooth on the exit.
00:13:03Oh, he used all the kerb there, didn't he?
00:13:05Would have got a little bit of bottoming.
00:13:06Into the hair.
00:13:07But don't break too hard.
00:13:08Don't lock that front left.
00:13:10Got it into the Apex nicely.
00:13:11Traction seems to be a little bit better than we saw with Oscar Piastri there on the throttle.
00:13:17And now he's coming down to Spoon.
00:13:18Spoon is a very tricky corner on entry, especially when you have a bit of tailwind, which we've had all
00:13:22weekend.
00:13:23But he seems to be really good through the first part of it.
00:13:26Second part, nice and smooth.
00:13:28He looks smooth out there, doesn't he?
00:13:30It doesn't look like he's under pressure or overdriving.
00:13:33Well, he's got that pole position for a Grand Prix in the bag now.
00:13:37He can start enjoying himself.
00:13:38What a middle sector.
00:13:3939.9 in the middle part of the lap.
00:13:43Fastest we've seen so far.
00:13:45Wow.
00:13:46That is quick.
00:13:48A little bit of obviously there off the second kerb.
00:13:50These cars are so stiff now.
00:13:51But good traction.
00:13:54And to the line puts in a time of a 1.30.035.
00:13:58He's only 400s faster than Charles Leclerc.
00:14:01He lost a couple of tenths to the fastest final sector time.
00:14:05That belongs to Max Verstappen, who wishes he could have strung three really good sectors together and he'd been a
00:14:10lot higher.
00:14:11He's currently seventh fastest.
00:14:12I'll tell you why he didn't in a minute.
00:14:14George Russell only goes fifth fastest.
00:14:16Half a second down for George Russell.
00:14:18Max had a moment into turn two.
00:14:21Got a bit of a twitch on, got a bit of a wiggle on and lost time.
00:14:24About three tenths as a result in that first sector.
00:14:26So, yeah, that cost you not just in that corner, but then all the way through the S's as well.
00:14:31Yeah, really surprising by George Russell.
00:14:33I don't know if he had an issue on his lap, but to be six tenths off of his teammate.
00:14:37I know it's only Q1 and they'll get through easily, but that plays on your mind.
00:14:41Yeah.
00:14:41Especially when you're going for your second one in Q1.
00:14:43We saw last week in China, last racing weekend in China.
00:14:48If you have a bit of a moment and lift off, it can cost you then down the straight as
00:14:53the kind of machine and the automation of the battery deployment has to readjust itself a little bit.
00:14:59That could be a reason why George Russell's half a second down.
00:15:02Possibly, yes.
00:15:04One good thing this weekend, because we have less Megajews than we can use in qualifying, it's a driver's track.
00:15:11You know, you're able to push it through the corners and you're not losing out because you've been on throttle
00:15:15for longer.
00:15:16Driver's track and up steps Nico Hülkenberg, one of the most experienced in the business on his 253rd start, assuming
00:15:23he does get to start the race tomorrow.
00:15:25Puts his Audi up into the top five.
00:15:27Benny Collins down on the pit wall.
00:15:30Yeah, I was just going to call.
00:15:31Team Radio?
00:15:32We're not.
00:15:33Yes.
00:15:34That's something that feels quite bright.
00:15:36I've got a load of over there.
00:15:37Here we can see surface temperatures out of balance.
00:15:41Really odd.
00:15:42But then, it feels aerodynamical.
00:15:45No rear.
00:15:47So, is that tyre temperature affecting then the aero balance of the car, Bernie?
00:15:54Yeah, exactly correct.
00:15:55So, when I was looking at the compare between Kimi Antonelli and George Russell, it's all lost through the S's.
00:16:01There are points through the S's when Kimi Antonelli is over 10 kph up on George Russell.
00:16:06So, that's where George Russell has lost the time to his teammate.
00:16:09It's all in that one section of the track, which could be very much related to tyre temperature.
00:16:14And that's actually the section of track that Kimi gains over both the McLaren and the Ferrari.
00:16:20So, something to look at on Russell's car there.
00:16:22Absolutely.
00:16:23Something that could be fixed by the driver as well, though, JB.
00:16:26So, he's got time to do it.
00:16:27Six minutes to go in this session.
00:16:29As Bottas goes ahead of Sergio Perez, who hasn't out-qualified a teammate here since 2017.
00:16:34And Lewis Hamilton is on the charge.
00:16:36He is on the charge down into the hairpin.
00:16:38He's very quick through the first sector.
00:16:40He was quickest, but Charles, his teammate, has just taken that off him, the first sector.
00:16:44But not to worry.
00:16:46Lewis, good exit of the hairpin.
00:16:49Flying down to Spoon.
00:16:51You get a little bit of clipping there, but it's not much at all.
00:16:54Good entry.
00:16:54A little bit of understeering the car.
00:16:56Oh, a little snap on the entry there of second part of Spoon.
00:16:58The car is edgy on the exit, but he seems to be able to control it well.
00:17:01It's a car that Lewis seems to like to drive.
00:17:04An itchy car.
00:17:05Getting a little bit of a toe there behind Gabriel Portoletto.
00:17:09Every little bit helps, especially around a track like Suzuka and into the chicane.
00:17:14Whilst his teammate, Charles Leclerc, about to power his way through 130R.
00:17:20And does so very neatly indeed.
00:17:21Leclerc is on an absolute flyer here.
00:17:23Hamilton third fastest.
00:17:25A couple of tenths, or nearly three tenths, off the pace, which is currently being set by Kimi Antonelli.
00:17:30Five and a half minutes to go.
00:17:31So Charles Leclerc could be about to go fastest, and does so, by a tenth of a second from the
00:17:37Mercedes.
00:17:38Meanwhile, down at the bottom, because we lose the slowest six, it's a bit like Noah's Ark down there.
00:17:42Two by two by two.
00:17:44The two Williams of Albon and Sainz, who we lost in Q1, of course, in China.
00:17:48The two Cadillacs of Bottas and Perez.
00:17:50And the two Aston Martins of Stroll and Alonso.
00:17:53Yeah, it's pretty close down there.
00:17:55Alpine just inside with Colopinto in 16th and Behrman in 15th.
00:17:59They're very similar times to Albon in 17th, so this last run is going to be everything.
00:18:03Of that bottom six, only Alex Albon has managed to get out of Q1 in the opening two races this
00:18:09season.
00:18:09That was in Melbourne.
00:18:11The rest have suffered early eliminations in both sessions.
00:18:16What can Fernando Alonso do to try and improve his and Honda's position?
00:18:21At the moment, he's lagging nearly half a second behind his teammate, Lance Stroll.
00:18:26So we get that little bit of a lull now.
00:18:28The car's just waiting in the garage to come out, get the best conditions in this Q1 session,
00:18:34with the track nicely rubbing in to go for one final push lag.
00:18:37Yeah, and they also don't want to go out now, really.
00:18:39It's difficult because you're going to be doing your fast lap when other cars are exiting the pits.
00:18:44So they, most of the time, they all exit the pits very, very similar.
00:18:47That's why you see the train of cars.
00:18:49Yeah, you do.
00:18:50Bernie Collins once told me that the trouble with strategists is that we're all very like-minded people
00:18:55and we often make exactly the same decisions.
00:18:58And so when you're looking for the best time to come out of the track,
00:19:01they all come out at exactly the same time.
00:19:03And that's exactly what's going on in the pit lane,
00:19:06as Arvid Lindblad had to jam on the brakes to let one car pass and then one of the Williams.
00:19:10And this is going to be the issue for Max Verstappen.
00:19:13Yeah.
00:19:13He's coming up to start his lap and we've got 21 other cars exiting the pits, it seems right now.
00:19:18So before he starts his lap, quickly down to Ted.
00:19:21So used tyres, both the Red Bulls on the tyres that they did their first run in Q1.
00:19:25So watch out for Oli Behrmann.
00:19:27He's got to find the best part of half a second to be absolutely sure of getting out of this
00:19:31Q1 session.
00:19:32We're looking around a 1.31 dead or maybe a 1.30.7 as a cut-off time to get
00:19:38into Q2,
00:19:39around where Lindblad and Gasly are at the moment.
00:19:42So, yeah, Behrmann really on the cusp here.
00:19:45They're timely right at Red Bull.
00:19:47Max has cleared the cars that are coming out of the pit lane,
00:19:50some of whom might like to get a bit of a move on.
00:19:52I know there's three minutes to go, JB, but there is quite the queue down there.
00:19:56And right at the back of it will be the two McLarens.
00:19:59Yeah, and we've seen that you have to work the tyres pretty hard as well to get them working.
00:20:03It's not always the first lap time.
00:20:04Oh, a bit of a snap for Max through Dunlop there.
00:20:07That's quite an unusual place to get a snap.
00:20:09And then Degna 1, the car hits the ground really hard.
00:20:12You get a bit of understeer.
00:20:14So that traffic in front of him there would have cost him some time.
00:20:17I know the car pulled off the track,
00:20:18but all the way through those Degnas, he would have got a bit of dirty air.
00:20:22Oscar Piastri is the last car to come out of the pit lane.
00:20:26Two and a half minutes to go.
00:20:27He's still not in the queue.
00:20:29There's about four cars ahead of him as we've watched Max Verstappen then.
00:20:33And interesting to see where this Red Bull car
00:20:36and where the driver deploying the extra energy from the battery pack
00:20:40and when they're recharging.
00:20:41And now they'll boost out of that Spoon corner.
00:20:45Real fast acceleration onto that straight.
00:20:48George Russell approaching Spoon on his latest run.
00:20:52George Russell will not be 8-10s down
00:20:54by the time he gets to the end of the middle sector.
00:20:56And that's pretty much where Max Verstappen is finding himself.
00:20:59In the 1.29s, Charles Leclerc.
00:21:01Red Bull can only dream of that at the moment
00:21:04as George Russell puts in the best middle sector of all.
00:21:07Verstappen's had a very good final sector
00:21:09to close that deficit somewhat.
00:21:11And to end up 6-10s behind in sixth place.
00:21:15And Albon, Sainz, and Bottas, and Perez, and Stroll, and Alonso
00:21:18are all going to have to go faster
00:21:19to try and get out of the bottom six.
00:21:22Sainz starts his final flying lap
00:21:24and George Russell crosses the line
00:21:26500s down on Charles Leclerc,
00:21:29whose time is more than good enough to go through.
00:21:32And Ferrari say stay in the pits.
00:21:33Yeah.
00:21:33You don't need to come out.
00:21:34He's safe.
00:21:35I think for George, he probably wanted to just make sure the car felt good
00:21:38before Q2, get a bit more confidence in himself.
00:21:41It's surprising, right?
00:21:43It's surprising to see a Ferrari P1 at the moment.
00:21:45Yeah, 66 races now, Charles Leclerc, without a Q1 elimination.
00:21:50It's the longest streak on the grid
00:21:52and shows the consistency that he's put together
00:21:54in terms of getting out of Q1, getting then into Q2,
00:21:58and onwards for, what, pole positions for Charles Leclerc?
00:22:0127 in his career.
00:22:03Alex Albon would dearly love a record like that.
00:22:06He'd certainly like a car, like the Ferrari as well.
00:22:08The Williams is a different beast to handle.
00:22:10But at the moment, he's a tenth and a half up
00:22:12through the first sector on a time he needs to get out of that bottom six.
00:22:16That was very wide through Degna too, but just on the line, I think.
00:22:20Yeah, I think he was okay there.
00:22:21He's a tenth up on his teammate who's right behind him in 17...
00:22:25in 18, sorry.
00:22:26So that's important for him.
00:22:28He's just got to make sure that stays
00:22:29if he's got any chance of getting into the top 15.
00:22:3230 seconds to go.
00:22:33Oli Behrmann's just crossed the line to start his lap.
00:22:36Colopinto has just crossed the line.
00:22:39Perez and Bottas next, and Piastri should just make it
00:22:43as Alex Albon makes his way along that back straight
00:22:47with the active aero, reducing the drag, and into 130 hours.
00:22:51Carlos Sainz, who'd gone a bit earlier, moves up in the 13th,
00:22:54and that is on the cusp a little bit
00:22:56if others can improve behind.
00:22:58Luckily for him, he stays ahead of...
00:23:01So he's now behind Esteban Ocon, who's just crossed the line.
00:23:0512 one-thousandths of a second, the difference between those.
00:23:08Albon goes 16th.
00:23:10That pushes Oli Behrmann down into that bottom six,
00:23:13but he is right on the cusp.
00:23:16He really is.
00:23:17Lawson takes the chequered flag, eighth fastest.
00:23:20Oli Behrmann is...
00:23:21Oh, I think he's out of qualifying, looking at his times there.
00:23:25He's just crossed the line.
00:23:26He could have gone for another lap,
00:23:28but the tyres just aren't there for him,
00:23:30and his first sector is not good.
00:23:33Behrmann's out.
00:23:33Alonso's definitely out,
00:23:34because he's only just beaten his teammate, Jenson.
00:23:36Colopinto looks like he's the only person
00:23:38that can challenge Alex Albon for that 16th position.
00:23:4232-6 in the first sector is very good.
00:23:44As Bortoleto goes six-faster, seven-faster behind his teammate,
00:23:48Nico Hülkenberg, we're on board now with Valtteri Bottas.
00:23:53Third on the grid here in 2019,
00:23:55second on the grid here in 2018.
00:23:57At the moment, down in P20,
00:24:00as Pierre Gasly goes 10th fastest,
00:24:02just behind his former teammate Max Verstappen,
00:24:05and Oscar Piastri puts in the fastest middle sector.
00:24:08Alex Albon is out of qualifying.
00:24:10Colopinto has beaten him, not by much, but by enough.
00:24:14Bottas to the line, stays P20,
00:24:17and Sergio Perez is going to out-qualify a teammate here
00:24:20for the first time since 2017,
00:24:21as Oscar Piastri goes fourth fastest.
00:24:25So, some crumb of comfort there for Sergio Perez,
00:24:29and it's kind of as expected, except for Oli Behrmann.
00:24:34That's the big shock from the first part of qualifying.
00:24:36Yeah, it is.
00:24:37He's been so consistently good in qualifying,
00:24:40and surprised that he's out in Q1,
00:24:43but sometimes it just doesn't go your way.
00:24:45It certainly doesn't.
00:24:47The stewards are going to take a look at Carlos Sainz
00:24:50for impeding Isaac Hadjar.
00:24:52Sainz did get, for the first time this season,
00:24:55into Q2,
00:24:56and Oli Behrmann, who's qualified 12th and 10th
00:25:00for the opening two Grand Prix of the season,
00:25:02and has scored points in all three times we've gone racing,
00:25:04is going to have to do it the hard way from P18 here at Suzuka.
00:25:08That's the big shock from the first part of qualifying.
00:25:12Less of a shock.
00:25:13The two Aston Martins right at the back,
00:25:15Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso.
00:25:17The two Cadillacs ahead,
00:25:18Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez.
00:25:20Alex Albon joins the six,
00:25:22making their exit.
00:25:49Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez.
00:26:23Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez.
00:26:23Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez.
00:26:25You probably don't want to know,
00:26:27but you can probably guess.
00:26:29Yes.
00:26:31I complain.
00:26:33I think there's something wrong,
00:26:35but I'm sure it's my guidance too.
00:27:20I think there's something wrong.
00:27:49Where was I, sir, to call us?
00:27:51You probably don't want to know, but you can probably guess.
00:27:55Yes.
00:27:58I can't play.
00:28:00It's not the reason that I know that there's nothing wrong,
00:28:02but I'm sure it's my driver's still.
00:28:10Very cryptic from Alex Albon.
00:28:12Be interesting to hear what he's got to say
00:28:14when he speaks to Rachel Brooks in the interview pen
00:28:18in a few moments' time,
00:28:19and whether he's got a few more answers for us on that one.
00:28:22Bernie Collins, Oli Behrman,
00:28:24who got into Q3 here at Suzuka last year,
00:28:27out P18 this year.
00:28:29Got any answers as to why that might be?
00:28:32Yes, exactly, Crawford.
00:28:33It's all tight margins, isn't it, in the Q1 session?
00:28:35But when I look at the overlay between Oli Behrman
00:28:38and Esteban Ocon, obviously the same car,
00:28:41all of the time lost is in through turn six and seven,
00:28:44so the final of that S section.
00:28:47Three tenths just from two corners,
00:28:49and that's enough that he's out of Q1.
00:28:53So that's what they'll be looking at versus a teammate.
00:28:54He was actually better through the initial bit of the S's,
00:28:57but then just in that final bit,
00:28:59lost a lot of time to his teammate,
00:29:01and that's enough to put him out of the session.
00:29:03And a tenth of a second between Esteban Ocon,
00:29:05Carlos Sainz, Franco Colapinto,
00:29:08Alex Albon and Oli Behrman,
00:29:10the last two making their exit from it.
00:29:12Very, very tight,
00:29:13and I think, Jensen, it's going to be very tight
00:29:16for some cars getting into Q3.
00:29:19Yeah, I totally agree.
00:29:20It's very close.
00:29:21I think, as you said,
00:29:22maybe the Mercedes will have a little advantage in Q2,
00:29:25but everyone else is really close behind.
00:29:27You look at Max Verstappen down in P9 in Q1.
00:29:30So Max Verstappen with a 1.3519,
00:29:35ahead of Gasly with a 1.3584,
00:29:38and Liam Lawson with a 1.3657.
00:29:41And then Isaac Hadjar,
00:29:42who was five thousandths of a second slower than Liam Lawson.
00:29:45There really isn't much on that sort of form
00:29:48between those cars.
00:29:50So one slight error,
00:29:52Verstappen could find himself, you know,
00:29:54not getting through into Q3
00:29:56at the expense of a Lawson or his teammate Isaac Hadjar.
00:30:00Let's see as the light goes green
00:30:02and we get going once again.
00:30:04And who comes out first?
00:30:06It'll be the two Mercedes,
00:30:07Kimi Antonelli and George Russell.
00:30:09Followed by the two Ferraris.
00:30:12Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc.
00:30:15It's actually amazing as well,
00:30:17the times with the new regulation change
00:30:19to have the times that close,
00:30:20the top 15,
00:30:22it's really impressive.
00:30:23It shows how competitive Formula One is.
00:30:27So the Ferrari's coming out
00:30:29and the Mercedes out on track
00:30:30before the rest all appear.
00:30:32Bernie Collins has been digging into the data
00:30:34to solve the Alex Albon cryptic clues.
00:30:37It's like a newspaper crossword, Bernie.
00:30:40Five down.
00:30:41Why was he slow?
00:30:42Exactly, roughly.
00:30:43All on the streets.
00:30:44And that's why you got the cryptic message to say,
00:30:47I'm sure it was my driving
00:30:48because, as we all know,
00:30:50there's not a lot to drive we can do
00:30:51on the street
00:30:52except to have his right foot
00:30:53as far down as possible.
00:30:55But that is on both the main street
00:30:57and the back street
00:30:58where he's losing time to Carlos Lein.
00:31:01So that's why he's so unhappy.
00:31:02Do you think he's just sat a bit too far back
00:31:03from the pedals
00:31:04and can't get the flats of the floor?
00:31:06I'm sure it's a good morning.
00:31:07Yeah, and he's to duck down a little bit more.
00:31:12Yeah, it is frustrating
00:31:13when you do everything you can
00:31:15and then you look at the data after
00:31:17and you've lost all the time.
00:31:18in a straight line.
00:31:19Some of it can be exits,
00:31:21but obviously I'm sure it's not the case.
00:31:24Lewis Hamilton, comfortable with this car.
00:31:26Happier certainly at Ferrari this season
00:31:29and the recipient of a podium
00:31:31as a Ferrari driver
00:31:33for the first time
00:31:34in the race won by this man,
00:31:37Kimi Antonelli,
00:31:38last time out in Shanghai.
00:31:39Jensen, take us through his latest flying lap.
00:31:42Yeah, so cross the start and finish line.
00:31:45Hiya, we're on the left.
00:31:48Coming into turn one,
00:31:49they do get a little bit of clipping
00:31:50before the first corner here,
00:31:52which is kind of nice
00:31:52because it backs off the car
00:31:54and you can carry the speed through there.
00:31:55Turn two, nicely through,
00:31:57using all the curve on the exit of turn two.
00:32:00Three and four,
00:32:01he's up the snake or the S's as we call it
00:32:03and then he's through six.
00:32:05Keep the car to the right for turn seven.
00:32:07My son would love that section six, seven.
00:32:10Dunlop, such a great corner.
00:32:12When you get it right,
00:32:14there's a little bump at the exit
00:32:15and it just unsettles the rear a little bit.
00:32:17Degna one, nice and smooth.
00:32:19Degna two, good exit there.
00:32:21He's not using all the track.
00:32:22He's driving very within himself at this point.
00:32:26Nice entry into the hairpin,
00:32:29running and I'm not using all the track at all on the exit.
00:32:33Traction seems to be very good as well.
00:32:34The car is really underneath him.
00:32:36It feels like he can do whatever he wants with it.
00:32:39He can put it where he wants,
00:32:40change the direction is really good.
00:32:42You can drive it smoothly.
00:32:44It's working really well for him.
00:32:46Good exit there.
00:32:47Ran really wide there.
00:32:49Get the power down.
00:32:49That thousand horsepower,
00:32:51the torque, the power,
00:32:52it goes through the roof
00:32:53and the speeds that they're able to achieve
00:32:55is just phenomenal.
00:32:57Into 1.30 we go.
00:33:0039.7 for the middle sector.
00:33:03He's about two tenths up on his teammate,
00:33:05George Russell,
00:33:06through the first two thirds of the lap.
00:33:07Hamilton was a couple of tenths up on Antonelli
00:33:09through the first part of the lap.
00:33:11The 19-year-old Italian
00:33:13with a 1.29.7,
00:33:14three tenths faster than he managed
00:33:16for a quickest time in Q1.
00:33:18George Russell will be next to cross the line
00:33:20and as has been the case
00:33:21for much of this weekend
00:33:23is two, three tenths behind,
00:33:25three tenths on this occasion.
00:33:27By the way,
00:33:27can't believe you got a 6.7 reference in.
00:33:30That was very impressive, Jenson Button
00:33:32and shouldn't go unnoticed.
00:33:34Hamilton crosses the line,
00:33:35third fastest for him.
00:33:37I think George's time
00:33:38was mostly lost coming out of the last corner.
00:33:40A massive snap of oversteer
00:33:42which would have cost him a couple of tenths.
00:33:44And they're all on used tyres,
00:33:46the Mercedes and the Ferraris as well
00:33:47for whom Charles Leclerc
00:33:48has just gone within a tenth of a second
00:33:51of Kimi Antonelli
00:33:52as Max Verstappen,
00:33:54fifth fastest or slowest
00:33:55of the five times
00:33:56that we've got so far.
00:33:58So used tyres for the top four
00:34:01given their pace advantage over the rest.
00:34:03Hadjar goes ahead of Max Verstappen,
00:34:06yet one of those drivers
00:34:07that should they improve by a tenth or so
00:34:09could put Max at danger here
00:34:11with getting into Q3.
00:34:13And George Russell still struggling
00:34:14with the rear of his car.
00:34:16Yeah, he's hoping that the track comes to him.
00:34:18Otherwise, you know,
00:34:19you've got a few tools that you can play with
00:34:21to try and help the rear end of the car.
00:34:22But it's not giving him any confidence right now.
00:34:25And, you know, the first sector of the lap
00:34:26is where he's been so strong through the S's,
00:34:28but not so much today.
00:34:30We've got a camera on Gabriel Bortoletto
00:34:33approaching Spoon.
00:34:35And we also watch Arvid Lindblad to the line
00:34:37and go seventh fastest.
00:34:41So, slowest of the time so far.
00:34:43Under a second, though,
00:34:45behind Kimi Antonelli.
00:34:47So the racing bulls are getting a bit closer
00:34:49than they've been so far.
00:34:50He's quickly replaced by Nico Hülkenberg.
00:34:53He's put the best final sector in.
00:34:55Yeah, very, very quick.
00:34:57We now have the McLarens coming on new tyres.
00:35:00So it'll be interesting to see what they can do.
00:35:02Great first sector by Oscar Piastri.
00:35:0432.1, quickest of all.
00:35:06But has he used a bit too much of his battery,
00:35:09his energy allowance,
00:35:10in that first part of the lap?
00:35:12Gabriel Bortoletto goes third fastest.
00:35:14New tyres against used tyres.
00:35:16I think helping Gabriel Bortoletto.
00:35:19Still, that's a very, very impressive performance from him.
00:35:23We're watching Lando Norris,
00:35:24the defending champion,
00:35:25and his team-mate, Oscar Piastri.
00:35:28As Conor Pinto goes tenth fastest.
00:35:30He hasn't had a Q3 appearance.
00:35:32It's Azerbaijan in 2024.
00:35:35Piastri, though, absolutely flying.
00:35:37New tyres for the McLarens.
00:35:39Gasly goes sixth fastest,
00:35:40ahead of Isaac Hadjar.
00:35:42Max Verstappen down in P8.
00:35:44And Esteban Ocon now into the top ten
00:35:46for the one remaining Haas.
00:35:48Piastri crosses the line,
00:35:49goes quickest by three tenths of a second.
00:35:51Looks on paper really impressive,
00:35:53but it's new tyres against old tyres.
00:35:56Is that a pace,
00:35:57a genuine pace that McLaren have got,
00:35:59or will they get reeled in
00:36:01when they're all on the new tyres a bit later on?
00:36:03Either way, Oscar Piastri
00:36:05still has a margin over his teammate,
00:36:07Lando Norris.
00:36:08Yeah, good margin.
00:36:09Almost three and a half tenths.
00:36:12It's also just track time.
00:36:13I still think it's track time for Lando.
00:36:15He's lacking it a little bit.
00:36:17We'll see him get closer, I think, through qualifying.
00:36:19But I do think the McLarens will drop back a little bit
00:36:22once Kimi and Charles get their new boots on.
00:36:25At this point in qualifying,
00:36:27it's all about small margins,
00:36:29and new tyres can make quite a bit.
00:36:31So, the margin from first to 15th,
00:36:35first to 16th even,
00:36:371.29.4 for Piastri,
00:36:381.31.4 for Carlos Sainz.
00:36:41So a second between the 16th times.
00:36:44Who said George Russell?
00:36:45Two seconds, sorry, between the 16th times.
00:36:47Who said George Russell,
00:36:48out of the last corner,
00:36:50could be right there,
00:36:52losing a lot of his time.
00:36:53Pretty big, isn't he?
00:36:54He took a lot of kerb,
00:36:54first apex, second apex.
00:36:56Yeah, big drift of oversteer there.
00:36:59Certainly not helping him,
00:37:00and, as he says,
00:37:02still struggling with the rear of his car.
00:37:05So that's how it looks
00:37:07after the first runs in Q2.
00:37:09We obviously have lost six drivers already,
00:37:12one of whom is Alex Albon.
00:37:13He's speaking now to Rachel Brooks.
00:37:16Hi, Alex.
00:37:18I have to ask you about that radio message
00:37:20and what you...
00:37:22I can tell you exactly if you like,
00:37:24but you said I complained for three races in a row
00:37:26there's something wrong,
00:37:27but I'm sure it's my driving style.
00:37:29Just tell me what you're experiencing in the car
00:37:31and does it feel like it's the car
00:37:33or do you think it's you?
00:37:35I'm not going to talk about it.
00:37:37We'll have a look at the data,
00:37:38but I'm happy with my driving.
00:37:41So I think there's obviously a bit of a quirk
00:37:44with these cars,
00:37:45but yeah, some answers still,
00:37:48there's question marks still
00:37:49that we need to figure out.
00:37:51You know I've done this for a long time
00:37:53and I know drivers come in
00:37:54and sometimes it's the thing like a chassis change
00:37:56or there's something that either gives them confidence
00:37:58or actually is a problem.
00:38:00Do you think it's something as fundamental as that
00:38:02or have you got any other answers?
00:38:04We're good in every corner,
00:38:05so yeah, we'll see.
00:38:08You have no idea where it can come from?
00:38:10No.
00:38:11Thanks, Alex.
00:38:13Come on, Alex.
00:38:15Don't give us...
00:38:15I don't want to talk about it.
00:38:16You've been talking about it on the radio.
00:38:18Yeah, why do it on the radio?
00:38:20Don't tease us.
00:38:21Yeah, it's very frustrating
00:38:23because you've got that adrenaline
00:38:25when you first step out of the car
00:38:27or when you're still in the car after qualifying.
00:38:29And then when you've calmed down,
00:38:30you've realized,
00:38:31oh, maybe I shouldn't have said that
00:38:32because I am a team player.
00:38:35Yes.
00:38:36Right.
00:38:38On board once again with the Mercedes.
00:38:40This time it's George Russell.
00:38:42So let's see how, where,
00:38:45when he is struggling with the rears of that car.
00:38:49And he's got the track pretty much to himself now.
00:38:53There's not a single other person ahead of him,
00:38:56only two Ferraris behind him.
00:38:58Yeah, I think it's always very difficult
00:39:00to see the oversteer issues
00:39:01because he's driving within it now.
00:39:03If he feels the rear is weak,
00:39:05he's just not carrying the speed
00:39:06that he would like to be carrying.
00:39:08The speed that he would like to be carrying.
00:39:10It looks very calm through, you know,
00:39:13through Dunlop, Degna 1, Degna 2.
00:39:18Looks nice.
00:39:19It looks very, very similar
00:39:20to what we saw Kimi on the previous one.
00:39:22Had a good flow to it.
00:39:23Helped, I think, by the fact he's now on new tyres.
00:39:26Yeah.
00:39:27That gives you that extra.
00:39:28Great.
00:39:29You know, it's like a completely different ballgame.
00:39:31Yeah, he did have a little bit of rear movement
00:39:33on the entry of the hairpin there.
00:39:35That might be what he's talking about.
00:39:36It's just not quite there for him, the rear end.
00:39:38And this time, two weeks ago, of course,
00:39:40things started to unravel just at the start of Q3,
00:39:44where his front wing got damaged.
00:39:48And in the end,
00:39:49Kimi Antonelli, also driving with a broken front wing,
00:39:53managed to take pole position.
00:39:55George Russell was looking at absolute certainty for it
00:39:57halfway through the qualifying session.
00:40:0039.7 is good for the middle sector.
00:40:03He's right in touching distance here
00:40:05of the time he needs to go fastest overall.
00:40:07So let's see.
00:40:08It was a 1.30.1.
00:40:10He's lost time in that final sector once again.
00:40:14He ends up three tenths down on Oscar Piastri.
00:40:18And he's on new tyres.
00:40:19And he's on new tyres.
00:40:20That is not what we expected at all.
00:40:21So is this now a bit more concerning that there's something wrong with the rear?
00:40:25Because you need a stable rear under braking and acceleration out of that chicane.
00:40:30Exactly.
00:40:30It's such a short part of the lap, that last sector.
00:40:33And he's lost three tenths to Oscar.
00:40:35Maybe the deployment's a little bit different for the Mercedes rather than the McLaren.
00:40:39But that last section does not look good for George Russell.
00:40:42I'd like to see a slow motion of him coming out of the final few corners.
00:40:47On board with Lewis Hamilton.
00:40:49Charles Leclerc out on track, as we mentioned.
00:40:51And, well, looking here at where the stories might be in the next four minutes.
00:40:56Red Bull.
00:40:57Max Verstappen.
00:40:57Right on the cusp, Ted Kravitz, of either making it to the final ten or putting his feet up early.
00:41:04And they've had to throw another set of soft tyres at the car, both for HR and for Verstappen.
00:41:10But they were on new soft tyres for the first run, weren't they, in this Q2?
00:41:13So that's pretty much all the car has got, unless they can actually pull something out on this final run.
00:41:19Nico Hülkenberg just holding up the pack a little bit, making it a little bit difficult for Lindblad and Sainz
00:41:25to get in.
00:41:25But Sainz on his way. Clearly Sainz isn't having the problems.
00:41:29Maybe it's with the deployment that Albon seems to be having in the other Williams.
00:41:33Thanks ever so much, Ted.
00:41:3531-7 for the first sector for Charles Leclerc.
00:41:38That is very rapid indeed.
00:41:41Ferrari really taking the fight at this moment, not just to Oscar Piastri, but to the two Mercedes as well,
00:41:47of Russell and Antonelli.
00:41:49Antonelli with a new soft tyre run to come.
00:41:53And Lewis Hamilton down in six, not getting the speed that his team-mate is finding as Leclerc goes fastest.
00:42:02Wow, that's an impressive lap.
00:42:04We couldn't lose this much pace.
00:42:07Have a look for everything.
00:42:09Yeah, he's asking his team, dive into the data here, because it's not me that's doing it. Something's wrong with
00:42:16a car.
00:42:16Yeah, and they believe in him. I'm sure they do.
00:42:18You know, he's very straightforward, George.
00:42:20He always maximizes the car, and he's not finding that grip from the rear end.
00:42:25So, as we said, Max Verstappen, unbeaten in qualifying and the race here since 2019.
00:42:32And that car looks so different to an Antonelli or a Leclerc or a Piastri going through the S's.
00:42:40He's constantly, Jensen, having to make adjustments because it's just not pointing the way he wants it to.
00:42:46Yeah, it's so edgy. Exeter turn two, he ran all over the curve, which was a big oversteer, which would
00:42:51have cost him a lot of time.
00:42:52And, yeah, it looks very edgy. It looks very pointy, the car.
00:42:55He was struggling with understeer for most of this weekend, but the car doesn't look like it's struggling with the
00:43:00front anymore.
00:43:00It looks more like the rear.
00:43:01He wanted to dial more front in to give him that extra grip as he turns in.
00:43:08And that was from FP3 a little bit earlier on.
00:43:12Piastri and Norris not improving on this lap so far.
00:43:16I dare say they are comfortably through in the positions and the times that they have on the board.
00:43:22Lewis Hamilton saying on the radio that he's got traffic and he's kind of in a position he doesn't want
00:43:26to be as he might go again for another lap.
00:43:29But here comes Verstappen then into the final chicane.
00:43:34Not as bad, to be honest, through there.
00:43:37Gets to the line, but only goes ninth fastest.
00:43:41Verstappen's right on the cusp here because improving behind him is Nico Hülkenberg.
00:43:46Improving behind him is Isaac Hajar.
00:43:48Hajar goes up into eighth place.
00:43:51Now, this is looking worrying if you're a Max Verstappen fan that he might not make it through into Q3.
00:43:57Norris is already ahead.
00:43:58He crosses the line, doesn't improve.
00:44:00Piastri, I think his teammate, is going to do exactly the same thing in a few moments' time.
00:44:04As Charles Leclerc, Lewis Hamilton starts another lap.
00:44:07Piastri second fastest, but that lap wasn't the one.
00:44:11So maybe he can go again.
00:44:13Projected cutoff time, a 1.30.1.
00:44:16I think the only one that really has a good opportunity to push Max out is Nico Hülkenberg.
00:44:22Yeah, Lindblad though, through the first sector, has put in a personal best, a 32.5.
00:44:27But he probably got about three tenths to make up.
00:44:29Hülkenberg stays down in P12.
00:44:32Lost it all in the final sector.
00:44:34That might save Max Verstappen for the time being as Colopinto goes ahead of Arvid Lindblad, who's still out on
00:44:41track.
00:44:41What happened to Nico Hülkenberg in the final sector?
00:44:44His teammate, Gabriel Bortoleto, puts in the fastest final sector time.
00:44:48Four tenths quicker than Nico Hülkenberg.
00:44:50Hülkenberg, what a lap, Portoleto.
00:44:52And what a lap from Arvid Lindblad, who's not Max Verstappen, out of the top ten.
00:44:57Arvid Lindblad on his first trip to Suzuka in his rookie year in Formula One is currently in Q3.
00:45:06Wow.
00:45:06Wow, what a wonderful lap.
00:45:08I would love to see that lap.
00:45:09Hopefully we get to see a replay.
00:45:11Very impressive.
00:45:12He might not stay in Q3.
00:45:13His teammate, oh, Liam Lawson has crossed the line and has gone P14.
00:45:18Oh, it's all happening out there as Kimi Antonelli, right at the end here, thinks,
00:45:23do you know what, Charles Leclerc, you've done okay.
00:45:25I quite like the fastest time.
00:45:27There you go.
00:45:27By two and a half tenths, Antonelli is back as the quickest driver.
00:45:32It's Mercedes on top.
00:45:33Lewis Hamilton on the P4, behind Oscar Piastri, behind Charles Leclerc, ahead of George Russell,
00:45:40who's having problems.
00:45:41But the man who's suffered the most problems, really, is Max Verstappen.
00:45:45I think it's something worse for the car.
00:45:48It is completely unrun.
00:45:49Well, suddenly it is qualifying.
00:45:52Jumping in high speed on the rear, suddenly.
00:45:57Four consecutive pole positions here at Suzuka.
00:46:00And today, in the words of Max Verstappen, the car is undrivable.
00:46:04He's out, joins in the elimination zone by Esteban Ocon, Nico Hülkenberg,
00:46:10who had it all to play for until the final sector.
00:46:13Liam Lawson, Franco Colopinto, and Carlos Sainz.
00:46:16Thank you very much.
00:46:46Oh, my God.
00:47:43So, let's go.
00:50:19Yeah.
00:50:52So...
00:50:54Come on, mate.
00:50:54That's got to be a good one.
00:50:56Okay, mate.
00:50:57That's done.
00:50:57We're done.
00:51:00We're done.
00:51:20that he got from that lap fair play to him fair play to Pierre Gasly as well another stonking
00:51:25lap from him whilst his teammate Franco Colopinto was was second slowest in Q2 Gasly had the seventh
00:51:32fastest time what of George Russell going into this qualifying session you know we're sitting
00:51:39in the commentary box thinking well it's this man Kimi Antonelli or is his teammate George Russell
00:51:43they're the ones who have the advantage and George is struggling out there it's not normal I mean he's
00:51:48six tenths down that's that's not George Russell so there has to be an issue with the car or the
00:51:53car's not working to his liking obviously it's changed a little bit it's cooler out there you
00:51:58said there's less wind Max is Max is also feeling that the car doesn't feel right underneath him so
00:52:03I don't know maybe it's a temperature thing Mercedes so far this year have been one two in
00:52:10every qualifying session for a Grand Prix or for a sprint from the outside that could be in danger
00:52:17that record this afternoon Bernie Collins has got the data in front of her to give us a few pointers
00:52:23yes thankfully Crofty have got access to it on this pit wall but through the high speed section
00:52:29all of that George Russell is down significantly on speed around 10 kph through all of that the S's
00:52:36compared to Kimi Antonelli and then in most of the corners he loses as well significantly out of the
00:52:43final corner and then loses the entire way down the street because Kimi's faster in that final
00:52:49corner only a few kph five kph but then he's able to get on throttle earlier as well and then
00:52:55benefits
00:52:55the whole way down the street and that is a few of the areas where George seemed to be losing
00:53:00but
00:53:00mainly in cornering which matches what he says with the rear of the car yeah 10 kilometers an hour
00:53:06through the S's is not right you know that's not him not driving fast enough it's like he just has
00:53:12less downforce I don't know if the setup is completely the same or difference we'll talk to
00:53:19George after this session and the green lights is on so here we go ladies and gentlemen for the battle
00:53:26for pole and for the first time since 2019 it's a battle for pole that won't be won by Max
00:53:32Verstappen
00:53:33because he's not in it his teammate Isaac Hadjar is the one remaining rebel left in this session
00:53:39Kimi Antonelli can he make it two poles for two Grand Prix's in a row Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton
00:53:45for Ferrari is there a pole position in the prancing horse this afternoon Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri
00:53:53can McLaren find a smile and a sunnier disposition after some of their struggles so far this weekend
00:54:00Gabriel Bortoleta what can he do for Aldi Gasly for Alpine and Limblad for a second Q3 session of the
00:54:08season for him he was 19 years old and 201 day when he won qualifying in Shanghai last time out
00:54:15here's Kimi Antonelli through the 3.6 miles now yeah it's uh for him at the moment he's going to
00:54:22be
00:54:22just full of confidence after every single session he's had this weekend he's just been on it
00:54:28he did look like he had a little bit of oversteer through turn six there um which would have hurt
00:54:32him
00:54:33a little bit but um he looks good into Degna looks nice and smooth you can just see in the
00:54:40way he's
00:54:41driving as I said before he's just he's not over driving he's driving within himself and I think a lot
00:54:45of that confidence comes from being a race winner now uh he's so young still it's crazy to think how
00:54:51young Kimi Antonelli is and uh he's so composed now interesting through the S's on this lap George
00:54:58Russell much better and a fraction of a second faster than Kimi Antonelli Gasly uh about seven
00:55:06tenths down Bortoleto eight tenths down I dare say uh they're on the uh the used tyre and haven't got
00:55:11two sets of soft for this run Isaac Hadjar eventually gets out of the way and that was
00:55:17said last minute as Kimi Antonelli was trying to get a bit of a toe uh 39.4 for the
00:55:22Italian driver
00:55:22through the middle sector and he's picked up two tenths on his teammate George Russell through that
00:55:27middle part of the lap that didn't look too steady coming around the final corner takes the shortest
00:55:32route to the line we're into the 128s for provisional pole chase that one everybody and George
00:55:39Russell can't again three tenths down on his teammate it's a Mercedes one two currently because
00:55:46they're the two times on the board and it's Antonelli's favor once more here's Gabriel Bortoleto
00:55:51next to cross the line doesn't go half as near to the pit wall as Kimi Antonelli did but it's
00:55:56a 136
00:55:57unused tyres that's why he's 1.6 seconds down Lewis Hamilton meanwhile has gone fastest overall
00:56:03through the first sector the chase as they say is on yeah that was an area where he needs to
00:56:08needed to
00:56:08improve from q2 so great to see Lewis getting a purple sector in sector one and uh it's a section
00:56:14we all love to drive and that will give him so much confidence for sector two and three
00:56:18Arvid Limblad with a 131 fight will have his time deleted for exceeding track limits as Lando Norris
00:56:24slots into p3 ahead of Pierre Gasly his teammate Oscar Piastri will be next across the line and he goes
00:56:30then ahead of Lando Norris he was third on the grid last year he's third on the grid currently this
00:56:36year
00:56:36but there are others still to come including Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton who are pretty much neck and
00:56:41neck on this lap so far Hamilton only fifth fastest once again losing a bit more time in the final
00:56:48sector Leclerc will be next across the line and he replaces Hamilton fifth fastest so where's the
00:56:54McLaren over the Ferrari challenge gone here they're down in fifth and sixth the McLarens have jumped up to
00:56:59third and fourth it's all turned around a little bit Isaac Hadja was third on the grid for the
00:57:03opening race of the season here at Suzuka seventh is the best he can manage on that run yeah it's
00:57:09it's quite a big margin as well isn't it for Ferrari compared to the Mercedes cars and it does look
00:57:14like
00:57:14both Mercedes teams Mercedes and McLaren uh they are they have gained a bit of an advantage in this
00:57:19Q3 session I don't know if it's the the power they're able to use or what so provisional pole for
00:57:26Kimi Antonelli which would be the 50th pole position by an Italian driver in the history of
00:57:32the Formula One World Championship they've had they waited a while for a pole position and like the
00:57:39proverbial Milan bus to look like they're coming at once unless George Russell can find a way to get
00:57:46out of the chicane into the final corner with a bit more stability at the rear and get the power
00:57:52down
00:57:52he's found three tenths hasn't he you know he was six tenths down he's got another three to five he's
00:57:56only got another three to find easy but the difference is he has to find it whereas for
00:58:01Kimi he's got the banker in now he can go and have some fun and if he makes a tiny
00:58:05mistake here or
00:58:06there it doesn't matter so much but you know it's nice having that banker as a driver going into the
00:58:10you know the last run of Q3 this is interesting the two Ferrari drivers there so Lewis had got a
00:58:15great
00:58:15first set and then Charles Leclerc starts to reel him in a little bit as the lap goes on because
00:58:20what was that a lot of the talk has been about battery deployment recharging and when to use the
00:58:26boosting when not to looking after your tires is still pretty important too so did Lewis just take
00:58:31a bit of the edge off his tires in the first part yeah possibly you know it's a it is
00:58:35a really tough
00:58:36section on these cars there's a lot of change direction there's a where it's very loaded as well
00:58:41especially in turn seven Dunlop so it's a it's a you know for the tires it's it's eating them up
00:58:46quite badly so that's the top 10 as it stands currently just outside the top 10 Max Verstappen
00:58:52in P11 his record when starting outside the top 10 26 starts 2 wins 7 podium finishes that's what
00:59:00he's going to have to aim for tomorrow starting outside the top 10 in the Japanese Grand Prix and
00:59:05he's talking to Rachel Brooks hi Max we were looking at your car and it looks like it's
00:59:12really hard to get the front turned in get it loaded up to turn in but it sounds like you're
00:59:17having a lot more you're having a lot more issues than that more many more issues than that what's
00:59:21going on yeah well the car never turns mid-corner but at the same time this weekend also again we
00:59:27yeah just oversteer a lot on entries so yeah it's really difficult unpredictable we thought we fixed it a
00:59:34little bit um yeah we we thought we fixed it a little bit in FP3 I mean there's still a
00:59:42lot of
00:59:42uncertainty in the car but now in qualifying it was again for me undriveable so that's something that
00:59:47uh we need to look at I mean also I'm driving with a different air package this weekend but it
00:59:52seems
00:59:52like that's not working so that's also not very good did you say jumping on the straights was it
00:59:58now in the corners in the corners so when you say undriveable can you help us explain to the fans
01:00:05well we have problems that I cannot explain in detail here okay uh that we know are there
01:00:11sometimes a bit worse than other times and I think in qualifying it just came back to
01:00:14a point where yeah it became undriveable all right
01:00:20everything they try and fix at red bull might cure one problem but you get the feeling jensen that it
01:00:25induces another issue yeah you know he's so used to putting front end into a car and that gives the
01:00:30car overall downforce um previously but it seems that they're adding that front downforce and it's
01:00:37it's really hurting the rear so trying to balance this car seems to be quite difficult for max so good
01:00:42morning to you if you're just waking up in the uk and the republic of ireland we've got four minutes
01:00:47of this q3 session to go and it's all looking good for kimmy antonelli currently george russell his
01:00:52teammate has been a consistent three tenths down and is struggling with rear end grip in his car
01:00:57mclaren have jumped to third and fourth and have gone ahead of the two ferraris who had an earlier pace
01:01:03advantage over the papaya team leclare fifth hamilton sixth and bernie collins you've been looking into
01:01:08lewis's problems and troubles yeah just trying to have a quick look to understand croft and he
01:01:13actually looks faster than charlotte claire in most of the corners and does seem to get a slightly
01:01:19better exit initially then he seems to lose particularly in the last two streets so maybe
01:01:24some of that early deployment out of the corner is actually costing him later in the streets so we
01:01:30think we had jensen had a conversation with ollie berman at one point about last week potentially
01:01:35how quickly you get on the brakes and on throttle then damaging you later on in the street so maybe
01:01:40something from that side for ferrari to look at for lewis and then quickly across the two mercedes
01:01:45drivers russell car looks a lot much more stable in the high speed now in that first run of q3
01:01:52the
01:01:53only thing that was challenging russell i think was that section three turn 12 13 out of the hairpin so
01:01:59maybe a slight mistake on the hairpin but then crossed him through that next section thanks ever
01:02:03so much uh bernie it is a bit counterintuitive to a formula one driver you want to get on the
01:02:07power
01:02:08as early as you can but now patience is rewarded it is but you are getting the power down quicker
01:02:14so
01:02:14you're getting up to your maximum speed quicker you might lose more speed but you've got up to the speed
01:02:20quicker so it's uh it's a tricky one to know the the best way around it so suzuka qualifying how
01:02:28important
01:02:29since 1991 the winner has come from lower than the front row here on only three occasions
01:02:34fernando alonso in 06 and kimmy raikkonen from 17th in an amazing race in 2005 and valtteri bottas from
01:02:42third in 2019 we've also had in 35 previous races here 16 front row lockouts for five different teams
01:02:52we are on for a 17th front row lockout in 36 grand prix here at suzuka unless the rest can
01:02:59challenge
01:02:59and here's the man they've got a challenge once again it's kimmy antonelli on provisional pole
01:03:05the youngest grand prix pole setter in the history of the sport the man who was born on the day
01:03:10that sebastian fettel made his fp1 debut turkey in 2006 and he took the record off sebastian fettel
01:03:17in shanghai last time out how's he looking through the s's on this lap jones oh he's very edgy this
01:03:23this looks quick um you know i think now he's like you know what i can give it 101 to
01:03:29really see what i
01:03:30can achieve with this car i've got the banker in and he's a little bit up on his quickest lap
01:03:34yeah just a touch up on his quickest lap but not the best first sector that we've had so far
01:03:39and his
01:03:39teammate george russell does go that little bit faster russell's problems come and they start here and
01:03:45they've started here for antonelli a look up into the hairpin he did he ran white from the apex and
01:03:49then you're just waiting to get on throttle there until you turn the car lando norris not improving
01:03:54through the first sector lewis hamilton has been shown a black and white flag for going too slow
01:04:00in the pit exits and the pit exit road so the stewards have already had a little look at lewis
01:04:06on that one so norris not improving uh hadjar out of it in terms of the first sector antonelli with
01:04:13that lockup that has cost him in the middle part of the lap but he's still in touch and he's
01:04:18still
01:04:18on provisional pole and quicker than george in the middle sector and they're not all improving out
01:04:23there currently the wind has dropped down the temperature of the track has changed a little bit
01:04:27our conditions working against the drivers i don't know kimmy antonelli on provisional pole
01:04:32and it's a 128 7 that they're having to aim for and george russell hasn't managed it he ends up
01:04:37four tenths down it could be two poles in two races here for the young italian kimmy antonelli
01:04:43lando norris driving to the line takes the shortcut ends up p4 still for him can oscar piastri put his
01:04:52mclaren onto the front row possibly no he stays four tenths down p3 for him charles clare goes fastest
01:04:59in the first sector that's where the challenge to antonelli is going to come from italian driver on
01:05:04pole italian team chasing him and ferrari only won pola suzuka in the last 20 years and that was
01:05:12sebastian fedel in 2019 hamilton stays down in p6 it's down to charles clare yeah beautiful first sector
01:05:19for him he's coming into spoon now oh he's got a little bit of understeer there but uh the car
01:05:24oh no big snap of oversteer oh that's the time guard you lose so much time down the straight with
01:05:29a snap of oversteer like that let's see what he is what he's done get your exit wrong and then
01:05:34you
01:05:34are a sitting duck really in terms of the timings down that straight he's lost three tenths charles
01:05:39clare and i'll be thinking no not again last time out in shanghai he lost half a second down the
01:05:45straight didn't he and that cost him dearly in china gasly goes seventh fastest ahead of hajar
01:05:50and bortoletto charles clare's p4 it's a 50th the pole position for an italian driver in formula one
01:05:57kimmy antonelli has done it again kimmy antonelli what a lap three tenths on his teammate george russell
01:06:04very very impressive and he has looked impressive it has to be said throughout the second and third
01:06:10part of qualifying and however much the struggles have been evident for george russell he has just shone
01:06:17through and that 128 7 might have taken some beating anyway it's a second pole then for the
01:06:24young man and a first mercedes front row lockout at suzuka since 2018 it is a 17th front row lockout
01:06:34in 36 japanese grand prix's here nice work kimmy whole position mate let's go man wow
01:06:41uh it's a shame the last lap because uh was a good one but uh yeah good i'm happy it
01:06:49was a good quality
01:06:50happy it was a good quality yeah good clean session yeah apart from that one look up that he's gonna
01:06:56he's gonna reflect on i know it's just put on pole yeah just quite all the celebrations yeah sorry
01:07:01about the lock up everybody it didn't matter in the end both of his laps were good enough for pole
01:07:06position yeah very impressive absolutely um arvid linblatt uh down in 10th gabriel bortoletto alongside
01:07:14him on row five isaac hajar alongside pierre gasly uh norris and hamilton uh sharing row three
01:07:21charles leclerc will be sitting in p4 thinking that could have been it could have been good enough
01:07:27for a front row potentially certainly could have been good enough to go ahead of oscar piastri
01:07:32yeah he's put himself in a position now that it's you know their starts are very good in the race
01:07:37but
01:07:37to challenge kimmy on pole position from p4 is going to be very tricky mercedes will be very happy that
01:07:42ferrari is uh is in fourth fourth and sixth well we have seen that two mercedes go from fourth to
01:07:48first
01:07:48already this season on the grid they do get something of a lightning start don't put it past
01:07:55charles leclerc to be right in there going into turn one and then we've got a race on our hands
01:08:00once again and oscar piastri will start from third on the grid uh once more here in suzuka it's uh
01:08:07where
01:08:07he started uh last year of course finishing third which he's done a couple of times here i feel that
01:08:13we've seen a different kimmy this weekend he's always been extremely quick but the consistency
01:08:18is there he's driving within himself he's not overdriving and to see how good he's been all
01:08:23the way through the practice sessions and the consistency in qualifying we saw there really
01:08:27is impressive yeah the young man who said last year that he reflected on his mistakes for for long
01:08:34periods is now reflecting on success the difference that that makes charlotte they're not happy with
01:08:41this moment at all he was so fighting the car there yeah i'm surprised he didn't lose more time through
01:08:48that section that is a big snap of oversteering an f1 car that's that that that cost him three four
01:08:55tens right in that very moment meanwhile that was still oh that was that was uh george's second
01:09:04that wasn't it yeah clunks the curve quite hard which threw the car just way too far in that back
01:09:14end there to the left hand side and that's where george is losing time on on that one but yeah
01:09:19kimmy
01:09:20antonelli yeah he had he had that fp1 session the parabolical he crashed uh for mercedes when you
01:09:26know all the pressure was on him he was going to be the next big thing and he openly admitted
01:09:30that he
01:09:31reflected on that for way too long but now he's got his success in the memory bank and john alacy
01:09:37with
01:09:38a microphone in his hand wanting to talk to him as a pole setter in a grand prix once more
01:09:43let's hear
01:09:44from the top three kimmy what a pole position tell us from the inside yeah i'm uh super happy with
01:09:52uh
01:09:52with the session it was uh was a good one was a was a clean one and uh i felt
01:09:57very good in the car and
01:09:59uh everyone every run i was just improving and improving and was a shame for the last lap because
01:10:04i locked up in turn 11 but uh was a good one as well so not really happy with the
01:10:09session and i will
01:10:09focus on to tomorrow we enjoy a lot from outside thank you so much george you have a hard time
01:10:16now
01:10:17in the in the team yeah he did a great job again uh really strange session for us i mean
01:10:22we were both
01:10:22very fast all weekend we made some adjustments in um after fp3 and then the beginning of qualifying we
01:10:30were nowhere so you need to kind of understand very lucky again to be in p2 um you know the
01:10:35last two
01:10:36weekends it's kind of both gone wrong come qualifying but races tomorrow and still a lot to
01:10:40play for oscar finally a good start of the weekend yeah i mean i think uh qualifying has been okay
01:10:46this
01:10:47year but uh yeah nice to to get into the top three i think this weekend we've looked looked good
01:10:52and i
01:10:52think we've executed well you know we clearly don't don't have the the pace or the grip to match
01:10:56mercedes still but uh we're getting closer which is the the most important well down kimmy you will
01:11:03wake up the whole italy tomorrow morning everybody will watch you but we are in japan and you see the
01:11:09fan say something to them yeah i mean the the fans here in japan are pretty incredible you know they
01:11:16there's so much passion and you know racing in such a historic track is uh is an incredible feeling you
01:11:23know the track is uh is unbelievable to drive with this kind of cars and plus you know the fans
01:11:27give
01:11:27us a little a little bit more of a boost uh going on when we go on track so thank
01:11:32you so much for
01:11:32coming and uh yeah arigato
01:11:55so
01:12:01and
01:12:04and
01:12:07and
01:12:18and
01:12:19and
01:12:19and
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