Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00 Look, some of those questions.
00:02 The weather forecast I saw today, for what it's worth around here...
00:06 My brakes are not working. They're not biting.
00:09 Understood. Can you continue or do we have to replace them?
00:13 I'll try again, but just check.
00:15 Looking at the weather forecast this morning, for what it's worth around here,
00:20 the weather just seems to make up its mind every minute.
00:22 It is meant to be a lot more sunny by mid-afternoon.
00:27 Perez too, saying his brakes are lacking bite.
00:30 So is this a set-up issue across both cars, I wonder?
00:34 So far this season, the same five have gone out in Q1 at both races.
00:40 I just wonder, to save a set of soft tyres for the race,
00:44 given that we had three red flags last year,
00:48 and the possibility of a late restart might not be a bad idea...
00:52 So that's 1.5 off Verstappen, who's got the medium tyre.
00:56 Quite a lot of straight line difference there.
00:58 1.1 on straight line.
01:01 Russell still only goes P6 with that.
01:05 So nobody really excelling on what should, in theory, be the fastest time.
01:10 Russell and Hamilton, 315km/h down the straight by the speed trap.
01:17 Hülkenberg and Verstappen, 325 and 324km/h.
01:21 There is your straight line speed deficit.
01:24 A window, a currency.
01:26 Yeah, there's something weird going on with the track grip level this year.
01:30 The teams all yesterday, properly, expected to be able to run the jetta level,
01:36 if not lower than jetta level, of downforce, based on the track layout.
01:41 But in the end, they were all kind of going back to the Bahrain wing,
01:45 you know, even higher than jetta.
01:47 And I think that's because the track surface itself wasn't offering the grip.
01:50 You see Leclerc having a big snap there at 13.
01:53 There just wasn't the grip there yesterday.
01:56 It doesn't look like it's there for the soft tyre in particular, today so far.
02:01 Yeah, and so often, in a little moment like that,
02:03 when you're really not expecting the car to get away from you,
02:06 you can end up in the wall, especially here.
02:08 So currently P6, 1.3 to Sainz.
02:12 Where is all that time at?
02:14 7 tenths straight line.
02:16 And into the final corner.
02:19 The Mercedes still snaking around a little bit.
02:22 You just lose a bit of confidence when that happens.
02:25 But how is that working out for Lewis?
02:28 And moves up a little bit on a mid 17.
02:33 Now is that a great tyre line?
02:35 As far as I'm aware, he's come into the pits and changed his tyres.
02:39 That would help.
02:40 I think we were on board at the time.
02:42 We didn't see him dipping into the gravel.
02:44 That definitely cost you time and cost you grip through the next two or three corners as well.
02:48 I was a bit of a commentator at the time, but my eyebrows raised and I'm thinking,
02:52 "Wow, I think we've got something special here."
02:54 Yeah, he made his intentions very clear.
02:56 There's one thing that is certain, is that you get an Aston Martin at one point in the middle.
03:01 All the f*** time. Copy?
03:04 Now, death taxes and an Aston Martin in the middle of the track.
03:08 They're the certainties for Charles Leclerc.
03:11 Down at turn 11, did he get onto the gravel?
03:16 Totally gone. Totally gone after turn 9.
03:19 Wow.
03:22 He was on the same tyres that he completed 13 laps on previously, and he's coming into the pits.
03:29 I think they just gave it one more go on those.
03:31 Piastri with the fastest first sector we've had so far,
03:35 and I think the Mercedes Ted Kravitz have just come out on some new soft tyres.
03:39 Down to you.
03:40 Lauren, we've heard drivers early on complaining about brake temperatures.
03:46 Clearly, it's difficult to get the tyres in the right window.
03:51 Is there a problem today with these temperatures?
03:54 George.
03:55 Guys, I always find Lewis has points in the track. Every time.
04:04 And Ted Kravitz, if the sun is coming out a little bit later,
04:10 the track temperature is just going to go up and up and up and bear no semblance to what we've seen on track.
04:15 And what we've just seen on track is Lewis Hamilton go second fastest.
04:18 He's flying along nicely. The middle sector, kind of okay.
04:22 Let's see what he's got in terms of tyre life through the last few critical corners.
04:27 Short shifting there to dull the acceleration a little bit.
04:33 Had to get out of the throttle to let the front connect up.
04:36 Made the apex nicely. Picked up the throttle smoothly.
04:40 Comes in early. Rides the kerb on the outside. A reasonable run to the line.
04:45 And how is it looking for Sainz?
04:48 Has not improved.
04:49 No, nobody has improved, or nobody has gone better than the 1.16.7 that Sainz set on the medium tyre.
04:56 Who's got enough medium tyres to do qualifying and have enough for the race?
05:02 Well, look, overtaking's got better here.
05:06 It has to be said, George Russell going well on this current lap.
05:10 We had 10 overtakes in the race in 2019.
05:13 They re-profiled the track. 27 in 2022 and 30 in 2023.
05:19 But track position still very much king here.
05:22 So is it worth sacrificing three, six laps on those medium tyres to get you a better qualifying
05:29 if this sort of form carries into the qualifying hour?
05:32 You want your best qualifying spot possible to stay out of trouble on the critical first and third corners here.
05:38 And what we're seeing is drivers really struggling again to put three good sectors together.
05:45 He's got the mighty advantage of about six tenths of a second, seven hundredths of a second, I should say, over his teammate.
05:53 I want to say mightier.
05:54 I don't know why, in a harsh state like this, it's kind of faster to go to the medium tyres and run too much.
06:00 OK, Ferguson.
06:02 There's a lovely explanation there for what we've been talking about.
06:06 I think we're certainly going to see a very difficult to predict qualifying session.
06:10 Fernando Alonso not overly happy with the car that he felt was in his way.
06:16 Now Stroll starts a new lap. Carlos Sainz, who is the fastest driver, still can't go faster than the 1.16.7,
06:25 which was set on the medium compound tyre.
06:28 And love watching it. Verstappen, purple, middle sector.
06:32 Personal best on the first sector.
06:35 Sees the checkered flag, reaches the line, goes quickest by nearly six one hundredths of a second.
06:43 There's Fernando Alonso, goes sixth fastest, about two and a half tenths back.
06:48 I think the drivers are slowly dialling in to the challenges and surprises that they're getting as the lap unfolds.
06:56 And Leclerc crosses the line now, and he goes fastest.
07:00 By two one hundredths of a second, so still less than a tenth between the top four.
07:05 Leclerc, Verstappen, Sainz, Hamilton and George Russell just over a tenth and a half back in fifth.
07:13 This could be really tight.
07:15 Yeah, I'd be surprised if that infringement cost him grid slots or anything like that.
07:20 Might be a warning.
07:21 Or a sign or a warning.
07:22 Yeah, I'd be somewhat surprised if that was a...
07:26 Yeah, top eight covered by a third of a second.
07:29 And anybody, yeah, hooking three sectors up could pull a surprise out of the bag.
07:35 Track temperature finished 30 degrees.
07:38 Air temperature finished 18 degrees.
07:40 If the sun comes out, let's see how much warmer that gets for later.
07:44 But it's Charles Leclerc who waited until yesterday to lead his first practice session in 2024
07:49 and followed it swiftly up with the lead in this one as well.
07:52 Don't get any points today, but it's a good pointer.
07:56 The Ferrari really do have some pace, but there's not much difference out there.
07:59 And Carlos Sainz on the medium tyre when he set that fastest lap time.
08:04 It's 19 drivers that go battling for pole later on today.
08:09 No Logan.
08:10 Sgt. Alex Albon, 13th fastest in the car that Logan had yesterday,
08:15 while Alex's car is sent back to Williams HQ to get fixed after damaging the chassis.
08:20 19 going for pole then.
08:22 We'll see what happens in a couple of hours' time.
08:25 [MUSIC PLAYING]
08:28 (upbeat music)