2008 German GP Practice

OSRN 1

The 2nd Friday Practice session for Round 10 of the 2008 F1 season at Hockenheim.

Transcript

00:00:00of the 2008 season, the German Formula One Grand Prix weekend from Hockenheim.

00:00:05Hello again, everybody. I'm Bob Barsha with David Hobbs and Steve Matchett.

00:00:09The weather forecasters promised it would be dry all weekend here in the forests of Hockenheim.

00:00:14So, of course, it rained like crazy last night.

00:00:16And that was the theme at the beginning of this morning's

00:00:18opening 90 minutes of practice for the German Grand Prix.

00:00:21Let's check the highlights.

00:00:25The raindrops were just letting up as the drivers came to the track.

00:00:29None of them happier than Sebastian Vettel.

00:00:31The young German has been confirmed.

00:00:33He will replace David Coulthard in the Red Bull Renault team next year.

00:00:37As you can see, it was wet.

00:00:38Everybody on grooved, wet-weather Bridgestone tires at the beginning.

00:00:42And even Lewis Hamilton, British Grand Prix winner, went off.

00:00:45Sebastian Borde's bad luck continued early on in the session

00:00:48when he had to park his car behind the tire barrier.

00:00:51But then his teammate, Sebastian Vettel,

00:00:53was the first to go out on the dry compound and set a very quick lap.

00:00:57Well, the track continued to dry,

00:00:59but it was still too slick for Alonso right there in the Renault.

00:01:03No damage to the car and back on track.

00:01:05And as the track continued to dry,

00:01:07Kimi Räikkönen on those dry-weather tires sets provisional fastest lap,

00:01:12only to be batted by his teammate,

00:01:14Felipe Massa and the sister, F2008 Ferrari.

00:01:18The only yellow flag of the session came out,

00:01:20and Robert Kubica trying a little bit too hard here,

00:01:22swept across the gravel track, boom, into the tires.

00:01:25All the water coming out of the tires there.

00:01:27Here you see it from the on-board shot now.

00:01:29Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop.

00:01:30Too late.

00:01:32But he was okay.

00:01:33As you can see, standing there,

00:01:34Akimbo watching the rest of the race.

00:01:37With no time left in the 90-minute session,

00:01:39Heikki Kovalainen jumped to the top of the speed charts

00:01:42in his McLaren Mercedes.

00:01:43But behind him on the road was his teammate, Hamilton.

00:01:46And in one of those classic last-man-standing kind of practice sessions,

00:01:50Hamilton was quickest, 115.537.

00:01:54And a promotional note,

00:01:55all five German drivers in the field,

00:01:57Vettel, Adrian Sutil, Nick Heidfeld, Nico Rosberg, and Timo Glock,

00:02:01each spent time at the top of the timesheets.

00:02:04That is how you sell tickets.

00:02:07Morning session times across the bottom of your screen.

00:02:09As you can see, heavy clouds overhead,

00:02:11a threat of rain for this second Friday practice.

00:02:14But right now, it is dry.

00:02:16And here comes the man of the moment, Sebastian Vettel.

00:02:18As you look at the weather conditions,

00:02:20not an unpleasant day,

00:02:22and a full house expected for Sunday's Grand Prix.

00:02:27Let's just hope that the rain holds off.

00:02:30Ooh, pretty wide there.

00:02:34So with Vettel moving to the Red Bull,

00:02:36the sister Red Bull-sponsored team, Red Bull Renault,

00:02:39to partner Mark Webber,

00:02:40who will be on a one-year contract next year,

00:02:43we have an opening with the Scuderia Toro Rosso team.

00:02:50David, I know you haven't retired fully.

00:02:52You were at Goodwood Festival of Speed last weekend,

00:02:55driving two different cars,

00:02:56Can-Am, Formula 5000.

00:02:58Are you back in fighting shape,

00:03:00ready to get back into Formula 1?

00:03:02Not exactly.

00:03:04I wasn't the slowest up the hill,

00:03:06but I was down there amongst them,

00:03:08and I've taken it very cautiously.

00:03:11Unlike Fernando Alonso here,

00:03:12who's given the old wheel his usual twitch going into that corner.

00:03:17It just amazes me how little understeer he does induce

00:03:21with this very rapid turn that he's got.

00:03:24This is the motor draw,

00:03:26the arena section of the old Hockenheim circuit

00:03:28that was left after the place was reconfigured in 2002.

00:03:32Gone are the long, straightaway blasts into the forest.

00:03:37As you can see, it's still a pretty tricky racetrack.

00:03:39Yeah, and he does put a lot of effort into this car.

00:03:41He has certainly revitalized Renault this year,

00:03:43there's no doubt about it.

00:03:44Started off right down the back in Australia,

00:03:46but certainly always up there in practice qualifying.

00:03:51Here's Michael Schumacher,

00:03:53seven-time world champ,

00:03:54making only his second appearance at a Formula 1 race this year.

00:03:57He played in his traditional charity soccer match,

00:04:00saying hello to the boys on the pit wall.

00:04:05I bet they're relieved to see him in the fold once again.

00:04:08And while we watch Michael chatting,

00:04:10let's welcome the fourth member of our team,

00:04:11Peter Windsor.

00:04:12Peter?

00:04:14Thanks very much, Bob.

00:04:15Yes, great to be here on an interesting circuit, I think,

00:04:18because it's a relatively bland Hermann Tilke circuit.

00:04:21And because it's relatively bland,

00:04:23it's actually conversely quite interesting technically,

00:04:26because it's got enough slow corners

00:04:28to see whether or not McLaren really have closed the gap

00:04:31on traction with Ferrari, as we saw at Silverstone,

00:04:34but that needs to be proved really

00:04:35in good dry race conditions.

00:04:37And beyond that, it's going to be very even.

00:04:39It's a very short lap.

00:04:40It's going to be a very, very competitive race, I think.

00:04:42And that's the talk in the paddock at the moment.

00:04:44Lots of teams that perhaps haven't been doing so well

00:04:46recently scoring some good points here.

00:04:48Weather-wise, it's not such a lovely day.

00:04:51It's pretty humid,

00:04:52and there are some pretty dirty gray clouds overhead.

00:04:55So let's hope the rain stays off.

00:04:56But the upside to that threat

00:04:58is that a lot of cars in action at the moment.

00:05:05Checking that speed trap time.

00:05:07About 192 miles an hour,

00:05:09the fastest part of this racetrack.

00:05:11This is early in the weekend.

00:05:12We should ride with Lewis Hamilton.

00:05:14Well, that time that Hamilton set this morning, 115,

00:05:17you know, it's not that far off the best time ever,

00:05:20which was Michael Schumacher,

00:05:21Ralph Schumacher, I mean Michael Schumacher,

00:05:24who did a 113.7.

00:05:25So I want to think about it.

00:05:26Not that far off, really.

00:05:28Here's the first glimpse we've had

00:05:30of the white stripe softer Bridgestone compound.

00:05:32The Bridgestone engineers have brought

00:05:34their hard and medium compounds

00:05:36from their four compound range for this track,

00:05:39which is pretty hard on the rubber, Steve.

00:05:42It is. Yeah, right.

00:05:43And it's a technical track, as Peter was saying.

00:05:46It's all about getting traction

00:05:48out of these slow speed corners.

00:05:49That's a trick to get in the car to work here.

00:05:52Remember, there's no traction control on the cars any longer,

00:05:54but because of the number of slow speed corners

00:05:57and the driver flooring the throttle,

00:06:00you have to get that rear end to hook up as fast as possible.

00:06:03That's the trick of getting the car to work.

00:06:05So you need to keep the soft rear suspension

00:06:09a little bit harder on the front to give good turning.

00:06:12But that's what it is.

00:06:13So it is a very tricky track.

00:06:15I must say, I just absolutely hate

00:06:18what Tilke did to this track.

00:06:19I think destroyed it by taking away those long straights.

00:06:24It was such a test for engine reliability, like Monza.

00:06:27I mean, in many ways,

00:06:29I always think the old Hockenheim track was like Monza,

00:06:31just those long, long straights out into the forest and back.

00:06:34But unfortunately, that has all been taken away.

00:06:37Whoa, crikey!

00:06:39That was a bit...

00:06:41It came very close there, wasn't it?

00:06:42It was a bit close, yeah.

00:06:44Was that Vettel?

00:06:45Stooge and I couldn't quite see who it was,

00:06:47but I don't think I was sure it was, either.

00:06:51That was close.

00:06:52He was trying for a quick lap there,

00:06:53so that spoiled that one.

00:06:55Back to Steve's point about the hamstringing of the racetrack,

00:06:59if you will.

00:06:59A little bit later on, we'll show you

00:07:02one of the more inspiring Formula 1 races of recent years,

00:07:05back in the year 2000,

00:07:06when Rubens Barrichello, driving a Ferrari,

00:07:08took his very first Formula 1 win on the old Hockenheim circuit.

00:07:13You'll see those long blasts then.

00:07:16Yeah, I see those clouds that Peter was talking about there.

00:07:18They look pretty threatening, I must admit.

00:07:21Nick Heidfeld with a special helmet designed for the weekend.

00:07:24Noted a lot of white in it.

00:07:27The BMW Sauber.

00:07:28Heidfeld absolutely walking on a cloud

00:07:31after his performance in Britain two weeks ago

00:07:34when he made the podium.

00:07:35Says he's come to grips with the car once again,

00:07:38and now he's ready to start his season.

00:07:41And not a moment too soon,

00:07:43because Heidfeld's drive with BMW Sauber,

00:07:46apparently very much in jeopardy.

00:07:48There's another look at Hamilton overtaking Sebastian Bordet.

00:07:52Yeah, I spent some time with Bordet last week at Festival Speed.

00:07:56He was there driving his old McDonald's camp car up the hill,

00:08:01and he was saying that he finds it very difficult.

00:08:03This new car, since the redesign,

00:08:05he finds it very difficult to get.

00:08:08It's just not set up for him.

00:08:10And of course, these cars are basically set up for one driver,

00:08:13and he can't get it to his liking at all.

00:08:14Yeah, Bordet likes a lot of understeer in his car,

00:08:17and he is only on a one-year deal with Scuderia Toro Rosso,

00:08:20so there may be another vacancy with that team next year.

00:08:26But there's no time like the present

00:08:28to go justify your existence in Formula 1.

00:08:30Get out there and put the numbers up on the board,

00:08:32beginning this weekend in Germany.

00:08:34We'll be back.

00:08:37Speed's coverage of the FIA Formula 1 World Championship

00:08:41is brought to you by Bridgestone.

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00:08:44By Priceline.

00:08:45Save up to half off on hotels only at Priceline.

00:08:49And by Valvoline MaxLife.

00:08:51Drive it forever.

00:08:52Welcome back to the Hockenheim Ring.

00:09:01Live speed coverage of the second 90-minute Friday practice.

00:09:06Lewis Hamilton, well clear of the field at the top of the time charts.

00:09:10Felipe Massa, second in the Ferrari.

00:09:12Hamilton's one-minute, 15.8-second lap.

00:09:16Clear of Massa by nearly a full second.

00:09:22Here's a look in Robert Kubica's BMW garage,

00:09:25which is an appropriate segue to the BMW track analysis.

00:09:28David?

00:09:29Well, as Steve just said, it is a fairly technical track.

00:09:31It looks fairly easy, but there's some tricky little curves here.

00:09:34That Nord Curve, the very first turn, down one gear from seventh to sixth.

00:09:38A quick rattle through there,

00:09:39then a fast run down to the Einfahrt Parabolica,

00:09:43or sharp right-hander, second gear.

00:09:45And then it unwinds past T1 there and into that Parabolica,

00:09:48which is the highest speed on the track.

00:09:50About 195 miles an hour down to the Spitzkerber,

00:09:52which, as you can see, is very, very tight.

00:09:55But tons of run-up areas, so they all try all sorts of things down there.

00:09:58The Mercedes right-hander there, obviously flat out.

00:10:01That left-hander, there's a bit of overtaking going on into there.

00:10:03Then, as you go left, right, out of that cubby up to T2,

00:10:08that's quite a complex set of corners.

00:10:10And then, of course, into the Motorada,

00:10:12or the compound there in front of all the grandstands.

00:10:14Very, very tricky corners.

00:10:16You need a lot of good grip here,

00:10:17because as you can see, a lot of hard acceleration

00:10:19out of a lot of these curves.

00:10:20And that Soot Curve, up to the start-finish line,

00:10:23is a lot quicker than it looks on that map.

00:10:29This is Felipe Massa's Ferrari.

00:10:33Massa trying to put his British Grand Prix experience

00:10:36out of his mind as soon as possible.

00:10:38Boy, I think he needs it, too.

00:10:40What, did he spin at least five times?

00:10:43Five that we saw.

00:10:44Two laps down in 13th.

00:10:47Slowing up here to give himself some room on that car.

00:10:49This is that Soot Curve.

00:10:52It's like a double apex job here.

00:10:54It's a spitz curve, where, as you can see, it's very tight.

00:10:56There's tons of run-off areas,

00:10:57so they all try all sorts of things down there.

00:10:59Which reminds me of the Adelaide hairpin, that corner.

00:11:01Yeah, the teams keep referring to that

00:11:03as the slowest corner in Formula 1.

00:11:05Is it slower than the hotel hairpin in Monaco?

00:11:08Wouldn't have thought.

00:11:09Well, it's probably a little bit slower,

00:11:12but it's not as tight.

00:11:16You know?

00:11:19About 35 to 37 miles an hour,

00:11:22which is walking pace in a Formula 1 car.

00:11:25But it's very...

00:11:28It gives a great idea of how difficult it is.

00:11:30And, David, you were just saying it again,

00:11:31how difficult, how complex F1 tracks are now.

00:11:34F1 cars are so complex.

00:11:36Talking about Forday's experience,

00:11:38getting used to Formula 1 technology,

00:11:40that they are so adjustable and so sensitive.

00:11:44I mean, when we're talking about ride height changes,

00:11:46the distance between the underbody of the car and the track

00:11:49changes in terms of nothing, really.

00:11:51I mean, you know, a sixteenth of an inch

00:11:53is a relatively big change in ride height.

00:11:55And the drivers can feel that.

00:11:58It does take some getting used to.

00:11:59Well, of course, same with tyre pressure, isn't it?

00:12:01I mean, half a pound and half a PSI.

00:12:03Yeah, and they can tell the difference immediately.

00:12:05This is that long Parabolica,

00:12:07up to about 195 inches, spit skirver.

00:12:09And, of course, you can try all sorts of different lines.

00:12:11And this is to take nothing away from Bordet,

00:12:13because he's obviously a very talented driver.

00:12:15He's got skill in the car.

00:12:16He's proved that in the United States.

00:12:18But I think it just takes some getting used to

00:12:20to this massive leap of technology.

00:12:23Which is why I mentioned that one-year contract.

00:12:25That's hardly fair in a guy's first season

00:12:27to be under that kind of pressure right now.

00:12:29But he was going quite well at the beginning of the year.

00:12:31And then they made the major improvement to the car.

00:12:34They changed chassis.

00:12:35And he doesn't like what they've done to the car.

00:12:37They went from last year's chassis

00:12:39to this year's Red Bull chassis.

00:12:40And Adrian Newey's chassis,

00:12:42as David Coulthard could tell you,

00:12:44can be, you know, a little bit of a handful.

00:12:48So it's been a rough slog for Bordet

00:12:50in his rookie year of Formula 1.

00:13:17Quite tough setting up the car in these conditions.

00:13:24Peter Windsor.

00:13:26Well, Bob, yeah, you know,

00:13:27I feel very sorry for Sebastian Bordet.

00:13:29Sorry that he feels that way a little bit.

00:13:31And sorry because of what's happened to Vettel now

00:13:33and going to Red Bull.

00:13:34Because I think Bordet's done a brilliant job this year,

00:13:37contrary to most people,

00:13:38given the fact that he was completely new to Formula 1.

00:13:41I think his performances alongside Vettel

00:13:43have been very, very strong.

00:13:45Vettel had that experience.

00:13:46He's done a lot of testing.

00:13:48And nobody should have expected him to come in

00:13:49and just blow Vettel away.

00:13:50I think he's done a great job.

00:13:52He looks very good in the car.

00:13:54And if I was Mr. Mateschitz,

00:13:56in fact, I would have hired Bordet

00:13:57rather than Vettel for the Red Bull A team.

00:13:59I'm surprised they haven't done that

00:14:00because to my mind, Bordet's certainly more intelligent.

00:14:04And he's definitely got that lovely smooth touch

00:14:07on transition.

00:14:08He's a great driver to watch,

00:14:09whereas Vettel is quite harsh and rather bullish in the way.

00:14:12Oh, big moment from Kimi there, Mr. Reikland.

00:14:15A bit of opposite lock.

00:14:15Unusual for him to see that.

00:14:16Unusual for us to see that, mind you.

00:14:19Yeah, plenty of right.

00:14:20I just wanted to say that about Bordet.

00:14:22Yeah, I think you're right.

00:14:23I remember talking to Graham Rahol in Las Vegas in January

00:14:28at the BMW demonstration there.

00:14:29And Graham was very, very complimentary of Bordet.

00:14:32I've been watching Bordet's style,

00:14:35learned a lot from him.

00:14:36Really, I've been learning from the best by watching Bordet.

00:14:39And I believe he has got the skill behind the wheel.

00:14:41Well, it's proven that, you know,

00:14:42championships just don't fall out of the sky.

00:14:45You have to learn them.

00:14:45But again, I just think it's just so, so different.

00:14:49Well, we're not giving Bordet's career last race here,

00:14:52but, you know, with only a one-year deal,

00:14:54it has to be a nervous time for him.

00:14:56I just asked him how he, you know,

00:14:57he seems to have definitely gone slightly backwards

00:15:00with that new car.

00:15:02There's something about it that just doesn't suit him.

00:15:04So he's got to work his way through that.

00:15:06Yeah, it reminds me a little bit of the situation

00:15:09with Michael Andretti.

00:15:10And I guess it was the expectation

00:15:12when you come over from North America

00:15:13as the American driver, if you like.

00:15:15I know Bordet's not American,

00:15:16but that's where he's had his success.

00:15:18There's a lot of expectation

00:15:20that he will replicate that success.

00:15:21You know, Michael actually did a very good job.

00:15:23The problem was they had

00:15:25not particularly good engines at the time.

00:15:26And he had Etten Center in the other car.

00:15:28But if you allow for that,

00:15:30Michael did a great job for McLaren.

00:15:32It's just that he didn't do what he'd done in America.

00:15:34And so he got crucified.

00:15:35And it's a little bit the same with Bordet.

00:15:37But in reality, I think Bordet's doing an excellent job.

00:15:40That's an interesting analogy from Michael.

00:15:43Well, I think part of the trouble with Michael is

00:15:44I don't think he put his...

00:15:46I don't think he put his all into it.

00:15:47He insists on going back

00:15:48to the force of America all the time.

00:15:50And the team just didn't like that.

00:15:51They wanted him there in the shop.

00:15:54At least he always said,

00:15:55well, they can get me any time they want.

00:15:56But I mean, it's just not the same

00:15:58when you're 4000 miles away.

00:15:59It's not the same as being 25 miles away.

00:16:01Well, and the other thing is

00:16:02you've just found out, David,

00:16:03by coming home from England,

00:16:05it's the jet lag constantly,

00:16:06as I find as well,

00:16:07going over from Europe to the States

00:16:09to back to Europe.

00:16:10I mean, it takes two or three days

00:16:12to get over that each way.

00:16:13Each way, yeah.

00:16:18But Sebastian Vettel, of course,

00:16:20very young, relatively inexperienced.

00:16:23The other thing against poor old Sebastian Bordet,

00:16:27and to a certain extent,

00:16:28Sebastian Vettel is Sebastian Bordet,

00:16:30because he's never been to half the circus before.

00:16:33So you're trying to do everything

00:16:34in these two important sessions on Friday.

00:16:38I mean, he did quite a lot in Formula 3000,

00:16:40but that was quite a long time ago.

00:16:41Let's ride along with Kimi Räikkönen in the Ferrari.

00:16:57Like we saw at Silverson,

00:16:58coming out of that woodcut left field complex,

00:17:00a lot of steering input from Kimi Räikkönen.

00:17:04And as you said, David,

00:17:05those turns in the motor drone area

00:17:07can be very, very complex.

00:17:09We'll take another break and return

00:17:11for more live Friday practice on Speed.

00:17:18The 1957 German Grand Prix

00:17:20took place at the mighty 17.5 mile Nürburgring,

00:17:24and is widely thought of

00:17:25as Juan Manuel Fangio's greatest drive.

00:17:27Fangio started on pole in a Maserati,

00:17:30but found himself third behind Mike Hawthorne

00:17:32and Peter Collins on the opening lap.

00:17:35On lap three, Fangio split the Ferraris,

00:17:37getting by Collins here.

00:17:39He would soon overtake Hawthorne as well

00:17:41and put himself into the lead.

00:17:42But while neither Ferrari needed to stop,

00:17:45Fangio would be forced to bring his aging Maserati

00:17:48into the pitch to refuel.

00:17:49He rejoined 45 seconds behind the two Ferraris.

00:17:52But Fangio then set lap record after lap record

00:17:55to pull himself right up to the Ferraris

00:17:58and eventually go by them.

00:18:00For his 24th and final career victory,

00:18:04he would later call his greatest drive

00:18:06in a glittering career.

00:18:08Just a part of the history of the German Grand Prix.

00:18:11Welcome back to live coverage

00:18:12of Friday's second practice here on Speed.

00:18:15I'm Bob Harsha with David Hobbs,

00:18:16Steve Manchett and Peter Windsor.

00:18:18This is Nick Heidfeld in his home race,

00:18:23as well as the home race for his team, BMW Sauber.

00:18:28Amazing, that footage of Fangio in the car,

00:18:30just, oh boy, terrific.

00:18:31And to me, that just highlights

00:18:33the fact that you just cannot compare

00:18:35drivers era to era.

00:18:37They were just so different.

00:18:39What the drivers had to put up with,

00:18:40and I'm sure a lot of these drivers

00:18:42would just refuse to get in a car like that

00:18:44with so little safety features around.

00:18:46That's the big difference between the eras,

00:18:50is the fact that those drivers

00:18:52really did go out there with their heart in their mouth,

00:18:54thinking, you know, they may not ever come back again.

00:18:57These guys, basically,

00:18:58they can ram it into the guardrail at 190 mile an hour

00:19:01and step out and get in the spare car.

00:19:03I mean, there is danger involved,

00:19:05but it's just nothing, nothing to what it was.

00:19:07Well, you could see that in the footage

00:19:09that we just watched,

00:19:10the grass right down to the edge of the track,

00:19:12the trees, the lack of safety.

00:19:14Well, the trees were right there.

00:19:15The first time I went in was back in the early 60s.

00:19:18I mean, the hedge was right there around the track.

00:19:20Right.

00:19:21I saw an extended feature on that race.

00:19:24Just an incredible performance by Fangio.

00:19:27And watching the drivers in the car,

00:19:28of course, on top of everything else,

00:19:30they're sitting right up there in the wind stream

00:19:32and they're on big steering wheels

00:19:33and lots of elbows up.

00:19:35I mean, they were physical to drive it

00:19:37as much as the steering would be very heavy

00:19:38and the gear shift, of course, would be horrible.

00:19:41But, of course, nothing like the g-loading

00:19:43that these guys get put through.

00:19:44I mean, these guys are probably a lot fitter

00:19:45than the Formula One drivers of old.

00:19:47But, of course, those races were also so long.

00:19:49I mean, three and a half hours.

00:19:52And if it rained, you know, like four hours.

00:19:55And different skills, you know,

00:19:56I believe just different physical attributes.

00:19:58You were just talking there about, you know,

00:20:00the drivers putting the upper body strength

00:20:02into the steering.

00:20:03That's different to how these guys are now.

00:20:05These guys are built like jockeys.

00:20:07Yeah.

00:20:07But also, you know, these guys,

00:20:09look at the complexity of the cars.

00:20:10Look at the technology.

00:20:11These fellas have to be so good

00:20:13at using the electronics on the cars,

00:20:15which people like, you know,

00:20:16with Hawthorne and Fangio,

00:20:18whoever we believe from that era,

00:20:19probably just couldn't adapt to it.

00:20:21Yeah.

00:20:21Different eras, different drivers,

00:20:23different machinery.

00:20:24Back in the day, as they say,

00:20:25when the tires were skinny

00:20:26and the drivers were fat.

00:20:29And as you saw from that picture,

00:20:30the tires sure were skinny, weren't they?

00:20:33My gosh.

00:20:34The car only just a couple of feet wide.

00:20:37Oh, Lewis Hamilton having another shot here

00:20:39into the autodrome part, motorhome.

00:20:42Chasing his own session leading time at 15.8.

00:20:45Peter?

00:20:47Well, great cockpit shot of Lewis there.

00:20:49Makes me think of the Arai helmet

00:20:50and the problems Lewis had with his visor misting

00:20:53during the British Grand Prix

00:20:54when he won so brilliantly in the wet.

00:20:57Chatting to Peter, the Arai technician yesterday,

00:20:59and he was saying, well, not surprised really,

00:21:02because Lewis was the only Arai driver in the race

00:21:04not to choose to run the new Arai double visor,

00:21:07which they introduced after the 06 Japanese Grand Prix

00:21:10to get around this misting problem.

00:21:12And Lewis, of course,

00:21:13won the Japanese Grand Prix last year in the wet.

00:21:16But after that race, using the double visor,

00:21:18said, no, he didn't think it was very good.

00:21:20It got a bit misty

00:21:21and there's a lot of water between the two lenses.

00:21:23And Peter, the Arai man said,

00:21:25well, you know, you were driving in

00:21:26about the worst possible wet conditions

00:21:28that could ever be defined by humanity.

00:21:32Give it another go.

00:21:32And Lewis said, no, no, no, I never want to use it again.

00:21:35And then entrusted all his visor preparation

00:21:38to his physio, Adam Costanzo,

00:21:39who's a really good guy, very detailed,

00:21:41great attention to detail.

00:21:43Well, anyway, as a result, as...

00:21:45Sorry, radio from Vettel.

00:21:48First time lap.

00:21:51I messed up in turn two.

00:21:54The car seemed not to be ready.

00:21:57And then in general,

00:22:00very difficult to put it all together.

00:22:02Very hard to attack.

00:22:03Very hard to feel the car.

00:22:06You feel a bit of a benefit from the tyre,

00:22:08but it's really difficult to use it.

00:22:15Sebastian Vettel saying it's difficult

00:22:17to get complete feel for the car

00:22:18to give it 100% attack.

00:22:20But just going back to finish that point about Lewis.

00:22:22And in the British Grand Prix with Lewis

00:22:24running only the single visor,

00:22:25as he specifically wanted to.

00:22:27Of the 13 Arai runners in that race,

00:22:31only Lewis had a fogging problem.

00:22:33And one other, Mark Webber,

00:22:34and we'll talk about him in a little bit.

00:22:36And as a result of all that,

00:22:37the McLaren engineers have now said

00:22:38that they alone will deal exclusively with Arai

00:22:40and that Lewis from now on

00:22:41will run the double visor when it is wet

00:22:44and there'll be no more driver selection

00:22:46in that particular area.

00:22:47So interesting to see that little cameo there,

00:22:50I think, of Lewis wanting to do his own thing.

00:22:53That misting problem came back to me

00:22:55in the rust last week at Goodwood.

00:22:57I was sitting in the Lola T332, a 1975 car.

00:23:02And of course, I was wearing glasses behind my visor

00:23:05because I never used to race with glasses.

00:23:07My glasses kept steaming up.

00:23:09And I'll tell you, it's not very nice.

00:23:11Even though I was on the hill for like a minute,

00:23:13it's not too good when they all steam up.

00:23:15And that's what got me talking to Sebastian Vettel

00:23:17because I said to him,

00:23:18it's the first time I've ever been in a race car with glasses.

00:23:21How do you deal with it?

00:23:22He said, well, I don't have a problem

00:23:23with my glasses steaming up at all.

00:23:24He said, you just lift the visor a bit.

00:23:26And I said, yeah, I did all that stuff,

00:23:27but it's still steamed up.

00:23:29I mean, Sebastian Bordet, yeah.

00:23:30And he didn't seem to have a problem with it somehow.

00:23:34Anyway, so what are you doing here?

00:23:35Why aren't you on the microphone?

00:23:36It's Kaz Nakajima, who has yet to turn a timed lap

00:23:40in this session.

00:23:41So there's something obviously amiss

00:23:43in the Williams Toyota garage for the Japanese driver.

00:23:45David, tell me what you told me last night at dinner

00:23:47about sitting in that low-light T332 Formula 5000 car

00:23:51for the first time at Goodwood.

00:23:53Well, it was uncanny.

00:23:55You know, I've lost a bit of weight,

00:23:56so I slipped in there just like putting the old shoe on.

00:23:58And I'm sitting there looking out through the visor

00:24:00with my gloves, hands on the wheel,

00:24:03waiting to go to the starting lineup.

00:24:04And it just all went away.

00:24:07I mean, it's just like I'd never stopped doing this,

00:24:09nearly, you know, 30 years since I sat in one of those cars.

00:24:12And I couldn't believe how it all just seemed so natural

00:24:16just sitting there, seeing the same scene,

00:24:18the mechanic putting his head in the cockpit,

00:24:19saying everything all right, blah, blah, blah,

00:24:21and all that usual stuff a mechanic's saying.

00:24:23Drivers don't listen to.

00:24:24Drivers don't listen to.

00:24:26I don't know why we bother.

00:24:28It was incredible how it just came back

00:24:30as if I'd never, ever been away.

00:24:32Even the Nazi gear selector was...

00:24:34Well, they told me it was Nazi.

00:24:35I thought it was fine.

00:24:36But amazing.

00:24:41David, when you were sitting there

00:24:43and it was all coming back to you,

00:24:44did you have all these dreamlike visions of Sampozy

00:24:47appearing in front of you?

00:24:48The great Sampozy and those amazing races

00:24:51in which he used to beat you.

00:24:52Dreamy visions of Sampozy in front of me

00:24:55as I was coming up to lap him, you mean.

00:24:57Yeah, that sort of thing did spring to mind.

00:24:59Mind you, I did drive rather cautiously

00:25:01because it's very, very narrow, that hill.

00:25:03And it's not your car.

00:25:05It's not my car, but it is my leg.

00:25:07We'll have Goodwood stories all weekend,

00:25:09including the infamous locker key story.

00:25:12So stand by for that.

00:25:14Quick look around Fernando Alonso's Renault.

00:25:17Less than an hour to go, or almost an hour to go,

00:25:20depending on how you look at it.

00:25:30Welcome back to Friday Practice.

00:25:31In replay, you see Rubens Barrichello

00:25:33spinning the factory Honda,

00:25:35getting it pointed in the right direction again.

00:25:38On board with Kimi Raikkonen,

00:25:39recall that just a few minutes ago,

00:25:41Lewis Hamilton had the field by nearly a second.

00:25:43Right now, Felipe Massa is within nine thousandths

00:25:47of a second of Hamilton's session leading time.

00:25:50Sebastian Vettel remains third,

00:25:52but he is six tenths off Hamilton's pace,

00:25:55followed by Heikki Kovalainen in fourth

00:25:57and Kimi Raikkonen, with whom you ride in fifth.

00:25:59Here are the best sector times

00:26:02leading to the ideal lap.

00:26:04Hamilton closest to that.

00:26:06Don't forget, Sunday afternoon,

00:26:07to join David, Steve, Peter, and myself

00:26:09for complete coverage of the German Grand Prix.

00:26:12We start things off at 12.30 p.m. Eastern on Speed

00:26:15with the Acura Pre-Race Show,

00:26:17and at one, join us on your local Fox affiliate

00:26:20for the German Formula One Grand Prix.

00:26:23Or perhaps you should join David, Steve, Peter, and me.

00:26:30Or whatever.

00:26:34But definitely join us on Fox at one.

00:26:36Well, down to the business of Friday Practice,

00:26:38we've seen very little of the white-striped,

00:26:40softer of the two Bridgestone compounds,

00:26:43and of the cars on them right now,

00:26:45the best placed is Robert Kubica in eighth.

00:26:53Well, these guys are watching here.

00:26:54Ferrari were very, very self-critical

00:26:57after the British Grand Prix,

00:26:58of their performance at the British Grand Prix.

00:27:01And their supremo, Montezemolo,

00:27:04said, we do not want any more of that idiocy in our team.

00:27:08Thank you very much.

00:27:10Which, it is, it was an absolutely bizarre race for Ferrari.

00:27:14A, with Massa just spinning and spinning and doing it again.

00:27:17Even Massa's comments were a little bit strange

00:27:19when he says, well, I kind of put my hand up

00:27:21to the first spin, but the rest, well, you know,

00:27:23the team were making errors too.

00:27:25Yeah, but only you were driving the car, dude.

00:27:29Of course, they had that problem with his tires.

00:27:31Interesting, talking to Felipe Massa yesterday,

00:27:33and he was grilled by the Italian press.

00:27:35It was quite fun watching it all, actually,

00:27:36as to what happened.

00:27:38And he eventually sort of just said, okay, guys,

00:27:41I can't disguise it anymore.

00:27:42I had a terrible weekend.

00:27:44It was like a footballer who can't even hit the football

00:27:46when he tries to.

00:27:47Everything I did was wrong.

00:27:49I had no feel.

00:27:50I was completely out of it all weekend.

00:27:52It's quite good that he admits that,

00:27:53but I can't remember.

00:27:54I mean, it's a long time ago since a driver

00:27:56was that far off the pace

00:27:58because he just had a bad weekend.

00:27:59It was incredible admission, really.

00:28:01I thought it was quite interesting

00:28:02after the unilateral interviews, after the race,

00:28:04Nick Heidfeld was watching the replays

00:28:07before he went into the main interviews

00:28:08of Massa spinning yet again.

00:28:10And he said, it was a matter of interest,

00:28:11how many times did Felipe spin in the wet today?

00:28:13And I said, well, I don't know, five or six, seven, maybe.

00:28:16And he said, oh yeah, he did the same thing at Sauber

00:28:18when we first raced there in the wet at Silverstone.

00:28:20He hates his place.

00:28:20He's absolutely useless in the wet at Silverstone.

00:28:22Well, let's not forget, too,

00:28:25that the team left him out on used intermediate

00:28:28as they did with his teammate Raikkonen,

00:28:30which didn't help matters,

00:28:31but it was definitely an off day.

00:28:33Don't forget, he crashed on Friday in the dry, too.

00:28:36But the thing is now, and Peter brings up a good point

00:28:39with the way the Italian press

00:28:40were grilling Massa yesterday,

00:28:42just put your hand up and say you screwed up.

00:28:45We all make mistakes, we're all human,

00:28:48but if the driver, for whatever reason,

00:28:50wants to try and defend what happens

00:28:52and puts any sort of blame on the car,

00:28:54not talking about Massa in this position here,

00:28:56it makes it so difficult

00:28:58for the team and driver to make progress.

00:29:00Just be honest, the team screws up,

00:29:02the driver screws up.

00:29:03When it all comes together,

00:29:04you can walk in a straight line,

00:29:06but if you've gone wrong,

00:29:08you've made a mistake, you've made a mistake.

00:29:10Well, they all made a lot of mistakes in the Ferrari team.

00:29:12I mean, leaving Kimi Raikkonen out on those wet,

00:29:15tight on those intermediates

00:29:17when he came in for his first pit stop,

00:29:18I mean, they were practically shining.

00:29:20And they sent him out in the rain with those on,

00:29:22that was crazy.

00:29:23And of course, he should have said,

00:29:24I guess they got a weather forecasting wrong.

00:29:26But as for Felipe Massa,

00:29:27just spinning, spinning, spinning, spinning,

00:29:29I mean, that was nothing to do with the car

00:29:32because we know that the rain

00:29:33really equalizes the cars out.

00:29:35But of course, let's keep in mind,

00:29:36we're talking about a guy with three poles

00:29:38and three race victories

00:29:39and a share of the world championship.

00:29:41Well, that lead, I think,

00:29:42when you watched him the other day,

00:29:43if you'd been a spotter or a talent scout,

00:29:46you would not have been saying,

00:29:47that's, woo, that's the man for me,

00:29:49old Hamilton going wide.

00:29:51They're on the exit of that last turn.

00:29:52But we'll have much more,

00:29:54much more on the British Grand Prix weekend

00:29:56on Formula 1 debrief,

00:29:57coming your way tonight at midnight Eastern time

00:29:59here on Speed.

00:30:02And speaking of much more,

00:30:03as Lewis Hamilton makes his way around,

00:30:04let's get much more on Sebastian Bourdais' situation.

00:30:07The Frenchman is currently 18th and in the garage.

00:30:10Peter, what's up?

00:30:12Well, yes, Bob, he had problems this morning

00:30:14and that problem continues this afternoon.

00:30:15A gearbox ratio problem, they said.

00:30:19I don't believe he's just changing ratios.

00:30:20They don't seem to do that anymore.

00:30:21But there is something amiss in the gearbox.

00:30:23So that costing Bourdais more valuable time.

00:30:26Meanwhile, at Williams,

00:30:29Kazuki Nakajima sitting out a lot of this session

00:30:32because of an engine misfire.

00:30:34Again, relatively unusual in these days of frozen engines

00:30:36to have something as Cosworth DFV-ish as a misfire.

00:30:40But anyway, he has it.

00:30:44Yeah, probably not so much a problem

00:30:46with the engine itself per se.

00:30:48Maybe a bad connection inside the standard ECU,

00:30:51one of the wiring looms has started to chafe

00:30:53or something like that.

00:30:54But they can be just awful to try and diagnose

00:30:58in this very limited time.

00:30:59And you can imagine all the engineers

00:31:01are now studying data,

00:31:02checking connections on the car

00:31:03to find out what it is.

00:31:05Usually, like you say, Peter,

00:31:07they run like a well-oiled Swiss watch,

00:31:10but with just a slight electronic problem on them,

00:31:12it can be awful to trace it.

00:31:14We used to end up, more often than not,

00:31:16changing the entire wiring loom.

00:31:18You wouldn't take a change, change the lot.

00:31:20Kimi Raikkonen moves into third,

00:31:22two-tenths of a second off of Lewis Hamilton,

00:31:25sandwiching his Ferrari teammate, Felipe Massa.

00:31:29We'll take another break and return

00:31:30for more Friday practice in Germany.

00:31:35Speeds coverage of the FIA Formula One World Championship

00:31:38is brought to you by Mazda.

00:31:40On any given weekend,

00:31:41there are more Mazdas road race than any other brand.

00:31:55That's right.

00:32:24It's supposed to be fun.

00:32:26This wasn't fun.

00:32:27In replay, watch Timo Glock get off driver's left

00:32:29and then go for a wild ride in the Toyota.

00:32:33Boy, it didn't look much there,

00:32:34but when you see it in slow motion replay,

00:32:37you suddenly realize that could have been

00:32:38a pretty grave old job there.

00:32:40Another inch or two at the front,

00:32:42and we'll think we'd have done a backflip.

00:32:43Now watch, is this thing,

00:32:45is the chassis torquing as he comes down?

00:32:49Watch this impact.

00:32:50They go on about safety in Formula One,

00:32:53but we've seen this so many times.

00:32:54You only got to get off a bit

00:32:55and you get into those ruts in the grass.

00:32:57You'd think it wouldn't be that difficult

00:32:59to make the grass a bit smoother out there.

00:33:01Well, remember Glock at Melbourne.

00:33:02Absolutely.

00:33:03He went off and hit that service road

00:33:05and went about five feet in the air.

00:33:10Ooh, battle in the same place.

00:33:14He's on softs for the first time,

00:33:16and he is on softs for the second time.

00:33:18He's on softs for the first time,

00:33:20and he is currently fifth.

00:33:22Niko Rosberg has tried the softer compound,

00:33:25and he is sixth.

00:33:28And Kubica 10th and Sutil in 12th,

00:33:31I think, are the drivers

00:33:32who have been out on the white stripes.

00:33:34Here comes Robert.

00:33:38He's still being coy about his future.

00:33:40The BMW Sauber team is believed to have

00:33:43a unilateral option on his services,

00:33:45meaning it's up to them and not him

00:33:47whether or not he's with the team next year.

00:33:48But team principal, Dr. Mario Tyson,

00:33:52says they'll make an announcement

00:33:53sometime in August or September.

00:33:56And Kubica is saying,

00:33:57well, we'll just have to wait and see.

00:33:58Nick Heidfeld, who is believed

00:34:00to have another year on his contract.

00:34:03This is the time of year.

00:34:05It's the silly season,

00:34:06and everybody is on pins and needles.

00:34:09All right, of course,

00:34:09let's talk about Kubica going to Ferrari

00:34:12and Alonso going to Ferrari.

00:34:14And it seems like everybody's

00:34:14going to go to Ferrari.

00:34:15Sebastian Vettel,

00:34:16they're talking about going to Ferrari.

00:34:17Now we know that next year

00:34:18he's got his deal with Red Bull.

00:34:20But a lot of these younger drivers,

00:34:23you've got to remember that people

00:34:24like Kubica and Vettel,

00:34:26Kubica is still only 23.

00:34:28Vettel's only 20.

00:34:31But they want to make sure

00:34:32they get in the right team.

00:34:33One of the key dominoes in the mix

00:34:35will be Fernando Alonso.

00:34:36Will he stay with Renault?

00:34:38Does he, in fact,

00:34:39have an opt-out clause in his contract?

00:34:41If the team doesn't perform,

00:34:42will he exercise it?

00:34:44Where will he go?

00:34:45Christian Horner from Red Bull said

00:34:46Alonso was never really in our plans,

00:34:48partly because he wanted

00:34:50a pretty enormous amount of money,

00:34:51but they also wanted a younger driver.

00:34:54Peter.

00:34:55Well, Bob, again,

00:34:56at this Ferrari press conference yesterday,

00:34:58I actually said to Kimi,

00:34:59how do you feel, Kimi,

00:35:00about the fact that

00:35:02if you were Michael Schumacher

00:35:03and you had Rubens in the other car,

00:35:04you'd be leading the championship

00:35:05by eight points now.

00:35:06In other words,

00:35:07the teammate wouldn't have

00:35:08taken these points away from you.

00:35:10And 10 years of Michael Schumacher

00:35:12instruction of how to do it

00:35:13has been blown away

00:35:14by having two equal drivers.

00:35:15The last thing Ferrari need,

00:35:16actually, if they got Kimi,

00:35:18is somebody who's quick enough

00:35:19to beat Kimi on an off day.

00:35:20They need a Rubens in the other car.

00:35:23You know, I find it hard to believe

00:35:24they'd be talking to somebody like Kibica,

00:35:26because that's just going to be

00:35:26the same as the Massa situation.

00:35:28Massa's too quick to be a number two.

00:35:31Good point.

00:35:32Except when it's raining.

00:35:34And then he's about a number 10.

00:35:37I couldn't believe,

00:35:38I mean, he's not known

00:35:39for his wet weather driving expertise,

00:35:41and I just couldn't believe

00:35:42how well he went at Monte Carlo

00:35:44in the rain.

00:35:45I know he made that mistake

00:35:48at Saint-Denis.

00:35:52But I mean, he had an incredible race

00:35:53with Kubica last year in the rain in Japan.

00:35:55And I mean, that was really wet there.

00:35:57Yeah.

00:35:58Really, really wet.

00:36:02There's something about

00:36:03Silverson that spooks him.

00:36:04And of course, as we said

00:36:05before the race at Silverson,

00:36:06it's very wide and it's very flat,

00:36:07but it does hold a lot of water.

00:36:09It puddles badly.

00:36:11And again, the team,

00:36:12the Ferrari team,

00:36:12did not help its drivers.

00:36:15Still at all,

00:36:16we know who number one in the rain is right now,

00:36:18at least going in.

00:36:18That would be Lewis Hamilton

00:36:20after Japan last year

00:36:22and Britain this year.

00:36:24When the raindrops fall,

00:36:26who's the horse to bet on?

00:36:27Now I know I'm going to be accused of bias,

00:36:29but that wet weather win at Silverson

00:36:31was pretty overpowering.

00:36:32Over a minute ahead of second place

00:36:34and about five seconds behind Rubens Barrichello

00:36:37in third to lap him.

00:36:38He lapped everybody down to third spot,

00:36:40nearly lapped him as well.

00:36:42Pretty impressive.

00:36:44We'll have no problem with anybody praising

00:36:46a brilliant performance.

00:36:47And that's certainly what he was.

00:36:50It was brilliant.

00:36:51I wonder if that was David Coulthard

00:36:53at the Red Bull,

00:36:54desperately trying not to get into the dirt.

00:36:56Yeah, I think it was, yeah.

00:36:58There's Mark Webber,

00:36:59his teammate on the pit wall.

00:37:00Peter Windsor has more on him.

00:37:02Well, yes, Bob, I have.

00:37:04He switched to Schubert helmets this weekend,

00:37:06which isn't terribly significant,

00:37:08I guess, in the overall picture of things.

00:37:10But think about this.

00:37:11He was forced to go back from Schubert,

00:37:13which he had when he was with BMW,

00:37:15when he joined Red Bull,

00:37:17because Adrian Newey,

00:37:18a bit of a moment there from Fernando

00:37:20as he goes in here,

00:37:20I just got to change subject completely,

00:37:22Steve, we must talk about this.

00:37:24Stability under braking is what this circuit

00:37:26is all about, so the engineers say.

00:37:27And we saw a classic example there of Fernando

00:37:30not having stability under braking.

00:37:31And when we see a lot of these moments,

00:37:33understeer, oversteer on exit,

00:37:34a lot of that is because of the instability

00:37:36of these cars without TC under braking,

00:37:38without engine braking, if you like.

00:37:40Anyway, that's another subject.

00:37:41But just getting back to Mark,

00:37:42he was forced to go back to Arai helmets

00:37:44because Adrian Newey was convinced

00:37:46that in the wind tunnel,

00:37:47the Arai helmet more aerodynamically

00:37:49suited the Red Bull.

00:37:50So Mark switched after Silverstone

00:37:53when Arai and Weber agreed to agree

00:37:57that Mark's DNA did not match Arai's

00:38:00in terms of wet weather misting up.

00:38:01He's now switched back to Schubert.

00:38:03So I'm assuming now,

00:38:04just to finish my point,

00:38:06that we're going to see Mark

00:38:07with terrible neck strain

00:38:08and much slower in a straight line

00:38:10than his teammate David Coulthard,

00:38:11who's still got an Arai helmet,

00:38:12to prove that Adrian Newey is correct

00:38:14about the aerodynamics of the different helmets.

00:38:17Well, here's the man of the moment.

00:38:18Felipe Massa just went P1 in the session

00:38:21with a one minute 15.722.

00:38:24And he went purple in sector one on this lap,

00:38:27meaning the best sector time of anyone

00:38:29in this session.

00:38:31So if you could put two laps together like that,

00:38:34usually these tires run out of oomph

00:38:36on the second lap,

00:38:37but if he's quickest through sector one,

00:38:40no, pretty slow through sector two.

00:38:42So anyway, yeah, yeah.

00:38:44Very, very good lap there from Felipe Massa.

00:38:50Nearly a tenth of a second quicker

00:38:51than Lewis Hamilton.

00:38:56You can see just how twisty

00:38:57this motor drone section is.

00:39:00That looks like a drag strip

00:39:02at the bottom of your screen.

00:39:04That's exactly what it is.

00:39:06They are famous here at Hockenheim

00:39:08for their drag racing shows.

00:39:10We'll take a break and return with more.

00:39:1240 minutes to go.

00:39:16The 2000 German Grand Prix took place

00:39:19here at Hockenheim on the old circuit.

00:39:20Michael Schumacher's Ferrari

00:39:22alongside David Coulthard's McLaren

00:39:23on the front row.

00:39:24At the start, Schumacher

00:39:26and Giancarlo Fisichella collided.

00:39:28Mika Hakkinen pushed over,

00:39:29giving Schumacher nowhere to go,

00:39:30but into Fisichella.

00:39:32They had a nice chat about it afterward.

00:39:34Michael's team made a Ferrari.

00:39:35Rubens Barrichello started 18th,

00:39:37but worked his way up

00:39:38on those long blasts out into the forest,

00:39:41passing Riccardo Zonta, Eddie Irvine.

00:39:43Then things got really bizarre

00:39:44as a disgruntled Mercedes-Benz employee

00:39:46ran onto the track in a protest.

00:39:49Barrichello's next bit of good fortune

00:39:50came when the rain began to fall.

00:39:52The McLaren duo of Coulthard and Hakkinen

00:39:54opted to pit for wet tires,

00:39:55while Barrichello gambled

00:39:57and stayed out on dries

00:39:58and came home

00:40:00for his first career victory.

00:40:02An emotional moment for the Ferrari driver,

00:40:05winning here at Hockenheim.

00:40:09Well, it was a great run for him

00:40:10because his history here at Hockenheim

00:40:12is not good.

00:40:14I mean, he has retired

00:40:15from more than half the races

00:40:16he's ever done here.

00:40:17And he's done a lot,

00:40:18starting here in 1993.

00:40:21He retired from every event from 93

00:40:23to when he won that race, no one.

00:40:25Then he came second the next year.

00:40:27And since then, rather dismal too.

00:40:31He was the guy who carried that mantle of

00:40:35best driver who'd never won a race

00:40:36till he finally picked that one up in 2000.

00:40:39But now Nick Heidfeld

00:40:40took off his, what,

00:40:42sixth career runner-up performance

00:40:44in Britain two weeks ago,

00:40:45is the guy with the highest finishes

00:40:48who has yet to take that big step

00:40:50to the top of the podium.

00:40:51Over 140 starts, he still hasn't won.

00:40:54It's Heikki Kovalainen

00:40:56making his way around McLaren Mercedes.

00:40:58He had a little pressure put on

00:40:59in the newspapers this week

00:41:01when Michael Schumacher's old manager,

00:41:03Billy Weber, said

00:41:06that, uh, was it Nico Rosberg

00:41:08might opt out of his Williams deal

00:41:11and go to the second McLaren seat,

00:41:13bumping Kovalainen over to Renault,

00:41:16where they expect there'll be a vacancy at year end.

00:41:19Kovalainen says he has no idea

00:41:20what Willie Weber is talking about.

00:41:23Yeah.

00:41:24Or to quote Kovalainen, he said,

00:41:27Willie Weber's not on my management team.

00:41:33Probably comments by Willie Weber

00:41:34just to put Willie Weber's name

00:41:35back in the frame.

00:41:36Exactly.

00:41:37Yeah.

00:41:37I'll tell you what, Bob,

00:41:38looking back at that little footage

00:41:39you saw there from the 2000 Grand Prix,

00:41:41again, it showed those long straights

00:41:43we were talking about

00:41:44and what a different track it was.

00:41:46But also, we're talking about this at Silverstone,

00:41:50how the cars have advanced.

00:41:52They look so basic back then, don't they?

00:41:55Oh, yeah.

00:41:55I mean, just eight years ago,

00:41:57just a world difference.

00:41:58Yep.

00:41:59I remember our old Formula One decade.

00:42:01Yeah, Formula One decade.

00:42:03We still look back just 10 years.

00:42:04Yeah.

00:42:04The cars all seem so primitive.

00:42:07It is. It is incredible.

00:42:08You know, I was making that comparison

00:42:09between Concorde back in 1968, 69.

00:42:13The thing still looks absolute state-of-the-art today

00:42:16if Concorde were to be built.

00:42:19If Concorde was put on the runway,

00:42:20you'd think it could be made yesterday.

00:42:22You look at an F1 car from that period,

00:42:24I mean, it's just absolute dinosaur.

00:42:27Yeah, we saw some again at the Festival of Speed last week.

00:42:30You know, some of those championship-winning cars

00:42:32from, you know, the 80s.

00:42:33I mean, they look like toy cars.

00:42:35The problem now is they are so small

00:42:37compared to the modern car.

00:42:39Yeah, and square as well.

00:42:41So square-sided.

00:42:42I mean, now they're all so,

00:42:44you know, they're three-dimensional.

00:42:45Every shape on the car has profile, has contour.

00:42:49They simply didn't 10, 15 years ago.

00:42:52Orlando Alonso thinks it over,

00:42:54sitting in the Renault garage.

00:42:57And here's his teammate Nelson Piquet

00:42:59down in 14th spot,

00:43:01but Alonso himself is down in 11th.

00:43:04But again, these times this year are getting so close.

00:43:09This is the first look at the white-striped soft

00:43:12compound Bridgestone,

00:43:13softer compound Bridgestones for Nelson Piquet.

00:43:17There's where the old track used to return

00:43:19to the Motogrom section.

00:43:22Now you're on part of the original layout.

00:43:26Of course, probably the biggest single thing

00:43:28that fans of Formula 1 lament about the new Hockenheim

00:43:32is that one of those long sections out in the forest

00:43:35taken out passes the monument to Jim Clark,

00:43:39who died at this racetrack in 1968

00:43:41in a Formula 2 event.

00:43:42Out there in the forest on one of those long sweeps.

00:43:49Yeah, when people talk about the good old days,

00:43:51you've got to remember on one of those long sweeps,

00:43:52he went off the road and ran into the trees.

00:43:55No guardrail, no nothing.

00:43:58So those days,

00:44:00Johnny, good job they are gone.

00:44:01And of course, the guy that ran,

00:44:03the guy that really pushed for safety

00:44:04and did a tremendous amount for it,

00:44:06of course, was Jackie Stewart,

00:44:07who gets very little credit for it.

00:44:08But he was the first guy

00:44:10to really, really push for safety.

00:44:11I imagine our Peter Windsor,

00:44:13great Jim Clark fan,

00:44:14will be making his annual pilgrimage

00:44:15out to the memorial at some point of the weekend.

00:44:18Hey, Peter.

00:44:19Yeah, Bob, it's a very nice memorial

00:44:21designed by Inscott Watson,

00:44:22who managed Jimmy in the early stages of his career

00:44:25when he was driving for Port Arrivas.

00:44:27A lot of stone brought over from Scotland,

00:44:29the original cross that was in place

00:44:32within a year or two of his accident.

00:44:34The only slightly unfortunate thing

00:44:36is that there is an error in one of the tablets,

00:44:39which says 25 Grand Prix wins.

00:44:41And it says from 62 to 67.

00:44:43And of course, his last win in South Africa

00:44:46when he broke the record of Fangio

00:44:48was in early 68.

00:44:49So apart from that, it's done very well.

00:44:51And it's actually only five or 10 minutes walk

00:44:53from the Formula One paddock.

00:44:54So it's much nearer than the old one used to be.

00:44:58And really no excuse for any Formula One guy

00:45:00not to go down there and pay his respects.

00:45:03Absolutely.

00:45:04It should be on any Formula One fan's to-do list

00:45:06when you visit Hockenheim.

00:45:09Well, there we saw the two BMWs in close attendance.

00:45:11Kubica leading Heidfeld.

00:45:13Kaz Nakajima finally going to get out on the track.

00:45:15He's only got three laps under his belt at the moment

00:45:18compared to say Massa's 20 and Kovalainen's 22.

00:45:22So he needs to get out there and get some practice

00:45:24and find out about this car.

00:45:26Three laps without ever crossing the start-finish line.

00:45:29He kept having to dip into the pits

00:45:30to get that misfire worked on.

00:45:35So with about a half hour to go,

00:45:37the Japanese driver heads for the track.

00:45:39Lewis Hamilton on the soft tires.

00:45:41Yep, just 95,000ths off of Massa's Ferrari.

00:45:48Welcome back live to Friday's second 90-minute practice

00:45:51for the German Grand Prix.

00:45:52Kaz Nakajima completes his first lap.

00:45:54Meanwhile, while we're in break,

00:45:56Lewis Hamilton in his first run

00:45:58on the softer Bridgestone compound

00:46:00got within 17,000ths of a second

00:46:03of session leader Felipe Massa.

00:46:06And Hamilton was purple in sector two,

00:46:08although that honor has now gone to Kimi Raikkonen,

00:46:11who's on a hot lap in his Ferrari, currently third.

00:46:16And as Nakajima completes his lap in 18th,

00:46:19we want to get you updated

00:46:20on the Formula BMW highlights thus far.

00:46:23Let's go to round three of the season

00:46:26at Silverstone last weekend.

00:46:28Day one in the dry on Saturday,

00:46:29an all-North American front row.

00:46:31Ramon Pinero of the United States

00:46:33in the white car on pole.

00:46:34Mexico's Esteban Gutierrez alongside in orange.

00:46:37Lights out.

00:46:38Pinero holds the top spot

00:46:39using a Michael Schumacher-style chop across the track.

00:46:43Adrian Tambay, who started third,

00:46:44loses out to Michael Christensen,

00:46:46who made a great start from fourth,

00:46:48and everyone slides through okay.

00:46:49Still on lap one, exiting chapel.

00:46:51Pinero, Gutierrez and Christensen

00:46:53go three wide on the approach to Stowe.

00:46:55This could all end in tears, but it didn't.

00:46:58Gutierrez easily takes the lead

00:47:00and Christensen outbrakes Pinero for second.

00:47:02Esteban Gutierrez would simply check out.

00:47:05He wins by a gap of over eight seconds

00:47:07on the second place.

00:47:08Christensen, who held off Tambay,

00:47:10who came home third.

00:47:11On to Sunday for the second race,

00:47:13and as you well know, it rained on Sunday.

00:47:16Lots of rain at Silverstone.

00:47:18Much like race one, Ramon Pinero started on pole

00:47:21with Gutierrez alongside.

00:47:22Lights out.

00:47:23Both Pinero and Gutierrez make good starts

00:47:25to hold their one-two positions.

00:47:27Pedro Bianchini also makes a good start from third

00:47:29and pressures Gutierrez as they exit Copse

00:47:31and head down to Maggots.

00:47:33Still on that one.

00:47:36Pinero spins out of the lead at Abbey.

00:47:39Like Felipe Massa.

00:47:41That has the race lead to Esteban Gutierrez again.

00:47:43Yes, it does.

00:47:44He checks out, takes the chequered flag

00:47:46this time by a gap of over 10 seconds.

00:47:48So you can see a trend starting to form

00:47:51in this guy's career.

00:47:52There is young Gutierrez joined on the podium

00:47:54by Bianchini and Adrian Tambay,

00:47:56the son, of course, of former Ferrari driver

00:47:58Patrick Tambay.

00:48:00Gutierrez has been on the podium

00:48:01every race this season.

00:48:03He is the points leader.

00:48:05Keep an eye on that kid.

00:48:12Interesting to see those Formula BMW cars

00:48:14going around Silverstone

00:48:15after watching the Formula One cars.

00:48:16It looks like they're just pedaling along.

00:48:22That looks like an interesting morning

00:48:24in the afternoon in the Red Bull Garage.

00:48:26Don't forget Sunday after the German Grand Prix

00:48:29on Fox, flip back over to Speed

00:48:30for live coverage of the Rolex Sports Car Series

00:48:33from Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama.

00:48:36That event is known for sweltering heat.

00:48:38Probably it'll be the hottest race of the season.

00:48:40A beautiful racetrack.

00:48:41Don't miss it.

00:48:42Sunday, 3 Eastern, 12 Pacific.

00:48:44Only here on Speed.

00:48:48Yeah, that Rolex series has produced

00:48:49some really good races this year.

00:48:51So it's very exciting to watch.

00:48:53Tough to beat that Daytona race.

00:48:56Well, Felipe Massa up on the first sector

00:48:58on his soft tires.

00:49:00Was he on the soft tires

00:49:01when he set up quick time before?

00:49:03Now, this is his first run on the soft side.

00:49:05This is his first time out on.

00:49:07Look at that number in the speed trap.

00:49:09314 kilometers per hour.

00:49:12That checks to right around 195.

00:49:18And these are not terribly long straightaways.

00:49:21No.

00:49:25Looks like we're getting a little marble buildup.

00:49:29On the outside edges of some of the tighter corners.

00:49:31Yeah, still up on his time.

00:49:33Yeah.

00:49:34Not much.

00:49:35Purple in sector 2, 35.9 seconds.

00:49:38And as you mentioned earlier, David,

00:49:39I think the key will be how many laps

00:49:41can he get out of these tires?

00:49:42Yeah.

00:49:45Sun coming out now,

00:49:46so the temperature will go up very, very quickly.

00:49:49In southern Germany, it gets pretty hot in summer.

00:49:53Looked very good through that final corner.

00:49:59It was off a tenth in sector 3,

00:50:01which is the very technical part of the racetrack.

00:50:04Basically, the entire motor drone section.

00:50:06So he stayed at the top of the timesheet,

00:50:08but still only 17,000th of a second quicker than Lewis Hamilton.

00:50:11There's Ross Braun looking at the Honda.

00:50:14I was talking to Jenson Button's dad last weekend.

00:50:17He was telling me that Honda are really,

00:50:19really, really going to make hay next year.

00:50:22They're going to look very good.

00:50:23They've got all sorts of stuff in the pipeline

00:50:24and doing a lot of work.

00:50:26And he's very impressed with Ross.

00:50:28And tells me that Ross is about to bring

00:50:31a whole galaxy of top talent to the team.

00:50:35Yeah, but two of them may be drivers.

00:50:38Honda has not committed to Jenson Button

00:50:41and Rubens Barrichello for next year.

00:50:44That's another of the announcements we will await.

00:50:47David Coulthard on a good first sector there.

00:50:50Just a tenth slower than Felipe Massa.

00:50:53David has confirmed he and his girlfriend,

00:50:55Karen Meunier, are expecting to be the first child for David.

00:51:02Yeah.

00:51:03Well, congratulations to them.

00:51:04And I wonder whether or not that played a part in his decision.

00:51:06No, he said not.

00:51:08He says no.

00:51:10He said there's lots of racing drivers out there with children.

00:51:13But, you know, it could have done.

00:51:14I think what played a part in his decision

00:51:16was the fact that Webber's usually a lot quicker than he is.

00:51:18And the team said, David, we don't need you anymore.

00:51:21Thank you very much.

00:51:21But well, he's been a great spokesman for the sport.

00:51:26Of course, you'll stay on board with him for that position.

00:51:29But, you know, for what my opinion is worth,

00:51:31I think it's time for David Coulthard.

00:51:36Absolutely.

00:51:37Well, it's a great life, great lifestyle.

00:51:40But there's always something else to do.

00:51:43You know, you can just spend your entire life doing this

00:51:46and miss out on so much more.

00:51:48And I think to a degree, we've all been guilty of that.

00:51:51Spending too much time in the pit lane,

00:51:53too much time at the races is terrific.

00:51:55But, man, there are other things out there as well.

00:52:01Austin Vettel, one of only five drivers in the garage.

00:52:06There's one of them.

00:52:13Still in eighth place.

00:52:15Cranking the old Toro Rosso around.

00:52:19It'll be interesting to see.

00:52:20Sebastian Vettel, we are told,

00:52:22is the only driver in Formula 1 who does not have a manager.

00:52:28Interesting to see what kind of contract he gets from Red Bull.

00:52:31Agent Sutil again.

00:52:32I was about to say one of the McLarens,

00:52:34but of course they look so similar.

00:52:36It's scary with their Anvil airbox.

00:52:39Here comes the bright sunshine.

00:52:41You were talking about the heat, David.

00:52:42Let's see how much the track changes.

00:52:43It'll change a lot.

00:52:44The sun will really put some heat in that track very quickly.

00:52:47So all the work they've been doing for the last hour and a quarter will be lost.

00:53:00Rosberg at the Williams, up in seventh spot.

00:53:02Immediately in front of Kubica and Heidfeld.

00:53:05Vettel, who we just looked at in the pits, is down in eighth.

00:53:09And the first of the Toyotas, truly.

00:53:11That looked like engine oil.

00:53:12Was it being blue?

00:53:13I think it was more the paint from the curbing that made it look blue.

00:53:17I don't think it was engine oil smoke.

00:53:19Clearly it wasn't, but that's what engine oil smoke would look like.

00:53:23Sutil, another of the German drivers in the field.

00:53:25Five and all.

00:53:29As you say, David, he's one of the few teams that are actually running that

00:53:32dorsal fin on the back of the car.

00:53:33No Ferrari tested with it, as did McLaren at the test here last week.

00:53:38But both McLaren and Ferrari not using that extended bodywork on the car.

00:53:45Fernando Alonso.

00:53:47Locked it up there in the front because we heard Peter say that this track now,

00:53:50that the cars are set up with it because of this braking stability,

00:53:54which they've lost so much of with the lack of traction control at the back.

00:53:59Yeah.

00:54:02That was inelegant.

00:54:05But again, Alonso is having to work his little tail off to get anything out of that car.

00:54:12Yeah, I think Alonso, I don't know what you guys think,

00:54:16I think he's in a very awkward situation.

00:54:18Where does he go?

00:54:19Because of that awful situation with him at McLaren last year,

00:54:25everybody in the pit lane is aware of that.

00:54:27And teams just do not want that sort of trouble in their teams.

00:54:32It's going to be very difficult for him, and I'm sure that played a big part

00:54:36in the decision at Red Bull that he wasn't going to go to Red Bull.

00:54:39His reputation took a tremendous beating,

00:54:41no matter what you think of the whole situation or whether it's rightful.

00:54:45Fernando Alonso, to some extent, is damaged goods,

00:54:47despite those two world championships.

00:54:50We'll be back.

00:55:00Welcome back.

00:55:0117 minutes and counting in the final Friday practice for Sunday's German Grand Prix.

00:55:07Be sure to join us Saturday at 8 a.m. Eastern for Knockout Qualifying.

00:55:12And Sunday at 12.30 Eastern for a special Acura pre-race show

00:55:16before you switch over to Fox for the German Grand Prix.

00:55:19The final in our four Formula One races on Fox this year.

00:55:26Watching Mark Webber, he's coming up to speed.

00:55:29I didn't notice, is he on the white stripes as well?

00:55:31Yes, he is.

00:55:34Currently 17th is Mark Webber.

00:55:36Peter.

00:55:38Yes, Webber lost a lot of time in this session.

00:55:41With some sort of electrical problem, it appears to be solved now.

00:55:44He goes green in personal best in a first split.

00:55:49Mark Webber, of course, blew the British Grand Prix in a big way.

00:55:52It looked like the sort of race where he could possibly get on the podium.

00:55:54Certainly top four with that spin on the opening lap.

00:55:57Amazing nobody hit him, of course.

00:55:59He says that the engineers have since found the problem to be

00:56:03the shift between fourth and fifth as he was coming up towards Maggots.

00:56:07I think it was Maggots Curve.

00:56:09And there was a lazy shift as a result of which there was much more retardation than normal.

00:56:14And the effect really was to lock the rear wheels and throw him into a spin.

00:56:18And he says, as he would, you know, my engineer said,

00:56:20mate, the way it was, you're lucky to stay on the track at all.

00:56:29He's already gone quicker than he did this morning when he did a 17.2.

00:56:33Webber is currently 17.139, but he is 17th.

00:56:40Lewis Hamilton does a little simulated pit stop.

00:56:45Formula One fans, if you've got a question or comment for the four of us here on Speed,

00:56:50go to speedtv.com, head to the F1 section, click on the roundtables link, send us your questions.

00:56:56We'll try to answer a few of them during our roundtable discussions following practice days.

00:57:01For Formula One weekend, speedtv.com.

00:57:05Those tires there, Steve, look like he's done a run on those on those soft tires.

00:57:10Yeah, let's have a look at him here on that run.

00:57:13You think all the teams now are beginning to use those soft compound tires.

00:57:16Now that the sun's out, a little bit more heat on the track,

00:57:19a little bit more rubber down so you can make best use of them.

00:57:22Now is the time to use them.

00:57:24One thing I noticed in that super slow-mo as the car goes through the frame,

00:57:28all the little bits, the winglets and stuff, moving around as they get beaten up.

00:57:33Now, how does an aerodynamicist take that into account when he's trying to manage airflow

00:57:38if his airfoils are all flapping in the breeze?

00:57:41Yeah, they just don't look at this footage, but otherwise they'll never sleep at night.

00:57:45They lock themselves away.

00:57:48But I must say, you know, that the McLaren, the MP4-23 McLaren there,

00:57:51this year's car is just beautiful.

00:57:56All the little flicks and curves and winglets on the car.

00:58:00We're going to do a little chalkboard feature on that McLaren later on today.

00:58:03We're going to try and get that together.

00:58:04So not today, but tomorrow or the day after.

00:58:06Have a look at speedtv.com, keyword F1.

00:58:10Have a look at our video features there, chalkboards and all sorts of video features there.

00:58:14And one of them, we hope, will have some nice close-up detailed look at the McLaren.

00:58:20All the tiny, all the little stickers, all the little transfers on the car,

00:58:24pieces of plastic tape over the button heads just to keep the airflow neat.

00:58:28Just fantastic.

00:58:29I'll tell you what, this is what you don't want when you're Sebastian Bordet.

00:58:32He's having a bad year anyway.

00:58:33He's down, he's had five laps so far, so this is not helping his cause here today at all.

00:58:38Hasn't been on the track since 2004, I believe.

00:58:43No, 2002, excuse me.

00:58:45The 1973 German Grand Prix took place at the old Nürburgring

00:58:51and saw the final victory for one of the sport's all-time greats, Jackie Stewart,

00:58:56who started on pole in his Tyrrell alongside his teammate Francois Savert,

00:59:00the Lotus of Ronnie Peterson.

00:59:03Stewart and Savert would hold off Peterson at the start and go on to dominate the race.

00:59:07Jackie leading all 14 laps of that long circuit.

00:59:10Savert finishing right behind him in second.

00:59:1273 German Grand Prix, the last of Sir Jackie Stewart's 27 Formula One victories.

00:59:20And of course, he had another victory there in the rain, won by what?

00:59:24Four and a half minutes?

00:59:25Four minutes and change.

00:59:281968, an amazing drive.

00:59:31Absolutely, yeah.

00:59:32Because the Nürburgring in the rain, now that was fearsome.

00:59:36Yeah.

00:59:37Of course, there were only four more races left in that 73 season

00:59:40after Jackie Stewart won at the Nürburgring.

00:59:43Austria, Italy, Canada.

00:59:45Then came the terrible events of the U.S. Grand Prix at Watkins Glen.

00:59:48When Savert was killed in practice,

00:59:51Jackie and Ken Tyrrell decided to withdraw from the race,

00:59:54ending Sir Jackie's career after 99 starts and those 27 wins.

00:59:59Ford with Fernando Alonso.

01:00:01I'm sure I'm going to hear it from his millions of fans for calling him damaged goods a little

01:00:06bit earlier.

01:00:07One thing he does appear to have on his side is financial backing.

01:00:11Native Spanish bank, Santander.

01:00:14Sponsor of this weekend's race, apparently is putting together a financial package

01:00:18to back their man Alonso wherever he goes in the world.

01:00:22And that's why he's here.

01:00:23Apparently is putting together a financial package to back their man Alonso wherever

01:00:28he goes next year.

01:00:36Well, again, that car displaying a certain lack of grip going through the spits curve

01:00:40of the hairpin.

01:00:42Seems to slow down a bit here.

01:00:45Adjusting something down there, Steve.

01:00:47Brake balance again, we've been talking about all session, yeah.

01:00:51Again, it's just it's one of the few things that the FIA won't allow the teams to adjust

01:00:56electronically, which is why you see the guys, they have to take their hand off the wheel

01:01:01and use a basic, very basic mechanical cable that runs down to the balance bar underneath

01:01:06the driver's foot.

01:01:08Just like you'd find in any junior formula of motorsport from Formula BMW and the likes.

01:01:15It's no more complicated than that.

01:01:20There's his man, Fabrizio, such a part of that Hungarian Grand Prix qualifying scandal

01:01:27involving the player and Mercedes teammates last year, Alonso and Hamilton.

01:01:32Kaz Nakajima setting off on his only his seventh total lap, so it'll be about his third or

01:01:39fourth flying lap.

01:01:42Sebastian Bordet back on track and set his personal best in the first sector with a 16.9.

01:01:49Compare that with Felipe Massa, whose Ferrari just set the best segment one time of the

01:01:54session at 16.3.

01:02:05Nakajima on the harder Bridgestone compound, no stripes.

01:02:09One of the Hondas lets him through.

01:02:10We are now truly up ahead on the road.

01:02:16Nakajima 19th with a 17.361.

01:02:21Peter?

01:02:23Well, Bob, yes, we're just watching Kazuki there.

01:02:25And I think it's interesting Felipe Massa is on a green lap, a good looking lap here,

01:02:30purple in sector one.

01:02:32But as we watch Felipe, I'll just continue with the story about Kazuki.

01:02:35He has been working recently with my colleague Rob Wilson at our coaching setup we have for

01:02:42F1 and GP2 drivers now.

01:02:44And that first episode occurred before the French Grand Prix.

01:02:49And if I may say so, I think he's done quite a good job since then.

01:02:52He set a faster lap and outraced Nico in France.

01:02:54He did a very good job at Silverstone, finished in the points, didn't put it in the wall.

01:02:59And here, despite the problems with the car, you know, he's looking pretty neat and tidy.

01:03:04We'll see what happens there.

01:03:05It was a good day.

01:03:06We had Kazuki up there and in the back seat, we had Chevy, his race engineer.

01:03:09And they were both learning as we went along.

01:03:12And it was it was a fascinating day and a really good guy.

01:03:15Kazuki Nakajima, a good brain and listens and is very keen to improve.

01:03:21We don't often talk about him in the same breath, at least in terms of qualifying with

01:03:25his much more heralded and probably highly paid teammate Nico Rosberg.

01:03:29But Nakajima has been right there with his teammate in terms of scoring in the races.

01:03:34And that, of course, is what they pay for.

01:03:37All right.

01:03:38He outscored him at Silverstone, which is a bit of a shock to everybody because Nico Rosberg,

01:03:42well, sort of his home race in a way.

01:03:45I know Nico is classed himself as a German, but obviously driving for the Williams team

01:03:48and spent a lot of time in England.

01:03:51He was on board with Nelson Piquet.

01:03:56It's like he's got a fresh set of software.

01:03:58Yeah, he's hanging back there to give himself a good blast.

01:04:02Qualifying simulation.

01:04:04Very fast turn one.

01:04:07The old circuit would have gone straight on through that gap in the trees.

01:04:12This is a tricky little competition.

01:04:13It's right-hander.

01:04:14Then this first part of the Parabolica is flat out.

01:04:18Very hard on the gas there.

01:04:19And of course, through this long curve here, there's no problem going flat out down here.

01:04:23No electronic braking to help anymore there at the hairpin.

01:04:53It's so easy to forget how finely balanced they are.

01:04:57They look stable.

01:04:58They look great.

01:04:59But just in a blink of an eye, they can be gone.

01:05:03Blink of an eye and you're in the fence.

01:05:04Yeah.

01:05:1814th.

01:05:18Still down in 14th.

01:05:20Just over a second off the pace.

01:05:22His teammate, Alonzo, is 5th.

01:05:25As you look at David Coulthard, who's currently 10th.

01:05:30Ahead of his teammate, Mark Webber, who is 17th right now.

01:05:37Coming up on three and a half minutes to go in the final Friday practice.

01:05:40And what have we here?

01:05:41Jarno, truly.

01:05:43That doesn't look like the right line to me somehow.

01:05:44Just a bit outside.

01:05:46There's Nakajima coming up behind him, Williams.

01:05:50Back to the Ferraris and Kimi Räikkönen.

01:05:53Pretty grim looking horizon.

01:05:55It's very, it's been looking grim all day.

01:05:57Yeah.

01:06:00But the sun's shining here, so that's all that matters.

01:06:05Kipster on the soft tire, about to set off on a hot lap.

01:06:08Kimi Räikkönen has drawn a line in the sand this weekend.

01:06:11He says, we have to win this race.

01:06:13And by we, of course, he means, I have to win this race.

01:06:16Yeah, he didn't mean Ferrari.

01:06:18None of that Felipe Massa nonsense.

01:06:20Oh, looking good.

01:06:22Looking good, that first sector.

01:06:24Quickest of the day.

01:06:32Can you believe how these cars stop?

01:06:34Woo, woo, woo.

01:06:36Just a bit late there.

01:06:38Oh, he came out well.

01:06:40Oh, he came out well.

01:06:48And you keep seeing Kimi's right hand coming off the steering wheel of the Ferrari to adjust the brake bias.

01:06:54Lewis Hamilton just went purple in sector one behind the Ferrari.

01:07:00And for those new to the sport, just wondering why,

01:07:02why do the FIA insist that they do that with the mechanical brake bias?

01:07:06It's because, well, the engineers had a terrific time a few years ago,

01:07:10playing with electronic bias adjustment.

01:07:12And they had the car so that they could just lock one corner of the car,

01:07:16which would just give brilliant turn in.

01:07:18Boy, this is going to be exciting here, Steve.

01:07:20He's going to set the fastest lap.

01:07:22Watch Hamilton.

01:07:24Look at Hamilton right behind him.

01:07:26Hamilton's going to go P1 by a ton.

01:07:28Seven tenths.

01:07:30Fastest in sector one, two and three.

01:07:32And soft tires on the car, but that said,

01:07:34yeah, look at the reaction from the team.

01:07:36But they all had soft tires.

01:07:38Massa had soft tires, Raikkonen had soft tires.

01:07:40Exactly. And Hamilton was purple in every sector.

01:07:44And he was three tenths of a second up on Raikkonen, just in sector two.

01:07:50Wow.

01:07:52Right now, Hamilton is the odds-on favorite for pole, I'd have to say.

01:07:54Mark Webber here struggling.

01:07:56He's down in 17th spot.

01:07:58That sector time there is pretty good.

01:08:00If he can keep that pace up, he should jump in.

01:08:02He's down in 17th spot.

01:08:04That sector time there is pretty good.

01:08:06If he can keep that pace up, he should jump in.

01:08:08Coming up on a minute to go in the session.

01:08:10Coming up on a minute to go in the session.

01:08:12Fifth.

01:08:14Fifth.

01:08:16Now you're talking turkey, mate.

01:08:18She'll be right.

01:08:20There's Christian Horner.

01:08:22Spoke to him last weekend about developments for the team.

01:08:24He was there with his wife and children.

01:08:26Slipped him a business card, I hope.

01:08:28No.

01:08:30Webber, good time for Webber there.

01:08:32Fifth spot pushes his teammate, David Coulthard, down to tenth.

01:08:34David Coulthard, down to tenth.

01:08:36David Coulthard, down to tenth.

01:08:38That time by Hamilton, a 15.025.

01:08:40That time by Hamilton, a 15.025.

01:08:42Seven tenths better than second place, Felipe Massa, who was in

01:08:44The only two cars in the garage right now.

01:08:46The only two cars in the garage right now.

01:08:48We can assume they are finished.

01:08:50Everybody else is on track.

01:08:52Everybody else is on track.

01:08:54What a great lap it was from Webber to get up to fifth.

01:08:56What a great lap it was from Webber to get up to fifth.

01:08:58What a great lap it was from Webber to get up to fifth.

01:09:00What a great lap it was from Webber to get up to fifth.

01:09:02What a great lap it was from Webber to get up to fifth.

01:09:04What a great lap it was from Webber to get up to fifth.

01:09:06What a great lap it was from Webber to get up to fifth.

01:09:08What a great lap it was from Webber to get up to fifth.

01:09:10What a great lap it was from Webber to get up to fifth.

01:09:12What a great lap it was from Webber to get up to fifth.

01:09:14What a great lap it was from Webber to get up to fifth.

01:09:16What a great lap it was from Webber to get up to fifth.

01:09:18What a great lap it was from Webber to get up to fifth.

01:09:20What a great lap it was from Webber to get up to fifth.

01:09:22What a great lap it was from Webber to get up to fifth.

01:09:24What a great lap it was from Webber to get up to fifth.

01:09:26What a great lap it was from Webber to get up to fifth.

01:09:28What a great lap it was from Webber to get up to fifth.

01:09:30What a great lap it was from Webber to get up to fifth.

01:09:32What a great lap it was from Webber to get up to fifth.

01:09:34What a great lap it was from Webber to get up to fifth.

01:09:36What a great lap it was from Webber to get up to fifth.

01:09:38What a great lap it was from Webber to get up to fifth.

01:09:40What a great lap it was from Webber to get up to fifth.

01:09:42What a great lap it was from Webber to get up to fifth.

01:09:44What a great lap it was from Webber to get up to fifth.

01:09:46What a great lap it was from Webber to get up to fifth.

01:09:48What a great lap it was from Webber to get up to fifth.

01:09:50What a great lap it was from Webber to get up to fifth.

01:09:52What a great lap it was from Webber to get up to fifth.

01:09:54What a great lap it was from Webber to get up to fifth.

01:09:56What a great lap it was from Webber to get up to fifth.

01:09:58What a great lap it was from Webber to get up to fifth.

01:10:00What a great lap it was from Webber to get up to fifth.

01:10:02What a great lap it was from Webber to get up to fifth.

01:10:04What a great lap it was from Webber to get up to fifth.

01:10:06What a great lap it was from Webber to get up to fifth.

01:10:08What a great lap it was from Webber to get up to fifth.

01:10:10What a great lap it was from Webber to get up to fifth.

01:10:12What a great lap it was from Webber to get up to fifth.

01:10:14What a great lap it was from Webber to get up to fifth.

01:10:16What a great lap it was from Webber to get up to fifth.

01:10:18What a great lap it was from Webber to get up to fifth.

01:10:20What a great lap it was from Webber to get up to fifth.

01:10:22What a great lap it was from Webber to get up to fifth.

01:10:24What a great lap it was from Webber to get up to fifth.

01:10:26What a great lap it was from Webber to get up to fifth.

01:10:28What a great lap it was from Webber to get up to fifth.

01:10:30What a great lap it was from Webber to get up to fifth.

01:10:32What a great lap it was from Webber to get up to fifth.

01:10:34What a great lap it was from Webber to get up to fifth.

01:10:36What a great lap it was from Webber to get up to fifth.

01:10:38What a great lap it was from Webber to get up to fifth.

01:10:40What a great lap it was from Webber to get up to fifth.

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