Prologue
15.30 GMT - Good afternoon everybody, and welcome to Patty's coverage of the final qualifying session of the 2008 season from Interlagos in Brazil, an hour which could be vital for Championship contenders Lewis Hamilton and homeboy Felipe Massa.
15.35 GMT - I've literally just got home after ruining the afternoon for 27 amateur footballers, and now I'm going to ruin your afternoon too, dear reader. Anyway, not only is it the final quali of the season, it's also David Coulthard's final 20 minute blast for grid position, for the Scot is calling it a day at the end of tomorrow's race. His car has been painted into a special livery this weekend for charity, how nice.
15.40 GMT - ITV are currently looking back on the season. It's fair to say there have been quite a few bubbish races. What's been happening so far this weekend, I hear you ask? Well, if you want to know what happened in Practice today (and I do, because I've been out), then click on the tab up above. Yesterday saw Massa quicker than Hamilton in both sessions, topping the first with Fernando Alonso topping the second. The Spaniard was also quickest this morning in the Renault, although Pat Symonds admits they were trying some low fuel runs.
15.45 GMT - Who's this slightly scruffy chap on my television? Oh, it's the boy Jenson Button, former darling of ITV before that Lewis bloke came along and stole his thunder. You have to feel for the guy, he's had an absolutely awful car to deal with for the last two seasons, so he has to be pinning his hopes on Ross Brawn to deliver next year.
15.50 GMT - This is my first terry since the clocks changed, and I keep putting BST damnit. I'm nowhere near as excited as I was this time last year, but back then I had a fiver on Massa to get Pole and the boy delivered. As you may have read in our Preview, none of our team are realistically expecting Massa to overhaul Hamilton, but we can live in hope. I've just spotted ITV's dinky break bumpers featuring pictures of Hammy and Felipe.
The Head - "Despite Alonso's practice pace, I doubt he'll be in the hunt for pole, unless he wants to qualify with three laps of fuel. Having said that, I am of course, now preparing for his drive to the pole, followed by a lights-to-flag victory tomorrow."
(I'd settle for that)
15.55 GMT - I am currently sat here speechless. ITV have just put together a montage of their 12 years of F1 broadcasting, featuring an utterly bizarre montage of lots of F1 people (and ITV team members) singing along to My Chemical Romance's hit Welcome To The Black Parade. I am now absolutely scarred for life. Roll on qualifying.
The Head - "WTF? WTF? WTF? WTF? WTF? WTF? WTF? WTF? WTF? WTF? WTF? WTF? WTF? WTF? WTF? WTF?"
First Session
16.02 GMT - We're off, and in a groundbreaking first, Ted's first report is "gauging the mood down at McLaren". The first time is set by Nelson Piquet, who's on a 1:13.2. Rubens Barrichello seems to be running his latest Brazilian GP helmet in what could be his final weekend in F1, although personally I hope it isn't as I've always liked Rubens.
16.06 GMT - Massa takes to the track and the crowd go mad. Barrichello's helmet is apparently that worn by his old mentor Ingo Hoffmann. Glock is currently quickest in the Toyota, although as I type Trulli trumps him by a full 8 tenths. Kovalainen falls into line in second, and Massa goes third after a fairly poor effort.
16.10 GMT - Hamilton pops to the top by a massive 13 thousandths. Raikkonen's first lap was so poor I didn't even notice he'd done one, and he moves up into 4th, while DC is now 10th. Quickest man so far this weekend Alonso has just taken to the track, while the BMWs are playing their usual foolish waiting game.
16.14 GMT - We have a spinner at the first chicane, and it's Timo Glock. Piquet has moved into an impressive third place, while Sebastian Vettel is up in sixth, a mere thousandth behind Massa. The Beemers are finally on track, while Nico has a somewhat leary moment in the infield.
16.17 GMT - Heidfeld's first lap puts him 11th which isn't brilliant, but Kubica is 14th which is crap. Only a few cars on track, one of whom is David Coulthard, who has a camera on his helmet, which is ace, but not as ace as it could have been. DC's lap moves him up to 12th, but there's so little to choose between all of them that he's not going to be comfortable. Massa has gone for a second run and has turned the first sector purple...and the second sector purple...sector 3 is green. P1 by four tenths.
16.20 GMT - Kimi moves into second behind his team-mate. Everyone bar Piquet, Trulli and the McLarens are on track. Timo Glock has now turned sector 2 purple which is interesting, as Kubby climbs to 7th, although drops to 8th as Glock goes 4th. Bourdais climbs into 10th, but is relegated by Webber who takes that place. Alonso now goes 4th, and it's a disaster for Williams as Nakajima (16th) and Nico (18th) drop out in the first session! Splitting them is Jenson, with the Force Indias again filling the back row, Fisi this time ahead of the Sut.
A short break then before Q2.
The Head - "Williams do the decent thing and let the two soon-to-retirees have another 15 minutes in the limelight. That's the official line, and I'm sticking to it."
Well, Rubens was 14th and DC 15th, while Williams were just crap.
The Foot - "The audio on my stream cuts out every 3 seconds. It appears to make Blunders more legible."
Second Session
16.30 GMT - Off we go again then, and it turns out Button ran out of fuel at the end of Q1, yet was still thrashed by Boobens. I know who I think Honda should bin, but we'll see. The two Toyotas are again the first men out there, and Trulli has a couple of tenths on his teammate. The two Ferraris are next to take to the circuit.
16.34 GMT - Kimi is the first Ferrari to complete his lap, and dives just under 1:12 to go quickest. Massa is a whole 6 thousandths down at the second split, but makes up 81 thousandths up the hill to go quickest. Hamilton will be next to set a time, and he's a fraction up at the end of S2, maintaining all but 0.002 of that up the hill to take P1. Piquet splits the Toyotas to go 5th, and Alonso goes ahead of Trulli into 4th, before being displaced by Kovalainen. DC and Boobens seem to be somewhat off the pace in this session.
The Head - "Are DC and Boobens already using their race fuel?"
16.43 GMT - Well I had typed a lot of stuff about the last 10 minutes, but it all died with Firefox. Kovalainen went quickest, and then all hell broke loose in the final seconds, so I think it's best just to run down the order. Kovalainen, Vettel, Hamilton, Massa, Glock, Raikkonen, Heidfeld, Bourdais, Alonso and Trulli are in. Out go Piquet, Webber, Kubica, DC and Barrichello.
Vettel's lap was quite extraordinary, and yet again the young lad is mixing it with the big boys at the front. Can he spoil the Championship party and get in there at the front of the grid?
Third Session
16.50 GMT - Well then, here come the most crucial 10 minutes of Massa and Hamilton's season to date. McLaren seem to have sensibly sent out Kovalainen to be their flyer, and one wonders is Ferrari might do the same with Kimi (if there's any point). DC thought top 10 was possible...he's obviously not seen himself in qualifying for the past 6 or 7 years. Can Vettel, Alonso or the Toyotas get in amongst the big men? Time to find out.
16.54 GMT - As per the previous 2 sessions, Glock is out first, but Vettel is quicker than him in the first sector. Glock's benchmark is a 1:14.3, while Vettel comes in over a second fasteron a 1:13.1.
16.57 GMT - Massa is next around and is going to take another seven tenths off Vettel on a 1:12.4, unbelievable pace. Hamilton is a whole 8 tenths off Massa and behind Vettel in third at the moment, although Kimi makes it a Ferrari one-two (granted Massa is almost half a second in front). Trulli comes in second, but Kovalainen trails in 4th, ahead of Vettel but behind Raikkonen. Alonso is 7th and Heidfeld 8th, while Bourdais just can't be bothered.
17.00 GMT - I said I wasn't as excited earlier but I am now. These next couple of minutes are going to be great. Glock will be the first man around, but stays in 9th. Massa comes through and improves to a 1:12.3, and Vettel is 5th. Hamilton clims to second, half a second off Massa. Heidfeld consolidates 7th, and Kimi goes second by 0.005 from Hamilton! Alonso goes 4th before Trulli moves onto the front row by splitting the Ferraris! Kovalainen is last man through and he moves into 5th behind Hamilton, while Bourdais did indeed go out and is 9th. Wow.
Epliogue
The Foot - "Should be fun, go Alonso, ram Hamilton tomorrow please! Looks like Massa is a bit light, but it's probably because he's so short."
The Head - "Massa clear at the front, Hamilton out of position. It all looks gravy for the underdog. Apart from the weather forecast, of course.
17.05 GMT - Well well well, Hamilton's final qualifying effort just plain didn't do the business, so he's stuck back on row 2, and he needs to be careful at the start with Alonso directly behind him. Massa once again reigns supreme in qualifying here at Interlagos, but a very special (light) effort from Jarno Trulli gets him a superb front row slot.
17.10 GMT - From the point of view of the Championship, it's a fantastic grid. If Alonso can just get the jump on Hamilton at the start tomorrow, we could be in for a really interesting race! In the latest interview with Rob Smedley (of MIDDLESBROUGH, not MANCHESTER), who tells us that his boy's fuel load is normal, and that it was just a stunning lap. Felipe has absolutely nothing to lose, and he's driving that way.
17.15 GMT - Felipe thinks the crowd are amazing. He might not want to look at the record books however, which show that only one of the last 8 polesitters in Brazil has gone on to win the race (that was him in 2006, by the way). It's also the fifth time in 6 years that the polesitter in Brazil has been Brazilian, with Barrichello taking top spot in 2003 and 2004, and Massa for the last 3 years.
So, that's all from me this afternoon. The Head will be here tomorrow afternoon to see if Felipe Massa and friends can possibly do anything to stop Lewis Hamilton becoming the youngest ever Formula 1 World Champion, with myself and The Foot providing the occasional wisecrack. Until then, bye bye!
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