Mark Hughes: Trackside View

Turn 11 and the dry desert heat is radiating off the vast asphalt expanses where there used to be only barren rock.

At the end of the back straight on the approach to this uphill turn, the cars are trailed by heat haze, and what's behind them looks vague and uncertain, as if that's history and therefore doesn't matter.

The big harmless asphalt run-off area encourages drivers to be later than late on the brakes and also bold and early with the throttle as the corner opens out.

There probably isn't another corner on the calendar where full throttle is used in combination with so much steering lock. Normally this would induce understeer but here the uphill gradient of the exit helps banish that.

But still there is a balancing point, as there always is, between entry speed and how early they can get back on the throttle. Some are being tempted by the corner's favourable contours to stretch that balancing point too far.

Ralf Schumacher loves taking lots of speed into an apex, but only sometimes is he able to meld that to a good exit. On his first serious run through he's again optimistic, having to stay off the throttle for too long as the price for asking more of the car than it's got.

A glint of gold off a McLaren heat-protected rear wishbone, stripes of white from the soft rear tyres as Fernando Alonso goes about his business, standing the car on the edge, though without the exaggerated steering input of his Renault days.

Robert Kubica's the guy you look to for that now, even though the BMW looks like it doesn't enjoy such treatment. Rubens Barrichello's Honda's so lacking in grip, you hear a lower engine tone from its motor than the other cars as he gets back on the gas.

Here's Ralf again, this time not so greedy with his entry speed and getting through cleaner as a result, with a better exit. Here's Alex Wurz, pushing on new hard tyres before they're ready and he too gets pulled out wide and has to pay the price. Next time through they're up to temperature and he has a nice traction control-stuttered power oversteer going on.

But it's changing by the lap as the track gets rubbered in. Front tyres are finding the grip earlier and harder, the transition point between entry and power-on exit is becoming faster, more violent. Kimi Raikkonen's flying around, a vision of entry commitment and precision, taking off the absolute minimum of speed, minimal inputs on steering and throttle once he's turned in.

It's a big contrast to teammate Felipe Massa who looks far more spectacular. But actually he's less committed - he's taking more speed off before turning in, allowing him to pitch the car more aggressively. And, with the engine being in a lower, torquier part of its rev band, there's a thunder of protest from the traction control.