Does Alono’s McLaren steering wheel have a display of the time left during qualifying sessions, or not? This seems to be an essential point no one can agree on. Mark Hughes says:

‘He knew how long he needed for an out-lap to arrive at the start/finish line to begin his flying lap just before the session ended and he knew how many seconds of the session were left because he has a display showing that on his steering wheel.’

But Adam Cooper says:

‘It was my initial assumption that his steering wheel display showed a countdown to the end of the session, and that he was savvy enough to know that at 1:38 or thereabouts he could still safely go, and that Hamilton would not be able to make it. Some cars do have such a dash readout, but the McLaren does not, and thus the drivers rely on information from their engineers. In other words, Alonso took a huge risk when he sat there as the seconds ticked away. Indeed on his out-lap he asked the team how he was doing, and had to be told to hurry up.’