This week's quali times already outpacing last week's by quite some.
Why do all the bikes have a wooly sock/sweatband thing around the brake and clutch master cylinders? To absorb leaks? To hide something from the camera?
They are to prevent spillage as the reservoir is not fully sealed, a small air vent passes/links to a labyrinth that lets the reservoir equal the atmospheric pressure outside (allows it to breath) so fluid can flow correctly to the pump in the master cylinder, under hard racing conditions the labyrinth catches fluid and returns it to the reservoir but some may find its way to the breather and spill out, the sock soaks up excess fluid...
On street bikes, they help block U/V rays that quickly deteriorate fluid quality and also turns the nice clear plastic reservoir yellow.