McLaren Mercedes - Malaysian GP - Qualifying

McLaren Mercedes did not expect to make the top ten in qualification for the Malaysian Grand Prix as they continue to try and to get to grips with the new MP4-24 package. Defending champion Lewis Hamilton posted the 13th fastest time just two-hundredth of a second clear of team-mate Heikki Kovalainen. Due to grid position penalties, Hamilton and Kovalainen will start the 56-lap race from 12th and 14th respectively.

Hamilton's morning programme was disrupted by a number of set-up changes after he felt the overnight modifications made by the team had not significantly improved MP4-24. Hamilton wasn’t totally happy with the balance of his car going into qualifying, but was satisfied with his two option-tyre runs in Q1, setting 12th fastest time of 1:35.280s. Into Q2, the team ran an identical programme, carrying out two low-fuel runs on options, setting a 13th fastest 1:34.905s and 1:34.970s respectively.

Running a cooling-down lap between his fast laps, Kovalainen was able to set two quick times on his first run. He improved to fifth overall in Q1 with a 1m35.023s. Into Q2, he again ran two low-fuel single-lap runs, recording a 1:34.924s before refuelling in the pits with a dump churn. His final run of 1:34.949s did not improve his overall position.

Lewis Hamilton
“We qualified about where we expected to. We don’t yet have the pace to get into Q3 but the balance doesn’t feel too bad – we’re just unable to carry enough speed through the corners. We expect to see some improvements over the next two or three races.
For tomorrow, I’m just going to race my heart out, do the best I can and try and score some points.”

Heikki Kovalainen
“We knew that getting into the top 10 would be tough, so my result was more or less what I expected. The gap to the cars in front is smaller than it was in Melbourne, so I’m confident that we’re headed in the right direction, but we haven’t yet found that extra bit of speed we need. The balance today wasn’t completely to my liking, but I did my best and I’m looking forward to an enjoyable battle in the race tomorrow.”

Martin Whitmarsh, Team Principal
“We always knew that qualifying would be difficult around Sepang because MP4-24 lacks the aerodynamic downforce needed to match the top teams. That’s no fault of either Lewis or Heikki, who have driven faultlessly all weekend: they just lack the grip needed to get the most from the car through the high-speed corners. Of course, starting 12th and 14th is not where we are accustomed to starting Grand Prix, but we are confident that the improvements we are preparing for the forthcoming races will allow us to quickly move into the midst of the tight pocket of cars competing for times in Q3.”

Norbert Haug, Mercedes VP
“We will start tomorrow's race from about where we thought we would. We have made some small additional improvements to MP4-24 since last weekend’s season opener in Australia but we still missed out on getting into the top 10 by two tenths of a second. Our KERS certainly helped lap times in sectors one and three and we hope it will also prove beneficial tomorrow and hopefully help us overtake some of the cars that start ahead of us.”