Saturday, April 4, 2009

Sutil - Force India maximum achivement at Malaysian GP

Adrian Sutil believes Force India will remain at the back of the grid until it can find more downforce, but is optimistic that he can make progress from 19th on the grid in tomorrow's Sepang race.

He came through to ninth position in Melbourne after qualifying poorly and then damaging his front wing at the start.

"We did a good job today, we had no problems and this was our pace - we couldn't really have done better," said the German. "We just need to find some downforce.

"For tomorrow, I want to have a good race and to get to the finish. We are very quick down the straights and there is some potential for overtaking so let's see - we had an exciting race in Melbourne and anything can happen. I am still positive."

Sutil's team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella was one place ahead despite a throttle pedal issue.

"I had a problem with the throttle pedal on the first run so we changed it and I lost the chance to do three runs, which was very important," he said.

"The lap I did was clean and the car is well balanced. Again the field is very mixed and with the chance of some rain we should look to keep up with the field and take any chance we can."

Rosberg targeting podium finish

Nico Rosberg is eyeing a podium finish at the Malaysian Grand Prix thanks to his strong starting position.

The Williams driver qualified in sixth place, but will move up to fourth after Rubens Barrichello and Sebastian Vettel drop down the order because of penalties.

Rosberg reckons his position, as well as the speed and consistency of his car, should allow him to fight for a result in the top three tomorrow.

He admitted, however, that he was worried about the KERS-equipped cars starting close to him.

"I am very happy with fourth on the grid for tomorrow's race," said Rosberg. "Our general pace in the first two qualifying sessions wasn't quite where we wanted to be, but it gave us enough to work with.

"Then in Q3, with some fuel in the car, it felt really nice which allowed me to put in a very good lap that put me on sixth, which after the penalties for the other cars, is on the second row.

"From that start position as well as with a good car and a good strategy, we can be optimistic and say we have a good chance to aim for a podium. One consideration is of course the start and I will have to check who will be using KERS around me.

"My preference for tomorrow would definitely be a dry race because it's always the safer way to go, but if it rains, even though it will mix things up, it will be no problem and we will make the best of either situation."

Team-mate Kazuki Nakajima qualified in 12th, but will gain a position on he grid. The Japanese driver is also upbeat about his chances for the race.

"The car was good, I had a good feeling in the cockpit and everything went okay today, but I just needed to find another tenth to get into Q3," he said.

"Despite this, I now have the freedom to fuel the car for the optimum strategy, and with this benefit and a good long run pace, a good finish is possible if I keep my head down during the race."

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.”

Williams Toyota - Malaysian GP - Qualifying

The Williams team held approximate station with their qualifying performance just a week ago in Melbourne, setting up the prospect of a good opportunity to challenge for a points finish in tomorrow’s race.

Nico Rosberg led the team’s performance into Q3 and used a scrubbed set of softer option tyres to record the sixth fastest time of the day with his race fuel on board. Kazuki Nakajima missed the possibility of joining his teammate in the final qualifying shoot-out by less than a tenth of a second, but professed himself comfortable with his car and confident of a good race tomorrow with the additional advantage of the freedom to set his race fuel – a tactic which saw him prosper in Australia.

Both drivers will be assisted by grid penalties for two competitors that will see Rosberg promoted to fourth for tomorrow’s start and Kazuki Nakajima will start from eleventh place.

Nico Rosberg
"I am very happy with fourth on the grid for tomorrow’s race. Our general pace in the first two qualifying sessions wasn’t quite where we wanted to be, but it gave us enough to work with. Then in Q3, with some fuel in the car, it felt really nice which allowed me to put in a very good lap that put me on sixth, which after the penalties for the other cars, is on the second row. From that start position as well as with a good car and a good strategy, we can be optimistic and say we have a good chance to aim for a podium.
One consideration is of course the start and I will have to check who will be using KERS around me. My preference for tomorrow would definitely be a dry race because it’s always the safer way to go, but if it rains, even though it will mix things up, it will be no problem and we will make the best of either situation."

Kazuki Nakajima
"The car was good, I had a good feeling in the cockpit and everything went okay today, but I just needed to find another tenth to get into Q3. Despite this, I now have the freedom to fuel the car for the optimum strategy, and with this benefit and a good long run pace, a good finish is possible if I keep my head down during the race."

Sam Michael, Technical Director
"Today Nico had a good qualifying session and we expected that Kazuki would also make Q3, but he will nevertheless race well from just outside the top ten. The cars both ran well, without problems and we are looking forward to a strong race tomorrow and collecting some points."

Force India Mercedes - Malaysian GP - Qualifying

Force India Mercedes will start tomorrow's Malaysian Grand Prix, the second race of the season, with Giancarlo Fisichella and Adrian Sutil in 18th and 19th positions respectively.

For the second consecutive event qualifying produced a very close and relatively surprising grid, and Fisichella will start just behind The Renault of Nelson Piquet and the Ferrari of Felipe Massa.

Giancarlo Fisichella
"I had a problem with the throttle pedal on the first run so we changed it and I lost the chance to do three runs, which was very important. The lap I did was clean and the car is well balanced. Again the field is very mixed and with the chance of some rain we should look to keep up with the field and take any chance we can."

Adrian Sutil
"We did a good job today, we had no problems and this was our pace - we couldn't really have done better. We just need to find some downforce. For tomorrow, I want to have a good race and to get to the finish.
We are very quick down the straights and there is some potential for overtaking so let's see - we had an exciting race in Melbourne and anything can happen. I am still positive."

Dominic Harlow, Chief Race Engineer
"It was a tense session today with a constant threat of heavy showers, but they didn't materialise. Giancarlo lost some track time with a throttle pedal problem, but recovered well to place a time just 0.05s faster than Adrian. We're expecting an interesting race tomorrow and we know from last weekend that our race pace coupled with strong straight line speed and a creative strategy could be good enough to score points."

Interview with Felipe Massa

Q. What happened in qualifying?

Felipe Massa: Well, actually I went straight away on a new set of softs. I didn't do a perfect lap, I did a reasonable lap, but not a perfect lap. I went wide on the first lap in Turn 14 and then I improved on the second timed lap by two tenths. The team thought it was enough to be inside the top 15 and maybe I thought as well, to be honest, because when I got back to the pits I was fourth.

I stayed in the top seven for a while, but then when I started to drop it was impossible to go out again because there was no time to do another lap. Maybe the track improved a lot as well, with the temperature going down many people improved. We just thought it was enough to get in the top 15 and it wasn't so we dropped completely.

Maybe the past is still very fresh in our mind where we had a very competitive car and it was always easy to go out in first qualifying on the hard tyre or whatever and be in the top 10. Now it's not that easy anymore. Now we need to be able to use our tyres in qualifying because that's the only way to pass every session.

Q. Is this a wake-up call?

FM: Definitely. We had already a wake-up call in the first race and after this qualifying we learned just a little bit more that we are not as competitive as we expected. We have other teams that a little bit in front. We couldn't use the hard tyres, that's why we chose the soft straight away because the hard tyres would not work for us.

They need two or three laps to warm. Some teams, especially three teams, can warm up the tyres very quickly because we have the downforce that they don't have. That's the reason for us to maybe take this strategy and it was not very nice.

Q. Where did you expect to be?

FM: Well, this morning I thought maybe it would have been possible to fight for the top five, but looking at qualifying I think that it was possible to be top seven. Clearly it was worse than what we expected. If you look at the end of the qualifying, Kimi was maybe nine tenths behind Jenson, so it was quite a big gap.

Q. Have you got any experience of driving with KERS in the wet?

FM: Yes. It's normal. The only thing is that you don't use the KERS coming out of the slow corners like you do in the dry, you use it when you have the traction.

Q. Is there someone to blame for this?

FM: As I said, maybe the past is very fresh in our mind so everybody including myself because I didn't believe that I was going to drop out of the top 15. After the qualifying I thought maybe I could go to 11th or 12th, but not to 16th. I blame everybody. I blame me, I blame the engineers, I blame everybody that was working on the pit looking at the laptimes. It was a team mistake, including myself. But it was a huge wake up call that we need to use everything we have because every session is difficult.

Q. Are you praying for rain?

FM: The rain can be a lottery so it can be good. If it's raining maybe we have an extra possibility to have a great race. We'll see. I hope we can have a good pace in the race and can gain many positions.

Bad qualifying form for McLaren Mercedes

McLaren drivers Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen said they were not surprised that the team failed to make it in to Q3 during qualifying for the Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang.

The world champion ended the session 13th, one place ahead of his team-mate, but afterwards he told the BBC that his position was to be expected given the current competitiveness of the McLaren MP4-24.

"Nothing has changed since the last race so we knew this around the position we would be," he said.

"The car doesn't feel terrible, it just feels like I'm not able to carry the speed through the corners."

Asked if there were any positives to draw from the session, he replied: "We are not dead last, I have no gearbox problems, so we can look forward."

Kovalainen added that he was disappointed but not surprised to be starting the race 14th.

"We knew that it was going to be very difficult to get in to the top ten. We tried our maximum, the fact is that we just don't have enough performance at the moment to get there.

"Otherwise I think we are working fine. The team has done a great job again, we've improved little-by-little but obviously not enough."

Kovalainen also denied that the off-track storm surrounding the team provoked by the fall-out from Hamilton's Australian GP disqualification and the suspension of the team's sporting director Dave Ryan had affected McLaren's performance.

"I don't think so," he said. "Obviously a lot of things have been going on this weekend. But I think the team has really kept the focus very well, it hasn't distracted from our job, our business here.

"We have been working on the set-up, working on the practice sessions, and preparing for every session like we always do and it hasn't made any difference to that and I think it is a good effort from the team under difficult circumstances."

Ferrari make strategic error in qualifying

Felipe Massa blamed a strategic error for his failure to make into the second qualifying segment ahead of the Malaysian Grand Prix.

The Ferrari driver missed the cut in Q1 after not completing another run in the dying moments of the session.

Massa said after qualifying that Ferrari felt his previous best was enough to secure a place in the top 15, and hence decided not to send him out again, something which proved to be a mistake.

"Well, actually I went straight away on a new set of softs. I didn't do a perfect lap, I did a reasonable lap, but not a perfect lap," explained Massa.

"I went wide on the first lap in Turn 14 and then I improved on the second timed lap by two tenths. The team thought it was enough to be inside the top 15 and maybe I thought as well, to be honest, because when I got back to the pits I was fourth.

"I stayed in the top seven for a while, but then when I started to drop it was impossible to go out again because there was no time to do another lap.

"Maybe the track improved a lot as well, with the temperature going down many people improved. We just thought it was enough to get in the top 15 and it wasn't so we dropped completely.

"Maybe the past is still very fresh in our mind where we had a very competitive car and it was always easy to go out in first qualifying on the hard tyre or whatever and be in the top 10.

"Now it's not that easy anymore. Now we need to be able to use our tyres in qualifying because that's the only way to pass every session."

Massa refused to blame anyone for the error, and said it was a mistake from the whole team.

"As I said, maybe the past is very fresh in our mind so everybody including myself because I didn't believe that I was going to drop out of the top 15. After the qualifying I thought maybe I could go to 11th or 12th, but not to 16th. I blame everybody.

"I blame me, I blame the engineers, I blame everybody that was working on the pit looking at the laptimes. It was a team mistake, including myself. But it was a huge wake up call that we need to use everything we have because every session is difficult."

Brawn - Jenson Button on top form

Ross Brawn believes Jenson Button is in very good shape for tomorrow's Malaysian Grand Prix following his second consecutive pole position.

Button held off Toyota rival Jarno Trulli to clinch his second pole in a row following his dominance at the Australian Grand Prix.

Brawn said his team had been cautious about its prospects because they weren't sure about the pace of the competition.

But the Briton reckons now that the picture is clearer, Button is in good form for tomorrow.

"We have been running fuel for the last couple of days so we didn't know where the opposition were," Brawn told the BBC. "Really Q2 was the first time we could make a judgement.

"We've managed to save some tyres with Jenson, running him on the hard tyre for most of qualifying to the end, so he's in good shape for the race now. But it is tough, particularly Jarno looked very quick.

"Jenson has looked very strong. Once we got the reference time in Q1, he looked very strong. We don't want to take any chances but the fact that we have now got two new sets of tyres for the race is great."

He also admitted he was relieved none of the cars near Button will be using KERS tomorrow.

"There is no one around us with KERS at the start which is a help, because we were dreading that. They certainly have a gain here," he added.

"I think Jarno looks in reasonable shape if you look at his long runs and the Red Bulls look strong, so I think it will be a great race tomorrow."

Trulli didn't expect to be in second place

Jarno Trulli says he was surprised to be in contention for pole position at Sepang having been unhappy with his Toyota in practice.

The Italian narrowly missed out on pole to Jenson Button, and reckons his discomfort with the car yesterday might actually have been down to the track conditions.

"I didn't expect to be here," said Trulli. "As Jenson was saying the track was not comfortable, but we worked out a good set-up by analysing the data.

"Today we got it right, the tyres were spot on. It is a shame to lose the pole for a few hundredths, but it is good, let's see what happens tomorrow.

"I hope to to have a good race and good fight, it will be a nice race hopefully."

He added that he was quite happy with the race's later start time, despite the possibility of worse weather.

"It is much more comfortable than it used to be, it is later in the afternoon which might see some showers tomorrow, but it is cooler so easier for us," said Trulli.

"It is a technical, hard circuit and physically demanding, but we have always been good here so I am waiting to see what happens."

Malaysian GP Qualifying - Jenson Button on pole again!

Qualifying for the 56-lap Malaysian Grand Prix proved to be a thrilling affair as the threatening rain held off leaving the front-runners in a frantic battle for the pole position.

For the second straight Grand Prix it was Jenson Button who got the job done for Brawn Mercedes as he stopped the clocks in 1:35.181s, less than a tenth clear of the hard-charging Jarno Trulli. As Button celebrates yet another success for the new Brawn GP team, Trulli will be a little frustrated to lose out on the pole position by the slightest of margins.

Sebastien Vettel was third fastest in his Red Bull Renault three-tenths off the ultimate time but of course takes a ten position grid penalty into the Grand Prix courtesy of his incident with Robert Kubica in Australia.

Rubens Barrichello recorded the fourth fastest time but like Vettel drops down the order with a grid position penalty. The Brazilian veteran takes position drop to eighth due to a gearbox change on the Brawn Mercedes this morning.

With Vettel and Barrichello both dropping back, Timo Glock will line up third in the second Toyota ahead of Nico Rosberg in the leading Williams Toyota. Rosberg in particular will be a little frustrated with the qualifying pace once again after showing so well in practice.

Mark Webber was seventh fastest in the second Red Bull but starts fifth ahead of Robert Kubica in the leading BMW Sauber.
Over at Ferrari it was an evening of drama as Felipe Massa fell at the first hurdle and Kimi Raikkonen scraped into the final round of qualifying in his F60.

After setting the ninth fastest time in the final round of qualifying, Raikkonen lines up seventh while Massa is just 16th. Qualifying would prove to be a disaster for the Brazilian Ferrari star who completed just one run in the first round of qualifying on the option tyre and paid the price as he found himself bumped down and out of the running. Massa now faces a very tough task from the back end of the field tomorrow afternoon.

Renault has not looked particularly strong at Sepang but at least Fernando Alonso salvaged a ninth position on the grid for the Anglo-French team, Nelson Piquet meanwhile continued his second year struggle with the team and will start back in 17th.

Nick Heidfeld did not make the final round of qualifying in his KERS-equipped BMW Sauber and will start the race from tenth position ahead of Kazuki Nakajima in the second Williams Toyota. Nakajima has shown flashes of pace in practice, but is struggling to get the best from the FW31 package when it counts in qualifying.

McLaren Mercedes freely admit that the MP4-24 package is not particularly competitive and it is therefore of little surprise to see Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen fail to make the top ten shoot-out. The 2008 champion will start 12th ahead of the unfortunate Vettel and his team-mate Kovalainen.

Sebastien Bourdais led the way at Toro Rosso Ferrari as he made it into the second round of qualifying and will start 15th ahead of Massa and Piquet.

Giancarlo Fisichella and Adrian Sutil were 18th and 19th for the Mercedes-powered Force India team while rookie Sebastien Buemi lines up 20th and last after going off track in his final run in the Toro Rosso.

Qualifying has provided us with a pretty interesting grid, but the question remains whether anyone can halt the Button-Brawn steamroller.


Smokey engine for Brawn's

Both Brawn runners had a worryingly smoky final practice session at Sepang on Saturday afternoon, but the team insists it remains on track.

"It's just that we're running maximum oil level," engineer Jock Clear, alluding to engine overfill, told a concerned Rubens Barrichello during the session.

The Brazilian completed the session without problem and ninth quickest, and team-mate Jenson Button was tenth, the Briton having also reported "a big puff" of white smoke from his customer Mercedes at the exit of a corner.

Engine failures this year do not attract penalties until a driver has run through eight power plants, but a problem in round two would put the Brawn pair behind schedule for the season.

Williams' Nico Rosberg finished the practice session fastest, for the fifth time out of the six practice sessions so far in 2009.

Runners for Red Bull, Ferrari and Toyota were also in the top seven, but the two McLarens and Renaults continued their struggle for pace.

Melbourne winner Button believes Ferrari is the favourite to win on Sunday.

"You might think I'm crazy or that I'm trying to talk us down but I think that Ferrari are the team to beat at this moment," said the Brawn driver.

McLaren mechanics sent reporters and FIA scrutineers into a spin during the session, when they were spotted spraying a tyre with a can of unidentified liquid.

"I have never seen that before in Formula One," former driver turned BBC commentator Anthony Davidson said.

It turned out the can contained only water, as the mechanics were hunting for an apparent small puncture. It has been confirmed that BMW's Nick Heidfeld, but hot his taller team-mate Robert Kubica, will again use KERS this weekend.

Malaysian GP Free Practice 3 - Rosberg fastest again

Nico Rosberg returned to the top in the final practice session for the Malaysian Grand Prix.

The Williams driver beat Red Bull's Mark Webber and Ferrari's Felipe Massa to the fastest time during a late scramble on soft tyres.

The result means that Rosberg has now topped five out of the six free practice sessions held so far in 2009, with only Ferrari's one-two yesterday afternoon interrupting his streak.

The two Brawns ended up only ninth and 10th.

The session got off to a hesitant start as the teams waited for some spots of moisture to clear. The clouds remained dark and very ominous for most of the hour, but the rain held off and the track stayed dry.

Jenson Button led the way for Brawn once the first runs were complete, before Rosberg moved ahead after 26 minutes.

Sebastian Vettel briefly usurped the Williams with his Red Bull one minute later, but Rosberg was already responding and soon regained the top spot by 0.245 seconds.

With the clouds still threatening, teams switched to soft tyres much earlier than usual. BMW's Nick Heidfeld was the first to try the faster rubber, lapping in 1m37.026s to beat Rosberg by 0.4s with 23 minutes still on the clock.

Brawn GP then reasserted its authority, with Button out-pacing Heidfeld by half a second on his own first soft tyre lap.

Barrichello also took a turn in front - despite a huge puff of smoke from the back of his car during his hot lap - but having completed their qualifying simulations early, the two Brawns were pushed right back to the foot of the top ten when others improved.

As the whole field switched to softs, Ferrari briefly held a one-two with first Kimi Raikkonen, then Massa going quickest.

But with four minutes to go, Rosberg moved back to his habitual position in front with a lap of 1m35.940s.

Webber grabbed second in the closing minutes, ahead of Massa and the two Toyotas, with Vettel ending up sixth.

Raikkonen eventually fell to seventh, followed by Williams's Kazuki Nakajima.

Another difficult session for McLaren saw Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen back in 12th and 13th, with Fernando Alonso also seemingly struggling back in 14th.


Most teams change their engines in Sepang

McLaren and Scuderia Toro Rosso are the only teams who have elected to use their engines for a second race at this weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix.

The race stewards announced on Saturday morning that 16 cars will start the Sepang 'event', which officially kicks off with free practice on Saturday, with new engines.

However, McLaren and Toro Rosso are to stick with the same power-units that they used in Melbourne.

Drivers are allowed to use a total of eight engines over the course of the season.

Interview with Jenson Button

After his crushing Melbourne victory, Jenson Button is getting used to favourite status after several years as an underdog, but he does not think Brawn GP will run away with this weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix.

Q. Do you believe Brawn GP will be the two best cars again this weekend?

Jenson Button: I think we have got a lot more competition this weekend. We are not there with the balance yet. I have a lot of areas to work on, where I am not happy. That is a good thing because I don't think our pace is as good as we would have hoped.

I think if you look at the cars and their long runs, you can see the Ferrari is very quick and you can see the Red Bull is quick. Especially, the Ferraris are a lot quicker than I expected, so they are very competitive. I am not sure if we can do the same times as them, so we have to wait and see.

Q. Looking back to last weekend, how does it feel to come here as a race winner again?

JB: Yes, it is great. Winning one race is very special, but for me the aim is to do it consistently and to do the same thing this weekend. I think it will be a lot more difficult. Last weekend was great for us, and a very emotional weekend. But already we have to start thinking towards this weekend and doing the same sort of thing again.

Q. Would you have bet your money on winning a grand prix again?

JB: You are not allowed to bet on yourself, and I am not a gambling man. But you stay positive, and it is the only way to be in this sport. And after two bad years we deserve this for all the hard work we have put in. It comes around in the end, and it is great to have a car I feel comfortable in and is quick as well.

Q. Where here do you especially fear the KERS cars?

JB: The straights! That is where they push the button. I think the quickest way around here for the KERS cars is to be using it on all the straights, and not just on one main straight. They are gaining a little bit everywhere, on all the straights.

Q. How about the tyres?

JB: It is an interesting one as they are very different. The harder tyre has a very high temperature working range which you can never get to, because you cannot work it that hard. And the soft tyre is a good tyre here. It has been pretty consistent, we have had a little bit of graining, but that tyre for me has been a bit better. The hard tyre is the one we have had to work hard on to get some reasonable pace.

Q. So who is going to be the race winner here?

JB: If I knew that, it would make life a lot easier. The Ferrari is a lot quicker than what they have been in the past, and they are the people that have been setting the pace today.

Q. Australia was a little bit of a step into the unknown for you and the team, but you come here as world championship leader. Does the mindset of working towards winning feel normal now?

JB: Yes, definitely. As soon as we arrive here, you forget about the last race. The only time you think about is when you are being interviewed or when someone is saying congratulations or well done. We are fully committed on this weekend now. Last weekend was great, we got 18 points as a team and I've got 10 points as a driver, I would like to make it 20, but we need to look to this weekend to see what we can get out of the car.

At the moment we are not in a position that I am happy with, with the car. I think Rubens is the same. There are areas where we really need to improve to be at the front, and you might think it sounds crazy or that I am trying to talk us down - but I think Ferrari is the team to beat if you look at the times at the moment. And that is not just over one lap; it is over the long runs.

So if they are running a reasonably normal fuel load, which I think they probably are, they are very quick. They are going to be the cars that we have to beat.

Q. Do you feel less comfortable at this stage than you did in Melbourne?

JB: Yes. I think our competition is closer, for whatever reason. I don't know if Ferrari had a bad weekend in Melbourne or not, but they are the team that are the most competitive. And Red Bull are a lot closer to us, although I don't know where they stand. I would say Ferrari are the big threat really.

Q. This track has much less slow and medium-fast corners, which seem to be the strong area of your car. Can that be a reason why the picture is different?

JB: There are still some pretty slow corners, and that is where I think we are strong. Mechanically it is a very strong car. There are some very long straights here, and we have a good engine. The Mercedes-Benz engine is very good, and it is probably the best engine out there. But you cannot compete with KERS cars on the straights here.

I was behind [Fernando] Alonso here in practice and he was annihilating me on the straights. So they are gaining a lot on the straights, probably more than they have let on in previous tests and what have you. But that is an area where they are going to be strong. So even if I do qualify in front of them, it is going to be difficult to keep them behind. It is tough when you are racing against KERS cars, and when KERS cars are your main competitors, it is going to be very difficult.

Q. There is a high chance of rain in the race. How much of a worry is it that you haven't had a wet test, and that it didn't rain in P2?

JB: Well, you always want it to be dry when you are at the front. Hopefully it will be wet in in final practice, so hopefully we will get some practice in. Otherwise it is blind going into qualifying. The car I am sure is going to be reasonably competitive in the wet, but understanding what wing angle to run is going to be so important. If you are six turns out of front wing with six degrees, it is massive, and you will never get the car working.

Q. The soft tyre could have been a race decider in Melbourne. Is it the same case here with the harder tyre?

JB: I don't think it is going to be as bad. You are not going to lose three seconds per lap because it doesn't grain, but getting the tyre to work is important. But it is not as bad as what we had in Melbourne. It is not such a risk to stick the option on for the start of the race, whereas it was a real risk in Australia to stick it on in the first stint as you had to pray for a safety car. It is not an issue here, they are closer, but getting it into its working window is very difficult.

Nick Heidfeld to run KERS in Malaysia

BMW Sauber Nick Heidfeld is to use KERS again at this weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix, his team has confirmed.

The Hinwil-based outfit was unsure about whether or not there would be much of an advantage for Heidfeld to use the device at Sepang - with simulations showing that it would bring little benefit in terms of lap time.

However, following overnight analysis of data produced during Friday''s free practice sessions where Heidfeld ran with and without the system, the team has decided to run it.

Willy Rampf, BMW Sauber's technical coordinator, told AUTOSPORT that the team decided that using KERS would bring big benefits in the race.

"We think it will provide a strategical advantage for Nick," he said. "As well as offering a chance for more speed on the straights, with a long run to the first corner there is a good chance of getting some places at the start."

Heidfeld's team-mate Robert Kubica is not using KERS because of weight distribution complications brought about by fitting the device to his car.

Button - Brawn's not favourite winners of Malaysian GP

World championship leader Jenson Button has played down Brawn GP's chances of winning in Malaysia this weekend - saying Ferrari is the team to beat at Sepang.

Alhough his Brawn GP outfit was dominant in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, and rivals have said he and Rubens Barrichello are untouchable, Button reckons the competitive picture has already changed at the second race of the season.

With Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa leading the way in Friday practice, Button believes his team is no longer favourite – especially as it does not have a KERS system.

"I think we have got a lot more competition this weekend," said Button, who won from pole position in Melbourne.

"We are not there with the balance yet. I have a lot of areas to work on, where I am not happy. That is a good thing because I don't think our pace is as good as we would have hoped.

"I think if you look at the cars and their long runs, you can see the Ferrari is very quick and you can see the Red Bull is quick. Especially, the Ferraris are a lot quicker than I expected, so they are very competitive. I am not sure if we can do the same times as them, so we have to wait and see."

He added: "At the moment we are not in a position that I am happy with, with the car. I think Rubens is the same. There are areas where we really need to improve to be at the front, and you might think it sounds crazy or that I am trying to talk us down – but I think Ferrari is the team to beat if you look at the times at the moment. And that is not just over one lap; it is over the long runs.

"So if they are running a reasonably normal fuel load, which I think they probably are, they are very quick. They are going to be the cars that we have to beat."

Button is especially wary of Ferrari because it is one of the few teams running KERS – which will provide an advantage on Sepang's long straights and at the start.

"You cannot compete with KERS cars on the straights here," said Button. "I was behind [Fernando] Alonso here in practice and he was annihilating me on the straights. So they are gaining a lot on the straights, probably more than they have let on in previous tests and what have you. But that is an area where they are going to be strong.

"So even if I do qualify in front of them, it is going to be difficult to keep them behind. It is tough when you are racing against KERS cars, and when KERS cars are your main competitors, it is going to be very difficult."

FIA and Media was not impressed with McLaren action

Lewis Hamilton's public apology over the 'lie-gate' scandal was appreciated by the governing FIA, a spokesman has indicated.

While serious questions remain about McLaren's position, and also the damage done to the reigning world champion's reputation, the FIA official suggested the Briton had done the right thing to say sorry.

"We recognise Lewis' efforts to set the record straight today," he said. "It would appear that he was put in an impossible position."

"We are now awaiting reports from the FIA observer and stewards before consideration can be given to further investigation of the team's conduct. We cannot rule out the matter being referred to the World Council."

McLaren, nearly excluded from the championship amid the 'spygate' scandal of 2007, is therefore not out of the woods, and the British press remains ropable.

No matter the details of the stewards investigations, British journalists did not welcome news that sporting director Dave Ryan has been suspended.

"Someone high up at McLaren, along with Hamilton's father-manager Anthony, decided that Ryan should go," the Daily Mail said, after Bernie Ecclestone on Thursday said he sensed the McLaren veteran has been made a scapegoat.

"It was convenient for Hamilton to lay the blame on Ryan.
'I was only acting on orders, guv'. It was also useful for Whitmarsh. 'I knew nothing, Your Honour'. But at a closer examination, is it all so innocent?" the Daily Mail wondered.

The Telegraph was even unimpressed with Hamilton's apology, in which he made clear he only lied to stewards because he was ordered to by the now ousted Ryan.

"At 24 Hamilton is old enough and big enough to stand his ground. It is time for him to take greater responsibility for his own actions, to ... be a man," the newspaper said.

Long-standing elements of the British corps, who have known Ryan since his days at McLaren looking after James Hunt, doubted the apparent straightforwardness of his wrongdoing.

"Having known Ryan for more than 25 years, there is no one more honest or straightforward in Formula One," said writer Maurice Hamilton. "I don't doubt (Lewis) Hamilton but (this) is completely out of character for Ryan."

"Is Ryan ... being made the fall guy? That would appear to be the case."

Team boss Martin Whitmarsh, who only took the reigns of the Woking team from Ron Dennis last month, is right in those journalists' firing line.

"He appears to have fallen at the first hurdle thanks to his lack of support for a man (Ryan) who has served the team faultlessly for 34 years," the Guardian said.

London's the Times added: "Whitmarsh may yet have to pay the price for this shameful business, especially with his account yesterday leaving many questions as yet unanswered about who knew what and when among senior managers."

Barrichello - Gearbox changed is a precautionary measure

Rubens Barrichello has said that his gearbox change, which has earned him a five-place grid penalty for tomorrow's Malaysian Grand Prix, is a precautionary measure.

The Brazilian suffered a gearbox problem at the start of last weekend's Australian Grand Prix, where he made a bad start after the anti-stall kicked in and put him into neutral, and believes that the team is right to take no risks by continuing to race the unit.

"After the problem that we had at the start, they found something that might have been a problem," said Barrichello.

"I'm with the team when we say that it's better to take the gamble of changing here than in the following races."

Despite starting from no higher than sixth on the grid, Barrichello believes that it will still be possible for him to fight for his first Formula 1 win since the 2004 Chinese Grand Prix.

"I don't discount myself going for a win," he said. "It is a disadvantage and I'm sorry for that, but at the end of the day that's the reality and I'm going to take up the challenge and see what I can do. I'm still in a great car."

Despite being confident of his chances for tomorrow's race, Barrichello is worried about the power of the cars equipped with KERS on the long run to the first corner.

"If KERS works well, with the boost you have you would probably overtake two rows of cars," said Barrichello. "Theoretically, you would expect to be overtaking."

Brawn GP undecided yet to use KERS

Brawn GP will have to pay more to McLaren Mercedes if it wants to use the team's Kinetic Energy Recovery System later in the season.

The former Honda team is currently not running the new energy-reuse technology, having focused over the winter on surviving and accommodating the 2009 car for a Mercedes engine.

A side-effect of the dash to accommodate a different engine is that the BGP 001 package is currently running heavier than Brawn would like.

"That makes it quite difficult to install KERS," team boss Ross Brawn told reporters at Sepang on Friday.

The Briton admitted that his current commercial arrangement with McLaren and Mercedes is for engines only.

"We have had some tentative discussions about KERS but it is a little bit early for us to engage properly on that," Brawn added.

Alonso hopes to get fit for qualifying and race

Unwell Renault driver Fernando Alonso on Friday said he hopes to feel better when the Sepang event moves into the qualifying and race rounds this weekend.

The Spaniard limited his track time and was unusually outpaced by his team-mate Nelson Piquet during Friday's three hours of practice, having curtailed his activities at the track the day before with an ear infection.

Alonso said he felt better on Friday that he did 24 hours ago. Spain's Diario AS said he is taking antibiotics to tackle his high temperature.

"Hopefully I will recover more this evening and feel better tomorrow so I can give my maximum for qualifying which I think will be one of the most important parts of the weekend," he said.

Worsening matters, the oppressive heat and humidity makes Malaysia one of the toughest races physically on the entire F1 calendar, but Alonso insists he could not have simply sat out Friday's action altogether.

"It's a very demanding weekend in terms of the heat because we sweat so much but it was important we still got enough information," he said.

Further sanctions waiting for McLaren

The FIA has not ruled out taking further action against McLaren in the wake of Lewis Hamilton's disqualification from the Australian Grand Prix.

The Briton was excluded from the Melbourne race after the stewards deemed he and his McLaren team had 'deliberately misled' them about a radio conversation that took place after he had passed Toyota driver Jarno Trulli behind the safety car.

Following McLaren's decision to suspend its sporting director Dave Ryan, and Hamilton's emotional public apology to the FIA stewards and his fans for what he called a 'huge mistake', the FIA has indicated that it will review all the evidence before deciding whether to refer the matter to the World Motor Sport Council.

The sport's governing body also recognised the efforts at which the world champion had gone to explain himself, hinting that any further sanctions might be focussed on the team's role in the incident, rather than the driver's.

"We recognise Lewis's efforts to set the record straight today," said an FIA spokesman. "It would appear that he was put in an impossible position.

"We are now awaiting reports from the FIA observer and stewards before consideration can be given to further investigation of the team's conduct.

"We cannot rule out the matter being referred to the World Council at this stage."

When asked during his press conference at Sepang if he was concerned about the possibility of further action being taken against him and McLaren by the FIA, Hamilton said: "I am sure the FIA will act accordingly and in the right way. I don't know what else is going to happen in the future.

"For me now, I have to focus on the race and try to move forward from this, learn from it and grow."

If the matter is referred to the WMSC, McLaren could face a significant fine or even exclusion from races or the championship.

McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh said today that he felt 'deep regret' at the events of the past week, adding that the team wanted 'come clean' on its side of the story.

"It has become clear from discussions with Dave [Ryan] last night and through into this morning that during the stewards meeting after the Australian Grand Prix, he was not entirely full and truthful in the answers he gave the stewards," said Whitmarsh.

"Consequently we had no alternative today other than to suspend him. As you can imagine, it is a very sad day for the team. We have got to deal with this weekend. We have to look in a bit more detail all of the events that surrounded it."

Hamilton - "Dave Ryan told me to lies"

World champion Lewis Hamilton on Friday apologised for lying to FIA stewards in Australia, but said he was instructed to by suspended team veteran Dave Ryan.

Ryan, who joined McLaren as a mechanic in the 1970s and was sent back to the hotel by team boss Martin Whitmarsh on Friday, ‘misled’ Hamilton, the 24-year-old British driver said.

"I was instructed and misled by my team manager to withhold information, and that is what I did," said Hamilton, referring to Sporting Director Ryan.

Hamilton said he wanted to tell the truth but has always followed the instructions of his bosses.

"I would like to say a big sorry to all my fans, who I showed who I am for the past three years, and it is who I am. I am not a liar. I am not a dishonest person.”

"Every time I have been informed to do something I have done it. This time I realise it was a huge mistake. I am here to apologise to everyone and I assure you it won't happen again," he told masses of international media in a specially-convened media centre press conference.

Hamilton said he felt ‘awkward’ and ‘uncomfortable’ about lying, and now the repercussions are the ‘worst thing’ he has experienced in his racing career.

"I've never felt so bad. Try and put yourself in my position and understand that, like I said, I am not a liar. And so for people to say I am dishonest and for the world to think that, what can I say?" he added.

He said he apologised ‘for the situation’ to Jarno Trulli before Thursday's stewards hearing, denying the saga was a cheap trick to gain a position through seeing the Italian unfairly penalised.

"That was not my aim. That is not something I do. I earn my points and my positions through hard work, and that is not the way I think," Hamilton insisted.

Alonso - McLaren has lied before this

Two-time world champion Fernando Alonso has joined the controversy over McLaren's handling of the Australian Grand Prix incident, saying it is not the first time the team has not been honest with the FIA stewards.

The Spaniard, who drove for McLaren in 2007 before leaving after his relationship with the team went sour, said this week's situation had reminded him of the 2007 Hungarian Grand Prix.

Back in qualifying for the Budapest race, Hamilton was unable to complete his final run after being forced to wait behind Alonso at their final stop for tyres.

Alonso was then waved to leave the pits, but he waited for some 10 more seconds before he got moving. Hamilton, leading the championship then, had to wait behind the Spaniard and then crossed the finish line when the time had run out.

McLaren said the incident had been triggered by Hamilton disobeying team orders to let Alonso pass at the start of the third qualifying segment.

The incident led to Alonso and Hamilton facing the stewards, and the Spaniard and the team eventually being penalised, with the stewards refusing to accept the team's explanations of the incident.

Speaking to Spanish media on Friday, just a day after controversy erupted over the team lying to the stewards in Australia, Alonso suggested McLaren had not been honest in Hungary back in 2007.

"Of course it reminded me of 2007," Alonso, now at Renault, was quoted as saying by the Spanish media. "It's not the first time they go to see the stewards. It's not the first time they lie to the stewards and, sooner or later, they had to be punished.

"Of course there I lost the championship by a point and in Hungary they played a bad trick on me.

"I read about it on Thursday in the hotel, because I was there all day. I turned the computer on and I read it. Every time there are decisions taken against other teams you don't care too much and in this case it didn't change the result for me, so it didn't affect me too much."