Toro Rosso Ferrari - Malaysian GP - Race

With the exception of the race winner, the results of the rain his Malaysian Grand Prix were something of a lottery and Sebastien Bourdais had hoped that his decision to take onboard full wet tyres early would yield points.

The gamble didn't pay off however as Bourdais finished in tenth position while rookie team-mate Sebastien Buemi spun out of the action but will be classified 16th.

Sebastien Bourdais
“Round about lap 18, we were running low on fuel so we were hoping for rain before the end of the first stint. It didn’t come quite in time and we gambled on extreme wets as heavy rain was expected, but instead it was more like drizzle, so we changed again to intermediates."

"Then the rain really came and I had to come in again for extremes and after that, the race was stopped. It was a shame, as it seemed we were pretty competitive in these very changeable conditions. I would have liked to restart, as it might have been an opportunity to pick up points, even if only half-points.”

Sebastien Buemi
“We were really going well and I think I was around P7 or 8 and the plan was to come in on the following lap, but then I went off at Turn 5. The extreme tyres were completely gone, like driving on slicks and I slowed down, but obviously not enough for the amount of water, so I spun, went into the gravel and stalled."

"We were competitive in terms of speed at some stages, running in the top six lap times, even though I was running last, having had to come in to change the nose. I think one of the Force India cars pushed me wide at the exit of the last corner and I ran over something that broke the front wing. I am disappointed as the spin at the end was my mistake and it is on days like this that we should have picked up some points.”

Button win's in chaos

Jenson Button won a shortened 31 lap Malaysian Grand Prix on a day when heavy rain forced the race to be halted well ahead of the scheduled 56 laps. Monsoon rains are common-place late in the afternoon and it was therefore of little surprise that the weather created problems and much confusion for the Formula One circus.

Until the very heavy rain began to fall, the second round of the championship proved to be a thriller with Nico Rosberg storming into the lead from fourth position on the grid at the start and controlling the race in his Williams Toyota from Jarno Trulli until the first round of pitstops.

Button meanwhile bided his time during the first stint well aware he had more fuel on board than his rivals and as the others pitted, picked up the pace to ensure he exited the puts following his first stop in the lead.

Light rain began to fall on lap 22 with Kimi Raikkonen already having gambled and switched to full wet three laps earlier. The gamble did not pay off for Raikkonen as he burned through the tyres on the dry circuit but all of the front runners began to pit soon after for the wet rubber.

Timo Glock had not made the best start to the race and had dropped towards the bottom of the top ten but he and the Toyota team opted to switch to intermediate tyres and not the full wets. This decision paid off as he carved his way through the field to run third when the really heavy rain fell.

While Glock made progress through the field the other drivers opted to change from full wet tyres to intermediate tyres but the switch was only suitable for a few laps as by lap 28 the heavy rain forced all back onto the full wet tyres, shuffling the race order once again.

Conditions then deteriorated significantly forcing first the safety car out and then the red flags bringing a halt to proceedings to over 50 minutes before the result was declared. As Formula One Management fumbled around before making a decision to declare the race it became clear that Nick Heidfeld had worked his way up to second position in his BMW Sauber having made just the one pitstop compared to the three or four by the rest of the field. A gamble from the team certainly paid dividends.

Jarno Trulli finished fourth in the second Toyota losing time in the wet conditions while Rubens Barrichello was fifth when the race came to its premature conclusion.

Mark Webber and Lewis Hamilton had a fantastic battle ahead of the red flag with Webber much faster in the twisty mid-field and Hamilton leaning on KERS heavily to retake the position on the straights on at least three occasions. Webber finished in sixth position ahead of the defending champion.

After his fast start Nico Rosberg lost ground in the pit stop shuffle and finished eighth for Williams while Ferrari leave the second round of the championship still without any points with Massa ninth and Raikkonen parking his F60 when the red flags came out with an unidentified KERS issue.

Sebastien Bourdais like Raikkonen was early to switch to wet tyres and he finished tenth in his Toro Rosso ahead of Fernando Alonso who had a spin in the wet and dropped out of the points. Kazuki Nakajima finished 12th in the second Williams ahead of Nelson Piquet in the second R29.

Kimi Raikkonen will be classified 14th ahead of Sebastian Vettel who spun out of the points in his Red Bull Renault. Sebastien Buemi was 16th in the second Toro Rosso ahead of the Force India Mercedes duo of Adrian Sutil and Giancarlo Fisichella.

Robert Kubica retired his BMW Sauber almost as soon as the race began with an engine problem while Heikki Kovalainen’s rotten start to the season continued as he lost control of his McLaren Mercedes and spun out of the race on the first lap.

And so after a trilling 30 laps of action, the Malaysian Grand Prix ended in confusion with even the drivers unsure of where they had finished. Formula One lacked any real sense of communication leaving fans world-wide unsure of if the race would start again or not and even after 50 minutes of waiting, the results were uncertain until the top three took to the podium.

Heading to Shanghai for the Chinese Grand Prix, Button’s perfect start to the season remains intact as he leads the championship with 15 points from Barrichello on 10, Trulli on 8.5, Glock on 8 and Alonso on 4.

Race stop on heavy rain

The 56-lap Malaysian Grand Prix is currently halted due to heavy rains at the Sepang circuit.

With 32 laps completed ahead of the red flags, it seems that the race result will be declared with half points declared for the top eight runners as less than 75 percent of the race has been completed.

Jenson Button lost ground at the start of the race from pole position, but his longer first stint in bone dry conditions played into his hands and the Brawn Mercedes driver re-took the lead following the first round of stops.

Timo Glock timed his pit stop to perfection and was the only driver to opt for intermediate tyres when his rivals took full wets.
Glock carved his way through the field ahead of the very heavy rain and is currently classified second to Button as the race is halted.

More news to follow.

Brawn successed has Honda Racing DNA

Ross Brawn says no major changes to his team's technical staff were needed in order to turn its fortunes around this season.

Brawn joined Honda Racing as team principal last year to try and revive the Brackley-based squad's hopes following years of underachievement.

Brawn completed a buyout of the team this year after Honda decided to pull out of F1 at the end of last year.

The team decided to focus all its efforts in the 2009 season last year and, after a very poor 2008, the outfit is now the team to beat.

Despite the change in performance, Brawn says no big changes have been needed to become a winning team.

"Well, I haven't made huge changes and that was the case when I went to Ferrari," Brawn said after Button secured his second consecutive pole position in Malaysia.

"There was some strategic changes, there are two or three people that have come in, but the technical office is fundamentally the same. It's just helping people with direction and helping them gain in confidence that there is no one out there doing it that differently to what they are doing.

"And if you have confidence and do the job properly then you can succeed as well. So no we haven't made any dramatic changes to the technical group. There is one or two areas where we were weak and we've brought people in, but it has not changed radically.

"And I think in some ways people were a bit surprised by that because I think they expected me to come in and turn the place upside down, but what I found was actually quite a good organisation. Quite good standards and a lot of capable people so there was no reason to turn the organisation upside down, it just needed a bit of direction in places."

Brawn said the BGP 001 car is the result of team work, not a designed pencilled by a single person.

"It's a team," he added. "There is not a Rory Byrne at Brawn GP. There are two or three key people who work together to design the car. People in aerodynamics, people in vehicle dynamics, people in chassis design.

"So it's a group and I think perhaps that's the way Formula 1 needs to go because the Rory Byrnes and the Adrian Neweys aren't around anymore, so you have to work differently."

Brawn very impressed with button form

Ross Brawn admits he has been "very impressed" with Jenson Button's driving in the first two grands prix of the 2009 season.

The British driver scored an emphatic win from pole position at the Australian Grand Prix last Sunday, and kept his momentum going today by securing his fourth career pole in Malaysia.

Button endured a dismal 2008 season with Honda Racing, scoring just three points, but things have look much brighter in the team's new incarnation.

Brawn says Button has been revitalised this year.

"Very," said Brawn when asked how impressed he was with Button. "I don't think last year with the equipment he had... I commented a few times, I saw some good races, I saw some races that were not great.

"You know him, you can see he is revelling in it and he is driving very well. He is such a smooth driver it is incredible."

He added: "To some degree now that he has got a car to work with. He is working very diligently with the engineers and he has been kind of revitalised and that is understandable, if you have got some equipment you can use. So I think both sides will come.

"I think the car is hopefully going to get better over the next few months and he is going to naturally improve because he is hugely talented and two years of beating your head against the wall takes it out of anyone.

"I think we are very impressed today, he never put a wheel wrong. His times on the prime tyres in the middle of qualifying were just stunning."

Button, who was linked with the Ferrari team when Brawn was there, reckons going to the Italian squad may had been an error.

"That might have been a mistake. It's just so difficult to judge people," he added. "I mean Jenson is a pretty low profile guy in many ways. He doesn't bang his own drum and he gets on with things discreetly and quietly.

"It's a bit like his driving style, very smooth and very controlled so. I am very happy."

Alonso - Renault's need a lot improvement

Fernando Alonso says his Renault team must make a significant amount of improvement quickly if they are to stand a chance to fight for the titles.

The French squad has endured a shaky start to the season, not showing the kind of pace needed to fight for victories yet.

Alonso finished in fifth place at the incidence-filled Australian Grand Prix and will start tomorrow's race in Malaysia from a distant ninth position.

The Spaniard admitted he was expecting better from the Sepang weekend, but the team realised it would not be competitive early on.

The two-time champion has warned that Renault must make progress quickly or risk losing touch with the championship leaders.

"It (the position) is a bit better than what we did. We had been 10th, very, very on the limit. We were expecting more," Alonso told reporters after qualifying. We were expecting to be in the top five or top seven in Q2 and the same in Q3 and it wasn't possible.

"We knew from yesterday that we were not very competitive. This morning we confirmed that feeling unfortunately, so we went into qualifying with some doubts about our performance and we saw Nelsinho going out in Q1 so we were not very happy with our performance today.

"If we want to fight for the championship we need to be more at the front. We need to improve our pace almost from the next grand prix."

Alonso conceded the race is likely to be difficult for him, but was still hopeful that, like in Australia, something could happen to help him move forward.

"You never know. Races are always difficult," he added. "We saw in Australia that after the first corner I was last and then I finished fifth. You never know what's going to happen in the race. You can never give up, but it's true we are starting ninth. All the cars in front of us are quicker than us.

"Some cars behind us, like Vettel, are quicker than us. So it's difficult to hope for something better than ninth if you see how quick the guys in front of us are. But the race is very long, very different, the start will be interesting if we can gain some places with the KERS. We'll see after that."

Performance behind the qualifying times

A new feature for the 2009 season is the publication of the car weights following qualification.

As a rule of thumb, 10kg of fuel lasts four to five laps while 10kg of fuel slows the car by roughly 0.3s a lap – depending on the circuit type and length.

The Formula One car minimum weight is 605kg including driver, but of course there is the option of KERS which weighs in at roughly 30 kg and race fuel.

Jenson Button qualified on pole position for the Malaysian Grand Prix ahead of Jarno Trulli and Sebastian Vettel, but looking at the post qualifying weights, it is clear that the Brawn Mercedes racer is carrying more fuel ahead of the 56-lap event.

In theory this should allow Button to run a longer first stint than Vettel, who was running lightest today, as the Red Bull driver set the third fastest time.

With a light fuel load and a ten position penalty, Vettel clearly is going for an aggressive race strategy while Jarno Trulli should be pitting two to three laps before pole-sitter Button.

Those who qualified outside of the top ten are however able to change their fuel strategies, but for the top ten runners, the programme for race day is already set.

Of course, should the expected rains arrive at the Sepang circuit, strategy is pretty much meaningless!

Malaysia - Qualifying Weight (kg)
1 . S. Vettel - Red Bull Renault RB5 - 647.0
2 . A. Sutil - Force India Mercedes VJM02 - 655.5 *
3 . N.Rosberg - Williams Toyota FW31 - 656.0
4 . M. Webber - Red Bull Renault RB5 - 656.0
5 . J. Trulli - Toyota TF109 - 656.5
6 . T. Glock - Toyota TF109 - 656.5
7 . J. Button - Brawn Mercedes BGP 001 - 660.0
8 . K. Raikkonen - Ferrari F60 - 662.5
9 . R. Kubica - BMW Sauber F1.09 - 663.0
10 . R. Barrichello - Brawn Mercedes BGP 001 - 664.5
11 . S. Bourdais - Toro Rosso Ferrari STR4 - 670.5 *
12 . F. Alonso - Renault R29 - 680.5
13 . G. Fisichella - Force India Mercedes VJM02 - 680.5 *
14 . N. Piquet - Renault R29 - 681.9 *
15 . K. Nakajima - Williams Toyota FW31 - 683.4 *
16 . S. Buemi - Toro Rosso Ferrari STR4 - 686.5 *
17 . L. Hamilton - McLaren Mercedes MP4-24 - 688.0 *
18 . H. Kovalainen - McLaren Mercedes MP4-24 - 688.9 *
19 . F. Massa - Ferrari F60 - 689.5. *

* Declared weight (outside of top ten)

Raikkonen - Ferrari not fast enough

Kimi Raikkonen says his Ferrari is simply not fast enough to fight on top after a disappointing performance from the Italian squad in qualifying for the Malaysian Grand Prix.

"Honestly, the main problem is that, at the moment, we are not quick enough to fight for the top places," said Raikkonen, who finished as ninth fastest.

"The car is not lacking in any particular area, but we do not have enough grip to be as quick as those who finished ahead of us today.

"Tomorrow's race will be very tough. We will try to make the most of the start. In Australia, it was very good but there was nowhere to go, whereas here, the straight is long and the track is wide. Furthermore, as we saw yesterday, our pace is competitive.

"We have to improve our performance but obviously, it is important to have the regulations clarified as quickly as possible, to understand in which direction to go. Both types of tyres work well over a distance and we will try and exploit that," added the Finn, whose team failed to score any points in Australia.

Ferrari's day was made even worse by Felipe Massa's failure to reach Q2 after the team made an error of judgement, thinking the Brazilian was safe without needing an extra run.

"This result is definitely not up to our expectations, even if we knew it would be a difficult qualifying," said team boss Stefano Domenicali.

"However the aspect that really leaves a bitter taste in the mouth is the way in which we tackled the first part of the session. We made a false assumption that cost us dear with Felipe, who was immediately out, failing to make the first cut.

"Tomorrow, it will be a long and difficult race, with a question mark over the weather which can change really quickly. We will have to make the most of our race pace and the start: in Australia, we saw that anything can happen and we will have to be ready to pounce on every opportunity, with the obvious proviso that we cannot make any more mistakes."

Vettel wish for wet race

Sebastian Vettel is pinning his hopes of a strong result at the Malaysian Grand Prix in rain hitting the Sepang circuit tomorrow.

The Red Bull driver qualified in third position, but will drop the 13th on the grid after his 10-place penalty for his incident with Robert Kubica at the Australian Grand Prix.

Vettel reckons he has a strong car, but is aware that he will need special circumstances to come into play tomorrow if he's going to be fighting near the top.

"There is nothing I can do so the secret is to focus on what we are here to do," said Vettel. "We are here to race, of course, and it is a shame to see the car performing at a good level.

"Through Q1, Q2 and Q3 we were more or less in the top five. It's a shame to have plus 10 tomorrow so it will be difficult.

"I hope for some rain because it can mix it up tomorrow."

Team-mate Mark Webber, seventh fastest, will start from a strong fifth position after what he labelled as an enjoyable session.

"Qualifying's tight," said Webber. "That was quite an enjoyable session. It would be nice to have a bit more of a cushion between us and the other cars, but that's not what it's about at the moment and seventh is the best I could do.

"With the strategy we're on, we'll see how we go tomorrow."

Brawn GP - Malaysian GP - Qualifying

Jenson Button took his second successive pole position today in qualifying for the Malaysian Grand Prix at the Sepang International Circuit maintaining his and the Brawn GP team’s perfect start to the season.

Team-mate Rubens Barrichello qualified in fourth having battled with understeer with his car throughout qualifying but takes a five-place grid penalty ahead of tomorrow’s 56-lap race after a gearbox change.

The Brawn Mercedes drivers topped the times in all three qualifying sessions with Barrichello going quickest at the end of Q1 on the soft option tyre and Button posting the fastest lap of Q2 on his first set of options having used the harder prime tyre for his previous runs. Both drivers completed two runs in Q3 with Button coming out on top to secure his second pole of the season.

Jenson Button
“Achieving pole position today in Malaysia is possibly even more special than last week in Australia. It’s not easy to get one pole but two successive poles is just fantastic and it’s a first for me in my Formula One career. It’s a great feeling and proves that our car works well on different types of circuit. We were really struggling with the balance yesterday and I had a lot of rear locking however we made some changes to the car overnight which really improved it for today and it felt really good throughout qualifying. It’s a big turnaround and I have to say thank you to the team for their hard work in such tough conditions. They did a fantastic job.
We are hoping that the rain stays away tomorrow but you just never know at this circuit and we will be working hard tonight to make sure we are prepared for all eventualities.”

Rubens Barrichello
“It was a good qualifying session for the team today and well done to Jenson once again as he had the pace to put the car on pole. Unfortunately on my side of the garage, the car developed understeer in qualifying and we were not able to resolve the problem. However we know the performance of the car in race conditions is strong and I will be aiming to score as many points as possible tomorrow before I can start chasing for my own pole position and wins.”

Ross Brawn
“It was a great qualifying performance from Jenson and the team today particularly as we had some issues with the balance of the car in yesterday’s practice sessions. At the start of qualifying, there was a distinct possibility of rain so we went out early in Q1 to bank some dry running and from there it was a busy session with the track evolving incredibly quickly. Rubens was struggling for grip under braking which resulted in understeer and he was never completely happy with the balance of his car."

Ferrari - Malaysian GP - Qualifying

After finishing first and second yesterday afternoon in practice in Malaysia, things were looking good for the Ferrari team this weekend. Qualifying for the second round of the championship saw it all go wrong for the Italian team however with Felipe Massa lining up 16th and Kimi Raikkonen seventh.

Massa was one of the first on track in the first round of qualifying opting to run the softer option Bridgestone tyre. Having completed two flying lap the Brazilian pitted confident that his time would be fast enough to make it into the second round of qualifying.

It was the wrong decision as the final second of the 20 minute session saw Massa bumped down the order and eliminated from further qualifying.

Team-mate Raikkonen made it to the final round of qualifying and set the ninth fastest time. With two rivals taking grid position penalties, the Finn starts the race from seventh.

Felipe Massa
“I am very disappointed. If I had ended up 16th because of a lack of performance, then I could have accepted the result, but like this it hurts even more. The track improved so much with each passing lap and my first run was not perfect and nor was it enough. We did not react in time and lost the chance to have another go. No one person is to blame: we are a team and we lose or win all together."

"We have to change our approach and tackle qualifying in a different way to the past.
There is no room for error and we have to give it our all, right from the first session. Nevertheless, I am very motivated. It won’t be the first time I will have to tackle a race starting way down the order and I know I can count on having a strong pace. We will have to try and exploit every opportunity to make up places.”

Kimi Raikkonen
“Honestly, the main problem is that, at the moment, we are not quick enough to fight for the top places. The car is not lacking in any particular area, but we do not have enough grip to be as quick as those who finished ahead of us today. Tomorrow’s race will be very tough. We will try to make the most of the start."

"In Australia, it was very good but there was nowhere to go, whereas here, the straight is long and the track is wide. Furthermore, as we saw yesterday, our pace is competitive. We have to improve our performance but obviously, it is important to have the regulations clarified as quickly as possible, to understand in which direction to go. Both types of tyres work well over a distance and we will try and exploit that.”

Stefano Domenicali, Team Principal
“This result is definitely not up to our expectations, even if we knew it would be a difficult qualifying. However the aspect that really leaves a bitter taste in the mouth is the way in which we tackled the first part of the session. We made a false assumption that cost us dear with Felipe, who was immediately out, failing to make the first cut."

"Tomorrow, it will be a long and difficult race, with a question mark over the weather which can change really quickly. We will have to make the most of our race pace and the start: in Australia, we saw that anything can happen and we will have to be ready to pounce on every opportunity, with the obvious proviso that we cannot make any more mistakes.”

Luca Baldisserri
“We opted to do just one run on the new soft tyres in Q1 in order to save a set for the following sessions and to do that run right at the start of qualifying as we were worried about the threat of rain. Then we did not react quickly enough in recognizing that the track was improving much more than we had expected and we watched our two drivers slide further and further down the order, to such an extent that Felipe didn’t make it to Q2."

"Now we have to concentrate on the race. We know our potential over a distance is better than that shown over the first lap and tomorrow we will have to make the most of that.”

Renault - Malaysian GP - Qualifying

Today’s qualifying session saw Fernando Alonso and Nelson Piquet qualify in tenth and 17th places respectively for tomorrow’s Malaysian Grand Prix. Alonso, who has been suffering with an ear infection but felt much better today, gains one grid position due to a Sebastian Vettel's ten position penalty and therefore starts the 56 lap race from ninth position.

Fernando Alonso
"I had no temperature this morning so I was in better condition to drive the car. Our result today is a bit disappointing because I expected to be fifth or sixth in qualifying, but overall the car is better than in Australia, although we’re not fast enough and need to improve. We will also have to see what role KERS will play in the race tomorrow.”

Nelson Piquet
“This morning we knew that it might be a difficult qualifying session. However it could have worked out better for me this afternoon, but on my final lap I pushed a bit too hard at the end of the lap and lost three or four tenths, which proved costly. I’m obviously disappointed that I couldn’t get the most from qualifying, but I have to put this behind me and think about the race tomorrow.”

Pat Symonds, Executive Director of Engineering
“It was a bit cooler as we were running later in the afternoon. The track temperature started at about 40˚C and dropped to about 36˚C, although the grip seemed reasonably constant throughout the sessions. It was tough to get into the final part of qualifying but we managed to do it with one car this weekend. The performance is not yet where we want it to be.”

"We have decided to run with quite a high fuel load so that if the weather turns bad tomorrow we will have an advantage. Our strategy will depend on the weather. It is going to be very tough tomorrow. Even starting at 5pm will give us high temperatures and high humidity. If the rain comes it will be intense and produce very difficult conditions.”

Red Bull Renault - Malaysian GP - Qualifying

Sebastian Vettel proved very strong in qualifying for the Malaysia Grand Prix as the German racer recorded the third fastest time, less than three-tenths off the ultimate pace.

Vettel however takes a ten position grid penalty as a result of his incident in Australia with Robert Kubica and therefore starts the 56-lap race from 13th position.

Team-mate Mark Webber was seventh fastest in qualifying but is promoted to fifth position on the grid due to the penalties given to Vettel and Rubens Barrichello.

Sebastian Vettel
“I have the penalty and there’s nothing I can do about that. The secret is just to focus on what I’m here to do and I’m here to race, so that’s what we do. Of course it’s a shame to see the car performing at a good level in Q1, Q2 and Q3 and know that we have a plus ten tomorrow; we were up in the top five throughout. It will be a very tough day tomorrow, but I’m looking forward to it and nothing is impossible. I’m hoping for some rain, as that can mix things up quite a lot, but let’s see.”

Mark Webber
“Qualifying’s tight! That was quite an enjoyable session.
It would be nice to have a bit more of a cushion between us and the other cars, but that’s not what it’s about at the moment and seventh is the best I could do. With the strategy we’re on, we’ll see how we go tomorrow.”

Christian Horner, Team Principal
“A strong team qualifying performance today. Both Mark and Sebastian are looking quick, but we’re just too far behind the double-decker diffusers at the moment. Unfortunately, Sebastian has his ten-place penalty to take, but hopefully he can have a bit of luck tomorrow.”

Fabrice Lom, Renault
“A nice qualifying. The performance of the car is good and I think we will be in 5th and 13th on the grid tomorrow with the penalty. We have new engines here and with the quality of our engine and the way the RB5 is performing, I think we have everything under control for tomorrow. It’s a tough race for the engine here, but it’s even tougher for the driver.”

BMW Sauber - Malaysian GP - Qualifying

In the heat of the Sepang International Circuit Robert Kubica qualified eighth for the Malaysian Grand Prix in his BMW Sauber while team-mate Nick Heidfeld just missed the top ten qualifying and came 11th. Due to penalties for other drivers, Kubica lines up sixth and Heidfeld tenth in the KERS-equipped F1.09.

Robert Kubica
"I’m satisfied with what I was able to achieve today. Although we didn’t make any major changes after free practice the car was bottoming quite a lot, which made it unstable and therefore not easy to drive. I did what I could in the corners, but the straights are long here and give the drivers who are using a KERS a major advantage. I have to start on the dirty side of the track plus I have some cars with a KERS behind me, which will make the start very interesting."

Nick Heidfeld
"Of course I’m very disappointed. I looked fairly safe in Q2 when I was seventh, but on my second quick run I had traffic on the out lap. Two cars in front of me and one behind meant that I couldn’t go at the pace needed to heat the tyres up, and then the important lap wasn’t good enough. After we did the comparison yesterday I was using the KERS today and it helped, especially in sector one where I was the fastest car for most of the time."

Mario Theissen, BMW Motorsport Director
"The rain that was expected for qualifying didn’t come, and the result confirms the picture we already saw emerging in Melbourne. It remains difficult to break into the ranks of the teams with the two step diffusers. Having said this, we have to be satisfied with the positions we have achieved. Due to two drivers having penalties that will drop them down the grid, Robert and Nick will be starting from sixth and tenth. For tomorrow there is also a high chance of rain, which means the order could get mixed up during the race."

Willy Rampf, Head of Engineering
"We knew it would be very difficult, but nevertheless we hoped to get both our drivers into Q3. Unfortunately that didn’t work out with Nick. Because of traffic on his final out lap he was not able to heat his tyres up properly. Robert was consistently doing well, and did the best he could. Being sixth is an acceptable grid position with our strategy."

Toro Rosso Ferrari - Malaysian GP - Qualifying

While Toro Rosso rookie Sebastien Buemi bounced through the gravel trap at the end of the first round of qualifying for the Malaysian Grand Prix, Sebastien Bourdais was preparing for the second round of qualifying action.

Buemi's last lap error consigned him to 20th position on the grid while Bourdais was resigned to be the slowest of the remaining 15 and duly takes the position.

Sebastien Bourdais
“We were quicker than expected in qualifying which is great, even if we are still not where we want to be. I would expect that as we develop the car more, maybe by the time we get to Spain we can be thereabouts. I’m not sure if I want rain or not tomorrow, but for sure, it might be the best chance we have of scoring points."

Sebastien Buemi
“On my penultimate set of tyres I was in a Q2 position and then on my final set I improved a lot in sectors 1 and 2. Unfortunately, in the final sector, I caught the kerb and ended up in the gravel. It’s a shame.
For tomorrow, the best thing for me would be to have very changeable conditions to see if we could profit from any unusual situation that might develop.”

Giorgio Ascanelli
“Once again I am happy with the reliability of our cars: in the five days of running we have had so far in this year’s championship, we have had just one problem with a minor component yesterday afternoon. Getting one car into Q2 is an achievement. Of course, we could have done better, but our level of understanding of the car is improving and the drivers are getting used to it. Today, Buemi made a mistake, but if a young driver doesn’t make mistakes he doesn’t learn and Bourdais did a good job.”

Toyota - Malaysian GP - Qualifying

Toyota will start the Malaysian Grand Prix with two cars in the top three after a close qualifying session at Sepang International Circuit today.

The session started in late afternoon with threatening rain clouds gathering but air temperatures nevertheless of 29-30°C and track temperatures of 36-40°C. After testing both Bridgestone Potenza tyres in practice, both drivers used the hard tyres at the beginning but then switched to the softer option to ease through Q1, when just 1.5s covered the entire grid.

It was also close in Q2 but both Toyotas comfortably made it through, again on the option tyres. As usual, the top-10 shoot-out in Q3 was a close affair but Jarno Trulli was always in the fight for pole position and he claimed second in the very last seconds as the rain stayed away. Timo Glock, who also used the soft compound for his flying laps, improved significantly with his final run to set the fifth fastest time. However, due to penalties for other cars he will start third.

Jarno Trulli
"The team has done a fantastic job, we stayed away from traffic and the car was feeling good, so it has been a very successful day for us. The car feels strong now but I have to admit I wasn't sure I would be in this position after practice yesterday because it was quite difficult. I worked hard with my engineers to analyse the data and make some improvements to the set-up and we got it spot-on in qualifying.
In a way it's a little disappointing to miss pole position by just a few hundredths but that's how close Formula One is at the moment. Compared to last year we are much more competitive this season and instead of fighting for the top six we are now here fighting in the top three. I hope for a strong race tomorrow and I will fight as hard as I can."

Timo Glock
"Overall the qualifying went quite well and I'm happy to be starting third. But I'm a bit frustrated with my final lap in Q3 because I was struggling a little bit to get used to how the car felt with a heavier fuel load. That meant I didn't get 100% out of the car. In Q2, on a light fuel load, I made a few mistakes on my first run but then I got it absolutely right on the second and I was really pleased with my lap. In the end it's a good result for the whole team to have two cars in the top three. It will be a tricky race and Jarno and I will push each other very hard but we also have to think about the weather because that could be a factor."

Pascal Vasselon, Senior General Manager Chassis
"We are very pleased with this result even if the ultimate target is to be on pole position. Yesterday's sessions went so-so I would say, we were not completely happy with the car balance and the grip but obviously we have reacted well overnight and finally it has been a very good team result. Thanks to Bridgestone, the tyre situation here is quite easy to handle for qualifying and the race so we don't expect anything unusual in that sense, which is the opposite of Melbourne when the final laps were dictated by the tyres. So all in all it has been a good weekend so far and we are very optimistic for the race tomorrow."